Marketing environment free essay sample

Analyze the marketing environment and the forces shaping eBay’s business over the years. What conclusions can you draw? The market eBay takes place in is primarily the Internet market. Around 1995 the Internet market was just beginning. â€Å"there will be more than 500 million users by 2003 and a rapid increase in e- commerce turnover, rising from US$500 billion worldwide in 2001 to more than US$3 trillion in 2004† (Fichter, 2003) EBay was a pioneer in Internet market until competitors such as Amazon and Wal-Mart began to sell products online as well. â€Å"Online marketing is now the fastest-growing form of marketing† (Armstrong, 2013). The difference between eBay and its competitors was that eBay allowed consumers to bid on items while the competitors allowed for consumers to buy products at barging prices and no shipping fee. The buying trend of the consumers was leaving the bidding arena and entering the traditional buy now at a bargain price type of consumerism. We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing environment or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This is when eBay decided a change is necessary to continue to strive but they did not just want to strive they wanted to soar so they began to innovate and jump into the creation of mobile apps for their company. EBay did what was necessary to be a â€Å"big dog† competitor in their marketing niche, if they continue to be innovative and continue to succeed in being one step ahead of competitors, I have no doubt they will accomplish being the number one ecommerce company. 2. How was the change in the nature of eBay sellers affected the creation of value for buyers? EBay began its business as an auction company. Therefore they grew selling peoples possessions at low moderation volume. But as time pass and consume behavior changed and new competitors entered the market eBay noticed that their competitors were receiving their goods from whole sellers in bulk. â€Å"E-commerce causes structural change of the economy and affects lifestyles and consumption patterns† (Fichter, 2003) and they were also receiving what the consumer was buying. Therefore eBay starts to get sellers that also sell in bulk instead of at low volume. This created an environment where consumers were receiving what they desired and also at higher volume creating profits. â€Å" Donahoe- â€Å"We have to create a marketplace where we’re helping our sellers give our buyers what they want†Ã¢â‚¬  (Armstrong, 2013). Giving the customers what they desire created profit and growth for eBay. 3. Do you agree or disagree with CEO Donahoe that eBay’s turnaround strategy is the best way to go? Yes I agree with Donahoe’s decision on his turnaround strategy. Change can be difficult but adapting and innovation is the key to success. â€Å" The â€Å"power of mass procurement† can be utilized to ensure that only those systems that meet the defined criteria for sustainability are considered for purchase† (Fichter, 2003). Change is something all companies have to go through and the ones that make the transitions the most smooth are the ones that excel. † Given that expert projections suggest that mobile commerce will top $119 billion by 2015, being on top of this trend s a great place to be† (Armstrong, 2013). This is exactly what eBay did, they found a new leader and he lead them through new changes and it is paying off. Yes at first there was â€Å"growing pains† but their profits are increasing in areas do to their innovation and changes they had to make. † We have gone from turnaround to offensive† (Armstrong, 2013) 4. Based on eBay’s current developments with PayPal and mobile apps, what do you predict the outcome for the company will be in five years? PayPal and mobile apps are both booming now and are only going to get bigger. PayPal creates a secure network for wireless transactions between bank accounts and with ecommerce on a rise with no sign of decline, PayPal is a â€Å"Star† â€Å"Stars are high–growth, high-share businesses or products. Mobile apps in general are definitely sky rocketing as well, depending on the individual apps convenience and attributes determines if the actual app will be a hit or miss. â€Å"the number of users worldwide with mobile Internet access is projected to rise from 16 million in 2001 to almost 500 million in 2005† (Fichter, 2003). Based on how this case explained eBay’s new app it sounds like it will be a hit for those who shop online, due to its convenience and suave. With these two things helping push eBay upward I can only predict in five years positive things for eBay to come.  But the way business goes its always a gamble, there may be a product, company, or app more desirable than the one eBay produces and this is just the way business occurs. Marketing Environment free essay sample Before we start with marketing environment it is important to know what a market is and how can marketing be defined as. A market is any structure that allows buyers and sellers to exchange any type of goods, services and information. †¢The market facilitates trade and enables the distribution and allocation of resources in a society. †¢Markets allow any tradable item to be evaluated and priced. A market emerges more or less spontaneously or is constructed deliberately by human interaction in order. †¢Marketing can basically be looked upon as the interaction between marketing mix variables and environmental variables. †¢It is only with the help of marketing variables, that the market managers tackle the environmental variables. †¢Marketing is an ongoing process of planning and executing the marketing mix for products, services or ideas to create exchange between individuals and organizations. According to Kotler â€Å"Marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtains what they need and want through creating, offering and exchanging products of value with others†. We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing Environment or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The American Marketing Association defines marketing as:- â€Å"The performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods and services from producers to consumers or users†. †¢Marketing tends to be seen as a creative industry, which includes advertising, distribution and selling. †¢ It is also concerned with anticipating the customers future needs and wants, which are often discovered through market research. †¢Essentially, marketing is the process of creating or directing an organization to be successful in selling a product or service that people not only desire, but are willing to buy. In the words of Stanton â€Å" Marketing is a total system of interacting business activities designed to plan ,price, promote and distribute want satisfying products and services to present and potential customers†. Therefore good marketing must be able to create a proposition or set of benefits for the end customer that delivers value through products or services. Government agencies, political parties, pressure groups and laws create tremendous pressure and constraints for marketing management. †¢Laws affect product design, pricing and promotion. Irrespective of the political ideologies, intervention in the marketing process has become common in every nation. †¢The legal environment is also referred to as public policy environment. The vast government network of laws and regulation, policy decisions, government bureaucracy and the legislative processes have varied impact on marketing strategies. †¢Multinationals like Coca Cola and IBM had to flee India during 1977 due to a hostile political environment. The positive political situation has permitted these corporations to again operate in the country. The impact of political and legal forces may be summarized as under: ? Substantial amount of legislation regulating business exists to protect consumers from unfair business practices, to avoid unfair competition, to safeguard small firms and to conserve foreign exchange. ?Marketing managers are required to get full knowledge and understanding of political and legal forces for achieving their goals. Political factors include government regulations and legal issues and define both the formal and informal rules under which the firm must operate. For example †¢Tax policy †¢Employment laws †¢Environmental regulations †¢Trade restrictions and tariffs †¢Political stability †¢Study and knowledge of economic forces is essential to preparing effective marketing plans. †¢Anticipation of future economic conditions will enable the firm to devise appropriate marketing strategies. Under economic environment, a marketing manager generally studies the following factors and trends: †¢Trends in cross national product and real income growth †¢Pattern of income distribution †¢Variations in geographical income distribution and trends †¢Expenditure patterns and trends Trends of consumer savings and how consumers like to hold their savings †¢Borrowing pattern, trends and governmental and legal restrictions †¢Major economic variables Economic factors affect the purchasing power of potential customers and the firms cost of capital. For example †¢Economic growth †¢Interest r ate †¢Exchange rates †¢Inflation rates †¢Economic conditions affect marketing directly because such organizations are themselves a part of the market place. For instance, the costs of all inputs positively respond to upward swing of economic condition. †¢This will affect the output price and consequentially affect the sales. Marketing Environment free essay sample The Marketing Environment Learning Objectives 1. Describe the environmental forces that affect the company’s ability to serve its customers. 2. Explain how changes in the demographic and economic environments affect marketing decisions. 3. Identify the major trends in the firm’s natural and technological environments. 4. Explain the key changes in the political and cultural environments. 5. Discuss how companies can react to the marketing environment. Chapter Overview In order to correctly identify opportunities and monitor threats, the company must begin with a thorough understanding of the marketing environment in which the firm operates. The marketing environment consists of all the factors and forces outside marketing that affect the marketing management’s ability to develop and maintain successful relation ¬ships with its target customers. Though these factors and forces may vary depending on the specific company and industrial group, they can generally be divided into broad microenvironmental and macroenvironmental components. For most companies, the microenvironmental components are: the company, suppliers, marketing channel firms (intermediaries), customer markets, competitors, and publics. We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing Environment or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The macroenvironmental components are thought to be: demographic, economic, natural, technological, political, and cultural forces. The wise marketing manager knows that he or she cannot always affect environmental forces. Smart managers can take a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to the marketing environment. As a company’s marketing management collects and processes data on these environ-ments, it must be ever vigilant in its efforts to apply what it learns to developing opportunities and dealing with threats. Studies have shown that excellent companies not only have a keen sense of customer but an appreciation of the environmental forces swirling around them. By constantly looking at the dynamic changes that are occurring in the aforementioned environments, companies are better prepared to adapt to change, prepare long-range strategy, meet the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s customers, and compete with the intense competition present in the global marketplace. Chapter Outline 1. The Company’s Microenvironment The Company a. In designing marketing plans, marketing management takes other company groups into account. These interrelated groups form the internal environment. b. Marketing managers must work closely with other company departments. Suppliers c. Suppliers form an important link in the company’s overall customer value delivery system. d. Marketing managers must watch supply availability. They also monitor the price trends of their key inputs. e. Most marketers today treat their suppliers as partners in creating and delivering customer value. Marketing Intermediaries f. Marketing intermediaries help the company to promote, sell, and distribute its goods to final buyers. i. Resellers are distribution channel firms that help the company find customers or make sales to them. ii.

