Impact of Greek Mythology on Western Culture Essay

Greek mythology ‘s impact on modern societies cannot be understated. Modern language, industry, arts and culture all demonstrate the impact of Greek mythology in today ‘s world. For example, most people who have no formal knowledge of Greek mythology still know that Hercules was a strongman and that Venus (the Roman version of the Greek Aphrodite) is the goddess of love. The Impact of Greek Mythology on Language Very few people speak ancient Greek on a regular basis, but Greek mythology has shaped English and other languages on many levels. A â€Å"Herculean task, † for example, is one that requires great effort. This phrase comes from a myth about the Twelve Labors of Hercules. The drug morphine takes its name from the Greek God of Sleep, Morpheus. â€Å"Venereal disease † is a rather unflattering reference to Venus. The goddess of love fares better in the term â€Å"aphrodisiac â€Å", referring to any substance or circumstance that arouses sexual desire . To this day, an unpleasant woman may be called a â€Å"harpy † (a winged monster with a woman ‘s torso and a bird ‘s feet). Alternately, a handsome man is an â€Å"Adonis, † the mortal man so beautiful that Aphrodite herself fell in love with him. We call computer viruses â€Å"Trojans, † a rather unfair comparison with the Trojans, as we ‘re actually referring to the Greek-built Trojan horse, used by the Greeks to infiltrate Troy and end the Trojan War. The impact of Greek mythology on western culture and language isn ‘t confined to individual words. Many expressions, proverbs and clichs are direct references to ancient Greek myths. For example, the expressions â€Å"caught between a rock and a hard place † and â€Å"between the Devil and the deep blue sea † both come from tales about sailors being caught between the monsters Scylla and Charybdis of Greek mythology. Other common expressions that demonstrate Greek mytholog y ‘s impact on modern societies include: †¢ an Achilles heel (a single fatal vulnerability) †¢ having the Midas touch (everything turns to gold) †¢ lying in the arms of Morpheus (sleeping) †¢ opening Pandora ‘s Box (unlocking a world of trouble) †¢ rich as Croesus (Croesus was known for his wealth) †¢ the face that launched a thousand ships (a woman worth going to war for). Cultural Impact of Greek Mythology in the West Greek mythology ‘s impact on modern societies is often seen in the arts and popular culture. In the 1980s, the all-female rock band The Bangles had a top ten hit with the single Venus. Television shows and movies, such as Disney ‘s Hercules, have also reintroduced mythological figures to new generations, including characters such as Hades, the Lord of the Underworld. In fact, movies have been retelling versions of Hercule ‘s story since the 1950s. Some of the most famous works of art and literature demonstrate the impact of Greek mythology on western culture. Botticelli ‘s The Birth of Venus is one of the world ‘s most recognizable paintings. Operas often delve into Greek mythology, as well. Offenbach à ¢â‚¬Ëœs Orpheus in the Underworld is one of the most famous examples. Great writers such as Dante, Shakespeare and Milton make frequent references to Greek mythology, so much so that an understanding of Greek myths is necessary to truly appreciate their works. American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne ‘s Tanglewood Tales is a collection of rewritten Greek myths. Science and Greek Mythology Greek mythology ‘s impact on modern societies can be seen on any clear night. Many constellations are named after characters or monsters from Greek myths, including Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Hercules and Gemini. All of the planets and most of the moons in the solar system are also named after Greek mythological characters, although the planets have been given Roman versions of the Greek names. Even our Earth was named after a Greek myth: Another name for our planet is â€Å"Gaia, † the name of the Greek earth mother. Signs of Greek Mythology in Modern Societies The names of Greek mythology surround us today, sometimes in unusual places. Would Ajax, one of t he great Greek heroes of The Iliad, be happy knowing he ‘s the namesake for a popular cleaning product? Sometimes, references to Greek mythology are appropriate. The Aegis is the shield used by both Zeus and his daughter Athena. Today, the Aegis Group is an insurance company, and the U.S. navy uses Aegis cruisers. In both of these instances, the reference to Greek mythology is clearly valid in that the insurance company and Navy boats provide protection, just as the Greek shield. At other times, the connection between Greek mythology and modern products is more tongue-in-cheek. A popular brand of condoms is named â€Å"Trojan, † slyly alluding to the Trojan horse that allowed the Greeks to safely penetrate Troy ‘s defenses. Despite our sometimes questionable uses of Greek mythology in contemporary culture, its impact on modern societies cannot be understated. References to Greek myths abound. In fact, Greek myths even influence our maps. A collection of maps is an Atlas, named for the titan who held up the earth. And Europe, seat of so many societies influenced by Greek myths, is named for Europa, the maiden carried off by Zeus, who had disguised himself as a bull to trick her.

Lifecycle of a Tyre and Creative Intervention Essay

The increased number of vehicles has led to a tremendous growth in the volume of used tyres. Over a billion tyres reach their end of life in the world each year (cited Brown & Watson, 2002) of which about 200000000 arises in Europe and 290000000 in the United States (cited RMA, 2003). From 1998 to 2008 this is expected to change by 2% every year. Vast quantities of tyre are stocked piled in designated landfills or illegally dumped. Besides posing pressure on the environment and the existing waste management sector, this erroneous waste flow also create opportunities for new recycling market to evolve. The tyre lifecycle traditionally comprises four main stages. These include production, consumption, collection of used tyres and waste management (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2006: 134). The final stage in the life cycle describes the ultimate destination where used tyres arrive. The term â€Å"used tyre† defines a tyre at the end of its first lifecycle. Two sub-types of used tyres are distinguished. The â€Å"part worn tyre† is a used tyre that can either directly be reused or retreaded. The â€Å"worn out† or â€Å"scrap tyre† is a used tyre that cannot be reused for its original purpose but may have a further use as a material or for energy recovery (Limbachiya & Roberts 2004: 273) The current solution of recycling is commercial development of a new building material made from recycled tires called the ‘Tire Log’. The Tire Log is a patented innovation made from waste tires with a unique and energy efficient approach to recycling tires. RTP recycling method is based on a simple procedure that helically wraps the steel belted tread of the tire around a core of tire treads to essentially any length or diameter. The net result is a building material that engineers say could revolutionize flood control, earthquake survivability and homeland security (Re-Tread Products, Inc. (RTP), 2008). References Limbachiya, M. C & Roberts, J. J. (2004). Sustainable waste management and recycling: used/ post-consumer tyres. Tokyo: Thomas Telford. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2006). Improving recycling markets. Paris: OECD Publishing. Re-Tread Products, Inc. (RTP). (2008, Jan 30). New York company announces new solution for recycled tires. Retrieved May 25, 2010, from www. environmental-expert. com: http://www. environmental-expert. com/resulteachpressrelease. aspx? cid=24895&codi=26319

