International Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

International Marketing - Essay Example Luxottica should promote the concept of individualism through its promotional campaigns. This concept of individualism includes three classes of young generations, namely children, young people and young parents. For every group belonging to this young generation lot, Luxottica has something exclusive to offer in the form of a wide range of its optical products with a blend of local preferences. Thus it can be implied that Luxottica’s product strategy should largely based on the consumer behavior while keeping in view the cultural norms and market conditions prevailing in different countries of the world (Scruton 2007). Price setting Strategies Setting price of a product is determined by many factors and these factors may vary across different regions. Apart from the fact that the manufacturers costs of bringing a product into a useable form plays a decisive role in setting the price of a product, there are many other factors which are not under the control of the manufacturer . First of all, consumer behavior plays a significant and leading role in determining the price of a product. In countries where the income levels of people in general are not high, price plays the most important role in determining the success of a product or sometimes of a business as a whole. Consumers’ preferences for expenditures on any product are not necessarily influenced by its usefulness, quality and branding; the ability to pay for a product and the satisfaction which the use of a product yields are regarded as major factors responsible for the success of a product. Apart from this, the social and cultural norms prevailing in a society have a... This report stresses that considering the market data provided by the case study of Luxottica, it is imperative that franchising the business would lead Luxottica to reduced control over the sales and distribution network. Franchising the business would not only cause ambiguity in the supply chain management but also increases the costs involved in making the product available for the customers. Presenting auctions for franchising and continuous management of franchised business is considered to be a costly initiative by a business. This paper makes a conclusion that the company may look for and implement alternative distribution strategies which offer some new avenues and can attract people from all over the globe. In this regard, it is recommended that the company shall add to its existing distribution channels an online distribution source or platform, form where the company can interact with the whole world through the World Wide Web and this approach will add a complete new dimension in the existing distribution channels for the company. The major benefits of distributing through online platform are that it is cost effective and is able to attract large number of consumers due its omnipresence on the globe. Moreover, the company may find it relatively easy to control its distribution activities through online channels as compared to the existing channels of distributing its products. Thus, online distribution channel can be recommended as an alternative distribution channel for Luxottica.

Class Constitutional Convention Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Class Constitutional Convention - Essay Example citizens do. Otherwise, this creates a rift between naturalized citizens and natural-born U.S. citizens. It denotes that naturalized citizenship is somehow less important than the natural-born U.S. citizen’s right. This is not true, but basically that is what our society is saying to immigrants who have become naturalized citizens—sending the message that they may be citizens, but they will never be accepted in the way natural-born U.S. citizens are. The cons of taking such a position would include the following: people might possibly think that a foreign-born President of the U.S. might only have the interests of his or her native country at heart instead of the United States. Also, Americans would probably see it as an area of concern that someone who was not necessarily originally from the United States might have other agendas in mind than besides having the nation’s interest at heart. Another element that might prevent foreign-born naturalized citizens in becoming President is that he or she might be scrutinized based upon his or her accent or appearance more than the content of what the candidate would actually be saying. It’s not polite to say, perhaps, but people profile others as to how they think their candidate should look, speak, and act. These are just a few examples of why this position has some cons. Hopefully these issues can be analyzed more in-depth so that we can give our natur alized brother and sister citizens the same possibility to believe in the dream of becoming President if they wish to do so. Whether one believes that foreign-born naturalized citizens should be able to become President or not is not so much the issue as this is an issue of fairness. No one has control over the fact of where in the world they are born; that is just a matter of consequence. However, foreign-born naturalized citizens should not be punished just because

