Bangladeshi Soft Drinks Market

Soft Drings Executive Summary The purpose of this term paper was to focus on carbonated beverages (Pepsi and Mojo Cola). Theterm paper represents the different types of marketing activites undertaken by both products tohold customers of BangladeshThis report also gives an overview of beverage industry in Bangladesh and also an overview of  Pepsi and Mojo cola's parent companies. Akij Food & Beverage Ltd. has been established at a beautiful site Krishnapura, Dhamrai of  Dhaka. It has come with the best food & beverage in Bangladesh. There are various types of drink.Mojo is the brand name of cola, Lemu is the brand name of Lemon and Speed is the brand name of  energy drink. Immediately after the introduction of the brand it became very popular among itsconsumer because of the high quality and intensive distribution in every nook and corner of thecountry. Checky Monkey is the brand name of banana chips produced from this factory. It also is  becoming popular chips in Bangladesh. Most of our Raw materials come from various foreigncountries. The quality is very strictly controlled. At every stage, non standard products are rejected. On the other hand Pepsi Co. is a multinational company.Originated in The USA Carolina in 1898. Since then it has been able to stay in competition with its biggest rival Coca-Cola. Pepsi, now is aworldwide brand and consumed by millions of people. Pepsi was introduced in Bangladesh byTranscom Group. As a corporate citizen Pepsico believes it has a responsibility to contribute to thequality of life in our communities. Transcom Beverage Ltd has put into action this philosophythrough support of social agencies, projects and programs and the scope of this support is extensiveand it has not been difficult to blend with this philosophy since the TRANSCOM group alsofollowed such a corporate ideologyChapter:1 1. 1: INTRODUCTION (Beverage industry of Bangladesh) After independence of Bangladesh the food habit of people has been changed a l ot. Besides our  traditional food consumer of Bangladesh like to take western food also after 1980s. As a result of  global marketing this was not too hard for the consumers. Different foreign food companies wereestablished in Bangladesh. Beverage industry is one of them. But more interestingly we don’tknow beverage is also our cultural food because beverage doesn’t mean only carbonated drinks.Yoghurt, soup and lacchi are also beverage of our own tradition which consumed for the last 100years in Bangladesh. But carbonated beverage is new in Bangladesh and today our research is oncarbonated beverage market in Bangladesh and consumer reaction to it. Carbonated beverage entered into our market in the later part of 1980. At that time there were onlyfew companies in Bangladesh. But by the change of time and western culture influences it’s  become very popular in Bangladesh. By year 2000 more than 12 Beverage Company operating  business in Bangladesh and most of them are foreign companies. Bangladesh Beverage: 2006)At present there are 19 beverage companies operating business in Bangladesh. They are: 1. Transcom Beverage Ltd. 2. Sun Crest Beverage Industries Ltd 3. Abdul Monem Limited 4. K. Rahman and Company 5. Eastern Beverage Industries Ltd. 6. Sanowara Drinks and Bev. md. Ltd. 7. Asia Business Ltd. 8. Desh Beverage Co. Ltd 9. Northern Beverage Ltd. 10. National Beverage Industries Ltd. 11. Bridge Corporation Limited 12. Tezarat Enterprise 13. Southern Beverage Ltd. 14. K. Rahman and Company 15. Bangladesh Beverage Ind. Ltd. 16. Dhaka Beverage Industries Ltd 17.Sunny Foods and Beverage Ltd. 18. Tabani Beverage Co. Ltd. 19. K. Rahman and Company 1. 2: Akij Food & Beverage Ltd: Akij Food & Beverage Ltd. has been established at a beautiful site Krishnapura, Dhamrai of  Dhaka. It has come with the best food & beverage in Bangladesh. There are various types of drink. Mojo is the brand name of cola, Lemu is the brand name of Lemon and Spe ed is the brand name of  energy drink. Immediately after the introduction of the brand it became very popular among itsconsumer because of the high quality and intensive distribution in every nook and corner of thecountry.Checky Monkey is the brand name of banana chips produced from this factory. It also is becoming  popular chips in Bangladesh. Most of our Raw materials come from various foreign countries. The quality is very strictlycontrolled. At every stage, non standard products are rejected. 1. 3: Transcom Beverage limited: On the basis of an exclusive Franchise for Bangladesh from Pepsico USA, TBL acquired threemodern bottling plants at Dahaka, Chittagong and Bogra from BBIL Dhaka; Chittagong and NBIL,Bogra; in March 2000. TBL manufactures the famous range of beverages-Pepsi, 7up, Mirinda.As a corporate citizen Pepsico believes it has a responsibility to contribute to the quality of life in our  communities. TBL has put into action this philosophy through support of soc ial agencies, projectsand programs and the scope of this support is extensive and it has not been difficult to blend withthis philosophy since the TRANSCOM group followed such a corporate ideology. Chapter:2 2. 1: OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY This term paper would focus on market segmentation, marketing mix, consumer attitudes towards  beverage drinks of Bangladesh (i. e.Mojo and Pepsi). It should be noticed that this report has beenmade in the context of Bangladeshi market and different segmentations and promotional activitesanalyzed in this report are solely based on the Bangladeshi consumers’ perspective . E. g. It willdiffer from country to country. If Mojo becomes multinational and goes to countries like K. S. A,Libya, The U. S. A, The U. K. Then the current activities undertaken by Mojo has to be changed inorder to stay in worldwide competition. Because, cultures vary from country to country. 2. 2: Source of informationDue to limited time maximum data were collected from th einternet, shop to shop survey was done in order to estimate the sales of these beverages. 2. 3: Limitation The major drawback while preparing this report was inadequate time; as a resultthe report lacks some potential information. Moreover, due to class schedule clash in depthresearch on the topic was hampered. Some informations were not disclosed by Mojo dealers(Palashi, Azimpur) as they considered these informations to be confidential. Information on Pepsi was gathered from the internet and local shops as Pepsi is a multinational company.Adequateinformation about Pepsi is not available from the context of Bangladesh. Chapter:3 3. 1: Mojo (Information): Mojo, is a brand of Akij Food and Beverage Ltd. , a sister concern of  Ã‚  prominent group of companies of Bangladesh, Akij Group. In the year 2007 Mojo was themarket challenger in Bangladeshi cola market with a sales of about 52 crores BDT. The brandwas launched in 14th April, 2005 targeting the youth of Bangladesh who like the Bangladeshitrends. All there years, Mojo is doing quite good in the market and competing well with other  Ã‚  brands.Mojo's pricing is it's advantage but it has to improve its image & product quality. Unfortunately, Mojo is lagging behind due to inadequate promotional activities. E. g. Slogan,name's meaning etc. It has also failed to communicate its own positioning the target consumers. However, still now Mojo has the potential to recover its own position (according tosurvey). Consumer behaviour such as perception, attitude, self-orientation and life style, thisreport has found out some drawbacks and recommended some affective strategies to recover  those issues successfully. 3. 2: Market SituationMojo is not far behind in order to anticipating the current market situation. After being inthe introduction stage for a short period of time Mojo is successfully now in the growthstage and doing well for its good eminence and unique marketing effort. With theintention of increasing sa le and obtaining market share Mojo is targeting and creating awell company position into the market. To collect information regarding market, service  performance, competition and distribution Mojo is always developing promotionalstrategies, campaigns and carrying out market surveys. 4 April 2010, Mojo arranged afair and the duration was three days. It was held on field of Pranthapoth. They welcomedthe Bangla year 1417 very nicely. Because who had a bottle of Mojo, then that persongot the entry in the concert without any ticket. 3. 3: Target Market Most of the soft drink companies are now targeting the young generation and indeed this is the besttarget for any soft drink companies. Keeping this thing on mind Mojo has decided to targetespecially the young generation along with the people from various types of socio-economicclasses.Akij Group is now offering extensive distribution channel in order to capture and makesure the proper distribution of Mojo so that young generation can e asily avail it where ever they arein the country. Last time we saw in Mojo advertise that an old couple were sharing a bottle of Mojo. So, they cleared that it is not only a product for the young people but also their target is alsosenior citizens. Though Mojo is hardly preferred by Old aged people. PROFILE OF THE TARGET MARKET Cola drinks usually follow an undifferentiated marketing strategy to target their consumer.Keeping this fact in mind, we conducted a sample survey by selecting random sample fromdifferent places. The following discussion will attempt to analyze the profile of the target market  based on the sample group. 3. 4: Demographic Factors Age Age is the major determinants in targeting the consumers. MOJO reflects the Bangladeshi cultureand it represents youth. From our survey, we have found that MOJO is most preferred in the agegroup between 20-25 years (85% of 100). Moreover, the least MOJO preference comes fromtwo age groups: 25-35 years and 35-45 years, about 1%. SexBeverage is used for thirst-quenching purpose and this product is gender neutral, meaning there isno such kind of obligation to consume the product for male or female. However, from our surveyoutcome, we have found that 71% of the consumers are male and 29% are female from 100. Allthe respondents are from urban location. MARKETING MIX: 4P’S OF MOJO5. 1 Product The product MOJO cola has come with the following variations in the market- †¢ 250 ml bottle †¢ 500 ml bottle †¢ 1000 ml or 1 liter bottle †¢ 150 ml can The MOJO Cola has been made with a proper technology. So there is no chance to occur  fluctuation in taste.The cola drinks contain a very strong taste which can compete with the marketleader Coca- Cola and RC cola. Other Factors Meaning of MOJO Meaning of MOJO is the idea or feeling the respondent have instantly after hearing the name or  analyzing it. To 60% respondents, MOJO means fun or enjoyment. To 14% it means nothing. Inaddition, other 26% varies within music or art, sports, thirst passion etc. Competition Soft drink market always offer high level of competition among companies. Because,soft drink is a fast moving consumer good and its demand always fluctuate based onseveral reasons (E. . Taste, weather conditions, etc. ). It included the degree of competition andintensity of competition. So in that case both the degree and intensity of competition are very highfor Mojo. Because the market it was operating was already touched by big companies such asCoke, Pepsi, Royal Crown Cola. Surprisingly, these giant companies are considering Mojo, as aravenous competitor in the market. So it’s a good news for Mojo that competitors like â€Å" Coca Cola, Pepsi are thinking about Mojo consciously. It is because Mojo has already grabbed good portionof Bangladeshi beverage market share.Mojo believes that they have the strong distribution power,creative marketers, financial power and quality to grab competitions market s hare as well asincrease their own selling. Before preparing the term paper we made a brief market survey and we saw that in every popular market of Dhaka city, wholesalers are very active and demand is veryhigh. Distribution The strongest point of MOJO is their intensive distribution channel. They make this thing  possible because Akij Group of industries especially their beverage sector has a profoundlogistic and supply chain management system.So they can easily go to door to door of  their target consumers. They believe that delivering products to consumer hands is notsufficient or convenient enough that is why for near future betterment they are trying todevelop their distribution channel in such manner that they can easily make their  Ã‚  potential customer in to actual customer. And we must say that the dealer of a particular  territory is really expert and the do their job on the time. Objecetives & Issues The promotional campaign can undertake 3 types of objectives:1. To inform,2. To persuade3. To remind.In the case of Mojo, the campaign will basically focus on persuasion, since MOJOis in maturity stage of its life cycle and will try to spread out its current perception in urbanyouthful lives. The advertising objective for MOJO is to persuade the target audience to make a  purchase and to obtain 8% increase in sales. Now a day, Mojo is not a new product. And for thatreason, previously the company’s target was to make positioning about Mojo because it was a new  product and please try it. But now Mojo is in growth stage; so it is trying to maximize the marketshare and retaining the market share is also important hereAdvertising Strategy Advertising is a challenging factor for Akij Group’s Mojo. As the sales of Mojo highly relies onadvertising. It has to be done in such a way which is convincing, attractive to people, which willrun on people’s mind 24/7. Developing an effective advertising and promotional campaign mustsele ct the right spokesperson to deliver a convincing message and the appropriate channels or  media. As part of the development of the advertising strategy of Mojo, all the advertisingcampaigns will try to communicate the same message to meet the advertising objective as set anddiscussed previously. Their main logan is â€Å"Mojo Ontor e Ontor e† and for that reason they alwaystry to make every ad including this slogan. Stimulus Characteristics Logo The logo of MOJO is attractive and representing the youth although they did not forgot about theaged people. Therefore, this helps them to get a good result. Soul feeling All the multinational soft drink companies-showing advertisements are made abroad. In thiscase, MOJO cola differentiated themselves. They are making the ads in our country, as they wantto be the cult brand. As they are, doing this so people can feel that it is our cola and I am buyingmy soft drink that in terms help them to feel good.Therefore, people have a soft corner for them intheir mind. Packaging Packaging also helps in the perception process. Attractive package can grab people’s attention. MOJO cola know this and they are concentrating on it. The two most critical job of packaging are: Capture Attention The colorful packaging catches the attention instantly. People like colorful things and they go for  colorful things. That is why within a short time MOJO cola got the attention of the target aspect. Convey Meaning The colorful packaging conveys the meaning that MOJO is a youthful product.Mixing up the  brand with colors, which have a meaning, is sensible. That gives people meaning and they went for  it. CONSUMERS’ LEARNING & MOJO Learning is any change in the content or organization of long- term memory and/or behavior. Learning about soft drinks is a low- involvement learning situation. Consumer behavior is largelylearned behavior. Learning about MOJO Cola is for the most part low involvement learningstate of affa irs. Controls Just like all other companies Mojo is also very much concern about controlling their  monetary and operating cost.That is why every month Mojo conduct Quality assurancesurvey, Sales figure monitoring, Feedback from Retailers and Sales force not only bytheir employees but also by students from different universities by offering exclusiveincentives and gift items. They evaluate their inventory, quality, acceptance of Mojo fromdifferent perspectives. By keep checking these things Mojo can stay in the market by notonly minimizing their cost and expense by also maximizing their revenue and profits. Weknow its very much time consuming and expense become high, but to know the currentsituation the company must do it.Social responsibilities Akij group of industries not only concern about increasing their sales, capture market share andgaining profit but also concern to do something for the social betterment. Through out their  campaign Mojo has always been the pioneer in or der to come across to help old, orphanage andhomeless street children. The Group has been running a considerable orphanage free of charge indistrict town. The Group has also acquired a modern mother & children hospital previously owned  by Save the Children (UK). The hospital is being operated as a non-profitable concern by Ad-DinWelfare Trust. Pricing policy:The pricing policy of Mojo has been done very carefully. Mojo has manycompetitors (e. g. Coca Cola, Pepsi) in the market. Compared to them Mojo has set pricereasonably. The pricing of Mojo is discussed below: ? Litre ———- Tk 14/- ? Litre ———- Tk 25/-[pic] 1 Litre ———- Tk 45/- 2 Litre ———- Tk 75/- Chapter:4 4. 