Negative brand 4Ps analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Negative brand 4Ps analysis - Assignment Example The company’s strategy for succeeding in the market has been selling its products at a lower cost and for years, its culture has been operating on the assumption that keeping costs under control will sustain the company in the competitive global PC marketplace. Things have however changed in recent years and Acer has been constantly failing in the market. In 2012, the company was a position down in terms of worldwide PC sales, since it occupied a fourth place (Barker, businessinsider.com). In an effort to satisfy its users and customers and maintain a competitive position in the PC market, Acer has been changing its look. Acer group named this as its multi-brand strategy (Acer Group, acer-group.com). The implementation of the multi-brand strategy has been done by making Acer’s range of products different aesthetically, as well as fully featured and innovative. For desktops, their conventional design had been changed, while notebooks have been made slimmer and longer lasting. For desktops, Acer has come up with stylish LCD’s and for notebooks, their weight has been significantly reduced making them lighter and their battery life lengthened for more convenience and freedom (Acer Group, acer-group.com). People like having their needs and desires met without too many complications and Acer’s goal has been to satisfy its customers. Product: In terms of reliability, Acer laptop brands occupy 9% among all laptop brands worldwide (Egan, pcadvisor.co.uk). After being used for a while, it has been noted that the speed of Acer laptops reduces, while booting seems to take longer and webcams have problems. These negative factors make Acer fail as a product in the market place. Price: The cost of Acer PC products in comparison to other PC products is relatively low. This has been the case for years. The company has maintained the

Export and Import Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Export and Import - Research Paper Example The culture of instating clear regulations has been in the United States for a long time. This is done to ensure the safety of all the citizens of the country. Therefore, a business that will not consider such regulations is likely to flop. For example, the United States has clear regulations on any imports that pose a threat to the environment (Manresa, 2010). This is a culture that has been developed to ensure the nation does not pose environmental threats to its citizens. Apparently, the issue of globalization has enhanced the regulations that are deemed to limit the influence on the environment. In the previous years, the regulations on imports were not stringent, which was an easy task for importers and exporters. As such, there is a need to take a closer reflection on these regulations before embarking on the import and export business. Culture of a country determines the way of life of the citizens. Therefore, this is likely to affect the import and export business as it is likely to affect the demand of supply of the products in the country (Cook, 2012). For example, the issue of junk foods is prevalent in the United States. This is an issue that has caused uproar between concerned parties especially in regard to health concerns. It is estimated that many young citizens of the country have health issues which emanate from the consumption of junk foods. These are fast foods that are consumed frequently in the United States. ... In order to reduce such instances, there is a dreaded reduction on the production of such foods. This would be a setback to businesses that would wish to import and export foodstuff. Lastly, there is the culture of consumption of particular products. This should also be considered since the demand market will affect the business. Governmental, compliance management, and security requirements There are various institutions that are put in place to deal with the import and export business in the United States. These are institutions that ensure the business is conducted in a legal and safe manner (Manresa, 2010). First, there is the Border Compliance Assistance Center which is instrumental in regulating transport of products on the United States’ border. This is a body that is obligated to safeguard any products that are transported to the United States with special focus on solid and hazardous wastes. The United States is focused on reducing entry of waste materials into the co untry as this will cause environmental threats. Any business that wishes to transport products from the border into the United States has to comply with the regulations that are highlighted by the Border Compliance Assistance Center. Similarly, this is an instrumental center where businesses gather information regarding transport from other places, which includes Mexico. Secondly, a business that would wish to import products into the United States has to comply with the Code of Federal Regulations (Weiss, 2011). These are the stated regulations that should be adhered to before starting any importation and exportation business in the United States. Compliance with the regulations requires massive preparation since they restrict

