Mythology King Aurther Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mythology King Aurther - Research Paper Example He was one of the great rulers of Britain. He killed giants, monsters, and witches and also drove on horses on many audacious marvels. King Arthur is famous for Knights of the Round Table and also for reuniting all the people of his land. The end of King Arthur was one of a catastrophic one but despite of that, he is celebrated and known by people all around the globe even today. The British Parliament hosts his story on its walls (Siivola). Joseph Campbell’s four functions of myth go in accordance with King Arthur’s mythology. The life of Arthur starts with his father, Uther Pendragon. Pendragon is obsessed by Igraine who is the wife of Duke of Cornwall. Now, Pendragon dresses up like Duke of Cornwall and sneaked into their bed with Igraine and that is when Igrain conceived Arthur. Seeing this despiteful behavior of Arthur’s parents, the wizard takes him away from his parents. The wizard, named Merlin, was the one who put up a huge Round Table for Arthur’s father where one hundred and fifty knights could sit at one time. When Uther died, the knights have no clue as to who should precede him. Merlin came up with a solution to this problem. He said that anyone who can take out a sword from a stone will become the next king (PBS). Many people tried to find the sword. But fortune was in King Arthur’s favor as described in Joseph Campbell’s Pedagogical function. King Arthur was a hero in his life who defined his own mythology. When Arthur came to visit his foster brother called Sir Kay; Kay sent him to find a sword as a replacement of his broken one. He came across the mysterious sword Excalibur which was dig into the stone and took it out. He did not know that it was any prophecy associated with it. He had no intention of becoming the king or finding the sword, so he found it out as his fortune (Siivola). He took his gender role into account as he accomplished the Social function of myth as described by Joseph Campbell. He united the Britain and also invaded the Saxons. As a king, Arthur was a well-liked and merciful king as he took the Campbell’s social factor into account. His period of influence is celebrated with romance of chivalric nature and of heroic factors. The biggest expeditio n of Arthur along with his Knights was the expedition for the Holy Grail, the mythical Holy Grail. It is the cup with which Jesus Christ drank at his Last Supper. King Arthur never found the Holy Grail but his Knight Sir Galahad did because of his virtue and pure heart. King Arthur was married to the daughter of King of Scotland, called Guinevere. The wizard Merlin warned King Arthur not to marry her as she loved one of his knights, Sir Lancelot. When Arthur found out that Sir Lancelot and his wife, Guinevere, were having an affair, his knight flew to France but Arthur follows him. As Arthur was off to France, his nephew, Mordred came into power. Arthur then went back to Britain to find out this terrible news. Obviously, complying with Campbell’s myth function, Pedagogical, King Arthur fought a terrible combat with his nephew in which many of his knights died and he was brutally wounded. He throws his magical Excalibur into a lake, and finds a boat to go to the magical Isle o f Avalon. At this place, he hoped to get better so that he can go back to his people and lead then. This is the very reason Arthur is known as â€Å"once and future king† (PBS). Mystical metaphysical factor of Campbell’s factors of myth say that there is a God and in King Arthur’s time, people believed him to be a God. He was a hero; a hero who came into an ordinary world for the people. This new world is not known to the hero but he has to accomplish his tasks and show him the mundane world. The special world is the area of

Strategic Marketing Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Strategic Marketing Analysis - Essay Example And then the product decisions are made based on popularity. This means that we must consider the brand name before purchasing from a manufacturer. In the collectable business, customers tend to look for the newest and greatest, and so animeinternational.com must consider the current popular culture in product decisions. We tend to focus on the high customer base products that are derived from popular anime cartoons, movies and menga comics. Over time, we develop customer's tastes and budgets step by step. We instruct them, and bring them along as far as they want to go. We may have affairs from time to time for one reason or another; but we deliver them true value, and have made repeated Sales of quality products, they'll get back. Customers Development and Customers Retention are super-critical foundation stones at animeinternational.com. Price decisions are also an important part of animeinternational.com marketing strategy. ... The price strategy is derived from the consumer's ability to find the product elsewhere, basically our competition. Therefore, to retain our customer base, we must sell at a less than retail value. Distribution decisions are also a strong part of our strategy, however, as noted previously, we do not market to any specific geographic location. Instead, animeinterantional.com markets to as many geographical locations as possible. This is a strong marketing strategy for us as it fills a customer need that other facilities do not. Many anime sellers and retailers are US only based, and we compensate for that customer base loss. We always conduct Quality sales of Anime products. Our processes include the quality product sales based on these principles: Is a product in good-quality Is a product sold at the "right" price Is a product understood by the buyer (customer's satisfaction or understanding is our utmost priority at animeinternational.com). All of our products manufactured at Animeinternational.com run through a standard lifecycle. We intend to sponsor our products in a more efficient way that will fulfill all the customer's requirements. Since Animeinternational.com creation, we are struggling hard to do something new and to evangelize to our valued customers. The promotional mix is very integrated. We are an internet based company, and use business 'sharing' type marketing-such as pop up adds on similar sites or fan forums, Google Adwords, and similar low cost marketing alternatives. Animeinternational.com does market to specific customer segmentations also, especially using web-based marketing, such as when a customer does a search

Video game controversy Essay Example for Free

