Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary Essay

Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary is undoubtedly one of the most controversial works in its age due to the immoral nature of its protagonist, Emma Bovary. Emma passes with good reason for one of the most powerful portraits of a woman in fiction, the most living and truest to life where sentimental young woman whose foolishly romantic ideas on life and love, cause her to become dissatisfied with her humdrum husband and the circumstances of her married life. Her feeling of disillusionment led her first into two desperate hopeless love affairs, and then to an agonizing and ugly death from arsenic. Emma is first and foremost, a person of sensuous nature, and more a romantic. Her sensuality is combined with vulgar imagination and a considerable degree of naivete. She symbolizes the double illusion. First the illusion that things change for the better in time; then the same illusion of spatial terms, the closer things were something that should be turned away from. She accepts Charles, the healthy doctor, because he represents the outside world. She sees matrimony in terms of a candle-lit midnight wedding. But marriage itself utterly disappoints her. She begins to dream of a happiness that can exist in faraway places but to no avail. Emma’s monotonous existence is disrupted by the invitation to a real ball. Slowly her fantasies come to crystallize in a particular town. It is accompanied by neglect of all materials and an over readiness to fall in love. Emma loves life and pleasure, much more than she loves a man. She is more ardent than passionate. She was in love with Leon, but his physical presence troubled the voluptuousness of this meditation. The Rodolphe affair is in fact a kind of physical parody of the idealized relationship she maintained with Leon. Rodolphe exists on a lower plane, an animal existence. Her marriage, her boredom, her newly awakened sexual desires, and her romantic dreams – all contribute to her fall. Emma is undoubtedly a victim of circumstances. Unlucky coincidences, stupid men and human weaknesses force her fate to be damned for ever. Charles has been systematically invented to be her undoer. She made efforts to love him and repented on tears for having given into another. She could have experienced the great revenge and pride of women, to give birth to a man; but it is a girl. In looking for religious help, she might have had better luck than with the unusually inept Bournisien, another character worthy of her bad luck. The walls against which she will finally dash herself to the pieces have been erected around her as by an evil artist. Emma is sustained by willpower neither from within nor from her husband. In the absence of will power she has enough passion, a somber selfishness to drive a man to criminal deeds. We see her willingness to make Rodolphe into a murderer and she would make Leon, a thief. Though she is a creature of passion, she does not kill herself out of love, but for money. She reconstructs a world of love and luxury, joined like body and soul in the dream of an ideal life. Her life will follow a parallel course on the financial and on the sentimental plane. The disappointment of one coincides with the troubles of another. Flaubert treats her death as damnation where the devil is present in the garb of a blind man, a grimaced monster she glimpsed during her adulterous trips to Rouen. She dies with an atrocious laugh of horror and despair. Emma lacks all capacity for sympathy. Imagination has consumed all other faculties and sentiments. She never had an image dependent on moral beauty. In fact, her life was spent in seeking an image for herself. The search was doomed to destruction because no earthly role of herself or of love could satisfy her. In her own self determined embrace of romantic passion, she traces her own path to destruction. In doing so she moves us not to pity but simply to horror. Emma is essentially a novelistic creation set forth in all her internal complexities. Her dreams are destined by reality to wither into lies. Flaubert’s great success with Emma is that he makes the reader come into imaginative contact with his heroine, a kind of intimacy as the tale progresses and finally ends with tragedy for its heroine.

Is Modern Art Really Art? Essay

Dead animals, elephant dung, unmade beds and rice all seem like everyday objects but should we be calling them art? When we were growing up we were taught that art was a beautiful painting – like Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, or a perfect sculpture of a human – like Michelangelo’s David, but we were never really taught that conceptual and contemporary art were ‘proper’ forms of art, even though it was established in the sixties. It made us think and challenge our own assumptions of what art should really look like. People didn’t understand the idea of cows cut in half (Damien Hirst), wire mesh lockers (Mona Hatoum), rubble (Richard Long) or rubbish (Tomoko Takahashi) being called art unless you could frame it nicely on your living room wall. The fact that this type of art didn’t fit neatly into people’s ideas of what art should be was the reason it was called ‘conceptual’. Conceptual and contemporary art got a huge reaction out of people because they felt conned and marginally embarrassed when, for example, they looked at Martin Creed’s light going on and off and ‘didn’t get it’. They didn’t like the fact that they couldn’t work out the true meaning of what the artist was trying to get across. It also got a reaction for another reason which was the simplicity of some of the ‘art’. I’m sure that when all the people who were working long hours every week looked at the well-paid artist Tracey Emin’s unmade bed they were desperately screaming to themselves, â€Å"BUT I COULD DO THAT!† and thinking whether conceptual art is even worth looking at. Maybe some of us are completely missing the point they are trying to get across. Maybe instead of drowning in the depression of how easy, and perhaps pointless, the art is we should be fresh-eyed and open minded and celebrate the fact that these ideas and possibilites have been opened for us. Maybe that’s the point. This art definitely has originality and shock value. Artists don’t want to  repeat whats been done before in the same way no one wants to hear old jokes. Their use of new technology adds to the quality of some of their work. Using a computer isn’t a cop-out of drawing, it’s just another tool. The originality and shock value go hand-in-hand and afterall, aren’t those the two things we want when we look at art? We as viewers don’t want to stand there looking at something so bland, tasteless and overrated; If we wanted that then we could just as easily stick a slice of bread on the wall and call that art. The artists look for new challenges and ways for us to see their art. This type of art makes us challenge ourselves to find beauty in the everyday things in life. My opinion of Modern Art is a very balanced one because even though some of the examples of conceptual and contemporary art are sometimes ridiculous, they also challenge you to find the true meaning of what it stands for. The shock factor aswell hypnotizes us and keeps our attention locked on the beauty of the art. One thing that fascinates me though is that if artist Chris Ofili paints with elephant dung he is seen as a Turner Prize winning genius, but if I tried to paint with elephant dung would I be seen as an artistic genius? Probably not.

Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 13

Critique - Essay Example I failed to decipher any weakness in the abstract. The author failed to stipulate where the introduction begins. The transition from abstract to the introduction part does not have a clear flow of information. However, the author tries to bring out the real scope of the problem in the introduction. The main aim of positive thinking is to catalyze a transformation in the apprehensions of psychology from obsession with mending the worst aspects in life to a fresh prominence on optimal working of people, collections, and organizations. Thus far, the author has provided little investigation on assimilating the affirmative psychology methodology into schools. The author chose to use Constructivist grounded model case analysis as the in methodology of the research. The author provided a theoretical framework, research background and contributors, course content as well as delivery medium. These factors are usually instrumental in any methodology part of a project. Approaches of data collection, participant observations, field notes, artifacts were also outlined in the research. The data analysis procedure of this research centered on the qualitative records and utilized grounded model data analytic approaches to respond to the research problem. Since the course of classroom teaching was ï ¬ lled with fragmentary dynamic singularities, data was scrutinized and amassed with initial coding all through this study. The determination of this research was to delve totally into the mechanisms of affective edification implementation, and numerous components arose from the data exploration. However, this research provides an in depth exploration as stated above. The author goes ahead to give the reader all the findings that they seek to find. The author finds that, to break the innate social typecasts is expected to be the long-standing undertaking of affective education. This information is probably the best finding that the author has unearthed. This statement is

Evaluating Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Evaluating Human Resource Management - Essay Example After hiring these employees, it is their role to improve the performance of the staff and make sure that their contribution to the company gets larger and larger as they prolong their stay in the entity. Moreover, the management should also make sure that the employees they hired abide by the rules set by the company and to know the demands of these employees to avoid conflict against the company. Aside from employee selection and hiring, the human resource management is also responsible for the benefits and compensation each and every employee is entitled of. The management has to make sure that they meet the needs of these personnel to avoid labour unions forming that ought to go against the company policy. According to McNamara [2005], small scale businesses do not usually have their own human resource management because they cannot afford to acquire either part-time or full-time help from independent contractors. These small scale businesses do the function and activities of the human resource management on their own. The managers of these small businesses have to monitor the employees they hired and make sure they follow the rules and regulations. Although they are small-sized businesses, it is also their responsibility to provide employee’s manuals to their staff to let them know the rules and policies and the rights that they are entitled of. In addition to what McNamara [2005] said, the human resource management have undergone some big changes over the past 20 to 30 years. Before, the human resource department was even called personnel department, which is in charge of just the employee paper works, hiring and giving salaries to personnel. However, drastic changes occurred which improved and gave a bigger responsibility to the management. This big change include staffing, personnel management, giving out extensive training to the

Practical lab writeups - see pdf files Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Practical lab writeups - see pdf files - Essay Example The presence of 3 1H peaks indicates that it is not a dinitrate product but a mononitrate product. The presence of the 1H singlet and two doublets indicates that one H is apart and the other two are on neighbouring C atoms, so NO2 is at position 4. So the product is 1,2-dimethoxy-4-nitrobenzene, consistent with the melting point. The melting point of the semicarbazide derivative of compound A was found to be 224-225 Â ºC, which means that compound A is likely to be o-chloro-benzaldehyde or p-hydroxy-benzaldehyde. According to the 1HNMR spectrum, with benzene proton peaks around 7 ppm and aldehyde proton singlet, the second functional group should also contain one proton, showing up as a singlet. Therefore, the second functional group is a hydroxy-group, so compound A is p-hydroxy-benzaldehyde. This hydroxyl-group also gives the possibility to from the bicyclic structure of compound B. The H atom of NH will exchange with solvent, so if D2O is added it may be replaced with D. This only influences the peak of the H of NH, which will become a doublet with the second peak (of D) at lower intensity and at higher field (lower

