An essayist writing skills Essay Example for Free

An essayist writing skills Essay ‘Education matters’; the academic distinction as seen within the essayist is the peak of personal pride and the prime of the essayist. This is the backdrop of his imagery skill and panache as he seeks to make the issue figurative and argumentative and in his situation hypothetical. Within the context, he redefines the role of education with the general public. This is his onset to express his insight about what the general public thinks about situations that reflect on those it knows. BOY. Drop out of school and thats what theyll call you the rest of your life. ‘Drop out’ is figurative and intrinsically variable. It is an expression of discontent towards a situation and the person in the situation. It is a moral insight and one that the essayist seeks to use to make a case against his distinguished position as a disadvantaged worker in a workplace which is far much below his qualifications. ‘Drop out’ is what offsets his passion to describe, discuss and put forward his case. It is what could make you a scorn yet even without the valuable education you are the same match to the drop out. Today I saw them saying something else’ is a passionate and morose appeal to his pride gained from the value of education to make him recognizable. He is now a minnow and below the centre of social repute and distinctiveness of an individual. Within these profound contexts within the essayist situation analysis and his insights about the repercussions of manoeuvres to attain academic distinction yet plunge into a sea of misrecognition by being compared and working as one of those detested and referred as public scorns for their minimal academic capacity is insulting and confusing. To him, it is ailing his conscience. They were untrue in part; it turns out that youll get called boy if you do work that others dont respect even if you have a Ph. D. It isnt education that counts, but the job in which you land. This is his perspective, to expound on the uselessness of education comparatively to his situation analysis. Here we see a subtle cry and his way of comparing his fate. It is an emotional and socially perceptive ideology. Emotional, since he is worried that he learned and hoped to supersede social implications and join the league of the learned employed who influence and are the pride of the society. Yet he is now among the least recognized and looked down on. ‘It turns out that youll get called boy if you do work that others dont respect even if you have a PhD’ This is his point on this perspective, he is learned and qualified yet he works as a lemon cutter and he is not even recognized at the workplace let alone by the barmaid. This point showcases the writers wit and it’s within this context we decipher the judicious self- exposure of the writer’s own character. He is objective and determined a listener and an analytical person. â€Å"Are you the boy who cuts the lemons? This is where we discover he is frustrated and feels insulted by circumstances. He is grappling with reality. His point explains the discontentment of the protagonist about his career and the relevancy to his assertion about education being important and suddenly the realization that it is not on some circumstances† I’m the man who does’ It is his acceptance of his fate and an expression of conformity to the circumstances that he is now pitted in. He finds no discourse in segregating his position due to his education background hence accepts his fate and position as a social perceptiveness. He is no longer focussed on making his moral authority within the academic faculties to spell out his elite nature as farcified by the billboard impression. â€Å"Are you the boy who cuts the lemons? I’m the man who does’ is an expression of his seeking to make some points clear within the workplace. It is a coupled methodology of making a case clear, emotive and correlative to his perspective. This is imagery and metaphoric distinctiveness. His workmates don’t even recognize him as an integral part of the workplace. The name boy is contentious and he seeks to address the problem of misrecognition by creating a scenario that imparts his distinctiveness which within the workplace is not recognizable. The workmates are oblivious of his qualifications. Here he seeks to make us identify with his vast knowledge which so far he deems useless. In his two expressions which seek to vilify his potential, he mentions that the maid didn’t realize is reply that ‘he is the man who does it, not the boy who does it’ He is making it clear that he is qualified to be in a better and more professional position. Secondly his reflections ‘They assumed that some people just wont learn respect for others, so you should adapt yourself to them. Dont try to change them. Get the right job and they wont call you boy any more. Theyll save it for the next man. It isnt just people like this one waitress who learn slowly, if at all. We see lamentations here. He is metaphoric ‘that some people just wont learn respect for others, so you should adapt yourself to them’ and figurative in context Get the right job and they wont call you boy any more’. Auspiciously he is figurative in seeking to identify and correlate with the college scenario of the ‘wombats’ and metaphorical as he seeks to put in place the generalization of excellence and academic capacity as a triviality within workplace on a situation in which, the protagonist is doing the same thing with those without any distinctive capacity so as to make ends meet. He is emphatic, lamentative and perspective as he seeks to make his lingering acrimonious reservation to the degradation of his moral position though he has an invariable better and dignified capacity than what he seems to view as his detractor within the workplace. Certainly I wont forget being called a boy today’ The essayist is using word play to make clear a case of emotions he felt when he was undermined and that he made emphatic efforts to make the scenario change to his favour to no avail. On the basis of dialogue, the writer is seen to converse with the waitress who seems to be merely up to no positive perspectives in the conversation. It is in this conversation the writer denounces the waitress and makes the issue of recognition within workplace contentious. This is as seen in this conversation with the waitress and the cook Dana â€Å"Are you the boy who cuts the lemons? † I’m the man who does, â€Å"I replied. â€Å"Well, there are none cut. † There wasn’t even a hint that she heard my point. Dana, who has cooked here for twelve years or so, heard that exchange,. Its no use, Jack, he said when she was gone. If she doesnt know now, she never will. Imagery is the integral in his prose and his title ‘from man to boy’ is indicative of his perspective to use imagery. He has a varying penchant for long figurative and satirical sentences to make clear some of his sentiments. This is seen as he sums up his forlorn though deciphered from the waitress looking down on him situation. ‘It didnt take much persuasion to get the name dropped. Today there are few students who remember it at all. But I imagine the cleaning women remember it well. Certainly I wont forget being called a boy today. ’ He is coupling exposition and dialogue while at the same time making an inclusion of ethos to actualize his point.

