Belonging in Romulus, My Father and This Is England

Our perception of belonging is shaped by various aspects, one of the most influential of these being the confined expectations of society. As one understands and accepts the socially constructed definition of how an individual may belong, one begins to label themselves under this classification. This awareness causes one to alter and shape their behaviour according to their own perception of whether or not they belong, which in turn is based on society’s standards. It may serve as a process of belonging, or alternatively, as a barrier. This concept is evident in the first scene of the film This is England, as 12-year-old Shaun enters his new school, wearing his fathers’ old denim jeans. He stands helplessly among his classmates, most in ties, hats and uniform jackets. This juxtaposition immediately shows Shaun’s quickly formed perception of how one may belong in this environment, as a fight is initiated caused by his incompatible choice of clothing. His sense of belonging is determined by society’s expectations, and therefore his behaviour is shaped accordingly. Shaun further isolates himself from the society as a result of this, sitting unaccompanied in the playground. This act of cruelty causes Shaun to place blame upon his mother, who brought him from Germany to England, determined to start life afresh after the death of his father. Consequently, this gives rise to the additional seclusion from what was once a place of belonging, his home, and his family. A similar concept is evident in Romulus, My Father, a memoir written by Raimond Gaita. Raimond’s mother Christine experiences a life of rejection from society. In like manner as Shane encountered upon moving to England, Christine held a powerful sense of belonging to her home culture in Germany, and therefore the sudden change in landscape only furthered the isolation that was also influenced by her mental illness. Gaita feels that her psychological incapacity was exacerbated by the unwillingness of the community to accept and help her. He explains the behaviour of society as â€Å"the unattractive side of a conception of value whose other side nourished a distinctively Australian decency. Gaita’s personification of society shows that the extent to which this cruelty has reached is inhumane. â€Å"Such was the division of the human spirit in that part of the world at that time. Like many other sharp divisions, it could not capture the many worthy ways of being human. It nourished some possibilities, maimed others and would not allow some even to see the light of day†¦Ã¢â‚¬  sense of belonging may have aided in the healing of her illness, but paradoxically it was her illness that meant she would never experience a sense of acceptance. Society’s expectations formed Christine’s latest perception of belonging, in turn shaping her behaviour. The community in which she lived held a strong belief in ‘character’ as a defining quality through which individuals show they have the right ‘fit’ to society. â€Å"Tom Lillie and others disliked my mother partly because they saw her engaging vivacity as a dangerously seductive manifestation of personality in a woman they believed to be lacking entirely in character – a ‘characterless woman’. † In its historical and cultural context, women of rural Victoria in the 1950s were expected to hold a conservative nature. Perhaps that is why women at that time and in that place were especially vulnerable to the deadening attractions of middle-class respectability. † The negative connotations attached to the word ‘deadening’ reflects Gaita’s attitude to such restrictions, expressing through emphatic language his understanding of those who are not immediate conformists to the expectations that society has created. The community is repelled by her inability to care for Raimond, her promiscuity and her obsession with appearance over responsibilities. Christine’s understanding that she may never belong in a society that holds such defined expectations of women shapes her behaviour in that she pushes herself further away from the community, all the while influencing her to attempt to regain a connection with her family. This is England also emphasizes the dominant ideology of its era. White nationalism and patriotism were seen as the norm, and the movement against immigrants was extreme due to the area the film was set in, a low class area, where unemployment records were extremely high. The entire film displays each scene very black and white, as a representation of the reality of the issues in its context. Towards the end of the movie, Combo and Shaun decide to raid a shop with a Pakistani shop-keeper. As Combo leaves the store, he threatens the shop-keeper, bellowing, â€Å"this is our little Shandy, and we’ll come ‘ere anytime we like†. A close-up of the shaken shopkeeper, who does not retaliate to Combo’s words, shows that white people were accepted as being superior to colours. Shaun’s involvement portrays his acceptance of the values and customs that being a skinhead require, and his alteration of his behaviour upon adhering to these expectations in order to belong. The final scene of the film shows Shaun wandering along the beach, carrying a British flag. He pauses and throws the flag out to sea, a symbol of the knowledge he has gained and what has come from his experiences. Shaun is seen at the same location in the beginning of the film, this device being used as a sound and visual metaphor that symbolises the issues and his understanding of belonging have very much changed over time.

Game theory application for lowest price guarantee Essay

The game theory is applicable to a host of issues especially in economics. The theory is applicable where there is a multiplicity of decision makers and each player’s action affects or is affected by what the other party does. To cite a specific example, it is worthy examining how firms make production decisions relating to quality, quantity, pricing, etc. the game theory is equally useful in auctions, contract negotiations, and in voting exercises. Literature review Price setting is a difficult task as there is a multiplicity of players in each business or industry. This is furthered by the fact that each player intends to make the best out of every situation. However, decisions are always taken while accounting for what the rest of the players are going to do. This case holds true especially when the industry being studied is a free market where there is free entry and exit. The fact that competition calls for the adoption of the best possible alternative dictates that a god approach is employed in decision making regarding pricing (Axelrod, 43). Maintenance of a brand is important in the pricing game. A business which has a dominant brand has little work to do since sellers want to stock the products and customer loyalty remains high (Axelrod, 45). At times, changes may prove worthy undertaking. For example when a company is operating excess productivity, it may be forced to lower prices to increase its sales. However, this is only commendable if it does not spark a price war. The chances of achieving minimal interference in the market are desirable though difficult to achieve. This is held because lowering prices of a player’s products will lead to an increased demand for the party’s products assuming that the quality produced is similar to other players’ products (Kalai and Stanford, 400). Even if such products may be of lower quality, it is held that the demand for these products will rise. A rise in a player’s products will definitely lower the demand for other players’ goods in the industry (Kalai and Stanford, 400). This is bound to lead to a price war as the other players must take similar action if they are to remain in business. In the same line of thinking, measures to increase the prices of certain commodities may be counter productive. This means that an attempt to hike the price may lead to resistance from the part of the customers. Such resistance is reflected by the unwillingness to make purchases after a rise in price. An indication of reduced sales also point to an attempt to raise the prices. This indicates that players in any industry or business will always be forced to adopt the lowest possible price. It is only at the lowest prices where firms sell an equilibrium quantity while providing room for profit making. However, lowering of prices below the normal price may send a wrong signal to the customers who may mistake that act as a deceiving ploy to offer them products of a lesser value or quality and thus scare them away (Kalai and Stanford, 402). Such acts not only lead to brand failure as they also hold the potential of reducing revenue to a business entity. A reversal of the price to reflect the actual market pricing may fail to bring back the deserting customers. This may call for re launching of the brand, an expensive issue to any business. However, a gamble of this nature may win customers albeit in the short run. On the other hand, if the businesses in the industry respond by lowering prices, the leading party in lowering prices may have failed as the market share will most likely revert to the normal point. But such lower prices can only be sustainable if they allow a business to enjoy certain profit levels (Chamberlin, 45). Sustainable margins are created through three major ways. The first one centers on product differentiation, the second, on economies of scale, and the third, on the barriers to entry (Hotelling, 41-43). Game theory is useful in pricing strategies especially in oligopolistic industries. In an oligopoly, firms may make decisions regarding whether to increase, to reduce prices or to keep them unchanged (Hotelling, 47-51). The nature of the demand curve in oligopoly is kinked (Kalai and Stanford, 397). This suggests a presence of price stability in the industry. This is possible because in an event of firms increasing prices while others do not change, the end result is a significant fall in demand. On the other hand, if firms reduce the prices, they will gain a market share, the other firms in the industry do not want such a scenario as they also follow suit and consequently prices drop across the industry (Kalai and Stanford, 398). Such a decline in price would see all firms in the industry lose significantly due to poor pricing. In this market a decision by one firm holds a significant bearing in the industry. However, in real world, the kinked curve may never be attained (Kalai and Stanford, 410). This is attributable to the game theory and the complexities involved. To begin with, firms may collude and set prices and production quotas which they stick to. Though this is illegal in some countries like the UK, imposing it is very difficult. Firms may not always pursue profit maximization as they may be willing to make lesser profits if this can raise their market share. Wal Mart supermarket is one such example utilizing this strategy in a bid to expand its activities (Kalai and Stanford, 409). Firms could not be aware of the reactions f other players or may simply choose to ignore the reactions of other players in the industry. To cite an example, a small firm in an oligopoly may avoid cutting prices if it perceives that its action may fail to occasion a significant impact on an industry (Robinson, 22-25). In a monopolistic type of market, the presence of only one buyer implies that price setting is exclusively held by one firm which also happens to act as the industry (Sraffa, 534). This firm can change prices but it must do that carefully (Sraffa, 546). This is held because in as much as the firm can price its products highly, it holds the potential of failing to sell if it goes beyond a certain level of pricing unless it deals in basic goods. So the game theory applies in this case by dictating to the firm to set its price at the point where it maximizes sales and profits. In a duopoly, the presence of two companies or firms is likely to lead to bidding wars and subsequently benefit the customer as a move by one player is easily countered by the other player (Sraffa, 500). This is however based on an assumption that both players are in a position to produce same or slightly identical products. So in a duopoly, prices charged are lowered if the two engage in a game of trying to outdo the other. Findings and conclusion This paper presents pricing as a game in which businesses engage in. it is discernable that every business entity seeks to achieve profits and sustain its growth. This depends on such business’s ability to sell its products. Apart from monopolistic markets the rest have a multiplicity of players. This implies that price setting is a function of other firms’ behavior on the same products. In a competitive environment as realized above, if one player changes the price, other players will counter that move by carrying out a similar adjustment. This may in the end lead to a loss for all players. On the basis of the above realization, industry players are forced to operate on the Nash equilibrium. At this position, each player in an industry is well of playing by the rules of the game. This means the pricing at this point is the lowest the firms can charge, any reduction on the price would seriously affect the profitability of the company. if a player chose to reduce prices in the hope of making profits as a result of increased sales, the other players will follow sit and the end result is a loss for all. In reference to a monopolistic market, the cost of products is the lowest possible as further increments on the price would portend ill for the business’ profits due to reduced sales. On the basis of the evidence adduced in this paper, the game theory holds a huge influence on pricing of products in all markets. The aim of the firms remains the pursuit of pricing their products at a point where they can sustain the businesses. However, the game theory may not lead to the lowest prices if firms collude and if other firms use underhand tactics like issuing threats to other players. Cited Works E. H. Chamberlin. The Theory of Monopolistic Competition. Cambridge: MA Harvard University Press, 2003. Ehud. Kalai and William, Stanford. â€Å"Finite Rationality and Interpersonal Complexity in Repeated Games,† Econometrica 56(2008), 397-410. Harrison, Hotelling. â€Å"Stability in Competition,† Economic Journal, 39 (Mar. 1929):41- 57. John, Robinson. The Economics of Imperfect Competition. London: Macmillan, 2003. Paul, Sraffa, â€Å"The Laws of returns under competitive conditions,† Economic Journal 36(2006), 535-550. Robert, Axelrod. The Evolution of Cooperation. NY: Basic Books, 2004.