Sushi King

OUTLINE CONTENT| PAGES| introduction| 2| Question 1 (9 degrees of method)| 3-6| Question 2| 7-9| conclusion| 10| Appendix and reference| 11-13| Introduction Sushi King first opened in 1995, pioneering a new era of Japanese cuisine in Malaysia with our unique ‘Kaiten Sushi’ or ‘Revolving Sushi’ with quick service restaurant concept. Offering range of Japanese cuisine where everyone can enjoy it t really affordable price. With the nice environment that they have , they are really gaining quickly popularity to become the favorite among locals foreigners taste. From a single outlet in Kuala Lumpur, we have grown to encompass over 70 (and counting) restaurants nationwide, distinguishing themselves as the largest sushi chain of restaurants in the country. The affordable price, efficiency of services from their restaurant had proved that they have the distinctive advantages, our specially equipped sushi-making machines and conveyor system showcasing quality sushi in a hygienic environment, as we offer quick and fresh food to suit today’s fast pace of life. The unique experience of selecting from a variety of sushi dishes on the revolving conveyor belt at leisure has attracted a wide variety of customers from all walks of life, from Japanese tourists and expatriates to even those initially unfamiliar with Japanese cuisine. Today, we have expanded our expertise to include specialized catering services for a variety of events and functions. As they continue to grow, we set our sights on further regional and eventually international expansion. Come and indulge in the Sushi King experience today. Question 1 Based on your understanding of Services Management, please explain to the Regional General Manager of â€Å"Sushi King SDN BHD† the findings of your study on his company pertaining to the 9 methods (degrees) of classifying services 9 Methods (Degrees) Of Classifying Services Intangibility In Service Management, there are nine methods (degrees) of classifying services. This method helps the company to classifying the services according to the characteristics. The first degree of classifying services is degree of intangibility. In terms of degree of intangibility, all services can be placed on a continuum ranging from low to high intangibility. For example, the higher the intangibility of Sushi King, the more difficulties customers experience when evaluating the offering. Intangibility can poses problems for the operating system since intangible things cannot be stored. Besides that, intangibility things are also difficult to standardize, making the quality much more dependent on the employee providing that particular service. Service also cannot be readily displayed or communicated. In Sushi King if the worker posses to high intangibility, it will be difficult for customer to experience on what they perceived for that services when evaluating the performance. Customer Contact Required Customer contact required has one of the characteristics that is the fact that demand for the service is often instantaneous and cannot be stored and that a flaw in the service operating system will have an immediate, direct effect on the consumer. The interaction between the employee and the customer means that the service employees have to be both competent and communicative. Therefore it becomes even more important to select and train employees that fit these criteria in order to perform their jobs well as front office employee. In sushi king, the interaction between employees and customer is very important as it will perform their ways of job very well in order for them to have both competent and communicative. Simultaneity This is not necessarily the same as the previous dimension. Production and consumption can occur simultaneously without the customer being present. Home banking and phone banking, for instance, allow the consumer to consume the service without face to face contact with the sushi king service provider. This is not necessary same as contact of customer required. In order for sushi king to provide the best service to the customer, what they can do is they need to face to face with their customer in order to allow them consume the service, production and consumption still occur simultaneously. Besides that, with that customer can affect each other while employee might affect the outcomes. Heterogeneity Employee and customer are the source of heterogeneity. As a result, there will be more heterogeneity in high consumer contact organizations. . In order to perform really well, Sushi king need to standardizing the operating system might be away to reduce this homogeneity. The implications are service delivery and customer satisfactions depend on employee and customer actions. For example, when employee serve customer in bad ways, it will affect the sushi king in names as it will gives bad pictures of sushi king. Perishability This dimension is of course closely related to the degree of intangibility and the degree of simultaneity. Means that the lower the goods component in the offering and the more consumption and production overlap, the higher the degree on perishability. As a consequence, these offerings cannot be stored. Managing the operation system by means of capacity management thus becomes more complex. Capacity management itself will influence both the employees and the customers. For example, customers of Sushi King will experience shorter waiting times, while the employees will have to adapt to more flexibility. The implication of this dimension is it is difficult to synchronize supply and demand with services. Other than that, services cannot be returned or resold. Demand fluctuation over time Dimensions related of previous point, the more demand fluctuates the more capacity management becomes important. The implication of this dimension is manager of Sushi King also faced with the challenge of continues fluctuation in demand, for instance. When the demand for the services is higher than the capacity management, the company effectively loses its chance to serve the customer. When the demand is less than the capacity, the company will loses revenue owing to unused resources. Since the capacity is a fixed component, the only viable option for the service manager is to find strategies that assist them to influence demand, strategies which can attract customers to voluntarily alter their demand. Additionally, excess capacity or low demand will not only affect the company's profit, but will also affect the quality of service that experienced by customers. Service customization Customization refers to the need and ability to alter the service in order to satisfy the individual customer's particular preferences. In terms of degree of service customization, unlike goods which are mostly purchased ‘off the shelf’, services can be much more customized. This is especially true when there is a high degree of overlap between production and consumption. For example, a meal at Sushi King, which is assembled from prepared items, is low in customization and served with little interaction occurring between the customer and the service providers. The implication of degree of customization is it will affect the ability to control the quality of the service being delivered and the perception of the service by the customer. Labor intensity Labor intensity can be defined as the ratio of labor cost to plant and equipment. A firm whose product, or in this case of Sushi King service, it requires a high content of time and effort with comparatively little plant and equipment cost would be said to be labor intense. Customer interaction represents the degree to which the customer can intervene in the service process. Service direction: towards people or equipment Personal services like hotels and restaurants are more towards people while transportation are equipment. In sushi king they need to focus more in their service direction to people as it will be more important as people will give the perception towards their restaurants including their services. Question 2 Prepare a short proposal to the Regional General Manager whether the â€Å"future Service Direction† of Sushi King SDN BHD should be towards people or equipment and how to achieve that. Service direction towards people or equipment is one of the classifying services that refer whether company wanted to focus towards people or equipment. Sushi king is restaurant, with that in what that I think, sushi king need to be more concern on people where they are actually providing foods and services to people. For the future direction, sushi king need to be towards people because they are the one who consume what that sushi king had. In sushi king, they are required to prepare their worker with people oriented service in order to well perform in what that consumer wants and needs. Their worker also need to have different value and skills to really success fulfill customer needs. Sushi king future service directions is people so it related to customer relationship management (CRM). It is a widely model for managing a company’s interactions with the customers and services prospects. It also involve using technology to organize, automate and synchronize business processes, principally services activities for instance, but also those for marketing, customer service and technical support. The overall goals of customer relationship management are to find, attract and win new customer, service and retain those the company already has and reduce the costs. Most of the companies nowadays are difficult of improving customer service in order to impact customer retention levels. Customer relationship management can be achieved through the raising customer satisfaction levels that require comprehensive systems approach. There are several steps in building relationships of worker and customer. The first step is to setting a clear customer experience strategy. To establish a good strategy certain key practices are required. First one is staff at sushi king need to understand the overall organizations vision and mission, next, sushi king staff need to define customer organizations customer service direction as well as value and they need to ensure customer service is defined as a key responsibility for the business or department. Second step is to selecting correct people in order for sushi king to be having just a good worker. When recruiting employees to provide customer service, the process often tends to concentrate more on functional expertise, technical competence and knowledge rather than interpersonal skills. However, lack of the right attitude can drastically impact client satisfaction levels. Research has in fact shown that attitude is the most important requirement like skills and functional expertise can be taught. Therefore in selecting the right people, sushi king need to define the critical job requirements and develop scenario-based interviews/assessment centers to screen and select candidates. Sushi king needs to involve multiple team members in the hiring process and ensure evaluation is based on objective not based on subjective criteria. Third strategy is to developing, motivating and managing your people Even though you have hired the right people, there is still a need to orient them into the organization’s customer relationship culture and define key communication skills. Therefore to build a customer relationship culture, it is important for sushi king to provide training in key areas required to deliver exceptional personal service as well as reinforce these skills using ongoing coaching and feedback. Sushi king also need to measure current performance levels and reward performance using a combination of monetary awards and non-monetary recognition. Other than that is establishing effective service delivery processes that provide the foundation for smoothing or inhibiting the material service element of the customer interaction. Efficient service delivery systems appear transparent to the customer. The critical elements in ensuring a positive material customer experience are sushi king needs to mapping the service delivery processes and evaluating critical success points in the process. Sushi king also needs to defining service standards and objectives for these essential points and establishing service delivery procedures to optimize material service as well as sushi king can create service level agreements to smooth internal service delivery. Next is building in continuous improvement, no matter how effective the service delivery processes, or well-trained the service deliverers, things go wrong. Products have faults. Customers get frustrated. Things slip through the cracks. The organizations that are built around managing the customer experience are able to resolve these issues effectively. In order for sushi king to recover effectively, it is necessary for sushi king to actively seek customer feedback and complaints as sushi king cannot improve if you don't know what went wrong in the first place. Sushi king also needs to train staff on how to handle customer complaints effectively using the correct mix of empathizing, apologizing and resolution as well as make sure that the real problem is solved, not just the symptoms. Sushi king also need to focus on proactive (prevention) as well as reactive (cure) problem solving. Lastly is ensuring managers are the key change-agents consultants, we observe that senior management often has the vision, intention and commitment to introduce a comprehensive customer relationship management system. The make or break element is in involving middle management in the change process, and empowering them to be the key change-agents. To do this, it is important to sushi king to engage the management team early and often in the process and its involve management members in articulating the customer experience strategy. Sushi king also need to teach managers coaching skills so that they are able to articulate and reinforce the key personal service skills and use managers as facilitators when rolling out interpersonal skills training. Rewarding managers on establishing, monitoring and updating service delivery processes as well as ensures managers are able to act as an example to their teams. As a conclusion, sushi king really need to build customer relationship in order to gives the best future service direction towards people. Conclusion For the current condition in sushi king, their service actually got little bit of lack in giving service to their customer. With a bit of improvement and innovation, I am sure that they really can come out with very good service quality that people may perceive. Reference http://www. sushi-king. com/

Overall Reaction to Crash Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Overall Reaction to Crash - Movie Review Example From this discussion it is clear that  the movie shows how circumstances in life affect the thinking and actions of an individual. The reporter likes the fact that is depicted in the movie that more often it is the circumstances that makes an individual good or bad. Two characters that he likes the most and that prove the above statement are that of John and Tommy. John due to the various circumstances in his life has developed a negative and hatred attitude towards black people. It is depicted in the way he treats Camille and Shaniqua in two different circumstances.This study discusses that  the two moments that I feel the most significant are the moment between Camille and John inside the truck and the one where little Lara tries to protect her father (Daniel) from being shot by Farhad. The first one is significant because it shows how under an emergency people try to forget their differences and come together to fight for a common cause. Here, both John and Camille have differ ences with each other and in spite John risks his life to save Camille’s life. The emotional connect between the two and the way she looks at him while she is taken away is very significant. The transformation in John’s character can be seen in the scene. In the other moment, young Lara’s character shows love and selflessness. This act of Lara brings in a transformation in Frahad.  This one moment changes his attitude towards life.

America and the Great War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

America and the Great War - Essay Example In discussing the participation of United States, the paper pays particular attention to the reasons of America’s neutrality between 1914 and 1917 and eventually examines the specific events that led to US joining of war. Finally, the paper evaluates the contributions of USA to the war and to the extent; their entry resulted to the end of the war. I will briefly analyze the events that resulted that to the defeat of the Versailles treaty with particular attention to the role of President Woodrow Wilson during and after the war. Introduction When historians deeply analyze the cause of World War 1, we find that it was more complicated. The eruption of the war was not only caused by immediate chain of events but also some deep root causes (John, 2010). The paper tends to analyze the major events that led to the cause of World War 1. Emergence of Defense Alliances An alliance is a formal agreement negotiated between countries to assist each other in event of need. The signatories in an alliance are called Allies. Pre World War 1 saw the signing of many alliance agreements between countries. It was noted that the years preceding the World War 1, European countries made defense agreements which were mutual (Ross, 2008). This drew them closer to battles. According to Martin (2012), in these alliances, the agreements were that if one of the countries were attacked, the countries, which were allied to them in the alliances, were to come to their defense. Some of the notable alliances formed before the World War 1 according to Michael (2009) include the following: 1) The Dual Alliance of 1879 between Germany and Austria Hungary. 2) The Austro-Serbian Alliance of 1881 between Serbia and austral Hungary. 3) The Triple Alliance of 1882 between Germany, Austria Hungary and Italy. 4) The Triple Entete of 1914 between Britain, Russia and France. 5) The Franco -Russian alliance of 1894 between Russian and France. 6) The Anglo-Russian of 1907 between Britain and Russia. 7 ) Entente Cordiale of 1904 between France and Britain. In their article, History of the world wars, BBC (2013) states that the commitment to the alliances was seen Russia went to defend Serbia, her alley when Austria- Hungary attacked Serbia. When Germany saw Russia mobilizing her war artillery in a bid to come to the assistance of Serbia, the Germans declared war to Russia. This drew France to the war against the Germany and Austria Hungary. The unfolding events saw the Germans attacking the French through Belgium. This drew Britain also into the war. The entry of Japan into the war was seen at this moment in a bid to assist her ally, the Great Britain. United States and Italy later joined the war on different sides of the existing allies. Imperialism Imperialism can be defined as the state where a particular country multiplies their wealth and powers by colonizing many territories and bringing them under her control. Before the emergence of World War 1, imperialism was rampant amo ng many European countries. Some parts of Asia and Africa were the main centers up for grabs among the European countries. This was so because of the availability of the raw materials in these regions (John, 2010).

