Marketing Mix in Ports

Logistics Management Due Date: Word Count: Abstract This essay investigates the Port of Long Beach (POLL) with the aim of identifying the business and marketing environment and ascertaining its major marketing opportunities, threats, strengths and weaknesses.Based upon this internal and external environmental evaluation, the up's of the extended marketing mix are analyses in relation to Poll's current marketing strategy. Finally, suggestions on how Improvements to Poll's marketing strategy, with specific reference to the analysis of he extended marketing mix are proposed and the impacts of such suggestions are detailed. Research comprised of academic literature, Industry Journals, reports and websites In relation to the organization Itself and Its affiliates.What was found was that the Port of Long Beach's key marketing strategies were based upon environmental stewardship, community, Industry and government relations, Infrastructure and transportation, trade and commerce and organiza tional effectiveness. It was also recognized that the marketing strategy that POLL employ Is highly sophisticated, covering all facets of the extended marketing mix. Poll's facilitating effective delivery of service to their major customers, East Asia, which accounts for 90% of its throughput.POLL was analyses and segmented according the up's of the extended marketing mix. Its key marketing strategies included environmental stewardship, community, industry and government relations, infrastructure and transportation, trade and commerce organizational effectiveness. POLL have focused this strategy, in conjunction with partnerships on their customer base, primarily East Asia which accounts for 90% of trade and also consumers within its local hinterland. Finally, changes to Port of Long Beach's marketing strategy are put forth and also the potential impacts of such changes are detailed.Table of Contents Abstract Contents Price Process Evidence Introduction ii Table of iii Introduction 1 Task 1 1 Task 2 3 Product 4 4 Promotion 5 People 5 6 Physical 6 Task 3 7 Conclusion 8 References 10 The rise of globalization and subsequent increased freight volumes has required seaports to become customer-focus oriented, proactive and adaptive in a highly competitive freight market, encouraging trade facilitation both within the port wrought its logistics and supply chain and internationally (Cannon 2004), (Cannon 2008), (Strategic Plan 2009).It follows then that seaport marketing must also develop and adapt in order to create value and also customer satisfaction. This essay will investigate the Port of Long Beach's (POLL) overall business from a marketing perspective, profiling the industry, the markets within the industry, its customers, this evaluation, the up's of the extended marketing mix are analyses in relation to Poll's current marketing strategy. Finally, suggestions on how improvements to Poll's marketing strategy, with specific reference to the analysis of the extend ed marketing mix are proposed and the impacts of such suggestions are detailed.Task 1 Summaries key organizational and marketing information from your Assignment 1 Case Report, in order to provide the context for your response to Questions 2 and 3 below. Pollinator & Khakis (2011) suggests that When shippers are confident about the volumes of cargo they will need to move or they feel that transport is of too great strategic importance, they may decide to take the shipping risk themselves'. Whilst POLL do possess fully automated facilities, they do not do so in partnership with any major shipping lines.The absence of any major partnership agreements has left the door open for POLL to sign such agreements with Orient Overseas Container Line (COOL) and Mediterranean Shipping Co (MASC.), ensuring that the majority of all cargo owned by MASC., COOL and their alliance partners will now pass through Poll's terminals and not Poll's (Porter 2013). The impact of the partnerships has been imme diately reflected through a 10. 1 percent increase in container throughput in the second quarter of 2013, which simultaneously saw a 9. Percent decrease from POLL (Canada, California Ports Grow West Coast Market Share 2013).Newly developed on- dock rail facilities, gray chassis pool and Green Port Gateway have greatly improved the ports competitiveness and efficiency whilst allowing for greater network connectivity through to east U. S. As far as the Ohio River (Port of Long Beach), (UNCLAD 2013). Kettle, Brown, Burton, Deans & Armstrong (2013, p. 243) states ‘Business buyers are influenced heavily by factors in the current and expected economic environment'. This statement has never been more evident than in hipping following the Global Financial Crisis (SGF) in 2008/2009 and more recently the European debt sovereign crisis.Subsequent austerity measures have seen a shift in trade routes from Asia to Europe now heading to the west coast of the U. S. , placing POLL and POLL in primary position to receive increased volumes of cargo (UNCLAD 2012). POLL is aware of its impact on the environment and have answered with their award winning Green Port Policy, which seeks to reduce and eliminate the pollution generated by the port. POLL wish to not only be the busiest and most efficient port in North America, but also an environmental innovator and leader (Port of Long Beach 2013).Critically evaluate the marketing mix of your chosen organization, using relevant marketing theory. The advent of globalization and the subsequent increase in seaport competition has required seaports to differentiate their product through the provision of value-added services and continually evolving marketing strategies (Cannon 2004). Port of Long Beach's key marketing strategies were based upon environmental stewardship, community, industry and government relations, infrastructure and transportation, read and commerce and organizational effectiveness (Port of Long Beach 2013).PRODUCT The product of a port can be separated into its core product and its actual product (Kettle, Brown, Burton, Deans & Armstrong 2013). POLL seeks to create value and competitive advantage through its complex and highly integrated service offering, enabled through its cargo handling services and value-added services. POLL possess both dedicated container and bulk cargo terminals, with supply chain capabilities that allow network access as far as the Ohio River.Network connectivity is enabled pacifically through on-dock rail, across 10 piers and 80 berths that are serviced by 66 post-Panamas gantry cranes, allowing for efficient transshipment and storage of cargoes. Channel and berth depth have been deepened in order to accommodate many of the larger container vessels capable of carrying 13,000 TIES. POLL encourages trade facilitation through its harbor services, tug/towing, piloting, consulates, marine surveyors, U. S. Customs, freight forwarders, customer brokers, and shipping agents .Supporting services such as waste disposal, medical facilities, tortes and bunkering are also available. Additionally, POLL provides value-added services such as cold storage and bonded warehousing (Port of Long Beach 2013), (Strategic Plan 2009). PLACE Place of the product involves company logistics and marketing activities concerned with delivering the company's service. A ports location is imperative to its ability to attract and retain customers. POLL is situated in the heart of the most populous extensive hinterland access, allowing it to be served by 140 shipping lines with connections to 217 seaports.Poll's location and network connectivity allows for the shiest chance of frequency, reliability, profitability and relative convenience. High traffic volumes of its major competitor and harbor neighbor, POLL, results in increased traffic flows and congestion that would otherwise belong to POLL, however POLL is able to reduce this effect as five of Poll's container terminals are connected with on-dock rail facilities, that increase the efficiency of traffic flow and reach of the port past the immediate through to the extended hinterland in the east U.S. (Cannon 2008), (Kettle, Brown, Burton, Deans & Armstrong 2013) (Port of Long Beach 2013), Strategic Update 2009). PRICE Price is the amount of money the customer has to pay to obtain the product (Kettle, Brown, Burton, Deans & Armstrong 2013). It is difficult to compare port tariffs among ports accurately because of diversity in their systems and regulations, the existence of pricing by long-standing agreements and the influence of the exchange rate. This is indicative Poll's Tariff No. , which continually states that tariffs and charges are assessed in accordance with and based upon each and every of the limitations, agreements, covenants and conditions set forth'. POLL, however, does adopt a mix of efficiency pricing and relationship