Assignment 1

Use Assignment 1 (turn in here) to submit your assignment. Click on View/Complete to submit your assignment (Do not use the red submit buttons). This should be the only place you will need to submit your assignment. Students, please view the â€Å"Submit a Clickable Rubric Assignment† in the Student Center. Instructors, training on how to grade is within the Instructor Center. Assignment 1: Comparing Two Similar Businesses Due Week 4 and worth 280 points Access articles about the history, business approach, management, and marketing of Amazon. com and Borders Books. Amazon (primarily an online book and product sales site) started in the mid 1990s and was not profitable in the first few years but has grown and become very successful and highly profitable. By contrast, Borders bookstore, which started in 1971, was successful and profitable up until 2004. Borders filed for Chapter 11 in 2011. Write a five to six (5-6) page paper in which you: Describe the history and core business of each company. Compare and contrast the management approach each took to Internet marketing and sales. Analyze three (3) reasons for Amazon’s success despite not turning a profit for the first five to six (5-6) years. Discuss three (3) reasons Borders, although initially successful and profitable, ended up in Chapter 11. Discuss the extent to which the management of each company adapted to changing market conditions. Recommend three (3) ways a company should build in flexibility to back up its decision-making process so as to adapt to changing market conditions. Use at least three (3) quality sources to support the content of the paper. Your assignment must: Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions. Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length. The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are: Explain the decision-making process management uses to develop viable courses of action to a variety of management situations. Use technology and information resources to research issues in management. Write clearly and concisely about management using proper writing mechanics.

Human body Essay

A trip to the cinemas or even to the local bookstore will reveal the present generation’s fascination with the folkloric undead. This fascination, however, is not a new one as most of the present â€Å"lovable† undead characters are actually just old characters that have been given a make-over. From the charismatic vampires of Anne Rice in her Vampire Chronicles series to the morbid and gruesome zombies in the films, the folkloric undead have taken on a new shape from the early 19th century. Perhaps, the change can be attributed to a more imaginative set of authors and writers but then again much of this change can also be attributed to the developments in science and medicine which have allowed for a deeper understanding of the human body and the undead who feast on them. The vampires that Anne Rice creates are more seemingly human than they are vampire. This personification allows the reader to identify with the characters. As Anne Rice carefully describes every sinew and vein that runs down the potential victim’s neck, the reader feels as if he or she were the one taking that fatal bite. Dracula and Frankenstein have also been given more human sides as we see in the movies. The tale of love and revenge has no application to things which are not human. This is something that these writers and directors have realized. In order to capture the attention of the audience, one must be able to personify these characters and give them feelings and even appearances that can be mistaken for human beings. While arguably Frankenstein may be far from being human in the sense of the word, his feelings of revenge and even loyalty at times is too human to be mistaken for anything else. By employing the literary device such as personification and developing an understanding of the human body, today’s writers have evolved the genre from the simplistic undead of the earlier century.

Objections Arising from Evil in the World Essay

The word evil is a word which can be used very loosely, usually used to describe something we think to be morally wrong, something that when in inflicted on a person causes pain and suffering. However, if an ‘evil’ act is committed by someone who has been in all other aspects good, does this act make this person ‘evil’? There are many different situations where evil acts could be done all with different circumstances and consequences. For example; at Auschwitz, so many guards were involved in the slaughter of massive amounts of Jews but it seems unlikely that all of them were evil. The actions may be considered evil but they were normalised by the sense of responsibility felt by the guards. In their eyes, they were carrying out a duty so the question of whether they are to be labelled evil is indefinite. There are two recognised categories which evil can fall under: Moral evil and Natural evil. Richard Swimburne, a modern day philosopher describes moral evil as ‘including all evil caused deliberately by humans doing what they ought not to do, and also the evil constituted by such deliberate acts or negligent failure’. It is the result of a human action which is morally wrong, such as murder or war. Natural evil is the result of apparent malfunctioning in the natural world, it is according to John Hick ‘the evil that originates independently of human actions. It is in disease, in bacilli, in earthquakes, in storms, and in droughts.’ The fact that evil, or suffering is an undeniable factor in our lives presents an array of problems in today’s world where there is a strong belief by many of a higher power which should in theory, be able to eradicate it from the world or in fact never have let it come to exist in the first place. For believers in the God of Classical Theism, this ‘problem of evil’ as it is often referred to, creates a serious dilemma. Moral evil is an easier problem to tackle for a theist than that of Natural evil, as it can be said that it occurs from the misuse of freewill, but they are still faced with justifying the existence of Natural evil. If God created the world from nothing, then there is nothing beyond His control so for whatever reason, God must be the creator of evil and suffering. A theist can sometimes be faced with justifying both types of evil as natural evils like tsunamis and hurricanes are often the cause of people committing moral evils like looting. The problem is not easily justifiable and is illustrated in ‘The Inconsistent Triad’, which states the points: God is omnipotent and omniscient (A), God is all-loving (B), and evil exists (C). These three statements cannot all be true so it would seem that one of them is false, but since we know evil and suffering exist the inconsistency must lie in one of the other 2 points. The conclusions drawn from this are that either God is not omnipotent and cannot stop evil from existing, or that God is not all-loving and chooses not to stop evil existing, or that in fact God does not exist. This can be used as an argument for the non-existence of God. A quote from Swimburne on the Problem of Evil, ‘There is a problem about why God allows evil, and if the theist doesn’t have (in a cool moment) a satisfactory answer to it, then his belief in God is less than rational and there is no reason why the atheist should share it.’ An example of the problem being used in this way is in Hume’s combat of Thomas Aquinas’ Design Argument (Summa Thelogica) where he labels the Problem of Evil as ‘The Rock of Atheism’. However, whilst being a problem for theists in that it challenges the nature of God, it also poses problems in other ways. It presents itself as a philosophical problem as it compels the believer to accept conflicting claims that are logically impossible to reconcile. It is also a diverse problem; evil manifests itself in many different ways, demanding separate explanations. The problem of evil has proved itself to be a challenging problem, as it is not just going to disappear, evil and suffering are objective realities which are almost impossible to deny. B) Unpack two theodicies and analyse which how successful these are As I said, the justification of God’s allowance for the existence of evil is not easy, but there are many theodicies which have developed that provide strong arguments. A theodicy is a theory that justifies why God allows evil without qualifying the attributes of the God of Classical Theism. Two of which are those of Augustine and Irenaeus. Augustine’s theodicy has had considerable influence over many scholars since it was developed and attempts to provide justification for both moral and natural evil. According to Augustine, the perfect God created a flawless world where evil and suffering did not exist, and that God is not responsible for the existence of evil as it is not a substance, but in fact a deprivation of good. He uses an analogy of blindness to illustrate his meaning, as blindness itself is not an entity but an absence of sight. Augustine claims that evil comes from angels and humans who have deliberately turned against God and abused his gift of freewill. He states that evil is necessary in a created world as only the uncreated creator can be perfect, his creations are susceptible to change. Augustine’s idea on the existence of Natural evil is that it exists as a punishment for the Original Sin, which we are all guilty of as we were all seminally present in Adam at the time it was committed. Natural evil punishes us for the destruction of the natural order by human action. For these reasons God is right not to intervene and the fact that he does save some through Christ emphasises His mercy. God would be justified in sending everyone to hell for being guilty of the Original Sin, the fact that some go to heaven shows God’s goodness. Augustine’s theodicy has some substantial strengths, as is proved by its popularity. Brian Davies is an example of a scholar who supports his claim that evil is only a deprivation of good rather than having a proper existence, he said it is ‘a gap between what there is and what there ought to be’. To criticise would be to say that God should have created more than he did which doesn’t make sense; how is anyone to know how much more should have been created. Augustine’s views on evil being a product of freewill have also been upheld. Despite it’s strengths, Augustine’s theodicy has many holes in it to be addressed, it contains logical, scientific, and moral difficulties. Augustine’s concept of Hell comes under scrutiny; Hell is part of God’s design of the universe, so it was created before the world’s flaws began to appear, which means that God must have anticipated and accepted that the world would go wrong. F.D.E Schleiermacher expresses his logical contradiction to Augustine’s views on the origin of evil and a perfect world going wrong, Schleiermacher informs us that whether evil is a deprivation or not it is still real and it is therefore logically impossible for it to just come out of nothing. This means that evil must be connected to God and he either never created the world perfect or he made it so it was able to falter. Another logical difficulty of this theodicy comes of the capacity to do evil in a ‘perfect’ world and disobey God, as in a perfect world no knowledge of good and evil should exist. The knowledge of them could only come from God. Scientific difficulties stem from the modern world’s concept of evolution; the idea of a perfect world being damaged by humans does not allow for evolution. Moreover, Augustine refers to the Garden of Eden in his theodicy, and this paradise is hard to accept on the basis of evolution. A final difficulty lies with the concept of us all being seminally present in Adam’s loins, this is biologically impossible so we cannot all be responsible for the Original Sin. From comparing the strengths with the criticisms we can see that Augustine’s theodicy ultimately fails. The theodicy of Irenaeus is another which provides a formidable answer to the question of why God allows evil’s existence. As said by Irenaeus, Gods aim when creating the world was to make humans in his likeness, but to do this, humans could not be made perfect but had to develop through free will. It was therefore necessary for God to give us free will and therefore necessary to give us the potential to turn against him. If he didn’t enable this, we could never attain God’s likeness as according to Ireneaus it requires willing co-operation. The natural order had to be designed in a way where humans could cause harm, which they did resulting in suffering, but God still cannot compromise our freedom by removing evil. Ireneaus claims that the evil and suffering will eventually be overcome and everyone will attain God’s likeness and reside in Heaven. This justifies temporary evil, which if complying with Ireneaus’ thought enables the understanding of good. Many philosophers have added to Ireneaus’ theodicy including John Hick (who claims that good developed from free will is better than ready-made goodness), and Peter Vardy who used an analogy of a king to illustrate this – where a king falls in love with a peasant girl but rather than imposing his power on her and forcing him to marry her, he wins her over. They both believe that without development our goodness would be without value, we would be automatons. According to this theodicy, humans had to be created imperfect to be able to go against God, and they had to be created at a distance from God so they could decide for themselves to believe in him. If we were sure he was there, there would be no free will, John Hick called this the ‘epistemic distance’. If God wasn’t separated from humans we would know he was real and would live a good, moral life because we would know that it is in our best interests, it wouldn’t be real goodness. Humans also couldn’t be created in a paradise or else qualities such as courage would not be attainable and there would be no development as good and evil would be indistinguishable. The theodicy justifies natural evil as it makes the world well adapted to ‘soul making’ (John Hick). The Modern Additions to this theodicy claim that heaven is the eventual goal for everyone for three reasons; a future in heaven is the only justification for the suffering of the world. Secondly, if life were to end in death God’s purpose would be unfulfilled since we would not be reaching our goal of becoming God’s likeness. Lastly, nobody can be overlooked as evil acts are carried out in different circumstances for different people. For example, someone who was abused while being raised is much more likely to be abusive as an adult, it is something they are used to and have become desensitised to. There are solid criticisms of Irenaeus’ theodicy as well as Augustine’s: For example, everyone going to heaven defies religious texts as well as making it pointless to live a moral life, why bother if you are going to heaven anyway? It also takes away the incentive to develop into God’s likeness which Irenaeus regarded of utmost importance. Another critique is of the level of suffering needed to make the world adapted for ‘soul making, e.g. Was the Holocaust really necessary? Finally, it can be said that love can never be expressed through suffering, supported by D.Z Philips who said it is not justifiable to hurt someone to help them. To conclude, neither of these theodicies can be considered perfect by any means, but Ireneaus is the stronger of the two. Where Augustine fails to provide room for belief in evolution, Ireneaus manages it and while Augustine cannot provide a logical explanation for the origin of evil, Irenaeus provides a stable reason for it. It is also popular, like Augustine’s for its views on free will.