International Business Management And Strategy Essay

International Business Management And Strategy - Essay Example PESTEL Analysis The PESTEL framework of analysis looks at six external forces – Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal – that affect the company at its present state or that have the potential to affect industry competitiveness in future. For the pharmaceutical industry we have identified that Political, Economic, Social and Technological factors have the potential greater impact on the industry than the remaining two therefore we shall focus on this four in our following discussion. It takes 10-15 years on average for an experimental drug to travel from lab to patients (Holland, 2011) and this is largely due to stringent government regulations. This long lead time is just a tip of the political iceberg that plays a very big role in the pharmaceutical industry. Beginning 2009, the U.S. Federal Drug Administration tightened regulations so that pharmaceutical companies will now have to adjust to stricter standards and stronger enforcement ( Anon, 2011). In addition to this, most governments continue to pressure GSK and the other big pharma to increase access to medication either by lowering the cost of drugs or by removing their patent protection to allow for manufacture of generics. The latter ask is highly unlikely to be accepted by GSK and its peers whereas the former could be achieved if the pharmaceutical companies are guaranteed of bigger sales volumes. One important political move that should have a big impact in this industry is the passing of President Obama’s US healthcare reform into law on March 23, 2010. This bill is good news for the big pharmaceutical companies because it is expected to expand health insurance coverage to more than 30 million uninsured Americans (Trager, 2010), especially considering that America is still the largest pharmaceutical market in the world. Other than this significant increase in market size, the new healthcare law also protects original drug manufacturers, such as GSK, from competition from generic alternatives on biologics through a 12 year exclusivity period. Biologics are currently viewed as one of the potential huge products for pharmaceuticals, especially given that they contributed US $80 billion in 2008 with favourable projected goals of up to three times that of small molecules (Holland, 2011). Closely following political factors in significance for the pharmaceutical industry is the economic factors. There are positives as well as negatives for GSK and its peers to ponder over with regards to economics. The first negative that quickly comes to mind is the global economic squeeze of 2008 that has somewhat persisted to the present day, especially in the EU. According to Holland (2011) the pharmaceutical market growth is strongly aligned with GDP growth therefore the low GDP growth in the current key markets of US, Japan and Europe is a cause for concern. The immediate consumer behaviour will be to opt for the more affordable generi c drugs at the expense of the original drugs that have cost GSK and its peers billions of dollars in investment from research, to production to marketing. Talking about generics, most of the blockbuster drugs patents that enriched big pharma have / are coming to an end in 2011 and 2012. This growth of generics and loss of patent protection for best-selling drugs at the same window period has the potential of turning cash-cows for GSK and its

Hospitality Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Hospitality Management - Case Study Example Moreover, it will discover the UK consumer trends, present the variety of backgrounds of investors and give a future outlook along with a forecast which has been urbanized to illustrate the industry and the factors moving its growth and future. In conclusion, it will comment on short-term and long-term investment as well as recommending an outcome for the investor. A Thistle Euston hotel, according to the EU, is defined as 'a communal accommodation enterprise, typified as being prearranged in rooms exceeding a countrywide specified minimum and as providing ordinary services, counting room service'. Usually, the UK definition is made according to the investment of a license to sell liquor. (Lawson, 1998) According to the newest beginning figures from the Hotel Thistle Euston Survey by Deloitte, the UK hotel industry has established to be the strongest entertainer in Europe in the first six months of 2004, by means of revenue per obtainable room (revPAR) rising 11 percent against the similar period in 2003, resulting from a balanced mix of rising occupancies and standard room rates. London, which is the most important performer in the UK, knowledgeable a 6% augment in standard room rate year on year (ACAS 2002). Budget Hotel is on the entire purpose-built, identified lodging unit by a smallest of 50 rooms and standard low prices. Personage units are frequently identified as lodges, inns or - less usually now - motels. Bed and Breakfast is a private house; several rooms of which are set aside for overnight guests whose paid lodging comprise breakfast. (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language) The competitive environment There is always tough competition amongst the key players inside the UK Hotel Industry: From the Smith Travel Research where the grand insist for the Residence Inn was at 30% and the supply was merely at 8%. The Marriott PLC has urbanized a new group called "Residence Inn" to adapt this great market insist. UK center market hotel brand, Thistle, is initiation a luxury worldwide sister - Guoman, which is set to spread internationally. In order to grow the brand Thistle intends to upgrade some existing properties in the UK and launch an "ambitious acquisition strategy" abroad. Whitbread has made the decision to decrease their experience to (and eventually exit from) the full-service hotels division where they are the UK operators of the Marriott brand, due to the low returns from this franchised commerce. The company also obtain Premier Lodge from Spirit Group for pound; 505 million, and combining Travel Inn and Premier Lodge and marketing them to the UK consumer under on brand (Ackers, P.

Incident Response Policy Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Incident Response Policy - Coursework Example The InfoSec’s policy is created to provide security within the computerized devices in a company. Among these companies services is the provision of the Bluetooth operating system covers all Bluetooth enabled devices within the company. The policy prevents imitation through setting up any Bluetooth device on any company equipment that does not fit their specific model without the permission of the company’s InfoSec Manager. The system is secured by passwords to any connectivity. Operators are expected to enter a certain security password that is kept a secret to the company staff members. The system secures the company’s internet use and ensures that not anybody can be connected to the company internet without the permission from the associated staff (Hassell, 2005). Internet supply is supplied within a limited area and is mostly concentrated within the perimeter of the company. It is installed to computers, laptops, and other wifi enabled mobile phones devises. When pairing the Bluetooth internet connections to the Bluetooth enabled device, the user is expected to insert the required pin or password to ensure connections. In case the device denies connection after feeding it with the correct pin/password, operators are expected to report to the InfoSec through the company help desk. For the accountability and performance determination, the InfoSec performs audits to ensure that members comply with the policy. The Bluetooth users must only access the company internet after an approval of their Bluetooth device hardware and software connections. Any member of staff found to violate the policy is subject to a disciplinary action and may lead to termination of employment (Administrators guide to Windows server 2003,

Case Brief, U.S. V. Clemons, 32F.3d 1504(11th Cir. 1994) Research Paper

Case Brief, U.S. V. Clemons, 32F.3d 1504(11th Cir. 1994) - Research Paper Example Althouse was murdered late in the night while driving toward a colleague’s house, to discuss the next day’s arrest warrants The court relied on the law stating that any individual who kills or attempts to kill federal agents while they are engaging in their official duties can be convicted of murder. In cases whereby an individual is found guilty of an attempted murder, a jail term of not more than twenty years is issued. The court was convinced that the federal agent (Althouse) was engaging in official duties when he was murdered. Clemons argued that the evidence presented to the judge was insufficient to show that the federal agent was on official duties at the time of the murder. In addition, he argued that the court broke the law by relying on similar cases and evidence to make its decision. Smith argued that the use of Clemon’s confessions in implicating him is against the law. The court argued that Althouse was trying to prevent the theft of FBI property when he was murdered. Even though the duties were being carried out late in the night, the court still believed that Althouse was performing his duties. The way in which Clemons carried out the carjacking led to murder. Any individual who kills or attempts to kill federal agents, or any officer or employee working in the secret service or drug enforcement administration, is punishable under sections 1111 and 1112 of the United States’ Constitution. Individuals found guilty of attempted murder are given jail terms of not more than twenty years. The court made its decision based on the argument that the federal agent was performing his official duties. Althouse was trying to prevent the theft of a federal car when he was killed. In such circumstances, the judges were convinced that the agent was performing official duties. The court also relied on the evidence presented by Althouse’s colleagues. Althouse had

Importance of Community Development in the Middle East Important to the U.S. Essay Example for Free