Characteristics of Orientalism Essay Example for Free

Characteristics of Orientalism Essay There are several differences between the Arab and Muslim groups. The actuality is that Arabs are an ethnic group and Muslims are a religious group. A Muslim is a person who practices the Islam religion. In the world, most Muslims are not necessarily Arabs and most Arabs are not necessarily Muslims. â€Å"Orientalism is the simplistic view of the people and history of the Orient, with no recognition of change over time or the diversity within its many cultures† (Schaefer, 2006). This term is a misrepresentation of people from the East by those in the West. One characteristic is stereotyping the difference in religious expression. Discrimination and prejudice are other characteristics of orientalism. For example, the overemphasis of Arab and Muslim women wearing face veils in the media. This is seen as oppressing women but yet the history behind it is not being told. After the 9/11 attacks, the USA Patriot Act, which was passed in October 2001, had specific provisions that condemned discrimination against Arab and Muslim Americans. This act was revised because it had been accused of contributing to the fear within the Arab and Muslim communities. Unfortunately, all policies were not changed in a positive way. The U. S. Department of Justice required all foreign-born Muslim men to report to the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. They have to be fingerprinted, photographed, and interviewed. There are several things that individuals can do to promote tolerance and reduce prejudice in their towns and cities. One way to achieve this is by treating everyone equally. Another way to reduce prejudice is by educating ourselves about a person’s culture. If we can gain an understanding of an individual’s cultural background, we are opening up our minds to realize that those that we consider â€Å"different† may have similar views.