x generation essays

x generation essays Talking About My Generation I was born in 1980, which puts me in a category of the X-generation. As much as I despise to be categorized and stereotyped by the society, I cant help but to admit that there is some truth to a few traits about my generation. What is generation X? It seems we had to be called X-generation since we represent something negative to our parents and the world. We are the children of the 1990s. We are the MTV generation and the ones who came home after school and turn on the TVs or computers since there is no one to talk to. We are the product of the previous generation our parents and whether we like it or not, we are the present and the future and I think its about time we face the issues of our generation and deal with it. We are selfish, cynical and sad. Everything has always been provided for us. We never had to worry about where our next meal is going to come from. For that reason, we tend to take things for granted and no matter how many times our parents tell us about how tough it was for them to grow up in the 60s (especially my parents since they had to live through the post war period in Korea), we cant really know what it was like to be in their situation. When a person died, the old Greeks did not write an obituary but asked one and simple question, which was that if that man, or woman had passion while he/she was alive. We, the Xers, are passionless. We are left with the biggest debt in U.S history and the economy is stagnating. It is a fact that one out of every three college graduates between 1990 2005 is expected to take a job that does not require college degree. * The future seems bleak along with the fact that we will be forced to support the largest amount of senior citizens ever. It seems as though everything has already been set and decided...