Importance of Community Development in the Middle East Important to the U.S. Essay The Middle East is the region which extends from southwestern Asia to northeastern Africa, though its boundaries are not very specific. It is the historic origin of some major religions that we have today. These include Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Yezidi, Bahai faith among others. The Middle East came to be recognized as a single region after the First World War, during which the Ottoman Empire was divided into countries that currently comprise the Middle East. In 1948, Israel was established and joined the group of countries that make up the Middle East. The countries that are in the Middle East include Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Yemen, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates among others (Eur, 2002). The Middle East is however a region that has always been a centre of world affairs both on a positive and a negative note. There have been various ups and downs in the history of the Middle East; some of which recur to date. Some of these events have brought about an international outcry and eventually caused the calling forth of immediate reforms in some of the countries that comprise the Middle East. Some of the reforms brought to the attention of these countries are issues pertaining community development, which is vital for the growth of these countries. Community development in this region is aimed at mitigating the wrangles and wars that have been there in this region and make its occupants concentrate on issues that would be beneficial to their lives. Community development is the enhancement or the nurturing of some specific values within the society that bring about some positive change in the way that people in this particular society live and co-ordinate their lives. Community development is very important in any community because any improvement within any given society and mainly comes about as a result of cooperation between the members of these societies. It is through community development that acquirement, exploitation, and equal distribution of resources is accomplished. It is what enables a society to go forward and have all the amenities that are necessary for life (Bayat, 2002). The international community has been on the forefront advocating for community development in the region. This would see to it that the region develops economically and that its ties with other nations improve. The countries located in the Middle East dominate the world’s list of major oil producers. Most of the economies of these countries are highly driven by oil. The world’s economy is to some extent controlled by the prices of oil and this means that the Middle East bears a hand in whichever way that the oil prices sway. A reduction in oil production or an increment in the prices of oil per barrel would be a major blow to the economies of the world especially those of countries that do not produce oil or do not produce oil that can support their enormous populations. As a result of this, many of the world’s powers have always tried to have an edge over the countries in the Middle East in order to curb this (Wright, 1999). The United States of America is one of the countries that has always wanted there to be some stability and community development in the Middle East though most of these nations are opposed to its views. Many are even reluctant to cooperate because the United States is not mainly an Islamic state. The Middle East has always been marred by some wars and other cold wars. The United States itself was behind the 2003 Iraq invasion that saw to the total overhaul of the Iraqi government. Many local and international communities have always pointed fingers at the United States for such a miscalculation and therefore rapid community development in this region would help quench the guilt that the United States feels for doing this. Little else can be done other than trigger community development that would see Iraq have its economic prosperity back. This way, the United States can restore its sanctity too. The United States of America’s administration has therefore embarked on a plan to bring forth community development in Iraq. This is done through the providence of funds to kick off this process. Terrorism has been one of the menaces that have posed one of the greatest risks to the United States of America and its citizens. The United States government has been doing all within its means in order to eradicate terrorism and bring to book those involved. Terrorism has long been perceived as being endorsed and triggered by some Islamic extremists believed to be trained in some secret places within the Middle East. Therefore, if the United States figures that if it is able to bring forth some community development in the Middle East, they can be able to control or eventually eradicate terrorism. Some of the most wanted terrorists are believed to be harbored in the Middle East and some are even believed to be under the protection of some Middle East governments. The United States has even offered to train the Afghanistan police and military in order to control the levels of terrorism and fight drug cartels. Afghanistan is believed to be one of the world’s top producers of cocaine. The advent of nuclear weapons poses a major threat to the world’s population if these weapons are not handled with care. Countries ought to obtain approval from the United Nations before they embark on developing nuclear weapons and war-heads or any similar venture, failure to which some severe measures can be taken. Iran has some nuclear power stations which are operational though the United States and other powerful countries believe that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. The United States has taken a firm stand against this and has sought some diplomatic positions with regard to this issue. Significant community development across the Middle East would see to it that such problems are dealt with easily which would actually be an advantage to the United States on its take on global peace. The Israeli-Palestinian war has been raging for several decades. Israel is located amidst countries which are its sworn enemies. Many of the contentious issues between Israel and its neighbors have eventually resulted in wars that have left many dead and injured. The United States is Israel’s sworn ally and therefore a blow to Israel means a major blow to the United States though indirectly. As a result of this, the United States has always acted in the favor of Israel. The idea of community development would eventually lead to unity in the region and thus remove the burden of sporadic wars from Israel and promote economic growth in the region. There are various leftist terrorist groups that have been formed in opposition of Israel. These include Hamas and Hezbollah and the return of peace to the region would see to it that these groups cease to exist as they are a threat to peace in the region. This would further improve the United States’ war against terrorism (Thomas, 1998). Finally, the United States of America envisions economic allies from the Middle East, which hosts some of the fastest growing economies in the world. An alliance between the United States and the Middle East would see to the growth of the economic interests of both parties. Economic enhancement means more power and this is exactly this would translate to the United States. Economic empowerment is of paramount importance especially in this period when the world is experiencing a financial recession. Economic empowerment would therefore be a major boost to the United States and any other interested parties. The Middle East is one of the regions that the business interests of Americans are not appreciated and therefore mending this would change the equation. Countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Jordan have incorporated tourism into their economies and this is bound to improve their relationship with other countries. Egypt has been one of the key factors that have made peace-brokerage possible in the Middle East. Egypt is an Islamic state that is not hard lined towards general hatred towards the west. This gives it an edge towards dealing with the Middle East crises and dangerous wars. It is through Egypt that some international communities have voiced their concerns. It is through Egypt that some wars have been stopped through cease-fires; such as the recent Israeli-Palestinian war that was showcased along the Gaza strip. Egypt itself is strategically placed and is allied to many of the nations in the Middle East. They are therefore bound to listen to Egypt when it comes to negotiating a particular situation. As a result of this, many of the western countries ally themselves to Egypt in a bid to broker peace in the Middle East. Egypt therefore plays a very vital role when it comes to dealing with the nations of the Middle East because of its neutrality and similarity to these nations despite being an Islamic state. It is a peaceful sovereign state that is deemed reliable by many western countries when it comes to dealing with the Middle East. As a result, community development is vital as a solution to the problems that currently affect the Middle East nations. The Middle East is in a quagmire of woes at the moment and a solution that would bring about peace and stability in the region would all the same transform this region into an economic powerhouse which would be a big boost to the global financial market altogether. Community development, to say the least, is one of the keys to peace and stability in this region. References: Bayat, A. , (2002), Activism And Social Development In The Middle East, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Issue 34:1:1-28, Cambridge University Press, Retrieved on 29th April 30, 2009 from: http://journals. cambridge. org/action/displayAbstract? fromPage=onlineaid=105825 Eur, (2002), The Middle East and North Africa 2003, Europa Publications Staff, ISBN 1857431324, 9781857431322, Published by Routledge, Wright J. W. , (1999), The Political Economy of Middle East Peace: The Impact of Competing Trade Agendas, ISBN 0415183952, 9780415183956, Published by Routledge Thomas R. M. , (1998), Conducting educational research: a comparative view, ISBN 0897896092, 9780897896092, Published by Greenwood Publishing Group

