U.S. States Named After Kings and Queens

Seven of the  U.S. states are named after sovereigns  Ã¢â‚¬â€ four are named for kings and three are named for queens. These include some of the oldest colonies and territories in what is now the United States and the royal names paid tribute to the rulers of either France and England. The list of states includes Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. Can you guess which kings and queens inspired each name? The 'Carolinas' Have British Royalty Roots North and South Carolina have a long and complicated history. Two of the 13 original colonies, they began as a single colony  but were divided shortly after because it was too much land to govern. The name Carolina  is often attributed as an honor of King Charles I of England (1625-1649), yet that is not entirely true.   What is fact is that  Charles is Carolus in Latin and that inspired Carolina. However, the French explorer, Jean Ribault first called the region Carolina when he tried colonizing Florida in the 1560s. During that time, he established an outpost known as Charlesfort in what is now South Carolina. The French King at the time? Charles IX who was crowned in 1560. When the British colonists established their settlements in the Carolinas, it was shortly after the 1649  execution of  King Charles I of England and they retained the name in his honor. When his son took over the crown in 1661, the colonies were also an honor to his rule. In a way, the Carolinas pay tribute to all three King Charles. 'Georgia' Was Inspired by a British King Georgia was one of the original 13 colonies that became the United States. It was the last colony established and it became official in 1732, just five years after King George II was crowned King of England. The name  Georgia  was clearly inspired by the new king. The suffix -ia  was used often by the colonizing nations when naming new lands in honor of important people. King George II did not live long enough to see his namesake become a state. He died in 1760 and was succeeded by his grandson, King George III, who reigned during the American Revolutionary War. 'Louisiana' Has French Origins In 1671, French explorers claimed a large portion of central North America for France. They named the area in honor of King Louis XIV, who reigned from 1643 until his death in 1715. The name  Louisiana  begins with a clear reference to the king. The suffix  -iana  is often used to refer to a collection of objects in regards to the collector. Therefore, we can loosely associate  Louisiana  as a collection of lands owned by King Louis XIV. This territory became known as the Louisiana Territory and was purchased by Thomas Jefferson in 1803. In total, the Louisiana Purchase was for 828,000 square miles between the Mississippi River and the  Rocky Mountains. The state of Louisiana formed the southern border and became a state in 1812. 'Maryland' Was Named After a British Queen Maryland also has an association with King Charles I yet, in this case, it was named for his wife.   George Calvert was granted a charter in 1632 for a region east of the Potomac. The first settlement was St. Marys and the territory was named Maryland. All of this was in honor of Henrietta Maria, queen consort of Charles I of England and daughter of King Henry IV of France. The 'Virginias' Were Named for a Virgin Queen Virginia (and subsequently West Virginia) was settled by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584. He named this new land after the English monarch of the time, Queen Elizabeth I. But how did he get Virginia  out of Elizabeth? Elizabeth I was crowned in 1559 and died in 1603. During her 44 years as queen, she  never married and she earned the nickname of the Virgin Queen. That is how the Virginias got their name, but whether the monarch was true in her virginity is a matter of much debate and speculation.

Walmart in China - 1534 Words

Walmart in China Introduction Walmart, founded by Sam Walton in 1962, is the largest retail company in the world. The low cost strategy and hence the â€Å"Every Day Low Prices† (EDLP) strategy allowed Walmart to outperform competitors in the US. Besides having stores in the US, Walmart has also expanded its market worldwide. Walmart’s entry into China was not surprising, given its population and growth potential. Nevertheless, Walmart China had been struggling with its sales volume. It was only ranked twentieth in sales out of all the Chinese chain stores in 2005. Walmart’s strategic move in the US does not seem to be applicable in the Chinese market. Different factors in the Chinese market blunted the cost advantage of Walmart. This paper†¦show more content†¦The intensity of rivalry is quite high in the Chinese retailing industry. Not only does Walmart China have to compete with all the foreign retailers like Carrefour and Tesco, but also with the local ones. The local retailers p ose an even bigger threat to Walmart owing to their well-established network and prime locations. Moreover, exposing to foreign competition allows the local retailers to imitate the foreigners’ techniques and hence improve their own supply chain efficiency. Also, the fact that the local retailers have entrenched customer, supplier and distribution bases, further intensified the rivalry in the retailing industry. (Farhoomand, 2006) Lastly, the presence of income disparity in China makes the national merchandising plan more challenging. China’s Gini coefficient of 0.4 suggested that income inequality is at an alarming level. There are poor individuals that cannot even afford buying daily necessity while the affluent customers are constantly looking for luxurious products (Farhoomand, 2006). Given this huge income disparity, Walmart China has been finding it difficult to develop its cost leadership strategy as they cannot standardize their products easily and have to provide different products that meet different customers’ needs. Strategic Approaches and recommendations All the factors in the Chinese retailing industry show that the cost leadership strategy adopted in the US Walmart might not be applicable in China.Show MoreRelatedWalmart in China2843 Words   |  12 PagesTablet of Contents The Beginning of Walmart Logistic†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3 Magic of the stripes†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 Walmart’s Cross Docking†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5 Downfall of Barcode System†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6 Power to the RIFD†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 7 Walmart’s RFID Influence in China†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 9 The Chinese RFID investment†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 10 Chinese market potential†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 11 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Read MoreWalmart in China7398 Words   |  30 PagesImplications for the Operations StrategyWalmart Experience in China Ming-Ling Chuang1 James J. Donegan2 Michele W. Ganon3 Abstract Many multinational corporations are aware of the topology of the Chinese market, what they lack is an in-depth understanding and the skills needed for effective operations. The paper describes the challenges faced by walmart as it attempts to replicate in China their lean retailing successes elsewhere in the world. Walmart has so far failed to extend their oligopolistic dominanceRead MoreWalmart China12415 Words   |  50 PagesHKU984 ALI FARHOOMAND WAL-MART IN CHINA (2012) Introduction Summer was making its picture-perfect debut in New South Wales that day in October 2011, but Mr Greg Foran hardly noticed. Newly hired away from his role as head of Australia’s leading supermarket chain, Woolworth’s Supermarket Division, he was set to work as a senior vice president at Wal-Mart International, the fastest growing division of the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart Corporation. However, what exactly he would be doingRead MoreWalmart Success in China?1198 Words   |  5 PagesCase Study: Wal-Mart Stores â€Å"Every Day Low Prices† In China Webster University INTB 5000 1 Webster University 2 Wal-Mart Stores â€Å"Every Day Low Prices† In China FACTS: ïÆ'Ëœ ïÆ'Ëœ First opened in Shenzhen on August 12, 1996 As of December 2007 ïÆ'Ëœ ïÆ'Ëœ ïÆ'Ëœ 94 stores in 51 cities Employs 43,000+ associates Serves around 5 million customers per week ïÆ'Ëœ ïÆ'Ëœ ïÆ'Ëœ ïÆ'Ëœ ïÆ'Ëœ ïÆ'Ëœ ïÆ'Ëœ Transition from rural US to metro/urban in China Competitive analysis a core value of the company ï‚ § Shopping 1,500 items andRead MoreWalmart China Essay1484 Words   |  6 PagesStudy #1 Wal-Mart China How Wal-Mart China should push â€Å"sustainability† into the next level Research Conducted by Wal-Mart China and third parties found that customer satisfaction was most affected by the value perceived by customers. The Chinese market is known for its price sensitivity. Customers seem to be far more concerned with whether or not they are receiving the best price, then whether or not Wal-Mart China is committed toRead MoreWalmart China Case Analysis Essay1933 Words   |  8 PagesWALMART-China CASE ANALYSIS Walmart-world’s largest retailer, is a successful as a king of retailing in US market. After this success, Wal-Mart Stores started eyeing areas beyond its home country and looking at unchartered waters in the overseas markets. Wal-Mart’s mature discount concept and business model were ready to be exported. The management firmly believed that consumers were alike everywhere around the world in searching for quality products at great prices and desiring to be treatedRead MoreHarvard Business Case Study: China Walmart678 Words   |  3 PagesWalmart- China 1. Customers patronize Wal-Mart China stores because they have low prices which are a great asset to china’s consumers who are more cost sensitive than other countries. Although, China’s consumers like to go to store after store to find the cheapest price, and of course Wal-Mart contains those low prices. Wal-Mart also established through studies and research that China’s customers valued great customer satisfaction which in return they displayed their loyalty by coming back overRead MoreThere Are Many Kinds Of Stores Worldwide. Each Store Sales1503 Words   |  7 Pagesone store in particular that is completely nation wide; that store is Walmart. Walmart is a very big store. Have you ever wonder how it all got started? It was founded by Sam Walton. A lot of the products say that they are made in China. Walmart began as a small town store and has expanded from nation to nation. The company does business with many nations, where the products they sale could be made at a cheaper price. Walmart is a nationwide store. It provides many goods and services; for exampleRead MoreChina: The Start of a New Era for Wal-Mart Global Expansion1514 Words   |  6 PagesWalMart in China Introduction WalMarts approach to global expansion exemplifies the journey of self-discovery many corporations who have a stable, profitable domestic base of operations go through as they attempt to enter new markets globally. For WalMart this meant confronting the exceptionally high level of ethnocentrism in their organization while also using their analytics-based prowess to better understand cultures, not just costs and profits (Ming-Ling, Donegan, Ganon, Kan, 2011). TheRead MoreWalmart : An American Multinational Retail Corporation962 Words   |  4 PagesWalmart Case Write-up Walmart, is an  American  multinational retail corporation  that operates a chain of  discount department stores  and  warehouse stores. Every company successes for a reason. In my opinion, Walmart’s resources and capabilities as follows: It has strong tangible resources and capabilities. First, financial resources and capabilities. It is the  world s largest company by revenue, and the  largest retailer in the world. Walmart is a family-owned business, as the company is controlled