Sports in India Essay Example for Free

Sports in India Essay About 3000 years ago, India was as active as the ancient Greeks, in terms of both physical and mental sports chariot racing, polo, archery and wrestling to chess and cards. Much later, just a few centuries ago, the British brought hockey and cricket to India. Indians discovered new sports and their inherent talent at them. Cricket took over as the most popular sport after we gained independence, mainly due to the low requirements. All one needs is a bat and a ballunlike hockey, where everyone needs to have a hockey stick. Though we won 8 Olympic gold medals in our national sport hockey the first in 1928! The first hockey gold as an independent country was in the 1948 Olympics in London, England, where India beat England 4-0 in the finals. The Indian team went on to win more Olympic hockey gold medals in the 1952, 1956, 1964 and 1980 Olympics. After that, the medals dried up India only managed solitary bronze medals in tennis, weightlifting and shooting in the last 3 Olympics! In contrast, the popularity of cricket grew especially after the 1983 Prudential World Cup win by Kapil Dev and team. India needed sports heroes, and cricket seemed the only answer. What is the problem? Many claim that it is our diet that is to blame. The fact is medical opinions always seem to contradict. Some medical experts blame the physical deficiency on the fact that the majority of Indians are vegetarians. But, horses are vegetarians too, and most athletes would kill to get the stamina and strength of a horse! So it cant be our diet! It is a known fact that India lacks sporting infrastructure. The only stadiums we have are used for cricket, while the majority of hockey, football and athletic sporting events are held on sub-standard fields mainly open air mud patches. But then why do countries that are much smaller, with a lot less infrastructure than us win more Olympic medals? Another cause for concern is the competitiveness of sport today. Its not fun anymore, its a full time job! Most sports professionals across the globe spend 8 hours a day training. Their job is to excel at sports and keep themselves fit. The governments provide them the necessary money and training, and advertisers throw in even more for their fancy cars and houses. In India, unless youre a cricketer, you only get a pat on the back, a government job and a few months leave to prepare for major events. This just isnt enough! Last, but by no means least of the problems is our society and its mentality. People all over India ridicule our dismal performance in the Olympics, but how many of us will encourage our children / siblings / friends to take up sports as a career? We place absolutely no importance on sports, mainly because unless youre a Sachin Tendulkar, theres no future. You may win the countries sole Olympic bronze, but are forgotten as soon as the next Cricket event takes place. At the end of the journey, you still have to go back to your job and try and provide for your family, and your Olympic medal becomes nothing more than a fond memory, an impressive addition to your resume and another ornament for your display cabinet. What can be done to fix these problems? Theres a simple list of things that are needed. Easier said than done, but necessary nonetheless: 1. Encourage all sports, not just cricket 2. More government funding for sportsmen and women 3. More advertising coverage for sports other than cricket 4. More International coaches and trainers 5. Participate in more international tournaments in all sports 6. More training camps for pre-teens that show promise in any sport 7. Compulsory college and school scholarships based on sporting achievements The money needed to improve sports can only come from advertising. Advertisers look for the popularity of a sport. The sport isnt popular because it lacks quality athletes. The quality of athletes is bad due to lack of training. There is no training because there is no money for professional trainers. There is no money because there are no advertisers. A vicious circle! Only if we change our own perceptions can things begin to change. We need to support local non-cricket tournaments, not just by donating money, but by showing up at the venues and supporting the athletes. Once advertisers see the support, the funds will start trickling in. Once the funds come in, the quality will improve. A chain reaction! A vicious circle, or a chain reaction, the choice is ours!