(Some Finance Questions) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

(Some Finance Questions) - Research Paper Example TIPs pay interest semi-annually at a fixed rate which is calculated on the adjusted principal to make the interest payments as well inflation driven (Treasury Direct). The market of TIPs is the world largest inflation indexed securities market with over $550 billion of TIPs outstanding i.e. approximately 8% of the total debt market of treasury. TIPs can be purchased directly from Treasury Direct system with a minimum purchase limit of $100 and multiples of $100 thereof and are available with 5-, 10-, and 30-year maturities. The 5-year and 30-year TIPs are auctioned semi-annually whereas 10-year TIPs are auctioned quarterly. The auction bids are TIPs are submitted both as competitive and non-competitive. In case of competitive bids, the bidder specifies the yield that he/she is willing to accept the security for. In case of non-competitive bid, the yield is determined at the auction which the bidder agrees to accept for a security. TIPs are issued in electronic form and can be like ot her marketable securities which can be held to maturity or sold before it matures. Interest paid on TIPs is subject to federal taxes but are exempted from both state and local taxes.

Interview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 17

Interview - Essay Example He would for instance ask ‘So yesterday, what happened?’ to leave the interviewee with the luxury of choosing from a possible broad range of responses. Describe the interviewer’s approach to the body of the interview. Did they use a highly scheduled/structured, moderately scheduled/structured, or non-scheduled/non-structured body? See Chapter 8 textbook Based on the types of questions emanating from the interviewer, it is apparent that the he decided to use an unstructured approach in the main body of the interview. This is especially so when he persistently asks open-ended questions based on the responses he receives from the interviewee. The interviewer acclimatized both the audiences and the interviewee to the tone of the interview by officially introducing the interviewee by his official title while extending an official greeting. This confirmed the authority of the interviewee and the significance of the questions that followed. The interviewee chose a rather conservative posture by sitting upright with hands on the laps. This signified submission to the interviewer and readiness to tackle any questions that would arise during the interview. The interviewee used head gestures like nodding to imply approval of whatever matter was in question. Although there were instances of open-ended questions, most of the questions asked by the interviewer were closed, often demanding an approval or denial in matters of national importance. For instance, the interviewer asked the interviewee the following question. "Do you know among you, Obama, and Bush, who had the highest tax receipts of all three of you? Do you know? Describe the interviewer’s approach to the body of the interview. Did they use a highly scheduled/structured, moderately scheduled/structured, or non-scheduled/non-structured body? See Chapter 8 textbook The interviewer used a moderately structured approach in the interview by

Relationship Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Relationship Marketing - Assignment Example In order to get a deeper insight into the matter, various concepts of traditional marketing and relationship marketing have been compared and evaluated. The slow decline of traditional marketing is a signal that marketers need to revive their strategies and shift their focus from suppliers to customers. The research will also throw light on the critical matter of relationship establishment and its influence as well as importance in overall success of relationship marketing. The topic will also discuss the emergence of relationship marketing as well as its fundamental values. This will be followed by a discussion on a strategic alliance between traditional marketing as well as relationship marketing. Finally, various application of relationship marketing will be discussed. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 3 Introduction 4 The Case Study 4 Conclusion 11 Reference List 13 Introduction Economic conditions as well as market environment have changed dramatically, sometimes through qua ntum leaps and discontinuities. The changes are continuous and in some situations, are quiet progressive. A simple corollary to this announcement is that the marketing scholars and marketing practitioners will also have to change. This declaration is so evident that there is no denying as it comes naturally (Moller and Halinen, 2000). Traditional concepts of marketing are becoming desolate and marketers are in dire need of new strategies and technologies. The rapid evolution of consumers’ tendencies is accompanied with increasing complexities in understanding them as well as devising the right strategies to attract them. Services and products are offering similar services and consumers are now exposed to a host of available options. The reduced loyalty towards brands has created a new sensation among marketers and they have started shifting the focus of their marketing strategies towards relationship building with the consumers. Establishing relationship with the customers no t only helps in maintaining consumer base but also reduces the cost of attracting new customers every now and then. According to Gronroos (1995, p. 252) relationship marketing can be described as a way â€Å"to identify and establish, maintain and enhance network perspective, relationship with customers and other stakeholders, at profit so that the objectives of the partners’ interest are met, and this is achieved by a mutual exchange and fulfilment of promises.† The purpose of the current research is to identify the paradigm shift from traditional marketing to relationship marketing and the reasons behind this shift. The paper will also evaluate the critical differences between the philosophies and concepts of traditional marketing and relationship marketing and how the application of these theories could contribute to the success in the present business environment. The Case Study Concepts and emergence The last half of the decade had faced barriers in case of intern ational trade and a host of firms have adapted global strategies for achieving competitive advantage. However, these benefits related to globalization are found to differ from organization to organization. To successfully create a global strategy and sustainable competitive advantage, it is very important to understand the nature and functioning of the industries in a global environment as well as the dynamics of relationship mark

FORENSIC CRI MINOLOGY 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words - 1

FORENSIC CRI MINOLOGY 1 - Essay Example This case study’s objective is to assess the research article entitled, ‘Direct work with racially motivated offenders’. Cognitive behavior of an individual has become one of the significant elements in the criminology to understand criminal behaviors among individual. Criminologists and sociologist claim society plays a crucial role in the development of cognitive behavior of individual. Social strains (racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistic etc.) and aggressive racial prejudices are linked with the offending behaviors. With the passage of time, criminologist seeks to understand criminal behaviors through implementation of socio-economic theories to develop in-depth understanding about crime and criminal behaviors in the society. Criminologists are inclined to eliminate criminal behaviors through developing effective cognitive behavior programs and designs to eliminate criminal behaviors in the society. Criminologists are inclined to understand the social strain th at lead individual to adopt criminal behaviors. Similarly, David Court (2003) in their study shares the researcher share personal experience of piloting intervention material design for work. In order to understand the behaviours of racially motivated offend, David analyizes the murder of Rolan Adams, Rohit Dughal and Stephen Lawrences. David Court (2003) in the study implemented draft assessment and intervention material in order to assess criminal behaviors prevailing in racially motivated offenders. The main focus of the intervention was designed for the participants at work. The intervention program is based on seven module assessment that allows the understand the development of offending behaviors through understanding socialization process of individual from their childhood that leads to the develop racial identities among individuals. The findings of the study highlights that the early results have showed positive