pricing, as each strategy is specifically applied to the type of customer and relationship. Efficiency pricing applies to customers requiring the lowest available prices. This pricing strategy is more applicable to short-term transactional based customers. Relationship pricing is offered to those that are either profitable in the long-term or have the clear potential to grow.Port charges encompass navigation, berth and cargo operational services, all of which are either based on size of ship, time in port or size/volume of cargo. Other business related costs include real estate, licensing and management services incurred from or by port-related services (Berry & Hydra 1996), (ESCAPE 2002), (Port of Long Beach 2013) PROMOTION Promoting a port is suggested as being a means of communicating with current and potential customers, with its purpose being to raise awareness of what the port offers and to influence customer attitudes and behavior towards the port (Bernard 1995), (Somers and De Wiled 1997).POLL seeks to promote itself through the development of a positive brand image, conveying network connectivity, sailing frequency, liability, service quality and professional management (Branch 1998), (Port of Long Beach 2013). POLL has formed partnerships with leading European and Asian shipping companies, each of which are part of shipping alliances that allows it to promote its services globally (Porter 2013). POLL further promotes itself through its website, annual reports and strategic plans, outlining its clear directive for the future, one that balance their role as a facilitator of international trade with our strong partnership.PEOPLE Cannon (2008) states ‘Establishing a relationship with a customer and building loyalty emperies two parts, the initial marketing to attract the right relationship over time so that the financial and other objectives of both parties are achieved. ‘ It follows then that marketing communications play an important role in customer relationship management. POLL have a clear focus on employing talented and motivated people, with the aim to empower them at all levels that encourages them to develop and enhance the relationship in order to maintain customers. Gumminess 1994), PROCESS Customers migrate to other service providers when the process is poorly managed and lets them down (Kettle, Brown, Burton, Deans & Armstrong 2013). In order to lessen the risk of losing competitive advantage, customer relationship management within ports has evolved into the development of partnerships. Decisions by POLL marketing and management are indicative of this evolution with the recent contractual arrangements with COOL and the subsequent development of Terminal Operating Shipping Lines (TOSS).Vertical integration allows COOL to exert market power through upstream or downstream integration, whilst POLL benefit from the resultant higher volumes of cargo and technologically advance cargo systems, improving service delivery (Bishop 2009) (Porter 2013). PHYSICAL EVIDENCE Services are mostly intangible. Thus the meaning of other tools and techniques used in marketing is important as customer tend to rely on physical cues to help them evaluate the product before they buy it (Kettle, Brown, Burton, Deans & Armstrong 2013) (Marketing Teacher 2013).POLL and the local government have both invested heavily in regards to the internal and external environments resulting in aesthetically pleasing views both inward and outward from the port. Restaurants, tourist shops, parks, bikes and public transport facilities lie directly adjacent and opposite POLL, increasing the ports community integration and acceptance. Such external projects, matched with modern, sophisticated internal infrastructure projects are becoming increasingly attractive to all stakeholders and customers, as POLL leads the way in efficiency and environmental stewardship, both domestically and internationally.How could your chosen organization improve their marketing mix in view of the evaluation you conducted an d the strategies you recommended in your Case Report? Whilst POLL have invested heavily in their own employees and long-term customers, it seems that they could do more in relation to the greater public. The greater public, whilst benefiting from increased trade volumes, efficiency, environmental standards and community-friendly amenities, are not utilized in their full capacity. Increasing public involvement within the port has many benefits and repercussions, should issues arise.Cannon (2008) propounds that port developments are hampered by community concerns and the need for environmental performance, which is mirrored by Giuliani & O'Brien (2008) who state that citizen concerns about ports environmental impacts shape public policy, which can lead to policy intervention and increased costs or loss of customers. Increased involvement allows the public to take a vested interest in the operations of the port, boosting public perception, thus allowing for greater public investment an d increased brand image, greatly reducing the potential for public backlash should negative publicity in regards to the port arises.The development fully automated facility in conjunction with private investors, MASC., COOL and their alliance partners, could discourage competing shipping lines, not involved in such alliances from investing in POLL, and in some instances lead to discriminatory treatment. Bishop (2009), states ‘Ports and ocean carriers may also get onto conflict because of resource scarcities, for instance when dedicated terminals are allocated to a single shipping line, hence pushing other carriers to operate via ports elsewhere'.POLL could adjust their strategy in relation to such firms by taking them from transactional based customer and developing customer relationships. Whilst this strategy may not be applicable to all smaller sized shippers, it is through the development of relationships with medium to larger sized shipping lines, not a part of shipping al liances, where POLL could increase market share whilst at the same time decrease POI-As competitive advantage. The U. S. Has replaced Europe in relations to exports, however the increased volumes can have both a positive and negative effect on hinterland connections with the rest of the U.S. The development of infrastructure and processes within the port are only as effective as its network connections with the hinterland. Ensuring network inevitably improve its perceived port efficiency to an Asian, global and domestic markets that demand it. Although rising cargo volumes can create congestion within the vast networks connecting POLL with its hinterland, an opportunity lies within to market to major injecting intermediate and multimedia firms.Forming alliances or partnerships with such firms could secure reliability through the supply chain into the future and in turn reduce costs to importers, increases perceived reliability in the Asian market and also increases appeal and potent ial for importers to utilities the facilities POLL has to offer. The promotion of high efficiency and reliability to the East Asian consumer base that accounts for 90 percent of Poll's container throughput could prove the difference in perceived competitive advantage, resulting in cargo volumes transferring from POLL to POLL. ConclusionThe Port of Long Beach and the way in which the extended marketing mix have shaped its marketing strategy has been analyses. POLL was found to be in a highly competitive environment, specifically due to the close proximity of its larger rival, POLL. In order to regain competitive ground, POLL have entered into partnerships through the signing off long-term lease with a major shipping line COOL and allowed further private investment from MASC., in order to achieve better economies of scale, improved operational efficiency and better asset utilization to sure up profitability.This matched with newly developed, environmentally sustainable infrastructure, will enhance its capability to capitalist on shifting trade routes from Asia to the U. S. Then the marketing strategy of POLL was analyses and segmented according the up's of the extended marketing mix. Its key marketing strategies included environmental stewardship, community, industry and government relations, infrastructure and transportation, trade and commerce organizational effectiveness.POLL have focused this strategy on their customer base, primarily East Asia which accounts for 90% of trade and also consumers within its local hinterland. The up's; product, place, price, rumination, people, process and physical evidence were individually analyses with specific reference to POLL and its stakeholders including its customer base and POI-A. Lastly, three suggestions as to how POLL could improve aspects of their marketing mix in view of the evaluation conducted are provided.

