Introduced to the children Essay

Nowadays, there are so many children television shows introduced to the children. Which are being interactive in a way and the children are enjoying and learning (without them knowing it). One of these shows is the â€Å"Dora the Explorer† of NickJr. , which is very popular nowadays. As it was described the show was created â€Å"†¦starring a 7-year-old Latina girl and her friends. The show is designed to actively engage preschoolers in a play-along, computer-style adventure. † [About Dora the Explorer (n. d. ),Retrieved November 10, 2007from www. nickjr. com/shows/dora/about_dora. jhtml. ] In this particular episode, when Dora received her backpack as a gift from her parents. It was her mother who informed her that she has a present from them. Like a common mother who is loving and caring to her child she was so proud in informing Dora of the gift. While the father is very proud to present the gift to her and telling her all about the backpack. Of how special it is, as her mother had mentioned. The father informed Dora that all she needs is inside the backpack. There are thirteen characters in this episode and mostly are males, only five characters are female including the main character Dora. Comparing with the other female characters, Dora is what you might say of the strong character. As earlier mentioned, he mother is the loving and caring person of her child. While her backpack which was represented by a female voice, represents exactly what is Dora’s character. Also the library’s door is being represented by a female voice, which only shows how friendly and approachable a library is. As for the librarian, we all know that the usual librarian is a female. It is well represented, as a librarian who is friendly, knows who regularly goes to the library. And knows how many books are to be returned by the borrower. While the male characters, are well represented. The father, who cares and loves her daughter, knows what’s best for her. Boots, a caring friend and assistant to Dora always follows her wherever she goes. Though there are times that he gets in trouble, Dora always helps him get out of it. While Drool who doesn’t like anyone to cross his bridge, is like Scrooge. He gives them riddle to solve and if they can’t answer correctly they can’t pass through. While, Swiper the Fox, Dora’s enemy

Billing Management System C++

Restaurant Billing Management System Based on: Calculation of total bill on the basis of order placed Abhishek Singh, RB6801B39, 10804172 Shivam Grover, RB6801B40, 10801101 Btech-ECE, Lovely Professional University Address sam. [email  protected] com [email  protected] com Submitted to: Mr. Raj Karan Singh Lovely Professional University ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to all those people, how helped me in completing this project successfully; this work of creation wouldn’t have been possible without their kind help, cooperation and extended support.First and foremost sincere thanks to my project guide Mr. Raj Karan SIngh, for their valuable guidance for completion of this work and also for providing the necessary facilities and support. Also I sincerely thanks to all the faculties and coordinator, whose valuable suggestions, support and motivation provided me, required strength for accomplishment of this term paper. -Shivam Grover, Abhi shek Singh Contents: †¢ Introduction †¢ About the Billing Management System. †¢ Source code Advantages †¢ Programming test †¢ Bibliography INTRODUCTION C++ (pronounced â€Å"See plus plus†) is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as a middle-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. [1] It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell Labs as an enhancement to the C programming language and originally named â€Å"C with Classes†.It was renamed to C++ in 1983. C++ is widely used in the software industry, and remains one of the most popular languages ever created. Some of its application domains include systems software, application software, device drivers, embedded software, high-performance server and client applications, and entertainment software such as video games. Several groups provide both free a nd proprietary C++ compiler software, including the GNU Project, Microsoft, Intel, Borland and others.C++ is also used for hardware design, where design is initially described in C++, then analyzed, architecturally constrained, and scheduled to create a register transfer level hardware description language via high-level synthesis. The language began as enhancements to C, first adding classes, then virtual functions, operator overloading, multiple inheritance, templates, and exception handling among other features. After years of development, the C++ programming language standard was ratified in 1998 as ISO/IEC 14882:1998.That standard is still current, but is amended by the 2003 technical corrigendum, ISO/IEC 14882:2003. The next standard version (known informally as C++0x) is in development. About Billing Management System: At time of purchasing items we use bill book for easy billing and for records include the identification of the customer and other relevant information that ar e passed onto the billing system. The billing system also receives records from other carriers (such as a long distance service provider, or a roaming partner).Here in our program, only the authoritarian can operate the software by putting a password. [pic] He then chooses to enter the system or to exit. [pic] Further he can enter the number of customers, followed by the details of each user like: [pic] [pic] Number of items, Name of the particular item, Price and Quantity. [pic] The user is then displayed with a bill of customer 1 with date and time. [pic] Where he has to pay equal or more than the total amount, otherwise he would not accept. pic] The program will further display the change and then a screen with the next customer follows. After when the user is done with the billing and payment, he gets an option either to continue with the further customers or to exit. [pic] If we continue, the user will start again giving the password.Source Code: #include #include #include #inc lude #include #include class bill_book { public: char name[20]; char add[30]; int bill_no,s_no; public: void getdata(int i) { s_no=0; clrscr(); cout

Lewins Planned Change Model Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Lewins Planned Change Model - Case Study Example The paper considers the problem identification from the different sides. From the perspective of the initial step, i.e. entry or problem identification, it has been viewed that the morale of the employees in Peppercorn Dining was lowering irrespective of the fact that the organization attempted to largely value the productivity of its staffs. In this regard, the organization was willing to make changes in order to create a better workplace for everyone. In relation to the second step of contracting, the assessment of employees’ thoughts, beliefs and attitudes were conducted. Moreover, the evaluation of the kitchen environment, in which the staffs of Peppercorn Dining prepared attractive stuff for the customers, was performed in the case. With regard to the third step of the Action Research Model, the i.e. diagnosis which concentrates on data gathering and preliminary diagnosis, different operational service areas and administrative information have been gathered. Furthermore, in relation to preliminary diagnosis, the recruitment, as well as the perseverance of a professional management staff who can comply with any sort of challenges that might arise while performing operational functions, was also adopted in the case. With reference to the case of Peppercorn Dining, the OD consultant, i.e. Roger and the management of the restaurant, initiated a data collection process which was focused on accumulating adequate information by means of personal interviews and continuous observations. The management also scrutinized the organizational goals, rules, regulations, and policies among others when obtaining data with the sole intention of identifying the need for change in particular managerial areas. It is in this context the techniques of informal interviews and continuous observations in the natural setting of the workplace provided with the vital scope for obtaining actual data to support the change program. It can also be observed as a time-efficient and co st-effective process. Apart from these advantages, the used techniques also imposed a few significant limitations. For instance, the use of unstructured interviews through informal interactions implied that the findings were much depended on the perceptions of the interviewers, which created discrepancies in data interpretation. Moreover, reassessment of the data gathered and information interpreted was not considered, which further limited the reliability of the process implemented. In this regard, the management and the OD consultant could have used structured survey process to obtain feedback from the participants, i.e. the employees along with the observation method. This would have reduced the influence caused by the perceptions of the interviewers and the observers thereby assisting in the generation of highly reliable information. Furthermore, no specification was made by the management or Roger regarding the sample size of the data collection process.

The ideal leadership position Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The ideal leadership position - Term Paper Example This research will begin with the statement that since they are social by instinct and with their sense of organization, humans tend to put a premium on leadership qualities. It is through leadership after all that organizations or groups are can work concertedly toward a common goal. Without it, people would be prompted to follow their individual will, which may not be agreeable to others. Therefore, even if there are similarities in directions, anarchy would prevail, rendering it impossible to achieve common objectives. According to Yukl, â€Å"leadership is the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives†. Such definition clearly indicates that leadership is not a person’s attitude toward others but a process that is undertaken to rally other people toward a goal. It is in line with this clarification that the resea rcher developed his style of leadership. His style of leading others in an organization is essentially a combination of democratic and autocratic or bureaucratic leadership. These two types may be anathema to each other that it may seem impossible to implement them at the same time. However, the researcher believes that leadership is not only tactical but more important, it is strategic. It is in the strategic sense that the combination of democratic and bureaucratic leadership can be best appreciated although it may also work in tactical situations. I practice a democratic approach in times when I meet with subordinates to discuss problems and too seek solutions. I do the same when in activities like planning and evaluation. Democracy is important during these stages because, it is apparent that even if I am the manager or the leader, I do not have the monopoly of truth. I may be knowledgeable about the larger picture but my subordinates definitely have a more concrete understandin g of their respective departments of work. To achieve viable solutions, I have to rely on their grasping of the situation of their particular fields. To arrive at an accurate evaluation, I have to consider the reports of my subordinates. To formulate workable plans, I have to grasp the situation of the people who will be directly implementing these. Without a democratic approach, it would be impossible to achieve all these. However, once the plans are ironed out and implementation begins, I shift to an autocratic mode. I would relentlessly pursue the plans by constantly monitoring the subordinates and pressuring them to work hard for the realizing the objectives. Pride, Hughes, & Kapoor define the authoritarian leader as one who â€Å"holds all authority and responsibility, with communication usually moving from top to bottom† and that â€Å"this leader assigns workers to specific tasks and expects orderly, precise results† (2010, p. 179). However, there may be a limit to the top-to-bottom communication line. I need to open channels for reports, complaints, and suggestions from the bottom just to make sure that problems are checked while they are not yet too big to badly affect the implementation of the over-all plan. With such style of leadership, I believe that the best position in a corporate setup is as a middle-level manager. The highest position that may suit me best is a department manager and, the least is a supervisor. It is through these positions that I could maintain better understanding of issues and problems of the rank and file or the subordinates as they try to implement the tasks assigned to them according to the general objective of the company and the supporting specific plans of the department that I am heading. The roles that occupy the void between the planners and the implementers or the intellectuals and the workers are certainly the most challenging in any corporate set up but are also the most important. Without middle-level managers, the upper management would not be able to grasp the conditions of the people in the lower levels who are the directly impleme