The effect of Emotional Intelligence in Nursing performance and stress Essay

The effect of Emotional Intelligence in Nursing performance and stress levels - Essay Example During the last decade, researches have flourished to define, measure, and differentiate emotional intelligence from other types of intelligence, and examined its value and its relation with other variables, such as behaviors, characteristic, processes, and outcome. Emotional intelligence was also used in the field of psychology, education, business, leadership, and recently health care and nursing. In nursing, the emotional intelligence is a topic of keen interest in these few years (Quoidbach and Hansenne, 2009). Several claims are reported noting that emotional intelligence does not only play a significant role in nursing but also in other areas, such as, managing emotions, regulating relationships, facilitating decision making and communication, empowering leadership, and as a guide to success and perfection. In contrast, there are some critiques that condemn emotional intelligence for being vague, poorly defined, immeasurable, and over magnified (Smith et al., 2009). Aim of the Paper The aim of this paper is to critically review the literature of emotional intelligence and its effect on improving nursing performance at individual and team levels in addition to reducing stress, burnout and health complains. The possibility and the degree of enhancing emotional intelligence, and its applicability in real life will be discussed in this paper. The Emotional Intelligence concept has been born in literature by Salovey and Mayer in 1990, who defined it as an ability to inspect, perceive, manage and employ emotions of self and others in order to achieve success. As a result of this concept, Salovey and Mayer (1990) created a model known as The Ability Model. Although emotional intelligence became scientifically noticed within the academic field, it had only bore limited publicity during that time. Not until the publication of an emotional intelligence book by Goleman in 1995 when it gained its popularity. Goleman's emotional intelligence model called Mixed or Perf ormance Model, is the most popular model, which merges personality traits and emotional domains, and pay attention to performance outcomes. Several emotional intelligence models and tools have emerged thereafter; however, even though these models have used different wordings, the four common domains were still shared by most of these models. These domains include self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, and relationship management. The emotional intelligence tools from the aforementioned models varied according to its way of defining, understanding emotional intelligence and the model it’s derived from, but at the end, most of these tools have common purpose which is to measure emotional intelligence with different validity and reliability (Beauvais et al., 2010, Landa et al., 2007, Kooker et al., 2007, and Smith et al., 2009). Search Strategy To begin with, broad scope search was done via several databases and search engine, such as the Emerald, Wiley, Ovid, and Go ogle scholar, but most of the papers were found on Science direct. At first, the results were as many as 33,318 using emotional intelligence as the key word; nevertheless, the result starts to drop gradually from 10,678 to 79 papers after using more specific key words such as emotional intelligence and performance, emotional intelligence and team, emotional intelli

Stress Disorders Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Stress Disorders - Assignment Example Since then, he is having nightmares about that incident. I have spent quite a lot of time with him and have known him since childhood. He used to be a very present minded person, and was quite optimistic in his approach in every matter. But now, that he is back from Iraq, I see him as a completely changed person. Quite often, he gets lost and mentally disconnects himself from the company while physically being there. He remains pre-occupied with premonition of the incident in which his siblings got shot. He is obsessed with the dreadful memories and can not help thinking about them. The incident has altogether sapped his optimism. Instead, he has gone on the opposite pole of the scale. He avoids driving, though he is one of the finest drivers I have ever known. Despite knowing how to drive, he has kept a driver, and deems himself unfit for driving. The incident has shattered his personality altogether, and he may take years to compose himself.

Managing Diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managing Diversity - Essay Example has emerged within the past 20 years and spawned from the equal opportunity act which was promulgated in the workforce by the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This law extended voting rights and outlawed racial segregation in the schools, housing or hiring practices. With the passage of this act, American organizations began to hire new employees from different races, ethnic backgrounds and religions into sectors they were once excluded from. There is an undeniable difference between diversity and equal opportunity. Equal opportunity employment has deep historical roots. The law was enacted after years of unfair practices in different sectors denied equal opportunities simply based upon a person’s race, gender or national origin. The passing of this law developed a definition for minorities and now prohibits discrimination based upon a person’s age, gender, religion, sex, race, color or national origin. Diversity promotes accepting individual differences. The business ideals of diversity states that inclusion of a diverse workforce better equip a company to thrive in a marketplace. Exclusion of a diverse approach isolates demographics and limits perspectives. An example of such an implementation of diversity is the inspirational movie Glory Road. The 1966 college basketball team base on the Texas Westerns won the NCAA championship while promoting diversity. Don Haskins, the first year coach of the team, pioneered diversity by recruiting players deemed best for the positions and sidestepping traditional hiring practices. The hiring of the new folks in nontraditional roles is an exemplary example of the advantages of diversity. The team put racial differences aside and worked collectively to attain the coveted championship prize. Peter F. Drucker, author of â€Å"The Theory of the Business† (1995: 100) reveals that a valid theory of business suggests that the assumptions about environment, mission and core competencies must fit reality.. Over

Article summary Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Summary - Article Example Four experiments were performed. The first experiment was to predict that the Ss who had acquired precondition information would be able to comprehend the passage with no trouble and will be able to recall it easily as opposed to Ss who had not received the prerequisite information and would find it difficult to comprehend and recall. The sentences of the passage consisted of normal English. Experiments II, III, IV were same as the first experiment in that comprehension rating and recall tasks followed the acquisition phase consisting of a single auditory presentation material. Dependent variable in this study is nature of passages and materials used for experiment. Independent variable was the memory nature of the subjects. The experiments discovered that presentation of suitable semantic background had a noticeable outcome on both comprehension ratings and recall. It was found out that every Ss most probably knew the lexical meanings of the words and were eminent with sentence structures that were used in the passage. The results for experiments were tabled and it was discovered that a background of knowledge before is useful for easy comprehension and recall of a passage. However, prior knowledge to a situation is not a guarantee that it will be useful for comprehension. This article states that exposure of children to film-mediated violent models would raise the likelihood of Ss belligerence to consequent frustration. Three experiments were performed to proof the hypothesis. Three different groups were used in the experiments. Most researches on the topic have paid attention majorly on the drive plummeting purpose of dream. In the study, three varied experiments were performed to come up with conclusions. The subjects for the experiment were 48 boys and 48 girls who had been enrolled in Stanford Nursery school. Their mean age was 51 months. Two adults consisting of both sex served as models for

Giving examples describe Essay Example for Free

Giving examples describe Essay Giving examples describe the way in which Aristophanes tried to make his audience laugh; what, also, can you infer from The Wasps about the types of people who make up that audience? Aristophanes used lots of different techniques to make his audience laugh and to get them to enjoy the performances. These techniques ranged from low slapstick humour and crude jokes such as Philocleon going to the toilet in the home made court room in front of the jury to more educated jokes being mainly aimed towards Kleon, the archon of the time and also the jokes were made for the more educated Athenian. For the more simple minded Athenian, slapstick humour and role reversal was used to please the audience, this was done by having the character Philocleon being a bit dim minded and crazy. We see this in the first act and first scene where Philocleon escapes through the chimney and talks to Bdelycleon saying that he is a puff of smoke trying to get out of the chimney. In a modern day audience, this wouldnt have been found that amusing, but during the rein of Aristophanes plays, this was funny and got laughs from a wide range of the audience, not just the simple minded Athenians. Also when Bdelycleon stuffs his dad back down the chimney, he cracks a joke about being the son of smoke; that small play on words is still used today and would have gotten laughs from the audience. Also in the first scene, we have a small use of role reversal with Sosias impersonating Alcibiades and joking around about his lisp when talking to Xanthias. Yet again this is humour is aimed for the whole audience but mainly again the lower educated, more listening based audience members over the people watching the play. We can infer from this that the audience had uneducated/less educated Athenians but we can also tell that the audience was varied due to it being a religious festival, everyone had to attend and watch these plays. Along with this, Aristophanes wanted to attack Kleon even more and he did this by using political satire and this was aimed at the higher class Athenians who would understand the clearly stated political jokes, mostly seen just by the names of the father and son in the play, Philocleon being pro -Kleon and Bdelycleon being anti-Kleon. Aristophanes attacked Kleon in different ways in the WASPs, one way being that he mocked how Kleon got into power. Kleon owned a tanning business and became an Archon by using his wealth from the tanning business and not being given power like the Eupatrid normally became Archons. Also we see political satire in the court room scene that Bdelycleon has created for his father where they put Labes on trial for eating sicilian cheese in the house and this is not only political satire because we see the court system being mocked, but this is a clear indication of slapstick humour due to the dog, Labes, being able to talk. For the more visual people in the audience they could laugh and find humour in the fact the dog is talking because dogs do not talk and the people in the audience who mainly enjoyed what they were listening to could laugh at how the first dog only says bow-wow unlike Labes. Also we see low used humour when the cheese grater and bowl are brought in as witnesses and Aristophanes did this because he knew that this humour entertained the mass audience watching the WASPs and his play would also win the competition happening at the festival of Dyonisis, God of wine, food and laughter. Finally we see a lot of farce jokes used in the WASPs from crude jokes about sex with slave girls to toilet humour. For example we see Bdelycleon convincing his father to stay at home and set up his own court room and we see him joke about having to sentence the slave girls for a small crime and that he can give her a stiff sentence implying having sex with her. This would have mainly been for the men in the audience who would have enjoyed the joke and maybe agreed with what was being said. Also toilet humour is seen from Philocleon talking Lycus, a hero whose shrine stood beside the courthouse that Philocleon attends, and he talks about how he will no more to piss or fart behind your shrine which would have gotten some small laughs from the more lower class watchers. So we can see from all these different types of humour involved in the WASPs that a wide spread audience was Aristophanes aim and that he did entertain the mass audience from the lower class Athenian who enjoyed crude jokes to play on words to the more upper class/educated Athenian who enjoyed the political satire about Kleon but who also enjoyed the simple jokes too.

