Discussion on the Marketing Impacts of the Global Recession Essay

Discussion on the Marketing Impacts of the Global Recession - Essay Example The Global Recession By the end of 2007, what started as an apparently isolated turbulence in the sub-prime segment of the US housing market turned into a full-blown recession by the end of 2007 (Verick & Islam, 2010). The US housing sector, as stated by Verick and Islam (2010), was unaware of the true extent of the complexities and liabilities which, in turn, caused liquidity to dry up, bringing down the global financial system. The economic drawback was spread rapidly and simultaneously through the global financial system to all corners of the world (Jannson, Hilmersson, & Sandberg, 2010). The result is the global economic recession that peaked in 2008. There had been massive lay-offs, unemployment, unpaid mortgages, bigger debts, enormous financial problems and fraud, financial deregulation of credit, automotive sales loss and manufacturing decline. Marketing Impacts of the Global Recession Up to now, recession is still evident in the global scenario. The increasing globalization of economic activity – the interconnectedness of economic activity across national frontiers calls companies and countries to adapt to the negative effects of the recession (Kitching, Blackburn, Smallbone, & Dixon, 2009). Kotler and Keller in 2009 stated that speed of global business is accelerating diversity but that has slowed down, yet, as they say, its business is as usual. The companies must change their marketing strategies and management capabilities to keep up in the market, at the same time giving customer satisfaction. Several methods and strategies were devised or emerged as the reaction of the global market to the recession. According to Kitching et al. (2009), recessions are regarded as periods of â€Å"creative destruction†, during which some businesses and industries decline while new ideas, technologies, products and industries emerge and become the driving forces of subsequent economic activity and growth. Business strategy and performance vary with ow ner perceptions, resources, and opportunities available of the threats faced (Kitching et al., 2009). According to Orr (2010), findings suggest that two principal factors are dominant in determining international strategy during times of financial crisis – home country market conditions, and the level of domestic industry protection introduced by the foreign country government in response to the economic downturn. Other factors including the variability in relative exchange rates also influenced international strategy during financial crises. Marketing Impacts in Certain Countries of the Global Recession Several developed countries had certain impacts in both marketing and management aspects due to the recession. These countries mentioned in the discussion include Japan, the United States, European Union in general, Australia, Singapore and China. In Japan, Toyota Motor Corporation's profitability was badly affected by the recession, resulting in a fall from record profits to record losses (Greimel, 2009 as cited by Orr, 2010). In response, Toyota is planning to limit expenditure and return to its original focus on quality. In reaction to global currency fluctuations, the lower value of currencies in countries such as the US, and

Data Preprocessing Essay Example for Free

Data Preprocessing Essay Data Preprocessing 3 Today’s real-world databases are highly susceptible to noisy, missing, and inconsistent data due to their typically huge size (often several gigabytes or more) and their likely origin from multiple, heterogenous sources. Low-quality data will lead to low-quality mining results. â€Å"How can the data be preprocessed in order to help improve the quality of the data and, consequently, of the mining results? How can the data be preprocessed so as to improve the ef? ciency and ease of the mining process? † There are several data preprocessing techniques. Data cleaning can be applied to remove noise and correct inconsistencies in data. Data integration merges data from multiple sources into a coherent data store such as a data warehouse. Data reduction can reduce data size by, for instance, aggregating, eliminating redundant features, or clustering. Data transformations (e. g. , normalization) may be applied, where data are scaled to fall within a smaller range like 0. 0 to 1. 0. This can improve the accuracy and ef? ciency of mining algorithms involving distance measurements. These techniques are not mutually exclusive; they may work together. For example, data cleaning can involve transformations to correct wrong data, such as by transforming all entries for a date ? eld to a common format. In Chapter 2, we learned about the different attribute types and how to use basic statistical descriptions to study data characteristics. These can help identify erroneous values and outliers, which will be useful in the data cleaning and integration steps. Data processing techniques, when applied before mining, can substantially improve the overall quality of the patterns mined and/or the time required for the actual mining.