1: Pepsi (Information): Pepsi was first introduced as â€Å"Brad's Drink† in New Bern, North Carolinain 1898 by Caleb Bradham, who made it at his home where the drink was sold. It was later namedPepsi Cola, possibly due to the dige stive enzyme pepsin and kola nuts used in the recipe.Bradhams ought to create a fountain drink that was delicious and would aid in digestion and boost energy. In 1903, Bradham moved the bottling of Pepsi-Cola from his drugstore to a rented warehouse. That year, Bradham sold 7,968 gallons of syrup. The next year, Pepsi was sold in six-ouncebottles, and sales increased to 19,848 gallons. In 1909, automobile race pioneer Barney Oldfieldwas the first celebrity to endorse Pepsi-Cola, describing it as â€Å"A bully drink†¦ refreshing,invigorating, a fine bracer before a race. † The advertising theme â€Å"Delicious and Healthful† wasthen used over the next two decades.In 1926, Pepsi received its first logo redesign since theoriginal design of 1905. In 1929, the logo was changed again. In 1931, at the depth of the Great Depression, the Pepsi-Cola Company entered bankruptcy – inlarge part due to financial losses incurred by speculating on wildly fluctuating sugar p rices as aresult of World War I. Assets were sold and Roy C. Megargel bought the Pepsi trademark. Eightyears later, the company went bankrupt again. Pepsi's assets were then purchased by Charles Guth,the President of Loft Inc. Loft was a candy manufacturer with retail stores that contained sodafountains.He sought to replace Coca-Cola at his stores' fountains after Coke refused to give him adiscount on syrup. Guth then had Loft's chemists reformulate the Pepsi-Cola syrup formula. On three separate occasions between 1922 and 1933, the Coca-Cola Company was offered theopportunity to purchase the Pepsi-Cola company and it declined on each occasion. Ingredients: In the United States, Pepsi is made with carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup,caramel color, sugar, Phosphoric acid, caffeine, citric acid and natural flavors. A can of Pepsi (12 flounces) has 41 grams of carbohydrates (all from sugar), 30 mg of odium, 0 grams of fat, 0 gramsof protein, 38 mg of caffeine and 150 calories. T he caffeine-free Pepsi-Cola contains the sameingredients but without the caffeine. The original Pepsi-Cola recipe was available from documents filed with the court at the time thatthe Pepsi-Cola Company went bankrupt in 1929. The original formula contained neither cola nor  caffeine. 4. 2: Market Situation Pepsi Cola is a reknowned brand all over the world. Its demand is increasing each year. Pepsi is incompetition in Bangladesh for many years. Its major competitiors are Coca Cola, RC Cola andnow Mojo is progressing in competition.The main of Pepsi just like any other beverage companyis to make supernormal profit by increasing sales. Not only that, Pepsi carries out promotionalactivities throughout the year. â€Å"Transcom Beverages Ltd (TBL), the franchisee of PepsiCo International, has won the â€Å"Bottler of  the Year Award† for 2009 in PepsiCo International Annual Conference in recognition of itsoutstanding business results. Latifur Rahman, chairman and managing dir ector of TBL, received the award from SanjeevChadha, regional CEO of PepsiCo, and Katrina Kaif, an Indian film actress, at a function inThailand recently, said a statement.Transcom Beverages, which won the award for the third time, bottles, distributes and markets allPepsiCo brands such as Pepsi, 7up, Mirinda, Mountain Dew, Slice, Diet Pepsi and 7up Light inBangladesh. Present on the occasion from TBL were Arshad Waliur Rahman, director, Golam QuddusChowdhury, executive director and CEO, and Khurshid Irfan Chowdhury, general manager. Tejinder Khurana, country manager of PepsiCo International, and Goutam Bhattacharjee, territorydevelopment manager of TBL, were also awarded with â€Å"Ring of Honour† for their performances in2009. † [   Daily Star : Sunday, January 24, 2010] 4. : Target Market like any other beverage competitor in Bangladesh, Pepsi's main target is young generation assoft drinks are mainly preferred by youths. Despite local competition Pepsi has maintai ned itsreputation by chargining relatively high price. Within last fifteen years Pepsi has reached the peak by offering extensive distribution channel in order to make sure the proper distribution of Pepsi sothat people can easily avail it where ever they go. Pepsi customers are mostly young group  between the ages of 14 to 30 and also target at school, colleges, universities, home, restaurant,hotel and stores. . 4: Market Segmentation Positioning Beverages Soft Drinks: Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Royal CrownCola Juices: Pulpy, Nestle, Fruito Local Drinks: Mecca Cola, Mojo Cola Energy Drinks: Red Bull, Power 4. 5: Competition Pepsi has many rivals in the market. Pepsi considers Coca Cola and Royal Crown Cola as their  Ã‚  biggest competitiors. However in recent years local carbonated drinks like Mojo Cola and MeccaCola, etc are giving tough competitions to giant beverage companies like Pepsi and Coca Cola. 4. 6: Distribution Pepsi undergoes massive distribution all around the country.The distribution channel plays animportant role in the company’s success. Pepsi has distributors in all districts. Due to lack of datathe distribution process of Pepsi cannot be discussed. Objectives and issues Pepsi is in its maturity stage. Meaning, everyone knows about this beverage. All it has to do isremind people to consume this drink. The main objective of Pepsi is to make profit by theincrememnt in sales. By means of organizing concerts/trade fairs, Pepsi informs people about the  product. Advertising strategy Advertising is an important issue for Pepsi. It's competitors undertake massive advertising todominate in market.Equally, Pepsi does the same thing for survival. Most of Pepsi's advertising isIndian. Meaning, Indian ads are translated in Bangla. By doing so, Pepsi is able to advertising cost. The main aim of Pepsi has always been to deliver a convincing message via media. Pepsi usestelevision, newspaper, billboards as its advertising medium Controls â€Å"Quality At every level of Pepsi-Cola Company, we take great care to ensure that the highest standards are met in everything we do. In our products, packaging, marketing and advertising, we strive for  excellence because our consumers expect and deserve nothing less.We promise to work towardcontinuous improvement in all areas of our organization. At every step of our manufacturing and bottling process, strict quality controls are followed toensure that Pepsi-Cola products meet the same high standards of quality that consumers have cometo expect and value from us. We also follow strict quality control procedures during themanufacturing and filling of our packages. Each bottle and can undergoes a thorough inspectionand testing process. Containers are then rinsed and quickly filled through a high-speed, state-of-the-art process that helps prevent any foreign material from entering the product.Additionalquality control measures help to ensure the integrity of Pepsi-Cola products throughout th edistribution process, from warehouse to store shelf. † [Extracted from http://www. pepsi. com/] Social responsibilities â€Å"Environmental SupportPepsi and the entire PepsiCo family embrace our responsibility to be good stewards of our planet'snatural resources. We begin by understanding our environmental footprint and then work to findways to reduce it. We're focused on Energy, Water and Waste – areas where we know we can makethe greatest difference. †[Extracted fromhttp://www. pepsi. com/faqs. php? ection=environmental_support] Pricing policy Despite having many competitors, Pepsi is charging high price in comparison to local competitorslike Mojo. ? Litre ———- Tk 18/- ?Litre ———- Tk 30/ 1 Litre ———- Tk 55/ 2 Litre ———- Tk 90/- Product differentiation In Bangladesh Pepsi offers product differentiation in comparison to Mojo cola by offeringPepsi Diet in the market. From this sid e Mojo is a little weak because these days most people arehealth conscious, diabetes patients, etc. They prefer Pepsi Diet which does not contain sugar. Pepsi Diet is available in two sizes. Litre ———- Tk 30/- 1 Litre ———- Tk 55/- Though Pepsi’s offering differentiation by offering Pepsi Diet it is not charging premium price. The price of Pepsi Diet is same as Pepsi Cola Thus, Pepsi is having competitive advantage over Akij’s Mojo Cola. Swot Analysis: Mojo Cola: †¢Strengths: Brand image : Akij group is already a established brand name. So there already exists astrong brand image of the company. So if we launch any product under this brand name then itautomatically accept by the consumers. Quality : Most of their raw materials come from various foreign countries.The quality is verystrictly controlled. At every stage, non standard products are rejected. So we can say that howwell they are aware about their products quality. Strong distribution network   : Akij group has a strong distribution network and this isone of the most strongest competitive advantages for them. They make product available all over  the country through their strong distribution channel of retailers and whole sellers. †¢Weakness: The weakest point of akij group is that if any product sells fall due to poor quality then it willalso affect the other products of other brands. Opportunity: Increasing demand: As people are engaging more in taking beverage product, the demand isincreasing day by day for this kind of product category. †¢Threat: Akij group have a number of competitors especially under Akij Food & Beverage Ltd such asPran juice, Shezan juice, Acme juice. This competition is very high and works as a threat for AkijFood & Beverage Ltd. Pepsi: The strengths, the weaknesses, the opportunities and the threats of Pepsi. 1. The advantages of Pepsi-Cola1) Firstly, Pepsi has stayed in this market for almost one centur y.So they are so experienced andstationed in people's mind deeply. Now no one doesn't know the brand Pepsi-Cola Whenever thename Pepsi is heard, people will conjure up the image of fresh and cool drink .2) Secondly, Pepsi-Cola is not only in high quality, cool and fresh but also have a competitive  price. 3) Thirdly. Pepsi is such an experienced powerful global company, Which has a basic of a greatfund. So it has the ability to place an idle sum of money to the promotion. We can see that theadvertisement of Pepsi-Cola is so attractive. It also invited the top famous people to advertise for  it. ) Pepsi also compares with the competitors and find their disadvantages to update its own quality,flavor and also package promptly in order to satisfy the consumers' need. This is the biggestadvantage of Pepsi company. It is the most popular one. Pepsi company also produce the Diet-Cola to meet the people whomore concern their health. And it just changes the design of the package of Pepsi -Cola. 2. The disadvantages of Pepsi-ColaBut we cannot consider things just on one side. Still there are some disadvantages existing inPepsi-Cola . A survey suggests that 32% people prefer the package of Pepsi-Cola.So the design of  Pepsi-Cola's package is not as attractive as Coca-cola. It still needs to be improved. We suggestthat the package needs to be designed more colorful to attract people's attention. 3. Although in the cola market there are many competitors, Pepsi still has the opportunity toenlarge its market share because the cola in the market is quite monotonic. Most of the end user isyoung people. There are still some people who do not like the taste of the cola. So we can try to provide some other taste of cola such as adding some lemon juice. We can change the flavor inorder to meet different taste of different people. . As to the threats, all of us know that Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola have had the competition for  about 80 years. Although Pepsi-Cola have won sever al times during this competition, the marketshare of Pepsi-cola is a little bit smaller than Coca-Cola. Besides, there are many other competitorslike Mojo. In Mojo’s advertisement we can see the reflection of our culture. It is well known thatBangladesh is a patriotic nation. So these words can really catch Bangladeshi people's heart. Andthese local cola's flavor is more suitable for Bangladeshis. So it cannot be ignored. Recommendation: Mojo:After getting informations from the internet and local shops. It seems that Mojo has certainlackings. Mojo is local brand so its going to be hard for Mojo to stay in competition with Pepsi. Mojo can provide offers like â€Å"buy one get one free†, â€Å"win a car†, coupons, etc. All these activitieswill rise interests in people to consume more Mojo in order to get something. By offering such  promotions, Mojo may be able to give tough competitions to Pepsi. Mojo can persuade people via advertising. E. g. It can convey mes sages that â€Å"Mojo is BangladeshiDrink, We Bangladeshis drink our drinks†.Not only that, motivating employees will help Akij Beverages to reach its peak. E. g. Employeescan be given fringe benefits, promotions, monthly free medical check-up, etc. 24 SUGGESTIVE PROMOTIONAL TOOLS Billboards MOJO cola must concentrate on billboard advertising, for this at first they have to increase thenumber of billboards around the country. They have to create billboards with catchy look so that itcan grab the attention of the target aspect. They must make colorful and relevant billboards so that  people can find out what they want to tell them.At last, they have to place the billboards in theright place so that target aspect can have their full concentrate in it. Paper Ads The number of paper ads should have to be increased. Otherwise, they cannot make mass peopleaware about their product. It should also contain high imagery, relevant with product MOJO cola. TVCs The frequencies of the T V ads have to be increased. People who watch TV regularly are seekingfor innovative things made by the marketers. They pretty much bored with the traditional ads. So if  MOJO cola bring new thing with their ads them it will be a turning point for their sale.People willget more interest in their product and as a result, they can be the loyal customer of this product. SoTV ads should be brought with a new format, with more new things so that it can catch the targetaspect with the new ones. Sponsorship Till now MOJO cola make sponsorship of few events like concerts, â€Å"nabanno utsav, banglanoboborsho, etc†. they should include cyber cafe, canteens of university, fast food shop and other  Ã‚  places where people goes frequently. By doing so they can be with the target audience and we illfind more aware people. Sales PromotionThey should in for massive sales promotion to attract people from other drinks Pepsi: 1) Pepsi-Cola should improve the design of the package first. As it is advertised as† the choice of  new generation†, the design must be looked young and fresh. So the color should be more sharpand attractive. 2) As the flavor and ingredients of cola in the market are similar and the most active consumer isthe young people, we can diversify the Pepsi production to meet the different need of theconsumers. That is customer-orientated. 3) Besides the Diet cola for the health conscious people, we can have many other new choices.For  example, we can create a new kind of cola more suitable for children. Maybe we can add theVitamins or some nutritious element that are necessary to children. Or we can create a new flavor  like mint-cola. 4) However, pricing should not be reduced to an extent where initial investment cannot berecovered. So, pricing & finance has to be done carefully. Conclusion Mojo People prefer MOJO’s pricing but it has to improve its image in status and quality issues. Unfortunately, MOJO is lagging behind due to inadequate communication of its brand elementslike slogan, name’s meaning etc.It has also failed to communicate its own positioning to the targetconsumers. However, still now MOJO has the chance to recover its own position because about70% of the target customers (according to the survey result) are potential and have not constructedtheir belief structure for MOJO. For some particular aspects of consumer behavior such as  perception, attitude, self-orientation and life style etc, those recommended strategies provided withthe report will be supportive to recover those issues successfully if MOJO can apply thosesuggestive marketing tools. 6 Pepsi Being in such a tense competition with other beverages, Pepsi-Cola should not take the direct andtough attack upon any of them. The best wad is to keep a peaceful relationship with it and alwayscompare with others, We should find their disadvantages and show our advantages on this aspect. Then by and by, the people would think ou rs is better Of course the most important rule is toimprove the product, lower the price in comparison to other competitors to meet the consumers.

