Analysis Of Alighieris The Divine Comedy - 760 Words

In Alighieri’s â€Å"The Divine Comedy†, Dante learns a lot about the afterlife as he walks through The Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The way Alighieri uses first person and imagery changes the â€Å"normal† idea of heaven and hell and gives a new perspective on what happens after we die. Some of Alighieri’s most descriptive work is when he writes about the how the souls suffer in The Inferno and Purgatorio. In the beginning of the Inferno, Dante runs into three creatures that stop him from going up the mountain to heaven. It shows that sin stands between us and heaven. When Dante is told by Virgil that they will go through the whole afterlife, its symbolic that sometimes we have to go through Hell to get to heaven. Not shortly after he is†¦show more content†¦Alighieri writes in a way to make Satan to seem powerless and insignificant. It is further proved when Dante and Virgil crawl on him and he can’t do anything about it. Alighierià ¢â‚¬â„¢s use of first person adds a large amount of personalized reactions and adds a more human view on hell as opposed to the standard description of this horrible place. Through Dantes experiences, it is clear to see that it is worse than one might think. In the early cantos of The Inferno, Dante is often shocked by what he sees and feels bad for the souls that suffer. He commonly blacks out because the experiences are often too intense for him to handle. It’s not until canto VIII that Dante gets into the correct mindset of these people deserve to be here. â€Å"May you weep for all eternity, for I know you, hell dog, filthy as you are.†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"Down! Down! With the other dogs!† It’s a more personal story because Dante can see those who did wrong and truly see that all these souls deserve to be here. Later in Purgatorio, Dante comes across the circle of the proud and he feels like he needs to stay there because he is proud. In the end of Paradiso D ante meets God. Alighieri’s way of showing it is quite unique because he says that he can’t explain what happened, but how he remembers the great feeling that came with it. â€Å"The ravished memory swoons and falls away. As one who sees in a dream and wakes to find the emotional impression of his visionShow MoreRelated Analysis of the Inferno of Dante Alighieris Divine Comedy Essay1221 Words   |  5 PagesAnalysis of the Inferno of Dante Alighieris Divine Comedy The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri is considered by many as the first great poem in the Italian language and perhaps the greatest poem written in Medieval Europe. The poem is so famous that one of the minor characters, Capaneus the great blasphemer, has his name on a mesa on one of Jupiters moon Io (Blue, 1). Also, the poem is divided into three canticles, or sections, Inferno, Purgatorio, andRead More Analysis of Robert Frosts Fire and Ice Essay1087 Words   |  5 PagesAnalysis of Robert Frosts Fire and Ice      Ã‚  Ã‚   For Robert Frost, poetry and life   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   were one and the same.   In an interview he said, One thing I care about,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   and wish young people could care about, is taking poetry as the first form   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   of understanding.   Each Robert Frost poem strikes a chord somewhere, each   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   poem bringing us closer to life with the compression of feeling and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   emotion into so few words.   This essay will focus on one particularRead MoreCanto Xx of Dantes Inferno1074 Words   |  5 PagesAn Analysis of The Souls Damned in Canto XX from Dante Alighieri’s Inferno Introduction Virgil and Dante find themselves in Circle Eight, Bolgia Four. The damned in this circle are all diviners and soothsayers, viewed by Dante as practitioners of impious and unlawful arts who attempt to avert God’s designs by their predictions. Virgil implies that those who do prophesy believe that God Himself is â€Å"passive† in the face of their attempts to foresee, and possibly change, the future. For such impietyRead MoreAnalysis Of `` Inferno And Thomas More s Satirical Dialogue `` Utopia ``1366 Words   |  6 Pagesvarious techniques throughout their stories. There are a plethora of accounts where irony is apparent, including the sceneries, dialogue, and titles that are portrayed in their work. This essay will examine and compare the uses of irony in Dante Alighieri’s narrative poem, Inferno and Thomas More’s satirical dialogue, Utopia. Dante’s Inferno describes distinctive uses of irony through the punishments inflicted on the sinners of God. One example of irony in Dante’s Inferno is when Dante travels through

pantawid pamilyang pilipino program - 1609 Words

What is the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program? †¢ Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program is a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program that provides cash grants to poor households with children 0-14 years old and/or pregnant mothers, provided that they comply with the conditions set by the program †¢ Objectives: social assistance- provides conditional cash assistance to the poor to alleviate their immediate needs (short term poverty alleviation); and social development- aims to break the intergenerational poverty cycle through investments in human capital. Who are qualified for Pantawid Pamilya? A household may qualify for Pantawid Pamilya as a beneficiary if it satisfies two (2) criteria: 1.) At the time of the survey, the household must†¦show more content†¦What the grant does, though, is encourage people to keep their children in school and seek proper health care so that they can lift themselves out of poverty and gradually break the intergenerational transmission of poverty. What are the systems set up by DSWD to make Pantawid Pamilya work? †¢ In all Pantawid Pamilya areas, the following systems are established and running effectively: a. Compliance Verification System (CVS): reporting of health facility usage and school attendance to verify that children 0 -14 are complying with the conditions for the grants. The data generated by the CVS is the basis of the amount of cash grants a household can receive. b. Beneficiary Update system (BUS): regular reporting from beneficiaries on changes in household information such as new school enrollment or changes in health centers and other information that could affect the amount of cash grants they are entitled to receive. Updating information in the database is important as update errors may result in errors in compliance verification and consequently, deduction of grants. c. Grievance Redress System (GRS): reporting and addressing of grievances and complaints from beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries. Complaints are addressed and solved at the central, regional, provincial and municipality levels depending on the type of complaint. - See more at:Show MoreRelatedPantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program2005 Words   |  9 PagesMarch 18, 2013 DR. CORAZON C. RUBIO City Schools Division Superintendent DEPED-Quezon City Dear Dr. Rubio: This has reference to implementation of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program in NCR. We would like to express our sincere appreciation for your support in the administration of the CV forms for the 1st period of Compliance Verification System covering the months of January-February 2013 and submission of the CVS forms on time. In relation to the forthcoming compliance monitoring for the 2ndRead More4ps-Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program3477 Words   |  14 Pagesgovernment developed the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4P’S) that has now become its flagship social assistance program to help the poor. Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program is a Modified Conditional Cash Transfer for the poor families in the Philippines. According to Lucy Basset in her discussion paper entitled â€Å"Can Conditional Cash Transfer Programs Play a Greater Role in Reducing Child Undernutrition?, October 2008, Conditional Cash Transfer Conditional Cash Transfer programs (CCTs) provide cashRead MorePANTAWID PAMILYANG PILIPINO PROGRAM (4Ps) Case Study4557 Words   |  19 PagesA CASE STUDY ON THE DELISTED BENEFICIARIES OF PANTAWID PAMILYANG PILIPINO PROGRAM (4Ps) INTRODUCTION A Conditional Cash Transfer Program is a program implemented by the government where money (cash grants) is given to eligible beneficiaries given that these beneficiaries comply with certain conditions such as nutrition, education, family development sessions, and other such services offered by the government. It is a means of helping the beneficiaries through provision of social and medical assistanceRead MoreThe Effectiveness of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program to the Education of Its Beneficiaries1902 Words   |  8 Pagesbeneficiaries. The program aims to help not only the youth of Metro Manila but also the youth of the whole country. Our government is one of the institutions that guide or motivate us to succeed. They want to prioritize our rights, especially for the children. They want us to achieve the primary education so that, they built public schools. But there’s still a high absentee rate of the students because the income of their parents can only provide them food. Even though there are many programs implementedRead MoreThesis Proposal on 4ps2804 Words   |  12 PagesLevel of Awareness of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) Beneficiaries in Barangay Lagao, General Santos City A Thesis Proposal Presented to Dr. Epimaco Cabanlit Graduate Program Master in Public Administration Mindanao State University General Santos City In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in PA 299 (Research Methods in Public Administration) By Lorymae B. Padillo March 16, 2013 CHAPTER 1 Introduction Poverty has been a problem in the PhilippinesRead More4ps in the Philippines3303 Words   |  14 PagesUNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES MANILA College of Arts and Sciences Department of Social Sciences DEVELOPMENT STUDIES PROGRAM THE EFFECTS OF PANTAWID PAMILYANG PILIPINO PROGRAM IN THE LIVES OF BENEFICIARIES IN THE CITY OF MANILA (Thesis Proposal) MARY GRACE FABROS BA Development Studies UP Manila Statement of the problem The Philippines has been battling against poverty for over several years now. The problem with poverty was inherited by every president, the highest ranking official of the republicRead MoreAcademic Performance of 4ps Pupils6357 Words   |  26 Pages 4P’s PROGRAM AND THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF ELEMENTARY PUPILS IN CABULISAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, INOPACAN DISTRICT S.Y. 2014-2015 Introduction Research Questions This economic paper seeks to determine the 4P’s program and the academic performance of the Elementary pupils. Specifically, it seeks answers to the following questions. 1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of? 2.1. Gender 2.2. Age 2.3. Grade 2.4. Total number of children in theRead MoreThe Effectiveness of Conditional Cash Transfers: A Case Study of the Philippines Nathalie van1800 Words   |  8 Pagesthe Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The wanted progress on the second goal ‘Achieve Universal Primary Education’ is most likely not going to be achieved. How is that possible since they implemented a Conditional Cash Transfers (or simply CCT) program? Should they have changed the schooling system earlier instead of trying CCT, did in fact prevent CCT further decrease of inaccessible education or is it perhaps the combination of both? The reaching of goal four ‘Reduce Child Mortality’ has a moreRead MoreEducation Is The Root And Foundation Of A Person s Growth Essay1572 Words   |  7 Pagesviolated and neglected. Laws, projects, proposals, programs, and provisions are being issued by the Philippines for better development of education for everyone. Despite all of this, circumstances that create conflicts such as killing and violation of rights are the reasons that make it difficult for the Lumads to have an easy a ccess to their needs especially education for children. 　　The Department of Education constructed a free education program called the Alternative Learning System. RequiredRead MoreSona Reaction Paper1709 Words   |  7 Pagesand government departments who made outstanding services for the country, and also strongly-worded criticisms against corrupt public servants and erring government agencies. He cited the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and increase in number of TESDA graduates. I disagree with the 4ps, its teaching Pilipinos how to become lazy, there is a saying, â€Å"give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish, and you feed him for a life time.† It is more  worthwhile  to  teach  someone to