Hamlet8 Essay Example For Students

Hamlet8 Essay The epic hero, Beowulf the Geat, shows a lot of qualities of a born king. In this epic poem, Beowulf overcomes the fact that his father was exiled and becomes a great man.He gains the loyalty and devotion of his men and defends good from evil. He was portrayed as being almost invincible, having the strength of three men and successful in battle. To be a good king, a person must possess leadership, inspire confidence, and demonstrate compassion. In this poem, Beowulf showed all the qualities that made him not only a good hero, but also a great king. First of all, Beowulf shows the makings of a good king because he displays leadership. As shown in the story, Beowulf led a band of fourteen Geats to the land of Scyldings when he heard of Hrothgars problem. The fact that he was able to gather fourteen loyal men to follow him across open seas to face a monster of great powers demonstrates that his men believed in him and his determination for good. Other examples of leadership skills were shown at the first battle at the Great Halls of Heorot and later at the battle of Grendels Dam.In facing these challenges illustrated leadership and bravery in battle. Another important characteristic of a good king is to carry himself honorably and earn the respect of others.An example of this would be when Beowulf first arrived at Hrothors castle. Beowulf and his band of men presented themselves in shining armor, shields, and weapons, much to the delight of the king. Beowulf knew how to dress and carry himself with prestige and honor. When he came to talk to the king, he boasted about his lineage and put the honor of his people and his father, Ecgtheow, on the line. Whomever death would take must trust in Gods judgment (Beowulf 32). These lines showed that he was humble, but trust that God is on his side for he is doing a good deed by killing the evil that invaded Heorot. Additionally, Beowulf was able to earn the respect of others. An example of this was during the merry feast at Heorot, the night of the first battle. Unferth begin to hassle Beowulf as he was boasting about his past battle with the fierce sea-creatures during a swimming match wi th Brecca. Unferth claimed that his story was false and that Brecca was the winner of the swim contest. Without breaking a sweat, Beowulf turned Unferths claim into a drunken mans bluff.Beowulf retaliated by pointing out the fact that if Unferth were as brave as his boast, Grendel would not threaten the halls of Heorot. In the end, Unferth was made to look weak and jealous of Beowulf in front of others. Beowulf illustrated that he was able to control any conversation and gain peoples confidence in him. Lastly, a good king must show compassion. Beowulf displays this by helping others in their time of need. With the consent of lord, he traveled to the far off shores of Scyldings and heroically protects and saves the Danes from Grendel. Even though Beowulf had no responsibility to protect Hrothgar, he valiantly guarded Hrothgars Heorot from Grendels mother when she came the next night to avenge Grendels death. In these battles, Beowulf faced monsters with superhuman strength. As told b efore, Grendel(Shown in figure to right) was fierce and killed countless thanes of the kings; but with leadership and courage he lead his men into battle against these great odds.These are the deeds of a leader and a great king. In order for to be a leader or king, one must possess leadership, inspire confidence, demonstrate compassion, and against all odds, fight for good. Beowulf of Geats was a man that possessed all these. He demonstrated these qualities many times during the course of this story. This epic eventually tells that Beowulf was indeed a great king until his death when he the defended his land from evil and killed the mighty dragon. Bibliography:

Woman, Self and Society an Example by

Woman, Self and Society Woman is usually treated and seen in a society as feeble and weak. Commonly the term is assigned with feminine nature which includes caring, softness, calmness and submissiveness. Feminine character is a gender role or the assigned task for the woman sex. In the story of an hour by Kate Chopin, these feminine characteristics are portrayed through the expectations of the other character regarding Mrs. Mallards reaction upon knowing her husbands death. Need essay sample on "Woman, Self and Society" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed It is first and foremost obvious in the first paragraph of the story that Mrs. Mallard is viewed as someone weak. It is explicated that she has a weak heart thus, great care was taken to break the news regarding the death of her husband. It has been Josephine, her sister who revealed the truth to her. A friend of her husband, Richards was also there. The presence of Richards in the scene signifies his authority as a male and as a friend with respect to the truthfulness of the story. Mrs. Louise Mallard is the main character in The Story of an Hour. Undergraduates Often Tell Us: Who wants to write assignment for me? Essay writers suggest: University Essay Writing Service Write My Essay Online Best Essay Writing Service Best Essay Writing Service The way that the author address the lead character as Mrs. Mallard connotes that in marriage, the women takes the name of her husband. This is a rule and a societal norm that also codifies the fact that woman becomes a sort of property or at least part of her husband. Within this context there are attitudes and actions that are expected of women that are prescribed to them by the society. Since Mrs. Mallards reaction was to wept at once, it undermines the absence of denial, questioning and the usual hysteria that are the typical response of people who have just found out that a love one dies. Mrs. Mallard accepted her husbands death upon hearing the news with no contempt. In the third paragraph, a more concrete elaboration on Mrs. Mallards reaction was noted. She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance, denotes that Mrs. Mallard heard the same story but found its significance different than with other women. A detailed analysis of this part implies that there is basically a certain manner by which women are supposed to act and behave when told about the death of her husband. This is the central gender role that The Story of an Hour tried to suggest. She withdrew to her room shortly and while sitting near the window, the author stress the presence of the patches of blue sky, which was mentioned twice. From a state of loneliness and sadness Mrs. Mallard is in the process of reflecting and seeing a new light. It is further stated that she was young; with a facewhose lines bespoke repression and strength. This denotes the fact that Mrs. Mallard has been in a repressive state. The word strength codifies her ability to stand the cruelty that she had previously experienced. While sitting near the window, it is not only the blue patches that captured her senses but other vibrant things which reflects a more lively emotion that is not common for a grieving person to note. She tried her best to beat it back with her will but she failed and finally whispered free, free, free. It encompasses the realization of her freedom. Through the death of her husband, she started to recognize her sense of self that is rooted from the fact of being alone. She is not anymore just Mrs. Mallard but she is Louise. The sense of self is usually brought about by the ability to express your real emotion. As the story mentioned, Louise had been repress which basically hindered her self expression. However, at the death of her husband, there is this sort of monstrous joy that held her. Nonetheless, she still considered her attitude as somehow trivial due to the fact that the joy or whatever feeling it is that she now realized should be again kept in shadows as she recognized the need to weep again. It seems that she also has feelings for her husband despite the repression she mentioned before. Nevertheless she opened and spread her arms out to welcome the years to come in which she do not have to live for someone else but for herself alone. This part is crucial in her finding a sense of self. According to Dr. Jean Baker Miller, a woman should first be able to go beyond the assigned tasks or the gender roles before she can create an inner conception which will guide her. In the story, Louise thought that she already succeeded her gender roles. Upon the (perceived) death of her husband, Louise felt lively. She becomes conscious of her abilities and her possibilities. She recognizes that she is not anymore trapped by the rules of marriage which dictates certain aspects of her life. Louise becomes hopeful for a future where she sees herself taking the helm without taking into account someone else. There will be all sorts of days that would be her own. With this in mind she created possibilities and dreams for her new found self. Furthermore, Louise realized that there will be no powerful will bending hers in blind persistence. This statement illuminates the scenario wherein a relationship bounded by marriage is also under the circumstances bounded by the dictates of norms. Free! Body and soul free affirm a self that is free from domination. Louise even wished that life will be long. She further recognize that the possession of self-assertion as the strongest impulse of her being. This portray how strong self-assertion is something that she has never felt before. Ordinary woman of her age would not be familiar with such emotion and sense of self since they are manipulated by the society, particularly by fear of prejudice and further repression which might include humiliation due to nonconformity. Nonetheless, as readers of the short story finally join with the triumph felt by Louise, Brently Mallard, her husband entered the front door. Ironically, the story ends as Mrs. Mallard died of heart disease. In a matter of an hour, as depicted by the title, Louise had succeeded in transgressing the societal norm of being a repressed woman locked in the role of a wife bounded by the rules of marriage tradition and culture. She had also broken the rules of behaving and thinking like a widower of her time. Instead of mourning for the death of her husband, she felt a sense of new life and joy shortly after his death. Nonetheless, after realizing that her husband is actually alive, it literally killed all of her new hope, dreams and aspirations that ultimately led to her death. The author stressed that the doctors identified that the heart failure is due to the joy that kills. Indeed, this is the case, for if Mrs. Mallard has not found her sense of self, she wouldnt have felt joy and freedom. Without accepting joy and without the recognition of freedom she would not have attempted to defy her gender role-- even in thought. Just as how powerful her emotions has been when she recognizes that she can live for her own, the surge of emotions that swiped her after realizing that everything will not come true must have drowned her and killed her. Social expectations play a great role in the identity of a person. As The Story of an Hour reflects, marriage is seen as a repressive relationship that takes away a part of the womans self. Due to the fact that something is being done or is accepted by the society, there is a tendency that social expectations translate into rules. At a time when women are marginalized, they are assigned with gender roles that would render them powerless against men. Such gender roles or assigned tasks mark their inability to express themselves freely or openly. Instead of developing into an autonomous rational person, women are expected to become or to belong in the societal norms controlled, dominated and favoring men. Work Cited: Chopin. The Story of an Hour. 1984. Miller, J.B. Towards a New Psychology of Women.

Analysis of How to Talk to a Hunter by Pam Houston

Analysis of 'How to Talk to a Hunter' by Pam Houston How to Talk to a Hunter by American writer Pam Houston (b. 1962) was originally published in the literary magazine Quarterly West. It was subsequently included in The Best American Short Stories, 1990, and in the authors 1993 collection, Cowboys Are My Weakness. The story focuses on a woman who continues dating a man a hunter even as the signs of his infidelity and lack of commitment mount. Future Tense One striking feature of the story is that it is written in future tense. For example, Houston writes: You will spend every night in this mans bed without asking yourself why he listens to top-forty country. The use of future tense creates a sense of inevitability about the characters actions, as if shes telling her own fortune. But her ability to predict the future seems to have less to do with clairvoyance than with past experience. Its easy to imagine that she knows exactly what will happen because it or something just like it has happened before. So the inevitability becomes as significant a part of the story as the rest of the plot. Who Is the You? I have known some readers who resent the use of second-person (you) because they find it presumptuous. After all, what could the narrator possibly know about them? But for me, reading a second-person narrative has always seemed more like being privy to someones internal monologue than like being told what I, personally, am thinking and doing. The use of second-person simply gives the reader a more intimate look at the characters experience and thought process. The fact that the future tense sometimes changes to imperative sentences like, Call the hunters machine. Tell him you dont speak chocolate only further suggests that the character is giving herself some advice. On the other hand, you dont have to be a heterosexual woman dating a hunter to be dating someone whos dishonest or who shies away from commitment. In fact, you dont have to be romantically involved with someone at all to be taken advantage of. And you definitely dont have to be dating a hunter in order to watch yourself enact mistakes that you see perfectly well are coming. So even though some readers might not recognize themselves in the specific details of the story, many might be able to relate to some of the larger patterns described here. While second-person might alienate some readers, for others it can serve as an invitation to consider what they have in common with the main character. Everywoman The absence of names in the story further suggests an attempt to portray something universal, or at least common, about gender and relationships. Characters are identified by phrases like your best male friend and your best female friend. And both of these friends tend to make sweeping declarations about what men are like or what women are like. (Note: the entire story is told from a heterosexual perspective.) Just as some readers might object to second-person, some will surely object to gender-based stereotypes. Yet Houston does make a convincing case that its difficult to be completely gender-neutral, as when she describes the verbal gymnastics that the hunter engages in to avoid admitting that another woman has come to visit him. She writes (hilariously, in my opinion): The man who has said hes not so good with words will manage to say eight things about his friend without using a gender-determining pronoun. The story seems entirely aware that its dealing in clichà ©s. For example, the hunter speaks to the protagonist in lines from country music. Houston writes: Hell say you are always on his mind, that youre the best thing thats ever happened to him, that you make him glad that hes a man. And the protagonist answers with lines from rock songs: Tell him it dont come easy, tell him freedoms just another word for nothing left to lose. Though its easy to laugh at the communication gap Houston portrays between men and women, country and rock, the reader is left wondering to what extent we ever can escape our clichà ©s.