Video game controversy Essay Technology has (had) come a long way since the early years of life. The use of technology to humans, is to enhance or improve whatever it may be to have a much quicker advancement or have a better and easy going lifestyle. But in the more recent years, technology has turned for the worst. Specifically speaking, video games. Video games in its early years were meant for a positive use, much like any other type of game; to simply act as a fun activity to pass time. That is not the case anymore because of how dangerously advanced and addicting video games can be. In fact it’s so dangerous nowadays that countries like South Korea are contemplating whether or not to ban video games. Why is it dangerous? Video games influence a type of negative social behavior, has a direct correlation to the cause of Insomnia, and is relevant to the increasing obesity rates in America. Playing video games can lead to many negative effects on a person. Video Games influence a type of negative social behavior. â€Å"The effects of videophilia are substantial and include obesity, attention disorders, lack of socialization and poor academic performance† (Video Game Addiction). The person (game player) may lose social skills and qualities depending on the level of video game addiction. Usually, the player is spending so much time on the game that he/ she is neglecting other areas of life. A common sign of video game addiction is constantly talking about the game almost constantly. â€Å" It is more likely to talk down upon a peer after a violent video game session† (Tiret). These types of social skills are not acceptable to continuously practice. The people that talk down on peers because of the violent video game session could go into depression or anxiety because of what others say or think about them. Young Children love playing rated M 18+ games that contain violence and other profound content (Parks). â€Å" the more time children and teens spend playing violent video games the more likely they are to display aggressive behavior† (Tiret). The more violent the game is, the more violent the player will be. It’s morally wrong to be mean for absolutely no reason towards other human beings. The effects on aggressive behavior can be long lasting (Tiret). A build up in anger is not healthy. If the constant aggression keeps up, the aggressive person will be ostracized by classmates or friends. Insomnia is easily caused by the lack of sleep, which is a common symptom of a video game addict. â€Å"Studies have shown that people deprived of contact with nature were at greater risk of depression and anxiety† (Wilderness Adventure). â€Å"In a study by Breslau and associates, patients with insomnia were nearly 4 times more likely to suffer major depression than those without insomnia† (Johnston). A depressed person will look at everything negatively and have no motivation to go outside. The person may even view his/ her life not even worth living. Stress and depression can be caused by a variety of things resulting in insomnia. Stress may be caused by hours on the computer playing a game without rest. Depression may hit the person, depending on intimacy with the video game, once he/she loses a lot. â€Å" insomnia and its associated daytime sleepiness had significant negative effects on cognitive functioning and impaired their subjects’ ability to perform ordinary tasks† (Johnston). â€Å"Excessive Sleepiness has been linked to learning disabilities in children and cognitive and memory problems in adults† (Johnston). If this keeps up then the next generations will become less capable than the ones before which shouldn’t happen. Remembering what you ate for breakfast will be very difficult. â€Å"Poor sleep hygiene includes an irregular sleep schedule, stimulating activities before bed†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Mayo Clinic). The ‘stimulating activities’ could translate into playing video games before you sleep. The effects of the stimulating activities causes the person to stay awake longer in bed. Some argue video games can be healthy to a person. One of the biggest positive effects video games can have on a person is the fact that makes people happy. As a result, video games have become an easy scapegoat for numerous violent tendencies and social behaviors. Video games are indeed a scapegoat, but it doesn’t hide the fact that the people who play these games as a scapegoat are neglecting themselves from the real world. These people will not get to experience what it’s really like in the real world. Based on solid scientific evidence, video games may actually fill basic human needs that the real world fails to satisfy (Shapiro). This applies to people who have social anxieties causing these people to refrain from the outside even more. The people are not completely solving their problems, only temporarily. It is not the game’s fault for these negative effects. There are millions who play the game and don’t go out and do the negatively portrayed actions on the news. The criminals mention the games’ names and blame the games. Violent games are very influential on a person. â€Å"Reality is too complicated to blame playings games, moving pictures, or letters on a page† (Parks). Games are where people get ideas from. Life is commonly sealed into one perception for a person, and curiosity comes from ideas that have never been heard of before. Addiction of video games can easily lead into obesity which is a dangerous and lethal disease. Video games create an obstacle for children. â€Å"Children today spend an average of 6 hours each day in front of the computer and TV, but less than 4 minutes a day in instructed outdoor play† (Wilderness Adventure). There is an extreme amount of physical inactivity. The calories are not burned which turn into fat later on. â€Å"Getting less than seven hours of sleep a night can cause changes in hormones that increase your appetite† (Mayo Clinic). Less sleep IS a vital cause of obesity. Eating most of your calories at night contributes to weight gain. â€Å"Overweight and obesity are linked to more deaths worldwide than underweight† (WHO). Being overweight and obese brings cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and even some cancers. The obese people are not outside and running which leads into no training for the cardiovascular system. While playing video games, gamers do not pay attention to what they eat which could lead into a massive buildup of diabetes. â€Å"More than 40 million children under the age of five were overweight in 2011† (WHO). 41% of certain cancer burdens are attributable to overweight and obesity. Children who play video games fit into this category. The topic of video games being perceived as a positive thing today is growing out of hand. It’s like spreading a humongous lie to gullible innocents. Affecting social behavior in a negative manner, causing obesity, and developing insomnia are serious matters. The negative effects of playing video games are severe and the idea of playing video games should not be taken lightly.

