Ramsey S. Cotron

ORTHOPEDIC CONSULTATION Patient Name: Ramsey S. Cotron Patient ID: 023672 DOB: 03/15/—- Age: 2 Sex: Male Consultant: Jessie D. Smith, MD, Orthopedics Requesting Physician: Reed Phillips, MD, Pediatrics Date of Consult: 10/01/—- Reason for Consult: Infected Finger. HISTORY: Ramsey is an otherwise healthy 2-year-old Lebanese child who had an injury to the distal failing of his right middle finger the day prior to being seen. The patient is left-hand dominant. The patient was brought to Dr. Phillips of Pediatrics secondary to worsening redness as well as infection of the nail bed.Orthopedics consult was requested on 09/30/—- for possible paronychia. The patient at that time was having no fevers or chills and he was tolerating his antibiotic regiment well. PAST MEDICAL SURGICAL HISTORY: None other than circumcision shortly after birth. BIRTH HISTORY: Normal full-term vaginal delivery. FAMILY HISTORY: Non-contributory. SOCIAL HISTORY: Patient lives with his mother and a sibling, Father deceased. PHYSICAL EXAMINATION: Ramsey is alert, oriented, playful, and in no apparent distress. The patient does have erythema surrounding the tip of his right distal failings, middle finger. There is mild purulent from the area.The area is minimally tender to palpation. The nail appears to be lifting off from the nail bed itself. He has good capillary refill and has good flexion and extension of that finger. (Continued) ORTHOPEDIC CONSULTATION Patient Name: Ramsey S. Cotron Patient ID: 023672 Date of Consult: 10/01/—- Page 2 ASSESSMENT: This is a 2-year-old male with paronychia. PLAN: Follow up with me at 9am tomorrow. Mother was given my pager number should the patient’s condition worsen overnight. I will be in touch with Dr. Phillips. _______________________ Jessie D. Smith, MD, Orthopedics JS: D:10/01/—- T:11/14/2012 C: Reed Phillips, MD, Pediatrics

Balco Employee’s Union V. Union of India

BALCO Employee’s Union v. Union of India – Significance in Administrative Law. Administrative decision making has been a subject of great discussion since long. The application of a mind, which is in not a strict sense judicial, the presence of arbitral preferences coupled with the fact of discretion allowed to the executive in decision making, more often than not, carries the impression of whims and caprices being involved while such decision has been taken. Related essay: AK Kraipak CaseThe question of why at all this is so, is to be answered not from a legal but from a humanitarian standpoint. Each human differs from other and when subjective satisfaction of a group of individuals is concerned, the executive wing of the state in the present case; it is bound to happen that one there will be a number of groups who do not agree with the decision so taken for they have their own criteria’s and yardsticks to measure the same. Possibly, the same is the case with administrative decision making.When the Government is satisfied, based upon the material considered and issues involved, that a given decision is appropriate for a circumstances, it may equivocally be true that it may not satisfy each and every individual concerned with the similar set of issues and therefore there may arise a conflict. History is full of examples and is enriching day by day of the instances in which executive decisions have been challenged on grounds of they being arbitrary, suffering from mala fide, based on non-satisfactory grounds, irrational, to name a few of them.The study of one such instance forms the essence of this paper. The decision of the Government of India to disinvest M/s Bharat Aluminum Company Limited, popularly known as BALCO was challenged by the employees of BALCO , State of Chattisgarh and by some public spirited individuals before various High Court and finally before the Supreme Court . It was challenged that the decision to disinvest BALCO was contrary to the legal and social interests of the employees as well as certain other legal issues were raised by different parties .The present study is to analyse the judgment of the Supreme Court in the instant case with a critical angle and also trace its legal impact with a special focus on the impact it has made upon Administrative law. To introduce the case, it would be advisable to dwell in the broad frame the case dealt with rather than to deal with the precise fac ts and issues. To categorize, the case dealt with a challenge to the administrative power of the Government on the matter of disinvestment of its stake in a government company as regards the procedure followed while so deciding and also the provisions that needs to be examined while deciding the issue.On a broader level, an administrative policy was under a challenge before the Court. The precise impact that this decision, therefore, had was on the level of administrative discretion that the executive enjoyed in the selection of and following of a policy which had a vital impact on the economic position of the country . Nevertheless, the answer of the Supreme Court has been affirmative and it was categorical in mentioning that unless the policy adopted by the government suffered from the vires of illegality or malafide .Not stopping at this, the Court also gave a substantive reflection on the aspect of natural rights and their applicability as regards the choice of administrative po licy . For a detailed analysis and to have a diverse perspective, the study has been divided into different chapters which deal with a host of issues involved in the case and for having a varied dimension. II. A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FACTS OF THE CASE The case arose to challenge the validity of the decision of the Union of India to disinvest and transfer 51% shares of M/s Bharat Aluminum Company Limited (hereinafter referred to as ‘BALCO’).The case was filed by way of a writ petition by the BALCO Employees’ Union by filing Writ Petition No. 2249 of 1999 in the High Court of Delhi when upon the recommendation of the Disinvestment Commission, the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment approved the sale of 51% of the shares of BALCO to private ownership and thus reducing the status of the company from a Government Company to a private enterprise . Further, upon the same issue, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by one Dr. B. L. Wadhera in the Delhi High Cou rt and similarly writ petition filed by Mr.Samund Singh Kanwar in the High Court of Chattisgarh wherein different steps of the disinvestment procedure were challenged. With the filing of the writ petitions in the High Court of Delhi and in the High Court of Chattisgarh, an application for transfer of the petitions was filed by the Union of India in the Supreme Court and by Order dated 9thApril, 2001, the writ petitions which were pending in the High Court of Delhi and Chattisgarh were transferred to the Supreme Court . CONTENTION OF THE PARTIES (A) On behalf of the BALCO Employees' Union.Before disinvestment, the entire paid-up capital of BALCO was owned and controlled by the Government of India and its administrative control co-vested in the Ministry of Mines. BALCO was, therefore, a State within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution . Therefore, by the reason of disinvestment the workmen had lost their right and protection under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution. This was an adverse civil consequence and, therefore, they had a right to be heard before and during the process of disinvestment .The type of consultation with the workmen which was necessary was, whether BALCO should go through the process of disinvestment; who should be the strategic partner; and how should the bid of the strategic partner be evaluated. It was further submitted that the workmen had reason to believe that apart from the sale of 51% of the shares in favour of Sterlite Industries the Agreement postulated that balance 49% will also be sold to them with the result that when normally in such cases 5% of the shares are disinvested in favour of the employees the same would not happen in the present case . B) On behalf of the Union of India It was submitted that disinvestment had become imperative both in the case of Centre and the States primarily for three reasons: a. Firstly, despite every effort the rate of returns of governmental enterprises had been woefully low, exclud ing the sectors in which government have a monopoly and for which they can, therefore, charge any price. The rate of return on central enterprises came to minus 4% while the cost at which the government borrows money is at the rate of 10 to 11%.In the States out of 946 State level enterprises, above 241 were not working at all; about 551 were making losses and 100 were reported not to be submitting their accounts at all . b. Secondly, neither the Centre nor the States have resources to sustain enterprises that are not able to stand on their own in the new environment of intense competition . c. Thirdly, despite repeated efforts it was not possible to change the work culture of governmental enterprises .As a result, even the strongest among them have been sinking into increasing difficulties as the environment is more and more competitive and technological change has become faster. Further it was submitted that the wisdom and advisability of economic policies of Government are not am enable to judicial review . It was not for Courts to consider the relative merits of different economic policies. Court was not the forum for resolving the conflicting clauses regarding the wisdom or advisability of policy.III. A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE DECISION Besides the dispute that arose between the employees and the Government of India, the major controversy that arose as regards the Union’s decision to disinvest was on political lines. It was an accusation by the state Chief Minister that there were irregularities committed by the Union in coming up to disinvestment decision as well as the decisions suffered from arbitrary exercise of power and malafide .Another important factor which can be observed from a careful reading of the decision is that though the case was primarily to challenge the policy of disinvestment as being adopted and followed by the Union of India, the matter, as decided by the Supreme Court, revolved primarily around the rights of the employees an d their consequent protection after BALCO had actually been disinvested . The Court declined to review the policy decision of the Union Government on the adoption of a policy of disinvestment though in fact it was tried to be justified on behalf of the Union as reflected from the submissions of the Attorney General .Thus it can be said that the Court actually did not, at any stage, examine the correctness of the disinvestment policy for India. The Court tried to evade deciding upon this issue and thus giving it a name of administrative policy, it was approved. It is also important to note while laying down the decision the significance of the judgment far transcended the specifics of the BALCO transaction as it enunciates far-reaching principles that will influence the tenor of jurisprudence on economic affairs for long.The most pertinent example is of the case of Centre for Public Interest Litigation v. Union of India wherein the disinvestment of Hindustan Petroleum Company Limited (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Company Limited (BPCL) was approved on the grounds that since the disinvestment of BALCO was already allowed therefore there is no case made out whereby it could be proved unsuited to the Indian context though, in reality the process of disinvestment was never in fact approved in the BALCO case based upon the merits of the case .It is important to note that in the specific case of the alleged malfeasance in the case of BALCO, the Court categorically stated that â€Å"the facts herein show that fair, just and equitable procedure has been followed in carrying out this disinvestment. The allegations of lack of transparency or that the decision was taken in a hurry, or that there has been an arbitrary exercise of power are without any basis. It is a matter of regret that on behalf of the State of Chattisgarh such allegations against the Union of India have been made without any basis.We strongly deprecate such unfounded averments which have been made by an officer of the said State. † Thus the judgment was not simply a strong rebuke to the credibility of the Chief Minister Mr. Ajit Jogi, it also served to forestall further challenges by state governments on the federal government’s prerogatives on privatization . Also, the Court circumscribed the extent to which matters of economic policy and disinvestment in particular, and consequently matters of policy, shall be scrutinized by courts .The Court was categorical in stating that ‘‘it is neither within the domain of the Courts nor the scope of judicial review to embark upon an enquiry as to whether a particular policy is wise or whether a better public policy can be evolved. Nor are our Courts inclined to strike down a particular policy at the behest of a petitioner merely because it has been urged that a different policy would have been fairer or wiser or more scientific or more logical. Parliament is the proper forum for questioning such policy. Thus the Cour t held that such disputes were beyond the realm of judicial determination and were left to the legislature to have circumspection over such executive policies. Also, aware of the economic costs of the plant closure as a result of the judicial intervention, the Court for the first time declared that, ‘‘No ex parte relief by way of injunction or stay especially with respect to public projects and schemes or economic policies or schemes should be granted.It is only when the Court is satisfied for good and valid reasons that there will be irreparable and irretrievable damage can an injunction be issued after hearing all the parties. ’’ As a sort of warning, the Court sought to deprecate the excessive use of PILs as a medium to thrash government policies which were prima facie genuine and correct. It thus added, â€Å"the Petitioner should be put on appropriate terms such as providing an indemnity or an adequate undertaking to make good the loss or damage in th e event the PIL is dismissed. ’ It categorically held that ‘‘every matter of public interest or curiosity cannot be the subject matter of PIL. Courts are not intended to and nor should they conduct the administration of the country. Courts will interfere only if there is a clear violation of Constitutional or statutory provisions or noncompliance by the State with its Constitutional or statutory duties. ’ In regard to disinvestment specifically, it held, ‘‘The decision to disinvest and the implementation thereof is purely an administrative decision relating to the economic policy of the State and challenge to the same at the instance of a busybody cannot fall within the parameters of Public Interest Litigation. ’’ The Court also specified the contours of the rights of labour when policy changes were affected, for instance when the Government disinvests its equity in an enterprise.While holding that in the BALCO disinvestment case, the Government had exerted itself to protect the interests of employees of the company, more generally it was open for the Government, like any other employer, to take workers along, to keep them informed about prospective changes and to allay their apprehensions but, labour could not claim a right, either on the basis of natural justice or any other foundation, to be consulted, or the right to receive prior notice, or to be consulted at every stage of the process .The Court also specially held that ‘‘even a government servant, having the protection of not only Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution but also of Article 311, had no absolute right to remain in service’’ and therefore the decision to change the control of the company from government to private hands was the sole prerogative of the government and could not be challenged by the employees. IV. IMPLICATIONS THAT FOLLOWED THE JUDGMENT It is true that the decision given by the Court in the BALCO cas e was based upon a sound appreciation of arguments, yet there are many implications which may follow pursuant to the decision.The major emphasis is on the policy of disinvestment. Though the Court did not go into the merits of the disinvestment policy per se yet, it did silently approve the policy to be followed by the Union . Thus the court supported the revival of the national economic with the support of private lines. The earlier policy of socialist economy, as upon which the Constitution was based and is as well enshrined in the Preamble, read with the State’s duty to avoid concentration of wealth in private hands as envisaged under the Directive Principles was not considered an appropriate solution for meeting the present day need i. . boosting the national economic growth . The observations of the Court on the aspect of natural justice may have been insignificant in terms of words spoken on it or portion of the judgment dealing with it yet; the impact which it has crea ted is enormous. The Court held that the principles of natural justice did not apply even in case the rights of the employees were affected as regards the change of their employer . They were not even given an opportunity to be heard and this was the sole bone of contention.For the very reason that Sterlite industries (the buyer) had given an undertaking that no employee of BALCO would be removed and the government had taken sufficient steps towards the protection of the employees, they had no reason to be heard. Employees, being connected with the manufacturing and other process in a much closer manner than any other body had, at least, the minimum right to put their views before the Court. Thus the participation of employees in the betterment of their organisation at the Board level was also discouraged.An important fact that may have evaded the critics was the method of computation of BALCO’s capital. Of the three different methods, the accounting method adopted for arrivi ng at the reserve price for the sale of BALCO was the one with the lowest result . It was never questioned by the Court. Thus it can be used in later cases before the Court that the method adopted by the Government is beyond judicial review too as it falls within the ambit of administrative discretion too . It may seem to be a remote issue nevertheless may be raised in the Courts.Further, the Court never did accept or uphold that disinvestment as a policy per se was a good policy to be implemented in the pursuance of national economic growth. Yet it was so stated in the later case wherein the disinvestment of HPCL and BPCL was challenged and it was contended by the Union of India that the policy of disinvestment was upheld by the Supreme Court in the BALCO case . These are some of the implications that may arise pursuant to the decision of the Supreme Court in the matter of the BALCO disinvestment process, as being conceived by the researcher.V. CONCLUSION The Supreme Court, in the celebrated case of Ram Jawaya Kapoor v. State of Punjab, observed thus, â€Å"the executive function comprises both the determination of policy as well as carrying into execution. The evidently includes the initiation of legislation, the maintenance of order, the promotion of social and economic welfare, the direction of foreign policy, in fact the carrying on or supervision of the general administration of the State† . Thus we find that the determination of policy has always been within the domain of the Executive.Therefore there remains no doubt that the government had the power to decide as to the adoption of a policy of disinvestment. It is this very precise reason that the same could not have been challenged successfully before the Court. Thus, it was challenged indirectly by taking the stand that such a policy would under the legal and constitutional rights of the employees of BALCO . Thus we find that the litigation, the reason for challenge and the motive behind such a challenge were flawed from its very beginning. The success of the petition was, therefore, never guaranteed.The main reason seems more of so political rather than legal, which initiated the present litigation. Nevertheless the Court was categorical in dealing with the issues. It laid to rest its critics while also issuing a stern warning that Public Interest Litigation should not be used as a means to invalidate policy decisions of government which in ordinary course were beyond judicial review. The Court also severely deprecated the action of the State officials who accused the Union Government of malafide and abuse without stating firm grounds for the same.On the aspect of the impact that the decision has created on administrative law, it can be said that it was not much except for the fact that it reiterated certain fundamental principles which had already been incorporated in the Indian legal stream. The fact of the administrative discretion and power to adopt and implement po licy decisions being beyond the scope of judicial review unless it suffered from illegalities or malafide was upheld .Further the Court upheld that there was no violation of principles of natural justice by non-hearing of the employees in the entire disinvestment process as it was purely a matter of administrative choice wherein the employees had no stake. It may be hard to adjust but seems to be a sound legal principle indeed. After all the rights of the employees were protected under different labour and industrial legislations no matter who the employer was. Thus accepting the fact that they had an interest in the management of the company yet, it was not incumbent or essential to take their views before deciding the entire process.The silent approval of the disinvestment process by the Apex Court also symbolizes the fact that the Court also feels it in the interest of national interests and the economy on the whole. This the Court expounded in a later case when it approved the s ale of HPCL and BPCL on similar lines as BALCO. Thus, on a whole, though the case may failed to give any novel concept, yet it is landmark of its own kind. It was an attempt on the part of the Court to define its own limits on judicial review. It also stretched the scope for the exercise of administrative powers in making policy decision. REFERENCESARTICLES: 1. Devesh Kapur and Ravi Ramamurti, Privatization in India: The Imperatives and Consequences of Gradualism, (Center For Research On Economic Development And Policy Reform, 2003, Last visited on September 7th, 2011). 2. Presentation on Disinvestment, as presented by the Union of India at the OECD CONFERENCE on Privatisation, Employment and Employees, 10-11 OCTOBER 2002, Turkey, Last visited on September 7th, 2011). 3. Shankar Acharya, India’s Macroeconomic Management In The Nineties, (As Prepared For Indian Council For Research On International Economic Relations, 2001, ; http://www. crier. org/; Last visited on September 7th, 2011). 4. T. N. Srinivasan, Economic Reforms and Global Integration, (Policy Paper, as presented to Center for Research on Economic Development and Policy Reform, Stanford University, 2001). 5. V. Sridhar, Battle over Balco, (The Frontline, Volume 18 – Issue 06, Mar. 17 – 30, 2001, Last visited on September 7th, 2011). BOOKS: 1. Jain & Jain, Principles of Administrative Law, (Wadhwa & Co. , Nagpur, 4th edition, 2003). 2. I. P. Messy, Principles of Adminstrative Law, (Eastern Book Company, Lucknow, 2003).

