Journal Entry - assigment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Journal Entry - assigment - Assignment Example male contestant had no intention of abiding by the contract, using her emotional responses to deceive the male contestant, holding the belief that she had succeeded in convincing him of her sincerity. The secondary motivation, under contractarianism, is making concessions with a moral code of action attached for the pursuit of self-interest. In this case, the male contestant abides by contractarianism theory as he made it clear that he was consciously aware of the potential consequences from the judging audience for not abiding by the mutual split deal. The female contestant, also, was consciously aware of these judgments, but instead chose to fulfill her own self-interest rather than abide by the agreement. It had previously been my view that people are, in actuality, selfish individuals. The male contestant was a prime example of contractarianism, while the female contestant was willing to succumb to moral judgment and the stigma of immorality to pursue her maximum self-gain. Though the female contestant supported Hobbs’ claim, she tended to refute the theory of contractarianism by not allowing the shame or disgrace that she would carry to be enough motivation to abide by the social contract with her opponent. By witnessing an individual willing to abide by the contract, it instilled a new sense of faith in the moral constructs of some in society and supports that notion that there are some who will act appropriately to avoid causing harm to others. The male contestant could have easily chosen the Steal ball as this would have maximized his own position if he had been convinced of the female contestant’s morality. The male contestant believed that cooperation could be of benefit to both parties, therefore he showed legitimate concern at the moral level for the well-being of his opponent. The male contestant believed that moral justice by securing the needs of both contracted parties was morally preferable over attempting to achieve receipt of the entire

Dove Marketing Analysis Essay Example for Free

Dove Marketing Analysis Essay Imagine you have oversight of the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. Are you comfortable with what is going on? Is this a brand that is out of control with its promotional messages? Dove released its first advertising on 1957, in which Dove called its product as cleaning cream instead of soap. After that, Dove launched some advertising to emphasized on its functional feature. In 2000, Dove became a Masterbrand of Unilever. In other words, it had to establish a meaning for Dove that could apply to and extend over the entire stable of products. In order to stand for a point of view, The Campaign for Real Beauty began to process. Then campaign focus on the self-esteem and confidence instead of appearances, it still could be include into female field. Just from external to inner, So Dove is not out of control with its promotional message. In my opinion, I am comfortable with Dove’s campaign due to the following reasons. First, Dove more concerned about women’s feeling and inner spirit. When the advertising plays too many shots on the beauty of girls, sometimes, the values and aesthetic of the society will be influence. Women and teenager girls would pay more money and time to fit their body. Therefore, Dove’s advertising will not add this misleading. Second, Dove choose YouTube and Blog as the major platform, it is a wise and trendy choice. Internet plays more and more important role in the modern life, especially the raise of the social networking. In the future, Dove has more opportunities to attract public and ahead of other companies. Third, Dove always guarantees the quality of ads. Their advertising is not a simple product promotion, but some interesting story and conversation. The products of Dove even do not need to be photographed. The consumers will remember such high-quality ad and are willing to share with others. Moreover, Dove’s Real Beauty campaign built a buzz and was widely exposed. People actively discussed the campaign through Internet and TV shows, even famous celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Jay Leno talked about it in their TV shows. Though there were many parodies in the Internet, they were funny and generated more attentions on the brand. Last but not least, the campaign was contributed to the brand’s business growth and values. In 2006, Landor Associates identified Dove was one of the 10 brands with the greatest ercentage gain in brand health and business values. 2. Is Dove’s attempt to engender social engagement through its promotional campaigns too risky an endeavor given its lack of control over consumer parody and accusations of trying to sell under the pretense of contributing to the social good? In the business, every decision faced the profit and risk. Generally, th e greater the risks result in the greater rewards. The risks are as follow: Through the investigation, Dove found out that many women had discontent with the young, white blonde and thin models, because they could not attain that standard. Dove started the advertisement Campaign for Real Beauty, underlining their products will feel better, while other company always publicize look beautiful in the commercial. The risk is that whether or not the consumers understand and accept that change. On next stage, Dove was a very controversial event. Billboards were erected to vote on whether a woman on the billboard was outsized or outstanding. A counter showed the result. As a beauty brand, this campaign will attract public attention; simultaneously will challenge the brand cognitive. Whats more, Dove broke the traditional rule in the company and go forward without paid media at all. YouTube become the most important platform instead of television. When Dove made this decision, the risk is that maybe they will lose some traditional and classical consumers. Facing the negative responses, Dove did not ignore them, but positive embrace them. The company list both view in other medias and allow public to discuss these. They also sent interactive packages to media outlets to help spur the debate. Finally, Unilever established the global Dove Self-Esteem Fund to raise the self-esteem of girls and young women. Such activities give a support to the Real Beauty. Doves public relations channel strategy was to generate broad awareness for The Campaign for Real Beauty and establish an emotional connection with women. Therefore, a political figure or a major news organization or even a film is not as influence as an open dialogue. 3. After reviewing the blogs, what do the various discussions contribute to the meaning of the brand? There are mainly two opinions exists among the blogs. The supporters considered Dove’s Real Beauty campaign was an emotional touch from Dove to consumer. They thought the campaign has shed light on some important truths about the media’s unrealistic portrayals of women, and it’s important and necessary to send a health beauty message to the society. However, the criticisms thought that Dove is hypocritical and the campaign is just aimed to sell more products and gain more profits. The reason they thought Dove is hypocritical is because Dove comes from Unilever, which promotion young, thin and sexy woman in the Axe’s advertisements. They also criticized Dove’s advertisements had many untruthful details and inconsistent. What’s more, they thought the campaign has no major aspirational values attached to the product and was undermining the aspiration of consumers. Regardless of these different opinions towards the Real Beauty campaign, Dove’s brand name has successfully gone viral and drew a lot of attentions worldwide. People were spreading quickly the message of â€Å"Real Beauty† and they still continuously discuss it nowadays. This kind of exposure has extraordinary impact of Dove’s brand awareness and popularity. Therefore, it contributed to the brand’s long-term value and equity. Though there were many parodies exits in the Internet, for ordinary consumers, they might just remember how funny and interesting the parodies were, as well as the appealing â€Å"real beauty† messages that Dove tried to spread. It was a risk strategy for Dove, but as long as Dove manages its public relations and other advertisements carefully, consumers would still like Dove’s affordable good-quality products. The increasing sales growth of Dove could be a strong argument for it. Moreover, I think Dove was trying to be an inspirational brand to inspire positive self image among women. It successfully differentiated itself to other competitors. The Dove Self-Esteem Fund program was a plus to win over customers’ hearts. 4. Describe Dove’s brand management organization and the reason for it. Do you see any problems or issues that will result with this split-responsibility setup? In 2000, Dove was selected to be a Masterbrand and lent its name to Unilever entries in personal care categories. There are two split-responsibility groups in Dove’s brand management organization: Brand Development and Brand Building. Brand Development group charged with development of the brand, took responsibility for developing the idea behind the brand, developed the brand plan. It was accountable for medium-to long-term market share, for brand health, for measures of innovativeness, and for creating value in the category. It was centralized and global in scope. The other group Brand Building charged with building the brand in specific markets and was decentralized according to the major geographic regions in which Unilever operated. It was accountable for growth, profit, cash flow, and short-term market share. It managed public relations and informal communication. The pros of this split-responsibly setup brand management system are that the advertising messages could be more tailored to different markets. However, the problem might result with this split-responsibly system is the inconsistent management of the brand image. It’s a challenge for the two groups to balance between short-term values and long-term values for the brand. For example, the Brand Building group might develop an aggressive public relations strategy to generate attention in order to gain short-term market share, which might not be a smart move to build the brand’s long-term value and gain long-term market share.

Effects of Temperature on Enzyme Amylase

Effects of Temperature on Enzyme Amylase Introduction Enzymatic reactions are very paramount in the body and in nature too as they ensure that any reactions including Biological processes are hastened in order to achieve the results within the shortest time possible. In the body, there are many enzymes and enzyme amylase is one of the most significant as it aids in degradation of complex carbohydrates into glucose molecules which are absorbable. Apart from natural salivary amylase, there are also industrial amylases which catalyze processes at different ecological environment varying from the body environments. However, whether natural or synthetic amylase, their catalysis is affected by temperatures and they only yield maximally at optimal temperature. The following report will discuss effects of different range of temperatures on synthetic reactions. Aims The aims of this practical were to investigate the effects of temperature on reaction of enzyme amylase. In addition, the practical investigated the possibility of industrial enzyme amylase to function at higher temperatures. Materials The materials and apparatus used included Spotting tile, water bath, test tube, starch solution amylase, iodine, and test tube rack. Procedure Two drops of iodine into each well put test tube.   2ml starch placed over water bath that was set at three different temperatures 40, 60, 80 degrees was allowed to remain there for 5 minutes. First tube contained 2ml of starch, second tube 4ml of amylase, and then they were mixed together. Finally, was introduced into few drops of the mixture into the well already containing iodine Results The results obtained indicated that industrial amylase functioned well at 40 degree Celsius. Starch was degraded into glucose hence the color of Iodine changed to blue-black when the test tube containing amylase at 40 degree Celsius. However, the color of iodine remained brown after introduction of amylase enzymes heated at 60 and 80 degree respectively. Discussion Amylase whether natural or industrial is proteins in nature. They are responsible for the breakdown of carbohydrates into its smallest units called glucose. However, temperature has a very significant role in the reactions involving these enzymes . Lower temperatures deactivate the reaction of enzymes while higher temperatures above optimal temperatures destroy the enzymes by denaturing them hence reducing their reactions and eventually bring it into a halt . In this practical, the industrial amylase was found to function better at 40 degree which is optimal. This therefore did not denature the enzymes nor did this temperature deactivate them. The reactions here were constant and rapid. The enzyme amylase was able to work on starch solution in the well whereby it reduced the starch into glucose. Eventually, the color of resulting iodine remained brown. This indicated that there was no starch present in the solution. Iodine is the reagent that is commonly used to test the presence of starch in a food sample. Presence of starch is portrayed by the change of Iodine color from brown to blue-black Consequently, the amylase heated at 60 and introduced in other wells containing starch did not catalyze any reaction. This is because the high temperatures had already denatured the enzymes and completely destroying them. This led to changes in the color of iodine from brown to blue-black since the solutions contained starch. On the other hand, the reaction at 80 degree too did not show signify degradation of starch by enzyme amylase. Therefore, the color of iodine changed to blue-black from brown as it was evident in previous reaction at 60 degree. This therefore confirmed the denaturation of enzymes by high temperatures hence acted as a confirmatory test. Industrial amylase can withstand higher temperature hence optimal temperature was beyond the 37 degree which is the maximum optimal temperature in the human body where natural amylase if found . Conclusion In conclusion, the practical found that enzyme amylase is capable of degrading starch at optimal temperature. Enzymes are very important in many Biological reactions which are important in the production of important and helpful products. Knowledge about the optimal requirements is paramount in enzymatic reactions since its only at necessary environment that an enzyme is able to catalyze a reaction.

