The global environment

The protection of the planetary environment has become one of the cardinal aims of the international community in recent decennaries. The major environmental issues such as clime alteration, ozone depletion, deforestation acid rain and loss of biodiversity are planetary in range. [ 1 ] Climate alteration is a planetary long-run job ( up to several centuries ) that involves complex interactions with environmental, economic, political, institutional, societal and technological procedures. The international community has taken legal stairss to battle clime alteration. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ; the Kyoto Protocol and other clime related instruments are all legal instruments which target clime alteration extenuation. These legal instruments have created a differentiation in footings of duties and duties between the developed and the development states through the rule of common but differentiated duties. [ 2 ] The rule of common but differentiated duty has developed from the application of equity in general international jurisprudence for the particular demands of developing states which must be taken into history in the development, application and reading of regulations of international environmental jurisprudence. [ 3 ] The Framework Convention on Climate Change ( Climate Convention ) ,1 signed at the 1992 United Nations â€Å" Earth Acme † in Rio de Janeiro, is the first international legal instrument to turn to clime alteration and is arguably the most comprehensive international effort to turn to inauspicious alterations to the planetary environment.Principle 7 [ 4 ]States shall collaborate in a spirit of planetary partnership to conserve, protect and reconstruct the wellness and unity of the Earth ‘s ecosystem. In position of the different parts to planetary environmental debasement, States have common but differentiated duties. The developed states acknowledge the duty that they bear in the international chase of sustainable development in position of the force per unit areas their societies place on the planetary environment and of the engineerings and fiscal resources they command. he overruling end of the Convention is the â€Å" stabilisation of nursery gas concentrations in the ambiance at a degree that would forestall unsafe anthropogenetic intervention ith the clime system. â€Å" [ 5 ] The rule of common but differentiated duties, one of the cardinal constructs of sustainable development, has double foundation ; the force per unit areas developed states topographic point on the planetary environment ; and the engineerings and fiscal resources they command. Though the developed states are loath to acknowledge the first foundation, the developing states have a strong purchase to bring on the former to accept differentiated intervention in their favour. [ 7 ] The contemplation of this rule takes two signifiers: one is â€Å" dual criterions † in environmental protection criterions every bit good as their execution in favour of developing states ; and the other is assistance by developed states for sustainable development of developing states. The impression of common but differentiated duty is comprised of two distinguishable yet mutualist constituents: ( 1 ) common duty and ; ( 2 ) differentiated duty. The first represents the shared duties of two or more States when the inquiry of protection of a specific environmental resource is raised. [ 8 ] The 2nd relates to distinguish environmental criterions which are articulated around legion factors such as particular demands and fortunes, future economic development of states, and the historic part of a state or group of states to the creative activity of an environmental job.Article 10 Kyoto protocol [ 9 ]All Parties, taking into account their common but differentiated duties and their specific national and regional development precedences, aims and fortunes, without presenting any new committednesss for Parties non included in Annex I, but reaffirming bing committednesss under Article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention, and go oning to progress the execution of these committ ednesss in order to accomplish sustainable development, taking into history Article 4, paragraphs 3, 5 and 7, of the Convention, shall:Formulate, where relevant and to the extent possible, cost-efficient national and, where appropriate, regional programmes to better the quality of local emanation factors, activity informations and/or theoretical accounts which reflect the socio-economic conditions of each Party for the readying and periodic updating of national stock lists of anthropogenetic emanations by beginnings and remotions by sinks of all nursery gases non controlled by the Montreal Protocol, utilizing comparable methodological analysiss to be agreed upon by the Conference of the Parties, and consistent with the guidelines for the readying of national communications adopted by the Conference of the Parties ;F CDBR is illustration of emerging perceptual experiences of equity.Duncan French ( 2000 ) . Developing States and International Environmental Law: The Importance of Diffe rentiated Responsibilities.International & A ; Comparative Law Quarterly,49, pp 35-60 doi:10.1017/S0020589300063958Mustapher, Ntale, Rethinking the Application of the Principle of ‘Common but Differentiated Responsibilities ‘ in the International Climate Legal Framework ( December 6, 2008 ) . Available at SSRN: hypertext transfer protocol: //ssrn.com/abstract=1312282Bharat Agarwal, The Principle Of Common But Differentiated Responsibility In Environmental LawRio Declaration on Environment and Development 1992 United Nations ( UN )United Nations Conference on Environment and Development: Framework Convention on Climate Change, May 9, 1992, art. 2, 31 I.L.M. at 854.Duncan French ( 2000 ) . Developing States and International Environmental Law: The Importance of Differentiated Responsibilities.International & A ; Comparative Law Quarterly,49, pp 35-60 doi:10.1017/S0020589300063958International Environmental Agreements: Politicss, Law and Economics, Springer Netherlands, Vol ume 2, Number 2 / June, 2002, pg. 151-170 www.springerlink.comP. Sands, Principles of International Environmental Law: Models, Standards and Implementation, 1st edn. ( Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1996 ) at 217.KYOTO PROTOCOL TO THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Second Life Ready for Business

1. What problems can Second Life help businesses solve? Second Life provides businesses with tools for online conferencing, online collaboration, knowledge management, and prototyping. Companies can test new products using Second Life’s 3-D rendering programs. They can experiment with new marketing and advertising campaigns to see how people react. They can receive feedback on real-world products or services. 2. Considering what you have learned about Second Life, how could you, as an individual, create a modest start-up business on the Grid? What goods would you sell? Why would this be a good choice of product? What, in simple terms, would your business plan be? Why would it work? One potential new business would be to sell furnishings for online spaces. People inherently want to furnish and decorate their private spaces. The products could be bought and sold using Lindens. The start-up costs could be low since there aren’t any inventory costs. You can create the furnishings as they’re ordered. A business plan would include advertising ideas, marketing ideas, how to deliver the products, customer follow-up ideas, and financial planning. 3. Visit eBay on the Web and see what Second Life items you can find listed for auction. How would you rate the activity surrounding these items? Are you surprised by what you see? Why or why not? Obviously the information for this question will fluctuate. As of this writing, eBay offered 211 items. They included how-to manuals for making money on Second Life, a guide to selling land, and business opportunities on the site. One item in particular was a vending machine business package available for $4.99. The individual offering the item was an eBay Power Seller with 6,483 feedback postings. He was obviously an established eBay seller. Other items for sale include a Gym Workout package for $4.99 and a macro that makes navigating the skies of Second Life easier. It sold for $12.99. Answers to the last three questions will vary by student. The point is to have them realize how advanced and pervasive sites like Second Life have become. 4. How important is interoperability between 3-D worlds like Second Life and other Web sites such as Amazon, MySpace, and YouTube? Do you think that Second Life can survive and prosper on its own? What is the future of these entities? Separate or integrated? Interoperability between 3-D worlds and other Web sites is very important because of the increasing popularity of all the sites. People don’t want to continually learn new and different skills. Rather they want to transport their skills and software from one site to another. It’s doubtful that Second Life could survive and prosper on its own. Demand for the site will increase if it becomes more entwined with other sites and even real life. As people continue to combine offline and online activities, they want easy ways to transition from one to the other. This is where the people component of the three dimensions of information systems becomes apparent. Obviously this leads to more integration in the future. 5. What obstacles does Second Life have to overcome in order to become a mainstream business tool? Does it face fewer or more obstacles to become a mainstream educational tool? To what do you attribute the difference? Second Life needs to overcome the idea and perception that it’s â€Å"just another game site.† Other obstacles include ease-of-use, interoperability between pre-established business systems and Second Life’s proprietary system. It needs to create ways to import and export data between its system and external business systems—don’t require data to be re-input into either system. Second Life faces more obstacles in trying to become a mainstream educational tool. Educators are inherently opposed to online, distance education because it supposedly lacks the face-to-face communication between teachers and students. However, as more education is carried online, Second Life has all the tools in place to make it easy to conduct classes, especi ally its online collaboration tools. 6. What kinds of businesses are most likely to benefit from a presence on Second Life? Why? Retail businesses that are already used to doing business online may have an easier time of establishing a viable presence on Second Life. They are used to advertising and marketing to customers online and have the systems built for taking orders, accepting payments, and shipping products. Other companies, like IBM, that have established online collaboration systems and online knowledge management systems will probably have an easier time using Second Life as another outlet for these activities. 7. would you like to interview for a job using Second Life? Why or why not? Obviously the answers to this question will vary from student to student. Some may prefer interviewing for a job using Second Life since they may see face-to-face interviews as extremely nerve-wracking. Other may prefer a face-to-face interview rather than trying to create an avatar that adequately represents them. 8. Is Second Life a precursor of how business will be conducted in the future or a corporate experiment? Justify your answer. Second Life probably is a precursor of how business will be conducted in the future. Online presence and activity is increasing, not decreasing. Businesses are continually turning to online services to change the way they do business and move many of their offline activities to online ventures.