Anything about europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Anything about europe - Essay Example Parliament itself was controlled by big landlords. The man in the street still did not count. If this was true of England, the same was the case in other European countries like Austria-Hungry, Prussia, Russia, France, Spain, Poland etc. In most of the European countries, the rulers were depots although during the 18th century they were called enlightened despots. The people had no hand in the administration of the country. They did not enjoy any personal liberty and everything depended upon the whims of the rulers. Serfdom prevailed almost everywhere in Europe. European rulers at that time were dishonest and unprincipled. International morality reached its lowest ebb during the 18th century. A man like Frederic, the Great, did not hesitate to annex Silesia in spite of his promises to Charles VI, the father of Maria Theresa. Russia, Prussia, and Austria conspired among themselves to put an end to the very existence of Poland. There was a general craze for territorial expansion at the expense of the weaker neighbors. "No consideration was paid to race limits or national boundaries," In the words of Professor Holland Rose, " That respect of dynastic rights and treaty obligations which generally held sway when Christendom was more than a name, now gave place to a state policy which avowedly aimed at little else but gain of territory or markets." Prof Hazen says, "The old regime in Europe was disloyal to the very principles of which it is rested" and those principles were respect for the established order and regard for regality and engagements (Mahajan 1) All over Europe there were privileged classes which were completely or partially exempted from taxation and the burden of taxation fell on the unprivileged classes. The rich paid less to the state and the main burden fell on the poor. European society was organized on a feudal basis and the landlords acted like petty sovereigns in the localities. The serfs were attached to the land and most of the proceeds from land went into the pockets of the landlords. The conditions of the serfs were miserable. To quote, "the great substructure of European society was an unhappy, un free, unprotected, undeveloped mass of human beings, to whom an opportunity for growth and improvement was closed on every side." While a few enjoyed privileges, the others suffered. Inequality in every field weakened the very foundations of the social systems. There was hardly any awakening among the masses of Europe and thus the system continued. (Mahajan 21) As regards the religion condition of Europe, western, western and central Europe were roughly divide between a Protestant North and a Roman Catholic south. In the centre people of Switzerland and Savoy were Protestants. The people of Ireland and Poland were Catholics. In Eastern Europe, the orthodox of Greek Church held sway over Russia and the Balkans. The Jews were found all over Europe. In some places, they were tolerated, while at others persecuted. Europe was not free from religious strife but religious toleration was making headway. It was felt that persons of different faiths could be the loyal subjects of the state. The growth of humanitarianism also played its part. The spread of the spirit of scientific inquiry made for tolerance. There was the decline of dogmatic religion. Causes of the French revolution The French revolutio

Financial Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Financial Management - Case Study Example determine the best strategy for the company, there is the need to understand fully the external and internal environmental factors that affect the company1. The analysis of the company production and pricing for a certain period should be based on influences by the external and internal environmental factors. In order to come up with a good plan for the coming year, the Amalgamated Industries Limited (AIL) should reflect on the previous year’s activities on their production and pricing. Developing an improved strategy for production and pricing would help in maximizing the overall AIL profits in the upcoming year. The production speed should ensure quality of the materials. Quality materials would buy the customer trust and thus establish a long lasting relationship with the customers. The company should also ensure minimal expenditures on its production. Production process should take the cheapest means possible. This would allow for improve profits which would enable the company to cater for other internal and external expenses. The company should only adopt assets which give significant annual returns. The recommended changes may have some slight effect on the individual divisions. Elimination of some assets from the current organization would change the structure of the company’s portfolio. Dormant Investments from within the company should be eliminated while the company should adopt new assets which would keep records of the highest percentage of annual returns. Another recommendation is that the Compubase Inc. (CI) should offer a reduced price to $1.800 for all chips supplied to the PTL. However, these would affect the expected profits by the PTL Company. Production of quality materials would mean increasing the company’s investment on raw materials and of its services of production. This would win their trust by customers. However, this would affect the expected profits by the divisions in their short term plans. Ensuring minimized expenditures

Engineering MAterials.. Chemistry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Engineering MAterials.. Chemistry - Essay Example Q2. Yield strength corresponds to the load at which plastic deformation starts in a material while Ultimate tensile strength corresponds to the maximum possible loading below fracture. This means a component will not deform as long as the loading is below the yield strength of the material. Because plastic deformation of component is not permitted therefore design is based on yield strength. It should be noted that yield strength is always lower than ultimate tensile strength. Q3. Elastic modulus of a material depends on the nature of inter-atomic bonding in the material. If chemical composition changes, so does the nature of the inter-atomic bonding in the material. Let us take an example of low carbon steel or mild steel. In this case the inter-atomic bonding is predominantly Fe-Fe bond so it has elastic modulus that depends on the nature of Fe-Fe bond. Now let us take an example of SS316L. In this case the composition has changed considerably. Its composition is Fe-18Cr-12Ni-0.03C. Now this material has different kinds of bonds like Fe-Cr, Fe-Ni and Ni-Cr besides the Fe-Fe bonds and therefore, elastic modulus of this material is different from that of low carbon steel. Q4. This is because it is much easier to carry out hardness testing than carrying out tensile testing. One needs to prepare sample for tensile testing which is much more tedious than preparing a sample for hardness testing. At the same time one gets fairly good idea about strength of the material from hardness testing. As hardness is a measure of material’s resistance against deformation, therefore higher hardness implies higher strength. Q6. Fracture toughness is defined as K = ; where, ï  ³ is yield stress of the material and a is the critical flaw size. These two quantities are measurable. Besides, Kc = is a material property. The as long as K < Kc; the component is safe for use the moment K approaches Kc, the component becomes prone to catastrophic fracture and must be taken