Should Museums Charge For Admissions Advantages Disadvantages Economics Essay

Should Museums Charge For Admissions Advantages Disadvantages Economics Essay Museums are expensive to run, with the costs of acquisitions, conservation, maintenance, staff salaries and special exhibitions all weighing heavily upon their budgets. In many cases much of their funding comes from the government, whether at national or local level, with the remainder made up through endowments, income from museum shops and other commercial ventures, private donations and sponsorship, and, very often, through entry fees. By for-profit standards, museums are illogical. Museums have a business model with costs much greater than their revenues. In a non-profit organization, an admission fee wont even begin to cover the costs of delivering its service. Museums have found various ways to increase their income opportunities, for example through gift shops and restaurants. Logically, lowering the admission price, would increase the amount of visitors, these visitors would spend more money in gift shops and restaurants and could possibly result in a higher income. On the other hand, a museum misses out on extra income through admission fees. Is there an equilibrium price? And what are the alternative pricing options? The research question in this paper is: Should museums charge an admission fee? Literature on this issue provides this paper with a theoretical framework, next I will explore the effects of digitalization for museums. A Dutch case study, done by Aarts de Jong Wilms Goudriaan Public Economics (APE) will complete the answer to this question. Museum economics: Museums have high fixed costs. This results in a high average cost curve for museums. The demand curve often lies below this average cost curve. This makes it impossible to set an entrance price at which the total amount of income received through admission fees covers the costs of the museum. (Frey, 2006; Caves,2000) However, admission prices are of the main determinants that influence the economic outcome of a museum. The economic value of a museum is often very high as a result of its collection and location. To increase revenue however, museums do not only depend on admission fees but also on the income that comes from museum gift shops, restaurants, and renting possibilities. Additionally, museums receive a great deal of support, sponsoring and donations. For example, for Boijmans van Beuningen Museum Rotterdam only 20% of its total revenue is derived from direct revenues, while 80% is derived from subsidies. For some Dutch museums however, revenue derived from entrance fees can be up to 50% (Munster et al. 2008). Most museums receive governmental or public support, for the government, their economic performance is of high interest for policy makers. In all cases, entrance fees prove to be a very important determinant that influence the economic outcome of a museum. Questions about what role museums are playing, should play and will play in society, are today subjects very much under discussion. Is the museum a storehouse for things and memories, a showground, a centre for education, a playground for academics, a castle for people with a suitable habitus the way Pierre Bourdieu describes it, or an institution with an important role to fulfil in peoples life and a far-reaching part to maintain in the development of a society? In his article, National Museums: To charge or not to charge? OHagan explains that the most important function of a museum is educational. This function involves people educating and informing people concerning their past and origins, and if finance permits those of other peoples, through the artefacts of the museum, thereby contributing to the formation of a sense of the countrys identity and position in the world. For education only however, physical presence is not entirely necessary and especially in the digital world a museum is able to perform its educational role partly through the use of Internet. With this educational function in mind, charging an entrance fee would limit certain groups of people in accessing the museum, and therefore learning about its content. For museums admission fees maintain to be an important determinant of its revenues therefore museums use pricing options, such as price discrimination. Price differentiation occurs when a firm charges a different price to different groups of consumers for its service, for reasons not associated with costs. Students, children and elderly are often charged less than normal adult visitors. Only a minority of visitors pays the full entrance price. There is however one issue when looking at cultural organizations. The price elasticity for cultural demand is rather low which means differentiating in price does not result in a significant change in demand. As a result of this by raising its entrance price, a museum can generate a significant increase in revenue. Given the income of a consumer (i.e. the spending limit), prices and individual preferences result in a package of goods and services that best satisfy their individual utility. This economic optimization process leads to certain fe atures in which demand for different goods and services such as visits to museums depends on income and prices. Not only the price of the museum itself, but also the price of competing leisure activities and additional costs, such as travelling expenses play an important role in consumer behaviour. However tourists are less likely to feel limited by the