Swot Analysis Of The Garden Company Limited

Swot Analysis Of The Garden Company Limited Garden supplies thousands of food products to todays retail and catering markets, with many of their products internationally awarded. As one of the largest bakery production corporations in Hong Kong, they are well equipped with state-of-the-art large-scale equipment. Their technology, quality, output and market development have long reached International Standards. Gardens wide assortments of products, high sales volume and extensive market penetration have long been broadly recognized. To further cope with rising market demand, they continue to inject large sums of investment into product research and development as well as upgrading their technology and production hardware. The various production procedures are completed with the most sophisticated equipment in their factory. Computer automation is integrated in all the processes from production to packaging, fully manifesting the remarkable results brought about by scientific management. Furthermore, their principal factory in Sham Tseng with a total area of 70,000 square meters carries out the production lines for bread, cakes, biscuits, candies etc. Unlike most firms in Hong Kong, Garden was a pro-China company and had been supplying bread to Chinese army during World War II. The firm closed its operations during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong from 1941 to 1945. The company expanded with the growth of Hong Kong before and after World War II and benefited from the influx of immigrants from Mainland China. In the 1980s and 1990s, Garden products were shipped overseas to Chinese communities around the world. Besides their major business in Hong Kong, Garden has also been actively taping into the Mainland China market since the 1980s. Factories had been set up in Dong Guan and Yang Zhou to introduce the advanced technology into the food manufacturing industry of the Mainland. Achieving the ISO9001 certification in 1997 was a milestone in their history. It demonstrates that Garden, with its world-class corporate management and modern operation system, is a globally acclaimed food manufacturer. Today, the company remains a privately owned family (Cheung family) business with several joint ventures with mainland Chinese firms. It is one of the few Hong Kong firms with manufacturing operations still in Hong Kong. All Garden products are made of the finest ingredients selected from all around the world, for example their barley is from Australia, flour from the United States, milk and butter from New Zealand, just to name a few. Their long-standing experience, fully-automated technology and packing equipment together with careful quality control guarantee that every product of theirs can meet strict quality testing and safety standards in many countries. With the past 80 years of excellence, Garden has successfully established itself as a distinguished brand supported and favored by many consumers around the world. Their products currently reach many major Chinese communities in as far as Europe and America. Today they are actively developing overseas markets in order to offer their quality foods to consumers in different corners of the world. With more than eight decades of experience in food production, the Garden Companys determination in offering quality products and services and its innovative spirit are as strong as ever. Looking ahead, they will continue with their commitment to producing nutritious and quality food with the pursuit of perfection. QIE, which stands for Quality, innovation, Efficiency, serves as Gardens corporate mission with the objectives to lead their staff to pursuit of superb quality, continuous innovation and achieve efficiency enhancement. It is through the implementation of QIE that the recognition and reputation of their brand have been greatly elevated. To realize their goal of QIE, the Company puts LTC Learn, Think, and Communicate into practice with all their working together to continuously improve the manufacturing of quality products, developing new technologies and new product values so as to satisfy the ever-heightening needs of consumers. SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis Strengths: Garden has a global brand, it is a strong brand, strengths including brand recognition, brand quality, economies of scale, strong distribution network, strong distribution chain, supply chain, strong international operations, online growth, good reputation, reputation management, market share leadership, effective marketing strategy, experienced personnel, strong management team, effective communication, extensive customer base, loyal customers, cost advantage, asset leverage, competitive pricing, original and unique products, high research and development, advanced equipments, innovation, etc. Apart from all these company strengths, they are famous in Hong Kong. I believe that all households in Hong Kong consume their products, one or the other on a regular basis. They are considered second to none in the bakery industry. Weaknesses: Due to Gardens huge range of products, coupled with a substantial global retail network, bad communication is unavoidable, it happens from time to time. Furthermore, they experience diseconomies to scale, at times over leveraged financial position, and weak corporate governing practice. Since Gardens range of products is for the public in general, many of their competitors go to the upper end market, for example to high class customers such as hotels and delis, and leave Garden in the lower end market for many years. Opportunities: Garden basically has a healthy financial position. They did some acquisitions, merger and takeovers on a small scale basis. They also tie up with international events to capitalize on synergy opportunities for growth of the operation. They continuously look for new markets; expand in Asia, expand into online shopping; decrease its taxation through donations to charity organizations. In the era of emergence of international middle class, and change in consumer lifestyles, they are constantly changing their products to expand their customer base, and their service lines like new products such as drinks and snacks, and new service such as mail order. Threats: Although Garden has a lion share in the bakery industry, they have many competitors in the high end sector. With Hong Kong returning its sovereignty to Mainland China, Garden is facing many financially strong competitors from the Mainland. There are new competitors from the Mainland entering into this relatively small market. As far as their foreign business is concerned, foreign exchange rate changes affect its imports/exports strategies. The volatility in fuel costs, rising costs of business, pricing pressures, potentially slowing global economy, changes in demographics, change in consumer lifestyles, changing to cheaper technology, substitute products, changing consumer patterns, growing power of customers to set the price etc. are possible threats Garden has been facing during the past few years. Porters Five Forces analysis Competitive Rivalry within an industry: Since multi-market competition exists, rivalry between competitors in the industry is extremely intense. Companies in the industry have started new businesses to increase the level of competition with one another and compete heavily for geographic markets. There is no clear dominant market share player in the industry. Though the industry currently has relatively high growth, much of the business is cyclical, which leads to intensified competition in