Information privacy Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Information privacy - Coursework Example However, of the 3 top email providers in the country, only Yahoo ended up having their privacy policy being challenged the American court of law. The reason? Lance Corporal Justin Ellsworth was killed in Iraq on November 13, 2004. His grieving parents wanted to access his email account, which was held by Yahoo in confidence so that they could have some sort of closure and learn what the final days of their son was like. They approached Yahoo with their request and were declined by the company based upon their privacy policy. The parents then took the company to court in order to compel them to turn over the emails of their son based upon their right to their sons things as his parents. The case then became something for the U.S. courts to decide. Who should be given access to Lance Corporal Justin Ellsworth's emails? Is it alright to violate the trust that he gave Yahoo mail simply because he is now dead and will never know what they did? This paper hopes to delve deeper into the pri vacy concerns surrounding the case and hopefully answer the question as to whether it was right for Yahoo to have eventually turned over the emails of Ellsworth to his parents. ... After 90 days of inactivity, Yahoo deletes the account... there are important reasons why we feel it is important to uphold the preferences that are part of the agreement we have with our users regarding their privacy. â€Å" â€Å" (Hu, 2004) It is important to remember that Yahoo has a binding contract with Justin that stands legally even in the event of his death. As such, this would mean that the privacy of his emails shall be protected from all prying eyes. Specially since Justin did not die with a will that explicity allowed his parents access to his private email account. Therefore, Yahoo does have the right to withhold access to his email account even from his parents. However, the courts of the United States saw things otherwise and on April 21 2005, Yahoo was compelled to turn over the emails in Justin's account to his parents. This despite the company policy that was set into place to prevent such actions from taking place. Although Yahoo lost the battle in court, there is nothing in the ruling that would compel Yahoo to change their ruling pertaining to email privacy of the deceased. (Olsen, 2005) Yahoo turned over certain emails to the Ellsworths, emails which they felt were not sensitive in nature and thus would not violate the privacy policy and trust that Justin had placed in Yahoo services. The Ellsworths were expecting all of their son's emails but accepted the documents that Yahoo provided to them anyway. At least it gave them some sense of closure and gave them a peek into the last living days of their son. In my opinion, the courts should not have compelled Yahoo! Mail to turn over any of the emails to the

AET ETO reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

AET ETO reflection - Essay Example Drag racing is a sport that anyone can partake in with comparative ease. Grassroots racing created a desire for contest among youthful adults. By associating with the local drag strip, readers are able to encounter drag racing individually. Slingshot provides the magic blend of sounds, the blazing rubber, the howling exhaust, the grit, the nitro and the flames. Turn on the Slingshot video loud and lose oneself in the excitement of drag racing history. The start of the film is a clear indication that drag history is the focus of the film. This is so because it starts by showing that the origins of drag racing is back dated 1930’s in Southern California as youthful gentlemen took to the streets to compete.   Other men prepared this rich bisque of hot riders and generated a land pace cluster that made the long trek along dirt roads into the desiccated lakes of the Mojave Desert so as to race their cars.  This is a fascinating picture to analyze how the world acknowledged motorsport events started from humble settings. Some people state that drag racing is dated together with the domestication of the horse and that people have always disputed others to acts of speed.  This video is approximately 30 minutes long and provides the chronological events of drag racing, employing interviews with a number of the most memorable men to have ever officiated or participated in drag racing.  Slingshot  is an astounding brief doc umentary and at a half hour will glue individual’s attention. In fact, I watched the movie two times and felt that I desired that it could have spent more time.   Since the movie is a sequence of work, part two will almost certainly continue the narrative.   The old video clips and photography are as spectaculars as one could get anywhere.   The backdrop chatter and music is occasionally a bit irritating, but there has to be some sound or the