Economics and Market free essay sample

?Assess the view that making an oligopolistic market more contestable is the best way to improve the efficiency of that market. The theory of perfectly contestable markets was presented as a generalization of the theory of perfectly competitive markets and was presented as providing guidelines for the conduct of regulation, namely to allow freedom of entry and exit and to ensure equal access of competitors. An oligopolistic market is a particular market that is controlled by a small number of firms. An oligopoly is much like a monopoly, in which only one company exerts control over most of a market, however in an oligopoly, there are at least two firms controlling the market. A contestable market is one where incumbent firms face real and potential competition. A market with only one firm can still be contestable if there are serious threats of entry into that market. By increasing a market’s contestability, the overall efficiency should improve because it would make incumbent firms more productively, dynamically, allocatively and x-efficient. This essay will therefore argue that contestability is the best way to make a market more competitive as it improves all four aspects of efficiency. In order to improve a market’s contestability, barriers to entry must be lowered. The Royal Mail used to be a legal monopoly but now firms are allowed to enter the market for sending letters. This has increased contestability. Patents and other legislative barriers could be lowered in order to increase contestability. Firms are therefore able to produce products that they would previously not have been allowed to make. However there is also a danger that by reducing patents, firms and entrepreneurs will have no incentive to invent or innovate. Reducing tariffs, such as the European Union’s decision to reduce tariffs on imported goods from the within the EU from January 2014, will cause firms’ costs to diminish thus making it more likely that they will sell their goods. Additionally, by fighting against collusion, predatory pricing and cartels, it is easier for firms to enter the market which will increase contestability. Firms that would have considered colluding or entering a cartel are unlikely to do so in a contestable market because of the possibility of a new firm that can produce the good at a lower price or a hit and run entry. If there are low entry and exit costs then firms can engage in hit and run tactics. This means that if an industry is making supernormal profits, then a firm can enter and take advantage of the high prices and high profits. Cartels and collusion are both inefficient because they involve limiting output while raising the price of their good which makes them allocatively and productively inefficient. Thus a contestable market is more efficient. In an incontestable market, a firms’ aim of gaining monopoly power through profit maximisation by producing at the output of MC=MR (Figure 1) is productively, allocatively and x-inefficient because they can satisfice and produce above the SRACT (Figure 2). X-efficiency occurs when a firm operates on their SRATC and they are likely to be more inefficient if they are in an incontestable market because they do not need to produce on their SRATC. Productive efficiency involves producing at the lowest point on a firms short run average cost curve where AC=MC and Allocative efficiency occurs where MC=AR and when all resources are being distributed in order to meet demand. If this market were contestable, then firms would be forced to be produce at lower costs and sell at lower prices, thus being more efficient. Unless the incumbent firm reduces its costs, then they will have to leave the market or risk making subnormal profits. This can be seen on Fig. 3 where P2 and Q2 make normal profit thus avoiding threat of entry from other firms. This is in comparison to the incontestable market of P1 and Q1 where the firm profit maximises where MC=MR. Firms in a contestable market are therefore is productively, allocatively and x-efficient. As a result of the fact that firms, in a contestable market, need to continuously improve consumer choice and their quality of goods or services, they are more likely to dynamically efficient. Dynamic efficiency comprises of firms investing in better quality of product or more consumer choice. Although firms in an incontestable market are more likely to have larger supernormal profits, they are less likely to invest their money because they have less of an incentive to compete and may decide to satisfice rather than invest in research and development. Therefore a firm in a contestable market must be more dynamically efficient if they want to continue to make profit because they are competing with other firms and must differentiate themselves through an improved quality of product. Another way to improve contestability is through the internet. The internet can lower market costs and sunk costs for new firms. Firms no longer have to worry about spending excessively on advertisement to create powerful brand. With minimal expenditure, they can easily reach millions of consumers worldwide. Also, since the costs of exit are lower, more will be willing to take risk. Furthermore, the internet means some businesses may choose to operate completely online which significantly helps to reduce large overhead costs. However large established firms can practice limit pricing and can lower down the price of their goods to a level where new firms may find it unprofitable to join the industry.