economic downturns. High fixed costs also contribute to intense competition. More recently, the continued growth of online shopping, mail orders, combined with increasing awareness of door to door logistics arrangements have been giving Garden headaches and they have been streamlining their services in this competitive environment. A few remarks are listed below to introduce some of Gardens international and local rivalries. Sara Lee Corporation Sara Lee Corporation is a global consumer products company with food, beverage, and household and body care lines of business. With powerful brands, such as Ambi Pur, Ball Park, Douwe Egberts, Hillshire Farm, Jimmy Dean, Kiwi, Sanex, Senseo and its namesake, Sara Lee, the company has leading positions in numerous categories in the more than 180 markets in which it competes. In Hong Kong, Garden has two main competitors in its frozen and fresh breads. For frozen breads, it major rivalries are Maxims, Sara Lee. For fresh breads, Garden is facing numerous small size competitors, in particular in the western style restaurants which bake on an everyday basis for its afternoon tea customers. Competitive Rivalry is a strong force in the bakery industry because the competitors use price cuts to compete, there is a low cost product range and there is ease in switching brands, and the companies in this industry can diversify and acquire other companies for strategic growth and for synergy purposes. Threat of New Entrants: The threat of new entrants into this industry is relatively low because of the scale required to make companies in the industry competitive. Capital demands to fund all of the assets required in the industry are extraordinarily large, making competition from entrepreneurs or small companies very difficult at this level of market competitiveness. Economies of scale are necessary for the business to be profitable and because of the intensity of rivalry, customers are difficult to attract. While the basic service of shipping goods would be relatively easy for new entrants to imitate, the competitors in the industry have created value and high switching costs for their customers through proprietary technologies. Threat of New Entrants is a weak force in this industry. Each company currently in the industry has strong brand images, leaving a harder job for new companies. The capital expenditures to start a bakery company are large, and the companies currently are achieving economies of scale by going global. Any smaller company will not be able to achieve these right away, not allowing them to compete on prices. Another factor threatening potential entrants is trade tariffs and international regulations. Most companies currently in the industry have already established relations with foreign countries. New companies will have to prove themselves to foreign companies, suppliers, and customers. Threat of Substitute Products: The threat of substitutes is currently high for the industry, but major technological or governmental foods regulations could change that. As mentioned above, although Garden has a lion share in the bakery industry, they have many competitors in the high end sector, for example Maxims, Saint Honore, Tai Pan Bakery etc. Garden is also facing many financially strong competitors from the Mainland. The latter produce substitute products such as dumplings, dim sums to suit the changing consumers taste. This is one of the many reasons why Garden has been continuously modifying the ingredients and packaging of their products during the past few years. Threat of Substitute Products is a strong force in this industry. There are plenty of substitute products in the market. Bakery retail outlets such as Maxims, Saint Honore, Tai Pan Bakery etc are conveniently located in all the 18 zones. One can literally find either one of them in almost every main street in Hong Kong. These competitors also offer very competitive prices which make potential consumers lose their brand loyalty and easy to switch to another brand. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: Suppliers bargaining power is fairly low in the industry, but different suppliers have slightly different pricing strategies to fight for their survival. Competitors are also on the same footing with suppliers, as they are all subject to the same prices, although they may have hedged differently. Labour is a major factor of production in the industry and differences between companies regarding labour contracts subjects them to varying degrees of supplier power. Suppliers of raw materials, components, labor, and services (such as expertise) to the firm can be a source of power over the firm, when there are few substitutes. Suppliers may refuse to work with the firm, or, e.g., charge excessively high prices for unique resources. This is a strong force if the suppliers serve different industries with their raw materials. If a supplier only has accounts or the majority of their accounts with different companies, they will not be able to control prices and supplies. Bargaining Power of Buyers: Customers in the industry initially have power, but once they commit to a bakery, their bargaining power decreases significantly. New customers can easily shop around for price or level of service in the beginning, but once they have chosen a bakery and buy their product, they are usually loyal to them. Customers are likely to become loyal to a certain provider because of long-standing relationships or personal interaction with the company. This is a moderate force in this industry because competition keeps prices similar among the companies. The only difference is degree in loyalty. Also, the buyers of the services in this industry are reactionary. They do not know the technology before it happens. They become dependent on the technology, service and speed offered by the companies in this industry and will pay for it. SCOR (Supply-Chain Operations Reference) Model Planning activities: Gardens target customers are the public in general, whether they be as young as 2 years old, to as old as 99, they could be Gardens customers. Their pricing strategy is value for money. Their marketing slogan has been nutrition you need every day with the highest quality. These planning activities have proved to be most successful and made Garden the leading supplier in the bakery industry, in particular in the breads, biscuits and cakes sectors. Sourcing activities: According to the reading materials I searched and found, Garden has been purchasing all the baking ingredients directly themselves. However, they do outsource through logistic companies in their delivery activities. Locally, they need to deliver their fresh breads every early morning to hundreds of retail outlets. They also need to deliver fresh buns to all McDonalds franchisees. Furthermore they also deliver a range of fancy breads to airline caterers, hotels and restaurants. Internationally, they outsource transportation companies as well as freight forwarders for special orders such as wedding and birthday cakes. Internally, they outsource information technologies, finance and accounting, sales and marketing, foods testing etc. just to name a few. Make or production activities: Gardens upstream suppliers are worldwide. These included but not limited to flour, sugar, milk, cocoa, vanilla, wheat, soda powder, etc. again just to name a few. Countries included but not limited to (in alphabetical order) Australia, Canada, China, Europe, Latin America, and the United States. Bread Production Gardens bread production lines operate on a 24-hour basis, of which one is the first fully-automated