Antigone

Evil not only fascinates people in general, but writers as well. In what ways and with what effect has â€Å"evil† been treated in Antigone? In the play of ‘Antigone’, evil appears in many forms. There is the soldier who is a traitor to his nation; the sister trying to prove her love for her family yet ends up breaking the law; the king who so eagerly tries to stop rule-breakers yet he himself neglects his flesh and blood. Here the difference of the two works is seen: The Earth of Mankind gives the impression that characters of power possess evil, whereas in Antigone, evil can be inside all of these opposing individuals. Polyneices, a soldier who fought against his own nation was to be punished as a traitor by not burying him after his death. When his sister, Antigone, goes against the King’s decree and burry Polyneices, she was also seen as a traitor to her country. However their other sibling, Ismene, who sits at home as Antigone fights for her brother’s right, is also said to have performed a crime of being a traitor to her family. Now something we can see from here is that each and every character involved in the story so far possesses evil. This message is summed up by Sophocles in page 204 of the book, in Ode 1, where it says, ‘O fate of man, working both good and evil! ’ What the writer is trying to convey here is more realistic than what is said in ‘The Earth of Mankind’; both evil and good is naturally inside everyone’s mind.It is one’s choice to do which, but performing a crime is inevitable. Everyone has his or her own ‘evil’ deeds, not only the powerful ones. As seen in my previous explanation on who performs evil deeds in the play of ‘Antigone’, we can see that one evil act leads to another, whereas the chain of good doings ends sooner. Eteocles, who was a soldier and a brother to Antigone, fought bravely for his nation and was buried with honor by the King. Although many respect him for his virtuosity, the play didn’t show that further kindness was done because of him.However, when Polyneices betrays his nation and fought against it, a number of people are forced to perform evil in his affect. Antigone had to break the law in order to give him his right of getting a burial. Ismene, who was too scared to go against the decree, was said to be a traitor to her family, as she didn’t come to assist Antigone in her mission. They then cause Creon to imprison the sisters, punish them, which then cause him to have a fight with his son. Creon then causes death of Haimon, and therefore leads to the suicide of the Queen.On page 243, the messenger says, ‘†¦and her last breath was a curse for their father, the murderer of her sons. ’ A number of misfortunes occur as being the result of one act of evil. The play now gives the effect that evil gives more negative outcomes in comparison to good giving positive results. Here, evil is powerful enough to make such a big impact on its surrounding; bigger than the good. Creon sees Antigone as a traitor to his rules, despite her reasons. Creon imprisoned both Antigone and Ismene for the burial of the nation’s traitor, Polyneices, who is their brother.It is true that Antigone has broken the law, but according to her logic, it is more important to follow the rules of the Gods than the King. She feels that the dead, no matter what they did in their lives, deserve respect and be buried, and that it was her duty to do so as Polyneices’ sister. She didn’t care that she is breaking the decree, and may be punished to die, as long as this task is done. Creon, being a non-believer of the Gods in the beginning, thinks that breaking the law is crime, no matter for what purpose.Polyneices was a traitor and he suffers because of himself, thus no one should help him. On page 211, Creon even said to Antigone, ‘An enemy is an enemy, even dead. ’ There is truth in both arguments, and no one can say what is right. Here, the play depicts that the existence of evil depends on how one views it. ‘Antigone’ treats evil as a subjective topic, where it may be seen as a crime from one point of view, but is actually a good deed from another. No evil deed is done without a reason, and the play shows that one should explore, not only what crime has been done, but also why it was done.

Crow Lake Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Crow Lake - Essay Example This brings about another challenge, as they have to struggle in order to cater for the needs of the family. With the responsibility of taking care of the family, the two brothers and their eldest sister move to seek employment opportunities, which ideally is a tough task but since there is no alternative, they are forced to settle for any menial jobs available for them. For the two brothers, they take up jobs in the neighborhood at Pye’s family. With such background information, this paper analyses the case of Luke, the older of the two brothers currently in their late teens. Luke despite being the older son in the family, is not good academically, and with the realization of the responsibility ahead, forgoes his college education dreams to allow his brother Matt who despite being younger is better academically. Ideally, in an instance of not completing the book, it is evident that Luke would have become a greater individual in the society considering his hard work and the act of scarify he has shown. The ability of an individual to sacrifice the opportunity of a college education for a brother despite not being sharp academically requires a big heart and one that has a focus for the betterment of the future. The aspect of forgoing college by Luke for his brother Matt, who happens to be Kate, their sister’s favorite seems to cause some rift between the two brothers. Luke feels bad about the sister looking down upon him based on academic reasons despite the sacrifice Luke is able to make for the better of the whole family. Had I been in Luke’s shoes, it is very possible I would have the same feeling towards Kate. Despite the back draws that Luke has experienced in life, it is evident that his life as an old man will be one of success. Unlike his brother Matt, who despite receiving a sacrifice from his brother Luke, is still involved in misbehavior by getting involved with Pye’s daughter Maria, getting her pregnant, forcing him out of

Compare and contrast the marketing strategies of two companies Essay

Compare and contrast the marketing strategies of two companies - Essay Example Both companies like to keep their product at the introductory and growth stages of the product lifecycle by introducing new models of cars to the market. BMW Company does not like having their products at the maturity or declining stage of product life cycle. They like introducing new models of cars to the market so as to keep a competitive edge over other automobile companies in the industry. In contrast, although the Rolls Royce Company keeps their products in the introductory and growth stage of product life cycle, this company also maintains their products in the maturity and decline stage of life. This is because they target a sale market of middle-income earners (Smith, 2013). Both companies use similar market approaches so as to have a competitive advantage over other automobile companies in the market. They both produce products that serve the global needs of customers. The two companies’ produces new models of cars to suit the customers demand and recognizes the need of quality and luxury as both of their products is built on this attributes. The two companies, therefore, produces attractive and trend products that suit the needs of their customers. Both companies differentiate their market into demographic segmentation. This market is segmented into income, age, and gender. Therefore, the two companies produce products that favor these segments of the market. BMW produce products that target high-income earners basing on the economic segment. Their target customers are those with an income of $75,000 unlike the Rolls Royce, who targets customers with an income of more than $30, 000. These makes BMW brands most common among the rich while the Rolls Royce more common among the middle-income earners ( Simms & Trott, 2007). Both companies have a good number of market dealership and imports from no dealership-networked countries. They both have various manufacturing plants in Germany and UK with the companies operating in more than 100

Carpetright plc financial comparison Coursework

Carpetright plc financial comparison - Coursework Example Mohawk Industries is a company in the US producing floor covering products for commercial and residential applications lines distributed in the United States and Europe. It has a total of 36,200 employees and a recent reported market capitalization of. 1.77billion US dollars. It has total outstanding share of 68.4million US dollars. Carpetright specializes on floor covering and has more than 300 stores all over Great Britain. It is based in United Kingdom, sells and retails a range of carpets, rugs, vinyl and laminates together with associated accessories. Recent addition to their line of business is linoleum and wooden floorings. As of 2007, the company has 3,273 employees. Recent financial figures of Carpetright shows market capitalization of 402.69M, with a total share outstanding of 67.2M The growth rates, price ratios, profit margins, financial condition, investment returns, management efficiency as of 2007 year end and a ten year summary of financial data of these companies will be presented in tables to show relative relation of Carpetright with the others on the same industry. First, we will have the price ratios of the three carpet makers in the market. Price earning ratio gives us the valuation ratio of the company’s current share price compared to it’s per share earning. In this case, current ratio is 6.2 for Carpetright, and for the carpet industry, 7.6, Mohawk has no available figure. With P/E ratio investors expect a higher earning growth compared to a company with lower P/E. Comparing the P/E ratio of Carpetright to the industry on a 5 year level, Carpetright maintains a high P/E. Investors should not base investment decisions on P/E measures alone, as Investopedia says the earnings is based on an accounting measure of earnings that is susceptible to manipulation. Being so, rightful decision should