Porcini’s Pronto

Porcini's Pronto: â€Å"Great Italian cuisine without the wait! † Porcini was opened in 1969 as a family-owned restaurant chain and its business was successful with 4% profit margin. Porcini’s was renowned with its attention to quality and price premium was relatively small compared to its quality and artful presentation. Porcini’s was able to maintain its high product and service quality mainly because it was a family-owned restaurant chain which gave considerable amount of control and of its safe approach on company expansion decisions.However, the management was also viewed as go-slow and comparing to its competitors like Olive Garden and other full-service chain restaurants like Denny's, Porcini’s brand recognition was much lower. The U. S. restaurants industry had three major segments: fast food, single location full-service restaurants, and full-service chain restaurants. Porcini's senior management came up with a Pronto concept which could possibly open up a new area which no one has entered yet.Key features of the Pronto concept included locations at interstate highway exits, Porcini's quality food and service with faster turnover of tables, and limited beer and wine selection. Main competitors would be fast food chain which has been operating along the interstate systems for decades and specifically targeting for travelers, and also full-service chain restaurants like Denny's. It will be critical to come up with a clear differentiator to its competitors, on both quality and service, and position itself against them.Chef Molise was taking it very serious on developing a special Pronto menu which would be less extensive with slightly lower price than Porcini’s traditional menu. Also, Halloran, who was Porcini’s HR director, put significant amount of effort onto recruiting the right people and form a â€Å"Pathfinder Team† with 3 or 4 outstanding Porcini’s employees at each new Pronto’s locati on. One full week of training and indoctrination in the rapid, quality service strategy and its implementation elements would be given.On the hiring side, it was a serious one. Pronto job applicants would have to pass several screens which include interviews with HR, then Pathfinder Team, and the manager. And a personality assessment test was given. It would seem logical and make sense to put focus on creating a customized menu, hiring the right people, and form a team with existing outstanding employees to bring current best practices to the new restaurants. However, it might be in the wrong direction or overkill sometimes.For the customized menu for Pronto, it was basically a stripped-down version of traditional Porcini’s menu, so what differentiated it from Porcini’s? And why customers should come to Pronto which had less menu choices, and not Porcini’s? Even though it’s a faster service didn’t mean customers would accept lower food quality, eve n just a slight one. And most importantly, Porcini’s didn’t ask if it mattered to them. On getting the right people for Pronto restaurants, was it actually a good idea to form a team with existing employees, while the business nature was much different?Porcini’s focused heavily on food and service quality, where Pronto focus on quick service experience without sacrificing much food and service quality. It would be doubtful if employees could switch their practice so easily and quickly. If they could not, imagine how it might impact the new hires in the team. In order to make sure Porcini's Pronto could maintain the same level of quality of food and service, a customer questionnaire system was created to collect information on customer satisfaction.The idea was great and it offered a discount card to customers who took the questionnaire, in order to bring up questionnaire completion rate and encourage repeat visits. However, the entire questionnaire focused only on food and service quality like meal quality, courtesy and efficiency of server, restaurant cleanliness etc. , with almost no questions around the time for taking orders, food serving, and pay bills etc. Also, questions like â€Å"are you traveling or live in the neighborhood? † could give a sense of what were the customer segments and did it align with the targeting customers originally.In addition, it should ask the customer to rank the importance of the factors, or simply ask the most important thing mattered to them e. g. Food, service, time, place etc. Without customers telling the importance of each factor, Porcini would have no clue on what to be focused on. Another set of metrics to be collected would be metrics around internal operations e. g. how long to seat a customer and take her order, to prepare a typical entree, and so forth. This could be done by having secret shoppers for instance, and it would be valuable information.After all, the Pronto concept was to of fer â€Å"Great Italian cuisine without the wait†, if Porcini could not guarantee acceptable table turnover time, success could not be claimed. In order to grow the business, there were three options: company-owned, franchising, and syndication. First of all, what do we want to focus on? At the very beginning, Pronto should not be expanded too quickly before it could find out and establish the winning strategy. The first few restaurants were crucial and steps should take slow.Also, full control should be obtained otherwise it could easily go out of track. Also, the failure rate of franchising was pretty big. Porcini’s could not afford to have restaurants closed down and affected its brand name. Syndication could give Porcini’s full control on restaurant operations. It would also be easier to get a good location as prime undeveloped locations were mostly owned by investors. However, upfront costs were high. At this point like a testing phase, it would be better t o take a slower and less costly approach before Pronto concept proved itself to be success.Company-owned would be the best option to start with and Porcini’s should consider franchising and syndication after seeing profits from the Pronto restaurants and also a reliable standards could be come up which could be applied quick to many restaurants. To conclude, the Pronto concept was aimed at a market space where no one had entered before and Porcini’s wanted to claim this space. However, an important question to ask would be why no one entered this space in the first place? Or did anyone entered but failed?It seems that in order to deliver good quality of food and service while making it a â€Å"Pronto† service is a big challenge itself. Not to mention the target customers are along the interstate highways, are they looking for good quality of food, fast service, or a nice place to chill? Seems that Pronto concept consists of all these elements, however, none of t hem is a real differentiator. Porcini’s management will definitely need to think about positioning and competitive advantage which Pronto could bring to the table.