Author's tone and purpose Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Author's tone and purpose - Essay Example Not even a short one. If that what you are looking for, you don’t want me†. The author other purpose was to show how the short story has been dominated far too long by the novel. The other author meticulously shows this by adeptly using metaphors. Millhauser describes this predominance by metaphorically writing, â€Å"The novel buys up the land, cuts down the trees, puts up the condos.† One of the tones the author of the article has used is tough tone. This tone is captured when Millhauser describes the novel as â€Å"exhaustive by nature, it can hardly contain itself.† Furthermore, Millhauser still captures a tough tone, no doubt, when he writes strongly about the novel â€Å"after all, what difference does it make? It’s nothing but talk.† The other tone the author capture in his work is optimisms. Millhauser demonstrates his sense of optimism by writing optimistically about the short story. Millhauser describes the short story as â€Å"modest in its pretensions, shyly proud of its petite

Related to Electronic Engineering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Related to Electronic Engineering - Essay Example QDF is used to identify critical customer attributes and to create a specific link between customer attributes and design parameters. Matrices are used to organize information to help marketers and design engineers answer three primary questions: What attributes are critical to our customers? What design parameters are important in driving those customer attributes? What should the design parameter targets be for the new design? For QDF process the organising framework is a planning tool called the â€Å"house of Working as a team, design engineers and marketers first establish critical customer attributes for the product. These attributes become the rows of the central matrix of the house of quality. The team may group attributes into broader categories in order to simplify planning and analysis (Wheelwright, 1992). The key benefits obtained by adopting QFD are given below. †¢ Reduced time to market †¢ Reduction in design changes †¢ Decreased design and manufac turing costs †¢ Improved quality †¢ Increased customer satisfaction

Internet use for business -Chapter 6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Internet use for business -Chapter 6 - Essay Example The basic use of internet for businesses is buying and selling of goods and services by creating E-commerce websites to sell their goods from cell phone contacts to CDs and books. Online eliminates the need of business store and in most case no holding an inventory. A business can also buy some items and services, such as bulk-buying or printed materials online by use of internet. Customers purchasing trends and interests are monitored by business owners on the internet. To find out what people think every day about a particular goods or service, owners of business can visit message boards and online networking sites. Feedback on this enables the business owners to improve on their products , for example, business owners can find out what car enthusiasts wants by visiting car forums or use internet to connect and communicate with the customers on websites. Businesses also use internet to discover new customers through advertising online. Internet enables the advertisers to reach possible customers quickly and efficiently. Pay-pr click advertisements are circulated on internet search engines and websites, to allow owners of the business to reach the potential customers using search terms allied to their business. The affordability and reach of internet advertising makes even smallest business owners in a position to compete with big businesses. When economic conditions get worse, IT must continue to perform at the same level with little money and fewer resources, all while IT remaining compliant. For the IT managers to get the visibility they need to: Internet has enhanced practices like telephone marketing and other support services like fax, direct sells among others. These are ways which facilitates relations in the industries and allow smooth movement of information among people. For example, lowering of prices to attract more customers can be advantageous for a short period of time before the

Hotel Case Study Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hotel Case Study Project - Essay Example For this reason, private and institutional investors still favor the hotel sector in the United Kingdom. The demand for housing in the city is still high making the demand for hotels in central London also high. Development outside the capital is virtually at a standstill and those seeking to develop hotels are faced with many economic challenges. The investment products in the market are also unrealistically priced with the banks being the main regulators of the hotel industry. The Olympic Games were indeed a success story for London and realized a 41% growth in ADR in various pockets that were within the territory including Manchester. Bedroom supply has increased tremendously over the last ten years with the annual growth rate reaching 15.5%. To date, a total of 1,622 new bedrooms have entered the market but with the current economic crisis, this may be detrimental. The long term occupancy for a room outside London is about 65%. Â  In future, it is expected that 3,800 new bedroom s will come into stream by 2016, an expected 70% increase in supply. It is expected that the current market weakness will take a turn and create a demand which will catch up with the new supply. How to Position the Hotel in Terms of Possible Customer Groups and Hence Prices GreenCo will be set up in a place with several target groups in order to increase their customer base. It will have visitors from Manchester Business School who may be coming in briefly to either view the school or give lectures. The Oxford Railway Station will also provide customers in the form of visitors coming in who may need a place to stay. It will also engage in the development of offices that will seek to target business owners who may set international offices and in addition, require accommodation. It will target the business hotel user and as such, pricing should be carefully evaluated to ensure that it provides the lowest possible rates for rooms in the area. What the Likely Turnover of the Proposed H otel Is, and Drawing on Other Hotel Operators’ Financial Performance, an Indication Of Likely Profits UK Hoteliers are faced with widespread difficulties that have predicted a fall in occupancy and extra work for regional owners despite continued investor interest. The hotel team at PWC has predicted a 70% drop in occupancy in the regions, 79% drop in London as well as 1.2% drops in the average daily room rates (ADR). This is expected to have ADR in the provinces at $58 and $137 in the capital. Because of increased supply and greater competition, hotel revenue per available room (RevPAR) will drop by 1.4% in the regions and 3.2% in London. This will leave RevPAR at $108 in the capital and $41 elsewhere. Despite this gloomy outlook, after the Eurozone crisis is felt and further new room supply enters the market further pushing down the prices, tour operators who previously avoided the capital are expected to return to the capital. With these estimations in mind, an estimated, the projected sales in 2012 for Holiday Inn in Stanstead Airport of 5 million with an occupancy rate of 73.5%. This is expected because this hotel is located near the capital as compared to GreenCo which is located in the province. Gold which also operates in an area similar to GreenCo expects annual revenue of 2 million. Drawing on the operation of other hotels, GreenCo is likely to receive profits of about 3 million. Any Additional Ideas on Marketing would be Welcome

Leroy Nikky Barnes Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Leroy Nikky Barnes - Research Paper Example this life imprisonment was changed to 35 years of sentence when Barnes became a valuable government informant and began to expose myriad secrets of other drug lords and crime bosses. This research paper seeks to explore the character, status, and life journey of Nicky Barnes. Barnes had extremely conniving and astute skills which he used to spread crime in the country. It was in the prodigious world of crime that he found his shine and glory. Crime was where his mind worked the best and developed ingenious strategies to advance his interests. Research suggests that only a few other drug dealers were bigger than Barnes â€Å"during the Harlem heroin plague of the seventies† (Jacobson, 2014). He is 80 years old now and lives a quiet sober life, but he made a lot of headlines in myriad newspapers around the globe in his youth and adult life. He was the ringleader of the very notorious criminal organization named â€Å"The Council.† He himself laid foundation of this organization which under his guidance grew to become a highly powerful network. The centre of main function was Harlem, a large neighbourhood in New York City, where the heroin trade was controlled. An important thing worth mentioning here is that the name Barnes is not all about c rime because he is so much more than just that. Obviously, crime describes him and the first thing that comes up in anyone’s mind upon hearing the name Leroy Barnes is image of a powerful drug lord. But, research suggests that Barnes has long stopped worrying over drug mafia and heroin trade, rather â€Å"he is a doting family man, concerned only with his daughters and grandchildren† (Capeci, 1999). Also, not many people know that Barnes used to be a very smart student when he was young until forced to elope from home to avoid living with an abusive and alcoholic father. He remained involved in drug-dealing for a long time to support himself. It was only when he was sentenced to jail for drug-dealing that he gave up his

NBC Internet TV Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

NBC Internet TV - Assignment Example The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has blocked active online streaming sites with temporary restraining orders, saying permission is not granted to broadcast without paying copyright fees. Some companies agree that the FCC needs to â€Å"clearly define what an online video distributor is† and post clear and concise rules that consider all stakeholders for this new type of broadcasting across the Internet (Kang, 2010). In order for NBC to be a competitive force in the Internet TV arena, they must offer connection to all forms of Internet technology that is being used regularly. NBC is interested in continuing to broadcast news, shows, and other programs on the Internet TV, claiming the ability to reach a much larger audience than regular TV. Opposition to NBC’s close-circuit broadcasts believe that anyone who owns a television capable of connecting to the Internet should have access to everything the Web has to offer (Kang, 2010). Reports that detail the network s that currently block viewing privileges of web-based programs to some Internet TV subscribers has some interested parties upset. The idea that big conglomerates can oust smaller organizations before they even have a chance to be successful is unfair monopolization of the industry, according to business attorneys for the opposition (Kang, 2010). The ability to reach a larger audience by broadcasting across Internet TV allows NBC to increase revenue through increased ad sales and other vendor payments that would otherwise be invalid, were it not for global inclusion. The threat of having to share content provided by NBC to other Internet TV users could hamper the revenue collected by NBC. Companies and trade firms involved in Internet TV would like to see FCC rules and regulation maintain â€Å"the integrity of the pay stream† that has been established (Kang, 2010). The Nielson ratings and demographic coverage supply the data used by television stations to sell future adverti sements. Tapping into the Internet TV market allows data statistics to increase, thus revenue to potentially increase for NBC (Robertson, 2012). The success or failure of putting NBC on Internet TV may very likely be attributed to the conditions the FCC puts on this and other television stations wanting to broadcast across the globe. The ability for NBC to compete in the Internet TV arena will include their willingness to do what it takes to maintain the seamless Internet connectivity desired by those loyal customers who will continue to support NBC. Rogers Internet TV Rogers On Demand Online, one of the three largest broadcasting networks in Canada, changed their name to Rogers Anyplace TV (RogersKaili, 2012) to incorporate the idea that viewing of programming can happen anywhere or anytime. Rogers has opened the access of Internet TV in Canada to personal computers, smartphones, tablets, and the Xbox360 (Suppa, 2010) giving viewers more options of scheduling and availability of pr ograms. The Internet TV options in Canada are expanding due to Rogers efforts to open up alternative ways for customers to continuously stream programs into busy schedules. The offering of â€Å"play-shifting, time-shifting, micro-transactional, and high definition content delivery† (Suppa, 2010) have made Rogers the first company to expand this extensively into Internet TV. The idea behind the name is that the more options a customer has to