The Charter of Fundamental Freedom adds little to the body of general Essay

The Charter of Fundamental Freedom adds little to the body of general principles developed within the EU system. Discuss - Essay Example Subject to the principle of proportionality, limitations may be made only if they are necessary and genuinely meet objectives of general interests recognised by the union or the need to protect the rights and freedoms of others.†(Art. 52.1)1 It can be argued that the charter of fundamental rights of the European Union does not introduce human rights to the EU context. Most national constitutions include their own human rights catalogue. This in itself cast doubt at to whether the charter added much to the EU principles. â€Å"The provisions of this charter are addressed to the institutions and bodies of the Union with due regard for the principle of subsidiarity and to the member states only when they are implementing Union law.† The charter have a political objective of enhancing European identity among the citizens. The distinction between the political pitfalls and the legal achievements of the constitutional process extends to the charter of fundamental rights. It can be said that the original simplicity of a single constitutional document including among others, the charter of fundamental rights is replaced by the continuation of the acrimonies temple construction of different Treaties, and legal sources. A typical example, is the recent coming into force of the Lisbon treaty in which obscurity replaces real clarity. Legal reforms measures are easily maintained, while the political objectives are largely abandoned. The so called identity-enhancing potential of the charter of fundamental rights is further diminished by the protocol number 30 attached to the treaty of Lisbon which concerns the application of the charter to Poland and the UK. In addition, the charter of fundamental rights, solemnly proclaimed at Nice in December 2001, constitutes a powerful assertion of the importance of weaving the protection of fundamental rights deep into the very fabric of the

A relationship between being a victim of cyber-bullying and adolescent Essay

A relationship between being a victim of cyber-bullying and adolescent emotional well-being - Essay Example Cyberbullying is an exceptional bullying that has increased a significant amount of attention in the recent past. There is much literature concerning online harassment and cyberbullying; most of these studies have concentrated on the prevalence cyberbullying behaviors among school students. Few of them have established a relationship between self-esteem and cyberbullying. Which seems to be a key contributor of criminal behavior and academic performance and other behaviors associated with the adolescent development (Hinduja & Patchini, 2010a). Hinduja & Patchini defines self-esteem as â€Å"a favorable or unfavorable attitude toward the self.†( Hinduja & Patchini, pg. 1. It can also be said to â€Å"an internal representation of social acceptance and rejection, and a psychological gauge monitoring the degree to which a person is included vs. excluded by others.† (Hinduja & Patchini 2010, pg.1). From these two views self-esteem is a perception about ones belief, and it is affected by an individual participation in the social world. In practice, cyberbullying behaviors are often the same as relational, psychological and indirect forms of traditional bullying. For example, harassment, rumor spreading, exclusion and threatening. However, there are a number of characteristics that distinguish the two forms. First, cyberbullies always remain anonymous, but research has shown that most victims always know who is bullying them within the social cycle. Second, the absence of regulatory institutions that manage cyberspace interactions makes it hard for the bullies to be found. According to Tokunaga (2010), more than 97% of the youth are able to reach one another through internet. Computer and other electronic technology have been at the center of evolution of human behavior. As oppose to the benefits that come along with technology, the youth has taken the advantage of it and are now

Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 20

Case study - Essay Example A happy workforce is better equipped to contribute constructively to the shared goals of the organization for higher work performance as psychological well-being is associated with the psychological well-being of the employees (Cropanzano & Wright, 2001). Dowling, Festing & Engle (2008, p.120) assert that each worker is unique with feelings, emotions, expectations and frames of references that is distinct to him/her. Consequently, individuals or employees require constant reassessment, evaluation and capacity building within the work context in order to meet the new challenges of time. Scholars reveal that within work environment, workers experience different physical, social and psychological influences that impact their work place behavior and subsequently their performance. The issues have to be addressed with innovative approach that considerably enhances their work satisfaction. Case study of Stockington branch of Superbrand, a leading retail organization of UK is undertaken to analyze factors that influence employees’ behavior. It is one of the leading chains of supermarket in UK with focus on food items. It has more than 1000 medium and large supermarkets and around 450 convenience stores. It has a wide range of products ranging from exclusive to low cost products to meet the requirements of different demographic segments. It is renowned for excellent customer service and quality products. The Stockington branch is facing some difficulties for the last nine to twelve months. A new supermarket in the town has put pressure on the sale. Currently it has employed 31 managers supervising 500 strong workforce including permanent, part-time and temporary workers to meet the demands of fluctuating numbers of customers. It has weekly turnover of  £1m. The branch has 6 departments with checkouts department having maximum numbers of employees, high absenteeism and lowest satisfaction level. Grocery department

Introduction to business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Introduction to business - Essay Example The business is experiencing success and is in the peak section of the business cycle (Schumpeter 235). The business has to grow further in order to continue to experience higher profits. One of the best ways of making an already successful business more successful is expansion. Expansion can take place in various ways, the business can expand by the means of integration, the business can choose to expand and integrate vertically or horizontally. The business can use the method of backward vertical integration by taking over the electronic products it is already selling and enjoy all the profits and the business can even open new outlets through internet and expand. For example: the business can franchise its services to other individuals who are running websites and selling goods and services through that website. Through this method the business will earn from sales of electronic products conducted by those companies who have purchased the franchise from the business. Schumpeter, Joseph A, and Redvers Opie.  The Theory of Economic Development: An Inquiry into Profits, Capital, Credit, Interest, and the Business Cycle. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1934.

Occupy Wall Street, Pros and Cons Essay Example for Free

Occupy Wall Street, Pros and Cons Essay In the past year, there has been a movement that has grown out of the frustration over the unemployed masses across the nation. The movement was mostly aimed at Big Banks and the wealthiest 1% who hold a significant percent of the money in this country. The movement, in its beginnings, was meant to protest the declining middle class and rapid expanding lower class. It also contended that the upper class was not paying their share of taxes. Pro side of the Movement: The OWS movement brought to the forefront the belief that the rich were paying a much lower percentage of taxes then there middle and lower class counterparts. It demanded that the rich pay more taxes and regulate the flow of money to big banks and bank bailouts. Much like the Tea Party movement, they demanded an end to the TARP bailouts and end to federal bailouts of a corrupted Federal Reserve. The movements motto, â€Å"Companies are bad, Capitalism is inherently evil†, also shows the movements opposition to big corporations making lots of money and not sharing it with their employees. It has gathered a lot of support from among the ultra liberal population and shown that there are a good number of people who support this cause. Among the supporters have been many celebs, politicians and even labor unions. The fact that banks raked in record profits before the housing crash, and unfairly foreclosed millions of loans on middle class and poor people, then received federal bailouts to save them infuriated many people. The single largest cost to the American taxpayer of all time, more than all the previous national debt combined since the nation’s birth in 1776, the banks received not billions, but trillions in this TARP bailout. It was from this 2 movements were born. Tea Party and OWS both owe their origins to this single event. OWS is the Liberal side vs. the Conservative Tea Party. Anti Occupy Wall Street: In the beginning of the movement, there wasn’t a lot of opposition to their ideas across the board. They had a solid idea and cause. They stood for the middle and lower class citizens with a message the 99% of the population was tired of being walked on by the rich. However, this image quickly tarnished. The movement became a collection of people who basically looked like a homeless camp of vagrants of people who felt they were â€Å"entitled† to a comfortable life and not having to work for it. Almost every face in the crowd was people that were basically unemployable because they had excessive tattoos, bad hygiene or very bad attitudes vs. everything! Mixed In with their protests were political groups joining the band wagon, such as Communist, Marxist, Nazi and Anarchist? There signs often portrayed violence to rich people and corporations. They would cry out, â€Å"We are the 99%† the whole time the real 99% of the population was becoming disgusted with these people. The movement is dying and basically dead because the people who organized these camps did not police themselves or distance themselves from the people who tarnished the initial message of the movement. Instead of a message being sent to the rich, they made themselves and embarrassment to their cause. Can Occupy Wall Street be fixed? : Is it too late to undo the damage the bad elements of the protest? I think it is. They had/have no clear message anymore. They complain about everything and everyone. All rich people are evil, our capitalistic government is evil and Corporations are Evil? This is their claim. However, do these people stop to think (as they use there iPhones, sipping Starbucks coffee and wearing designer clothes) that they are hypocrites? That if not for all they stand against, America would be nothing more than a 3rd world country? Do the people who support socialism and communism not realize they have been tried and failed time and time again? Socialism is a great government till you run out of others people’s money! Rich people provide a vast majority of the jobs in this country. There is also the fact, that in America, everyone has the potential to become rich. There are more millionaires in America, than the whole world combined. There are many things in their message that is simply not thought out. The movement needs to single out the wrong doers such as BofA and the people who caused the housing crash. They need to support intelligent people who can spread a positive message for them. Not be a huge un-washed mass of entitled hippies looking for a handout. My Opinion: I think the movement is dead. It was dead after the first week. It needs to go away and reboot. It needs a new plan, new people and leadership. It needs a voice! It has been marred by violence and shame. I hate that these people say they represent me. I represent the hard working people of this country that believes in the American Dream. These entitled ingrates need to stop wondering why they can’t get a job while there getting there face pierced or a new tattoo. I want to be rich one day, and I don’t want to have to pay 70% of my income to pay for people who won’t get off their butts and get a job. I believe if you work hard, you should be rewarded for it, not punished!