Medicine Sources Question Essay

What can you learn from these two sources about Pare’s contribution to medicine? (5 marks) Ambroise Pare was a French war surgeon who worked in a number of public hospitals and helped many times on the battlefields, giving him ‘war wound’ knowledge. He lived between 1510 and 1590. Before Ambroise Pare, soldiers who received a gunshot wound during battle were prone to a lot of pain and suffering. Wounds were burnt with red hot iron called a cautery or would be filled with boiling oil. All doctors knew this was a very painful action but didn’t know any different ways to treat the wounds. This is shown by the picture in source two. Source one shows what actually happened when Pare discovered the improved method for treating gunshot wounds. It tells us that there were many issues to the success of the discovery. The issues include chance, war and printing. It also shows how he thought that the oil and the cautery did actually work. The written source shows that the war was a great help for the discovery. He was working on the battlefield so he could try his new discovery on the patients of the war. Without him running out of oil on the battle field Pare would not have had to make up the remedy of egg yolks, oil of roses and turpentine. The printing helped him spread his knowledge around and let other people know his new method. ‘Anaesthetics alone led to major progress in surgery in the nineteenth century.’ Do you agree? Explain you answer. (15 marks) Anaesthetics make surgery pain free and are available in two forms: general, which makes the patient unconscious; and local which numbs an area of the body. Before anaesthetics there were a number of problems. Surgery was limited to amputations as infection couldn’t be stopped and operations had to extremely quick. Due to the high risk of infection deep internal operations were out of the question and many people died due to the trauma of pain. Some people said the pain was as bad as being like a criminal preparing for an execution. The fear of surgery was immense which meant both patients and surgeons suffered with stress. Operations before anaesthetics had no hygiene measures and ordinary equipment, like outdoor saws, were used. The first form of anaesthetic was by Humphry Davis who made patients inhale nitrous oxide. Crawford Long found out that ether was another useful anaesthetic in 1842. After 1846, the public became more accepted to anaesthetics and on the 21st December Robert Liston successfully amputated a leg using ether in twenty-six seconds, the patient even asked whether they started the operation as it had been totally pain free. In 1847, James Simpson found that chloroform could be used during childbirth, as it didn’t cause inflammation. Having anaesthetics it meant that surgery could be more widely available. With anaesthetic anything from a sore tooth to a tumour could be removed. It would all be pain free, which meant there was less stress on surgeons to carry out quick operations, and the fear of operations was reduced. As operations could take longer they were more successful and death rates lowered considerably and more complex surgery could be carried out. Although there were many advantages to using anaesthetics there were still a number of disadvantages. Many doctors didn’t want to use anaesthetics because people had side affects due to the wrong amount being administrated and some people even suffered overdoses. Some surgeons were also seen as too inexperienced to use it as they had to be so careful about the dosage. Although the fear of surgery had reduced, many people were now scared because during the whole operation, their lives were in the hands of the doctors and so couldn’t stop the surgery until the surgeon wanted to. Although a wider range of surgery could be carried out, there was still no chance of complex heart surgery as the of infection was too high. One of the most important disadvantages of anaesthetics was that no antiseptics had been formed and because longer, deeper surgery was being carried out there was a greater risk of infection. It has been shown that anaesthetics alone did not lead to major progress in surgery. Without antiseptics which stop infection, anaesthetics are not useful as patients are likely to die of infection, and so, antiseptics are useless without anaesthetics as antiseptics don’t relieve pain. Antiseptics are really more important because although during surgery anaesthetics were a ‘dream come true’, antiseptics made sure that the wound was no longer infected. There were many years when there were no antiseptics but a lot of anaesthetics. This led to people not dying from shock from the operation but from the infection from the machinery.

Muslim Article

The New York Times article â€Å"Congressman Criticizes Election of Muslim† (Swarns 2006) reported on the criticism made by Virginia's Republican Congressman Virgil H. Goode Jr. on the recent election of Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison. According to Rep. Goode Jr., the election of Keith, a Democrat and the first-ever Muslim to sit in the United States Congress, is a grave threat to traditional American values. Goode's warning, contained in a letter addressed to his Virginia constituents dated Dec. 5, 2006, asked Americans to â€Å"wake up† or face the likelihood of more Muslim elected officials that would demand â€Å"use of the Koran†.He also called for the adoption of stringent immigration policies as a step towards the preservation both of this country's beliefs and values and resources. Ellison, a former criminal lawyer and a convert to Islam, has planned to use the Muslim bible in January during his private swearing-in. Goode's comments elicited criti cisms of bigotry and intolerance from some Democrats in Congress and from Muslim Americans as they pointed out that the official swearing in of officials, in contrast to private swearing in,   do not use religious texts. For his part, Ellison pointed out that he is no immigrant, saying that he's an African-American whose roots goes â€Å"back to 1742†. He also said he is a politician and not a religious scholar such that Goode has â€Å"nothing to fear†.This article of the New York Times gave a rather fair coverage as it observed the journalistic standard of presenting both sides of an issue. The article gave space to both Goode's and Ellison's statements and counter-statements, attempting to do so from an objective viewpoint. As for the issue of Islam or being Muslim depicted by the story itself, there are obviously two conflicting sides, two opposing viewpoints. The side of Rep. Goode adopts the position that Islam in the country, or at least the practices of Islam (as the use of Koran, instead of the Christian Bible in swearing-in), poses a considerable threat to traditional American culture. He even insinuated that Muslims, along with other immigrants, are a burden to the United States. On the other, the coverage of Ellison and his sympathizers show that Muslim Americans, who could be good citizens, are welcome in this country. U.S. Congressman Criticizes Election of Muslim By RACHEL L. SWARNSPublished: December 21, 2006WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 — In a letter sent to hundreds of voters this month, Representative Virgil H. Goode Jr., Republican of Virginia, warned that the recent election of the first Muslim to Congress posed a serious threat to the nation’s traditional values.Skip to next paragraphRepresentative Virgil H. Goode Jr., left, said Keith Ellison’s decision to use a Koran in a private swearing in for the House of Representatives was a mistake.Mr. Goode was referring to Keith Ellison, the Minnesota Democrat and criminal defense lawyer who converted to Islam as a college student and was elected to the House in November. Mr. Ellison’s plan to use the Koran during his private swearing-in ceremony in January had outraged some Virginia voters, prompting Mr. Goode to issue a written response to them, a spokesman for Mr. Goode said.In his letter, which was dated Dec. 5, Mr. Goode sa id that Americans needed to â€Å"wake up† or else there would â€Å"likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped,† said Mr. Goode, who vowed to use the Bible when taking his own oath of office.Mr. Goode declined Wednesday to comment on his letter, which quickly stirred a furor among some Congressional Democrats and Muslim Americans, who accused him of bigotry and intolerance.They noted that the Constitution specifically bars any religious screening of members of Congress and that the actual swearing in of those lawmakers occurs without any religious texts. The use of the Bible or Koran occurs only in private ceremonial events that ta ke place after lawmakers have officially sworn to uphold the Constitution.Mr. Ellison dismissed Mr. Goode’s comments, saying they seemed ill informed about his personal origins as well as about Constitutional protections of religious freedom. â€Å"I’m not an immigrant,† added Mr. Ellison, who traces his American ancestors back to 1742. â€Å"I’m an African-American.†Since the November election, Mr. Ellison said, he has received hostile phone calls and e-mail messages along with some death threats. But in an interview on Wednesday, he emphasized that members of Congress and ordinary citizens had been overwhelmingly supportive and said he was focusing on setting up his Congressional office, getting phone lines hooked up and staff members hired, not on negative comments.â€Å"I’m not a religious scholar, I’m a politician, and I do what politicians do, which is hopefully pass legislation to help the nation,† said Mr. Ellison, who said he planned to focus on secular issues like increasing the federal minimum wage and getting health insurance for the uninsured.â€Å"I’m looking forward to making friends with Representative Goode, or at least getting to know him,† Mr. Ellison said, speaking by telephone from Minneapolis. â€Å"I want to let him know that there’s nothing to fear. The fact that there are many different faiths, many different colors and many different cultures in America is a great strength.†In Washington, Brendan Daly, a spokesman for the incoming House speaker, Nancy Pelosi of California, called Mr. Goode’s letter â€Å"offensive.† Corey Saylor, legislative director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, criticized what he described as Mr. Goode’s â€Å"message of intolerance.†Representative Bill Pascrell Jr., Democrat of New Jersey, urged Mr. Goode to reach out to Muslims in Virginia and learn â€Å"to dispel misconceptions instea d of promoting them.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Keith Ellison serves as a great example of Muslim Americans in our nation, and he does not have to answer to you, to me or anyone else in regards to questions about his faith,† said Mr. Pascrell, whose district includes many Arab-Americans.The fracas over Mr. Ellison’s decision to use the Koran during his personal swearing-in ceremony began last month when Dennis Prager, a conservative columnist and radio host, condemned the decision as one that would undermine American civilization.â€Å"Ellison’s doing so will embolden Islamic extremists and make new ones, as Islamists, rightly or wrongly, see the first sign of the realization of their greatest goal — the Islamicization of America,† said Mr. Prager, who said the Bible was the only relevant religious text in the United States.â€Å"If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don’t serve in Congress,† Mr. Prager said.In his letter, Mr. Goode e choed that view, saying that he did not â€Å"subscribe to using the Koran in any way.† He also called for ending illegal immigration and reducing legal immigration.Linwood Duncan, a spokesman for Mr. Goode, said the Virginia lawmaker had no intention of backing down, despite the furor.â€Å"He stands by the letter,† Mr. Duncan said. â€Å"He has no intention of apologizing.†