Mitchells Fruit Farms: A history of company growth

Mitchells Fruit Farms: A history of company growth Mitchells Fruit Farms Limited is the oldest and most trusted Food Company in Pakistan. Since starting its operations in 1933, the Company has gone from strength to strength, and its wide variety of products has inundated breakfast tables with farm-fresh consumables, straight from its orchards in Renala Khurd products of a high standard, enriching the lives of millions of people with all the goodness of nature for a healthy lifestyle. Today Mitchells family continues to grow, reaching more and more households worldwide with an ever-increasing array of farm-fresh products ranging from thirst-quenching Squashes Syrups; fruity Jams, Jellies and Marmalade; rich Tomato Ketchup savory Sauces; tasty Pickles; refreshingly nutritious Canned Fruits Vegetables; and a wholesome assortment of Candies Chocolate from its wide range of confectionery products. Francis J. Mitchell arrived in Bombay from Scotland at the end of World War I. He had been invited by his brother who was already established in North Western India as a contractor to the government for construction of the railway network in this part of the subcontinent. At that time, when Francis was already an old man of over sixty years, an opportunity came his way in the form of the emerging irrigation system being laid out in the canal colony districts of West Punjab. He was successful in obtaining the lease of 720 acres of agricultural land in the then Montgomery district. The area allotted to him extended for nearly seven miles from Renala Khurd to Kissan, sandwiched between the arterial lower Bari Doab Canal and the Lahore/Karachi railway. He initiated the business of growing grapes for eventual sale as dried raisins and sent his younger son Richard to Australia for training at Mildura which was well known as a centre of specialisation in the field of horticulture. The The company, with Francis Mitchell as its Governing Director and his two sons Leonard and Richard as Directors, was incorporated in 1933 and given the name Indian Mildura Fruit Farms Ltd. The North Western Railway had opened to traffic a few years before the acquisition of the land by the Mitchell family. Francis Mitchell was asked by the railway authorities to propose a name for the adjoining station. Hence the word Kissan which subsequently became a familiar brand name. The trial planting of grapes, which began in 1921 and lasted until 1924, unfortunately did not prove to be a success. The vines suffered serious damage from pests during the rainy season, just when the grapes needed dry weather for ripening. The entire plantation was replaced with citrus, which, fortunately, proved to be profitable. The elder son, Leonard, was sent specially to South Africa to look for good rootstock, which was the foundation of Valencia orange trees these are well established on the farms today. With the outbreak of World War II, demand for canned fruits and vegetables for the allied troops, stationed in India, began to grow rapidly. To cost-effectively cater to this growing demand, a factory was established in Bangalore, South India. A new joint-stock company by the name of Kissan Products Ltd. was registered. PHASE II: AFTER INDEPENDENCE As a sequel to Independence in 1947, Indian Mildura Fruit Farms Limited lost nearly 75% of its Indian market. The companys name was changed to Mitchells Fruit Farms (Pvt.) Ltd. and the brand name MITCHELLS became the exclusive property of the Pakistani company. Likewise, the Indian company acquired exclusive use of the KISSAN brand name. Francis Mitchell died in 1933 and his elder son, Leonard, became Chairman. After his brothers tragic death in an air accident, Richard took over the chairmanship in 1949 and continued in this capacity until his death in 1987. The family sold its shares gradually, having inducted Pakistani shareholders in 1957, and retired to Eastbourne, U.K., in 1959. Richards wife, Betty, retained her links with the Company in the capacity of Director until 1991. She died in 1995. COMPANYS INFORMATION SALES The national market, particularly in the major cities was saturated with the imported foodstuff. Although foreign fruit preserves, sauces and drinks were visible on the shelves of the largest stores these were not as abundant as imported confectionery, especially various brands of chocolate. It would appear that much of this merchandise continues to be brought into the country through unofficial channels without payment of imported duties. Despite these unhelpful conditions Mitchells were able to achieve a significant increase of over 10% in the sales of confectionery and succeeded at the same time in recording a marginal growth in our traditional groceries business. CAPITAL EXPENDITURE In the beginning they have invested around Rs.29.76 million in putting up modern automated facility in the form of building and machinery. An independent feeder of supply of electric power directly form the WAPDA grid station together with a new standby generator were commissioned in January 2002.at a cost of Rs.14, 535,652.this should result in considerable savings in power bills. Internal cash generation and bank borrowing have met the capital expenditure bill in full. HUMAN RESOURCE Human Resource has also the pivotal importance for the company. Management and employee skills are constantly being updated through training courses and study tours both at home and abroad. Currently Mitchells is operating with 32 executive staff members along with a big sales and labor force RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT The success of Mitchells products, and the taste that has been winning consumers hearts for generations, is the result of the Companys ongoing investment in and emphasis on quality control, reinforced by research and development (R D). Both sections closely coordinate with the Marketing and Exports Office in Lahore where product concepts are initiated and passed on to the R D section for formulation. Once the RD section has prepared samples of new products, the Marketing Division carefully carries out product evaluation. QUALITY CONTROL TRAINING Along with R D, the Quality Control section ensures that all our products live up to the consumers high expectations. From selection of the finest fruits, to processing and packaging, quality control plays a key role in keeping a vigilant and unrelenting eye on every step of the process. The Quality Control staff, with a main up-to-date laboratory, two line-control labs for the Groceries and Sugar Confectionery divisions, and an incubation lab, ensures that there is no deficiency in quality standards during production. As the Company considers its employees its most important asset, management skills are being constantly updated by sending executives on training courses and study tours, both at home and abroad. QUALITY POLICY Mitchells Fruit Farms Limited, is committed to produce best quality products meeting our customers requirements at competitive prices, strengthening our position as a quality managed company. To meet this obligation, the company will continue: 1. Updating of employee skills by training 2. Acquisition of new technology 3. Re-evaluation of its quality control and quality assurance system Management. EXPORTS AND IMPORTS EXPORTS At present, MITCHELLS products are being exported to several parts of the world, including UK, USA, and the Middle East. In future the Company is planning to make MITCHELLS a brand name familiar with households in every part of the world. IMPORTS There are certain Mitchells products that are being imported. For example, we import pineapple from Singapore. Only fruit is imported, the rest of the process is done in our farms. Some of the fruit is imported in the form of pulp such as mango. We do grow mangoes in our farms but due to the increasing demand of mango items we have to import some of the quantity from other countries to meet the demand. Sugar is also imported. PRESENT PERFORMANCE OF MITCHELLS The Company passed a major milestone when it went public in 1993, receiving a record subscription for its shares floated on the market. The year 1998, the 65th for Mitchells, brought another major distinction for the Company; the ISO 9001 accreditation, making it the first food company in Pakistan to achieve the honor. Today in Pakistan, Mitchells is the only major company with fully integrated operations having its own growing and processing facilities at one location. Modern high-volume industrial equipment, professional management and a trained workforce ensure that Mitchells maintains its lead. Fully computerized and inter-linked regional sales offices manage burgeoning countrywide sales, with those in major cities, Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Islamabad. All the offices are on the Internet/e-mail network ensuring uninterrupted flow of data. Highly qualified executives using modern management tools from the Head Office in Lahore handle commercial, financial and accounting functions. A smooth distribution system with nationwide coverage and consistency of quality have kept the most prestigious national institutions loyal to Mitchells growing product range. These include Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), leading five star hotels and clubs, Utility Stores Corporation, Canteen Stores Department, chains of main stores and established restaurants in major cities. FUTURE PROSPECTS We believe that given the vast agricultural potential of Pakistan, there are bright prospects for the food processing industry, which can helpmeet the nutritional needs of the growing urban population within the country as well as provide a surplus for export. The pre-requisite for such a development is a healthier and expanding economy. We are confident that our company is well placed to derive full benefit for the opportunities as they arise. MITCHELLS OBJECTIVES Mitchells objective is to provide its customer with healthy, innovative and best quality food that will tempt their appetite at all times. Above all, Mitchells also promise convenience variety at affordable prices. VISION AND MISSION STATEMENT 1. To be a leader in the markets we serve by providing quality products and efficient services to our consumers while learning from their feedback to set even higher standards for our products. 2. To be a company that continuously enhances its superior technological competence to provide innovative solutions and superior products as per requirement of the market place. 3. To be a company that attracts and retains outstanding people by creating a culture that fosters openness and innovation, promotes individual growth, and rewards initiative and performance. 4. To be a company which combines its people, technology, management systems, and market opportunities to achieve profitable growth while providing fair returns to its investors. 5. To be a company that endeavors to set the highest standards in corporate ethics in serving society. SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS MITCHELLS Mitchells launched its squashes in the year 1941. Mitchells was the sole player in the field of squashes at that time. They were the first movers in rich fruit citrus. They identified the need of, make to drink product. After the proper customer need analysis consistent screening and evaluation by the Mitchells research and development department a totally new product (squashes) was designed in the form of rich fresh fruit citrus .It was a break through innovation They availed the opportunity and gained the first mover advantage. So they get hold of major market share , and with the passage of time they captured the market knowledge and rare resources Mitchells got the competitive advantage because they had the first mover advantage Fully integrated operations. Specially farm fresh fruits with having their own growing and processing facilities Mitchells had professional management and the trained workforce Mr. Richard got training from Australia Mildura at the initial stage A smooth distribution system with nationwide coverage Right products, quality and reliability. Management was committed and confident Mitchells was the pioneer in the field of squashes, they gained massive market share and achieved the positive word of mouth regarding there products as they are made of fresh farm fruits. Target Market: The target market at the time of launch was up to 60 years of age and the core target was 15-30 years of age. Segmentation: They segmented their product on the socio economic classes focusing on- A, B+ and B. Marketing Strategy: As they had the first mover advantage they utilized it fully and initially promoted squashes by newspapers, posters radio channels. But they mainly invested there resources in building there corporate image . MAJOR COMPETITOR SHEZAN: The company was incorporated in 1964 as a Private Limited Company, with the main objective to set up an industrial undertaking for manufacturing of juices, squashes, sherbets, jams, pickles and preserves from fruits and vegetables. Shezan International Limited was conceived as a joint venture by the Shahnawaz Group of Pakistan and Alliance Industrial Development Corporation of U.S.A. The agricultural background of the Pakistani sponsors induced them to establish this agro-based industry. Today Shezan is the largest food processing unit having developed and installed the capacity to meet the countrys local as well as export needs. While introducing a me too product, squashes the major threat was to compete Mitchells, who already got the major market share by capturing rare resources and already gained knowledge of key factors and issues of the market. It was very costly for Shezan to overtake Mitchells.There was a high risk involved in competing with Mitchells fruit Farm Company. Shezan had the advantage to follow the already set product standards of Mitchells regarding research and development. Shezan had the line of action to grab market share by offering high quality and better taste followed by product variety by analyzing the Mitchells squashes. Target Market: Shezans target market is up to 60 years of age and their core target market is 15-30 years of age. Segmentation: They segmented their product on the socio economic classes focusing on A, B+ and B. Marketing Strategy: Launched squashes in 1968-1969. at that time they promote it by newspapers, posters radio. On radio there was a show with the name HIT BREAK the host name was HAMAD. They used market skimming strategy by offering low prices to capture the market share. SHEZANS COMPETITIVE STRATEGY  ·Initially launched only three flavors of squashes which were ( mango, orange and lemon). But in current market it has 6 flavors  (orange, mango, mix fruit, lemon and lemon barley, pomegranate)    ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Shezan was available in 735 ml. glass bottle but now its available in pet bottle of 830 ml  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Complete backward integration in case of this company since it is the only company that has its own sugar mill as well in the name of Shahtaj Sugar Mills, Mandi-bahauddin.  