The Growth Of The Mens Grooming Industry

The Growth Of The Mens Grooming Industry Mens grooming industry is one of the fastest growing markets in recent years (Euromonitor International: Mens Grooming Products Thailand, 2009). This sector is dramatically booming in Asian countries, especially Thailand. One of the leading brands in mens grooming market in Thailand is NIVEA FOR MEN brand, operated by Beiersdorf Thailand, which is selected to be the case study in this research. To be the leading brand in this fast growing industry, NIVEA FOR MEN needs to create business plan with a very strong strategic marketing plan. In general, a business sets the overall direction for the company through a business plan. The business plan is created in order that the goals and objectives of the company are to be achieved. In other words, goals and objectives of a business are the underlying foundation of the business plan (The times 100, 2008). The marketing plan is certainly a vital part of the business plan and plays active roles to achieve the targets. The strategic marketing planning process flows from a mission and vision statement to the selection of target markets, and the formulation of specific marketing mix and brand or product positioning objective (RESTREPO, N.A.). Moreover, Kotler (1994) presents the organization as a value creation and delivery sequence. To choose the value, the strategist needs to proceed to segment the market, select an appropriate market target, and develop the offers value positioning, which is known as a vital strategy of Market-oriented perspective. It seems to be unavoidable that Beiersdorf Thailand has to come up with the marketing strategies to penetrate and to be the leader in mens grooming market by doing the right segmentation, selecting the best-suited target markets, and creating the competitive brand/product positioning. In sum, the formula of segmentation, targeting, positioning, STP strategies, is the heart of strategic marketing (Kotler, 1994). The literature review is divided into two main parts. The first part focuses on the previous work on market-oriented approach, as opposed to resource-base view perspective. The second part covers the relevant work on the process of segmentation, targeting, and positioning as well as implementation of the marketing strategy. Part 1: Market-oriented perspective and Resource-based view perspective Part 2: Three essentially related topics Market Segmentation Market Targeting Market Positioning Part 1: Market-oriented perspective and Resource-based perspective This part will specifically study on market-oriented perspective, which underlies a market power imperative, through previous academic research. There are many studies about the implication of resource-based view and market-oriented perspective for a company to be successful in terms of profitability. Also, there are discussions about what perspective is the appropriate one. According to Porter (1991), a successful company has to use market-oriented approach to study the external market and then apply to internal resources. Market orientation , according to Kohli and Jaworski (1990), requires various departments in an organization to engage in activities geared towards developing an understanding of customers needs, and then develop the products to meet target customers needs (Hooley et al., 2008). In addition, Porters (1991) work relies heavily on the pursuit of advantages which are determined by firms exogenous variables that require analysis of the competitors and opportunities in the market. In Porters (1991) theory of competition strategy, he stated that the competition strategy of a firm is to seek an advantageous competitive position in the marketplace or to build up a profitable market position by drawing on varieties of factors that are critical to being competitive in an industrial sector. Following the Porters work, a recent research from Ren, Xie, and Krabbendam (2010) also studied the sustainable competitive advantage with the market-oriented perspective, which covered market innovation. Their work strongly supported the use of market-oriented perspective, with the conclusion that market-oriented approach can lead companies to success and gain more profits. Additionally, they suggested that companies analyse various marketing factors to discover new competitive advantages in order to achieve marketing innovation. However, Prahalad and Hamel (1990) and Sharkie (2003) undertake different perspective by arguing that external focus, in the view of market orientation, which requires the company to concentrate on conditions and constraints in the external environment cannot create competitive advantage for a company. Nonetheless, the resource-based view approach is believed to somehow lead to competitive advantages as it suggests that a firms unique resources and capabilities provide the basis for a strategy. In a previous study, Grant (1991) proposed a practical framework for resource-based approach to strategy formulation. The organizing framework for his study is a five-stage procedure for strategy formulation which are 1) analysing the firms resource-base, 2) appraising the firms capabilities, 3) analysing the profit-earning potential of firms resources and capabilities, 4) selecting a strategy, and 5) extending and upgrading the firms pool of resources and capabilities. Ren, Xie, and Krabbendam, (2010) had a reservation on the use of resource-base view, explaining that resources would contribute to sustainable competitive advantage just when a firm possesses valuable, scarce, inimitable and irreplaceable resources. They stated that in the real world, not every company has the resources with all of those characteristics (Ren, Xie, and Krabbendam, 2010). Part 2: The Process of Segmenting, Targeting, and Positioning 2.1 MARKET SEGMENTATION 2.1.1 Definition of Market Segmentation Market segmentation is defined as the division of a mass market into identifiable and distinct groups or segments, each of which have common characteristics and needs and display similar responses to marketing actions (Rosscraig, 2007). As the market consists of diverse types of products, customers, and personnel needs, the marketers should divide the market into distinct group of buyers in order to appropriately determine which market segment offers the best opportunity for achieving company objectives. Perner (2008) indicated that it is very unlikely that one product could meet the satisfaction of all consumers. In this perspective, a company which chose to focus on a specific group of consumers rather than customers in general would be more successful in terms of profitability. Dibb (1998) suggested that companies divide large markets into smaller segments in order to identify customers purchasing behaviors. Furthermore, Brassington and Pettitt (2003) also suggested that marketers find ways of breaking the market down into manageable parts, groups of customers with similar characteristics in terms of commonly used classifications to measure demographics, which include socio-economics, geographic and personality, and to concentrate their efforts on selecting one or more of these areas. While various literatures stated that it is essential to consider the market segmentation, MC Donald (1998) argued that market segmentation always faced the problem that many different types of customers used the same products in diverse markets. It meant that these different types of customers were in fact subsumed under the same category. Besides, Moschis (1997) also stated the problems of segmentation that the demographics change and the aging of the population change were significant factors that affected the age composition of the consumer market. Day and Wensley (1983) criticised that the market segmentation relating to the consumer market sector alone was not sufficient as it generally reflected the one-sidedness of marketing. The competitive structure was to be taken into account as it yielded the basic information on segment formation. The research from Day and Wensley (1983) concluded that the formation and selection of segments could be improved if theoretical aspects of competitor orientation are included. Dibb (1997) outlined three condition classifications which help identify potential consumers in each segment; those are as follows The expected benefits must be identifiable; Having identified these benefits, marketers must divide people into recognisable segments; One or more of the resulting segments must be accessible to the firms marketing efforts. 2.1.3 Segmentation Variables/ Market Segmentation in Consumer Markets To segment consumer markets, the market information, in terms of customer variables, product variables, and situation related variables, must be collected for further analysis. In the study of The Application of Social Class in Market Segmentation, Carman (1965) stated that social class was a major segmentation variable to divided customers into groups. However, later on in 1994, Raaij and Verhallen argued that social class cannot be used as a main segmentation variable as the society had become less vertically organised with more buying power across larger layer of society, and also concluded that social class concept had lost its unique segmentation value. They claimed that other demographic variables, such as age and education, and other psychological characteristics were more appropriate for segmentation. Raaij and Verhallen (1994)s research studied the market segments and types of people as target groups for marketing activities; market segmentation is then classified into three main levels according to the level of generality of the variables which were general, domain-specific, and brand-specific levels (figure [2-1]). Level of Variable Objective Subjective General (behavioural patterns: Person characteristics) Age Income Education Behavioural patterns General values Lifestyle Personality Domain-specific (product-class usage) Situation Frequency of use Substitution Behaviour Opinions Perception Attitude Domain-specific values Brand-specific (brand-usage) Brand loyalty (behavior) Frequency of use Action Brand Loyalty (attitude) Preference Evaluation Purchase intention Figure [2-1]: Classification of Segmentation Variables by Raaij and Verhallen (1994) However, in the late of 2000s, Rosscraig (2007) suggested that media usage and technology usage could be a concern of market segmentation approach (See Appendix [2-1]). He stated that the variables used in segmenting consumer markets could be broadly divided into three main classes including: Profile criteria: Background customer characteristics Psychological criteria: customer attitudes Behavioral criteria: Actual behavior in the market place (Figure [2-1]). Consumer Criteria Profile Psychological Behavioural Demographic Socio-economic Geographic Who and Where Lifestyle Personality Perceptions Attitudes Motives Benefit sought Why and Who Purchase/transaction Consumption/ usage Media usage Technology usage Who, How, Where, and When Figure [2-2]: Segmentation criteria in consumer markets Profile Criteria With respect to profile criteria, customer characteristics are to be examined with isolation from the specific market of interest. The profile segmentation criterion is used for identiflying the target consumers and in the consumer goods markets which are most suitable to them (Rosscraig, 2007). According to Rosscraig (2007), this simple segmentation variable includes using demographic method, socio-economic method, and geographic method. Demographic method can be determined by age, gender, ethnicity, nationality, religion, family size, generation, and etc. This method is useful in assisting media planning and marketing communications as the media selection criteria have been developed around these variables. Socio-economic method can be shaped by occupation, income level, social class, and education. Socio-economic status determines whether a consumer will be able to afford a product. Geographic location method is shaped by geographical areas; markets can be considered by country or region, by town or size of city, by population density such as urban, suburban, or rural areas, or by postcode. This approach is useful when there are clear location differences in tastes, consumption, and preferences. Moreover, this method is widely applied with direct sales operations as they can use census information to develop better customer segmentation and predictive models. The profile segmentation approach is criticised in respect of uncertainly. While one segment is based on consumer background characteristics, members of each variable may behave differently in the marketplace for various reasons while members in the different segments may seek for the same things and have the same interest in a particular product/brand (Hooley et al., 2008). In shorts, this type of segmentation variable describes who and where the consumers are, but it does not explain the basic reasons why consumers behave so. Psychological Criteria The psychological criteria draw a casual relationship between customer profiles and marketing behavior (Hooley et al., 2008). The psychological variable includes the characteristics of attitude of the customers. Attitudes to the product class and attitudes toward brands in the market have both been used as productive bases for market segmentation (Hooley et al., 2008). According to Rosscraig (2007), psychological variables used for segmenting consumer product markets include using attitudes and perceptions, lifestyle of consumers, and the types of benefit sought by customers from products and brands and their consumption choices. The use of attitudes and perceptions aims at identifying segments of respondents who view the products on offer in a similar way (Green et al., 1989). Consumer lifestyles segmentation is based on the analysis of consumers activities, interactions with others, and opinions to understand consumers individual lifestyles and patterns of behavior (Hooley et al., 2008). In 2003, Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) developed a UK Lifestyle Typology based on lifestyles and classified the following types of lifestyle categories which are belonger, survivor, experimentalist, conspicuous consumer, social resistor, self-explorer, and the aimless (Rosscraig, 2007). The most important benefits of consumer lifestyle research are for guiding the creative content of advertising (Hooley et al., 2008). The main idea of the benefit segmentation is that the company should provide customers with exactly what they want, based on the benefits that they derive from the products that they use, not based on how the company designs products for them (Rosscraig, 2007). According to Hooley et al. (2008) benefit segmentation tells the basic reasons why customers buy the products and why customers are attracted to the product offerings. Holley (1982) also suggested that the development in techniques of analysis make them particularly suitable for identifying benefit segments (Hooley, 1982). Overall, segmentation on the basis of psychological yields more useful basis for marketing strategy development than merely consumer profile characteristics (Hooley et al., 2008). It gets closer to the underlying reasons for behavior of consumers, so it