M6 and 7 policy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

M6 and 7 policy - Assignment Example Second, management of the implementation of core project functions such as monitoring the burden of disease and preventive services, supporting of public health research, identification and facilitation of project partnerships, building of capacity and infrastructure for sustainable implementation, program evaluation and policy development (Bob & Ron, 2010). Second, review of public health priorities in relation to dental health. Third, draw project work plan with phases, tasks, and milestones to track progress over time. Forth, monitor costs and progress of projects in relations to oral health budgets and project modifications of work plan, strategic goals and timelines. Managers strategize by focusing on energy investment as a critical ingredient of growth and productivity. For example by establishing what consumes the energy of a company and what replenishes it in respect to operations, people resources and financials. Managers also strategize by focusing on conversations in meetings. According to Bob & Ron (2010), managers are responsible for the quality of each conversations made in every company meeting. They are bound to paraphrase the questions to be of thought provoking nature for purposes of creating ideal outcome for instance a manager can pose a question like â€Å"how can we best increase our monthly sales turnover by 15 per cent† in a meeting with sales teams . In addition managers strategize by aligning organizational goals with the organization’s vision and mission. Situational analysis is the logical gathering and evaluation of past and present data relating to social, economic, political and technology for purposes of identifying external and internal forces that may impact on company’s performance and choice of strategies(Linda, Jack & Peter, 2012). It also aims at assessing future and current organization’s opportunities, strengths and weaknesses. A situational analysis in the implementation of oral health

The Role of Men in the Society Essay Example for Free

The Role of Men in the Society Essay Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Men were particularly known as the supreme gender in the human society. As the population belonging to the supreme gender, men are expected to have special responsibilities as well as advantages with regards the activities that they are able to do. Men were expected to have responsibilities of providing for those that belong to them. This includes their families and other people that are living around them. On the other hand, they benefit form the authority that is given to them. The power to control others, especially women has naturally given them pride when it comes to the thought of being able to rule over several sectors of the human society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Through the pages of the human history, men of different races and different ages have primarily been able to change the ways by which humans perceive their purpose in living. Indeed, men have naturally drawn the different demarcation lines of limitations and possibilities that identify each human individual’s capability of living. Most likely, the powerful sense of being of the appearance of man has naturally affected the characteristic and the attitude that he perceives upon others. Within the paragraphs that follow, the different roles of men within the American society shall be outlined in clarity to be able to assist in the understanding of what actually is the important part that men plays in the advancement of the human civilization towards progress. Men as Key Agents of Family Strength   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The family is one of the basic units of social relationship within the human generations. It could be observed that men are appointed as head of the family. As head of the family, a man has the responsibility of providing the guidance that the members of the family need to be able to get through with the challenges of life. Aside from this, men also stand as the basic source of spiritual and intellectual aspects of life when it comes to taking care of the younger generations of the family. Not to mention, men are also viewed as the major providers of the needs of the family in terms of finances, shelter, food and clothing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From this particular point of view, it could be observed that men are indeed given high regards by the human society especially in terms of the role that they play in the family. At some point, they work as complimentary personnel to the fulfillment of the dream of their wives and their children. They are the primary source of strength for their family members and from them comes the most valuable advices of life that would naturally help the members of the family get along with the ups and downs of living in a more eased and controlled procedure.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Certainly, men are given the chance to handle the most complicated responsibilities within the family arrangements. The challenges are really not that easy to face. However, with the strong conviction and determination of men to succeed in this particular responsibility shall give them the reputation that they need to be able to earn for themselves the respect that they are due. Their identification of themselves and as the major source of guidance for others shall help them understand the truth that they are made and are appointed to perform certain complicated yet important roles in the human society. Men as Agents of Social Progress   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The mental ability of men in becoming strongly convicted in whatever they believe in particularly sets the line by which they are able to continuously proceed in attaining what they want to attain. This is primarily the reason why there are larger number of men who were able to produce worthwhile inventions that are now of good use in the society. The different technological innovations that were pursued through the history of the human civilization have been particularly assisted by men who were brave enough to risk their time and efforts, as well as their finances in creating something new and innovative for the sake of social progress. Men have also assisted women in realizing their potentials in creating change in the human society. The motivation that they imply upon those who are living around them is indeed infectious and results to more productive aspects of human living.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Truly, men have been a source of inspiration and the main idea of social progress within the human community. This has resulted to a more positive response to the male gender of the population. However, meeting the roles that the men play in the society is not that easy to take and face especially when there are different challenges to the said roles. Particularly, the challenges make it harder for them to attain the best possible results from the acts that and decisions that they make everyday. Liberalization of Women and the Role of Men as Social Equalizers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Sadly, not all men are able to meet the challenges of their roles. Instead, when they fail, they are implying much chaos within the human relationship and the ways by which women and children view life as a whole. The impact that they make in the lives of the said sector of the human population indeed makes a great difference on how they particularly deal with the challenges that they themselves deal with everyday. As a result, there came the different movements that were established by women to help men remember their roles in the society. The liberalization of women has actually created difference in the role that men particularly play within the progress of the human civilization.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As for now, women are already able to take the place of men in terms of authority over people within certain human organizations, and they are also capable of taking care of their family members alone as individual parents especially when men fail to do their responsibilities to the family. Hence, the changes in the role of men certainly are heightened in terms of power and the stiffness of the decisions that they make in creating possibilities to motivate others as they are expected.   Most likely, the pressure on men who are aiming to reach the best possible ways of attaining and completing their roles in the society is heightened as well. Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Men are indeed an epitome of humans who are able to stick to whatever they decide upon. They are known to have a strong conviction when they totally believe on a certain idea. These characteristics of men have led them to becoming the primary foundations of human developments through the history of humankind. Their determination to make a change certainly helped them in assisting the entire human community in aiming for further progress in living.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, because of the pressures given upon them, their capabilities of meeting their roles have been challenged particularly because of their own shortcomings. As a result the liberalization of women has naturally challenged the ways by which men try to achieve the roles that they are supposed to meet for the sake of social equality. This particularly means that the gender differences have been set in a more distanced situation, whereas the men are being strongly questioned with the way they complete their responsibilities to the human community. References: Enhancing Mens Roles and Responsibilities in Family Life. Empowering Women. (2001). http://www.unfpa.org/intercenter/role4men/. (May 29, 2007). The role of men and boys in achieving gender equality. Written Statement Prepared for the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women at its 48th Session Item 3a of the Provisional Agenda. (2004). http://statements.bahai.org/04-0312.htm/. (May 29, 2007). Impact Lab. The Confusing Role of Men. (2001). http://www.impactlab.com/modules.php?name=Newsfile=articlesid=5760. (May 29, 2007). The Role of Men and Boys in Achieving Gender Equality. R. W. Connell. http://www.ashanet.org/focusgroups/sanctuary/articles/Connell-bp.pdf. (May 29, 2007).

The Handmaid’s Tale : A Product Of Debates :: Free Essay Writer

The Handmaid’s Tale : A Product Of Debates Often times a reader finds that a character in a novel resembles the author’s friend or a distant relative. There is almost always some connection to the author, his surroundings, or events in his life. The Handmaid’s Tale reflects the life of Margaret Atwood on a much stronger level. It is a product of debates within the feminist movement of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Atwood has been much a part of that movement. The defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment, the rise of the religious right, the election of Ronald Regan and many other historical events led writers like Atwood to fear the antifeminist movements. With these fears came the ideas the antifeminist could not only provide more gains for women but turn back the clock on the rights that they had already fought to receive. Atwood uses her novel to examine some of the traditional attitudes in the religious right which she finds threatening. At the beginning of the novel we are given this bible ref erence: Genesis 30: 1-3 â€Å"And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel; and he said, Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.† This is one of several passages that justifies a man to have sex and children by his servants. Atwood takes this idea and extrapolates from it outrageously. In her â€Å"Afterword† she tells the reader that the religious aspects, â€Å"go back to my study of the American Puritans.†(Atwood 316) The American Puritans founded a society different than democracy as we know it, a theocracy. Atwood said she found herself, â€Å"increasingly alarmed by statements made frequently by religious leaders in the United States; and then a variety of events from around the world could not be ignored, particularly the rising fanaticism of the Iranian monotheocracy.† (Atwood 316 ) During the 1980’s many people debated about the feminist attitudes toward sexuality and their attitudes toward pornography. Many different views were expressed. Some said that all erotica depicting women as sexual objects is demeaning. Others argued that pornography was bad but erotica could be g ood, that â€Å"although pornography is demeaning the protection of civil liberties is a greater good which requires the toleration of freedom for pornographers.