Ethics of Biobanks

Ethics of Biobanks Biobank is a large collection of biological information and tissue samples kept for research purposes. It is also a powerful tool used in the study of diseases. It is an important resource in supporting different types of contemporary research such as personalised drug and genomics. Biobank enable scientist to have cross purpose research studies in which data derived from samples in biobanks can be used for multiple researches. E.g. Biobanks can enable scientist identify disease biomarkers by using large collections of samples which represent hundreds of thousands of people. Its been shown that before biobanks was invented little or known was known about different disease and biomarkers and scientist struggled to find enough samples to know what sort of disease they are dealing with. Although its not all good news for the use of Biobanks due to research ethics and medical ethics. This issues were raised because of PRIVACY whereby operating biobanks without the knowledge of governing bodies and policies could be bad for the societies that take part in Biobank programs There are types of biobanks, Tissue banks and Virtual biobanks and population banks, before I explain the types Im going to explain a lot more about biobanks Biobanks incorporate cryogenic storage facilities for samples in which it can be an individual refrigerator or a big warehouse refrigerator. They are kept up to standard by the hospital, pharmaceutical companies and universities etc. Disease oriented biobanks may be classed by design and purpose because this biobanks collect information or samples representing different forms of diseases in which it can be used to also find a biomarker associated with a specific disease. Population based biobanks are big biobanks that collect large samples from large numbers of people in a community. This is done to look for biomarkers for disease in a general population. Tissue Banks- Store and harvest human tissue for transplantation, stem cell and researches based on tissue and cells Virtual biobanks samples are collected and termed to meet national regulations and integrate epidemiological cohorts Population banks they store organic material associated with clinical, lifestyle and environmental data. Biobank ethics There are many roles which comes into effect when researchers wants to collect a human specimen for research and storing it. The issues that comes into effect are the right of the participants to be private, ownership of the specimen and where the data is derived from. Also how far the donor can consent to the research study should be considered and to which extent the donor can far in sharing research results. The main issue is that biobanks collect sample and data for different future research and it is not easy to get a specific consent for any single research. Biobank controversies[1] issue consensus controversy notes Commercialization Different aspects of biobanks serve public, private, commercial, and non-commercial interests. How can policymakers set guidelines to fairly balance public, private, commercial, and non-commercial interests? Who owns biological specimens and data derived therefrom? When biobanks and related projects are publicly funded, the result will benefit private industry. To what extent is this outcome satisfactory? (Social Fairness). It may also undermine public trust in biobanks projects. It may skew research agenda in favour of research projects which are more profitable and compromise necessary but not profitable research. discrimination, including Genetic discrimination Biobanks should prevent donor communities from facing discrimination as a result of participating in a Biobank project Research reveals private information and release of it may cause participants to face discrimination. What responsibility does the Biobank have to mitigate the problem? Participants may reveal their own information because of participation in a Biobank and subsequently face discrimination. What responsibility does the Biobank have to mitigate the problem? informed consent Donors to biobanks need a consent process adjusted specifically to biobanks. What breadth of consent should biobanks have? [2] Institutional review board It would be nice to have a robust governance system before biobanks are created. How will a good governance system be designed? The oversight institution reviewing biobanks should be independent of the Biobank. Where should checks and balances be? An individual organization needs multinational support to do international research. Who should govern when research spans different countries with different legal and personal rights standards? Privacy for research participants Donors should have their specimens sufficiently anonymised. A specimen by nature includes some data about donors how much anonym zing is sufficient? [3][4] Donors have some right to return of results. How does one return results to anonymised donors? [3][5] Donors have a right to withdraw from research. Specimens can be destroyed, but to what extent should anonymised data which has already been shared be withdrawn? [5] Data derived from specimens should be shared. Who gets access and how much? [3] Changing technology makes it difficult for researchers to say how safe participant information is. What protections can be promised? [6] Return of results Donors have a right to know the purpose of a Biobank and what results it generates When should all donors share general information and when does each donor have a personal right to personal information? Public consultation Everyone wants the researchers and community to work together. What resources should be spent doing outreach, and how much involvement does the community want, and what role should the community have? Communities should participate in writing laws, standards, and policies for research. How can communities be encouraged to participate, who represents the community, and how much involvement should there be? Patients should be involved when there is research on diseases. When people are desperate because of a disease, to what extent can they participate fairly without feeling obligation to support research? Communities which donate specimens to a Biobank should have special involvement in their Biobank. What kind of involvement? Resource sharing Research efficiency increases greatly when resources are shared. How should beneficiaries share costs? This is especially problematic when a Biobank is a national resource and another country wants access to it. Results of studies should go to the widest possible audience. When should this happen and in what way? Can results be released with commercial licensing for use?