5 Magic Marketing Words to Keep Customers Engaged - EssaySupply.com

5 Magic Marketing Words to Keep Customers Engaged 5 Magic Marketing Words to Keep Customers Engaged Magic marketing words are powerful words and phrases that you can use in your advertisements and content   to catch customer's attention, evoke emotional responses, and get customers primed to answer your call to action. When you add these magical words and phrases to your content, you can significantly increase the likelihood that your audience will convert, and the likelihood that they will share your content with others. There are hundreds of power words and phrases that you can use to make your content more engaging, however we have decided to focus on just a few that we feel are particularly powerful for content marketing efforts. Check out our 5 magic marketing words and phrases, then let us know what you think. Insider Information People love secrets, and they love to feel like they are part of an exclusive group. The promise of insider information appeals to both of these desires. If you are looking to collect email addresses, this is a great phrase to employ in a blog post. For example, you can invite readers to provide their email addresses in order to sign up to access 'insider information'. In return for their email address, you provide them with access to an email subscription list where they will receive content that other users do not. Offer Expires in 7 Days This is a phrase that creates a sense of urgency. The reader knows that they will miss out if they don't act quickly. Adding an expiration date to an offer often results in an increased number of people answering the call to action. Scammed Nobody wants to get ripped off. The very idea of it makes them angry. When you evoke that feeling, you get the reader's attention. They are ready to learn how your pricing, products, and services are a better deal than the other guy's. If your argument is convincing enough, they will want to learn more about what you have to offer. Just be sure that your delivery remains powerful throughout the rest of your post. Double Your Savings This is another great phrase to put into use if you want to get customers to convert. The idea of saving money is a perfect motivator for getting people to take a certain action. If you've already used a coupon or other discount to drive a customer to your landing page, why not sweeten the deal with an additional savings offer in return for them performing a simple task. This could be providing a referral email address, or agreeing to complete a short survey. Sensuous It's true. Sex sells. Anything that evokes thoughts or feelings of lust, sensuality, and physical attraction is a useful marketing tool. Believe it or not, words like this boost customer engagement even if you are offering products or services that have little or no direct connection to sensuality. Marketers have used sex appeal to promote everything from cosmetics, to website hosting, to food.

Primitive modern Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Primitive modern - Essay Example Among modernists there were artists who supported materialization, and there were ones trying to rebirth spiritual life. Paul Gauguin was one of those seeking for something spiritual in a new highly commercial world. Desire to find himself, and specifically, to reveal a human savage nature made him interested in those less civilized (from Western point of view) native inhabitants of Brittany first, and later Tahiti painting them in a specific manner that was later called â€Å"primitivism†. Some critics think that this way Gaugen was going back to own savage origin (â€Å"a savage who must return to the savage†) but Solomon-Godeau sees a more social explanation on Gauguin’s desire: it was a reaction of a civilized colonist, a man from patriarchal society willing to express a power upon colonial, predominantly female savage culture (Solomon-Godeau 120). Meanwhile, in Germany there was a discussion among intellectuals on the way Germany should choose for a spiritual culture rebirth. Despite dissidence, German artists agreed that modern art should â€Å"serve for† German state. Some of artists stood for a turning back to own origins thinking on more conservative themes and forms, and some insisted Germans to look for inspiration from folk culture of non-European colonies to put in expressional forms. According to Lloyd, Emil Nolde was artist fitting both trends, and at the same time none of them because in his art Nolde was inspired by primitive forms and themes considering them eternal, but also trying to engage them with modern concerns (Lloyd 93). For Nolde that primitive inspiration, a true spiritual origin could be only found in spiritual artifacts hand-made by â€Å"primitives† â€Å"with actual material in their hands, between their fingers†, with â€Å"pleasure and love of creating† (Lloyd 100). And primitives themselves for Nolde were native inhabitants of colonies, yet not those generations of living

Operant Conditioning Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Operant Conditioning Paper - Essay Example Operant Conditioning is widely used not only in psychology but also in other different settings. A person behaves in a particular way due to the response (stimuli) he experiences in his environment. When these responses are reinforced, then the person or animal is conditioned to respond. Operant Conditioning does not use the trial and error method in determining a person’s reaction to a certain response. It is directly experienced by the individual through a certain experience in his environment. Reinforcements mean â€Å"to strengthen or make strong† but they can be both positive as well as negative. A reinforcer is called positive when the reinforcement is presented or takes place. On the other hand, a negative reinforcement is when the reinforcement is withdrawn. In order to suppress a person’s behavior, negative reinforcement is utilized, but that doesn’t mean that negative reinforcement is punishment. Negative reinforcers are often used to correct a person’s behavior by removing the positive reinforcer and replacing it with the negative one. This helps the individual to condition or respond in a different way by reducing the consequence or threat of punishment, thereby changing his behavior for the better. Operant Behavior is moulded according to the consequences an individual receives in the environment. The freedom of a person is affected in the process. (Skinner, 1971) If the individual has experienced positive reinforcing consequences usually feel a sense of freedom, but this is not the case in negative consequences. According to B.F Skinner, â€Å"The experimental analysis of operant behavior has led to a technology often called behavior modification†.  (B.F Skinner, 1971) Between the positive reinforcement and Negative reinforcement, the one that is most used in the correction of behavior is the Negative reinforcement. In such an environment, the trouble causing consequences are removed and replaced with other consequences,

Married to Man. The Omnivore's Dilemma Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Married to Man. The Omnivore's Dilemma - Essay Example Both the new and Native Americans totally depend on corn. In other words, it may be said that corn is married to a man. This explains its existence up to this time in life. Were it not for the continued planting of the same corn season after season by man, it would have experienced extinction. This article looks at how corn and man enable one another to survive and reproduce. Corn is found in husks and requires processing to separate the grains from the husk. This means that the grains are set free and can thus be grown and processed more easily on their own. This is where the human aspect comes in place. Man has come up with machines such as combined harvesters that separate the corn from the cob. Another method of separating the corn from the cob is by the use of the opposable thumb that is a characteristic in man. This therefore, brings out the dependence of the corn on man with opposable thumb. Corn, while still in the cob cannot grow into maturity. It may germinate but due to ov ercrowding, the young plants thin out and eventually die. Thus, for proper reproduction of the corn, there is husk removal, seed separation and planting. If the whole corncob were planted, it would germinate and move out of the husk, they would crowd up and may be die before having their second and third set of leaves. Corn hence, require assistance to grow more than any other domesticated plant. Therefore, corn depends on the humans more than the humans depend on it. For instance, man can decide not to consume any corn by avoiding planting it. At the same time, corn cannot decide on whom to have it planted. The marriage between man and corn can be viewed from the perspective of man having first domesticated the wild plant. This was later followed by selection and breeding of the best variety, were it not for man, it would be wild up to now (Pollan, 2007). Among the highly valued cereals by man is corn that in some countries is called maize. Corn has many uses more than any other ce real. One of the uses is making grits. In Africa and some parts of Asia, the grits from maize are ingested by humans. For instance in central and eastern Africa, the grits are used to make a staple food called ugali. This food is easily made and readily consumed with wide range vegetables. Grits can also be used to make porridge that is highly consumed by young children especially in Africa and some parts of Asia. This food product is believed to provide energy to the children who have higher energy requirements in general. Corn can also be used to make bi fuel. This is presently being done in the US of and is hastily replacing the fuels that are pollutants of the atmosphere. Corn is preferred to refined oil because of its availability and environmentally sound aspects. It is also used to make the brewers grits that are used in the beer industry. This is because it contains starches and sugars that undergo fermentation when provided with the required conditions. The medicine industr y also makes utilize corn in their processed form. Liquids sugar is made from corn. Its use is to make syrups and serves the purpose of sweetening them. The confectionary industry makes use of the corn sugar in sweetening their products. Without such sugar, their products may not be accepted. This may lead to losses especially on the part of the manufacturer. Having looked at the two sides of the issue of marriage to man, I take a stand that, it is the corn that is dependent on

