Critical evaluation †blood brothers Essay

The play did not open with the curtain going up but instead with the lights going up. My seat was in the gallery, which is quite high up, but after I got over the sense of vertigo my view of the play was fine. I could not see the gantry at the back of the stage or the very front of the stage, but very little of the action took place in these areas. The play was written in the early 1960’s by the Liverpudlian playwright Willy Russell and was first performed in the early 1980’s. The play is a ‘slice of life’, or an impression of life starting in Liverpool in the early 1960’s through until the 1980’s, of poor working class families. The play combines music and song with narrative. The set of Blood Brothers consisted of, on either side of the stage a row of terraced house fronts. At the back of the stage there was a gantry which was used by the narrator and once by Mrs. Johnston when she sang a song that was an overview of the action that had just taken place, there was a countryside backcloth with two moveable ‘brick wall’ flats which moved across to cover this. The set was very appropriate for the play, it combined well with the ‘slice of life’. The props were minimalist and brought on stage by the actors. There were four moveable flats, two that slid across the floor and two that came down from the ceiling. All the costumes and fixings were appropriate for the era of the play, they worked well together producing a realistic setting. The play opens with the twin brothers, lying down on stretchers and then being carried away. The narrator then informs the audience of the events that have just happened and then the play begins. The play is about Mrs. Johnston, a working class mother of seven children who after her husband has left her for a younger woman discovers she is pregnant with twins. Mrs. Johnston is a cleaner who works for a middle class couple, Mr. and Mrs. Lyons. Mrs. Johnston tells Mrs. Lyons of her predicament and so Mrs. Lyons who can not have children of her own and whose husband has gone away on business for six months offers to take one of the twins for herself and bring him up as her own. After some persuasion Mrs. Johnston gives one of the boys to Mrs. Lyons. She finds it difficult to keep Mrs. Johnston on as her cleaner because she can see that there is a bond between mother and child and so fires her. Several years pass, the boys are now seven, nearly eight, they meet when out playing, become great friends and ‘Blood Brothers’. Both Mrs. Johnston and Mrs. Lyons try to keep the boys apart but are unable to do so. In a desperate attempt to separate the boys the Lyons move to a house in the country well away from Mickey and the estate where the Johnston’s live. A few years later the council decide to demolish the estate where the Johnston’s live and relocate the families to the countryside close to where the Lyons now live. Mickey has a girlfriend, Linda, a girl he has known since childhood. One day when they are out walking they come across Eddie, (Mickey’s twin), and rekindle their friendship. The twins are now sixteen years old and their friendship continues to grow until it is time for Eddie to gone away to university. However Eddie declares his love for Linda before leaving but she continues her relationship with Mickey and soon falls pregnant with his child and so they marry and move into Mickey’s home. Mickey’s older brother, Sammy, gets into trouble and Mickey agrees to help him out but instead ends up taking the fall for Sammy killing a man and goes to prison for seven years. During this time he becomes depressed and withdrawn from Linda. She turns to Eddie for support and they soon become emotionally attached. When Eddie’s mother becomes aware of the romance she tells Mickey who, now out of prison, goes to Eddie’s work place. Mrs. Johnston now feels she must tell the boys that they are brothers but this is too much for Mickey to understand in his present mental state, distressed and confused he shoots Eddie. Just as Mickey is doing this a policeman takes aim and fires killing Mickey. Both men are dead. On the whole the script and the play were very good. At first it took a little time to get in to the play but it soon flowed naturally. The play held the audience’s interest by the use of the narrator who appeared on the stage behind the action and would burst into song. A lot of information was given on the characters through the use of song, so the audience received much of the necessary information without realising it. The part of Mrs. Johnston was played by the singer and actress Dennis Nolan. Ms. Nolan described the history of her character through the song ‘Just like Marilyn Monroe’. Her story is not extraordinary or uncommon. A girl from a Roman Catholic working class family who falls in love with a young man who takes her dancing and says she ‘looks a lot like Marilyn Monroe’. Romance soon fades once the babies start arriving. Possibly because of her faith, which would have instilled a belief that children are a blessing, she soon has a large family and her husband begins to look elsewhere for what he first found attractive in his wife. He begins to go dancing with a girl who he says ‘looks a lot like Marilyn Monroe’. When he leaves home Mrs. Johnston discovers she is pregnant with the twins of the story. This is when the events that lead up to the final tragedy really begin. Mickey is the twin that Mrs. Johnston kept. He grows up in this very poor working class family but as a child is mainly happy and full of mischief. He does not expect an easy life and accepts who he is and what his future will be. He does not expect to go to university like his friend Eddie because in his mind and at this time it was usually only children from better off families who went. Mickey would have been happy to work and bring up his children in a working class family. It is unemployment and bad choices that take away his pride and his future. He becomes very depressed, feels worthless and finally sees his marriage fall apart. The actor who played Mickey had to act the part of a child through to an adult, his mannerisms were very good and his gestures appropriate for the different ages. When he was seven Mickey acted and moved as if he was seven and when he was twenty he acted and moved like a twenty year old. His voice changed as well, it moved from a high quick voice to a deeper more solemn one. Linda is the childhood friend of Mrs. Johnston’s children and especially of Mickey. The two children grow up together, play together and become girl and boyfriend. This relationship is threatened by Linda’s attraction to Eddie, Mickey’s twin, but although she realises that it is Eddie that she loves she does not end her relationship with Mickey. When Eddie goes away to university she becomes pregnant with Mickey’s child and marries him. Linda’s role in the play is huge, it is her relationship with Eddie which finally destroys Mickey and leads to the final tragedy. The play contained quite a lot of swearing but this was only used to aid the script and made it more realistic. At the end of the play many people in the audience were in tears which showed how good the performances had been. As a straight play this would have been a very sad story of some very hard lives but because the story is told partly in song the mood is much lighter. It shows that there can be laughter in even the most difficult of lives, but also how our own upbringing, superstitions and prejudices can make our lives more complicated and more difficult.