should be used as the basis for segmenting the market (Hooley et al., 2008). However, there are some major drawbacks of Psychological segmentation techniques, one of which is that this techniques require often costly primary research and sophisticated data analysis techniques (Hooley et al., 2008). Behavioral criteria Doing segmentation on the basis of the behavior of consumers in the market is the most direct method of segmenting markets. Behavioral segmentation includes purchase behavior, consumption behavior, media usage and technology usage (Rosscraig, 2007). Purchase behavior approach concentrates on the time of purchase which is early or late in the products overall life cycle, and the patterns of purchase which is the identification of brand-loyal customers. This approach could concentrate on innovator segmentation, concerning with initial purchase. Marketers will pay high attention to innovator groups when new products are launched. Innovators as initial target segments can improve the products chances of acceptance on the market (Hooley et al., 2008). In addition, brand loyalty has been widely used as a basis for segmentation, concerning with the repeat purchasing (Hooley et al., 2008). A company may segment a market on the basis of how often a customer uses its products, categorizing these into high, medium, and low users, by usage rate (Rosscraig, 2007). The examination of usage patterns and volume consumed can pinpoint where to focus marketing activity and can be used to develop service specifications or marketing mixes for each of these groups of users (Hooley et al., 2008). Cook and Mindak (1984) have shown that product and brand usage has a major advantage over many other situation-specific segmentation variables as it can be obtained, in case of many consumer products, from secondary sources. It is very essential to understand and profile audience media usage in the process of communication planning (Chatterjee, Hoffman, and Novak (1998). Since 1950s the information of media consuming, such as television viewing, radio listening, and print reading, have been continuously collected. And in more recent years, web usage data has also been collected by market researchers to help profile web users, basing on usage characteristics (Rosscraig, 2007) (See Appendix [2-2]). Furthermore, according to Olney, Holbrook, and Batra (1991) and Holbrook and Gardners (1993), duration of use is critical measure of consumption experiences and is a useful behavioral indicator of advertising effects (See Appendix [2-3]). By following this method of segmenting, marketers can observe the behavior of consumers while utilising the products and media, and this segmentation can be used as an important source for new products ideas, new product design, and product development (Rosscraig, 2007). Additionally, marketers can then create appropriate communication themes for product promotion and can specify new markets for existing products after having the right behavioral segmentation. In recent years, behavioral segmentation has become more popular as marketers tend to study the consumers media usage and technology usage in order to further create successful advertising campaigns. To support this, it was asserted by Advertising.com(TM), Inc., a leading provider of results-based interactive marketing services to advertisers and publishers, (2004), that behavioral segmentation helped improve advertising campaign performance by revealing that targeting campaign delivery based on real-time user behaviour increases advertisers ROI by reaching the audience segments most likely to respond to an ad message. Moreover, Hallerman (2004), a senior analyst at e-Marketer, a New York-based research company, stated that the logic behind behavioural segmentation and targeting gets to the heart of the internets potential as an advertising medium. His opinion is hereby quoted: In todays world of audience fragmentation, its much more effective to reach individuals not by abstract demographics but through their actions online. 2.1.4 Segmentation in Male Grooming Products According to Mintel (1995), a study about mens toiletries industry, male grooming products and toiletries is a fast growing industry. In 1980s, the market of male grooming products started to be segmented with the development of products types, including male body spray and shower cream (Sturrock et al., 1998). According to Sturrock et al. (1998), in 1998, the market of mens products were divided into different categories of products based on consumers needs and uses, including body sprays, deodorants, mens shaving, fragrances, shampoo, shower cream, etc. Dunn (1995) and White (1995) studied characteristics of men who use male grooming products and concluded that men used grooming products as they want to increase self-care practice and self-concept. Moreover, Langer (1986) has prior stated that using mens grooming products helps encourage a concern to stay attractive. For consumer products, Milner and Fodness (1996) has done a research on product gender perception and concluded that specific gender of the products is critically important to the consumers when deciding to buy a particular product. In the segmentation process, Milner and Fodness (1996) claimed that gender is the first segmentation variable that most marketers apply for consumer products. The reason behind is that both men and women want to use the products that were specifically made for them. According to Milner and Fodness (1996), many consumers clearly are psychologically uncomfortable using products which do not seem made for them. Therefore, many companies, particularly manufacturers of consumer products, divided consumers into segments by using gender variables. In skin care industries, products are conventionally made for women. However, in the post modern era, a lot of skin care products are launched to serve male consumers (Sturrock et al., 1998). The products for male consumers are launched as a result of segmentation strategy which companies divide its consumer market into two broad categories, male and female markets. The benefit sought variable is also one of the best ways for companies to segment its market. This statement is supported by Kotler (1997) and Wedel and Kamakura (1998), stating that the real features of products have been considered the most actionable bases for segmentation. It is critically important that consumer products must offer real benefits to users to create product positioning (Blythe, 2005). In men face care market, companies and brands always divided consumers segments based on products features. For example, NIVEA FOR MEN offers wide ranges of facial cleansers with benefits of whitening, oil-control, wrinkle protection, refreshing skin, and moisturizing effects (Nivea Website, 2010). Loreal Men Expert offers benefits for facial cleansers which are whitening, anti-tightness, anti-fatigue, pure matte oil control, anti-regreasing (Loreal website, 2010). There are some researches showing that competitive brands have similar ways of segmentation (Dawes, 2006, and Fennell et al., 2003). In other words, competitive brands often appeal to consumers who have similar demographic or psychographic characteristics. Moreover, Ehrenberg et al. (2004) supported this statement by stating that different brands in the same product category tend to offer a similar range of product variants. 2.1.5 Loyalty Segmentation and Relationship Segmentation A focus on Loyalty segmentation provides strategic and tactic insights that will assist in building a strong brand (Aaker, 1996). It is necessary to build customer loyalty as it is a key success of growth for a business (Crosby et al., 2004). By having loyalty segmentation, a company can learn more about the profiles of loyal customers, and this leads to the focus at the highest value segment (Markey et al., 2007). Crosby et al. (2004) stated that the purpose of the loyalty-based segmentation is to seek to address the managerial questions as follows. Who are the most/least potential customers? How can customers be segmented according to the types of relationships they would like to have with the product/brand/company? Which loyalty segment should be targeted? What changes are required to instill the highest levels of loyalty among the targets? Crosby et al. (2004) affirm that loyalty-based segmentation is the complement of existing segmentation frameworks and it can also be used to discover new segmentation frameworks by starting with customer loyalty research. According to Aaker (1996), in focus of the loyalty segmentation, a market can be divided into the following groups. Non-customers: those who buy competitor brands or not product class users, Price switchers: those who are price sensitive, The passively loyal: those who buy out of habit rather than reasons, Fence sitters: those who are indifferent between two or more brands, and The committed: those who are committed to the brand, or a loyal customer. Loyalty segmentation can be very successful when the company can increase the number of customers who are not price switchers and who would pay more to use the brand while the fence sitter and the committed should be critically managed (Aaker, 1996). Especially in high competitive markets, companies should exercise best efforts to enhance the loyalty of the fence sitters and the committed by developing and strengthening the relationship between customers and the brand (Aaker, 1996 and Drypen, 2010). Research from Raaij and Verhallen (1994) indicates that the company should also segment its market by loyalty segmentation method. The results of the research shows that the company should move customers from the lowest level of loyalty pyramid which is overall total potential customers to the highest level which is the heavy buyers. The major marketing strategy is to increase the frequency and intensity of their purchases and to take measures to maintain customers for as long as possible (Raaij and Verhallen, 1994). This also highly relates to the relationship marketing which develop relationship between buyers and brand to stimulate purchasing. 2.2 MARKET TARGETING 2.2.1 Definition of Targeting The next step of the market segmentation in STP process is market targeting. It is the process of determining which segments should be targeted and made the focus of a comprehensive marketing programme. Moreover, in the process of market targeting, a group of customers are identified for whom the offering should be right, and to whom firms will direct the majority of its marketing resources, time, and attention (Cahill, 1997). Choosing the target market, before creating positioning and marketing mix, is a part of developing effective marketing strategy. In order to target the right group of customers, the firm has to study the needs and buying behaviours of customers in each segment. Then the firm will be able to develop marketing strategies that suit requirements of each segment. According to Cahill (1997), a target market is simply the market of submarket at which the firm aims its marketing messages. By specifying customer targets, the company will also know which segments are not the target groups so that the company will not make special effort to serve them. Cahill (1997) said that market targeting is essential because it forces the company to focus at the customers and the markets by determining the best fits between target customers and the product offerings. Kotler and Armstrong (2001) suggested that a firm make the decision how many and which segments to target in their market positioning and its decision should be based on a clear understanding of companys resources and capabilities, nature of the competition, and the characteristics of the market. The company should evaluate market segments by first collecting and analysing data on current segment sales, growth rates, and then determine which segment can constantly enable the company to receive the greatest opportunities in terms of profitability and market demands in order to target main customers. However, Wright (1996) denied statement of validity of market targeting by claiming that there was no logical reason to adopt target marketing. Wright and Esslemont (1994) studied the logical formulations of the target marketing argument and summarised that target marketing did not necessarily give the best overall market response and also does not constantly give superior return than other approaches such as mass marketing. The two main targeting strategies are suggested by Dibb (1997). They are concentration strategy, and multi-segment strategy. Concentration strategy is defined as a process that a company manages its marketing efforts towards a single target. When targeting to one single segment, a firm can better satisfy target customers needs and requirement. However, this strategy is not always effective and the company may face business failure if target customers demand for the products decline or shift to other segments Multi-segment strategy is described as a strategy that a company directs its market efforts towards two or more market targets. The company should then develop appropriate marketing mix to suit each type of target groups, by all together considering product diferrentiation, target price, distribution method, and promotional strategies. In brief, the step of the selection of the potential target market is very critical in creating and developing comprehensive marketing strategy. The robust competitive positioning will then be developed after the market targets are clearly identified and the requirements and motivations are fully examined. 2.2.3 Doing Targeting in Different Market Environment Marketers have to decide whether to target single segment or multiple segments in the product market; there are several factors affecting the managements targeting strategy decisions, including stage of maturity, industry structure, companys capabilities and resources, and opportunities for gaining competitive advantage (Cravens, and Piercy, 2009). The maturity is used as a basis for considering different targeting situations; the market target strategy will be varied in each market environment or stage of product-market maturity. Four different product-market stages, closely related to product life cycle (PLC) stages, include emerging product-market, growing product-market, mature product-market, and declining product-market. The strategists can use product life cycle model to analyse the maturity stage of the products and also industries in order to develop the strategies that should be implemented. Growing product-market Source: Spencer (2009) According to Cravens, and Piercy (2009), segments are likely to be found in the stage of growth in the product life cycle, as identifying customer segments with similar value requirements improves targeting. In growth stage of product life cycle, consumers tend to gain awareness of products and to understand the benefits of the product, and company will likely to expect a rapid sales growth and will also try to build brand loyalty and increase market share (Spencer, 2009). High growth markets is very attractive, therefore it can attract a lot of competitors who want to compete for market shares. Cravens, and Piercy (2009) revealed their finding about the market structure