Permeability of Plasma Membranes

Permeability of Plasma Membranes Introduction Plasma membranes are bi-layered membranes made up of amphiphillic molecules (having charged polar heads tending to be hydrophillic and uncharged fatty acid tails tending to be hydrophobic) that selectively allow entrance of certain large molecules into the cells cytosol and through which water and small non-polar molecules may freely diffuse. This experiment seeks to understand limited aspects of the permeability of the plasma membrane using the Elodea leaf membrane as model organism. Some of the factors upon which permeability of the plasma membranes of biological organisms depend are differences in pH on opposite sides of the membrane, temperature, osmolarity, expression of certain membrane receptors and the concentration gradients of various molecules. This experiment is very limited in scope and seeks to answer only the question of what is the time dependence for permeability of glycerol through the cell membrane. Other experiments have answered many of our questions regarding this and have resulted in mathematical equations describing these results. This experiment will use one of the formula derived from these prior experiments, the Ether:Water partition coefficient for alcoholsiii as a means of hypothesizing what the outcome of this present experiment will be. I have hypothesized that within seconds of exposure to a 0.3M (molar) hyper-tonic solution of glycerol, dissolved in an isotonic deionized water (dH2O)/sucrose solution, the Elodea leaf will plasmolyze irreversibly-an assumption I believe is supported by the fact that glycerols ether:water partition coefficient is only 0.00066iii. Further support for this supposition is the fact that glycerol has a relatively bulky chemical structureviii-owing to its three large, highly polar hydroxyl groups-and a large molecular weight of 92.0938 grams per mole. Alternatively, it may be hypothesized that the glycerol-being an aliphatic alcohol (see diagram in section IV(i) infra) which, itself makes up a part of the plasma membranevi-will be capable of more easily diffusing across the plasma membrane as compared to the sucrose, which cannot diffuse across the membrane, in which case not only will there be no severe plasmolysis but there may, instead, be a build up of turgor pressure inside the cell due to the inward movement of the alcohol and its confinement in the central vacuole. Methods In order to discover what molar concentration of sucrose will be needed in an aqueous solution to create a solution that is isotonic to the leafs cytosol I shall perform a bifurcated experiment in which the first part shall be to determine this concentration. Part two of this experiment will be to determine the period of time it takes for glycerol to diffuse across the plasma membrane. In order to determine which molar solution of sucrose is isotonic to the cytosol of the Elodea cell I labeled 6 micro-centrifuge tubes with the markings: 0.2M, 0.3M, 0.4M, 0.5M, 0.6M and isotonic respectively and using an adjustable pipette placed 1000 ÃŽÂ ¼L of premixed sucrose solution of each of the indicated molarities into the respective tubes. In each of these tubes I placed an Elodea leaf and allowed them to sit for approximately five minutes [my observations of plasmolysis along with photographs of leaves in similar states to what I observed are provided in table 2 of the Table of observations of plasmolysis and photographs #2-#6 in the Photograph table which can be found in sections III(A) (B) respectively.] While awaiting the leaves to finish soaking I viewed a dry mounted Elodea leaf under a microsocpe using 20X and 40X objectives with 10X ocular so as to have a better idea of what a normal Elodea leaf looks like for comparison to the viewing of the wet mounts [photo of a leaf in similar state to what I observed is provided as photo #1 in the Photograph table of section III(B).] I then labeled 6 microscope slides using the same concentrations I used when labeling the micro-centrifuge tubes. After five minutes I prepared an individual wet mount of an Elodea leaf by placing a leaf from a micro-centrifuge tube onto a microscope slide, bearing its respective molarity, with the upper surface of the leaf face up. I placed a cover slip over the leaf and gently tapped the cover slip so as to seat it onto the slide and to remove any excess solution. I then viewed the wet mount-searching for indications of plasmolysis-under a microscope using the same 20X and 40X objective lenses and the 10X ocular lens I had viewed the dry mount and recorded my observations then repeated this process for each of the leaves in the remaining tubes. I was unable to obtain photos of my observations but I have included photos downloaded from the internet which were similar to what I had observed and provided them in tables 1-6 of section III(B). Having established which molarity of sucrose solution was isotonic with the cytosol of the cell (see table in section III(A)) I calculated the quantities of sucrose, glycerol (test solution) and 1-Propanol (counter test solution) I would need for the second part of this study. In those calculations I used the data presented in table 1 below. My calculations