Hybrid Marketing Channels in the Service Sector

EXCUTIVE SUMMARY Being famous brand in food and beverage manufacturing industry, Universal Robina Corporation Vietnam (URC Vietnam), a subsidiary company directly under International Robina Corporation has got significant success since it started business in Vietnam in 2004. URC Vietnam joins the market with four main product catergories: Snacks, Biscuits, Candies, and Beverages. Considered as a strategic product of URC Vietnam, C2 is now known as one of the leaders in green tea market, a popular name with many Vietnamese people in spite of the fact that when it was launched to market, 0 Degree from Tan Hiep Phat Corporation had already been sold and attracted a large number of consumers. Always, URC strongly aim is to provide its customers with the best products. They build up quality policies on purpose of making everything in line with the company’s mission. Being a part of URC International, URC Vietnam also indicates its ability. Facing with the great competitiveness in beverage market, URC Vietnam has implemented a plenty of suitable measures to overcome their fierce competitors. Assessing Vietnam as greatly profitable market for alcoholic and soft drink commodities, there are more and more investors jumping into this market. It is obvious that C2 has to compete with many strong companies in both sides: indirect and direct opponents. Among them, 0 Degree and Lipton Pure Green are rated as the two big competitors who are fighting with C2 for gaining market share in green tea manufacturing field. Customer element is all the time the focus of any business, including this market. In detail, the Vietnamese have tradition of drinking tea; green tea can remove people from tiredness also; that why C2 are preferred a lot especially in summer. C2’s users are primarily students and officials in urban area; they highly appreciate brand differences. C2 operation is at the growth stage with significant increase in sales figure through the year and is the second leading position in the so attractive healthier green tea segment. C2 can be so successful like that because they have employed an effective 4ps marketing-mix: product (diversified flavors, prestigious supplier and good-looking package), price (4000 VND/ bottle 360ml), placement (urban areas, strong distribution channel), promotion (advertising in various media means) C2 has its own strengths and weaknesses; from that, URC Vietnam can make a positive progress in its performance. Studying opportunities and threats is an essential work that company should do as well, so that they can make appropriate and timely strategies to further develop their business. . INTRODUCTION â€Å"Universal Robina Corporation is committed to bringing Filipino taste and culture worldwide, in line with JG Summit’s vision to make life better, not only for Filipinos, but for the rest of the world† That is what URC claims itself and reality has shown URC’s success. As one of the leaders in Food & Beverages market in Philippines, URC has expanded its busine ss in Singapore, Hongkong, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. URC Vietnam, which started the operation in Vietnam in late 2004, is the newest addition to URC International. URC invested 15 million dollar into Vietnam market, and located company in Vietnam- Singapore industrial zone. Typical products are Funbites, Cream-O, Magic, Dynamite Big Bang, Beverage C2,†¦ that are brand-promoted by Hollywood actor Johny Tri Nguyen, Mat Ngoc Girl Band, and Actress Nha Ky. URC Vietnam is the very first URC subsidiary outside the Philippines to successfully produce and market C2 Green Tea. C2 is now one of the two market leaders in Vietnam bottled green tea field and its manufacturing is being expanded to meet highly demanding market. 2. COMPANY ANALYSIS 2. 1. Mission statement The following statement was announced by international URC CEO: â€Å"Our leading brands offer customers the best in enjoyment, quality, value and convenience†. To attain the mission, URC set up their quality policy. â€Å"The Universal Robina Corporation policy is to make consumers' lives more fun and enjoyable through convenient, quality and value for money branded food products. This will make URC the customer's first choice, a market leader in its major food brands and a key player in the Philippines and the Asian region. † Along with the vision of the parent company, URC Vietnam carried out the same line as international URC. URC Vietnam understands that to achieve the given mission, they have to make continuous improvement and training efforts through cost-effective strategies and fitting means to address the changing demands of the consumers. These efforts focus on the quality and freshness of products initiating from raw materials till they are provided to the customers. They endeavor to predict possible problems, provide preventive measures and correct non-conformities. Moreover, it is strongly emphasized that the quality of each URC product is the responsibility of every URC employee. 2. 2. Company objectives It was an outstanding year for URC Vietnam which saw sales surge from 6 million dollars in fiscal 2007 to 31 million dollar last year on the back of the unprecedented growth of the C2 brand. To date, C2 holds a leading market position in Vietnam (which has URC's first C2 plant outer the Philippines), and is now exported to Malaysia and Indonesia. Although in general international URC is suffering from the serious effects of the world financial crisis, it seems special to URC Vietnam case; C2 still continues to affirm its leading position in Vietnam market. At the present, C2 is mostly consumed in urban areas where the competitiveness is really noticeable. In the coming time, in order to remain the current growth, URC Vietnam should set the priority of providing Vietnamese consumers, both in urban and rural areas, with the high-quality goods and meeting their changing demands. 3. ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS 3. 1. Economic issues [pic] Figure 1: Monthly income per capita e Figure 2: Monthly total consumption expenditure per capita (Source: www. gso. gov. vn) As the result of the ever-increasing average per capital income, the living standards of all social strata continued to be improved. In the whole country, the monthly average expenditures in 2006, by current prices hit 511,000 VND, an increase of 28. 9% compared with 2004. The Vietnamese did not stop in essential products for life only; they had more choices when go shopping. There were great opportunities for companies in various fields of launching their business. As an attractive piece of the pie, beverage firms penetrated potential Vietnam market and gained enormous benefit. The difference in monthly income per capital between urban and rural area would lead to the difference in monthly consumption spending between those two regions. 3. 2. Demographic factors This entry provides the distribution of the population according to the age classification. Information is included by sex and age group (0-14 years, 15-64 years, 65 years and over). 0-14 years: 25. 6% (male 11,418,642/female 10,598,184) 15-64 years: 68. 6% (male 29,341,216/female 29,777,696) 65 years and over: 5. 8% (male 1,925,609/female 3,055,212 (Source: CIA World Fact book, Dec, 18. 2008) The country with young populations (high percentage under age 15) is a flexible environment. Its residents seem to be easy to accept changes and the new things. Additional, their taste has the own features. Marketers need the information on the population so that they can position which is the target segment for their products. With the type of drink like C2, analyzing age structure is a necessary work URC have to carry out carefully; from that they can make a suitable strategy when doing business in Vietnam – big market with population of 86 million people Natural conditions Three quarters of Vietnam's territory consists of mountains and hills. Vietnam is located in both a tropical and a temperate zone. It is characterized by strong monsoon influences, but has a considerable amount of sun, a high rate of rainfall, and high humidity. These factors help Vietnam to be a place with many advantageous conditions to grow green tea tree; as a results, URC Vietnam is able to acquire a largely available supply of raw material, especially from Thai Nguyen province, the major supplier. Social concerns Drinking tea is Vietnamese’s long-standing cultural custom. It can be said that tea plays an important role in Vietnamese’s life. In modern society, people get acquainted with fast food and gas drinks but green tea is still the preferable drink many people choose. Moreover, due to the recent increasing trend of low-carb drink, people gradually change to take interest with the natural product. Green tea is produced in industrial scale and added more flavors, it becomes the favorite drink not only with the elders but also the young. 4. COMPETITOR ANALYSIS According to Vietnamnet, â€Å"Vietnam’s great thirst for alcoholic and soft drinks flags the local industry’s fizzing potential and the participation of big foreign investors. † Vietnam market becomes more and more attractive for investors from all over the world, especially in the alcoholic and soft drink fields. Therefore, Universal Robina Corporation (URC) with the product of sweeten green tea, C2, has to face with a great deal of fierce competition that not only encompass the competitors with the same product like 0 Degree, Lipton Pure Green, 100 Green Tea, Wonderfarm and other brands, but also involve those from other kinds of drinks such as beer, carbonated drinks, fruit juice, tonic water and milk. 4. 1. Indirect competitors Thanks to the fast economic growth rate and enormous potentiality of soft drink market, many giants of beer, alcohol and soft drinks industry has come o Vietnam such as Denmark’s Carlsberg and Heineken with beer, Pepsi and Coca-Cola with carbonated drinks, La Vie and Aquafina with tonic water†¦Vietnamese brands like Vinamilk, Tribeco, Hanoimilk has also built up a strong reputation. Hence, Vietnamese people can enjoy a very large variety of drinks but this is also the great threat of C2, especially the threat from Pepsi and Coca- Cola which hold 60% of s oft drink’s market share. 4. 2. Direct competitors In recent years, Vietnam soft drink market has been developing eventfully and the segment of green tea has made so obvious advances that any kind of other soft drinks can do. Vu Quoc Tuan, public relations manager at PepsiCo International Viet Nam, said that the bottled green tea market has grown 300 percent in 2007. â€Å"No drink has grown like that,† he added. Although at the moment there are many brands of sweeten green tea on the market, a lot of products are â€Å"dependent†. They just follow all the thing that create success of market leader’s product For this reason, in part of direct competitor analysis, the report only focuses on studying two major competitors with similar products as C2: 0 Degree and Lipton Pure Green. 4. 2. 1. 0 Degree Tan Hiep Phat Group (THP Group) is the first mover in this segment. After observing the lifestyle changes of greater mobility and the need of healthier beverages, they made tea, part of Vietnamese culture, a ready- to- drink in a very convenient PET bottle, which is heatproof and easy to use. THP invested US$20 million in production equipment from Canada to launch the popular 0 Degree brand. In early 2006, 0 Degree green tea bottle were sold on the local market with a large and effective advertising and promotion campaign (TV, newspaper ads, editorials, PR, sponsor†¦) and considerable distribution over the nation thanks to the foundation that Number 1 has built up. From 11/2006 to 11/2007, THP had the growth rate of 190% by this product, which made green tea became an extremely attractive market segment. First mover is the most significant competitive advantages of 0 Degree over C2, which came to the market a little bit later. However, C2 is considered more convenient than 0 Degree because of the bottle capacity. The 0 Degree net content is quite big for one person while the bottle of 360 ml C2 is much more suitable. 4. 2. 2. Lipton Pure Green Just enter the market in August, 2008, Lipton Pure Green expressed that it is one of the fiercest competitors of C2 with the exceedingly strong reputation of 2 giants: Lipton and Pepsi. Lipton Pure Green is made 100% from the best young tea leaves chose by the rule of â€Å"2 leaves and 1 bud† and it has Antioxidants (AOX), the substance that can naturally prevent people from getting old. However, Lipton Pure Green has only 2 flavors in comparison with 4 flavors of C2; moreover, the tastes of Lipton are not as flavorsome as 0 Degree and C2 by many customers. In addition, the price of this green tea is not one of its competitive advantages because its price is above C2 price and little below 0 Degree with inconsiderable difference in bottle capacity. Furthermore, Pepsi and Lipton are strong brand names that are affirmed but the break out of their marketing campaign and their advantage of powerful distribution seems not to work effectively. Many people are not aware of Lipton Pure Green, a green tea product Pepsi Co. after 8 months of launching. Additionally, as 0 Degree, their bottle capacity is not really convenient. According to statistical data, 450 ml bottle is still quite great for one person. [pic] Figure 3: Volume per one drink To see clearly how these three products positioned in the market, let’s look at the positioning map below: Figure 4: Positioning map 5. CUSTOMER ANALYSIS 5. 1. Behavior To identify and analyze market segments, behaviors variables should be the starting point. In this part of the situational analysis, the variables of purchase occasion, benefits sought and loyalty status are selected to illustrate another base of market segmentation, the behavioral. In summer, the demand for soft drink that is tasty and healthy, especially the one that contains substance- hypothermia, like green tea, increases sharply. URC identifies these typical occasions as a major point for market segmentation. C2 products are made from green tea that can help people feel comfortable even in the hottest days of that most unpleasant time in year with four fruit tastes that can make people more cheery. While looking for a nourishing beverage, C2 appeals to the segment of consumers wanting to have a â€Å"Cool & Clean† product that make from green tea, a traditional remedy for good health. C2 can bring â€Å"cool† feelings and â€Å"clean† drink to customers by verified quality and delicious taste. In the case of sweeten green tea market; the differences among brands are not extremely significant. Sometimes, if the store does not have any more bottled green tea of the brand that customer want, he/she will easily convert to another brand that is available in that store. It may clearly illustrate the customers’ loyalty to C2 products. Hence, C2 concentrates on those who are interested in two or three brands or on those whose purchasing decision is favorite one brand but sometimes trying others. . 2. Demographic Bottled green tea is a product that is utilizable for many people even they are young or old, men or women, married or single. Therefore, in demographic segmentation URC Vietnam just groups their product by nationality and occupation. C2 targets to customers in the nation that have the traditional culture of drink green tea, a typical example -Vietnam, to develop a product which actually familiar with the users. The person who acknowledges of how marvelously good green tea is will be more ready to purchase a bottle of C2 than person who does know nothing about it. As indicated by the statistical data of the company, here is the occupation variable of C2: [pic] Figure 4: Occupation variable of C2 As a result, the advertising of C2 focuses on the young who are both students and staffs with colorful and cheerful ads on TV, newspapers and magazines. 5. 3. Geographic Do not have the competitive advantage of strong distribution channel as 0 Degree, C2 practices geographic segmentation by emphasizing on urban areas which enjoy higher living standard, higher income, and higher density of population, and are easier to approach its marketing campaign. . 4. Type of buying decision behavior Customer decision making varies with type of buying process. To determine which decision type of customer that C2 goes for, there are two factors that URC has to consider: involvement and differences between brands. Sweeten green tea belongs to the product category that has low customer involvement but significant perceived brand differences, variety- seeking buying be havior. Customers often do a lot of brand switching. When they buy a bottle of green tea, they choose a brand without much evaluation, and then evaluate it during consumption. The next time when they buy this kind of product again they will pick another brand in order to look for something different. To become the market leader, C2 should have the marketing strategy that differentiates it from other brands and try to promote habitual buying behavior by dominating shelf space, keeping shelves fully stocked and running frequent reminder advertisings. 6. BRAND ANALYSIS 1. Brand’s current performance 6. 1. 