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Statistics for managers class discussion wk9 Coursework

Statistics for managers class discussion wk9 - Coursework Example The logistic regression model involved the development of an approximated multiple regression equations. The probability prediction that a customer belongs to a particular client group was the dependent variable. On the other hand, the measures of shopping behaviors of customers, represented as x1, x2, x3, . . . , xp, were the independent variables in the regression analysis. The independent variables included the day/hour of purchase, items purchased, and amount purchased. The logistic regression analysis was useful in the sense that it helped the marketers of dunnhumby to identify the most crucial independent variables as far as predicting customer population and customer group is concerned. In view of how dunnhumby applied the multiple regression model, the model can also be used in other business scenarios. For example, an automobile company such as GM Motors can use a multiple regression analysis to identify its customer shopping behavior, season of shopping, customer preferences, and customer experiences, for a particular model of car sold at a given price. It will help the company to produce and distribute the car that most consumers prefer in the largest quantity. Besides, Amazon.com can use a multiple regression analysis to determine the items that are bought most frequently by customers, the month that most customers visit the website to check the item, and the amount of items purchased within a period. Subsequently, Amazon will develop an interface that enables all customers to preview the featured item and perhaps buy it. Fundamentally, multiple regression analysis allows the determination of the connection between multiple independent variables and one depend ent variable. However, it has the major drawback that it makes assumptions that need to be checked. In addition, multiple regression analysis uses unknown independent variables to draw conclusions and make recommendations. Overall,

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Snyder v. Phelps - Assignment Example Therefore, the congregation picketed in military funerals to demonstrate their beliefs. On this occasion, Phelps led his flock to picket at Marine Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder’s funeral. He died while in battle in Iraq in 2006. Through the event, protesters displayed placards with thematic messages like, acknowledging God for 9/11 event, thanking God for the death of the soldier and asking the public not to pray for America. Furthermore, church members recounted Bible verses and resonated hymns. Snyder later sued Phelps and the church on the basis that their actions caused him severe emotional distress. However, Phelps defended and sought protection of the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution. Bhakhama (2012) affirms that the case took an interesting twist as jury in Maryland settled the claims and awarded Snyder a reasonable compensation. However, the Supreme Court reversed the decision in favor of the church because the protestors addressed Americans fate, homosexuality, and moral conduct. In justification of the decision, the Supreme Court emphasized that First Amendment offered exceptional shield for speech on civic issues. Hence, the court maintained that Westboro Baptist Church members who picketed adjacent to the funeral site expressed legal acts. Thus, the demonstrators’ engaged in accordance with provisions of state-law. On the contrary, the church never committed purposeful cause of emotional misery, meddling, and civil intrigue. Fighting words doctrine comprised of speeches with a possibility to make a recipient commit an act of violence. However, First Amendment never prohibits expression of similar speeches especially when addressing common concerns, yet opposes subset of abusive words and violence. Thus, this is a personal analysis and thoughts about application of the doctrine in relation Chaplinsky versus New Hampshire. Generally, the Supreme Court’s verdict presented a major dilemma. Critics still argue