impact of feminism on fashion

impact of feminism on fashion Impact of Feminism on Fashion There has been a heated discussion on the equality of man and woman since a century ago when feminists began to strive for womens benefit. Compared to women in nineteenth century, women in this day and age have more rights and freedom. Women are now more considered to be independent individuals, as long time ago, they were possessions of men. Furthermore, women were compelled to follow every single order from men unconditionally. As an important impetus to fashion, feminism, which was mainly formed by three waves, has changed the stereotype significantly and lead to the decrease of restrictions on womens dressing. â€Å"Feminism encompasses many different theoretical, political and academic traditions. At the centre of feminist concerns, however, is the liberation of women from oppressive social practices and ideologies.†The first wave of feminist movement dated from nineteenth century to 1940s in United Kingdom and United States. Accompanied by anti-feudal movement, feminism finally became the most indispensable part and the criteria of social revolution. Originally it focused on the promotion of equal contract and property rights for women and the opposition to chattel marriage and ownership of married women (and their children) by their husbands. However, by the end of the nineteenth century, activism focused primarily on gaining political power, particularly the right of womens suffrage. Basically, it was the first time when women have the opportunity to vote. During this wave, World War I took place, which was another cause of changes in womens status. In order to defend national sovereignty, men were conscribed to fight in the battle front. Therefore, women had to do mens physical labour in factory. Females no longer stayed in the house only serving their own family, but also went out working to support the household and their country. Not accidentally, (see Illus. 1) Coco Chanels simple and practical designs catered to the needs of working women. In her shop, she sold â€Å"flannel blazers, straight linen skirts, sailor tops, long jersey sweaters and skirt-jackets†which were inspired by menswear. These convenient clothes enabled women to work with higher efficiency. †Chanel used such serviceable materials and relaxed patterns in the design of fashionable daywear for sophisticated urban women, safe in her knowledge of their aspirational and practical qualities.† Her accomplishment in fashion helped her situated in the roles of feminist pioneer. Simplicity has become a recognized characteristic of Coco Chanel and affected the fashion trend afterwards. Unfortunately, after the men returned from war when the WWI ended, women were dispatched back to the kitchen.†Still, an important new stage had been reached, since the induction of women into the war effort initiated the whole process of liberation.† Between early 1960s and late 1980s, it was the second-wave feminism. Though after the first-wave feminism women have won over some legal rights, they were still limited and oppressed in working place. Slightly different from the first wave, the second-wave feminism concentrated on issues of real equality of women such as eliminating discrimination. Feminists went all out marching and protesting in the street. Owing to their hard struggle, females gradually earned some equality in the working place and other aspects of life. In all their achievements, the most remarkable event was the release of some gynocentric legal reforms. Without the legal obstructions to womens personal freedom and professional achievement, women had a chance to prove themselves to be as capable as men. The 1960s, also called the Sixties, was a decade when tremendous changes happened to fashion. In this era, fashion was influenced by various factors such as â€Å"social mobility, daring fashion photography, easier travel abroad, the Vietnam War, new music of the Beatles and their much copied hairstyles, retro military and ethnic clothes, musicals, pop art and film all played a part†. Feminism was absolutely one of the most influential causes of all. Le Smoking (see Illus. 2), designed by Yves Saint Laurent in 1966, is a typical example of impact on fashion by feminism. Yves Saint Laurent wasnt the first person who created trousers for women. However, it was the first of its kind to draw attention in the fashion industry and the public. This innovative creation started androgynous style for women and pantsuits have been popular ever since. Its still one of the favourite outfits of office ladies in present-day society. The popularity of power suits demonstrates womens liberati on and equality between men and women to some extent. Besides, it provides women another choice in their wardrobes and dresses were not the only selection any more. In a word, the appearance of pantsuit is a symbol of women been considered to be an independent individuals in workplace. In group of people in younger age, some daring youths were seeking for something new in fashion as restrictions on women reduced.   Mary quants miniskirts (see Illus. 3), of which the hemline was set 6 or 7 inches above the knee, fulfilled their needs. It was controversial when it first came into the market, but then more people began to accept it in the mid-1960s and went into the major international trend. Miniskirt was reckoned to be a sign of womens liberation and enabled women to run and show their beauty without limits. The third-wave feminism began in the early 1990s, and the fashion in this decade was casual and comfortable. However, fashion and feminism dont always go hand in hand. The release of womens body didnt go further because every woman wants perfect body for both personal reason and attracting men. Wearing garments that show their nice body makes women feel better, more beautiful and sometimes even more confident. Fashion nowadays emphasized on silhouette and only slim and S-shape body is deemed to be beautiful. This brings stress on women and urges them to fit themselves into clothes that might be too tight. After struggling for equality for more than one hundred years, phenomena of inequality have decreased remarkably. But men have been in the dominant position for the majority of time in history. Reforms in laws are definitely not enough to change the status. To gain real equality, male chauvinism should be eliminated entirely. Anyway, its still a long way to go to have final equality of men and women.