line for hamburger buns in Asia. Apart from the retail market, they provide a huge volume of wholesale goods, which include bread, pastry and frozen dough products to major fast food chains, restaurants, hotels and airline catering services in Hong Kong. With their far-ranging businesses, they are committed to providing consumers with better choices with continuous innovations. Biscuit production Garden possesses diverse expertise, equipment and automated production lines to produce a wide variety of biscuits including wafers, cookies, sandwich biscuits, saltine, crackers and assorted biscuit gift packs to meet market demands. Cake production Their wide range of cakes has long been famous for its high quality and great taste. To cope with market demand, Garden produces cake products with highly efficient production lines, of which one is fully computerized for producing mini-cakes. With a wholehearted contribution from over 1,200 employees, Garden has established itself as the most reputable manufacturer in the local industry. Order processing information systems All market interactions, from the understanding of aggregate demand to the fulfillment of each order are not done wholly by Garden internally themselves. Some logistics are being outsourced, in particular for the overseas markets in Northern and Latin America, Australia, Europe, and Canada. Garden normally receives their orders through phone, fax and e-mail or e-order. Its IT department uploads orders to the printing invoice system. Automatically, these invoices pass to its distribution department for delivery. After deliveries, these invoices will be, again automatically, sent to its accounting department. The latter department then issues credit notes to the appropriate customers. Currently they are still using the information systems designed by IBM. Quality Control foremen in Garden are made responsible to ensure that expiry date, and appearances are properly done, and presentable. All delivery vans must have the correct temperatures for the different kinds of products. Delivery activities: Different transportation teams are required for different products. Fresh breads, frozen breads, biscuits are being delivered by the China and Hong Kong transport teams. Fresh bread team has about 60 vehicles to deliver 4,000 orders per day. These trucks are recognizable easily on the streets. Frozen breads and biscuits teams have about 20 vehicles to deliver 400 orders per day. Three trailers are being outsourced for the Mainland China and Hong Kong markets. As mentioned above, Garden does outsource through logistic companies in their delivery activities. Locally, they need to deliver their fresh breads every early morning to hundreds of retail outlets. They also need to deliver fresh buns to all McDonalds franchisees; deliver a range of fancy breads to airline caterers, hotels and restaurants. Internationally, they outsource transportation companies as well as freight forwarders for special orders such as wedding and birthday cakes. Not only that Garden wants to manufacture the best products, they also want to provide their best delivery service. Return activities: Garden guarantees its products are fresh and proper. They promise their retailers that they will replace any damaged or rotten items, that is if that happens. Garden has agreed with their retailers that they will pick up any expired items on their shelves. Assess how well the organization implements the supply chain management As mentioned right at the beginning of this report, Gardens major upstream suppliers are from the US, Canada, and Australia whereas their three biggest downstream suppliers in Hong Kong are supermarkets Wellcome, ParknShop and Mcdonalds. As far as this report is concerned, I would focus in the downstream supply chains; and before I go into how well Garden implements the supply chain management, I would like to introduce Gardens major downstream supply chains Wellcome, ParknShop and Mcdonalds. Wellcome Wellcome is Hong Kongs longest-established supermarket chain, they have an overall staff of 5,000 in more than 240 stores and serves more than 14 million customers every month. ParknShop ParknShop is one of the two largest supermarket chains in Hong Kong (the other is Wellcome Supermarket). ParknShop operates more than 260 outlets in Hong Kong, Macau, and Mainland China. ParknShop has more than 200 stores and 9,000 employees in Hong Kong. Mcdonalds McDonalds Corporation is one of the worlds largest chains of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving nearly 47 million customers daily. Most of their breads in Hong Kong are supplied by Garden. Although Garden does supply their products to airlines catering companies, hotels and restaurants, as well as supply chains such as 7 Eleven, Circle K and etc., I am not going to introduce these supply chains on a one on one basis. Basically these supply chains are owned by substantial and listed companies with well-trained management teams. Top management, as well as middle management personnel at Garden have very good business relationships with their supply chains. They have properly done legal contracts specifying all the details in supplies and payments. I have not been able to find any past news regarding any communication breakdowns between Garden and its supply chains. I have neither been able to find any past law suits about Garden suing any of its supply chains for non-payments, nor any company suing Garden for not delivering its responsibilities although there have been rumors that Garden has been finding it more and more difficult to get their payments on time during the past few years. Based on these findings, I believe Garden has been successful in its supply chains management activities. Suggest solutions/ways to improve the organization business; especially by improvements on supply chain management of the organization Supply Chain Management (SCM) is not created to suit for every company. It can succeed only with top management commitment and managers loyalty in executing those management strategies. Gardens management teams need to spend time in evaluating whether new SCM, inclusive of international networks, is suitable to be implemented into their company and how it could be successful. Garden bread has long history in Hong Kong that the fundamental target market should be the mass public served as the stable diet. With the increasing awareness of healthy eating, the variety of healthy consciousness products have been promoted like multi-grained, whole wheat, high calcium low fat breads. It is the general social trend and also serves as one of the marketing strategies that focus on the targeted middle-class, office-ladies and health consciousness customers. The relative advantage of Garden obviously is its long history and well-developed manufacturing factories, well-connected distribution channels, competitive retailing price and, of course, the well-known and long established brand name. On the other hand, these relative advantages might contribute some shortcomings in terms of the flexibility of market positioning and variety of products in response to the ever-changing and ever-increasing market force. Personally I am disappointed with Gardens decade-long use of coconut oil as an ingredient for their biscuits production. According to certain food magazines, too much consumption in coconut oil is bad for our health. Although all the reading material I found have been saying good things about Garden, nevertheless Garden is not a listed company, it is a privately owned company. They do not have to disclose any of