Marketing case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marketing - Case Study Example The more common terminology for place is distribution in marketing. Its importance lies in the area that product needs to be delivered at right time to right place. This not only facilitates acquiring large customer base but is even concerned with retaining them for long-term. In overall context, place represents a set of activities which is undertaken by a firm so as to make products available to end customers. There are different channels adopted by Apple Inc., in order to reach out to target market. Place mix of the company comprises of wholesaling and retailing, warehousing, order processing, inventory management and transportation. Apple Inc. pays more attention to safely transferring its products from warehouses to retail outlets. The company has established corporate stores across the globe that serves as a medium to reach out to target audience. Apart from Apple’s corporate stores products are placed also in electronic stores like BestBuy. This electronic platform help s the firm to increase convenience level for customers. From assembly house of Apple Inc., products are distributed to its web stores, supermarket, CNF, distributors and middle man. Place factor is even concerned with appropriate inventory management since Apple products can only be delivered when sufficient stock is maintained by a firm. Promotion plays a critical role in context of gaining attention of target group. This mechanism is implemented so as to ensure that right target audience has been reached. Different forms of media advertising are utilized to associate with large number of buyers and generate high sales margin. Promotion mainly focuses on attracting target customers and giving sufficient information to generate interest or motivate for purchasing decision. Various advertising methods are explored by marketers to promote product line

The impact of american TV series 'Gossip Girl' on young adult females Essay

The impact of american TV series 'Gossip Girl' on young adult females (consumerism, product placement, luxury lifestyle) - Essay Example The effort to induce positive perception in the consumers is so overwhelming that it has a tendency of affecting decisions of even the most knowledgeable buyers (Romeo, 2009, pp. 18-25). Television is a powerful medium that reaches billions of viewers on a daily basis (Turow, 2005, pp. 105-113). Trends introduced through this medium affect millions of young viewers on daily basis (Spalding, 2010). The same ambition is apparent inour targeted TV series Gossip Girl. The TV series is based on a best-selling series of novels written by Cecily von Ziegesar about rich families living on Upper Eastside in New York City. Although researches of Turow (2005, pp. 105-113) and Saplding (2010) illustrate how TV, especially sitcoms, affect behavior and preferences of consumers; Keum et al. (2004, pp. 372-391) present a different opinion by saying that media creates social consciousness and status consciousness which leads to spurring an awareness of the social responsibilities associated with cons uming and a pursuit of status-oriented lifestyles. This approach asserts that Gossip Girl also helped young women in becoming aware of latest fashion trends and also making informed decisions because of knowledge regarding substitutes of different products (Keum et al., 2004, pp. 372-391). Gossip Girl demonstrates lives of girls having strong liking for high-street brands which does not provide a reflection of a regular young girl. This research is intended to examine how young female adults are affected by TV shows like Gossip Girls and how the spending patterns and overall lifestyle of youth is affected by it globally (McRobbie, 2008, pp. 536-542). Similar TV series have been madewith the aim to inspire women and help them empower themselves howeverthese series have ultimately became tools of prestigious fashion brands for the purpose of targeting rather mature segment of women. Sex and the City is one of such series that transformed the fashion sense in women worldwide.Unlike regular TV series and sitcoms like Big Bang Theory having a waitress as a lead character and Two Broke Girls showing waitresses trying hard to make their ends meet, Gossip Girl has shown a diversion from regular girls’ persona to affluent and powerful outlook (Toffoletti, 2008, pp. 72-5) . Amongst young demographics, the most lucrative market segment is young, ready-to-spend, attention seeking teenage and adolescent girls (McRobbie, 2008, pp.534-37). With steady changes in consumer’s preferences, young females are always looking for the next big thing (McRobbie, 2008, pp. 534-536). It is observed that the pace of fashion brands launching new collections is much faster than it was some ten years ago. Although there can be various reasons for thatsuch as market competitionor increased consumer awareness, however, intention to capture major market share acts as a motivation for manufacturers to introduce new brands rather quickly (Hines, 20070.Surprisingly long females queue in lines to get their hands on the latest products which encourage companies to speed up their manufacturing and excessively use highly influential marketing campaigns such as ATL (above the line) and BTL (below the line) marketing techniques (Sands and Sands, 2012).In case of TV series, ATL activities are more effective as it involves use of search engines, social media and other media like TV, cinema, radio, newspaper etc. On the other hand, BTL activities include sales promotion strategies such as kiosk, email marketing etc. These techniques influence the buyer significantly and owning a product becomes a source of pride (Sands and Sands,

Business Consultant Proposal for formulating costing & pricing (Cost Essay

Business Consultant Proposal for formulating costing & pricing (Cost Cutting) of a Private Hospital - Essay Example Nafees has tie ups with various medical centres from where they get updated results related to various development in medical field. In this regard, the business that is dealing in hospital, should not only concentrate on generating profit, but also look towards taking care of the sick people. Though the business of hospitals is purely based on dedication, patient care and compassion but like other business they also look for generating revenue. The flow of revenue not only affects the delivery of service related to patient care, but also for the financial health of the organization. In order to generate revenue it is very important for the business to identify its expenses. The major expenses that the hospital incurs are research and teaching, labour cost, test and technology, liability costs and other supplies and capital expenses. Research and teaching: Hospitals conducts research and teaching facilities in order to make their services better and make their employees serve the patients better. This helps the hospital in upgrading themselves and provides modern facilities and techniques to the patients. Therefore, huge expenses are incurred in this. Labour Cost: Labour cost is the most significant expense that is incurred by each and every organization and hospital is not an exception in that case. The employees of a hospital include the directors, doctors, nurses and other official and administrative staffs. The salary and benefits are also huge in this regards, which is another major expense for the hospital. Technology and Tests: Advanced technology helps the doctors not only in diagnosing critical illness but also curing these. New arthroscopic equipments, surgical robots and CY scan are some of the modern technologies that are there in hospital. Capital expenses: the hospital may also incur expenses related to construction work related to expansion of the hospital and procuring of equipments. These are

Final project PowerPoint Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Final project - PowerPoint Presentation Example al structure is the separation or combination of missions or activities consisting of speculations and anecdote as to the most effective way of organizing the health agencies and the environment in terms of the outcomes (Sinclair, & Whitford, 2013). There are three general ways of identifying and categorizing health agency structures in every state. First, there is the combined health and environmental agency model, where the agency is at the cabinet level, with one policy leader overseeing both environmental and health functions. Second, there is an independent health agency located at the cabinet level with a policy leader reporting to the governor directly. Third is the health super agency model which additional functions. For a public health organization, this may include healthcare funding. The enforcement of law is the primary means by which the government creates conditions for safer and healthier lives for all people. The law is responsible for creation of missions for public health officials, assignment of their functions and exercises manner of exercising their power. The law also influences norms for healthy behavior, identify and respond to threats relating to health and setting health standards. The public health ethics are concerned with the ethical dimensions of professionalism and the moral trust bestowed on public health professionals by the society (Gostin, 2010). Resources like funding will be required to embrace the community’s definition of population health. To achieve the population health goals, the Accountable Care Organizations (ACA) will need to identify the financial resources required. The demonstration grants provided may help to fund the fee-for-service structure currently used but it is barely enough to sustain it. Therefore, the nonprofit hospitals have to provide support for the community programs. With passage of the ACA, the U.S. has had to result to improving the health care’s quality while decreasing the costs

Community and economic implications of large-scale emergencies and Term Paper

Community and economic implications of large-scale emergencies and disasters - Term Paper Example The recent disasters include the hurricane in the U.S in 2006, the Japan earthquake in 2011, the Pakistan flood in 2011 and the Indonesian tsunami of 2004. These are the most recent and notable natural disasters which have affected the entire world. The disasters take away lives of millions of people. We have seen that there have been thousands of children who have lost their parents due to these disasters. They can ruin entire countries and economies. One of the most notable disasters in history was the Indian Ocean Tsunami which affected Indonesia the most. Other countries were also affected including India, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Statistics have shown that there have been more than 200, 000 deaths due to this historic disaster. It is one of the worst calamities in history. The tsunami caused severe problems for the economy. One of the most dreadful affects was on the tourist industry in these Asian countries. Tourism is one of the vital parts of the economy in countries like Thailand and Indonesia. The disaster caused the countries millions of dollars due to the effect on the tourist industry. The tourist hotels and several buildings were extensively damaged. The effect on the tourist industry let to various other problems as the industry is related with hotels and there are a lot of people employed in the hotel sector. The people, therefore, got redundant and unemployment increased. Thailand’s stock market was also sev erely affected by the tsunami and the market fell by a large number of points. The bank of Thailand estimated a decline in GDP rate by 0.3 % due to the lack of investment. There were very few investors who were likely to invest in Thailand. With the falling tourism industry, it was predicted that the GDP would fall further by 1% by the start of 2005 meaning a 1.3% decline in the Gross Domestic Product. In 2005, the year after the tsunami, the country faced a current account deficit of more than 6 billion dollars. The slowdown of