Small Business Development Can Beauty Parlour Marketing Essay

Small Business Development Can Beauty Parlour Marketing Essay This reflective report will describe my own role in helping the team to achieve its goal in relation to the Business plan. Also I will provide evidence of my involvement to the success of the team from the idea initiation and how I facilitated the completion of the Business plan. It started like this, I was arranged in a group of three members, a team with other group mates which were all new to me. Although we were in a same class since the beginning of the course but I was not close to them. Our group seems to understand each other quickly because of the good communication. We always solved easily problems encountered through out the exercise. As a group we were performed different tasks in making a business plan. The aim of this business is to acquire a loan from a bank, so as to help our salon CAN Beauty Parlor to start the business in relation to capital and assets. Afsa was responsible for the marketing , Christine had a task of future beauty fashions operations as well as identifying the competitors and I was responsible for preparing financial projections through the input from Afsa and Chrisstine The report also illustrates the Team work, our mutual interest as a group, idea initiation process and the experience achieved from presenting the business plan and as well as my personal views towards the whole business plan. The business plan has allowed us to work as a group and also learn of the industry as a whole and we were able to apply the academic theories we learned throughout our course . 1 TEAM WORK CAN beauty parlor came to be a perfect choice of our mutual interest of the whole group. Our group consistent of three people eager to carry out our tasks in relation to the writing the business plan. We started by splitting the tasks so that we could have competition to see who achieve the task goals as we planned. My team included Afsa Bhanji, Christine Mkwawa and myself We as a group were allocated different tasks in order to form the business plan. Afsa was responsible for the marketing, Christine had to analyse the industry and identify the competitors and I was responsible for preparing financial projections through the input from colleagues of our beauty parlor The three of us were not conversant with each other although we have been studying in the same college for some years. and we were not engaging in regular conversation during the classes so it was not easy for us to work as a team. But all three of us had an interest in setting up a beauty outlet where people will come and get quality service different from others. We came over Five stages of group development; i.e forming, norming, storming, performing and adjourning. Although the norming stage took a while but after knowing each other well the rest of the stages went much easier. As we have now completed our business plan we have finished up the adjourning stage. Christine , enjoys regular visiting most of the famous salons in town. She is a beauty lover and is always up to date with the upcoming fashions. She has contacts with several people that performs beauty at different venues in Dar es Salaam. Her strength is awareness of popular beauty trends. Afsa too is a beauty lover. Her beauty interest includes of nails, hair , and skin. She currently participated in a beauty contest in Tanzania her strength is being well conversant in the beauty industry. Myself, I dont have much interest in beauty but I love running a hotel my strength in this exercise was identifying the opportunity as I related the organic restaurant by seeing the opportunity of opening a salon using natural beauty products. We worked as a team with acknowledgement of everyones contribution related to the tasks, we coordinated and make sure we achieved our goals. 2 PROCESS OF IDEA INITIATION Our team wanted to initiate an idea which will be effective and being able to achieve the goals in the business we planned as a our group. As a team we all put forward suggestions to come over one effective Idea. Industry situation of the current market was our first priority before choosing the idea. Our discussion included:- 1. An Organic Restaurant The idea was good as the Industry is very profitable, as there is no many such restaurants which makes the business less competitive. But we hesitated getting into this business as all of us had any experience on the said business. Then we dropped the idea. 2. Dry cleaning Business . Several dry cleaners are operating in the markets. People today require this service to make their life easier. But due to investment costs to buy the modern machines and due the lack of experience in that field we deduct chose the idea. 3. Beauty Parlor. The final choice was to open a beauty salon. The whole idea was a bit difficult as how our project will succeed while they is a fleet of salon in Tanzania. We came out with the Idea of differencing ourselves from other by opening a Beauty Salon by using Natural Beauty Products. Our final choice which was a beauty Parlor was an interest of the whole group. process of idea initiation has been very difficult to us as we had to take risk by introducing natural beauty products which is the new product in the beauty industry. What we had to do was laying out strategies and make sure we implemented them accordingly. 3 PRESENTATION EXPERIENCE Presenting the CAN Beauty parlour to our tutor allowed us to see the other side of our business plan. After passing through the pages of the written business plan; obvious would come out with several questions to the parts that needs more elaboration. We were informed of executive summary was too brief as doesnt show everything in our business plan, we were needed to elaborate a bit more. We were also needed to draw a graph showing the break even point. Presentation always adds weight to the Business plan as the investors may have a clear picture as the presents will be able to deliver what is need from the investors, question will be answered and criticism can be responded during the exercise of presentation. Presentation is a good experience as the panel can ask questions and need elaborations as we can communicate orally which will hell the business man to defend the projections written in the business plan. 4 ALTERNATIVE SCENARIO The beauty Industry is tightly come but only self I can optimistic to the group of our Beauty Parlour as per business plan. As we differentiated ourselves by using the natural products our business will be able to increase its profit by 5% every year as we projected in our financial parts. The services we offer will attract many people as the product are new in this Industry. Our service will be delivered by professional staff which will make our parlour more popular once customers experience our services. Another factor that greatly effects our growth is our initial geographic location. CAN beauty parlour will be located in Masaki near the shopping mall and tourist hotel. Our target market is a small portion of the population compromising of the middle and high income earners who are either employed or operate their own business. Our initial location will tend to gain the business of these customers due to the traffic. Lastly, the demand for healthy beauty products we will be able to make a good business as the health concern is the major issue among the people living in urban areas 5 ACADEMIC THEORIES IN THE BUSINESS PLAN We were able to apply to our project a shared leadership once we divided our team in three different parts according to the tasks we were able to take responsibilities for different parts of the business plan. We learned that everyone can work towards a common goal and there is no need to be just one separate leader.   Every member has a share in helping to lead the group. With the experience of leadership we also showed the importance of being ethical leaders, Ethical leadership is very important in any organization. . We were also able to analyse the current situation of the beauty industry attractiveness and profitability by using Michael Porters five forces. The Business plan was a great example for us to apply our knowledge of our academic theories. Our small group was able to make our business plan very effective since we had meetings every week we were able to keep it going without much toil. Another topic which came to our help is the SWOT analysis this frame work helped us to identify our competitors and where our firm stand by identifying our strengths and weaknesses, and also the business model the use off differentiation strategies here we displayed our competitive advantage using the natural beauty products which is different from our competitors. The use of the those theories helped us to increase our knowledge as we applied the in the real situation and see it working. By using the roles in making the business plan will help us a lot in our effort to make our job easier in the future. . 6 ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATION OF BUSINESS PLAN The main importance of the business plan is the industry analysis as well as market plan. It is through the industry analysis that businessman will be able to fully known the current market situations and also thoroughly identify it competitors. The industry analysis allows an entrepreneur to initiate the first decision whether to enter the market as well as the final.. A well written Business Plan is the true picture of any business because it gives details on how you plan to serve your customers and retain them. The Business Plan is important to any business as it is based in operation and management plans. Referring to our business plan the Industry analysis is will give our business an advantage to fully view the current market situation and thoroughly Identifies our competitors, and also help in knowing our competitive advantage which in this case is the differentiation strategy on our services using the natural Beauty Products. A well written Business Plan make implementation of strategies easier and helps to increase business market share. But the disadvantage could be As we projected that our financial growth will be 5% every year, this will be actionable if the implementation of the strategies will be as planned. Comparing to the actual operation the projected growth in the business plan could be wrong. 7 OTHER AREAS AND CONCLUSION The overall process of developing the business plan was very challenging. As different individuals are involved, it is difficult to come up with one point of view and hence there can be a few of disagreements and then to see the situation again and come to the final decision. I enjoyed making the business plan of the CAN Beauty Parlor with my team members. In the process, I learnt a lot of things about the Salon industry in our country. We took up the chance of introducing the salon services by using the natural products and we are certain that the business will achieve growth or expansion in the future. Conclusions I have benefited from the Business Plan writing in a number of ways: 1. I enjoyed making the business plan of the CAN Beauty Parlor with my team members. In the process, I learnt a lot of things about the Salon industry in our country 3. The overall process of developing the business plan was very challenging . Areas of Improvement I think that the Business Plan writing can be of greater relevance if more time is allowed for sitting together as a team. I have I now realize that getting business done as projected requires much more knowledge and practice of a written Business Plan Lastly, I would like to thank Afsa for her cooperation throughout the exercise in the team and whenever I was stuck she gave me advice, she was always there to give me a hand.. 8