Dont Intentionally Misrepresent Anything free essay sample

Legal Standards are enforced 2. Ethical standards come from society Bases for Ethical Systems Deontological†¢Standards-based ethics †¢uses specific rules Teleological†¢Results-Based Ethics †¢defines right and wrong in terms of end results Utilitarianism†¢Started by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) †¢Tried to reform some of the unfair laws in England †¢Developed a theory that the morally correct rule was the one that provided othe greatest good to the greatest number of people. The greatest good for the greatest number Ethical Ambivalence †¢results from learning that everything is relative. †¢Are there any moral absolutes? Is the language of ethics different from other uses of language? Guidelines for Ethical Behavior Universal Nature †¢The golden rule †¢Everyone plays by the same rules Truth Telling†¢Trust facilitates cooperation Responsibility for Ones Actions†¢Dont blame others for your problems †¢The victim mentality ________________________________________ †¢ INFLUENCES ON THE SALESPERSON’S ETHICS Company Code of Ethics Government action and fear of retribution have induced more companies to adopt a code Typical issues covered†¢Expense accounts †¢Gift giving †¢Unethical demands by a buyer †¢Promises about performance or delivery Selling unnecessary products Role Modeling by Executives and Sales Managers Examples Set by Colleagues and Competitor The Bottom Line†¢Profit? †¢Survival? Groupthink †¢peer pressure †¢group develops a set of shared perspectives that may be unrealistic but are strongly supported by the members of t he group. Gamesmanship winning for the sake of winning †¢ DEVELOPING A PERSONAL CODE OF ETHICS Responsibility to Self†¢your conscience Responsibility to your Company†¢Inaccuracies in Expense Accounts †¢Honesty in Using Time and Resources †¢Accuracy in Filling Out Order Forms †¢Representing the Company Responsibility to Competitors Responsibility o Customers†¢Overselling and Misrepresenting Products or Services †¢Keeping Confidences †¢Gifts †¢Entertainment ________________________________________ †¢ OPERATING IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT Some cultures have different expectations U. S. citizens are expected to follow U. S. laws ________________________________________ †¢ ETHICS AND JOB TENURE Whistle-Blowing 1. You may be held legally accountable for inaction 2. Recent rulings encourage whistle blowing 3. Sometimes the best policy may be to keep quiet until solid evidence can be accumulated against a wrongdoer. 4. A word of caution†¦ i naction can even be grounds for legal action. How Does the Company Treats the Salesperson 1. Some incentives encourage fudging 2. Management may not be accessible to help with dilemmas 3. Do control mechanisms exist for a. Customer complaints b. Salesperson dissatisfaction c. Expense accounts 4. Are sales goals impossible 5. Be sure managers fairly manage the distribution of sales territories ________________________________________ †¢ SEXUAL HARASSMENT A. Nearly 16000 complaints per year B. Look for a harassment policy including A. Company Leadership B. Immediate complaint investigation C. Privacy rights protected D. Thorough follow up E. Sensitivity training F. Review training for comprehension G. Periodic refresher courses ________________________________________ †¢ ETHICS AS GOOD BUSINESS A. Unethical activity costs business B. Check Points in Ethical Decision-Making 1. Is it legal? 2. Is it fair to all concerned? 3. Would I want someone else to act this way to me? 4. How would I explain my actions to someone else? 5. How will it make me feel about myself? Remember†¦There is no pillow as soft as a clear conscience. ________________________________________ †¢ LEGAL ISSUES FACING THE SALESPERSON It is easy to violate many of the laws Some Legal Traps†¢Quality below standard specified Violation of delivery date †¢Pricing concessions †¢Incomplete or incorrect instructions †¢Price fixing †¢Delivering a different brand than that sold †¢Misrepresentation of product usage †¢Slandering competitor †¢Kickbacks to buyer †¢Charges after the sale †¢Misuse of proprietary data †¢Signin g agreements without the proper authorization Categories of Laws†¢Antimonopoly †¢Deceptive actions †¢Preserve competition ________________________________________ †¢ SPECIFIC ANTITRUST LAWS AND THEIR SALES IMPLICATIONS The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914†¢Unfair methods of competition and commerce Unfair or deceptive acts or practices The Robinson Patman Act of 1936†¢Defines price discrimination †¢Gives FTC the right to limit quantity discounts †¢Prohibits unfair promotional allowances †¢Brokerage allowances only go to brokers ________________________________________ †¢ THE UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE (UCC) guidelines for selling 1. Written or verbal offers to sell may be binding 2. Financing must be explained clearly and completely 3. Salesperson must know legal responsibilities of both parties Warranties and guarantees a. Express warranties are made by salesperson or in writing b. Implied warranties . State law 2. Unless a disclaimer is made ________________________________________ †¢ COOLING-OFF LAW ________________________________________ †¢ How to keep out of Legal Trouble 1. Puffery vs. statements of fact. 2. Educate the customer thoroughly before making the sale 3. Know technical specs, etc. for the product you sell. 4. Know your companys literature. Challenge it if is false 5. Know the terms of sale policies. You can bind the company 6. Know federal and state laws regarding your product and its warranties 7. Dont guess at your products capabilities Common Ethical Issues for Salespeople What are the most common ethical issues facing salespeople? Many of the most common situations you could face as a salesperson involve issues such as the following: †¢A customer asking for information about one of their competitors, who happens to be one of your customers †¢Deciding how much to spend on holiday season gifts for your customers †¢A buyer asking for something special, which you could easily provide, but aren’t supposed to give away †¢Deciding to play golf on a nice day, since no one knows if you are actually at work or not Let’s examine each of the issues. In the first issue, a customer owns the information about their business. The salesperson may hold that information, such as how many cases of the product they purchase or who their customers are, but that salesperson does not have the right to share that information with the customer’s competitor. In many instances, a buyer may ask the seller to sign a nondisclosure agreement because, in order to serve the buyer, the seller will gain access to important private information about that buyer. But even if there is no nondisclosure agreement, courts are likely to agree with the buyer that the seller has an obligation to protect the buyer’s information. In the second issue, the concern is whether the gift is so extravagant that it is considered a bribe. In some companies, such as IBM and Walmart, buyers are not allowed to accept so much as a free cup of coffee from a seller. These companies do not allow their buyers to receive promotional items such as a pen or coffee cup with the seller’s logo on it because they want every vendor to have free access to sales opportunities and earn the business on their merits, not their freebies. Many buyers would question the motives of a salesperson giving too large a gift. Most salespeople agree that lavish entertainment and gifts are becoming less important in business because decision makers know these add to the costs of doing business and they’d rather get a better price than be entertained. Figure 13. 12. Lavish gifts like this watch may be nice, but many buyers will consider it too lavish and wonder about the salesperson’s motives. The third issue is tough for salespeople because there are two factors involved: a possible violation of company policy and providing an unfair advantage to one customer. Customers may not know that their special request could get the alesperson in trouble and the request may be reasonable, just against company policy. In that instance, the salesperson should not follow through on the request, though it might make sense to see if the policy can be changed. The second factor, though, is a bit more difficult because the request can be unfair to other customers, and may cause legal problems. As long as the s pecial request can be provided to anyone who asks for it, no law is broken. What if the special request is for a discount? Pricing discrimination laws could come into play if such a discount is not made available to all who ask. What if the request isn’t illegal, but other customers find out and get upset that they weren’t offered the same benefit? Then the salesperson may get a reputation for being untrustworthy. In the final issue, the question is whether the salesperson is cheating the company out of time and effort. Some argue that a salesperson who is paid straight commission (paid by the sale) is not stealing anything from the company, but others argue that even in that instance, the company is being deprived of possible sales that would be gained if the salesperson was working. Figure 13. 3. Even though it is a beautiful day for golf, a salesperson who takes time away from the job is stealing time from the company, and losing sales opportunities as well. Taking a customer to play may be a different story; such a game may be a time to strengthen a relationship, as long as the customer does not feel manipulated or obligated. These are not the only issues that salespeople face. In the Unite d States, two basic principles of business are that everyone should have an equal opportunity to earn business, and the customer remains free to make a choice. Manipulation, a form of unethical sales behavior, unfairly reduces or eliminates a buyer’s ability or opportunity to make a choice. Persuasion, on the other hand, may influence a buyer’s decision, but the decision remains the buyer’s. Manipulation can include misrepresentation, or claiming a product does something it doesn’t, but it can also include withholding important information, using hard-sell tactics, and other unfair sales tactics. However, as mentioned earlier, salespeople tend to be ethical people. The use of manipulative sales tactics is actually pretty rare. Company Safeguards Salespeople often work in the field and are therefore not under constant supervision. Even inside salespeople may be able to get away with less than ethical behavior as no supervisor can watch or hear everything. So how do companies manage ethical practices? The first step is to develop policies based on the company’s mission and values (recall these from Chapter 2, Strategic Planning) that describe what is acceptable and what is not. Good ethical policies not only list or describe appropriate and inappropriate behaviors, they also describe the underlying principles. Not all ethical dilemmas can be listed in a policy, so by detailing the principles and values that make up the reasoning behind the policies, salespeople and sales managers will be more prepared to respond appropriately. Codes of ethics, or ethics policies, can be pretty detailed. Shell’s ethics policy, for example, is a book over 20 pages long! Not only do these cover how salespeople (and other company representatives) should interact with customers, they also detail how employees should treat each other and how the company’s vendors should be treated. To see an example of a brief code of ethics for salespeople, visit Sales and Marketing Executives International’s Web site, http://www. smei. org/displaycommon. cfm? an=1subarticlenbr=16. ) A good second step is to train all salespeople and sales managers on the policy. One reason for such training is to secure greater support and application of the policy, but another reason is that, should a salesperson engage i n an unethical or illegal activity, the company is protected. The Federal Sentencing Guidelines (FSG) were first developed in 1987 and then updated in 2007, and specify what happens to companies when employees commit breaches of ethics. Companies that have solid policies and train all employees on those policies can, rightfully under the FSG, claim that any unethical employee was acting against company policies and on his or her own, should anyone file charges against the company. Solid policies and employee training can then be used as a defense against such charges, and the company would not be held liable. Yet training alone is insufficient. The company must also enforce the policy and have procedures in place that make enforcement possible. For example, a company should have a mechanism for reporting unethical activity in a way that protects the person making the report. Many companies have anonymous message boxes that enable an employee to report unethical activity. One similar and common practice is to have an ethics office, charged with investigating any complaints. The FSG requires that companies also have internal auditing procedures to ensure that misconduct can be detected. Note that these codes of ethics, the FSG, and the policies and procedures affect all employees. These were not created just because of salespeople. Marketers have faced ethics challenges in how claims are made in advertising, while supply chain managers have encountered dilemmas in dealing ethically with vendors. Managers, in any area of the firm, encounter challenges regarding equal opportunity and creating an appropriately professional work environment. Challenges Facing Sales Managers Sales managers face the same challenges in managing salespeople that all managers face. These include ensuring that hiring, compensation, and other management practices are not discriminatory, that sexual harassment finds no home in the workplace, and that employees are treated with dignity and respect. Other challenges may arise, though. For example, salespeople have to be in front of customers when customers are available. Earlier, we discussed how the number of calls made can impact a salesperson’s success. So should a sales manager schedule all training sessions on weekends, when buyers are at home and not available for sales calls? Does the answer to that question change if the salesperson is paid a salary or a commission? Recently, one sales manager reported a customer who said he wanted no Muslims calling on him. Another sales manager said when she and her salesperson (another woman) sat down with a buyer (a male), the buyer had pornography on his computer monitor. Do those sales managers assign new salespeople to the accounts? Or do they â€Å"fire† the customer? If the customer was to be fired, the salesperson would lose commission. Yet in both instances, the managers said they fired the customer, an action that both salespeople were happy with, and they were reassured that the loss of the sale wouldn’t be held against them. The loss of the commission was worth it. In sales, several laws apply that also apply in other areas of marketing but are more prominent in sales. For example, the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) determines when a sale is a sale. Typically, a sale is a sale when the product is delivered and accepted by the buyer. In most instances, the customer can cancel the order with no penalty unless accepted. Sales managers have to be aware of such laws in order to avoid creating policies that can be illegal. Laws that affect sales operations include pricing discrimination, which we discuss in Chapter 15, Price, the Only Revenue Generator, and privacy laws, discussed earlier. In addition, laws regarding hiring practices, workplace safety, and others can affect sales managers. If global sales situations arise, the Federal Corrupt Practices Act—which prohibits bribery and other practices that might be culturally acceptable elsewhere but that are illegal in the United States—comes into play. For these reasons, sales managers should develop close working relationships with the human resources department. These professionals, along with the legal department, are charged with staying abreast of legal changes that influence management practice. Key Takeaway Salespeople are, for the most part, caring, ethical professionals. They do face unique ethical challenges because of their job, including how to handle unethical requests from customers and making sure that they know and follow all company policies for interacting with customers. American salespeople have the added constraint that what’s illegal in the United States is illegal for them in other countries because of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, even if the behavior in question is acceptable to those countries’ laws and practices. Sales managers have all the usual management concerns, such as fair hiring practices. According to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, managers also have to develop policies and practices that codify ethical behaviors, train salespeople on the ethics policies, and ensure that the policies are followed. In addition, sales managers have to be aware of laws such as the Universal Commercial Code and others that govern sales transactions. Review Questions 1. Do salespeople deserve the image or negative stereotype? Why or why not? 2. Do ethics get in the way of success in sales? Why or why not? 3. What safeguards do companies enact to ensure ethical behavior among salespeople and sales managers? Ethical Selling and Sales Management A code of sales ethics is fundamental to sales success. It is the foundation on which sales techniques and strategies are built, and provides solid footing on which long-term, profitable businesses are built. Written Feb 15, 2008, read 6991 times since then. More Sharing Services | Share Sales people perform amid the convergence of three demanding masters: employer, customer and self. Each party has their own agenda and the sales person, who clearly has a personal agenda, is the arbitrator. †¢The employer/seller is seeking sales, profit margin and correctly consummated closings. †¢The customer/buyer is seeking solution, value and correctly consummated closings. †¢The salesperson has the above objectives in mind and also their own income potential. The common desire is that the sale be closed correctly. All three parties want to leave the closing feeling pleased with the final result and process that lead to it. Critical to this three-way satisfaction is the sales person saying and doing the right things and not over-promising. True and correct disclosure is the basic tenet: disclosing to the customer what the product truly is, how it can solve problems and disclosing to their employer who the customer is and what they want. It is a challenging work of communication, that can easily be confused accidentally and deliberately. The deliberate error most often is caused by money. People, including sales people, sellers and buyers all have and will act oddly for money. Money can lead us astray. Sales people have the added pressure of variable income streams and the challenge of having great months and poor months. The question is, â€Å"Will our sales people hold their ethical posture when times are bad? † Micro-management is one tool to deal with this disclosure problem and many companies now use scripts and legal approval of any and all flyers or letters that a sales person might use. Misrepresentation is embarrassing and expensive. It can result in loss of business, loss of customers and worst-case scenario, class action suits. Ethical selling is an adjunct to micro-management and an enhancement to any sales effort. Sales people need to know about the conflicted position that they are in and use their own ethical posture to bolster their customer relations and service. Ethical selling is developing trust: teaching individual sales people to act rightly, to say and print the right things; to not over-promise and make sure that buyers and sellers are fully informed. The customer is not always right. Not all customers should be sold to, and sometimes, customers should be fired. In every walk of life there are liars and thieves. Just as sales people can over-promise and not deliver, so too can customers. The promise of purchases is not the same thing as actually making the purchase. And paying for the purchase and the product performing as advertised complete the transaction. Sales people certainly know that all customers are not created equal. Some are large buyers and some are small. Some have prompt payment habits and some don’t pay at all. Though we would prefer the large buyers who pay promptly, what we must truly avoid are those customers that never pay. These are the unethical customers that should be avoided. Do our sales people know to avoid them? Quality begets quantity. If and when sale people are ethical (courteous, responsible and honest) they can and will attract similar type customers. They will also be able to identify customers that may not be so. Unethical customers are to be avoided. The customer is not always right. Ethical selling involves both sales people and their customers. Can our sales people be ethical and also find like-minded customers? Be ethical thyself and do business with same. Liars and thieves can and will play â€Å"money games† and lead a sales person astray. Are our sales people ethically secure? Competitors are not the enemy. Sometimes they will win the day and sometimes we will. No one wins every game they play, but how do we handle defeat? Do we disparage our competitors or our operations / fulfillment teams? Do we sulk and complain to anyone and everyone? Or do we examine the events and learn from them? Mistakes will happen and perfection is a very hard performance level to achieve and impossible to maintain for very long. Mis-communication does happen. Shipping delays occur and people do get sick and take vacations; all of which can cause a sale to not close correctly. Ethical sales people know this and can deal with these errors, and they can also communicate clearly what did occur and what might be done, without recrimination or assassination. Ethical selling provides a framework to accept both success and loss. Surely, success is the preferred outcome, but experience and character are most often acquired when we lose. Losing is not bad, if we learn and grow from it. Developing a personal code of ethics is critical in the development of successful sales people. I am coming from the mortgage industry, which is suffering now for many reasons and one is a market wide lack of ethical behavior. Too many players, sales people, sellers (lenders) and buyers (borrowers) are misbehaving. Too many loans have been closed that were not true and correct. Misrepresentation is not the only problem in the current mortgage crisis, but it is a contributory factor and there is truly no need for such and no excuse for such.