Time Value of Money and Present Value

Date: 14/11/2012 52. Annuities: You are saving for the college education of your two children. They are two years apart in age; one will begin college 15 years from today and the other will begin 17 years from today. You estimate your children’s college expenses to be $23,000 per year per child, payable at the beginning of each school year. The annual interest rate is 5. 5 percent. How much money must you deposit in account each year to fund your children’s education? Your deposits begin one year from today. You will make your last deposit when your oldest child enters college. Assume four years of collegeSolution: Cost of 1 year at university = 23,000 N=4 I=5. 5% PMT=23,000 CPT PV = 80,618. 45 For the first child the PV = 80,618. 45/ (1. 055) ^14 = $38,097. 81 For the second child the PV = 80,618. 45/ (1. 055) ^16 = $34,229. 07 Therefore the total cost today of your children’s college expense will be the addition of the 2 = $72,326. 88 This is the present value of my annual savings, which are an annuity, so to get the amount I am supposed to save each year would be: PV=72,326. 88 N=15 I=5. 5 CPT PMT = 7,205. 6 57. Calculating Annuity Values: Bilbo Baggins wants to save money to meet three objectives.First, he would like to be able to retire 30 years from now with retirement income of $25,000 per month for 20 years, with the first payment received 30 years and 1 month from now. Second, he would like to purchase a cabin in Rivendell in 10 years at an estimated cost of $350,000. Third, after he passes on at the end of the 20 years of withdrawals, he would like to leave an inheritance of $750,000 to his nephew Frodo. He can afford to save $2,100 per month for the next 10 years. If he can earn an 11 percent EAR before he retires and an 8 percent EAR after he retires, how much will he have to save each month in years 11 through 30? Solution:First we get the FV of the 2,100 savings over 10 years Bilbo Baggins can afford to save $2,100 dollars per month for the next 10 years therefore at 10 years he would have saved: PMT = 2,100 I = 10. 48 / 12 = 0. 873 N = 10 x 12 = 120 CPT FV = $442,201. 15 So after 10 years he would be able to purchase his yacht at the price of $350,000, and he would be left with a balance of $92,201. 15 This $92,201. 15 will be our current PV at year 10. At year 30, the year when Bilbo retires, the $92,201. 15 would become 92,201. 15*(1. 11) ^20 = $620,283. 23 Second we have to find out how much the inheritance of 750,000 would be at year 30: 750,000/1. 8^20= $160,911. 16 Third In order for him to be able to withdraw a sum of 25,000 per month for the next 20 years after his retirement, we should now calculate this annuity’s present value: N= 20 x 12 = 240 I= 7. 72 / 12 = 0. 643 PMT= 25,000 CPT PV = $3,052,135. 26 Adding up the PV’s of the $750,000 and the annuity, we will get $3,213,046. 32 We will subtract the future value at year 30 of the $92,201. 15 ($620,283. 23) which we saved at year 10 from $3,213,046. 32 to get $2,592,763. 09 We are now left with an annuity that pays $2,592,763. 09 at year 30, and a time period of 20 years (yr11-30) To calculate the yearly PMT, we haveFV= $2,592,763. 09 I= 10. 48 / 12 = 0. 873 N= 20 x 12 = 240 CPT PMT = 3,207. 33 Therefore the monthly PMT Bilbo would have to save each month through years 11-30 would be = $3,207. 33 34. Valuing bonds: Mallory Corporation has two different bonds, currently outstanding. Bond M has a face value of $20,000 and matures in twenty years. The bond makes no payments for the first six years, then pays $1,200 every 6 months over the subsequent eight years, and finally pays $1,500 every 6 months over the last years. Bond N also has a face value of $20,000 and a maturity of 20 years; it makes n coupon payments over the life of the bond.If the required return on both these bonds is 10% compounded semiannually, what is the current price of bond M? Of bond N? Solution: The price of a bond is equal to PV of ex pected future cash flows Bond M: Face value 20,000 Present value of 20,000 = 20,000/ (1. 05) ^40 = $2,840. 91 First we need to get the present value of the annuity for the 1,500 semiannual PMTs at year 14 Present Value of Annuity = $13,295 $13,295 becomes $3,391 at year 0 We then get the annuity of the 1,200 semiannual PMTs at year 6, and then at Present Value $13,005 at year 6 with a PV of $7,242 at year 0 The sum of the 3 PV’s gives us the value of the bond ,841 + 3,391 + 7,242 = $13,474 Bond N Face value 20,000 Present value of 20,000 = 20,000/ (1. 05) ^40 = $2,840. 91 38. Non-constant growth: Storico Co. just paid a dividend of aud 3. 5 per share. The company will increase its dividend by 20% next year, and will then reduce its dividend growth rate by 5% per year, until it reaches the industry average of 5% industry average growth, after which the company will keep a constant growth rate forever. If the required return on Storico stock is 13%, what will a share of stock s ell for today? Solution  : D0 = $3. 5 D1= 3. 5*1. 2= $4. 2 D2= 4. 2*1. 15= $4. 3 D3=4. 83*1. 1= $5. 31 D4=5. 31*1. 05= $5. 58 Since the first 4 periods are different we get the PV of each one alone, then as of the 4th year we get the perpetuity of the rest, and sum them up to get the final NPV We now get the PV of each Dividend PV D1 = 4. 2/ (1. 13) = $3. 72 PV D2 = 4. 83/ (1. 13) ^2 = $3. 78 PV D3 = 5. 31/ (1. 13) ^3 = $3. 68 So the PVs of D1+D2+D3 = $11. 18 NPV of perpetuity at constant growth = 5. 58(0. 08) / (1. 13) ^3 = 69. 75 / (1. 13) ^3 = $48. 34 NPV perpetuity + NPV dividends = NPV price of stock today 48. 34 + 11. 18 = $59. 52