admission fee. (Frey et al. 2006) The influence of competing leisure alternatives depends on the character of a museum; For a museum that is highly competing with other leisure alternatives, the price sensitivity of the visit turns out to be higher. In contrast, highbrow and unique museums show that their visitors are less sensitive to price changes. Blockbusters have also shown to be very price-inelastic. (Goudriaan et al, 2007) People with higher incomes tend to be higher educated and more developed preferences for cultural activities (Frey, 2006; Throsby 2001) People who are accustomed to visiting a museum to visit, are not inclined to change this behaviour when their income decreases or admission fees increase. On the other hand, people who are not accustomed to a visiting a museum are insensitive to the incentive free of reduced admission are ought to give. (Goudriaan et al, 2007) Digitalization allows museums to exhibit their collection online, this allows the museum to educate people online. Physical presence is no longer necessary to receive education about the museums artefacts. This could potentially lower the amount of visitors entering the museum. However, most museums gain great benefits from using the digitalization to their advantage, they educate and communicate with their visitors through the Internet. To charge or not to charge? Much has been written about the advantages and disadvantages of setting the admission price of a museum to zero (OHagan 1995; Anderson 1998; Baily and Falconer 1998). In for example the United Kingdom, national museums grant free entry to their visitors. More and more services have free access, such as the Internet, newspapers, unauthorized downloading, public transport etc. As a result, free access has gained popularity. Free access to museum has advantages, it enables all people to be able to visit the museum without getting charged. This might attract a new and bigger audience to experience the museum. In his article, Kirchberg (1998) found that income is the dominating characteristic influencing the subjective significance of entrance fees as a barrier to visiting museums. People in lower social classes experience admission charges as a barrier almost five times as much as higher sociological classed people. Increasing entrance fees increases revenues but according to Kirchberg, not only decreases the number of visitors but also change the socio-economic composition of the attendance. Distributing welfare is mainly the reason for subsidies, in the case of museums the distribution argument does not really hold up: studies have shown that visitors to a museum usually come from higher social classes. People from higher social classes can afford to pay an entrance fee, in practice this means that subs idizing admission prices, does not transfer welfare to lower social classes. Another benefit of free entry to a museum is that is increases the amount of visitors. For a museum, a high number of visitors often reflects cultural prestige (OHagan 1995). In his article OHagan also points out that donors prefer non-profit firms. With higher entrance fees, donors are less wiling to donate money or artefacts. The marginal costs of an additional visitor is zero, therefore another argument for free entry to a museum is the efficiency argument: entrance fees should then also be zero to satisfy efficiency (Frey, 2010). On the other hand, literature suggests that there are problems in determining the costs of museum services (Baily and Falconer 1998). There are still costs in allowing visitors into a building, they require security, heating, light and physical space). Free access also has disadvantages. According to Frey, efficiency is not attained if the respective museums get overcrowded and the quality of a visit decreases. This results in museums limiting visitors by enhancing admission restrictions, such as requiring visitors to place a reservation in advance. This raises the danger than tickets can be sold on the black market, a visit then cab still become a costly experience. Visitors can also think that something that has no price, has no value resulting in a decrease in a museums total revenue. In his article Steiner (1997) calculates the impact of free entry for one day to the total revenue of a museum. His study shows that the amount of additional visitors does not overcome the loss of the admission charges it would receive on a normal day. Additionally, the crowd of people the museum attracted contributed to the loss of value of the exhibition. Most of the museums that offer free access, charges for access to special or blockbuster exhibitions. Another strategy for free museums to make visitors pay is asking for a donation at the end of the visit. By doing so, they museum captures the wiliness to pay form visitors (OHagan 1995). A visitor is not obliged to pay, but often willing to do so as they enjoyed the visit. The more satisfying the visit, the more a visitor is willing to pay. This is also a better distribution of welfare, as the social higher classes have to ability to pay more, and the lower social classes have the ability to pay less. With free entrance leading to a higher amount of visitors, exit donation can bring in significant extra financial resources for a museum. Prices can be differentiated to allocate the resources as efficiently as possible. According to Frey, when demand is low, prices should be kept close to zero. When demand is high, prices can be higher to avoid overcrowding, This enables