Case Study Finance Investment Marketing Essay

Case Study Finance Investment Marketing Essay The company we chose for this assignment is Toys R Us. The purposes of doing this assignment are fulfilled the requirement of the subject ABDT3273 Marketing and more understandings in Marketing. Our assignment included the Toys R Us background, segmentation, targeting and positioning, marketing mix strategy, recommendations. Our group members included five members which are Teoh Wen Dee, Tan Si Min, Lim Yong Rou, Michelle Lim Mei Chern and Lim Yee Theng. Toys R Us is the biggest range of hot toys and holiday gifts retailer in Malaysia. The products sold in Toys R Us included education toys, dolls, model cars and so on. In other words, Toys R Us is a comfortable place for children and it is also childrens paradise. In this shop, children can enjoy and gain their knowledge while playing with the toys. R in the Toys R Us represent four different words which are rapid, real, reliable and responsible. In other words, they will best serve their customers, employees, shareholders, communities and kids with the meaning of the R. During the completion of this assignment, we managed to build up strong relationship between our group members and we had learnt how to prepare a proper report of a company. Due to the cooperation carried out by each member in our group, we able to finish this assignment on time. Company Profile Background of Toys R Us Toys R Us is a toy store chain headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey, United States. The chain also has locations in Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, and Canada. The company currently operates 840 stores in the United States and 716 stores in 34 other countries, with some of them under franchises or licenses. The flagship store in New York Citys Times Square is the largest toy store in the world, featuring a colorful Ferris wheel. It is the largest toy-centered retailer and the second largest overall toy retailer in the United States. History of the company Founder Charles Lazarus realized in the companys early days that success in the toy business meant focusing on the everyday shopper, such as a parent searching for the perfect birthday gift or a child is hoping to spend their weekly allowance on a much coveted toy. Today, Toys R Us embodies those same ideals by focusing on a memorable shopping experience for customers through classic, in-demand and exclusive merchandise, unique feature shops, a knowledgeable and toy-trained sales staff and by providing great values every day. Charles initially started Childrens Supermart, which would later evolve into the modern day Toys R Us in Washington, DC during the post-war baby boom era in 1948 as a baby furniture retailer. Its first location was at 2461 18th St, NW, where the nightclub, Madams Organ Blues Bar is currently located. Lazarus began receiving requests from customers for baby toys. After adding baby toys, he got requests for more mature toys. Eventually, the focus of the store changed in 1957 and Toys R Us as it is known today was born in Rockville, Maryland. Toys R Us was acquired in 1966 by Interstate Stores, owner of the White Front and Topps Department Stores as well as Childrens Bargain Town USA, a sister toy store chain to Toys R Us in the American Midwest which would later be rebranded as part of the Toys R Us chain. Li Fung Retailing became a licensee of Toys R Us and acquired 100% ownership of Toys Li Fung (Asia) Ltd in 2002, for the business in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, The Philippines and Macau with provisions for entry into new geographic markets including other South East Asian countries. Until today, there are 131 stores in 8 Asian markets, 22 stores in Malaysia. Nature of Business Toys R Us is provide a place for children and adults to buy their favorite toys. Their products is not only for play or fun, they are also selling some toys can be educated. In addition, they are selling some outdoor Toys which is camp tent, it provide a family go to outdoor for natural experience. Besides, baby also can found their related product such as diapers, milk bottle. Vision To be the dominant toy and educational toy retailer for children in Asia offering the right products, at the right price, at the right place, at the right time in a pleasurable and convenient shopping environment. Mission To nurture and develop the core competence of the Toys R Us retailing chain for the benefit of our stakeholders (customers, shareholders, and employees). Operations As of mid-Feb, 2011, Toys Li Fung (Asia) Ltd operates 131 stores in 8 Asian markets. In Malaysia, there are 7 main stores, 11 Toys R Us Express stores and 4 Toy Box. Toys R Us stores are located in 6 states in Malaysia where each state have at least one store operated which is Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Pahang and Terengganu and Sarawak, State Shopping Mall Penang Gurney Plaza, Queensbay Mall, Sunway Carnival Kuala Lumpur Ikano Power Centre, One Utama Shopping Centre, Tropicana Mall, Mid Valley Meagamall, Pavillion, Bangsar Village, Hartamas Shopping Centre, Alamanda, Suria KLCC, Great Eastern Mall, IOI Mall, Empire Shopping Gallery Johor Tebrau City Pahang East Coast Mall Terengganu Mesra Mall Sarawak 1 Borneo HyperMall, Miri, Hills Shopping Mall, Kuching Toys R Us. Inc Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gerald L. Storch Executive Vice President, Human Resources Dan Caspersen Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary David J. Schwartz Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer Deborah Derby Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer Clay Creasey Oceania Asia (Li Fung Group) North America Europe Trinity Limited Toys (Labuan) Holding Limited CEO: Peter Schats Convenience Retail Asia Limited Li Fung Limited Malaysia Singapore Hong Kong Others Toys Li Fung (M) Sdn. Bhd. Country Manager: Carol Chua The Organizational Chart of Toys R Us in Malaysia Country Manager Account Manager Logistic Manager Sales and Merchandising Manager Other Department Manager Branch Manager (3 in Penang, 12 in Kuala Lumpur, 1in Johor, 1 in Pahang, 1 in Terengganu, and 4 in Sarawak) Supervisors Retail/ Promoter and Royalty Card Recruiters and Others Management Structure of Toys R Us in Malaysia Corporate Social Responsibilities Hot Wheels Celebrity Drive for Charity Challenge event in 2010. Malaysias first F1 driver Alex Yoong put his considerable skills to the test as he took to the Hot Wheels track racing against the clock and three other young drivers from the Lighthouse Children Welfare Home Association. Alex Yoong clocked in a time of 2.5 seconds with his silver Hot Wheels no.11 Mustang, but was beat by a young Hot Wheels driver, Micheal, from the Lighthouse Welfare Home Association who led the pack with a remarkable time of 2.3 seconds. From the 19th to the 28th March, any Hot Wheels enthusiast that partakes in the Hot Wheels Race World Challenge and manages to beat Alex Yoongs time of 2.5 seconds, a toy will be donated towards the Childrens Home of Hope (under the National Cancer Society of Malaysia) and the Lighthouse Children Welfare Home Association. Buy a Toys R Us shopping bag and help a charity. RM1 from each purchase will be donated to charity. Toys R Us gives RM10, 000 to Trinity Childrens Home Toys R Us (Malaysia) donated RM10, 000 to Trinity Childrens Home, Petaling Jaya, at the opening of a new store at Empire Shopping Gallery, Subang Jaya in June 2010. Event Description Hot Wheels Celebrity Drive for Charity Challenge event in 2010 A toy will be donated towards the Childrens Home of Hope (under the National Cancer Society of Malaysia) and the Lighthouse Children Welfare Home Association once any Hot Wheels enthusiast that manages to beat Alex Yoong. Buy a Toys R Us shopping bag and help a charity. RM1 from each purchase will be donated to charity Toys R Us gives RM10, 000 to Trinity Childrens Home RM10,000 donated to Trinity Childrens Home, Petaling Jaya. Future Plan Toys R Us retailing is given to Li Fung (Asia) Ltd who have a series of plan in Asia to develop a core competence of the Toys R Us retailing. Consumer market: They have planned to open more and more Toys R Us branches in Malaysia. This will benefit the stakeholders. For consumer, they will be more convenient to buy toys for their children. Toys R Us also provides some educational toys. So that children are not only playing toys for fun but at the same time they are gaining extra knowledge. Besides, company will produce more safety toys to children and parents which fulfill the rules and regulations. Consequently, parents wont worry about the toys are dangerous or harming their children while the children feel happy playing with their toys. Furthermore, company will lead employees to another level which is in line with the 2010 Incentive Plan of Toys R Us Ltd. They will arrange some courses or trainings to employee. Through the courses and trainings, employees can improve their knowledge and skills. This would be benefited to the employees and company. Company will be operated effectively and efficiently as the employees are capable and trained. On the other hand, employees will get higher salary and their ability is improved. In addition, company possesses employees of great ability to produce fun and better toys to children. Consumer will not be worry about the safety issues and enjoy consuming our products. They are intended to make Toys R Us as the retailer of dominant toys and educational toys in Malaysia as well. The company wants to offer a right product and right price to consumers. Moreover, they also want to maximizing wealth of shareholders to satisfy them. It will be benefited both sides which are consumers can get right product and right price and shareholders can maximize their wealth. The company will achieve a good reputation in toy industry. These are the future plans in Toys R Us in Malaysia. Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning Segmentation is dividing a market into smaller segments with distinct needs, characteristics, or behaviors that might require separate marketing strategies or mixes. The segmentation made by Toys R Us is according to the demographic segmentation, which consists of dividing the market into groups based on variables such as age, gender, family size, income, occupation, education, religion, race, and nationality. Toys R Us is differentiated by the ages and gender of customers. Based on Population of Malaysia is 28.25 million which is including 27.2% is less than 15 years old, 68.1% is 15 to 64 years old and the rest of 4.7% is more than 65 years old. Their product is selling to customers who are 15 to 64 years old. This is because the customers are more purchasing power to buy toys. They already have source of income to satisfy their wants. For example, teenagers have received their pocket money from their parents; they are saving to buy their toys for collection. Adults have salary from their works; they will spend partly of salary to fulfill their wants. Besides that, young parents also is including in 15 to 64 years old. They are young and modern, so that they will be buy more toys for their children, the education toys also is popular for them, they hope their children can get knowledge through playing toys. Targeting is the second stage of the segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) process. After the market has been separated into its segments, the marketer will select a segment or series of segments and target it. Resources and effort will be targeted at the segment. Their targeting strategies is using differentiated (segmented) marketing which is targets several segments and designs separate offers for each. For example, Toys R Us is segmenting to a small group which is based on income, age and gender. Their products target in toys collector who are more purchasing power to buy their toys. Besides that, toys collector is not miss out any opportunity to buy their favourite toys or limited edition. Compare to children, children is not enough power to influence their parents buy toys for them every moments. Parents only buy toys for them in special events such as birthday, Christmas. They are just a partly customers in Toys R Us. Positioning has come to mean the process by which the marketers try to create an image or identity in the minds of their target market for its product, brand or organization. Toys R Us is positioned as the worldwide authority on kids, families and fun. At Toys R Us, they believe that by being rapid, real, reliable and responsible, we will best serve our customers, employees, shareholders, communities and kids. Rapid, we believe that speed is a reflection of our culture. Our team is focused and clear with common, user-friendly processes and solutions; fast and urgent in decision-making an speed-to-market; and quick in adapting to change. Real, our team is urgent, sincere, authentic, helpful to work with and confident. Reliable, being reliable means working as a team so everything can move faster. We are a company that is dependable and we produce what we promise. Responsible, we believe that honesty, integrity and compassion are the foundation upon which we work together and conduct our business. Keeping kids safe is a cornerstone