Review Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Review Paper - Essay Example Based on image representation, the P’Zolo should have been comparable to a submarine sandwich, with a pizza innovation. Upon arrival, the P’Zolo was considerably different than what was advertised. It arrived in a cardboard box, which was saturated with grease to the degree that the drainage was visible on the bottom of the delivery box. Over-cooked until it was dark brown and maintaining several thick slits on the top, which was not advertised in promotional photographs, the product allowed for seepage of interior contents during the consumption process. Having been an aficionado of Pizza Hut for nearly a decade, with a preference for the company’s quality ingredients in its many pizza products, the reviewer was flabbergasted by what arrived in delivery. Upon close examination, the product was approximately between five and six inches long, in a rather misshapen, oblong pizza wrap that looked as though it had been assembled by a half-blind six year old in elementary art class. The P’Zolo maintains zero ability to meet the emotional satisfaction needs of the consumer with its gro ss promotional misrepresentation and should be immediately removed from the Pizza Hut menu for its bland and unfulfilling contents. After taking the first bite of the product, it became perfectly clear that the volume of stuffing inside the product failed to meet promotional expectations. Despite its larger-than-average size compared to competing frozen pizza wraps, the P’Zolo was outperformed by many low-cost competition commonly found in the local grocery store. In the first bite, the runny cheese began pouring down the reviewer’s arm, requiring a significant volume of clean-up during the consumption process. Production problems during the cooking process had caused the water content in the sauce to separate from the corn syrup, providing a complicated and disappointing eating experience. The entire product was consumed in five large mouthfuls, in a mad rush to

What is a petition for writ of habeus corpus Essay

What is a petition for writ of habeus corpus - Essay Example The Supreme Court also declared that Georgia’s death penalty was not constitutional. The huge publicity to the case helped eminent lawyers like Amsterdam to fight the case of Furman, who was poor and most importantly, black. Amsterdam was able to show that the judgment was biased and heavily discriminated because the defendant was not only poor but also black. He argued that the jury did not have any guidance regarding the death sentence and the verdict was random mainly based on the discriminatory practices of the individuals. Amsterdam said that jury often just listens to the evidence of guilt and decides if the defendant deserves to die. The same cases often have the same conviction. Most of the sentences of death penalty are of those who are black, poor, mentally ill or uneducated. The wealthy, white or mentally healthy people rarely get death sentence (Steins, 1995). Judge, Douglas had also declared that death penalty had targeted the unpopular segment of society and therefore was unconstitutional under Eighth

The Letter of Paul to Romans Essay Example for Free

The Letter of Paul to Romans Essay Romans is the longest and most theologically significant of the letters of Paul. It can be described as a tractate letter, one that is composed of a theological argument or series of arguments. A letter essay as it may be, it was received by the people of the church at Rome who were mostly Gentiles. Paul, as the author of the letter to Romans, must have written the letter in Corinth. This is most likely on the near end of his third missionary journey. While there is no certainty of the date in which the letter was written, A. D. 57 is the best alternative. Preparing his way for his planned mission to Spain, Paul might have written his letter for the particular reason of asking for support from them. Yet he also presented his matured views on the issue between the Jews and Gentiles and the law and gospel. In addition, he set forth a teaching on a basic system of salvation that Rome had not received from an apostle ever since. In his letter, Paul explained why it is necessary for God to manifest His righteousness and that humankind can experience this righteousness only by faith. All have sinned and cannot be brought into a relationship with God by mere good works. God alone can change this by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Through Him, we can be justified before God and this justification can be gained only by faith. Justification means being blameless to God and this can be achieved by having faith in Jesus Christ. Through Christ, we can be freed from the bondage of sin and hence, sin can no longer dictate our actions, decisions, and our very lives. This is the power of God for salvation shown through the gospel to us. Paul, as well, emphasized that even though God had made a covenant to the Jews, being born as a Jew does not mean that they are automatically saved. It is their shortcomings to accept God’s righteousness that is to be blamed. Also, Gentile Christians (including us since we are not Jews) are not to boast and be arrogant on this matter for it is from Israel that salvation has come. Thus, we are ought to respect each other and humble ourselves down. The Christian is to serve God, as stimulated by His grace, by putting on the armor of light. This means that we must leave behind the deeds of the darkness and that we shall not grant the desires of our sinful nature. We are also ought to love others as ourselves no matter how unlovable they are for Jesus Christ died for them as well. Though free from the law, we still have to submit to the government because God has delegated His authority to them too. In this modern era, many circumstances might hinder us from doing good works. Yes! It is through faith that we are saved but faith without works is dead. Therefore, our lives must reflect on whom we put our faith in. Whatever this contemporary world throw at us, we must stand firm in our faith and even in our actions. Furthermore, do not let good works do the saving rather, mix it with faith and allow God to do the work of salvation. As the saying goes, walk by faith and not by sight.