The Black Death in Western Europe Research Paper

The Black Death in Western Europe - Research Paper Example Larger cities were the worst affected because more densely populated areas spread the disease more quickly than rural areas due to poor sanitary conditions existing at that time. The plague would come to a region, last for approximately a year, kill roughly one-third of the population then move on to another area. Most historians believe that more than one-third of Europe’s entire human population (20 to 30 million people) died between 1347 and 1351. The massive numbers of deaths were not the Plague’s only consequence, however. It also affected the political, social and economic landscape of this large area of the world. The poorest segment of society was the most affected because they were more likely to reside in unhealthy conditions and had insufficient means by which to safeguard their health. The massive decline in population caused the economy of all European nations to be negatively affected with an expected surplus of food supplies and other products. â€Å"Pri ces fell greatly which allowed those that survived the Plague to enjoy more wealth which stimulated the economies in the respective regions. However, when more money is being circulated, inflation is generally the byproduct which caused prices to steadily rise, causing economies to again suffer.† 1 The Black Death changed everyday life in all types of communities. Larger towns were the most affected overall because they were major trade centers but when the disease hit smaller towns and villages the awful results were extremely destructive to the communal harmony. In the smaller towns, everyone knew and depended on everyone else but after the Plague’s outbreak people turned away from their neighbors, family and friends whom they had known their entire lives. The Plague spread terror throughout the community largely due to the mysterious quality of the disease. Its extremely contagious nature changed people’s attitudes regarding the significance of community. â₠¬Å"People abandoned their friends and family, fled cities, and shut themselves off from the world. Funeral rites became perfunctory or stopped altogether, and work ceased being done.† 2 Gradually, community officials implemented a method to help eradicate the Plague from a community. Isolating victims helped to keep it from spreading as quickly but this technique also heartlessly stigmatized large sectors of a community. Those that exhibited symptoms were forced to remain in their homes. Naturally, this method resulted in a death sentence for the victim and their family. â€Å"From these and many similar or worse occurrences, there came about such fear and such fantastic notions among those who remained alive that almost all of them took a very cruel attitude in the matter; that is, they completely avoided the sick and their possessions; and in doing so, each one believed that he was protecting his good health.† 3 The massive panic was accompanied by widespread isolatio n which grew progressively more extreme as the number of dead mounted. Those infected and their families became progressively more secluded and shunned when they most needed the emotional understanding and physical care from neighbors and friends. â€Å"The fact was that one citizen avoided another that almost no one cared for his neighbor, and that relatives rarely or hardly ever visited each other. They stayed far apart.†

Organizational improvement plan part 3 Research Paper

Organizational improvement plan part 3 - Research Paper Example This paper will look into the institution’s measures to reduce the fall rates by integrating quality improvement strategies in performance measures, applying information technology, and involving benchmark and milestones. Methodologies for Integrating Quality Improvement in Performance Measurement Quality improvement strategies achieve their full potential when they are part of the performance measurement. This plan tries to avoid duplicating ideas in the methods of integration to prevent â€Å"unnecessary confusion on providers and confusion among consumers† (Board on Healthcare Services, 2006, p. 83) present in other medical institutions’ plans. In doing so, the plan will focus on the most important elements identified to decrease patient fall rates and achieve the hospital’s ideal rate. Three quality improvement strategies, audit and feedback, patient education, and provider education, can be beneficial when used in performance measurements such as proc ess measures and outcome measures. Process measures are useful to â€Å"quantify the delivery of recommended procedures or service† (Institute of Medicine et al., 2003, p. ... For instance, provider education is a priority when the center wants to transfer efficiency to patient education as part of the process measures. An advantage of having a framework is that it lessens duplicating quality of the aims; however, it has less to do with the actual performance of methodology. Public reporting is another method to improve the plan’s decrease of patient fall rate. This method â€Å"sought to inform consumer choice and stimulate provider improvement† (Smith, Mossailos, & Papanicolas, 2008, p. 10). The method requires full participation of the consumers to have adequate data to assess the provider. However, the reports proved to have â€Å"very little impact on the behavior of practitioners or organizations† (Smith, Mossailos, & Papanicolas, 2008, p. 11) when the practitioners are unaware of how the initiative goes and there is little or no financial incentive attached to it, which in turn, would make the method useless and a waste of effor t. Using information systems or data gathering is the initial process of quality improvement (Smith, Mossailos, & Papanicolas, 2008). Through it, providers would have an overview on which aspect they have to improve. This is beneficial because it improves the institution as a whole, using technology. However, technology is rapidly advancing and keeping with the latest developments would mean a large sum of investment (Smith, Mossailos, & Papanicolas, 2008). Financial budgeting would be a problem, if not shouldered by a bigger organization or the government. These methodologies are interconnected and all include information dissemination and organized practice. Taking into consideration this institution organizational

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Explain the events and circumstances that led to the construction of the Berlin Wall - Research Paper Example Approximately 2.5 million people had migrated to West Berlin since the year 1949. The wall was hence constructed mainly to stop the migration from GDR (German Democratic Republic). The Berliners woke up on August 13 only to find themselves alienated from family, work, friends, and even homes. In the weeks and months which followed the barrier got strengthened with guard towers and concrete walls. The entire wall comprised of a concrete section of 66 miles and a height of 3.6 meters. It also had 41 more miles of a barbed wire fence and over 300 manned watch towers. The wall did not just passed through the city center but it circled West Berlin completely which was encircled by GDR communist (Sky news par.2). The document below analyzes the events as well as circumstances that contributed to the construction of the berlin wall. There several circumstances and events that took place prior to the construction of the berlin wall which contributed to its construction. These events which gave rise to the construction of the Berlin wall started in the Second World War. The Nazi Germany was allied originally with the communist Russia against the United States, Britain and France that were also allied. Adolf Hitler, however, violated his treaty with Josef Stalin, the Russian ruler, and invaded Russia. This pushed the soviets into an uncomfortable alliance with other allies. The soviets, however, had varying ideologies with its allies even though they were on the same side in the battle field. The Soviet Union could be referred as a communist nation. This was a system whereby the individual rights were subverted for the nation’s benefit. It was a totalitarian system as well that meant that the government was in control of everything and no elections that were held. Germany finally surrendered the war in the year 1945 while Hitler had just killed

Role of the Government vs. Private Sector in Paying for the Healthcare Essay Example for Free

Role of the Government vs. Private Sector in Paying for the Healthcare Essay Writing Prompt 1 Table 1: Clinical United States (High Income Country) Somalia (Low Income Country) High life expectancy. Low life expectancy. Low mortality rate. High mortality rate. Low infant mortality rate. High infant mortality rate. Low adult mortality rate. High adult mortality rate. Cause-specific morbidity and mortality (low mortality rate due to communicable, non-communicable, and injury). Cause-specific morbidity and mortality (high mortality rate due to communicable, non-communicable, and injury). Low rate of infectious diseases (Cholera, Malaria, TB). High rate of infectious diseases (Cholera, Malaria, TB). High health service coverage. Low health coverage. Low risk factors. High risk factors. High availability of health systems as regards to physicians, nurses, and hospital beds per 10,000 people. Low availability of health systems as regards to physicians, nurses, and hospital beds per 10,000 people. Median availability of generic medicines in public and private sectors. Median availability of generic medicines in public and private sectors. Median consumer price ration of generic medicines in public and private sectors. Median consumer price ration of generic medicines in public and private sectors. Median age of population = 40 years. Median age of population = 17.5 years. Median age among adults = 55 years. Median age among adults = 30 years. Low literacy level. High literacy level. High gross national income per capita of $50, 120. Low gross national income per capita of $150. Little part of population living on $1 and below a day. Large part of population living on $1 and below a day. Table 2: Sources Expected years of life at birth. Categories of national health expenditure. 80 years in the United States and 51.19 years in Somalia. $2.7 trillion or $9,000 per person in the United States and $2 per person in Somalia. Role of the Government vs. Private Sector in Paying for the Healthcare From the data available in the table, it is evident that the role of the Government apropos the provision of healthcare to the citizens of the United States is a high compared to the same services in Somalia. That is, the public sector has a high responsibility to ensure payment and subsidizing of hospital bills for its citizens. National health systems of these two countries differ significantly because of public and private sectors involved in the health docket. The Government of the United States plays greater role in healthcare services starting from the provision of healthcare facilities to making relatively cheaper and available healthcare services and providing health insurance cover to all public employees. Andersen, Rice, Kominski (2011) assert that the Government also provides healthcare payments through Medicare and Medicaid to its citizens without favors. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of the US enables treatment of patients, who need emergency trea tment by availing funds that cover the costs incurred in such instances. Public sector is the backbone of the United States as an independent country whose values and principles are well established to ensure maximum social  advantage. Private sector also plays a greater role in paying for healthcare compared to the public sector in the United States. On the other hand, both private and public sectors play minor roles in paying for healthcare services and facilities. This is mainly because of the fact that Somali’s government is not politically stable, and this also hampers private investors, which translates to government’s and private sector’s minor role in paying for the healthcare of its citizens. Unlike in Somalia, there is quality service assurance in many healthcare centers in the US, which ensures that proper healthcare procedures provided for the welfare of United States’ citizens. Besides, Capobianco Naidu (2008) opine that Somalia is a poorly developed country, whose healthcare development heavily depends on inter national aids to support the country. The World Health Organization reports that Somalia has high mortality rate with low life expectancy compared to the United States, which is a much more developed nation in the globe. Data also unveils that health system physicians allocated per ten thousand people is reasonably good due to higher literacy level in the United States compared to Somalia. Here, both private and public sectors play a bigger role, whereby the public sector provides enough support to a private sector in various ways. This also explains why there are enough hospital beds available to accommodate a bigger number of patients. The Government of the United States through its intervention ventures into necessary expenses ensures that enough healthcare facilities, such as clinics, are set up in various communities and centers in a bid to reduce the risk of running into shortages. In addition, the Government of the United States in collaboration with the private sector has inexorably endeavored to support one another to pay for the healthcare and improve services in all states. Burden of Illness and Other Health Indices The United States is one of the most developed countries in the world, which means that the country has the potency to provide healthcare facilities and highly competitive healthcare services to its citizens without feeling the pinch. The country has well-developed heath care units that range from clinics that are set up in almost every corner to large hospitals with  relevant and enough healthcare equipment and tools to meet the demand when it arises. In addition, unlike in Somalia, the United States has various research centers that are involved in everyday research in a bid to find medical solutions to everyday problems as far as diseases are concerned. These very research institutes have enough facilities and expertise to undertake numerous studies and develop solutions to various problems. Barton (2010) reiterates that the burden of illness in the United States is not evident due to the high investment in countrys healthcare sector. Various health indices depict the United Sta tes as a nation that can comfortably and without strain provide some free healthcare services and other subsidized services to its citizens. This is however not the case in Somalia due to lack of such institutions and disparity in healthcare service delivery. There are incredibly few healthcare centers in the country, and those few that are available cannot fully serve the whole population. Low mortality rate both among children and among adults, which translates into high life expectancy in the United States, clearly depicts that the burden of illness is insignificant. This is unlike in Somalia where the opposite is true. That is, life expectancy in the United States is 80 years, while it is only 51 years in Somalia. Besides, there is high health coverage in terms of provision of healthcare services that covers almost all diseases that cannot be easily treated in Somalia due to lack of expertise and facilities at the few available healthcare centers in the country. There are more risk factors leading to high mortality rate in Somalia compared with the United States due to poor implementation of policies regarding stepping up health facilities and prevention measures to reduce the number of deaths among the Somali populace. Relationship b etween Payment System and Health Burden There exists a nexus between the payment system and the health burden evident in each of the two countries. That is, the health burden directly related to the payment system of these two nations in the sense that there is a bigger health burden in Somalia due to poor payment system implemented. This significantly contributes to a heavy health burden experience in this country. High mortality rate both among adults and among children as well as low life expectancy coupled with low income per capita and low illiteracy  levels in Somalia are indicators of a huge health burden among country’s populace. According to Capobianco Naidu (2008), poor development in infrastructure and in relevant sectors have utterly crippled countrys potency to provide proper medical care to its citizens despite the availability of resources. Insecurity has also been among the top reasons hampering private investors from setting up for-profit healthcare facilities both in urban and rural areas due to physicians’ fear of loss of their dear lives. Most healthcare practitioners fear for their lives and do not want to work in an insecure environment despite the escalating health issues that are rampant in the nation. On the other hand, developed US also shows pure connection between the existing payment system and the negligible health burden. That is, country is well established healthcare sector has a momentous impact on the insignificant health burden. The Government’s role in the healthcare sector in collaboration with the largely operated private healthcare centers in the country contributed to the reduced health burden due to the efficient payment system. There are also many private healthcare centers, which create stiff competition among themselves, which leads to reduced healthcare prices paid by individuals in a bid to access the services. References Andersen, R. M., Rice, T. H., Kominski, G. F. (2011). Changing the U.S. health care system: Key issues in health services policy and management. New York: John Wiley Sons. Barton, P. L. (2010). Understanding the U.S. health services system. New York: Health Administration Press. Capobianco, E., Naidu, V. (2008). A review of health sector aid financing to Somalia. Washington D.C: World Bank Publications.