Wind Essays - Atmospheric Dynamics, Vortices, Wind

Wind Wind can tell us many things about weather conditions. A person knowledgeable about local weather can take the temperature and dew point, wind data and altimeter setting and make a pretty good estimate of what the present weather is. He can throw away all but the wind and still give you an approximate weather outlook. There is a simple key to understanding wind: Variations in pressure from place to place create wind, because air tends to flow from high pressure to low, as water flows from high ground to low. This phenomenon has led to the creation of a model to explain worldwide air circulation. Because cooler air is denser than warmer air, its pressure is higher. As air at the equator warms and rises, the pressure in the area lowers. Heavier, cooler air tends to flow toward the low, and as it does, it causes the warmer air to flow upward and poleward, where it cools and develops higher pressure. This air, in turn, will then tend to flow back toward the equator. The same principle of circulation--from areas of high pressure to areas of low--also governs the circulation around the high- and low-pressure areas that move across our country. Isobars are lines drawn on a map to link points of equal atmospheric pressure. The textbook rule says that wind flows parallel to the isobars, but this appears to conflict with the basic principle of flow. If air flows from high pressure to low, shouldn't its movement be perpendicular to the isobars? The answer is that the rotation of the earth deflects the wind flow about 90 degrees, causing the air to circulate around the pressure systems instead of directly from one system to another. In the Northern Hemisphere, the flow is clockwise around high-pressure areas and counterclockwise around lows. This fact gives us a start on wind-based weather information. If you stand with your back to the wind, low pressure will be to your left. If there's a strong crosswind component aloft, worse weather is ahead if the wind is from your left and better weather if the wind is from your right. Knowing these basics of wind flow will never take the place of a good weather map and the information we get from the National Weather Service, but it can be helpful when the forecasts are all going sour. The strength of wind flow is governed by how much the barometric pressure changes within a given distance. As they tell you in basic meteorology, the closer the isobars are to each other, the stronger the wind. Strong winds mean the highs are very high and the lows are very low. Air assumes the properties of the area over which it flows: Warm air comes form the south, cold air from the north. Moist air comes from over water, dry air from over large land masses. The vigor with which the wind blows is an indication of how much moisture, or how much dry air, is overspreading the area. Winds in the middle and high levels tell the meteorologist a lot, too. Wind speeds around highs differ from those around lows. A high is usually large in area and the pressure change near its center tends to be gradual. Also, because of friction effects, the surface winds tend to flow clockwise and outward (about 30 degrees) around a high. The wind is thus light and the weather usually good near its center. The flow around a low is counterclockwise and inward, so the wind tends to accelerate nearer the center, which is usually small compared to the center of a high. The strength and direction of wind flow also provide excellent clues to approaching weather. If a cold front passes your location, a good northwesterly flow of cold, dry air settling in behind it is an indication that the high behind the front is of respectable size and strength. If the flow behind the front is weak, the high probably doesn't amount to much, and the odds of having a prolonged period of good weather following the front are slim. If the weatherman mentions an approaching low-pressure system but the winds outside are light, the low is probably far away or weak. If the wind is freshening rapidly, the low is probably strong. The stronger the wind circulating around the low, the more severe will be any storm associated with it. Furthermore, as lows deepen the circulation around them increases while the movement of the low across the country slows. Severe blows

Free Essays on The Dust Bowl

The 1930’s Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl of the 1930’s took place in the southwestern Great Plains region of the United States. While it lasted for merely a decade, its extreme conditions and impacts still affects people today. Numerous causes attributed to the beginnings of the massive and destructive Dust Bowl. Overproduction of wheat served as the storm’s main cause, over 12 million bushels of wheat existed in the United States. In 1915 3,000 tractors existed in the entire state of Kansas later, by 1930 the tractor quantity grew to 60,000 (Dustbowl np). Yearly, the farmers planted wheat on the same soil without thinking of any long-lasting damage done. Over plowed, the millions of acres of grasslands in the Great Plains turned the once nutritious soil into a fine unprotected dust (Bonnifield np). Eventually at the end of 1931, extreme droughts began. The lack of rainfall and extreme winds developed into â€Å"black blizzards†, where a wall of dust and smoke turns midday into night. Life turned into a struggle for almost all families located in the southern Great Plains, especially farmers (Bonnifield np). Children began to wear facemasks to serve as protection from the pungent smoke and women strung wet sheets over windows to stop the dust and dirt. A mass migration of families began, "Okies and Arkies" traveled west to California with their families, desperately searching for work. Farmers tried desperately to plant, but without water and nutritious soil, the windstorms swept their crops away. John Steinbeck accurately sums up the migration of the dustbowl in the Grapes of Wrath on page 317, "And then the dispossessed were drawn west- from Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico; from Nevada and Arkansas, families, tribes, dusted out, tractored out. Car-loads, carav ans, homeless and hungry; twenty thousand and fifty thousand and a hundred thousand and two hundred thousand. They streamed over the mountains, hungry and restless... Free Essays on The Dust Bowl Free Essays on The Dust Bowl The 1930’s Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl of the 1930’s took place in the southwestern Great Plains region of the United States. While it lasted for merely a decade, its extreme conditions and impacts still affects people today. Numerous causes attributed to the beginnings of the massive and destructive Dust Bowl. Overproduction of wheat served as the storm’s main cause, over 12 million bushels of wheat existed in the United States. In 1915 3,000 tractors existed in the entire state of Kansas later, by 1930 the tractor quantity grew to 60,000 (Dustbowl np). Yearly, the farmers planted wheat on the same soil without thinking of any long-lasting damage done. Over plowed, the millions of acres of grasslands in the Great Plains turned the once nutritious soil into a fine unprotected dust (Bonnifield np). Eventually at the end of 1931, extreme droughts began. The lack of rainfall and extreme winds developed into â€Å"black blizzards†, where a wall of dust and smoke turns midday into night. Life turned into a struggle for almost all families located in the southern Great Plains, especially farmers (Bonnifield np). Children began to wear facemasks to serve as protection from the pungent smoke and women strung wet sheets over windows to stop the dust and dirt. A mass migration of families began, "Okies and Arkies" traveled west to California with their families, desperately searching for work. Farmers tried desperately to plant, but without water and nutritious soil, the windstorms swept their crops away. John Steinbeck accurately sums up the migration of the dustbowl in the Grapes of Wrath on page 317, "And then the dispossessed were drawn west- from Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico; from Nevada and Arkansas, families, tribes, dusted out, tractored out. Car-loads, carav ans, homeless and hungry; twenty thousand and fifty thousand and a hundred thousand and two hundred thousand. They streamed over the mountains, hungry and restless... Free Essays on The Dust Bowl In the early 1900's, times were hard for people. Recovering from the first world war, where an overproduction of goods led to an extreme surplus of goods. This caused prices on goods fall dramatically. This was the beginning of the Great Depression. Contrary to it’s name, the Great Depression wasn’t really all that Great. America was poverty-stricken, and suffering. There was a shortage of food, money, and everything else needed to make a living, and provide for a family. To make any money, farmers had to produce more and more crops to survive at the same rate as they were before the United States entered the war. This led to the extreme use of, and over producing on the land. All the grasslands were plowed to make way for more crops. The rich, fertile soil of the Great Plains region was destroyed. These elements when added to the fact that during the late 1920's and throughout the 1930's, the United States Great Plains Region was an era plagued by scorching droughts, and heavy but short rainy seasons. During the winter, the soil just washed away without any plant roots to provide a foundation. When the Summer months came, the Central region of the United States recieved so little rain. The winds would come across the plains, and just pick up the once-fertile top soil and blows it up and into the atmosphere. These winds would pick up so much dust that there were opaque clouds of it that hung in the sky for days at a time. Called â€Å"Black Blizzards† the dust would then be blown around by the westerly winds that average a constant 15 miles per hour. As it settled back down to the barren earth, it would cover everything in layers and drifts just like it would in a snowstorm. This included the crops of the determined farmers who had worked so hard for the harvest. The dust would blow for days at a time. The dust would seep into the homes of people and create layers of dust upon everything. Several people actually died from ...