Cruel World :: essays research papers

Cruel World During the twentieth century, many Haitians lived a life full of poverty and terror; do to the many wars and epidemics that were established in the country. Throughout her novel Krik? Krak!, Edwidge Danticat depicts the violence, brutality and cruelty her people suffered during that time. In her first two stories, we get a glimpse of the horror in which the Haitian culture had to endure. Whether it was a group of protesting students getting gunned down, a young women being gang raped, or an innocent women being sentenced to life in prison because she was believed to be a witch, the terror and horror seemed endless. How could a human being treat another in such a manner? How could a Haitian treat another Haitian with so much cruelty and have that kind of malice for his own people? Danticat shows us the pain of her people through her words and demonstrates their healing power through her various short stories. In her first short story, "Children of the Sea" we are introduced to two young adults who are in love with one another but who are separated because of the terror which existed in their Haitian society. Because they feared for their lives, they had to part in hopes that they would stay alive to see each other once again. The society in which they lived was became incredibly violent due to the Haitian army trying to rid the country of anyone who was against the government or who they thought was a traitor. The army or macoutes, as they were referred to, were cruel and ruthless. One of the young narrators in the story wrote in her journal "a group of students got shot in front of fort dimanche prison today†¦. our neighbor madan roger came home with her son's head†¦. the macoutes by the house were laughing at her. they asked her if it was her dinner" (p.7). The mascoutes mocked and laughed at helpless women carrying around the head of her dead son, who they had previously shot. They shot him because he didn't agree with the government and its policies. But the mascoutes did not stop at just taunting Madan Roger, they also severely beat her. "the soldiers came looking for her son. madan roger was screaming, you killed him already †¦. he hated you like I hate you criminals. you killed him.

Cloud Computing Essay -- Technology, Cyber Criminals

â€Æ' Introduction Over the past several years the term cloud computing has become common in homes and organizations alike. Cloud computing can be defined as a pooled set of computing resources that are furnished via the internet. There are three types of cloud services typically available, these services are Platform as a Service (PaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Organizations can benefit greatly from cloud services because they eliminate the need to buy and manage physical resources. Although such an action cuts cost it leaves organization victim to the vulnerabilities and threats that exist in cloud computing. Throughout this paper I will discuss the vulnerabilities and threats that come along with the adoption of cloud computing. In addition, I will discuss standards and policies that effectively manage the risk associated with cloud computing. Threats & Vulnerabilities The abuse and nefarious use of cloud computing is a threat to any organization that takes advantage of cloud services. Most providers of cloud services make it all too easy for cyber criminals to register for service, all that is need to register for service with many providers is a valid credit card (Cloud Security Alliance, 2011). In addition to the ease of registration providers offer free trials of their services allowing attacker to carry out attacks covertly on cloud services. By gaining such access cyber criminals can deploy malicious code, abuse known exploits, and send spam messages to those that are sharing the same resources. Organizations are aware that threats can be internal as well as external, those that provide cloud services are no exception. The people who the service providers employ can pose... ...ncy use(CIO, 2011). FedRAMP is not alone in the effort to create standards regarding cloud computing. The National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) has published two draft publications specifically related to cloud computing. The first document, Special Publication 800-145 (Draft), has been created provide the NIST definition of cloud computing. The NIST has defined as the following: â€Å"Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. This cloud model promotes availability and is composed of five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models.† (NIST, 2011)

Herbal supplements Essay

A survey conducted in the United States in 2002 revealed that approximately 38 million people were using herbal and dietary supplements, citing them as important for their health, yet only about one third of them had reported the usage of these herbal products to a qualified medical practitioner. Estimates from other reports suggested that approximately 25% of those seeking medical treatment for serious medical conditions were also using ‘unconventional’ treatment which they rarely reported to their doctors. Herbal and dietary supplements have become readily available and can be purchased in almost all retail outlets. This makes it easy for patients to use them without supervision from a qualified medical practitioner (Medscape Today, 2007). Most people tend to think that since herbs have been obtained from nature, they are automatically safe. But is this really the case? True, some of these products may be consumed without occasioning any harm to the body but some may contain contaminants that may lead to medical complications and even death. For this reason, it is important that the US Food and Drug Administration regulate these herbal supplements for safety and efficacy (Finkel & Pray, 2004). Concerns arising from use of Herbal supplements The use of herbal and dietary supplements is not under regulation by the US Food and Drug administration. This is very dangerous since it means that these products have not been tested for purity and potency yet they are