Demand Elasticity of Luxury Automobiles Essay Example for Free

Demand Elasticity of Luxury Automobiles Essay 1. Introduction â€Å"As long as there is a society, there will always be fashion†. It was not surprised a fashion brands, especially a luxury fashion brands became a national treasure which effect the issues in business, political and social area in European countries. Since the Hermas established in 1837, a special development strategy model has formed and matured in European luxury group. Daniele de winter, the CEO of Daniele de Winter Cosmetics state that â€Å"the secret of successful fashion management is a complete blend of creative genius and business management acumen, skill and resourcefulness†. The develop strategy is the key issue for a successful luxury fashion company. With the development of economy and the increase of income, more and more luxury fashion companies expand their business into Asia- Pacific region, especially the Hong Kong and mainland China market. According to the annual report of Richemont, The Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR), Hemes, Bulberry and other luxury fashion companies, the sale revenue of Asia- Pacific region accounts for more than 30% of the Group total revenue. The Change of Global Luxury Fashion Market The word â€Å"luxury† origin from Latin word â€Å"luxuria†, which means an item that â€Å"is expensive and enjoyable but no essential (Waite, 2012)†. In 186 BCE, the victory of army of Gnaeus Manlius Vulso brought such overseas luxury as bronze couches, and costly cloth spreads into Rome. For some Roman historians, the triumph of Vulso marked as the beginning of luxury industry in Europe. With the development of centres, modern luxury fashion industry has become a cross-sectors industry which offers high price goods and service for target consumers. However, in the space of two decades, the modern luxury market has changed beyond recognition. The narrow range of need and demand of target consumers and the exclusive- distribution channels, represented by French Fashion, have been replaced by a mass industry, accompanied by expansion brands with an affordable price by a wider range of consumers. Since the beginning of 1990s, the luxury industry has been recognised and restructured by designers and the fashion designers become the creator of art. According to the statistics from France Economic and Social Council in 2008 (France Economic and Social Council, 2008), with the strategy of â€Å"physical shop/ store† and expansion brands benefit seven million euros. Depending on the diversion and internationalisation, the luxury industry becomes an industry with wider consumers. For example, Hemes, managed by Jean-Louis Dumas, diversities their goods and creates new products. The French luxury manufacture gets a successful on brand art by purchasing crystal brand Saint Louis and Silversmith Puiforcat. Similarly, Richemont Family, the main competitor of French brand, also control numbers of brands, such as Carites, Baume Mercier and Van Cleef Arpells. The second change of luxury industry is the transformation from the handmade custom to industrial standardisation. Taking LVMH as example, there are three cores of product, as wines and spirit, luggage and leather, and fashion and perfume industry. The famous brands in luxury world, like as Moet Chandon, Loewe, Vuitton, Givenchy, Kenzo, Dior and Guerlain, standardise the products like other heavy industries. Along with the profit-seeking financial logic, the marketing and the product standardisation become the major notion with the concept of large-scale product. In the new centre, the concept of luxury industry and the demand of consumers are changing all the time. â€Å"Heritage and Prestige† is the landmark of lots of luxury brands and the enduring value of numbers of particular brands. Comparing with the old style luxury brand â€Å"which used to be a heritage brand† (Coste-Maniere, et al. , 2012), the new concept of luxury, developed by Louis Vuitton and Burberry, means accepted by more consumers. For the occasional customers, they just enjoy the â€Å"right of luxury† in physical store against with the traditional customer-exclusive. In the new era, increasing the number of customers buy the fashion product they could afford, rather than become the royal consumer due to the high price. Consequently, emphasis of consumer need and the competitive advantage means centralising the core value and expending brand boundary simultaneously. 2. 2 The Development Strategy Model of Luxury Fashion Brand The luxury fashion brand originate in European countries which have plentiful historical and cultural background. With the development of servial centres, the luxury fashion industry in European, American and Japanese have become mature and standarlisation. Under this circumstance, the strategy of luxury development in western countries centralize on the brand expansion, striving for the core products and development of brand reputation. 2. 2. 1 Brand Expansion: the Foundational Strategy Under the press of financial-seeking strategy and the changeable of luxury market, the old style luxury fashion brand faces the challenge of development in the mature market in traditional European, American and Japanese region. Under this circumstance, the expansion of brands has become the foundational strategy for a large number of luxury fashion corporates, which offer a new opportunity to stress the brand image, the most significant assets for a luxury fashion company. (Albrecht, et al. , 2013; Uggla Lashgari, 2012; Hoffmann Coste-Maniere, 2012)Many luxury companies breakthrough the traditional product boundary and expensed their business into new market segmentations. For instance, Louis Vuitton, beginning with luggage, invested in other creative spheres: ready-to-wear industry as well as jewellery market (LVMH, 2012), and Gucci, beginning with leather goods, developed all sets of fashion products including leather goods, shoes, ready-to-wear, watches, jewellery and other products. (PPR, 2012). Meanwhile, there are some companies expensed segments into non-traditional area. For example, the luxury jewellery manufacture Bulgari and Italian brand Versace started to offer hotel under their brand (LVMH, 2012) and Armani provide different products from books, furniture and chocolates to restaurants, bars and spas. The another Italian luxury brand, Roberro Cavalli, famous for its fashion apparel for young generation, offer wine and vodka as well as run coffee bar (The Cavalli Caffe) and club (The Cavalli Club). 2. 2. 2 Striving for the Core: The Product Strategy For a global corporate, it is common rules of development depend on the core production or service and then diversification. However, even as diversification, the excellence core production and the strongest sectors within the luxury brands continued to earn the majority of its profits from the traditional products. (Ahrendts, 2013; Beverland, 2005; Miller Mills, 2012). For luxury consumer, they expect to acquire a honorable brands and product so that they emphase on the value of core heritage. The leather goods, the core of Gucci Group, earn 59% of its revenue in 2012 (PPR, 2012). The iconic luggage is the tradition from the time corporate was founded and become the brand image of the LVMH Group. (LVMH, 2011) The turning of Burberry from a ageing British brand to a global luxury brand is a successful product strategy transition. Before 2006, through in a burgeoning global market. Burberry faced a low growth at a rate of 2 percentage every year and two competitors – LVMH and PPR had more than 12 times and 16 times Burberry’s sale revenue. By surving the sectors among Burberry products all over the world, the results indicate the outerwear, as the core, only accourted of 20% of Burberry’s global brand business. Figure 1: the Facts and Financial Statistics of Burberry (Resource from: Burberry, Yahoo Finance) [pic] After brainstorming and formalizing from the administrative board, the New Jersey factore which is making polo shirts was closed and invested in the Casteford factory in Yorkshire which make the heritage trech coat included traditional rainwear and exclusive waterproof gabardine. Burberry also hire Christopher Bailey as the global designer for innovation of core products. The facts and financial statistic of Burberry from 2006 to 2012 in Figure 1 showed that the decision to focus on the heritage opened up a wealth of creativity. By the end of 2012, the sale revenues and operating income had doubled than previous 5 years, achieving $3 billion and $600 billion respectively. (Burberry, 2007; Burberry, 2012) 2. 2. 3 The Brand Reputation: The Brand Strategy The brand is the most valuable part of luxury goods and the motivity of luxury consumption. Once separating from the luxury brand, the goods is the ordinary one. Every successful company sees the brand as the most valuable fortune. they use the advanced marketing logic and marketing operation to motivate the development, explore approaches to express the value and connotation of brands to luxury consumers and attract the royality of customers. As a tool of art, a carrier of history, and a spirit of classic, building-up a high quiality reputation is brand strategy for luxury companies. Since founded in 1847, Cartier, as one of the most established name in the jewellay market, is the reference of ture and timeless luxury. Designing by Cartier, the product distinguishes itself by the unique skills and excellence in design and execution. Nearly in 30 years, the extensive art activities are not competitive without the support by the Foundation Crtier pour l’Art Contemporain (Richemont, 2013). With the development of brand reputation, Cartier is the synonym of modern art and a pioneering approach. Meanwhile, most of luxury brands come from the centre of Renaissance 2. 3 The Features of Chinese Luxury Market Chinese market places the second place in the world of luxury consumption, surpassing the United States since 2008. Along with Japan, China is the strongest market with the increasing demand of 20 percentages. The consulting report from Glob Advantage estimate there are 18 thousand billionaires, 440 thousand multimillionaires and increasing the number of middle class achieving 250 million in 2015 in today’s China (Degen, 2009), which have the strong purchase power and need of luxury fashion industry. Even with the influence of the financial crisis, the sale revenue of luxury fashion in the mainland China rose by 16 percent, reaching about 64 billion RMB. The market research about Chinese market laid a foundation for the development and expansion strategy of luxury brands. The shifting attitudes to luxury brands, the greater sophistication of Chinese consumers and the new geographic markets have become the main features of Chinese luxury market. The three characteristics drive the global strategy of development for luxury brands. Figure 2. According to the survey of McKinsey Company (KPMG, 2013), with the rapidly increase of income, more and more Chinese consumers shifts the attitude to luxury and feel comfortable to purchasing luxury products. The rich consumers which income over 300,000 RMB continued occupy the majority of the luxury purchase. Meanwhile, the statistics show that, the upper middle class (between 100,000 RMB and 200,000 RMB), which account for 22% of luxury goods purchase by the end of 2015, as the Figure 2 suggested, offers the biggest new growth opportunity. 2. 3. 1 The increasing number of overseas travel. In the information era, Chinese consumers have become more sophisticated than before. With the surge in the number of luxury stores, fashion magazine, the Web official site and the use of social media, Chinese consumers familiar with the luxury brands with the help of Internet, overseas travel, and the first-hand experience. For example, the research result indicated that in the last 12 months, the Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macro and Europe become the main destinations of overseas luxury purchase. Figure 3: Where did you purchase your cosmetics in the last 12 months? (Resource from: Global Reach of China Luxury of KPMG) [pic] 2. 3. 2 The increase of new market segmentation The rapidly growth of urbanisation and individual wealth emerge large quantity of geographic markets with sizable pools of luxury-goods consumptions. The luxury purchase and sale revenue of some medium and small cities, such as Qingdao in Shandong province and Wuxi in Zhejiang province, tripled than the previous 5 years. In the following years, the luxury consumption in these medium and small cities will achieve the same level with Hangzhou and Nanjing, the most developed market in mainland China, the sale of which will arrive at RMB 500 million yuan and account for 76% of whole market. 2. 3. 3 The increasing of Counterfeit goods Love for luxury, preference for counterfeit is a unique phenomenon in luxury consumption in Chinese luxury market. According to a report entitled â€Å"Transnational Organized Crime in East Asia and the Pacific† from Office on Drugs and Crime, almost 70% of global counterfeits luxury goods come from China and the value of counterfeit luxury goods imported into traditional luxury market on the order of $25 billion annually. In a confusion society , the luxury consumption of Chinese consumers become more irrationally than western consumer, which depended on the extenral need rather internal need (Zhang Kim, 2013). For Chinese consumers, luxury brands are somethings â€Å"must to have† for them to reinforce their social status. however, the wealth gap between the rich and the poor in China is the largest all over the world, which offer the passion for consumption of luxury counterfeits. The young generation, aged 25 to 34 with limited budget for genuine luxury fashion goods, racked up nearly a quarter fo fake fanciers. 2. 4 The Passion for Luxury Consumption of Chinese consumers China is the second largest luxury market all over the world and attracting the attention of consumption of Chinese consumers. Under the influence of unique economic situation, cultural background and social factor, the behaviour of Chinese consumers in luxury fashion market have the distinctive characteristics. The bling factor influenced by economic situation, the saving face affected by the Confucianism and group orientation as the social factor drive the luxury consumption in Chinese fashion market. 2. 4. 