Carbon Nanotubes for Nano-particle Field Extraction Thruster

Carbon Nanotubes for Nano-particle Field Extraction Thruster Using carbon nanotubes as propellant for nano-particle field extraction thrusters Stefan Seuleanu Introduction Carbon nanotubes have been a research focus for more than two decades due to their unique physical properties and have been used so far in a variety of appli- cations. A possible application of carbon nanotubes is their use as propellant for an electric propulsion prototype, the nano-particle field extraction thruster (nanoFET). The nanoFET accelerates and ejects conductive particles in order to provide thrust1 . Its main advantage over other electric propulsion systems, such as ion or arcjet thrusters, is its variable specific impulse and thrust, while maintaining a high internal efficiency1 . Theoretically, the nanoFET propulsion system can be used for a large range of orbital and deep space exploration sit- uations, offering the possibility of decoupling the spacecraft design from the propulsion system4 . However, to date, nanoFETs have not been researched ex- tensively and much of the experimental work is still to be expected. This paper will investigate the possibility of using carbon nanotubes as nanoFET propel- lant by considering their relevant physical properties. By understanding how the nano-particle field extraction thruster works,this account also motivates the use of carbon nanotubes as propellant, despite their current high price. Properties and characteristics of CNTs Firstly, it is important to understand the relevant characteristics that make CNTs desirable for the nanoFET propulsion system. A carbon nanotube is a tubular/cylindrical structure that can be visualized as a wrapped sheet of graphene (one atom thick, two dimensional carbon based hexagonal lattice). Their size is typically a couple of nanometers in diameter and can span many micrometers in length. Carbon nanotubes can be single-walled (SWNTs) or multi-walled (MWNTs). These two characteristics will determine their aspect ratio (ratio between length and diameter), which is generally very high. As will be explained later on, the aspect ratio is a determinant factor that influences the nanoFET performance2,3 . The geometric structure of the nanotube determines its electrical properties. Based on the chiral vector (n,m), illustrated below, there are three main types of CNTs: zigzag, armchair and chiral. When n − m is a multiple of three, then the CNT is metallic, and semiconducting otherwise. Due to their geometry, armchair CNTs are always metallic, while the other types can be metallic only with the right choice of (n,m). Because there is no exact way to synthesize carbon nanotubes of only one geometry, as expected, generally one third of the synthesized CNTs are metallic and the rest are semiconducting 2,3 . Figure 1: CNT type depends on the chiral vector2 . Regarding the nanoFETs, the desired CNTs are the metallic type which implies the necessity for prior sorting before use. Moreover, the synthesized CNTs can contain geometrical †defects† that can be manipulated to improve the thruster’s performance3 . Due to the fact that the CNTs’ structure/geometry minimizes the collisions between conducting electrons, the resulting metallic tubes are highly conductive. Another characteristic is determined by the strong carbon bonds that allow high current to flow at low resistivity. This properties will become relevant when explaining the charging stage of the nanoFET 2,3 . The stages of a nanoFET The acceleration of a particle by a nanoFET can be divided into several stages. By assuming that the particles have been already sorted for the desired thrust, the first stage is the transportation of the particles to the charging pad. The transportation of the particles can be achieved either trough a dielectric fluid or through back pressure, hence the difference between wet nanoFETs and dry nanoFETs. For the purpose of this paper only the wet nanoFETs will be con- sidered, as the research done into dry nanoFETs has so far been minimal. The transportation liquid used for the proof-of-concept tests was silicon oil. After the particle is transported to the charging pad, the next stage is the charging process . Here the conductive particle is electrostatically charged to a desired level 5,6,8 . Figure 2: Single nanoFET emission channel cross section5 The next phase is the lift-off and extraction, which represents the application of an electric field, a potential bias between the electrode and the acceleration gates, such that the particle leaves the charging pad and moves upwards towards the liquid’s surface. At the surface, the particle must overcome the surface tension and get extracted from the liquid. After the extraction, the next stage is the acceleration of the particle trough several stacked gates. The gates have alternating insulating and conductive layers, each providing in theory an electric potential of 1000V, leading to a total of 10,000V potential that accelerates a particle to approximately 10km/s. The particle is finally ejected out of the nanoFET and thrust is produced5,6,7 . Particle behavior in nanoFETs In order to understand the behavior of the particle in a gravitational setting compared to a micro-gravitational setting, it is important to identify the forces that act on the particle at different stages in the nanoFET. The four main forces acting on a particle in a gravitational setting are the electrostatic force, the buoyant force, gravitational force and the drag force. As the cylindrical particle is transported to the charging pad, the liquid provides a horizontal inertial force. This horizontal inertial force is assumed to be low and therefore ignored in the calculations. After the nanoparticles are transported to the charging pad (electrode), they are electrostatically charged; thus contact with the electrode is necessary. If the contact is horizontal, along the length, then the charge of the particle is described by6 .: q0,cy−h = 2Ï€rlÃŽ µl El However if the contact is at either ends, so the particle is vertical on the electrode, the charge is the following6 .: l2 q0,cy−v = Ï€ ln( 2l ÃŽ µl El When the cylindrical particle is vertical on the charging pad, it gains more charge and it also requires less electric field to move upwards, as seen in the figure below6 . Figure 3: Vertically vs horizontal oriented particles a) ratio of acquired particle charge; b) ratio of required lift-off electric field6 In order to orient a particle from horizontal to vertical on the charging pad, an intense electric field focused only at one of the particle’s ends is applied. The fabrication defects that are usually present at the ends of CNTs may help to change the orientation of the particle on the electrode, requiring less electric field to create a moment that rotates the CNTs vertically. Additionally to the gravitational force, while still on the charging pad, the particle has to overcome the adhesion and electric image force in order to achieve vertical lift-off5,6 . After the particle leaves the charging pad, it has to move vertically trough the viscous liquid to the liquid surface. Therefore, the adhesion force and the electric image are no longer present; however the drag force now slows the particle’s movement. For a cylindrical particle the formula for the fluid drag used in the nanoFET calculations is given by6 : 2π µl lv D = ln( l ) + 0.193 While moving through the liquid, the particle loses charge as described by q(t) = q0 exp(− t ), where Ï„ = ÃŽ µl 5,6 . Because the particle moves fast through Ï„ ÏÆ'l the liquid, the charged loss is overall assumed to be negligible. Generally, the particle’s equation of motion is described by6 : dv (mp + K ml ) dt = q(t)El − D + Fbuoyant − W. The above equation also takes in account the added mass that is accelerated with the particle where K is a coefficient that depends on the geometry of the particle, while mp is the mass of the particle and ml is the mass of the liquid. In a laboratory gravitational environment the gravitational forces are minimal compared to the dominant drag and electrostatic forces. In a micro-gravitational environment the gravitational force and the buoyant force can be neglected5,6 . Performance and particle size For characterizing the performance of the nanoFET electric propulsion system, the space industry uses specific impulse and thrust-to-power ratio as indica- tors of performance. The specific impulse is the impulse delivered per unit of propellant consumed. In order to achieve a certain thrust, the systems that have higher specific impulse consume less propellant than the ones with lower specific impulse. For the nanoFET system the specific impulse increases as the charge-to-mass ratio of the particle increases. Thurst-to-power ratio describes the amount of thrust outputted for a specific power provided4,6 . 1 q 1 T 2 mp 1 Isp = 0 (2Vo p ) 2 ; = ( ) 2 P Vo q Moreover, the internal efficiency is given by4,6 : 1 T ÃŽ ·int = 2 g0 P Isp There are several factors that can influence the performance or the mode of operation of the nanoFET. First of all, the horizontal inertial force that the particle gains from the transportation liquid is assumed to be negligible. How- ever, this is not necessarily the case and further research needs to be conducted in order to determine its influence. Another important factor is the presence of Taylor cones and surface instability when a high electric field is present near the liquid’s surface. These cones can eject droplets and reduce the performance of the nanoFET. In order to mitigate the surface instability and the ejection of droplets, an experiment has been done to analyze how different particle shapes influence the minimum electric field needed for the extraction process. The ex- periment consists of various vacuum electric fields applied to spherical 800 µm and cylindrical 300 µm diameter and 1.5mm length aluminium particles with a total silicon oil fluid gap of 12 .7mm. As seen in the figure below, cylindrical particles can be extracted before the Taylor cones form5,6,7, . Figure 4: Taylor cone formation and particle extraction6 Furthermore, further study into the charge-to-mass ratio revealed that, for cylindrical particles, charge-to-mass ratio increases as aspect ratio increases. Therefore, at large aspect ratios, the needed extraction electric field decreases as seen in the following figure. For this reason increasing the aspect ratio of the particles increases in turn the Isp and the overall internal efficiency6 . A good candidate for further research are the CNTs due to their cylindrical Figure 5: Cylindrical particles’ vacuum extraction field simulations6 shape, high aspect ratio, good charge-to-mass ratio and fast charging. By choos- ing different CNT sizes to be used with variable gate potentials, the nanoFETs’ Isp range is theoretically very large compared to other electric propulsion sys- tem such as ion thrusters or hall thrusters. Similarly, the thrust-to-power varies greatly, which offers the flexibility of using the same propulsion system for mul- tiple missions or to perform unplanned trajectory changes at a low propellant expense. These are theoretically achieved while maintaining a high internal efficiency that is usually above 85%. For the following CNTs: nanoFET par- ticle1 16nm diameter, 3 µm length; nanoFET particle2 4nm diameter, 3 µm length; nanoFET particle3 1nm diameter, 3 µm length, the expected Isp and Thrust-to-Power ratio is illustrated4,5 . Figure 6: Thrust-to-power ratio for large specific impulse range4 Figure 7: Internal efficiency for large specific impulse range4 Discussion Apart from the large specific impulse range at high internal efficiency that pro- vides great flexibility to design a multitude of mission phases based on just one propulsion system and to accommodate for unforeseen scenarios, the nanoFETs have other important advantages over other electric propulsion system, such as potential longer operational lifetime, their geometric scalability and the fact that the system is highly integrated. The longer operational lifetime is due to the fact that the CNT particles or any other conductive particles are charged electro- statically and not ionized which eliminates the need for cathodes and eliminates charge exchange collisions that are the main lifetime reduction factors5,6 . However, there are still a multitude of challenges ahead until a fully functional prototype will be achieved. First of all, the experiments done so far that demon- strated particle transportation, charging and lift-off were conducted using mi- crometer size particles such a s Aluminum, Titanium and Indium. Although theoretically the CNTs can greatly increase the performance, no nano-size par- ticles have been experimentally used so far. Experimenting at the nanoscale might sometime reveal new problems that were not present at the micron level. Also, it is generally desirable that a quantitative experimental analysis is done in order to understand how a multitude of particles with different character- istics perform. In this way it could be determined what particle shows the most promise, although CNTs have a strong theoretical advantage mainly due to their charge-to-mass ratio. Another important factor to investigate is how the charging process changes as the size of the particle decreases to the several nanometers; the main concerns being conductivity and the contact area with the electrode. Furthermore, an investigation should also be conducted regard- ing the transportation liquid. So far, it is uncertain if a fully dielectric liquid is always desired over a slightly conductive liquid. Moreover, different liquids should be tested in order to experimentally understand how the viscosity of the liquid influences the space charge current5,6,7,8 . Finally, from an academic point of view it would be desirable that both the theoretical and experimental papers are published in a peer-reviewed journal. Conclusion Overall, the nanoFET propulsion system shows great promise due to its high specific impulse range and inherent scalability. Although it is a new concept, the most important processes such as particle transportation and charging have been already demonstrated. However, there are still a multitude of experiments that need to be conducted in order to fully understand the behavior of the system under a wide range of factors. Another interesting prospect for the nanoFET technology is their possible use , not only in the space industry, but also in medicine. The nanoFET technology can also be used to accelerate particles and inject them through cellular walls to deliver drugs. For these reasons, the nanoFET technology is an exciting and potentially rewarding research subject. References 1. Gohardani O, Elola CM, Elizetxea C. Potential and prospective imple- mentation of carbon nanotubes on next generation aircraft and space vehicles: A review of current and expected applications in aerospace sciences. July 2014. Elsevier. Progress in Aerospace Sciences 70 (2014): 42-68, ISSN 0376-0421, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paerosci.2014.05.002. 2. Loiseau A, Launois P, Petit P, Roche S, Salvetat JP. Understanding Car- bon Nanotubes. 2006. Springer. ISBN-I3-978-3-540-26922-9. 3. Dresselhaus MS, Dresselhaus G, Avouris P. Carbon Nanotubes: Synthesis, Structure, Properties, and Applications. 2001. Springer. ISBN 3-540-41086-4. 4. Liu TM, Musinski LD, et al. Nanoparticle Electric Propulsion for Space Exploration. 2007. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Re- trieved from: http://pepl.engin.umich.edu/pdf/STAIF2 007.pdf on1stof J une2015. 5. Liu TM, Musinski LD, et al. Nanoparticle Electric Propulsion: Experi- mental Results. 2007. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Retrieved from: http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/76874/AIAA-2006-4803- 539.pdf ?sequence=1 on 1st of June 2015. 6. Liu TM, Musinski LD, et al. Theoretical Aspects of Nanoparticle Electric Propulsion. 2006. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.Retrieved from: http://pepl.engin.umich.edu/pdf/AIAA-2006-4335.pdf on on 1st of June 2015. 7. Liu TM, Musinski LD, et al. Developmental Progress of the Nanopar- ticle Field Extraction Thruster. 2008.American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Retrieved from: http://www.umich.edu/ peplweb/pdf/AIAA- 2008-5096.pdf on 1st of June 2015. 8. Liu TM, Musinski L, Gilchrist B, Gallimore A. Electrostatic charging of micro- and nano-particles for use with highly energetic applications. 2008. Elsevier. Journal of Electrostatics. doi:10.1016/j.elstat.2008.11.001