being consumed by humans in large quantities every day (Medscape Today, 2007). Many plants are quite toxic depending on the climate as well as the condition of the soil where they were grown. The FDA warns that most of the herbal products which are marketed have not been tested and do not contain any information on their toxic content. Thus, while most users may escape injury, there have been some isolated reports of some people dying or incurring grave injuries as a result of using herbs (Finkel & Pray, 2004). Other than the natural toxicity which may be present in plants, it has also been reported that the preparation of these herbs is questionable. Medscape today reports that some of the prepared herbs have been found to actually contain prescription drugs and worse still, heavy metals. These products are never labeled as part of the ingredients and this poses a risk to those who consume them. The danger here lies not only in the fact that these contaminants may cause toxic poisoning to the patients but also in the fact that some patients are allergic to certain products and may consume them without knowing, thus endangering their lives (Medscape Today, 2007). Currently, the labeling of products from herbs is under the regulation of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act. Manufactures of herbal products are required to make general statements on the safety and efficacy of the product. This includes a compulsory statement that disclaims the product from diagnosis, prevention or cure of any disease. Unfortunately, these labels have been designed to promote the use of the product but do not really give the consumer any concrete information on the nature and content of the product. If the FDA is mandated to regulate these products, they will be able to place more necessary information such as side effects and contraindications so that the users know what to expect. This will also put herbal products in the same category as prescription drugs which might probably make the users more inclined to report the usage of these products to their physicians (Medscape Today, 2007). Another issue that raises concerns on the efficacy and safety of the herbal supplements is the fact that no testing or quality control is performed on them prior to being sold in the market. As such, a consumer cannot really be sure if the supposed ingredients that the manufacturer claims to be the contents are actually there or if the product can actually perform the healing wonders that it is purported to. Other than the obvious rip-off, this issue presents concerns over the overall safety of the product (Finkel & Pray, 2004). In deed, the effects of no FDA regulation on herbal products have been seen in the ban on some of the herbal supplements such as those containing ephedra whose usage had resulted in adverse effects on the cardiovascular system in patients. Another product, Kava, was also prohibited due to worries on hepatotoxicity (Medscape Today, 2007). It is rather unfortunate that the FDA can only act against the use of herbal supplements as they evaluate them case by case. In the event that a product has brought about serious injury, investigations will not occur unless there are many other similar reports. This is rather dangerous because by the time the FDA reacts; many people could have been permanently injured or killed as a result of using the product, a situation which could have been easily avoided if the products had been suggested to quality control and analysis. Prevention is always better than cure and mandating the FDA to regulate herbal products will not only go a long way in improving the quality of these products but is also bound to save many lives (Finkel & Pray, 2004). Evidence supporting lack of Safety and Efficacy in Herbal Products There are very many herbal supplements which are available in the market and which are purported to heal a variety of ailments ranging from the common cold to more serious illnesses such as cancer. Some have been successful in healing these ailments but there are those which have failed in achieving this goal. Other than the above mentioned herbal products, Ephedra and kava whose usage was banned due to the danger posed to the users, there are other products which also exhibit the same concerns. Serious reactions to some herbal supplements purchased over the counter have also been recorded with permanent injuries and even death. A case study by Marks (2007), researches on the effects of Tricana which was sold as a herbal supplement to the user and had been hailed for promoting good effects to one’s metabolism which included, loss of weight and the enhancement of energy. Mark focuses on a patient who developed dilated cardiomyopathy after ingesting this supplement, a potentially fatal condition. In deed, the use of this product did not promote the much hailed beneficial effects but instead caused insomnia, nervous conditions and diarrhea. The FDA withdrew Tricana from the market in the year 2000 as a result of these safety concerns (Marks, 2007). Other products include Chaparral which was purported to be a blood purifier as well as a cure for cancer and has also resulted in adverse reactions. It has caused very many cases of liver and kidney related conditions and actually left one patient in need of a liver transplant. Apparently the research on this product has found that the use of chaparral has no benefit whatsoever on the body and pharmacist were advised to inform consumers against using this product (Finkel & Pray, 2004). These are just a few examples of the dangerous effects that over the counter herbal supplements have posed to their users. Thus, one cannot help but feel that some form of regulation by the FDA will have prevented such occurrences. Granted, some herbal products have a record of success. But it is precisely due to the other dangers posed by the other supplements that the US Food and Drug Administration should regulate the use of these products. Right now, the reaction of the FDA is more reactive than proactive; removing herbal supplements from the market only after they have occasioned some serious harm to the