Gender, Authority and Dissent in English Mystical Writers Essay Example for Free

Gender, Authority and Dissent in English Mystical Writers Essay The Book of Margery Kempe certainly provoked an intense amount of controversy, not least in the present but in her own time as well; a debate that centred on her position as a mystic. This position entailed having true knowledge of God, to work towards a union with him where they would essentially become one. Margery Kempe, at the very least views herself to be one of Gods vessels through which He can allow her to experience spiritual visions and feelings. It is in her book that Kempe conveys through words what she considered to be the most significant of these experiences, in order that those who read them would derive great comfort and solace. It is Kempes individual and brilliant adaptation of what was originally a discipline for cloistered elites1 that draws attention to her. Yet it is this individual voice, the style she uses, and her firm relationship with the market world that questions her experiences of higher contemplation. Certainly Kempe does not conform to the solitary life of a conventional mystic, much like Richard Rolles statement of running off into the woods, and at one point she is even sorrowful and grieving because she has no company. Yet she uses many of her interactions with others to confirm her position as a mystic. She visits the revered mystic Julian of Norwich to seek advice as to whether her visions were genuine or not (Chapter 18), and receives confirmation from Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury. Essentially what it has been suggested that Kempe experiences is a higher level of contemplation positive mysticism. This was the search for God through human imagery, which insists on the physical as a legitimate means of access to the spiritual.2 Certainly one of the standard patterns in mystical experience were the feelings of love between the mystic and God which is often described as fire, hence Rolles Incendium Amoris. Kempe notes that there was an unquenchable fire of love which burnt full sore in her soul, and that Christ had set her soul all on fire with love. Thus the intensity of her visions can not be brought into question as she certainly shares with [the tradition] a mystical sense of God at work in human experiences.3 These human experiences included her own body, as she suffers illness and indulgences in self-mutilation, wearing a haircloth, fasting and even biting her hand so violently that she has to be tied down. However, the visions that Kempe experiences, as mystics viewed them as gifts, are not a product of studious praying and meditating. In most ways what she conveys is an imitation of what many female European mystics experienced, like Bridget of Sweden and Dorothy of Montou or Catherine of Siena. She seeks justification for her mystical standing by linking herself closely to others and, though illiterate receives much of her inspiration from such mystical texts as Incendium Amoris, Stimulus Amoris, and Walter Hiltons Scale of Perfection. However, as Glasscoe has pointed out, her spiritual experiences were not an easy thing for Kempe to meditate on. Whereas Hilton focused on inner spiritual growth, Kempe can only explain her transcendence through what was familiar to her the body.4 She even says that sometimes, what she understood physically was to be understood spiritually. Thus, whereas her visions may at many points seem extreme and even distasteful it does not necessarily mean that she was experiencing anything less than what is considered mystical. What also inspires Kempe, whilst also bringing into question her status as a mystic is the fact that she was a woman who was firmly placed in the world. David Aers describes her as an independent businesswoman, who before her initial vision was active in the market economy, investing money, organising public work and employing men.5 Mysticism was overwhelmingly contemplative, and there was not much spoke about the active life, with the exception of Walter Hiltons positive description of the mixed life. However instead of accepting that she is too busy with worldly occupations that must be attended to6, like Hilton proposed, Kempe integrates the economic world into her mysticism. Shelia Delany proposed that in her work one is constantly aware of the cash nexus. 