1. Portfolio analysis – BCG matrix BCG matrix, also known as relative growth and market share matrix, was built at the end of the 1960s by Boston Consulting Group, an American trategy consulting company. The real purpose of this matrix is to evaluate the company’s ability to make profit by analyzing its portfolio and put them in four components of the matrix (star, question mark, dog and cash cow) as following graphs: [pic] Based on the studying of the products’ growth rate and market share, the companies are able to establish and develop timely strategies. In C2’s case, they are now placed at Star level with a high market share and rapid growing in the sweeten green tea market. Specifically, in 2007, this ready – to- drink green tea’s growth rate was about 7% equivalently to total sales revenue of 6 million dollars and increased considerably 17%, which brings the company with 31 million dollar revenues in 2008. C2 is currently ranked the second who performs well in the so attractive healthier beverage market- the green tea segment. 6. 1. 2. Product life cycle After taking the Philippines by storm, URC started launching C2 green tea with various flavors in Vietnam in 2007. The company has reached a significant achievement up to now, and become one of the most popular ready-to-drink green tea beverages for sale in that country. Their sales grew slowly as the products were firstly brought into the market, however. At that time, because of the so strong influence of 0 degree brand and also of the company’s weak distribution channel, customers did not pay much attention to and highly assess C2 products. Only when URC Vietnam made some major changes in its promotion and distribution channel, the company experienced a so impressive sales figure, three million bottles sold out in six months. From that time on, C2 operation is positioning at the growth stage with rapid increase in sales through the years. In detail, according to the overview report of TNS Vietnam Consumer Trends Q4/08, that C2 products stood at the sixth position in the 10 fastest growing brands preferred by Vietnamese consumers in 2007, while they kept on doing business successfully in 2008 with the forth position in that selection. Moreover, it is obvious to see that C2 will continue holding higher market share, especially in this coming 2009 summer. . 2. 4Ps- Marketing mix Revenue from C2 products accounted for around one- half of total URC Vietnam‘s profit in 2008. One of the major factors contributing to the company such an incredible success is thanks to marketing strategy based on 4Ps. 6. 2. 1. Product URC Vietnam offer diversified tastes of healthier beverage under C2 brand name. That C2 drink can be divided into four main flavors: lemon, peach, apple and forest fruits green tea among them t he first one is the most preferable to customers. Thai Nguyen tea, a very well-known and favorite Vietnamese brand, is chosen to be the major material utilized to produce such fresh green tea bottles. In addition, each C2 product is packaged in PET type which brings in a number of benefits for the customers. For instance, it has ability to keep the original taste of the natural green tea without any preservatives and artificial color. Furthermore, producers can economically take full advantages of the space in tea bottle’s package for their products’ advertising. Until now, there have been two styles of C2 tea launched on the market, the 360ml and the 1000ml bottles, which will make the users even more convenient. 6. 2. 2. Price According to URC’s research report about customers’ response (posted below), nearly two-third of those who were conveyed agreed that the reasonable price for each 500ml green tea bottle should range from 5,500 to 6,500 VND. Seeing that important factor, the company has established reasonable price using market-penetration pricing corresponding to customers expectation. It is suggested that producers can set a low initial price to penetrate the market quickly and deeply in order to attract a larger number of buyers in short time (Philip Kotler, Principle of Marketing, page 355). Typically, each 360 ml C2 green tea product costs customers from 3,500 to 4,500VND, which is approximately 5,700VND for one 500 ml bottle. In comparison with 6,000 and 7,000 VND for Pure Green tea 450 ml and 0 degree 500 ml, respectively, URC’s products are more favorable, which creates a competitive advantage over their competitors. [pic] Figure 5: Consumers’ opinion of price 6. 2. 3. Placement When first launching in Vietnam, URC did not pay adequate attention to develop or expand its distribution channel, which leaded to an unexpectedly low sale. To deal with that problem, the company has strived so much with the aim at building a strong distribution system. The most important change the company made to improve this ineffective system was to influence on marketing push. They persuaded the retailers or outlets to purchase products by providing so attractive promotion as well as added supports. For instances, URC Vietnam would offer 10 to 15 % discount if those outlets accepted to display C2 products on their shops. Moreover, the company allowed a number of professional sales person and marketing staffs to work with those stores to support and supervise these areas whenever necessary. Thanks to such hard effort, till the present C2 products have been allocated widely in almost all of supermarkets, convenience stores, discount stores, retailers, distribution outlets and so on. In detail, URC Vietnam sells nearly a half of C2 volume through big supermarkets such as Citimart, Big C, Co. pMart, MaxiMart, Vinatex and the like. However, that ready- to- drink tea products has just allocated mostly on cities and urban areas. At the moment, when the summer is gradually coming, URC must take actions to establish a stronger distribution system to make their products more available on the market in order to satisfy a very high demand of Vietnamese customers. 6. 2. 4. Promotion Apart fr om placement, unlike the case of THP Corporation which has spent a huge amount of money on advertising, URC just save their capital invest on other fields rather than such costly activities. For instance, after failing to transfer message to consumers in the first two trials in Vietnam, the company decided to redeem themselves with new advertising to revitalize C2. They created new TVC – Television Commercial, with the participant of Johnny Tri Nguyen, a very cool, good looking, a wushu expert and stunt man, which later was voted among the top 10 â€Å" Most favorite TVCs† by Vietnamese televiewers. Those activities just costed only a half in comparison with the promotion campaign beforehand. That successful results obviously illustrate that â€Å"good advertisings need not be expensive—it must be creative and effective† as URC consultant, Willy Arcilla said. At the moment, not only to be advertised on TV but C2 products also are promoted on newspaper and internet; for example, gia dinh & tiep thi, www. kienthucngaynay. vn. , etc. 7. SWOT ANALYSIS SWOT, the analysis refers to the strategic method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of each company. It is considered to be a crucial tool for auditing the overall strategic position of a business and its environment. SWOT of C2 bottled green tea are summarized as below. 7. 1. Strengths C2’s positive outcomes have been in part due to a number of factors. First of all, one important key contributing to such high sales revenue of the company is because of reliable tea supply. As mentioned in the marketing mix- 4Ps, strong point-of-difference- C2 brews tea leaves grown in the northern highlands of â€Å"Thai Nguyen,† renowned as the source of the best tea in Vietnam. Furthermore, each C2 bottle encompasses the natural flavor extracted from green tea (23%) and also citric acid, an essential element which helps people lose weight effectively. Likewise, C2 products are perfectly brewed and bottled at the same day, still keep totally clean and fresh tea taste. This benefit makes the tea users feel safer and firmly reliable when consuming the product. An additional feature that builds C2 brand popularity is its competitively-lower price in comparison with other brands in the same market. Before making final purchasing decision, people often carefully take price into consideration besides some important criteria such as products’ quality, brand, benefit and features. By impressively influencing on that consumer’s psychology, C2 has got the initial success in catching the attention of potential customers. 7. 2. Weaknesses Although URC Vietnam has made many acquisitions with a large number of retailers or distribution outlets, these stores are located mainly in cities or municipal areas such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Hai Phong, Da Nang and so on. Whereas, in the local or rural regions, the volume of C2 consumed seems to be much lower than that of 100 tea or 0 degree green tea. Thus, C2 should invest more money on their distribution channel, not only tighten current contracts but also expand new relationships with new local stores. The company can offer retail shops benefits with high premium or build its own retailers initiatively throughout the country. This action will has positive effects on making condition for the company to approach their potential customers more. By narrowing down the potential customers segment on its initial advertising is thought to be one more weakness that URC Vietnam should pay attention to. Specifically, the advertising with the attendance of Johnny Tri Nguyen persuaded consumers who habitually prefer carbonated beverage to convert to green tea products. That message implicated that C2 itself restricted the targeted clients to those who usually consume soft drink. Instead, the company could orient its products to the mineral or pure bottled water and the other beverage market rather than carbonated drink. For that reason, URC Vietnam had better make some new meaningful advertising to draw the attention of higher level of customers. . 3. Opportunities The recent scientific research of England Hospital of Pediatrics has marked out 10 most significant advantages of using tea on people health, among which the best five benefits are utilized to produce new sweeten green tea bottles such as antipyretic ability, decrease in death due to heart diseases (from 28 to 44%) and prevention of being old as well as cancer possibility. Seeing so many advantages of using green tea, Vietn amese people tend to choose tea as their daily preferable product. Through conveying heir opinions, producers have developed and launched new products to meet their essential need (The result is posted as the table below). Most of people believe that employing green tea products will help them have antipyretic ability, reduce the possibility of cancer and purify the body. This rapid change in Customer Behavior creates a valuable chance for the company to keep on producing ready- to- drink tea. [pic] Figure 6: Tea’s Effects In addition, the summer, hottest period in the year, is upcoming. Consequently, people’ drinking demand will increase dramatically the following time. Catching this thirsty need, beverage manufacture should prepare very strong marketing plans (may be in terms of marketing mix) to further satisfy their customers. Particularly, up to now, green tea drink has a quite strong position in customers’ drink options. As a result, C2 should make use of this valuable opportunity to widespread or quickly expand its market in this period. At the end of 2008, there was a quite serious recession occurred in Vietnam economy which affected negatively on Vietnamese lives and reduced their consumption need. However, the quantity demanded for foods and beverage was slow down much less heavily than other sectors, less than 25% (according to the report of TNS). This means that demand for foods and the like can not be replaced in human being life. Hence, it also generates big chances for any company in that industry, including C2. [pic] Figure 7: Consumers’ reaction in the recession Last but not least, C2 products are currently utilized to be the promotion of a number of companies to offer to their customers. For example, whenever customers buy one product of Mobil1 Racing, they will be given one cold C2 bottled green tea. This indirect promotion makes a good condition for URC Vietnam to increasingly raise its sale figures. 7. 4. Threats There are many external forces that have a direct impact on the company’s performance. Currently, C2 has to face up with a very fierce competition in the beverage market, which composes of both carbonated and healthier drinks (indirect and direct competitors). In the same market, there exist many powerful competitors such as 0 degree, Pure Green and 100 in which 0 degree of THP is occupying the largest market share now. Although C2 has been positioned quite strongly in Vietnamese consumers’ drink option, that THP’s product has the advantages of being the first mover in the sweeten green tea segment. Lately, THP has introduced new product, Dr. Thanh herbal tea, which has been consumed with a very fast sales since the first days launching. Hence, it is considered to be one of the biggest competitors in that market. Besides, among a lot of indirect competitors, Coca Cola and Pepsi, the heaviest and strongest ones that account for 60% beverage field in Vietnam, also take a lot of C2’s concerning. . CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS In all, according to the findings above, it can be said that C2 continues maintaining its high position in Vietnam bottled green tea market with outstanding attainment while it also has to share this market with other strong competitors like 0 degree or Lipton Pure Green. Holding a number of internal strengths greatly contributes to C2 such an incredible suc cess whose outstanding example is its appropriate marketing strategies- market penetration pricing. However, URC Vietnam should make some changes in order for a stronger distribution system. They can build up new relationship with the local outlets rapidly by employing marketing push and pull also. In addition, good news from outside has created a lot of valuable chances to boost C2’s development. Especially, URC Vietnam can make the best use of the approaching of special occasion – the summer time to expand its market share as well as consumer’s brand awareness. Nevertheless, the recent appearance of Dr Thanh, a new comer in the healthier beverage market, creates a fiercer competition in that so attractive segment. Therefore, C2 needs to establish better preparation to get a win in that competitive battle. From the study above, some suggestions for improving C2’s performance are introduced. To begin with, advertising is always a very useful way to inform publicly and fully the information about the products and their services. In spite of the fact that C2 has made several qualified advertising, the televiewers are somehow not really pleased with those advertisings’ message. Then, it is proposed that URC Vietnam should concentrate on improving their advertising‘s quality; for example more meaningful ones which transfer expected information to the customers. To compete with the enlarger development of Dr Thanh, the company had better invest money on Research and Development department so that they can produce further diversification in flavor such as strawberry or mix ones. Available on market at the moment there are mainly four tastes among which only the lemon green tea are being consumed with rapid sales. With the variety of healthier drinks sold on the market, the consumers may be confused of which products should be used; for that reason, the company needs to provide differentiated products to gain the competitive advantage over their competitors. REFERENCES 1. 2009, â€Å"Overview TNS Vietnam Consumer Trends Q4/08† [online] Available at URL: http://www. scribd. com/doc/7563073/Overview-TNS-Vietnam-Consumer-Trends-Q408 (Accessed May 1st, 2009) 2. 2008, â€Å"Branded Consumer Foods Group – International†[online] Available at URL http://www2. urc. com. ph/ (Accessed May 2nd, 2009) 3. 2007, â€Å"URC launches C2 Green Tea in Vietnam† [online] Available at URL http://www. universalrobina. com/2007/01/10/urc-launches-c2-green-tea-in-vietnam/ (Accessed May 1st, 2009) 4. 008, â€Å"Demographics_of_Vietnam† [online] Available at URL http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Demographics_of_Vietnam (Accessed May 1st, 2009) 5. 2007, â€Å"Household living standard 2006†, [online] Available at URL http://www. gso. gov. vn/default_en. aspx? tabid=483&idmid=4 (Accessed May 1st, 2009) 6. 2007, â€Å"10 cong dung noi bat nhat cua tra doi voi suc khoe†[online] Available at URL http://blog. 360. yahoo. com /blog-9mJ_aP8yd6QAK2zDNjFeXQbe3Q–? cq=1&tag=ky-luc (Accessed May 7th, 2009) 7. 2008, Quang Minh, â€Å"Tra xanh C2 : thuong hi? u thanh cong v? i chi? lu? c d? nh gia tham nh? p† [online] Available at URL http://vietnambranding. com/thong-tin/phong-su-thuong-hieu/6554/Tra-xanh-C2–thuong-hieu-thanh-cong-voi-chien-luoc-dinh-gia-tham-nhap (Accessed May 1st, 2009) 8. 2008, Quang Minh, â€Å"Tra xanh khong do-Thuong hieu dan dau can thay do†i (Phan-2) [online] Available at URL: http://vietnambranding. com/thong-tin/phong-su-thuong-hieu/5791/Tra-xanh-khong-do–Thuong-hieu-dan-dau-can-thay-doi-(Phan-2) (Accessed May 5th, 2009) 9. 2007, â€Å"ly thuyet ve ma tran BCG† [online] Available at URL: http://5nam. tvnol. com/marketing/465955. ttvn (Accessed May 3rd, 2009) 10. 2008, Roger Pe, â€Å"C2’s Saga in Vietnam†, [online] Available at URL: http://globalnation. inquirer. net/features/features/view/20080414-130258/C2s-sa ga-in-Vietnam (Ac cessed May 1st, 2009) 11. Philip Kotler, Steward Adam, Linden Brown and Gary Armstrong (2002), Chapter 10: Pricing considerations and approaches, Pearson- Prentice Hall, p. p 355,356. ———————– Extreme convenience Bad promotion campaign Good promotion campaign Extreme inconvenience C2 0 Degree Lipton Pure Green