Melatonin And The Pineal Gland :: essays research papers fc

Melatonin And The Pineal Gland Set deep in our brains is a tiny gland called the pineal gland. This tiny gland is in charge of the endocrine system, the glandular system that controls most of our bodily functions. The pineal runs our Å’body clocks', and it produces melatonin; the hormone that may prove to be the biggest medical discovery since penicilin, and the key to controlling the aging process. The pineal gland controls such functions as our sleeping cycle and the change of body temperature that we undergo with the changing seasons. It tells animals when to migrate north and south, and when to grow or shed heavy coats. By slowing down and speeding up their metabolisms, it tells them when to fatten up for hibernation, and when to wake up from hibernation in the spring. Melatonin is the hormone that controls not only when we feel sleepy, but the rate at which we age, when we go through puberty, and how well our immune systems fend off diseases. Being set in the middle of our brains, the pineal gland has no direct access to sunlight. Our eyes send it a message of how much sunlight they see, and when it's dark. The sunlight prohibits the gland from producing melatonin, so at night, when there's no sun, the sleep-inducing hormone is released into our bodies. Because of the pineal gland and melatonin, humans have known to sleep at night and wake during the day since long before the age of alarm clocks. Humans don't produce melatotin right from birth; it is transfered in utero to babies through the placenta. For their first few days of life, babies still have to receive it from breast milk. Our levels of melatonin peak during childhood, then decrease at the beginning of puberty, so that other hormones can take control of our bodies. As we get older, the amount of melatonin we produce continues to decrease until at age 60, we produce about half as much as we did at age 20. With the rapid decrease from about age 50 on, the effects of old age quickly become more visible and physically evident. With what scientists have recently discovered, we may very soon be able to harness melatonin to slow down aging, fend off disease, and keep us feeling generally healthy and energetic; not to mention the things melatonin can do for us right now like curing insomnia and regulating sleeping patterns, eliminating the effects of jet-lag, and relieving every day stress. Melatonin is known as the "regulator of regulators", because it sends out Melatonin And The Pineal Gland :: essays research papers fc Melatonin And The Pineal Gland Set deep in our brains is a tiny gland called the pineal gland. This tiny gland is in charge of the endocrine system, the glandular system that controls most of our bodily functions. The pineal runs our Å’body clocks', and it produces melatonin; the hormone that may prove to be the biggest medical discovery since penicilin, and the key to controlling the aging process. The pineal gland controls such functions as our sleeping cycle and the change of body temperature that we undergo with the changing seasons. It tells animals when to migrate north and south, and when to grow or shed heavy coats. By slowing down and speeding up their metabolisms, it tells them when to fatten up for hibernation, and when to wake up from hibernation in the spring. Melatonin is the hormone that controls not only when we feel sleepy, but the rate at which we age, when we go through puberty, and how well our immune systems fend off diseases. Being set in the middle of our brains, the pineal gland has no direct access to sunlight. Our eyes send it a message of how much sunlight they see, and when it's dark. The sunlight prohibits the gland from producing melatonin, so at night, when there's no sun, the sleep-inducing hormone is released into our bodies. Because of the pineal gland and melatonin, humans have known to sleep at night and wake during the day since long before the age of alarm clocks. Humans don't produce melatotin right from birth; it is transfered in utero to babies through the placenta. For their first few days of life, babies still have to receive it from breast milk. Our levels of melatonin peak during childhood, then decrease at the beginning of puberty, so that other hormones can take control of our bodies. As we get older, the amount of melatonin we produce continues to decrease until at age 60, we produce about half as much as we did at age 20. With the rapid decrease from about age 50 on, the effects of old age quickly become more visible and physically evident. With what scientists have recently discovered, we may very soon be able to harness melatonin to slow down aging, fend off disease, and keep us feeling generally healthy and energetic; not to mention the things melatonin can do for us right now like curing insomnia and regulating sleeping patterns, eliminating the effects of jet-lag, and relieving every day stress. Melatonin is known as the "regulator of regulators", because it sends out