1 The â€Å"Bling† Factor With the emerging of Internet, fashion magazines and social media, more and more Chinese consumers know the brands of luxury brands. However, the cultural concept and history of the luxury fashion brands are far away from numbers of Chinese luxury consumers. For many luxury fashion firms, there is not one typical luxury customer in China due to the different habits, different tastes and different income levels. The â€Å"bling† factor or following the whole market trend remains an important factor for the Chinese consumer in luxury fashion market. For example, according to luxury consumer report of Chinese market, almost 60 percent of the respondents in Tier 1 cities including Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai and other Tier 2 cities, stated that the key drivers for luxury consumption is the willingness to pay a product that just is popular or fashionable goods. Exclusivity or unique is an important understanding of luxury brand for Chinese consumption. There are about one fifth of customers consider that they will pay the luxury goods that are known and appreciated by the minority rather than the famous one. In terms of China’s unique cultural background, the Chinese consumers consider luxury brand value influenced by Confucianism. In the concept of Confucian, the notion of â€Å"mianzi† is defined as a reputation â€Å"achieved through getting on in through success and ostentation†. (Hu, 1944; Dong Lee, 2007) The traditional cultural understanding and effecting about the face saving becomes the strongest and most conspicuous passion for luxury consumption, which means concerning about the impress to other and the visual display than the level of income. The Chinese consumer in luxury world trend to pay a premium product on the luxury brand rather than essential goods in daily life, due to strong desire and pressure of maintaining face. Taking the finding of KPMG as the example, comparing with the apparel, the stronger growth of market for fashion accessories is considerable. Nearly 40% of luxury consumers enjoy the luxury experiences and â€Å"the right of luxury† in a physical store/shop over purchases of luxury items. Overall, the face saving (saving mianzi) relates to the individual image of worth and reputation within a collectivism society. As the result, Chinese consumers are often careful not to lose face by standing out from the crowed when consuming luxury goods. The general strategy Although the market has its particular features, the development of luxury fashion strategy in Chinese luxury market is followed the general rules of luxury firms in global market. As the foundation strategy, the brand extension and production diversification also provide the base of the development in Chinese luxury market. The apparel, handbag, jewellery, fashion accessories and luxury servicers are offered in mainland China, especially in Tier 1 cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Promoting the sale revenue of the core products in mainland China, as the product strategy, enhances the brand awareness in Chinese market. Expanding the influence, luxury fashion firms invest large amount of money to popularize the brand reputation as a simple of elegance and grandeur as well as the means of fashion and art. The marketing strategy: raising brand awareness. Due to the lower brand awareness and lack of knowledge of brand value, the royalty of brand in Chinese market is lower than its in traditional European market. The special situation provides a strong externally powerful tool, which means not only expand the value of the luxury brand into a regular group of consumers, but also sway them making a purchase. In recent year, luxury fashion firm invest increasing the number of budget into Chinese market not only promote the brand awareness, but also help the consumers inform a notion about †luxury goods and luxury lifestyle† and why they should purchase luxury goods and luxury services. The brand building-up develop based not only the advertising on hard paper and television, also included the display on luxury goods exhibition and the customised publications. Nowadays, more and more luxury fashion goods exhibition held in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities, which offer a good opportunity for Chinese consumers to visit the luxury goods frequently displayed in store. Meanwhile, more and more consumers visiting the exhibition are not an onlooker. The localisation strategy The luxury fashion brand with high brand awareness contain the European and American culture and value which is living standard of high level, the product and design of high quality. Those values accepted by and attract young generation who trend to, however, it is not accepted by all Chinese consumers who have their own value. Respecting to Chinese traditional culture and integrated it into the product value is the essential of luxury fashion business in China. For example, Louis Vuitton setting Du Juan, the one of top Chinese model all over the world, and advertising as the Chinese image step one right place on direction and help western luxury fashion companies overcome the cultural barriers. This kind of strategy could build up strong attachments among Chinese consumers and help them accepted the unique characteristic of luxury fashion brands. The pricing strategy Price is one of the most significant signals in Chinese business world. For most Chinese consumers, price represented the value of luxury fashion goods. As a result, the luxury fashion products should not go on discount, no matter what the consumer is. The pricing strategy about goods, especially about core products, could bolster a brand’s prestige. For other items, companies could adjust the price according to the market condition and the inventory in order to long-term brand building. The retailing strategy A stupendous store belongs to the luxury fashion company located in the luxury area build up a sense of important and identified by the market. The luxury fashion positioning enhanced if the boutiques are visible to a lot of consumer in major fashion cities. The landmark stores opened in Chinese Tier 1 cities, such as Beijing, Hangzhou and Guangzhou, are the best locations to building the brand image and attracting the target customer groups. The commercial centres and shopping malls in luxury area are welcomed by most of fashion lovers, luxury followers and luxury intellectuals. Meanwhile, the investment on the landmark store is the best and effective way to generate profits and build-up brand royalty. In an Internet era, shopping online has become the major shopping way, especially for the young people. Although most luxury fashion companies have shied away from online channels due to the fearing that e-commerce might reduce the value of the luxury brand. However, for a long-term return and brand building, online platform provides not only a purchase channel, but also an information exchange channel between luxury fashion brand and Chinese consumers. With the developing of GDP and individual income of consumers, the global luxury fashion market and such the emerging market as China, have become the strategic focus of luxury market researcher and the consult company. This report attempts to identify development strategy of the luxury fashion brand, especially in mainland China market through the analysis of the change of global luxury fashion brand, overview of Chinese luxury market and the passion for luxury consumption. All those factors were identified depend on a comprehensive review of luxury fashion goods related researches and market consulting reports. The findings of this study provide a new insight of global and Chinese luxury fashion market for the consumers who interests the luxury fashion brand and a clear strategy guide for market managers of the luxury fashion firms, particular in the time of the company expand their business in mainland China. In addition, the study helps reduce the risks and costs of market research and helps the company overcome the huge gap in a multicultural business environment. First, the findings about the global luxury fashion market and the general development strategy in luxury fashion market all over the world indicated that the achieving the growth while remaining exclusive positioning, and attracting more consumers without losing cachet of brand value is the core strategy for every luxury corporates. The more loyal consumers may weaken due to the popular brands launched in the market because they choose pay a premium goods that majority and identified by small group. Consequently, the balance between growth and unique, the price and quality may be tougher in China than in any other market. However, customization develops quickly as the new trend of luxury fashion industry. The customizing activities have launched in different business sectors, but which is yet adopted by the luxury industry on a board. At presents, the customization just limited on the area of fashion accessories, apparel, handbags, and jewellery, and emphasising on customizing standard products, point of delivery customization and service and producing bespoke goods. Secondly, the increasing the number of consumers, overseas traveller, new market segments and the counterfeits goods have become the main features in the Chinese luxury fashion market in recent years. The features are important of stress the benefits of investment in mainland China. Based on the research findings, International marketers should setting extension strategy that is coherent with branding, merchandising and global image by serving China’s globetrotting shoppers, striking the balance between store numbers and quality and focusing anti-counterfeit goods. For Chinese globetrotting shoppers, the customer relationship management should emphasis global view rather than on mainland China. In the view of higher management board, the corporate organisational structure of the luxury fashion company should reflect the significant of Chinese market by sorting up the processes for generating direct communication between Chinese luxury consumers and the home headquarter. Based on the new market segmentation, the luxury company should upgrade current stores and outlets in order to keep consistent with the global image and emphasis on the business in Tier 1 cities. As the market statistics indicated that the luxury counterfeit goods have become the barriers for development in China, including seizing sale revenue and weakening brand value. Luxury fashion companies should co-operate with customs officials to seize fake goods at ports. Working with international national organisation or international associations should be the third path for anti-counterfeit activities. The co-operation should ranges from such international associations as World Intellectual Property to regional groups like US-focused International Anti-Counterfeits Coalition. Thirdly, the research findings about the passions for Chinese luxury fashion consumption indicated that the â€Å"bling† customers who lack of knowledge about luxury fashion goods or just following the trend account of a part of Chinese luxury consumers. Besides that, Chinese luxury consumption deeply influenced by saving faces and group orientation, which are the part of traditional Confusion value. Targeting different drivers of luxury consumption, managers should have different strategies. For the bling customers, the global luxury firms should invest in improving the brand awareness and expanding the brand value, which could offer a global opportunity to attracting potential customers and building loyalty and repeat customer groups. For the consumers who care about saving face, International luxury fashion markers should draw the outline of visual and outward appearance of rank and status when unfolding their marketing activities. Meanwhile, the companies should emphasise the brand’s country of origin, so the Chinese consumers have the confident to identified and distinguished with other mass products. In addition, the package of luxury goods also need to be recognisable in order to fit the moderate and lifestyle associated with Chinese consumers. Furthermore, in light of the results about group orientation, the management board company should stress the profit of luxury fashion goods as a symbol of social marker and the sale assistants inspire consumer purchases because of the goods could generate a sense of group belonging and conformity of the elite. Due to the group belonging, a special attention should be given to the layout of the physical store and the luxury service of sale staff. No matter who is the consumer, friends will be involved during the decision making process and become potential consumers in the future. Proving high-quality services and creating luxury experience for non-buyers also benefit for making sure that the brand accepted by group and that the consumer does not stand out from others. Finally, about the current expansion strategy in mainland China market, most of luxury fashion companies emphasis the strategy on marking, localization, pricing and retailing coherent with the global business aims. Raising brand awareness and expressing the luxury lifestyle lay the foundation of marketing strategy. In order to respect to Chinese traditional culture, luxury brands should integrate Chinese culture and art into design, package, and store layout of products, which accepted easily by Chinese consumers in different social class. Meanwhile, the research findings indicated that the price is the most important factor which influenced Chinese luxury consumption. Luxury marketers should balance the price between Chinese market and overseas. As for the retailing strategy, the luxury brand stresses the developing of boutiques store and the setting up online distribution channels. However, there are several special attention should be given to price gap between China and overseas, and the online distribution channels. On one hand, comparing with that rarely go on discount in mainland China, the luxury fashion goods is often at a discount at overseas, especially for the non-core products and in the time of Christmas or Summer Sale. On the other hand, the high rate of tax and fees raise up the price of luxury fashion goods in mainland China. According to the law and regulations in China, a luxury fashion goods, such as the eye cream of Estee Lauder native to the UK, is imported into Chinese market with 10% import tariff, 30% consumption tax, 5% sales tax and 17% value-add tax. Including the managing fees, advertising costs and other issues, the price of the eye cream is double in the UK. In the respect of the luxury company, the appreciate discount in Chinese market could promote the desire of consumption and boost the sale revenue; in the respect of tax policy makers in mainland China, reducing the rate of import tariff and consumption tax of international luxury fashion goods could Finally, luxury fashion goods, as a subject of nature, play different or scenarios, different income level, education background, and social – economic factors, as well as exam the type of relationship that seek from luxury fashion brands. On the view of passions for luxury consumption, there are many other drivers, such as collection, appreciation, should take the consideration into further research.