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Is the Use of the Death Penalty Justice and Is It Fair Essay It is fair to say that capital punishment is under attack, particularly in the South where it is most commonly practiced. Not only have serious criticisms been raised by scholars in criminal justice, criminology and related disciplines, but newspapers have published scathing news reports suggesting that innocent people have been sentenced to death and even executed, and alleging racial discrimination in capital punishment practice. According to Robinson (2011), four basic facts establish the realities of American capital punishment. The first is that capital punishment is practiced in most but not all United States jurisdictions. Specifically, there are 34 states with the death penalty, and 16 without. The federal government also maintains capital punishment, as does the military, but the District of Columbia does not carry out executions. 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Another school of thought is the egalitarian libertarians. These scholars suggest that what matters most for justice is equality of opportunity in society and taking care of the least advantaged citizens. Other justice theorists focus on welfare, or general well-being and happiness of people in society. They argue that what matters most for justice is the welfare of society, or its overall happiness. Finally, other justice theorists argue that what matters most for justice is virtue, or moral goodness and righteousness. The purpose of the death penalty is incapacitation, deterrence, and retribution. Incapacitation is understood as removing the ability of offenders to commit future crimes. Incarceration is the typical form whereas execution is the ultimate form. Deterrence refers to creating fear in would be offenders through punishment to prevent future crimes. Capital punishment can only be aimed at preventing crime by would-be murderers, general deterrence, since it cannot create fear in murderers who have already been executed, specific deterrence. Retribution refers to righting or rebalancing the scales of justice through punishment in order to achieve justice for crime victims. Executions are often depicted as retribution for the crime of murder, as well as a source of closure for murder victims’ families. Robinson (2011) claims that criminologists and capital punishment scholars overwhelmingly indicate that the death penalty fails to achieve these goals, mostly because of the rarity of death sentences and executions. Logically, if death sentences and executions were more common, capital punishment would be more likely to achieve these goals. Yet we also know that the more frequently the death penalty is used, the greater the costs associated with the policy, including not only additional financial costs but also a greater risk of convicting, sentencing to death, and executing the innocent. This ultimately has great significance for the â€Å"justice† of capital punishment. Van Den Haag (1986) says that the death penalty is an effective form of deterrence because it is feared more than life imprisonment. Many of the convicts under death sentence appeal their sentence and try to get it reduced to life imprisonment. Van Den Haag argues that even though there is no factual evidence that the death penalty deters would be criminals more than life imprisonment, the fact that more people fear the death penalty makes it a better deterrent. Reiman (1985) agrees with Robinson’s view that the use of the death penalty is not successful as a deterrent. He gives four main reasons that refute Van Den Haag’s argument. His first reason is that although people fear the death penalty more than life in prison, nobody wants to spend life in prison either. People do not have the mentality that they can commit a crime because they will â€Å"only† get sentenced to life in prison. Although the person will be alive, they will have all freedom taken from them, which after awhile, can be seen just as horrible, if not worse, than death. Reiman’s second point is that if a person is contemplating committing a crime, they are already facing an enormous risk of being killed in the process. Roughly 500 to 700 suspected felons are killed by police in the line of duty every year and many Americans own their own guns. When taking that into account, it does not seem very likely that the would be criminal will be able to commit the crime without at least being injured by the police or the would be victim. His third reason against Van Den Haag’s view is that using the death penalty is hypocritical. The law states that a person cannot take the life of another, but when they do, their punishment could be death. It is not possible to say murder is illegal and then have it as a possible punishment. He argues that not having the death penalty better exemplifies that idea that murder is wrong. His last point is that it is illogical to practice the death penalty simply because it is feared more than life imprisonment. He says that people would fear death by torture more than lethal injection, so does that mean we should begin the practice of death by torture because more people are afraid of it? Unless it can be proven that the death penalty is a better deterrent than life in prison, Reiman (1985) argues that the death penalty should be abolished. Robinson (2011) says that as for the issue of innocence, there is little doubt that people are wrongly convicted of murder every year and that a handful are even sentenced to death. More than 130 people have been freed from death row during the era of â€Å"super due process† that began in 1976 when the US Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment. Wrongful convictions often occur due to honest errors such as mistaken eyewitness testimony and faulty forensic evidence, but when they occur due to issues such as: false confessions, lying informants, government misconduct, and ineffective defense counsel. There is also little doubt that innocent people have even been executed, although most of the known cases are from prior to the era of super due process in capital sentencing. There remain at least eight widely known cases where men have been recently executed despite serious doubts about their actual guilt. On the issue of executing the innocent, Van Den Haag (1986), makes the argument that the advantages of using the death penalty as a punishment outweigh the unintended losses. He states, â€Å"Miscarriages of justice are offset by the moral benefits and the usefulness of doing justice (139). His argument is that mistakes have and do occur in innocent people being sentenced to death, but the benefits of using it are more important. It would be more of a detriment to society to stop the use of the death enalty than it is when an innocent person is executed. In regards to race, America’s death penalty has always been plagued by serious racial biases. Little evidence remains of the historic discrimination by race of defendant, although state-specific anecdotal evidence suggests blacks are still occasionally discriminated against, especially when accused of killing whites and when juries are overwhelmingly white. Robinson (2011) says that most experts now point to a â€Å"race of victim† effect, whereby killers of whites are far more likely to be sentenced to death and executed than killers of other races and. For example, a comprehensive study of race and the death penalty in North Carolina showed that killers of whites were more than three times more likely to receive death sentences than killers of blacks. In the state, 80% of those people executed since 1976 killed white people; only about 40% of North Carolina homicide victims are white. Further, a study of capital punishment practice in the state from 1999 to 2006 found that blacks who killed whites were 14 times more likely to be sentenced to death than whites who killed blacks. Also, there were six executions of blacks who killed whites during the time period, yet zero executions of whites who killed blacks. Van Den Haag’s (2011) stance on the distribution of the death penalty being discriminatory is that â€Å"punishments are imposed on persons, not on racial or economic groups† (138). The death penalty is not specifically issued to certain races. It depends on the crime that the person committed. Van Den Haag also says, â€Å"Justice requires that as many of the guilty as possible be punished, regardless of whether others have avoided punishment. To let these others escape the deserved punishment does not do justice to them, or to society. But it is not unjust to those who could not escape it† (139). Van Den Haag does not view the fact that black people or other minorities receive the death penalty more than whites as being unjust. However, what is unjust is the white people who were not sentenced to death when they should have been. Given these important empirical realities of the death penalty, the next issue to address is which of them are relevant for the â€Å"justice† of capital punishment practice. As noted earlier, it depends on which theory of justice is being referred to. Libertarians ask whether capital punishment respects liberty or freedom. The most important question for egalitarians is whether capital punishment practice is equal or applied in an equal fashion. For utilitarians, the most important question is whether capital punishment increases overall utility or happiness in society. Finally, for virtue-based theorists, the question is whether capital punishment respects and promotes our values, our moral goodness, and whether it is the right thing to do. The questions above do not have universal answers. Everybody will have his or her own opinions on whether the death penalty respects a person’s freedom or whether it is the right thing to do. Reiman, Robinson and Van Den Haag all made successful and convincing arguments so it is hard to determine one view as more convincing than the other. It comes down to a personal choice and what a person chooses to believe as to whether the death penalty is fair and a proper form of justice.