Finding a New Advertising Agency Essay

It started with a pair of certified letters to MINI USA’s Woodcliff Lake headquarters in northern New Jersey in the summer of 2005. One of the letters was addressed to Jim McDowell, vice president and managing director of MINI USA, the U.S. division of BMW’s MINI automobile brand. The other letter was to Trudy Hardy, marketing manager for MINI USA and a direct report to McDowell. Both letters were from Scheid, Roberts, and Reicher (SRR),1 MINI’s advertising agency since 2001, and both arrived at their respective destinations at almost exactly the same time. From her desk, which was not in the immediate proximity of McDowell’s office, Hardy sat back in her chair and opened the letter without the knowledge that McDowell had just received a similar letter. Her thoughts and feelings as she broke the seal of the envelope and read the one-page letter partly confirmed previous suspicions but, nevertheless, included a sense of great disappointment and some hurt feelings. A rare event in the client-advertising agency relationship, SRR’s letter informed Hardy that they would resign the MINI account in order to pursue a larger account with a competing German automobile manufacturer. For Hardy, it was during the next few moments that the gravity of the event began to sink in. SRR had been the ad agency for MINI ever since the months leading up to the U.S. launch of the new MINI Cooper, which was the first new car launched by the MINI brand since its acquisition by BMW several years earlier. In a time when the duration of a client-advertising agency relationship typically lasted for just about two years, the collaboration with SRR had been in her mind a productive one for almost five years. And in the same way that she believed the relationship had been extremely valuable  to MINI, it was also hard for Hardy to believe that the same did not hold true for SRR as well. In 2001, the MINI account stood as one of the first major SRR client wins when it was a start-up agency with fewer than 50 employees. SRR had now grown to more than 300 employees, and the launch of the MINI Cooper was an unquestioned success. In some ways, MINI and SRR had grown up together. 1 Although this case is based on actual events, Scheid, Roberts, and Reicher (SRR) is a fictional name for MINI USA’s advertising agency from 2001 to 2005. For simplicity, hereinafter, MINI is used as opposed to MINI USA. 2 The BMW Group maintained a general rule that each BMW brand have its own advertising agency. For example, SRR could not work for BMW and MINI at the same time. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Professor David Godes prepared this case with the assistance of Research Associate Peter Wickersham. HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management. Copyright  © 2007, 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-5457685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of Harvard Business School. Hardy began to think of the task before her. In one sense, if she were the marketing manager for almost any other product, the selection of a new advertising agency might not have been such a critical task. But the MINI brand, in almost every respect, was unique—from the design of the car itself to the passionate owners of the car who, for example, often named their MINI Cooper as they would a pet or family member. MINI’s advertising since the launch of the Cooper had been highly unconventional, and although she had no immediate ideas of how to proceed in finding a new agency, Hardy knew that  the selection process would need to be just as unique. The BMW Group and MINI Mini History We went round the works, and I drove him at a hell of a speed—I’m sure he was terrified—but then he was so impressed by its road holding. We stopped outside his office. He got out of the car and he said, â€Å"Go ahead and make it.† — Alec Issigonis, head of design for the Morris Mini Minor (a.k.a, the Mini), conversation with Leonard Lord, chairman of British Motor Corporation (BMC), 19583 The twentieth century witnessed the creation of scores of automobiles, but it can be argued that only a handful of these cars transcended the others to become cultural icons. For some car enthusiasts, the short list of such cars might have included the likes of the Ford Model T or Volkswagen Beetle. For those living in the United Kingdom and Europe in the 40 years between 1959 and the end of the century, the Mini Minor and its descendants, including the original Mini Cooper, would almost certainly have been counted among them. The genesis for what was to become the Mini was attributed to Leonard Lord in response to the nationalization of the Suez Canal by Egypt in September 1956. Since it was thought this action might disrupt or restrict the shipment of oil from the Middle East, Lord commissioned Alec Issigonis to design a small car intended for those seeking frugal transport. The design requirements were few and simple: the ability to seat four people, use of a BMC engine, and an overall size smaller than that of current BMC cars. Issigonis formed a team of eight designers and engineers. In one of their first meetings together, Issigonis placed four wooden chairs on the workshop floor in two rows of two and asked four of his team members to sit in them. They then shuffled the chairs around on the floor until each could sit comfortably in a minimum of space. The rough dimensions were captured in chalk on the workshop floor; the passenger space required was to be at least 8 feet 9 inches long, Purchased for use on the MSc International Marketing, at King’s College London, Department of Management. Taught by Douglas West, from 12-Jan-2015 to 27-Mar-2015. Order ref F240566. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact info@thecasecentre.org â€Å"Well, I guess they’re off to greener pastures,† he said in a matter-of-fact tone. After talking some more about the resignation, they soon turned their attention to finding a new partner. â€Å"Listen, I have total confidence in you to find our next agency,† McDowell assured Hardy. â€Å"It won’t be easy, but you know our brand better than anyone. The only catch is that we should probably have this nailed down before the end of the year, which means early December. Let’s talk more once you have an idea of where you’d like to take the search.† With those words, McDowell left Hardy’s office. In addition to its small size (and in some cases because of it), the design of the Mini contained several other notable innovations. It was one of the first front-wheel-drive cars, and its engine was mounted transversely so as not to contribute more than two feet to the overall length of the car. The wide spacing of the wheels allowed for more efficient passenger space, and thus more than 80% of the overall dimensions of the Mini were devoted to luggage and occupants. The design of the Mini also had some other unique consequences. First, the Mini’s simple layout made it easy for owners to modify the interior and exterior of the car; as a result, customization of the car became common. Second, its wide wheel spacing and low center of gravity made the Mini suitable for development of a racing variant of the car. An acquaintance of Issigonis, John Cooper, created the Mini Cooper in 1961 to be driven in rally races. The Mini Cooper was quite successful,  winning the prestigious Monte Carlo rally in 1964, 1965, and 1967. In all, around 150,000 Mini Coopers were produced. The mass-produced version of the Mini was a success in terms of unit sales. It also attracted a cult-like following. Each of the four Beatles owned a Mini as did Peter Sellers and many other famous British celebrities of the day. In 1995, the Mini was voted â€Å"Car of the Century† by readers of Autocar, a U.K. car magazine. BMW Acquires Mini Although the Mini was universally considered a success, the same could not be said for the succession of parent companies that owned the brand. In 1968, British Leyland was formed when BMC merged with the Leyland truck company. In 1975, British Leyland went bankrupt, and the company—with classic brands such as Jaguar, Rover, MG, Triumph, and Mini—was bought out by the British government. In 1988, the collection of surviving brands, now referred to as the Rover Group, was sold to British Aerospace, another nationalized company. Along the way, there were notable investments made in the Rover Group by other car manufacturers, including Honda of Japan, which owned approximately 25% of the company at one time. Yet, the greatest investment and perhaps the biggest surprise occurred in 1994 when BMW, the German luxury automaker with 1993 sales of $18 billion, acquired Rover and its brands, including Mini, for $1.2 billion. In the eyes of senior management at the BMW Auto Group (AG), the vision for the purchase of the Rover Group was to take the company into a new international era. Bernd Pischetsrieder, who was named chief executive officer of BMW AG in 1994, explained it this way: â€Å"The key to success is continuously changing your focus over the long term . . . in the ‘80s, we focused on enhancing the engineering process. The  key emphasis for the ‘90s is globalization of the entire business, including financing, product engineering, styling, designing, manufacturing, and sourcing.†4 Similarly, some industry analysts believed that BMW could not afford to compete solely at the luxury end of a maturing world car market. The acquisition of the Mini brand and the decision to develop the new MINI was seen as a solid strategy to offer less expensive cars without jeopardizing the integrity of the BMW brand.5 According to an analyst with Commerzbank, â€Å"By slightly modifying an existing brand, effectively ‘inserting’ a new vehicle into it, it avoids having to pay all the upfront costs associated 4 J. P. Donlon, â€Å"Honk if you are global (interview with BMW CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder),† Chief Executive, October 1, 1994. 5 BMW differentiated the new version of the Mini from the original by capitalizing all four letters when referring to the new model (i.e., MINI). 3 Purchased for use on the MSc International Marketing, at King’s College London, Department of Management. Taught by Douglas West, from 12-Jan-2015 to 27-Mar-2015. Order ref F240566. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact info@thecasecentre.org  feet 2 inches wide, and 4 feet 4 inches high. Ultimately, once the engine and luggage space were added, the Mini was designed to be just 10 feet in length (Exhibit 1). MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A)  with developing a new brand. The costs of brand building cannot be underestimated, as anyone at Daewoo would be quick to point out.†6 Not included in the deal to divest the Rover division, notably, was the MINI  brand as well as the manufacturing facility near Oxford, England. â€Å"We knew we had a winner there. Much to the chagrin of the British, we held onto it,† McDowell would say later. Educational material supplied by The Case Centre Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I Order reference F240566 Designing a New MINI The design and development of the new MINI in the mid-1990s was to some at BMW the embodiment of the larger struggle to integrate the cultures of Rover and BMW. Between 1994 and 1999, there existed two separate MINI design teams—one British and one German. The British-based Rover designers and engineers for much of that time envisioned a revolutionary design of the new MINI. One such MINI concept was unlike, the previous Mini in almost every way but was seen as a contemporary interpretation of Issigonis’ vision of building a small car with maximum passenger space (Exhibit 3). BMW’s designers took a more evolutionary approach in terms of design combined with BMW’s reputation for delivering high-performance, driver-oriented cars. On one night in 1998 at his home in Munich, Frank Stephenson, a BMW designer originally from the U.S., cast himself into the role of Issigonis, who was known for doodling designs of cars on the back of napkins. On a kitchen towel, Stephenson sketched a series of updated versions of the original Mini to reflect modern trends in design and new technology; see Exhibit 3 for a sample sketch.7 In the end, it was Stephenson’s design that would form the basis of the new MINI. The official launch of the MINI was held at the Paris auto show in 2000. During the show, senior BMW AG executives and Stephenson unveiled the new MINI to a rousing ovation. In explaining its design, Stephenson said, â€Å"The MINI Cooper is not a retro design car, but an evolution of the original. It has the genes and many of the characteristics of its predecessor, but is larger, more powerful, more muscular and more exciting than its predecessor.†8 Two production models were to be launched in the U.K. (its historical home) in July 2001: a base model called the MINI One and a more upscale MINI Cooper. A sportier MINI Cooper S was to be launched soon thereafter in the U.K., and both the MINI Cooper and MINI  Cooper S were scheduled for launch in the U.S. as well as other parts of the world in early 2002. Even though the first MINI Coopers were not scheduled to arrive until early 2002, work was well underway in 2000 to establish an organization to support  the launch of the MINI in the United States. MINI USA was established as a division of BMW of North America LLC and would share the same headquarters in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, as its parent organization. Jack Pitney was named general manager of MINI USA, a unique distinction for someone with a marketing background as opposed to automotive engineering, manufacturing, finance, or sales. Kerri Martin was appointed MINI’s marketing communications manager. Trudy Hardy was also recruited in 2001 as brand communications manager of MINI, reporting to Martin. The MINI USA headquarters organization was designed to be small (fewer than 25 employees), nimble, and highly creative. From the start, the credo of the organization appeared to be, â€Å"If another car company might take the same approach, MINI ought not.† Martin, for instance, was commonly called by the title â€Å"keeper of brand soul† instead of marketing manager. Work proceeded quickly. By the end of 2000, www.miniusa.com was live and already receiving hits. As with the MINI USA headquarters organization, the existing BMW infrastructure was utilized to create a network of U.S. MINI dealerships. Nevertheless, in a similar fashion, great lengths were taken to establish MINI as its own brand. Approximately 70 dealerships in 31 cities were renovated to add an exclusive MINI showroom under a separate marquee. In total, across all U.S. dealerships, first-year MINI sales objectives were expected to be 20,000 units, an amount Pitney viewed as aggressive but within reach. Base retail sticker prices for the MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S models were set at about $18,000 and $21,000, respectively, including dealer shipment fees. Additionally, leveraging the history of customizations to the original Mini, each model carried an extensive list of optional equipment and exterior color schemes. For instance, the car roof alone could be painted at the factory with one of more than 10 color schemes, including a black-and-white checkerboard pattern as well as an image of either the Union Jack or American flag. Early expectations were that the MINI Cooper S would capture approximately 80% of sales due to its larger engine and better acceleration. Depending on the amount of optional equipment selected, the total price of a MINI Cooper S could exceed $25,000. Given its design and price range, plans were to position the MINI Cooper as a premium small car—something that MINI saw as a new market niche. This was especially true because the MINI Cooper was smaller and more expensive than some of the better-established compact cars made by Honda, Toyota, and Nissan. Initial MINI marketing materials and media reports from auto shows portrayed the MINI Cooper as a â€Å"fashionable accessory to an affluent, urban-hipster lifestyle.