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Shezan has the most developed distribution channels network and therefore it has an advantage of reaching maximum customers throughout Pakistan with the help of small retailers as well as larger retailers  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Shezan owns 60% of shelf space in all of the almost 16,000 outlets of Utility Stores  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Shezan is involved in advertisements and low cost promotional campaigns which makes it a very generic brand name in the mind of consumers when they are out shopping for squashes.  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Shezan is the largest food processing unit having developed and installed the capacity to meet the countrys local as well as export needs.  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Shezan has the highest production capacity as compared to its competitors. MITCHELLS CURRENT STRATEGY Mitchells refreshing Squashes are made from the Farm Fresh Fruits in a hygienic environment keeping in view the health of their valued customers. Mitchells procure raw material from fresh and sun ripened fruits especially grown on their orchards in Renala, they offer a range of energizing natural fruit flavors that promise to liven up your day. Mitchells is the only major food company in Pakistan today with fully integrated operations having its own growing and processing facilities at one location. Modern high-volume industrial equipment, professional management and a trained workforce all combine to ensure that Mitchells continues its dominance as the innovator, market leader and trend setter. In 1998 Mitchells became the first food company in Pakistan to achieve ISO 9001 accreditation, thus becoming more competitive on the international stage also. Squashes has now stagnate growth and product itself is at maturity stage so Mitchells is trying to retain the market share and its loyal customers. Mitchells introduced squashes pet bottles with the quantity 1.5 liter and 810 ml Mitchells squashes are available in seven flavors (orange, mango, mix fruit, pineapple, guava, lemon and lemon barley) Mitchells Diet Squashes are available in eight flavors. Mitchells squashes contain extensive fruit content which is the major differentiation factor. In year 2001 and 2002 they run a biggest campaign for squashes. Mitchells used more than 200 hoardings displayed all over the Pakistan As squashes has stagnate growth and product itself is at maturity stage the company is focusing upon building its corporate image rather than investing solely on squashes advertisements. So they dont want to waste their money on squash ads. Last year Mitchells launched DIET squashes, for NICHE MARKET. POS material of advertisement has only been used to promote it. Mitchells Diet Squashes contain No Sugar and have 90% less calories than Regular Squash Mitchells Diet Squashes are available in two flavors. Diet Mixed Fruit Squash, and Diet Orange Squash Mitchells is using consumer and trade promotion. But mainly focusing on trade promotions. . In Lahore the retailer benefit is 12+1, it means Mitchells give one free bottle to its retailer on the purchase of 12 bottles but on the other side in Karachi the trade promotion policy is 24 + 3 i.e. on the purchase of 24 bottles Mitchells give 3 bottles to its retailers. Thus Mitchells make the use Their unique selling proposition is quality .They never compromise on the quality. Even if they got any complain then they immediately replace it. Mitchelles believes that success of the organization lies in the satisfaction of its customers. Therefore Mitchells has always given first priority to its customers feed back and this they do by the following ways Thorough questionnaire feed back forms Thorough shop keepers Through ISO procedures (CPA, Corrective and Preventive Actions) The feedbacks and opinions of the customers are very useful for them and besides this they study the feedback and try to implement that accordingly. MARKET ANALYSIS The market for Squashes in Pakistan is mainly influenced by branded competitors in this specific product category. These competitors have firm distribution channels.. As a majority of the countrys population is in lower-lower to lower-middle class, this is the reason that people are more price conscious and secondly the also look for the convenience of products due to this reason there is a demand shift observed in the squash industry. The demand of Squashes is now limited only for few months in major areas of country. The Business of Squashes in Lahore is at its peak between May and November So Mitchells play a different strategy as far as region Lahore is concerned but on the other side business in Karachi remains stale and on the same level of graph thorough out the whole year thus Mitchells imply different strategy in terms of Karachi. The reason of this limited demand according to the market analysis is because that you cannot relate squshes with different occasions for example the way red syrup Jam-i-Sheerin and Rooh Afzah are relating themselves to Ramadan and Muharam, another big reason of the limited demand of the Squashes is because of i ts usage which is limited upto a thirst quenching drink but red syrup can be utilized in many ways apart from drinking such as toping, used in milk etc Target market The targeting decision determines which customer group the organization will serve. Selecting good market targets is one of the management most demanded challenges. Mitchells basically design the strategy to target the Social economic class of A B+ grade. But then by the time every class becomes part of their market. There primary focus was A B+ rank but now they target overall market and go for mass market. The reason is from the age group of (3-80) years old people use it as a refreshing and energetic drink. Target approach is being used by the Mitchells in case of Squashes product variety. Here the segments are not clearly defined but extensive target. Target Market Demographics: up to 80 years as target market while core target market includes ages between 15 30. Age: 10 and above Family life cycle: Young, Children, Old people. Psychographics: Middle, Middle Upper, Lower, Lower Upper, Upper class. Benefits: Quality, Rich in taste. Segmentation The concept of one-size-fit-all mass market is no longer relevant. Companies have to define that which segment they are about to target. Few years back, squashes segmentation was on the basis of behioral, life style and usage rate was high but now the potential is not in the market. Even consumption pattern has been decreased due to the entrance of other substitute products. Market needs Talking about the need of market there is a need of those products which are comparatively cheap as well as give ease to consumer. In todays world everyone is in hurry and customer want quick drink and quick food just to save their time. Considering Mitchells squashes need was there few years back when powdered drink and juices and energy drinks were not introduced to the market. So mitchells took the first mover advantage to introduce it though they conducted a research to create a need and capture a major market share at that time. 1. Quality craftsmanship Mitchells never compromise on its quality of fruit. Their squashes have extensive fruit content. There quality remains consistent all the time. 2. innovations As Mitchells company felt that customer are now very health continuous so they introduce DIET SQUASHES last year with the slogan lose weight not taste. But they have introduced it for the niche segments only. They even didnt use promotion activities for these innovations. 3. customer services As each and every company are trying to have good relationship with the customer. So in this regard if they got any complains related to their products they replace it without wasting the time of customer. CUSTOMER SATISFACTION MEASUREMENT: The success of the organization lies in the satisfaction of its customers. Therefore Mitchells has always given first priority to its customers feed back and this they do by the following ways Thorough questionnaire feed back forms Thorough shop keepers Through ISO procedures (CPA, Corrective and Preventive Actions) The feedbacks and opinions of the customers are very useful for them and besides this they study the feedback and try to implement that accordingly. Market trends Trends are changing rapidly, so nobody knows the customer who will buy our product today will buy it tomorrow as well as or not. At this time quashes are in MATURITY stage. The reason is because it takes relatively more time in getting ready instead of other new drinks. So there is still not any hope to create a new market in this industry. The only strategy Mitchells is using just to retain their existing customer and not looking for new customers. Its basically depend that customer is loyal to the product or not. The customers who are heavy users of squashes might not be shift to other substitute because they are loyal to it. Market growth Now there is no more growth in squashes industry due to consumer preferences and other factor is customer are very price conscious now. They want to have instant drinks to save their time but at cheap rates. So market has been shifted due to other drinks like powdered drink, instant drink, juices and red syrup. So now squashes are lying in CASHCOW because it gives money but not further growth. As Mitchells is the pioneer and still leader in the market so contain major share of market so far. BCG MATRIX SWOT analysis of Mitchells Strengths Fully integrated operations Having its own growing and processing facilities Modern high-volume industrial equipment Professional management and a trained workforce A smooth distribution system with nationwide coverage Right products, quality and reliability. Management is committed and confident Weaknesses Customer lists not tested Some gaps in range for certain sectors Customer service staff needs training More budget needed for Human Resource Development Opportunities Mitchells can continue its dominance as the innovator Can maintain its position as market leader Can also continue to be a trend setter International and domestic market expansion Introducing new verities of food products Local competitors have poor products End-users respond to new ideas Can surprise competitors Threats Political instability International Financial crises Challenge of work force diversity Changing technology and concept Legislation could impact Retention of key staff critical Possible negative publicity Market demand very seasonal SWOT analysis of squashes Strength: power of quality which remain consistent. Weakness: price and cost of ingredients used in squashes. Opportunity: can define more segments like introduce squashes in small bottles so reach customer buying power. Threat: all the substitute drinks. Picture of squashes: Competition analysis The competition is very fierce among the competitors so Mitchells always get the first mover advantage and still the leader of market. It has major share in the market. Direct competitors: Shezan squashes Indirect competitor: red syrup, instant drinks Market shares Mitchells 40% Shezan 38% Kinza 11% Others 11% Positioning strategy We provide high price, high quality premium product. Our market share in only Lahore is 30% for squashes. More than 50% of the area of the shelves in the stores is covered from Mitchells squashes. Position: We focus on positioning because it is important for developing the image that our product projects in relation to our competitors products (shezan).   Positioning in relation to a competitor: We place our products directly against the competitors products. this strategy is suitable for us because we have a solid differential advantage against our competitor Positioning in relation to a product class or attribute: We sell our product with the slogan We provide farm fresh quality drink And consider it to be our competitive edge against our competitors and for the same reason we focus on this attribute claiming that since we have our own farms we provide you with the squashes made of fresh fruit. Positioning by price and quality: We consider our squashes to be a premium product. That is high quality, high price. All our customers buy them due to brand loyalty. They know that they are getting something that is worth what they are paying. Marketing mix Product Strategy: It is a consumer product. Initially it was a convenience product but due to the massive demand shift observed in the market the customers are more eager to buy ready to drink products. Sugar Confectionary NEW LAUNCHES: Mitchells Diet Squashes Mitchells refreshing Diet Squashes are made from the Farm Fresh Fruits in a hygienic environment keeping in view the health of our valued customers. Our Diet Squashes contain No Sugar and have 90% less calories than Regular Squash. Mitchells Diet Squashes are available in two flavours.  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Diet Mixed Fruit Squash, and  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Diet Orange Squash Product life cycle: Pricing Strategy: Mitchells pricing goal is to increase sales volume and maintain or increase the market share. In order to seek higher sales volume we often apply discounting techniques or other aggressive pricing strategies. Mitchells had charged premium price due to there brand image in the market for a long time. But, due to shift in demand it has become almost to its competitors. They cannot afford to fall below certain level of prices as they have to maintain certain profit level. At this point they are facing tough competition because one glass of squash costs 7.5 Rs on the other hand the price of powdered drink is 5 Rs per glass. Cost of 810 ml of bottle of Squash for retailer (including tax) = 71 bottle Cost of 810 ml of bottle of squash for consumer (including tax) = 82 bottle Profit margin = 11 bottle. Cost of 1.5 liter of bottle of squash for retailer (including tax) = 227.5 bottle Cost of 1.5 liter of bottle of squash for consumer(including tax) = 244 bottle Profit margin = 16.5 bottle Distribution Strategy Mitchells adopted the channel-Structure Strategy for distribution. They believe that product should be distributed directly from manufacturer to customer or indirectly through one or more intermediaries. They sell their products sometimes directly and sometimes they sell their products through retailers. Like in Lahore they need to sell thei