of the brand. Marketing Mix Four Ps of Toys R Us Marketing mix is a composite of product, place, price, and promotion, also referred to as the 4Ps. Each of these elements is an important factor in a companys marketing strategy. These four Ps are the parameters that the marketing manager can control, subject to the internal and external constraints of the marketing environment. The goal is to make decisions that centre the four Ps on the customers in the target market in order to create perceived value and generate a positive response. The Toys R Us marketing mix is always being fine-tuned and thus is never static. Toys R Us is a for-profit organization that has implemented a winning marketing mix within its marketing strategy. Products Firstly, the companys products, products is anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption and that might satisfy a want or need of consumer. Types of consumer goods in Toys R Us is a shopping products, thats, it is bought less frequently and there is brand comparison on basis of price, quality and style. The distribution channel which they are using is selective distribution, the outlets can easily found in the area. Besides that, the advertising and personal selling of their product is undertaken by both producer and reseller. Toys R Us is famous for their products quality, their product is in the performance product quality dimensions. For their product feature, the cost of the company is usually lower than others and creates a value to their customer and therefore, they always is the first choice of consumer. The branding and packaging are also the attracted part of their product. Toys R Us have a high recognition within consumer, consumer usually will choose the brand which is well-known that can help them to identifies the product quality and consistency. Besides that, a giraffe cartoon was introduced as Toys R Us mascot with the name of Geoffrey the Giraffe. In the packaging part, the product of Toys R Us is ensure the consumers safety. They will ensure that the products do not bring any harm for childrens health and safety and the instructions of using is provide for every single toys. Toys R Us was also introduced its own private brands such as Babies R Us. They introduced the exclusive line of baby essential-diapers, wipes, baby foods and toys. The product in the store is separated to six different zones. In Family and Fun zones, they provide the games which help parents to take interest in children, communicate, and spend time enjoying entertaining activities with them. For Educational zones, the children can learn the natural skill while having fun. In the Tween zones and Outdoor and Sports zones, the toy is usually for the children above two years old and can let the children sharing the fun with their friends or with parents. Besides that, the item in Toys R Us is also designed to meet the specific needs of boys and girls such as Barbie Shop, The Auto World and etc. The consumer can easily found and spot the toys they need due to the cleverly designed of the store. For example, one entire section of shelves is fully devoted to dolls. The shelves in this section are painted pink with tiny flowers decorating them, and it can easily being seen and recognise by children. Doll clothes and doll accessories are also provided in the same section. Price Price is the amount of the money charged for a product or service. It is the only element that produces the revenue while all other element is representing the cost. Toys R Us is using competition-based pricing which means that they are setting prices based on the competitors strategies, costs, prices and market offerings such as Parkson, Jusco and Tesco. When consumer compare based on their own judgement of a similar products value, Toys R Us always be consumer first choice. The cost of the company of Toys R Us is definitely lower due to their low cost of supply as they owning largest manufacturer, Hasbro and Martell, and hence they could able to satisfying the customer by the low price and create high customer value. For example, as a competitor for Toys R Us, Jusco also provide a high quality toys but the toys is limited and not as many choice as Toys R Us. As for pricing, Toys R Us is much more lower than Jusco. For example, the price of the Battery Operated Rabbit at Toys R Us is only RM39.95 while for Jusco is RM49.90. The pricing adjustment strategy of Toys R Us is seasonal pricing. They will have a promotional during special event such as school holiday or festive season Christmas. And sometimes, they will temporary reduce the price to increase the short run sales by using promotional price adjustment strategies. With member card or the star card of Toys R Us, the member can purchase the item with low price while enjoying the rewards and benefits. Besides that, they are using market penetration pricing as their new product pricing strategies. They setting low initial price for their new product to stimulate their sales quickly and increase their market share. For example, Toys R Us comes with the low price guarantee and they are request that if you find the same toys being sold elsewhere at a lower price, customer can just bring original receipt within 7 days and will gladly refund the difference. Promotion Promotion is referring to the short term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service. The promotion can be towards final buyers, retailers, customers or the member of the sales force. Promotion of Toys R Us normally is during school holidays. This is because Christmas and New Year is in school holidays. Toys R Us will inform members through send email, post notice in their website or social network (Facebook) and banner in front of their outlets for promotion. During the school holiday, children usually will spent their time by playing games and thus it is the right timing to had a promotion. And for the festive season such as Christmas, parents can buy their children a toys as a presents at a lower price. They also offer coupons and the gift certificates to those member and non-member which help them to attract new customer and keep the current customer. Toys R Us having a personal selling towards their customer and allow them to interact with the consumer through face to face and enable them to access to customer needs and wants efficiently. For example, they provide more sales assistance to helps the customer to access the details of the item they needed. One of the strategy of Toys R Us to build the long term customer relationship is provide the membership to increase the customer value and satisfaction where members can purchase the item with member price which are more cheaper than the original price and now they are also offering Star Card which customer can enjoy a lots of rewards and benefits. Besides that, Toy R Us is offered a lots of services, such as, delivery service, free wrapping service and also exchange and refund service in which the item purchased can be exchanged or refunded within 14 days from date of purchase. Place Place or a distribution is where the product can be found, such as in physical stores and online purchase, it includes everything connected with getting the product from the place to the customer. A distribution channel is the route a product takes from the place it is made to the customer who is the end users. Toys R Us is consider as consider as selective distribution, that is, their outlets can being found by customer in a area. The type of distributing channel they are using is multichannel distributing whereby they set up two or more marketing channel to reach more customer segments. Besides that, Toys R Us which located in a shopping mall can let the customer found it easily and brought more convenience for customer which they do not need drive to a place only for seeking for toys. For example, in Penang, there are Toys R Us store in Queensbay Mall, Gurney Plaza and Sunway Carnival. There are 20 stores of Toys R Us in Malaysia: 6 Main stores, 7 Toys R Us Express stores and 5 Toy Box. In addition, they are using the selling direct strategies where the product is selling direct to customer in their outlets without go through intermediaries. For example, Toys R Us are act as the franchise for Li Fung where the product are taking directly from them and selling to the customer. Customers Toys R Us (Producer) Agent (Li Fung Group) Toys R Us also has an online store, which provides customers the convenience of allowing them to make Internet purchase and purchase returns. Customer can also search the actual location of stores of Toys R Us through internet. Recommendations Our group had investigated on marketing department of Toys R Us in Malaysia such as their company background, segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) and also marketing mix strategy (4Ps product, price, promotion and placement). So, we give some recommendations to Toys R Us company in Malaysia. Based on our research, the segmentation of the company is using demographic characteristic such as gender and age. We recommend it should add in local culture which is region of country. Since the company have franchises in difference countries, so they can sell some toys related to the cultures of the country. Toys R Us can produce some traditional toys such as congkak represent the culture of Malaysia. When foreigners come to toys R Us Malaysia, they can buy toys as souvenirs for their friends or relatives. Furthermore, most of the toys sold in Toys R Us are based on Disney movies or cartoons such as Spiderman, Transformer, Toy Story and etc. They need to pay copyright fees or other administration fees to relevant departments before produce the toys. So the price of toys is relatively higher, so we recommend that the company can produce and design their own toys; it will lead their cost to be lower and develop their own products. For example, they can produce more series of toys or relevant products such as Geoffrey and friends. Moreover, promotion of the Toys R Us is mostly during school holidays. It is because usually Christmas and New Year are in school holidays. They will send an email to each member; place notice in social network (facebook) and banner in front of their outlets inform the public about their latest promotions. However, their promotion is not publicly known by everyone. This resulted losing potential customers. A smart consumer will only buy things during promotions, so to get more customers in Toys R Us, we have put more effort in some special event. In line to that, we suggest promotions held by Toys R Us should be more actively run some event related with their products such as Logo competition, fashion show of Barbie doll. In conclusion, we recommend Toys R Us add in local culture for produce some toys represent Malaysia, produce more own toys and also conduct some special event for their company. Dont forget that your explanation or examples MUST BE in MALAYSIA context, as I saw some of it using US context. Format of the assignment, fonts size, tab..please double check Conclusion Toys R Us is a company which sells toys to children all around the world. It provides many types of toys to parents to choose for their children. There are 22 stores in Malaysia which is in Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Terengganu, Pahang and Sarawak. Besides, Toys R Us is doing Corporate Social Responsibilities, for example, Buy a Toys R Us shopping bag and help a charity. In their future plan, they planned to open more branches in Malaysia. Toys R Us is using demographic segmentation for their business such as age. Toys R Us are focusing on the age of the children so that they can produce more toys according to the ages. Toys R Us is targeting parents who have purchasing power to buy toys for their children and those toys collectors. Toys R Us positioned as the Worldwide authority on kids, families and fun and there are many meaning about the letter R which is real, rapid, reliable and responsible. The marketing mix of Toys R Us is products, price, promotion and placement. Their product is a shopping product, their category different kind of toys. For example, Boys zone, Girls zone, family fun games, educational toys, tween zone, sport outdoor and Baby R Us. Price is based on competition-based pricing because customers more sensitive in price, they will compare price of product with different company. Most of their promotion is banner in front of outlets, send email to member, notice in website and social network. Place is Toys R us produce toys to agent, then agent is selling to final customer. Recommendation by us is produce some toys to add in local culture, produce more own toys represent Toys R Us and also conduct some special event for their company. Department of Statistic Malaysia , http://www.statistics.gov.my/portal/index.php?option=com_contentview=articleid=54%3Apopulation-updated-31072009catid=35%3Akey-statisticsItemid=53lang=en,2010, Population,2 July, view 2 March 2011. Toys R Us, http://www.toysrusinc.com/about-us/, 1999, company info, view 25 February 2011. Marketing Teacher, http://www.marketingteacher.com/lesson-store/lesson-segmentation.html, 2010, segmentation, 28 February 2011. Toys R Us Malaysia, http://www.toysrus.com.my/inside/about.htm, company info, view 18 February 2011.