†9 However, early market research also indicated that the target market for the MINI was not limited to a specific demographic group or socioeconomic class but rather was more of a lifestyle choice or mind-set. For example, in surveys conducted before launch, potential MINI buyers in the U.S. described themselves as â€Å"young at heart† or â€Å"free spirited,† a finding that was consistent among both young as well as older age groups. Moreover, the potential MINI buyer appeared to be less concerned by the opinions of others and was independent minded. MINI and BMW AG drew a number of conclusions from this initial research. First, it was decided that further research should closely examine the psychographic factors associated with the purchase of a MINI, since the most fervent of potential MINI buyers seemed to have a common mind-set about the car, which was something that Pitney and others hoped to explore in greater detail. Second, the research confirmed to them that, unlike the original Mini, the new MINI should not be marketed as a car for the masses but instead to a particular segment of car buyers. Third, although it created 9 Suzanne Vranica, â€Å"Cool Mini Cooper Prepares for Relaunch,† The Wall Street Journal, February 14, 2001. Pitney and Martin thus recognized the importance of selecting an advertising agency with experience in nontraditional advertising such as promotional events, online advertising, and direct marketing. None of the large advertising agencies known for television advertising were invited to pitch the account, a decision that many industry observers viewed as bold and against the grain. DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler Group unit, for example, had recently consolidated its $1.5 billion ad account at Omnicom Group. MINI also decided to base part of the compensation of the ad agency on the collective opinions of its dealers, something that was unique in advertising. Following a fourmonth review, SRR was selected as MINI’s agency of record. A separate firm, Circle.com, was selected to handle their online technology strategy and customer relationship management (CRM) duties. Although MINI would not disclose it publicly, the MINI account was valued at about $25 million per year in term s of total marketing spend, a relatively modest size for an automotive client. Let’s Motor: The U.S. Launch of the MINI The U.S. Launch Campaign (2001–2002) By July 2001, in the eyes of Pitney, Martin, Hardy, and the rest of the MINI team, both the marketing strategy and the creative focus of MINI’s U.S. launch (scheduled for March 2002) were taking shape. Moreover, they felt that the desire to do things differently at MINI had been taken to a whole new level. Most significantly, the marketing team had decided not to use any television or radio advertising as part of MINI’s launch, an industry first for what was essentially an entirely new automobile brand in the U.S. market (it had been almost 40 years since the original Mini was sold in the U.S.). Instead, a phased approach using print and nontraditional marketing techniques was developed. During August and September 2001, MINI’s focus was  to build brand awareness primarily through print advertising in magazines. The tagline for the ads was â€Å"Let’s Motor,† a theme developed by SRR and that would be carried throughout the launch campaign in 2002. The use of the word â€Å"Let’s† at the beginning of each ad was intended to create a feeling of inclusiveness, and the tone of the ads was intended to be friendly and funny. For example, one ad read: â€Å"Let’s not use the size of our vehicle to compensate for other shortcomings. Let’s Motor.† Another began, â€Å"Let’s put away the middle finger.† In addition to initial print advertising in magazines such as Autoweek, SRR developed The Book of Motoring, a 5-inch by 5-inch glossy booklet designed to convey exactly what it meant to be a motorer. â€Å"How is motoring different from driving?† it posed to the reader. â€Å"Physically, they’re the same process . . . the difference is in the mind of the operator . . . when you drive, you go from A to B . . . when you motor you go from A to Z . . . it’s all about living . . . nobody can tell you when you’re motoring . . . you just know.† The book also suggested that motorers pay the toll for the car behind them or feed parking meters if they see a meter maid coming. â€Å"Motorers look out for one another,† the book said. The Book of Motoring could be obtained through BMW dealers or the MINI USA website. In October 2001, in addition to continued print advertising, the SRR and the MINI marketing team designed a series of promotional events and publicity stunts to create additional buzz for the brand. Purchased for use on the MSc International Marketing, at King’s College London, Department of Management. Taught by Douglas West, from 12-Jan-2015 to 27-Mar-2015. Order ref F240566. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact info@thecasecentre.org  challenges for the manufacturing team in Oxford, England, it was clear that the target market would likely seek to make their MINI unique by adding optional features and color schemes. Finally, it also became apparent that limiting their advertising to traditional media such as television and radio would not be cost effective, since the MINI itself was not a mass-market car  and since its potential buyers seemed less interested in being part of the mainstream. In one example, for a Formula 1 car race in Indianapolis, MINIs were secured to the top of three fullsize sport-utility vehicles and were driven to the city from other parts of the U.S. carrying signs that read, â€Å"What are you doing for fun this weekend?† The same MINI-toting SUVs then toured some 24 U.S. cities (Exhibit 4). When curious onlookers asked about the car, representatives were instructed to give them a card that said â€Å"Coming to America† and directed them to the MINI USA website. Sporting events were also used as venues to promote the car. For instance, a MINI was placed in the stands of an Oakland A’s baseball game and in the Superdome for a Monday Night Football game (Exhibit 5). As part of this promotion, during the game, the announcer did a series of â€Å"callouts† that drew the attention of the fans in attendance to the MINI. As one example, he announced: â€Å"To the gentleman in Section 101, you’ve left your lights on.â €  When the in-stadium camera focused on the MINI in Section 101, its lights flashed and then shut off. This particular promotion also played a role in the firm’s attempts to anthropomorphize the MINI. When the official launch of the MINI Cooper began in March 2002, MINI and SRR continued their grass-roots marketing efforts and print advertising in combination with outdoor advertising using, most notably, billboards, which they felt were underutilized by other car brands. In all 45 markets where the new MINI was to be sold, teaser billboards were posted on the day that showrooms were opened. Instead of displaying the car or its logo, the billboards only included the company’s website, miniusa.com, and a single line of text. One billboard read, â€Å"XXL XL L M S Mini.† Another read, â€Å"The SUV backlash officially starts now.† Then, in April, a new series of  billboards were rolled out that included a photo of a MINI, the MINI logo, and the â€Å"Let’s Motor† tagline. Slogans included, â€Å"Let’s Sip Not Guzzle,† referring to its above-average fuel economy. The outdoor advertising was taken to the extreme in cities like New York, where a skyscraper was wrapped to represent the car’s two-tone paint job and a 29-foot-by-125-foot billboard was erected in Times Square. Though typically considered a traditional medium, print advertising was used by MINI as nontraditionally as possible. In late 2001, for instance, executives from 35 magazines were invited to MINI’s headquarters to brainstorm unique ways to market the new MINI in print. One noteworthy outcome of this session was a proposal to use the margins around news stories to hold advertisements. At launch, the â€Å"cornering ads,† as they were called, were run in six magazines, including Rolling Stone and Motor Trend. The ads said, â€Å"Nothing corners like a MINI† and contained a photo of the Mini Cooper S cornering the one-inch margin of the magazine page. Other aspects of the launch campaign included the following (Exhibit 6): †¢ More than 6 million magazine inserts of an abridged version of The Book of Motoring †¢ A series of MINI-inspired cartoons featured in The New Yorker magazine †¢ Other magazine inserts including an unscented MINI-shaped air freshener and a pullout car game. Another insert allowed readers to customize the car using peel-off stickers; accessories such as wheel covers, blowers, and racks could be placed on a photo of a MINI in the ad. In total, more than 30 million magazine inserts were published in magazines ranging from Car and Driver to Vanity Fair. The MINI organization was very  happy with the creative output of SRR. â€Å"Conceptually, just about every one of their ideas was spot on,† Hardy said. â€Å"Besides the fact that they really ‘got’ the brand, they also made sure that the ideas they showed us were fleshed out and developed. This extra effort on their part really made it easier for us to react to the ideas and to give them meaningful feedback so we could work together to make them come to life.† MINI and SRR planned to explore other advertising media as 2002 wore on, just not television. Rather than use TV advertising, for example, MINI opted to sign a deal with National Cinema Network, a movie theater network, to show 30- and 45-second advertisements on roughly 2,000 screens in five cities. 7 Purchased for use on the MSc International Marketing, at King’s College London, Department of Management. Taught by Douglas West, from 12-Jan-2015 to 27-Mar-2015. Order ref F240566. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact info@thecasecentre.org By the close of 2002, there were several reasons for MINI and SRR to celebrate. Most obvious were the year-end MINI sales figures, which indicated that 24,590 units had been sold in a little over nine months. At that pace, first-year sales were projected to total over 30,000 units. In addition to the strong sales figures, a consumer survey indicated that brand awareness for the MINI among the carbuying public was 25%. A survey indicated that 75% of MINI buyers had read or heard about the MINI through  public relations and Internet exposure before the official launch advertising actually began in March 2002. The launch campaign also earned both MINI and SRR a significant number of awards, including Adweek magazine’s 2002 Guerilla Marketer of the Year and 2003 Media Plan of the Year honors, the 2002 Kelly Awards Grand Prize for Outstanding Magazine Advertising, and two 2002 Cannes Media Lion prizes. SRR also won the Best of Show Award and an award for innovation in marketing at the annual One Show awards, a prestigious event sponsored by the One Club for Art and Copy in New York. At the same awards ceremony, MINI USA received the Advertiser of the Year Award. Pitney was named one of two Automotive News Marketers of the Year (the other was awarded to Jim McDowell, vice president of marketing for BMW of North America). In January 2003, the MINI was selected as the North American Car of the Year by the same publication. The MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S were selected as finalists for the Motor Trend Car of the Year as well. The Creative Work Continues (2003–2005) By all accounts, the relationship between MINI and SRR was felt by both sides in 2003 to have been a highly productive collaboration to that point. â€Å"Each day we came to the office thinking that we had one of the best jobs in the world. In a sense, SRR was just part of the family. We’d interact and debate ideas on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis,† Hardy described. â€Å"It was a close working relationship.† Over the next two years, MINI’s strategy of using primarily nontraditional advertising in combination with print and outdoor advertising continued, as did SRR’s ability to develop unique creative material in support of this strategy. One magazine campaign featured punch-out, assembleable versions of the MINI Cooper built on a 1:56 scale. About 4.4 million inserts were created, featuring two cars with different combinations of accessories, and came complete with assembly instructions; both cars became collectors’ items. In another campaign, consumers could pull out MINI cartoon-character decals from magazines. The stickers came eight per sheet and were designed to drive buyers into dealerships for a ninth sticker. Approaches like this one were well received by dealers, including Wayne Youngblood, general  manager of Motor City Mini near Detroit. â€Å"I’m thrilled with it; MINI marketing is quirky, fun, and it delivers customers that match the vehicle perfectly,† he said. â€Å"In my 30 years in the business, there has been no other product that commands as much excitement or attention as MINI.†10 Sales of the MINI Cooper continued to climb (Exhibit 7). In 2004, a MINI Cooper convertible was added to the model lineup. Changes would soon be underway, however. In March 2005, Martin announced that she was leaving MINI to become director of market development for Volkswagen of America, a company known for spending about $500 million annually in North American advertising. Around the same time, Pitney and McDowell made the unique decision to switch jobs as general manager of MINI USA and vice president of marketing for BMW of North America. But the ultimate surprise was SRR’s resignation of the MINI account in order to become the agency of record Purchased for use on the MSc International Marketing, at King’s College London, Department of Management. Taught by Douglas West, from 12-Jan-2015 to 27-Mar-2015. Order ref F240566. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact info@thecasecentre.org for Volkswagen. By then, Hardy had assumed Martin’s duties as head of marketing, and one of her first challenges was starting over and finding a new advertising agency, which would not be easy given the unique relationship that MINI enjoyed with SRR. Advertising Agencies With each passing year of technological advancements, it was apparent to MINI and others that the foundations of any advertising firm—creativity and the ability to deliver creative content in a variety of media—were becoming less and less the exclusive domain of bigger advertising firms with extensive production staffs. Consequently, it was possible for a one- or two-person shop to perform the same creative services as a large, multinational advertising conglomerate with billions in revenues such as Omnicom, WPP, Interpublic Group (IPG), and Publicis. Advertising firms in 2005 could be categorized into either of these two groups, but a third group also existed. The â€Å"independents,† as they were called, were privately owned firms with anywhere from about 10 to 300 employees. As was the case with SRR, oftentimes these firms were started by young, entrepreneurial advertising professionals looking for creative freedom or autonomy following stints at one or more o f the publicly held multinational firms. Seen by some to be a competitive response to the growth of the independents, consolidation was a significant theme in the advertising industry during much of the 1990s and early twenty-first century. Over this period, the major holding companies appeared intent on expanding market share in order to gain economies of scale, diversifying their revenue streams, and serving clients as a one-stop shop while growing into large, multinational players. In 1993, for example, the top three agency holding companies captured a 36% share of the market. By 2003, this figure had increased to 50%.11 The increase in market share was largely achieved through acquisitions of independents and smaller holding companies, with the bulk of these acquisitions occurring from 1996–2001. One holding company, IPG, acquired 240 companies during that period. Another significant industry theme was the shift in agency compensation over the past decade from commissions to fee-based compensation. Traditionally, advertising organizations had been paid at a set percentage of an advertising budget for the creative work on an account; this percentage was  typically in the 12%–15% range but could be as high as 20%. A major criticism of this compensation system was that it did not align the agency’s pay with the success of a particular campaign or with the amount of work required to create the campaign. The fee-based system (or FTE model) charged production fees and employee hours along with a standard profit margin (e.g., 20%) for the advertising firm. In 2005, it was estimated that 80% of all advertising clients had moved away from commission-based compensation structures to enter fixed fees or a combination of fee and incentive compensation.