Policy Proposal to Institute Ethics in Business Essay

Policy Proposal to Institute Ethics in Business - Essay Example I am sure that you have been briefed by your staff about the capital surplus that was just parked last year that amounted to a couple of trilion dollars that instead of reinvesting to expand the operation of business and create jobs (that would have helped us recover from the recession) businessmen and investors alike just waited and see. That is more devastating than what Enron and company did to the US economy for it is already a crisis of confidence of which we will not know when it will be over. I cannot stress enough how important it is for businesses to act ethically and responsibly. It is not just about being proper as a corporate entity but to avoid the economic consequences if business will misbehave. I am well aware that government cannot alter how people thinks and behaves but it has the power and resources to restructure the corporate and legal environs that would rehabilitate corporate behaviour and align its actions to a desirable corporate citizenship that is wanted by all through its various legal and policy instrumentalities that would make it act ethical. To achieve this, there are two policy proposals that I would like to suggest. This two pronged proposal is based on two principles. First, instilling business ethics at a preparatory level to make it as part of discipline that business professionals has to learn and imbue. Second is to make corporate malfeasance less advantageous by imposing heavy penalties to the level of economic sabotage to those corporations and individuals who will transgress the ethical law therefore serving it as a deterrence towards corporate malfeasance. At present, the punishment and aggravation against white collar crimes particularly corporate malfeasance is lesser than the benefits that the benefits that corporations and benefits will reap from it. For example, an executive and a business entity who is found guilty of corporate malfeasance amassed hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars only to be sentenc ed to few years of prison and/or few million dollars fine which in effect incentivize them to commit crimes. The recent laws enacted to prevent corporate malfeasance while needed were reactive to the present realities of business. For example, the Sabarnes Oxley Act is just a reaction to whistleblowing at Worldcom and intends to protect other whistleblowers in the future. While the law is good, it is limited and does not cover the entire gamut of corporate malfeasance nor encourages business to act ethically. My suggested proposals are as follows; first, require universities through the mandate of the law to include in their syllabi business ethics. Each student must be required to have an Ethics subject at least once per school year. The rational for this is not just to react for every corporate transgression that catches our attention but preventing it right from the source, when professionals are still learning the ropes of business. Second, disincentivize corporate crimes. Eleva te corporate malfesance to the level of economic sabotage applying the principles of general deterrence of which I will explain at length later. But for now, let me elaborate my first suggested proposal. Incorporate Business Ethics In School Curricula Intensively I believe that given the recent scandals that rocked the business and financial world, it now becomes an imperative that each individual entering into the corporate and financial industry must have a

Research into the reality of having a True Distributed Computer System Essay

Research into the reality of having a True Distributed Computer System - Essay Example A distributed computer system is a set of organized independent computers (also known as terminals) that comes into view to its users like a single logical system. Distributed computer system offers a well-organized means to deal with fault-tolerance as well as proficiently share system resources like that memory units, processing fundamentals, data files, plus various resources. An effective and successful implementation of a distributed program typically necessitates one or more of the data and communication resources that exist on numerous terminals located at distant places of the Distributed computer system (Xing & Shrestha, 2006). This paper presents a detailed analysis of some of the main aspects of the reality of having a true Distributed Computer System. In this scenario this paper will assess some of the main aspects of the development of true Distributed Computing Environment which can offer appropriate co-operating subsystems. The main and core objective of this research is to assess important factors on which the development and establishment of a true distributed computer system is presently feasible and based upon these available systems and technologies. The effective implementation of numerous computer systems will need attention collectively to the structure of physical design in addition to the selection and accomplishment of an appropriate system’s setting in that to build and run system applications. A systems arrangement is foundational upon the domain structure. The domain structure limits the allocations as well as exchanging of data items. This feature eases the major problem in the application of a capability technique to uphold domains in a structure without combined memory that is a main stand of potentials to be required. It as well formulates the organization of the non shared items similar as they are able to be required simply at one computer at a time. Necessary sharing is as well managed

Color and the Visible Spectrum Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Color and the Visible Spectrum - Research Paper Example The electromagnetic spectrum offers various ranges of colours that can be observed by the human eye. The visible spectrum ranges from 390 nanometers to 780 nanometers. Moreover, the electromagnetic spectrum has light frequencies that are either too low or too high for humans to see, for example, the ultraviolet that is located past the infrared, found in the red part of the visible light spectrum (Cao & Cui, 100) Visible spectrum is a small part of the electromagnetic spectrum that can be observed by the human eyes. The frequency and the wavelength are often inversely proportional. A rise in frequency causes a decrease in wavelength as well as an increase in the energy associated with the photon. Radiations with longer wavelength, infrared and visible light are non-ionizing radiation because ionizing radiations entail UV light, gamma rays and X-rays. The limit between now- ionizing and ionizing radiation is found within the ultraviolet regions (Eugene Hecht, 50). Pure colours or spectra are those colours that are made up of only one wavelength. Visible wavelengths go through optical window which is defined as the region in the electromagnetic spectrum that permits wavelengths to go through the earth’s atmosphere. The midday skies often appear blue as a result of clean air scattering it more than red wavelength. The optical window is also known as visible window. In the thirteenth century, Roger Bacon asserted that rainbows developed in the same way as light passing through a crystal or prism. Isaac Newton discovered that prisms could reassemble and disassemble white light and illustrated the finding in his books about optics. He observed that a fraction of beam of light is reflected while other fractions go through the prism when a narrow beam of light strikes the face of a glass prism (Eugene Hecht, 50). The beam of light that goes through the glass often appeared as colored bands. Newton hypothesized that light comprises of