user. America cannot afford to have knee jerk reactions to matters that concern the safety of the public. Conclusion While we advocate for the FDA to regulate the use of these products so as to promote their safety and efficacy, it will also be in order to engage in some form of public awareness so that the consumers can know ways in which to check for the safety of the herbal supplements. If they have to buy these products, they should be encouraged to purchase them from pharmacists who are more inclined to give them correct information on the product efficacy. Other sales agents are more inclined to make misleading statements on the product so as to make a quick sale. Above all, it is essential for consumers to be encouraged to report the usage of any of these herbal supplements to their physicians especially if they are taking other medication to prevent any adverse reactions as some of these drugs may not interact well (Finkel & Pray, 2004). ]

Business Policy Coco Cola

In strategic planning organizations make use of different techniques such as establishing the weaknesses, strengths, threats and opportunities as well as the social, economic, political and technological investigation of the environment surrounding the organization. In this perspective, the major objective of strategic planning in any organization is to establish and define a clear course of its future operations. As a result, strategic planning in any organization seeks to address several questions concerned with how, to whom and what to do in order to achieve the future growth path that will accelerate the profitability and expansion of the company. In the development of organizational strategies, environmental analysis is therefore key to the development of the organizational future (John, 2001).In this regard, analysis of strategies must be carried both externally and internally in order to identify threats and opportunities that prevail in and around the organization. Many compa nies have faied to initiate effective strategic planning techniques and the effects of the current recession has therefore downed on them. Such companies include General Motors and AIG to mention a few. In the subsequent section, this work will seek to explore strategic planning in Coca Cola Company. 2. 0 The importance of strategic planning in Coca-Cola Company Strategic planning is important for Coca Cola Company due to the fact that as a global Company, effective strategic planning helps in counteracting the challenges that are common in foreign countries such as competition and government regulations.Another importance of Strategic Planning is that it helps the Coca Cola Company to survive the current changes in the communication technology by highly investing in internet marketing and advertising. For Coca-Cola Company to maintain its wide range of beverages and customers, Strategic Planning is one of the best concepts that its management has seriously invested in. This in retu rn has benefited the company by giving it clear direction and purpose (Roger, 1995) Furthermore, strategic Planning helps Coca-Cola Company in balancing productivity costs and other related initiatives with the revenue generated. In this way unnecessary costs are avoided thus resulting to increased profitability. In context of Coca-Cola Company strategic planning involves the allocation of resources which includes people and capital.Strategic planning is also essential for Coca cola Company since: It helps the company in facing its competitors. Through better understanding of the Weaknesses, Strengths, Threats and Opportunities of its competitors the company has been able to diversify its range of products as well as producing high quality products which have proved hard to emulate by the competitors (John, 2001) According to John, the importance of Strategic planning is quite significant since it helps the Company’s management in addressing the following three questions. The first question is how do Coca-Cola Company excel? The second question involves what does the company do in order to be the market leader in the soft drink?The management is able to address the question â€Å"for whom do we do it? † Basically in strategic planning the three questions can be generalized by reframing them into one major question that is â€Å"How can Coca-cola company avoid the negativities of competition or similarly which additional measures can be put in place in order to beat competition? † (Bradford, Robert, Duncan, Peter, Tarcy and Brian, 2007). The company has six highly recognized strategic planning strategies that have to a great extent contributed to the continued success of the company. The autonomy that is experienced by most of the Coca-Cola distributors have enabled the freely integration of these priorities into their business plans.The six strategies are as follows. The first ones is that the Company will always use Coca-Cola as its brand name and its main activity will be production of carbonated soft drinks. The second strategy is to broaden its brands in order to increase its profit. It is through this initiative that the company has added new products which include bottled water, coffee, tea, juice and juice drinks. The third strategy is the adoption of cost effective and driving efficiencies as a result of economies of scale. The fourth strategy is serving its customers with consistence and creativity in this way it has been able to help the growth of its customers as well as its own expansion.The fifth strategy is making heavy investment in production technology in this way it has been able to meet the demand of its customers. Being a company that highly values good relationship with its bottling partners and its employees the company has emulated the strategy of teamwork as the sixth strategy in order to increase its sales and profits 3. 