Military Justice System in the United States Essay -- Law

When one joins the United States military, one becomes subject to a completely new justice system. While the primary purpose of the United States justice system is to dispense "justice," that is not the primary reason for the creation of a separate justice system for America's Armed Forces. The primary purpose of the military's system is to provide the military commander with necessary tools to enforce good order and discipline. That's why, for example, it's not considered a "crime" to be late for work at your civilian job, but it is a "crime" to be late for work in the Military. The purpose then is to keep soldiers acting as soldiers so the correctional philosophy in the military has evolved in such a way to do just that. In discussing the UCMJ and corrections, the following topics are significant. Introduction and History of the UCMJ Counseling and Corrective Training Non-Judicial punishment in the UCMJ Courts Martial in the UCMJ Introduction and History of the UCMJ The Uniform Code of Military Justice is a federal system of laws created by congress in 1950. The UCMJ replaces the Articles of War that had been the justice system since 1789. The UCMJ is the foundation for justice in the United States Military. The UCMJ has had several major revisions to keep with the times; two such revisions came in 1968, and 1983. The UCMJ may also be referred to as United States Code, Title 10, Subtitle A, Part II, Chapter 47. The Uniform Code of Military Justice otherwise known as the UCMJ exists to keep disciplne and order in the military. (Powers, Military Justice 101) The UCMJ resembles civilian laws in many ways. It has laws that address stealing, burglary, alcohol, and many others a kin to civilian laws. The di... ...nt behavior in the military. References Department of the Army. (2002) AR 21-10 Military Justice. Washington D.C.: United States Army Publishing Authority. Department of the Army. (1992) FM 21-1 Legal Guide For Commanders. Washington D.C.: United States Army Publishing Authority. Department of the Army. (2002) Manual for Courts-Martial. Washington D.C.: United States Army Publishing Authority. Powers, R. (n.d.). Nonjudicial Punishment. Retrieved February 13, 2005, from http://usmilitary.about.com/od/justicelawlegislation/a/article15_1.htm Powers, R. (n.d.). Military Justice 101. Retrieved February 13, 2005, from http://usmilitary.about.com/od/justicelawlegislation/a/miljustice.htm

Self Control

Imagine a world where a school aged child can step out of their school and walk into a McDonalds. A world where soda companies make millions of dollars a year by placing pop and candy machines in schools, a world where more than 30 percent of the adult population is considered to be obese, or a world where obesity kills close to as many people per year as smoking. What if I told you that this is the world today? One’s lifestyle with regard to diet is regarded as a personal problem, and most believe that it should be treated as such in that there should be no intervention, people should be left to deal with it on their own. People who lead unhealthy and inactive lifestyles have generally speaking already displayed a lack of self control. Whether this is due to other constraints in their lives (time, chronic health problems, mental disorder, etc) is nobody’s business, but through outside intervention these people’s lives could be drastically improved. Based on the prevalence of junk food in today’s society, the government needs to step in and take action to protect Canada and its citizens by discouraging the purchase and consumption of foods that have a high processed sugar and fat content, by educating the public about the affect of unhealthy choices and by imposing a tax on those foods that are deemed to be detrimental to one’s health. Sugar laden, fatty foods are very harmful to one’s health. Over consumption of these foods are the direct cause of many health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, gall bladder disease and hypertension. What makes these foods even more harmful is the ease of access we as Canadian citizens have to them. Junk food is everywhere, on every street there are fast-food restaurants; wherever large amounts of people congregate, there is generally a vendor selling quick fix meals (e. g. McDonalds in Wal-Mart or Harvey’s in Home Depot). The majority of food sold in†¦ The on going issue of battling obesity in America continues to haunt us. It has become a national epidemic and a major topic for controversy. The suggestion of implementing a junk food tax was proposed by several experts. The purpose of the tax was to decrease the consumption of unhealthy foods. This tax would also generate revenue earmarked for relevant causes, such as; improving diet, obesity prevention, and nutrition education. The underlying purpose is to focus on maximizing health benefits. It has sparked controversy on the levels of additional bureaucracy, interfering with personal liberties, and freedom of choice. Junk-Food Taxes Introduction. For years health experts have been warning Americans to lose weight and adopt a healthier lifestyle. Over time obesity rates have tripled. It is obvious we are losing the battle against obesity. Combating obesity and its numerous illnesses will not require more drugs to lower cholesterol, diet books, or workout videos. It will require rethinking our environment. Other measures need to be taken to tackle this national epidemic. Addressing this issue is no easy task. Several experts have suggested implementing a junk food tax. This would provide funding to regulate junk food, its advertising, and many other areas improving our health. This idea has sparked a wide controversy in regard to the obesity issue, the benefits of such a tax plan, and our cherished individual freedom that health is our own responsibility. The Obesity Epidemic It is no wonder obesity is such an epidemic in today’s society. Temptation is everywhere. A fast food restaurant is located on every corner. They are now open at all hours of the night and day. You can purchase an entire meal for less than five dollars. You can not turn on the television without seeing a dozen junk food commercials. Hanna Rosin, a reporter for the Washington Post, addresses this issue with the opinions of Dr. Kelly Brownell, a Yale professor. Dr†¦. [continues] For years health experts have been warning Americans to lose weight and adopt a healthier lifestyle. Over time obesity rates have tripled. It is obvious we are losing the battle against obesity. Combating obesity and its numerous illnesses will not require more drugs to lower cholesterol, diet books, or workout videos. It will require rethinking our environment. Other measures need to be taken to tackle this national epidemic. Addressing this issue is no easy task. Several experts have suggested implementing a junk food tax. This would provide funding to regulate junk food, its advertising, and many other areas improving our health. This idea has sparked a wide controversy in regard to the obesity issue, the benefits of such a tax plan, and our cherished individual freedom that health is our own responsibility.

The Content Creator That You’ve Always Wanted Is Here - CoSchedule

The Content Creator That You’ve Always Wanted Is Here Back in March I started making calls. Tons of them. The recipient? You. Since this past April, I’ve talked to more than 100 different customers or potential customers that were trying our product for the first time. I learned a few things. There are a lot of marketing projects, and teams, that need organizing. There are even more spreadsheets that still need eliminating. There was a lot more that we could do here at to make your life way easier. Like waaaaaaay easier.   So, we began what has became known as the â€Å"Content UX† project here inside of , which was short for â€Å"content user experience.† It was a cumulation of everything that I learned on those calls. The goal was to make the experience of editing and managing content inside of easier and even more team-oriented. In short, we want to eliminate your spreadsheets and clumsy workarounds. The Content UX project was born, and we  made our first code changes in July. Today you finally get to use version 1.0. We’re pumped! Here are three big changes that roll out today, plus a few amazing new features that are up next. For a detailed look at every change launching today, please see this post. Here, I will be covering the bigger goals behind the features. Change #1: We Hid The Things You Didn’t Need One of the problems we wanted to address was the â€Å"clutter† that had taken place in the content creator.  As we’ve added new features, we’ve been forced to augment our existing design which wasn’t built to handle all of that power.   We’ve made it work, but it’s was ultimately time for something better. is powerful, but that doesn’t mean it needs to look complicated. #ui #redesignWith this redesign we wanted to accomplish a couple things: Hide things that you didn’t need. A few examples of this include making the headline analyzer an optional integration, along with the social queue itself (which has been renamed to Social Campaigns). Utilize the entire screen. Our new â€Å"full-screen† editing experience on the calendar gives you the space you need to do your best work. I think the results speak for themselves. The interface is cleaner, more user-friendly, and better organized around keeping your entire marketing process right on track. Change #2: We Made Even More Team Friendly Teamwork is important. To make it easier for teams to work together, we’ve added an all-new sidebar to manage all of your project activity. Tasks, comments, and team contributors are now managed in separate tabs rather than our long long-running lists.  This redesign will prevent the excessive scrolling that sometime came with larger projects. Additionally, we’ve introduced some major updates to our task management features such as the addition of unscheduled tasks, drag and drop task sorting, and an all-new â€Å"files† tab which will be launching soon. The new activity sidebar also does a better job of reporting new activity and clearing out older comments and data that are no longer as relevant. Some of our users have reported that on-boarding new team members to can be a challenge. We hope that these changes start making that process much easier. Change #3: Make Content Creation Easier   The content editor in has undergone an extreme makeover. First, we’ve completely replaced the built-in text editor with a brand new version. The new editor supports more formatting and is far more reliable than our previous solution. Creating content inside of should now be a seamless experience. Second, we added some clarity to the editor selection process, which we learned was a regular source of confusion. Now, when you create a new piece of content in you will be asked to select a single editing mode. The options include: Our *NEW* built-in text editor Google Docs Evernote WordPress File upload (Microsoft Word, images, etc.) Of course, many of you love to create and edit your content in Microsoft Word, and we’ve even added some great new features just for you. File Version Control Now, when editing our content using a traditional word processor like Microsoft Word, team members can download the file, make changes, and then re-upload the file as a new version. will maintain a history of all previous versions, which can be accessed at any time.  Everyone on the team will see that edits have been made, and will have access to a full file history. It’s the best way to bring a real-time like workflow to those tools that aren’t quite real time! Soon, we’ll also be adding support for converting Word Docs into WordPress Blog posts, so be on the lookout for that update. New to : File Version Control.Change #4, #5, #6, and #7: Coming Soon! We have a lot more in store for our content creator – all based on your suggestions. Here are a few of the things that are up next. Custom Content Types We will be rolling out an update in a few weeks that will allow you to customize the menu you use to add new content to . Fill it up as much or as little as you want. Further down the road we hope to add even more ways to create custom content types as a way to separate your content. Multiple Color Labels This feature will allow you to select multiple color labels for each piece of  content you create. This overhaul will also include the ability to add your own custom labels. Tags! Tags! Tags! Wouldn’t it be great if you could add tags to each piece of content you create for further customization? We think so too. Look for this to ship soon. Marketing Projects This feature will allow you to combine several different pieces of content or social campaigns into a single project. With this update you’ll be able to manage even the most complex of marketing projects from . Look for this one early 2017. And More! Of course, there’s a lot more to come that we aren’t ready to share. Please keep your features requests coming as well. We are always on the look out for the next big thing!

Free Essays on The Australian Legal System Fails Rape Victims

â€Å"The experience of the few women who do seek justice after being raped is heartbreaking testament to the failure of the adversarial criminal law achieving convictions† Do you agree with this proposition? Justify your position. Similar to many Western countries, Australia uses the adversary system in both criminal and civil cases. The standard of proof of the adversary system in criminal cases is â€Å"proof beyond reasonable doubt†, and with a nation-wide rape conviction rate of one per cent, many important questions are being raised. One of these issues stems from the rate of report of sexual offences to the police, which currently stands at approximately 15%. There are many reasons for this number being so low, the most worrying being â€Å"fear of legal system† or at least a lack of faith in it, by victims. A Rape Crisis Hotline in Victoria receives 15,000 calls per year from distressed women who are victims of sexual assault. Most of them do not report their ordeal to the police for this exact reason; â€Å"the victims fear the system, the think it will just chew them up and spit them out with nothing to show for the whole nightmare†. Other reasons cited by rape victims for not reporting attacks include â€Å"feeling ashamed† and â€Å"being blamed or held responsible by the police or courts†. On top of this, there is the very real knowledge that the chances of their attacker being convicted at a trial and punished for his crime (men still represent 93% of sex offenders) are on ly one in 100. In NSW in 2000-01 of the approximate 3% of the sexual assaults that reached the Courts, 36% were acquitted and only 30% were convicted (12% of which were convicted on a lesser offence). ‘Tracey’ [not her real name],44, of Victoria, and was sexually molested by her father from the age of four up to the age of 15, at which point she moved out of home. ‘Tracey’ was also raped by her father in her early twenties. In 200... Free Essays on The Australian Legal System Fails Rape Victims Free Essays on The Australian Legal System Fails Rape Victims â€Å"The experience of the few women who do seek justice after being raped is heartbreaking testament to the failure of the adversarial criminal law achieving convictions† Do you agree with this proposition? Justify your position. Similar to many Western countries, Australia uses the adversary system in both criminal and civil cases. The standard of proof of the adversary system in criminal cases is â€Å"proof beyond reasonable doubt†, and with a nation-wide rape conviction rate of one per cent, many important questions are being raised. One of these issues stems from the rate of report of sexual offences to the police, which currently stands at approximately 15%. There are many reasons for this number being so low, the most worrying being â€Å"fear of legal system† or at least a lack of faith in it, by victims. A Rape Crisis Hotline in Victoria receives 15,000 calls per year from distressed women who are victims of sexual assault. Most of them do not report their ordeal to the police for this exact reason; â€Å"the victims fear the system, the think it will just chew them up and spit them out with nothing to show for the whole nightmare†. Other reasons cited by rape victims for not reporting attacks include â€Å"feeling ashamed† and â€Å"being blamed or held responsible by the police or courts†. On top of this, there is the very real knowledge that the chances of their attacker being convicted at a trial and punished for his crime (men still represent 93% of sex offenders) are on ly one in 100. In NSW in 2000-01 of the approximate 3% of the sexual assaults that reached the Courts, 36% were acquitted and only 30% were convicted (12% of which were convicted on a lesser offence). ‘Tracey’ [not her real name],44, of Victoria, and was sexually molested by her father from the age of four up to the age of 15, at which point she moved out of home. ‘Tracey’ was also raped by her father in her early twenties. In 200...

Gianni Versace essays

Gianni Versace essays Gianni Versace was one of the most talented designers in the world. Even though he has passed away, his immense skills in cutting and tailoring and the fascinating colors he used were proof of why one could easily fell in love with his designs. Versace was born in Reggio Calabria, Italy, on December 2, 1946. He has an older brother Santo, and a younger sister Donatella. According to Nicola White, Versaces mother Franca was a quality dressmaker who imported and copied French designs for a local conservative, middle-class clientele. Versace learned the fundamentals of fashion from his mother, as he said: the thing that made my life special was growing up in the south of Italy... with a mother who was such a character, a father who was such a poet. Versace often spoke of his mother, who was obviously an important influence upon him: the most important relationship was with my mother, who was a strong woman, ahead of her time... a fascinating woman, very beautiful. (qtd. in White 11) Versace studied architecture in college, and then he left college prematurely and began working as a designer and buyer at his mother's dressmaking business. His abilities brought attentions to those young clients, included his first star client, Miss Italy, who offered him a valuable lesson in free publicity (White 12). Later He began designing in a freelance basis for manufactures in Italy. At age 25, Versace was creating ready-to-wear collections for top fashion houses of the time, including Genny, Complice and Callaghan. In 1978, with the help of his brother, Santo Versace, he founded the Gianni Versace Company. Later that year, Gianni Versace started his own women's wear label and opened his first boutique, followed in 1979 by his first men's wear collection (King of couture). Gianni's courageous creative intelligence constantly challenged the limits of the fashion industry. Hi ...