are presented in the Table of Calculations, table 3 of section III(C) infra. I plugged the results I obtained from table 3 into the formula C1 x V1 = C2 x V2 so that I may calculate the volumetric quantity of each of these chemicals I would need to add to each of my two 1 x 103 ÃŽÂ ¼L test solutions, my calculations for each may be found in Table 4 of section III(C). Using those calculation I then added the quantities of sucrose to each of the other two chemicals and subtracted the sum from the final volume of solution (1000 ÃŽÂ ¼L) I would be creating so that I will know the volume of deionized water (dH2O) I would need. Those calculations are shown in table 5 of section III(C). Using these calculations I then prepared 5 new micro-centrifuge tubes as follows: 3 tubes each containing a 1000 ÃŽÂ ¼L isotonic (0.4M) sucrose solution (one of which is to be used as a negative control); the fourth containing an aqueous solution of isotonic (0.4M) sucrose and 0.3M glycerol mixtures; and the fifth containing an aqueous solution of isotonic (0.4M) sucrose and 0.3M 1-Propanol mixtures (counter control). I placed one Elodea leaf into each of the 3 isotonic solutions and allowed them to soak for approximately five minutes. After five minutes I prepared a wet mount of the first of the 3 leaves as previously described. After viewing the first leaf (the negative control) I placed the second leaf on a slide and added 2 drops of the 0.3M glycerol/Sucrose solution to the slide then viewed and recorded my observations. I then prepared the third leaf using 2 drops of the 0.3M glycerol/Sucrose solution and viewed to be certain I obtained the same result as the last slide then after approximately 30 seconds added 2 drops of 1-Propanol/Sucrose solution (the counter test solution) to see if this would have an effect opposing that of the glycerol/Sucrose solution and recorded my observations which I describe next. Results A. Table of observations of Plasmolysis Table 2: Plasmolysis observations within five minutes of Elodeausing different sucrose solutions. Sucrose concentrations Plasmolysis observed (Y/N) Sucrose concentrations Plasmolysis observed (Y/N) B. Photograph tables (Photographs of Elodea leaves in various solutions): 1. Normal leaf (similar observation as prior to placing in solution) 2. Hypo-tonic solution (similar to observation as seen in 3. Isotonic solution (similar observation as in the isotonic solution and the ~0.4M-0.5M sucrose solutions) 4. Hyper-tonic solution (similar observation as seen in the 0.6M sucrose solution) 5. Plasmolysed leaf (similar observation as would have been seen in hyper-tonic solutions) 6. Plasmolysis Recovery (did not observe any recovery events but this is what I would also have been looking for had plasmolysis recovery taken place) C. Tables of Calculations: Table 3: Calculations for concentration of 0.3M glycerol/Sucrose solution. Amount of sucrose needed: [.137g] x V = 0.4M x .001 L V = (.0004g/L) / (0.137g) = 0.002919 L or 2.91 x 103mL Amount of glycerol needed: [0.028g] x V = 0.3M x .001 L V = (.0003g/L) / (0.028g) = 0.01071 L or 10.7 x 103mL Amount of 1-Propanol needed: [0.018g] x V = 0.3M x .001 L V = (.0003g/L) / (0.018g) = .01667 L or 16.7 x 103mL Table 4: Calculations of volumetric quantities of each chemical needed to make 1000 ÃŽÂ ¼L of each solution. 2.92 ÃŽÂ ¼L sucrose+ 10.7 ÃŽÂ ¼L glycerol + x(dH2O) = 1000 ÃŽÂ ¼L 13.62 ÃŽÂ ¼L + x(dH2O) = 1000 ÃŽÂ ¼L x(dH2O) = 1000 ÃŽÂ ¼L 13.62 ÃŽÂ ¼L x(dH2O) = 986.38 ÃŽÂ ¼L 2.92 ÃŽÂ ¼Lsucrose + 16.7 ÃŽÂ ¼L 1-Propanol + x(dH2O) = 1000 ÃŽÂ ¼L 19.62 ÃŽÂ ¼L + x(dH2O) = 1000 ÃŽÂ ¼L x(dH2O) = 1000 ÃŽÂ ¼L 19.62 ÃŽÂ ¼L x(dH2O) = 980.38 ÃŽÂ ¼L Table 5: Calculations of amounts to add to each solution. Discussion At first viewing I did not quite understand what was happening as I had not previously seen an Elodea leaf that presented without its large central vacuole let alone one that presented with chlorophyll throughout the entire cytosolic space. Having consulted with my fellow researchers (one of which obtained findings similar to mine in her experiment), none of whom had explanations for this result, I shall instead provide a summary of what I observed and what I had expected to observe. I had expected my first hypothesis to be borne out regarding the outward movement of water across the membrane and toward the hyper-tonic glycerol solution providing a sighting as in photograph 5, however what I discovered was an Elodea leaf showing absolutely no sign of plasmolysis. Instead of the expected I saw what was a leaf that appeared to be in a state of iso-osmolarity with its environment which would have been expected only in an isotonic solution as in photograph 3. There, also, was no turgor pressure as would have been seen in photograph 2 had the alternative hypothesis of inward movement of glycerol across the plasma membrane been borne out. Finally, had there been a plasmolysed cell the addition of the counter test solution of 1-propanol should have caused recovery as seen in photograph 6 but being I was unable to obtain a plasmolysed cell I was also unable to observe recovery of such cell. The results of this experiment has left me unable to either accept or reject either of the two hypotheses provided above.