Chocolate Research Paper Essay

Chocolate is a key ingredient in many foods such as milk shakes, candy bars, cookies and cereals. It is ranked as one of the most favourite flavours in North America and Europe. Despite its popularity most people do not know the unique origin of this popular treat. Chocolate is a product that requires complex procedures to produce. The process involves harvesting cocoa, refining coca to cocoa beans, and shipping the cocoa beans to the manufacturing factory for cleaning, coaching and grinding. These cocoa beans will then be imported or exported to other countries and be transformed into different types of chocolate products. Cocoa beans grow in countries like Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Indonesia, Brazil, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Malaysia, but the highest cocoa producing country is Cote d’Ivoire. The production process of cocoa beans include: first, cocoa is harvested manually. The seed pods of cocoa are collected and the beans are selected and placed in piles. These cocoa beans are then ready to be shipped to the manufacturer for production. Cocoa grows in pods that sprout off the trunks and branches of cocoa trees. The pods have the shape and almost the size of football. The pods start out green and turn orange when they are ripe. When the pods are ripe they are harvested gently with machetes. Machines can damage the trees or the clusters of flowers and pods that grow on the trunk, so workers have to harvest the pods by hand, using short, hooked blades mounted on long poles to reach the highest fruit. The cocoa seeds then undergo a process of fermentation by placing them in large, shallow, heated trays or by covering them with large banana leaves. If the climate is right, they may be simply heated by the sun. Workers mostly women come along periodically and stir them up so that all of the beans come out equally fermented. This process may take up to five or eight days. After fermentation, the cocoa seeds are dried before they can be scooped into sacks and shipped to chocolate manufacturers. Farmers simply spread the fermented seeds on trays and leave them in the sun to dry. The drying process usually takes about a week and results in seeds becoming reduced to about half of their original weight. During the production process, labor is not equally divided between men and women who work in the planation; this brings us to the issue of gender division. The gender divide that exists on the cocoa plantation is that most farm work is conducted by men, although most certainly there are tasks where women are very active, such as scooping the beans from the already opened husks, turning the beans during the fermentation and drying process, and sewing the jute sacs needed for the packaging of the dried beans. Women in the farms normally tend to the needs of the family. When female labor is hired during the harvesting time the wages given to them are not the same as those for men. Perhaps another reason why men are preferred is because of their assumed higher productivity rate compared to that of women. Due to different practices followed in individual regions, even within countries, the participation of women and their assigned tasks vary enormously. For instance, because of the popular method of sun drying cocoa beans in Ecuador, it is necessary to â€Å"clean† the beans. This job is mostly undertaken by women. This is not the case in Ghana or Brazil where sun drying is accomplished while protecting the beans from foreign matters and waste. It is interesting to note however that there is no specific pattern for the assignment of tasks to women, except during the harvest when the scooping of the beans from the opened pods is primarily performed by women in most cocoa producing countries. Given the great differences in the systems of production in producing countries it is difficult to find a common percentage that reflects the average participation of the female work force. It is worth mentioning that unlike the coffee agricultural sector, there are no associations or specific groups that house ‘women only’ involved in the cocoa sector at any level, although all associations and cooperatives are open to all who qualify. Due to fluctuation of cocoa prices in the world market, farmers have no long-term security, and in some situations, they do not have enough funds to support their farming business. Cocoa farmers are always faced with financial hardship; they are not able to provide for their families as they would want nor have enough funds to start up their own farming business because they only receive a fraction of the proceeds from the selling of the beans on the world market and there are many people in the trading chain. Cocoa farmers around the world face many challenges. It is estimated that about one-third of global cocoa crops are destroyed by pests and diseases every year. Many cocoa farmers have limited access to the latest agricultural technologies or methods of cultivation and few of them have business backgrounds to help them effectively market their products and manage their operations. Many of the farming communities live in poverty and are infected with diseases. Industry groups, governments and consumers worldwide have raised concerns about the use of pesticides and child labor on West African cocoa farms. An interview conducted by Christophe Koffi showed that one major problem that women in cocoa production encounter is the lack the of financial capability or backing due to the fact that most of these women find themselves in a male dominated occupation. It is very difficult for them to secure financial aid or loans to manage their farms. For instance, â€Å"Women cannot inherit or even create a cocoa plantation under our patriarch-dominated tradition,† said Vanie, criticising what she called a â€Å"backwards and misogynist† practice† (Koffi, 2008) because we still live in a patriarchal dominated society where women do not have the right to own lands and properties. This paper further talks about the sustanability in the production process of cocoa. We will be looking at Lindt& Sprungli’s which is a family company and a major producer of chocolate and other cocoa products with a headquaters in Kilchberg, Switzerland. Lindt & Sprungli is one of the few chocolate makers that have complete control over every step of the production chain starting with the precise selection of the finest cocoa varieties from the best growing areas in the world right on through the careful and expert processing until ending with the elegant packaging. Lindt gets its cocoa beans mostly from Ghana and Central and South America. Lindt has been very conservative in the amount of energy its invests in the chocolate production process. Each existing and future facility and investment undergoes very detailed analysis to determine how much energy can be saved. Through better insulation and energy recovery, Lindt & Sprungli was able to cut down on energy consumption by more than 13% per ton produced between 2004 and 2010. The company intends to continue reducing the energy consumption rate per ton produced by an average over the coming years. According to the Lindt publication, The company’s efforts: since 1999, Lindt & Sprungli’s Swiss subsidiary, Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprungli (Schweiz) AG, has been an active member of the Lake Zurich Energy Model Group†¦The Swiss government and independent engineers have audited the progress and as a result, the Swiss subsidiary has been granted the official certificate. (Kilchberg, 2012) Since 2007, Lindt & Sprungli under water conservation has been participating in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)†¦Since then, the measurements of water emissions and energy consumption have been largely based on the concept of the ‘Methodology Fossil Fuels’ set out in the CDP Protocol†¦Waste water, Lindt & Sprungli continuously monitors and analyses the use of water and the output of wastewater in the production process and intends to further reduce the use of fresh water in this process, which, in turn will impact the output of wastewater (Kilchberg, 2012). The major people that benefit from cocoa production are mostly the big corporations. The corporations exploit cocoa farmers in the sense that they do not pay them the true worth of their labour. Women who work on the farms are underpaid and marginalized. There is also the issue of child labor where children of school going age are forced to work on the farms instead of going to school thereby denying them the right to education. The big corporations are not forth coming in releasing information as to how and where they get their cocoa beans from. Most of these African countries where these big corporations get their raw materials from do not have access to good roads, health care facilities, schools, electricity, and there is poverty in most of the communities. These big corporations buy the cocoa beans at a very cheap rate and then import them to the western society and the refined product is processed into different kinds of chocolates (e. g. chocolate drink, chocolate bars of different shapes and sizes and chocolate candies etc. ) . Which are sold consumers at exorbitant prices considering the price at which the cocoa beans are bought from the cocoa farmers. This explains how capitalism and big corporation exploit cheap labour. Almost everyone enjoys a bit of chocolate every now and again. But if you take a closer look at how cocoa is produced, it may well leave a bitter taste in your mouth. The conditions under which the cocoa farmers in many producer countries live and work are worrying: Despite the fact that cocoa is usually their main source of income, the families struggle to make a living from it. Child labour is not uncommon. As consumers we can work with NGOs to find means of helping the farmers to adapt to new systems of cocoa farming that result higher yields, under socially more acceptable and environmentally friendly conditions, to meet market demands and hence ensure a stable flow income. As a major part of the global cocoa industry which has remained inactive and invisible for so long, consumers of chocolate can demonstrate that they want slavery in the cocoa sector stamped out, and your pressure can highlight their lack of commitment and make them more accountable. Finally all cocoa products, including chocolate, run the risk of being tainted by child labour and slavery. To achieve a satisfactory standard of ethical production in chocolate consumers must help to ensure that companies commit to credible and sufficient actions against such things as use of child labour and the exploitation of cocoa farmers and not make false and unsustainable promises to consumers of being â€Å"slavery- free†. The consumers can liaise with government bodies and NGOs to negotiate fair prices for the purchase of cocoa products and this will in turn help the farmers to gain access to basic social amenities of life. Reference Page Archer, D. (2012). ADM’s commitment to sustainable cocoa. Milwaukee: Copyright 2012 Archer Daniels Midland Company . Clarkson, T. (1998). Anti-slavery. Retrieved November 15, 2012, from www. antislavery. org: http://www. antislavery. org/english/privacy_policy. aspx Kilchberg. (2012, April 22). The environment in the Production Process. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from www. Lindt. com: http://www. lindt. com/swf/eng/company/social-responsibility/lindts-sustainable-cocoa-supply-chain/ Koffi, C. (2008, November 7). Ivory Coast women defy taboos. Retrieved November 11, 2012, from iol News: http://www. iol. co. za/news/africa/ivory-coast-women-defy-taboos-1. 423405.