their operation details to the public. Particularly, they do not have to disclose their financial position apart from to the Inland Revenue. My perception of Garden is that it is a very old style traditional company. Its top management includes family members of the founder. It is purely family business. Its image is not catching up with the young generation. Their product range is also conservative. It does not give any modern flare to attract those expats from the west. They focus on Asians so far, that means there is a huge expats market for them to develop. Garden reminds me of the Green, Yellow and White Arrow brands chewing gum company. The latter company has been too conservative and has not been innovative to catch up with the new entrants. Hence, Green White Arrow chewing gums have been losing market share. Until today, they have not been able to gain back what has been lost. The image of Garden should shift to focus more clearly on each market segment. For instance, Garden should develop a Gourmet production line which emphasis on the finest ingredients, the innovative design, for example in its packaging, and its advertisements. They could consider making more choice of breads, land cakes similar to those recipes from Italy and France, or from Europe at large. In order to shave off the old stable diet image, instead, the building up of the delicate and professional crafted food and to state that not only the five stars hotels can produce but Garden can also make and even better. The efforts to make sure managers do well in the SCM program and not treat it as another flavor-of-the-month include but not limited to the followings. Firstly, Garden has to ensure that the companys SCM strategies are specifically designed. Secondly, the SCM program need to meet their customers demands and reduces the companys costs. Thirdly, the management team must buy-in the program. Also, all the benefits included from the program such as customer responsiveness, more consistent on-time delivery; shorter order fulfillment lead times; reduced inventory costs; lower cost of purchased items; higher product quality; faster product innovation and etc. must be clearly explained to all the concerned managers so that they know the importance of the program. Garden must ensure that the staff concerned understand the objectives of the program, for example to better utilize the company resources and yet with higher product quality. Finally, if managers do well in implementing and executin g the program, the company should consider giving them incentive such as bonus or additional rewards other than their normal compensation. This will give them more motivation to continue to run the program. Garden has to do detailed surveys and researches to find out what are the products that their customers demand. They should listen to the voice of their customers. Their views and suggestions could in turn help the company to produce specifically the range of products the customers need. The company could also utilize their findings for meetings and discussions with their suppliers, both upstream and downstream and production managers to reduce the order processing time and inventories. The company would also be able to produce higher quality products with lower prices and less order processing time. In this way, the company would be more responsive to both their customers and suppliers. By doing the above, the company would be able to expand its market share from other competitors. Further possible improvements can be capitalized in the advances in technological and informational environment. These improvements have major implications for all industries, particularly logistics. If used effectively such advances may be a key source of competitive advantage. The technology listed below may become a competitive edge advantage for Garden in the future. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) not ready to implement? Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is the use of an object (typically referred to as an RFID tag) applied to or incorporated into a product, animal, or person for the purpose of identification and tracking using radio waves. Some tags can be read from several meters away and beyond the line of sight of the reader. It works like a barcode, but instead of having to be passed in front of a scanner for recognition, tiny transponders (known as tags or chips) send out radio signals. Each tag is small, robust and unique so any one item can be tracked individually throughout the supply chain. Logistics and transportation are major areas of implementation for RFID technology. For example, yard management, shipping and freight and distribution centers are some areas where RFID tracking technology is used. Transportation companies around the world value RFID technology due to its impact on the business value and efficiency. The new technology is currently seen as too expensive to put on individuals products, but large companies already use it to track shipping items. RFID trials have met with mixed customer reactions. As with many such technical advances the effects can be both positive and negative. RFID technology is currently unsophisticated and largely applied to logistical operations. Training of staff and informing all internal stakeholders as to how RFID technology works and can benefit the company, stating the impact on customers so that companies are able to improve their operations. Global Positioning System (GPS) The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a U.S. space-based global navigation satellite system. It provides reliable positioning, navigation, and timing services to worldwide users on a continuous basis in all weather, day and night, anywhere on or near the Earth which has an unobstructed view of four or more GPS satellites. GPS has become a mainstay of transportation systems worldwide, providing navigation for aviation, ground, and maritime operations. Installing GPS systems for delivery vehicles can increase the efficiency and effectiveness in delivering products. Even though transportation companies offer tracking and insurance services to their customers, there are still chances that the customers packages might be lost or stolen. Imagine a GPS chip attached to the delivery packages; it can then be tracked anytime. Adding this technology can boost the customers confidence about Garden. Conclusion Gardens supply chains are owned by substantial and listed companies with well-trained management teams. Garden has very good business relationships with their supply chains. Garden has been successful in its SCM activities. For further improvements, Garden should keep themselves abreast of the current important trends being developed in the business arena, for example electronic commerce has been widely used. Experienced users reveal that e-business reduces costs and time. It creates less conflict between suppliers and consumers. Garden must realize that very few industries are protected geographically; competition is getting more and more fierce. Gardens determination to change as the contents mentioned-above is critical for its advancement. With Gardens top management teams commitment, together with managers efforts, I believe that Gardens staff is more willingly to change and Garden has a good chance of success in improving its current SCM program. During the process of finding reading material for this exercise and thereafter digesting the material, I became more familiar with what supply chain management is. I will be interested in searching material for other type of companies when time permits.