Summary of William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet :: Romeo and Juliet Essays

Summary of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Paris asks Capulet for his daughter Juliet's hand in marriage. Capulet replies that she is still too young to be married, but nevertheless invites Paris to try to woo her at a banquet he is holding that night. He gives a servant a list of guests and tells him to take an invitation to each of them. The servant is illiterate, and so goes about trying to find someone to read the list for him. He runs into Romeo and Benvolio, who are still discussing Romeo's unrequited love. The servant gets Romeo to read the guest list for him, and then tells him about the banquet. Benvolio convinces Romeo to go along with him to the banquet to compare the other beautiful women there with the one he is pining for: Rosaline, a niece of Capulet. Act I, Scene iii Lady Capulet, Juliet, and the Nurse talk about the possibility of Juliet being married to Paris. Lady Capulet encourages Juliet to consider him as a potential husband when she sees him at the banquet. The Nurse is completely taken with the idea, but Juliet is not especially enthusiastic. Commentary These two scenes introduce Paris as Capulet's pick for Juliet's husband and, more broadly, establish the theme of parental influence over a child's happiness. In the last scene, it was shown how the hatred Capulet and Montague bear for each other flows down to affect the rest of their households and results in violent conflict, but here the influence is more subtle and mundane. Paris is a nobleman and a worthy choice to be Juliet's husband; there is no reason why she should not want to marry him. Capulet himself defers to her ability to choose for herself ("My will to her consent is but a part"), but his power to force her into a marriage if he feels it necessary is implicitly present. It is significant that Paris speaks to Juliet's father before he ever shows her any indication of his feelings, and apparently before he even gets to know her particularly well. Lady Capulet, for her part, offers her entire support to her husband's plan for their daughter, and begins to put pressure on Juliet to think about Paris as a husband before Juliet begins to think about marriage at all on her own. Juliet even says to Lady Capulet in scene 3 how important her influence is to her in this matter: "I'll look to like, looking liking move; / But no more deep will I endart mine eye / Than your consent gives strength to make it fly.

My Bigger :: essays research papers

My Bigger   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Richard Wrights â€Å"Native Son† he magnificently describes how he came about of configuring Bigger. He used four specific people to create Bigger. Wright chose people that stood up for themselves almost to a fault. All of the people did have bad ends, but were nevertheless influential in Wright’s, life good or bad. Wright drew from his personal experiences with these people to manufacture Bigger reactions. There were many social circumstances that held Bigger back from succeeding, like poverty, the depression and even his own stubbornness. Bigger was just reacting to his surrounding like Wright’s people did, a good example of this is when Bigger kills the rat and keeps hitting it. That relates with when Bigger No. 5 drew the knife on the streetcar driver asking him to move to the colored car, and he said â€Å"Make me.† My people I’m going to talk about didn’t have to deal with such hardships, but did deal with more n ational and social challenges.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My Bigger No.1 had a great influence and impact on my life for 17 years and still going. He was born in the first year of the baby boom era. His childhood was good and privileged but it was when he got out of high school when things changed. He did go to college for a half year and flunked out. The country was in a transition period from the mid 60’s to the late 70’s and Bigger No.1 was right in the middle of it and old enough to be affected by it all. And at this time if a man from 18 to 25 wasn’t in college he had to get into the reserves or go to Vietnam where he might die. Bigger No.1 had missed the registration date for the reserves. He didn’t believe in the war and had no intensions of going to it. He was afraid like many men were then, especially if they didn’t like the cause. His father had been in WWII and had nearly died (when he and another man were walking side by side in the jungle they somehow switched places and tw o step later the other man was killed by a sniper). Bigger No. 1’s father was in the Army and he did get into the reserves, one month late. Bigger No.1 had to spend 4 years in the reserve. Now this wasn’t the hard part, it was what was in the middle.

Business Plan for Import Export Company Essay -- Marketing Executive S

Business Plan for Import Export Company This business plan details the launch of a start-up company known as the Import Export Company (IEC). The company functions as a ‘middleman’ in purchasing housewares from manufacturers in China and reselling the products to retail buyers in the US and Canada. The Import Export Company is primarily an independent import/export business. The products we import from China are resold to retail buyers in the US; in addition, we export the products from China directly to retail buyers in Canada. Without maintaining inventory, the company ships the product directly from China to the US and Canada. Our product catalog focuses on housewares products that appeal to trend-minded US and Canadian consumers. Product pricing is geared toward budget-conscious consumers seeking a current look for their homes, without paying upscale prices. In 2003, China was the third largest country trading with the US, importing and exporting a combined $127 billion in goods (US Census Bureau, 2003). As of November 2003, China exported $25.1 billion in goods to the US, up 25.8% over 2002 (US Department of Commerce). The IEC has developed initial relationships with manufacturers and retailers. Our marketing plan targets a market of 160 retailers in the US that specialize in Home Furnishings and Housewares. The company has targeted fifty Canadian retailers that also meet our target market requirements. The owners are contributing $15,000 ($7,500 each) in start-up capital from personal savings, in addition to a loan of $30,000 from friends and family. The loan will be repaid at 6% interest when the company becomes stable in the second year of operations. After initial start-up expenses, the company has a starting Cash Balance of $29,880. The company is forecasting $350,500 in first year sales revenue, with a Cost of Goods projected to be 60%. Cost of Goods directly reflects our targeted 40% profit margin. We anticipate doubling our sales revenue for the first three years of operations as we develop our manufacturing and retail buyer relationships. Sales revenue increases in our second year to $701,000 and $1,402,000 in our third year. The company projects a Net Profit of $40,665 in our first year of operations, increasing to $139,944 in the second year and $317,688 in the third year. Our Cash Flow objective in the first year is ... ...c tax rate. For the purpose of estimating, we have set our tax rate at 20%. We do not forecast collecting sales tax, as our purchases are for resale and not subject to sales or use taxes. We will work closely with our bank, which was selected because of its import and export programs. Initially, we will pursue secured financing options, with the bank advancing funds by using the goods we import as collateral. If we default on our secure financing obligations, the bank takes title of our shipped goods. As we are a start-up company, we will not qualify for unsecured financing until we have established a positive credit record with our bank. We may pursue a revolving line of credit through the Small Business Administration's Special Purpose loan programs for exporters, which would allow us to receive pre-export financing through the U.S. Export Import Bank. We may also pursue factoring options. As a start-up, we are primarily focused on maintaining a positive cash flow position. For this reason, a factor that buys receivables with a cash advance in exchange for a 5% fee may be a viable option. We feel that our target profit margin of 40% provides leeway to work with factors.