Marketing: British Airways Group

Marketing: British Airways Group The assignment focuses on analyzing summarizing and comparing two companies which deals in same sector or industry with a marketing aspect. The purpose states that the study of the module Marketing Management needs to be implemented in virtual front by providing meaningful process to the company chosen and revise the value proposition. The assignment is divided into step-by-step parts towards preparing a plan for the organization under study. British Airways- Company profile British Airways is the airline company of the United Kingdom. It has its headquarter in Waterside which is near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport and as found it is the biggest airline of UK on the record basis of number of international flights and international destinations it has. Its second hub is London Gatwick Airport. As per the research it found that The British Airways Group was formed on 1 September 1974. BA was formed by the merger of two large London-based airlines, British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways Corporation (BEA), and two much smaller airlines, Cambrian Airways Cardiff and Northeast Airlines Newcastle upon Tyne. BA according to the research was found as the only two airlines to operate the supersonic Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde inaugurating the worlds first supersonic passenger service in January 1976. BA became the worlds most profitable airline following its strategies under the slogan The Worlds Favorite Airline. Rather it was earlier Boeing customer. The formation of Richard Bransons Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1984 began a tense relationship with BA. The main activities of British Airways Plc and its subsidiary undertakings are the operation of international and domestic planned air services for the deportment of passengers, freight and mail and the facility of ancillary amenities. (uk.reuters.com 2010) Franchisees  · Comair: based in South Africa, franchisee since 1996.  · Sun Air: based in Denmark, franchisee since 1 August 1996. (uk.reuters.com 2010) Customer Value It is the difference between what a customer wants from a product and what he or she has to give in order to achieve it. ( Business dictionary.com 2010 ) Customer Value proposition A customer value proposition is described as a business or statement of marketing that describes why would a customer buy a product or service he wish to use. It has been targeted towards the potential of customers rather than other consisting groups such as of workers, stakeholders or suppliers .It is designed for the customers to convince their self to one particular product or service which will add more value ( Business dictionary.com 2010). Types of CVP 1.All Benefits Sometimes most managers formulates customer value proposition which includes all customers benefits which can be fulfilled by them by offering different types of offers to meet customer needs. It requires them a hard work to keeping records about customer needs and competitors in the market ( Ogle,2010). 2. Favourable Points of Difference The second type of value proposition which includes all alternatives in which customers focus includes different types of products and services offered by others. It provides the customers with the best of its offers just to attract them without having the proper knowledge about what the customer is demanding but they try to fulfil their customer need( Ogle,2010). 3. Resonating Focus This is a very important aspect as it focuses on the value proposition having differences to an all benefits position of companies leading a value proposition for the customers .Resonating is the point which deals with the standard of the value proposition and it should be at its highest level .By this method the manager wants to do the business with the marketers who has the proper knowledge about the customers need and delivers the customers value proposition at the market capturing level ( Ogle,2010). Importance of value proposition A good customer value proposition is a method of convincing the customers to buy their products other than buying the competitors and find it different from others .This method has been used to grasp the attention of the customers and increase the sales at large scale which will help in increasing the market shares. To promote the product it has been always important to understand customers need . It is profitable in building a brand association that help in providing offers to the customers (Ogle, 2010) Three Key Dimensions Active vs. Reactive value Extrinsic vs. intrinsic value Self-oriented vs. other-oriented value As per the research on the British airways customer value proposition it has been found that : Effect of British airways on customers mind It has Strong brand name and brand image good reputation in market as well as customers mind Reliability of British airways BA Key Messages is to provide the consistency in providing good service Reliability in providing best quality of offering Safety and security Safety and security are key priorities for British airways. It follows the formal management system for the security which ensures with all relevant rules and regulations that are must be followed. British airways is into a system of operating a inclusive monitoring system to ensure that all incidents are reported before they occur and necessary action been taken. HYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_value_proposition l cite_note-Lake-1Question 2. The requirement of the question speaks about the two companies to be selected of the same industry which can be compared on various aspects particularly marketing strategy on a global scale; I have chosen the following two companies: British Airways Virgin Atlantic airways The reasons for selecting these companies are: The value proposition of both the companies can be compared and differentiated based on their marketing assets. Both the companies are intense competitors in the business of airlines and in providing superior quality of services to the customers Virgin Atlantic Airways- Competitor Company Profile Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited (operating as Virgin Atlantic) is a British airline owned by Sir Richard Bransons Virgin Group (51%) and Singapore Airlines (49%). It is headquartered in Crawley, West Sussex, England, near London Gatwick Airport. It operates between the United Kingdom and North America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia from main bases at Gatwick and London Heathrow Airport, using a mixed fleet of Airbus and Boeing wide-body aircraft (innovationaleaders, 2010). We all experience customer service, without even understanding it. The only time youre likely to poster is when it surpasses your potentials, or it doesnt meet them! Pleased customers are more likely to commend you to others. Customer Service is clearly a main part of any businesses corporate plan to recall and attract clients. Effective Customer Service is critical in portion a business to meet its planned sales intentions whilst meeting their client potentials through exceptional customer service. CRITICALLY EVALUATING CUSTOMER VALUE PROPOSITON OF BRITISH AIRWAYS British airways as being on the top of the chart of airlines industry to maintain its standard it has acquired several innovative ideas which have left certain impression on customers mind. British Airways is comparatively strong from a financial point of view and have a good reputation in comparison to other companies in the airlines industry, and it has positioned itself on the top leveled service provider but still it is facing some problems in satisfying the customers completely. BA provides it customers with affordable price flight ticket and spends to that level which delivers the minimum performance for the ante ( for example: providing nuts and soft drinks to the customers),Yet on the other hand BA maximizes its marketing by spending more effectiveness by removing ineffective spending on the ante that pushes the performance but does not leads to any change in customers behavior ( for example: BA dont provide the customers with hot meals on short flights). British airways has redesigned its cabin into truly flat bed which are up to the best comfort of the customers and it helps in attracting more customers in business class at a time when other airlines merely increased leg room or seat width but to really rule in the filed of airline BA should also try to provide more innovative facilities for lower class customers too as they are being their regular customers. BA provides its customers with its key priority of security for which it has operated different security system specially for its customers safety. In order to profitably satisfy customer needs, an organisation must understand its external and internal situation including the customer, the market and its own capabilities. MARKETING MIX OF BRITISH AIRWAYS Product Strategy A product is characterized as anything that been offered to a party to another party in return of something. As we talk about BA, it provides its customers with different types of services like booking their tickets online, choose the sitting of their choice and meals of customer choice.BA provides the quality of compensating the customers at the time of cancellation of their flight tickets (123helpme, 2010). Pricing Strategy Pricing strategy is the overall task of defining the price range and price movement through the time period given to support the organizational fund and profit gaining objectives. BA holds a different type of pricing strategy in its two sectors of airlines short-haul and the long-haul , it provides its customers with tickets at affordable price. It has different price standard for different categories of flights but with same quality of service. BA has the special system for optional product pricing charged for optional extra guaranteeing a window seat or reserving a row seats next to each other (123helpme,2010). Place This heading refers to distribution. This means all aspects that focus on to how the goods and services should move from the producers to the end user. This means the coordination of retailers and/or wholesales and in the case of products the logistics involved in moving from factory/warehouse/head office, to the end user.BA has its main head quartos in U.K only. The airline hovers to above 550 destinations internationally and is measured to be a leader in the business. BAs prices depend on fluctuations in oil prices which it cannot control (123helpme, 2010). Promotion It is refers to as advertising or promoting a product, brand or industry to gain profit and expand the business. British Airways launched an advertising campaign to promote the trial of its First and Club World services. BA gives a lot charity and launches exhibitions for the funds for the needy ones. BA provides training programs and provides the students with the scholarships for their better future (123helpme, 2010). On a preliminary note it is important to understand the concepts of Mission and Vision for a particular organization. The difference between Mission and Vision statement is a Mission statement contains the information of the company in a nutshell about its products and services to customers while a Vision statement offers the future perspectives of the company or organization, the purpose or broader goal for being in existence or in the business. (Difference between, 2010) Mission and Vision Statements of the British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are discussed below Mission statement of British Airways There is no official mission statement from the companys website instead the social blogs have various statements out of which the best one chosen To be the undisputed leader in the world of airlines for the next millennium Vision statement of British Airways- The Worlds Favorite Airline Mission Statement of Virgin Atlantic- Safety, security and consistent delivery of the basics are the foundation of everything we do. Vision statement of British Airways- To grow a profitable airline, where people love to fly and where people love to work Analyzing and comparing the Mission and Vision statements of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic The mission and vision statements of British airways seems to be in the line of business as both focus on world class operations not just local or domestic functioning, hence it is recommended that being a company which caters large scale audience/customers British Airways has to focus on its principles of functioning to achieve its vision. As far as Virgin Atlantic is concerned, nowhere it mentions about the functioning and catering the audiences of the world, it is known fact that Virgin Atlantic is more of a British nature and caters or prefers services priority to British audiences hence it needs to change its mission and vision statement which though is appealing but doesnt come in the line of business. Competitor Analysis The airline sector is more competitive today than it was before in the past, provided now days consumers with more choice and with affordable prices than ever before due to the emergence of low-cost airlines. British Airways operates within two strategic groups within the airline sector the short-haul and the long-haul. Each of these sectors has different competitors. One group consists of airlines with regional operations offering scheduled flights and comparison on costs. The other group focuses on offering long haul flights, with great quality of environments and services to a wide range of destinations. Which makes BA to participate on a large scale at global, European, national and regional level. Within the UK, BA is the largest carrier in the market accounting for 45.1% of passengers with Virgin Atlantic being the second largest carrier in the market with 9.2% market share. It is also likely that long-haul licenses will be granted to low-cost airlines which will enable them to compete in both .This was originally a major cause for concern for British Airways and they initially set up Go-fly to be able to compete with its new competitors Virgin Atlantic. However, it later decided t o focus on its core business and sold Go to Easy Jet in 2002. For example, regional competitors such as Virgin Atlantic have entered the market offering European flights from local airports in Wales. .Virgin airlines change in strategy will have direct effect on BA as they continue to attract customers for their high quality standards. Another strategy that seems to be emerging amongst traditional carriers is to reduce fares in order to become more competitive with the low-cost airlines.BA also has to consider the indirect competitors. New planes, new routes, additional flights and management changes are all factors that impinge a business. Such changes made by a competitor need constant monitoring in order for BA to examine its current position and develop future strategies. Virgin Atlantic has best online reputation as compared to British Airways that effects the working of the British airways. CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS AND OUTCOMES This model talks about the services and quality promised to the customers and the service and quality the customer receives. It is very important for any company to understand the importance of its customer needs for its development and building a brand image. BA is a well-established company and holds a very good reputation in the markets with filling the need of their customer through the terms and conditions they have promised to their customers. The strength of BA lies with the satisfaction of its customers but in certain cases it is failed to satisfy its customers according to the promises been made, issues which have affected the reputation of BA are like not delivering hot meals in flights or not delivering meals at all in short flights. These certain issues has disappointed the customer expectations from BA . Therefore, from the model above which emphasis on the bond between the company offering and delivering to their customers, so it is found that customers are not receiving the quality of services which are been promised by BA .(Ogle, 2010) Question 3. Answer: Using Piercys Value Proposition Model the above question can be solved Piercy (1997) identifies 4 relationships to be considered when managing market-led organizations. Figure 1.1: Key relationships in market strategy (Source: based on Piercy, 1997) It identifies the key relationship-marketing issue as the refocusing of marketing effort: moving activities away from a marketing mix that creates a series of one-off transactions, to managing a complex network of relationships involved in the production of the whole consumer offering. Customer Analysis Shaw (2004) addresses what the most fundamental and commonest mistakes made in airline marketing failure to make a proper distinction between the Consumer and the Customer. Consumers are the ones who actually travel and it is significant that BA consider customers importance, as they are the decision makers of the organization. This is very important aspect for both consumer as well as industrial markets. BAs customers differ extremely in terms of their buying behaviour. Not only do they differ in terms of their age, income, educational levels and geographic location but more fundamentally in BAs case in terms of their lifestyles and potentials which are unfair by several factors. BA also deals in an industrial market where changes in buying behaviour are showed by the reserve of BAs purchasing policies, delivery dates and expected 7 This means using smaller airports, not allocating seats, making passengers pay for refreshments and not issuing tickets. The majority of these decision s are made by a group of individuals working to a set of purchasing criteria, known as the Decision Making Unit (DMU). The mission statement is defined as the key to success and meeting the customer needs on a short span of time and it requires to be changed every year preferably. We now discuss about developing a mission statement, developing vision statement and value statement. (ba.com, 2010) New mission and vision of British Airways Mission Statement : Modernise aircraft fleet and offer new services managing at cost base. Vision Statement : Increase corporate responsibility through environmental performance and partnerships. Developing a Mission Statement Mostly, the mission statement states the overall objective of the organization. If the company decides to develop its vision statement before developing its mission statement it should not affect its working as both means the same and in the vision turns into mission for the company. Improving a mission statement can be done in a fast way by having proper discussion , different experience and should have survey about having different mission with working team of the organization. Study any changes that may be required in wording of the mission statement can leads to any new suggested strategies during a recent strategic planning process which can affect its working.( Managementhelp, 2010) Creating New Value Propositions In order for a company to move to an unique position on the value frontier, it must change its strategies. Value propositions can be changed along four dimensions (price, place, product and promotion) to achieve one of the four strategies which alter positions on or of the value frontier (extending toward the low-end, toward the high-end, and shifting the frontier). First, a company must identify which of the four strategies is appropriate. Extending the frontier toward the low-end is worthwhile if the low-end frontier point in a specific industry can compete with the high-end point in another industry (e.g., low-cost air travel competing with buses) or if customers would be interested in a product/service of lower performance at a lower price. Extending the frontier toward the high-end can be considered when the high-end in a specific industry can compete with the low-end point in another industry (e.g., high-quality prepared pasta competing with restaurants) or when there are customers willing to pay for more performance than what is currently available. If neither option makes sense, then shifting the frontier is the only alternative. This has traditionally been the basis of market competition. Changing value propositions to achieve such frontier changes rely on changing one or more of the four dimensions. Managers need to think of innovating ways to reduce price, risk, and efforts as well as to address the multiple roles customer play, such as having customers co-create some of the work. So now we will focus on transforming product performance by suggesting generic ways of changing product/service attributes. Desired attributes are those most often already delivered in another customer segment, but unreachable at the price point of customers who also desire them. Technological innovation is the most common lever for bringing down the price points to deliver such attributes to a new market segment. For instance, British Airways started providing individual color screens to every economy class passenger when matrix display technology got advanced enough to lower the costs sufficiently. One way to elicit these attributes is to find out what performance level customers would ask for if they had unlimited resources. What service could be delivered to them? And are there any ways to provide some of these services at a more reasonable price (e.g. British Airways adding beds to airplanes). So to answer these question British Airways must improve it. (Source: archive.nyu.edu, 2010) Improved value proposition of British Airways Upgrade customer experience via the introduction of text and mobile services for business class customers as well as regular customers and maintain low price for all types of services. Defining/ Implementation of the Plan Value Propositions and Value Frontier The first step in the process is to define the value frontier. This is fairly easy to do. Managers must first identify what their competitors offer in terms of performance and cost. A value frontier extends from low-cost substitutes to fulfill a specific need (automobile or railway vs. aircraft) to high-end embellishments that are currently offered at high prices and define superior performance . Thus, we ask managers to consider ways of fulfilling core needs beyond the ways currently offered in their industry segment. This is a critical first step in identifying new strategies. Once the value frontier is defined, what are the value propositions of the companies along the frontier? What are the performance, price, risk and effort attributes across customer roles that define the companies on the frontier? Defining the value proposition of different locations on the frontier allows managers to elicit key attributes for differentiation. It also forms the basis for comparing the companies value propositions with a competitors. It should avoid price related struggles and should adopt policies which comprises of low prices. Good communication channels should be adopted in order to avoid confusion about the services been provided to the customers. Better quality of technology should be use to entertain the customers in flight. Should not promise the customers to deliver the services which are cannot be fulfilled. BA should provide its customers with hot meals in all kind of flights. It reflects good impression on the customers. BRITISH AIRWAYS SHOULD ADOPT NEW MARKETING MIX Suppliers, shareholders, customers and employees are not rivals for the battle for profits they are partners, and will be more successful once they learn to work together. (Egan and Thomas, 1998) NEW MARKETING MIX FOR BRITISH AIRWAYS On the basis of status financial British Airways is relatively stable to other companies in the air transport industry, and it has positioned itself as a best service provider. It has formed alliances with other carriers, and has already segmented its market successfully. The best strategy for the BA is to follow the strategic plan it has made and monitor that all of its activities support that strategic focus. Product strategy Product is always been the most important aspect for the organizations success. It needs to be advanced and achieve very careful in order to be successful. British Airways product strategy comprises of good quality services, quality of flights leads to various destinations through Europe and rest of the world. It has executive class, business class, speed, security, support facilities and having experience of several years. To satisfy its customers should it provides them with their basic need to other alternatives too and fulfill their demands. Pricing strategy Pricing strategy followed by British Airways is Price Discrimination. There is a condition of price war between different airline companies as the new breed of airlines, the so called low cost airlines is growing fast. The most successful among these low cost carriers are Southwest Airlines (USA), Ryan air (Ireland), easy jet (UK). So British Airways should adopt the policy of low price. Promotional strategy British Airways launched an advertising campaign to promote the trial of its First and Club World services. As part of the campaign, British Airways is offering new members of its Executive Club Canada frequent flyer program free economy class tickets for two to a global destination in exchange for their opinion about their flying experience in First Class or Club World this will help in attracting customers. Place British Airways working globally should focus on its key destination countries and should adopt such policies to meet the demands of its customers on time. CONCLUSION British Airways remains cautiously optimistic about its future prospects. However, it is certain that considerably more work lies ahead if the airline is to succeed. Rising prices could place BA in a disadvantageous position, particularly given the continued popularity of budget airlines. This is an important factor for BA to consider. BA must understand that the key growth area for BA is likely to be in value-added travel. In some areas, BA found that it could improve customers experience while reducing costs, such as in its building up of online sales. Overall, BA must continue to strive to reduce costs and improve customer and employee satisfaction. List of References 123HELPME 2010, Product Strategy of the British Airways [Online] Available at: http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=121683 [Accessed on 05 December 2010 ]. Business dictionary 2010,customer value [online] Available at:http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/customer-value.html [Accessed on 06 December 2010]. Business dictionary 2010, value proposition [online] Available at: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/value-proposition.html [ Accessed on 05 December]. ba.com 2010 (Official Website) Available at: www.ba.com[Accessed on: 30th November]. Difference between (no date), Difference Between Mission and Vision [Online] Available at:http://www.differencebetween.net/language/difference-between-mission-and-vision/ [Accessed on 06 December 2010]. Innovation leaders 2010, Profile: virgin atlantic [online] Available at: http://www.innovationleaders.net/va_company_profile.html [Accessed on 05 December 2010]. Karnbil , A.1996, Re-Inventing Value Propositions[online] Available at: http://archive.nyu.edu/bitstream/2451/14205/1/IS-96-21.pdfhttp://archive.nyu.edu/bitstream/2451/14205/1/IS-96-21.pdf [Accessed on 06 December]. Ogle, D, 2010. Types of Customer value Proposition BD415031S Marketing Management. Anglia Ruskin University, Unpublished. Ogle, D, 2010. Importance of value proposition BD415031S Marketing Management. Anglia Ruskin University, Unpublished. Ogle, D, 2010.CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS AND OUTCOMES BD415031S Marketing Management. Anglia Ruskin University, Unpublished. Reuters 2010, Profile: British Airways PLC (BAY.L) [online] Available at: http://uk.reuters.com/business/quotes/companyProfile?symbol=BAY.L [Accessed on 06 December 2010].