Dell Background

The background and history of Dell began in 1984 with Michael Dell as the founder which has been known as the most innovative entrepreneur for marketing computers. Dell began his adventure with computers in 1983 by selling PC components out of his college dorm room at the University of Texas. He bought RAM chips and disk drives for IBM PCs at cost from dealers and resold them in newspaper and magazine ads for 10-15 percent below regular cost. One year later he was already running sales of $ 80,000 and dropped out of school, creating a company called PCs LTD, selling both components and PCs. Dell had a strategic approach to selling which was buy the dealers surplus at cost and create his own by adding graphic cards and more memory. He was making clones of the PCs eliminating the retail markup, cutting the price about 40 percent and attracting the price conscious customers. This produced rapid growth and by the end 1986 sales had reached $ 33 million. In 1987 the company was renamed to Dell computers and a year later added a sales force that quickly gained government agencies, as well as becoming a public company. This venture raised 34. 2 million from common stock in the first offering to the public. Dell during the years of 1990-93 began to distribute his computer through superstores, but quickly realized that margins grew thin with this distribution channel and quickly withdrew from selling to retailers by 1994. Transitioning to focus on the direct sale of the computer and customize it during the ordering process for the customer. This was possible because each computer was individually assembled setting it apart from the others. During this time the laptop or notebooks started to also emerge in the early 90’s, however in 1993 Dell ran into some financial problems from a risky foreign currency hedging strategy and problems with laptops and PC models. These difficulties turned off buyers and caused Dell to suspend the sales of the laptops, then write off $ 40 million of its laptop PC models. In order to get sales back on track a redesign of the computer models were done and the company started to go strong into an internet site by 1997. Using the internet to sell there computers opened up a new market for Dell. They were building powerful computers with multiple features custom made to each individual. This model is the build to order business model and resulted in great sales.