Theories relating to the grief process

Theories relating to the grief process Most theories of grieving derive from the works of Sigmund Freud and Eric Lindemanns understanding of mourning and include two assumptions: A / Grieving is time limited. The process should be completed or resolved after a year or two. B / The main task of grieving is to achieve decathexis (one should detach oneself from emotional ties to the deceased so as to be able to form new relationships.). Horacek, (1991). There are two complex processes taking place within this topic that we call Grief. Firstly there is the emotional side (grief) and can take on many obvious and subtle forms. Secondly there is the process or grieving stage as it is more commonly indentified. It is within this second stage that the bereaved is called upon and to allow them selves to make a raft of choices and decisions such as the funeral arrangements or when at some point do they allow themselves to decide what to keep as mementos and what not to. Often these sides can become entwined into one and the bereaved may end up in a state of confusion and stagnant response. This may lead to a third state in which the bereaved becomes dysfunctional within their grief processing and literally becomes stuck in whatever position or state they are in and cannot allow themselves release from that state and to move forward. Grief does not exist within the world of death only. Grief may come from many physical and psychological changes that are totally unrelated to death. Loss of a limb; incapacitation of body use as a result of an accident; loss of a boyfriend or girlfriend; loss of a marriage; bankruptcy; loss of a personal business. I could list more but the point is to say that grief covers an extremely wide and complex area of understanding and acceptance. For the purposes of this essay, I will concentrate upon the subject of death and how does one handle the situations of that death. I will cover various models as they relate to a child (0 11) and to that of an adolescent. Then, we will look at those of an older person and also take into account the elderly. How do the various models of grief and the process of grieving change with age? Are there stages of recovery or is the recovery a process that may never be finally finished? Either way, grief and grieving is a personal experience and will vary among ages, culture and background. It would become too involved for the purpose of this topic to introduce culture and background, so I will therefore keep this essay to the more general form of models of grief and their relationship to those of age. Does a child have the capacity to experience grief and to mourn as do adults? Bowlby (1963), and Fusman (1964), sees a child as capable of suffering major bereavement particularly with a close family member and probably with other close significant losses as well. In that reference, there were no given age ranges so I will take the point of a child being of 0 11 yrs of age. Lindemanns seminal study in 1944 on the Symptomatology and Management of acute grief is similar to Freuds understanding. But how does that apply to a child? Whilst Bowlby recognised a similarity to Freuds point of view, he also recognised that a young child is capable of suffering major bereavement as mentioned. But these responses can come from many influences. Obviously, they are different to those of an adult but none the less they (adults) do have an influence upon the childs perception and response to their ability to handle grief and grieving. It is suggested that a child will copy to the best of their ability, the grieving patterns of their remaining significant parent or even that of an older sibling (Bowlby, 1980; Kubler-Ross, 1983; Schumacher, 1984). Other factors can also have an influence on the childs response such as the nature and intensity of their attachment to the deceased; their developmental level; the capacity to understand what has happened (the conceptualisation of death and what explanations are given to them); and the nature and circumstances of the death. It is reasonable to assume that a child can experience a bereavement response, probably in an attenuated form death of a grandparent, parent, uncle, teacher, playmate, family pet or even the loss of a favourite toy. Ambivalence and dependence are core themes of a childs relationship with family members and a childs grief may be influenced by this aspect of their attachment to the deceased. Childrens conception of death closely parallel Piagets (1952) successive levels of cognitive development (Berlinsky Biller, 1982). For example, during the sensorimotor period (birth 2yrs), the childs concept of death is non-existent or incomplete (Kane, 1979). Most workers agree that the younger childs response, particularly to the death of a parent, is likely to be indistinguishable from that of separation response. For a child of 2 or younger, they do not have the concepts of time, finality or of death itself but they may show, if for instance their mother dies, typical phases of denial, protest, despair, and eventually detachment (Kastenbaum, 1967; Berlinsky Biller, 1982). During Piagets pre occupational period (2 6yrs), a childs cognitive development is dominated by magical thinking and egocentrism. Consequentially at this stage, they believe that death can be either avoided or reversed (Melear, 1973; Anthony, 1971; Stillion Wass, 1979). Furman (1963) believes that from 2 2 Â ½ years onwards a child is able to conceptualise death to some degree and to mourn. Melear found that children within this age group viewed the dead as having feelings existing in a life like state. Because of their thinking, the child may feel responsible for causing the death and consequently feel shame and guilt. Progressively, through the period of concrete operations (6 7yrs through to 11 or 12 years), children begin to understand the reality of death but do not realise that death is universal and that those around them, including their loved ones, will die some day (Berlinskey Biller, 1982). Anthony, (1971) suggested that children conceptualise death in concrete terms and view death as distant from themselves. Gradually, from ages 9 or 10, children acquire a more mature understanding of death; that death is irreversible in nature and that they themselves will eventually experience it (Anthony, 1971; Melear, 1973; Stillion Wass, 1979). A child will experience the developmental nature of death associations which progress from no understanding toward an abstract and realistic understanding of the concept of death (McCown, 1988). Within the years of adolescence, the persons understanding of death and what has happened; closely approximates that of an adult and their grief may take on similar forms. But because they are in that realm halfway between childhood and adulthood, their responses may fit neither mould. If they cry, they may be accused of being babyish. Equally, if they dont, they may seem cold and uninvolved. With so many conflicting areas and so many stressful situations of this age group, they may neither express their emotions directly nor verbalise them. They may instead, act out within their personal environment, indicating their need for care, their anger, their guilt and their longing. Although privy to increased knowledge about death through instant communication and increasing exposure to death, adolescents do not have the social or emotional maturity to fully incorporate and process those experiences into a coherent world view (Rowling, 2002). Adolescents tend to be more extreme in their risk taking and it seems to be the closer to the edge that they go, the greater the thrill of cheating death. Living life to the fullest inherently has some risks. Consciously or otherwise, they may pursue this ambiguity more than others, due to their cognitive development and the need for excitement (Spear, 2000). Emotional reactions to a loss can be devastating to the adolescent, whether the loss is the perceived detachment from parents, actual losses that are literal deaths such as the suicide of a friend; or metaphorical deaths such as the breaking up with a boyfriend or girlfriend. Meshot Leitner (1993), have observed that the extent of grief is often much stronger in teenagers than in adults. There is evidence that adolescents are constantly grappling with life and death contrasts as a normal part of their development (Noppe Noppe, 1991). These years help to construct a personal stamp with their understanding of death as they are engaging in both life affirmation and death acknowledgement. They are questioning and assuming different belief