When Good Science Goes Bad :: Experiments Testing Papers

There appears to be some writing on the note ... A videotape shows a BMW driving quite erratically. It drives along swerving in and out of traffic. The car drives on the shoulder of the road and even off to the side of the road at times. On the tape a voice can be heard. It is the police officer communicating back and forth with the person on the other end of his radio. What he says is shown as subtitles on the bottom of the screen. He reads off the speeds his radar gun shows. This lets you know how recklessly the driver of the BMW is driving. As the tape continues to play the BMW seems to be driving worse and worse, until the driver loses control and ends up getting into some sort of horrific accident all caught on the camera that is sitting on the dash of the police officers cruiser. Everyone has seen these television shows; the ones that are titled Worlds Scariest Police Chases, When Good Cops Turn Bad, and even Americas Dumbest Criminals. These shows on TV are relatively cheap to create. The companies just pay a person to do th e narrating for the stories and they use actual footage from police car cameras or security cameras. The best part about these shows is they draw in the big ratings. Viewers love these shows and that brings in big advertising money for the companies. Well what if these shows were looked at in a different context? What if they were looked at because they were real and not as a TV show? Then they were looked at in other areas, say science. What would happen if a TV show called When Good Science (or Scientists) Goes (Go) Bad? Would people become more aware of what is going on and try to prevent it or would they be happier with not knowing what is going on? It seems scientists sometimes are more concentrated on their own curiosity, and that they may work on things solely for their own pursuit of knowledge. Sometimes the intention of the scientist may be to create something that will help better the world, but in the end the opposite happens. The questions of science are not new. Since the beginning of time, man has explored science. They ask questions and seek answers. The question of is science doing the right thing or not is also not a new question.

The Controversies in Home Schooling Education

Public schooling has been the predominate form of education in the United States for many decades; however, recent statistics demonstrate a rise in the number of home schooling participants. On the other hand, the majority of these participants eventually return to public school systems once they reach the high school level. The reasons for this movement are based on the opportunities for socialization and academic competition provided by public schools. Public education also provides superior classroom interaction directed by a more qualified faculty. Although home schooling has become an appealing educational alternative, public schools continue to provide better opportunities resulting in a more well rounded citizen. Despite the increasing number of home schooled students due to overprotective parents, public schools continue to offer the best form of education in our country today. To begin, public schools provide a more satisfactory and effective form of education. In home schooling, no competition is attainable to push the child to achieve a higher level of education; however, public schools offer a sophisticated classroom setting in which the students are constantly competing with each other. Many of the children attending public school work hard to earn the most efficient grade in the classroom, but a child learning at home probably will not care for his or her grade. What parent would give a low grade or even fail their child? Every parent feels that his or her student must obtain the most adequate grade. Next, in public school, a student can receive help from several different people within a classroom. To explain, one may ask another student or the teacher for assistance on an assignment (Hawkins 57). Such a variety of help is not attainable in the antisocial home schooling society. Another vital reasonon for a child to go to public school rather than home school would be that of the child's outlook on society. William Martin, Director of communications for the National Education Association, the nation's largest teacher's union explains: If, say, a fifth-grader goes through a book at an accelerated pace, It's good for him to see other kids who struggle with the same material, so when he goes into the work force, he will know that not everyone learns at the same pace,† (Hawkins 58). Furthermore, a student that is taught at home by parents will grow up acting and thinking the same as the parents do. It is important for a child to find his or her own personality with their own visions and outlooks, not just mimic that of their parents. Public schools offer a plethora of different opinions and views concerning world issues and people. A child that understands that everyone thinks differently is a child who will succeed in the real world. Along with these ideas, one more plausible reason is public schools help to provide for a more well rounded citizen. Many participants in the public/home school controversy argue whether or not home schooling impedes the development of social skills in a student. â€Å"In a survey of 115 educators, more than 80 percent believed home schoolers were at a disadvantage in the social development of the child,† (Hawkins 57). Activities may be available to home schoolers, such as church activities, sports leagues, and scouting; however, home schooling deprives the child of important social experiences. These â€Å"social experiences† create an inspirational part in a students' life. Public schoolers have this opportunity with the involvement of school sports, clubs, dances, and other social activities. With out these didactic experiences, a student could result in a socially immature young adult. Along with social skills comes the topic of friends or acquaintances. The majority of children under the age of 18 rely on school as the primary source of social interaction. Friends are easily made at public school because of the many opportunities to interact with other students in class, on the bus, or at school functions. Being home schooled until third grade, it was hard for me to make friends at a young age. The other children that lived on my street would often poke fun at and would not play with me. They did not understand why every morning when left for school I would just be waking up or why when they would return home from school I was in the front yard playing with my dog. One of the little boys who lived at the end of my street thought that it was cool my mom was my teacher, but most of the others child were still cruel to me. Later when did attend public school for the first time, I remember being so nervous and shy. Bathroom breaks, raising your hand to speak, and walking in a line, all seemed foreign to me. My mom had not covered all the new rules and regulations that accompanied public school. It took a while to get used to. While I did enjoy getting to sleep in and work at my own pace, home school was an experience I will never force on my own children. In another instance, arguments arise over the consequences once home schoolers reach the adult working level. Gary Marx, senior associate executive director at the American Association of School Administrators, comments that â€Å"while the parents may seem to be saving their children from confronting diversity in thinking, race, economic status and social skills, in the long run, these young people will still have to go into the world. And these kids later will feel deprived,† (Hawkins 58). In the real world, business people need the skills to work well with others. Deprived home schoolers will find it difficult to interact in the work place because of their lack of contact with other children during their previous years. These students will find that adapting to a more social atmosphere is difficult at an adult level. In one instance, a girl, Teren Williams, was searching for a job. The job for which Teren applied almost did not hire her because they felt that her home school education would cause her social skills to not be â€Å"strong enough,† (Kennedy 50). Teren shows only one example of difficulty faced by home schoolers. Many other instances occur where they overcome problems due to their social standings. A controversial argument has also occurred over the issue of UIL activities in public schools. Many home schoolers, to help advance their social skills, want to participate in these activities. The concerned parents of these students feel that because they pay school taxes, their children have the right to participate in UIL extracurricular activities. However, many public schoolers feel that giving home school students UIL rights would be unethical. Allowing home schoolers to be involved in a public school's UIL program would cause a school district to lose money in the long run. Also, a concern that affects public schoolers involves the no-pass, no-play rules. Grades are really not determined at the home school level; therefore, distinguishing a passing or failing home-schooled student would produce a difficult task for a parent. Another reason that home schoolers should not be allowed to participate involves the fact that they do not have the competitive advantage that a public school student is subject to. Through the opportunity of being in school and training at the same time for that UIL activity, public schoolers can create a stronger UIL organization than if a home school student just came to play. For these reasons, â€Å"most states resist the idea of home schoolers taking courses or participating in extracurricular activities† at a public school (Hawkins 58). Many believe that the involvement process for home schoolers would cheat the public school students who actually work hard to achieve their goals in a more social setting. Even though home school is on the rise, public school still provides a more adequate form of education. More over public education advances the ideals of and preserves the democracy in the youth as it equalizes the opportunities among the different races and classes. In conclusion public school offers an effective form of education that produces well-rounded individuals ready to enter the world.