Mushroom Fungi Nutritional Content Biology Essay

Mushroom Fungi Nutritional Content Biology Essay INTRODUCTION Mushrooms have been a component of our human diet since time immemorial. They were used as food before man understood the use of other organisms. Certainly mushrooms were one of mans most basic foods, and they were often considered an exotic and luxurious food reserved for the rich. Today mushrooms are food for both the rich and the poor. They can be grown anywhere as long as the conditions for their growth and cultivations are provided. The word mushroom may have different meanings and perspectives in different literatures and geographical territories. Mushroom is defined as a macro fungus with distinct fruit body that can be either epigeous or hypogenous and large enough to be seen with naked eye and to be picked by hand. Mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. Mushrooms, a group known as fungi, lack chlorophyll and cannot therefore make its own food. It grows on dead organic matter either parasitically or symbiotically with other living organisms. Among the various mushroom species, button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus), oyster mushroom (Pleurotus species.), paddy straw (Volvariella species.), milky mushroom (Calocybe Indica) are most popular among the commercial growers. Mushroom which is a fleshy saprophyte fungus are found growing on damp rotten log of wood trunk of trees, decaying organic matter and in damp soil rich in organic substances. Edible mushroom are highly nutritious and can be compared with eggs, milk and meat. Mushrooms are rich in proteins, vitamins, and minerals and called as the vegetarians meat. Mushroom proteins are considered to be intermediate between that of animals and vegetables (Kurtzman, 1976) as it contains all the nine essential amino acids which is required for human body. Mushroom has a high protein content of 25-50%, fat (2-5%), sugars (17-47%), mycocellulose (7-38%), minerals (8-12%) and vitamins such as D, C, B1, B5, B6, niacin and riboflavin. Apart from serving as a protein food, for which they are most popular in Nigeria, mushrooms are also medicinal and have some biotechnology based functions. Many of mushrooms produce a range of metabolites of intense interest to the nutriceutical and pharmaceutical (e.g. antitumour, immunomodulation agents, and hypocholesterol-aemic agents) and food (e.g. flavor compound) industries (Chang, 2007). Many Asian countries use traditionally wild edible mushrooms as delicious and nutritional foods and medicine. Wild edible mushrooms are appreciated not only for texture and flavor but also for their chemical and nutritional characteristics (Sanmee et al., 2003). Cultivated mushrooms have higher protein contents and minerals, low in fat and rich in B vitamins, vitamin D, vitamin K and sometimes vitamins A and C. Because of its oyster like shape Oyster mushroom (i.e. Pleurotus species.) is commonly called as Dhengri in India. Genus Pleurotus belongs to family Tricholomataceae and has about 40 well-recognized species, out of which 12 species are cultivated in different parts of country. Pleurotus is an efficient lignin-degrading mushroom and can grow well on different types of lignocellulolosic materials. Cultivation of this Mushroom is very simple and low cost which gives consistent growth with high biological efficiency. Different species of Pleurotus can grow well in variable temperature conditions; hence they are ideally suited for cultivation throughout the year in various regions of tropical country like India. Among the Pleurotus species, P. sajor caju had been widely studied for the cultivation followed by P. ostreatus. These studies mainly concentrated on the cultivation on wastes of forest and agricultural plants. Almost, all the available, lignocellulosic substances are likely be us ed as substrate for Pleurotus species. Cultivation with slightly variation in the range and combination of the substrates in different part of world based on their availability in abundant and being cheaper in the respective region. The technology can also limit air pollution associated with burning agriculture wastes as well as to decrease environmental pollution due to unutilized agricultural wastes. Pleurotus species represents the third largest group of cultivated edible mushrooms in the world, grown on a variety of plant residues, and they have been found to be nutritionally and gastronomically important. They may be cultivated on a large number of substrates, according to local availability in different regions of the world. Most of these studies focused on the higher yield and quality of fruiting bodies of Pleurotus sp. with respect to cultivation times. The cultivation of edible mushrooms offers one of the most feasible and economic method for the bioconversion of agro-lignocellulosic wastes. One of the advantages of the Pleurotus group is their ability to grow on lignocellulosic substrates without the need for a composting or casing layer. Production techniques for these basidiomycetes are well developed and are relatively simple, compared with those used for the most commonly cultivated mushroom. Pleurotus mushrooms, commonly known as oyster mushrooms, grow wildly in trop ical and sub-tropical areas, and are easily arti ¬Ã‚ cially cultivated. They are healthy foods, low in calories and in fat, rich in protein, chitin, vitamins and minerals. They also contain high amounts of ÃŽ ³-amino butyric acid (GABA) and ornithine. GABA is a non-essential amino acid that functions as a neurotransmitter whereas ornithine is a precursor in the synthesis of arginine. Extract of P. ostreatus was able to alleviate the hepatotoxicity induced by CCl4 in rats and also the extract from P. ostreatus appeared to protect major organs such as the liver, heart, and brain of aged rats against oxidative stress. There are about 40 species of Pleurotus mushrooms and they ranks second among the important cultivated mushrooms in the world. The mushroom cultivation is a profitable agribusiness and Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) is an edible mushroom having excellent flavour and taste. It belongs to class Basidiomycetes, subclass Hollobasidiomycetidae, order Agricals. It grows wild in the forests of hilly areas and is cultivated in temperate and subtropical regions of the world. The technology of artificial cultivation of mushroom is somewhat recent innovation; incorporation of non conventional crops in existing agricultural system can help in improving the social as well as economic status of small farmers. Mushrooms are the source of extra ordinary power and virility and have medicinal properties like anticancerous, anticholesteral, antitumorous. Mushrooms are useful against diabetes, ulcer and lungs diseases. It can be grown on agricultural and industrial waste. These wastes can be recycled into food and environment may be less endangered by pollution (Hayes, 1978). Mushroom cultivation is highly labour intensive, short duration crop and land saving, can be welcomed by the poor farmers. At present mushroom production is approximately 1.5 million tons in the world. Every year about 90 tons of mushrooms are exported to Europe from Pakistan. There is need to develop diversified agriculture in the Pakistan. It is unfortune that in Pakistan and Azad Kashmir they have not caught the imagination of the public at large scale to become an important food item, perhaps the reason for not being taken up widely is non availability of mushrooms at low prices and lack of knowledge. The farmers should come forward to cultivate edible mushrooms like Pleurotus ostreatus (Oyster mushroom) on commercial scale to fulfill the requirements of balance diet. The major problem associated with the transfer of technology for mushroom cultivation is the lack of technical know-how for its cultivation. During an investigation of the cultivation of mushroom on agricultural residues, it was found that rice husk sorghum stover, saw dust, cotton waste, cocoa bean shell, and sawdust Gliricidia mixture are suitable substrates for the cultivation of edible mushroom. Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus species), the third largest commercially produced mushroom in the world are found growing naturally on rotten wood material. The growing increase in consumption of oyster mushroom is largely due to its taste, medicinal and nutritional properties. Pleurotus ostreatus is one of the most produced species, cultivated mainly on sawdust. The unavailability of sawdust and the fact that felling of trees in most regions of the world is prohibited makes it imperative that other sources of substrates be utilised for its cultivation. In the tropics and sub-tropics, large volumes of unused lignocellulosic byproducts can be found. These byproducts are left to rot in the  ¬Ã‚ eld or are disposed o ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ through burning. Cultivation of mushrooms on these by-products may be one of the solutions to transforming these inedible wastes into accepted edible biomass of high market value. Oyster mushrooms are grown from mycelium (threadlike filaments that become interwoven) propagated on a base of steam-sterilized cereal grain (usually rye or millet). This cereal grain/mycelium mixture is called spawn and is used to seed mushroom substrate. Most spawn is made with mycelium from a stored culture, rather than mycelium whose parent was a spore. This is because spores are likely to yield a new strain and performance would be unpredictable. Spawn-making is a rather complex task and not feasible for the common mushroom grower. Spawn of various oyster mushroom species may be purchased from commercial spawn makers who usually provide instructions for its use. Spawn frequently is shipped from the manufacturer to growers in the same aseptic containers used for spawn production. Inoculum for spawn production is frequently produced in polyethylene bags containing a microporous breather strip for gas exchange. Most commercial spawn production companies produce spawn only from inoc ulum that has met strict quality control standards. These standards include verification of inoculum production performance before it is use to produce spawn and insurance of the spawns biological purity and vigor. Mushroom has high protein content of 25-30% and also compasses of Fat (2-5%) my cellulose (7-38%), sugars (17-47%) mineral (8-12%) and vitamins such as D, C, B ,B1 ,B5 ,B6, Nicin, Riboflavin. The known species of fungi are about 69,000 of which about 10,000 species are fleshy macro fungus and only few of these are lethal. About 2000 species are regarded as prime edible mushroom but only 80 of them are grown experimentally ,40 species are cultivated economically and only 20 species are cultivated commercially (Chang, 1999). There are numerous types of substrates used for cultivation of mushroom throughout the world but some important substrates include paddy straw, wheat straw, cotton waste, cotton boll locules, maize straw and chopped leaves etc . It has been reported that mushrooms can grow on chopped cocoa pods, cotton waste, dried chopped maize straw, oil palm (fiber and bunch) wastes, tobacco straw, used tea leaves, rice straw, sugarcane bagasse, newsprint, old rags and sawdust. Pakistan is an agricultural country having 70% of its manpower engaged directly or indirectly in agriculture sector but unfortunately we are not able to sustain our agriculture on strong basis. It requires a long term planning to increase our area under cultivation converting baron and arid areas into fertile lands. In such circumstances small cottage industry like mushroom cultivation as well as commercial cultivation will not only ameliorate the miserable conditions of our poor farmers but on the other hand will become a source of foreign exchange. Oyster mushroom is quite easy to cultivate is compared to its other relatives and has more nutritional and medicinal value as compared to vegetables. Oyster mushroom cultivation can play an important role in managing organic wastes whose disposal has become a problem Malnutrition is a problem in developing countries, Mushrooms with their flavour, texture; nutritional value and high productivity per unit area have been identified as an excellent food source to alleviate malnutrition in developing countries. The oyster mushroom Pleurotus species is a saprophytic fungus commercially cultivated throughout the world because of its tasty basidiocarp and simple cultivation technology. It is also one of the choicest white rot fungi for research scientists to investigate. Pleurotus species lignocellulolytic enzymes for bioremediation (Arisoy and KalanKayan 1997) its flavour compounds, (Mau et al., 1998). Oyster mushrooms are mainly cultivated on residues from agricultural crops such as wheat, paddy, cotton, sugar cane or soybean. Consumption of edible mushrooms as food and drug is closely related to the history of mankind. Recently, oyster has been added to the list of commercially produced mushrooms. Edible mushrooms are cultivated worldwide under various climatic conditions. Their total annual production in the world is well over 1.2 million tons. These mushrooms are grown on commercial scale in several countries. However, no systematic start has been made to grow them in Pakistan, which has varied climatic zones and abundance of manpower and agro-waste resources. There are about 5000 different species of mushrooms, of which at least 1220 are reported to be edible.