Medical Devices and the FDA essays

Medical Devices and the FDA essays Marconi Medical Systems Magnetic Resonance division designs, manufactures, and installs MRI systems and associated equipment for the worldwide medical diagnostic imaging market. In addition, Marconi MR imports MRI systems from Nordstar (located in Helsinki, Finland) and installs them in the United States. Associated equipment includes surface coils and physician viewing stations. Surface coils are specialized transducers, which, when used with an MRI machine, produce high-quality images of specific portions of the anatomy. MR designs, manufactures, and installs surface coils as well. Marconi Medical Systems as a whole, is a transnational corporation. While retaining its strength in the United Stated, MRs products have achieved global recognition. Strengths in markets such as Europe and South America have opened doors to Asian countries such as Japan and China. MR has a variety of customers, but focuses primarily on hospitals and imaging centers. MR customers expect high quality systems that are easy to use, have low operating cost, high throughput, and can support new technology. An MR system must provide superior image quality and offer a range of imaging techniques to support diagnosis. Given the high cost of the equipment ($900,000 on average), customers expect smoothly installed, easy to operate, reliable, low maintenance equipment that provides a solid return on investment. To make all this possible, Marconi must pass the Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) stringent policies and procedures for the safe and effective use of a medical device. Unlike x-ray based medical diagnostic techniques such as computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy are techniques that do not employ ionizing radiation. As such, it is considered to be less hazardous than other x-ray imaging techniques. In addition, since x-rays can only discriminate different tissues by electron density, which does not vary greatly...