Comparison of Economic Systems: Germany and the UAE

Comparison of Economic Systems: Germany and the UAE Introduction â€Å"Economy is the state of a country or region in terms of the production and consumption of goods and services, and the supply of money†(Oxford Dictionaries 2012). Before profound studying about the mentioned countries one important aspect should be taken into consideration the similarity between these two countries is their critical role in their region, both of those countries has a significant influence on the political and economy climate in their respective regions. Germany is located in Central Europe, south of Denmark, between Poland and the Netherlands. It has a direct access to North and Baltic seas. The countrys total area is 357,022 sq.km and the population around 82 million people. Historically, Germany has evolved couple of unifications and reunifications including the last one in 1990. Excellent infrastructure, location, skilled workforce and moderate wage rate make Germany very attractive for business. Notwithstanding, there are some environmental problems, such as air and water pollution, soil erosion, diminishing biodiversity and shortage of resources. The United Arab Emirates is located on the eastern part of Arabian Peninsula and shares borders with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the south, Oman to the east and sea sharing borders with Qatar. Also, country has a direct access to Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. The UAEs total area is much smaller, only 83,600 sq. km. The United Arab Emirates thrift and stability is substantiating by its considerable oil wealth that was discovered in 1960th, most of which is concentrated in Abu Dhabi the countrys capital (â€Å"United Arab Emirates profile’ 2012). Although, the UAE will remain be contingent on the oil reserves for many years to come, nevertheless, its level of dependency is gradually declining. The main role in development was taken by Dubai, which has become a regional financial, commercial powerhouse and o one the prime tourism centers of the Gulf Region. Moreover, a strong combination of oil prices, plentiful financial and fiscal resources, political stability, regulator y reforms and infrastructure development will backing the UAEs country risk profile. Germany represents a federal parliamentary, representative republic with a six main political parties, dominated by the Christian Democratic Union, the Christian Social Union of Bavaria and the Social Democratic parties. The head of the government who exercises executive power is a Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nevertheless, due to the fact that Germany is a member of European Union and G8, policies are subordinated with those organizations. As the biggest economy in Europe, Germany contributes 25% of Eurozones GDP. The political structure of the United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven monarchical emirates. His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan is an emir of Abu Dhabi and the President of the country. The federal system of government includes the President, the Prime Minister, the Supreme Council, Crown Princes and Deputy Rulers, the Federal National Council,the Council of Ministers (UAE Government 2012). Although, Germany has the second largest population in Europe, it faces an aging population. This implies some long term problems, such as increase in governmental welfare expenditures, healthcare expenses, pension’s payments and loss in income tax. Nevertheless, countrys immigration policies and laws set up favorable conditions for immigrants, and immigration rate exceeds emigration level. 10% of Germanys population consists of non-native nations, such as Turkish, Greek, Italian, Russian, Polish, Spanish and Serbo-Croatian. According to World Bank, UAE’s locals constitute only 16.5% of the total population. Meanwhile, the number of expatriates increasing over time, Indians accounts the biggest part with a 1.7 million people. Also, most of native representatives tend to work in public sectors, benefiting with a higher salaries, shorter working hours, greater job security, while 98% of private-sector workplaces are occupied by expatriates. As the graphs below represent the population pyramids for compared countries, we can mention the aging population in Germany, as was described previously. Also we pay attention on difference in population composition of those countries. Almost in every age group Germany’s population is somewhat balanced between male and female genders. On the other hand, we can see the drastic difference between male and female composition of United Arab Emirates’ population. Age groups from 20-64 is highly dominated by males; this caused by the fact that most of them are expatriates and they are coming to the country in search of a job, leaving their families in home countries. Source: US Census Bureau, International Data base (IDB) GDP Growth The economy of Germany continues to be based on individual consumption and going to strengthen by further investments, meanwhile next exports is still deterring growth. Germany has been decreased its dependence on exports in recent years. In addition, the Social Democratic Party has successfully pushed for an expenditure increase in infrastructural, educational sectors, as well as pension increase and minimum-wage regulation across all country by 2015. Eurozone’s debt-crisis caused uncertainty on consumers’ confidence and future expectations about their personal finances. Income is continuing to be supported by stable employment and increase in average wages. Also the expected perseverance of historically low interest rates will reinforce investment growth during upcoming years. Cheap mortgages will robust construction industry. Exports will recover during 2014, but the Eurozone crisis and geopolitical conflicts in the Ukraine and the Middle East are limiting scope. Although consecutive economic stabilization in the European Union will permit German exports to strengthen, the spikes in rebound trend during end of 2013 and beginning of 2014 – the natural structure of European debt crisis which in turn will limit the speed and vigour of export recovery. Furthermore, incandesce of Ukrainian situation and possible further escalations of actions in Iraq are incrementing world’s uncertainty and keeps internati onal trade back. The expected growth of the GDP of UAE is 4.3% in current year. Compared to the previous year the GDP growth, the highest after Great Recession, has declined. Economic growth had a strong acceleration in 2013 of 5.2%, but then economy faces some difficulties. Oil GDP expands only at a 1.8% rate this year, following 4.8% in 2013. With average global price of $109 per barrel in 2014, UAE oil output – which concentrated within the Abu Dhabi emirate – is going to reach around 2.7-2.8 million barrels per day. Non-oil sectors of the economy will continue to outrun growth driven by oil extraction. Activity in the non-oil sector has been steadily recovering following the downturn in 2009 and will continue to be the driving force of the economy’s growth momentum in 2014. Non-oil GDP is continuing holding on the same level as in 2013 – approximately 5.4%. The UAE has economy is relatively stable amid the disorder in the region. The key non-oil activities such as tourism, retail, and service help to drive the growth. Manufacturing activities led by aluminium and petrochemical industries is going to strengthen the following years. Also strong economic conditions will benefit both the transport and trade sectors. Real estate and construction sectors also improved along with overall market conditions. Infrastructure and development projects also had an additional motivation with Dubai’s award of next Expo city. A set of regulations implemented by authorities will help against a repeat of a boom cycles in Dubai. All these facts regarding Expo 2020 should provide a platform for a stable growth in tourism, construction, transport and hospitality industries in next 5 years. 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Germany -0.38% 1.16% 0.68% 3.70% 3.27% 1.08% -5.14% 4.01% 3.33% 6.89% 4.32% UAE 8.80% 9.57% 4.86% 9.84% 3.18% 3.19% -4.80% 1.67% 3.88% 4.37% .. GDP by type of Expenditure According to the expenditure approach of calculation of Gross Domestic Product, it equals to the sum of such components as consumption (C), investment (I), government purchases (G), and net export, i.e. difference between export and import (NX): Y=C+I+G+NX. Germany UAE Gross capital formation (% of GDP) 17.26 22.66 General government final consumption expenditure (% of GDP) 19.29 6.90 Household final consumption expenditure, etc. (% of GDP) 57.53 49.75 Net Export (% of GDP) 5.92 20.68 Inflation UAE consumer inflation surpassed the 2% mark in April for the first time in five years, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Housing price inflation was relatively continual with 2.6% year on year in May; Dubai’s inflation has lowered to 3.7% compared to 4.9% in April. Real estate has become the main inflation driver in UAE, excelling food price inflation of 2.1%, even as food prices are increasing at 0.9$ rate per month. Consumer inflation is soon averaging 2.2% in 2014. The recovery of housing prices reflects the prolonged downturn in the real estate market. The annual inflation rate is expected to soar up to 3% by the end of 2014. Mildness of world’s commodity prices is going to benefit the inflationary pressures. The United Arab Emirates could face higher problems in their inflation outlook if commodity and food prices go up. 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Germany 2.6% 0.3% 1.1% 2.1% 2.0% UAE 12.3% 1.6% 0.9% 0.9% 0.7% Germany’s nationwide inflation should remain at a very kind level between 1% and 2% in near future. Following the consumer prices inflation leaped from a 22-year low of -0.5% in 2009 to around 2.5% in 2011, the economic deceleration caused by the Europe’s debt crisis during 2012 and early 2013 have led to a softening below 1.5% that will remain during 2014. On balance, core inflation should move broadly sideways to around 1.5% during 2014, as a boosting effect from the Germany’s economic recovery is offset by the continuing restraints of the Eurozone debt crisis, also the anticipated downward tendency of oil prices due to global supply factors. Although, monetary policy of the European Central Bank (ECB) will be much lighter than Germany’s economy is demanding. Germans’ traditional disinclines to inflation should limit the extent to which Germany’s inflation will exceed the European average. Also, inflation will be stacked the level ECB considers unproblematic. Also due to pressure on ECB to buy Eurozone’s governments’ bonds and to allow higher inflation rates is enduring upward economic risk within the region. 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Germany 96.1 98.6 98.9 100 102.1 UAE 87 97.6 99.1 100 100.9 Human Development Index The Human Development Index summarizes the long-term development of a particular country or region. It includes three basic parameters: living standard, knowledge accessibility and health and longevity. The HDI is primarily based on international data provided by the United Nations Population Division, the United Nations Educational. In year 2013, The United Arab Emirates had a very high HDI value of 0.827— which places the country on 40 out of 187 countries. From the very beginning of its existence as a government, the United Arab Emirates HDI had value increased from 0.640 to 0.827, and soared up for 29.2 percent. This gives us the average increase of about 0.78 percent per year. The Table below reviews the United Arab Emirates progress of the HDI indicator. Between 1980 and 2013, that was achieved by couple of factors: the United Arab Emirates life expectancy at birth increased by 9.2 years, average years of schooling increased by 5.5 years and expected years of studying increased by 4.7 years. On the other hand, the United Arab Emirates GNI per capita has decreased by about 62.2 percent between 1980 and 2013, due to tremendous increase in expatriate population. UAE Germany GNI per capita (2011 PPP$) HDI value GNI per capita (2011 PPP$) HDI value 1980 153,654 0.64 25,588 0.739 1985 139,421 0.686 27,355 0.752 1990 97,141 0.725 31,002 0.782 1995 102,203 0.764 32,643 0.825 2000 103,798 0.797 35,497 0.854 2005 104,668 0.823 37,259 0.887 2010 57,360 0.824 40,542 0.904 2011 56,393 0.824 41,907 0.908 2012 57,095 0.825 42,965 0.911 2013 58,068 0.827 43,049 0.911 The recent Germany’s HDI value is 0.911— which in turns is one of the highest on the globe —positioning the country at 6 out of 187 countries and territories. Taking the same time range as for UAE, 1980 and 2013, Germany’s HDI value increased from 0.739 to 0.911, an increase of 23.3 percent or an average annual increase of about 0.64 percent. This in comparison to UAE is slightly lower. The table reviews Germany’s progress in the HDI index. The increase in HDI is consisting of: Germany’s life expectancy at birth increased by 7.7 years, mean years of schooling increased by 7.2 years and expected years of schooling increased by 1.9 years. In terms of GNI, Germany’s per capita increased by about 68.2 conversely to UAE, during the same period of time.