The Raising of the Age You Can Get Your Drivers License Essays

Should the age to receive a driver's license be raised and, if not, should graduated licensing be instituted? This is a growing question across America as well as other countries around our globe. The percentage of teenage accidents involving automobiles is on a constant rise. Whether caused by the lack of experience or under the influence of alcohol, death has become all too common among teen motorists. This problem is not going to go away by itself; action needs to be taken. The state must raise the age requirement to receive a license or institute graduated licensing because teens are not mature enough to handle the dangerous responsibilities of driving. We allow teens to get their licenses at an earlier age than in most countries, and little driving experience typically is required before licenses are issued. This is not very smart on our part considering that according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 16 year olds have the highest percentage of crashes-involving speeding, the highest percentage of single vehicle crashes, the highest percentage of crashes with driver error, and the highest vehicle occupancy (NHTSA ). Compared with older drivers, teenagers as a group are more willing to take risks and less likely to use safety belts. Many experts blame the young teens immaturity, impulsiveness, and lack of proper training and experience as contributing factors to the high rate of teen involved accidents. Teens don't need to be victims of there driving inexperience. During 1975-96 the death rate among 16 year-old drivers was trending upward. The rate increased from 19 per 100,000 in 1975 to 35 per 100,000 in 1996, and this increase occurred in both males and females. The number of 16 year old driver... ...the teen turns 18 a full license could be obtained if the driver has completed at least 12 months with an intermediate license and has no accidents or violations (Vehicle choice). Driving is a privilege, and should be treated as such. Too many people treat driving like a constitutionally protected right; driving is too serious an activity to be placed in the hands of teenagers who do not know what they are doing, regardless of how much training teens may receive. Raising the required age to receive a driver license or instituting graduated licensing is a must if the United States wants to save the lives of teenagers. This would also lower the number of teen involve accidents that occur every day. Driving is a huge responsibility for persons of any age and the choices that are made by teen drivers could make the teen years the best of times or the worst of times.

Stock Market crash of 1929 (present form) :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Before World War I only small fractions of Americans invested or had interest in the Stock Market. Many Americans thought of Wall Street with fear and loathing. Populist politicians denounced Wall Street as the center of financial shell games thought up by millionaire operators like Gould, Drew, Morgan and others.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  But with the conclusion of the War, many of Americans were getting a different perspective of the Stock Market. Many lost fears of investing due to many were previously buyers of Liberty Bonds. Many Americans assumed they knew the advantages of investing and knowledgeable about stock splits, margin accounts, dividends, etc. New financial methods, the investment trust offered new approaches to investing in the market and many major corporations such as General Motors, General Electric and AT&T offered common stock and bonds were starting to boom and attracted many new money-seeking investors.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  And till last month, the market was center of conversation, talked about and financial advice was shared everywhere! The market continued to increase, Major Corporations stocks rose incredibly. But brokers loans reached $137 million, and New York’s banks were in debt to the Federal Reserve by $64million. Warning signs began to appear in the market, and many market analysts began predicting the crash. Throughout the nation, thousands of investors were margin trading, buying stock on credit. The margin trader bought stock by paying less than the full price. This was highly profitable but extremely risky. If the stock value decreased the customer had to invest more money to sustain the account. And if the stock kept falling, the customer would run out of their money, and the broker, who usually borrowed money from their banker, was forced to sell out the account for any amount offered. If the customer could not pay the broker, the broker was unable to pay the banker, which placed of them all in debt.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many banks wanted their money from brokers, brokers wanted their money from customers, and the only method most customers could get their money was by selling their stock. And so there were massive rapid sales that totaled to nineteen million shares on Friday the 25th of October. The selling of the stocks depressed the market, in other words caused the stock market crash.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Yesterday, on October 29, 1929 also known as â€Å"Black Tuesday,† was the most devastating day in economic history, a total of 16, 410, 030 shares were sold.

House on Mango Street Essay example -- essays research papers

Esperanza is torn between deciding whether she wants to escape Mango Street. She is embarrassed by the superficial appearance of her identity, but appreciates her roots. Her house is a wreck and the neighborhood, probably not much better off. However, she has loving family and friends. Although marriage has caused the suffering of many of the women in her neighborhood, she realizes that she needs men to fulfill the new desires she attains as she hits adolescence. Through the novel, Esperanza matures both physically and mentally. The first thing that struck me about this novel was that the chapters were very short. I realized that the narrator is young and has a short attention span, judging from her fragmented observations. However, Esperanza begins to mature and to develop a desire for men. While she senses that many women are caged by men, they cannot be truly free without them. Most of the women Esperanza knows on Mango Street are either trapped in their marriages or tied down by their children. For example, Esperanza’s grandmother. Esperanza does not want to â€Å"inherit her place by the window.† She neither likes what she has already inherited from her grandmother – her name. Esperanza plays with words when she first expresses her dissatisfaction with her name. She says that in Spanish, her name means â€Å"too many letters. It means sadness [from the opposite of esperar, which is desesperarse], it means waiting [from the verb esperar].† She settles on changing her name to â€Å"Zez...