7 This is true in the sense that Kempe even strikes a deal with Jesus, in the sense that he becomes the mediator between Kempes social responsibilities as a wife and her desire to lead the spiritual life. Through Christs help she can lead the chaste life by buying off her husband, hence paying off all his debts (Chapter 11. p.60). Atkinson, commented that what Kempe creates is a God, who controlled the economy of salvation, [and] functioned as a great banker of a merchant prince.8 Also Kempes drive for more is also indicative of her market drive values, in the same sense that she sees that by giving charity to her fellow Christians she will receive in heaven double reward. This unusual market driven line of thought is not the only factor that distinguishes her from her predecessors. Her style of writing is different and her visions are certainly unique. She actively takes part in many of the experiences, using speech, as Carol Coulson has suggested to inject herself into the holy narrative,9 even at one point acting as the handmaiden to God, and as a replacement to the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. Her first vision is also very personal, and in some ways domesticated. Jesus is said to have appeared in the likeness of a manclad in a mantle of purple silk, sitting upon her bedside. The Incarnation is taken to the extreme, where her visions sometimes sit outside the historical moments of the Bible and become part of her own world. Despite distancing herself by calling herself the creature throughout the text many have accused her work of being self-absorbed I have told you before that you are a singular lover of God, and therefore you shall have a singular love in heaven, a singular reward and a singular honour. Certainly her relations with God are very personal, and in many ways conveyed in sexual terms, as when Christ says to her Daughter, you greatly desire to see me, and you may boldly, when you are in bed, take me to you as your wedded husband. However, again this great pomp and pride, is said to emerge from her experience as a female within an urban class which fostered within her a strong sense of class identity and self-value.10 A self-value that she never really agrees to give up, thus because she refuses to traditionally quieten the self, Kempe does not sit comfortably as a mystic. Similarly she never really abandons her desire for worldly goods. She even admits in the first chapters that after her initial vision she refused to give up her worldly leisures, and still took delight in earthly things. This earthiness continues throughout the book. At one point she explains that she was embarrassed because she was not dressed as she would have liked to have been for lack of money, and wishing to go about unrecognised until she could arrange a loan she held a handkerchief in front of her face. This embarrassment does not hold well with the lower stage of mysticism in which the visionary is to dispel themselves of all earthly matters so that their soul is open to heaven. Her mysticism is driven to accumulate. She refuses to be content with the goods that God has sent her, whilst ever [desiring] more and more. From God she can attain spiritual status, whilst through her (fathers) social position she maintains earthly standing, thus she is caught between two (masculine) worlds. As David Aers has noted the market world never really receives rebuke in her mystical world, in fact it remains a natural part of it.11 Yet to see her as the victim of a capitalist society is, as Glasscoe maintains, to ignore her avowed purpose.12 Yet it is hard to ignore the element of hysteria in her work. She certainly experiences the traditional mystical dilemma that her visions will never be truly conveyed to those who stand outside it, that herself could never tell the grace that she felt, it was so heavenly, so high above her reason and her bodily witsthat she might never express it within her world like she felt it in her soul. However her Gift of Tears, in which she cries abundantly and violently, break quite brutally this silence of contemplation. It may be however that her loud screams and cries convey her devotion and justify her higher state. Certainly tradition showed that mystics thought of themselves as vehicles for suffering and their broken voices and lacerated bodies reflected the stress under which they laboured.13 Her crying brought attention to her being, even in her own time when crowds flocked to see her, becoming somewhat of a spectacle. These tears are almost a sign of her fertility in her contemplative life, and also justified in the Bible Psalm cxxvi, 5-6 says that they that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing Her tears therefore, although extreme and lead many throughout her work to rebuke her, are essentially a sign of grace demonstrating that the Incarnation for Kempe was an ever-present reality.14 Ursula Peters suggested that female mystics, through mysticism turned inward and [discovered] ways to describe their own experiences.15 In fact the role Kempe plays as a woman is very important to her whole mystical experience, and in some ways may even bring it into