Contrast Essays

Aladdin/the Little Mermaid Compare/Contrast Essays Aladdin/the Little Mermaid Compare/Contrast Paper Aladdin/the Little Mermaid Compare/Contrast Paper Thao Xiong English 130-02 Dr. Lynn Houston 11/14/10 Aladdin/The Little Mermaid. In all of the movies that we had watched in class, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid has the best relationship between comparing and contrasting. In both of the movies, there is one daughter in each movie who rebelled to find their true love. In The Little Mermaid, Ariel rebelled and went to the surface to search for her prince, but in Aladdin, Jasmine rebelled the law by not accepting the prince who came to see if shes the right girl for them. Not only the daughters whom rebelled, but, the main villain in each of the movies also share a similarity for how they hunger for power. Although the villain may grew into a giant monster, they were too obsessed with their power that they didnt realize what kind situation they were in. One of the similarity in both of the movie is rebellion. Rebellion is defined as a resistance to or defiance of any authority, control, or tradition(Dictionary). In the movie Aladdin, Jasmine rebelled her father by not accepting the princes who came to her fathers castle who came see if shes good enough to be a wife. She rejects the princes who came to her fathers castle because she wants to marry somebody that she loves instead of arrange marriage. In the other movie, The Little Mermaid, Ariel rebelled her father because of her selfishness. She is deceived by the human world and fell in love with a human. She rebels her father by disrespecting her fathers love that she doesnt see and risks her freedom, her royal identity and her life in exchange for the slim chance at fulfilling her desires(kbonikowsky, 2008). She sacrifices her voice to change her fins into human legs so that shell get a chance to walk in the human world and find her love. The difference in their rebellion is that Jasmine is defying authority, control and tradition. The Authoritarian are the one who makes the law. Her father is the one who is controlling her and in her tradition, every princess must be married to a prince. But in The Little Mermaid, Ariel is only defying her fathers control. But her fathers control was meant to protect her which she doesnt see it like any other peoples strict parents. The major difference in their rebellion is that Ariel is the one who is looking for her love other than Jasmine who sits around in her fathers castle waiting for a prince. Another similarity in both of the movies is power. Power is what the main villain desires. The main villain in Aladdin is Jafar. Jafar is the sinister grand Vizier to Agrabahs Sultan who desires power over Agrabah and lusts the Sultans beautiful daughter, Princess Jasmine(Wikia, n. d. ). The other villain in The Little Mermaid is Ursula. Ursula is a sea witch octopus who is also obsess with power and willing to help people who are in need while achieving her own goals. In the movie Aladdin and The Little Mermaid, both Jafar and Ursula grew into a giant monster after getting the power they wanted. Jafar was being careless that he failed to use his power properly and made the wrong decision of transforming himself into a Genie. Ursula on the other hand, was too obsess with her new power and she failed to kill Ariel also because of her carelessness. In result of watching both Aladdin and The Little Mermaid, I noticed that rebellion and power plays a role in these movies. Although both jasmine and Ariel were rebelling, they were different from how Ariel rebels to go find her love unlike Jasmine who stays in her fathers castle to wait for a prince. On the other hand, power also plays a role in each of the movie. But, thanks to Jafar and Ursulas obsessive need of power, it made them careless after it have been obtained.

Michael Crichtons Andromedia Strain Report

Michael Crichtons Andromedia Strain Report This book is about biophysicists that are conducting a special experiment. They are sending a probe into outer space and collecting organisms for study. After project "scoop" sends seventeen stalites into outer space,a probe falls and lands in the north eastern Arizona. Not very far away the scientists discover many dead bodies that look to have been flung across the ground. The bodies faces appear to have been frozen in surprise. This is just the beginning. In this book the scientists are trying to discover a cure for the deadly bacteria that kills everyone in a non violent way.. This virus kills everyone,except a newborn baby and a old man in the small town in a matter of seconds.2 scientists go into the town to look around and find the man and the baby. They are wearing protective suits so that they wont catch the virus. After getting the baby and bringing it back to a special lab,they have to find out more about the virus.None - This image is in the public domain and thus...They conduct some tests and figure out that the virus is. When they are conducting some tests they are looking under a microscope and they see a green substance that appears to be growing on a small piece of rock. They do some more experiments by putting this green substance in a cage that has a rat or a monkey,and find out that they die in a matter of seconds. After they find out what the organism looks like,they have to find a cure. They search for a long time,but no one can find a cure. Finally there is a part where the virus breaks out and a man is stuck in the lab with the virus. When a scientists looks in the videocamera,he sees the mans face and says that it looks frozen...

NO topic - But it's a subject about URBAN PLANNING Essay

NO topic - But it's a subject about URBAN PLANNING - Essay Example This paper will look into transportation planning, growth management, defense privileges, structural unemployment and its importance for local economic development, challenges to regional planning, and the planning differences between the USA and other nations. Transportation facilitates the movement of people and goods from one place to another. It also controls the growth and economic patterns by facilitating land access. Transportation planning identifies the vital relationship between transportation and other societal objectives. Many urban areas are faced with the problem of traffic congestion. The extensive freeways may provide different collector and express paths to split through traffic from narrow traffic, or individual high-tenure vehicle paths, either as a distinct control on the innermost road or a split roadway, to facilitate easy movement. Induced demand is brought about by reduction in the efficient transport cost instigated by the new infrastructure making movement more suitable. Trucks make up for about 10% of motor vehicles on the road. Trucks are essential to the economy and welfare of society. Business is dictated by trucking, and the logistics sector specifically relies on road transport for picking up commodities and delivering them. Other than pickup and delivery, the truck provides’ other services such as fire protection and snow removal. Growth management refers to methods utilized by the government to make certain that as the population increases their requirements are fulfilled through set up services. The services not only encompass those provided by the government. Other requirements such as the preservation of the natural environment, provision of proper and affordable facilities for accommodation and housing, deliverance of services, maintenance of monuments and museums and creation of spaces for undertaking business

Examining the examples of European Green Energy and the ways to Essay

Examining the examples of European Green Energy and the ways to improve Canadian Green Energy - Essay Example This paper analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of green energy and further identifies whether the current policy is an effective strategy for addressing climate change. People have become aware of the effects of global warming and for that reason; the world has turned into green energy to reduce the effects of fossil energy. Green energy is energy that comes from resources that are environmental friendly such as solar energy, geothermal heat, wind, and rain that are constantly replaced. Green energy can also be defined as alternative energy that is produced from other sources other than fossil fuels. Green energy is also referred to as renewable energy because it is the source of energy that does not consume the finite resources of the earth and can be quickly and easily replenished. Green energy has been internationally accepted because it has no pollutants that affect the air hence creating a less impact on the environment. Despite the evident need for green energy, global response has been scanty. The paper will begin with a brief introduction on the current issues facing the climate change and the role of green energy in addressing the problems. The introduction will end with a a clear thesis statement based on the topic green energy, which will later build up the main arguments of the paper. The next section will be a comprehensive review of literature that explains and supports the use of green energy. This section will provide an understanding of factors such as environmental and economic benefits. The next section will review the various debates and reasons given against the use of green energy. The next section will be a comprehensive discussion on the facts that have been identified in the body of the paper and finally, a conclusion and recommendation supporting or opposing the thesis statement supported by the facts provided in the discussion. The advantages of green energy include first, green energy is renewable in the sense that it

Cause and effect on the Dred Scott Supreme Court Decision Essay

Cause and effect on the Dred Scott Supreme Court Decision - Essay Example The reasoning behind the Supreme Court decision on the Dred Scott Case is complex. The ultimate conclusion was that African Americans (Born abroad or in the USA) by nature of their heritage and race were not Citizens nor could they become Citizens and ultimately, were not protected by the Constitution. As such it was the case that slaves could not sue in court by nature of their citizenship rights, Moreover it was also decided that the American Congress didn’t have the ability to prohibit slavery and as such they could not be confiscated without some sort of due-process. The background of the case is stored. According to Watson.org (1998) Scott was a slave, born in Virginia around the turn of the 19th century and was owned by Dr. John Emerson (An Army doctor who frequently traveled). At some time during Emerson’s travels he brought Scott to several free-states for a period exceeding seven years. After the Death of Emerson, Scott claimed ill treatment by Emerson’s wife (Eliza) who denied his right to purchaser his freedom. Scot brought forward a case stating that he was free by virtue of his living in Free States and by his willingness to purchase his freedom. From the perspective of economic causes and effects of the Supreme Court decision on the Dred Scot case there are a number of factors at play. ... dollars were living in the USA around this time. This factor would weigh heavily on the decision makers. Ultimately as an effect, if the court ruling had gone another direction it would open the door to probably an endless supply of slaves bringing cases There were a number of social causes and effects pertaining to this court ruling. Even though there was a strong abolitionist movement it remained the case that blacks were regarded as beneath all whites. According to PBS (2011) it was the case that under the interpretation of the Constitution by Chief Justice Roger Taney (A slavery supporter) it was believed that blacks had no rights that white men were obliged to respect. Moreover because blacks had no rights and were as such beneath white men than blacks may be enslaved for the benefit of whites and can be treated as a piece of property. Building on this previous point, it was also argued that even though the Declaration of Independence stated that â€Å"All men are created equal † it was argued that the African race was never intended to be included as they had played no part in framing the declaration. As a result of this court decision, it is likely that this drove a greater wedge between abolitionists and slavery supporters insofar as the poorly argued rhetoric of this decision would have enraged most abolitionists. Moreover, the attempt by abolitionists to impose federal rulings on slavery supporters would have likely enraged this group as well. Without question, there were a number of political causes and effects that would have played a significant role in this court case and decision. Although it may seem like an over simplification, states that had abolished slavery were developing economies that could be described as being more