Colour Blind Kant The Racist Eurocentric Politics Essay

Colour Blind Kant The Racist Eurocentric Politics Essay A contribution the critique of Kants Perpetual Peace Kants writings including Perpetual Peace has justified the White intervention in non-European states because Kant and other philosophers of the West thought that there is only one civilization with capital C is European and the rest of the world are to be civilized and made to be like Europeans. Though, Kant wrote this peace some two centuries ago but the resonance of his writings can be seen even today in the USA intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq where the USA is importing democracy. The imperialism functions not only through economic exploitation and political dominance but also imposition of universalism which is always secretly coded. In the following sections, I will discuss first (1) the summary of Kants Perpetual Peace, (2) then I would also bring to light the works of Kant as an anthropologist through the works E C Eze and Tsenay Sereqeuberhan and Uday Singh Mehta. After that I will take up (3) Sudipta Kavirajs critique of Sequential Theory of Modernity to argue that there is multiple modernities which will be a reply to all those Euro-centric philosophers including Kant who thought there is just one civilization-European and the rest of the world have to imitate it. From this I will move to (4) debate regarding democratic peace theorists who argue that democracies do not fight with each other and I will also try to provide my critique to this formulation. Finally I will (5) conclude that Kants writing was Eurocentric and somehow this moral philosopher could not rise above prejudice against non-Whites by justifying intervention whose direction implication resulted in tragedy after tragedy. Unfortunately, the c ivilizing mission of the West is not over, decades after the period of decolonization. I thank my teacher Professor Jyati Srivastava for her encouragement and guidance to choose this topic. I am indebted to Professor Nivedita Menon with whom I discussed this issue. She gave me such a critical insight that my earlier draft was thoroughly revised. *The author is student of M A Politics (International Relations), Jawaharlal Nehru University. He can be contacted at [emailprotected] Perpetual Peace Kant begins his Perpetual Peace essay by saying that (1) No Treaty of Peace shall be Held Valid in Which There is Tacitly Reserved Matter for a Future. [Kant, 1795]. Here Kant says that peace can not be achieved even though there is a peace agreement. Kant said that lasting peace cannot be achieved when two parties have reached any truce because they were exhausted to fight war any longer. Although they are carrying hostilities for the future. Kant said such kind of agreement can only bring about peace for short duration. In the words of Kant; When one or both parties to a treaty of peace, being too exhausted to continue warring with each other, make a tacit reservation (reservatio mentalis) in regard to old claims to be elaborated only at some more favorable opportunity in the future, the treaty is made in bad faith, and we have an artifice worthy of the casuistry of a Jesuit. [Emphasize mine, Kant, ibid] I thinks here Kant says that there should not a truce because the warring parties have reached the state of exhaustion at the same time they are keeping old claims (old disputes) in the heart which will be taken up when the situation will be favorable. Such kind of attitude by states will fuel hostilities for ever and any kind of peace agreement will be short-lived. In the second article of section one, Kant says, No Independent States, Large or Small Come Under the Dominion of Another State by Inheritance, Exchange, Purchase, or Donation. [Kant, ibid]. Kant says that the states is not like a property which could be inherited or grafted somewhere else. However, it is to be noted that Kant is using adjective Independent before states and only independent states are not to be inherited. Those who are not independent are not protected by Kant. It means many of non-Europe states were allowed to be intervened! Apart from that who has power and authority to decide which country is independent of not? Of course, Kant has given the reasonable, enlightened White to decide which country is independent and which not. In the third article, Kant says, Standing Armies (miles perpetuus) Shall in Time Be Totally Abolished .[Kant, ibid] It is great to say such thing that there should not be army because arms race does not provide security. This has been liberals lip service for centuries but in reality the most deadly armed states are those whose foundation is also based on liberal democracy. How could then it be justified? Here Kant is providing moral commentary which has a very few takers and the process of arms race and militarization has not stopped since the rise of nation-states and days of colonialism. One of the pillars of the colonialism is based on military expansions . In the fourth article, Kant deals with credit systems and debts and how it could create problem for states. National Debts Shall Not Be Contracted with a view to the External Frictions of States. [Kant, ibid]. Here Kant says that to forbid this credit system must be a preliminary article of perpetual peace all the more because it must eventually entangle many innocent states in the inevitable bankruptcy and openly harm them. They are therefore justified in allying themselves against such a state and its measures. [ibid] In the fifth article, Kant talks about interference. No State Shall by Force Interfere with the Constitution or Government of Another State. [Kant, ibid]. Here Kant says that there should not be a forceful intervention at the same time he also provides an exception to his own law. Notice this Kants line: But it would be quite different if a state, by internal rebellion, should fall into two parts, each of which pretended to be a separate state making claim to the whole. To lend assistance to one of these cannot be considered an interference in the constitution of the other state (for it is then in a state of anarchy) . But so long as the internal dissension has not come to this critical point, such interference by foreign powers would infringe on the rights of an independent people struggling with its internal disease; hence it would itself be an offense and would render the autonomy of all states insecure. [Emphasize mine, Kant, ibid] It should be worth noticing that one the one hand Kant has prohibited interference in the internal mater of another state but at the same time he has also exempted colonial masters for their civilizing mission in non-European states, saying that if their internal rebellion, to lend assistance would be justified. Today the USA is doing the same thing in Afghanistan and Iraq and it has justified its action by citing volatile condition in other states. We should not forget that the British colonial masters in India has also created such kind of stereotypes by saying that Indian womens were living in abysmal conditions and Indians were effeminate to rule over. [Mill, 1975] In the six article of section, Kant discusses that even during the war there should not be such violation of laws that peace becomes impossible in the future. No State Shall, during War, Permit Such Acts of Hostility Which Would Make Mutual Confidence in the Subsequent Peace Impossible: Such Are the Employment of Assassins (percussores), Poisoners (venefici), Breach of Capitulation, and Incitement to Treason (perduellio) in the Opposing State. [Kant, ibid]. Here Kant makes a strong case that parties in war should desist from using destructive means and methods. After discussing section I, let me briefly discuss section II of Perpetual Peace in which Kant talks about republican constitution and league of nations. Let me begin with Kants notion of republican constitution. Kant says, The Civil Constitution of Every State Should Be Republican. [Kant, ibid]. Kant here prefers republican constitution and links it to peace. According to Kant, the republican constitution is based on the principles of freedom and in such a constitution there is possibility of peace because the rulers need to get the consent of the citizens before a war is declared. If the consent of the citizens is required in order to decide that war should be declared (and in this constitution it cannot be the case), nothing is more natural than that they would be very cautious in commencing such a poor game, decreeing for themselves all the calamities of war. Here he makes a clear statement that a republican form of government is accountable to citizen and the it cannot take a decision on its own. That is why a republican form of government would not easily go for war because the public opinion of the people would be against the war. This is the very basis of democratic peace theorists w ho argue that democracies have never warred on each other. But I do not think that when Kant is taking about perpetual peace he is in anyway thinking on the line of democratic peace theorists. For me the librals are misreading Kant because Kant does not only make distinction between republican form of government and democratic one. Kant is even critical of the democratic form of government. Kant says: Of the three forms of the state, that of democracy is, properly speaking, necessarily a despotism, because it establishes an executive power in which all decide for or even against one who does not agree: that is, all, who are not quite all, decide, and this is a contradiction of the general will with itself and with freedom. [Kant, ibid] In the second definitive article of Perpetual Peace, Kant says, .The Law of Nations Shall be Founded on a Federation of Free States. [Kant, ibid]. Here Kant is concerned about overcoming war and conflict at international level. He says that states would enter into a league of nations based on rights to secure their security and the states are distinct states and are not amalgamated into one as happened within a state. But see in the following line how Kant is so prejudiced against the non-White. When we see the attachment of savages to their lawless freedom, preferring ceaseless combat to subjection to a lawful constraint which they might establish, and thus preferring senseless freedom to rational freedom, we regard it with deep contempt as barbarity, rudeness, and a brutish degradation of humanity. Accordingly, one would think that civilized people (each united in a state) would hasten all the more to escape, the sooner the better, from such a depraved condition. But, instead, each state places its majesty (for it is absurd to speak of the majesty of the people) in being subject to no external juridical restraint, and the splendor of its sovereign consists in the fact that many thousands stand at his command to sacrifice themselves for something that does not concern them and without his needing to place himself in the least danger. The chief difference between European and American savages lies in the fact that many tribes of the latter have been eaten by their enemies, w hile the former know how to make better use of their conquered enemies than to dine off them; they know better how to use them to increase the number of their subjects and thus the quantity of instruments for even more extensive wars.[Kant, ibid] Notice how great moral philosopher Kant uses the terms for non-white and justifies intervention. Savages in their lawless freedom are thus preferring senseless freedom to rational freedom. This is that the Western philosophers have thought abut the non-White people and they never treated them equals. Edward Said has vividly described creation of Orientalism and treating the non-White what the white are not like savage, emotional, not enlightened etc. [Said, 1971]. In the following section, I will be dealing with this issue once in some detail when I would look at Kant as anthropologist and his works. Let me touch that last article of Perpetual Peace. The Law of World Citizenship Shall Be Limited to Conditions of Universal Hospitality [Kant, ibid]. Kant as Anthropologist/Racist Kant is widely known as a liberal philosopher who treats individual as an end. Apart from that Kant that human are moral beings because they could self-reflect, use power of reason and they may not be perfect but they can strive towards perfectibility. However, Kant also thought anthropology in Germany as a teacher of geography and anthropology for as long as forty years. Nigerian born American philosopher Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze said that how Kant is generally known in mainstream that he was a pure philosopher whose philosophy was colour blind but it is overlooked that he has also given racial theories. This scholarly forgetfulness of Kants racial theories, or his raciology, I is attributable to the overwhelming desire to see Kant only as a pure philosopher, preoccupied pure culture and color-blind philosophical themes in the sanctum sactorum of the traditions of Western philosophy. Otherwise, how does one explain the many surprised expressions I received while researching this work: Kant? Anthropology? Race? The Kant most remembered in North American academic communities is the Kant of the Critiques. It is forgotten that the philosopher developed courses in anthropology and/ or geography and taught them regularly for forty years form 11756 until th year before his retirement in 1792. [Eze, 1997] What is worse, the great moral philosopher did characterize people on the basis on colour. He said hat the Europeans are white, the Asians are yellow, the Africans, black and North Americans, red. [Eze, 1997]. He even says that American Indian , Hindu, African lack talent. Even he said that the non-Europeans lack characters. Taking skin color as evidence of a racial class, Kant classified humans into: white (Europeans), yellow (Asians), black (Africans) and red (American Indians). Moral geography (which might as well be called cultural geography) studies the customs and the mores held collectively by each of these races, classes, or groups. For example, some elements in the the moral geography taught by Kant included expositions on culture, such as the knowledge that is customary to permit theft in Africa, or to desert children in China or to bury them alive in Brazil or for Eskimos to straggle them. [Eze, 1997:115] Apart from that he also believes that only the white-Europeans are capable of profess in arts and science and others are not fit for these. He also calls the white superior and the black inferior. After briefly discussed Kant, the philosopher who advocated federation of states, world citizenship and the anthropologist who gave prejudiced and raciological theory of race that paves the way for intervention in non-European societies by the colonial masters in the garb of spreading enlightenment. I would argue that the Kants writings are full of racists remarks and a sense of superiority over non-White. This is the very ideology behind the colonialism and its root can be traced to Kants writings including Perpetual Peace. The first problem with Kant is his forming an opinion about the non-white world by blindly believing travelers accounts and considering them as a piece of reality. Much of the orientalists notion of Asian histories and culture are distorted because they all drew on travelers accounts. That is why great minds like Hegel, Kant, Weber and even Marx could not distanced themselves from their prejudices about non-White societies. Uday Singh Mehta, in his seminal work, has shown that how the project of empire is concealed in the language of liberalism and enlightenment. Now I will deal with Kavirajs work very breifly which can help us understand the issue of civilization and modernity in order to have better grip over Kants writings. Sudita Kaviraj has critiqued, in his seminal essay An Outline of Revisionist Theory of Modernity the with the transformation of modern Europe there was also growing superiority of the newly emergent European civilization. According to Kaviraj, earlier European Christian civilizations was one of many civilizations like Hindu or Chinese but after the change European self-definition altered this usage crucially and, contrasted the civilised society of Europe with other societies which were rude..[Kaviraj, 1990 503]. And thus European modernity came be be regarded as universal and the rest of the world has to follow them blindly because they are backward and rude. This has been the recurrent theme of Enlightenment philosophy in Europe. And Kaviraj further augues that there is a logic of self-differentiation in modernity. He says the more modernity expands and spreads to different part of the world the more it becomes differentiated and plural. After discussing Kants Perpetual Peace and Eorocenricism, let me briefly touch upon liberal democratic peace theories debate before I conclude this paper. Because, liberal scholars are rooting their philosophy in Kants Perpetual Peace. I would argue that democratic peace theory is nothing but a sham. Democratic Peace Theory In this section, I will give positions of John Owen and and Christopher Layne. While Omen defends democratic peace theory that two liberal democracies do not fight drawing their inspiration from Kants work, Layne criticizes peace theory from realist perspective. But my criticism of Owen should not be misunderstood as being realist. I am also a severe critique of realism which believes in the myth of the threat being external and there is cohesion from internal angle. The biggest failure of realism is that today the most casualties are not done by forces outside but due to issues like poverty, illness, ecological degradation etc. Now let me begin with liberal peace theorists main arguments. According to Owen, democracies dont attack each other. In other words, democratic theorists believe in the proposition that democracies dont fight with other. That is why the supporters of this peace theory believe that the best way to ensure security and peace is to support the advancement of democracy elsewhere. This has been the hallmark of USA foreign policy, particularly after the end of the Cold War when it was claimed that there is an end of history and liberal democracy with capitalist market have triumphed over all other systems. Further, the democratic peace theory says while liberal states do not fight with another liberal states on the other hand liberal ideas prod liberal states into war with illiberal states. In the words of Owen [2000: 926] When liberals run the government, relations with fellow democracies are harmonious. Librals believe that democracies seek their citizens true interests and that thus by definition they are pacific and trustworthy. Non-democracies may be dangerous because they seek other ends, such as conquest and plunder. Libras thus hold that the national interests calls for accommodation of fellow democracies, but sometimes calls for war with non-democracies . The philosophical grounding of democratic peace theory is that since there is free speech guaranteed to citizens in a democracy so citizens would not allow war to take place because in war it is the citizens who would have to bear the costs. According to the supporters of democratic peace theory, liberalism is universalistic, tolerant, cosmopolitan philosophy. Liberalisms ends are life and property and toleration and it believes that all nations and people are free. It is also conducive for peace because liberal democracies are believed to be reasonable, predictable and trustworthy because the citizens of the state govern them. Owen on the other hand also characterize illiberal states which are threat to peace and they must be made to be liberal because these states are unreasonable, unpredictable, potentially dangerous, ruled by despots with ends as conquest, intolerance, and impoverishment. Owen in his article also provides some of hypothesis about democratic peace theory. (1) Liberal democracy will only avoid war with state that if believes to be liberal. (2) Liberals will trust states they consider liberal and mistrust those they consider illiberal. (3) When liberals observe a foreign state becoming liberal by their own standards, they will expect pacific relations with it. Liberals will not change their assessments of foreign states during crises with those states unless those states change their institutions. (4) Liberals elites will agitate for their policies during war-threatening crises. After discussing democratic peace theory, let me briefly touch upon what are major criticisms of it from realist perspectives. Realists believe that democratic peace theory is fantasy, permanent peace between liberal democracy is not possible, foreign policy must be based on imperatives of power politics not on morality and ethnics, even the liberal democratic states could not desist themselves from getting involved in power-struggle and balancing each other. Layne Christopher [2000] has said that democratic peace theory is a myth and said realism is superior to democratic peace theory. Conclusion After giving both the arguments in favour and against of democratic peace theory, I would like to day that democratic peace theory is another face of dominance by the West, particularly the USA in non-White world. The problem with democratic peace theory is that if evidence is given that two democratic states fought, they would argue at least one of them was not liberal that time. That is why I would not go into that trap that whether a state was liberal or illiberal at one point of time. My arguments are that most of violence in modern period particularly in 20th century has its root in the West who are also champion of democracy. Is it not that the same Enlightened people from the white world created mess everywhere from the Africa, America to Asia. These are same colonial masters who Kants perpetual peace has inspired them to civilize the rest of the world but in this process their came under economic, political and cultural dominance. Today all the regime change, arms race, bombi ngs, killings are somehow result of policies of these enlightened people who swear by democracy but they dont have any problem if there is friendly authoritarian regime elsewhere. While I am critique the West I should not be misunderstood that I am siding with post-colonial elites. Today, they are not far behind imitating their colonial masters as a result colonialism has gone but colonial policies and apparatus continue to hunt post-colonial society. Let me state my position once again neither Kant nor todays champions of democracy are at concerned with peace and democracy in true sense. They are all using it as pretext to arm-twist elites in post-colonial societies and install favorable governments. This centuries are full of examples which say that hostilities between liberal states are not over and the theorists of democratic peace by harping on exporting democracy are hiding contradiction and crisis in their own society. Hunger, poverty, racial discrimination, concentration of wealth, ecological damages are problems which has also gripped liberal western states but they are more concerned about problem outsides. This should also not be misunderstood that I am implying that non-Western society are better. But all the change should evolve and come through its own struggle and churning. Imposition and export will never do. I reject democratic peace theory because the theorists whom they are banking on (Kant) was himself racist, Eurocentric and anti-democratic because of his prejudices against non-White and women.