Theodora Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Theodora - Essay Example She was a monophysite Christian while her husband was an orthodox Christian. The fact that law had to be changed proves that Theodora came from a lowly background but despite her background her influence on others was immense. Despite her background she could exert tremendous influence on her husband, on Byzantine politics and law. She first influenced Justinian with her wit, beauty and insight. There were difficulties in marrying her because of her background so he made her his mistress. She could influence the then emperor Justin in to changing the laws so that she could marry Justinian. Thus she earned the respect of her husband. She had tremendous influence on various people, issues and particularly workings of the state. She exerted significant influence on matters of law pertaining to women. She was treated as an intellectual partner and her suggestions had strong influence on the political decisions of the empire. For instance, when two factions came into existence and threatened to end Justinian’s rule, she influenced the generals and the officials to stay in the city and take strong action to suppress the rebellion. She was consulted when they wanted to introduce reforms to end corruption by public officials. She is even credited with supporting her husband in providing advice during the Nika revolt. She exerted influence by participating in making the laws and handling diplomatic functions usually reserved for the emperor. Several achievements and accomplishments show how powerful a woman Theodora was of her time. The Nika Revolt was the first incident that brought her to limelight. This full scale revolt almost toppled the regime. When there was debate whether to run away in ships or to remain where they were, Theodora rose to speak. Her speech was such that it could be compared to a speech made by the senator to the insurgents. She acknowledged

The crucible - oral assignment Essay Example for Free

The crucible oral assignment Essay 1. There are many strengths and weaknesses of both these people. The way they act to other people and their reaction in certain situations both give you information about what has happened in the past, but also adds drama to the play. Elizabeth Proctor has loyalty to people she loves, you can see her love for John when she says oh! I forgot! I will tomorrow. She said this after John asked her about putting some flowers in the house to brighten it up. This shows that she wants to please him, because she believes that it is slightly her fault for what John did with Abigail. This loyalty could be seen as strength and a weakness, its a strength to their relationship because John Proctor will always know he has somebody to help him and believe in him. It could also be a weakness because if she believes in him too much, and he does start to have feelings for Abigail again. Then she would never trust in him again and feel ignorant for believing in John in the first place. If she stands by John for too long and he starts to fall under the pressure she will go down with him and be seen as outcasts from Salem. Some of her other strengths are that she is very honest, and even though she is portrayed as a cold woman, she has strong feelings for John and her children. When she says things like I mean to please you, John, you can tell that she is really a tender loving person, but their marriage has been facing a few problems over the years. One of her weaknesses is that she tries to take charge of some of the situations which is good, but when it is involving her husband and her trials then she can begin to become more forceful. This side of her is shown when she says and what of tomorrow? She will cry me out until they take me! John on the other hand has different strengths because his character is very strong and forceful in some ways but in other ways he becomes very weak. These are normally to do with his affair with Abigail; he still loves her although he does not want to love her. This relationship between John Proctor and Abigail causes Proctor many times in the play to hesitate taking action in clearing the good names of the many townspeople that Abigail has accused as being linked with the Devil . These weaknesses will show when he is trying to get Elizabeth out of prison and must admit to the court about his secret relationship with Abigail, this in itself will make him an outcast and would signal his downfall as well as Elizabeths. He has many strengths though because of he is the only person in the play who can see that the girls are just making this up. He can tell that what the people are saying is for their personal satisfaction, such as the Putnams with their children being supposedly killed. Even though he is the only character that acts this way he doesnt testify until the end of the play because he does not want to disgrace his name. These are the main strengths and weaknesses of the two characters. 2. The relationship between John and Elizabeth Proctor is very distant; this is mainly because of the affair with Abigail and John Proctors lechery. In there relationship you have a distinct feeling that they are both trying to praise each other and give all they can to the other one. Elizabeth Proctor is a very honest woman and stays by John even in the midst of his adulterous affair. Although Elizabeth is portrayed as cold and aloof at times, she is a dedicated and devoted wife and mother. The fact that she loves her husband becomes obvious when she is brought into the court to verify John Proctors affair with Abigail. She wants to protect him from being punished for adultery and for that reason lies. You can also see this loving relationship in John when he tells Elizabeth I mean to please you Elizabeth, and she replies I know it John. This shows that they really do love each other, but because of the affair Elizabeth feels as if she cannot trust John yet. This is why they do not share their love physically but more verbally in the play. There is love between the two and even after all that has happened they still live with each other, although you have to question whether John is doing this so no to lose his reputation in the village which he cares so deeply about. Also the laws about marriage and divorce in Salem, Massachusetts were very strict and if these two wanted to separate they would have to explain why because the puritans believed that marriage was binding and should last as long as they lived. Their marriage is real although they are going through some rough times and a separation would have seemed easier to deal with. These two people have stayed together to help each other but they are also helping their own image in the town by keeping this quiet. Although it doesnt stay this way throughout the play and near the end when the secret comes out they stand by each other and try to help each other as much as they can. 3. In Act two there are many parts were you feel sympathetic for both John and Elizabeth Proctor. This is because you learn more about their past and find out what has happened in their lives. This is a technique that Arthur Miller uses a lot in the play to describe the characters and to give the reader or actor more information about the person in general. Elizabeth is normally given more sympathy because she is the victim in her husbands affair. John is seen as a hero and given admiration but this is only because he is trying to save his husband and wants the rest of the people to be released. Some would sympathise for him because of the way he has to risk his reputation in saving all these people. Even though it is his fault for getting into the situation in the first place by having the affair, but if the affair was never found out then the consequences would be very different. Miller has tried to make people sympathise for John more by changing Johns age from 60 to 30 and Abigails age from 11 to 17 as to not make people think he is somewhat a paedophile. There is some admiration for Elizabeth as well because she takes control of the scene and stands up to John about Abigail and how she has been talked about in the court. John loses some of his control and his is not really sympathised because he could stop all these people going to prison and being hung. He is somewhat cowardice and vain because he only cares about his reputation if the town finds out what happened between him and Abigail. I think that the reader would be more sympathetic towards Elizabeth because she is being targeted by Abigail and even though she has support from John he is not going to tarnish his name by telling the people of Salem about his actions with Abigail. This is mainly why I think Elizabeth is sympathised more.