question. In her experiences with God she plays the wife, the mother, the sister and the daughter. When her husbands exclaims that she is no good wife it again demonstrates that Kempe struggled between two worlds, that of the spiritual and that of her family commitments. St Bernard once proclaimed that natural human feeling doesnt have to be suppressed but channelled into God, and in some ways this is exactly what Kempe achieves. By using the idea that she is a holy vessel she is able to assert herself as a woman in the highly competitive world quite drastically. She refuses to abandon her personality and quite forcefully, hence her adamant desire to be chaste, asserts who she is. The Church even attempted to denounce he r as a Lollard, which shows that she was a threatening (female) voice and the only way to quieten her was to denounce her as a heretic. Rather than being a mystical treatise, The Book of Margery Kempe is a narrative account, almost a story, or even an autobiography as many have stated it to be, in which she attempts to adopt the contemplative ideal of piety.16 In fact it is more than mysticism, it is the experiences of a woman trying to find her voice in a masculine social world, and the only way that she can achieve this is through having spiritual authority. Certainly her devotion can not be questioned, and she cant even predict herself when the intensity of Christs Passion will overwhelm her, be it sometime in the church, sometime in the street, sometime in the chamber, sometime in the field. Yet her extreme metaphors and use of language certainly bring into doubt her status as a mystic. As Susan Dickman has suggested prayers and visions certainly occupy the text, yet they are embedded in a larger structure17, namely how she was painfully drawn and steered, [her pilgrimage acting as a metaphor for her mystical journey] to enter the way of perfection. Certainly painfully is an apt description, leading many to criticise her as a charlatan, a terrible hysteric and even one who was possessed by the devil. Yet this account is from a very independent and highly spirited woman, who although struggled with her identity and sought the higher state to explore that larger structure of herself through God, was deeply devoted to her faith. In the end her piety was very ordinary, it is her style of conveyance however, the lack of the abstract vocabulary of Julian of Norwich, Rolle and the Cloud author18 that brings her status as a mystic into controversy. Bibliography Aers, David., Community Gender and Individual Identity in English Writing, 1360-1430 (London, 1988) Bancroft, A., The Luminous Vision: Six Medieval Mystics and their Teachings (London, 1982). Evans, Ruth and Johnson, Lesley (eds.)., Feminist Readings in Middle English Literature: The Wife of Bath and All Her Sect (London, 1994) Klapisch-Zuber, C (ed.)., Silences of the Middle-Ages (London 1992),447 Glasscoe, Marion (ed.)., The Medieval Mystical Tradition (Exeter, 1980) http://www.anamchara.com/mystics/kempe.htm http://www.ccel.org/h/hilton/ladder/ladder-PART_I.html http://www.sterling.holycross.edu/departments/visarts/projects/kempe/index.html Knowles, D., The English Mystical Tradition London (London, 1961) Meale, Carol. M., (ed.)., Women and Literature in Britain 1150-1500 (Cambridge, 1993) 1 C. Klapisch-Zuber, Silences of the Middle Ages (London 1992),160 2 J.Long., Mysticism and hysteria: the histories of Margery Kempe and Anna O, in Feminist Readings in Middle English Literature, ed. R.Evans et al. (London, 1994),100 3 M. Glasscoe, English Medieval Mystics: Games of Faith (London, 1993),268. 4 M. Glasscoe, English Medieval Mystics: Games of Faith (London, 1993), 268. 5 D. Aers, Community, Gender and Individual Identity English Writing 1360-1430 (London, 1988), 112. 6 http://www.ccel.org/h/hilton/ladder/ladder-PART_I.html 7 J.Long., Mysticism and hysteria: the histories of Margery Kempe and Anna O, in Feminist Readings in Middle English Literature, ed. R.Evans et al. (London, 1994), 87-111 8 D. Aers, Community, Gender and Individual Identity English Writing 1360-1430 (London, 1988), 106 9 http://www.anamchara.com/mystics/kempe.html 10 D. Aers, Community, Gender and Individual Identity English Writing 1360-1430 (London, 1988),115. 11 Ibid. 12 M. Glasscoe, English Medieval Mystics: Games of Faith (London, 1993), 275. 13 C. Klapisch-Zuber, Silences of the Middle Ages (London 1992),446 14 M. Glasscoe, English Medieval Mystics: Games of Faith (London, 1993), 276. 15 C. Klapisch-Zuber, Silences of the Middle Ages (London 1992),447 16 http://www.anamchara.com/mystics/kempe.htm 17 S. Dickman., Margery Kempe and The English Devotional Tradition, in The Medieval Mystical Tradition, ed. M. Glasscoe (Exeter, 1980), 156-172 18 M. Glasscoe, English Medieval Mystics: Games of Faith (London, 1993), 272.