Death Comes for the Archbishop :: Death Comes for the Archbishop

Death Comes for the Archbishop: A Narrative or a Novel? Is it a narrative or a novel? Few questions have caused me this much trouble. It became apparent to me that Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop would not be an easy piece of literature to classify. Within just a few pages, it became apparent that this piece of literature is more than either category will allow. While reading the pages of this story I get the feeling that I am not reading a novel, rather it is a series of short stories. I understand why the critics claim that this is not a novel. While the chapters in each section seem to be connected, the sections themselves tend to be disconnected from each other. Each one is able to stand on its own. It is not until I step back and reflect upon the novel that I can see the ties that bind the different sections together. This is not a story about Archbishop Jean Marie Latour, in the end I still do not know him. Rather, Willa Cather uses him as a vessel to display the world around him. It is through him that I learn about the people and places of New Mexico. It is through his eyes the beautiful landscape of the desert comes to life. I can see and smell the land in which he travels. I hear through his ears the legends that make the history of the land so important. It is apparent to me that this is not a novel about an individual person, but about a place. The land and people of New Mexico are the storytellers. It is through them that this series of short stories are joined together into a novel. It is the story of these events that make up the narrative. There is no way to simply classify Death Comes for the Archbishop. It is a novel, a narrative, and a series of short stories. It is simply, what you make of it. Death Comes to the Archbishop could be asserted as something other than a novel. I believe that the stereotypical novel is more structured and rigid in refinement than Cather's example. I see that a strong plot cannot be identified and that the journal approach seems to be misleading. There really is not an antagonist, so in counterpart, there is no protagonist.

Art Exhibit on Brown vs. Board of Education :: Race Segregation

Generally speaking, I am not one to attend seminars, talks, or museums on my spare time, simply for the betterment of my knowledge, or myself but on Wednesday, April 21st I did just that. Initially I was not very enthusiastic about my assignment to attend an event or exhibit at the university concerning Brown vs. Board of Education, but eventually I sucked it up and decided to attend an art exhibit at the Krannert Art Museum called, â€Å"Social Studies: Eight Artists Address Brown vs. Board of Education. April 21st was a beautiful afternoon, and as I approached the art museum with one of my friends all I could think about were all the things I could be doing instead of going to a museum. Moments later, my mood did not improve as I observed 4 elderly looking people entering the museum about 20 yards in front of me, dressed in suits and formal looking dresses. â€Å"Great,† I thought to myself, as I looked down at my jeans and t-shirt, â€Å"not only am I about to go into a museum, but everyone there is going to think I am a total scrub too.† Upon entering the museum, I promptly asked the woman at the front desk where the exhibit was. She directed me to it and as my friend and I walked away, a large guard yelled at my friend that he couldn’t bring his backpack with him. The guard offered no alternative location for the bag, so my friend walked around aimlessly until the woman at the front desk allowed him to leave the bag under her desk. Now, the mood was set. The museum screamed dullness and tightness at me as I strolled through two large, metal double doors into the exhibit we were there to see. As I entered the room that contained our exhibit, I discovered that there was not one other soul at the entire exhibit. I didn’t expect to encounter many other individuals, but none? I was not prepared to be one of only two people at the entire exhibit, but I had to make do with what I got. My first impression as I walked in was not a good one.