Art Therapy: A Necessary Tool for Success Essay -- Art

Art is the self-expression of someone or something that shows the hidden or underlying emotions upon which are found within the unconscious mind (Merriam-Webster). Art can tell stories of past events which were significant to that culture or person. This could include things such as hunts or sacrifices to please the gods. As society and people started to evolve and become more and more like modern day society, so did art and how society viewed it. At the beginning of the renaissance in Europe, many new artists and ways of thinking began emerging which soon became the mainstream way of thinking. Artists from this time period transformed art from what it was to how we view it today. From being a tool to tell stories with, art slowly started to shift to a more abstract way of thinking. As people and their minds started to change, how we view art and the uses of how art became limitless. When someone talks about art, there are many different aspects that they could be talking about. Art could be a simple painting but it could also be an elegant sculpture or sketch. When thinking about art and the uses that art can have the possibilities are endless. Art could be used as self-expression of suppressed feelings that are unknown to the conscious. Art is looked at as a good way to relieve stress and express emotions. It was not until art was seen as something more than decoration that it became a form of therapy that could be used in our everyday lives. Art therapy is a very useful and effective therapy tool while treating kids and young adults with ongoing issues involving both emotional and or psychical damage. Art therapy is a form of expressive therapy that uses art materials such as paints chalk and markers to reveal hidden or ... ...tion, n.d. Web. 5 Mar. 2012. . Mueller, Karen, and Margie Whittaker Leidig. â€Å"Women’s Anger and Feminist Therapy.† Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 1 (Winter 1976): 23-30. JSTOR. Web. 5 Mar. 2012. . Wadeson, Harriet. Art Therapy and Art Education. Vol. 33, No. 4 ed. JSTOR . N.p., Apr. 1980. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. Wexler, Alice. â€Å"Painting Their Way out: Profiles of Adolescent Art Practice at the Harlem Hospital Horizon Art Studio.† Studies of Art Education 43 .4 (2002): 339-353. JSTOR. Web. 5 Mar. 2012. .

An Exploration of Conflict and Social Exchange Theory Essay -- Social

Introduction In developing my ability to analyze conflict from different theoretical perspectives, I have learned through different theories how to practice different steps to manage my reactions to them. What I hope to accomplish within my paper is a general broad overview analysis of my experience with both Interpersonal Theories and Relationship Theories. I also wish to explain how when conflicts do arise, the steps on what people should do when making choices when they communicate in conflict situations. The reason why conflict is worth examining and experiencing, is because it shows us how we can develop better communication with the foundation of our mistakes; and what we can learn from them. By learning from our mistakes we can expect to gain more knowledge on how to acquire different behaviors to manage conflict. Conflict Description Now in explaining my conflict, it involves someone who is very important to me in my life. The person I am referring to is my girlfriend Maria. Maria and I having been together for two and a half years and things seem to be going pretty well. We both enjoy each other’s company and when we do spend time together it usually involves us having fun. There is never a dull moment when we are together and we both strive for and work towards are success. When it comes to school or work we always support each other in any positive way we can. Now in explaining on who holds the power, I would say that we both hold some sort of power when deciding different things in are relationship. There is not one person who indefinitely holds all the power in my opinion. In many situations there have been many occasions where she has felt strongly in an engagement where I have stepped aside and given support. I... ...mething I may thought I have did to make her upset, didn’t. And it was something that I let my mind think that she was going to be. When studying about the complexity of a person’s behavior, you can really she how things can so easily be resolved through simple communication. The way I can benefit from both these theories is by taking into account what they both mean. For Social Exchange I can take away that social behavior is the result of an exchange process by maximizing benefits and minimize costs, and for Uncertainty I have learned that people have a need to reduce uncertainty about others by gaining information about the problem at hand. Works Cited Dudley D. Cahn, Ruth Anna Abigail. Managing Conflict through Communication. Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education , 2014. Griffith, Marquis. Conflict Analysis Paper. Lumberton, New Jersey, 2014

Islamic Art and Architecture; Influence and Effects Essay

Introduction During the reign of the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughal rulers, architecture and art took on more meaning than it had in the past. The types of architecture and manuscript writing have had both symbolic significance and influence on the people of these empires. The architecture can be said to have had the greatest impact on the presence of power and devotion to Islamic arts of all of the empires, while manuscripts were held privately until trends influenced their spread over greater distances and people. The Ottomans, in their quest to expand their lands and influence, conquered Constantinople in 1453, which sparked a major period of construction in the new capital of the Ottoman Empire. This large building initiative took place in order to encourage a repopulating of Istanbul, as well as the revitalization of the economy in this declining city. The buildings and complexes the Ottomans built shed an interesting light on their concerns and ideals. For example, while the complexes were mainly built as places of worship, they took on other roles, such as, centers for education, commerce, and hospital care. One complex is clear in its intentions to the public, as can be seen by the endowment deed, which read â€Å" to elevate matters of religion and religious sciences in order to strengthen the mechanisms of worldly sovereignty and to reach happiness in the afterworld†, (Bloom & Blair, 298). This combination of buildings in a complex format drew people from the old capital and cities of the empire, and generated revenue that amassed into fortunes for the rulers of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans, however, were not the only empire to enjoy great wealth and displays of that wealth. The Mughals, who descended from the same Turkish conquerors as the Ottomans, also enjoyed prosperity from great building projects. The architecture of the Mughals was able to change with great regularity during its time, due to the constant movement of the central government. The Mughals also benefited from a blend of styles and influences to create their palaces. The most famous example of Mughal architecture was the Taj Mahal, which was built in the memory of a deceased favorite wife. In the building of temples and tombs in Mughal history, it is quite common to find them built as reminders to the community of saints, heroes, or loved ones. It was  also common to find that they lacked as muc h fine detail as their neighbors to the west, but brought new styles to the architecture derived from the rich traditions of the people of India. Unlike the Ottomans and The Mughal, the Safavids were derived from the family lineage of Mohammed the prophet. Despite this difference, the Safavids built great temples and complexes for similar reasons. The Safavids built great complexes, and like the Ottomans, they moved their capital to a centralized location in order to centralize power, and increase commerce. The Safavids also shared another trait in building with the Ottomans. They both had a strong emphasis on education, and liked to keep a watchful eye over it. For this reason, religious complexes often included the highest forms of education for both the government and the religion of Islam. Though in competition for much of their histories, the Ottomans and Safavids adhered to many of the same architectural styles, with one major difference. Due to their difference in branches of Islam, the Safavids, unlike their Sunni neighbors the Ottomans, had little problem with diverging from traditional customs of avoiding the use of depictions of animals and people in their design. This proved to enhance the appearance of the buildings, but also give them a unique place in the history of Islamic buildings. Manuscripts, on the other hand, have a very different history than do the magnificent buildings of the Islamic world. In the Ottoman Empire, as was true of most of the Muslim world, the Koran was the most copied manuscript. Copies of the Koran were reproduced with astonishing art, but were usually given as gifts to other rulers. In this system, the common person was excluded from viewing the finest manuscripts. Common manuscripts were produced by artisans, but lacked the high quality of that of the royal courts. The Ottomans also used their talents to reproduce manuscripts that depicted great rulers and events in history, as well as topography paintings that displayed the prominence of conquest in the Ottomans daily life. Ottoman manuscripts were not as popular or unique as the ones created by the Safavids or Mughals, but they did posses superiority in the ar t of calligraphy. Manuscripts from the Safavid and Mughal empires possessed greater detail in art, but most of the calligraphers were not as skilled as those of the Ottoman Empire. Despite this lack of good calligraphy, the Safavids and Mughals were more skilled in art and design. Like the Ottomans, the Mughals and Safavid empires copied  the Koran at a high rate, but only the best works of art were given away as gifts. This lack of quality reproductions, which included not only writing, but also painting, led to the decline of the bound book. This decline led to the development of an industry of artisans creating single manuscripts. These manuscripts allowed for both artistic differences that were hard to avoid in large manuscripts, and it allowed more people to posses art. They were collected into books, but they had a greater impact on both the people of the Muslim world and the Europeans, who were exploring the area heavily in search of people to colonize. The arrival of the Europeans also led to a decline in the production of small manuscripts, due to the fact that the printing press and mass production of books were arriving in Europe. Conclusion Islamic art and architecture both had more than one use in Islamic life. The architecture reminded the people of saints, great rulers, martyrs, or beloved figures, as well as serving as a center for religion, education, commerce, and medicine. The art of the Islamic world was originally used to tell of battles, heroes, and most popularly recreate the Koran. Art also allowed for the growth of writing, painting, and the distribution of ideas over greater distances than the spoken word. Both Islamic art and architecture still hold as reminders to Muslims and the world that great rulers, conquerors, and artists have made a lasting impact on the region and its culture.