Euro Currency Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Euro Currency - Essay Example Free trade is one of the main benefits of euro. With this 'relaunching', the European integration process has become increasingly biased in favor of deregulation and the free play of market forces, establishing the primacy of negative integration (market liberalization) over positive integration. European integration thus has come to be bound up with a restructuring of Europe's socio-economic order (Barnard 2007). The acceleration of European integration on the one hand, and the rise of neo-liberalism in Europe on the other, have become intertwined inasmuch as the relaunching of Europe went hand in hand with the reconstruction of the post-war order of European capitalism along predominantly neo-liberal lines. The free market has always needed the state for both its emergence and its maintenance. In political economy, the market is not a 'spontaneous order' (Barnard and Scott 2002), but rather a social and political construction, hence, in this sense, as is also stressed by the new in stitutionalism in economic sociology, the economy is always embedded in society (Barnard and Scott 2002). Euro is defined as a single European accounting currency and an official currency of the European Union. "The role of the euro as an international investment currency, anchor currency and reserve currency is inseparably associated with its internal stability" ((Barnard and Scott 2002, p. 54). Today, this is an official currency 15 Euro states and Eurozone. Euro was introduced in 1999, but practically launched only in 2002. Critics admit that: "the euro has a good chance of becoming a lastingly stable currency, respected by the markets and the population alike. Domestic stability is at the same time the best contribution the euro can make to a sound, viable and stable global financial system in which the financial market players can act in a spirit of responsibility" (Barnard and Scott 2002, p. 54). The advent of a single European currency, alongside enlargement and the growing international role of the EU, as codified in the SEA, TEU and Amsterdam Treaty, gives rise to questions rega rding the type of actor the EU constitutes for external partners at the start of the twenty-first century. In this respect, debates over the EU's future parallel some of those which preoccupy Japan in the post=Cold War world. Euro makes possible a higher level of competition for the EC as well as increases its economic growth and ability to face international competition. Clearly, the EC's internal market is also affected by the scope of its commercial transactions. Compared to the United States and Japan, where international trade accounts for only 6 and 13 percent of the GNP, foreign trade is much more important to the economies of the EC (Bieler and Morton 2001). Besides, the internal market reinforces the significance of trade between the members, which is already around 55 percent of the Community's foreign trade. This increase of the EC's foreign trade results in a double

A Trip to Remember Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

A Trip to Remember - Personal Statement Example So it definitely was not an enjoyable experience to visit the beaches. But I must admit that the beaches are beautiful and I certainly do not mind a tan! Another downside to this vacation was the heat. It was a pity that we were surrounded by water but potable water was only available on the bigger Island. The sun was out on a killing spree and the tourists were the victims. Those who managed to survive the heat and sand, had another issue staring at them i.e. hunger! I am happy to say that the food was what made this vacation a vacation for me! The people there are very festive and happy and this clearly reflected in our eating experiences. In the one week that we stayed there, there was not a single meal or a restaurant that was not memorable for somebody in my family. We enjoyed all sorts of international cuisines. Another downside to this vacation was the heat. It was a pity that we were surrounded by water but potable water was only available on the bigger Island. The sun was out on a killing spree and the tourists were the victims. Those who managed to survive the heat and sand, had another issue staring at them i.e. hunger! I am happy to say that the food was what made this vacation a vacation for me! The people there are very festive and happy and this clearly reflected in our eating experiences. In the one week that we stayed there, there was not a single meal or a restaurant that was not memorable for somebody in my family. We enjoyed all sorts of international cuisines there.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Performance and Reward Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Performance and Reward Management - Assignment Example Organizations need HR data in order to make rational and informed decisions for adequate performance management. In order to make sure that hardworking employees are rewarded and disloyal and unproductive employees are penalized, it is imperative that HR data is collected and maintained. Such data includes but is not limited to employees’ attendance, their productivity in terms of goal achievement, their discipline and conduct, and their professional growth and skill development. Having detailed recorded information of all these aspects enables the managers to quantify the results and ensure that the resources are adequately utilized for the benefit of the organization. Collecting data related to employees’ performance helps HR admin in rational decision making. Resources in an organization are limited. In order to achieve organizational goals, it is essential to assign these resources proportionately among the employees considering their needs and past performance. HR admin needs employees’ performance data during the performance appraisal process. This data helps HR admin reach the decisions of promoting certain employees and demoting others, offering increments to certain employees and decrements to others, and selecting employees to be sent as expatriates to other countries. Data related to sick absences is needed by the HR admin not only for monitoring the productivity of employees but also to ensure the provision of adequate medical care to the employees. An employee with a lot of sick absences clearly displays signs of poor productivity and wastage of time and resources. Besides, the organization might incur significant costs in paying the increased insurance premiums for such employees. It is the responsibility of the HR admin to watch out for employees who are using organizational resources for personal gains and report them to the top management. Electronic record storage, as the name implies, is the storage of information in a

Advanced Financial Reporting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Advanced Financial Reporting - Essay Example These standards are promulgated not by individuals but they are formed by a committee which includes people from all walks of life. The reason behind this is that inclusion of people from all walks of life is that this committee wants to create principles or accounting laws which are helpful for everyone in the every field of life. There are several organizations which work day-in and day- out for developing such principles. These principles give much more meaning to the financial statement and provide value to the financial figures contained in these statements. One such organization is International Accounting Standard Board, IASB, which was formed in 2001. The purpose of this organization was to propose different accounting standards which might be the basis of preparation of financial statements. Since, these rules are followed by all the business; they make the comparisons between two businesses more useful and more accurate. The IASB Handbook describes the consultative arrangements of the IASB. The Trustees’ Procedures Committee is in charge of regularly reviewing and updating the IASB due process procedures. (IASB.org) In the times of recession also, these standards have become very important in the valuation of various businesses and in giving meaning to the financial statement prepared by these businesses. Some people still favor the fact that these accounting standards are really useful for the interpretation financial prepared by various businesses headed by different accountants having different mind-set and company policies, where as others people hold the view that these accounting standards only distort the financial picture of these businesses and give an unrealistic picture of theses businesses, in the times of recession. They oppose these standards because they think that certain accounting standards ‘window dress’ the actual position of the business, and can be misleading for the users of financial statement. By window-dressing

Written Assignment 2 Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Blow the Whistle or Breathe Insulation Case Study

Blow the Whistle or Breathe Insulation - Case Study Example Relevant details in the case include asbestos contamination in the vault, strong recommendation but not a requirement of the county inspector to remove or seal off the asbestos in the wallboard or pipes, release of company statement that it had complied with the citation but nothing was planned, a memo requiring the employees to perform their normal duties even entering the contaminated vault, refusal of the company to do the demands of the citation because of the high cost of asbestos removal, known hazards of exposure to asbestos by the employees, complaints by the employees and discussions being communicated to the management but received refusal from the President and insisted that the county has reinspected the company and was satisfied with the result, threats to one’s health and job, and thoughts of releasing a major statement to the general public or media to pressure the company to remove the asbestos. Acquring this details, it is wrong to let the employees enter the vault as this compromises employees health and violates the ethical principle of beneficence. Likewise, it might also be wrong to go on public and tell the issue as you might violate the ethical principle of doing no harm to the safety of employment of yours and other employees that might get involved. Conflict arises between the promotion of common good or health of the employees as to the protection of company image to ensure that employees will retain their positions and jobs as well as breadwinners of their families. I can see that the individual who will act as the whistleblower would be affected in terms of job stability; the group of employees who will enter the contaminated vault will also be affected in terms of health; while the company will also be affected once the case is exposed. Consider options in resolving the problem from the perspective of the: Consequentialist: the rightness of the decision is based on the consequences ~ utilitarianism; Deontologist:

Advanced Financial Reporting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Advanced Financial Reporting - Essay Example These standards are promulgated not by individuals but they are formed by a committee which includes people from all walks of life. The reason behind this is that inclusion of people from all walks of life is that this committee wants to create principles or accounting laws which are helpful for everyone in the every field of life. There are several organizations which work day-in and day- out for developing such principles. These principles give much more meaning to the financial statement and provide value to the financial figures contained in these statements. One such organization is International Accounting Standard Board, IASB, which was formed in 2001. The purpose of this organization was to propose different accounting standards which might be the basis of preparation of financial statements. Since, these rules are followed by all the business; they make the comparisons between two businesses more useful and more accurate. The IASB Handbook describes the consultative arrangements of the IASB. The Trustees’ Procedures Committee is in charge of regularly reviewing and updating the IASB due process procedures. (IASB.org) In the times of recession also, these standards have become very important in the valuation of various businesses and in giving meaning to the financial statement prepared by these businesses. Some people still favor the fact that these accounting standards are really useful for the interpretation financial prepared by various businesses headed by different accountants having different mind-set and company policies, where as others people hold the view that these accounting standards only distort the financial picture of these businesses and give an unrealistic picture of theses businesses, in the times of recession. They oppose these standards because they think that certain accounting standards ‘window dress’ the actual position of the business, and can be misleading for the users of financial statement. By window-dressing

Blow the Whistle or Breathe Insulation Case Study

Blow the Whistle or Breathe Insulation - Case Study Example Relevant details in the case include asbestos contamination in the vault, strong recommendation but not a requirement of the county inspector to remove or seal off the asbestos in the wallboard or pipes, release of company statement that it had complied with the citation but nothing was planned, a memo requiring the employees to perform their normal duties even entering the contaminated vault, refusal of the company to do the demands of the citation because of the high cost of asbestos removal, known hazards of exposure to asbestos by the employees, complaints by the employees and discussions being communicated to the management but received refusal from the President and insisted that the county has reinspected the company and was satisfied with the result, threats to one’s health and job, and thoughts of releasing a major statement to the general public or media to pressure the company to remove the asbestos. Acquring this details, it is wrong to let the employees enter the vault as this compromises employees health and violates the ethical principle of beneficence. Likewise, it might also be wrong to go on public and tell the issue as you might violate the ethical principle of doing no harm to the safety of employment of yours and other employees that might get involved. Conflict arises between the promotion of common good or health of the employees as to the protection of company image to ensure that employees will retain their positions and jobs as well as breadwinners of their families. I can see that the individual who will act as the whistleblower would be affected in terms of job stability; the group of employees who will enter the contaminated vault will also be affected in terms of health; while the company will also be affected once the case is exposed. Consider options in resolving the problem from the perspective of the: Consequentialist: the rightness of the decision is based on the consequences ~ utilitarianism; Deontologist:

Enhancing IEEE 802.11 Wireless Networks Essay Example for Free

Enhancing IEEE 802.11 Wireless Networks Essay Abstract   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless network is a very important standard especially today that wireless technologies are very popular due to its effectiveness and usefulness. However, the standard supports the use of omni-directional antenna which radiates and receives signals in all directions that does not support spatial reuse and does not have high capacity and gain. Research studies show the benefits and advantages of using directional antennas instead of omni-directional antenna in wireless networks. Spatial reuse and high capacity are both very important especially today that the wireless networks are increasingly deployed due to the demand and needs of the users. But, as mentioned, IEEE 802.11 supports the utilisation of omni-directional antenna and not of directional antenna, thus to be able for directional antenna to be at its optimal use, the IEEE 802.11 protocols must be amended to be able to address problems associated with the use of directional antenna. Directional antenna or directivity of an antenna can be created using antenna elements that are combined to form an array. Smart antennas which are becoming popular today have achieved directivity due to the techniques employs with it. Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Due to technological development in data and telecommunications during the past years, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) of the United States developed standards and guidelines to ensure orderly transfer of information between two or more data communication systems using different equipment with different needs. Standards and protocols are useful in ensuring that equipments such as computers, mobile phones, and communication devices from different manufacturers and providers have established compatibility and interoperability.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, due to rapid technological development and introduction of newer technologies brought about by the increasing demands and needs of users, some standards are needed to be enhanced and improved. This is because as newer technologies are created, more and more data are needed to be transmitted requiring more capacity for the existing infrastructures. If standards and protocols are not improved, existing communication infrastructures will only have limited capacity causing serious problems such as interference and slow speed. People nowadays always demand for real-time communication of various data such as video, audio, pictures and multimedia. Background   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the most innovative technologies today has been the wireless communication technology. Wireless technology encompasses the use of television and radio, mobile phones, wireless internet connection and computing system which are all very important for communication needs, eliminating the need for cables and wires and making possible the communication even in the remotest areas as along as there is available signal. WLANs increased the degree of mobility which are not possible using the conventional local area networks. In mobile phone communication alone, development has been tremendous that from analogue to GSM, now comes the 3G and 4G mobile systems. In the internet technology, connections have developed from ISDN to dial-up to DSL and now Wireless LAN which is very popular today. Communication between computers and mobile phones are also now possible with the GPRS technology.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   These technologies are primarily intended for easy and real-time communication brought about by fast-paced lifestyle of people and also because of globalization. Mobile data and communications have become important for personal, professional, and business use. Because there are so many manufacturers and service providers from different locations, and also because of the popularity of these technologies, the IEEE developed the IEEE 802.11 which is a standard particularly intended for Wireless Local Area Networks. However, as WLAN experienced development and are improved, the IEEE 802.11 is also needed to be enhanced to be able for WLANs to be at their optimum performance. Additionally, because of the many uses and demands for WLAN, it has been increasing deployed causing interference between transmissions. Interference in data communications is a serious problem for it caused delay of transmission and alterations or distortion of signals that caused unreliable, unclear and error in messages received. The use of directional antenna is a well known method to reduce interference and to increase the range and capacity of wireless networks (Zhu et al, 2005). However, the IEEE 802.11 is not designed for the use of directional antennas. This project which is focused on the enhancement of the IEEE 802.11 using directional antennas and multiple receivers is important to be able to determine in-depth what improvement and advantages can directional antennas and multi-receivers can contribute to the current IEEE 802.11 Wireless Networks standard. Literature Review   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This part of this proposal reviews literatures that describe the IEEE 802.11 WLAN standard in details to be able to determine the needs for the enhancement of the standard. The literature review also provides earlier research about the functions and advantages of directional antennas This review is a brief discussion providing an overview of the detailed review of literatures that will be provided in the chapters of the research study. 3.1. The IEEE 802.11 Wireless Network Standard   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Aside from promoting interoperability, the IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless network was created to deliver services that were previously found only in wired networks but have been found out to be possible using wireless networks; to achieve high throughput; for highly reliable data delivery; and for continuous network connection (Ergen, 2002). As a standard, the IEEE 802.11 established the network architecture, components, type of equipments and set of services offered that must be complied with by wireless network administrators and providers. These are also known as the physical layer and that IEEE 802.11 WLAN standard provides a number of physical layer options in terms of data rates, modulation types and spreading spectrum techniques (Ergen, 2002). This means that the medium, the path that the signal transmitted and received via the WLAN, the range, location, frequency to be used and the type of antenna to be used are all determined by the IEEE 802.11 standard. IEEE 802.11 does not only specify the physical layer characteristics but also the link layer protocol for medium access in broadcast channels (Dham, 2003). The medium access control protocol is designed for the specified physical layer characteristics thus any changes made in the physical layer also requires significant alterations in the MAC protocol.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The MAC layer of the standard defines two different access modes: the Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) and the Point Coordination Function (PCF) (Xu Saadawi, 2003). DCF is a mechanism which is a Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance. The standard allows the use of a basic access method or an optional handshake which is done by exchanging Request to Send (RTS) and Clear to Send (CTS) messages which are also the frame sent from the source to the destination and an acknowledgement from the destination that the frame was received correctly (Erger, 2005). These frames or control packets contain the proposed duration of data transmission while nodes or stations within the vicinity of communicating nodes overhear either of these control packets and suspend transmission for this proposed duration (Choudhury et al, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This process unable the nodes or devices to communicate directly with all other devices and for a wireless device to be able to transmit and receive at the same time thus the IEEE 802.11 MAC implements a network allocation vector (NAV) which is a value that indicates to a station the amount of time that remains before the medium becomes available (Erger, 2005).   With this standard, directional antenna is obviously not utilised because in using directional antennas, it is possible to carry out multiple transmissions in the same neighbourhood provided that the beamwidth of the directional transmissions is not very large (Choudhury et al, 2002). 3.2. The Directional Antenna   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   An antenna is one or more electrical conductors of a specific length that transmits radio waves generated by a transmitter or that collects radio waves at the receiver (Frenzel, 1994). It is a basic component of every wireless networks, thus it must be chosen carefully depending on how it will be used. WLAN commonly used omni-directional antenna which allows for transmission and reception of messages in any direction (Frenzel, 1994) which is commonly used in wireless internet connections and wireless telecommunications. However, because the transmitted signal is exposed in any direction, interference with other signal has been a problem. In search for the solution with the problem of interference, various research (Dham, 2003; Zhu et al, 2005; Choudhury et al, 2002) have been focused on the use of directional antenna in WLANs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The primary advantage of directional antenna is that it eliminates interference from other signals being received from all directions except the direction of the desired signal (Frenzel, 1994). It was found out that the use of directional antenna for transmission gives the highest capacity, allows spectrum reuse, and provides range extension (Zhu et al, 2005). At the receiver, the antenna is pointed directly at the station to be received thus rejecting signals from transmitters in all other directions (Frenzel, 1994).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another advantage of directional antenna over omni-directional is that there is greater efficiency of power transmission while when omni-directional antenna is used at the transmitter side the transmitted power goes off in all directions wasting a significant amount of power (Frenzel, 1994). It is argued that all messages should be sent in directional mode to take advantage of this gain (Zhu et al, 2005). Choudhury et al (2002) conducted a study and proposed a protocol that exploits the benefits of using directional antenna namely spatial reuse and higher transmission range. On the other hand, the use of directional antenna also poses some problems such as higher collision probability. That is, as space is segmented and the carrier is reused with directional antennas, the amount of MAC information required for conflict-free transmission increases (Zhu et al, 2005). Because the current IEEE 802.11 standard does not support spatial reuse, several problems may occur when directional antennas are used without changing the modifying the existing protocol. Collision occurs due to the deafness of the nodes as these nodes are immersed in only one direction. And because of this deafness, the transmitting nodes will send RTS packets repeatedly which is a waste of bandwidth (Zhu et al, 2005). The research study conducted by Zhu et al (2005) focused on solving the problems caused by the spatial reuse which is higher collision probability and proposed a protocol called sectorised 802.11 MAC protocol. These two studies along with the other studies serve as the framework of this research. To create an antenna with directivity and gain, two or more antenna elements are combined to form what is known as an array (Frenzel, 1994). Antenna array has the capability of spatial signal separation and could radiate frequency energy towards a desired receiver with narrow beamwidth and null towards an interfering terminal to reduce the negative impact of multi-path and co-channel interference (Zhou, 2006). Phased array antenna systems are an example of an array. Phased array antennas consist of an array of antenna elements connected by a feeder or adder network arranged so that their individual signals combine to provide maximum gain in one direction while minimising it in other directions (Dham, 2003). There is also what is called smart antenna which is consist of multiple antenna elements arranged in a special configuration and connected through complex weights (Zhou, 2006). Smart antenna Switched beam and adaptive array antenna are the two major categories of smart antenna. Switched beam is the simplest smart antenna with a number of fixed beams in predetermined directions at the antenna site (Zhou, 2006). Adaptive array on the other hand uses a complex signal processing algorithm to continuously detect multi-path and interference among desired signal (Zhou, 2006). The studies about the applications of smart antennas in wireless networks are also related and will be useful in the completion of this research study.   Zhou (2006) added that a smart antenna can be applied to all current major wireless protocols and industrial standards to achieve higher system capacity, larger network coverage and higher data rate thus smart antenna must be further investigated to determine what it can contribute to the enhancement of IEEE 802.11 with directional antennas. Aims and Objectives   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In conducting any research, it is important that definite sets of objectives are present.   These objectives will serve as the researcher’s guide in conducting the data gathering, data analysis and conclusion formulation. The primary objective of the research is to provide a protocol designed for the utilisation of directional antennas in wireless local area networks. Such protocol is proposed to be used in the deployment of WLAN using directional antennas thus it includes some amendments on the original standards, architecture, and physical layer. However, this general aim is an umbrella objective that would dictate the general path that the research will take. Within this umbrella objective are the specific aims of the research that will allow the researcher to touch the important aspects of the topic. These specific aims are the following: To identify the problems associated with the current protocols to determine the necessary adjustments or enhancement that are needed to be done; To determine the characteristics of directional antennas and what it can contribute to improve the capabilities of the wireless local area networks; To evaluate the advantages of having multiple receivers in wireless local area networks; To investigate on the differences of the current protocol and the proposed protocol and determine the limitations of the latter; and To test the effectiveness of the proposed standard. Intellectual Challenge   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The most intellectual challenge on this research is the proposal itself. The IEEE 802.11 is developed by reliable engineers and to propose an enhancement for this standard is a big challenge thus the research study should be based on reliable data. The proposed protocol should also be tested on using a prototype and accurate calculations to ensure that the outcome of the studies is viable. Research Program 6.1 Research Methodology The method of collecting data for the dissertation will be composed of two methodologies. The first methodology is review of related literature or secondary sources.   Reviewing earlier studies and other related literature would allow the researcher to become familiar with the already accepted theories and statements pertaining to the topic. The sources should be from technical books, journals, earlier theses and published articles technical organisations such as the IEEE. The second methodology would be surveys and personal interviews. Technical professionals like engineers and technicians from different communication network companies and Internet service providers (ISP) will be surveyed using questionnaires that include questions that will determine the problems encountered with WLAN particularly with the use of the antennas they currently utilise, the solutions they are implementing and the improvement they would like to suggest and impose with the current standards. It is important that the views of these people be collected since they are the ones who are immersed in the realities of the WLAN conditions. They will be able to provide insights that will help the researcher in evaluating the current IEEE standard. This study will be using the descriptive research method where the general part of the paper will be dedicated to the description of the subject in question. Descriptive research intends to present facts concerning the nature and status of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study (Creswell, 1994). It is also concerned with relationships and practices that exist, beliefs and processes that are ongoing, effects that are being felt, or trends that are developing. In addition, such approach tries to describe present conditions, events or systems based on the impressions or reactions of the respondents of the research (Creswell, 1994). The use of the descriptive method also suggests that the research will be focusing on obtaining qualitative data. Qualitative research is an umbrella that refers to various research traditions and strategies. The research will be carried out systematically. First, the researcher needs to review previous literature about the topic. This will allow the research the researcher to become familiar with what is already known about the topic. This will also allow the researcher to formulate the appropriate questionnaire that will be able to extract the most useful data. After the questionnaires have been completed, the researcher will have to tally the results and compare it with the findings of previous studies. If the finding of the research is the same as the findings of previous studies then the research can be supported by the findings of previous studies. On the other hand, if the findings of the research do not agree with past studies then the researcher must look back on previous studies to check if the findings of the studies are supported by other findings. This will ensure that the results of the research are not isolated and have been tested by other researches. 6.2 Schedule The Gantt chart below shows the schedule of activities involved in conducting the research study. Activity Date 1st Month 2nd Month 3rd Month 4th Month Data Gathering/Survey, Personal Interview             Review of earlier studies and related literature/ Analysis of data collected             Writing of the First Draft             Development, Testing, Analysis, Evaluation and Documentation             Revision of the study             Formulation of the conclusion             Completion of Writing             Printing and binding of documents             Submission                Deliverables   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The research study will be organised as follows: A chapter describing the IEEE 802.11 A chapter describing the antenna used in WLAN and the problems using non-directional antennas A chapter describing the analysis of the problems A chapter that presents the data collected and the analyses of those data A chapter for the proposed solutions and the methods for testing the solutions A chapter that serves as documentations of the testing, calculations involved and evaluation of the proposed solutions Resources   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As already mentioned, this research study is highly technical nature thus resources must be from reliable sources such as the IEEE itself that developed the standard that will be enhanced and the Association for Computing Machinery which is an organisation that publishes reliable sources about computing and related technology. ACM also has a digital library where various literatures can be accessed. The World Wide Web is also be used as a source where different latest articles and journals can be found. University and public libraries will also be used where books that discuss the basic concepts of the subject and topics involved can be found. The researcher will need the cooperation of technical professionals, technicians and engineers whose personal knowledge will be needed as they answer the survey questionnaires. The researcher will also need to collaborate with an ISP or a network company to test the proposed standard, determining its effectiveness as well as its shortcomings. References: Choudhury, R., Yang, X., Ramanathan, R., and Vaidya, N. (2002) Using Directional Antennas for Medium Access Control in Ad Hoc Networks, MOBICOM’02, ACM: Georgia, USA Creswell, J.W. (1994). Research design: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Dham, Vikram (2003) Link Establishment in Ad Hoc Networks Using Smart Antennas Thesis in Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University retrieved online on December 13, 2006 http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-05072003-180228/unrestricted/etd.pdf Erger, Mustafa (2002) IEEE 802.11 Tutorial, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of California Berkeley, Retrieved online on Dec. 13, 2006   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/~ergen/docs/ieee.pdf Frenzel, Louis (1994) Communication Electronics 2nd edition, Glencoe Macmillan/McGraw-Hill: Singapore Xu, Shugong Saadawi, Tarek (2003) Does IEEE 802.11 MAC Protocol Work Well in Multi-hop Wireless Ad Hoc Networks? Dept. of Electrical Engineering, City University of New York retrieved online on December 13, 2006   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://academic.csuohio.edu/yuc/mobile03/0415-xu.pdf   Zhu, Chenxi, Nadeem, Tamer and Agre, Jonathan (2005) Enhancing 802.11 Wireless Networks with Directional Antenna and Multiple Receivers, Fujitsu Laboratories of America, retrieved online on December 13, 2006 http://www.flacp.fujitsulabs.com/TM-PCR-TM-21.pdf Zhou, Hao (2006) The Improvements in Ad Hoc Routing and Network Performance with Directional Antennas, Department of Electrical and Communications Engineering, Helsinki University of Technology, Retrieved online on December 13, 2006   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://lib.tkk.fi/Dipl/2006/urn007316.pdf