Integrated Marketing communications used by HP

Integrated Marketing communications used by HP This case study analyses the marketing communication theories adapted by Hp as it progressed to being the worlds number one pc manufacturer in 2007. Its emergence as a global company in 1957 opened a window of opportunity. The theories addressed will aid in forming a combination of the key concepts used by Hp for its global campaign to increase customer loyalty and boost sales. A number of practises are seen to have developed along various communications and marketing theories. However, critical analysis of Hps 63- year development will show a lack of adherence to some very useful models by some academic scholars. A viable description of marketing through effective communication was made by Smith (2002), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦strategy of choice in a competitive environment is proactive, two -way communication, in which organisation plan for and initiate relationships with the people important to their success, emphasising dialogue over monologue and using various techniques to interact with their publics. Background Hewlett Packard, known as HP, is an electronics producer which was founded in 1939 in California by Bill Hewlett and David Packard. Since its birth the company has gained prominence around the world, becoming a major leader in the industry of electronics and technology. Early product designs produced by the company include inventions such as the resistance-capacitance audio oscillator named Model 200A. It is the manufacturing of products such as the Model 200A that have shaped the future for technology and helped pioneer many of todays products. In 1966, HP introduced the worlds first computer. In 1968 the company then unveiled the first desktop scientific calculator and named it the personal computer (PC). It was this event which boosted HP in to mainstream significance during the 1980s and became leading players in the technological industry. This was established in 1995, when HP entered the home computing market. In 2001the company merged with Compaq forming HP Compaq. This merger ensured efforts were made to further establish the brand as a leading company in the IT and computer industry. This was done through aggressive marketing tactics done through the concept of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC). 1. Critical evaluation of the role of integrated marketing communications in the success of Hewlett-Packard since 2001 Joep cornelissen (2008) definition of corporate communication is as follows: Corporate communication is a management function that offers a frame work for the effective coordination of all internal and external communication with the overall purpose of establishing and maintaining favourable reputation with stake holder groups up on which the organisation is dependent. But using of this approach is not always good as some critics may say despite of 20 years of debate most practitioner still see that integrated marketing communication is emerging discipline (eagle and kitchen 2000) rather than fully formed concept. Like many other concept that have yet to fully develop it is subject to fully varying and some times colourful terminology. Thus 360 branding, total branding , whole egg, seam less communication, new advertising, orchestration, relationship marketing, one to one marketing, integrated marketing and integrated communications (Pickton and Broadrick 2001) have all been used to describe all or part of integrated marketing communications concepts promoting the charge that integrated marketing communication is yet another fad. What most observers agree on is that integrated marketing communication is good idea but very hard to implement in practice Like all companies, HP is a company whose primary aim is to make a profit. However whilst this is a common company goal, there are still necessary guideline which should be followed in order to achieve this. Fill (2006) recommends that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the process of developing corporate strategy demands that a series of objectives be set at different levels within an organisation. Grunig et al (1992) states that two-way communication, a form of communication which is also practiced by PR practitioners, is a helpful tool from which a mutual understanding can be developed between stakeholders. One of criticisms of HP was that the company was focused more on the advancement of technological innovation. The corporate image of the company was seen as being obsessed with innovative progression and undermining the value of its customers. Shutz et al (1992) cited in Clarke (1997, pg 93) states that such actions are damaging to a company and that customer based communication must be practiced at all times. You cannot depend on the product alone to build consumer confidence. Its the rapport, the empathy, the dialogue, the relationship, the communication you establish with the customer that makes the difference. These separate you from the pack. For all of HPs innovative output and diverse range of products, its market position was infringed through a lack of market research and poor internal organisation. Smith (2002) refers to the work of Tom Harris, who is a leading advocate of integrating communications. He describes integrated communications as an outside-in process that begins with an understanding of the consumer publics, particularly their wants, interests, needs and lifestyles. Fill et al (2001), however, argues that many practitioners deliberately persuade a target audience to behave in a particular way, while others persuade them. In whatever instance it might be, understanding the customers needs, which may in turn change their behavioural pattern, is not a necessarily bad evil. Hp deliberately changed their communications strategy to affect the buying behaviour in their customer through effective brand campaigns that brought mutual satisfaction to both consumer and HP. Clarke (1997) explained that for consulting firms to effectively handle marketing and communications they must reflect the overall objectives of the organisation. Todays market calls for a strategically integrated approach to marketing communications. Hp would have to reorganise its marketing communication s division in to one that is coherent to attract customers. Oliver (2001) defined this as the system Theory - which she said evaluates the relationship and structure as they relate to the whole. Market research builds the right perception and recognise the needs and behaviour of current and future customers; evident in the theory of cognition. The history of HP showed there was lack of strategic planning and changes on marketing and communication structures were needed. During 1960s, consumers probably did not know any better or did not have a chance to choose; and this could force them to adhere to HP products. However, now a days Kotler et al (2008) affirms consumers receive thousands of information per day. In this context, in 2002, HP realized that the company needed to invest in its corporate image. So, the company launched brand advertisement campaigns. In 2006, they create the Computer is personal again, which had focus on personal relationship that public have with its computers. By analysing the competitors, this campaign was based to convince customer that the best way to buy a PC was in a retail shop, where they could touch it. This was an opportunity to differentiate from its main competitor Dell, which has a strong internet sales record. Fill (2009) believes that the marketing segmentation is necessary to meet the consumer need and to have a functional and competitive-level strategy. The Computer is personal again campaign was structured to appeal to young generation, which the company believed to be customers with similar needs and responses. HP targeted the youth market and position itself as a customer loyal corporation. In this scenario, the marketing communication strategies combined channels online and offline and integrated all marketing efforts such as PR, sales, advertisement. Shimp (2000) states that mixing marketing communication elements is decisive to achieve the target public and a specific objective. Also. HP emphasized advertisement and sales promotion in order to maximize the sales, creating a Synergistic effect. Undoubtedly, every channel used by this campaign had a consistent message, which complemented each other. Cornelissen (2008) says the company should communicate on ongoing basis and themed m essages reinforce perceptions of how an organization wants to be seen. Marketing Integration Holm (2006) states that Smith (1999) developed a tool, from which there are seven levels through where marketing integration can occur. Holm says these seven levels are: Vertical objectives integration It means that communication objectives fit with marketing objectives and the overall corporate objectives. Horizontal/functional integration Marketing communications activities fit well with other business functions of manufacturing, operations and human resource management. Marketing mix integration The marketing mix of product, price and place decisions is consistent with the promotion decisions, e.g. with the required communication messages. Communications mix integration. All the 12 communications tools are being used to guide the customer/consumer/client through each stage of the buying process and all of them portray a consistent message. Creative design integration The creative design and execution is uniform and consistent with the chosen positioning of the product. Internal/external integration All