A study to understand market acceptability of Pepsi Atom Essay

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The project gives an overview of the Indian soft drink market various players, new entrants etc. The highlight of the project is to understand the launch of PepsiCo’s new drink Pepsi Atom and its market acceptability. PepsiCo’s drink didn’t appeal to masses. In spite of the innovative ideas, 360 degree marketing and a grand product launch the product didn’t do well. PepsiCo being a huge company launching such a product can be questionable. One of the motives could also be that the huge campaign could help brand recall. Pepsi Atom was target with consumers who need stronger drink. It was to attack the market share of Coca-cola’s Thums Up; however it failed. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I wish to express my gratitude to all those who have helped to make this project a success. I would like to thank my project guide, Prof. Rajesh Vyas without his guidance and support this project would not have been possible. Also I would like to thank our director Dr. Kalim Khan who has provided us with the necessary infrastructure and guidance in the course of the project. Also I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the teaching as well as non-teaching staff for their continuous help and support. INDEX Sr. No. Particulars Page No. 1 Introduction 1.1 Industry Overview : Food & Beverage 6 1.1 A) Indian Soft Drinks Market – Detailed Report 7 1.2 Company Overview : PepsiCo Inc. 12 1.3 Pepsi Atom – The Josh Cola from Pepsi 20 2 Research Methodology 22 2.1 Research Design 25 2.2 Tools for Data Collection 25 3 Data Interpretation & Analysis 26 4 Findings 40 5 Recommendations 43 6 Annexure 6.1 Questionnaire 36 6.2 Bibliography Introduction 1. An Overview of Indian Food and Beverage Sector The Indian food and beverage sector is huge and highly competitive in nature. The industry comprises of several sub-sectors such as fruits & vegetables, meat & poultry, dairy, marine products, grains and consumer foods. Snack is one of the major segments of the packaged food division, which comes under the broad category consumer foods. Though the snacks market in India is dominated by the unorganized sector, the organized sector has shown remarkable growth in terms of market share in the last few years. The report provides a snapshot of the Indian snack industry which has witnessed several changes since 1995. In the initial years, the market was dominated by two players – traditional snacks player Haldiram and ‘Uncle Chips’ manufacturer Amrit Agro. Later on, with the entry of global beverage and snacks player PepsiCo, the market dynamics changed completely. Now, the market is dominated by PepsiCo with its wide range of product portfolio. The other major players include Parle Agro, ITC, Parle Products, Balaji Wafers and Parle Wafers among others. A number of regional players have also entered the market in the last few years and are giving tough competition to the big players. In 2012 India’s soft drink market grew about 23% to 435.54 million rupees ($7.29 billion) from 353.77 million rupees, while the carbonated drinks business grew 13% to 179.51 million rupees from 158.71 million rupees in 2011, Euromonitor data showed. 1.1.A. Indian Soft Drinks Market – Detailed Report 1970’s and early 80’s—the entry and exit of Coke India has proved to be perhaps the toughest battle ground for the Cola giants. Coca-Cola was the 1st international soft drinks brand to enter India in early 1970’s. Indian market was dominated by domestic brands, with Limca being the largest selling brand. Cola was the largest selling flavor with market share of 40%, Lemon drinks 31% and orange drinks only 19%. Up till 1977, Coca-cola was the leading soft drink brand in India. But due to norms set by the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA), Coca-Cola left India and did not return till 1993 after a 16 year absence from the Indian beverage market. FERA needed Coca-Cola to reveal its secret concentrate formula as well as reduce its equity stake which was not acceptable. Pure drinks, Delhi launched Campa-Cola, to take advantage of Coke’s exit and by the end of 70’s, were the only Cola drink in the Indian market. In 1980, Parle, another major Indian player launched Thums Up, the drink which till date is most popular soft-drink in India. Pure Drinks strongly objected to Thums Up being called a â€Å"soft† drink as it felt its taste is too strong. For over a decade, Parle led the Indian soft-drinks market, with its market share reaching a peak of 70% in1990. Attempt 1: In May 1985, PepsiCo joined hands with the RPG group to form Agro Product Export Limited. It planned to import Cola concentrate and sell soft-drinks under the Pepsi label and in return offered to export Juice Concentrate from Punjab. The government rejected the proposal due to its using a foreign name and importing the concentrate. Attempt 2: Pepsi decided to play the Punjab Card by promising to invest $15 million in Punjab, establish an Agro Research centre (costing Rs 1.55 crores), a potato and grain based processing unit (costing Rs 8 crores) and a fruit and vegetable processing unit (costing Rs 5 crores). Benefits and proposal included better market for rice, wheat and fruits in Punjab, creation of 25000 jobs in Punjab and 25000 more in other areas. In 1988, government agreed. PepsiCo entered as Lehar Pepsi and by 1991, it was clear that most of its promises were just on paper. The company did improved the productivity in India, introduced farmers to new technology, established agriculture research centers in Jallowal and Channo (in Punjab) and Nelamangla in Karnataka and invested more capital than promised (by the year 2000, total investment was Rs 18 billion), but the picture on many other aspects was gloomy. The planned operations in Punjab were delayed and as a result, local farmers had to bear a combined loss of Rs. 2.5 Million. Pepsi paid only 0.75 Rs/Kg of Tomato compared to open market price of Rs 2/Kg. Employment was provided to only 783 people as compared to 50,000 promised (although company claimed it to be 26,000 due to direct and indirect operations). It began exporting tea, rice, shrimps,  glass bottles, leather products as against fruits and vegetable products. There was an even a show-cause notice to Pepsi by the ministry of commerce. Luckily for PepsiCo, in 1991, the government of India liberated the economy on grounds of severe foreign e xchange crisis and Pepsi was freed from all the commitments it had made during entry. Re-entry of Coca-Cola in 1993 On the 26th of October 1993, Coca-Cola re-entered the Indian market having acquired some of the leading Indian soft drink brands from Parle, namely Thums-Up, Maaza, Limca, Goldspot & Citra. These brands joined Coke’s portfolio of international brands i.e. Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Schweppes as Coca-Cola India took control of the top soft drink brands in India from the very beginning. From 1993 to 2003, company invested US $ 1 billion in India. The beginning of Cola War For the Cricket World Cup 1996, Pepsi was not the official sponsor of the tournament, Coke was. But Pepsi had a whole pool of best players roped in as brand ambassadors from the sub continent and abroad. The ad campaign of â€Å"Nothing Official About it† rocked the country and despite Coke being the official sponsor, it was Pepsi which hogged the publicity. In 1998, with the release of blockbuster movie â€Å"Kuch Kuch Hota Hai†, Pepsi took out another ace from its sleeve, featuring Shahrukh, Rani and Kajol in its ad. The punch line was â€Å"Yeh Dil Maange More† which was an iconic line and struck a chord amongst the people. Coca-Cola countered by spoofing the ad, using Sprite, to hilarious effect. Pepsi responded with a spoof of its own, starring Azhar and Jadeja hitting on the Coke line of â€Å"Eat Cricket, Sleep Cricket, Drink Only Coca Cola† with the punch line of â€Å"More More Cricket, More More Pepsi†. Coke again hit back, this time with Thumbs Up ad. They portrayed the cricketers as monkeys and ended the ad with â€Å"Don’t be a bunder (monkey) Taste the Thunder!† Situation  turned ugly with Pepsi going to court and finally ended with Coke withdrawing the ad. The Cola wars went on full-fledged till 2003, when a pesticide controversy forced Coke and Pepsi to fight on the same side in so called â€Å"India’s New Cola Wars†. The Controversies Presence of Pesticides: In 2003, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) findings stirred the beverage industry in India. CSE claimed to find dangerous levels of pesticides in all the 57 samples of 11 soft drinks brands collected by the organization from 25 different manufacturing units of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo spread over 12 states. The study found a cocktail of three-five different pesticides in all the samples – on an average 24 times higher than norms laid down by government-run Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS). Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Kerala banned the sale of Colas in schools, colleges and government departments, and other states also took adversarial measures. The day after the CSE’s announcement, Coke and Pepsi came together in a rare show of solidarity at a joint press conference. The companies attacked the credibility of the CSE and their lab results, citing regular testing at independent laboratories proving the safety of their products. They promised to provide this data to the public, threatened legal action against the CSE while seeking a gag order, and contacted the United States Embassy in India for assistance. They roped in major film stars to explain their purity to public. Despite all these measures, sales dipped by as much as 80% in some regions. The soft drinks industry took over a year to get back on the growth track. Ground Water Crisis: Coca-Cola was recently accused of ground water depletion in many areas of the country. Coca-Cola’s bottling operations – which extract hundreds of millions of liters of water from the groundwater resource – have significantly worsened the water crisis as groundwater  levels have dropped sharply since Coca-Cola started its operations. The company was also accused of indiscriminately dumping its toxic waste into the surrounding areas – polluting the water as well as the land. The Coke reiterated its commitment to trim down water usage and take steps towards environment sustainability and farmer’s welfare. However, activists retort that Coca Cola is in the business of water usage and wasting, creating a luxury product largely for the middle class. They are unlikely to put water concerns over profits, until they are forced to. The road ahead Amidst various allegations and controversies, the soft drinks industry in India, supported by its booming economy, strengthening middle class and low per capita consumption, is growing at a cruising pace. The focus has shifted from carbonated drinks to Fruit drinks, with both the companies launching Lemon drinks in 2009-10. In the next few years, the fruit juice category is likely to carry the growth flag forward as consumers become more health conscious. The companies are likely to take more steps to deal with environment sustainability. But the Cola wars are here to stay. We as customers can be assured of superior products and hilarious ads in the process. And are we complaining? 