Energy Drink Market Analysis

Energy Drink Market Analysis Introduction Background of the energy drink market Currently, the beverages industry shows a strong growth, and the energy drinks industry particularly expects further growth in the near future. Caffeine, acting as the most common stimulant, is generally the primary active component of energy drinks. Being able to provide the consumers quick refreshment and a feeling of highly energetic, the energy drinks give consumers another option to choose besides the traditional coffee and tea. Energy drink consumption has continued to gain in popularity since the 1997 debut of Red Bull, the current leader in the energy drink market. Drinking energy drinks is a popular practice among college students for a variety of situations. The energy drink consumption patterns among college students, prevalence and frequency of energy drink use for six situations, namely for insufficient sleep, to increase energy generally, while studying, driving long periods of time, drinking with alcohol while partying, and to treat a hangover. Although for the majority of situations assessed, consumers drink one energy drink with a reported average frequency of at least once per week. Company and Product Description Bada Company is s an independent energy drink manufacturing company located in a college town, which is also a tourist destination in the holiday season. The only product that we plan to launch in the start up phase is Bada Bala energy drink, which is designed to be packed in 350ml plastic bottle. It will be a new precedent for local standards and set up the new trend mainly among college students, which are also our target consumers. Market analysis and strategy Our company plans to launch only one kind of product in the start up phase because we really want to make sure that our business can achieve a steady increase in sales and gradually expand the popularity and market shares in this region. Since our company chose not to develop in an aggressive way and still maintain our edge in the local market, some key factors for our Bada Bala energy drinks success are summarized as following: Prime location for our product to break into the market .Located in a university town, our company have a strong and stable customer base and with more universities choosing to establish their campuses in this university town, the customer base will be growing in a steady pace. The visiting tourists in the holiday season will make up the decline demand from college students in the holiday season. Unique and high-quality product at reasonable prices. Our company will incorporate great product at lower expense, thus stick to keep an idea margin while catering to our customers demand. While energy drinks are nothing new, we will distinguish ourselves and focus more on the college students and at the same time emphasize on local taste to attract the visiting tourists in the holiday seasons. Successful taste testing with an excellent result among our target consumers. Based on their feedback, those university students are eager to have our Bada Bala energy drink as their first choice when they need an energy drink to boost their energy. Because of the student population being the core target markets, heavy sales and marketing will not be needed. Rather, our company will emphasize word-of-mouth advertisement, along with promotions broadcast on campus. During the first two weeks of launching the Bada Bala energy drink, flyers with coupons will be passed around campus for notification. We have allotted a small amount for any needed advertising each month, and prepare a promoting program when the tourists arrive here in the holiday season. Once the production begins, the revenue generated is expected to the financial source for reproduction. Financial plans Financial objective Generate  £1,200,000 of sales in year 1, with an 15% growth rate for the next two years. Realize a gross margin of at least 50% each year. Show a net profit of  £600,000 by the end of the year 1. We have already coordinated with local distributors to set up accounts for purchases and repayment. Investment plan The start-up costs of the production of Bada Bala Energy Drink will incorporate the costs such as of machinery and equipment for manufacturing, setting up selling and distribution channels, staff hiring, and other necessary expenses to start operation. At first year of start up phase, there are no plans for expanded business scales or introduce other new products. As business continues, we will re-evaluate to see if there is a part of the market that could be better assisted and adjusted. Costs have been allocated for 1-month supply of basic purchases raw materials, since general inventory turnaround is between 15 and 20 days. We realize that the 1-month time frame will allow for a small inventory to be maintained during opening months. Based on that, we will be able to determine rate for future replenishment. The plant site on the 50,000 square foot building has been confirmed and only minor renovations will be needed to set up the production condition for Bada Bala Energy Drink. The following sections will outline the important financial assumptions, break-even analysis, cash flow budget, budget balance sheet, budget income statement and key financial indicators and ratios. Sales forecasts on our product The market will vary greatly based on two factors: the academic schedule of university students and the travel schedule of the visiting tourists. The academic schedule will not affect the consumption too much, except for their will be a rise in consumption on the exams week and on occasions like sports meeting. Summers will tend to decrease the customer base of students as many choose not to attend school during this time. But the increasing tourist population will be the main force of our consumers during the time the students are away from the town. Thus, only some minor adjustments in production plan will be needed. Based on careful market analysis and calculations, we expect around 100,000 bottles to be sold on a monthly base in first year of the start up phase Based on the above forecasting sales, chart and tables of further financial analysis are enclosed in the appendix of this report. Return on investment At the start up phase, the monthly net profit from sales is expected to be  £50,000, with the monthly total sales being  £100,000 and the total costs of sales being £50,000. The sales margin is calculated to be 50 % by dividing the  £50,000 monthly net profit from sales by the £100,000 monthly total sales revenue. Our business will achieve realizable revenue of  £1,200,000 after one year of operation, and the profits will rise to £600,000 pre-tax. This represents an earning margin of 50 % pretax. The profits generated will be used to expand the scale gradually in the second year, while continue to run the business in a prudent strategy. Having the capital turnover being 3.2%, and the return on sales being 50% on a yearly base, with the return of investment is estimated to be 0.17%. Break-even analysis According to the estimate based on the market research, our company decides that roughly Bada Bala Energy Drink 100,000 bottles are sold on a monthly base, that is a profit revenue of £100,000 at monthly sale. The break-even point quantity will be reached at the sales volume of 23,077 bottles, given the Total fixed cost of £15,000 per month, consisting of the monthly fixed factory overheads of £5,000,000 , the monthly fixed selling and distribution overheads of  £400, 000 , and fixed administration overheads of £600,000. The variable costs per unit, consisting of the direct materials per unit of  £0.15 and direct labor per unit of $0.2, together totals to be £0.35 . Thus, the total variable cost on a monthly base is expected to be  £35,000 and the total monthly costs is  £50,000. Cash flow plan The cash budget is based on cost and revenue estimates. Monthly sales are the largest indicator. As discussed and explained above, the seasonal variations do not affect much on the sales. We want to finance the future growth of our company mainly through cash flow. Although playing it safe means we will have to increase the production scale slowly and gradually grab the lion market share, we think this strategy suits us very well because we want to the business have gradual growth without much financial risks. Summary Our advantage of located in the university town, together the careful financial planning, the precise market concentration and the rather modest developing strategy all serve as an competitive edge for success in this energy drinks manufacturing field. The earning margin of 50 % pretax and healthy cash flows that generated speak for itself and lead to a promising and attractive returns

Seventeenth Century Natural Acting Essay -- European History Essays

Seventeenth Century Natural Acting As we read through the standard accounts of seventeenth-century acting, observers display the same desire to believe in the fictions of the actors as their twentieth-century counterparts. Webster said of "An Excellent Actor" that "what we see him personate, we think truly done before us" ("An Excellent Actor," 1615, in Overbury's The Wife) An anonymous elegy on the death of the famous actor Richard Burbage (d.1619) recalls, Oft have I seen him leap into a grave Suiting the person (which he seemed to have) Of a sad lover, with so true an eye That then I would have sworn he meant to die: So lively, the spectators, and the rest Of his sad crew, while he but seemed to bleed, Amazed thought that he had died indeed. Like spectators today, the Jacobean spectators had strong ideas about what constituted "good acting." Thomas Heywood notes that good looks, combined with type casting, are important: "actors should be men pick'd out personable, according to the parts they present" (An Apology for Actors 1612). In the fictional acting lesson in The Return from Parnassus, Part II (c. 1601-03), the Burbage character remarks to his student, "I like your face, and the proportion of your body for Richard the Third ... let me see you act a little of it." Shakespeare's Peter Quince and Holofernes go in for similar methods of casting in their amateur theatricals. Rhetoric and vocal virtuosity were also admired. Hamlet advises that the players speak "trippingly on the tongue" (Hamlet, III.2, c. 1603), and Heywood adds that the actor should observe the structure of his texts, "and with judgment to observe his commas, colons, and full points; his parentheses, his breathing spaces, and distin... ...n the men's companies seem to have learned more from examples that from a curriculum. In The Return from Parnassus, Part II, both Burbage and Will Kemp are shown teaching by imitation: BURBAGE: I think your voice would serve for Hieronimo; observe how I act it, and then imitate me. Here we run up against the bugbear of historically informed performance. So many of the treatises (in music and dance as well as in acting) depend on the student's imitation of an admired master, and a gradual perfection of "good taste" as his society constructed that elusive quality. We cannot recreate those apprenticeships, those saturations in a period aesthetic. However, by constructing exercises along the lines of a Renaissance aesthetic, we may expose some of the differences between what the Shakespearean audience saw, and what the North American audience sees today.

Commentary On The Road Not Tak :: essays research papers

The poem is basically about a person who has at some point in his life been posed with a question of which path to take. Obviously, there would be a dilemma on his part and the poem revolves around his decision. Frost’s narrative style has lent itself to a certain amount of ambiguity in what he is trying to convey. This ambiguity that Frost has left the reader to contemplate is basically divided into two schools of thought. The first is that Frost has a regret for the choice that he has made and he is relating the hardships of that choice to the reader. The alternative is that he is simply trying to make a statement about life and harbors no regret towards the choice that he has made. The first theme to be considered is that of Frost’s analogy of one’s life being put onto some sort of timeline and he has used roads to illustrate the idea of many possibilities. The use of nature in the same line â€Å"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood† gives an almost organic-like appeal. This helps us to integrate roads into the natural environment and it gives an impression that the decisions that we have to make are natural. The divergence of the two roads into the same place (a yellow wood) symbolises Frost’s departure into the real world (because of the singularity in â€Å"wood†). This could mean that the wood is being compared to the â€Å"unknown† world. Again, in the first stanza there is the start of the ambiguity in the very colour of the wood. A strong believer in the view that Frost has given a regretful tone to the poem will point out that there is a significance in the very colour of the wood. This is because yellow represe nts autumn time where the stigma is that everything around him is dying and because of life he still has to continue. Furthermore, there is the inclusion of the second line â€Å"And sorry I could not travel both†. This could mean that he is regretful because he will never know what the other path offered. On the other hand it could also be interpreted that it is plain curiosity which has led him to say this, not any regret for what he has failed to do. Frost has used a clever illustration of the continuance of these roads to depict the uncertainty that life holds.