Relationship Between Racist Symbols and Prejudice

Relationship Between Racist Symbols and Prejudice Pre-test measures Image and question selection was twofold, primarily, the author identified possible images against three criteria political, general and racial, selected from a general cross-section of images located on internet sites identified by the search race hate groups white supremacy and political symbols. Various Discussion groups were then facilitated, one prisoners and one civilian group[1]. The dual grouping was to negate any prisoner only bias. Twenty selected images were displayed in each of the three categories to each group separately. The means of display was in a room which had reduced lighting and the individual images being projected onto screen. A semi-structured discussion then followed with the facilitator noting each image, which appeared to raise awareness or interest within the group. The images selected for treatment use were seven racial, five political (with a balance between parties) and two general (see appendix A). Further discussion groups with different prisoners a nd civilians; incorporating a variety of closed and open-ended questions being tabled around a different selection of images, which were similar in design to those already selected for use in the experiment. The responses from within these groups were noted as to which questions appeared to raise awareness or interest from each pilot group. Thus the questions selected were: Three scales were used as outcome measures in this experiment: British Prejudice Scale: The British Prejudice Scale (BPS) (Lepore Brown, 1997) is the amalgamation of several existing instruments: the Modern Racism Scale, the New Racism Scale and the Subtle and Blatant Prejudice Scale. The authors subtly altered these scales post-amalgamation to make them appropriate for white British respondents. The scale is designed as a general measure of anti-black prejudice. This scale was chosen because it contains a substantial component of anti-immigration, anti-foreigner sentiment. This sentiment closely approximates out-group hostility, distance and perceived worldview threats that are central to the theoretical argument being developed in this thesis. The internal consistency for this scale is high, Cronbach a=.92 (Lepore Brown, 1997).The scale consists of 15 questions answered on a scale from 1 7 (strongly agree to strongly disagree) and are summed indicating a range from 15 (high prejudice) to 105 (low prejudice). Thus a respondent scoring lower on this scale will be deemed more racist than a person with a high score. Social Dominance Orientation Scale: The Social Dominance Orientation Scale (SDO) (Pratto, Sidanius, Stallworth Malle, 1994), measures individual differences in the extent to which respondents prefer inequality among social groups. There are four separate versions of this scale; the 16-item scale has been selected for use in these experiments to allow other measures to be included. According to the scales authors, SDO is not a direct measure of racial attitudes, but, like authoritarianism, is a focal part of social ideology that predicts a wide range of political and racial attitudes. The measure has strong internal consistency, Cronbach a= .84 (Pratto et al., 1994). SDO conceptualises the importance of racial and political attitudes and therefore will be a direct measure of racial attitudes. It is purported that a person high in SDO will quite probably develop a negative attitude towards some group that is low in status or prestige. Further indications are that for those respondents high in SDO display a tendency to favour hierarchical relationships within groups and suggest an alignment of superior-inferior dimensions. According to the authors, individuals high in SDO accept legitimising myths that include racial and ethnic prejudice, nationalism, patriotism, separation between high and low culture, sexism, meritocracy and political conservatism (Pratto et all., 1994). Scale items are scored on a 1-7 (very positive to very negative) scale and scores are averaged across items. Thus a respondent scoring higher on this scale would indicate a stronger social dominance orientation or more prone to racist thinking than a person with lower scores. Selection of this scale was important to the study because those high in SDO display out-group hostility or denigration and would therefore likely seek to ensure a greater social distance from members of those out-groups. In addition the scale has been designed to independently indicate racism as apart from traditional pol itical ideology. Social Distance Scale: The Social Distance Scale (SDS) (Bogardus, 1933) was designed to measure the extent to which people want to keep a distance and avoid intimate contact between themselves and people from different racial, ethnic, national or social groups. The scale has a high internal consistency, with Cronbach a greater than .90 (Kleg Yamamoto, 1995, Mielenz, 1997, Osei-Kwame Achola, 1981). The scale consists of measuring first feeling reactions to a list of social, racial, ethnic and national groups ranging from regarding distant social contact (e.g., as visitors to ones country) to the most intimate (e.g., as a family member by marriage). In Bogarduss original scoring method (1933) a low score on this scale indicates the person is less inclusive or welcoming of out-group members than those respondents with a high score. Unlike the British Prejudice Scale and the Social Dominance Orientation Scales, which utilise closed-ended questions and Likert scales, the Social Distance Scale design is based on the uni dimensional Guttman-type scale. Clear written instructions on how to respond to the questionnaire and each scale were provided to all respondent prior to each scale. The British Prejudice Scale and the Social Dominance Orientation Scales being of the closed question style were pre-coded and the response sets were in a Likert scale, this allowing for ease of analysis. The Social Distance Scale design is based on the uni-dimensional Guttman-type scale, with increasing levels of intimacy. Clear written instructions on how to respond to the questionnaire and each scale were provided to all respondent prior to each scale. The main body of the questionnaire, as previously noted, was pre-determined by the use of existing scales. Consideration at this stage was given to a methodology of image presentation, due to the social undesirability of racial comments, and it was further considered unlikely that respondents would answers openly and honestly if they were fully aware that they were being questioned about racist attitudes. Furthermore, fully informed consent was not realistic prior to the experiment. The selected scales were already of a political nature by being measurements of political attitudes. The scales used dictated the information required, therefore consideration only had to be given to the construction, format ordering and filler questions required to ensure the deception was successful. The filler questions were selected by using a pre-general election governmental questionnaire[2] . It has been acknowledged that the style of question can influence the reported response, thus this method, by which elimination of any bias from the researcher is effected was deemed the most appropriate methodology. The questions were subsequently piloted,[3] with random introduction, the facilitator noting the level to which questions appeared to lead or invoke discussion or a better response from the group members. These questions were then used to fill the questionnaire and disguise the real intention of the measure. The design of the questionnaire was against two specific criteria, simplicity of administration and level of cognition of intended recipients prisoners. Instructions and layout were deliberately simple with additional concentration on ensuring the design was short, thus ensuring a minimisation of respondent fatigue and high response rate. The demographics were selected to identify length in prison, first or further prison sentence, number of previous prison sentences, age and level of education, thus allowing for statistical tests for possible influence or bias. Post-test measures The study investigated whether exposure to racist signs and symbols impacted participants scores on measures associated with hate and prejudice. The hypothesis was tested in seven different ways, firstly against the British Prejudice Scale, which was designed as a measure of anti-black prejudice; Secondly, against the Social Dominance Orientation Scale, the Social Dominance Orientation Scale conceptualising the importance of racial and political attitudes, therefore being a direct measure of racial attitudes. The next five tests of the hypothesis were sub-components of the Social Distance Scale which measures the extent by which people want to keep a distance and avoid increasing amounts of intimate contact between themselves and people from different racial, ethnic, national or social groups. A Man-Whitney U[4] test was conducted to determine whether the experimental and the control groups were comparable, on the demographic information from the sample. The demographic variables used in this experiment were length in prison (time spent in present establishment), first time in prison (whether or not this was a first custodial sentence), previous times in prison (number of previous custodial sentences), length of sentence (length of present custodial sentence), age and education. Independent t-tests were also conducted using the British Prejudice Scale, and the various elements of the Social Distance Scale scores. In order to take into account multiple testing, a Bonferroni adjustment[5] was also calculated. Analyses of covariance[6] were considered but no variances in dependant variables were apparent. Hypothesis The primary hypothesis of this research is that viewing racist signs and symbols increases prejudice against out-groups and factors associated with racism and hate. FINDINGS British Prejudice Scale On average, the control group scored significantly higher on the British Prejudice Scale (M= 64.67, SD= 16.41) than the experiment group (M= 36.68, SD= 18.46). The results of the test were significant (t(126) = 9.08, p=