Mental Cases Essays

Mental Cases Essays Mental Cases Paper Mental Cases Paper In The Show, I believe Owen uses many different techniques in order to present his feelings about war to the reader. I would take the word present to mean how Owen affects what the reader is thinking and feeling in order to communicate his feelings about war to us effectively, and what methods he uses to do this, looking closely at the language, form and imagery of The Show in comparison to some of his other poems. In The Show, one of the main techniques Owen uses to present his feelings is the metaphor that runs throughout the poem the constant comparison of the soldiers to the caterpillars is a technique that I believe is very effective. It has numerous effects on the reader, one of which is to make us feel that Owen is bitter about the war as a whole the comparison with the insects serves to generalise the soldiers which implies that somehow they are less valuable individually. As a result of this, the reader feels as if Owen is mirroring what he believes are the attitudes of people back at home to the soldiers, which is where the feeling of bitterness in the poem stems from. A similar effect of the continuous metaphor is that the reader feels that Owen is trivialising the soldiers and what they do he has reduced them to a comparison with insects. An aspect of this that is particularly effective is that in general, people do not think twice about killing insects, and so the link to the soldiers here is more disturbing for the reader as we realise what this link signifies. Here, it seems as if Owen is again highlighting public attitude about the war and is angry about how people perhaps would have not recognised the individual sacrifices and suffering of each soldier. Owen also compares the soldiers to less desirable groups in Dulce et Decorum Est, when he describes them as hags and old beggars. However, the effect of the comparison there is that it creates sadness for the reader, because we feel that it is awful that such young men should be reduced to being described as inferior to what they actually are, as the word hags has connotations of being old, wrinkled and are often seen as evil . As a result of this, Dulce appears to immediately communicate that Owen is bitter but also sad himself at this drop in standards for the men, showing that the same technique is used by Owen to great effect in numerous poems. I feel it also communicates his sadness to us through the mockery of the soldiers here, because he felt it significant enough to use in the opening lines of the poem, showing that he wished this to be one of our main reactions to Dulce. Another main effect of the running metaphor in this poem is that the comparison heightens the feeling of disgust for the reader much of the language creates gruesome images straightaway, but when applied to the alternative meaning of the metaphor (i. e. the soldiers) it becomes even more gruesome. For example, where they writhed and shrivelled, killed, creates awful imagery even when applied to the caterpillars, as writhed carries implications of suffering great pain. However, it is even more disturbing when applied to the soldiers because as well as writhing carrying implications of pain in this context, it is also an unnatural action for a human to make, whereas the natural actions of some insects could be described as writhing. The word shrivelled also has a similar effect, in that it is very graphic and very unnatural. The resulting imagery of a soldier being in such excessive pain that his body would contort in such a way is extremely shocking and disturbing for the reader, and makes us feel hugely sympathetic to all the soldiers. Another example of the disgust being created is when the caterpillars are described as plugs a plug is made to fit a hole, and the link that implies the soldier were also made to fill the ditches is somewhat disturbing. I believe Owen used such graphic and disgusting language in order to shock the reader, because that way it would effectively communicate the feeling of anger and bitterness about the situation. I also feel that Owen may have been trying to use this language to shock because he may have wished us to feel guilty about our attitudes. Owen also uses grotesque language in another of his war poems, Mental Cases, and I believe that the effects are similar to those of The Show, in that Owen used such language in order to shock the reader, for example shatter of flying muscles. This sentence is very graphic and creates horrific imagery in our minds as we read which creates shock and disgust. However, there is no hidden metaphor in Mental Cases, which means that the language has more of an immediate impact, but does not seem quite as disturbing as the aim of the use of this language seems to be more obvious to the reader. Although much of the language in The Show creates repulsive imagery, many of the words themselves seem to be very understated, for example curl, lift and flatten. These words are usually very normal and everyday words to describe movement they are not exaggerated or extreme. As a result of this, the reader again feels that Owen is somewhat trivialising everything in the poem, and making it less significant. A specific example of how he does this is when he uses the phrase bitten backs to describe the potentially fatal injuries that the soldiers have obtained on the battlefields.

Explain the federal court system in its entirety. Be sure to state and Essay

Explain the federal court system in its entirety. Be sure to state and explain each of the courts that comprise the federal syst - Essay Example The hierarchy of courts also includes several administrative courts such as the U.S. Claims Court, the Court of International Trade, quasi-judicial tribunals of the federal regulatory agencies and the military tribunals (Van Devort 2000). It also includes the U.S. Tax Court and a lesser tribunal, the U.S. Court of Veterans Appeal. The federal district court is a court of original jurisdiction; this is where â€Å"cases and controversies† are file for the first time (Van Dervort 2000). From the trial courts cases are brought for appeal in the U.S. court of appeals. The U.S. court of appeals is the intermediate appeals courts in the federal system. It has two types the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The first has limited jurisdiction and only hear and decide cases regarding questions of law and not of fact from the district courts and is also the appellate court for the U.S. Tax Court. The second has jurisdiction to hear appeals from district courts based on specialized matters such as cases arising from patent laws and damages against the federal government, and possess jurisdiction over appeals from several administrative bodies and from the decisions of the U.S. Claims Court and the Court of International Trade.

Phosphoaspirin (MDC-43) a novel benzyl ester of aspirin, inhibits the Essay

Phosphoaspirin (MDC-43) a novel benzyl ester of aspirin, inhibits the growth of human cancer cells - Essay Example This study by Zhao, Mackenzie, Murray, Zhang, and Rigas (2009) aims to observe the anticancer activity and mechanism of the new phosphoaspirin (MDC-43). For the purpose of this study, several reagents were purchased, or gifted, from different pharmacological companies. Cell cultures were grown in the laboratory in line with the American Type Culture Collection instructions. The trypan blue exclusion method was used to measure the cell viability and growth. Moreover, the cell cycles were analyzed following standard PI protocols (Zhao, Mackenzie, Murray, Zhang, and Rigas 2009, p. 512). Human cancer cells derived from colon, pancreas, breast, liver and lung were used in this study; these are some of the major and most common forms of cancer and account for around â€Å"54% of all new cases of cancer in the USA† (Zhao, Mackenzie, Murray, Zhang, and Rigas 2009, p. 517). All cell lines that were studied showed that Phosphoaspirin was more powerful than aspirin in preventing cancer cell growth (Zhao, Mackenzie, Murray, Zhang, and Rigas 2009, p. 513). Moreover, phosphoaspirin was also shown to stimulate the creation of reactive oxygen species (Zhao, Mackenzie, Murray, Zhang, and Rigas 2009, p. 514). The study also observed that phosphoaspirin had an inverse effect on thiol levels in the cells, and produced intrinsic apoptosis (Zhao, Mackenzie, Murray, Zhang, and Rigas 2009, p. 514-516). Furthermore, the phosphoaspirin also increased cell signaling in some cells, however, the effect was limited to protein activation alone (Zhao, Mackenzie, Murray, Zhang, and Rigas 2009, p. 516). The data collected by the study clearly demonstrated that phosphoaspirin has a strong reduction effect on human cancer cells. Moreover, the effect is stronger than that of aspirin, as well as being more generalized. The strength of phosphoaspirin was found to be more uniformly superior to ordinary aspirin; however, no reason