Marketing Mix

Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTION3 II. MARKET STRATEGY4 A. Product5 B. Price5 C. Place5 D. Process5 E. People6 F. Physical evidence6 G. Promotion6 III. ENVIRONMENT7 A. Macroenviroment7 B. Microenvironment8 IV. CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR9 V. MARKET TARGETING & POSITIONING10 A. Segmentation10 B. Target market12 C. Market positioning12 VI. CONCLUSION13 VII. References14 INTRODUCTION This report aims to identify various factors for success in the quality take-away food market. This will be accomplished by comparing two food service companies with a similar strategy – Crust Gourmet Pizza Bars and Real Burger World (RBW) – ended up with remarkably different results from the following aspects; marketing strategy, the environment, consumer behavior and target market and positioning. MARKET STRATEGY The foundation of both Crust and RBW was animated by a similar desire to provide a gourmet or higher quality take away food in the competitive fast food industry. Though, they came up with slightly different plans and implementations. |Crust Gourmet Pizza |Real Burger World | |People |†¢ Founder : previous experience as a manager of |†¢ One of the founders : successful experience in | | |a Pizza Restaurant |starting up a business | | |†¢ Training and management support for their |†¢ General manager replaced because of his lack of| | |franchises |experience in the industry | |Process |†¢ Long |†¢ Long | | |†¢ Preparati on in view of the customers |†¢ ‘guest' burger, customer invited to suggest a | | | |menu item |Physical Evidence |Dynamic, fashionable and modern : upmarket look |Typical burger shop | | |for upmarket target | | |Product |†¢ High quality and fresh |†¢ Real, natural and wholesome ingredients | | |†¢ Broad choice from traditional to original |†¢ Choice more or less diversified | | |taste (‘Asian touch') |†¢ Dynamic menu with gourmet burgers, handmade | | |†¢ Product on demand |fries | |Price |Restaurant prices, more expensive than the |Slightly above competitive brands (1? ore than | | |competitors |the existing competitors) | |Place |Shop, Internet Website, Phone |Shop | |Promotion |†¢ Heart Foundation Tick of approval & medias |†¢ TV Show â€Å"Risking it all† in 2episodes, | | |†¢ radio, local papers, letterbox drops, |†¢ Brochure handouts in the street | | |sponsorships |†¢ Protest in front of their co mpetitor store | | |†¢ Website | | | |†¢ reward card | | Table 1 Marketing strategy of both companies through the 7P’s 1 Product Both companies offer better value to their customers through the high and fresh quality of their product. This is the main advantage that differentiates themselves from their competitors. o Quality QualityWhile RBW provides â€Å"real, natural and wholesome ingredients† (Naz Choudhury, http://books. google. com. au/ ), Crust, sensitive to the new trend of healthy food, provides not only high quality food -with premium ingredients such as prosciutto, tiger prawns or smoked salmon- but also healthy food with six Heart Foundation Pizzas. o Variety They both offer a broad choice from traditional to original taste (‘Asian touch’ for Crust). What seems an advantage for Crust over RBW, and pizza restaurant is that Crust customers can compose their own pizza, though a common doing in the pizza fast food industry. 2 Price Because it is not trying to be cheaper than or as affordable as its competitors, unlike RBW, Crust chooses a clear different position from its competitors. Crust gets a premium price based on the product differentiation. 3 Place The place for the first shops gives an indication on the position of the firm. While Crust established their first shop in a suburb where people may have more time to wait for a longer process, RBW had their first shop in a dynamic street, in the city and a close walk from its competitors. Also Crust developed a delivery service with as many ways as possible to make their product available to overcome their geographic limitation. 4 Process Due to their position as higher and fresh quality food, both of these companies need a longer processing time for their product, than its competitors. Though, Crust found a way to compensate. The preparation in view of the customers increases the interaction between the staff and the customers and is visually exciting. This tactic is a way of creating delight for customers. A good point for RBW is the ‘guest’ burger. The customer is invited to take part in the creation of menu items. 5 People People working for the company are important since they contribute to the image of the firm. Crust understood this well, they made it an important part of their plan. They provide training and management support for their franchises to preserve brand identity and so, the atmosphere of the first shop. On the contrary, RBW showed an mistake from the start, the first General Manager of the store had no experience in the fast food industry. 6 Physical evidence The look of the store conveys the marketing message of the firm. It has to be in adequation with what the firm claims to provide, that includes also the differentiation from their competitors. Crust chose distinctive colours and a high class decor just as a gourmet firm would do. It gives satisfaction to customers who would expect greater value. On the other hand, though they hired professionals to design their store, RBW appeared to have missed the upmarket look and ended up looking like any other burger shop. 7 Promotion By earning the Heart Foundation Tick of approval, they consolidated their image differentiation, got the media attention as a short term promotion but also undoubtedly a long term promotion through this kind of sponsorship. They also use radio, local papers, letterbox drops, and sponsorships. Those tactics are important to build a strong brand identity. Crust is omnipresent so that they stay in potential customer’s minds. They developed a Website to go along with the technology orientated society and targeted customers. The use of a reward card is a way of retaining profitable customers. Whereas in the case of RBW, it is appearing in a TV show, the firm benefited from a priceless mass promotion to make their brand known. Nonetheless, they didn’t sustain themselves to this level and came up with only short term promotion. Protesting in front of their competitor store can be regarded as a desperate move to attract customers. From the analysis of these parameters, we can say that Crust has a well more developed strategy than RBW. When RBW’s main (unique) advantage is the higher quality food, Crust has developed a more complex strategy around the higher quality and healthy food and the service cape, regarded as a key to success. ENVIRONMENT This section discusses external and internal factors affecting Crust’s and RBW’s business. Four factors were chosen to outline their success/failure – Demographic forces (macro), socio-cultural forces (macro), corporate culture (micro), and competitive environment (micro). Macroenvironment are fairly common to the two firms as Australia and UK have similar cultural background and economic level. The factors which led these two firms to contrastive results could be found in microenvironment. [pic] 1 Macroenviroment o Demographic forces Understanding the demographic environment is of great importance as it â€Å"involves people, and people make up markets (Kotler, Adam, Denize and Armstrong, 2009: pp. 89)†. Changes in household types are beneficial trend for fast-food industry. The important demographic trend for fast-food industry is changes in household types. Increased number of one person, childless couple households increases the demand for convenient, ready-to-eat meals. Dual-income families made quality food affordable. The two firms targeted those new-type households. o Socio-cultural forces Businesses exists within society, therefore businesses can be influenced by society. To keep up with social changes may provide businesses with competitive advantages. The increased health awareness in society led the changing trend in consumer preferences to better-taste, fresher fast-food which perceived as healthier. Crust and RBW met this consumer trend. Another socio-cultural force is the trend towards choice. Both firms dealt with this trend by offering broad range of menu. 2 Microenvironment o Corporate culture Strong corporate culture helps to develop strong brand because people, internal and external to the company, can share similar values. Strong brand equity enables businesses to establish firm customer base and brand royalty, which in turn give businesses long-term growth and profitability. Crust has a clear corporate culture of â€Å"personality driven† based on â€Å"professionalism†, â€Å"entrepreneurship† and â€Å"teamwork and partnership with stores and customers† (www. crust. com. au, 2010). This is expressed to customers through store presentation and service, which serves as physical evidence to the customers. On the other hand, RBW’s culture was based on co-founders’ friendship. The business built on friendship can be fallen into amateurism resulted in various operational problems, which could reduce customer satisfaction. o Competitive environment Fast-food industry is highly competitive market and the competition is complex. Players in the market have to compete with huge multinational organizations such as McDonald’s, Subway and Pizza Hut as well as thousands of local take-away stores. To provide greater customer value and satisfaction than competitors, strategic analysis of competitive environment is crucial for businesses. Crust identified a gap in the pizza market in Australia, and then develops the strategy to fit them into the gap. Differentiation against competitors is the key factor to be successful in competitive market. Reflecting the tough competitive environment, crust aims to grow slowly and steady through good relationships with the stores and the customers (www. crust. com. au, 2010). RBW didn’t take it seriously compared to Crust because RBW were confident with the products and believed that consumers choose them once they tried their burger. The location choice for the first store was made by financial reason rather than strategic point of view. This resulted in direct competition with established fast-food brands such as McDonald’s and Burger King. CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR [pic] There is little difference between the fact that RBW and crust pizza are located in England and Australia respectively because both are industrialized nations and both are very similar culturally. As such, both are positively affected by the growing awareness of the benefits of healthier food, as well as an active desire for such food, especially in the age groups that both Crust and RBW caters to. There are three driving psychological influences on a customer to eat at crust pizza. The first is an aspirational one. The existing perception of high dining atering to educated, high earning professionals that crust has worked meticulously to build, and one of the results is that being seen to eat there is indicative of being a member of that particular demographic. [pic] Figure 3. Reasons for eating Fast Food http://shansenta. blogspot. com/2006_10_01 _archive. html The second influence is the imperative and willingness to pay for high quality food by the more discerning consumers. The third is one of safety, in the sense that crust delivers on time, with the correct pizza, in the same quality as in the store due to its specially made base. While the time take is longer, customers are satisfied as it is what they expect. RBW’s customers have different set of influences due to its geographical location in a less well off part of London where price is a significant factor. For the majority of consumers that frequent that particular part of London, the health benefits that RBW provided were not enough of an incentive to try the burgers. Also, it is the nature of burgers that they are quick. The reason for eating them is that it is a convenient way of eating and customers are unwilling to wait more than ten minutes for a burger that elsewhere they can get within one or two minutes. MARKET TARGETING & POSITIONING 1 Segmentation The basis of a long term marketing strategy, as well as the initial success of the business requires a target market to be identified and the business positioned satisfy the needs of the chosen market. |Crust Gourmet Pizza |Real Burger World | |Geographic segmentation |- Distributed around Australia ; NSW, ACT and |- Opened the first store in London in mid 2003 | | |Victoria – An expansion in |- Located in a street with other fast food stores| | |Singapore | | |Demographic Segmentation |- Targeting the age of 18-39 years old including|- Targeting the people with the age of 20-40 | | |families and high incomes including middle class|years old and high incomes | | |and upper class. Targeting | | | |consumers from diverse nationality | | |Psychographic Segmentation |- Targeting the people with a healthy lifestyle |- Targeting consumers with a healthy and busy | | | |lifestyle | |Behavioural Segmentation |- Targeting for the middle and upper class who |- Some of consumers would have negative attitudes| | |would have purchase occasions frequently |due to some failure on plans. | Table 2. Comparison of segmentation between Crust and RBW o Geographic Segmentation Most firms have national marketing programmes which adjust their products and promotions to satisfy the individual needs of geographic units. Geographic Segmentation can be the most important process which  brings to light  the  difference between the case of Crust and RBW. For Crust, it  is distributed in the main cities of Australia include d Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland and Victoria. The stores  are located in various suburbs. This implies two factors of geographic segmentation being region and population density. This  indicates a  greater opportunity  for the  success of  the company due to its location. On the other hand,  the first RBW store  was located in a street with other fast-food stores containing McDonald’s and Burger King. This evidently demonstrates that there is more competition and hence  the  potential of losing customers to  the other major food chains. RBW would be forced to compete against eminent and familiar  fast-food outlets. In this case, having just  launched their first outlet,  it would contribute to decreasing their earnings. o Demographic Segmentation The Crust has targeted  an age group ranging between 18-39 years of age. Additionally,  they are more likely focussing on middle and upper class demographics. We can assume that RBW also has targeted  a similar  demographic of consumers  to that of  the Crust. This can be classified  as demographic segmentation. Each business  targets a specific demographic that they feel the product or service would be most likely to attract. With that, the company will be able to set out its goals, marketing strategies and prices according to that chosen demographic. It clearly shows that both the Crust and RBW have targeted  appropriate level of consumers who would become big fans of the restaurant. In addition demographic factor is very influential on marketing strategy because consumer usage and needs are variable since each individual has different taste desires in  products depending on how old they are, what family life cycle they have or what occupation or income they have. o Psychographic Segmentation The Crust has an aim to change the perception of pizza from  that of a  cheap food to more of one that can be classified as a healthier choice. Accordingly, this will appeal to  those people who have a healthy lifestyle  or are conscious about their diet. This strategy  would lead to  further success in their business as not only will they be able to  maintain the number of existing customers,  they would also  be  attracting a new line of customers. For instance, through education and the media people are  increasingly gaining more awareness with regards to their diet and healthy living. With that in mind, the public will be less inclined to  eat unhealthily and would begin to focus  on maintaining a healthy diet. This  is a  clear indication  that people would  choose Crust rather than Dominos or Pizza Hut because of their marketing strategy. As well as in the case of RBW, they  have tried  to develop  the idea that burgers, if  served correct, can  be considered as  an extremely healthy  meal and not simply  another form of junk food. This also would appeal to  the public to  dine  at RBW as it appeals to the present values the public upholds. o Behavioural Segmentation One of the factors in behavioural Segmentation is purchase occasion. In the case of both Crust and RBW, they have targeted  a demographic of  high income earners  and this has  lead to  an escalating  chance  of increasing their earnings. Since pizzas and burgers are the most favorable food for parties, gatherings and meals,  the public is guaranteed  to purchase these foods on a frequent basis. But consumers may have different attitudes towards Crust and RBW. The Crust has been well-known as a  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœpersonality driven culture’ whereas the RBW has negative aspects associated with their food chain  since they failed with some launch tactics such as brochure handouts and a free burger day. With knowledge of such aspects, the public will most likely respond accordingly and think twice about RBW and it's few slip-ups. 2 Target market For target market there are several different strategies ; undifferentiated marketing, differentiated marketing and concentrated marketing. Firstly, undifferentiated marketing is to ignore the specific market segments and approach the whole market with one market offer. Secondly, differentiated marketing is a marketing that determines to target several market segments and design separate offers for each. Lastly, concentrated marketing is choosing one large market or few submarkets. It clearly shows that both Crust and RWB are concentrated marketers since concentrated marketing provides a means  for small firms to compete against other larger companies and to gain a foothold in the food industry. 