LOreal one of the leading cosmetic companies

LOreal one of the leading cosmetic companies Introduction It is era of globalization where competition are increasing day by day, due to competition, it is hard for company to keep hold policy , old method of production . Companies need change to stay in the market. LOreal is a one of leading cosmetic company who is producing world famous brands , company regular making changes , like acquisition policy , building new research centres in most of developed countries. Using technology, and making stakeholder collaboration through using this technology. Organization structure and culture of the organization can play key role in the process of change . Change is not just changing the method of production but can be any type of change , either recruiting polices , making fair laws , adopting new laws which are implementing etc. Company background LOreal is known as the worlds leading cosmetics organization which has a portfolio that consists of many worlds dominant beauty products. Company sales almost 80% doing from outside the France, with action in every key region . It is only Cosmetics Company which has distribution, almost 140 countries. In year 1907 a young French chemist Eugene Schuler, developed a creative hair-colour formula. The named this new, completely safe hair dye Aureole. The history of LOreal began; Eugene Schueller invented and manufactured their own products. LOreal started their production with hair-colour business, but the company quickly pronged out in to other beauty products. Company marketing more than 5 hundreds brand and which have thousands of special products in all division of the beauty business. Styling aids, Hair colour, permanents, body and skin care, cleansers and fragrances. They are found in all distribution channels, from hair salons and perfumeries to hyper the supermarkets, health and beauty outlets, pharmacies and direct mail. DIFFERENT BRANDS AT LOREAL LOreal strives to make a reality within the reach of every woman and every man. CONSUMER PRODUCTS Ggarnier LOreal Paris Le club des createurs Maybelline ny Soft sheen Carson PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS Loreal professional Kerastase Redken Matrix Mizani LUXURY PRODUCTS Lancom Biotherm Helena rubinstein Kiehls Shu uemura Giorgio armani Ralph lauren Cacharel Viktor rolf Diesel ACTIVE COSTEMETICS Vichy La roche-posay Ineov Skin ceuticals ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS Kotler .P. (1996) Planning start with complete analysis of companys situation, company do analyse environmental to find the opportunities and to escape threats of environment. For change and its implementation environmental analyse is play dominant role. SWOT ANALYSIS Needham Dave Dransfield Rob( 2000) SWOT analysis is known as strategic planning tool which used to assess strengths , weaknesses , opportunities and threats STRENGTH LOreal is considered the biggest seller of hair care and beauty product in the whole world, spotlighting on 19 global brands. Numbers of these products are expanded through price and some by culture image. LOreal is building the attraction of various cultures through its products. Consequently, LOreal is reaching out more people across a bigger range of incomes and cultures. The 2nd strength is that LOreal offering a huge significance and spending lots on research and improvement uses and expands leading-edge technology and effectively introduces new product. Company has about 16 research centres across the world and 13 evaluation centres. Its opened recently opened new research and development centre in, Shanghai China . LOreal strategy of diversity and training of its workforce is one of the assets. Company employing group of people from different backgrounds which leads to improve creativity and innovation. Development and preparation can play vital part of life at LOreal each year approximately 100 employees attend industry-specific and leadership development training and conferences at LOreal management development centres in Tokyo, Paris and New York. LOreals acquisition strategy- aspirant on integrating recognized and well-known brands. Examples of unbeaten acquisitions are Carson Inc which measured as the 3rd largest provider of adult womens hair relaxer in America. The acquisition of body shop the British natural based cosmetics retailer with bout 2,290 stores through out worldwide. Company making more attractive to the green consumer those strives no doubt after look both their environment and body , there is no doubt. Company strength stated as strong sales diagonally all geographical area with rising posting market the faster like for like growth rate for the phase. Its took advantages of economies of scale in packaging and advertising result as a LOreal operation profitability which has been increased through cost cutting efforts. WEAKNESSES Organizational decentralized structure which makes control more tricky. Global market functioning , the problems increase due to coordination and control of performances and image. Companys geographical power is currently determined on western European over trust on full grown Western European market ,which gives maturity offers few predictions for growth. During 90s LOreal was hit by claims over past links to racial discrimination, anti-Semitism which are giving of jobs to Nazi co-workers after the World War two. They went some way to satisfy there critics with a boardroom change and other measures. Liliane Bettencourt, LOreals main shareholder, is known as the wealthiest lady in France. Two years ago LOreals slogan was reduced from Because Im worth it to Because youre worth it after fears in France that the original emerged too money-oriented. During July 2007, the Garnier division and an external employment agency were fined à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬30,000 for employment practices that disqualified non-white women from sponsoring its shampoo, Fructis Style. LOreal is report as proverb the decision was incomprehensible, and will challenge the measure in court. During May 2007, LOreal was one of number cosmetic manufacturers ordered by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in Australia (The TGA is responsible for conducting assessment and monitoring activities to ensure that therapeutic goods accessible in Australia are of an acceptable standard and that access to therapeutic advances is in a timely manner) to withdraw advertising regarding the wrinkle elimination capabilities of their products. One experienced candidate said she realize it was not eligible because she was of mixed race. In July 2007, the British Advertising Standards Authority knocked LOreal for a television commercial on its Telescopic mascara, featuring Penà ©lope Cruz, stating it will make you eyelashes 60% longer. In reality, it only made the lashes look 60% bigger, with thickening and separating the roots and by thickening the tips of the lashes. They also failed to state that the model was wearing false eyelashes, a common trick of the trade. Rumours of LOreals failing in US have been seriously inflated as The groups North American division is yet the smallest contributor to sales, accounting for approximately 25% of the total in the first nine months of 2007 and contributing barely 13.5% of sales growth in that period. Different emission gases causing harm to environment Great disaster for the environment storage of different fuels and chemicals underground. Different flammable and gases toxic mainly fire used for different chemical reactions is consider major risk for environment. It is first French organization which is convicted for racial bias cosmetic giant fined for its recruitment campaign. July, 7 2009 The Guardian an article regarding worlds biggest beauty firm Part of the cosmetics giant LOreal was found guilty of racial discrimination after it sought to exclude non-white women from promoting its shampoo. It is a landmark case, the Garnier division of the beauty empire, along with a recruitment agency it employed, were fined à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬30,000 ( £20,300) each after they recruited women on the basis of race. The historic ruling the first time a major company has been found guilty of systematic race discrimination in France saw a senior figure at the agency given a three-month suspended prison sentence.(The Guardian, July, 7, 2009). OPPORTUNITIES Company has chance to develop rising presence in promising markets their activities in rising areas such as Eastern Europe, Africa and Middle East where growth in cosmetics and toiletries sales is normally to precede that of global sales. It has a three largest potential market to expand which are Russia, Brazil and china. LOreals acquisition of already recognized brands offered opportunities to enter new areas at lower costs Diversity by promise. Training at school levels Adopted measures to combat discrimination and support diversity and equal opportunity for all by signing charter for Corporate Commitment to Equal Opportunities in France. Worldwide profit sharing scheme Increase in proportion of Female manager up to 54% and 34% in management committees LOreal set up 22 Observatories on diversity in France. LOreal helped the Disadvantaged finding jobs about 657,429 applications received of which 63,691 were interviewed and 2,333 managers were recruited which is 15% higher than 2005. Follow Up and Integration Track FIT is a project started by LOreal for optimum integration of new employees. LOreal since 2001 started Worldwide Profit Sharing Plan implanted in all the countries. Opportunities for suppliers with a commitment of long term partnership based on mutual respect, sharing of information, transparency and strong communication and high standards. Share their expertise with suppliers to overcome challenges in the outer world with regular business reviews, logistics, and development, packaging and innovation meetings. SHE (Safety, Health and Environment) to identify strategic business opportunities. Signing up of letter for Ethical Commitment by suppliers available in 11 languages. Opening of 89 new stores in Western Europe 15, North America 8 and rest of the world 66. LOreal market share with Body Shop in 2006 is 15.6% THREATS Rivalry from private labels, LOreal is facing threats from growing shocks of private label products. Several of private label cosmetics and toiletries are getting better in quality and attracting customers. The bigger problem for global brands like LOreal is that the retailers are turning over more and more shelf space to their own labels. Brand Copying risk Dubai Perfume Company Bellure sold low-value scents that it stated smelled same as perfumes. It marketed the products on this basis, using wrapping that winked at the related company designs, and published assessment charts that named exacting company perfumes. LOreal sued for infringement of its trademarks and passing off, declaring that Bellures marketing materials took excessive advantage of the quality and repute of LOreals perfume brands. Company won the first round in the High Court, but in 2007 the case came to the Court of Appeal. It is now in limbo, pending a ruling from the ECJ, but a swing the other way looks likely. The Court of Appeals view was that the public are not stupid. It was unconvinced there was any likelihood that a low-value smell-alike product would be confused with the original and took the view that, even if Bellure gained an advantage through comparing its products to LOreals, it did not follow that it was an unfair advantage. (I marketi ng journal)  (Nov 28, 2007): PORTERS FIVE FORCES Porter (1980) in an industry the state of competition depends on five basic competitive forces. The combined strength of these forces establishes the final profit possible in the industry, where profit potential is prà ©cised in term of long run return on invested capital. Not all industries have the similar potential. They differ fundamentally in their ultimate profit potential as the collective strength of the forces differs; the forces range from intense industries. Bargaining Power of Buyers: Buyers power is high as there is a large range of products and every company is competing to attract the customers. Nevertheless LOreals sole products put it in the top of competition. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: Bargaining power of traders is low because of LOreals acquisitions of several brands and also due to its huge market share which gives it the potential for monopoly. Additionally, LOreals strategy is to create strong and long term relationship with their traders. Competitive Rivalry: Aggressive rivalry in the cosmetic industry is high. There are many of existing cosmetic companies challenging in the market and the major competitors of LOreal are Unilever and Proctor Gamble. LOreal decreases the competition by acquiring many well known brands in the market and also, it succeeded to stay ahead of the competition because of its strong portfolio of global brands. Threats of new entrants: The threat of new candidate is low and it is hard for new companies to enter this market. Barriers to entering this market contain: The extensive time and expense essential to build a brand status to overcome existing costumers likings. The extensive costs for promotional and commercial activity to protect the distribution and situation of a new entrants products in retail outlets. The incapability of a new candidate to recover rapidly its huge investment in promoting its brand. The difficulty of securing shelf-space in retail outlets. Threat of Substitutes: Products alternative are not presented in the market. LOreal products are distinguished from other products because of its strong assurance to research and development. It functions 12 research and development centres around the world. All of its products are based-on intensive scientific research and on gradually more targeted advance to enhance the quality. It employs 3,000 scientists who work in state-of-the-art research centres around the world. This allows it to justify price differences as compared with low priced products and retailer brands. (Loreal websit) Information Technology and LOreal Koontz H and Weihrich H( 1999) IT can play vital role affecting the scale ,nature of business for instance ,IT used in connection to sales based ordering (SBO) or efficient consumer response (ECR) ,provide help to organisation to reduce the cost and remove the time barriers . John Dawson (1996) IT provide knowledge based investment , alliance based investment and productivity based investment ,which provide opportunity for new entrants in the market .For LOreal success IT is a key factor , it can further help to reduce the cost and making the right decision at right time , at right cost , at right place. LOreal operating in many countries, IT provides the connectivity with all stakeholder and first hand interaction. Diversification of business Zook and Allen (2001) It suggest that most sustainable growth Pattern is that of the strong or leading core business that remuneration from continual reinvestment, constant adaptation to circumstances or business environment, and persistent leveraging of the competitive advantage formed by these strengths into new markets or geographies, applications, or channels. Further suggest that management teams constantly meet with opportunities for concentric diversification and that taking advantage of these opportunities is at times absolutely necessary in order to strengthen the core. Leavitt, H.J. (1965), Diversification helps to manage the change , like company build their operation in many countries and reduce the cost. CHANGE MANAGEMENT Czarniawska, B. (1999), Change management (or change control) is the process during which the changes of a system are implemented in a controlled manner by following a pre-defined system with, to some extent, reasonable changes. Change management is a structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a present state to a desired state. The current definition of Change Management includes both organizational change management framework and individual change management models, which together are used to manage the people change management. Individual change management A number of techniques are available for understanding the transitioning of individuals through the phases of change management and strengthening organizational development initiative in both government and corporate sectors. Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze Leftwich, R.L. (1979), An early model of change developed by Kurt Lewin described change as a three stage procedure. The first stage he called unfreezing. It involved overcoming inertia and dismantling the existing ideas. In the second stage the change occurs. This is typically a period of confusion and transition with a little tinge of chaos. The old picture is being replaced by a new one.. The third and final stage he called freezing (often called refreezing by others). The new ideas are being accepted and ones comfort level is returning to previous levels not completely though. Rosch (2002) argues that this often quoted three-stage version of Lewins approach is an oversimplification and that his theory was actually more complex and owed more to physics than behavioural science. Different theorists give different versions according to their research and experiences respectively. . Although elaborating the process to five stages, Judson (1991) still proposes a linear, staged model o f implementing a change: (a) analysing and planning the change; (b) communicating the change; (c) gaining acceptance of new behaviours; (d) changing from the status quo to a changed state, and (e) consolidating and institutionalising the new states. ADKAR The ADKAR model for individual and organizational change management was developed by Prosci with participation from more than 1000 organizations from 59 countries. This model describes five required stages for change to be realized successfully on an individual level. The building blocks of the ADKAR Model include: Awareness of why the change is needed Desire to support and give input in the change Knowledge of how to change Ability to implement new skills and behaviors Reinforcement to sustain the change Organizational change management Fill C (2002), Organizational change management includes techniques and tools for managing the people side of the change at an organizational level. These tools are used by the leaders of the organization and include a structured approach that combined with an understanding of individual change management, provide a model for managing the people side of change. Organizational change management processes include techniques for creating a change management strategy (readiness assessments), engaging senior managers as change leaders (sponsorship), building awareness of the need for change (communications), developing skills and knowledge to support the change(education and training), helping employees move through the transition (coaching by managers and supervisors), and methods to sustain the change (measurement systems, rewards and reinforcement) The role of the management Leftwich, R.L. (1979), Managements responsibility and particularly that of administration is to detect trends in the macro environment as well as in the micro environment so as to be able to identify changes and initiate programs and determine the economic scenario . It is also important to estimate what impact a change will likely have on employee behavior patterns, work processes, technological requirements, motivation and availability of resources. Management must assess what employee reactions will be and craft a change management program that will provide support as workers go through the process of accepting and adopting the change. The program must then be implemented, communicated effectively throughout the organization, monitored for effectiveness, and adjustments be made where necessary. Organizations exist within a dynamic environment that is subject to change due to the impact of various factors both external and internal . To continue to operate effectively within this e nvironmental roller coaster, organizations must be able to change themselves in response to internally and externally initiated change in minimum span of time and be adaptable to change,hence flexible enough . However, change will also impact upon the individuals within the organization. Effective change management requires an understanding of the possible effects of change upon people, and how to manage potential sources of resistance to that change. For instance people react within the organization by forming anti groups and retaliate and oppose the change. Mostly technological changes trigger this point and when new systems are replaced by old systems then conventions take a stand and people react and oppose this transition. Change can be said to occur where there is an imbalance between the current state and the environment on the whole. Decision Downloading Czarniawska, B. (1999)Often changes are initiated at a very senior level of management in the organization without any participation from others. For example, mergers, layoffs, and company acquisitions rarely involve input from employees at any level but the most senior. In fact, most employees are kept in the dark. These situations require special types of change management practices. As the decisions get unfolded to the rest of the organization there is a high probability that misunderstandings, angwish, and resilliance will surface. Researchers have determined that employee buy-in can be hastened by assertively unfolding the decision. Executives who use an assertive style of downloading or announcing the decision include the following points in their message: a) how the decision was made b)reasons why it was made c) what alternatives were considered d) how it fits in with the organizational mission and aims e) how it impacts the organization f) how it impacts employees. Executives who use this more vigorous approach to communicating double the rate of acceptance when compared to more impoverished methods. Change Management on the level of society Mats Larsson, in the book Global Energy Transformation (2009), suggests that change management will become necessary on the level of society in order to transform energy systems on a large scale globally|. Conversion of global systems of transportation, energy supply and industrial processes from grass root level is an undertaking that will require massive investments, change in individual behavior and company routines on a large scale and during a short span of time. This effort will also require the co-operation of many companies, public organizations and individuals. In order to achieve this on the scale of nations and regions, huge government expenditure will be required . Larsson mentions how the management principles and tools of change management could be applied in large scale national programs of mass transformation. Larsson uses as examples previous large scale change and development programs in the United States, in which many models that are now used in corporate change management projects have been developed and used. These programs are the transformation of US industry to war production during The Second World War, The Marshall Plan and The Apollo Program. Each of these programs have different focuses and management models, but they are examples of successful large scale change management efforts on the level of society. John P Kotters eight steps to successful change John Kotters highly recommended books Leading Change (1995) and the follow-up The Heart of Change (2002) describe a helpful formula for understanding and managing change. Each stage acknowledges a key principle identified by Kotter relating to peoples response and approach to change, in which people see, feel and observe followed by the Kotters eight step change model that can be summarised as : Increase urgency,motivate people to move, make objectives real and relevant. Build the right team get the right people in place with the right emotional commitment, and the right combination of skills and expertise. Get the vision right get the team to establish a simple vision and strategy, focus on emotional and creative aspects necessary to drive service and efficiency with essential ingredient of commitment. Communicate for buy-in Involve as many people as possible, communicate the essentials, simply, and to appeal and respond to peoples needs and listen to the peoples needs. Harmonize their needs with the organizational goals on the whole. De-clutter communications make technology work for you rather than against for instance its a global village internet, media has advanced so much , so unfold the information down the organization as quickly as you can to penetrate deep into the minds of people for their fast adaptability to the new situation. Implement the change Remove barriers, enable potential feedback and lots of support from leaders reward and recognise progress and achievements after implementation of change. Create short-term wins Set aims that are easy to achieve in bite-size chunks. Manageable numbers of initiatives. Finish current stages before starting new ones. Dont let up Foster and encourage determination and persistence ongoing change encourage ongoing progress reporting highlight achieved and future milestones. Make change stay Reinforce the value of successful change via new recruitment, promotional rewards, new change leaders. Blend change into culture. Cultural change Culture are known as norms , values , policies , strategy , and policies of the organization . Cultures represent the company way of doing the business. It is a era of globalization where though competition between the firms , cultural change play dominant role for the success of the organization . Organization structure represent the organization culture , if the organization have centralize organization structure , then decision make mostly central level , decentralize structure , increase power sharing between organization . Specially in case of LOreal it is big question how organization culture keep same in the world because, organization acquisition policy , create question mark for organization culture . Like Morrison took the Safe ways, but later the sold number of store because they cant adopt them according to their own culture. People who like a change tend to go through three stages unrealistic optimism , reality shock , and constructive direction . When someone fears or dislikes a change , a more complex process involving five tends to occur getting off on the wrong track , laughing it off , experiencing growing self doubt , buying in and moving in a constructive direction . Managers are challenged to help employees deal effectively with reality shock and self doubts. LOreal STRATEGY Koontz H and Weihrich H( 1999) Strategy term is a general programs of action and deployment of resources to attain comprehensive objectives. According to some authors mentioned strategy means guideline, or long term plans. Hardy Cynthia (1994) global strategy is Setting a a matter of adjusting as much as possible the business functions-manufacturing , procurement, marketing , distribution, and RD -within the constraint of trade and investment barrier in a way which provide the best possible product/market fits. In a few cases, the best fit is a standardized product; in others a customized product fits best. Making a global strategy often involves subsequent a zig-zag line between standardization and flexibility, trading off the costs and benefits of one against those of the other. Cateora R.Philip (1997) formative a firms global strategy and shaping the organization to achieve goals and objectives are the two middle tasks of global marketing management that describe the level of international integration of the company. Companies must contract with multitude of strategic issues including the extent of the internationalisation of operations. Company tends to develop multi-culture in their underlying brands. This strategy proves to be very successful in reality and even played a dominant role in LOreals success. The most representative example is Maybelline New York. LOreal developed Maybellines brand culture instead of upsetting it after its acquisition of Maybelline. The sales figure dramatically rose after the acquisition and Maybelline product enter into more than 90 countries. Maybelline became a stylish global brand for all women all around the world from a merely regional brand. LOreal to create the advantages is to spread around strategic investment by sharing the production of innovation between different product divisions. LOreal relied on distribution channel to carry out its strategy of brand structure. There are four product departments in LOreals structure. Every department has several brands and each brand has many names Strategic position of the company in relation to market Mabey (1994) Company is boosting their brands architecture through acquiring different brands and increasing its operation in the world market. Its acquired Maybelline brand in 1996 for their strategic policy, Mini nurse in China, In Japan Luxury brand Shu Uemura , through acquisition strategy. Future expansion the most fast growing markets like China market , effective and cost efficient strategy , Company is leading in cosmetic industry , and won number of certificate and hold major market shares as shown in below figure. Above diagram ,clearly shows the market share of the company ,which hold 45% share , it is leading position inmarket. Information system Strategy Cameron Kim ( 1993) Information technology can play a dominant role in this competitive world , information is data endowed with relevance and purpose. Data such as names numbers , and places need to be organized and interpreted in a timely manner if they are to be useful in decision making . Information should have a surprise effect, meaning that it should shed light on the unknown. Information that does not surprise or elignten the individual is probably irrelevant or redundant . Because information is the lifeblood of organization endeavor and strategic tool of increasing importance , manager need to ,view information as a resource , understand the cost of information , know how to organize and comprehend information and be familiar with the basics of information processing . Information technology includes all mechanical and electronic devices capable of producing , manipulating , transmitting and storing words , numbers , pictures and sound. The knowledge to operate these devices also qualifies as information technology .