Middle School Science Fair Projects

Middle School Science Fair Projects It can be a challenge to come up with a middle school science fair project idea. There is fierce competition to come up with the coolest idea, plus you need a topic that is considered appropriate for your educational level: Elementary School ProjectsMiddle School ProjectsHigh School ProjectsCollege Projects This is your chance to shine! Middle school students may do alright with projects that describe or model phenomena, but if you can answer a question or solve a problem, you will excel. Try to propose a hypothesis and test it. Aim for a typed presentation with visual aids, such as pictures or physical examples. Choose a project you can do fairly quickly, to give you time to work on the report (no longer than a month). Schools may prohibit projects using hazardous chemicals or animals, so play it safe and avoid anything that might raise red flags with your teacher. Can you significantly affect your household water bill or electric bill (water or energy usage) by making a change in you or your familys behavior? For example, you might track changes you are making, like shorter showers or turning off lights, and record the utility usage.What household waste materials might be used to filter water? Examples of materials you might try would include banana peels and coffee grounds.What materials glow under black light? Can you use the UV light to find invisible, possibly smelly, stains in your carpet or elsewhere in your house?Will chilling an onion before cutting it keep you from crying?Does catnip repel cockroaches better than DEET?What ratio of vinegar to baking soda produces the best chemical volcano eruption?What type of plastic wrap prevents evaporation the best?What plastic wrap prevents oxidation the best?What percentage of an orange is water?Are night insects attracted to lamps because of heat or light?Can you make Jello using fresh pineappl es instead of canned pineapples? Do white candles burn at a different rate than colored candles?Does the presence of detergent in water affect plant growth?Can a saturated solution of sodium chloride still dissolve Epsom salts?Does magnetism affect the growth of plants?How does the shape of an ice cube affect how quickly it melts?Do different brands of popcorn leave different amounts of unpopped kernels?How accurately do egg producers measure eggs?How do differences in surfaces affect the adhesion of tape?If you shake up different kinds or brands of soft drinks (e.g., carbonated), will they all spew the same amount?Are all potato chips equally greasy?Do the same types of mold grow on all types of bread?Does light affect the rate at which foods spoil?Can you use a household water filter to remove flavor or color from other liquids?Does the power of a microwave affect how well it makes popcorn?Do all brands of diapers absorb the same amount of liquid? Does it matter what the liquid is (water as opposed to juice or... um.. urine)? Do all dishwashing detergents produce the same amount of bubbles? Clean the same number of dishes?Is the nutritional content of different brands of a vegetable (e.g., canned peas) the same?How permanent are permanent markers? What solvents (e.g., water, alcohol, vinegar, detergent solution) will remove the ink? Do different brands/types of markers produce the same results?Is laundry detergent as effective if you use less than the recommended amount? More?Do all hairsprays hold equally well? Equally long? Does the type of hair affect the results?What effect do additives have on the crystals? You could add food coloring, flavorings, or other impurities.What steps can you take to maximize crystal size? You can affect vibration, humidity, temperature, the  rate of evaporation, purity of your growth medium, and time allowed for crystal growth.How do different factors affect seed germination? Factors that you could test include the intensity, duration, or type of light, the temperature, the amount of water, the presence/absence of certain chemicals, or the presence/absence of soil. You can look at the percentage of seeds that germinate or the rate at which seeds germinate. Is a seed affected by its size? Do different size seeds have different germination rates or percentages? Does seed size affect the growth rate or final size of a plant?How does cold storage affect the germination of seeds? Factors you can control include the type of seeds, the  length of storage, the  temperature of storage, and other variables, such as light and humidity.What conditions affect the ripening of fruit? Look at ethylene and enclosing a fruit in a sealed bag, temperature, light, or nearness to other pieces or fruit.How are different soils affected by erosion? You can make your own wind or water and evaluate the effects on soil. If you have access to a very cold freezer, you can look at the effects of freeze and thaw cycles.How does the pH of soil relate to the pH of the water around the soil? You can make your own pH paper, test the pH of the soil, add water, then test the pH of the water. Are the two values the same? If not, is there a relationship between them?How close does a plant have to be to a pesticide for it to work? What factors influence the effectiveness of a pesticide (rain? light? wind?)? How much can you dilute a pesticide while retaining its effectiveness? How effective are natural pest deterrents?

Make a Wax Paper Leaf Pressing

Make a Wax Paper Leaf Pressing Collecting and saving leaves  in scrapbooks and nature journals is a fun activity for families to do together, creating  reminders of memorable hikes, camping trips, or walks at your local  parks. Even with all the  tree leaf identification  resources available online today, you still cant beat using a real, preserved leaf to assist you in looking up different types of trees and plants.  Or you can document different colorings on the same trees from year to year in your own backyard, tracking how wet and hot the spring and summer were and noting the effect on the trees leaf colors that year. Pressing leaves using wax paper is an easy alternative to a building and using a plywood leaf press because the device is bulky and takes some time and effort to construct. Using wax paper captures some color, highlights a leafs structure, and the project is manageable from a time and materials standpoint. You likely have all the materials you need already, without needing a special shopping trip to hunt them down. Difficulty: Easy Time Required   10  minutes per leaf What You Need Wax paperWooden cutting boardThin towelWarmed ironLeaf Heres How Collect the leaf or several leaves that most represent an average-looking leaf of the tree species. Have a few samples of each kind you wish to preserve, in case one gets damaged. Inspect your specimens for fungus or insects before taking them with you.  Back at home, place a  collected leaf between two layers of wax paper  with plenty of room to trim and preserve the wax seal.  Open a towel on a  wooden cutting board. Put the wax paper leaf sandwich onto the towel and then fold it over the top of the specimen. A thin kitchen dish towel is preferable to a thick terrycloth  towel. You can even use paper towels.  Turn the iron on medium dry heat, and evenly iron over the towel. The heat will seal the leaf between the wax paper sheets. After a couple of minutes of ironing, flip over the folded towel and iron the specimen from the other side as well. The wax paper should get somewhat clearer as it melts around the leaf.When cool, trim the wax paper specimen to fit a piece o f white paper. Label the page, and insert it and the preserved leaf  into a  three-ring sheet protector. Keep your collection in a binder. Tips Depending on the tree species, a  green leaf may brown a bit. This is normal and should be considered when reviewing leaf color.Bring your collected leaves  home between the pages of a book or notebook, as they could get crumpled or torn in your pocket or bag. Warnings Children should not use a hot iron without adult supervision (or even may need adult help, depending on the age of the child).  Do not take leaves from national parks.Make sure your local state parks dont have any restrictions before picking leaves, such as not going off the marked trails, or not touching endangered species. Some parks may not allow the picking of any plants.Learn what poison ivy and poison oak look like, so you dont accidentally take leaves from those plants.