Bachelor Thesis on Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7000 words

Bachelor Thesis on Marketing - Essay Example When network marketing is introduced the it makes the customer to remember the ad, billboard or any other visual display he viewed regarding that product. Then it makes double impact on him as the situation contains both the effects of mouth publicity(by network marketing volunteers) and the impact of the visual advertisement. This gives a higher probability in making the customer buy that product. It is an important idea or a combination, whatever we may think, which is worth enough to contemplate and to do research about it on any background like that of a major in graduation of Post Graduation. It is innovative and important because it involves both technology and strategy while executing the idea. The approaching and methodology itself makes it to stand apart from the other ideas and strategies. This method involves the skill in applying technology in visual display and strategy in improving network for marketing. History of our planet proves that adapting to change is the only way to survive. Those who do not or cannot adapt, become extinct. This is true of plants, animals (including human beings) and even brands. Brands that do not change disappear from the marketplaceand the consumer's mind. In the recent years the pace of change has increased manifold and consequently the time available to adapt to changes has shrunk considerably. The problem with many of us is that we think of future as faraway. The future is here. It's not some event that will take place five, 10 or 20 years from now. It is something that is as close as tomorrow. The pace of change in the recent years has shortened the distance between yesterday, today and tomorrow. In preparing brands to survive into the future, it might help to look to the past and see how brands have evolved. The first real "brands" began to emerge at around the same time as marketing began emerging as a serious business management discipline way bac k in the late 19th and early 20th century. By the mid-1900s, marketing had already established itself as a central business function and the four Ps became the tactical tools of marketers. Over the next 30-40 years, marketing as a strategic business function has evolved constantly to adapt to continuous and discontinuous market changes. Concepts such as segmentation, differentiation and competitive advantage emerged and proved extremely useful to marketers in successfully introducing and establishing brands. But things have been seem to be changed from the last decade. Technology and product breakthroughs, discovery of newer markets (when the older ones are stagnated), rising incomes, and telecom and media revolution have necessitated newer and innovative marketing approaches, because the time to react to competition is shorter than ever before and there is little scope for blunders. The present day consumers are unforgiving and punish brands that do not live up to their promise by shifting their loyalties to other brands unlike yesteryears' customers. No wonder so many brands of past have just disappeared from the shelves. Most of the brands which enjoyed uninterrupted reputation in the past market were now seen rare and nowhere close to their

Reseach Method Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Reseach Method - Essay Example The abstract provides a clear idea about two important factors whether the research addressed the question of interest and whether it studied individuals or situations are relevant. Aside from giving information about the purpose of the study, it also includes who was included in the study as well as an overview of the findings and the implications of the findings to practice. The findings confirm that Eastern and Western cultures emphasize different influence styles. This is a confirmation of a previous research finding. The findings also indicate that life stage is as important as culture, and possibly more important than culture, in explaining the ethical perceptions of upward influence behavior. This involves the new discoveries or concepts from the research. The abstract is found on the first page of the research. It has the findings which provide the summary of the key components of the research. The abstract provides a short summary of the study. It includes the aim of the study, outline of the methodology and the main findings. The purpose of the abstract is to allow the readers to decide if the study is of interest to them The introduction section of the research paper describes the gap in knowledge that is addressed by the research study. In this section of the report, the researcher explains why the research was needed, why the study was carried out in the manner that it was and what the researcher is specifically asking or predicting. As the business world evolves from a nation-state focus to a global focus, managers who are proficient at understanding cultural differences should be more effective in exercising influence in culturally mixed situations. Research on how culture affects individuals' choices of upward influence strategies has been limited. This study provides a first step in the investigation of the interaction of age and culture on the upward influence ethics of managers. The primary goal of this study is to ascertain the interrelationship between life stage (age) and culture on the influence strategies employed by managers in order to identify compatibilities (or incompatibilities) in influence styles among age-culture groups. Review of related Literature (Beasley, 2003) This is a focused summary of what has already been published regarding the question or problem for which there is a gap in knowledge. The literature of the research article gives the readers' a picture of what is already known or has already been studied in relation to the problem and identifies where the gaps in knowledge may be. The literature review does not necessarily only include published research studies. It also may include published reports about issues related to practice or a description of a theory. A theory is a written description of how several factors may relate to and affect one each other. The factors described in a theory are usually abstract: that cannot be readily observed and immediately defined and recognized by everyone. The research report discusses a theory in its introduction section, the study tests and further explains the relationships proposed in that theory. The meta-category perspective is used in the research report. It is expected that the study will be based on this, and that is to examine some aspect of life events and perceptions affect the variables in the research. The

Postoperative pain management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Postoperative pain management - Essay Example Some tissues like the liver and lung alveoli do not respond to strong pain stimulus, while skin tissues are very sensitive. Traditionally, pain was considered as a symptom or manifestation of a disease or diseased state. Currently, this view still holds, but more than that, pain is considered as a condition that needs to be managed separately from the medical condition from whence it arose. The understanding of the elements that cause pain has been a pursuit of many researches in medical science. People with various life-threatening and non-threatening medical conditions could suffer diverse form of pain, although acute pain could arise from surgical procedures. Chronic pain is a condition suffered by many. The myriad of medications developed for pain relief alone is an indication of the number of individuals who suffer from chronic and acute pain. In a clinical setting, pain is a subjective condition and its definition is based on what the patient decides it to be. The role of the clinician is to know what the patient actually means, and needs. However, many clinicians, nurses included, do not have a clear understanding of pain and its management. As a result, pain management could be ineffective. Understanding pain at the anatomical and physiological level will increase the clinician’s knowledge of it nature and the interventions that can alleviate it. How pain develops was first described in the classic work of Melzack and Wall in 1965, which proposed the â€Å"gate control theory of pain†. According to Melzack and Wall, pain is perceived by a neural mechanism by the substantia gelatinosa layer of the dorsal horn of the spinal cord, which acts like a gate modulating the flow of nerve impulse from the peripheral nervous system to the central nervous system (CNS). The pain stimuli are felt by nociceptors, receptors in the somatic and visceral tissues. The nociceptors are free nerve endings that are connected to

Agile manifesto - what are the downsides Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Agile manifesto - what are the downsides - Essay Example This is championed because collaboration is much more crucial than understanding process and tools. Another element that is propagated is working software OVER comprehensive documentation. One might argue that documentation is required to have a successful implementation of software is much important than documentation. However, real testing of software happens in QA in which prototyping occurs. Another issue that is prominent with Agile customer collaboration and negotiation. In the boom and busting world of technology, building an innovative products through blocks can be waste of time, resources and scope of work. This is achieved through regular iterations of work, known as Sprints which enhance the product as depicted by the team. It is clear to understand that Agile enhances the churn by reducing defects and defining the product resourcefully. The team evaluated by practicing this technique to steer the direction of the product via this methodology. When a team stops and re-eva luates the direction of a project every two weeks, there’s time to steer it in another direction without spending quality time. The last core principle can be answered via was clear that teams understood an opportunity to know the life cycle of the project and limit the cycle work to two weeks. This enables teams to develop a work cycle is limited to two weeks, and allows stakeholders have to examine defects in the

Electrical Engineering in Telecommunications Essay

Electrical Engineering in Telecommunications - Essay Example The next step is for telecommunication engineers to outline a transmission and reception of the transmitted information. In designing the transmitters and receivers, the engineers have to factor in the power consumption especially of the transmitters since a weak signal will due to low or insufficient power will be susceptible to corruption by noise so that the sent information is received as jumbled or incoherent. Looked at simplistically, two telephone handsets connected together need a battery in between to provide the electrical signal to transmit voice signals as depicted below; d1 d2 Handset Battery Handset D Fig 1: Simple telecommunication connection In the above diagram signal will be transmitted a total distance D. d1 and d2 are the distances of each handset to the battery. Now D in practice can be a very long distance, for which certain factors determine this distance which are attenuation and IR drop that limits the voltage across the transmitter. The common 19 gauge wire has a 30 km limit which is also affected by the quality of the handsets. To increase the length of D, we can either increase the voltage of the power source (battery) or we can install amplifiers along D to solve the attenuation problem [2]. The above diagram however is limited to just two people communicating; in real life hundreds or even thousands of people communicate in a telecommunication network not just two people. This makes signalling a more complex problem so that a telecommunication network type must be adopted. These can be a start topology, a mesh topology or many single start topologies connected together to form a network. Adding more users (subscribers) to a network over long distances will raise the cost of the network as many amplifiers and more power sources will be needed, a better solution is therefore needed. Only the most basic telecommunication systems require a power system on site. Telecommunication systems require a prime power source such as a mains elec tricity supply from a grid or a generator for sites in areas where there is no electric grid coverage and a standby power source should also be availed in case there are extended interruptions to the primary power source with a means to protect the equipment for instance against lightning or surges. Telecommunication systems utilize Direct Current (DC) power which can be low current power of 24 or 48 volts dc or complex systems used at exchanges. A telecommunications DC power system consists of a rectifier system, battery system, charge and discharge buses, primary and secondary distribution systems and a voltage conversions system which work together to power a telecommunications network whether the old telephone lines (twisted copper pair), fibre optic, voice over internet protocol or wireless (radio). Rectifiers convert Alternating Current (AC) to DC and are the major supply of power used for a telecommunication system. A rectifier also provides extra power to overcome the intern al resistance of a battery before charging commences and it recharges the battery when AC power supply is restored after an interruption. The Battery stores charge to power components especially when there is no AC power and ensures there is constant power to the loads so break in communication occurs. It is constantly connected directly to the discharge bus so no interruption occurs