1.2 About PepsiCo Inc. PepsiCo is a global food and beverage leader with net revenues of more than $65 billion and a product portfolio that includes 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in annual retail sales. Their main businesses – Quaker, Tropicana, Gatorade, Frito-Lay and Pepsi-Cola – making hundreds of enjoyable foods and beverages that are loved throughout the world. PepsiCo’s people are united by their unique commitment to sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for people and our planet, which they believe also, means a more successful future for PepsiCo. They call this commitment Performance with Purpose: PepsiCo’s promise to provide a wide range of foods and beverages from treats to healthy eats; to find innovative ways to minimize our impact on the environment by conserving energy and water and reducing packaging volume; to provide a great workplace for our  associates; and to respect, support and invest in the local communities where we o perate. Headquarters: Purchase, New York U.S. Area Served: Worldwide Key People: Indira Nooyi (Chairman & CEO) Core net revenue: $65.492 billion (Source: Balance sheet of PepsiCo Inc 2012) PepsiCo India PepsiCo entered India in 1989 and in a short period, has grown into one of the largest and fastest growing food and beverage businesses in the country. PepsiCo India’s growth has been guided by PepsiCo’s global vision of â€Å"Performance with Purpose†. This means that while businesses maximize shareholder value, they have a responsibility to all the stakeholders, including the communities in which they operate, the consumers they serve and the environment whose resources they use. They are one of the largest food and beverage businesses in India. PepsiCo India’s diverse portfolio includes iconic brands like Pepsi, Lay’s, Kurkure, Tropicana 100%, Gatorade and Quaker. PepsiCo India has not only grown to become one of the country’s largest food and beverage businesses but has also become a powerful and consistent driver of PepsiCo’s global growth. Within 2 decades, the company has been able to organically grow eight INR 1000 crore plus brands in India, which are household names trusted across the country. A growing portfolio of enjoyable and wholesome snacks and beverages PepsiCo’s portfolio reflects its commitment to nourish consumers with a diverse range of fun and healthier products. The portfolio includes several healthier treats like Quaker Oats, Tropicana juices, multigrain Aliva range which is baked, rehydrator Gatorade, Tata Water plus, Lay’s baked range and Lehar Iron Chusti fortified extruded snack with superior quality iron & B-vitamins. Model partnership with over 24,000 farmers: PepsiCo has pioneered and established a model of partnership with farmers and now works with over 24,000 happy farmers across nine states. More than 45 percent of these are  small and marginal farmers with a land holding of one acre or less. PepsiCo provides 360-degree support to the farmer through assured buy back of their produce at pre-agreed prices, quality seeds, extension services, disease control packages, bank loans, weather insurance, and the latest technological practices. Global leader in water conservation: In 2009, PepsiCo India achieved a significant milestone, by becoming the first business to achieve ‘Positive Water Balance’ in the beverage world, a fact verified by Deloitte Touchà © Tohmatsu India Pvt. Ltd and has been Water Positive since then. The company made this possible through innovative irrigation practices like direct seeding, water recharging, and by reducing the consumption of water in its manufacturing facilities. PepsiCo is lauded for its efforts for water conservation. Care for the environment: PepsiCo is focused on reducing its carbon footprint. Nearly 30 percent of its energy is today generated from renewable sources such as rice husk boilers and wind turbines. Initiatives such as reduction of use of chemicals, eco-friendly packaging initiatives and efficient waste management help reduce load on the environment. PepsiCo India’s award-winning Waste to Wealth recycling program reaches 465,000 families. Exemplary employment practices: PepsiCo India presently employs 6,400 people and provides indirect employment to almost 2,00,000 people. The company believes in providing employment and growth opportunities to local talent. Its ‘College of Leadership’, ensures early identification of talent, and employees’ focused development through critical experiences. The company emphasizes â€Å"Winning with Diversity and Inclusion† and has a significant number of women in the leadership team in India. PepsiCo India has won the prestigious Hellen Keller Award from the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP). Brands of PepsiCo in India PepsiCo India has various brands under its umbrella the food and beverage industry in India. It enjoys second position in terms of market share, at 34.1% in an aerated drinks industry which is valued at Rs. 14k Cr. Foods PepsiCo’s foods division Frito-Lay is the leader in the branded salty snack market. All its products are free of trans-fat and MSG. It manufactures Lay’s potato chips, Cheetos extruded snacks, Uncle Chipps and traditional snacks under the Kurkure and Lehar brands. The company’s high-fibre breakfast cereal, Quaker Oats and low-fat and roasted snack options like Aliva increase the number of healthy choices available to consumers. Aliva Cheetos Kurkure Lay’s Lehar Namkeen Quaker Oats Uncle Chipps Beverages PepsiCo India’s expansive portfolio includes iconic refreshment beverages Pepsi, 7UP, Nimbooz, Mirinda, Slice and Mountain Dew, in addition to low calorie options such as Diet Pepsi, hydrating and nutritional beverages such as Aquafina drinking water, isotonic sports drink Gatorade and fruit juices such as Tropicana and Tropicana 100%. 7UP Aquafina Duke’s Gatorade Mirinda Mountain Dew Nimbooz Pepsi Slice Tropicana PEPSI Brand History Pepsi is a hundred-year-old brand loved by over 200 million people worldwide. The largest single selling soft drink brand in India, Pepsi is ubiquitous on just about every social occasion. Youngistaan loves it. 200 million people worldwide love it. But what has made Pepsi the single largest selling soft drink brand in India is actually a formula concocted a century ago in a faraway continent. 1886, the US. Caleb Bradman, a man with a plan formulated a blockbuster of a digestive drink and decided to call it Brad’s drink. The potion was to become Pepsi Cola in 1898, and eventually, Pepsi in 1903. Since its inception, Pepsi has always been at the forefront of the beverage industry and has come up with revolutionary concepts such as Diet Pepsi, 2l bottles, recyclable plastic cola bottles and the enviable My Can. Brand Advantage Pepsi has become a friend to youth and youth culture. Over generations, youngsters have grown up with Pepsi and have shared an emotional connect with it unlike with any other cola brand. Be it parties, hangouts with friends, or just another day at home, a day is never complete without the fizz of Pepsi! Pepsi has always fuelled youth passions like cricket, Bollywood, music and now football. Youth icons like MS Dhoni, Ranbir Kapoor, Didier Drogba, Virendar Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone have endorsed Pepsi since its launch in India. Pepsi Changed the Game during the 2011 cricket world cup by challenging convention, celebrating the unorthodox and by becoming the official sponsor of everything that was unofficial about the sport! Change the Game even as a thought has gained enormous popularity and generated tremendous buzz. Taking the same theme forward in 2012, Pepsi changed the game yet again by  taking the lead in celebrating the exciting new platform of football. Having brought the biggest international football stars and pitching them against the mighty Indian cricketers in a classic faceoff for Pepsi – is something which only a brand like Pepsi can deliver. Quick Brand Facts Flagship brand of PepsiCo. 100 year old brand loved by over 200 million people worldwide. An iconic youth brand in India. The single largest selling soft drink brand in India. 1.3 Pepsi Atom – Josh cola from Pepsi Created for the Indian market, in collaboration with Pepsi-Co’s global innovation team, it is a result of extensive flavour development and consumer testing in the country. The cola, the latest addition to the fast growing branded beverage market in India, is available across the country. It comes in a bold black and blue packaging including a 250 ml My Can at an introductory price of Rs 15 and a 500 ml PET bottle at Rs 25. 200 ml returnable glass bottles (RGB) are also available in select markets at Rs. 10. Introductory prices, however, may vary slightly in different markets. Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput is its brand ambassador. See beyond senseless stunts and exaggerated action. Get ready to get real with the Pepsi Atom, the Josh cola from Pepsi. Piyo Josh Mein. Jiyo Hosh Mein PepsiCo India vice-president (beverage marketing) Deepika Warrier said Pepsi Atom addresses the consumer need for a stronger, fizzier cola with a sharp taste hit. â€Å"From robust distribution to large-scale sampling; high-visibility launch at Pepsi IPL to an insightful and relatable campaign, we have aggressive plans,† she added PepsiCo spoofs Thums Up with its Atom campaign The Atom commercial reminds us of the old Thums Up ad. The launch campaign of Pepsi Atom brought spoof advertising back to the cola war turf after years. For at least 10 years, Thums Up has been showing extreme daredevilry in its advertising, through actors such as Akshay Kumar and now Salman Khan. The Atom ad shows a macho man getting slapped by a woman after he mistook her husband for a thief and then the smart guy comes and offers him Atom. Pepsi’s new ATOM to fizz over TOOFAN With an estimated market share of 15%, Thums Up aka TOOFAN is the undefeated champion in the Rs. 14000 cr. Indian soft drinks market. The local brand from the house of Parle Agro was sold to Coca-Cola and then started a journey the buyers never dreamt of. Coca Cola apparently tried to kill the brand once they got hold of it. But, they misread the market and had to channelize the brand in a whole new avatar. The Indian Youth of 80’s and early 90’s were more flaunting in nature and Thumps Up added the zing to this macho era. But with the launch of Spicy Pepsi, there can be a tough completion. PepsiCo the title sponsors of IPL who have bagged the pouring rights for the event, spent approximately Rs. 160 cr. over a span of 50days. ATOM is launched into the markets as internal completion to Thums Up. High Carbonation is the only difference that makes Thums Up a leader in it segment. With the huge failure of Pepsi Blue, this new variant looked a lot promising. Some questions that will be answered towards the end of the report: 1. IPL has started to lose out in terms of viewership, is it safe to put money in this platform? 2. Yougistan was much appreciated, but are they on the right move with their ‘OH YES ABHI’ act? 3. Spicy gives it a Desi Kala Khatta effect, so is it positioned right? 4. It’s hard to play with Consumer Taste Preferences, is the right move taking the approaching summers into consideration? 2. Research Methodology What is Research? Research is a logical and systematic search for new and useful information on a particular topic. It is an investigation of ï ¬ nding solutions to scientiï ¬ c and social problems through objective and systematic analysis. It is a search for knowledge, that is, a discovery of hidden truths. Here knowledge means information about matters. The information might be collected from diï ¬â‚¬erent sources like experience, human beings, books, journals, nature, etc. A research can lead to new contributions to the existing knowledge. Only through research is it possible to make progress in a ï ¬ eld. Research is done with the help of study, experiment, observation, analysis, comparison and reasoning. Research can be conducted by a proper and systematic method. Research methods are the various procedures, schemes, algorithms, etc. used in research. All the methods used by a researcher during a research study are termed as research methods. They are essentially planned, scientiï ¬ c and value-neutral. They include theoretical procedures, experimental studies, numerical schemes, statistical approaches, etc. Research methods help us collect samples, data and ï ¬ nd a solution to a problem. Particularly, scientiï ¬ c research methods call for explanations based on collected facts, measurements and observations and not on reasoning alone. They accept only those explanations which can be veriï ¬ ed by experiments. For any research to be accurate and upto the mark, one needs to collect data and information and conduct analysis accordingly. Thus data collection has to be done. Data can be collected in mainly two ways: Primary data collection Secondary data collection 1. Primary Data: The primary data is that data which is collected fresh or first hand and for first time which is original in nature. Primary data can be collected through personal interview, questionnaire, experiments, survey etc to support the secondary data. Primary data can also be collected by observation. Primary data collection gives a personal touch to the data. It also requires field visits. Primary data is not easily available as one has to go for field visits. 