Hammurabis Code :: essays research papers

Hammurabi’s Code The formers of the Hammurabi’s Code of Laws surely created strict rules with severe punishments for their violation. In fact, these laws played a big role in organization of Mesopotamian society. Reading these laws, reader may learn about ideals people of Mesopotamia had about crimes, their attitude to the lower and higher social classes, and legal rights between men and women. Reading the laws I noticed that many crimes were punished by death penalty. Many laws tell that guilty person has to pay the same price for the physical harm one did to another person or one’s relative. For instance: law 196 states (encyclopedia.com): â€Å" If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.† In addition, at that time, people were penalized to death for many crimes or wrongdoings that almost never would be penalized with capital punishment at a modern time. Among such felony and misdemeanors are stealing, robbery, accusation, adultery, and desertion. Hammur abi’s Code also, reveals inequality between social classes. Slaves were not treated by the laws the same as free-born people. According to the Code of Hammurabi, women had some legal rights, but these rights were not equal to men’s. Married women had a right to divorce as well as men. In fact, in order to acquire the right for divorce, a woman has to find a reasonable explanation for her desire, and only than the divorce could be possible. Overall, the Hammurabi’s Code of Laws showed that crimes in Mesopotamia were followed by severe punishments. Very often these punishments were death penalty. The laws were not equal between social classes, and slaves were subjected to the harsher punishments than free-born.