Income and Wealth Equality Essay

Discuss whether the most effective way to have income and wealth equality is to tax income more progressively. Income is a stable flow of money, often a salary, which someone works for but this can also be made through interest on savings. This flow of money is often very unequal from person to person due to wage differentials, this then creates inequality. Wealth on the other hand is a stock of assets which have a market value, which may change over time e.g. houses or cars. These are often inherited but can be bought by someone through their income. Wealth and income often found together however someone who is wealthy doesn’t always have a large income. Their relationship with inequality is also very different with a lot more inequality found in wealth as a fifth of wealth is concentrated among the richest one per cent of households however there is still some in income. One way the government can stop this inequality is through a progressive taxation system that aims to tax the poorest people very little but make the money up by taxing the richer. This would work at several boundaries with someone income being taxed higher when it exceeds a certain limit. This then creates equality as the richer people have less money and the poorer have more from not paying tax and then the unemployed get benefits. This then reduces the budget deficit as the tax payers pay for people benefits, helping to reduce the class system. However one problem with this is that it may cause the highest earners to leave the country to avoid paying tax and companies moving their headquarters abroad where they will pay less tax. This happened in the 70s with the rolling stones but is also happening with corporations such Amazon and Costa and this something that may happen more if the richer are taxed too much. This is also taking money out of the economy as they spend their money abroad, out of the flow of income in the UK. Another problem with this system is that it creates ‘the poverty trap’. A type of government failure, this is when there is no incentive for people to get off benefits as they won’t make any more money. To stop this there may need to be a re-evaluation of the system as the replacement ratio is too high. This can also create poor attitudes, with generations of people not working. This is also found in the work place with some people refusing pay rises as they will have to pay more money in tax as they go through a tax boundary. However more recently this has happened with child benefits as these are being reduced depending on how much someone earns another reason why someone would refuse a pay rise. Wealth is often harder to tax however it is often caused by income so the tax system previously described may be used to reduce wealth and thus stopping inequality. This system can also be found in wealth though, with inheritance tax being used progressively. For example any money above 325,000 is taxed at 40%. This then creates a source of revenue for the government but also stops people inheriting huge sums of money, stopping inequality. However this system has its flaws as the tax has to be paid first, it could also be argued as unfair as someone who works for their money is entitled to leave it to who they want, especially as it was already taxed when it was earned. This system has also caused many pensioners to move abroad where what they leave is taxed less. The money inherited is also often used by entrepreneurs to fund businesses so the system may also reduce the possibility for future in income tax. This systems also sonly raises  £2.9bn a year, a mere 0.18% of GDP, which sometimes ends up being spent on court cases as people argue against the system. One alternative system for reducing inequality is by providing incentives for people to get into work. This could be done by changing the minimum wage as it would reduce the replacement ratio. This can also be achieved by reducing the unemployment benefits or making them harder to get. Reducing benefits would also lower the budget deficit as the government can save money. However this could be hard on people who genuinely can’t work due to long term illness or disability. Another way of increasing the work force is by increasing spending on training of workers but also in the education system. This will create better skilled and qualified workers, allowing them to make more money and giving them more job opportunities. This type of supply side policy can be expensive but there should be future benefits as their will be more money made from income tax. They would also create job opportunities for teachers or other people to teach skills. Other examples of this include apprenticeships and part time work schemes that together should create a job for everyone, reducing the tax bill. However they won’t work for everyone as there is always someone who will be left behind and It may also be hard to change the mind set of people who are used to not working. These types of policies would also all stop inequality as the poorer people would have employment opportunities giving them a higher source of income. However there are very little alternatives to redistribute wealth as it is impossible to give people items of value as those who are in poverty often don’t even have a house. The government may be able to provide schemes for people to work for their homes and other areas of wealth. It is also hard for them to find things of wealth at an affordable rate especially as it is normally found through work done by relatives. This is why it is unlikely to be done as it wouldn’t be very sustainable and effective however in theory the re distribution of wealth could be done. In conclusion the progressive tax system has its benefits as it provides a simple way of reducing inequality by taxing the rich and giving the poor money, bringing them closer financially. However in my opinion the system is the easy solution with short term benefits rather than long term gains that might happen through providing incentives rather than disincentives for people. However the problem with wealth is greater as it can’t be easily moved but through redistributing income wealth will consequently be redistributed as ultimately income is the main cause of wealth.