visitors with the highest willingness to pay to enter the museum. People with a low price elasticity should be charged higher prices than visitors with a high price elasticity of demand. Finally, price can be differentiated when visitors target a special exhibition, normal collection should be priced lower. Another option is to charge local visitors less than foreign visitors or tourists as tourists have a significantly lower price elasticity of demand than locals. Often, when visiting a city, visiting the museum is a must, and the additional costs of entrance fee are often easily paid for. Another argument for entrance fees is that the extra benefits a visitors receives from going to a museum, added to for example the existence value (Frey, 2006) should be paid for. As pointed out before, price elasticity of demand for cultural services is low, therefore ticket prices may not be the best explanation for demand. OHagan finds that, when The Long Room of Trinity College Dublin stated on entry that admission prices are required to improve the quality of the visit, the amount of visitors raised. Another variant of entry fees is creating a museum club. A fixed contribution is required to become a member and receive free entry to the museum. For culturally active people, this is a good solution and often cheaper than paying full entrance fees. For a museum, it has the same advantages and disadvantages of free entrance but it raises revenues (Frey, 2010) Problems with pricing is that it is often considered unfair. Considering the main role of a museum is education, it should be free for everyone to visit and become educated. In his article, Frey proposes a whole new pricing mechanism for museum: the application of exit prices. Instead of charging visitors when they enter a museum, they are charged on exit. The amount of time spent in the museum sets the exit price. A disadvantage of this proposal is that the length of visit becomes a great part of an economic calculation. A major advantage is that the experience of the visit, is charged afterwards. If the experience was not satisfying for the visitor, he/she would leave early and pay a lower price. Visitors pay for their use of the facility, this raises efficiency. The price system can considered to be less unfair, because up to a certain point, people can set their own prices. Frey also opts for the first 20 minutes to be free of charge, so that people who normally would not visit a museum, receive an incentive to stay only for a short period, maybe they will return later for a longer visit. The Dutch case study Aarts de Jong Wilms Goudriaan Public Economics (APE) has been commissioned by the ministry to research the possibilities for free entry for Dutch museums. In several extensive research papers, they calculate the effects of free entrances fees. Table 1: The quantitative effects of free entrance on all Dutch museums: Additional visits (x1000) Increase in visits (%) Total costs (x1mln.) Total cost per extra visit in Euros Free entry to the entire collection 5.867 30,0 98,9 17 Free entry every Sunday 416 2,1 23,4 56 Free entry once every month on Sunday 183 0,9 6,0 33 Free entry during one working day per week 267 1,4 11,2 42 Free museum card for students 1.623 8,3 12,3 8 Free entry to general collection 5.207 26,6 81,9 16 Source: APE Table 1 shows that the effects on the number of visits are most significant when free entry is given to the entire museum, including general collection and special exhibitions, followed by free entry to the general collection only. Both options also bring in the highest overall costs for the museums, costs per extra visit are relatively low because there is no real shift in the amount of visits from days on which visitors are charged, to days visitors are not charged an entrance price. A weekly free entry on Sunday raises the most costs for the museum because a shift appears from days on which visitors are charged to days visitors are not charged any admission fee. In all cases, the loss of entrance fees causes the greatest deal of costs for a museum. Their research shows that free entry increases the number of visits, but they state: we do not expect miracles to happen from removing entrance fees. The composition of visitors has proven to be very difficult to change. In another research, done by APE they have calculated the price elasticity of Dutch museums. From 1984- 2005 admission prices raised with 6,2% per year, this does not lead to a significant change in the umber of visits. They show that with a price elasticity of -0,18 the museum sector has the lowest price elasticity of all cultural sectors. With every 1% increase in price, visits reduce by 0,18%. According to the research this is a result of the fact that potential visitors value travelling expenses and consumption costs to be more important than admission prices. The price of substitutes is a major determinant for the number of visits to a museum: when substitutes raise their prices, the number of visits to a museum increases and vice versa. Ape also predicts price sensitivity for 2005- 2015: Figure 1: Predictions for changes in admission prices 2005-2015 Source: APE The index shows that the number of visits to a museum is unlikely to be affected by an increase or a decrease in entrance prices. Conclusion Museums have high fixed costs. This results in a high average cost curve for museums. The demand curve often lies below this average cost curve. This makes it impossible to set an entrance price at which the total