A Comparison Between Pakistani And British Consumers On Buying Moblies Marketing Essay

A Comparison Between Pakistani And British Consumers On Buying Moblies Marketing Essay Mobile phone has become an important part of human life .With the invention of new technology, along with computers, this technology has ease the work of human being in communicating with each others. Before the invention of mobile phones, there were land line telephones which also help human being to communicate with each others but at a limited scale. To use land line, person should be at one place where that phone is installed. But mobile phones remove this barrier by allowing customers to communicate with each others from any place where it has signals. AS this system is connected with the satellite, person can communicate without any hurdle. This is the only technology on the globe which is sold at highest numbers than any other technology. Out of 6.8 billion people on the earth, 5 billion use mobile phones (international telecommunication union, 2010).Two countries Pakistan and UK have been chosen for this dissertation because these two countries are very much different in many prospective. Pakistan telecommunication authority (PTA, 2010) shows that mobile phone in Pakistan enjoy a tremendous annual growth of 119% during 2000 to 2007. It is also being observed that between fiscal year 2006-07, mobile phone penetration increased by 15.5%. Whereas between years 2007-08, it was 55.6% which is 34.9% higher than Indias for the same period. Pakistans telecommunications industry maintains its growth trend in the coming years as well with the penetration rate in 2009 was 61.8% and in September this penetration rate reaches to 70%.On the other hand UK mobile phone market is different than Pakistani market. According to report presented by Ofcom (2007), the mobile phone market in UK grew by 41.3% between 2003 to 2007.In 2010, the penetration rate in UK was 84% which stay same till 2011.Mobile phone market is very competitive these days as there are number of companies who are trying to compete in this market to become the best in the business. It is very essential for the companies to better understand the buying behaviour of the customers.It gives them an edge on the competitors in targeting the right segment and getting market share. The purchasing decisions of consumers are mostly affected by factors that have direct or indirect impact on how we live and what we consume. Culture is one of the factors that impact on buying behaviour of consumers. Culture represents the behaviour, beliefs and, in many cases, the way we act learned by interacting or observing other members of society. In this way much of what we do is shared behaviour, passed along from one member of society to another. Culture play an important role in breaking target market into different segments and then targets the right segment. Blackwell et al., (2001) demonstrated that culture has a profound influence on how and why consumers purchase a range of products and services. The selection of products by consumer affect by the culture and it can help companies to design their marketing plan. Culture shapes the lifestyle of the consumer which affect directly on the buying pattern of the consumer. The cultural comparison between Pakistan and UK about mobile phone purchasing behaviour will provide a complete picture which will help understand these two countries mobile phone market. Culture defines the lifestyle of the people so it is very important for the manager to understand this factor and design a marketing plan by considering culture as a back bone of marketing. Companies these days are operating globally, marketing manager should divide the targeting segment into small sub segments on the basis of culture to market their product efficiently. Pakistani culture represent the most part of Asias culture and British culture represent the most of European culture. This purpose of this study to find the cultural impact on consumer buying behaviour of these two countries so that marketers of telecommunication industry use it to generalise it for the whole Asia and Europe. Literature Review Culture is defined in many different ways that can be used here for the sake of this paper. Culture is defined as ways of life like language, arts science, thoughts, spirituality, social activity and interaction (Roshan).By Hofstede (1991, 2001), culture is an identity that is used to distinguish one group from another.Keegan and schlegemilch (2001) state that culture is formed by people those are living in a community for many years and has a life that pass on from one generation to another. This mean that culture has a starting point and finish point. So its all about the life style of a group of people whom code of life is represented by culture.Doney etal(1998) defined culture as a system of values and norms that are shared among a group of people and that when taken together constitute a design for living. So by Doney culture is the design of life. There are many different cultures exist and these cultures represents particular group of people who actually adapted that design. It also depend on the individuals whose life style effect on the culture.Doney Lowe (2008, 73) believe that culture is made up of three essentials components. Those are (1) Beliefs: refers to the mental and verbal processes that reflect peoples knowledge and assessments of things. (2) Values: used by people as guide for what is appropriate behaviour. (3) Customs: Overt modes of behaviour that constitute culturally approved or acceptable way of behaving in specific situations. To be very precise as far as this project is concerned, above definitions of culture are generalised. Actually theme of culture that is more suitable to this dissertation is that culture defined way of living, behaving, acting in a particular situation, dealing with others and organising oneself. That is way it is very important for the marketers who are dealing international business particularly should understand the importance of this phenomena. If they understand this concept and then target particularly segment on the basis of culture then it will be easy for them to launch the product in the right segment. So culture is the medium for communication for marketers that transmit these beliefs, values, behaviour and norms into shaping the attitude and behaviour of human. It help the members of such group in deciding what, why, where, how and when to do different things and how to act in a particular situation. So it means that culture is not a static concept. Its dynamic and it can change with the passage of time and influence ones own behaviour although they also contribute to the culture. Customer buying behaviour is another factor that affects consumer choices and trends. Recognizing consumer behaviours importance to business, marketers attempt to develop means on assessing or measuring how a customer behaves (Bailey and Schultz, 2000). Consumer buying behaviour is said to be different from one business to another in a way that consumer buying behaviour tends to have different attitudes about the needs and purpose of buying while the business-to-business approach is one which is more on supplier-company relationship. So consumer buying behaviour is the procedure which shows what, how, when and where people buy the product as they do. Thus this is an attempt to understand the decision making process in buying the products. The first thing is trying