Prevalence of One Party Rule in African States Essay Example for Free

Prevalence of One Party Rule in African States Essay Africa, often known as the ‘Dark Continent’ rightfully occupies its place as the ‘Cradle of Civilization’ as the first humans have been known to originate from this continent of diverse ethnicities, tribes and clans. Since ancient times, the very nature of African society predicated formation of kingdoms and states centered on ethnicities and clans. Later, the advent of colonialism brought to Africa new forms of governance, which included democratization, socialism, communism and dictatorships. One enduring feature of African style of governance has been the prevalence of one party rule in most African countries. This paper examines why there is such a preference for such single party model of governance in Africa. To fully examine the subject, this paper shall first provide a historical overview of the progression of styles of governance in Africa and then examine the trends in major countries that make up the African continent. The paper will argue that the intrinsic nature of the African society and the effects of colonialism predispose them to following a one party rule. Historical Overview Africa is the world’s second largest continent both in terms of size and population and has 54 countries many of which are struggling democracies, a few communist regimes, and a number of authoritarian regimes bordering on dictatorship. Since ancient times, Africa had its indigenous systems of governance based on tribes and ethnic affinities. Africa also had great civilizations like the Egyptian civilization in 3300 B. C (Martin OMeara, 1995, p. 79). The earliest foreign influence came in 814 B. C. with the founding of Carthage in present day Tunisia under the Roman Empire which was followed by Persian domination of Egypt. In 332 B. C. , Alexander the Great replaced the Persian domination of Egypt and Roman rule continued in much of North Africa till the advent of Islam in the early 7th century (Martin OMeara, p. 99). In all these cases, the style of governance was centralized, as exercised by the emperor based in Rome or Persia through an appointed sovereign. The influence was limited mostly to North Africa, while the rest of Africa was considered too difficult to traverse due to thick jungles. Thus even in North Africa, from ancient times, the focus was on one –man rule and that more or less ‘conditioned’ the North African people to accept models of ‘uni-power’ in those times. Since the jungles were impassable and large number of tribes and ethnicities abounded, it was natural that rest of Africa had thousands of small kingdoms, states and at times independent nomadic tribes who dominated a particular territory. Each tribe had its own set of rules, customs, traditions and styles of governance, which again was predicated on the rule of one man or a tribal elder. The concept of Greek ‘city-state’ like democracy complete with a senate and an executive was non-existence. Over time, some of the tribes became more powerful and evolved into larger settled kingdoms that coalesced around similar ethnicities and language such as the Ghanaian empire that existed in 790-1076 A. D. followed by the Mali Empire from 1230 to 1600 A. D. (Martin OMeara, p. 70) The significant changes in style of governance came with the advent of colonialism. From the 18th century and by the late 19th century, most of Africa was divided up between the colonial powers; France, Britain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy and Netherlands. Under colonial rule, the African people had to undergo centralized rule of the colonial powers and the brutal suppression of any African revolt reinforced this submissiveness to a one-man rule. During the colonial period, the colonial powers brought with them their systems of governance, jurisprudence and legislation (Martin OMeara, p. 8). Colonialism lost its vigor in the early 20th century and by 1980, most ex-colonies in Africa gained independence. The former colonial powers before exiting from the continent tried to put into place systems of governance in ‘their own image’. Thus across Africa, a variety of ‘democratic’ systems took hold. Most of these ‘democratic systems were basically presidential forms of government, being the closest approximation to what they were used to both as per their pre-colonial experience and their colonial experience. The end of the Second World War gave rise to the Cold War and the Soviet Union tried to expand its influence in Africa also. This gave rise to numerous socialist-communist regimes in Africa that were opposed by the U. S. leading to proxy wars. Having examined the broad trends of the historical period of Africa till the advent of independence, the paper will now examine specific examples of how prevalence of one party rule exists in Africa. It is not intended to cover all 54 countries, but few sample countries that typify the various regions of Africa. For the ease of comprehension and brevity, Africa will be discussed under the heads North Africa, West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa and Southern Africa. North Africa North Africa because of its proximity to Asia had significant influence of Asian and Islamic traditions superimposed on ethnic African traditions and cultures. It is because of the spread of Islam in the 7th century, most of North Africa is Islamic. Islam, an egalitarian religion is considered as a complete body of work wherein all aspects of human life including politics and governance can be practiced through the Quran, the Holy book and the Hadith, the Islamic interpretation of Jurisprudence. Under Islamic law and Islamic political systems, an Islamic state is governed by a Caliph and where a Caliph no longer exists, then by a monarch or a ruler. Ideas such as secularism and democracy have very little congruence with the practice of political Islam. When such a system is overlaid over ancient tribal culture of a village head, it becomes natural that a state be ruled by a monarch or an authoritarian head and if not, the nearest approximation, a single grouping or party. Take for example, Egypt. Egypt, since ancient times was a land ruled by the Pharaohs, then the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Ottomans and the Arabs. In the colonial era, Egypt was ruled by Britain but the largely Islamic populace got independence from Britain in 1922 (Pateman El-Hamamsy, 2003, p. 28). Egypt was initially a constitutional monarchy and had adopted the British parliamentary system of government but constant political interference from Britain led to internal turmoil that finally resulted in a military coup in 1952 (Pateman El-Hamamsy, p. 28) in which the monarchy was overthrown and Egypt declared itself to be a Republic under General Muhammed Naquib. Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser overthrew Naguib in 1954 to become the Egyptian President. Nasser, on assuming power banned all political parties and created a one party named the Liberation Rally to run the government. This move helped him consolidate his power and rule Egypt till his death in 1970 after which he was succeeded by Anwar El-Sadat, the vice President (Pateman El-Hamamsy, p. 29). Sadat carried out political reforms and reverted to a multi-party system (Pateman El-Hamamsy, p. 31); creating one of the parties called the National Democratic Party and remained the President till he was assassinated in 1981 by a group of Egyptian army officers during an army parade (Pateman El-Hamamsy, p. 29). Sadat’s successor, Hosni Mubarak is still in office since 1981 and is the present leader of the National Democratic Party. Though by the Egyptian constitution, multi-party system is allowed, due to sustained state patronage, the National Democratic Party is the only party which has the necessary financial and political clout to win elections. There are other smaller parties that have virtually no chance of winning a single election and till to date Egypt is essentially ruled by a single party. Libya, a British colony was declared as a monarchy under King Idris in 1951 but was overthrown by a revolution led by Colonel Muammer al-Gaddafi in 1969 (Wright, 1981, p. 130) who has ruled the country ever since. Political parties were banned by Gaddafi in 1972 and the country is ruled by the ‘revolutionary leader’, Gaddafi aided by a Revolutionary Committee also called as the People’s Congress. Tunisia was a French protectorate that became independent in 1956 and adopted a Presidential form of government, copying the French model, except that it rapidly turned into an authoritarian police state where most ‘Presidents’ have been military personnel. The present incumbent, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali is a former military officer (Perkins, 2004, p. 7). On paper, political parties are allowed but in reality, it is only the President’s party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally that gets almost all the seats. The rest of the political parties are usually browbeaten into submission by the state’s security system and there is virtually no free press. The farcical nature of Tunisian ‘democracy’ can be gauged by the fact that in the 2009 presidential election, Ben Ali received 89. 62% votes to continue as the President (Lowe Amara, 2009, p. 1). The ancient kingdom of Morocco, a French and Spanish Protectorate gained independence in 1956 as a constitutional monarchy, a system that continues till to date. Though the King of Morocco has a prime minister, a parliament and a multi-party system, the style of governance continues to be rule by one man, the King (Forum, 2008, p. 49). West Africa In West Africa, the situation is slightly different. Here more than Islamic influence, it was the effect of local dynamics, ethnic rivalries, Christian missionaries and communist influence that has determined the preference for single party rule. Take for example Liberia, the only other country other than Ethiopia which has an American connection rather than a European past. Liberia was created through a private American enterprise to house freed African American slaves and became independent in 1847. Since, the project was American led; Liberia adopted a presidential form of system. However, the American backed Liberian elite who ruled the country came in conflict with 16 other indigenous ethnicities living in Liberia. Since the regime was thrust ‘top down’ from the Americans, tensions quickly developed and a coup by a group of ethnic military soldiers led by Samuel Doe took place in 1980. Doe replaced the presidential republic with his authoritarian regime. Political parties were allowed to exist but their freedom remained curtailed by the regime which furthered the hold of its own party, the National Democratic Party of Liberia. The 1985 election results in which the opposition Liberal Action Party won were declared invalid by Doe, which led to the Liberian Civil War in 1989. Doe was killed and the power passed into the hands of Charles Taylor (Moran, 2008, p. 106), who continued his dictatorial regime which again led to another civil war in 1999 that continued up to 2003 and only came to halt with Charles Taylor being forced into exile in Nigeria. From 1847 till 2003, Liberia was ruled by the Americo-Liberian elite and their single party. Since 2003, a transitional government was put into place with international intervention, which because of corruption was dissolved and fresh presidential elections were again held in 2005 and was won by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the head of Unity Party who became the first woman President of an African country (Polgreen, 2005, p. 1). Nigeria got its independence from Britain in 1960 and had numerous political parties. These political parties were sharply defined along ethnic lines comprising of three main ethnicities; the Hausa, the Igbo and the Yoruba (Rotberg, 2007, p. 19). The Yoruba dominated Nigerian National Democratic Party won the elections in 1965, which led to political dissensions and instability resulting in two military coups in 1966. This did not resolve the problem as the Igbo, dominating the Eastern region of the country declared independence from Nigeria leading to the Nigerian civil war 1967-1970 that led to over a million deaths. The civil war ended but not the ethnic strife and the military continued to rule Nigeria with coups and assassination of the presidents being a regular feature. For thirty years, Nigeria continued under military rule till 1999 when it finally elected Lusegun Obasanjo, a former military dictator as its President. Obasanjo was re-elected in 2003 (Rotberg, p. 13) as the President amidst allegations of rigging. Obasanjo was replaced by Umaru YarAdua of the People’s Democratic Party in 2007 and on his demise now been replaced by Goodluck Jonathan (Nossiter, 2010, p. 1). So while the American model was adopted, the actual functioning of a presidential type of government has been a recent development in Nigeria’s history. At present there are two main parties in Nigeria, the ruling People’s Democratic Party and the opposition All Nigeria People’s Party with numerous smaller parties. What must be noted is that a democratic political system in Nigeria is still nascent and fragile and should ethnic differences arise again it will not be long that another military coup will take place in the interests of ‘national security’. Angola became independent in 1975 after having been a Portuguese colony from the 16th century. Angolan independence came right in middle of the Cold War where Soviet influence in Africa was rising. The independent country was immediately plunged into a civil war between the Soviet backed Communist MPLA faction and the American backed anti-communist UNITA rebels (Sheehan, Yong, Lin, 2010, p. 38). The Angolan civil war continued for 27 years (Sheehan, Yong, Lin, p. 43) till declaration of ceasefire in 2002 by which time over 500,000 people were killed. The ideological factions had an ethnic base too wherein the MPLA comprised basically Angolans of the Kimbundu clan and the UNITA, the Ovimbundu tribe. Presently, the Communist MPLA holds power in Angola. As can be deduced, this being a communist regime with no legitimacy, the concept of political parties in a democratic system does not apply. East Africa East Africa including the Horn of Africa portrays a region of extreme instability with a few deceptively stable nations. Sudan, the first country being analyzed, after gaining independence from Egypt and Britain in 1956, was gripped by a civil war till 1973 (Barker, 2008, p. 16). This civil war was basically because of ethnic differences between the people of Northern Sudan (Islamic of Arabic lineage) and Southern Sudan (non-Islamic of non-Arab lineage). While the civil war raged, Khartoum was ruled by the Sudanese military. A ceasefire in 1973 negotiated through granting autonomy to Southern Sudan kept the peace till 1983 when the military general, and the de-facto President, Nimeiry unilaterally decided to incorporate Southern Sudan into a federation. The civil war continued (Barker, p. 18), Nimeiry was ousted in 1983 and replaced by a democratic government under Prime Minister Al Sadig Al Mahdi which was not recognized by the Sudan’s People Liberation Army (SPLA) of Southern Sudan. Civil war continued anew. In 1989, Colonel Omar al-Bashir over threw Prime Minister Al Mahdi, abolished political parties and established an Islamic code on entire Sudan. Al-Bashir formed the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation and allied his group with National Islamic Front to consolidate Islamization of firstly, Northern Sudan and then the rest of the country. In the subsequent military action by the Sudanese army, the SPLA were defeated in Southern Sudan by 1994. Having achieved consolidation, Bashir dissolved the revolutionary council in 1993. In the 1996 election Bashir declared himself to be the only candidate eligible to run for President. All other political parties were disbanded and Bashir converted Sudan into an Islamic state with single party at its helm – the newly created National Congress Party (NCP). Meanwhile, Bashir unleashed a brutal war of suppression on the non-Arab ethnic minorities in the Darfur region using proxy militia known as the Janjaweed that has resulted in deaths of over 400,000 Darfuris (Kessler, 2005, p. 1) leading to an indictment of Al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and genocide. At the tip of the Horn of Africa lies the failed state of Somalia where no functional government exists. Somalia was never formally colonized by any power and had come under a variety of influences ranging from Islamic influence during the Ottoman Empire, Fascist influence under Mussolini’s Italy and then British military administration from 1941 that was replaced by the formation of a republic of Somalia in 1961 with a parliamentary form of government (Lewis, 2008, p. 33). This brief democratic interlude was shattered in 1969 when President Shermake was assassinated and replaced by a military government. The military created the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party in 1976 and ruled the nation till 1990. Meanwhile, various Islamic factions and clans grew in size and potency that overthrew the military government leading to a series of skirmishes through the period, 1990-1991. The long standing military dictator, Siad Barre was ousted in 1991 and President Ali Muhammed was installed, yet the civil war continued. The UN Security Council approved the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM) in 1992 that has since been replaced by UNOSOM II with no success. Presently, a Transitional Federal Government (Lewis, p. x)is the internationally recognized government of Somalia whose writ does not even run through the entire city of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. In the dismal narrative so far, Kenya appears to be a bright democratic spark in the African continent. After achieving independence from Britain in 1963, Kenya adopted a semi-presidential form of government albeit, with the peculiar African preference for single party rule. The Kenyan constitution mandated formation of only a single party in Kenya. Governments continued to be formed under the single party system until 1992 when electoral reforms were introduced to allow a multiparty system. The elections since then have been held in generally free and fair manner. The 2007 elections were marred by allegations of rigging in which the main opposition party, the Orange Democratic Freedom accused the ruling Party of National Unity for stealing the election. In the ensuing rioting, over 1000 Kenyans lost their lives (Raghavan, 2010, p. 1) and hundreds of thousands were displaced. Peace was restored through international mediation in 2008 and the country is presently being run by a grand coalition of members of both the parties under a new constitution (Raghavan, p. 1). Kenya’s relative stability is attributed to the British colonial era, where unlike the rest of Africa, the colonists set up educational institutions and government infrastructure. Also, unlike the other African countries, 78% of Kenyans are Christians while 10% are Muslims, 10% indigenous and the rest 2% are Asian immigrants (CIA World Factbook, 2010, p. 1). Central Africa In Central Africa, the Republic of Congo has been in the news for decades for all the wrong reasons. Congo received independence from France in 1960 and adopted the French presidential model of governance. However, the first President, Fulbert Youlou was ousted in 1963 by a military coup, which then installed a puppet civilian government (Rorison, 2008, p. 225) and also adopted communist ideology. In 1965, the Congo republic formally joined hands with the Soviet Union, firmly coming into the soviet bloc (Rorison, p. 226). This alignment did not bring about political stability as the original French democratic influence clashed with the ‘uni-power’ Soviet ideology leading to a series of coups and dictatorship under Denis Sassou. During his first spell of rule from 1979 to 1992, Sassou ruled Congo under a single party rule of the Congolese Labor Party (PCT) (Rorison, p. 227). When external pressures grew strong, he introduced multiparty system in 1990 and was defeated in the 1992 Presidential election. Sassou’s ouster led to a civil war between the supporters of Sassou and his competitor Pascal Lissouba. Sassou, a former colonel won the civil war and proclaimed himself as the President in 1997. In 2009, Sassou was sworn in for another seven-year period (Amnesty International, 2010, p. 1). In Congo’s case too, for most of its independent history, the country has been ruled by a single party and now despite a multi-party ‘democracy’ in place, the original political party, the PCT continues to rule the country. Southern Africa In Southern Africa, any discussion regarding Africa would remain incomplete without illustrating the case of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe, originally Rhodesia became independent after a violent struggle with the British in 1980. Throughout the period, 1965-1979, the country was engulfed in a civil war between British government forces and the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) led by Robert Mugabe and the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) led by Joshua Nkomo as also a number of smaller splinter groups (Raftopoulos Mlambo, 2009, pp. 141-165). In the 1980 elections, Robert Mugabe won by a wide margin but fighting with opposing parties and groups continued. The two main parties the ZANU and ZAPU fought bitterly until 1988 when ceasefire was declared and the two parties merged into ZANU-PF thus starting Zimbabwe’s slide into single party dominated system (Raftopoulos Mlambo, p. 179). Till to date the ZANU-PF has won every single election by force. Mugabe’s policies of throwing out the white farmers and forcibly occupying lands and giving it to the poor black resulted in economic sanctions by the West and a meltdown of the economy. Owing to his bad economic policies, hyperinflation struck the country and created political space for Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change to challenge him in the 2008 elections. The results were rigged but could not conclusively establish Tsvangirai’s claim of having won the elections. In September 2008, Mugabe maintained his power as the President by agreeing to share power with Tsvangirai who became the Prime Minister (Raftopoulos Mlambo, p. xxxii). Yet again, the single party rule dominates Zimbabwe. Finally, a discussion of Africa would be incomplete without examining its most prosperous and advanced state – South Africa. In South Africa, the colonial power, the Dutch did not relinquish their hold over the country and continued in the form of Apartheid, which was once again predicated on the dominance of a single party – the White minority party thereby conditioning the people of South Africa to rule by a single party. However, the violent suppression of the minorities could not continue indefinitely and ever since 1961, when South Africa left the British Commonwealth (Berger, 2009, p. 166) the white minority National Party faced constant protest from the black majority for equality. Till 1993, the National Party had banned other political parties (Berger, p. 166) and it was only in the face of sustained international pressure and internal struggle by the black and colored populations that the ban was lifted in 1993 and the African National Congress (ANC) led by Nelson Mandela was allowed to participate in elections. In Mandela, the South Africans found a charismatic leader who exuded the moral authority and statesmanship, which promised to build a future for the suppressed races. Mandela delivered on his promises but also led to consolidation of the ANC as the only party of choice for the people of Africa. The National Party chose to merge with the ANC and this yet again showed the propensity of Africans to prefer single party rule. Conclusion In conclusion, it can be reiterated that analysis of all the regions of Africa shows a remarkable similarity of circumstances that seemed to have shaped their preference for single party rule. The ethnic make up into tribes and clans were at the most basic level, the building blocks for adhering to the instructions of the clan leader or village headman. This obedience in turn was further conditioned by brutal colonial rule, where the colonial masters used every suppressive means to keep the Africans submissive. Suppression and exploitation itself became the rallying point for the African clans to unite and fight for their independence. Since most of the colonial powers only exploited Africa and did not build institutions, the succeeding indigenous governments had no infrastructural back up to employ their people or give immediate succor; naturally, the people fell back to tribal and clan loyalties as rallying forces. Since these points of opposition had to be formed clandestinely, they became sort of secret societies that formed oligarchic groups to fight for independence. On attaining independence the basic dynamics of the groups did not change and they continued as a closed ‘in-group’, which only heightened social inequalities and strife broke out in most cases. As democratic institutions had not been allowed to mature under the colonial period, people tended to cluster around the ‘village headman’, in other words, any leader with some charisma and since one institution that always has a clearly defined leader is the army, most governments became victims of military takeovers. The populace conditioned by colonial repression now became victims of military repression. Military forces needed a ‘democratic fig leaf’ to govern nations and so they set up political parties which were then headed by serving or former military officers to perpetrate the rule of a single party in the states. Parts of Africa that had predominantly Islamic influence adopted Islamic laws, which ideologically are not compatible with democratic secularism. Therefore, these countries by default became ruled by a king or a dictator or by a single party. Where the Cold War intruded the African political space, communist regimes under laid by African tribalism became the dominant feature. In these cases, the political ideology required the rule of the state by a single party. Later, when communist regimes fell, the old habit of single party rule lingered on. Thus the assertion that there is prevalence of one party rule in African states is emphatically proved. However, as can be seen from the examples of African states discussed, the hold of one party system is slowly changing. Multiple parties are emerging as the African people are becoming more aware of the wider world through the process of globalization. They are also realizing the need for multiple choices for governance as a panacea against corruption and despotism. So while the one-party prevalence in Africa may seem predominant at the present, political evolution of the African polity is taking place that will, in time transform into a more inclusive political process across the continent. References Amnesty International. (2010). Congo (Republic of). Retrieved August 11, 2010, from http://www. unhcr. org/refworld/country,,,,COG,,4c03a835c,0. html Barker, G. (2008). Sudan. NY: Marshall Cavendish. Berger, I. (2009). South Africa in World History. Oxford: Oxford University Press. CIA World Factbook. (2010, August 3). Kenya. 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