systems regarding death and the after life prior to settling onto a more permanent value system as well as incorporating the very reality of personal mortality into their evolving sense of identity. Adolescent grief experience is profoundly personal in nature. Although they grieve more intensely than adults (Christ et al. 2002; Oltjenbruns, 1996), their grief may be expressed in short outbursts, or there may be concentrated efforts to control emotions. They can often believe that their experiences are completely unique unto themselves (Elkind, 1967). The adolescent grief pattern may follow a life long developmental trajectory. That is, the loss may be continued to be felt throughout their life span as they graduate from college, their work, marriage and so on. This can be accentuated as they grow older than the parent, sibling or friend who has died (Silverman, 2000). Adolescents are more sophisticated than children in their understanding and response to death, but neither is their mourning adult like. The overall nature of the adolescents response is intimately tied to their developmental issues. The consideration of ones own death, as part of the treads of the totality of the life cycle, cannot be a comfortable notion for an adolescent to accept. Creating a unified sense of identity must be reconciled with this consideration. Adolescents encounter this dilemma in the context of a system of values, philosophy of life and particular spiritual or religious beliefs. Sterling and Van Horn (1989) found that adolescents who were at the peak of their struggle with identity formation, had the highest levels of death anxiety. With regard to personal characteristics or the adolescent, self esteem was found to be important in adolescents response to loss. Balk (1990) and Hogan and Greenfield (1991) found that adolescents with lowered self concept scores s howed more problems with their grief. More adolescent males than females die suddenly and violently, via accidents, homicides and suicides (Corr et al., 2003). However, no one knows if, as a consequence, teenage males grieve more than females over the loss of their same sex best friend. Parallels between the socialization of males into hiding emotions, being independent and displaying aggressive behaviour when upset are reflected in adolescent males grief reactions (Adams, 2001). Bereaved adolescent girls may express more adjustment difficulties (Servaty Hayslip, 2001), but this may be consistent with the latitude afforded women to talk of their feelings. Reaching out to others seems to be easier for females than males (Noppe et al., 2003). As mentioned earlier and in closing of this section, the myriad of adolescent tasks serve as a framework for how the adolescent is affected by grief and their response to loss is intimately tied to their developmental issues. Adolescents do not grieve in the same way as do adults and their grief processes may be more intermittent, intense and overwhelming. We began this essay with the generally accepted theory of mourning from the work done by Freud and Lindemann as cited by Horacek (1991). Whilst Freud did not officially modify his theory, he did modify it in a letter written to Swiss psychiatrist Ludwig Binswanger in 1929. In this letter he reflected on the death of his daughter in 1920 from influenza and the death of his grandson in 1923. He stated that although we know that after such a loss the acute stage of mourning will subside, we also know we shall remain inconsolable and will never find a substitute. Freud realised that some losses can never be fully resolved and that grieving can continue indefinitely for such potentially high grief deaths such as the loss of a child or a grandchild. Gorer (1965), described eight styles of grieving that fall into three categories based on the length of the grieving process. The first category includes grieving styles that demonstrating little or no mourning, such as the denial of mourning, the absence of mourning, anticipatory grieving and hiding grief. The second category is time limited mourning, which includes a period of intense grief followed by a return to the pre grief status. His third category is unlimited mourning, a continuing grief that does not radically interfere radically with everyday living; mummification, in which the mourner makes a room or a whole house as a shrine for the deceased; and despair, a never ending, deeply painful process. Adults view death through the lens of wisdom gained through the myriad of life experiences associated with expanded interactions with different people, work settings and family relationships. Whilst studies on parental and sibling grieving challenge the assumption that grieving is time bounded and that decathexis can and should be accomplished. In his interviews of some 155 families, Knapp (1986, 1987), found six significant similarities in the way in which families responded to the deaths of their children. The sixth was what he called shadow grief, a lingering, emotional dullness of affect that continues indefinitely, indicating that grief such as this is never totally resolved. He called shadow grief a form of chronic grief that moderately inhibits normal activity, yet it is an abnormal form of mourning that it was quite normal, perhaps even routine. In support of this finding, Lund (1989) stated that there is considerable evidence that some aspects of bereavement and subsequent r eadjustments may continue throughout a persons life and it might be appropriate to question the use of conceptualizing grief as a process which culminates in resolution, because there may never be a full resolution. Though death separates the mourner from the deceased, a relationship with the deceased continues. It is largely agreed that particularly with adults and the more elderly, the bereaved should regain everyday functioning within a two to three year period, but, also, that grief may never come to an end and can still be considered normal. Fulton (1978), produced a model that began to reflect the complicated reality of the grieving process. He put forward that in a high grief situation, three sets of reactions can be delineated: 1. Initial reactions. These can include numbness, shock and disbelief. These reactions could last for days, weeks or even months. 2. Grief tasks. These reactions may include such tasks as dealing with anger, guilt, emptiness, depression, ambivalent relationships and life reviewing. Working through these tasks can take months or years and in some cases can continue indefinitely. 3. Adjusting to the loss and continuing grieving. In addition, this model recognises that the three sets of reactions overlap and can recur and that the mourner could deal with one specific grief task such as resolving excess guilt and then face another grief task months later. Most important, this model recognises that the basic loss does not disappear like a wound that heals in time, but rather that the loss continues like an amputation or dismemberment. Likening grieving to amputation denotes the mourner must continually adapt and adjust to the loss. Although the griever can reach a new everyday functioning status, the loss and its concomitant reactions, for example shadow grief, continue indefinitely. In final conclusion, both the grief and grieving process is complicated and has many variable aspects to how one deals with the bereavement. Probably the most obvious is that the ability to handle bereavement lies in the cognitive developmental stage of the bereaved. This is probably more pronounced within the child and adolescent stages of life due to the aspects already discussed earlier. It is also of note that the elderly are more likely to experience multiple losses, such as the deaths of a spouse, friends, or relatives or the loss of roles, health, or income, over relatively short periods of time. At the same time, many older grievers are quite resilient and exhibit strong and effective coping abilities (Lund, 1989). An aspect of grief that was only briefly touched upon, was that of anticipatory grief. Such would occur during the period of extended terminal illness. Whether this type of grief assists the survivor or not, has not been really established. In some cases it can lea d also to confusion and subsequently, to a dysfunctional grief. In dealing with and assisting the bereaved caregivers need to be aware of the need to adjust their understanding of the grieving process relative to the age, gender and the situation with which the bereaved is finding them selves. Grieving is a complex emotional and active process and there are no simple answers nor are there simple repairs.