to understand the buying behaviour of the individual from the same group. Then generalise it to the whole group because all the individuals in the group have same characteristics. But decision making process is not easy. Th ere are different levels of decision making forms. Some are low-involvement decision making process , some are high involvement decision making process. So it all depends on the product itself as well. Mobile phones are not high involvement decisions making products. But these decisions are also depend on consumer perception, attitudes and understanding of the given product based on the educational background, societal background, financial situation and more importantly social and cultural environment. Culture here play an important role on the consumer buying pattern as individuals can not live alone. They are part on culture and the way they behave all depend on the cultural environment in which they live. So it is very important that to understand the cultural to study the buying behaviour of consumer and this dissertation is all about this. Pakistan and UK are two different cultures. Both these cultures have strong influence on the buying behaviour of its consumers. Hofstede (1991, 2001) divide culture into two different types. One is called individualistic and other one is collectivist. According to this dissertation UK is highly individualistic country in which people mostly decide individually about the buying of products. On the other hand, Pakistan scores highly as a collectivists country where family, friends or group influence the buying behaviour. Individualist and collectivist are two out of five cultural dimensions which Hofstede find out when he was trying to find an explanation for the motivation of IBM employees around the world. Hall (1960, 1981, 1990) presented culture as high and low context cultures. He explains that culture can be divided into two groups. One is called high context culture and other one is called low context culture. The theme of difference between these two cultures according to Hall is the individual relationship. He stated that high context culture is based on the close tie between individuals personals relationships such as family, friends and colleagues etc. and in this group information and knowledge is share exclusively. People in this group are social and they care each other, listen to each others, sometime depend each others and discuss information between each others. Hall (1960. 1981, 1990) stated that high context culture is more common in East. And as far as this project is concerned, it represents Pakistan. On the other hand, low context culture is belonging to outer group. In this culture, people live their individual life. They belong to their personal network. Family, f riends and colleagues are all separate to each others. All of them live their individual life. Things are share less exclusively. People are more independent and make their own decisions.UK is the one in this dissertation which represents low context culture. Here society in not social enough to influence the decisions of others. People live their own life and they rarely involve in the decisions making process of others. Industry Background Telecommunication industry is the fastest growing industry in the world. This is because of the fast growth in technology sector and increasingly becoming part of human lifestyle. With 73% of the world population is using mobile phones , the network covers the 90% of the world area (mob thinking, Oct2010).Mobile phone industry started way back in 1970s when first mobile phone launched in Japan.After that this industry never look back and continuously grow with different transition period. During the last 40 years it have undergone a transition from technology focused for professional business to a mass consumer market and become an integral part of lifestyle. With the passage of time, it is not only used as a communication tool but also it is helping consumers in other businesses like of internet , financial transaction , tracking device , video conferencing and many more. Pakistan and UK mobile phone market is very strong in the sense that Pakistani market is still growing and it need to know more about consumer buying behaviour.UK mobile phone market is also growing but more effort is needed to do business with the existing customers. Culture of an important role in consumer buying behaviour in both these market which is why this research is being done to let marketers understand the depth in the market. The comparison between these two segments will help marketers understand that how to target the existing segment and how to create new segments within the existing segment. Research Aim Literature Review

Animal Experimentation :: Ethical Issues, Persuasive

Animal experimentation is a controversial topic and may what to stop the use of animal in experiments. Experimenting with animals helps save human life but innocents animal pay the consequences. The "pro" and "con" positions on animal experimentation have proven suitable for stating extreme opinions, but unhelpful at exploring the broader ethical questions of animal based research (Wolff, 2009). Human and animals are very similar, for scientific is easy to use animals to find cures for humans decease. It difficult to scarified innocent animals but those animals help human to continue living. While there are multiple accusations of animal cruelty, few people actually witness the inner workings of a research lab and multiple regulations prevent animal cruelty, but animal research still continues to cause pain (Wolff, 2009). The use of animals in experiment is fundamental for human descendent. Many Humans are absolutely positive that scientific should experiment with animals to save humans life. Because there are so many similarities between human and animal physiology, experimentation has allowed scientists to discover new treatments for diseases and guarantee the safety of new drugs (Foundation for Biomedical Research, 2009). Experiment with animals is necessary because without the animals scientific are not able to find cure disease. Animal investigation has offered the source for several medical innovations, including vaccines, organ transplants, and pacemakers (Foundation for Biomedical Research, 2009). In this world are many diseases that did not have a cure but there are other diseases that have it and those cures were found with the help of the animals experimentations. â€Å"In 2006, infant mortality in the USA—a key indicator of the nation's health—was measured at fewer than seven deaths per 1,000 live births compared to 47 deaths per 1,000 live bi rths in 1940, much of this progress came from knowledge gained through animal research, many diseases that once killed millions of people every year are now either preventable, treatable or have been eradicated altogether, immunizations against polio, diphtheria, mumps, rubella and hepatitis have saved countless lives, and without animal research, these vaccines would not exist (Foundation for Biomedical Research, 2009).† Also, experiments on animals are necessary in order to safeguard and improve human health and well-being, and vaccines for diseases such as polio and malaria could not have been developed without animal testing, Cohen explains (Cohen, 2005). Animals are crucial for finding cure for those Children and adults that need an opportunity to continue living. â€Å"This true story, close to us in time and place, is widely known.