3 Market positioning Market positioning is the final part of step, involving developing a positioning for the target market, followed by the marketing mix. Crust pizza positioned their stores to be attractive to the market outlined. The relatively high price per pizza reflects their positioning as a gourmet pizza restaurant, though offering delivery services as well to expand the reach of their business. The restraint ambiance and staff trained in customer service helps differentiate Crust as a higher class of dining than its competitors. It’s certification by the national heart foundation also gives proof to its claims of healthy pizza, swaying those skeptical of those marketing gimmicks and again differentiating it from competitors. RBW however, positioned both physically and otherwise to be in direct competition with existing fast food outlets. Located in a part of London where price is the defining factor, it is similar in price to McDonalds, contradicting its projected image of gourmet burgers. Customers have also commented that the shop feels similar to burger king, losing the perception of healthy food, and thus customers. Unlike crust, it’s burgers are not certified as healthy, though it’s stating of nutritional values of its burgers is a positive move, similar actions by McDonalds and other fast food outlets dilutes the impact of that move. Had it gone with its initial location at a more high priced part of London, the outcome may be very different. CONCLUSION In conclusion, there are a number of factors that determine the success or failure of a business such as those of a gourmet fast food such as RBW and Crust pizza. These factors range from the elements in the marketing strategy to the target market and market positioning, both planned and execution. The importance of these factors can be illustrated by the difference between Crust Pizza and RBW, given the similarity of their environmental and cultural factors. It is RBW’s failure to understand the nature of their product and the behavior and influences on their customers that lead to RBW’s eventual downfall. Crust pizza, on the other hand, well understood these factors and created an appropriate strategy and focused on the correct target market to claim success. References INTERNET Crust website, http://www. crust. com. au/ Momentary Musings, http://shansenta. blogspot. com/2006_10_01_archive. html Wikinvest, http://www. wikinvest. com/stock/Wendy%27s_International_%28WEN%29 BOOK Kotler P, Adam, S, Denize S, & Armstrong, G. , 2009,. Principles of Marketing, 4th ed, Pearson Education. Australia, Frenchs Forest, NSW ———————– Figure1. Market shares of the Major Players in the Fast Food Industry http://www. wikinvest. com/stock/Wendy%27s_International_%28WEN%29 Figure2. Pie chart of Consumer behaviour on Frequency of Fast Food http://shansenta. blogspot. com/2006_10_01_archive. html Marketing Mix According to Eddie Robinson, â€Å"The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential†¦these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence. † In this competitive business world, it is imperative that business owners’ develop and create unique products in order to be differentiated from its competitors. Business owners can use a set of tools called the â€Å"Marketing Mix† to provide the unique quality that the item for consumption is a need.This tool is made up of a set of controllable factors that can be adjusted until the precise combination is established to satisfy the needs or wants of consumers in a particular target market while generating a profit. The Marketing Mix is made up of four factors. They are product, price, place and promotion. The product can be referred to as the physical product or service that satisfies what a consumer wants or need. Price refers to the amount that customers will pay for a par ticular good or service after taking into account factors such as profit, competitor’s response, business survival and probable pricing.The channel of distribution that serves as a means of getting the product or service in a convenient location to the target consumers is referred to as place. Promotion represents the methods of communication used to provide information of a particular good or service to its target market using various mediums. The proposed product we have decided to discuss in this essay is a self-cleaning bathtub. This product would satisfy the wants and needs of luxury hoteliers and people who are interested in living a luxurious life around the world.Generally, majority of the people who perform cleaning services usually avoid the time of cleaning their bathtub because it is very tedious task and the effects of the noxious fumes from the cleaning products. The idea of a self-cleaning bathtub would solve these problems, while satisfying the many wants and in some cases, the needs of a wide cross-section of people. This product will be sold in two variations and will range in different sizes. These variations include free standing tubs and drop in tubs.The self-cleaning bathtub boasts of its quick drain plus fast-action integral pump for rapid water changing, self-cleaning system that simultaneously removes surface debris and cleans the bottom of the hot tub with its built in vacuum. It also has premium LED lights that create ambiance and tranquility. It comes with an installation crew and technicians standing behind 10 years of warranty to give customers peace of mind. In addition, the economic theory asserts that in a free market economy the market price reflects interaction between supply and demand: the price is set to equate the quantity being supplied and demanded.In turn, these quantities are determined by the marginal utility of the asset to different buyers and to different sellers. In reality, the price may be distorted by o ther factors, such as tax and other government regulations. When a commodity is for sale at multiple locations, the Law of one price is generally believed to hold. This essentially states that the cost difference between the locations cannot be greater than that representing shipping, taxes, other distribution costs etc.In the case of the majority of consumer goods and services, the distribution costs are quite a high proportion of the overall price, so the law may not be very useful. In practice, it may well make economic sense to offer a product or service for sale at a higher price in a wealthy area than in a deprived area as the marginal utility of the asset for purchasers will be higher in the former. With that being said, several factors can be taken into consideration when looking to price an item such as this one.Since the price of a product is normally the deciding factor in choosing one brand over another, it is a common area of the marketing mix that can be used to make s trategic changes. The customer would not expect to pay the regular price of a regular bathtub. However, they may not expect a significantly high price. For instance, if you take the price of a regular bathtub, add on the cost of products and tools usually used to clean the tub, the customer will not expect to pay a price that is 50-100% more than the total of the two. They might as well decide to continue cleaning their tub on their own.Smart retailers sell good items cheap, with small profit per item because cheap prices increase sales and overall profit. In other words, it is better to sell forty (40) items at ten dollars ($10) profit rather than five (5) items at forty dollars ($40) profit. This will ensure business survival for a very long time as long as the quality of the product in maintained. Competitor’s response will have no effect on this product as long as the affordable price and high quality is maintained. As long as the cheapest possible manufacturing method is utilized, the competitor will find it very difficult to compete.Furthermore, it is important that the self-cleaning tub is available when and where the customer wants it. Distributing the product to its consumers will be done through direct channels for the customers who wants customized tubs and through dual distribution. This product will be accessible to customers with few obstacles. Moreover, mass marketing is a market coverage strategy in which a firm decides to ignore market segment differences and go after the whole market with one offer. It is the type of marketing (or attempting to sell through persuasion) of a product to a wide audience.The idea is to broadcast a message that will reach the largest number of people possible. The target market for this product would be very huge. Quite frankly, every single person who owns or lives in a home should be interested in a self-cleaning bathtub. However, the most strategic channel of distribution should be among person building or looking to build new luxury homes, apartment buildings or hotels. Many new business customers can be obtained since apartment buildings and hotels would want to utilize this product.The benefits range from cheaper cost of janitorial service to additional attraction to apartments and hotel rooms for guests and tenants to choose from. In order to get all prospective customers interested in the product, public demonstrations will have to be made at strategic areas of business in the city or main towns. Invitations should be sent out to all hotels, luxury home owners and apartment building owners to attend this public event where usage of the bathtub will be demonstrated for all to see. Generally, promotion is communicating with the public in an attempt to influence them toward buying your products and/or services.How does promotion differ from advertising? Promotion is the broader, all inclusive term. Advertising is just one specific action you could take to promote your product or service. Promotion, as a general term, includes all the ways available to make a product and/or service known to and purchased by customers and clients. Promotion of this item would be done through various mediums. These mediums include television advertisements, billboards, radio advertisements, newspaper advertisements just to name a few.In summary, the success of the self-cleaning bath tub relies greatly upon proper marketing. The company must have the right combination of all the elements of the marketing mix in order to produce desirable sales results. The mix will include the variables and apparatus that the company will use to satisfy the business objective and the needs of the potential customers. The marketing mix is the foundation of a marketing strategy, unless a new theory is developed and can convincingly replace it will continue to serve that purpose.The market mix is designed to accommodate the customer. Therefore, each aspect of the marketing mix is equally important . When the mix is being developed, all final decisions about the elements should be made at the same time. To summarize the marketing mix, a company develops a product that meets the needs and desires of customers. Then determines how the product will reach final customers. A promotion plan is then developed to inform the customer of the product. Finally, a price is established while ensuring the company earns a profit. Marketing Mix Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTION3 II. MARKET STRATEGY4 A. Product5 B. Price5 C. Place5 D. Process5 E. People6 F. Physical evidence6 G. Promotion6 III. ENVIRONMENT7 A. Macroenviroment7 B. Microenvironment8 IV. CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR9 V. MARKET TARGETING & POSITIONING10 A. Segmentation10 B. Target market12 C. Market positioning12 VI. CONCLUSION13 VII. References14 INTRODUCTION This report aims to identify various factors for success in the quality take-away food market. This will be accomplished by comparing two food service companies with a similar strategy – Crust Gourmet Pizza Bars and Real Burger World (RBW) – ended up with remarkably different results from the following aspects; marketing strategy, the environment, consumer behavior and target market and positioning. MARKET STRATEGY The foundation of both Crust and RBW was animated by a similar desire to provide a gourmet or higher quality take away food in the competitive fast food industry. Though, they came up with slightly different plans and implementations. |Crust Gourmet Pizza |Real Burger World | |People |†¢ Founder : previous experience as a manager of |†¢ One of the founders : successful experience in | | |a Pizza Restaurant |starting up a business | | |†¢ Training and management support for their |†¢ General manager replaced because of his lack of| | |franchises |experience in the industry | |Process |†¢ Long |†¢ Long | | |†¢ Preparati on in view of the customers |†¢ ‘guest' burger, customer invited to suggest a | | | |menu item |Physical Evidence |Dynamic, fashionable and modern : upmarket look |Typical burger shop | | |for upmarket target | | |Product |†¢ High quality and fresh |†¢ Real, natural and wholesome ingredients | | |†¢ Broad choice from traditional to original |†¢ Choice more or less diversified | | |taste (‘Asian touch') |†¢ Dynamic menu with gourmet burgers, handmade | | |†¢ Product on demand |fries | |Price |Restaurant prices, more expensive than the |Slightly above competitive brands (1? ore than | | |competitors |the existing competitors) | |Place |Shop, Internet Website, Phone |Shop | |Promotion |†¢ Heart Foundation Tick of approval & medias |†¢ TV Show â€Å"Risking it all† in 2episodes, | | |†¢ radio, local papers, letterbox drops, |†¢ Brochure handouts in the street | | |sponsorships |†¢ Protest in front of their co mpetitor store | | |†¢ Website | | | |†¢ reward card | | Table 1 Marketing strategy of both companies through the 7P’s 1 Product Both companies offer better value to their customers through the high and fresh quality of their product. This is the main advantage that differentiates themselves from their competitors. o Quality QualityWhile RBW provides â€Å"real, natural and wholesome ingredients† (Naz Choudhury, http://books. google. com. au/ ), Crust, sensitive to the new trend of healthy food, provides not only high quality food -with premium ingredients such as prosciutto, tiger prawns or smoked salmon- but also healthy food with six Heart Foundation Pizzas. o Variety They both offer a broad choice from traditional to original taste (‘Asian touch’ for Crust). What seems an advantage for Crust over RBW, and pizza restaurant is that Crust customers can compose their own pizza, though a common doing in the pizza fast food industry. 2 Price Because it is not trying to be cheaper than or as affordable as its competitors, unlike RBW, Crust chooses a clear different position from its competitors. Crust gets a premium price based on the product differentiation. 3 Place The place for the first shops gives an indication on the position of the firm. While Crust established their first shop in a suburb where people may have more time to wait for a longer process, RBW had their first shop in a dynamic street, in the city and a close walk from its competitors. Also Crust developed a delivery service with as many ways as possible to make their product available to overcome their geographic limitation. 4 Process Due to their position as higher and fresh quality food, both of these companies need a longer processing time for their product, than its competitors. Though, Crust found a way to compensate. The preparation in view of the customers increases the interaction between the staff and the customers and is visually exciting. This tactic is a way of creating delight for customers. A good point for RBW is the ‘guest’ burger. The customer is invited to take part in the creation of menu items. 