Fidel Castro articulated a revolutionary vision in his 1953 trial Essay

Fidel Castro articulated a revolutionary vision in his 1953 trial defense, known as History Will Absolve Me. Upon what doc - Essay Example Castro was arrested and was sentenced to prison for fifteen years. During his trial in 1959, Fidel Castro had offered a long four-hour speech supporting the cause of the attack he had led and defended himself. This speech was later published in the form of a manifesto in the July 26th Movement which ultimately overthrew the then ruling Batista government and came to power in 1959 1. In the four hour long speech, Fidel Castro tried to speak about how he was denied justice and a fair legal aid. He spoke of how the jurist who was appointed to defend him was not given the permission to meet Castro in the required times. And this was the reason why he chose to defend himself in the trial. The revolutionary instances in the speech In the trial, Castro spoke about the positive intentions behind his actions. He recalled how he was questioned by the prosecutor and a large group of twenty defense attorneys. He had provided them with the correct facts and figures as well as the amount of money spent. He also mentioned the way the money was gathered and the arms rounded up. Castro was fearless in his trial and tried to hide nothing. He mentioned that it was achieved by the sacrifices of the country men who did not have any precedent seen in the history of the Cuban Republic. Fidel had spoken of the missions which inspired them in their national struggle. He also spoke of the humane and generous treatment which the party had faced in times of their adversaries. He stressed that if he was able to mention that the persons falsely accused in the trial were not related with him in any way, it was only because of his comrades and party members who were brave enough to accept their roles. He further mentioned that no amount of pain or suffering could deter their determination in being called as revolutionaries or patriots to their motherland. He spoke of how he and his comrades were kept separate from each other but they all ended up having the same plan and thinking. He then sai d then when revolutionary men carry the same ideals burning in their hearts no form of barrier could isolate them whether it is a prison wall or a sod of cemeteries. It was a single memory, one spirit, a single idea, a combined conscience and a single dignity that helped to sustain them2. He spoke of the different treacherous lies and deceits that were hurled against the freedom fighters. He spoke of the inhuman conditions in which the Cuban revolutionaries were treated3. In another instant, Castro spoke about how he was dishonored by the army personnel who also violated the orders of the court. Castro was even denied from talking with his peers4. These sentiments helped in fuelling the nationalist sentiment and the revolutionary struggle. Key revolutionary laws Fidel Castro had said that dictatorship is an unconstitutional feature5. Castro said that there were five revolutionary laws which could have been implemented after the capture of Moncada Barracks. The first revolutionary la w would return sovereignty and power to its people which would help to proclaim the 1940 Constitution that is the Supreme Law of the State6. The second revolutionary law was to give non-mortgageable as well as non-transferable possession of the land to all the tenants as well as subtenant farmers, lessees, the share croppers and the squatters who were found to hold five caballerias of the lands or even less. The third revolutionary

Organizational Behaviour Essay Example for Free

Organizational Behaviour Essay Part A consists of three questions. Be sure to include both the questions and the responses in the document you submit. Your total combined responses for these three questions should not exceed 1000 to 1500 words. 1. Marketing specialists at Napanee Beer Co. developed a new advertising campaign for summer sales. The ads were particularly aimed at sports events where Napanee Beer sold kegs of beer on tap. The marketing group worked for months with a top advertising firm on the campaign. Their effort was successful in terms of significantly higher demand for Napanee Beers keg beer at sports stadiums. However, the production department had not been notified of the marketing campaign and was not prepared for the increased demand. The company was forced to buy empty kegs at a premium price. It also had to brew some of the lower priced keg beer in vats that would have been used for higher priced specialty beer. The result was that Napanee Beer sold more of the lower priced keg beer and less of the higher priced products that summer. Moreover, the company could not initially fill consumer demand for the keg beer, resulting in customer dissatisfaction. Use open systems theory to explain what occurred at Napanee Beer Co. Begin with a brief description of open systems theory. Use your own words (paraphrase) and remember to cite all sources using APA style. The open systems theory states that organizations are entities that continually exchange resources with its external environment. The organization is dependent on the external environment for resources such as raw materials, employees, financial resources, and information and equipment which are the organizations inputs. Those inputs are used by the organizations internal subsystems, such as production and marketing, and are subsequently turned into outputs such as products, services, employee behaviours, profits/ losses, and waste/ pollution (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 4). According to the open systems theory (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 4), the organization Napanee Beer Company’s internal subsystems were not operating efficiently. Due to the lack of communication between the marketing group and the production team, production was unaware of the increase in demand for the product and did not order enough inputs to meet this larger demand. Consequently, the materials used were much more expensive than they would have been had they been ordered earlier. This oversight cost the company sales on higher priced specialty beer and caused customer dissatisfaction. Had the production team been aware of the success of the marketing campaign, which was geared towards sporting events where Napanee Beer sold kegs of beer on tap, they would have been able to order the appropriate amount of kegs, saving the company a lot of money. This is not an issue between the external and internal environment but an issue with Napanee’s internal subsystems effectiveness (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 4.). The lack of communication between departments weakened the company’s ability to maximize its input to output capability; therefore, the company was not functioning at a high level of efficiency (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 5.). 2. The sales office of a large industrial products wholesale company has an increasing problem: salespeople are arriving late at the office each morning. Some sales reps go directly to visit clients rather than showing up at the office as required by company policy. Others arrive several minutes after their appointed start time. The vice-president of sales doesnt want to introduce time clocks, but this may be necessary if the lateness problem isnt corrected. Using the MARS model of individual behaviour, diagnose the possible reasons salespeople may be engaging in this â€Å"lateness† behaviour. Begin with a brief description of the MARS model. Use your own words (paraphrase) and remember to cite all sources using APA style. The MARS model represents the four factors that influence people’s behaviour and performance. These factors are motivation, ability, role perceptions, and situational factors (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 26). Motivation is what drives a person in a particular direction and the passion and persistence in which they pursue something (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 26). The ability of an employee refers to their natural aptitudes as well as their acquired capabilities (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 27). An employee’s competencies refer to his or her skills, knowledge and other characteristics that may be beneficial to the organization (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 27). Role perception is the third factor in the MARS model. This refers to how closely the employee’s perception of their job duties aligns with the employer’s (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 27). The final factor in the MARS model is situational factors. Situational factors involve conditions that are not part of the employee’s skill set or personality and are often out of their control (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 28). According to the MARS model of individual behaviour, the possible reasons salespeople may be engaging in this â€Å"lateness† behaviour is first the lack of motivation they are feeling to show up to the office at their scheduled start time (McShane Steen, 2009, pp. 26-28). This could be due in part to the lack of incentive they receive for showing up on time. Furthermore, the absence of negative consequences for showing up late has not shown the sales reps that the company is serious about this policy. In order for the sales reps to be motivated to show up to the office in the morning instead of seeing clients first, there needs to be some kind of reinforcement from the company that demonstrates that showing up on time is a behaviour that they expect and value. The sales reps were most likely hired because of their ability to gain new customers and sell products; therefore, they see this aspect of their job as being priority and do not see the value in showing up at the office first. The biggest factor effecting this situation is role perception (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 27). The sales reps do not have a clear understanding that arriving at the office on time is an essential part of their job duties. It is clear from the sales reps behaviour that they are not aware of the importance of being at the office in the morning before they head out to see clients. While this may be a company policy in writing, it is not well practiced in the office, so it is perceived by employees as a recommendation rather than a rule. Situational factors may also contribute to the â€Å"lateness† problem (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 28). This could be because face time at the office does not support their task goals which are to go out and see clients and sel l products. The sales reps might find the commute to the office an inconvenience whereas they could instead cut that commute out of their day and drive straight to a client’s office. 3. Big Box Construction Company has received warnings from government safety inspectors that employees at some of its construction sites are not wearing the required safety helmets and noise-protection equipment. The company could lose these contracts if safety practices are not maintained. The company has warned employees that they could be fired if they dont wear the safety gear, but this has had little effect. Describe an A-B-C analysis for this situation and provide two types of behaviour modification interventions that might change employee behaviour in this situation. In an A-B-C analysis of this situation the antecedent would be the warning the employees received from the company informing them that they must wear safety gear on the job site. The behaviour is that some of the employees are not wearing safety equipment on the construction sites. And the Consequences are that the employees face termination if they continue to disregard this policy (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 66). Two types of behaviour modification interventions that might change employee behaviour in this situation are: 1) Positive reinforcement, the supervisor can offer praise to the employees who are adhering to the safety guidelines (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 66). In addition, there could be a reward in place such as a bonus for employees who are wearing their safety equipment on the site every day. 2) Punishment, although punishment might generate negative feelings toward the company and supervisor, it is necessary because of the severity of the breach (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 67). The type of punishment will depend on the frequency of the offence. For example, the first offence could result in a write-up, the second offence in a suspension without pay, and the third dismissal. Part B Read Case Study 4.1: Conestoga-Rovers and Associates on pages 97 and 98 of the textbook and answer the three discussion questions that follow it. Your answer for this case study should not exceed 600 to 800 words in length and should incorporate, where appropriate, content from Lessons 1, 2, 3, and 4. Questions 1) Why does Conestoga-Rovers and Associates and other companies try to create a positive work environment? The text explains that according to the dual cognitive-emotional attitude process, the positive emotional experiences employees encounter on a daily basis at Conestoga-Rovers contributes to their job satisfaction (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 80). When employees are satisfied with their job they are more likely to be accommodating to the organization’s clients, helpful to their co-workers, and can experience increased overall productivity (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 87). Therefore, it is beneficial for the company to foster a positive work environment where its employees are frequently feeling positive emotional experiences, so that their outlook on their jobs and the company will be much more favourable (McShane Steen, 2009, p.80). According to the model of emotions, attitudes, and behaviour (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 79), our emotions will have a direct impact on our behavioural intentions which in turn will most likely affect our behaviour. If the employees at Conestoga-Rovers are bombarded with positive emotions in their work environment, than they are more likely to behave in a way that is agreeable to the company. Conestoga-Rovers acknowledges and appreciates its human capital and realizes that its employees knowledge provide a competitive advantage to the company (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 7). They realize that in order for the company to retain its valued employees and attract new ones they need to foster a positive work environment. By â€Å"adapting employment practices† to suit the needs of their employees the company is striving to retain its valued intellectual capital (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 6). 2) How does this company manage to provide events and perks that employees value? At Conestoga-Rovers and Associates having fun and maintaining a work-life balance are fundamental to the company and its employees. This is evident in the many perks this company offers its employees that vary from its extremely active social committee to the onsite daycare facility. As stated in the case study, an employee of Conestoga-Rovers suggested that the company build an onsite daycare facility, never really expecting that they would take her request so seriously. However, much to the employee’s delighted shock the company complied. This demonstrates the company’s dedication to its employees wants and needs. In addition the company has assembled a social committee to listen to what it is that employee’s value and have evidently been able to deliver to the Conestoga-Rovers employees what they want. By doing this for their employees the organization is building organizational commitment and loyalty to the company (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 89). By involving employees in company decisions that affect them and listening to their needs they are strengthening their employee’s social identity within the organization. This shows employees that their opinions are not only heard but are valued and trusted by the organization (McShane Steen, 2009, p.89). The company has a â€Å"work hard-play hard mantra†, and their â€Å"social events and activities play an integral role in the company’s culture (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 97). This is evidently closely aligned with its employee’s values; therefore, the employee’s feel comfort in their shared values with th e company prompting them to remain loyal to the company (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 89). 3) Is it possible that employees can have too much fun at work? From personal experience, I think that it is possible to have too much fun at work. When there are too many social events at work it takes away from an employee’s personal time and time at home with their family. An employee can feel forced to participate in social events that they do not want to partake in, and this can end up having a contrary effect to what the company is striving for. This added pressure to attend social events can add stress for the employee and take away from time needed to complete his/her work. Conversely, having fun at work can help build camaraderie amongst the employees and reduce the consequences of stress such as job burnout. Attending social functions can give employees a break from the monotonous routine of their job tasks; therefore, reducing the risk of emotional exhaustion and indifference towards their jobs (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 91). Fun events with co-workers can also help to build on an employee’s social awareness. For instance, when employees are interacting with each other and building personal relationships as well as professional relationships they are better equipped to â€Å"perceive and understand the emotions† of their co-workers (McShane Steen, 2009, p. 84). Because they are getting to know their peers personal situations a little better, the interaction allows them to be able to experience some empathy for their co-workers.