Employment at Will Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Employment at Will - Article Example Employee Inability to learn and acquire new skills and competencies In any workplace environment, expectations must be met while maintaining professionalism at all times (Osborne & Wennerberg, 2010). In this particular situation Jennifer fear learning new skills to enhance her performance. This emotional reaction can be countered by the manager initiating the following procedure. Ask for questions and concerns: the manager should validate the legitimate concerns and the negative effects that Jennifer is expressing. Jennifer will automatically reveal where the problem really lies and what is making her not to effectively acquire the needed computer skills and competencies (Osborne & Wennerberg, 2010). Ask for feelings and opinions: Jennifer seems withdrawn from what she is required to learn, in this regard the manager should reassure her that what she is feeling is common and it is safe and better to express her concerns. The manager can for instance also express the importance of com puter skills and how they are vital to the company (Osborne & Wennerberg, 2010). Resist becoming defensive: the mistrust between the manger and Jennifer is detrimental and must be addressed. The manager should not be defensive but rather make an effort to listen to Jennifer instead of arguing with her. He/she should encourage communication to win Jennifer’s trust (Osborne & Wennerberg, 2010). Be visible and involved: it is the duty of the manager to make sure that he/she is visible and accessible to Jennifer. The fear of the unknown in Jennifer will be alleviated only by the present and transparent management style. The manager should spend some time with Jennifer to encourage her to learn the needed skills (Osborne & Wennerberg, 2010). Provide information: the constant provision of information will help Jennifer manage her learning and working processes. The current facts should be made available to her; this will help Jennifer understand what is required of her and work har d enough to meet her expectations (Osborne & Wennerberg, 2010). Management, behavior and performance In this particular circumstance, the manager should follow the following disciplinary procedure to address Jennifer’s situation. Establish the facts: the manager should carry out an intensive investigation to establish Jennifer’s gross misconduct. The investigation can be conducted by different people thus allowing the manager not to rely on evidence from one person in the disciplinary hearing. Similarly Jennifer can be summoned to an investigatory meeting and if possible she should be suspended to allow for thorough investigation (Freelance Advisor, 2008). Inform the employee of the problem: if Jennifer is found to have a disciplinary case to answer, she should be notified through writing, where the notification contains enough evidence of the alleged misconduct; in this case lateness to work, poor performance, and unruly behavior. The notification letter also provides the employee with details of the time and venue where the disciplinary meeting will be held and her right to be accompanied at the meeting (Freelance Advisor, 2008) Hold the meeting to discuss the problem: the disciplinary meeting should be held without any delay and also Jennifer should be allowed enough time to prepare. Both the manager and the employee must be present. The manager

Death of a Salesman Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 6

Death of a Salesman - Essay Example Relatively associated to the life and dream of every American family, Death of a Salesman tells about the anxiety and insecurity of the Lomans–with Willy as the father, Linda as the wife and the mother to two sons: Biff and Happy. Already suffering from senility, Willy is still made to suffer more from his unappreciative boss, Howard Wagner. Willy has managed to survive, eventhough he erred at times while driving or even doing simple tasks. This is due to his concern for his financial security that remained him a salesman travelling long distances just to make a sale, and earn only a commission from it. Lomans are not mired in abject poverty–they were able to mortgage the house in a decent and highly densed neighborhood and were able to drive their own car–Willy Loman found it difficult to meet both ends. Linda is a plain housewife; Happy is living his own life; and Biff was not able to finish high school on reasons Willy has to be partly blamed. The struggle is nerve-racking to the extent that he is often disgusted and complaining at his own self and the people around him. Slowly, the plot brings us to reality, and it reveals the more elaborate struggle Willy has stepped onto. First, Willy’s late brother Ben has intevened exclusively only to Willy’s mind. This is either a flashback or some literary device which Miller had utilized to induce an intrinsic conflict in the main character. In the initial dialogue between Willy and Ben, they exchanged pleasantries and they shared memories about their parents and even their whereabouts. Willy is interested to the latter’s prevarications, â€Å"to walk into the jungle† (Miller 36). To Willy, the philosophy–apparently the same philosophy of the Loman’s stock–should be imbued to his two young sons. Further in the play, one notices the intricacies in the past. Ben, in the past, has

In-Flight Smoking Ban Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

In-Flight Smoking Ban - Essay Example Many companies have recently adapted to the in-flight smoking rule thus causing controversies between the newly introduced smoking law and the human rights laws. The In-flight smoke rule was introduced in the United States in 1989 which has ever since continued to grow worldwide with the adaption of big airline companies such as Virgin Atlantic, British Air and Air France. The adaption of the in-flight smoking law has led to numerous positive results in the flight services. Non-smokers benefit immensely from the in-flight smoking ban as they can travel without the fear of being exposed to tobacco and its effects. In this case, smoking is a condoned in public environments as it affects both the smokers and the non-smokers. Health researchers indicate that non-smokers who are regularly exposed to cigarette smoke in public places carry a much higher chance of developing lung cancer and other smoking diseases compared to the firsthand smokers. Non-smokers are prone to sore eyes, colds an d sore through due to inadequate of fresh air circulation through the aeroplane cabins. An in-flight smoke law has helped in the reduction of these cases thus providing comfort in the air travelling. Flight crews have also benefited from the implementation of the in-flight smoke ban law. a research study commissioned by Aviation Safety Institute in March 1988 proved that smoke from cigarette reduces the level of blood oxygen in flight attendants and pilots which in turn leads to the adverse effect on their judgment. The in-flight smoke law has therefore helped in the reduction of air travel accidents thus making flight travelling to be one of the safest means of transport. Passengers travelling in the aeroplane cabin have benefited from the in-flight smoke law as it helps in the reduction of carbon IV oxide and carbon monoxide accumulation in the chamber that result from poor ventilation, maintenance of the air condition systems as well as filters, poor cleaners and less utility of these devices during flight travels.     

Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Reflection - Essay Example The people around us in the society play a big role in making us realize who we are and the potential that we carry, and ignite fire to conquer all odds of life in our spirits, and become what we want to be in life. This indicates how environment contributes in learning a language. This creates some emptiness and the hunger that can only be fulfilled through self satisfaction of success. This can be achieved when learners have the ability to connect their reading with their real life situations. I agree that learning a language does not take place automatically, but it can only be achieved through careful planning and design. It is a process that starts from home and continues to school. Therefore, indicates that instructors should not depend on the aspect of telling learners that it is time to reflect for them to grow and embrace this skill, but proper strategies and purposeful aims should be set to guide learners on this process (Welch 1999.) When instructors are designing teaching approaches, they should be able to identify the intended purpose and be able to realize how they will be achieved even before they manifest and happen. Such approaches will promote a smooth transition from oral to printed languages. There is a laid down procedure to enable learners develop their own learning that may be independent from those of their instructor (*). Positive environments enhance social interaction among learners who are able to share their ideas that see them acquiring more information from each other. This encourages group teaching, which promotes confidence and talking among peers. When learners share ideas it enables them to develop a deeper thinking more than learning on individual levels. (*) This confidence helps learners to develop a mastery content of the language. Students who have a good command of a language have the ability to express their opinions and feelings correctly. I agree that reading brings experiences stimulated by the author to the reader. However, the learner should get the meaning of the words he is reading. Discussion of pictures during reading activities enables the learner to understand what he is going to read. . After several trials, the mind will eventually come up with remedies that can be applied to handle the issue, which means the mind has broadened through challenges. Learning has become dynamic, and it calls for instructors to search deeper than they were doing in the past. They should develop ways that are relevant to the current curriculum system, and which have a communicable language that the audience can understand. This is because language is the medium of instruction that instructors depend on to pass information. Unit 2 Reflection Reading programs give meaning to an individual basing on his motives and intentions, but these intentions do not come from an individual alone since the leaner acquires some values when one interacts with others through relationships. This indicates that metacognitive a spects enable learners to grow socially through their sharing of ideas in groups that enhances cooperation among them. Therefore, some programs emphasize the power to influence and propagate relationships among learners, the community and the nation at large. However, it is my opinion that teachers should assess the value of any reading program before applying it. This suggests that instructors should show how they plan to

Human Resource Management High School Case Study

Human Resource Management High School - Case Study Example In addition, his character references have shown positive feedback with his work ethic and study habits. With this kind of academic background, it is blatantly obvious that the part of the benefits package which would most likely appeal to Peters is the company's apparent conduciveness to higher learning. The case states that Beco Electric encourages advanced education, fully subsidizing all expenses for tuition and books. And to top it all off, the company would even allow its employees to attend classes during the day, depending on the circumstance. A harmonious, mutually beneficial working relationship would even result in scholarships for all dependents of the employee. Judging from his description, these are the facets of the benefits program which Mr. Peters would find most attractive. Of course, having the standard health insurance and profit sharing plans never hurt, but if one is very serious with his continuing studies, this reflects a personality which would not give much credence to financial compensation. Mr. Peters is an academic achiever and has shown significant leadership potential, hence the company's flexible continuing education schemes should bode well for him . Other benefits which may favor Mr.

Traveled to Las vegas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Traveled to Las vegas - Essay Example It was really a good driving experience on a Chevrolet. The Fremont Street is a good night attraction for visitors with casinos and LED lights adding to the overall beauty of the area. On the third day of my trip, I went to The Fountains at Bellagio. One thing that I noticed at this place was the presence of a large number of people from different parts of world. It is a widely spread manmade lake with a lot of fountains that are so attractive that a person with a passion for photography cannot stop taking photographs until the whole picture storage limit of the camera ends. In addition, during night times, this place becomes even more beautiful when lights from high rise buildings cover the area like shining starts. On the last two days of my trip, I visited the Hoover Dam which is considered to be one of the seven industrial wonders of the world. I also took photos of the dam and the accompanying areas. Some more places that I really liked in Las Vegas included the Caesers Palace, Red Rock Canyon, and Mirage Volcanos. All of these places were very attractive and perfectly managed. Summing it up, I would say that my trip to Las Vegas was the most exciting and memorable travel experience of life which I will never forget in my whole

IT163 unit 6 bd Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

IT163 unit 6 bd - Research Paper Example ortant to validate the information received from the web forms, so that by any means if the user enters incorrect data / information, the web forms should inform the users by appropriate message box. There are many web forms available over the internet which represents the poor web form design. One of the worst web form design examples is available at the URL (http://www.jamesmansfield.id.au/aflpoor-form-design/). The form available at the given URL is regarding collecting personal information of a user like name, address, contact etc. The size of the text fields is unnecessarily huge as well as the different text fields have different sizes. Moreover, the questions are not precise as to get name, the web form designer asks the ‘Initial’ which is not clear. Irrelevant and similar information / questions have been designed in the form, for instance, contact information has been designed in four different tables including the address (two times), five types of phone numbers, etc. (Mansfield, 2009). Comparatively, the web form available at the URL (www.gmail.com) for creating accounts in Gmail is simple and