Film Analysis: “Elizabeth: the Golden Age” Essay

Queen Elizabeth I was one of the most memorable, most discussed and most written about monarch not only in England, but in Western history (Dobson and Watson 2; Rozett 103). She was the only monarch that historians attributed an entire era of English history after. The film â€Å"Elizabeth: the Golden Age† is an example of the Queen’s popularity in literature. Although much of the film had accurately depicted the life of the Queen as to the reason why the Elizabethan period of England was synonymous to the period of peace and prosperity, there were a number of discrepancies between the information shown in the film against data retrieved from historical records. This paper would be presenting these discrepancies as well as an insight on Queen Elizabeth I’s view towards marriage and psychological profile. The film â€Å"Elizabeth: the Golden Age† was set in the year 1565, when Spain was considered as the most powerful Empire in Western history and was under the rule of King Philip II. In order to achieve his goal to spread the Catholic faith across Europe, Philip II began what he considered as a holy war. This war had allowed him to conquer all the European countries, except for England which was still under the rule of a Protestant Queen, Elizabeth I. Although not directly stated, the film implied that it was in the year 1585 that Philip II decided it was time to purify England from the clutches of the devil ruled by a whore (â€Å"Elizabeth: the Golden Age†). The film depicted King Philip II clearly as someone who extremely despised Queen Elizabeth I in her entirety. However, Campion and Holleran stated that when Queen Elizabeth I ascended the throne in 1558, King Philip II in fact proposed marriage to the Queen. Although she politely declined is marriage proposal, she accepted the advice and protection that King Philip II offered to her (2). Meanwhile, in a meeting with her political advisers, Queen Elizabeth I was warned that her country was now divided by religion. Half of the country was now practicing the Catholic faith with the other half practicing the Protestant faith. They recommended to the Queen that measures must be taken against the English Catholics. This was because her advisers saw the English followers of the Catholic faith as a threat to Elizabeth I’s reign because of two reasons. The first was that since they were practicing the Catholic, this meant that they had allied themselves with both the Pope and the kingdom of Spain, who has been considered in the film as England’s greatest enemy. The second was that the Catholics no longer recognized Elizabeth I as their ruler. Rather, their loyalty had shifted to Mary Stuart, the Queen’s cousin and whom they regarded as the rightful Queen-in-waiting. Queen Elizabeth I responded to her advisers that she would not punish her people because of their religious beliefs and assured them that she had been told that the people still revered her as their Queen (â€Å"Elizabeth: the Golden Age†). The division in England, brought about by religious beliefs, had been a problem that did not occur during Queen Elizabeth I’s reign. Instead, this division was an issue that the Queen inherited from her predecessors, Mary Tudor and her father, Henry VIII. According to historical records, Henry VIII rejected the papal authority in 1534 and assumed the title of Supreme Head of the National Church. With the ascension of Mary Tudor to the throne in 1553, she sought to reconcile the English Church with the Church of Rome. Initially, Elizabeth I was considered to be moderate when it came to religious affairs since she was more concerned in keeping her throne, maintaining the peace and the promotion of the prosperity of England. Furthermore, Elizabeth I herself accepted three different religions during her lifetime: Anglo-Catholic, Catholic, and Protestant. This was why she did not see the English Catholics as a threat and refrained herself from imposing severe punishments. She did, however, encouraged religious uniformity by setting an example. She had also pressured her subjects to abandon their resistance to the established Church of England (Campion and Holleran 11-14; Cole 2; Taylor-Smither 63). Sir Francis Walsingham revealed to Queen Elizabeth I in the film that an assassination plot called the â€Å"Enterprise of England† was discovered masterminded by the Spanish monarchy. The plot included two armies were situated along the coasts of Sussex and Norfolk. They were waiting for the order to assist Mary Stuart to assassinate Elizabeth I and to put Mary Stuart on the throne of England. When she learned about the assassination attempt, Queen Elizabeth I confronted the ambassadors of Philip II to England. This caused the ambassadors to end their office in disgrace and to view her as the center of an international Protestant conspiracy inciting a rebellion both in the Netherlands and in France (Doran â€Å"Elizabeth I and Foreign Policy, 1558-1603† 8; â€Å"Elizabeth: the Golden Age†). Upon the discovery of the assassination plot, Mary Stuart had given the order to execute the assassination plot on the Queen. While she was in church, one of the supporters of the Enterprise of England managed to get through the guards at the front of the church and tried to kill the Queen with the use of a pistol. However, the pistol used was unarmed, and the Queen survived the assassination attempt. The assassin and the other members of the Enterprise of England were captured, imprisoned and tortured. Later, Sir Walsingham then confronted Mary Stuart with regards to the assassination attempt on the Queen and her involvement to the plot. She was then presented the orders she had given out to the members of the Enterprise of England to proceed with the assassination of the Queen. Mary Stuart was tried for treason and was executed by beheading. It was only after the execution of Mary Stuart that Sir Walsingham realized the true intention of Spain. Through the execution of Mary Stuart who was both a Catholic and an ally of Spain, England provided Philip II a reason to wage war against England (â€Å"Elizabeth: the Golden Age†). Although this served as the climax of the entire film, it also contained the most of the discrepancies on historical documents and records except for Mary Stuart’s involvement in the assassination attempt on the life of Queen Elizabeth I. This did not come as a surprise since there have been numerous documents and literary works where the events of the life of Queen Elizabeth I were re-arranged. An example of this was the biography made by Sir Walter Scott entitled Kenilworth where he changed the events so that Amy Robsart, the first wife of Robert Dudley which occurred in 1560 would coincide with the entertainment spectacle at Kenilworth which occurred in 1575 (Rozett 104). Mary Stuart, who was also known in history as Mary, Queen of Scots, became the Queen of Scotland after her birth in 1542. She married the Dauphin of France and became the Queen of France when he ascended the throne in 1559. Her reign as Queen of France was only short-lived, since her husband died a year later his ascent to the throne. She then returned to Scotland to assume her place as the Queen of Scots upon the death of her mother. Her succeeding marriages were met with such scandal. Of these marriages, the most scandalous was her marriage to the Earl of Bothwell, who had been considered as the alleged murderer of her second husband. Her marriage to the Earl of Bothwell resulted to a national uprising where she was defeated in 1567. She was then forced to sign a document on the threat of death to abdicate her throne and title of the Queen of Scotland. She tried to regain her title by raising another army which was also defeated. She then sought protection on her life in England and her cousin, Elizabeth I. Outraged by the actions done by the Scottish lords against her cousin, Elizabeth I protected her cousin and detained her as a prisoner (Campion and Holleran 2-3; Perry 145-46). Since the death of Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I’s ascension to the English throne, Mary Stuart had expressed publicly her legitimate claim to the English throne since her mother was the eldest sister of Henry VIII, Elizabeth I’s father. Even though she was a prisoner in England, she remained to be a threat to Elizabeth I. When reports were brought to Queen Elizabeth I’s attention that her cousin was involved in assassination plots against her, Parliament moved for Mary Stuart’s execution. Initially, Elizabeth I did not consider this option since there was no evidence that proved the allegations against Mary Stuart. That all changed upon when Sir Francis Walsingham discovered the assassination plot against the Queen called the Babington plot. To gather evidence regarding the involvement of Mary Stuart on the plot, he ordered Mary Stuart to be moved to a house where she could be more closely monitored and appointed a new jailer who was less sympathetic to Mary Stuart. Soon, Mary Stuart began to receive news from Europe which were smuggled to her through waterproof packages inserted in the bungholes of beer kegs. Unknown to Mary Stuart, Sir Walsingham had already intercepted these messages and had managed to decode them before Mary Stuart and her confidantes received them. It was here that Sir Walsingham discovered that the plotters of the assassination of the Queen were headed by a rich and idealistic Catholic squire named Anthony Babington and that there were sixty thousand Spanish and English soldiers ready to rescue Mary upon receiving her approval. She approved the assassination and her rescue in writing. Sir Walsingham presented to Elizabeth I the directions and approval written by Mary Stuart in her own handwriting as evidence and proof of the allegations made against Mary Stuart. After protecting Mary Stuart for nineteen years, Elizabeth I was compelled by law to transfer Mary to Fortheringhay Castle where she was tried and was found guilty on the crime of treason. She was executed by beheading in 1587. The betrayal brought by Mary Stuart to attempt to assassinate her, Elizabeth I’s outlook towards Catholics began to change and saw them as traitors and a threat to her life. This resulted in her implementing sterner laws against Catholics were enforced with penalties ranging from fines to imprisonment, torture and death (Campion and Holleran 11-14; Taylor-Smither 63; Thomas 147-48). King Philip II launched his Spanish Armada against England a year after the execution of Mary Stuart. This decision was not influenced by the execution of Mary Stuart. Rather, it was a result of the declining relationship between the two countries. Between the years of 1565 and 1566, many members of the Spanish nobles had demanded Philip II to forego the Spanish Inquisition because they viewed his measures against Protestantism as an attempt to extend Spanish control over the ecclesiastical affairs as a drive to undermine traditional privileges of Spain. This Inquisition was temporarily placed on hold due to the constant threats of the Turks to Spain. The moment the Turks signed a series of treaties with Spain, it gave King Philip II the opportunity to once again pursue his goal to expand Spanish rule over Europe (Doran â€Å"Elizabeth I and Foreign Policy, 1558-1603† 6-10). The relationship between Spain and England had begun to deteriorate as a result of a number of events that had occurred between King Philip II’s courtship to Queen Elizabeth I and the war between Spain and England. Among these events were the voyages of Francis Drake around the world which were secretly supported by Elizabeth I. On top of the products from the New World, Drake also looted the Spanish galleons he came across of which the Queen accepted a portion of when he returned from his journeys in 1580 (Doran â€Å"Elizabeth I and Foreign Policy, 1558-1603† 9). The Spanish Armada greatly outnumbered the English army because the population of England was significantly lower than that of Spain which resulted in fewer able men to be enlisted in the army. Also, the military technology of the English army was far behind than any other European countries and it was impossible for Queen Elizabeth I to maintain an army financially because during the four decades of her reign, most of the financial resources were allotted to the maintenance of the blend of politics, socializing and ceremonies that the Queen accomplished through travels around the kingdom (Cole 1; Doran â€Å"Elizabeth I and Foreign Policy, 1558-1603† 7; Frye 100; Thomas 160). As the Spanish Armada drew near, Elizabeth I gathered her small army and encouraged them with a short oration which is now known as the â€Å"Oration at Tilbury Camp. † This short speech was considered by most writers and historians accepted as one of the best speeches composed by a monarch in England’s history. The most striking line in the speech which was mentioned in the film, although reworded, was â€Å"I [†¦] come to lay down for my god, and for my [kingdom], and for my people, [my] honor and my blood in the dust [†¦] I know I have the body [†¦] of a weak and [feeble] woman, [but] I have the [heart] and [stomach] of a [king], and a [king] of England too [†¦]† (â€Å"Elizabeth: the Golden Age†; Frye 98; Green 424-26). Perhaps what made Queen Elizabeth I such an enigma for many historians and writers was her decision to remain unmarried, which is why she has been referred to in history as â€Å"the Virgin Queen. † Her decision to remain unmarried stretched down to her ladies-in-waiting and her courtiers such that, in order for them to be married, they must first seek the approval of the Queen. Those who married in secret would have to face the fury of the Queen and might even have to face imprisonment. Such was the case in the movie when she lashed out against Bess, her favorite lady-in-waiting and Walter Raleigh when she discovered they had not only married without her consent, but were expecting a child. Although there are no documentation discovered regarding the encounter between Queen Elizabeth I, Walter Raleigh and Bess, there are numerous accounts on the outbursts of anger the Queen exemplified upon the discovery of the secret marriages of the members of her court. The most documented was the incident between Queen Elizabeth I and one of her ladies-in-waiting named Mary Shelton. When Elizabeth I discovered Mary Shelton’s marriage to James Scudamore, she exploded and demanded why Mary Shelton or James Scudamore did not seek her approval before they got married. One eyewitness stated that Mary Shelton was hit profusely by the angered Queen and was attacked by the Queen with a candlestick which caused Mary Shelton’s finger to be broken (Doran â€Å"Monarchy and Matrimony† 5-6; â€Å"Elizabeth: the Golden Age†; Hammer 80-81). Historical records provided two reasons on why Queen Elizabeth I decided to remain unmarried throughout her reign. One is that it was her own decision in order to be able to concentrate all her attention to the affairs of the kingdom. This was evident in the speech that she had made at Parliament in 1559 when the members of Parliament presented her a petition to marry. She responded to this petition by stating that she was already married to her husband, the Kingdom of England. This being the case, she did not see any reason why she should still marry a man. Another reason historical records presented in connection to her choosing to remaining unmarried were her cousin, Mary Stuart and the circumstances surrounding her cousin’s marriage. As mentioned earlier, Mary Stuart’s marriage to her third husband led to a civil uprising in Scotland. After being defeated in the civil uprising, the Scottish lords forced Mary Stuart to abdicate the throne of Scotland and her title as Queen of Scotland. Queen Elizabeth I saw her cousin’s marriage as the primary cause of her cousin’s downfall and feared that should she marry, the same events might happen to her (Doran â€Å"Monarchy and Matrimony† 2; King 30-33; Taylor-Smither 61). Psychologists have also presented studies to explain Queen Elizabeth I’s decision to remain unmarried. Based on their findings, psychologists concluded that Queen Elizabeth I was a damaged human being, based on Sigmund Freud’s theory of personality. This damage occurred during her childhood when she witnessed not only her father, King Henry VIII, accusing her mother, Anne Boylen, of the crime of adultery, but also she witnessed her mother’s execution by beheading after she was tried and found guilty of the crime. This childhood memory affected Queen Elizabeth I’s personality such that she began to embody the traits of males. It also caused her to identify with males in terms of being dominant and exemplifying traits of fearlessness and being aggressive. Because of these personality traits that Queen Elizabeth I adopted and portrayed, it would make it impossible for her to become a wife and a mother because the personality traits that a wife and a mother during this period included being submissive to her husband and to the needs of her children. Psychologists have also noted her uncontrollable and sudden bursts of rage and mood swings. An example of this was seen in the film when she found out that her favorite lady-in-waiting, Bess, not only married Walter Raleigh, but also is expecting a child. This was also evident in historical records when she attacked her lady-in-waiting named Mary Shelton and James Scumadore upon learning that they married without first seeking her approval for their union. These events led modern-day psychologists to conclude that Queen Elizabeth I was suffering from clinical hysteria. This hysteria was brought about by the unconscious anxieties that she was experiencing as a result of her witnessing her mother’s trial and execution as well as by feelings of jealousy. This jealously was exemplified in the film when Queen Elizabeth I confided to Bess that she was envious of Bess because although she was a Queen, there were many things that her lady-in-waiting may enjoy which she, as a Queen, can never experience (Doran â€Å"Monarchy and Matrimony† 5-6; â€Å"Elizabeth: the Golden Age†; Hammer 81). In general, the depiction of the life of Queen Elizabeth I in the film â€Å"Elizabeth: the Golden Age† was acceptable, if not accurate. It showed the two sides of the Queen. On one hand, she was a fearless leader devoted to her country and her duties as Queen that she would rather sacrifice personal joys such as being married in order to concentrate on her obligations to her kingdom. She also proved that, in period where women are considered as inferior to men, a woman did not need a man by her side in order to rule a country. Her experiences during her childhood allowed her to develop important characteristics that a leader during this period must possess – dominance, ruthlessness, aggression and fearlessness. On the other hand, the film also depicted the Queen as an emotionally weak human being. The same childhood experiences that helped her develop her admirable qualities also caused her to become clinically hysterical based on the findings of modern-day psychologists. Her condition caused her to exemplify sudden emotional outbursts of rage which affected the lives of those who served her court with her outbursts at times causing harm to those who have remained loyal to her. However, the re-arrangement done in the film with regards on the timeline and reasons for events to occur may have provided confusing information for the viewers of the film since these events have been re-arranged just as Sir Walter Scott had done centuries before in order to correlate the events presented in the film to each other even if historical records showed otherwise. It can only be assumed that the re-arrangement and changes on the relationship of the events that occurred during the timeline presented in the film may have been done in order for the film to become more exciting to view and to highlight more on the positive qualities of the Queen which made her the most popular monarch of Western history. Works Cited Campion, Edmund and James V. Holleran. A Jesuit Challenge: Edmund Campion’s Debates at the Tower of London in 1581. New York: Fordham University Press, 1999. (4) Cole, Mary Hill. The Portable Queen: Elizabeth I and the Politics of Ceremony. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1999. (2) Dobson, Michael and Nicola J. Watson. England’s Elizabeth: an Afterlife in Fame and Fantasy. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2003. (1) Doran, Susan. Elizabeth I and Foreign Policy, 1558-1603. New York: Routledge, 2000. (4) Doran, Susan. Monarchy and Matrimony: the Courtships of Elizabeth I. New York: Taylor & Francis Routledge, 1996. (3) Elizabeth: the Golden Age. Dir. Shekar Kapur. Perf. Cate Blanchett, Geoffry Rush, Abbie Cornish, and Samantha Morton. 2007. DVD. Universal Studios, 2008. (7) Frye, Susan. â€Å"The Myth of Elizabeth at Tilbury. † Sixteenth Century Journal. 23. 1 (1992): 95- 114. (2) Green, Janet M. â€Å"’I Myself’: Queen Elizabeth I’s Oration at Tilbury Camp. † Sixteenth Century Journal. 28. 2 (1997): 421-45. (1) Hammer, Paul E. J. â€Å"Sex and the Virgin Queen: Aristocratic Concupiscence and the Court of Elizabeth I. † Sixteenth Century Journal. 31. 1 (2000): 77-97. (2) King, John N. â€Å"Queen Elizabeth I: Representations of the Virgin Queen. † Renaissance Quarterly. 43. 1 (1990): 30-74. (1) Perry, Maria. The Word of a Prince: A Life of Elizabeth I from Contemporary Documents. Rochester, NY: Boydell and Brewer Ltd. , 1990. (1) Rozett, Martha Tuck. Constructing a World: Shakespeare England and the New Historical Fiction. Albany, NY: University of New York Press, 2003. (2) Taylor-Smither, Larissa J. â€Å"Elizabeth I: A Psychological Profile. † Sixteenth Century Journal. 15. 1 (1984): 47-72. (3) Thomas, Jane Rush. Behind the Mask: the Life of Queen Elizabeth I. New York: Houghton- Mifflin Trade and Reference, 1998. (2)