Russo-Turkey Relations and the Middle East

Russo-Turkey Relations and the Middle East Abstract The relation which Turkey share with Russia in the recent decades has been an example of truly bonding nature. Over a prolonged friendly relation for more than two decades, Turkey’s relations with Russia exacerbated first when it shot Russian bomber jet over the Syrian border and secondly the unfortunate killing of Russian ambassador which happened in Ankara. These incidents surely put a question mark on the peaceful relations of Turkey with Russia. Whether what the reality be, Turkey is accused for stabbing Russia in the back. These sore tending acts initially resulted in various sanctions posed by Russia against Turkey. In this alarming situation where crises have overtaken most of; Europe, Middle Eastern region and Russia, this rivalry may caution many states in the coming world order. Preface The crisis in the Middle Eastern region has brought in its wake a perceptible shift in Russo-Turkey relations in the contemporary arena. At first, the downing of a Russian Su-24 bomber jet by Turkish F-16 fighter over the Syrian-Turkish border bewailed the President of Russia. The subsequent reaction of that incident provided a great index of the deterioration between both. Secondly, the assassination of the Russian ambassador Andrey Karlov in Turkey put a stamp on Turkey’s goodwill in the sights of Russia. Russia was once considered a bitter enemy of Turks. In the contemporary arena, several ingredients have refreshed the erstwhile tensions as witnessed in the Tsarist and Ottoman eras. With the passage of time, the interaction between them has been fluctuating in keeping with the geographic and leadership transformation. By far, Syrian crisis is the latest point of contradiction between them, representing diverging interests. This is becoming a test case for the two for demon strating their lost-power in the wake of contemporary transformations in the world order from unipolar to multipolar. The policies of both the states towards Syria run counter to each other. Russia has shared a strong economic partnership with Syria, fact being that it (Syria) has remained a major beneficiary of Russian weaponry while Turkish Prime Minister, in 2012 called on Bashar al Assad to step down as the President of Syria. No doubt, there are convergences and divergences between Russia and Turkey to project their policies with each other as well as other stakeholders of the region. This paper is intended to analyse the Russo-Turkey relations in the backdrop of their interests in the Middle East, following the significance, convergences and divergences of their relations which have given rise to their contemporary role in the arena. After the discussion on the matter, this paper has extracted the role of Pakistan and has suggested way forward for Pakistan’s foreign policy concerning the subject matter. Why Middle East matters the most to Russia and Turkey? The critical interests of Russia and Turkey both lies in the Middle East. However they do not tend to be the same. Under the umbrella of NATO, Turkey is exercising its policies as an independent state in the Middle Eastern crisis. Syria, Iraq and Iran being border stitched to Turkey are perceived to be under strong observations of Turkish policy makers. While Russia, not a NATO member has a different framework for the region, particularly its need for the Mediterranean Sea, weaponry market and trading of oil and gas is apparent. Mediterranean Sea links Russia with Eastern Mediterranean Sea, the Middle East and North Africa. So any situation of conflict, war or unease in these regions has impact on Russia’s political position. There are number of factors that are driving the Turkish policy in which Saudi Arab is a part. Turkey has made it clear that it wants the overthrow of Assad. This is the first time in its history that Turkey adopts a regime-change strategy. When the United States decided to counter ISIS with the help of possible regional alliance, Turkey refused to get actively involved unless the coalition were to target both ‘Assad’ and ISIS at the same time. It is clear that Ankara favours a war to the end of weakening all parts: Assad, ISIS, the Kurds and Iran. Yet it always preferred to rely on proxies and calls on NATO and the international community to intervene in Syria. It was because of this very tactic that Ankara allowed the Peshmerga (Iraqi Kurdish forces) to enter the Syrian town of Kobane through Turkey to help the Syrian Kurds in the battle against ISIS and this is again the reason why it decided to support the jihadists in Syria. While, Russia is seen more as to helping its friend Assad in the play as recently it condemned the United States’ air strike on Syria’s chemical launch pads. Syria is the only country in the region which has Russia’s base(s). Continuing its efforts to play a role and get hold of the oil, gas and other economic factors, Russia’s stance on Middle East policy is evident and strong in its intentions. Significance of Russia-Turkey relations Under the leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russia and Turkey signed mutual agreements and MoUs for increasing both countries’ relations in terms of trade and cooperation.Turkey has remained one of Russia’s main trading partners. Both share huge amount of business in the sectors of energy, tourism and trade. The statistics show a viable flow of synergy between both. There is a proposed construction of a gas pipeline as well as the Akkuyu power plant, which may be affected after downing of a Russian jet by Turkey as a disputed incident. According to a Turkish academic, any damage to the infrastructure deals could be significant, because Turkey imports 55 percent of its natural gas from Russia and 30 percent of its oil. â€Å"Turkey has close strategic ties with Russia in terms of energy relationship with Russia, so it may be that the Turkish Stream project as well as the nuclear energy project – which is going to be constructed by the Russians could be affected, Professor Gurkan Kumbaroglu from Bogazici Universitys department of engineering, told CNBC. So it is apparent if any sort of clash of ideas occur in Russo-Turkey relations, Russia has its hands on the switch to constrain Turkey politically without involving any armed conflict. Similarly, Russia’s tourism department entertains much of Turkey’s tourism industry as 3.6 million Russians visited Turkey in the first nine months of 2013, according to the latest statistics of Russia’s Federal Tourism Agency. This definitely adds a lot to Turkish economy and proved Russia has the power to restrict its citizens to travel Turkey in the emergence of any dispute between the two countries. On the other hand, trade is the most primary sector which both countries has shared since few decades with tremendous outcomes. Turkish vegetable exports account for some 20 percent of vegetable exports to Russia. In 2014, according to Turkish foreign trade statistics, exports to Russia were worth $5.9 billion while imports from Russia were worth $25.2 billion. This scenario is more prone to absolute gains rather than relative gains because not only Turkey relies on Russian oil, gas and energy but Russia’s dependency on Turkish geostrategic location is a perfect example to say Turkey is also at gains. Convergences of Russia-Turkey relations Contemporary Russia did not take Turkey as an independent state and always restrained to be in connection with it until 2003 when surprisingly The Justice and Development Party of Turkey refused to allow American forces to use Turkish territory to invade Iraq. This proved to be a game changer for Russia’s perception towards Turkey. The relations furthered in a positive way leaving the footprints of Cold War era outside the door when Turkey, as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, was considered a frontline state in the divide between the communist bloc and the western bloc. Surprisingly, given the unrest in the North Caucasus and the Balkans on which issue the policies of Ankara and Moscow clashed, these relations changed. The tangible convergences between the duos can be elaborated as under: Turkey’s need of oil and gas is one of the major convergence in the Russo-Turkey relations. The economic interests of both countries meet but there are points of divergence in various strategic plans to extend oil and gas pipelines between countries of the Central Asia, and the Middle East on the one hand and the European market on the other.   So, they need to act rationally towards each other to organize their interests. Russia’s dependency on Turkey is also apparent because Turkey might remain Russia’s necessary gateway to the Mediterranean, just as the Ottoman Empire was in the past. Nonetheless, there has been efforts to institutionalize relations between the two countries which, in the form of Turkish-Russian Cooperation Council in April and May 2010 got established. Since then the two leaders of the country have met annually. It has put a lot of impact on the international image of bilateral relations of Russia and Turkey because leaders from both sides warmly welcomed each other since then. Divergences, clashes and disputes There have been large number of conflicts ever since the Tsarist Russia and Ottoman Empire since 1560s. The Russian side won more battles than Turkey which clearly indicates the significance of geographic disposition of Russia. However, Crimean War led Russia lose due to possible stronger alliance of Ottomans with British, French and Italian forces. While in the contemporary world, Turkey’s neighbourhood has been in a turmoil, mainly Middle Eastern countries, which has directly influenced Turkey’s dealings with Europe and Russia. Today, the changed relationship between Turkey and Russia has been affected by strategic considerations and political interests relating to the current reality in the Middle East. Especially the crisis in Syria has moved both Turkey and Russia oppositely in terms of national interests. The two countries are not on the same pitch regarding the crisis. Turkey has clearly taken steps to remove the regime of Assad whereas Russia regards Assad’s ongoing leadership as a necessary condition to cope with the turmoil in the collapsed state. Preservation of its own strategic interests in the Middle East, Russia is sensitive in providing support to Assad. The conflict of interests between Turkey and Syria includes border issues, questions pertaining to water and riparian rights, religious outlook, political-military orientation, drug-trafficking, smuggling, terrorism (Kurdish insurgency), and espionage etc. Analysis Syrian crisis and all the history of Russo-Turkey relations aside, today, it is thought that Turkey has created a trust deficit in relation to its bilateral relations with Russia. On the other hand Russia is also thought to have taken Turkish early warnings serious. However, there was not a serious threat to Turkey from Russia. Perhaps, Turkey could have considered many points of conflict before downing a Russian jet which was merely on its airspace (according to Russian narrative of the incident) at Turkey-Syria border. Russia in no time retaliated and adopted a political approach launching serious sanctions against Turkey. The trauma was not much concerning the policies of Turkey or Russia towards Syrian crisis but shooting down a Russian jet paved a way of thinking for the Russians to analyse Turkey’s intentions and goals for the coming days. Subsequently Russia accused Turkey of being in business with the Islamic State of Syria. Similar reactions are observed from Turkish side as well. The war of words between the leaders of both countries have definitely evoked state of unease and unrest to their bilateral relations. The conflict however is not seen as beneficial for any side at all. Russia, despite of its potential projects in Turkey, has unilaterally signed sanctions against it. However there are no signs of waging a war by any of them against each other. In recent decades, Russia and Turkey have shared friendly and cooperative relations sharing economic, trade, military and projects related to energy sector. Both have respected each other’s view in the international decision-making process. The issue is not only limited to the interests of both the countries, but then again there are risk factors which are giving shape to their policies. Turkey is not land locked, but still it’s a jigsaw which connects whole Asia with the Europe. This puts a lot of responsibility for any leader of the Turkey to stand head to head against any turmoil which may disrupt country’s repute in the international arena. While Russia, despite being connected with many states, has to depend on the market of Middle East, European countries and specifically Turkey to constitute its trade, military, economic and foreign policy for survival as a state. It is clear that international relations are uncertain and unpredictable, both are crucially unparalleled to each other and the lack of trust between them is now a bone of contention. However, with the passage of time, relations may grip instead of losing its charm because Russia may digest what happened, or Turkey, which is not apparent at all, might apologize for its act of downing a Russian jet. Because, in an emerging world order into multi polarity, the interests of others may urge Russia and Turkey to rethink of their relations in a positive manner. Foreign policy guidelines for Pakistan in case of Russia-Turkey conflict The conflict of ideas between Russian and Turkish relations hasn’t directly influenced Pakistan to take any action of concern. However Pakistan does share points of convergences with both in terms of trade, educational exchange programs and tourist activities. In a nutshell, Pakistan and Turkey define each other as ‘sister countries’, and the friendly relations of both as a Muslim state is the apex of their strong bonds. On the other hand, while not overriding its relations with India, Russia has shown great interest to re-establish its bilateral relations with Pakistan. This can succeed the idea for Pakistan to maintain a balanced foreign policy towards Turkey and Russia in this matter. Yet again the ill-timed row between Russia and Turkey has subjugating power to keep Pakistan a neutral observer. At this point in time, Pakistan as a member of global community, having its national interests in Turkey, Russia and other Middle Eastern countries, has a shared responsibility to play positive role for the betterment of relations between them. In a limited context, Pakistan may adopt a policy of deescalating the tensions between both and suggest measures of cooperation and coordination to tackle the situation. Not to forget, Yemen crisis affected thousands of Pakistani citizens and resulted in their departure from Yemen. This puts Pakistan in a situation to tactfully regulate its obligation to work for the betterment of its own citizens while maintaining sustainable relations with other countries. Pakistan can beget neutralizing role to the hard lined tensions between Turkey and Russia and may need to facilitate both for the emergence of pleasant and reputed ties. Readings http://russiancouncil.ru/en/inner/?id_4=6978#top-content http://en.trend.az/azerbaijan/karabakh/1616142.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aylin-unver-noi/turkey-and-russia-days-of_b_8695800.html http://tass.ru/en/economy/764152 http://studies.aljazeera.net/en/positionpapers/2013/05/20135795421533494.htm http://www.rubincenter.org/2012/04/russo-turkish-divergence-part-i-the-security-dimension/ http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34971902 http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/11/24/world/middleeast/russia-turkey-jet-shoot-down-maps.html http://www.azernews.az/analysis/90476.html http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2015/Oct-09/318233-turkey-warns-russia-energy-ties-at-stake.ashx http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/The-confrontation-between-Turkey-and-Russia-Lessons-for-Israel-436236 http://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-turkey-nato-idUSKBN0TJ14F20151130?utm_source=Facebook http://tribune.com.pk/story/1001173/turkey-will-not-apologise-for-downing-russian-fighter-jet-pm/ http://tribune.com.pk/story/1000436/russia-announces-economic-sanctions-against-turkey-over-jet-downing/ https://www.rt.com/op-edge/323430-russian-plane-down-turkey-us-nato/ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/turkey-russia-tensions_5655c9dbe4b08e945fea945b http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/latest-russian-pilot-says-no-warnings-turkey http://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/77659-turkey-would-have-acted-differently-if-it-had-known-jet-was-russian-erdogan https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/10/09/how-the-rivalry-between-russians-and-turks-shaped-the-world/ http://www.sigmalive.com/en/blog/zenonas.tziarras/2015/06/963/turkey-and-saudi-in-syria-aligned-interests-clashing-revisionisms http://tribune.com.pk/story/860335/every-effort-being-made-for-evacuation-of-pakistanis-from-yemen-fo/ http://www.dailysabah.com/diplomacy/2015/05/17/pakistan-and-turkey-are-two-leading-countries-in-the-islamic-world