internal departments and all external employed agencies are working together to an agreed plan and strategy. Financial integration The budget is being used in the most effective and efficient way ensuring that economies of scale are achieved and that long-term investment is optimized. Let us examine personal again campaign at each of these seven levels: Vertical Objective Integration: level of coordination between communication objective, corporate objective and marketing objective. . Corporate objective: Customer loyalty, profit, growth, market leadership, commitment to employees, leadership capabilities and global citizenship. (Source: www.hp.com) Marketing objective: To increase market share, compete with Dell, target young generation Communication objective: Focus on personal relationships to PC and show consumers the different tasks made possible by HP technology Synergy can be seen among these objectives. All advertisements were base on same theme where celebrities from different field were talking about how HP PC and technology is part of their life. Faces were not shown in any of the commercials and focus was on different tasks that HP makes easy. It reinforces customer loyalty which is corporate objective of HP. Advertisements in this campaign were appealing to young generation and through social media viral effect HP reached new customers which were otherwise non-respondent to traditional media, thus increasing market share. Horizontal/functional Integration: fit of MarCom and business functions like operations and HRM HP had strength in selling through retail stores in consumer segments rather than selling online which was Dells core competence. New campaign communicated that PC is a commodity which is close anyones personal life, its a part of life rather. It pushed customers to visit the nearest retail store to touch, feel and learn how HP technology can be useful to them. Marketing mix integration: How well the promotion (with communication message) goes with the other 3 Ps of marketing mix Although the general theme of the campaign was universal throughout the 100 countries where HP was doing business, some variation can be seen according to place and price. For example in India personal again campaign was supported by Business is Personal Again campaign that targeted SMEs. Although the basic theme remained unchanged, local celebrities and eminent personalities were used for promotion in particular places. Communications mix integration: Different communication tools portray a consistent message Every channel used to communicate message delivered consistent message. TV commercials, internet promotion, PR program, newspaper, billboards, reality shows etc. whichever medium was used for MarCom in personal Again campaign was complement to each other and had same tone/message. Creative design integration: creative design is in accordance with the positioning of the product With this new campaign HP wanted to acquire a trendier brand image. They wanted to target youth market and position itself as a consumer loyal company. Personal again campaign was very much on the line. It relied heavily on animations. Hand gestures were used to convey connectivity, assurance, and emotional connect. Celebrities shown in the commercial were those, who are followed by young generation. Events which were of special interest of youth, like Super Bowl and reality show meet or Delete were focused for marketing communication. Internal/external integration: Internal departments and external agencies work in synergy according to an agreed plan Personal Again campaign was designed by GSP, which is HPs advertising agency since 1996. All previous campaigns were also handled by same agency. Although not much evidences about the extent of coordination of HP and GSP are provided in the case but because of this long period of relationship; mutual trust and understanding between both can be expected. Financial integration: efficient utilization of budget ensuring long-term investment optimization Not sufficient information is provided in the case about budget allocation of Personal Again campaign Also, HP used celebrities in its advertisement in order to emotional connect the public. Fill (2009) citing Patzer suggests that the physical attractiveness of the communicator, particularly if it is the source, contributes significantly to the effectiveness of persuasive communications (Patzer in Fill, 2009, p.43) Celebrities from different field expressed how PC makes their lives easy. The identification of young people with celebrities encouraged the sales and reinforced customer loyalty. The brand value of HP increased 9% after the campaign. The celebrities enables the message to stand out among the clutter and noise that typify many markets (Fill, 2009, p.509). This concept was used by HP to persuade the sales and making the product more attractive to the target public through association with MTV channel. However, Fill (2009) adverts there are two main concerns about the use of celebrities on campaigns. The first one is if the celebrity fit in the image of the brand and if they will be acceptable by the target audience. The other is that the public may remember the celebrity, but not the brand. The use of celebrities and the creation of a realty show Meet or delete on the campaign Computer is personal again influenced the consumer behaviours as it motivate them to buy. Dibb et al (2001) say there are several factors that can persuade a purchase such as personal, psychological and social influence and describe motive as energy giving a persons activities towards satisfying a need or where achieving a goal (Dibb et al, 2001, p.133). Shimp (2000) affirms that advertising may influence consumer to buy items they may not need. The consumer buying decision process has 5 stages: problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase and post-purchase evaluation, according to Dibb et al (2001). HP created awareness to young people by offering a PC not as commodity, but as extension of person life. The buzz generated by launching first videos on the internet and after in TV made consumer looking for more Knowledge about the product. However, the main goal of t his campaign was to interact with consumers, which could be helpful in the post-purchase evaluation phase as customers could trust that HP would be there if they need anything. Instead of creating a campaign to compete directly against Dell, HP could have done a public relation strategic planning. Smith (2002) citing Al Riel and Laure Riel explains that The purpose of advertising is not to build a brand, but to defend a brand once the brand has been built by other means, primarily public relation [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] (Al Riel and Laure Riel in Smith, 2002, p.9). A PR plan could identify and evaluate the organization viability and reputation, where a mutual beneficial relationship between company and consumer could be build, according to Smith (2002). The lack of market research and planning were the main problem of HP. By realizing a SWAT analysis, the company could have set clear objectives and develop a marketing and communication targets that would be the foundation for a nine steps strategic public relation plan. This plan would be beneficial to HP as company goal would be based on research and evaluation. Also, it would allow the HP to monitor the competi tor as a point of reference. HP used or could potentially use the following marketing tools to aid their Personal Again campaign. Category Communication Tool Media Broadcast: Television (Meet or Delete) Print: Newspaper, Magazines Internet: Social Networking Sites, Blogs, Interactive websites, Viral Video, Direct Response and Interactive Online ads featuring celebrities Adverts on websites such as: Yahoo, MTV, MySpace, MSN, Weather Channel, CIO, Forbes, Entrepreneur, InfoWorld, CNet. HPs own interactive websites: www.meetordelete.com and www.fingerskilz.tv Social networking and blog sites Outdoor Billboard Sponsorship Celebrity endorsement 2. Discuss the importance of branding, branding strategy and brand positioning to Hewlett-Packard in developing competitive advantage Brand can be defined as identifiable product, service [..] augmented in such a way that the buyer or user perceives relevant, unique added values which match their needs (Chernatony and McDonald, 2005, p.25). Xie and Boggs (2006) believes that a brand is a result from product differentiation and strategy of market segmentation. Organizations are changing their communication strategy to keep the consumers attention on the corporation and not anymore on the products. Until 2002, HP had not developed a unified image as the company used to invest less than 10% of its advertisement budget on brand ads. HP has focus to being innovative and to diversify its products line, but lack in market research and in position itself to get a competitive advantage from the competitors. Having focus on the corporate branding means the organization behaviour will have more exposure and be more visible and transparent in its activities. When corporate branding works, it is because it expresses the values of desire that attract key stakeholders to the organisation and encourage them to feel a sense of belonging to it (Hatch and Schultz, 2001, p. 1046). So, in 2003, this company introduce Operation one Voice in order to have a consistent message and an identified image for the external and internal public. Chernatony and McDonald (2005) believe that a successful brand has as objective to build a positive relationship with costumer, where feelings of commitment and belonging are