2. Secondary Data: The secondary data are those which are already collected and stored. Secondary data can be easily obtained from records, journals, annual reports, web-blogs, periodicals, magazines. Easily available after the invent of electronic media. For this project primary data has been collected by questionnaire filling method. Secondary data is also used from company websites, other research websites, books and reference material. Recommendations are given on the basis of personal observations and responses received by asking verbal questions to respondents. Data collected by questionnaire is based on sample method. Sampling Sample is a subset of elements from population. It can be better explained as a process of selecting members or elements of a sample from a given population. A bunch of people have been considered, and considered as a universe and sampling is conducted on them. Probability Sampling Methods – A mathematical chance of selecting respondents. There are number of probability sampling strategies that can be used that vary in their complexity. They are: Simple Systematic Stratified Proportionate Cluster Multistage Simple Random Samples: Under this method of sampling the potential people you want to interview are listed e.g. a group of 100 are listed and a group of 20 may be selected from this list at random. The selection may be done by computer. Simple random sampling is the most straightforward of the random sampling strategies. We use this strategy when we believe that the population is relatively homogenous for the characteristics of interest. For example, let’s say you were surveying first-time parents about their attitude towards mandatory seat belt laws. You might expect that their status as new parents might lead to similar concerns about safety measures. On campus those who share major might also have similar interests and values; we might expect psychology majors to share concerns about accesses to mental health services on campus. 2.1.A Research Design Primary data was collected for understanding consumer preferences Secondary data was used for the competitive analysis. Data available on the internet was used in the research. 2.1.B Tools for Data Collection: Primary Data Collection was done through responses collected from questionnaire. The competitive analysis had to be done on the television commercials of the competitors. Secondary data was also collected through various websites. Data Interpretation and Analysis Inference: It can be seen that out of the sample size of 100, 86 people consume aerated drinks. This shows that the market for soft and aerated drinks is huge. The soft drink market today is estimated to be at 14000K Cr. (July’13 A.C.Neilson report). Inference: The awareness about various brands is very well known in the market. All brands are equally known by the consumers. Even the newly launched drink Rio- by Silver Ice Beverages is well known to the masses. Inference: The above chart shows that the major reason behind people not consuming soft drinks is that they find it unhealthy. The unhealthy factor could be due to excess sugar, or the way it affects the tooth. Also a major chunk does not like its gaseous effect. Inference: PepsiCo did a high visibility launch of the product in IPL. PepsiCo roped in Kai Po Che star Sushant Singh Rajput as their brand ambassador. Pepsi Atom has a huge brand recall. Inference: Pepsi Atom’s first commercial was released on 1st May’13. The commercial was shown during all the breaks during the IPL matches, the frequency was huge. Thus the highest level of awareness about the product was created by TV commercial. Apart from this, their facebook page also gave them a good engagement ratio. Inference: Out of the entire sample 86% people said they consume soft drinks. Out of this only 47% people have tried Pepsi Atom. These are mostly the first time buyers. After the huge media spends and the kind of buzz created this ratio could have been better. Inference: Pepsi Co. launched Pepsi Atom as a strong drink to compete with Coca-cola’s Thumps Up which has a standalone market share of 15% in the Rs.14000 cr.  soft drink market. The commercial was an direct attack to Thums Up ads which shows macho men doing high end stunts. But the following research shows that this was not very much appreciated by the masses. The ad couldn’t even create an interest for consumers to try Pepsi Atom. Inference: The following data analysis clearly shows that people were dissatisfied with the taste of Atom. Almost 50% found its taste to be bad. Pepsi Atom was an innovation by PepsiCo which was targeted at the Northern region, which demands a stronger fizz. But Pepsi Atom couldn’t satisfy the taste buds of Indian consumers. Inference: The fizz content of Pepsi Atom was more than satisfactory, which is a added advantage for the product. Even then huge chunks of approximately 33% were not satisfied with the level of fizz. Inference: The colour of the product is like any other black colour drink; hence not much could be said about this parameter. Inference: The packaging of the bottle is very stylish, agreed almost 50% of the respondents. Interference: The product is priced according to industry levels. The product is available in tetra packs as well as returnable glass bottles and is priced same as PepsiCo’s other beverages or Coca-Cola’s other products. Inference: PepsiCo had invested huge amount in the distribution channel of Pepsi Atom. Also spent a lot of amount in its marketing, thus it can be seen that the availability was very good. Inference: The SKU of Pepsi Atom was on par with other industry players. This can be seen in the above bar diagram. Q.9 How different is Pepsi Atom’s taste from other products? This question was answered by individuals by mentioning how they actually found the taste. A snap shot of the same is given below: Inference: 72% repondents denied making a repurchase of Pepsi Atom. If there are no repurchaes it will certainly affect the brand Pepsi as an entity. Inference: PepsiCo conducted a sampling and engagement exercise for Pepsi Atom with over one million consumers across key centres. It said the new brand was in line with its commitment to the Indian consumer. In spite of this 50% of the respondents found the taste to be inappropriate. The market research could be faulty in this case. Findings: Taste: The taste of Pepsi Atom did not touch the tongues of people. Pepsi Atom tastes like cinnamon cola; people preferably do not like taste of cinnamon into cola. It actually feels like one is having some spicy cola. I had also come across a random opinion which mentioned Pepsi Atom tastes like liquefied chawanprash. This chawanprash type taste can certainly lack acceptability to people who like to consume Pepsi along with their meals. Branding v/s Reality: The branding of Pepsi Atom did very powerfully keeping in mind all the factors: Brand Ambassador like Shushant Singh Rajput, a powerful event campaigning and above all positioning it as ‘Josh Cola From Pepsi’. Since it was supposed to be positioned against ‘Thumbs-up’, it campaigned it as Josh Cola. Positioning a spicy cola as Josh cola is merely nothing but an exaggeration. Josh cola builds a perception that it’s an energy drink which is not the reality. Product Innovation: Its time when people are getting health conscious. Since cola drink are not considered healthy to consume, Pepsico could have thought of drink with combination of Cola and some energy ingredients making it a real energy drink for Machos (Young Adults). It would have been best way to shoot thumbs-up. Recommendation: The product should be discontinued immediately and sent back to R&D department. If not this than at lest the advertising spends on this product should be stopped with immediate effect. Pepsi Atom’s packaging was very much appreciated by the masses; PepsiCo can use this packaging on other product or on some new product which it may launch in future. Coca-cola has reduced the prices of their product which has helped in increasing the sales. PepsiCo can also adopt this strategy. Coca-cola reduced their advertising spends and all that cash was used here. PepsiCo has received a huge brand re-call during this IPL span; hence advertising now is not very much needed. PepsiCo India President Manu Anand Quits Manu Anand, region president for India and South Asia at beverage and snacks company PepsiCo, quit the company on Wednesday, 20th June’13. PepsiCo India’s overall share in April was lower than last year, with Coca-Cola managing to increase market share in the same period. PepsiCo’s market share in April this year fell to 29.7% from 32.1% over the same month last year, Coca-Cola increased its market share to 48.3% from 45.8%. PepsiCo had been banking heavily on the IPL T20 and spent a record Rs 160 crore on the tournament, but Coca-Cola grew faster in the period was the final trigger for Anand’s exit. PepsiCo had paid the cricket board Rs 396 crore to buy title sponsorship rights for five years of the IPL starting this year — double of what previous title sponsor, real estate firm DLF, had paid. The spend, media buyers, believe, over-estimates the potential of the controversy-ridden IPL. What Coca-Cola did? To match PepsiCo’s heavy ad spends in the summer season, Coca-Cola has dropped prices of 200-ml glass bottles to Rs 8 in most markets. Coca-Cola has also been discounting heavily in sales to trade and pushing multi-serve packs such as 400 ml, 300 ml glass bottles and 500 ml PET bottles. Annexures Questionnaire Name: _____________________________________________________ Contact no.: _________________Email id: ______________________ Age group 12 yrs – 18 yrs 19 yrs – 30 yrs 31 yrs – 45 yrs 46 and above Gender: Male Female Occupation: Employed Business Self-employed Student House-maker Retired Others ________________ 1. Do you consume soft drinks? a) Yes b) No (If yes please skip question no. 3) 2. From the following soft drinks which ones are you aware off? a) Pepsi b) Coca-cola c) Fanta d) sprite e) Limca f) Thums-up g) Mountain Dew h) Rio i) Appy Fizz j) Miranda k) 7 Up l) Any Other __________________ 3. Please share with us the reason for not consuming soft drinks? a) Its unhealthy b) Allergic to such drinks c) Do not like the gaseous effect d) Do not like the overall taste e) Do not like the sweet taste f) Others: _______ 4. Are you aware of Pepsi Atom? a) Yes b) No (If yes go to next question, if no please exit the survey) 5. Please share with us the mediums through which you became aware about Pepsi Atom? a) TV b) Radio c) Print d) Outdoor e) Internet f) Friends and relatives g) Others (Please specify) _____________ 6. Have you ever consumed Pepsi Atom? a) Yes b) No (If yes skip the next question and go to questions no 8, if no answer next question) 7. Please share with us the reasons why you never consumed Pepsi Atom. a) It was not available b) The advertisement couldn’t create interest for me to try Pepsi Atom c) Doesn’t find it to be worth the price d) Loyal consumer of other brand; Please mention the name of the other product ______________ e) Others : ______________ 8. Kindly rate Pepsi Atom on the basis of the following parameters, 1 being lowest and 5 being highest a) Taste b) Fizz c) Colour d) Packaging e) Price f) Availability g) Volumes/Sizes 9. Does it have a similar taste to any other product? If yes, please mention the name of the similar product : ________________ 10. Will you purchase Pepsi Atom again? a) Yes b) No (If yes exit the survey; thank you for participating. If no then proceed to next question) 11. What is that you did not like about Pepsi Atom a) The taste was not appropriate b) Highly carbonated c) Gives a burning sensation d) Not worth the price e) Others ______________ Bibliography Source The article is published in the 2010 edition of theAnnual Marketing Magazine titled â€Å"MADazine† of VGSOM, IIT Kharagpur. https://www.facebook.com/pepsiatompepsi http://www.campaignindia.in/Tag/pepsi_atom.aspx http://pepsicoindia.co.in http://www.pepsico.com/