BigBrother Big Sister Essay -- essays research papers

The main two types of mentoring are natural mentoring and planned mentoring. Natural mentoring occurs through friendship, collegiality, teaching, coaching, and counseling that is formed from un-constructed planning (Newman, 1990, p. 41). In contrast, planned mentoring occurs through structured programs in which mentors and participants are selected and matched through formal processes (Newman, 1990, p. 43). There are many different ways to describe mentoring, but they all boil down to one thing: a positive, supportive relationship between a young person and a caring adult. The most compelling data that we have shows the change in our American family structure. Day there are alarming number of children with mental disorders and children being raised in single parent homes has increased. In both areas it is shown that we need more preventive care (Petersmeyer 1989). Other statistics are equally troubling: each day in the United States, 3,600 students drop out of high school, and 2,700 unwed teenage girls get pregnant (Petersmeyer 1989). As a society we have a responsibility to our youth to help them become strong adults. My grandmother was always telling me that it takes more then the immediate family to raise a child well, if a child is to be rear well it takes a whole community contribution. This paper is a comparison of two agencies, Big Brother Big Sisters of America and Compeer. Big Brother Big Sister of America focuses on youth that are from single parent homes. Compeer focus is on children with a mental disorder. The reason why I have chosen these agencies are to show how the success of both and how each is similar to each other but also how each agency focuses on a different area. I do believe that it shows as a member of society and being a mentor we can make a difference in our youth today and our future leaders of tomorrow. Big Brothers Big Sisters of America was started over ninety years ago. Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) agencies have provided supportive, one-to-one relationships between adult volunteers and youth living in single-parent homes. Today, BBBSA provides about 75,000 young people with one-to-one supports (Public /Private Ventures, 1995a). In a presentation of the BBBS services, Public/Private Ventures (1995a:4) stated the following: Volunteer screening is a must and is a very strict procedu... ...ntaged High School Students. New York: Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation, 1990. ERIC Number ED 325598. Flaxman, E. Evaluating Mentoring Programs. New York: Institute for Urban and Minority Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1992. Haensly, Patricia A., and James L. Parsons. (1993) â€Å"Creative, Intellectual, and Psychological Development Through Mentorship: Relationships and Stages.† Youth and Society. 25(2), 202-221. Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (10th ed.). (1993). Springfield, MA: Merriam Webster. Newman, Michael. Beginning a Mentoring Program. Pittsburgh, PA: PLUS (Project Literacy U.S.), 1990, pp. 34-43. Petersmeyer, C.G. "Assessing the Need" in M. Newman, Beginning a Mentoring Program. Pittsburgh, PA: One Plus One, 1989, pp. 5-25. Public /Private Ventures. (1995a) Grossman, Jean Baldwin and Joseph P. Tierney. Making a Difference. September 2000. Philadelphia. Public /Private Ventures. (1995b) Morrow, Kristine and Melanie Styles. Building Relationships with Youth in Program Settings. May 1995. Philadelphia.