Cost Effectiveness Analysis of Bleach

Cost Effectiveness Analysis of Bleach Household bleach is a common commodity used by all income groups of India. This is mainly because of hot and humid climatic condition which left us with no other choice than white or light colour daily wear clothes. To maintain personal hygiene and attractive look within the available budget it is necessary to use bleaches. One question which bothered me quite often was, when so many bleach brands are accessible, which one is the best to buy and this gave me the idea to frame my research question Investigating the cost-effectiveness of various brands of chlorine-based bleaches containing sodium hypochlorite accessible in Indian Market Thus to determine the usefulness and effectiveness of the bleaches, it was worth calculating the concentration of free chlorine per rupee (Indian currency) spent. The different bleaches were selected and the concentration of the free chlorine was calculated using iodometric titration. The cost per rupee was calculated and comparison was done using statistical tools. After necessary calculations and comparison, it was concluded that the most cost-effective bleach is local bleach. Local bleach has maximum concentration of free chlorine per rupee spent. Although the moles of free chlorine in local bleach is just 0.276mol/dm3 while in that of rin and robin are 0.68mol/dm3 and 0.588mol/dm3 respectively. But the local bleach is quite cheaper to other bleaches. It costs 30 rupees/dm3 while Robin costs 66 rupees/dm3 and Rin costs 80 rupees/dm3. The concentration of free chlorine per rupee spent on bleach is 0.0092mol/dm3 while that of Rin bleach and Robin bleach is 0.0085mol/dm3 and 0.0089mol/dm3. Thus, I conclude that Local Bleach brand is the most cost-effective brand among the three available in India. INTRODUCTION: 1.1 Background As climate of India is hot and humid, people prefer to dress in light or white colour cloth. To keep them clean is a necessity for hygiene. Hence it requires daily washing and using bleach as the light colour fabric expose the stains more easily. When used in approved quantity and right way, bleach removes the nasty stains from white color fabric and brings back the brightness. Looking into Indian economy, it is not possible to buy dresses in large number by masses . Thus easy way out is the use of bleaches. So when I started looking for a topic for my extended essay, my intensions were very clear. I was looking for an area for investigation which will help me to fulfill my requirement to do an essay for my diploma and give me the dual benefit to help my countrymen to choose a better and cost effective bleach which is affordable by them. I have collected the three bleaches which were having the maximum sale in the market , two were branded viz., Rin and Robin and one was a local brand usually purchased by lower income group people. Bleach is a chemical that removes colors or whitens, often via oxidation. Common chemical bleaches include household chlorine bleach, a solution of approximately 3-6% sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), and oxygen bleach, which contains hydrogen peroxide or a peroxide-releasing compound such as sodium perborate, sodium percarbonate, sodium persulfate, tetrasodium pyrophosphate, or urea peroxide together with catalysts and activators, e.g., tetraacetylethylenediamine and/or sodium nonanoyloxybenzenesulfonate.[1] There are other types of bleaches as well for example bleaches which hare used for the bleaching of wood pulp, fats and oils, cellulose, flour, textiles, bee wax, skin etc. the commonly used bleach for this purpose is chlorine dioxide and in a number of other industries. In the food industry, some organic peroxides(benzoyl peroxide,etc.) and other agents (e.g., bromates) are used as flour bleaching and maturing agents. Peracetic acid and ozone are used in the manufacture of paper products, especially newsprint and white Kraft paper.[2] But my investigation is related to household bleach used for removal of stains , which usually contain chlorine, though it often masquerades behind aliases such as sodium hypochlorite or hypochlorite.[3] Household bleach, used to whiten fabrics or remove mold from surfaces, is a 5% solution of a stabilized form of chlorine.[4] It is particularly effective on cotton fiber, which stains easily but bleaches well. Usually 50 to 250 ml of bleach per load is recommended for a standard-size washer. The properties of household bleach that make it effective for removing stains also result in cumulative damage to organic fibers such as cotton, and the useful lifespan of these materials will be shortened with regular bleaching. The sodium hydroxide (NaOH) that is also found in household bleach (as noted later) causes fiber degradation as well. It is not volatile, and residual amounts of NaOH not rinsed out will continue slowly degrading organic fibers in the presence of humidity. For these reasons, if stains are localized, spot treatments should be considered whenever possible. With safety precautions, post-treatment with weak organic acids such as acetic acid (vinegar) will neutralize the NaOH, and volatilize the chlorine from residual hypochlorite. Old t-shirts and cotton sheets that rip easily demonstrate the cost s of laundering with household bleach. Hot water increases the activity of the bleach, owing to the thermal decomposition of hypochlorite which ultimately generates environmentally-undesirable chlorate.[5] Color in most dyes and pigments are produced by molecules, such as beta carotene, which contain chromophores. Chemical bleaches work in one of two ways: An oxidizing bleach works by breaking the chemical bonds that make up the chromophore. This changes the molecule into a different substance that either does not contain a chromophore, or contains a chromophore that does not absorb visible light. Reducing bleach works by converting double bonds in the chromophore into single bonds. This eliminates the ability of the chromophore to absorb visible light.[6] The chlorine based bleaches are oxidized bleach. These bleaches have an edge over reducing bleaches because they act as disinfectant as well. The process of bleaching can be summarized in the following set of chemical reactions: Cl2(aq) + H2O(l) H+(aq) + Cl-(aq) + HClO(aq) The H+ ion of the hypochlorous acid then dissolves into solution, and so the final result is effectively: Cl2 (aq) + H2O (l) 2H+ (aq) + Cl-(aq) + ClO-(aq) Hypochlorite tends to decompose into chloride and a highly reactive form of oxygen: ClO- Cl- +1/2 O2 This oxygen then reacts with organic substances to produce bleaching or antiseptic effects.[7] To begin my investigation I gathered information about brands of chlorine based bleach, its uses and its contents. From the information collected I found out that sodium hypochlorite is an active ingredient in bleaches. Sodium hypochlorite is the magical ingredient which removes stains from the clothes. So if I find out which bleach has the more concentration of sodium hypochlorite and is cheaper than other bleaches will be considered as the best bleach for Indian people. This observation led to my precise topic selection that is Investigating the cost-effectiveness of various brands of chlorine-based bleaches containing sodium hypochlorite accessible in Indian Market After selection of topic next obvious step was to find various methods available in literature and select for an appropriate method for the estimation of the sodium hypochlorite in the bleaches. Various methods available are discussed in the methodology section of my essay. The one I have selected is based on the fact that it is easy to do and also gives a fair estimation of the concentration of hypochlorite in the available laboratory conditions. 1.2 Methods to judge the cost effectiveness of Bleach Some of the methods available in literature for the estimation of concentration of sodium hypochlorite are discussed below: Method 1: One of the common methods is to add excess hydrogen peroxide to a measured amount of bleach. This will result in the formation of oxygen gas. The volume of the gas is collected over water and measured. This is then used to calculate the concentration of sodium hypochlorite in a house hold bleach sample. A few commercial bleaches in their containers, with prices, can be placed on a suitable tray, each with a 10 cm3 syringe and 250 cm3 beaker, both labeled, into which small samples of the bleach can be placed. Measure 5 cm3 of each bleach into their side-arm flask for each experiment. Small samples of the hydrogen peroxide solution could be collected in a 100 cm3 beaker. Bleaches liberate toxic chlorine gas on contact with acids. The chemical reaction involved is H2O2(aq) + NaOCl(aq) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ H2O(l) + NaCl(aq) + O2(g) Direct comparison of volume of oxygen collected in the measuring cylinder can be used to compare the effectiveness of the bleach.[8] Method 2: Spectophotometric method has also been employed for the quantitative estimation of sodium hypochlorite in commercially available bleach solution. The method is based directly on the absorbance of hypochlorite in alkaline aqueous media. The other method takes advantage of the quantitative reaction of hypochlorite and ammonia in alkaline solution to form chloramine, which has a higher molar absorptivity.[9] Method 3: Another most common laboratory method is IODOMETRIC TITRATION. We can determine the OCl- ion content of a bleaching solution by reacting a known mass or volume of the solution with excess reducing agent, such as iodide ion (I-) in an acidic solution. OCl- (aq, colorless) + 2I-(aq, colorless) + 2H3O+(aq) -> I2(aq, brown) + Cl-(aq, colorless) + 3H2O(l) The reaction above proceeds to completion. Visible evidence of reaction is the change in the appearance of the solution from colorless to brown, due to the formation of iodine (I2). In the presence of excess I- ion, the amount of I2 formed is a measure of the amount of OCl- ion reacting. Then we determine the amount of I2 formed by titrating the I2 with a standard sodium thiosulfate solution (Na2S2O3). The titration reaction for this experiment is shown in the equation below. I2 (aq, brown) + 2 S2O3-2(aq, colorless) > 2I ­- + 2S4O3-2(aq, colorless) Thiosulfate ion is a reducing agent that reacts quantitatively with I2. The titration reaction is complete when the I2 formed from the reaction of OCl ­Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ­- ion with I ­- ion is reconverted to I- ion by S2O3-2 ion. As the titration proceeds, the I2 concentration in the solution decreases. This causes the solution color to change from brown to pale yellow near the end of titration. The end point occurs when all the I2 has reacted and the solution is colorless. Because the change from yellow to colorless is not very distinct, establishing the end point of this final color change is difficult. We can make the end point more distinct by adding a small amount of starch solution to the titration mixture when the solution turns pale yellow. The unreacted I2 combines with the starch, forming a deep blue complex. The starch molecules tend to curl up into spirals and the hole formed is just the right size for the iodine molecules to fit in. Additional S2O3-2 ion reacts with the complex I2, causing a breakdown of the complex. Disappearance of the blue color signals the end point.[10] We can determine the concentration of OCl- ion in the solution. The moles of iodine in the solution are equal to moles of sodium hypochlorite. So then we can find out the concentration of OCl-. I have used the iodometric titration for my investigation because It is easy to carry it out in school laboratory conditions. Gas volume measurement often leads to more random errors in the measurements which ultimately affect the concentration calculations. Spectrophotometric methods are most reliable method but due to non availability of the instrument, I took the decision to stick to iodometric titration. 2. METHODOLOGY: 2.1 Hypothesis More the sodium thiosulfate used to titrate the solution more effective is the bleach at removing the stains. The bleach which has high concentration of sodium hypochlorite is better at removing stains then the bleach with less concentration of sodium hypochlorite. Based on Indian mentality, the expensive the bleach the better is it at removing the stains. The expensive brand should be more cost effective. 