Perception In Humans Vs Computer

Perception In Humans Vs Computer The Essay which I am going to write is about Minds and Computers. Here I will explain that what is a human mind, what a computer is and what is a relation between them. Its all about the idea of constructing or developing artificial intelligence. This question of possibility is not limited only to construction of such an advanced technology which will possess artificial intelligence and will act in a manner as human can do but is also a philosophical question. The word perception comes from the Latin words perceptio, percipio, and means receiving, collecting, and action of taking possession, apprehension with the mind or senses. [1] Humans perceive through their minds and senses. So how human mind or human brain works? According to Hippocrates (the father of Medicine) Man should be fully aware of the fact that it is from the brain and from the brain only that our feelings of joy, of pleasure, of laughing arise as well as our sorrow, our pain, our grief and our tears. We are thinking with the brain and we can see and hear and we are able to draw a distinction between ugliness and beauty, bad and good what is pleasant and unpleasant. A computer is defined as a programmable machine that receives input, stores and manipulates data, and provides output in a useful format. So how a computer perceive? The answer to this question is that computer perceives through knowledge of Artificial intelligence. Is it possible for a computer to learn and becomes capable like humans, to learn from observing the environments, is it possible that computer learn by trial and error basis. In Artificial intelligence some developers have developed robots that claims that are able and that they can learn like a newborn human baby can do. In my opinion it is not only the problem that is bound to software but also to hardware that hinder the growth in computer technology. As compared to human brain a super computer is unable to take off the powers of a human mind. In recent years, there was a rapid increase in the improvement and development of electronic race. Day by day the computational speed of electronic computer is increasing. The main focus in this electronic era is to make computers smaller and faster in processing. Transistors replaced the vacuum tubes and then transistors were also replaced by smaller and tiny integrated circuits. With the passage of time all these circuits are incorporated to microchips. The recent advancement in computer technology is forcing humans to think about such computers/robots that will match humans in performance and capabilities. Lets have a comparison between human brain and computer that whether computer is capable to learn and adopt more or human. Human brain is capable to receive a lot of information at real time from all the senses at constant rate, so its natural that human is able to adopt and learn more quickly from its environment and its surroundings. Human brain is capable to get a lot of information of the surroundings only in a single glance that will help the brain to respond in a quick way. Human brain is able to learn by mistakes, by errors, by experiences that may be good or bad and it is due to this learning that makes him capable of dealing with situation efficiently. It is the common judgment of many peoples that human brain as compare to computer is far more superior in acquiring new skills and techniques. On the other hand, the human brain requires more time to espouse to changes like erudition of more skills and quitting of old once. The more we do a particular work repeatedly the more easily it gets. If an individual does the same work for a longer time he gets used to it, than he can even do it subconscio usly and it becomes a habit for him. Computers are getting more and smarter with the passage of time. Computers are capable to learn anything that the computer programmers want to feed it in research centers. Different engines like voice recognition systems are developed in order to nourish the program with different voices that it could pick up patterns in speech, the accents and slangs and that it should recognize them. Another Engine is optical character recognition which is able to pick and choose up fresh information and patterns as it scrutinize the dissimilar styles of writing from its constantly growing database. Some programs are now able to classify between objects, it can place and recognize that object accordingly with their patterns and shapes to different categories. The perception rate of computer is increasing day by day. Some computer programs are now capable of learning and seeking by trail and errors, they learns from their mistakes and then they records a best solution in its database to tackle that problem or error for future reference. The ways in which computers are learning or we can say the computer learning techniques are getting better day by day and it is progressing in the right direction especially with the stop towards learning by using perceptions. Computer is progressing towards a big revolution and is now able to use the two most important senses that is senses like sight and sounds. It will be not too far that computer will learn and will be able to observe environment and will learn from examples. So who is more capable human or computer? Who is better in performance and capabilities? In my opinion a computer cannot over cross a brain and a brain well remain winner and is winner. There are a lot of fields in which a brain is more powerful than a computer. A brain is only less efficient when it is used for only one purpose or specific function. The brain completely depends on how we make it. When it come to calculations and memorizing, computer lefts brain behind. As now we are somehow up to some extent familiar with what a mind and a brain is. Now I will explain some philosophical problems in artificial intelligence. All these problems are associated with consciousness and emotions. As we all know that human possesses consciousness. Consciousness is defined as The ability or state of being aware especially of something within oneself, the state or fact of being conscious of an external object, state, or fact. However it can be used in many different ways. It is occasionally used to refer to our alertness of certain actions or processes that we are conscious of. Sometimes it refers to the ability of awareness of our own selfs and also the way in which we distinguish ourselves to the rest of the world. In the paper Replication of the Hard Problem of Consciousness in AI and Bio-AI: An Early Conceptual Framework by Nicholas Boltuc and Piotr Boltuc they are suggesting that a machine can be equipped with phenomenal consciousness. According to their claim if we know how a phenomenal consciousness works and if we are able to understand its precise operation it is possible to instantiate it in a machine. This is very significant claim; the reason behind this is that if it is true it would discredit the privileged access problem of first-person consciousness. It will cast as an empirical problem of science and not a fundamental question of philosophy. In my personal opinion they did not presented any logical argument about the implementation of human consciousness in a machine. In my personal opinion it is impossible to preclude a machine with human consciousness. We cannot call a computer to be intelligent unless until it does possesses common sense. It is impossible for a computer to adopt common sense because human common sense works on know-how basis. For example, as we know that A Bird in Hand is better than two in the Bush is all related to common sense, yet it is impossible to ride a bicycle through knowledge or by teaching. All we get is our experiences. It is impossible that without experience u will ride a bicycle just by knowing its procedures. It is not because of knowledge that we can eat an apple in darkness. If it is because of knowledge than we would need some parameters to locate our mouth, like the angle of our hand, the position of our mouth, the speed with which our hand is moving etc. All these things we cannot attained without experience.Recent computers are only able to represent things. In my opinion it is difficult to transfer them skills and emotions. This is a large problem in the field of artificial intelligence. Is it possible to mimic intelligence? Is it possible to copy a significant amout of thought and planing to paste it in a computer. In my opinion no such thing exist as to mimic intelligence. I think it is not possible to copy intelligence because still we are not hundred percent able to know that how our minds works. Till now some questions related to brain like its functionings are yet unanswered. There is a doubt about the explanatory power of computers programs, Even though if a program makes a computer capable of what a human can do. For example, like understing and talking English, or describing some images, which forces us to think about a question that whether a computer program is doing it in the same way as we humans are doing. Still its not clear that whether the program is correctly explaning our abilities. As we know that existing computers do not do things as we do, it physical level they employe on transistors, interpreters or compilers, computer follows these instructions blindly and there is no evidance that humans do this. The notion that computers can do in the same way as humans do is systamatically ambiguous. Even it is not possible between two different persons. An arithmatical question calculated by different persons may be same, if they both use the same logarithms, but it will be different if they both are using it in a different bases. This notion does not apply in case of computers because there is no such level for computers at which he do it in the same way as we do it. We cannot say that a pakistani is playing chess in different way than a swedish, because of the fact that the language that is used is different. In case of stratigies both can have different stratigies. It should be noted that every human does not do things in one way they may fallow different ways to approach a problem, whether its all about playing chess, remembering names, soving problems, perceiving faces, or understanding of a particular language. So it is not reasonable to deny that in a computer simulation which is very much complex. I dont think that it is possible to simulate every aspect of human mind to a computer program. How is it possible for a computer to feel thirst, to feel naunsance, sexual desires, the feeling to dance, or the feeling which one gets one he is going to loose his balance while walking on ice, to feel hungry, to feel love, to feel sympathy, to feel proud and a lot more which humans feel. It is not possible to construct a computer that will be capable to feel as humans feel. There are much more peoples who are dreaming for the day to see that mans own thinking creation can take a human form. Who can be a true friend, who will always keep your secrets and will always listen to what ever you say, and it will be your best servant without demanding for leave, or even it can do a lot of things for you from research to minor calculations, all these services without demanding for salaries. There are much more peoples who feels fear because of different possibilities of AI. Espacially the ones who thinks that what will happen if it goes wrong as we have seen it in some of the blockbuster movies. Movies like the Matrix, the teminator, the cyborg, universal soldiers, eye robot and a lot more. They all tells us the stories about when artificial intelligence goes bad. Movie or no movie, all we should worry about is that anything can happen. I am not arguing that what the story writers want to say is correct or incorrect. The fact which all know is that there is a lot of differnce between God made and Human made thing.

A Defense of Whitman :: Biography Biographies Essays

A Defense of Whitman  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚   Whether they have loved or loathed his poetry, each writer or critic who has encountered "Leaves of Grass" has had to come to some sort of reckoning with Walt Whitman. The Good Gray Poet, the grandfather of American poetry, has been deified by some and labeled a cultural and artistic barbarian by others. While Whitman freely admitted in his preface to the final publication of "Leaves of Grass" that the work was faulty and far from perfect, some critics see no redeeming qualities in Whitman's art. Henry James goes so far as to say, "Whitman's verse...is an offense to art." (James, p.16) James chastises Whitman for extolling and exploiting what James feels are truisms. To James, Whitman's poetry is completely self-aggrandizing; it lacks substance and coherence. Through an examination of a specific poem, "The Wound Dresser", the claims of James and other negative critics can be refuted.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      The broadest and most general critiques can be dismissed most readily. Henry James accuses Whitman of refusing to deal with challenging moral questions in his poetry. Whitman speaks of the evils of war, suffering, and senseless death in graphic detail in "The Wound Dresser", but to James these evils are obvious targets for lesser poets.    "A great deal of verse that is nothing but words has, during the war, been sympathetically sighed over and cut out of newspaper corners because it possessed a certain simple melody." (James, p.16)       James denies Whitman's poetry even a simple melody. Whitman is more an emotional opportunist than a poet. James even claims that Whitman's primary goal is the glorification of the Union army. The poem in question, however, hints at a different conclusion. "(was one side so brave? The other side was equally brave)" (Whitman, p.249). In dealing with supposed truisms Whitman's poem begins to ask the question: if the inherent evils of war, suffering, and senseless death are indeed so painfully obvious to you, Henry James, and your world, why are they supported with such fervor? Why in fact do they exist at all? Whitman happens to write from a sincere moral minority of which Henry James is a part. Thus to label Whitman altruistic is to label James as well.    John Jay Chapman levels the most absurd attack on Whitman:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚   "The man [Whitman] knew the world merely as an outside observer, he was never a living part of it, and no mere observer can understand the life about him.