I Will Write Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow :: Personal Narrative Writing

I Will Write Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." - Oscar Wilde Life, I think, if we could map it out on some sort of cosmic parchment, would be a tapestry of paths taken, woven in on each other in a tangle resembling nothing if not a spider web. Somewhere in the midst of these interlocking and twisting trails of all the ways I've gone, the ways I've planned to go and the roads I have abandoned I managed to find two trends that form a frame for all the other twists and turns that may come. These two trends, two paths that I'm currently in the midst of walking, are the practical-and-mired-in- reality realm of economics and the freer, more creative area of writing. When it came to this paper, to actually taking both and projecting them into the future, I found myself coming up against one specific question. How on earth can I wrap the two of them together, meld them into something that stands as a unit? The answer that I found, for now at least, is that they cannot be melded; each is too firmly intent on standing on its own. But this doesn't mean t hat they do not coincide again and again from time to time. Each has its future, separate from the other, but neither precludes the other. Neither stands completely isolated from the other. Even with the advances of technology and the changing trends that the world is bringing to bear with a vengeance, there's still a phenomenon that allows for the coexistence of such different and yet inextricable fields. 'E pluribus unum'--that's the slogan, right? I think it applies, and perhaps more importantly, that it will continue to apply. Economics, in the present is a hot topic for discussion. Everyone, from the attendant at the gas station to candidates for political office, has their opinions and theories about it all. Economics, in its simplest definition, is the study of human choices and decisions when unlimited wants meet limited or scarce resources. As far as I can tell, and as far as I've been told, we've yet to come up with a technology that eliminates this problem of scarcity, so it stands to reason that the field itself will exist in the coming decades. With that much established, little else is certain.

Coca Cola Vending Machines Case Study

Coca Cola a Vending Machine Case Study Problem Statement: Coca Cola Co. , the world’s largest beverage company is facing a public relation nightmare which can ultimately put their brand image at stake. Their Chairman and CEO, Ivan Ivester, abruptly announced the introduction of interactive vending technology which will lower the price of coke during off-peak buying time and increase the price during very hot weather conditions, Ivester virtually confirmed the vending machines will be introduced to the market soon.The core problem is not if the vending machine should be brought to market but WHEN and what the public relations/marketing strategy should be in the midst of the current media scrutiny to rebuild loyalty with avid coke drinkers and Coke’s image. Critical Factors: Increasing the vending machine profit, which has been the main profit resource for the company, serves the purpose of the new technology. Sales of soft drinks are on the rise. Last year, about 11. 9 % of soft drinks world- wide derived from vending machines. Intelligent vending has already begun in Japan using the same technology.Taking full advantage of the law of supply and demand, price fluctuations occur all the time in several industries such as the airline and movie industries and are not new to the general public. It often occurs when the supply for any product is high and the demand is low; basic economics. Price discrimination also can occur demographically or geographically and is hard to eliminate from a customer’s mind once disclosed in a negative light ultimately setting the stage to lose customers to Coke’s #1 competitor, PepsiCo. Additionally, their brand image is at stake.Ivester's statements regarding the new technology was disclosed too soon and the response from the public relations team was not sufficient to the loyal coke drinkers and the media, spurring several negative articles and backlash from their customers. Strategic Alternatives: Option A. Eliminate any option of introducing the interactive vending machines to the public in the near future and create a new public relations and marketing strategy focusing on Coke's loyalty to its customers to include re-establishing the value of drinking coke during extreme hot and cold temperatures.Option B. Proceed with a plan to implement the intelligent vending machines at a later date than plan originally plan, while working to develop a new public relations and marketing strategy to curtail the current media damage, focusing on Coke's loyalty to its customers and re-establish the value of drinking coke during any weather conditions. Evaluation of Alternatives: Option A: ?Pros: Build trust with consumers; on same level with competitors regarding technology. Cons: This strategy does not coincide with the company’s marking plan to pump more sales of the flagship coke into the market, most likely utilizing the heat sensitive vending machine as one of the core tactics to in crease revenues. Option B: ?Pros: Technology availability and costs to implement the new vending machines is inexpensive due to falling prices of the temperature sensors and computer chips; ? Internet connectivity associated with the technology makes it very easy to track daily and hourly demand based on fluctuations thus making it easy to determine the price point offered in any region; ?The new public relations and marketing campaign will slowly educate the consumer of the inevitable; ? Increase profitability during the peak season due to lower costs compared to competitors. ?Cons: Run the risk of losing loyal customers due to the price gaps urging many consumers to search for lower price from the competitor’s vending machine; ? Largest competitor, PepsiCo announced they have did not have any plans to introduce the new technology Recommendation: Option B Corrective measures must take place to implement a strategy of price changes.Coke must improve their public image with a well executed public relations and marketing strategy. Justification: As a consumer, I am not sure why corporations continue to insult our intelligence. If a product is in the testing stage, then it is just a matter of time before the new technology, (if worthy) is introduced to the market. R in this case, serves the sole purpose of creating new technology in order to maximize efficiency and costs, thus increasing profits. And, quite frankly there is nothing wrong with a company trying to maximize profits.Vending machines have remained largely untouched by discounting and although the machines can automatically raise prices for its drinks in hot weather, in my opinion not too many consumers would notice. Coca Cola Co. can also be the first in the SDC market to introduce new innovation that will be able to effectively gauge the buying interests of their customer by the touch of a button. This technology will help to predict sale revenues and take the guesswork out of customersâ€℠¢ wants and needs.It will also allow Coca Cola Co, to always stay ahead of the competition and remained the leader in the industry. Additionally, price discrimination exists everywhere, across all industries and the new technology will connote increased efficiency for the entire SDC market. The public relations and marketing campaign will help to educate and prepare the average consumer of the inevitable introduction of heat sensitive vending machines. The goal in mind for the campaign is to continue to establish Coke as the number one thirst quencher regardless of the weather.