Media events as holidays of mass communication

The authors introduced media events as â€Å"the holidays of mass communication.† They introduced the topic to the readers by citing recent examples of what can be treated as media events. From a general overview of the nature of such events, the authors then move towards providing the readers with a view of what can be liked to media events. As such, they described media events as â€Å"television ceremonies† or â€Å"festive televisions†, thereby pointing out that media events resemble the main characteristics of being festive, being akin to a celebration, and much more like that of a very big event for the mass media. After providing the readers an overview of the description of media events through finding events that have features akin to such, the authors then set the grounds for the detailed description and analysis on the nature of media events. Such was done through the establishment of the nature of television genres. So as to provide the readers a clear delineation of the uniqueness of television from the other media tools, the authors introduced the concept of television genres. The authors pointed out that in the same way that films and print publications are classified, television shows also have their own genres. However, the ways by which the genres of the movies and print publications are classified, differ from the pattern that television genre classification follows. Television genres are not classified according to those features used in film genre classifications such as themes, plots, cinematography, setting, characterizations, and other elements present in the film.   However, as stated by Newcomb, the first person to attempt to classify television genre, â€Å"television as a medium imposes an element of familism on each of the genres which it has inherited from the other media of popular culture.† Despite such characteristic however, the classification process for television genres does not also follow the genre categorization followed by print publications such as the text, the angle of the story, and so on. As such, among the mentioned classifications of the television genre which the authors mentioned are the news and the soap operas. In the later part of their article however, the authors discuss the nature of media events in relation with its similarities and difference from news and the soap opera. The first difference of media event from other television, as cited by the authors was the fact that media events are not routine. They are not akin to the broadcast news shows where a specific pattern is followed as to when the television anchors will appear and report and which segments will come after another. In the case of media events, they comprise a wide range of events- it may be a wedding of a Royal prince, an impeachment trial of the President, the death of a prominent star, or any significant event that may demand utmost attention and interest from the public. Also, media events are delivered as spontaneous events were anything can happen. The authors also cited that media events demand and receive focused attention. They described media events as akin to an ultimate â€Å"life shocker or stopper†, where the media men will somehow dedicate their time and effort to a single event while the rest of the news- whatever relevant event that can be considered as such- will be taken as a secondary priority. As such, media events are also described as something which will then demand the attention of the public as well. Also, the authors pointed out that media events interrupt the routine and they intervene with the normal flow of broadcasting. They cited examples where the normal line of shows was altered so as to give way to the broadcasting of media events. Such act then emphasizes the importance of the media events over the other television genres. This characteristic of media events is then overemphasized when in some cases; regular broadcasting is ultimately suspended so as to cater to the media events. Another important feature of media events that the authors pointed out was the fact that such are delivered in a monopolistic manner most of the time. As such, one can be able to determine that something is a media event when its broadcasting invades all the television channels. Media events are also unique because, as the authors stated, they happen live and the events are transmitted as they occur. This presents a major difference from news and other television shows such as soap operas where the show is recorded. The authors also point out that media events call for outside reporting. By this, we mean that mass communication is delivered from a different venue- depended of the media event itself. As such it is delivered not from the usual studies where mass communication is much controlled and monitored. However, it contrast of its being unique, the authors also site a feature which makes it similar to the other genres- the fact that media events are often pre-planned. This means that the events are announced and advertised before it actually happens. Overall however, the authors note that the main differences of the media events are the fact that they are presented with reverence and ceremony. In this case, we can see that the authors failed to mention the relevance of such unique characteristics- what does these attributes mean, and what are its impact to the viewers and to the whole mass media industry as well. However, the authors made important notes to ponder as they stated why such television genre should attain academic attention. Among the many reasons they have stated are as follows: a. Media events attract large audiences. Since the media events are delivered in a way that is highly interest catching, the viewers cannot resist but be attached to such. However, there are some points when the fact that it has large audiences makes the event qualify as a media event. Regardless of this chicken-egg scenario however, media events should be studied because it provides impending effects on a large group of public viewers. b. Media events make us realize the potential of electronic media technology. As stated earlier, media events are delivered outside the studio, they are also not routine and as such, they serve as a challenge not only for the media personnel but for the mass media technology as well. Such moments test the efficiency and the limits of such. c. Media events make us realize that the media has the power to form its own social network. The ability to form a unique social network is seen as more and more people are inclined to be part of the media event. This social network does not only involve the mass media personnel and the actual attendees of the event, rather it involves all of those who get hooked to their televisions just to watch the media event. d. Media events interrupt our life patterns. By life patterns, we mean not only that of the usual television shows, but the routines in the lives of the viewers. Instead of going to social parties or watching movies, or playing golf, the viewers who get glued to watch media events does otherwise from their planned day to day activities. e. Media events show the art of journalism and television broadcasting. Such events give everyone the glimpse of journalism and broadcasting not just at work, but as challenged. These events how the mechanics of true journalism and demand the most of it as well. f. Media events give the people a view of the past and the future. By this, we mean that media events sometimes demand an elaborated check on the past so as to find historical links to the important event. Aside from that however, media events also allow us to assess the development of television, in accordance to its relevance to the life of the television viewing society. Overall, the authors introduced the nature of media events by linking it with other events that we are more familiar with. After the overview, a through description of media events is delivered as its similarities and differences to other television genres are explored. Towards the end, the authors then establish the importance of media events and the need to study such. References: Dayan, Daniel and Katz, Elihu. Media Events: The Live Broadcasting of History (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992) Media Event. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000)