0 Can an organization survive without strategy planning? Coca-Cola Compa ny and any other international company cannot survive without strategic planning since this is the only way that the company will be able to successfully and actively face the challenges that have resulted to the downfall of big entities such as Morgan Stanley, AIG and even the recent disintegration of General Motor.The company can hardly survive without trategic planning due to heavy competition and modern marketing technologies that have been adopted by many companies in the beverage industry so as to improve on both quality and quantity of the products. As an example let us look at the General Motors as one of the recent victim of failure to adopt strategic planning (Bradford and Duncan, 2000). The fall of General Motors can be traced to the ineffective strategic planning methods that have been adopted by the corporation making it to declare itself bankrupt. Effective strategic planning was the missing concept that would have saved the 235,000 employees as well as the shareholder s and other stake holders who had interest in the corporation. The question of recession and the reduced demand in the world market cannot be ignored as one of the major causes of the downfall of GM.However, the failure to plan and to put in place effective control measures has to a great extent contributed to its poor performance. Effective strategic planning is crucial tool that keeps companies ready to tackle micro and macro economic obstacles such as inflation and recession which GM, AIG and Morgan Stanley banks failed initiate leading to their collapse (Hitt, Tihanyi, Miller and Connelly, 2006). 4. 0 Different processes and modes of planning, and its effect on the strategic planning process There are various processes and techniques of planning that an organization can adopt depending on the prevailing market, social and economic conditions (John, 2001).4. Customers’ relations strategy This mode of planning considers the importance of customers in a firm. A company adopt ing this strategy aims at keeping its customers satisfied as well as maintaining the customers’ loyalty towards its products. The effect of this planning technique towards the strategic planning process is that it helps in achieving and maintaining the high number of customers thus increasing its total sales (http://www. civicus. org) 4. 2 Cash-cow strategy This is a strategy that oversees the use of profits gained from the operations of the companies so as to improve its management as well as to expand the range of its products.The effect of this mode of planning on the strategic planning is that it ensures continuity of the company operations and hence it acts as an appropriate tool to face off the competitors (John, 2001). 4. 3 Star strategy This is a planning technique that involves increased reinvesting of the profits so as to be able to address future challenges that companies faces in foreign and domestic market. The effect of this technique on the strategic planning i s that it helps companies to put in place effective and strong financial strength needed when penetrating global market. 5. 0 Mode of planning followed by the Coca Cola Company and how this process can be improved.In its operations Coca Cola Company has adopted the customers’ relations strategy. The company highly values its customers and as a result it has invested in tailor made drinks that aims at fully satisfying its customers. In its marketing strategies, the company has adopted the target marketing and product variety marketing processes. Target marketing involves selection of part of the whole market and producing tailor made products that satisfies its customers in that particular market. In its endeavors as the market leader in the soft drink industry, Coca cola Company has embarked in producing a wide range of products which makes it possible to stay ahead of its competitors.The process of planning used by Coca Cola Company can be improved by adopting pricing strate gies that will make it easier to penetrate the market where its competitors are offering products at low prices. 6. 0 Task 2 External environment is composed of government or political, economic and social environment. This section looks at the impact of these factors on the task environment of an organization. 6. 1 Government/political environment In its operations an organization should put into consideration government regulations that directly or indirectly affect its activities. The legal requirements of a company which include trade licenses and permits should be timely acquired to avoid any fine or legal implications in an organizations which results to delay and time wastage.Another way through which government regulations affects the task environment of an organization is by regulating the quality of the products and services that are produced by an organization. In this way the company has an obligation to ensure that the legal specifications and the safety of its products are well adhered to in order to safeguard its customers (http://www. planware. org/strategicplan. htm) 6. 2 Economic environment Economic environment that affects the organization task environment includes inflation, recession and the unemployment level. During inflation the costs of production goes up making an organization reduce its productivity thus reducing its sales as well as profits.Recession on the other hand intensively affects the task environment of a company by slowing down production activities thus affecting its sales in both domestic and foreign market. This can be demonstrated by the extent to which recession has negatively affected the operations of big corporations such as General Motors and AIG. Unemployment level reduces the disposable income of individuals thereby reducing their demand of goods and services which results to reduced operations of an organization (Hitt, Tihanyi, Miller and Connelly, 2006). 6. 3 Social Environment The social factors also affect t he task environment of an organization. These factors include level of education, eating habits, religious and cultural beliefs of communities.The education level of the society highly affects the demand of the firms products for instance where majority of people are educated and have high level of income, the demand for basic needs and luxuries goes up. Similarly, cultural beliefs and religious beliefs affect the demand of some products and services more than others especially where some cultures do prohibit the use of certain products. Social factors therefore affect the task environment of an organization by affecting the demand and the supply of goods and services (Patrick, Burkhart and Suzanne, 1993). 