Problem of Protein Energy Malnutrition in Weaning Infants

Problem of Protein Energy Malnutrition in Weaning Infants This paper will examine the protein energy malnutrition problem amongst weaning children in Niger. By using secondary sources and by looking into precedent practices by different organizations to improve the situation, it will finally conclude with health promotion nutrition intervention plan which will include a collaboration and partnership with stakeholders who will as well have a great impact on the populations health determinants. For this project we will take the role of three nutritionists hired by Mà ©decins sans frontiers (MSF) to establish a best practice and protocol standardized health system in line with the solution of treatment. Firstly this paper will provide a background on the country and the subject of protein-energy malnutrition within different regions. Different existing intervention programs will be presented together with a personal health promotion intervention plan. This will be followed by the determinants that will mainly influence the program and its objectives. Secondly the strategies and practices of the intervention plan will be explained in depth. Thirdly, this project will present to collaboration and partnerships with different stakeholders in order to finally indicate how this programs is creating community capacity. Background context: Niger: Niger, or officially named the Republic of Niger, is located in Western Africa covering a surface of 1.270.000 km2 of which 80% consists of Sahara. Neighbouring countries are Nigeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Algeria, Libya and Chad. Being landlocked it is one of the hottest countries of the world. Fifteen million people live in Niger of which only 5% in the capital Niamsey. The population density is only of 12.1/km2. The population is characterized by its fast growth rate (3rd rank worldwide) and has the number one highest birth rate and fertility rate of 7.2 births per woman which means that 49% of the Nigerien population is under the age of 15. Known also to be one the poorest countries in the world; Nigers economy has mainly been undercut by the drought cycles, desertification and the strong population growth (Niger, 2010). Protein-energy under nutrition: Protein -energy undernutrition (PEU), previously called protein-energy malnutrition is an energy deficit due to chronic deficiency of all macronutrients (which are proteins, fats and carbohydrates). In developed countries, PEU is common among the institutionalized elderly or among patients with decreased appetite. In underdeveloped countries protein malnutrition occurs because of the local diet with protein poor cereal products (Morley, 2007). The classification is determined by calculating weight as a percentage of expected weight per height using international standards. (Normal: 90-110%; mild PEU: 85-90%; moderate: 75-85%; severe: Pathophysiologically, the initial response to PEU is decreases metabolic rate. To supply energy, the body first breaks down adipose tissue or body fat. When these tissues are used up, the body may use protein for energy; visceral organs and muscle are broken down and decrease in weight. Loss in organ weight is the greatest in liver and intestine, intermediate in the heart and kidneys and least in the nervous system (Morley, 2007). Total starvation however can be fatal in eight to twelve weeks thus certain symptoms of PEU do not even have time to develop. Patients with protein-energy undernutrition often also have deficiencies of vitamins, essential fatty acids and micro nutrients which contribute to their dermatosis (skin disease) (Scheinfeld, 2010). Worldwide, the most common cause the malnutrition is inadequate food intake. Another very significant factor however is the ineffective weaning secondary to ignorance, poor hygiene, economic factors and cultural factors. The prognosis is even worse when PEU occurs with HIV infection (Niger, 2005). Protein-energy malnutrition in Niger: In Niger, the diet of most children is extremely monotonous, usually consisting of millet based porridge although the diet of older household members might be more diverse. This monotonous diet leads to nutrient deficiencies and consequently diseases such as Kwashiorkor and Marasmus develop. In 2005, a survey was conducted by MSF which stated that one child on five suffers from malnutrition. That year, the mortality rate of children under five exceeded the emergency threshold; 2 deaths per 10.000 children per day. Through the therapeutic feeding centres of MSF, the presence of doctors enabled to reduce the mortality rate to 6% that year. Care is also provided through 40 mobile nutritional care centres which allow children to be treated closer to home. Many are treated at home with ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) and come to the once a week for a check-up (focus on Niger, 2006).The concept of RUTF will be explained further later. Due to weather conditions, an annual hunger gap exists between April and September when family food stocks run out and hundreds of thousands of children have little access to the nutrients they need for a healthy development (IAR 2007, 2008). The World Health Organization recorded in the 43rd week of 2009 recorded 2253 cases of moderate malnutrition and 2938 cases of severe malnutrition and 5 deaths caused by malnutrition. On yearly bases for the year 2009, 157.125 cases and 384 deaths were recorded between January 1st 2009 and October 25th 2009. 41% of those patients were diagnosed with severe malnutrition and 23% with moderate malnutrition (Bulletin hebdomadaire, 2009.) The table in appendix 1 shows the distribution of the different malnutrition diagnoses on patients in the different regions in 2009, the graph on the other hand shows a comparison to the previous years 2006 to 2009. A general decrease is noticeable but sudden peaks and lows are present as well which can be explained by the weather conditions. As in 2005, due to poor rains and severe locust outbreak, Niger registered a record grain deficit of more than 223.000 tons (Niger, 2005). Nutrition survey data and information in Niger are not compiled and analyzed well according the United States Agency of international development. Most nutrition surveys are conducted on ad hoc basis to meet the needs of varying agency objectives. Currently a joint survey by the Government, UNICEF and the centres for disease control has been conducted regionally. One of the goals of the program will therefore also be to encourage the constant recordkeeping of patients and updating the information. Determinants: Most important determinants program intends to influence: In general, protein-energy malnutrition amongst weaning children depends on many aspects of which only a few are biological. The main determinant is that this occurrence is brought upon children in difficult socio-economic conditions, such as those in Niger. Most of these factors are related to poverty which may in turn reason dietary imbalances mainly through the incapability to provide a nutritionally balanced diet. The following determinants are the main factors that play a role in this health issue: Education: The work status of the mother and her literacy rate are key in the cause of child malnutrition. If a mother had a good work status and a better education, this would reduce the probability of the child to having a poor nutritional status. The low incomes, the lack of cultivation knowledge are what may cause an unbalanced diet. Therefore, improving a mother and future mothers education will have a significant impact on their childrens nutrition. Climate/Topology: Access to food: source to drinking water. Nigers hot, desert-dominated topology gives birth to few fruits, vegetables and legumes, and serves as grazing ground for a limited amount of livestock. Consequentially, the few grains and cereals yielded by Nigers turf epitomize the rural diet. However, such produce provides only a miniscule percentage of the nutritional intake necessary, leading to varying levels of starvation and malnutrition. Family Size/Second Child Syndrome. In Niger, statistics show that 75% of girls married before the age of 18 and that 34% of them before 15. According to a source, it can be said thatsome as young as ten. Each woman has on average 7.6 children and statistics further show that there is a 1-in-7 risk of dying during pregnancy or birth (Niger, 2010). Measurable indicators that can verify whether a child is malnourished. Before creating a program which proposes a health promotion plan to reduce protein-energy malnutrition amongst weaning children in Niger, it is important to look at the measurable points that can determine whether this malnutrition is the case or not. According to the pharmaceutical company Merck (Morley, 2007); to determine the severity of protein-energy under nutrition it is important to look at the following points: Body mass Index. Plasma albumin. Total lymphocyte count. CD4+ count. Serum transferring. In the table below, many of these points are mentioned and it can be determined whether the child has a normal, mild under nutrition, moderate under nutrition or severe under nutrition (Morley, 2007). A diagnosis of whether a child has a under nutrition of protein-energy, may be based on the past eating habits of the child. Physical examinations, such as the ones in the table below aid in confirming this diagnosis: The table above clearly shows which values one has to take into consideration when assessing the severity of protein-energy malnutrition. Further research has shown that there are other ways to identify malnutrition in a child. This method, used by the UNICEF looks at ways to identify if a child of more than six months is acutely malnourished (Chamois, 2009). First, oedema (swelling) needs to be checked. This is checked by putting your thumb on each foot of the child for three seconds. If the print of your finger creates a shallow hole, then it can be said that the child has oedema. Secondly, the left arm circumference should be measured with a specific kind of measuring device a bit like measuring tape. This left arm circumference can identify according to a colour code, whether the child is very malnourished, moderately malnourished or not malnourished. From both of these identifications, there are different solutions that should take place depending on the result. Put oedema/left arm circumference picture. Other tests, as written in the article Protein-Energy Malnutrition: Differential Diagnoses Workup (Scheinfeld Mokashi, 2010)may also include: Detailed dietary history. Growth measurements. A complete physical examination is indicated. Height-for-age or weight-for-height measurements. Skin biopsy and hair-pull analysis. In order to narrow down our research for the program, the three main measurable factors will be: BMI. Height/weight ratio. Left arm circumference. Other existing programs: Until recently, malnutrition treatment has been restricted to facility-based approaches which are often miles away from rural communities and less than 40% of children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) recover from hospital treatment. By the late 90s, many researchers knew that RUTFs were key to meaningful SAM recovery rates. In 2000 clinical trials were conducted for RUTFs administered at home. In this study, a remarkable 80% of the treated children reached their 100% weight for height goal after 12 weeks. Ready to Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF) are high-calorie, fortified peanut butter-like pastes. Peanuts contain mono-unsaturated fats, which are easy to digest and are rich in zinc and protein: both good for the immune system and protein as well for muscle development (Therapeutic food, 2010). Peanuts are a good source of vitamin E and a powerful antioxidant that helps to convert food into energy. RUTF are also very high in calories which means that a child will get a lot of energy from just small amounts. This is very important because their stomachs have considerably shrunk. A study by the American Medical Association published recently on January 21st 2009, proved the effect of preventive supplementation with Ready-To Use Therapeutic food on the nutritional status, mortality and morbidity of children aged 6 to 60 months. Six villages were randomly chosen for intervention and six to no intervention. The results showed significant changes in weight-for-height z-score according to the World Health Organization Child Growth Standards over the 8 month follow-up (appendix 3) (Isanaka; Nombela; Djibo etc., 2009). Plumpynut, one of the examples of Ready-to-use therapeutic food is as effective as therapeutic milk products. The product does not require any additional water, cooking, refrigeration or other preparation and because there is no water in it, its conservation is relatively easy. The high energy, high protein, peanut based paste fortified with mile and vitamins. Typically comes in foil wrappers or small plastic tubes which are practical for children to eat them. During the severe nutrition crisis in Niger in 2005, plumpynut helped saved thousands of lives. Since 2005, the Socià ©tà © de Transformation Alimentaire (STA) factory in Niamey has been producing the lifesaving food. It is the only plumpynut factory in West Africa and the production has grown about 40 tons per month. Last year only the product was used to treat more than 120.000 severely malnourished children and 63.000 moderately malnourished children, allowing them to return to a healthy weight in three to four weeks. The micro nutritional content of a plumpynut is described in appendix 2 (Dolan, n.d.). A standard plumpynut treatment goes for four weeks at a cost of 12 Euros. Currently World Health Organization (WHO), World Food Program and UNICEF guidelines only recommend RUTF for severely malnourished children. Running the combat against malnutrition in Niger since 2001 (Focus on Niger, 2006); Mà ©decins Sans Frontià ¨res has been dispensing packets of plumpynuts in 22 centres in Niger since May 2005. The region in which Plumpynut was applied had the highest malnutrition rate in Niger. The region now has the lowest malnutrition rate in the country. An article in Field Exchange magazine (Wilkinson Isanaka, 2009), outlines the results of a study which addresses one of the ongoing debates concerning the treatment of infants >6m which supplemental milk is the most appropriate to use in their treatment? (Wilkinson Isanaka, 2009). Unfortunately, infants of less than six months are not always treated for malnutrition and cannot access to treatment programs until they reached six months of age. Statistics show however, that in countries like Congo, Myanmar and Niger, more than 20% of all admissions to treatment protocols are of infants less than 6 months of age. As it is very important to consider infants of this age, the aim of the treatment taking place in this article was to encourage the production breast feeding. The study was to compare two different milk supplements with a sample size of 146 infants. Results showed that it is vital to identify malnourished infants as early as possible when they are 6 months or less as breastfeeding can significantly cause weight gain and a healthier life for the baby. The strength of this program is that it involves infants of a certain age that does not always have access to treatment programs. An action plan has been