Barilla Spa (a)

BARILLA SpA (A) Table of Contents Part One: Executive Summary3 Part Two: Immediate Issue4 Part Three: Systemic Issues4 Part Four: Qualitative Analysis5 Part Five: Alternatives6 Part Six: Recommendation8 Part Seven: Recommendations Implementation Plan9 Part Eight: Monitor and Control10 Part One: Executive Summary In order to respond to extreme demand variability and incidents of high stock out rates Barilla is currently applying pressure to both its’ manufacturing and logistics departments to restock distribution centres as quickly as possible. This is resulting in high distribution costs and a reduction in overall profits.In the long term I am recommending that Barilla SpA implement a Just in Time Distribution (JITD) system to reduce excess inventory and eliminate stock outs at the distributor to market level of the distribution chain. The new system will include a forecasting and planning system based on information provided by the distributors on a day-to-day basis. The JITD will reduce inventory to acceptable levels and will reduce inventory carrying cots. It will also flatten demand resulting in cost savings at the manufacturing and shipping levels. It will also provide an opportunity for new sales promotion types and levels.Initially the new system will be implemented on a trial basis and at the end of the trial with successful performance indicated; the system will be presented to internal departments as well as distributors. This report will be used as a basis for discussion in our production meeting at the end of the week. Giorgio Maggiali Director of Logistics Barilla SpA (A) December 4, 2012 Part Two: Immediate Issue Barilla SpA is experiencing difficulty in the manufacturing and logistics sectors of their operation because of an extreme variability in demand of their pasta products.Though demand for pasta in Italy is flat Barilla has been experiencing sudden spikes in demand for varying types of pasta from different areas. Because of rigid man ufacturing requirements and lengthy lead times from placement of order to delivery, stock outs have been experienced between the distributors and retail stores. Part Three: Systemic Issues Sales Operations: Nature: Tactical Timing: Short Term Distributors are encouraged to purchase product based on discounts rather than product demand at their customer’s locations.The sales representatives are given specific sales targets to meet and are conceivably focusing on the discounted products because they are an easier sell to the distributors. Distribution: Nature: Tactical Timing: Short Term and Long Term Lead time from placement of order to delivery ranges anywhere from eight days to fourteen days, though the average is ten calendar days. This includes production and shipment of the product. Most distributors do not rely on forecasting systems to place their orders; they simply count stock on a cycle and place orders to refill to the previous level.There is no analysis based on pr oduct type, time of year etc. Stock outs are happening between the distributors and the stores; the lead time to fill the product gap is too long. Manufacturing Process: Nature: Strategic Timing: Short Term and Long Term The pasta production process (particular sizes and types of pasta require fixed heat and humidity settings in the kiln) makes it difficult to replace a specific type of pasta that has sold out at a vendor’s store because of unusually high demand. The production process cannot be changed or sped up without risking a decline in quality of the product. Part Four: Qualitative AnalysisBarilla SpA is the largest pasta producer in the world. They offer both dry and fresh pasta as well as a variety of other products including cookies, cakes and breads. Currently, the demand for pasta in Italy is flat with only an approximate increase in demand of 1% per year. Barilla competes with other pasta providers (approximately 2,000) by utilizing innovative advertising techniq ues and by using high quality raw materials in their products. In order to compete in the Italian market they utilize the traditional method of distribution to their customers via their own distribution center as well as a number of independent distributors.Distributors may place orders when they choose; each year is sectioned off (referred to as canvass periods) and specific products are offered at discounted rates in an assigned period. The type of product that is offered in each canvass period is decided by the sales department. There are also volume discounts offered on certain products which may be specialized by the Barilla sales personnel (i. e. free shipping for full truckload orders). Sales staff has set sales targets for each canvass period which results in pressure sales to the distributors.The distributors will purchase more of the discounted products in order that they can pass the savings to their customers to achieve higher sales. The majority of distributor’s periodically review their stock of Barilla products and place orders with Barilla based on re-stocking to the previous level they had of each product type. Input from the store level is not considered as the main factor in ordering. There are no set minimum or maximum levels for types of pasta or for size of distributor. Pasta production is time consuming; a series of steps are involved that must be followed to produce the quality of pasta that is Barilla’s trademark.The drying process alone takes approximately four hours; the settings of the kiln are specific to the size and type of pasta being produced. In addition to production time there is shipping time which varies dependent on the proximity of the manufacturing plant to the distribution center. Shipping encompasses the availability of vehicles and the cost of shipping. The current method of ordering means that there are less-than-truckload or LTL shipments taking place which are more expensive than full-truckload or FT L shipments. Part Five: Alternatives Alternative One: Sales ControlsThe Barilla sales department will offer product promotions based on product movement at the region/store level. Volume discounts will be discontinued. Pros: Promotions based on sales data from the individual stores will reduce stock outs and will maintain the sales department’s relationship with the customer. Cons: Distributors lose control over the stock and stock levels that they are carrying. Sales of other product lines that Barilla produces will decline and some customers will change to other suppliers for their variety of product. Alternative Two: Inventory ControlsBarilla will set minimum/maximum inventory levels for each SKU based on historical sales data. Safety stock will be produced of the pasta types that regularly stock out at the distributor locations. Pros: Instituting set inventory levels for each SKU will ensure a more realistic supply of product for each location. Producing safety stock for the pasta types that spike will reduce restock time and mitigate market share loss. Cons: Historic data is inherently flawed because of trade promotions and volume discounts; minimum/maximum levels would be skewed.Excess stock would take up a significant amount of space and extra storage space would need to be obtained. There will be conflict with distributors because of their loss of control and with sales because of the loss of promotional opportunities. Alternative Three: Just in Time Distribution (JITD) Product will not be ordered by the distributor but will be supplied by the manufacturer to the distributor based on data provided about the previous day’s shipments from the distributor to the customers as well as their current stock levels of Barilla product.Pros: Barilla would ship product only as it was needed rather than having large amounts of excess stock. Information regarding supplies at the distributor’s warehouses would aid Barilla in improving their forec asting system. Barilla would have more control over the distribution process. Cons: Distributors do not want Barilla interfering with their inventory. The sales staff is reluctant to lose their opportunity to meet and exceed sales targets through their promotions. Part Six: RecommendationWe recommend the implementation of Alternative Three, the JITD model. JITD will enable Barilla to cut current distribution costs and stabilize supply to the customers. JITD is based on real time data and inventory specific information. Rather than basing product supply on current promotions or volume discounts, product supply is based on historical demand at the specific distributor locations. * This will ensure that customers receive product that they can move rather than being supplied product that will sit on their shelves for extended periods of time. Barilla will be able to reduce inventory levels at their locations because demand will be stabilized and as a result carrying costs will be reduce d. * Transportation can be regulated as product delivery is regulated and cost savings can be found through possible transportation discounts (FTL vs. LTL shipments). * Promotions can be tailored to individual products at individual locations. Barilla can manage inventory levels more effectively than the distributors because we have an understanding of all facets of distribution.The distributors do not have a clear understanding of the manufacturing process and the reason for lengthy lead times. Traditional trade promotion and volume discounts will be eliminated by the implementation of JITD. A new promotion structure will be implemented to maintain market competitiveness. Part Seven: Recommendations Implementation Plan We believe that to encourage both internal and external partners to embrace the JITD system, Barilla should introduce JITD as a pilot project at one of the distribution facilities that has experienced extreme demand variability.Customers are resistant to the change b ecause they will lose control over product type that will be carried. They do not want Barilla to push product through their centres to reduce their costs while restricting the distributor’s role in the delivery system. Barilla can present the data from the pilot project to the other distributors. The data will prove to distributors that implementing the JITD system will be of benefit to them as well as to Barilla. When proposing the JITD system to customers Barilla has to explain that it will: * Reduce Costs * Reduce Inventory Levels Improve Fill Rate to their Stores Implementing JITD is in the best interests of Barilla, the distributors and their customers. There is internal resistance, primarily from the marketing and sales group, because there is a lack of understanding about the effects that implementing the system would have on the various departments and their functions and duties. The sales department, in particular, is concerned that a JITD system would reduce their duties and impedes their ability to sell product by removing the current trade and volume purchasing promotions.In order to get buy in from each department I need to have the support of management including DiMaria, the manager of the sales department. Support for the changeover has to be top down as the current problem is not just a logistics issue but is a supply chain issue. Part Eight: Monitor and Control The pilot project will be implemented within two months and will be take place over the course of three months. The Key Performance Indicators and measurements are: * Customer Demand Levels – Success is flat demand or less than 1% variability in demand. Stock Out Levels – Success is stock out levels at less than 2% per order cycle. * Inventory Levels – Success is less than or equal to 90,000 kilograms of pasta/day at the manufacturing facility and less than 4% excess inventory total at the distributor’s warehouse. At the end of the three month trial the Barilla management team will review the data and prepare a report to present to individual departments within Barilla and to distributors. If figures, as laid out above, have not been met then Barilla will continue to maintain the current distribution process.