Stones Cynicism Exposed in Natural Born Killers :: Movie Film Essays

Stone's Cynicism Exposed in Natural Born Killers As a hardworking college student living (without a TV) in this impenetrable Gothic galaxy, I am usually quite oblivious to popular culture. I was not even aware of the barrage of hype surrounding the release of Natural Born Killers. My attention was directed belatedly to the movie by a letter from a friend in which she lamented the present state of humanity - or lack thereof. And yet, I still stayed away from the movie for over a month despite my knowledge that it would be at the very least thought-provoking. I've learned that I have not been desensitized to images of violence, perhaps because of my earlier-mentioned insulation from pop culture. However, I was intent on listening to what Oliver Stone had to say. So last night I spent the entire 100+ minutes of the film curled in my seat, my head in my hands. Now that I've seen the movie, I'm left with questions_questions which kept my body shifting in bed all last night and my mind shifting from work all day today. Questions about life, death, humanity, and efficacy. Big questions, giant_the kind that could keep me in my own world for weeks if they weren't constantly forcing me to look at the world around me. This is an article of questions, of seeking answers, of wondering if, indeed, there are answers. Stone's film is extreme in every way. Extreme in its violence. Extreme in its visual imagery, flashing hyper-speed bits of reality which don't quite register in one's mind. Extreme in its sit-com presentation of an abusive family as the ordinary stuff of entertainment. Extreme in its depiction of mass-murderers revered as icons of popular culture. Extreme in the banality with which the killers approach their crime. Perhaps this extremity is what caused me to react so strongly to the film at first. The impact has by now lost its initial force, and I'm able to attempt to evaluate that impact. I feel ambivalent about the success of the movie, and by success, I mean neither monetary value nor entertainment value. I mean whether or not Stone was effective in conveying his message. In my estimation, he definitely had a message. It seems impossible to me that anyone could exit this movie not understanding that Stone is criticizing the glorification of violence. If the Stone's Cynicism Exposed in Natural Born Killers :: Movie Film Essays Stone's Cynicism Exposed in Natural Born Killers As a hardworking college student living (without a TV) in this impenetrable Gothic galaxy, I am usually quite oblivious to popular culture. I was not even aware of the barrage of hype surrounding the release of Natural Born Killers. My attention was directed belatedly to the movie by a letter from a friend in which she lamented the present state of humanity - or lack thereof. And yet, I still stayed away from the movie for over a month despite my knowledge that it would be at the very least thought-provoking. I've learned that I have not been desensitized to images of violence, perhaps because of my earlier-mentioned insulation from pop culture. However, I was intent on listening to what Oliver Stone had to say. So last night I spent the entire 100+ minutes of the film curled in my seat, my head in my hands. Now that I've seen the movie, I'm left with questions_questions which kept my body shifting in bed all last night and my mind shifting from work all day today. Questions about life, death, humanity, and efficacy. Big questions, giant_the kind that could keep me in my own world for weeks if they weren't constantly forcing me to look at the world around me. This is an article of questions, of seeking answers, of wondering if, indeed, there are answers. Stone's film is extreme in every way. Extreme in its violence. Extreme in its visual imagery, flashing hyper-speed bits of reality which don't quite register in one's mind. Extreme in its sit-com presentation of an abusive family as the ordinary stuff of entertainment. Extreme in its depiction of mass-murderers revered as icons of popular culture. Extreme in the banality with which the killers approach their crime. Perhaps this extremity is what caused me to react so strongly to the film at first. The impact has by now lost its initial force, and I'm able to attempt to evaluate that impact. I feel ambivalent about the success of the movie, and by success, I mean neither monetary value nor entertainment value. I mean whether or not Stone was effective in conveying his message. In my estimation, he definitely had a message. It seems impossible to me that anyone could exit this movie not understanding that Stone is criticizing the glorification of violence. If the

Macbeth coursework act 3 scene 4 Essay

Macbeth is so important in this scene because it’s all about him in this scene and every thing that happens is revolving round him. Before this Banquo was killed by Macbeths hired murderers. During this scene Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and the lords are in the dining hall. They are celebrating Macbeth becoming king of Scotland, Macbeth starts to make a toast to celebrate the event when one of the murderers runs in and tells him that Banquo is dead. Macbeth then says,†to our beloved friend who will be greatly missed.† After this Macbeth walks back to his seat to see Banquo sitting there in his seat reaching out to him drenched in blood. Macbeth is extremely shocked he drops his cup and gasps. Macbth starts to panic and walks back still staring at the seat where he saw Banquo’s apparition and says, â€Å"don’t shake thy gory locks at me.† In this particular age people really believed in ghosts and the supernatural. They also believed that you really would go to hell if you committed mortal sins in your life .They also believed that only god could make a man into a king and only god could take his life and if anyone were to take it into their own hands would pay dearly. ` Everything was going considerably smoothly up until this point at the banquet. Everything before this was quite relaxed until an excited mood starts to kick in during the banquet and it gets the audience excited and ready for more exciting stuff to happen. It sets an edgy unrelaxed and chaotic mood. We learn that Macbeth is now at this stage very paranoid and scared. Scared that someone will find out about what he has done and scared of the consequences. He knows deep down that he will have to keep killing to cover all this up and that is what he scared of. He said he would rather face a tiger than to keep on fighting with these ghosts and apparitions. Lady Macbeth constantly tries to reassure Macbeth that everything is all right and tries to calm down the lords who are present throughout all the commotion. She assures the worried lords that he will be fine saying â€Å"on a thought he will be alright again.† Macbeth is loosing it and is saying things to the lords â€Å"which of you have done this† in a very accusing manner. Ross then seems very concerned for Macbeth as he says â€Å"what sights my lord,† because Macbeth is the only one in the room who can see this apparition. In other words Ross is asking what are you seeing in these hallucinations. Macduff does not attend the banquo because he suspects Macbeth to be up to something mischievous and becoming king so quickly. This does not help Macbeth and Duncan’s grudge between each other as we see them fight later on in the play. After the banquet Macbeth is talking to Lady Macbeth still very shaken and anxious by what happened he says to her â€Å"it will have blood they say and blood will have blood.† He also says, â€Å"I am in blood steeped so far that should I wade no more returning were as tedious as go o ‘er.†Which basically means that that he is in this too deep now and he cant get out of the trouble he has landed himself in. Which is the constant state of paranoia guilty conciseness and regret he is in and can’t get out of. The symbolism in this scene during the banquet is the ghost of Banquo. It is a symbol of Macbeth’s guilt and the terrible thing he has done to his one time good friend Banquo. The blood also shows symbolism in a way that blood will have more blood. It might mean he may have to keep killing if he wishes to remain out of the list of suspects of murderers In other words he will kill any who oppose him or try to prove that he was the one who killed banquo and king Duncan. There is a lot of dramatic effectiveness in this scene. The moods change very suddenly during the banquet scene when Macbeth was making a speech the last thing you thought you were going to see is the bloody ghost of Banquo sitting there calling out to Macbeth. And before this it was all merriment with the lords all gathered round the table eating drinking and chatting to each other and all of a sudden this happened. There was also a lot of dramatic effectiveness in the language that was used such as â€Å"don’t shake thy gory locks at me,† â€Å"they say blood will have blood,† † what man dare, I dare approach the rugged Russian bear, the armed rhino or the hyrcan tiger, take any shape but that my firm nerves shall never tremble.† A lot of dramatic effectiveness was used to make this scene, powerful, shocking, gripping and in some parts frightening. A Shakespearean audience would be very surprised and excited watching a play of Macbeth. This is because back then the upper rich class who by the way would have been the only kind of people who would have seen this play, would not be as used to bloody and violent scenes as there are in Macbeth. So Shakespeare was in a way quite ahead of his time when it came to writing plays. On the other hand a modern audience would not in my opinion act too shocked at the frightening bits of this scene as modern society are more hardened toward violence. This scene is one of the main â€Å"thrilling† scenes in the play and I think that is important because it adds that thrilling element that I think a lot of plays and films need to not stay too boring and one noted. The Mcbeth play was written for the ruling king james who was in power at that time and for the rich audience of the shakespearian era.

Plant Transpiration Lab Report

Lab 4: Plant Transpiration Project By Shelby Hyde Lab 030 Date Due: March 12, 2013 The Effect of Wind on the Rate of Transpiration Introduction: Transpiration is the process through which water is evaporated from plants. This serves many purposes, including thermoregulation and the diffusion of CO2, but most importantly creates a water potential difference which causes the mass flow of water and nutrients from the roots to the leaves of the plant. Transpiration is accomplished through structures on the surface of the leaf called stomata, which are guarded by a pair of guard cells.Guard cells control the opening and closing of the stomata as well as the size of the opening; they open in order to obtain O2 and CO2 in the process they allow the escape of H2O. This experiment was conducted to learn more about this process, and how certain common environmental factors affect it. Plant transpiration increases with the presence of wind due to increased evaporation from leaves. Results: The transpiration rate of the sunflower in the presence of wind was consistently greater than that without wind, also causing the mean to be higher, shown in Table 1.Also included in Table 1, the variability was less in the sunflower with wind along with standard deviation. Table 1: Rate of Transpiration in sunflower plant with and without wind. Discussion: Although the rate of transpiration was consistently, noticeably greater while wind was present than it was in the absence of wind, there were some limitations to this study. One of the limitations of the experiment is that was performed in a college lab setting with various activities simultaneously going on, which could’ve affected the speed of the wind between all of the runs.The main shortcoming is that, because only one plant of one species was used, this cannot be used to generalize that this is true for all plants. In general, the results support the hypothesis that the rate of transpiration is higher in plants while win d is present. Transpiration increases in the presence of wind for two main reasons. When the stomata open, the wind would increase evaporation and the amount of H2O that escapes from the open pores.Also, when water is transpired it remains around the plant, causing area within the vicinity to become humid. Wind pushes that saturated air and replaces it with drier air, which is easier for water to evaporate into. Further studies could include not only other variables affecting transpiration, such as relative humidity of the atmosphere, temperature, pH of water and amount of available water, but also how much each of those individual variables contribute to the rate of transpiration in relation to each other.Literature Cited: George Burba,  Michael Pidwirny  (Lead Author);Debbie Swarthout  (Contributing Author);Sidney Draggan Ph. D. ,  Daniel Robert Taub  (Topic Editor) â€Å"Transpiration†. In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D. C. : Envi ronmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth August 3, 2010; Last revised Date December 16, 2010; Retrieved March 13, 2013