5 People People working for the company are important since they contribute to the image of the firm. Crust understood this well, they made it an important part of their plan. They provide training and management support for their franchises to preserve brand identity and so, the atmosphere of the first shop. On the contrary, RBW showed an mistake from the start, the first General Manager of the store had no experience in the fast food industry. 6 Physical evidence The look of the store conveys the marketing message of the firm. It has to be in adequation with what the firm claims to provide, that includes also the differentiation from their competitors. Crust chose distinctive colours and a high class decor just as a gourmet firm would do. It gives satisfaction to customers who would expect greater value. On the other hand, though they hired professionals to design their store, RBW appeared to have missed the upmarket look and ended up looking like any other burger shop. 7 Promotion By earning the Heart Foundation Tick of approval, they consolidated their image differentiation, got the media attention as a short term promotion but also undoubtedly a long term promotion through this kind of sponsorship. They also use radio, local papers, letterbox drops, and sponsorships. Those tactics are important to build a strong brand identity. Crust is omnipresent so that they stay in potential customer’s minds. They developed a Website to go along with the technology orientated society and targeted customers. The use of a reward card is a way of retaining profitable customers. Whereas in the case of RBW, it is appearing in a TV show, the firm benefited from a priceless mass promotion to make their brand known. Nonetheless, they didn’t sustain themselves to this level and came up with only short term promotion. Protesting in front of their competitor store can be regarded as a desperate move to attract customers. From the analysis of these parameters, we can say that Crust has a well more developed strategy than RBW. When RBW’s main (unique) advantage is the higher quality food, Crust has developed a more complex strategy around the higher quality and healthy food and the service cape, regarded as a key to success. ENVIRONMENT This section discusses external and internal factors affecting Crust’s and RBW’s business. Four factors were chosen to outline their success/failure – Demographic forces (macro), socio-cultural forces (macro), corporate culture (micro), and competitive environment (micro). Macroenvironment are fairly common to the two firms as Australia and UK have similar cultural background and economic level. The factors which led these two firms to contrastive results could be found in microenvironment. [pic] 1 Macroenviroment o Demographic forces Understanding the demographic environment is of great importance as it â€Å"involves people, and people make up markets (Kotler, Adam, Denize and Armstrong, 2009: pp. 89)†. Changes in household types are beneficial trend for fast-food industry. The important demographic trend for fast-food industry is changes in household types. Increased number of one person, childless couple households increases the demand for convenient, ready-to-eat meals. Dual-income families made quality food affordable. The two firms targeted those new-type households. o Socio-cultural forces Businesses exists within society, therefore businesses can be influenced by society. To keep up with social changes may provide businesses with competitive advantages. The increased health awareness in society led the changing trend in consumer preferences to better-taste, fresher fast-food which perceived as healthier. Crust and RBW met this consumer trend. Another socio-cultural force is the trend towards choice. Both firms dealt with this trend by offering broad range of menu. 2 Microenvironment o Corporate culture Strong corporate culture helps to develop strong brand because people, internal and external to the company, can share similar values. Strong brand equity enables businesses to establish firm customer base and brand royalty, which in turn give businesses long-term growth and profitability. Crust has a clear corporate culture of â€Å"personality driven† based on â€Å"professionalism†, â€Å"entrepreneurship† and â€Å"teamwork and partnership with stores and customers† (www. crust. com. au, 2010). This is expressed to customers through store presentation and service, which serves as physical evidence to the customers. On the other hand, RBW’s culture was based on co-founders’ friendship. The business built on friendship can be fallen into amateurism resulted in various operational problems, which could reduce customer satisfaction. o Competitive environment Fast-food industry is highly competitive market and the competition is complex. Players in the market have to compete with huge multinational organizations such as McDonald’s, Subway and Pizza Hut as well as thousands of local take-away stores. To provide greater customer value and satisfaction than competitors, strategic analysis of competitive environment is crucial for businesses. Crust identified a gap in the pizza market in Australia, and then develops the strategy to fit them into the gap. Differentiation against competitors is the key factor to be successful in competitive market. Reflecting the tough competitive environment, crust aims to grow slowly and steady through good relationships with the stores and the customers (www. crust. com. au, 2010). RBW didn’t take it seriously compared to Crust because RBW were confident with the products and believed that consumers choose them once they tried their burger. The location choice for the first store was made by financial reason rather than strategic point of view. This resulted in direct competition with established fast-food brands such as McDonald’s and Burger King. CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR [pic] There is little difference between the fact that RBW and crust pizza are located in England and Australia respectively because both are industrialized nations and both are very similar culturally. As such, both are positively affected by the growing awareness of the benefits of healthier food, as well as an active desire for such food, especially in the age groups that both Crust and RBW caters to. There are three driving psychological influences on a customer to eat at crust pizza. The first is an aspirational one. The existing perception of high dining atering to educated, high earning professionals that crust has worked meticulously to build, and one of the results is that being seen to eat there is indicative of being a member of that particular demographic. [pic] Figure 3. Reasons for eating Fast Food http://shansenta. blogspot. com/2006_10_01 _archive. html The second influence is the imperative and willingness to pay for high quality food by the more discerning consumers. The third is one of safety, in the sense that crust delivers on time, with the correct pizza, in the same quality as in the store due to its specially made base. While the time take is longer, customers are satisfied as it is what they expect. RBW’s customers have different set of influences due to its geographical location in a less well off part of London where price is a significant factor. For the majority of consumers that frequent that particular part of London, the health benefits that RBW provided were not enough of an incentive to try the burgers. Also, it is the nature of burgers that they are quick. The reason for eating them is that it is a convenient way of eating and customers are unwilling to wait more than ten minutes for a burger that elsewhere they can get within one or two minutes. MARKET TARGETING & POSITIONING 1 Segmentation The basis of a long term marketing strategy, as well as the initial success of the business requires a target market to be identified and the business positioned satisfy the needs of the chosen market. |Crust Gourmet Pizza |Real Burger World | |Geographic segmentation |- Distributed around Australia ; NSW, ACT and |- Opened the first store in London in mid 2003 | | |Victoria – An expansion in |- Located in a street with other fast food stores| | |Singapore | | |Demographic Segmentation |- Targeting the age of 18-39 years old including|- Targeting the people with the age of 20-40 | | |families and high incomes including middle class|years old and high incomes | | |and upper class. Targeting | | | |consumers from diverse nationality | | |Psychographic Segmentation |- Targeting the people with a healthy lifestyle |- Targeting consumers with a healthy and busy | | | |lifestyle | |Behavioural Segmentation |- Targeting for the middle and upper class who |- Some of consumers would have negative attitudes| | |would have purchase occasions frequently |due to some failure on plans. | Table 2. Comparison of segmentation between Crust and RBW o Geographic Segmentation Most firms have national marketing programmes which adjust their products and promotions to satisfy the individual needs of geographic units. Geographic Segmentation can be the most important process which  brings to light  the  difference between the case of Crust and RBW. For Crust, it  is distributed in the main cities of Australia include d Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland and Victoria. The stores  are located in various suburbs. This implies two factors of geographic segmentation being region and population density. This  indicates a  greater opportunity  for the  success of  the company due to its location. On the other hand,  the first RBW store  was located in a street with other fast-food stores containing McDonald’s and Burger King. This evidently demonstrates that there is more competition and hence  the  potential of losing customers to  the other major food chains. RBW would be forced to compete against eminent and familiar  fast-food outlets. In this case, having just  launched their first outlet,  it would contribute to decreasing their earnings. o Demographic Segmentation The Crust has targeted  an age group ranging between 18-39 years of age. Additionally,  they are more likely focussing on middle and upper class demographics. We can assume that RBW also has targeted  a similar  demographic of consumers  to that of  the Crust. This can be classified  as demographic segmentation. Each business  targets a specific demographic that they feel the product or service would be most likely to attract. With that, the company will be able to set out its goals, marketing strategies and prices according to that chosen demographic. It clearly shows that both the Crust and RBW have targeted  appropriate level of consumers who would become big fans of the restaurant. In addition demographic factor is very influential on marketing strategy because consumer usage and needs are variable since each individual has different taste desires in  products depending on how old they are, what family life cycle they have or what occupation or income they have. o Psychographic Segmentation The Crust has an aim to change the perception of pizza from  that of a  cheap food to more of one that can be classified as a healthier choice. Accordingly, this will appeal to  those people who have a healthy lifestyle  or are conscious about their diet. This strategy  would lead to  further success in their business as not only will they be able to  maintain the number of existing customers,  they would also  be  attracting a new line of customers. For instance, through education and the media people are  increasingly gaining more awareness with regards to their diet and healthy living. With that in mind, the public will be less inclined to  eat unhealthily and would begin to focus  on maintaining a healthy diet. This  is a  clear indication  that people would  choose Crust rather than Dominos or Pizza Hut because of their marketing strategy. As well as in the case of RBW, they  have tried  to develop  the idea that burgers, if  served correct, can  be considered as  an extremely healthy  meal and not simply  another form of junk food. This also would appeal to  the public to  dine  at RBW as it appeals to the present values the public upholds. o Behavioural Segmentation One of the factors in behavioural Segmentation is purchase occasion. In the case of both Crust and RBW, they have targeted  a demographic of  high income earners  and this has  lead to  an escalating  chance  of increasing their earnings. Since pizzas and burgers are the most favorable food for parties, gatherings and meals,  the public is guaranteed  to purchase these foods on a frequent basis. But consumers may have different attitudes towards Crust and RBW. The Crust has been well-known as a  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœpersonality driven culture’ whereas the RBW has negative aspects associated with their food chain  since they failed with some launch tactics such as brochure handouts and a free burger day. With knowledge of such aspects, the public will most likely respond accordingly and think twice about RBW and it's few slip-ups. 2 Target market For target market there are several different strategies ; undifferentiated marketing, differentiated marketing and concentrated marketing. Firstly, undifferentiated marketing is to ignore the specific market segments and approach the whole market with one market offer. Secondly, differentiated marketing is a marketing that determines to target several market segments and design separate offers for each. Lastly, concentrated marketing is choosing one large market or few submarkets. It clearly shows that both Crust and RWB are concentrated marketers since concentrated marketing provides a means  for small firms to compete against other larger companies and to gain a foothold in the food industry. 3 Market positioning Market positioning is the final part of step, involving developing a positioning for the target market, followed by the marketing mix. Crust pizza positioned their stores to be attractive to the market outlined. The relatively high price per pizza reflects their positioning as a gourmet pizza restaurant, though offering delivery services as well to expand the reach of their business. The restraint ambiance and staff trained in customer service helps differentiate Crust as a higher class of dining than its competitors. It’s certification by the national heart foundation also gives proof to its claims of healthy pizza, swaying those skeptical of those marketing gimmicks and again differentiating it from competitors. RBW however, positioned both physically and otherwise to be in direct competition with existing fast food outlets. Located in a part of London where price is the defining factor, it is similar in price to McDonalds, contradicting its projected image of gourmet burgers. Customers have also commented that the shop feels similar to burger king, losing the perception of healthy food, and thus customers. Unlike crust, it’s burgers are not certified as healthy, though it’s stating of nutritional values of its burgers is a positive move, similar actions by McDonalds and other fast food outlets dilutes the impact of that move. Had it gone with its initial location at a more high priced part of London, the outcome may be very different. CONCLUSION In conclusion, there are a number of factors that determine the success or failure of a business such as those of a gourmet fast food such as RBW and Crust pizza. These factors range from the elements in the marketing strategy to the target market and market positioning, both planned and execution. The importance of these factors can be illustrated by the difference between Crust Pizza and RBW, given the similarity of their environmental and cultural factors. It is RBW’s failure to understand the nature of their product and the behavior and influences on their customers that lead to RBW’s eventual downfall. Crust pizza, on the other hand, well understood these factors and created an appropriate strategy and focused on the correct target market to claim success. References INTERNET Crust website, http://www. crust. com. au/ Momentary Musings, http://shansenta. blogspot. com/2006_10_01_archive. html Wikinvest, http://www. wikinvest. com/stock/Wendy%27s_International_%28WEN%29 BOOK Kotler P, Adam, S, Denize S, & Armstrong, G. , 2009,. Principles of Marketing, 4th ed, Pearson Education. Australia, Frenchs Forest, NSW ———————– Figure1. Market shares of the Major Players in the Fast Food Industry http://www. wikinvest. com/stock/Wendy%27s_International_%28WEN%29 Figure2. Pie chart of Consumer behaviour on Frequency of Fast Food http://shansenta. blogspot. com/2006_10_01_archive. html