7. 0 How can Managers identify and track these external strategic factors Managers can identify the external environment by analyzing the external environment.In this, managers will be able to identify the opportunities, strengths and weaknesses related to these factors and their relevancy in the performance of a firm. In addition managers should freely intermingle with the external environment as well as the general society during the social corporate responsibilities. In this way it will be easy to identify and track the external factors and be able to come up with strategic planning techniques to address these factors (Wang and Jiatao, 2008) 8. 0 Factors in the external environment that would influence strategy planning in Coca-Cola Company and part they play in strategic planning in the CompanyThe factors that would influence strategy planning by Coca-Cola Company can be viewed in two dimensions. The first one is from economic perspective. This involves the increase or decrease in the demand of coca-cola brands as result of inflation or reduced purchasing power. The reduction in consumers’ purchasing power causes a decrease in demand for coca-cola brands resulting to a decrease in sales level. In this case the Coca-Cola management needs to put in place effective strategic planning in its pricing concept such as reducing prices or initiating more promotions. The second dimension is the composition of the society. A society with more young people is a favorable market for Coca-Cola brands such as Coke and Fanta.In this way management of Coca-Cola Company should initiate effective strategies in order to increase the sales level and at the same time satisfy its young market without neglecting its old customers by initiating more energy drinks for young people (http://www. wowessays. com/dbase/ab1/iev224. shtml)9. 0 ReferencesInformation on strategic planning for non-profit or for profit organizations available from http://managementhelp. org/plan_dec/str_plan/str_plan. htm (Retrieved on 5th August 2009)Information on strategic planning process available from http://www. quickmba. com/strategy/strategic-planning (Retrieved on 5th August 2009)

Focus Group Essay

Qualitative research Definition- it is a research, which is undertaken using an unstructured research, approach with a small number of carefully selected individuals to produce non-quantifiable insights into behavior, motivations and attitudes. Qualitative and quantitative research as two distinctly separate bodies of research – many studies encompass both approaches, with qualitative research being used to explore and understand attitudes and behavior, and quantitative research being used to measure how widespread these attitudes and behaviors are. Qualitative research can be used when managers need exploratory research. Managers use exploratory research to understand customer attitudes, emotions, preferences and behaviors. It can also be used in new product development or creative development research. Individual depth interview It is an interview that is conducted face-to-face, in which the subject matter of the interview is explored in detail using an unstructured and flexible approach. As with all qualitative research, depth interviews are used to develop a deeper understanding d of consumer attitudes and the reasons behind specific behaviors. This understanding is achieved through responding to an individual’s comments with extensive probing. The flexibility of this probing sets this interview approach apart from oter questionnaire-type interviews. Although there is an agenda of topics to be covered, the interviewers will use their knowledge of the research objectives, the information gained from other interviews and the comments of the respondent to select which parts of the dialogue with the respondent to explore further, which to ignore, and which to return to later in the interview. Not only is the depth interview flexible, it is also evolutionary in nature. Focus group Focus groups are depth interviews undertaken with a group of respondents. It is different to individual interviews in the number of respondents and interaction between participants. Several factors affect focus group Recruitment is a very critical element of group discussions and has long been a major quality-control issue in the UK marketing research industry. Group discussions are unlikely to achieve their research objectives if the wrong types of participant are recruited. The research proposal will set out the type of participants required for a group discussion. For example, if Colgate is researching a new type of toothpaste for a sensitive teeth. Their specification may request respondents who regularly purchase toothpaste with sensitive protection function. Respondents age (for example 25-64), living area, etc. Managers can also use Screening questionnaire to identify suitable respondents for its group discussion. The area that respondents are recruited normally should be in street or telephone interviews. The location that group discussions were held should let respondents feel comfortable. Locations such as viewing rooms or hotels for business should have no special facilities apart from audio type recorder. Food or snacks will also be provided to assist in relaxing the atmosphere. Time to hold the discussion should be well scheduled. Times should be available to target group. For example, outside working hours, times of available public transport etc. The number of groups should be 3-4. As the 3rd and 4th group can used to exam atypical views. * There are problems involving focus groups. For example in the case of overlapping dialogues from different speakers which may affect the transcript. * Moderators must learn to control such people and encourage those less willing to speak up and let their opinions be heard. Comparing to traditional group discussion, online group discussion