Prohibition Underage Drinking Essay Example for Free

Prohibition Underage Drinking Essay Throughout the years advertisement has played a big part in the growth and popularity of many products in our country. Since the 1920’s advertisements have been used for cars, clothes, food and materialistic things that people want or think they have to have. In the mix of all these advertisements, alcohol is the most used, sought after, and dangerous advertisement in the industry. After the prohibition the safety of the people has been the number one concern since alcohol hit the streets. Where we place the advertisement has more of an impact on society and community than the advertisement does on its own brand. Since 1933, when the prohibition ended, advertising was something that people didn’t know much about. The products that were sold by alcohol companies were all sold by word of mouth or by being the first to sell a big order to a local saloon. Now advertising is not only important but it is a necessity. Unlike the 1900’s, businesses currently make teams to go out and make charts, graphs, and plots of all cities with bus station, bus benches, billboards and even characteristics to the city that match the target market that the company is trying to attract. What makes this so dangerous is the fact that companies have gotten so good at placing advertising, that they already know who the advertising will influence in that city before they put it up. The reason why this is bad is because unlike in the 1920’s, now businesses and companies can find out what parts of the country and what communities drink the most in what areas . In the business world this is great because it makes maximizing your profits really easy, but what they don’t know is that it is hurting the community. The areas that these advertising companies target are low income families, poor communities, and neighborhoods that are known for alcohol induced crimes. This has not only made the problem worse but it has created new problems like underage drinking. Advertising is perceived by teens in different ways than adults perceive it. When a teen sees an advertising in these kinds of areas often they get confused about what is really being advertised and often teens don’t have the support in their life to ask about what it really is. They try and take what they see on the advertisement and match it to what they see in reality. Often the only similarities teens make the connection with is parties, dancing, and girls. But what they don’t know about is the consequences. Since the 1920’s the government has been doing everything they can to stop alcohol induced crime, but it has only gotten worse. In the united states 80% of college students between the age of 18-20 are said to consume alcohol when at college. The universities have tried to set strict policies for drinking and having parties on campus, but all it has done is make the college kids more rebellious and determined to not get caught. This can be a main contributing factor to drop out rates, car accidents, unprotected sex, fights, and alcohol poisoning that has been a concerning statistic for many universities. The consequences that the universities and even the government have set up for underage drinking are become so serious that it can now effect your entire life with fines such as a year in jail, $500 fine, 3 year probation, and a felony. This can effect students and underage drinkers from getting jobs, driver license, and going to school in the future. As you can see advertising since the 1920s was nothing like it is today. They relied on word of mouth to sell their product to the right place and now we have cheat sheets and charts to send companies to the right buyer and sometimes the wrong consumer. As a part of the 20th century revolution we have to deal with the problems that the advertising has created as well as learn about what the advertising has taught us.

Educational Reform Essay Example for Free

Educational Reform Essay The educational institutes today are more focused on academics pay less attention to the physical attributes of the students. Physical educators along with academic teachers play an important part in promoting good health through regular physical activities. The number of obese children is increasing around the world. Research depicts that one in every ten; six years old child in England is obese. It is estimated that by the year 2020, 50% of the children would be obese. (BBC. co, 2004,) Lack of physical activity is said to be a cause for lowers academic achievements as well as overweight obese individuals. The reason being, when the fundamental dietary fitness needs are not met, the students show a decline in academics by giving a poor performance. A study in New York asserted that students’ intelligence academic performance was affected by the slightest of malnutrition signs. Schools play a major role in developing the young minds grooming them for a bright future, it must be kept in mind that physical education too is an imperative aspect of an individual’s life. Along with the P. E. courses the students should be advised about a proper diet intake. Children with poor nutritional habits, especially in the early years usually score low in vocabulary, reading calculation. (Athletics Campus Life, 2007) It is calculated that 40% of American population is inactive only 20% are slightly active. Mostly 50% of individuals drop out of exercise programs without even completing six months. The fact is that habits are developed at an early age. If the students are not facilitated with physical exercise courses at school, they will never form healthy workout habits. The schools these days are struggling to increase the student success rates, the children are over burdened with homework extra classes, leaving no time for extracurricular activities. The Buffalo City School District in New York has decided to incorporate a physical education department starting from the very initial stage; the aim is to achieve better student grades, attendance improved health. The students’ nutrition, active lifestyle accomplishments are all interrelated. If the child is happy healthy, he will perform well in every step he takes. Reducing 240 minutes per week in class time in favor of physical activity resulted in higher math scores. (Action for Healthy Kids, 2004) Students with the highest fitness scores scored the highest in their SAT exam. Being physically active also fortifies the student’s cognitive learning abilities lowers anxiety depression levels. It is derived from extensive research that the intake of oxygen during exercise benefits the neurons increases the mind power. Overweight children are susceptible to develop physical ailments like blood pressure diabetes in later life, not to mention the psychological effects by being teased in school causing a reclusive feeling, low self esteem presently depression. The Cambridge Public Schools, in Massachusetts, discovered that almost 14% of children from the age group 9-13 were overweight due to sedentary routines. These students were being targeted for jokes bullying. In order to facilitate the energy of hyperactive sedentary students, at the same time improving their physical social wellbeing; increased the activity programs at school targeting every student’s individual needs. This act may produce desirable results in the meantime confronting issues like obesity bullying. But focus should be kept on the physical wellbeing of students; therefore it’s a better option to minimize competing activities. Sports recreational competitions are a good way to realize one’s potential but may induce negative feelings in the losing opponent. Every school attempts to reach the highest target of excellence; this goals should set concern for the physical mental growth of the students thus, expanding time for the physical extracurricular activities for the children to indulge in. summer winter breaks can also be utilized for such programs. Participating in such activities help the children to discover their strengths uniqueness creating a feeling of achievement. They realize their interests then design their future goals accordingly. A number of funds are use for the betterment of academic departments in schools. Some steps should be taken for designing the physical education department in order to achieve a positive impact on the confidence, self esteem motivation of all the students. Each student should be dealt separately, so as to meet individual demands improve their over all personality. A policy taken up by the Michigan State Board of Education Policy in September 2003 on Quality Physical Education confirms that well planned physical activities play a pivotal role in the student learning capabilities. They learn to incorporate their skills abilities to the fullest in every field. They started a 150 minutes/week program for the elementary students 225 minutes/week. (Michigan State- Resource Guide) Some of the ideas that can be incorporated for the betterment of students overall capabilities are:†¢ All students should be entitled to join the physical activity groups. Each age group should be handled separately so they can enhance their confidence, identify their personal. The physical education curriculum should be based on a rationally researched content. The proper equipment tools should be provided by the school a professional trainer should be hired to train the students. The individual strengths abilities of students should be catered. Tests should be conducted to find out their endurance levels body strengths then target the problem areas for achieving a healthy active student body. †¢ Athletics are very effective in the over all growth of children.  Basic levels of athletics should be coached to every student advance courses available to those who are interested. †¢ The P. E. group can hold study groups workshops to help the students with their weakness provide them with proper nutritional guides. Several activities can be introduces involving interaction with friends families of the students. For example few schools arrange sport days, running tracks family fitness nights. After school activities can play a major role in inducing physical fitness in the students. The points to keep in mind are that †¢ the activities are convenient for the students †¢ the program contains enough intensity to make it challenging †¢ Variety of programs should be introduced so that the children are keen to partake in them. †¢ The weather conditions should be kept in mind indoor gyms recreational rooms should be set up in case of a rainy day. †¢ The parents teachers should be encouraged to get involved with the students so they can help the children to live up to the best of their abilities.