The Caucasian Chalk Circle Essay -- English Literature

The Caucasian Chalk Circle - Plot Notes. Scene 1 Representatives from two kolchos villages meet to decide who should have control of a valley that was taken from the Galinsk kolchos by the Rosa Luxemburg kolchos during the war. They argue it out and finally agree on a proposal from the agronomist in favour of the Rosa Luxemburg keeping the valley as they could put it to better use. A singer is invited to perform a story to help them with their problem. This is called "The Chalk Circle" and starts in scene two. Scene 2 The singer introduces the governor, Georgi Abashvili and his family and entourage. We also meet Prince Kazbeki outside the church. Everyone goes into the church. When they return Prince Kazbeki has set up an ambush to capture the governor who is killed. The governor's wife runs away leaving behind her son. In the mean time we meet Grusha Vachnadze, a kitchen maid, and Simon Chachava, a soldier of the palace guard. Simon proposes to Grusha, who accepts, and but he then has to leave with the governors wife to protect her. Grusha sees that the child, Michael Abashvili, has been left behind, and, against her better judgement, takes him away with her to protect him. Scene 3 The singer tells us that Grusha is heading to the northern mountains with the child. She tries to buy her way onto a caravansary with two rich ladies by pretending to be rich herself, but the gives herself away by making up some beds. She is forced to run away to avoid the police. The singer tells us that Grusha is being followed by the Prince's Ironshirts. The Ironshirts are loud and crude, particularly the corporal. Grusha leaves Michael on the doorstep of a peasant woman's house. The peasant woma... ...ds before he was killed. Halfway through the trial Azdak loses interest and sees an old couple who want to divorce. Before he signs their divorce papers he goes back to Grusha's trial. He uses the test of the chalk circle, which involves standing the child in the middle of a circle and each woman trying to pull him out. Grusha lets go, the trial is repeated and she lets go again crying that she doesn't want to hurt him. Azdak gives Michael to Grusha and sends Natella away, declaring that her money will go to build a park for the children. Azdak signs a divorce for Grusha and her husband instead of the old couple and then steps down from his position as judge. Simon agrees to stay with Grusha and Michael and Azdak disappears. The singer declares that the moral of the story is that everything should go to those that are good for them.Document1