presented. For a long time, HP has negligence the importance of connect with consumer. Just in 2006, to differentiate from competitors, HP redefined the PC as personal and not anymore as commodity. From decades, HP has an advantage from competitor for investing in technologic research. However, in the beginning of 90s, the consumers had more options and the competitors such as a Dell revelled themselves with a strong presence in the market. A positive point is that HP has a monolithic identity structure to reinforce the corporate brand, where all the products carry the corporate name. That strategy is a fundamental tool to build a strong reputation. The advantage of using a corporate branding is to apply the vision and culture as part of sales promotion and also to add a unique organisational value. Cornelissen (2008) believes that structure core emphasises the alignment between vision, culture and image. Also, he suggests using the toolkit developed by Hatch and Schultz to analyse the alignment or gap between vision, culture and image, by questioning the interface between those tree elements. Hatch, M, and Schultz, M. (2001) Bringing the corporation into corporate branding, European Journal of Marketing, vol. 37, no. 7/8, pp. 1041-1064. HP vision aims to be leader in its segment, to invent technologies and services that add value to business and also to create social benefit to consumers lives. Its identity seeks to be an innovative company, which produces range of quality products. In this context, there is not an alignment between vision and culture, because HP had not differentiated its strategies from competitors, imitating Dell direct sale tactics. Also, it seems to have a gap between culture and image as consumer have not perceived HP as an organization worried about their needs, but more concerned about develop new technologies .However, vision and image seem to be alignment as the company has a clear idea who is its main stakeholders and it understands the importance to communicate with them on ongoing basis. HP also is involved in corporate social responsibility projects and those help to communicate and reinforce its vision to its stakeholders. For a long period, HP prioritized its objectives, instead of the customers needs. Its products were advertised separately and interestingly did not use a lower price tatic as competitive advantage. According to Sengupta (2007), the position of a brand is determinate by the target consumers. Position then represents the essence of the brand as perceived the target consumer in a multi brand market'(Sengupta, 2007, p. 17). So, HP strategically reinvented the computer, giving a personal touch. In this context, the organization added 9% value to brand in 2007. Sengupta (2007) adverts that the company need to know who they are first and then create awareness in order to position the brand. By interacting with costumers through blogs and website, HP is changing the way how the public perceived its brand. The importance of position correctly a brand can be recognized in Sengupta citation: Position creates uniqueness, credibility, sustainable and valued place in consumers mind for brand (Sengupta, 2007, p. 17). Chernatony and McDonald (2005) affirms that a successful brand is a result of how much value the customers add to a product or a service. HP repositioned the brand, by differentiating the concept of PC. Xie and Boggs (2006) affirm that products and services are quickly imitated and homogenized, maintaining credible product differentiation is increasingly difficult, requiring the positioning of the whole corporation rather than simply its products (Xie and Boggs, 2006, p.349). HP has been investing in technologic research since 1960. In the beginning, the company had focus in hospital equipments and it seems HP looked just to niches, instead of looking the entire market for a long term strategy. However, its brand has extending to computers, printers and digital cameras. Because HP was recognized as an innovative company, this image was transferred to the news products lines. Consumers recognize the name and make associations that enable them to lower the perceived risk and in doing so provide a platform to try a new product (Fill, 2009, p 508). HP expertises in computers were extended to printers and digital cameras. Chernatony and McDonald (2005) states that one factor of success on brand extension is to build and sustain a favourable reputation for a parent brand. Reputation also is an important aspect on consumers loyalty. After decades, HP understood the importance to look what the brand means to the customers. By knowing the core associations that co nsumers perceived the brand, it is more likely to be successful in an expansion. HP targeted young consumers as this public and the company share values such as interest for technologies and innovation. That helps to create a connection. In 2006, a blog, which was part of HP association with FIFA World Cup website, attracted more than 180 thousands visitors. 3. Major challenges ahead for Hewlett-Packard Recommendations HP had certainly done good job on the front of integrated marketing communication by launching the new campaigns and other supporting campaigns. But while doing that there were some areas which were not addressed HPs ability to recognise the need to change its marketing and communication strategy purposefully led to its growth by 2007. Smith R.D. (2002) described campaigns as systematic sets of public relations activities, each with a specific and finite purpose, sustained over a length of time and dealing with objectives associated with a particular issue. Management was able to change the structure, process and relationship within the company to establish lasting partnership with its customers. The advertisements were able to persuade customers in to buying by evoking an inherent desire to be part that a celebrity group. However, to be able to sustain this flow, Hp will have to develop long term strategic marketing communications plans through continual market research and development. Extensive use of celebrity endorsement by having a long term association with celebrities there is a risk that any indecent behaviour of celebrity may affect the companys image. Company was over focused on advertising and under used other elements of communication mix like personal selling, sales promotion, PR. As the company grows in size and market share with huge number of customers, company also needs to address the retaining of existing customers. As small and medium business sector is emerged very attractive segment company should try to acquire number of customers in this segment as in the last campaign some critics said that the campaign was more focused on consumer sector rather than SME and corporate. In the current era of globalisation the economies are interlinked and interdependent on each other. There are new challenges arsing from this kind of phenomenon. To overcome from this kind of situation Doole and Lowe (2001) describe the companies are adopting a long term strategies, where marketing programmes and process are standardised and at the same time it has been adapt to local needs. It is important to understand the differences and similarities between local markets. Due this globalisation where new markets are opening like India, China, Brazil the company must adopt the strategy according to the culture of these countries Fill (2009) states from marketing communication perspectives, the prevailing culture in a region must be respected, otherwise it is likely that a brand and or organization will be rejected (Fill, 2009, p. 842). Kotler (2002) Multi-brand strategy: Multi-brand strategy enables a company to lock up more distributor shelf space and to protect its major brand by setting up flanker brands RECOMMENDATIONS Use the multiband strategy in future to acquire the more shelf space and beat the competition. Use personal selling as tool to improve sales. Use combination of push and pull strategy. More emphasis on sales promotions in store Use of PR to retain existing customer and maintain good relationship with stakeholders. Become more interactive with consumers through new media (develop message board and forums) Focus on corporate advertising as well as consumer advertising Continuous development of innovative new products Integrate at Different Levels of management. Put integration on the agenda for various types of management meetings whether annual reviews or creative sessions. Horizontally ensure that all managers, not just marketing managers understand the importance of a consistent message whether on delivery trucks or product quality. Also ensure that Advertising, PR, Sales Promotions staff are integrating their messages. To do this you must have carefully planned internal communications, that is, good internal marketing. Think Customers First. Wrap communications around the customers buying process. Identify the stages they go through before, during and after a purchase. Select communication tools which are right for each stage. Develop a sequence of communications activities which help the customer to move easily through each stage. Build Relationships and Brand Values. All communications should help to develop stronger and stronger relationships with customers. Ask how each communication tool helps to do this. Remember: customer retention is as important as customer acquisition. Develop a Good Marketing Information System which defines who needs what information when. A customer database for example, can help the telesales, direct marketing and sales force. IMC can help to define, collect and share vital information.