Womens Right to Education

Womens Right to Education Hashtag: #HappyWomensDay The Struggle for Formal Education The international Women’s Day is celebrated to recognize the struggles and achievements of women around the word. Two of the most prominent of these achievements are the right to vote and the right to education. The struggle for women’s equality began in early 19th century. In the 1830’s, while maintaining their role as wives and mothers, women’s movement in America sought to broaden their knowledge through a formal college education. However, the cult of motherhood and limited social and political rights during that time restricted this education to home application. For instance, the American educators who pushed for women’s education justified their efforts on the benefits of education in the domestic sphere, in marriage, and motherhood. Consequently, colleges offered a limited range of courses that are mostly relevant to women’s role as homemakers and mothers. The fight for their right to education was further made difficult and prolonged by the fear that educated women would abandon their traditional domestic duties and intrude upon the male sphere. In fact, the male-dominated popular press of the early 20th century even publicized the notion that women are destined parlor, nursery, and kitchen workers and mentally and physiologically incapable of education. Moreover, although firmly promoting equality for women, the movement itself during that time had no strong position on the role of educated women in western society and in fact spreading the doctrine of separate spheres. Women had achieved the right to vote in the 1920 but made little progress in their struggle for employment and education. Women remained largely excluded in the educational system until they started to pursue higher education and earned more bachelors degree than men in the 1980s. Achieving Gender Equality Through Education Education for women is one of UNESCO’s gender equality priorities. Consequently, most educational systems around the world offer women education and empowerment. Women’s continuing effort to improved their knowledge and skills not only resulted in the creation of more institutions for women’s learning but recognition of the fact that women’s education is as necessary and beneficial as that of men. The study shows that that are more women in formal education now than in the past. The reason is that formal schooling not only enhanced their opportunity for employment but also improved their conditions in life. In developing countries, for instance, educational helped women meet their practical gender needs, benefit from salaried employment and healthier households. However, due to cultural attitudes, women in some developing nations appear restrained and need to put more effort in their quest equality, knowledge, and skills. Although the majority of developing nations, provide women greater access to formal education, they are restrained by cultural attitudes pertaining to female education. In fact, study shows that education for females in some African countries lagged behind that of males. Some of the barriers found include sexual abuse and harassment, particularly in mixed gender schools. Education had already improved the lives of millions of women around the world. They have greater access to higher education offered by public and private universities. Women are increasingly benefitting from online courses offered by Open University and Continuing Education Programs. They are now empowered, independent, have greater participation in government, and better employment opportunities.

Research Project Data Collection 1,2,3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Research Project Data Collection 1,2,3 - Essay Example The number of ATM uses is presented as a bar chart as shown in Figures A.1, B.1, and C.1. A bar chart is, "†¦a way of summarising a set of categorical data. It is often used in exploratory data analysis to illustrate the major features of the distribution of the data in a convenient form. It displays the data using a number of rectangles, of the same width, each of which represents a particular category" (Easton and McColl). The regression line on the scatter plots indicates the degree of correlation between account balance and the number of ATM uses. The data does not indicate that the number of ATM uses increases when the customer has a debit card (see table D.1). Appendix D indicates that the mean number of ATM transactions declined from 10.35 to 10.23 when the customer had a debit card. The table D.1 in Appendix D also includes the Standard Deviation of the account balance and the number of uses. Standard Deviation is "†¦a measure of the spread or dispersion of a set of data" (Easton and McColl, 1997). The standard deviation is the area around the mean where 95 percent of the data exists. For example, customers with no card had a mean of 10.35 uses and a standard deviation of 4.32. This indicates that 95 percent of the banks customers who do not have a debit card will use the ATM between 6.03 and 14.67 times. In addition, the median use of a customer with no card was also higher than the customer that had a card. These results were different from the theory that a debit card would lead to an increase in ATM transaction. However, Figures A.2, B.2, and C.2 show a strong positive correlation between the account balance and the number of ATM transactions as would be expected. This was true for all customers whether they had a debit card or not. Data could be collected through a variety of mechanisms that each have their strength and weaknesses. If the research

Competitive factors of YUM Brands (MNC) to succeed in the business Research Paper

Competitive factors of YUM Brands (MNC) to succeed in the business - Research Paper Example Yum brands, based on the co-branding strategy have built a vibrant global business by focusing on four key growth strategies (Uggla & Filippson, 2009): Another co-branding strategy has been to pair KFC with Taco Bell or Pizza Hut with Taco Bell. The co-branding approach has added 30% to its sales compared to singe brand units (Enz, 2005). As the competitors such as McDonalds and Burger King were trying to reinvent their strategies, Yum Brands adopted an unusual track of combining diverse brands in a single restaurant. This led to increased sales and improved efficiency. Apart from offering different products to a diverse segment, Yums has responded to the obesity and health concerns also by co-branding with health organizations. As such it partnered with Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a leading US breast cancer charity, to sell pink buckets of fried chicken (Freedhoff & HÃ ©bert, 2011). Through such partnerships the Yum Brands is trying to send the message that inactivity and not consumption of its calorie-rich product is the cause of obesity. Their biggest expansion is in China and they have adopted the localization strategy and localized the menu options (Burchett, 2011). That apart, they have also introduced fine dining in India and China which is different from the fast food sector. They have their own fast food Chinese restaurant – East Dawning – and the brand association with KFC has a strong impact on the Chinese consumers. To gain competitive advantage, Yums pursued the hybrid strategy. As per Porter’s generic strategies, their strategy could fall under the differentiation strategy as they offered higher perceived value. They did not go for cost-leadership strategy because they did not want to be perceived as low-cost brand. However, based on Bowman’s Strategy Clock, this is a hybrid strategy. Their prices are at par with the competitors but they offer higher

United States Border Control Problems and Solutions Thesis

United States Border Control Problems and Solutions - Thesis Example Alternative programs which help provide solutions to the border control issues in the United States should include three main points: (1) that the program must ensure sufficient control over unauthorized entry and work, or that the program must be a supplement – not a substitute – for illegal activities in the US; (2) that employers must also have sufficient incentive in the hiring of domestic workers before foreign workers are hired; (3) that the program must set forth remedies to ensure that the rights of temporary workers are protected (LoBreglio, p. 958).   The protection of immigrant workers’ rights is an important consideration and requirement in securing successful solutions to the border control issues.   Historically, illegal aliens and even guest workers have not enjoyed bargaining rights in the workplace and political rights as individuals (LoBreglio, p. 958).   Illegal aliens who are mostly economic migrants point out that they do enjoy better l ives in the US and they emphasize that the problem also lies with their own government and in the insufficient opportunities given to them in their native countries.   In order to resolve the problem of illegal aliens, the US needs to coordinate its efforts with other countries, especially with the Mexican and the Canadian government.   The Congress can do this by focusing its attention on specific populations and secure the rights of such population by â€Å"incorporating directly into immigration law the human rights and transparency elements of Canadian and European Union policy† (LoBreglio, p. 959). Congress must also further the protection of guest workers by including provisions for the allocation of funds for state or non-governmental organizations towards education programs which would teach guest workers about their rights and obligations under the US laws (LoBreglio, p. 959).   These programs must also be based on their native language and must focus on their issues and concerns as migrants.   Such programs must also not overly focus on legal terminologies which would not be understood by the migrants; instead, they must focus on giving migrants practical and relatable instructions, especially instructions they would need in order to ensure that their stay in the US would be within legal limits.   Sound education programs can successfully reduce the burden of such aliens to American society and help reintegrate them into their society upon their return to their native countries (LoBreglio, p. 959).  Programs which also attempt to educate the general public in relation to the reasons and consequences of illegal immigration can also help reduce abuse and negative stereotypical thoughts against migrant workers (LoBreglio, p. 960).   Sanctions issued against employers hiring illegal aliens can also help deter or reduce the hiring of aliens.   It is also important to educate employers about the process they can undertake in order to gain legal workers and the repercussions of illegally employing aliens (Lobreglio, p. 960).  The possible passage of a law which specifically protects the rights of illegal immigrants can also be considered by the concerned authorities.   Such law can direct the immigrants in gaining direct access to the Ombudsman or other human rights agencies.   For example, phone numbers for the Immigration Department of the Mexican National Commission for Human Rights can be posted at Mexican alien detention centers (LoBreglio, p. 960).  Ã‚  

Employee Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Employee Development - Essay Example As a result, employee development policy is necessary to ensure that employees are highly skilled and benefit to the organisation. According to the University of California, Los Angeles' Campus Human Resources, Training and Development, employee development policies for un-represented employees provide access to training and personal development programmes, and reduce fees for university classes to employees who are admitted to the university. The purpose of employee development policy for the University of North Carolina at Greensboro is to develop and train employees through university-sponsored workshops, lectures, symposia, educational assistance and tuition waiver programmes, and the general equivalency diploma programme. The opportunity for professional and personal growth of employees allows the university to satisfy its general education mission. With the responsibility to provide programmes, the Department Human Resource Services (HRS) supports and improves the knowledge, skills and abilities needed for employees to perform assigned functions. HRS educates employees regarding university policies; encourage personal growth; and helps the university comply with state and federal laws. Programmes are available to any individual in any capacity employed by the university in a permanent position, which includes full-time, part-time, probationary and trainee employees. Other types of employee development policy include providing skills for employees, not through training but through growth in the job and increased responsibility; performance management systems with a combination of appraisal reviews and target-setting, performance feedback and merit pay; increasing personal discretion in tasks and empowering employees to make decisions that affect daily work. With the increasing number of part-time and temporary employees, it would be in the best interest of the organisation if skills were developed in the same way as full-time employees. Data from the Employment in Britain survey, performed in 1993 by the Policy Studies Institute indicate that part-time employees are less likely than full-time employees to rate themselves above average on output or quality. This is also true for temporary employees and fixed-term contract employees. Part-time employees have less access to development and temporary employees as well are not included in continuing development. Contract employees are much better integrated into continuing development systems because they receive higher pay for their services. However, for improvement, continuous development practices by personnel and human resource (HR) specialists are imperative. The Fife Council has committed to a competent and fully trained workforce and to a programme of development, which benefits employees and the organisation. The purpose of their employee development policy helps to ensuring that the vision outlined in the Council's Aims and Values is make possible for all employees. The Council supports and encourages appropriate personal development and needs of the individual and the organisation. Other principles of their employee development policy seek to ensure equality of opportunity and access for employees to in-house and external development and