Debates On Mercy Killings

Debates On Mercy Killings If a Wife kills her Husband because of the pain he is in from his medical problems. Do you think that she should be charged with manslaughter, homicide, or any other charge acquitted to death of another human being? I say she should. Should euthanasia be legalized in our country? This is indeed a question often discussed in community. In some countries like Holland, its already allowed, while the German politicians cant stop discussing about it over and over again. Both states could argue with several statements and their opinions about it, but which of them would be correct? Is there even a right decision? First of all, euthanasia, also called mercy killing, is the act of putting a person or animal to death painlessly or allowing it to die, as by withholding extreme medical measures, when its suffering from an incurable, especially a painful, disease or condition. In other words, if a person is death-ill or otherwise has lost his will to live, doctors are allowed to end the patients life if theyre requested/allowed so by the person. Should the patient be unable to make the decision himself, his/her family has to decide if they want to continue with medical treatment or not. If an animal is suffering from an incurable disease or condition, the owner has to decide about its fate. There are several forms of euthanasia: Voluntary euthanasia is the form of euthanasia conducted with the patients permission. Involuntary euthanasia is conducted without the explicit consent of the individual concerned and means that an individual makes a decision for another person incapable of doing so. Both voluntary and involuntary euthanasia can be conducted passively or actively. Passive euthanasia entails the withholding of common treatments, such as antibiotics, necessary for the continuance of life. The administration of increasingly necessary, although toxic doses of Opioid is regarded as a passive measure. Active euthanasia on the other hand is the conducting of life-limiting measures on the basis of the actual or presumed wish of a person and is also called assisted suicide. Except for the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, it is prohibited worldwide. Although euthanasia may not be a common and appreciated topic for daily-life, one can still find a lot of reasonings for and against it after a little research. One of the most popular arguments to forbid (active) euthanasia is the question how it can be decided whether a patient is beyond any hope to heal or not. Even if the possibility of recovering is only up to a minimum, some people would refuse to end their loved-ones life before time and rather waited for time and medicines to take care of the injury/disease if theyre not entirely sure that theres no change of betterment. And most important, what if the concerned person is no longer able to decide for himself? Who would be able to take the burden of ending a family members life? The guilt of having done something like that would surely shatter everyones mind, so its far easier to just wait and watch things develop. Not to mention that it would be a violation of the Bibles laws. As it is clearly written in the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20: 2-17, the sixth commandment says: You shall not murder. And isnt murder defined as killing of another human being with intent ? So what is euthanasia but murder? Adding to that, it can also be said that there had been cases in Holland where doctors conducted both passive and active euthanasia at their patients without permission. And that cannot be allowed in our state. But of course, there wouldnt be a contra without a pro. In fact, all of the listed arguments above not to legalize euthanasia can be negated. As a first addition, euthanasia is only conducted in really incurable cases, not after a simple car-accident where one has broken his leg and believes to suffer greatly, but more in cases where the patient can only be kept alive with great medical treatment, maybe even attached to a machine, having lost all power or abilities to take care of himself. If one is not aware of how much pain this inflicts on both the body and the mind of the concerned person, he can hardly understand how much of a release it would be for them to be allowed to let go. Especially old or handicapped people feel like a burden for their family. As long as one is able to decide for himself, he has the right to determine what shall happen with him, this also including the right to end his life. And it would at least happen under medical observation, painlessly, which is really good. Just imagine, for example, your paralyzed uncle would want to end his life, but was not allowed to assign for it in a hospital, ending up directing his wheel-chair to the nearest stairs in his desperation at full speed. No, nobody wants this to happen, do they? Then let them finally fall asleep and dont disturb them. Death belongs to the flow of life just as well as life itself, it cant be stopped, no matter how much we sometimes crave for it to change. I know, its hardly believable, but releasing a concerned family member is also a relief for the rest of the family. Of course there will be a lot of sorrow, but they will soon notice that is had been entirely to his best. Another aspect is that you cant let someone else suffer through great pain just because of your morals and your religion. Really, atheists wont care a bit if it was against your gods word to kill another person, because, stuck in unbearable pain, it simply doesnt matter to them. Every person has his own definition of right and wrong, so forcing someone else to follow your completely different ways would be the real crime. As for the abuse of legalized mercy-killing in the Netherlandsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Well, sadly but true, thats how our world functions. There will always be abuses of any kinds of rules, and there will never be a time when mankind decides to stop eating itself away. Were like that. I dont like it either, but we cant just ignore it. Finally, I would like to clarify that I neither fully favor nor forbid euthanasia because I can very well understand both sides of the argumentation. My personal opinion is that everyone should talk to their loved-ones to plan out what should happen in case of such an emergency, so that it will later be clear whether the person wants to live on or not.

Beaches Essay -- Descriptive Personal Narrative

Beaches are beautiful forms of nature. Each one varies from another. Some can be rocky, some have white sand, some have black, some are small, and some are large. I love all sorts of beaches. Each beach I have visited has been a memorable experience, but one in particular stands out in my mind.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During my junior year I went on vacation to a resort in Jamaica with a extraordinary beach. It was a large beach with white sand and remarkable palm trees. There was also a long row of enormous rocks that extended far out into the Caribbean Sea. I found that those rocks made a great place to walk out on to watch the glorious sunsets.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I thought this Jamaican beach was great for a couple of reasons. One reason was that it was the perfect place to watch the sunset. The other was that it was a great place to lay out relaxing and tanning during the day. Each day, I’d wake up in the morning, grab a soft white towel, and head for the beach. I was always one of the first to settle on the sand. I easily found myself the perfect spot along the crashing waves each and every day. I’d sit on that towel all day long. I got up only to run into the Caribbean Sea to cool myself off. During the day the beach truly was a great place to be, however, the late afternoon and night were beautiful beyond compare. One night in particular, the sunset was truly a memorable sight. Every sunset I’d witnessed had been great, but this particular evening was my favorite. That night I walked out onto...

Molds Essays -- Biology, Spores

Humans spend 90% of their lives indoors (Sorenson, 1999), thus, they are in contact with mold everyday of their lives. Because people are indoors so often, harmful mold normally grows inside. There are three types of molds, allergenic, pathogenic, and toxigenic. The most common are allergenic and pathogenic found in homes. These molds tend to grow in damp places, such as, bathrooms, kitchens, and basements. Within these growing molds, they produce spores (Flappen et al, 1999). Spores are used to pollinate and settle in damp locations to produce more molds. These spores are highly toxic to humans over long durations. Some diseases include pulmonary hemorrhage, hemosiderosis, and respiratory problems (Sorenson, 1999). Molds are dangerous to human life; however, some molds are beneficial to humans. One type of mold includes Stachybotry atra commonly known as the black mold, which can cause pulmonary hemorrhage in infants (Flappan et al, 1999). This disease causes the upper respiratory system to bleed from the nose and tracheal (Flappan et al 1999). Sometimes this type of bleeding is not caused by pulmonary hemorrhage, but hemosiderosis. Hemosiderosis is when macrophages are iron-positive; this causes the white blood cells to devour red blood cells (Flappan et al 1999). Red blood cells carry oxygen to the different organs, without red blood cells the body system would fail. These two diseases are only harmful to human bodies for short-term, while chronic asthma is long-term. People who were exposed to mold at a young age could suffer from asthma. Asthma is the most chronic problem induced during childhood by infesting indoor allergens. Mold is a type of indoor allergen that is common within urban areas (Ker... ...t pathogens (Weinhold, 2007). To reduce the amount of spores entering someone’s system, fix pipes and roofing problems, as well as, cleaning the moisture in the vent ducts. While some molding issues could be fixed by simply removing the moldy object and disinfecting the area (book). Others believe it is the design of a building that causes mold inhabitations to provoke respiratory issues (Weinhold, 2007). However, there certain molds not harmful to the human body like Penicillum (Landsber, 1949). This mold creates antibiotics which helps fight pathogens. There are many things unknown about mold, but researchers are determined to learn every aspect. It is important to educate the world mold because some could save lives, while others could take it away. There are no current regulations set on dealing with mold, but some insurance companies providing mold coverage.

Aristotelian Ethics and its Context Essay -- Philosophy Ethics Essays

Ethics as Politics: On Aristotelian Ethics and its Context ABSTRACT: This paper argues that the assertion of Nicomachean Ethics I.ii that the art that treats of ethics is politics is to be understood properly not in the sense of politics qua nomothetike but just as politike, i.e., direct, participatory politics as was enjoyed in the Athenian polis and as the formed background to Aristotle’s philosophizing on the nature of ethics. The ethical import of politics can be retrieved from Aristotle’s Ethics (in both versions) and Politics by dwelling on the connection of eudaimonia and humanity’s function as such. Aristotle does not construe this function as contemplation but rather as the practical application of reason-reason leading to action. This, however, is the subject of politics. This specific human function, the function that makes us homo sapiens, can not be displayed in rule-be-ruled institutions such as the oikos (household) since such institutions and their collateral behaviors are predetermined based on rank or r ole. But achieving the distinctively human telos requires that such rule-be-ruled relations and behaviors be transcended since those relations and behaviors exclude the free exercise of deliberative intelligence. I begin with a proposition: that ethics (in the classical sense) (1) requires politics as the venue of its implementation; indeed, that ethics in a fundamental sense is politics. Ethics is politics inasmuch as the achievement of human happiness—"the activity of the soul in accordance with excellence, lasting a lifetime"—is public, both in that the achievement requires the presence of co-equals as the condition of its emergence, and in the sense that the excellence achieved (one's character) is public... ... modern metaphor for the political and ethical consequences of lapsing into a state of nature: the history of the Bounty mutineers (1789 and following) and their settlement of Pitcairn Island and the ensuing rapid self-destruction of the adult male population until, within four years of the settlement’s founding, only four men and ten women remained alive, and within a further seven years, all remaining men had been murdered except for one who was left as sole adult male dominating a community of females and juveniles. (23) The absence of a hierarchy of competitors refers to practices within a given sport category: competitors within a given Class A league are co-equals—but this does not imply the exclusion of other (higher or lower) sport categories (e.g., AA vs. A or AAA vs. AA) based on such factors as competitors' size, size of competitor pool, and so on.

Dance Appreciation Viewing Assignment

Mihir Shukla 1. A: abstract B: ballet C: contemporary D: distraught E: emotional F: frenzied G: graceful H: harmonious I: integrated J: joyous K: kinetic L: loving M: manipulative (body-wise) N: nimble O: organized P: peaceful Q: qualitative R: resonance S: separation T: transient U: ubiquitous V: â€Å"Virtuosity† (Unit 1 term) W: willful X: xeransis Y: youthful Z: zealous 2. A limit does not exist within the vast pool of terminology which could be utilized to depict this beautifully choreographed dance piece by Benjamin Millepied.My impression was first molded by the organization of this dance; how it is divided into three portions, all equally responsible for the delivery of its emotions, as well as its overall message. This work begins with the lone male soloist, and in accorance the kinetic aspects of his dance, it can be interpreted that he is somewhat distraught. Furthermore, there are several manuevers and bodily manipulations within the form of this dance, its abstrac tness also defines its contemporary nature.As the second portion of this dance unfolds, it can be stated that a sense of love enters the floor with the beautiful female soloist; her graceful, willful movements enhance the dance as it seems to take on a more zealous temperament. Ultimately, the third aspect of this dance, the duet – Pas de Deux, shows transiency to a more harmonious movement, as the resonance between the two soloists is apparent. This ballet allows for both peace and chaos, it can be thought of as a representation of life itself, with its transitions from different moods shown through the movements of the dancers. . Within our reading this week there are many quotations that represent the true nature of dance relative to its multiple forms and styles.Of all the statements provided, the statement which was the most representative of this particular dance, in my view, was written by Walter Sorell; it stated, â€Å"Movement is the essence of life, dance its ulti mate expression . †¦ The artist creates out of the world that has made him in order to remake it according to the image of his inner world. I believe that this statement signifies and validates the emotions which emerged throughout the course of this dance work. As this dance transitioned through its multiple stages, each soloist experessed his/her emotions at each particular instant of the dance, with both the slightest, as well as the greatest of movements; it can be seen that dancers have to exaggerate and embellish their movements in order to speechlessly deliberate on their feelings and decisions – as did these dancers, both alone and as one.As I aformentioned, dance is a representation of life itself, and these dancers have shown their â€Å"inner worlds† (Walter Sorell) within their physical reality, bounded by time and space, but emotionally and artistically unbounded, as their movements seemingly defied gravity.