The Impacts of Devaluation on Export Performance: The Case of Ethiopia

Agriculture plays a vital role in the Ethiopian economy, contributing 42 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 80 percent of the employment and 90 percent of total export earnings (Ministry of Finance and Economic Development [MoFED] 2011; Diao et al. 2010). In 2009 with an effort to remove the vicious socio-economic circle, the government of Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) developed a Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) with a priority to export orientated agricultural development led industrialization (MoFED 2010 P. 22). Despite the over-ambitious plan, however, the performance of the export sector has remained undeveloped which calls for sound macroeconomic policies that are crucial to combat the bottlenecks constraining the sector. This essay examines the consequences of devaluation on the performance of Ethiopia's export sector. Foreign exchange rate is a key macroeconomic variable that determines performance of export in a country. The reasons why export performance depends on the foreign exchange regime in developing countries include: the characteristics of exportable goods, the effectiveness of financial sectors and trading with foreign currencies rather than with the domestic currency (Nilsson and Nilsson 2000). Accordingly, Ethiopia's export is characterized by primary agricultural products with inelastic export demand and supply, concentration of market and products, and little value addition. The result of primary agricultural product export is a smaller marketing margin and insignificant bargaining power on the world market. The financial sector is also constrained with higher probabilities of the existence of parallel markets that fail at allocating resources to their most efficient usage. More... ...tional Economics: Theory and Policy. 9th ed. Edinburgh Gate: Pearson Education. Melesse, Wondemhunegn Ezezew. 2011. â€Å"The Dynamics between Real Exchange Rate Movements and Trends in Trade Performance: The Case of Ethiopia.† Munich Personal Research Papers in Economics Archive (MPRA). MPRA Paper No. 29161. Munich. Michael, Nwidobie Barine. 2011. â€Å"An Impact Analysis of Foreign Exchange Rate Volatility on Nigeria’s Export Performance.† European Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Sciences V (37): 47-55. National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE). 2011. National Bank Annual Report 2009/10. Addis Abeba: NBE. Nilsson, Kristian and Lars Nilsson. 2000. â€Å"Exchange Rate Regimes and Export Performance in Developing Countries.† Oxford: Blackwell Publishers: 331-349. World Bank (WB). 2012. â€Å"World Development Indicators Database: Ethiopia.† Washington, DC: WB.