Euthanasia Essay example -- essays research papers

Euthanasia, also known as mercy killing is a practice of ending a life to release an individual from an incurable disease or intolerable suffering. Euthanasia has been accepted both legally and morally in various forms in many societies but not in all. â€Å"In ancient Greece and Rome it was permissible in some situations to help others die. For example, the Greek writer Plutarch mentioned that in Sparta infanticide was practiced on children who lacked "health and vigor." Both Socrates and Plato sanctioned forms of euthanasia in certain cases. Voluntary euthanasia for the elderly was an approved custom in several ancient societies.† With the rise of organized religion, euthanasia became morally and ethically abhorrent. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all hold human life sacred and condemn euthanasia in any form. Following traditional religious principles, Western laws have generally considered the act of helping someone to die a form of homicide subject to legal sa nctions. â€Å"Even a passive withholding of help to prevent death has frequently been severely punished. Euthanasia, however, occurs secretly in all societies, including those in which it is held to be immoral and illegal.† There are two main types of euthanasia, passive and active. Passive euthanasia is the deliberate disconnection of life support equipment, or cessation of any life-sustaining medical procedure, permitting the natural death of the patient. Active euthanasia is deliberate action to end the life of a dying patient to avoid further suffering; there are two types of active euthanasia. Active voluntary euthanasia is when a lethal injection is giving by a doctor into a dying patient to end life by request of the sufferer. Active involuntary is lethal injection by a doctor into a dying patient without that person's express request. Active involuntary is considered murder by most. Since euthanasia is illegal in 49 of the 50 US states it would seem that most people are against it. There are some people who have formed organizations that help to educate people about euthanasia and that In fact euthanasia may be a good thing. One such organization is ERGO the Euthanasia Research & Guidance Organization a nonprofit educational corporation, which was founded in 1993 to improve the quality of background research of physician-as... ...he end stage. Once these symptoms are alleviated the emotional pain becomes the focus and it takes great strength to watch a loved one die slowly day by day. I’ve seen families brought together and serve as a great comfort to each other and to the patients. Death to these people is not the enemy but a natural ending of life. I’ve also seen family’s fall apart, seemingly unable to hold up under such pressure. Are these the people who assist in another’s suicide? Is it a weak persons way out? It is done because of love or inability to cope? Only they know.† The writer of this paper feels that euthanasia should be accepted more then it is, but is not the answer. I think that most suffering can be deemed tolerable with proper medications. It seems that if the pain can be controlled with medication, that the person could pass on in a deep sleep and be comfortable. However there are other symptoms that accompany other illness that can not be changed by medication. Like Christopher Reeves no matter how much medication he is given he will never walk, ride a horse, or bath himself again. This kind of suffering I would find intolerable and would justify euthanasia. Footnotes

Edgar Allan Poe and James Russell Lowell Essay

James Russell Lowell and John Greenleaf Whittier were poets during the Romantic era. In that time, poets often wrote about humans’ relationship with nature. Romantics considered contact with nature as almost a religious experience. Lowell’s â€Å"The First Snowfall† and Whittier’s â€Å"Snowbound† can be explored through theme, tone, and figurative language. â€Å"The First Snowfall† and â€Å"Snowbound† share the obvious, similar theme, snow. Lowell writes, â€Å"The snow had begun in the gloaming† (Line 1). This is the beginning of the poem where he’s introducing the subject of snow and describing the simple experience of the first snowfall. Whittier writes, â€Å"The coming of the snowstorm told† (14). He also writes about snow, but describes a frightful, winter snowstorm, rather than a simple snowfall. Lowell’s and Whittier’s poems differ in tones. James Russell Lowell has an optimistic point of view toward the natural event, but the tone he uses is gloomy. â€Å"Again I looked at the snowfall and thought of the leaden sky† (25-26). Lowell is comparing the falling of snow to the mourning process of his daughter. Whittier is more depressed by the storm. He describes the snow as, â€Å"A hard, dull bitterness of cold† (11). Later, Whittier learns to accept the storm and writes about sitting and laughing by the fireplace with his family. Both poets use a variety of figurative language in their poems. Lowell uses a simile to describe the birds he sees outside his window flying through the snowfall. â€Å"And the sudden flurries of snow-birds, like brown leaves whirling by† (15-16). Whittier also uses a simile to describe what he observes outside his window. â€Å"And through the glass the clothesline posts looked in like tall and sheeted ghosts† (39-40). As shown, these two poems can be compared and contrasted through theme, tone, and figurative language. In the way the poets write, we can see their reactions to the snow. Even though they both wrote about snow, they didn’t approach the topic in the same way. Lowell and Whittier both lived in the Romantic era but lived different lifestyles, which affected how they saw events and formed the style of their poetry.