Shakespeares King Lear - The Redemption of King Lear Essay -- King Le

The Redemption of King Lear It is said that no other playwright illustrates the human condition like William Shakespeare. Furthermore, it is said that no other play illustrates the human condition like King Lear. The story of a bad king who becomes a good man is truly one of the deepest analyses of humanity in literary history; and it can be best seen through the evolution of Lear himself. In essence, King Lear goes through hell in order to compensate for his sins. Lear's relationship with his three daughters, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia, is, from the beginning, very uncharacteristic of the typical father-daughter relationship. It's clear that the king is more interested in words than true feelings, as he begins by asking which of his daughters loves him most. Goneril and Regan's answers are descriptive and sound somewhat phony, but Lear is flattered by them. Cordelia's response of nothing is honest; but her father misunderstands the plea and banishes her. Lear's basic flaw at the beginning of the play is that he values appearances above reality. He wants to be treated as a king and to enjoy the title, but he doesn't want to fulfill a king's obligations. Similarly, his test of his daughters demonstrates that he values a flattering public display of love over real love. He doesn't ask "which of you doth love us most," but rather, "which of you shall we say doth love us most?" (I.i.49). It would be simple to conclude that Lear is simp ly blind to the truth, but Cordelia is already his favorite daughter at the beginning of the play, so presumably he knows that she loves him the most. Nevertheless, Lear values Goneril and Regan's fawning over Cordelia's sincere sense of filial duty. ... ...e and determination to repair his life is evident at this point, and continues to show for the duration of the play. Perhaps Lear's most difficult moment to endure is when he discovers his youngest and most prized daughter, Cordelia, dead. His initial reaction is of unbearable pain, but, being in his current state of madness, some of the anguish is alleviated when he "realizes" that she is alive. The king overcomes his earlier mistakes only after losing the one daughter who truly loved him. It's debatable whether Lear is completely conscious of his loss, but more plausible to suspect he is not fully affected by it as he is no longer in his right mind. Finally, Lear has dealt with the consequences of his decisions and is redeemed. Work Consulted: Halio, J. The Tragedy of King Lear. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Indian Frontier :: essays research papers

The Indian Frontier of the American West tells a story of the different Indian tribes and whites from 1846 to 1890. This period of time is very famous in American history. It produced some of the most widely heard of names in the battles between Indians and whites. These names include Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe, Sitting Bull of the Oglala Sioux, Cochise, Geronimo, and Mangas Coloradas, and John Ross of the Cherokee Nation. These names are still very respected among historians and are seen throughout history books used in schools across the nation. These names were involved in many battles with whites in the middle of the nineteenth century. In this book, Robert Utley describes how many different Indian cultures survived between 1846 and 1890. Utley also spent some time in discussing how Americans felt about Indians. This book also talked about how the American government was run, and how they dealt with the different Indian cultures. This book had a couple of interesting sto ries in it also. The dozens of cultures depicted in this book really made it somewhat interesting to read.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One story that I truly liked in the book was that of Yellow Wolf. Yellow Wolf was an extremely strong and wise Cheyenne Indian. He was a man that was known for his leadership in battles with the Utes, Pawnees, Kiowas, and Comanches. Yellow Wolf also played an important role in helping William Bent, also known as â€Å"Little White Man†, as to where to set up his trading post along the river. After Bent had set up his fort, Yellow Wolf traveled there in the summer. He watched as tens of thousands of white men move in and through the Indian country. This made him worry about the future of his people, something no other Cheyenne leader would even consider for years. In discussing his fears with an army officer he talks of how his people and the buffalo are disappearing. He also says that his people will become extinct unless they change and adopt the habits of white people. Yellow Wolf lived for eighteen years amongst the white man. In his final year of his li fe, Yellow Wolf watched his worst fears come true. Through all of this, he continued to believe that the only hope his people had was if they learned from the white man. On November 29, 1864, a white man from General Stephen Watts Kearney’s army gunned down Yellow Wolf.

Flexible Budget Essay

What is a flexible budget? A flexible budget projects budget data for various levels of activity. The flexible budget is a series of static budgets at different levels of activity. The flexible budget recognizes that the budgetary process is more useful if it is adaptable to changed operation conditions. Flexible budgets can be prepared for each of the types of budgets include in the master budget, so depending on your particular business you will have different budgets in your flexible budget. †¢ What are the steps to developing a flexible budget? The flexible budget uses the master budget as the basis. To develop the flexible budge the following steps need to be taken: 1)Identify the activity index and the relevant range of activity 2)Identify the variable costs, and determine the budgeted variable cost per unit of activity for each cost. 3)Identify the fixed costs, and determine the budgeted amount for each cost. 4)Prepare the budget for selected increments of activity within the relevant range. †¢ What information is found on a flexible budget report? Flexible budget reports are a type of internal report. The budget report consists of two sections 1) production data for a selected activity budget such a direct labor hours and 2) cost data for variable and fixed costs. The report provides a basis for evaluating a manager’s performance in two areas: production control and cost control. Flexible budgets are widely used in production and service departments †¢ How is that information used to evaluate performance? At the end of a budgeted period, you need to find out if your planned expenditures fell in line. The flexible budget is the budget with figures that are based on actual output. It is then compared to a company’s static budget to get variances between what level of spending was expected and what actually occurred.

Giordano’s current positioning strategy Essay

Giordano’s current positioning strategy is value for money or quality merchandise at affordable prices. That’s differentiating their products compare to other rivals. Moreover they put their service different with high level of service provided to customer, their sales staff is dedicated, ever smiling, well mannered and helpful. Those positioning strategies were success due to filling a gap in the market for trendy, yet reasonably priced unisex apparel, reinforcing the positioning with the appropriate marketing communications and the delivery of quality service. Giordano reposition itself against its competitors in its current and new markets: The possibility of changing current positioning in the light of developments in the industry, particularly with respect to consumers’ desire for trendier fashion, as well as the increase in the number and strength of competitors should also be discussed. For instance, students could critique the firm’s interpretation of these trends and its subsequent decision to upgrade its image and capture the up-scale segment. Obviously, this move may cause problems with its current core target segments. This was apparent from the failure of its Giordano Ladies’ venture, because the positioning strategy failed to differentiate the up-scale segment from the value-conscious segment. Giordano has fought hard to establish its brand name for its value-for-money proposition, but it is also because of its established branding that Giordano cannot easily change its positioning. However, it can be seen that Giordano took measures to avoid the problems of brand dilution, and to overcome its apparent difficulty in moving consumers’ perception of Giordano towards a high-end positioning. For instance, it established a new product line, Bluestar Exchange, to cater to the needs of its existing value-for-money segment and revamped the core brand with extensive marketing communications and gave its stores a new look. Giordano initially tried to acquire Theme International in November 1999 to carry its line of up-market ladies apparel, but its take-over bid was rejected by Theme’s management and stockholders. Instead of giving up entering the up-market segment, it re-launched Giordano Ladies and Giordano Junior to carry a trendier line of apparel, with encouraging results. We may conclude that, Giordano should not lose its focus on customer services as one of its core differentiating factors. Should it have different positioning strategies for different markets? There are possible problems with having different positioning strategies in different markets. For instance, the recent slight shift towards a higher end from the current low-end value-for-money positioning in Hong Kong was not fully executed in its other markets. Customers in these markets may become confused as to what Giordano stands for, and this inconsistency makes effective service strategy implementation difficult, particularly as consumers are becoming increasingly mobile and travel more frequently between Giordano’s core markets. In addition, economies of scale in apparel purchase, design and market communications may be diluted, if different strategies are followed across markets. If this trend persisted, Giordano may dilute its brand name and possibly might weaken its competitive advantage in other areas as well. Probably, Giordano would do better to keep a consistent positioning, keep its management focused on its core strengths, and send a clear message to all its staff and customers. Giordano are slowly and gradually moved its positioning upwards to meet the rising affluence, and hence the resulting desire for high end apparel, of its core target segment. As Giordano enters into new markets and face strong and similarly positioned competitors in these markets (The Gap in the US, Japan and most European markets), the pressure to adopt a slightly different position that suits the unique market situation of a particular country may increase. In this case, students could suggest that Giordano acquire another existing brand or start-up a new business entity under a different brand, with its own positioning strategy. In fact, this is illustrated by Giordano’s recent venture, Bluestar Exchange, which catered to amore price-conscious, mass-market segment. However, this strategy is extremely risky due to the costs involved in building a new marketing strategy and brand, and students may come to the conclusion that having a consistent positioning may be the etter option even if it means competing head-on with established brands. In conclusion, a potential strategy for Giordano could be to maintain its positioning in Hong Kong and over time slowly and gradually shift its position in its other markets slightly more up-market to follow its Hong Kong positioning. This strategy would have the added advantage that it would move upwards together with its core target segments, which is also developing upwards in terms of education and increasing disposable income due to most of Giordano’s Asian markets are developing fast. We believe that in the balance, it would be better for Giordano to maintain a consistent positioning across all markets, even when Giordano decides to enter countries with entrenched competitors with similar positioning. Should these competitors be too strong, we feel that it would be better not to enter this market rather than try to establish a new brand and strategy. The main reason is that this would be expensive and high risk as less of Giordano’s core strengths could be transferred to this new market, and benefits from economies of scale could not fully be reaped like in terms of manufacturing volumes, marketing and training.