Discussion board quantitive methds and analysis common assessment Essay

Discussion board quantitive methds and analysis common assessment - Essay Example The method has many advantages and disadvantages. One of its advantages is its flexibility that allowed for data collection at research participants’ convenience. This could have also facilitated response rate. Another advantage of the phone interview method is its speed in data collection relative to other methods such as written interviews because it offers instant response. Phone interviews are also cheaper than other methods because its cost is limited to phone call rates. Other advantages of the method are ability to record responses without negative implications on research participants, ability to explain research requirements to the interviewees, and eliminated need of research assistants (Kothari, 2004). There are, however, challenges of limited time for data collection and limited scope of a study to individuals with phones. The method may also be restricted in geographical scope due to call rate factors. Phone interviews are also not suitable for interviews that require comprehensive responses and are susceptible to interviewer bias. The method may also dictate that interview questions are brief due to cost (Kothari, 2004). Qualitative data was used for the study and the study’s objective informed the data type. The study aimed at understanding people’s beliefs, which are subjective, and therefore require qualitative approach and measure (Kothari, 2004). Stratified random sampling was used for recruiting research participants. The method involves identification of participants in groups with similar and distinguishing characteristics and then generating participants from each of the groups. In the study, participants were grouped by counties and then by age groups, adolescents and adults. Samples were then dawn from each sub groups (Kothari, 2004). The method was used because of anticipated cultural differences across generations and across geographical

Employee Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Employee Development - Essay Example As a result, employee development policy is necessary to ensure that employees are highly skilled and benefit to the organisation. According to the University of California, Los Angeles' Campus Human Resources, Training and Development, employee development policies for un-represented employees provide access to training and personal development programmes, and reduce fees for university classes to employees who are admitted to the university. The purpose of employee development policy for the University of North Carolina at Greensboro is to develop and train employees through university-sponsored workshops, lectures, symposia, educational assistance and tuition waiver programmes, and the general equivalency diploma programme. The opportunity for professional and personal growth of employees allows the university to satisfy its general education mission. With the responsibility to provide programmes, the Department Human Resource Services (HRS) supports and improves the knowledge, skills and abilities needed for employees to perform assigned functions. HRS educates employees regarding university policies; encourage personal growth; and helps the university comply with state and federal laws. Programmes are available to any individual in any capacity employed by the university in a permanent position, which includes full-time, part-time, probationary and trainee employees. Other types of employee development policy include providing skills for employees, not through training but through growth in the job and increased responsibility; performance management systems with a combination of appraisal reviews and target-setting, performance feedback and merit pay; increasing personal discretion in tasks and empowering employees to make decisions that affect daily work. With the increasing number of part-time and temporary employees, it would be in the best interest of the organisation if skills were developed in the same way as full-time employees. Data from the Employment in Britain survey, performed in 1993 by the Policy Studies Institute indicate that part-time employees are less likely than full-time employees to rate themselves above average on output or quality. This is also true for temporary employees and fixed-term contract employees. Part-time employees have less access to development and temporary employees as well are not included in continuing development. Contract employees are much better integrated into continuing development systems because they receive higher pay for their services. However, for improvement, continuous development practices by personnel and human resource (HR) specialists are imperative. The Fife Council has committed to a competent and fully trained workforce and to a programme of development, which benefits employees and the organisation. The purpose of their employee development policy helps to ensuring that the vision outlined in the Council's Aims and Values is make possible for all employees. The Council supports and encourages appropriate personal development and needs of the individual and the organisation. Other principles of their employee development policy seek to ensure equality of opportunity and access for employees to in-house and external development and

Case study The global pharmaceutical industry Essay

Case study The global pharmaceutical industry - Essay Example However the wave of competition has caused shift in priorities, "many existing pharmaceutical compounds are standardized formulations that varies little in efficacy among manufacturers". The struggle for the differentiated product shall bring financial fortune to the agents of this industry, therefore major investment towards "advertising and sales force budgets have increased manifold in past years" (Sarah, 2004). As per research, less than 20 percent of the funds are allocated towards research and development expenditures. The investment towards research and development is further differentiated in terms of investment towards promising drug compounds in clinical human trials, which is less than 7 percent. The breakdown of the funds allocation is, "product introduction trials account for 5.8%; process development consumes 10% of research expenses' pre-clinical functions consumes 41%; extraction of chemical compounds for evaluation consumes 11.8%; and investment towards safety and toxicology consumes 5.4%". The new products consume more than 80% of expenditures of the research and development expenditures. The main environmental forces which has influenced the growth of this industry has been "expenditures towards research and development for each drug which typically last through a period of 10 to 15 years before a compound makes it to the market" (Michael, 2001). The approval from the relevant authorities essential for the public release of the product also dampens the growth of this industry; it takes more than 16 months for the specific product to get approved by the relevant authorities. The likelihood of clearances are also low, "only 1 in 5000 compounds will eventually be sold and less than one third of... It is expected that the pharmaceutical companies have the best potential to benefit from "aging population and increasing life expectancy rates throughout the world", the market for such products have expanded significantly, and it is predicted that by the end of current decade the concept of drugs for increase in life expectancy shall receive positive response in the poor countries of Asia and Africa, it this prediction comes out to be true than irrespective of the current wave of financial recession, this industry has positive scope towards financial development. It is known that the general understanding about health aspects is common in developed, developing and under-developing countries, therefore the sales of the pharmaceutical products shall not be confined to specific geography or class, and rather it is global business, having global outreach and market. As per research, "this business is attractive with operating profit margins exceeding 30% which is approximately twice th e S & P Industrial Index and net earnings as a percentage of sales averaging 17.9% versus 5.4% for general industry over the last 5 years". It is known that the running cost of this business is relatively lower than others; the business has "lower interest expenses, raw materials costs, tax rates and general and administrative cost as a percentage of sales when compared with most industries".

The Bad Effects of the Internet Development Essay Example for Free

The Bad Effects of the Internet Development Essay An American writer, Rick Warren said, â€Å"I just think the Internet has made us ruder.† What do you think of his words? Modern society is the information-oriented society. Everything changes quickly with numerous information, and people do their ordinary things such as doing homework, chatting with friends, making documents in the workplace, or even making food deliveries with their computers. All these things could be possible because of the advent of the internet. Then, when did the internet start to be used in South Korea? In 1982, the internet was introduced first when System Development Network (SDN) between Seoul National University and the laboratory of electronic communication was connected. After that, the e-mail service which was connected to the United States and Europe was provided, and in 1990 the time of the internet had begun (Ahn and Kim 91). Since then, the internet has developed dramatically. According to Korea Internet and Security Agency, the number of people over three-year-old using the internet has increased about 30 million people from 1999 to 2011 (KISA ISIS). Nowadays, whoever, wherever people are, and whichever the equipment one person has such as personal computers, laptop computers, tablet pc or smartphones, the internet is accessible and available to everybody. The internet made people utilizing hundreds of information freely, enable to interact worldwide, and made people’s lives more convenient. However, there are several negative effects caused by the development of the internet as much as the positive effects. There are three bad effects as a result of the development of the internet in South Korea: the internet addiction, people’s moral paralysis and communication breakdown. First of all, as a result of the development of the Internet, there are problems of internet addiction. Internet addiction is defined as the state of being unable to live daily life because of people’s excessive internet use or being unable to control themselves from using the internet. People are addicted to the internet game, chatting, searching the information, or pornography, so they cannot live ordinary lives as students, sons or daughters, and as workers. According to the research of Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, the rate of internet addiction has increased continuously, and 52% of 1,035,000 internet addicts are children and teenagers. The rate of addiction is 14.3% and the number of their rates are  two times more than adults. In addition, the socially vulnerable class such as children of one-parent families and children who are handicapped are even worse, higher as five to eight percent than those who are in ordinary families (Wu). It is one of the biggest effects the internet has caused because it is not just only an individual problem but also it causes the social costs. In 2010, the total social costs was estimated about 2.2 trillion won maximum including the costs of facilities providing pc service, the costs of cure and counseling for addicts and indirect costs which was caused by losing the opportunities of learning (Wu). The internet addiction is a serious problem because it affects teenagers much more. They are not adults yet and very easy to be influenced by provocative things. So, the internet which is full of exciting and sensational things could lead people to be addicted and made teenagers grow as adults not properly. Second, as a result of the development of the Internet, there has been people’s moral paralysis. Under the concept of the anonymity, people gradually do immoral behaviors such as writing aggressive, malicious and hateful comments to other people’s posts, sharing things or data illegally that has the right of ownership and distributing other people’s false information. There were many celebrities of South Korea who committed suicide because of the bad comments for about last few years. In this year, Korean singer, Son Ho Young who was used to be a member of the most famous group, â€Å"GOD,† attempted suicide in May (Jo). It was because he was blamed of his previous girlfriend’s suicide. Until he attempted it, so many people on the internet made him a shameless person and wrote comments aggressively on the articles about him. Also, a new word, â€Å"Il Be,† which is actually the abbreviated form of the community site emerged as a way of expres sing specific people who made malicious and dreadful comments to particular people such as some women and those who are from Jeolla Province. They are even called, â€Å"Il Be roundworm,† because of their shocking behaviors. Until recently, they are making noises on the society of South Korea. Besides, we can see many cases that data and information with property rights are illegally shared and distributed to a lot of people. There are hundreds of P2P sites providing free files of music, movies, publication with the rights of ownership. It could not be solved only by cracking down. According to the  Ministry of Culture and Tourism, even they imposed fine those P2P sites, but it was temporary and returned to former state (Jung). It is because people regard illegal if we steal some goods for sale in a real-world, but in the virtual reality they do not regard downloading and uploading data with property rights as illegal. The development of the internet has caused the invasion of privacy as well by distributing personal information and false data. We can search huge amounts of information via the internet, and even we can easily find what we wrote on the internet few years ago just by typing ID in the sea rch engine. However, using these advantages of the internet, there are problems of personal information leakage. Many people are having trouble in leaking their private information that lots of spam mails and text messages are sent to them with the illegally opened information such as individuals’ e-mail addresses and phone numbers. A lot of celebrities in Korea are suffered by the false information. These are because people’s morality was paralyzed as a result of rapid development of the internet. They are being confused, getting numb of great deal of information and takes for granted that blaming others on the internet and getting information for free without hesitation. Lastly, as a result of the development of the Internet, there has been the breakdown of communication. As the internet has developed rapidly in Korea, a generational gap was made between older people and young people. While the young are getting used to using the internet easily, older people are not. The internet made generational difference and be unable to talk each other. So the communication between older people and young people has decreased. Also, in the family, or even among friends there is not enough communication. Sons and daughters are not trying to talk with their parents and other family members when they are at home, chatting with friends with their computers or smartphones. Many people use Social Network Service (SNS) such as Facebook or Twitter and have a short talk and comments at open posts but do not have earnest conversations among friends and families. Even they are with friends beside, they chat with their smartphones using the mobile internet service, KakaoTal k. It would the biggest negative effect that the internet has made because even though the internet made the society not only more efficient and convenient but hard-hearted and less conversation. In conclusion, as the internet has developed so much in Korea, many people are addicted to the internet, people’s morality is getting cracked, and lots of people are having broken down on real-world communication. The addiction problem affected individuals and the Korea’s society both. Numerous people on the internet are paralyzed of their morality making bad comments, sharing other people’s information illegally and distributing others’ private or wrong information. Also, there is breakdown of communication in generational and real world. Although we are living conveniently in a well-developed society with hundreds of information and having benefits thanks to the internet, there are always two sides to the coin. There are also some negative effects because of the development of the internet. Therefore, we should make the best use of the positive sides of the Internet and try to solve and reduce the negative effects of the Internet.