The Marketing Mix And The Success Of Innocent Marketing Essay

The Marketing Mix And The Success Of Innocent Marketing Essay The marketing mix has been the core of marketing theory and practice since the 1960s (Lehtinen, 2011). The marketing mix represents the controllable elements of marketing which collectively form the ground of an organization in the perception of customers(Judd, 2003). In the 1960s, McCarthy diminished Bordens twelve controllable marketing elements to a four-element framework: product, price, place and promotion(Constantnides, 2006). Since the marketing mix and 4Ps entered the marketing textbooks, they have been treated as the unchallenged basic model of marketing and been universally accepted(Lehtinen, 2011). With the development of marketing management and the business environment, great changes have taken place in mainstream marketing(Grà ¶nroos, 1994). Are the marketing mix and its 4Ps still in power? Does the marketing mix contribute to the success of an organization and how does it perform in the long-term development of the organization? The purpose of this essay is to analyze how the marketing mix contributes to the organization by taking innocent as an example, and to identify the limitations of the marketing mix as a marketing management tool in the long-term development of a company. The debate over the marketing mix as a marketing management tool has been primarily argued theoretically rather than on an empirical level (Constantnides, 2006). While the marketing mix still has its stage, for long-term success, relationship management is the key to stable development in the dynamic business environment(Wahab and Ali, 2010). When involved with modern business trends, customer-oriented economics needs a relationship-oriented approach to marketing(Grà ¶nroos, 1994). The marketing mix and the success of innocent Innocent was set up by three young Cambridge students in 1998 as the UKs only range of natural smoothies(Brown and Grayson, 2008, p.3). In just four years, the turnover rose from  £0 to  £10.6 million(Anonymous, 2004, p.6). Sales boosted to  £80 million in 2006 and roared over  £100 million in 2007(Brown and Grayson, 2008, p.3). The rapid increase in profit made innocent a huge success within the first five years (1999-2003). In the next five years (2004-2008), the expansion was a huge success in the middle of Europe(Innocentdrinks, 2012). How does the marketing mix contribute to the development of the organization in the following four aspects: product, price, place and promotion? Products Keeping introducing new products successfully or services into the market is important to the long-term growth of a company (Tzokas et al., 2004). The first pallet of smoothies (250ml), labeled innocent, was introduced to the public in 1999, when the market for pre-packaged smoothies was still new(Brown and Grayson, 2008, p.5). In the first stage, little effort was made in introducing new products, but the company has constantly launched new flavors and formats to enhance brand awareness(Anonymous, 2004). In the year 2003, the company launched four new recipes for the existing ranges, a range of two super smoothies and three more flavors of a brand new range called Juicy Waters(Anonymous, 2004, p.7). New categories of products were introduced to the market in the second stage, especially the veg pots in 2008 and fruit tubs in 2009(Innocentdrinks, 2012). From 1999 to 2003, innocent focused on extending its existing smoothie product range rather than develop completely new categories s uch as cream or yogurt. Innocents sales benefited from new product development(Baxter, 2010). To some extent, profits can be increased by filling the existed product line(Kotler et al., 2005). Price The 250ml bottle of smoothies was priced  £1.89 when first introduced to the market(Brown and Grayson, 2008, p.4). Their main competitor PJs, UKs biggest smoothies company then, was doing well in the high priced product section and growing very rapidly (Brown and Grayson, 2008). Innocent focusd on being an ethical company, producing green products(Salisbury, 2011), which contributes to its financial performance because potential consumers are willing to pay more for an ethical product, especially manufactured by a company with strong sense of sustainability and social conscience(Anonymous, 2004). On one hand, a company can charge its customers for the value-added factor in the prices (Lancioni, 2005). On the other hand, consumers may consider high price as a guarantee of quality (Huang and Sarigà ¶llà ¼, 2012). Sharma and Lyer(2012) demonstrated that there exists of a segment of consumers who would pay a premium for an ethical product. Place Distribution network plays an important role between the marketing and supply chain interface(Chan et al., 2012). The industry pays more attention to coordination between retailers and suppliers, and a demand chain is preferred to a supply chain(Burt and Sparks, 2003). Research into distribution costs led to the decision that the sales effort should focus on London-based independents channels for the introduction stage, with a movement to multiples later(Brown and Grayson, 2008, p.4). The comparatively higher price of innocent tallied with the high living expense in London, and the place in marketing interacted with the brand image(Dhamija et al., 2011). The distribution infrustration, including the selling network and transportation system, has a close connection with the economic performance(Wilkie and Moore, 1999). Innocents London center set a good starting point for further economic development, as well as for its global expansion. Besides, due to the short shelf life feature, i nnocent innovated new ways of distribution to overcome this challenge: let the retailers dominant the order amount(Anonymous, 2004). Changing power relationships in the channels, from the organizations to the retailers, is a growing trend in the distribution perspective(Burt and Davies, 2010). By transferring the power to retailers, innocent reduced the wastage of products, which solved the thorny problem in fruit drinks and smoothies. Promotion Promotional activity is an essential tool for tempting British consumers to purchase fruit juice, juice drinks and smoothies(Price, 2012). Like many small businesses in their early stage, many of Innocents most successful promotional activities started as one-off, opportunistic events (Brown and Grayson, 2008). These included putting woolen hats on the bottle in winter, the famous campaign called The Big Knit. 2012 takes the tenth year turn for Innocent to run this promotion(Innocentdrinks, 2012). Unlike many brands, relying on traditional advertisements, such as TV commercials, posters, POP, innocent mainly focused on low-cost activities and event promotion to increase the brand awareness, the Fruitstock, its famous annual summer jazz festival held in London, replaced in 2007 with the Innocent Village Fete, is an example(Brown and Grayson, 2008, p.7). These promotion activities link to innocents brand equity: sustainable. The brand equity helped to define the brand value in the beginning stage, and then shaped the sustainability strategy the company adopted (Brown and Grayson, 2008). Besides, the consistency and coherence in brand image, product descriptions and promotion availability played a vital role in the whole process(Edelman, 2010). The limitations of the marketing mix in the long-term development of an organization From a marketing management point of view, the 4Ps may have been helpful at one time, at least for the packaged goods(Grà ¶nroos, 1994). However, the marketing mix and its 4Ps cannot satisfy a market-oriented or customer-oriented definition of marketing(Grà ¶nroos, 1989). Kotler (1992, cited in Lehtinen, 2011) stated that companies must move from a short-term transaction-oriented goal to a long-term relationship-building goal. For innocent, the marketing mix did have its advantage in the introductory marketing, but people-power and the relationship marketing approach also play an active role in its marketing strategy, especially for the development in the secondary stage and long-term success.