Chinese Philosophy Essay Essay

Three areas of philosophy emerged amidst the chaos and constant warring of the Zhou era. The three were called Confucianism, Daoism, and legalism. They were Chinese philosophies that were thought to be the best ways to rule and achieve order in the society. Confucianism believed that a ruler’s job was to set a good example, and not order. Since people were thought of as naturally good, they would following the right path based on their own conscience. Legalism was a more harsh way of ruling, led by Hanfeizi. They thought people were evil, and needed strict laws and punishment to keep them in line. Daoism was very different from either of the other two. It was led by Laozi, who taught that the best kind of government was one who governed the least. They allowed things to simply take their natural course and work themselves out. Although both Daoism and legalism were working philosophies, Confucianism was the most effective in obtaining order. At the time of the three philosophies, Ancient China was in a state of complete chaos. The duration of anarchy was named The Warring States Period, a period in which small feuding kingdoms or fiefdoms struggled for supremacy. It took place in the Zhou dynasty from 403 bc. to 221bc. The period was dominated by seven or more small feuding Chinese kingdoms. It was the age of Confucian thinkers Mencius and Xunzi, and the time when many of the government institutions and cultural patterns that would characterize China for the next 2,000 years were established. Legalism achieved what all the other philosophies strove for, unification of China. The Qin Dynasty, operating under the Legalist philosophy, finally unified China in 221 BC. Legalism was a success. However, the Qin Dynasty dissolved only 14 years after it’s founding. The Qin emperor was ruthless in his use of Legalism, punishing even small crimes with decapitation or the loss of a hand or foot. Han Feizi, legalisms founder, did not believe in gaining the respect of the people. He stated † Those who are ignorant about government insistently say: â€Å"Win the hearts of the people â€Å"† (Document H). To uphold his beliefs books and scholars which held beliefs against Legalism (such as Confucianism) were destroyed. The people were heavily taxed and forced into labor on major government projects. He successfully put the fear and respect of the law and government into the people, but it was too much. After his death, peasant rebellions caused the end of Legalism as the ruling philosophy of China. The harshness of the Legalist Qin would be remembered afterwards, and in response the following dynasty, the Han, distanced itself from Legalism and made Confucianism the official philosophy. Daoism adds spirituality to the otherwise melancholy world of Chinese philosophy. The quote â€Å"Look to simplicity; cleave the uncarved block; Diminish self and curb desires† (Document G) is a perfect example of the views held by Daoist followers. Its teachings appealed to those who wished to withdraw from the politics and deception of society. Daoism’s concepts of harmony and relativity make a lot of sense even today. The idea of using nature as the model, which people look up to, is reflected in the religion. Because of its anti-society attitude, Daoism obviously never made its way into any systems of government. It survived among the private citizens and to this day, Daoist monks still exist in China. Daoism was founded by Laozi in the sixth century BC. His teachings were passed down orally before they were compiled in the third century BC in a book called the â€Å"Classic of the Way and Its Power. † Dao means â€Å"way. † It is understood that the Dao is the underlying pattern of the universe, which can neither be described in words nor conceived in thought. The goal of Daoism is to bring all elements of existence- heaven, earth, and man- into harmony. To be in accordance with the Dao, the individual must empty himself of doctrines and knowledge, act with simplicity and humility, and above all seek Nature. The idea of turning to Nature for peace and harmony had a great effect on East Asian cultures, especially in the arts, where idealized and imaginary landscapes and natural art forms are profoundly linked to the beliefs of Daoism. At first, Confucianism was unsuccessful and Confucius, during his lifetime only managed to collect a few followers. After his death, however, his followers passed on the Confucian tradition. It survived, with a few changes, to the Han dynasty (221 BC) and became established as China’s official philosophy. From then it was firmly well established in Chinese culture, and its values can still be seen today. The Five Classics of Confucianism were works from the Zhou Dynasty, which preceded the Warring States Period. They were collected and edited by members of the original  Confucian school. After Confucianism became the official state philosophy, one had to know the philosophy well in order to gain the coveted position of government official. The Analects are a collection of sayings by Confucius, recorded by his disciples. As a result, the Analects are not a widespread proposal of Confucianism. Rather, it is a collection of quotations and stories. Because of this, Confucianism according to Confucius is open to interpretation. The main idea of the philosophy is, righteousness, relationships and generosity towards others. Since the time of the Han dynasty (206 CE) four life passages have been recognized and regulated by Confucian tradition. There are approximately 6 million Confucians in the world. About 26,000 live in North America; almost all of the remainder are found throughout China and the rest of Asia. In Chinese tradition, filial piety was the key duty. In one of Confucious’ analects he stated, † The superior man while his parents are alive, reverently nourishes them; and when they are dead, reverently sacrifices to them. His chief thought is how, to the end of life, not to disgrace them† (Document B). Being a filial son meant absolute obedience to one’s parents during their lifetime and as they grew older, taking the best possible care of them. After their death the eldest son was required to perform ritual sacrifices at their gravesite or in the ancestral temple. A son could also express his devotion to his parents by passing the Civil Service examinations, winning prestige for the whole family. Most important of all, a son had to make sure that the family line would be continued. Dying without a son therefore was one of the worst offenses against the concept of filial piety. If a marriage remained barren, it was a son’s duty to take a second wife or adopt a child in order to continue the family. Since Chinese women became part of their husband’s family through marriage, filial conduct for a woman meant faithfully serving her in-laws, in particular her mother-in-law, and giving birth to a son. By fulfilling these duties, she also gained prestige for her own family. If the mother and daughter-in-law did not get along, filial piety demanded that a man should get rid of his wife in order to please his mother. He could always get another wife, but he would only have one mother. These social rules in the culture helped in the unification of families in China Some might argue that Daoism and Legalism were more efficient ways of acquiring harmony. Legalism was the most effective way of governing a society. The legalist tradition derives from the principle that the best way to control human behavior was through written law rather than through ritual, custom or ethics. The legalist tradition was derived from the principle that the best way to control human behavior was through written law rather than through ritual, custom or ethics. Daoism shaped Chinese life for more than 2,000 years. Daoism placed emphasis upon individual freedom and impulsiveness, non-interventionist government and social primitivism and ideas of self-transformation, and so represents in many ways the reverse of Confucian concern with individual moral duties, community standards, and governmental responsibilities. Both philosophies add up many pros, but fall short of Confucianism’s vast accomplishments. The inner pole of Confucianism was reformist, idealistic, and spiritual. It generated a high ideal for family interaction: members were to treat each other with love, respect, and consideration for the needs of all. The school of thought founded by Confucius has had the biggest impact on Chinese culture. It has lasted throughout the ages and literally pulled the Han Dynasty out of ruin and chaos. Even to this day, the influence of Confucianism can be espied in many matters of China.