2.2 Selection of bleaches 3 different chlorine-based bleaches containing sodium hypochlorite which are easily available in Indian market. The first one is rin bleach which is thought to be the best bleach because it is expensive of all bleaches available in the market. It costs 40 Rs for 500 ml. The second bleach which I have taken is robin which costs 33 Rs for 500ml, a great competitor to RIN. And the third bleach which I have taken is bleach from a local brand which costs only 15Rs for 500ml. 2.3 Experiment 1 Make a soya bean solution using 17 grams of soyabean and dissolved up to 100 cm3 mark. Put three drops of the solution on a piece of cloth and using a syringe the amount of bleach required to remove the stain should be noted down. 2.4 Experiment 2 As told earlier I will be using titration with sodium thiosulfate for calculating the concentration of sodium thiosulfate in the bleaches. The method involves two main steps. Step 1: Standardizing the solution of sodium thiosulfate solution As sodium thiosulfate is not a primary standard, so it was standardized using a known concentration of potassium iodate KIO3 and the exact concentration of sodium thiosulfate was calculated. Approximately 8.00 ±0.01 grams of sodium thiosulfate (Na2S2O3 5H2O) was taken a 100 cm3 beaker and dissolved by adding small amount of double distilled water. It was stirred using a glass rod till it was completely dissolved. Solution was transferred to 250 cm3 of standard flask carefully using a funnel. Solution was made up to the mark and mixed well by tilting the flask three times. A solution of potassium iodate, KIO3 (0.2 Mole/dm3) was prepared by dissolving 10.7 ±0.01 grams of KIO3 in 100 cm3 beaker and dissolving it in minimum amount of water and making the solution in 250 cm3 standard flask. Further 25.0 ±0.06 cm3 of KIO3 solution is pipette out using a 25.0 ±0.06 cm3 pipette and a pipette filler and poured in standard measuring flask and solution was made 250 cm3 using distilled water. Preparation of 1 mol/dm3 of sulfuric acid Take 55cm3 of 98% pure sulphuric acid in 100cm3 measuring flask. Now slowly pour this acid into 500cm3 of constantly stirred water in a beaker Now transfer this solution into 1dm3 conical flask and add water till the 1dm3 mark. Preparation of 10% potassium iodide Take 10grams of potassium iodide Dissolve it in 100cm3 solution Preparation of 2%starch indicator Take 2grams of starch Add little bit of cold water until a smooth paste is obtained Add 100cm3 of boiling water and stir Heat the solution until the solution is clear 25.0 ±0.06 cm3 of KIO3 solution is pipette out using a 25.0 ±0.06 cm3 pipette and a pipette filler and poured in conical flask. 10.00 ±0.05 cm3 of potassium iodide (10% w/v) is added to the flask using a measuring cylinder. To this solution 10 .00 ±0.05 cm3 of sulfuric acid (1 mol/dm3) is added to the flask using another measuring cylinder. Sodium thiosulfate is filled in 50.00 ±0.05 cm3 burette and added to the conical flask containing KIO3, KI and H2SO4solution till the solution in the conical flask turned pale yellow. 2 to 3 drops of starch solution (1% w/v) was added to the conical flask. The solution turned blue black. More sodium thiosulfate was added to the conical flask with constant swirling till the solution turned colorless. The final volume of thiosulfate solution added is recorded Three concordant readings are taken to have consistency in the recorded data Step 2: Titration of the different brands of bleaches using standardized solution of sodium thiosulfate. Thus calculating the concentration of sodium hypochlorite present in different brands of bleaches. Procedure: I have taken 25.0 ±0.06cm3 of Rin bleach using a pipette and pipette filler into 250cm3 graduated flask. To this water was added to make the solution up to 250cm3 mark. 25.0 ±0.06cm3 of the solution poured with the help of pipette into a conical flask and the same procedure as given above was repeated with RIN bleach followed by the other two bleaches, Robin and local brand. 3. Data collection and processing: 3.1 Finding out the concentration of Sodium Thiosulfate Standardization of sodium thiosulfate: Volume of potassium iodate taken in conical flask = 25.0 ±0.06 cm3 final burette reading / cm3 ±0.05cm3 20.10 19.90 20.00 initial burette reading / cm3 ±0.05cm3 0.00 0.00 0.00 volume of sodium thiosulfate used / cm3 ±0.1cm3 20.10 19.90 20.00 Average volume of sodium thiosulfate used = 20.00 cm3 Calculations: 25.0 cm3 of KIO3 solution required 20.00 cm3 of Sodium thiosulfate. The ionic equation related to the titration is IO3-1 + 5I-1 + 6H+  ® 3I2 + 3H2O The I2 produced by the reaction between iodate ion and iodide ion is related stoichiometrically to thiosulfate ion as follows I2 + 2S2O32-  ® S4O62- + 2I-1 Moles of KIO3 (0.1 Mol/dm3) in diluted solution = 0.01 mol/dm3 Moles of 0.01 mol/dm3 KIO3 in 25 cm3 of solution = 0.01 x 25 x 10-3 = 0.25 x10-3 Ratio of moles of KIO3: I2 1 : 5 So moles of I2 in solution = 5 x 1 x 0.25 x10-3 = 1.25 x10-3 Ratio of moles of I2 : S2O32- 1 : 2 Therefore moles of thiosulfate = 2 x 1 x 1.25 x10-3 = 2.50 x 10-3 20.00 cm3 of thiosulfate solution has 2.50 x 10-3 moles Therefore the concentration of thiosulfate solution = 2.50 x 10-3 x 103/20.00 = 0.125 mol/dm3 3.2 collection T value for the t- test between RIN and ROBIN is 36.83644 This value is a lot higher than the cut off value (2.31. using degrees of freedom= [n1-1] + [n2-1] = 8) at a 5% significance level. This implies that there is lot lesser than .1% chance that the 2sets of readings belong to one population or the difference is just difference is insignificant. 3.3 Calculation 25.0 cm3 of diluted Rin brand bleach solution required 27.8 cm3 of Sodium thiosulfate. Moles of sodium thiosulphate= Moles of iodine, I2, were present in the conical flask after the bleach reacted with an excess of iodide ions 2S2O32-(aq) + I2(aq) S4O62-(aq) + 2I-(aq) Moles of I2 = moles of sodium thiosulphate à · 2 Moles of I2 = 0.00348 à · 2 Moles of I2 = 0.0017 moles 1 mol of iodine is displaced by 1 mol of free chlorine. Cl 2(aq) + 2I-(aq) 2Cl-(aq) + I2 (aq) The free chlorine concentration, in mol dm-3, of the bleach RIN 1 mole iodine = 1 mole of free chlorine à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã‚ ´25cm3 of diluted bleach solution contains 0.0017 moles of chlorine Therefore the undiluted bleach solution of 25 cm3 would contain .017 moles Concentration of iodine in 500 cm3 of RIN bleach solution is Therefore the concentration is 0.34mol/500cm3 of RIN bleach. Therefore the concentration is 0.68mol/dm3. 25.0 cm3 of diluted Robin brand bleach solution required 23.53 cm3 of Sodium thiosulfate. Moles of sodium thiosulphate= Moles of iodine, I2, were present in the conical flask after the bleach reacted with an excess of iodide ions 2S2O32-(aq) + I2(aq) S4O62-(aq) + 2I-(aq) Moles of I2 = moles of sodium thiosulphate à · 2 Moles of I2 = 0.00294 à · 2 Moles of I2 = 0.00147 moles 1 mol of iodine is displaced by 1 mol of free chlorine. Cl 2(aq) + 2I-(aq) 2Cl-(aq) + I2 (aq) The free chlorine concentration, in mol dm-3, of the bleach RIN 1 mole iodine = 1 mole of free chlorine à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã‚ ´25cm3 of dilute bleach solution contains 0.00147 moles of chlorine Concentration of iodine in 500 cm3 of Robin bleach solution is Therefore the concentration is 0.294 mol/500cm3 of Robin bleach. Therefore the concentration is 0.588mol/dm3. 25.0 cm3 of diluted LOCAL brand bleach solution required 11.07 cm3 of Sodium thiosulfate. Moles of sodium thiosulphate= Moles of iodine, I2, were present in the conical flask after the bleach reacted with an excess of iodide ions 2S2O32-(aq) + I2(aq) S4O62-(aq) + 2I-(aq) Moles of I2 = moles of sodium thiosulphate à · 2 Moles of I2 = à · 2 Moles of I2 = 0.00069 moles 1 mol of iodine is displaced by 1 mol of free chlorine. Cl 2(aq) + 2I-(aq) 2Cl-(aq) + I2 (aq) The free chlorine concentration, in mol dm-3, of the bleach RIN 1 mole iodine = 1 mole of free chlorine à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã‚ ´25cm3 of diluted bleach solution contains 0.00069 moles of chlorine Concentration of iodine in 500 cm3 of Local bleach solution is Therefore the concentration is 0.138mol/500cm3 of RIN bleach. Therefore the concentration is 0.276mol/dm3. 3.4 analysis and interpretation Calculating the cost-effectiveness BRAND RIN ROBIN LOCAL Concentration of free chlorine (mol/dm3) 0.68 0.588 0.276 Price of 500cm3 bleach in rupees 40 33 15 Price of 1dm3 bleach (=price of 500cm3ÃÆ'-2) in rupees 80 66 30 Concentration of free chlorine per rupee spent on bleach (=concentration of free chlorine in 1dm3 bleach/price of 1 dm3 bleach) 0.0085 0.0089 0.0092 Matrix 1 It can be seen from the experiment 1 higher amounts of bleach is used to remove the stain as we move from RIN to ROBIN to the local brand. And as it can also be seen from the histogram above (graph 1) that the free chlorine concentration decreases as we move from RIN to ROBIN to the local brand it can be inferred that higher the concentration lesser is the amount of bleach required. How so ever the amount of free chlorine required is nearly the same 4. Conclusion: 4.1 Results The free chlorine concentration per rupee spent is maximum of local brand bleach. Therefore the local bleach is most cost-effective bleach. The local brand bleach over takes other branded bleaches like RIN and Robin which are very famous in Indian market. There is a very small difference between each of them when we calculate the concentration of free chlorine per rupee spent. But when we see the concentration of free chlorine in rin and robin they are quite higher then local brand. Local brand has very less moles of sodium hypochlorite per dm3 of the bleach. So the volume required to remove a stain by local brand bleach would be quite large then the volume required of rin or robin brand bleach. This can give a wrong impression that the other brands are better or more efficient at removing stain. But we know that it isnt so. Only if higher amounts of the local brands were used the same stain would take lesser money to be removed. This proves the Indian mentality. Resolved questions Is the amount of sodium thiosulfate used proportional to the amount of free chlorine atoms- Yes very much. It can be inferred by comparing graph 1 (or matrix 1) and graph 2 Does the concentration of sodium hypochlorite affect the effectiveness of the bleach- Higher the concentration of sodium hypochlorite more is the effectiveness of the bleach. Inferred from graph 1 (or matrix 1) and table 1 Checking the Indian mentality- It depends on the amount of bleach used. But it can easily be inferred that the local brand is a lot more cost efficient Deriving the cost effectiveness of different brands of bleach Hypothesis 1 and 2 were confirmed to be true via experimentation while the other two hypotheses (namely 3 and 4) are proved to be wrong. Evaluation Weaknesses It isnt very easy to note down the point of the end of the titration. Accuracy can tend to pose a problem The distil water can have other salts present Improvements Colorimetry should be used for knowing the end point More accurate burettes can be used Ultra pure water should be used rather than distilled water 4.2 Extension The other method should be used. A more number of brands should be used. Other active ingredients should be tested for. Biologically active organisms like bacterias should also be considered. The activity of the other active substances should be tested. 5. BIBLOGRAPHY: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleach http://www.ozonesolutions.com/Ozone_Color_Removal.html http://www.care2.com/grrenliving/chlorine-in-household-cleaners.html# http://dhs.wi.gov/eh/ChemFS/fs/chlorine.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_hypochlorite Field, Simon Q (2006). Ingredients Bleach. Science Toys. http://sci-toys.com/ingredients/bleach.html. Retrieved 2006-03-02. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleach http://www.practicalchemistry.org/experiments/estimation-of-the-concentration-of-household-bleach,253,EX.html Journal of pharmaceutical sciences, volume 59, issue 8, pages 1168, 1170 www.cerlabs.com/experiments/10875404162.pdf Other Sources Referred: Advanced Subsidiary Level and Advanced Level May/June 2006 paper http://science.jrank.org/pages/6243/Sodium-Hypochlorite.html http://www.howstuffworks.com/question189.htm http://www.factsaboutbleach.com/ Handbook of detergents, Volume 5 By Uri Tsoler, Guy Broze. Pages 621-627