(Gordon, 2012). People-power It is widely accepted that people is an essential element of the mix ingredients(Baker, 2008). People as the fifth p formalizes the idea that the power of customer-oriented employees does make a difference in the market (Judd, 1987). Staff can help the organization differentiate itself in significant ways in order to gain a competitive advantage and deliver value to customers(Judd, 2003). Innocent created the innocent view of marketing along with the learning and personal development for its employees, compensation packages and incentives were set up to encourage employees to become personally involved in sustainability(Brown and Grayson, 2008). The reflection of these behaviors became a way of advertisement and promotion, and the influence was closely linked to its brand equity. As Judd(2003, pp.8-9) stated, the ability of an organization to meet its external customers needs is a function of how clearly all the people are focused as they perform their respective jobs. Grà ¶nroos(1994) proposed that marketing is to establish, maintain, and enhance relationships with customers and other stakeholders at a profit, in order to achieve the common goal of the parties involved. Almost all the stakeholders are involved in people-power. Apart from the internal staff, media, retailers and distributors are all external people-power. Innocent was once ranked as the UKs best smoothie by BBC(Brown and Grayson, 2008, p.7). The companys blog and the monthly column in the Guardian served as advertisements. Innocents high rate of sale with a premium price also reflected its strong relationship with the distribution outlets. Since its creation, Innocent has invited its retailers to a birthday party every year to keep a close partnership(Anonymous, 2004). Such relationship building contributed to the boost in the quantity of distribution outlets by 265% in 2003, and secured major distribution partnerships with flagship retail brands such as Sainsburys, Starbucks and Boots(Anonymous, 2004, p.9). NGOs and charity organizations welcome the cooperation with Innocent; media advertise this brand even for free(Brown and Grayson, 2008, p.8). Cross-stakeholder integration incorporates the interests of all the stakeholders in the organizations way of communication(Mulhern, 2009). Good people-power management thus guarantees their success not only for the first two stages, but also for long-term operation due to the consistency. The integration of relationship marketing and the marketing mix While there are voices for a shift from the marketing mix to the relationship marketing(Gummesson,1995; Gronroos,1994), the co-exist of different marketing approaches are still acceptable(Lehtinen, 2011). The significance of the marketing mix would not fade out but might be reinforced through an interactive approach(Berry, 1983, cited in Lehtinen, 2011). Researchers have found that three basic types of relationship marketing (database, interaction and network) can co-exist with transaction marketing(Gould, 1998). For innocent, starting building relationship with customers and other stakeholders at beginning contributes to their continuous increase in sales and market expansion. Marketers pay heed to relationship marketing mainly because of customer retention, which values in the competitive environment(Doaei et al., 2011). For the long run, relationship marketing focuses on customer involvement and brand loyalty by setting up a long-lasting bond with the customers(Copulsky and Wolf, 1990). The combination of the marketing mix and relationship marketing should be efficient and effective in the current business environment (Lehtinen, 2011). According to Copulsky and Wolf(1990), relationship marketing integrates elements of advertising, sales promotion, public relationships, and direct marketing to create more effective and efficient ways of reaching consumers. The most basic definition for relationship marketing is to attract and keep customers in the long-term(Leahy, 2011). Organizations intended to encourage continuous repeat purchase through this long-term relationship(Fournier, 1998). Relationship marketing increases repeat purchase and enhance customer loyalty(Wahab and Ali, 2010). Innocent performs well in its corporate business achievement, which is the key benefit from the implementation of relationship marketing. Conclusion It is demonstrated in innocents case that the marketing mix still has its advantage in the early developing period of an organization. For a long-term sustainable success, the combination of the marketing mix and the relationship marketing result in better performance. Innocents consistence and persistence in maintaining relatively good relationship with customers and other stakeholders implies the shift from one-way delivery to interaction. The application of marketing strategies differs from one organization to another. Parallel combination of the best options or systematic utilization of these approaches according to the organizations developing stage, the characteristic of the products or service and the brand equity will make contribution to the long-term success of the organization. Further researches can be done in more specific areas. For example: how to choose the most suitable marketing approach for each company and discovery of new key elements in marketing activities and related measurement. Besides, innocent insists in ethical operation. With the increasing awareness of sustainability, more attention can be paid to the interplay of the ethical issues and the marketing strategies. Word Count: 1996

Summary of Expo Center :: essays research papers

An Informative Summary of â€Å"Japanese Hospitality Robots Debut at World Expo† Tsuno, Yoshikazu â€Å"Japanese Hospitality Robots Debut At World Expo.† 9 Mar 2005.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  SpaceDaily 1 Apr 2005 . The 2005 World Exposition in Nagkute, Japan will present technical wonders to the public. The World Expo runs in the central Aichi region for six months starting March 25. Japan uses the expo to display its technological might. Interactive Robots on display will be the main attraction. The Expo includes robots that resemble young women, called Actroid, in information booths that speak four languages. Guest felt awkward due to Actroid’s realistic human features. The designers wanted the most honest reaction from the guest. Three versions of the Actroid with different faces will be mobilized at the Expo. Japan hopes Actroid will draw 15 million visitors to its industrial heartland. There are also security contingent robots on wheels and tiny colorful machines that sing. The Alsok guard robot has a touch panel in its chest to provide directions to visitors. If Alsok detects suspicious people it will try to scare them away with sirens and lights. Alsok can also detect fires and report them to a security center. For small children there is the child-care robot PaPeRo. With built-in cameras and microphones, it can recognize the faces of children and say their names. The PaPeRo also sings with children and quizzes them, recognizing who voice even if they try to trick it. With the expo running for six months, the public will see many advances in robotics created to interact with humans. Even thou we are able to see and interact with them, it will be some time before the public can purchase them. Japanese Hospitality Robots Debut At World Expo Japanese robot venture Kokoro's humanoid robot 'Actroid', able to recognize 40,000 phrases in four languages, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and English, guides visitors at a reception for the 2005 World Exposition Aichi in Nagkute near Nagoya, central Japan 07 March 2005. Japan will welcome the millions of guests at the World Exposition opening this month with hosts trained to greet them in their language, entertain their children and perform rap music with them - the gracious hosts are robots. AFP photo by Yoshikazu Tsuno. by Yoshikazu Tsuno Nagakute, Japan (AFP) Mar 09, 2005 Japan will welcome the millions of guests at the World Exposition opening this month with hosts trained to greet them in their language, entertain their children and perform rap music with them.

White-Collar Crime Essay -- Crime

Businesses are vulnerable to a variety of internal and external crime that affects an organization’s performance. White-collar crime is a problem affecting businesses in the U.S. and around the world, costing billions of dollars in lost revenue every year. This paper will identify the types of employee crimes focusing on theft and the perpetrators; examine the impact to businesses and explore how business can deal with these offenses. Mr. Smith places some extra highlighters and colored paper in his briefcase from the office’s supply closet for young Billy to use on his school project. Joanne has returned to her desk a 15 minutes late from her lunch break and is now surfing the web for airfare while on the phone long distance with her ailing grandmother to discuss plans to see her next month. Leonard supplements his hourly wage from working nights at the gas station by sneaking a couple scratch-off lottery tickets off the roll when the owner isn’t around. Mrs. Sara Swindle has been defrauding union members by diverting dues for her own use. Some of these examples may not necessarily be prosecuted or even discovered but nonetheless are examples of employee theft or white-collar crime. Businesses face a myriad of internal threats for their success; the focus for this paper is theft; including theft of cash, inventory and equipment. Other types of employee crime include: writing company checks, money laundering, processing fraudulent invoices, payroll fraud, falsifying revenue reports, customer identity theft, intellectual property theft, overstated expense reports and credit card fraud (Bressler, 2011). Long before credit card fraud and identity theft, business owners dealt with theft. There is a no more clear exampl... ...activity and its impact on business. The Entrepreneurial Executive, 16, 49-61. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.oak.indwes.edu/docview/885012416?accountid=6363 Kuratko, D. F., Hornsby, J. S., Naffziger, D. W., & Hodgetts, R. M. (2000). Crime and Small Business: An Exploratory Study of Cost and Prevention Issues in U.S. Firms. Journal Of Small Business Management, 38(3), 1-13. Retrieved from http://0-web.ebscohost.com.oak.indwes.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=56e11fdb-9475-4a64-9062-e0c057beace7%40sessionmgr11&vid=21&hid=15 Larson, E. (1985, January 14). Crook's tool: Computers turn out to be valuable aid in employee crime --- machines facilitate stealing, extortion and sabotage; west coast's robin hood --- you don't trust anybody. The Wall Street Journal, p. 1. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.oak.indwes.edu/docview/397889148?accountid=6363