researched and is currently still in process by an UN system called the standing committee on Nutrition (UN System Standing Commitee on Nutrition, 2006-2010). One of the goals of this action plan was to reduce the proportion of underweight young children by half from 28% in 1990 to 14% in 2015. In 2010 however, statistics show, that there are still 27% of children that are underweight. The article states that hunger and malnutrition are caused by poverty and ignorance, and that they will improve if livelihoods (economic growth and incomes) and education services improve (UN System Standing Commitee on Nutrition, 2006-2010). This action plan aims to establishing a global UN system where UN agencies, ministerial sectors and development actors to find a consensus, a common vision and language on the causes of hunger and malnutrition. This would be reached by wide communication and partnership building. The strength of this program is that a common interagency monitoring and evaluation strategy for food and nutrition programs should be achieved in a minimum of 20 countries in Africa, 20 countries in Asia and Latin America and in 10 other regions. In another article named Nutrition: A foundation for development created by a worker at the UN, defines key elements that bring success to nutrition programs (Shrimpton, 2002). A growth chart, that was developed in the 1960s in Nigeria has influenced todays key element for a successful nutrition program. This key element is the use of an information system that shows people whether their nutrition situation is getting better or worse. Many malnourished children look normal to their parents as they get compared to other children of the district or community. The strength of this program is that by showing the parents and children what they really are supposed to look like at their size and age will bring awareness to their everyday lives. Objectives: This program is in accordance with the objectives and targets put out by the UN System Standing Committee on Nutrition in 2006, but on a local (rural area villages) level, rather than regional and country levels. The importance of inter-organizational relationships is emphasized to ensure that the program is successful. Funding will be primarily from existing organizations in the conflict areas. The Niger Food Diet Pyramid, pictured below, is in coherence with a combination of Nigers readily available resources and the specially formulated food and liquid supplements aims to provide a comprehensible guide to the whole population in an attempt to better educate the general population about nutritional needs. One serving size is conveniently defined as one handful, proportional to each individuals size. Number of portions is indicated with a hand signalling the number in fingers; time of consumption is portrayed by the sun path ending with a moon. The base of the pyramid is water, to be consumed at least seven times throughout the day, as portrayed by the complete sun path, primarily because of the extremely hot and dry climate and topography of the country. The second level is made up of grains, starches and legumes, such as millet, sorghum, cowpeas, potatoes and, in the better irrigated areas, rice. These are recommended to be consumed five times a day, also throughout the day. The reason this food group is not above fruits and vegetables like it is in most western countries is that they are much more available than the latter in Niger, as a direct result to the climate and topography, as well as the poor irrigation provided by Nigers faultily placed rivers. The third tier up is made up of the vegetables found in the country: cassava a root vegetable corn, onions and cardoon a leafy green vegetable. Also included in this section are dates, the indigenous fruit to the country, but only to be found in the wetter, oasis-type regions. Recommended intake is twice a day, once during the day and again in the evening. The fourth tier is shared with sugar, peanuts and dairy (milk and butter). For the better part of the country, all of these items are hard to find, expensive and thus rarely consumed. Despite the scarcity, however, their nutritional value is essential to the human body at least once daily, and it is for this reason that, on this same tier, the food and liquid protein and calcium supplements such as Plumpy Nuts and ProSource, as well as calcium supplements like powdered milk are also pictured. The final tier is made up of meats, ultimately encompassing all available livestock, including cattle, sheep, goats, camels, donkeys, horses and poultry. The reason that no daily intake picture is present is that these animals are rare to find and are usually used for either for their milk/eggs or as a means of trade to access the other food groups. The goal is to have the pyramid posted at all mà ©decin s sans frontiers, UNICEF and WFP locations in Niger by the end of the current month. The short-term objective is to eliminate mortality of weaning infants in Niger. This program will be attempted by simultaneously training infants to breast feed and nursing poorly nourished mothers to health, for all mother-child patients that arrive at the existing MSF ambulatory and therapeutic feeding centers, in collaboration with UNICEF and WFP. On a case by case basis, this initiative should prove to be quite successful. If effectuated properly and supported by the local population, it should reduce infant mortality due to protein-energy, undernutrition-related causes significantly in its first year, and eradicate it completely by 2015. The long-term objective is to ultimately end undernutrition in Niger by targeting future mothers, primarily through education adapted to illiterate women with visual aids and hands-on workshops. This knowledge approach aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the human body and how to treat it. It would, in due course, allow the region to develop in a more healthy way, through a three workshop series on nutritional needs, sexual education and female empowerment to Nigers women, adapted for the 10-18 year old adolescent female population, to refocus from young adult and adult, post-malnutrition efforts, and go straight to the source. If the program is a success, family sizes should halve within 10 years, jointly reducing the number of undernutrition cases in the country. Additionally, this program thrives to initiate a womans movement that would allow a healthy development of rural communities. Strategies and activities: Only through the intake of necessary proteins and a reduction of overall malnutrition in both mother-to-be and child will the vicious cycle of poverty as it presents itself in Niger be broken (The World Bank, 1997). Despite MSFs attempts at teaching Nigers women about the importance of breast milk to an infant especially during the first 6 months of its life, allowing it to build up its immune system and avoid malnutrition all together many mothers are in such poor health that they resort to water (OneWorld, August 2009). Breast-feeding is not only fundamental for infant nutrition but also for reducing female fertility as it suppresses the responsible hormone and helps the post-birth uterus contraction, reducing future delivery complications (Figueroa, 2002). The short-term program, in line with Michael Goldens production line approach, will take place at the MSF ambulatory and therapeutic feeding centers already present in Niger and will be set up as follows (OneWorld, August 2009): Dehydrated mother and infant enter the center. Mother administered food and liquid to augment milk production. Infant sucks on tube delivering milk formula attached to mothers nipples, simultaneously teaching it to feed and stimulating milk production. When mother is restored to health and quantity/quality of milk is adequate, mother and infant leave the center and mother continues breast feeding for a recommended period of five months, her health closely monitored. Weekly check-ups and a continuous supply of necessary food and liquid are provided. Essential to the development and sustainability of the state is the eviction of malnutrition among the population, especially concerning the younger generation. This long-term program focuses on providing the necessary steps to improve pre-pregnant adolescent girls nutritional status thus allowing a future fetus to develop into a healthy human being in addition to a more concrete understanding of sex and female empowerment. It will be taught in a series of three workshops. Michael Goldens protocol, as demonstrated in his work in Ethiopia, appears to be aimed at the treatment of as many cases of malnutrition as quickly as possible. It is based on the efficiency of an industrial production line. Goldens five steps to ridding the World of Malnutrition (UNICEF, August 2003) can be described as an industrial revolution for the malnourished child. It does not focus on long-term improvement of the situation and cycles provoking such malnourishment but it does allow for immediate results. Thus, other programs and organizations can step in on a more long-term basis to provide education and actual diet balance. This is where the distinction for this long-term program needs to be made as it will serve as a second step in rural areas that are already receiving food and malnutrition aid through other domains, whether it is from the short-term program provided by this organization, or that of another. As much as education is essential to the elimination of malnutrition, food and sex are more important according to Maslows hierarchy of needs, see Figure below. The latter is situated at the bottom tier, namely Biological and Psychological Needs, whereas the former is categorized under Cognitive Needs, four tiers up. A balanced diet does not particularly concern a human being without food; he or she would rather just have food to begin with. Once they are less hungry, and have regained a bit of hope, they can be sat down and talked through the Niger-adapted food pyramid that has been constructed solely with pictures to provide a complete, visual outlook of what proper nutrition requires. Sexual education in Niger will pose as another difficult challenge, especially when the focus is on individuals in rural areas. Not only are the vast majority of women illiterate, but approximately 90% (Buckens, 2009) of the countrys population is Muslim. Hence, a visual method needs to be used to teach sexual education without offending the local population. Firstly, medical professionals, either doctors or nurses, will always be responsible for providing the classes. Studies have shown that they are among the most trusted and that their presence would allow a bit more flexibility in what can and cannot be shown. Secondly, visual aids must be clearly understood without having to provide graphic sexual images. The program needs to refrain from comparing human sex to reproduction in animals as this may also pose as an offence. Thirdly, the program will be segregated for men and women, to allow a more comfortable, gender-specific approach. No woman will be forced to participate; howeve r, they will be given the incentive to, as complimentary food and liquid nutritional supplements will be part of its foundation. Partnership development: In order to achieve or short term and long term objectives to reduce protein-energy malnutrition amongst weaning children in Niger, one has to consider the development of a partnership to maintain positive results. As nutritionists working for Mà ©decins sans Frontià ¨res, our goal with this program is to continue generating positive outcomes. Many international organizations such as UNICEF, UN agencies, World Food programme, together with MSF have been collaborating closely with the government of Niger and non-governmental partners on the ground. The existence and execution of the proposed program cannot be realized without the cooperation of different organizations and thus only excellent relationship between them can guaranty the success of the program. Therapeutic feeding centres in Niger provide nutritional and medical treatment for children between the age of six months and five years suffering from severe malnutrition. The five feeding centres in Niger are in Maradi, Dakoro, Keita, Tahoua and Aguie (MSFS response, 2005). In July 2005, international aid agencies prepared to distribute supplementary food rations at the therapeutic feeding centre in Maradi. Fearing that nobody would show up, the aid workers spread the word in the nearby villages. The modicum of mobilization led to a near riot as hundreds of women crowded in desperate to obtain food (Tectonidis, 2006). Such a scene points out to which extent the problem of malnutrition is present amongst the population. During the crisis year 2005, when nutritional emergency was caused by drought and an infestation of locust in the previous year, malnourished children began pouring into the therapeutic feeding of MSF. Until then, malnourished children were routinely hospitalized in therapeutic feeding centres but because of the substantial resources required, it has been impossible to open sufficient number of beds during emergency periods (the yearly hunger gaps)(Tectodinis, 2006). Today with the presence of ready-to-use therapeutic food such as Plumpynut, more severe cases can be accepted at the centre while the moderate cases will be send home with solid therapeutic food and will come back weekly for check-up but without having to be hospitalized. Most children treated in a stabilization unit do survive but are soon discharged to an outpatient program (Tectodinis, 2006). The TFCs will also help teach parents about proper nutrition until they gain respite from poverty (Bamford, 2008). In a study comparing therapeutic feeding centres and ambulatory care centres by the department of Health services at the University of Washington, the authors concluded the ambulatory rehabilitation to be more cost-effective (Chapko, Prual, Gamatià © etc; 1994). Mà ©decins sans frontiers. MSF is an international humanitarian aid organisation which has been setting up emergency medical aid mission to populations in danger in more than 70 countries around the word since 1971. Where health structures are insufficient, MSF collaborates with other organizations and local authorities. MSF works in rehabilitation of hospitals, dispensaries, vaccination programmes and water and sanitation projects. MSF seeks also to raise awareness of crisis situations and to address any violations of basic human rights (about MSF, 2005). In 2005, Niger represents one of the largest malnutrition-treatment programs in Mà ©decins sans frontiers history: a capacity of treating 20.000 severely nourished children per year, five therapeutic feeding centres and 25 ambulatory centres, representing a budget of around â‚ ¬10 million. UNICEF: Unicef, the united nations childrens fund, is the driving force that helps build a world where the rights of every child are realized. UNICEF, present in 190 countries, believes that nurturing and caring for children are the cornerstones of human progress and was created to overcome obstacles of poverty, violence, disease and discrimination on a childs path. Upholding the Convention on the Rights of the child and as part of the Global Movement for Children, UNICEF strives for peace and security and work to hold everyone accountable to promises made for children (who we are, 2008). UNICEF Niger is assisting most