Luxury Brand Marketing Essay

While the word ‘luxury’ is used in daily lives to refer to certain lifestyle, the underlying construct’s definition is consumer and situation specific. If you earn less than 15000 a month, a pair of reebok shoes would be a really big luxury item for you. On the other hand, if you are going to a party with some big-wigs a $100,000 car may not be a luxury. The word luxury originates from the Latin term â€Å"luxus† signifying, â€Å"soft or extravagant living, indulgence, sumptuousness or opulence† The meaning of luxury is extremely subjective and multidimensional in nature. It depends on dimension such as high price, high quality, uniqueness, exclusivity etc. What is a luxury product? In economic terms, luxury products are those who can consistently command and justify a higher price than products with comparable functions and similar quality. In marketing term, luxury products are those who can deliver emotional benefits which is hard to match by comparable products. The luxury sector targets its products and services at consumers on the top-end of the wealth spectrum. These self-selected elite are more or less price insensitive and choose to spend their time and money on objects that are plainly opulence rather than necessities. For these reasons, luxury and prestige brands have for centuries commanded an unwavering and often illogical customer loyalty. Luxury and prestige brands such as Rolex, Louis Vuitton and Cartier represent the highest form of craftsmanship and command a staunch consumer loyalty that is not affected by trends. These brands create and set the seasonal trends and are also capable to pulling all of their consumers with them wherever they go. Premium brands are those brands like Polo Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger that aspire to be luxury and prestige brands but their marketing mix strategies are more attuned to a mass market, albeit a luxury mass market. They are also termed as mass-premium brands or mass-luxury brands. Fashion brands on the other hand are those that address the masses. Strategies for Luxury Marketing There are conventional foundations for ensuring success of a brand and they are listed below in brief : 1. The brand must be â€Å"expansive†. Which means it should be full of innovation opportunities for the marketer and in terms of satisfying the divergent needs of the luxury consumer 2. The brand must tell a story It is this story, of either heritage or performance or other aspects that goes on to build the aura of a brand over time. The story always accentuates the identity of the brand. 3. The brand must be relevant to the consumers’ needs Depending upon the mindset of the luxury class, it is imperative for a brand to satisfy those needs, whether they be for recognition or functional use etc. 4. The brand must align with consumers’ values A brand that does not concur with the basic values of a consumer’s society has a small chance of succeeding because luxury items are forms of expression or identification for a luxury consumer. This makes it difficult for the consumer to adopt the brand in such cases. 5. The brand must perform Irrespective of which category the brand belongs to, a performance assurance is a must for the brand if it wishes to be in the evoked set of luxury consumers, considering the price being paid for luxury. LUXURY brand marketing CONCEPTS: Socialite as a Conductor In 2006, when Christian Dior chose Chawla as its spokesperson, everyone was shocked – some secretly jealous. Chawla’s association: to be the face of the brand, be seen in Dior in the right circles, host events attended by the right people and generally hobnob with the circle that she already moves in. The money details are not clear – people in the circuit and in the luxury industry say its part financial, part goodies. But it might be working. Chawla says, â€Å"Dior has done incredibly well with a consistent rise in sales. It is the most visible brand in India with the highest recall value in terms of marketing strategies implemented. † â€Å"Socialites being signed up for a fashion brand is not new, at least not in the West,† says former fashion editor and luxury specialist Sujata Assomull-Sippy. She mentions Armani’s 19-year-old association with British semi-royal and socialite Lady Helen Taylor that started when he designed her wedding gown in 1992. The association ended in 2009. Taylor, who was also the face for Bulgari, gave a sigh of relief and was glad to give up â€Å"her uniform†. Six years hence, Chawla is nowhere close to hanging up her Dior couture. The ‘Mohan for Gucci’ buzz has engendered new aspirations in the circuit that goes beyond the ‘hostess’ or the grander-sounding luxury consultant tags. â€Å"The socialite is becoming more important in a luxury brand’s marketing strategy as she pulls in the ‘right kind of crowd,† says Priya Sachdev, creative director for TSG International Marketing that has brought brands like YSL, Diane von Furstenberg to India. Nichevertising Brand consultant and strategist Harish Bijoor of Harish Bijoor Consults loftily terms it â€Å"nichevertise vs massvertise†. According to him the luxury brands are not for mass consumption and shouldn’t be mass advertised. The social circuit gives them a fresh channel to reach out to their target audience without any noise. â€Å"The socialite model of marketing targets the guest lists minus the hard sell,† he says. Personal voice- distinct style Every luxury brand needs to develop a marketing strategy that not only helps them achieve their marketing goals, but is also in line with their brand. For example, while it makes sense for Christopher Bailey from Burberry to update the Burberry Facebook page with short videos he makes or music he supports, the same type of strategy might not work for someone like Bentley or Rolex. Bijoor says that for luxury brands, sell is a four-letter word – and not just literally and that’s why they aim at buy. â€Å"Luxury brands like to be bought, not sold,† he says. â€Å"Sell is a top-down strategy which involves an element of ‘shout’ – you asking consumers to consider you. Buy, instead, is a pull-oriented strategy. Luxury brands love pull not push,† he explains. This is ideal for the socialite marketing where the conversation with the brand is more visual and not aural.