or chat room is becoming popular. Apart from lower cost and possible time-saving, it can allow more people to be involved in observing the research, particularly if it is being carried out in a different region or country. However, a cheaper version of online group discussion or chat room where a group is recruited who are willing to discuss a subject online usually using text. It can be difficult to develop any real group dynamics and it is impossible to see people’s facial expression. Even with webcams, the video picture is usually so poor. Participants may also be distracted by events within their own office or home, as the environment is not under the control of the moderator. However, it may be useful with people who could be unwilling to attend a group discussion because of their geographical dispersal or their introverted nature. Projective techniques Projective techniques are techniques used in group discussions and individual interviews to facilitate a deeper exploration of a respondent’s attitudes towards a concept, product or situation. They enable respondents to express attitudes that they find difficult to verbalize. Projective technique projective techniques may gather ‘richer’ data than do standard questioning and discussion. There are many types of projective techniques. The most common three techniques are projective questioning. It is a projective technique that asks the respondent to consider what other people would think about a situation. An example of this could be â€Å"What do you think people in your street would think if they saw a BMW parked in your driveway?† The advantage of projective questioning is that it usually reflect the opinions of the respondent without causing them any embarrassment. Managers can get more objective answers. Word association tests It is a projective technique that involves asking respondents what brands or products they associate with specific words. In marketing research, word association is typically used in conjunction with brand names or celerity endorsers. This can assist marketers in developing communication objectives and strategies to position or differentiate their brands from those of competitors. In addition to the direct outputs of word association, the technique is also very useful as a way of warming up a group by getting everybody contributing and involved. Brand personalities Brand personalities involve respondents imagining a brand a person and describing their looks, clothes. Lifestyles, employment etc. For example, if ‘Nokia’ was a person, what type of person would he or she be? The answer could be such as a modern, relatively young slightly quirky male. This could compare with other brands. Developing brand personification can help to verbalize the imagery and vocabulary associated with the brand. Sentence completion Sentence completion involves providing respondents with an incomplete sentence or group of sentences. Respondents are then asked to complete them. For example, ‘Tesco, as a supermarket, is†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ in many way, sentence completion is similar to word associations, although it can enable researcher to put the respondent’s thinking process into a proper context. Observation research Observation is a data-gathering approach where information on the behavior of people, objects and organizations is collected without any questions being asked of the participants. Observation can take a quantitative format where a large number of events or people are observed and the outputs are analyzed using statistical method. The major advantage of it over surveys of respondents is that the data collected do not have inaccuracies as a result of memory error or social desire bias. The data recorded reflect the actual behavior that took place. For example, video record gives a true representation of rental behavior. Observation overcomes the high refusal rates that may exist for some survey research. However, observation cannot investigate reasons behind behavior. Also, only public behavior is observed. Examples of what can be observed are consumers behavior in store, family consuming behavior at home, comments on the internet. Typical methods of observation are internet monitoring (club card, cookies), in-store observations (CCTV), mystery shopping(researchers participant into observation to look at process not the outcome of number of satisfaction), content analysis(how many time that the word appear in the article), ethnography(could be costly and have ethical issues). Ethical problem Questionnaire A questionnaire is the research instrument designed to generate the data necessary for accomplishing a project’s research objectives. Questionnaires have advantages over some other types of surveys in that they are cheap, do not require as much effort from the questioner as focus group, and often have standardized answers that make it simple to compile data. However, questionnaires also have many of the same problems relating to question construction and wording. The effect of questionnaire might also limited by the location that respondents do the questionnaire. For example, respondents who did questionnaire in high street could be affected by noise. There are many types of questionnaire. There are open-ended question, closed question, scaling questions. There are many factors when comparing Focus group, depth interviews, projective techniques, observation and questionnaire. In terms of degree of structure, focus group are relatively high as managers will guide and control the whole discussion until all tasks are finished. In terms of probing of individual respondents, depth interviews are high and focus group and questionnaire are low. Moderator bias in depth interviews are high and others are medium. Observation has none effects in terms of both probing of individual respondents and moderator bias. Focus group is also high in discovering innovative information. Projective techniques and observation are high in uncovering subconscious information and obtaining sensitive information. Questionnaire and projective techniques are involving unusual behavior or questioning.