From Coexistence to Conflict :: history

From Coexistence to Conflict From Coexistence to Conflict in 19th Century Mount Lebanon Mount Lebanon has been a troubled region throughout much of Lebanese history. Through most of the 19th century, the Maronite and Druze inhabitants of the Mount Lebanon region had successfully coexisted in an intricate inter-sectarian system. True to the words of Leila Fawaz, â€Å"Lebanon was at peace, as it had been for most of its history.† Excessive foreign intervention, however, caused the status in Mount Lebanon to move from coexistence to conflict, which ultimately led to the civil war of 1860. The first step that led to the emergence of inter-sect rule in Lebanon was the gaining of autonomy by local rulers. Fakhr al-Din al Maani was the first prince in the region, and he was awarded that title and responsibility by the Ottomans as a reward for his loyalty to them. Prior to Fakhr al-Din, Lebanon did not have an autonomous ruler; it was fully controlled by the Ottomans. The Maanis, however, were not only supported by the Ottomans, but by the local citizens as well, and this common support for a single ruler helped bring about inter-sectarianism. The Druze-Maronite inter-sectarian system gained its roots during the reign of Fakhr al-Din II, who raised the Maronites to the same civil status as their Druze counterparts. This equal status allowed both sects to live peacefully among each other. Fakhr al-Din’s reign soon came to an end though in 1635, when the Ottomans, who had control over Lebanon at the time, captured and executed Fakhr al-Din for trying to expand the are a under his control. By upsetting the balance between local and Ottoman rule, Fakhr al-Din brought about the end of his reign as prince. After two insignificant rulers, the princedom fell to the Shihab family, which would rule the Mount Lebanon region from 1697 to 1842. During the long reign of the Shihab family, the Maronites had slowly started to gain power as the Druze began to weaken. The most notable of the Shihabs was Prince Bashir II. During his reign, Prince Bashir II developed a strong relationship with Sheikh Bashir Jumblatt. The Jumblatt family was originally of Sunni Kurdish descent and they later became accepted as part of the Druze community. After the end of the Maani dynasty, the Jumblatts took their place as lords of the Shouf and rapidly rose to power. Consequently, the Jumblatts were able to influence other areas of the region.

Losing Patients and Gaining Insight :: Medicine College Admissions Essays

On Losing Patients and Gaining Insight "Call 911!" I shouted to my friend as I sprinted down the street. The young Caucasian male had been thrown fifteen yards from the site of impact and surprisingly was still conscious upon my arrival. "My name is Michael. Can you tell me your name?" In his late twenties, he gasped in response as his eyes searched desperately in every direction for help, for comfort, for assurance, for loved ones, for death, until his eyes met mine. "Flail chest", I thought to myself as I unbuttoned his shirt and placed my backpack upon his right side. "Pulse 98, respiration 28 short and quick. Help is on the way. Hang in there buddy." I urged. After assessing the patient, the gravity of the situation struck me with sobriety. The adrenaline was no longer running through my veins - this was real. His right leg was mangled with a compound fracture, and his left leg was also obviously broken. The tow-truck that had hit him looked as though it had run into a telephone pole. Traffic had ceased on the six-lan e road, and a large crowd had gathered. However, no one was by my side to help. "Get me some blankets from that motel!" I yelled to a bystander and three people immediately fled. I was in charge. The patient was no longer conscious; his pulse was faint and respiration was low. "Stay with me, man!" I yelled. "15 to 1, 15 to 1", I thought as I rehearsed CPR in my mind. Suddenly he stopped breathing. Without hesitation, I removed my T-shirt and created a makeshift barrier between his mouth and mine through which I proceeded to administer two breaths. No response. And furthermore, there was no pulse. I began CPR. I continued for approximately five minutes until the paramedics arrived, but it was too late. I had lost my first patient. Medicine. I had always imagined it as saving lives, curing ailments, alleviating pain, overall making life better for everyone. However, as I watched the paramedics pull the sheets over the victim's head, I began to tremble. I had learned my first lesson of medicine: for all its power, medicine cannot always prevail. I had experienced one of the most disheartening and demoralizing aspects of medicine and faced it. I also demonstrated then that I know how to cope with a life and death emergency with confidence, a confidence instilled in me by my certification as an Emergency Medical Technician, a confidence that I had the ability to take charge of a desperate situation and help someone in critical need.

The Nature of Adolescence, by John C. Coleman and Leo B. Hendry Essay

There have been many scientists and philosophers that have put forth information about the stages that humans go through in life. One of these representations is put forth by Erikson, in the book The Nature of Adolescence, by John C. Coleman and Leo B. Hendry. This theory has four steps; 1. The problem of intimacy, 2. A diffusion of time perspective, or the problems of focusing on the future, 3. Diffusion of industry or the difficulty of focusing on studies, and finally 4. Negative identity or the "rebellious" stage. These stages are not purely involved in the teenage years of a person’s life, as they can go through and possibly stay at these stages throughout their entire life. Rebecca Fraser-Thill defines it as, "Identity diffusion is one step in the process of finding a sense of self. It refers to a period when an individual does not have an established identity, nor is actively searching for one. In other words, it's a time when a person's identity remains unresolved, yet there is no identity crisis" (Thill). In the novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, each of these stages can be seen as the novel progresses. An analysis of the stages of development as stated by Erikson, in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and in my own life is needed. Intimacy problems can be seen in the early stages of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man when Stephen, the protagonist of the novel, has multiple sexual escapades with prostitutes. James Joyce tells of this, saying, "It was too much for him. He closed his eyes, surrendering himself to her, body and mind, conscious of nothing in the world but the dark pressure of her softly parting lips."(Joyce, Chapter 2, Section 5). This shows his reluctance to commit to a... ...in the world. Many people either do not progress, getting stuck on one level or another, or they regress back to stages that they have already surpassed. There are definitely problems in everybody’s life but the best thing to do is learn from them. These stages are not set in stone and there is no way to fully know what happens in a person's mind. Works Cited About. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2014. . Coleman, John C., and Leo B. Hendry. The Nature of Adolescence. N.p.: Metheun and Co., 1980. Print. Erikson, Erik H. Identity: Youth and Crisis. N.p.: W.W. Norton and Company, 1968. Print. Melges, Frederick T. "Identity and Temporal Perspective." Cognitive Models of Psychological Time. Ed. Richard A. Block. N.p.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1990. 255-67. Print. SimplyPsychology. N.p., n.d.

How Children Utilize Their Mathematical Mind as Part of Their Natural Progression Essay