The Evil Eye in The Tell-Tale Heart Essay -- Tell-Tale Heart Essays

The Evil Eye in The Tell-Tale Heart  Ã‚        Ã‚   In Edgar Allen Poe's Short story "The Tell-Tale Heart" much is made of the "evil eye" of the old man. Immediately we are introduced to a man who would never hurt a fly. The narrator of the story even goes so far as to say he loved the old man. This old man is portrayed as one who would do anything for you. However, the caretaker of the old man has one small problem with the old man. The eye that darn evil eye! What could cause a person to become enraged by an eye and only one eye?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Martha Womack stated that the violence comes from an irrational fear represented through the old man's eye. "The belief in the evil eye dates back to ancient times, and even today, is fairly common in India and the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. References are made to it in Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist and Hindu faiths" (Poedecoder). Womack goes on to compare the "evil eye" to a Medusa type object that is being able to harm a person just by looking at them. This comparison goes to support my theory of a God like entity within the eye of the old man.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Many people have attempted to rationalize the meaning of the single "evil eye." Some people have attempted to relate the old man to a Cyclops. However, I see this eye from a Christian point of view. The eye is not "evil" in the sense of the devil instead in my humble opinion it is the eye of God. I agreed with B. D. Tucker. The first thing I attempted to do, was relate the Cyclops theory however, this did not sit well with me. The reason the Cyclops theory does not fit the story is that in the second paragraph Poe writes, "One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture" (Kennedy 34). The mythical Greek creature had only o... ...deas for what the story could represent. After studying the "Evil eye" in this story, I have no doubt that the eye is that of God. Work Cited Benfey, Christopher. "Poe and the Unreadable: 'The Black Cat' and 'The Tell-Tale Heart " New Essays on poe's Major Tales viii (1993): 27-43 Canario, John W. "The Dream in 'The Tell-Tale Heart." English-Language-Notes 7 (1970): 194-97 Great Seal. Homepage 1 March 2001. Great Seal. 5 July 2001 Kennedy, X. J., 7th ed. An Introduction to Fiction. NewYork: Longman, 1998: 33-7 The Poe Decoder. Home page. 12 April 2001.   The Poe Decoder. 5 July 2001 www.poedecoder.com> Robinson, E. Arthur. "Thoreau and the deathwatch in Poe's 'The Tell-Tale Heart." Poe-Studies 4:1 (1971): 14-6 Tucker, B. D. "The Tell-Tale Heart and the Evil Eye." Southern-Literary-Journal 13:2 (1981 Spring): 92-8

Importance of Branding Essay

Introduction Successfully building an appropriate brand for a company does more than merely provide an appealing design, picture and slogan for a consumer to view. It provides a value that which is necessary to obtain in order to stay competitive in most industries in modern day society. This is both valid in Business to Consumer (B2C) marketing and Business to Business (B2B) marketing. The approach and importance of successfully branding ones service or product both tangible and intangible through B2C and B2B are similar, but also do have key differences. In this report, we will discuss the advantages of building a strong brand name and image, risks, and some techniques. Relative Literature Brand pundits refer to our modern day society, (that which strategic branding is necessary otherwise one will be faced with a competitive disadvantage) also as a branding world (Sarin). This is due to there being more than 2.5 million registered trademarks in the United States alone (Sarin). With such heavy competition, it is vital that ones company does everything possible to differentiate themselves. Building a strong brand is a great method of doing so. Obtaining a recognizable brand backed with a positive brand image make purchaser’s decisions much easier. It allows an abundant amount of information to be provided to the customer or business representative before any form of research (Robert Vitale). As much as bundling information for purchaser’s to make easier decisions assists businesses increase their sales, it also prevents the consumer or business representative from purchasing the wrong good. Active marketers aim to succeed at two different points of a sale: 1- properly market their product/service to be initially bought, 2- have the person or company be satisfied with the value purchased (Robert Vitale). After the second point, it is likely that the company has just gained a repeat, loyal customer. If an individual/company finds a good/service that meets their criteria, why risk purchasing something else that may not deliver? With a recognizable brand, one can ensure that every time this purchaser seeks the same product/service, they will come right back. Value has been created from the product/service, recognized by the brand, therefore creating a positive brand image. Brand image further establishes a reputation and as long as that is positive then one can expect to notice sales to exponentially increase. Due to extra value added onto companies with an established brand name, there is extra cost. The value added for the purchaser generally encompasses the predictability of getting the same product or service (less risk) and familiarity, in other words, â€Å"the value of trust earned between the brand promise and the brand experience† (Maruca). One CEO of an electrical business producing copper wire reported that he preferred brand products because of consistency (Sari n). Consistency is important for him because the materials purchased are then used by his company to create iron rods that they strive to have quality behind. If they cannot trust the quality of their supplies then they cannot confidently produce their own good. It is too much of a hassle for companies to constantly search for new suppliers, once one is found, it saves an enormous amount of effort to become a repeat customer. A massive steal producer in India explained that he would rather pay the increased premium price for a brand product because the initial cost might be high, but operation costs and maintenance is lower since the brand products purchased come with customer care and instill a workflow stability (Sarin). Companies aiming to establish a positive brand image must provide great customer care. It is hard to build a good reputation, but it is easy to destroy it (Philip Kotler). Strategizing how to properly build a good image for ones company must be consistent. Throughout all avenues of the media a clear message of ones company must be illustrated. A proper division within a company should assemble to do so. Brand management â€Å"establishes a framework systematically managing the planning, development, implementation and evaluation of brand strategy† (Robert Vitale). Evaluation are key tools needed to ensure that the implemented strategy is actually going as planned. There are two ways of evaluating brand strategies. The first is a research-based evaluation. The aim of this approach is to put a financial value on the brand measured by customer’s behaviours and attitudes towards the brand itself. Components of the measurement are: awareness, knowledge, familiarity, relevance, satisfaction, and recommendation (Robert Vitale). Second approach is financially driven. This time brand valuation is used to approximate the value of the brand and it is based on subjective judgments of people within the organization in question. The earnings stream is estimated then divided by those attributable to the brand, to the fixed assets, and to other intangible assets. Next there’s an estimation of value for the brand in the market (Robert Vitale). These tools are so important because without checking up on ones brand image, it could possible take a turn down a path in the minds of the market in a direction the company does not want to go. It takes a long time to successfully establish a brand because it takes a long time to establish trust and confidence in the customer (Robert Vitale). Here B2C and B2B marketing differ. Because B2B business is simply so much larger then B2C, gaining a trustworthy relationship proves to be much more challenging (Robert Vitale). Customers in B2C interactions have less to risk while representatives of companies have to ensure that what they are purchasing is the standard of quality acceptable for their organization. If they fail it is not just a waste of money, they could face much more drastic consequences such as loosing contracts, dropping stocks, investors, or even the purchasing representatives job security. Of course the way that purchase decisions are handled vary around the world. For instance, in South American cultures, any kind of major purchasing decision takes extended periods of time to make (John Daniels). Before people even begin to discuss business the first establish a relationship. To them this builds trust that which is necessary for their way of life otherwise they cannot comfortably move onto negotiations. In B2C interactions however, one can notice that many purchases seem to occur more spontaneously (John Daniels). What this shows us is that is imperative to take into consideration cultural differences when marketing into different countries, constantly evaluate how the market perceives ones brand, but never have contradict the brand image, consistency is necessary or it will have no effect at all. Discussion I believe in terms of importance of brand names, there is a massive factor that which was barely discussed in any of my sources. Income is one the largest, if not the largest factor influencing buying behaviour. This would affect B2C business more, but it would still affect small to medium sized businesses. If they cannot afford the brand name products/services then they would get a lesser-known product/service. This is because value and quality are not synonyms for each other. Yes a brand adds value to a company, but that does not mean it adds quality to the product/service. Furthermore, I would even go as far as to disagree with large companies insisting to buy brand names. If anything they should have a well-experienced purchasing division whom can find suppliers whom can deliver the quality products/services needed and avoid the premium cost that which branded companies incur. Lastly, I also noticed throughout all the academic sources I read through for this thought paper, I couldn’t help but realize that there did not seem to be a large enough focus on the difference between B2C and B2B marketing. Minus the degree of speed it takes to win over a customers trust in B2C marketing, it appeared to myself that marketing in both avenues almost seemed to be the same. I need to disagree with this to some degree. Lastly I would have to disagree with the mentality I observed in all of the academic sources I went through in regards that branding is good for everyone. Based on different people I have met throughout my life, I am confident that there are people whom go out of their way NOT to purchase brand names (or at least big brand names). They believe that local business needs the money and that they should be supported since they are the businesses that bring true culture to the region. On these people, brand names have the inverse affect Suggestions for further Research I suggest that more research be carried out on the contrast of satisfaction levels of companies purchasing brand name products/services and ones who find other less known suppliers. Earlier in this paper we discussed was of evaluating the brand name, there must be another way of evaluating satisfaction of purchases in general and discovering this difference should bring light to how much brands actually matter for B2B marketing. In regards to B2C marketing, I completely agree that having a brand brings value to the company and helps attract and retain customers, but I do not believe that it is the same for B2B. Further research on the differences of B2B and B2C brand awareness would be great as well. While research the differences of B2B and B2C, plunging further into techniques of appealing to the portions of the market who actively seek alternate companies to purchase from who do not have a big brand name. Through this research companies would be able to more accurately direct marketing efforts towards the audience where it matters most, and the best result demonstrated in a favourable Return on Investment (ROI). Conclusion Corporate branding is necessary for any most companies to compete in their industry. In the B2C avenues (minus those who actively look for lesser known names to purchase from) branding is very successful. In regards to B2B avenues of business, many professionals believe that purchasing brand name products/services is still the best option though I am not convinced. Until further research is done comparing general satisfaction levels between brand name purchases and lesser-known product/service purchases on a mass scale of small to large sized companies, I will remain under the impression that B2B branding is not ALWAYS the best way. Of course there are frequent times that brand name companies deliver great value (that is how they usually form their great brand image), but I cannot believe that the â€Å"brand name world† that which we live in is the way of the future just yet. Bibliography John Daniels, L. R. International Business Environments and Operations. Pearson. Maruca, R. F. The Way We Work An Encyclopedia of Business Culture. Philip Kotler, W. P. B2B Brand Management. Springer. Robert Vitale, J. G. Business to Busines Marketing Analysis and Practice. Pearson. Sarin, S. Strategic Brand Management for B2B Markets A Road Map for Organizational Transformation. Response Business Books from SAGE.