Rene Descartes Second Meditation Evaluation

Rene Descartes Second Meditation Evaluation My Paper is on Rene Descartes Second Meditation. I chose to analyze and critique the concepts and ideas that were presented in Rene Descartes second meditation because it is in the second meditation were Rene Descartes famous adage was produced Cogito, Ergo Sum or I Think Therefore I am and also I find his second meditation the most controversial and most interesting of all his meditations. The second meditation is the most controversial of Rene Descartes meditations because it is here that his first rule of methodic doubt process is clearly introduced which is Accept nothing as true unless you can be sure that it is certain and it is also here that his idea becomes Radicalized because it suggest that one must critique all types of knowledge, that one has to doubt everything including himself and this is what the second meditation is all about because the second meditation is about ones existence. Descartes says that one must never accept anything or any knowledge unless one is certain of this knowledge and for Descartes being certain of knowledge means that there must be no place for doubt, it must be self verifying and it must be indubitable or in other words unquestionable and not open to doubt. The second meditation starts with Descartes doubting existence itself because of the radicalism of his philosophy that assumes everything is false, so in the second meditations Descartes doubts even existence, he says that even our very own existence needs to be doubted so as to arrive at the truth in the end of course of the second meditation Descartes does prove that without a shadow of a doubt that one does exist because one thinks hence the famous saying I think therefore I am. When one reads the second meditation Descartes does sound like someone who is a bit crazy and perhaps someone who had too much time in his hands because to doubt even existence is for me at first just down right absurd and many of us would have the same feeling on this matter maybe because of how we were brought up but it is exactly this kind of thinking that Descartes was trying to destroy he wants everybody to think for themselves and not just accept opinions as truths because if we just accept the texts of the ancient and the opinions of everybody as truths then how can we arrive at certain knowledge if those texts and opinions happen to be false he wants us to discover the truths for ourselves and perhaps he wanted people not to be lazy. When reading the second meditation the philosophy that is included there is definitely a radical one because he doubts existence and that what we perceive as truth may in fact be false, perception for Descartes is deceitful and our mind errs all the time so there is no way for us to be certain of things. We can be certain of our existence however but not this kind of existence were there is the body and the limbs but our existence as a thinking being since for Descartes the body and the things around is maybe just be an illusion created by an evil deceiver who does all he can to deceive us with all this false perception or we can just be dreaming that what we see and feel is all but a dream and therefore not real because how can we be sure that we are not just dreaming right at this very moment and that we are just dreaming everything and everyone around us this concept was a very intriguing concept what if we were just dreaming all this time, this was a concept that is so intriguing that even Hollywood adopted it in their film Inception which delves into dream and reality. The only certainty that we know we exist is that we know we are thinking and no great deceiver or dreams can doubt the fact that we think and therefore because we think we exist but for Descartes it is a thinking existence because it is the only thing that one can be certain of and that everything else we perceive may be false or just an illusion, one cannot trust our senses because are senses may just be an illusion or the senses may just be perceiving an illusion therefore not certain so for Descartes perception cannot arrive at the certitude of truth. Sensation as well is not a good determinant for certitude because one could again just be dreaming. Thinking for Descartes is very important since thinking for him determines ones existence. The act of thinking is the self guarantee of thinking. The act of thinking provides the ground for realizing that one exist. Human beings have a natural propensity to think therefore he or she can prove his or her existence. Thinking can never be false, because it is a process, thinking itself is beyond judgment, the thoughts that come from thinking are always real we only make mistakes in our judgment. Descartes explains in the second meditation using the honeycomb wax as an example of what kind of existence we can perceive and have since the wax changes its form but yet we know it is still the same wax Descartes thought that perhaps this is the true existence we are not just body and limbs but we are beyond that because we can still change and still be the same and this is how our minds works it has something innate that enables us to know it distinctively. The Second Meditation deals with reality and existence, like I mentioned before I thought that Descartes perhaps just too much time on his hands for thinking something so crazy as that everything around us is just an illusion and that we cannot trust out perception. I thought to myself that here is another philosopher saying something controversial just top be noticed but now that I was a little aware of a science called quantum physics and now I wonder if Descartes was actually someone who was way ahead of his time in thinking that everything is just an illusion and that what we perceive is actually false because quantum physics itself says that perhaps what we perceive as real, what our senses perceive as true my actually be false because it may just be an illusion created by our sense perception. With this in mind Rene Descartes is not crazy and his theory was not absurd this despite him being a member of the Rosicrucian group which believed in an invisible church that they built. Rene Descartes Philosophical theory on Existence and Reality was in fact a science which was way ahead of its time. His philosophy on doubting everything so as to arrive at certain knowledge can be seen as something radical and impractical and if we do take him literally then it is no doubt that this philosophy is indeed a radical form of Philosophy and an impractical one at that because one will just waste his time doubting and questioning everything one sees and this is just an impossible task. I think Rene Descartes is someone who was obsessed in knowing the truth and this led him to create this philosophy that before we can have certain knowledge we must first doubt. To have knowledge one must first doubt, this philosophy of Descartes becomes practical if we do not take to the extreme by really questioning everything, I think Descartes main point is that for man to use his reason rather than just accepting opinions, Descartes believes that reason is higher that any kind of opinio n, Descartes wants us to use our reason and there is nothing radical about using our reason. Sources: Rene Descartes Second Meditation

The Importance of Sleep, Nutrition, and Exercise Essay -- Health Nutri

The Importance of Sleep, Nutrition, and Exercise Many students today ask why they are so tired all the time. It also seems that people in college become more stressed out either because of grades or because of work. All people need to do is get the right amount of sleep, eating well, and exercise in order to feel better about themselves and feel good in general. This is not a short process. Most experts say that it takes about twelve weeks in order to see results. But, it is guaranteed that after that duration of time one will see a vast improvement in oneself. Sleep is something that most people take for granted. It is the one thing that people are willing to compromise even more then food or money. It is estimated that between 40 to 60 million Americans are sleep deprived. Different people can get by with different amounts of sleep. There are some that can survive the next day with only a few hours. Then there are always others who cannot be called after 9:00 because they need those good solid 10 hours. The average person actually needs anywhere from between 7-9 hours a night. Why does one need sleep? When human bodies do not get enough sleep they tend to lose strength, the immune system decreases, and there is an increase in blood pressure. As students, it can effect concentration, memory, logical reasoning, and ability to do math. Now that the problem is known here is how to fix it. Dr. Stanley Coren, a professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, focuses on consistency. The body needs consistency. This can be fulfille d by simply going to bed at the same time every night and waking up at the same time every day. But, it is important to note that making up for lost sleep on the weekends is a big negative. It is preferable that if one likes to sleep on the weekends wake up at the same time Saturday and Sunday. When going to bed it should take about 15 to 20 minutes to fall asleep. If a half-hour has gone by and one still is not asleep one should get up and do something relaxing (i.e. take a warm bath, read, watch TV, etc.). Rita Mattson, a Certified Personal Trainer and Stress Management Counselor, makes the suggestion of drinking warm milk before retiring to bed because milk contains a high dosage of L-tryptophan which is a natural sedative. Sleep is just as important as any other part of taking good care of ones self. Another... ...ssue) provide a delicate support frame for the breasts that can be damaged by too much bouncing and stretching. There are two types of sports bras: compression bras and encapsulation, harness-type bras. The first works better for smaller breasted women because of the fit and the second tends to work better for larger women. When choosing the correct one for you take into account: the fit, how much support it is giving for the exercise that is going to be done, fabric (does it absorb moisture well), seams and stitching to avoid chaffing, and mobility. After taking all these into account one can be assured that he is well prepared for the exercise routine.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion, all the factors mentioned above can lead to a less stressful life. Sleep can help the body relax to deal with everyday pressure. People who eat a diet low in refined carbohydrates, sugar and caffeine, and high in whole grains, have shown a greater ability to cope with stress as in contrast to those who consume the opposite. Exercise, as well, is a way to release stress and tension (i.e. running, kickboxing, stair stepping, etc.). If one keeps all the factors in mind a healthier happier life can be achieved.

Essay examples --

The Bible primary purpose and focus is on God’s love for us and His plan of redemption for our salvation, but it also provides us with insight into spiritual leadership. From Abraham to Issac and from John the Baptist to Luke, and ultimately thru Jesus, God has used spiritual leaders ultimately to fulfill His purpose. The Bible gives us examples of spiritual leadership and human leadership with a number of these writings in the book of Proverbs. True leaders confront problems and find a solution. (Prov 28:2) â€Å" When there is moral rot within a nation, its government topples easily; but with honest, sensible leaders there is stability.† When the church or your life is in chaos, it's easy to come up with solution, but it takes a real leader to actually change things. Where you have people you encounter problems and most problems do not solve themselves; they usually get worse with time. Real leaders realize that God is the only solution to our problems so we must seek Him for wisdom and follow thru. The sooner you deal with a problem the easier it is to fix it. The sooner you surrender your life to God, the faster God can make you a real leader. Effective leaders deal with problems as soon as possible for the good of others. Effective and Godly leaders balance truth and love. As (Prov 20:28) says, â€Å"If a king is kind, honest, and fair, his kingdom stands secure†. The same is true for a leader, if he truly is kind, honest, and fair he will prosper. Love without truth is a just an emotion, while truth without love is a cold, hard reality. However, truth and love together have the power to transform the lives of others and ourselves. True leaders who possess wisdom utilize love and integrity to confront others and get them on the ... ...ith people who harm Jesus’ Body. Some of us are natural leaders and some are natural followers, however, all of us have been given leadership in some area. Parents have the God-given responsibility to lead their children. Pastor's have the responsibility to lead the congregation towards God and strengthen their relationship. We all share one thing in common, and that should be our willingness to lead others to God's saving grace. Following these principles from Proverbs will not guarantee success, but they do guarantee that God’s work will move forward. We are not called to succeed but to be faithful to Christ. The Lord did promise that, â€Å"He who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished † (Phil 1:6) When we are faithful to God’s principles of leadership, we can be sure God will ensure the forward movement of His kingdom.