â€Å"Dr Maria Montessori took this idea that the human has a mathematical mind from a French philosopher Pascal and developed a revolutionary math learning material for children as young as 3 years old. Her mathematical materials allow the children to begin their mathematical journey from a concrete concept to abstract idea†. With reference to the above statement please discuss how these children utilize their mathematical mind as part of their natural progression, to reason, to calculate and estimate with these Montessori mathematical materials in conjunction with their aims and presentations? What is a mathematical mind? The Mathematical Mind’ refers to the unique tendencies of the human mind. The French philosopher Blaise Pascal said that ‘every human being is born with a mathematical mind’. Dr. Montessori borrowing this concept, further explained that the mathematical mind is the â€Å"sort of mind which is built up with ‘exactitude’†. â€Å"In our work therefore, we have given a name to this part of the mind which is built up with exactitude, and we call it the ‘mathematical mind’. I take the term from Pascal, the French Philosopher, Physicist and Mathematician, who said that the man’s mind was mathematical by nature, and that knowledge and progress came from accurate observation.† – Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 17, Pg. 169 She said the qualities of a mathematical mind was such that always tends to estimate; needs to quantify, to see identity, similarity, difference, and patterns to make order and sequence. The concepts within the mathematical mind do not simply refer to common associations with math, such as basic operations. Instead, Montessori believed that the human tendencies lead one to be mathematical in thought. That is, basic human tendencies such as order, orientation, exactness, repetition, activity, and manipulation of objects, all lead to the development of a mathematical process of thought. â€Å"The child perceives, without conscious reasoning, patterns of relationships: things to things, things to people, pe ople to people†¦ The mathematical mind [therefore] is a power to organize, classify and quantify within the context of our life experience† Mathematics is not only about additions or subtractions a child learns at the school, it is all around the child from the day he is born (or may be well before that). It is a well known fact that an embryo can hear its mother. So the mother says â€Å"the baby kicked me twelve times today† or  Ã¢â‚¬Å"my delivery is within another two weeks† when he was in her stomach. And then after he was born he may hear ‘you were born on the second’ or ‘at eight you go to the bed’ or ‘one button is missing in your pajama shirt’ or in the society he may be questioned ‘how many sisters or brothers do you have?’ etc., A child’s day to day life is all connected with mathematics and all the basic conversations he has is very much involved with mathematics. In that case the child is born to a world that is full of math, created by human for their benefits and the child needs to adapt to it. Children need math to sort, categorize and group things within his environment. They need to count, they need to learn the time and then gradually they need to work with arithmetic’s, geometry and algebra in the school when they grow up. â€Å"We must convey to the child the belief that we have made mathematics ourselves, and that we re-make it every time we move, think, work or play. We should help the child understand that it is simply part of our being human to have a mathematical mind†. – Gettman D, BASIC MONTESSORI, Chapter 1, Page 159. Teaching mathematics to a young Montessori child is not a difficult task as he is very much exposed to numbers during his day to day life. By the time they enter into the Montessori school most of them are able to count one to ten (we call this â€Å"rote counting†, they just count without knowing the real meaning of the counting). Even in the prepared environment, though the child does not directly work with the mater ials within the math shelf as he enters, he however indirectly learns math concepts such as repetition, calculation, exactness, fraction, estimation and classification and most importantly order through the practical life activities. A significant discovery that Dr. Montessori made was the importance of offering indirect preparation for the math materials while children were in the sensitive periods for movement and the refinement of the senses. It is through children’s work with the Exercises of Practical Life and Sensorial materials that they first encounter and experience the concepts of measurement, sequence, exactness, and calculation Sensorial education is the basis of mathematics. Dr. Montessori said that children are sensorial learners. They learn and experience the world through their five senses. So sensorial education helps the child to create a mental order of the concepts he grasps using his five senses. â€Å"The skill of man’s hand is bound up with the development of his mind, and in the light of history we  see it connected with the development of civilization.† – Maria Montessori, THE ABSORBENT MIND, Chap 14. pg. 138 Montessori firmly believed that the ‘handsâ €™ are the mother of skills. By providing Montessori sensorial materials to the child she was convinced that correct manipulation with quality and quantity would certainly create a lasting impression in the child’s mind with the understanding of mathematics. We place materials quite intentionally on trays, we color code activities, materials are displayed in a logical sequence, and we break down movements during presentations into series of sequential steps. The sensorial materials simply present three mathematics concepts of completeness, geometry and early algebra. Dr. Montessori was convinced that there are two things to be introduced before working with mathematics. â€Å"Before beginning mathematics work, the child must therefore do two things: explore and accept the notion of idealized things with isolated qualities, and gain practice in the requisite intellectual.† – MMI Mathematics Course Manual pg. 6 The child’s intellectual skills are developed through both practical life and sensorial activities. In practical life activities, children practice calculation skills when determining how much water to pour when carrying out exercises like pouring water from jug to bottle with an indicator line, or spooning beans from bowl to bowl with an indicator line, or from jug to jug; up to the more complex activities of sweeping which have the qualities of repetition, calculation and exactness. The Sensorial work is a preparation for the study of sequence and progression. It helps the child build up spatial representations of quantities and to form images of their magnitudes such as with the Pink Tower, knobbed cylinder etc. These sensorial materials also provides the child with the skills of calculation with the pink tower and red rods; as the child judges the size and length of the cubes and rods respectively, as well as repetition with baric tablets etc., All of the materials in the Montessori classroom have been specifically designed to attract the interest of the student, while at the same time teaching an important concept. The purpose of each material is to isolate a certain concept the child is bound to discover. The Montessori maths program is divided into parts to facilitate a sequential and gradual progress in the maths concepts starting from simple to complex. During circle time, informal  activities or games are introduced to initiate complex maths concepts like seriation, one-to-one correspondence, sorting and more in the simplest way. Without counting or even uttering a number name, the child is actually introduced to maths through preliminary maths activities. Dr. Montessori also said, ‘what the hand does the mind remembers’. The very first math material to be presented to the child is the number rods. Number rods are very concrete and help the child to feel and understand meaningful counting. It is also not very new to the child as he has already worked with the red rods before. The only difference is number rods are colour coded with red and blue, which helps the child to visually discriminate the difference in length and then to count the rod. The teacher presents the material by a three period lesson, and by repeating the same activity again and again, the child understands that two means two things and three means t hree things and so on and so forth. The aim of the number rod is to help the child Learn the names of numbers 1-10 and visually associate the numbers with the quantity as well as to show that each number is represented by a single object, as a whole, separate from others. The number rods help the child memorize the sequence of numbers from 1 to 10. When the child counts one rod as a single unit, he immediately notices an increment in the number rod â€Å"2† even though it is still a single unit thereby helping him to associate the numbers to the quantity. â€Å"Rarely, however, can he count with certainty the fingers of one hand, and when he does succeed, in doing this, there is always the difficulty of knowing why,†¦The extreme exactness and correctness of a child’s mind need clear and precise help. When numerical rods are given to children, we see them even the smallest take a lively interest in counting.†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.Maria Montessori, The Discovery of the Child, Chapter 18, pg. 265 . â€Å"The satisfaction of discovery leads to an enthusiastic interest in numbers when the child is able to demonstrate the fundamental mathematical operations, rather than simply being told seemingly dull and meaningless facts. He physically holds the quantities that he sees represented by written symbols. He combines the materials, counts, separates and compares them while visually grasping and reinforcing the ideas in a way that is concrete, rather than abstract.†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..Teaching Montessori at Home. Now the child is working with the concrete materials to understand the quantities of numerals one to ten and then he knows the written symbols too. The next step is to teach him how to combine the quantities with the written symbols. This is done through a set of fun games. The Teacher invites the child to bring the number cards and the rods to the mat and then gets the child to identify the concrete value (the rod) first and then find and match the number card with the rod. Next the teacher requests the child to identify the number cards randomly and match them with the rods. This activity helps the teacher to observe how thoroughly the child is familiar with the numbers. The next two games help the child to understand the sequence of numbers. When the numbers and the rods are randomly scattered on the mat, the teacher requests the child to identify the number rods in sequence and then match the numbers with it and build the stair then in the next activity the child identifies the number cards in sequence and then matches with the respective rods and builds the stair. The aims of these exercises is to establish the child in the recognition of numerical symbols 1-10., as well as help him learn association of quantity to symbol and also help the child understand quantity and sequence of numbers using manipulatives. Once the child is very clear with numerals one to ten, the next step is to teach the decimal system. Decimals are introduced to the child with the concrete manipulation using the golden beads. Through a three period lesson, the child is introduced to one, ten, hundred and thousand. The child feels and sees what one means by a small unit and then sees that ten is a long bar and then hundred is a flat square of ten ten-bars bound together and finally the thousand is a cube made up of ten 100 squares. The child can visually discriminate the difference in the sizes of different value and then feels it too. ‘Counting through’ helps them to further internalize the concept of decimal system. The teacher counts up to nine units and t hen says ‘if we have one more unit we will have a ten bar’. So this helps the child to understand that to make ten we need ten units. Then to make hundred we need ten ten-bars and then finally the thousand cube is made out of ten hundred-squares. The great deal begins with the decimal system operations. Here the child is introduced to additions, subtractions, multiplications and divisions. The child learns the exact abstract way of additions or subtractions using the golden beads and large and small number banks. All these activities are teacher directed and working with these activities, helps the child understand that addition means combining two  amounts together and then have a big amount at last; that subtractions means giving some amount away from what he had and then what remains is a small amount; that multiplication means having the same amount in to different numbers of times and gets a large amount as the answer; and finally, that divisions are giving the amount away equally or unequally among two or three people. These operations are very concrete to the child since he sees and manipulates the materia l. After manipulating with the concrete materials, the child moves to the abstract counting. Using the large number cards, the teacher introduces the written symbols of power of ten (the decimal system). Then moves to the ‘counting through’ with the written symbols. Once the child is through with quantities and the written symbols the teacher shows the child to link concrete with abstract making the ‘Bird’s eye view’. Through the bird’s eye view the child can clearly see the process of the quantity increases with the written symbols. It gives the child the sensorial impression that when the symbol increases from one to ten, ten to hundred and hundred to thousand value of the quantity also goes higher. The aim of introducing the decimal system, is to help the child understand the concept of ten, learn the composition of numbers as well as the place value system and their equivalencies. After the decimal system operations, the child progresses to informal recording. By this time, the child knows the numbers very well and he is familiar w orking with sums too. The informal recording introduces the child to small number rods. In the first presentation, he is concretely introduced to composition keeping ten as a guide and showing him how to make ten using rods up to six. Decomposition is also equally concrete, first he makes ten and then takes one away the child sees he is left with nine. During this presentation, the symbols of plus, minus and equal to, are also introduced and in the second presentation he is introduced to recording. The teen board is introduced to the child when he is through with the decimal system. It is also called ‘linear counting’. The short bead stairs varying in colour and quantity (one is red, two is green, three is pink, four is yellow, five is light blue, six is purple, seven is white, eight is brown and nine is deep blue) The coloured bead bars show clearly the separate entities from 1 to 9 and the ten-bars are the main concrete materials involved with the linear counting. First of all, the child learns to build the short bead stair and then combines the short bead  stairs with ten bars to teach the names of quantities eleven to nineteen. When the child understands the names of values, the written symbols are introduced through the ‘sequin board A’. Similarly the names of quantities from ten to ninety are also introduced and then the ‘sequin board B’ is used to teach the abstract concept of written symbols. The hundred and thousand bead chains reinforce the child’s counting from one to a thousand and also helps the teacher to evaluate child’s standards with understanding counting. The coloured bead bars show clearly the separate entities from 1 to 9, in combination with the tens they show the child that numbers 11 to 19 are made of ten and a number 1 to 9 The purpose of introducing the child to the linear counting exercises is to develop the child’s ability to recognize and count to any number. As well as learn skip counting. The child’s own sound knowledge of the numbers 1 to 10 and their numerical order acts as a guide â€Å"This system in which a child is constantly moving objects with his hands and actively exercising his senses, also takes into account a child’s special aptitude for mathematics. When they leave the material, the children very easily reach the point where they wish to write out the operation. They thus carry out an abstract mental operation and acquire a kind of natural and spontaneous inclination for mental calculations.† – Montessori M., The Discovery Of The Child, Chapter 19, pg. 279 BIBLIOGRAPHY Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, Montessori Pierson Publishing Company, the Netherlands, Reprinted 2007 Maria Montessori, The Discovery of the Child, Montessori Pierson Publishing Company, the Netherlands, Reprinted 2007 Modern Montessori Institute, DMT 107 Mathematics Students’ Manual David Gettman, Basic Montessori, Saint Martin’s Press, 1987 Elizabeth Hainstock, Teaching Montessori in the Home, Random House Publishing Group, 2013