Post-Colonial Themes in David Maloufs Remembering Babylon Essay exampl

Post-Colonial Themes in David Malouf's Remembering Babylon It is interesting to note that, although in the context of this MA course we are studying Malouf's novel in terms of a post-colonial response, the author himself has expressed the opinion that it is not, strictly speaking, a post-colonial text. Most would agree with Malouf in that it is certainly not an example of resistance or response from a member of a colonised community in the same vein as, for example, Chinua Achebe or some Native Canadian authors. Rather, it can be seen as an examination of the colonial project by a descendant of the original colonisers. Nevertheless, there are several themes running through the novel which constitute elements of post-colonial discourse, and this page intends to briefly examine some of them. There is a pervasive sense of colonial guilt throughout Remembering Babylon, an awareness of the suspect morality of the colonial process. Like Great Expectations, Babylon recognises Australia as a potential utopia for the industrious European immigrant - unlike Dickens, however, Malouf asserts that the success of the project rests not on merely exploiting the resources available (while ignoring or displacing the indigenous people), but on reaching a kind of harmony and exchange with the landscape and with the colonised. This hybrid culture represents, for Malouf, the ideal ultimate outcome of the colonial process. The potential for this utopia is personalised in the crude shape of Gemmy Fairley, an English castaway who lives among aborigines for 16 years before crossing back into European civilisation, where his identity is immediately called into question. Gemmy is an 'in-between creature'(p.28), occupying an uncertain cultural spa... ...piphany, a realisation of harmony with nature which is very aboriginal in character. Viewed from a post-colonial perspective, Remembering Babylon is a pessimistic assessment of the colonial project, a lament for the missed opportunities which a meeting of disparate cultures could provide for humanity. Yes, there is a hopeful hint that the utopia is still somehow attainable, in the self-knowledge gained by Jock, Janet, Lachlan and Frazer. However Malouf, writing as he is in the last decade of the twentieth century, is aware that the colonial project has failed on these terms, and this realisation must inform any reading of the novel. NOTE: Much of the material used on this page is taken from a conversation with David Malouf in Dublin, 19 April 1997. NOTE: The page numbers referred to on this page are taken from the 1994 Vintage edition of Remembering Babylon.

Trifles Play Essay

Trifles Essay The play â€Å"Trifles† is a murder mystery, which takes place in the kitchen of the Wrights home. In the beginning of the story, Glaspell sets the murder scene in the audiences mind by having Mr. Peters and Mr. Henderson interview Mr. Hale on his discovery of Mr. Wright’s body. Mr. Hale then begins to talk about the condition of Mr. Wright, and then continues on and talks about the behavior of Mrs. Wright The rising action in the story begins after the men leave the women, and go upstairs to potentially find evidence, or a motive.The women began to ask many questions, and examine the kitchen, and how it was left after the murder. The men then overhear the women pondering on whether Mrs. Wright was to knot or pierce the rope. The men laugh at the women because they found such matters to be of little importance. The rising action continues with the women finding the bird cage, and the nervous stitching. All through the rising action, ironically, the women w ere shown inadvertently finding evidence to solve the murder case.Just after these discoveries, the climax of the play is signaled. The women find a dead bird inside of a box placed in the sewing basket. The women then notice that the bird’s neck was wrung, similar to how Mr. Wright had died. Glaspell then narrates that there was a look of growing comprehension between the two. This line is important because, their questions were answered, and the women know who murdered Mr. Wright. It is also ironic because the women find little ‘trifles’ that the men just deem as unimportant, which ironically solves the case.This is also because the men and even the women themselves wouldn’t expect to be capable of aiding in the murder investigation. Inadvertently, the women solve the murder case. It is also interesting that the discoveries were all found inside of the kitchen where the men tend to go very little throughout the play, but also just in general. The purpose of doing so was probably done in order for Glaspell to empathize on the theme of the play: Women are not appreciated by men, and seen lowly by them. This can also be supported because the men thought of what Mrs.Peters brought in was something that was harmless, and couldn’t possibly hold the main evidence that they would need in order to prosecute Mrs. Wright. After secretly and accidently solving the murder case, the women decide to not tell the men that Mrs. Wright did indeed murder her husband. The women mainly resolved to do this out of sympathy. The women’s decision is the resolution and beginning of the falling action of the play. The falling action of the play becomes intensive because the reader thinks that The Attorney will find the dead bird, and the women will be caught.The falling action of the play also achieves the purpose of the plays structure because it shows that women are actually useful in tasks other than housework, which is a sub-topic of the th eme. Also, it achieves it because the women hold the key to the one piece of evidence that the men needed in order to find Mrs. Wright guilty. â€Å"Trifles† was a murder mystery with a dramatic structure, but also an ironic twist to it. The women unknowingly find all the evidence, inside of the kitchen.Glaspell structured the play, so that the women and men would think that the women’s findings would be such small trifles, but in actuality were the clues to solving the case. Also, that was done so that Glaspell could place the theme of men believing that women are unhelpful, and unappreciated. Glaspell supports this theme by having the women solve the case, but not tell the men. The structure of this play also gave a underlying truth in the theme. â€Å"Trifles† ironically was structured off of dismissed trifles.

Small Group Experiences

The need to affiliate with others and to be accepted by them is hypothesized to be as basic to our psychological well being as hunger and thirst are to our physical well being (Raviester and Leary, 1995). (Meeting, Liking, and Becoming Acquainted, SPT Reader P. 50) One doesn’t begin to realize how important social interaction is until it is gone. Each individual seeks some sort of relationship throughout his or her lives, even as an infant. Relationships are looked as a bond between two individuals, but it is not limited between those two.People all have the need to affiliate, but not all people are the same and differ in the strength of their need for affiliation. When meeting new people in a small group experience you are faced with many different emotions, situations, and many thoughts racing through your mind. If I viewed my small group experience through the concept of symbolic interaction theory, founded by Tom Shibutani, you begin to gain knowledge and an understanding of what is going on. The symbolic interaction theory is that people act on symbolic meanings that they find in situations.Immersing yourself into the small group allows one to create different relationships around oneself. The challenge is to then create shared and similar meanings. The meanings are then personalized by an interpretive process, and after being processed one looks to others to externally view our modifications. When doing this you develop your own self-concept of one another. When we sat down as a group we each introduced ourselves. It was awkward at first, but then we all shared a similar thought and started to interact with each other to avoid awkward silence and situation.The definition of the situation is the reactions to the shared agreements between one another and each member of the group expected one another to participate in the activity and share ideas together. Once established, we discussed the best way to meet people, what we found attractive, and how to start a conversation. Realizing how easy it is to be uneasy of one’s self-esteem, I started to question my self and internalizing the judgments and body gestures from my small group members. When sharing my self -image and personal experiences made me realize the similarities and differences amongst the group and myself.By engaging in a conversation of diverse issues and topics, I began to realize whom I relate to. Each member of the group, only aware of one similarity, attending the same class, seemed very shy and distanced from one another. At the start of the activity we were all conservative and shy of one another. Since not one member of the group took initiative to choose an engaging topic to talk about, it was difficult to create a conversation. It was awkward up until one person decided to pick a topic.When we shared the same views and interest towards that one particular topic, the group became more alive and aware of the other members in the group. Since acting tim id at the start of the group, I began to gain confidence and more stability in my own self-esteem, once the group became vivid and energetic. Being timid leads to defense, since starting the small group in my defense up it was hard to become acquainted with other members of the group. Once we proceeded and broke the initial barrier of awkwardness, I began to feel more at ease and calm when approached by another member.According to Horney’s theory, one consists of two selves; a real self and an idealized self. The â€Å"idealized self† is very similar to an â€Å"impossible self†. The â€Å"real self† is similar to a more â€Å"possible self†. When each individual were on similar energy levels, the group looked to be in sync with one another. Each individual in the group had a realistic view of themselves because of the lack of random behavior. I believe that not one of the group members was attempting to over achieve or be distant from the group.I acted shy at first approaching the situation in â€Å"defense mode†, and may have shown a lack of self-confidence, or the evaluation of my own self. I had a defense barrier when entering this small group experience exercise, but towards the middle of the conversation, I realized that my barrier was down and I was engaging in conversations as if I knew these individuals for years. Then I realized we all had similar opinions and set similar goals. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needsbegin with Physiological needs like food, water, etc.Then â€Å"Safety†, â€Å"Belonging†, â€Å"Esteem†, and finally, â€Å"Self-actualization†, self-actualization is similar to self-fulfillment. If one cannot satisfy those basic needs you become susceptible to feelings and emotions of unhappiness. The personal need of mine in the group experience was to ask my peers a series of questions to gain information and to introduce myself to new individuals. I also wanted to feel like I accomplished my goals and feel like I did my part in this small group experience, these feelings lead to my â€Å"self-esteem† and my â€Å"self-image†.Having all shared the same feeling of fulfilling ones need amongst the group, brought the group together and helped me recognize my role. Each had their own interpersonal needs; the need to feel â€Å"apart† of the group, and the need to control. This helped the group to the meaning to how and why we interacted in the first place. I believe once we finished he exercise that my won personal needs were met and so were that of the other individual. The needs that were fulfilled creating a sense of accomplishment and joy, we then exchanged email addresses and went separate ways.In conclusion to this â€Å"experiment† or â€Å"experience†, it was that of our basic and interpersonal needs that brought the group together. One looks for similar characteristics in others to fulfill our own wa nts and needs. Consciously and subconsciously one tries to satisfy ones own persons needs. The choices are made that decide who one wishes to surround themselves with based upon our judgments. Judgments decide a lot but most important it decides if one needs the person, then ultimately lead to one interacting or not.Bibliography Society and Personality Tamotsu Shibutani, 1961 Sociology 104 Reader Meloy and Mitchell