How Does Celebrity Culture Effect Our Behaviour Cultural Studies Essay

How Does Celebrity Culture Effect Our Behaviour Cultural Studies Essay The significant development of celebrity industry also contributes on those effects. As people see how easy to be or to do something, they will consider it a target to achieve. This is absolutely right with the many ones dream to become celebrities. Furthermore, when the celebrity content becomes daily, it also effects on all of us, especially the young. Their life styles, their behaviorsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ are often imitated. According to Robert van Krieken (2010) said in his article, celebrity which is usually seen as a frothy and unreal topic is also a measure of how superficial contemporary culture has become. However, the celebrity production industry has never ever significantly developed like it today. Also, there is no signal that the limits of the spread of celebrity culture have been reached (G.Turner, 2010). The continuously operating apparatus of celebrity industry along with the growth of digital media has made them the perfect partners who contribute in the expansion of each other. The production of reality TV shows, the rise of Idol, Master Chef, Australias got Talent and others take us to a point that all television formats are produced depending on exploiting people interest in the chance to become a celebrity (G.Turner 2010). It is the celebrity industry which first creates celebrity through the process called celebritisation (G.Turner 2010). For example, the reality TV shows like Idol that many contestants try to express themselves to be recognised through the performance process. This is one among many TV shows which offer people the opportunity to prove themselves to become famous. That is a very first step of the process of transformation (G.Turner 2010). Then, the expansion of digital media the producers and distributors of content through printed and electronic forms magazines, newspapers, television, and now with the development of the various kinds of on-line media would help the celebrities to hold their fame (G.Turner 2010). Those all contribute in the fact that news of celebrities is now full of magazines, newspaper, internet and other kinds of media. It is obvious that the development and efficiency of the media machine help to create a celebrity easier. That means many peoples dreams now easier to be real. Especially, the growth of the reality TV shows make people have more opportunity to appear on TV. Therefore, there are a lot of celebrities who are production of this type of celebrity production industry. A phenomenon called Susan Boyle is an example. A 47-year-old single woman has been the worldwide star just after only one appearance on TV. She had sung the song I dreamed a dream in the TV show Britains got talent (C.Cadwalladr 2010). Then it was like her dream come true when the video of her performance got more than 100 millions views on YouTube. After that, her first album I Dreamed a Dream sold more copies than any others. The story named Susan Boyle like a fairy tale has spread over the world about a talent woman and how easy to become a celebrity (C.Cadwalladr 2010). Furthermore, if someone is the winner in a show, wi th the support of many kinds of media, he could become a celebrity without doubt. What seems to come next to fame? It is wealthy. Statistics show that actors can be paid nearly $US20 million for making a single film (S.Bunbury 2009). But it is not the only source of their income. They are also paid to appear on advertising or to represent a brand. For many years, Australian celebrities efforts are trying to sell us things like hair replacement, air-conditioning, alcoholic drinks, house-and-land packages and fast food. Sarah Murdoch hustles for undies; Gwyneth Paltrow endorses cosmetics; Celine Dion used to represent a car company, Bruce Willis hawks vodka (C.Middendorp 2010). Hence, they can earn millions of dollar from these advertised campaigns (C.Middendorp 2010). Another example is Kylie Minogue who is a famous singer in Australia. She is also known as actress, childrens book author, underwear designer and perfumer. As a result, her net wealth in 2006 is approximately $55 million, according to James Thomson-the editor of BRWs Entertainer Rich List (D.Ziffer, L .Dubecki 2006). However, the obvious prices that most of them have to pay for the fame are their own privacy. The fact is that the celebrities always use media for their self-promotion. So, some people argue that it is unfair for them when the media reports some thing which they want to keep secret. Nevertheless, other said that celebrities take advantage from media to create the ideal figures of them no matter how inaccurate they are, so it has right to tell the truth (B. Haywood 2004). Therefore, some famous celebrities are always followed by the paparazzi and their privacy is exposed on magazines, newspapers. It is obvious that in a society that is obsessed by media and celebrity culture, celebrities have a great impact on everyone. From fashion trends to life style or political views, peoples behaviours, interests and beliefs are strongly affected by celebrities. Furthermore, these celebrity-culture-obsessions usually begin at an early age, therefore, other than adults, teenagers and children are most impressed. They often think of famous people as role model and try to become those figures (C. Shaffer, 2010). For example, there was a research done by the UK research organisation YouGov in 2005 which surveyed a group 800 of 16-19-year-age young people (Cassidy 2006). It showed that 10% of teenagers would leave school to appear on TV if they had opportunity. Sixteen in 100 of them believed they could find success through celebrity industry. Meanwhile, 9% think being famous is the best way to achieve wealthy without qualifications. The positive affects of celebrities are social and environmental effects. Many environmental topics and issues such as global warming, wildlife animal protectionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ could approach the publicity thanks to the celebrities. Tom Hanks, Al Gore, and Leonardo DiCaprio strongly believe in living green lifestyle (C. Shaffer, 2010). These advocacy-celebrities can positively influence people as they would live more eco-friendly and do good thing for environment protection. Furthermore, many celebrities campaigns concerning social issues like charity, helping poor people, HIVà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ also have good impacts on people recognition. One example is that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had adopted 3 orphans from different countries (Ethiopia, Cambodia and Vietnam). However, the bad effects also be accompanied by the good effects. The public, with so much exposure to celebrities, could strongly be influenced by their behaviour or even misbehaviour. The fact is that people are imitated by the behaviour associating with success and fame. So, that is the reason why they can have impacts on people, especially the young. Meanwhile, young celebrities can easily affect young people. However, two thirds of 1,007 people in a weekend USA Today Poll believe Hollywood stars are no more likely to get into trouble than other young people (K. Thomas, 2007). Paris Hilton and Linsay Lohan are example. Both of them had to go to jail because of using drugs and driving when they got drunk. Other scandals of the young celebrities concerning with sex, drugs, drunk, clubs, partiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. are exposed daily on many kinds of media. Hence, the downgrading lifestyles of celebrities are seriously affects on young people in general and the next generation in particu lar. No parents want those bad figures to become their childrens role but they could find no way to get rid of their effects. After the hardest work- choosing topic, I have to determine how I could approach it. I focused on how does celebrity culture affect our behavior, with three objectives: to examine the rising tide celebrity culture on newspapers, magazines, TV and the Internet; to evaluate the cost to be a celebrity; to research the effects of celebrity culture on our behaviour. However, on the process I did the research, I had to change my second objective to to explain why many people want to be celebrities, which seems to be more suitable to my way of approaching the topic. At first, I found it not too hard to meet the deadlines. Because most of my resources for the research project are from Internet, so it was easy for me to collect everything. Then, the hardest and most time-consuming step is to read all of them and classify which articles; journalsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ are suitable for which objective. Unfortunately, I was sick and absent 3 days from school, so, I could not hand in the second objective on time. Therefore, I did really hard to catch up with other friends and the deadlines also. From this part, I have learnt a lot about time management: to arrange work, to do the schedule, to catch upà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. I think this very important for my future study in university. Also, this is the first time I write the reference list, so I found it is quite difficult. I had to do it many times and asked the teacher to make sure that I was on the right way. Thanks to him, I could finally finish it. Now I feel more confidence to write the reference list next time. To sum up, I have learnt many new things when doing this research project. They are not only academic, but also social and communicational skills: to do the oral presentation, to manage time, to arrange work, to write a report, to do a bibliography, to overcome unexpected problemsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Those skills are always important in both my study and my life in future.