Should Susan give up on Mrs. Taylor

Reply to Response #4 I don’t think that Susan should give up on Mrs. Taylor. She has to convince her that Carl needs all the help he can get otherwise his behavior disorder might turn into something more destructive. He should be allowed to overcome his problem without the help of any prescription drugs. Mrs. Taylor and everybody in the faculty of the school should therefore exercise â€Å"maximum tolerance† in dealing with Carl.Susan’s intervention plan would only work with the full cooperation of everybody else: Mrs.  Taylor, Carl’s parents, Susan herself, and the other faculty members of the school. Reply to Response #5 You are absolutely right and I agree with you. Susan has definitely come up with the best plan given the available resources. I also believe that completely removing Carl from Mrs. Taylor’s class would do more harm than good. Carl is already feeling insecure after the divorce of his parents and subjecting him to such a humiliati ng experience might result to more violent reaction from the boy. The IEP meeting with the parents was also a great help for Susan.It gave her a first hand knowledge of Carl’s predicament and could help her reach out to him. However, before Susan enlists the help of the shared psychologist, I think it would be better for her to arrange a one-on-one meeting with Carl after class first. If she could befriend Carl and gain his confidence by showing him that she is someone he could trust, Susan would be off to a good start. A psychologist, on the other hand, might have a negative reaction from Carl. Reply to Response #6 You’re probably right. I also think Carl’s mother wants to wash her hands of the entire problem.She definitely showed that she did not care whether Carl is disciplined or not when she uttered the words â€Å"Do whatever you have to do. Give me the papers to sign, I have to get back to work. † However, before I decide to transfer Carl to anothe r class, I think it would be better if Mrs. Taylor should first be convinced to do more for Carl. A little more patience is what Carl needs. A little more sympathy would be even better. Moving Carl to another class might prove embarrassing for him and elicit an even more violent reaction.

Banner advertising on the internet

The growth of cyberspace and the internet has not only created a new marketplace for vendors of all sorts where they can sell their items but has also created another area where advertising agencies can market goods.   Cyberspace is an infinite space and for advertisers, this provides infinite â€Å"advertising space† as well.   The only constraints on any person seeking to advertise on the internet are money and well, literally, page space (although some argue that a single page can be expanded into Herculean proportions. Banner advertisements are currently one of the most dominant forms of advertising online.   While banner advertisements were a very effective and useful advertising tool when it first started out due to the high click-through rate (CTR) which was the basis for banner advertisements, these banner advertisements have experienced a decline in popularity because of the loss of its novelty and because of other forms of internet advertising.   This has resulted in the decrease in the banner rates that websites and advertisers charge. It is this decrease in the cost of utilizing banner advertisements which has prompted this study on the effectiveness of banner advertising on the internet.   Before discussing the effectiveness of banners, a brief discussion on the pros and cons of banner advertising is necessary to be able to proper analyze its effectiveness cost-wise and also the market range that it is able to target and the demographics of the captured market. The greatest criticisms against banner advertising arise from the fact that there is no accurate way to measure the effectiveness of the banners in measuring the actual impact on the market or on the web page visitors.   There has been no study which has sufficiently shown the relationship between the advertising exposure and the actual purchasing in relation to the banner advertisements. While there have been proposals to use exposure based metrics or â€Å"impressions†, â€Å"difficulties in measuring online impressions precisely have caused much dissatisfaction among managers, resulting in a reluctance to commit funds to banner advertising (Hoffman and Novak 2000). â€Å"   The current method being employed is the â€Å"click through† method but this has also been discounted as ineffectual because â€Å"click through† merely measures the number of visits one makes and does not really reflect the proportion of visits which translate into final purchases. Another negative aspect of banner advertising is the recent â€Å"banner blindness† which is a usability phenomenon in which a website visitor completely overlooks and ignores any banner styled information (Benway and Lane 1998).   While there are studies to support the fact that this has been caused by the over exposure of website visitors to banners during its peak and thus the unconscious reaction to completely ignore them, this can also be caused by differences between connection speeds and overloaded servers that fail to load the graphics on websites properly. These two aspects are the main arguments against the effectiveness of banner advertising on the internet.   Now that the negative side of this argument has been considered, it is now important to asses the other aspect which are the positive arguments for banner advertising. The positive arguments for banner advertising fall mainly under two categories: cost-effectiveness and access to a larger consumer base.   The cost-effectiveness of banner advertising is based on the recent decrease in the cost of launching a banner campaign on the internet.   Banner advertising presents a relatively acceptable return on investments given the below-average ad rates and above-average response rates of website viewers. Because the internet has huge potential for building customer relationships, measurability and speed, the proposition of paying an adequate fee in return for a great potential benefit and increase in market visibility and profitability means that banner campaigns on the internet present a viable alternative for any company looking to cut down on costs while not necessarily resulting to losses in profit margins. The last factor that must be considered is the overall effectiveness of banners in reaching markets and creating awareness for the particular product or brand that is being advertised.   Recent studies have shown that the more interactivity that is created by the banners, the higher the â€Å"click-through† rates and the deeper the involvement consumers will have with the brand.   Cryptic messages have also been shown to increase click-through by 18% while offering of free goods or services improves click-through significantly.   What these figures and studies show is that banner advertising can be an effective means (cost and market reach) of conducting a successful marketing campaign. In conclusion, while it remains true that there is no efficient method by which to accurately correlate the number of visits or â€Å"click throughs† that a website visitor may have to the increase in sales or market exposure of a certain product, the recent decrease in costs of implementing a banner ad campaign on the internet definitely make it a very interesting alternative to consider.   It must be remembered that there are other methods by which to increase the visibility and appeal of banners to conform to the tastes of website viewers despite the emergence of the â€Å"banner blindness† phenomenon. Given the relatively low cost of launching a banner campaign on the internet, the wide consumer market base that becomes accessible through such medium and the potential benefits of a successful banner campaign, it is therefore highly advisable for any company to engage in banner advertising. References: Benway, P. and Lane, D. â€Å"Banner Blindness: Web Searchers Often Miss Obvious Links,†1998 Hoffman, D. and T. Novak (2000), â€Å"When Exposure-Based Advertising Stops Making Sense (and What CDNOW Did about It),† working paper, Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University.   

“A Question of Torture” by Alfred McCoy

â€Å"In April 2004, the American public was stunned when CBS Television broadcast photographs from Abu Ghraib prison, showing Iraqis naked, hooded, and contorted in humiliating positions while U.S. soldiers stood over them, smiling†. (p.5)Here Alfred McCoy starts his narration. His book â€Å"A Question of Torture† is labeled as a penetration study of fifty years American participation in torture propagation, research and practice. The book reveals degrading and inhumane treatment, cruelty and injustice in US history intensified by tragic personal case studies and experiences.The author deepens in why the tortures were sued, where they were implemented and what the consequences were. It is known that CIA had spent millions of dollars on torture research and the author writes that it combined self-inflicted pain with sensory deprivation with the eternal purpose of creating revolutionary psychological approach. The goal was to develop the first innovation in torture: â⠂¬Å"Still, if genius is the discovery of the obvious, then the CIA's perfection of psychological torture was a major scientific turning point, albeit unnoticed and unheralded in the world beyond its secret safe houses†.   (p.7)The primary techniques in torturing were hooding, isolation, extremes of hot and cold, hours of standing without opportunities to move or to change body position, manipulation of time. In such a way CIA had managed to destroy victim’s senses and his personal identity. All these techniques are claimed to have been used in Vietnam, Iraq, Iran and Central America. For example, Washington is argued to refer to torture in CIA’s prisons and torture-friendly countries.Nevertheless, information obtained through torturing is really worthless as victims were ready to acknowledge their fault even if they were not guilty. McCoy says that the agency used electric shocks and recruited peopled like, for example, Kurt Plotner. The author concludes that t he simplest and cheapest methods work the best and, what is more awful, public accepted them more than physical violence.Book DiscussionI think that the book â€Å"A Question of Torture† is really shocking and impressive study as the author reveals the most contradictive and painful pages of American history.Nevertheless, the book contributes historical filed as McCoy tends to provide neutral and realistic examples how tortures were used by CIA and where they were used. The author frames historical development of tortures stressing they are sanctioned. He seems to be very concerned with the diminished standards of American nation.However, I agree with McCoy that tortures are rarely affective and it is simply a like looking for a needle in haystack. The book teaches us that once torture is implemented, it results in mass tortures as, for example, tortures in Argentina and Chile during their ‘dirty wars’. Moreover, mass tortures are linked to increased rates of jud icial killings.