amount of income received through admission fees covers the costs of the museum. However, admission prices are of the main determinants that influence the economic outcome of a museum. To increase revenue however, museums do not only depend on admission fees but also on the income that comes from museum gift shops, restaurants, and renting possibilities. Additionally, museums receive a great deal of support, sponsoring and donations. Museums have different roles to fulfil, educating is one of them, as is collection and researching. An important goal for many museums is reaching groups far from consuming culture. Other goals are financial revenue, conservation and gaining prestige. In this essay, various literature has been discussed offering different pricing options. The most important ones are free entry and efficiency admission fees, which both have advantages and disadvantages. Free entry is likely to increase the number of visitors, but museum visitors often come from higher socio-economic classes, which transfers the benefits from no entrance fee mostly to these upper classed visitors instead of the social lower classes as it is intended to. The existence value shows that museums radiate positive external effects for non-visitors, this effect supports free entrance. However, the benefits for visitors are higher than for non-visitors. Low price elasticity for museums helps support the argument for admission fees. There are various pricing options. Standard pricing is considered to be unfair, as it does not consider the willingness and ability to pay for visitors, considering the educating role, different groups of people should all be able to enter the museum. Prices need to be differentiated, allowing elderly, students and other groups to enter for a reduced price to match their ability to pay. Another option is to charge local visitors less than foreign visitors or tourists as tourists have a significantly lower price elasticity of demand than locals or the application of exit prices. The case study by APE, shows that removing entrance fees only results in a significant increase in the number of visitors when all Dutch museums would remove their entrance fees. As a result of a low price elasticity for museum visits, a change in price does not significantly affect the demand for a museum. These findings indicate that free entrance is not the best option for a museum to reach many people. Price changes do not affect the number of visits that much, a museum is better of differentiating its price in a way that lower socio-economic classes are still able to afford a visit if they decide to. Since higher socio-economic classes continue to be the most dominant visitors in a museum, an entrance fee will not likely decrease the number of visits. Entrance fees can contribute to a museums revenues and allow a museum to generate extra income that can be spent on increasing the quality of the experience for visitors.

Reggio Emilia Approach Analysis

Reggio Emilia Approach Analysis Children are explorers and love to investigate what is going on around them. Imagine if their whole day was spent in an environment with beauty formed by their own creativity? Having the opportunity to play with natural and open ended materials of their own interests, guidance from educators to construct their learning and thinking on exciting topics, and most importantly having their families be greatly involved in their day, the learning outcomes of each child would be concrete and long lasting. These are the kinds of opportunities provided by educators from the Reggio Emilia Approach, found by researcher and teacher Loris Malguzzi. Creativity seems to emerge from multiple experiences, coupled with a well-supported development of personal resources, including a sense of freedom to venture beyond the known (Loris Malaguzzi, The Hundred Languages of Children, ch. 3, by Carolyn Edwards (1993). This essay will be discussing what the Reggio Emilia Approach is, and which constructivist theories influence the Reggio Emilia curriculum. It will also uncover the curriculum elements and key programming used in the approach and lastly how its approach supports the six principles of the ELECT document used in Ontario. The topics discussed in this paper will be based on the research found in the book Authentic Childhood Experiencing Reggio Emilia in the Classroom by Susan Fraser and also online sources. First of all, what is the Reggio Emilia Approach? This question arises amongst many people like, researchers in child studies, parents looking for childcare, educators looking to work, the government when looking to see statistics to see what curriculum model has a successful outcome of quality childcare and many more persons who are interested in what different childcare approaches provide. In relation to this, the Reggio Emilia Approach was found by an early education specialist from a town in North Italy called Reggio Emilia his name was Loris Malaguzzi (1920-1994). Malaguzzis vision attracts the world through his play and project based curriculum, children play and educators guide their play into projects that interest them. The approach is a combination of principles that build the child centred environment and curriculum. Collaboration is when everyone works together and includes parents, educators, communities and the children; the image of the child-conceptualizing an image of the child as competent, inventive, and full of ideas (Fraser, 2000, Page 8). The environment is known as the third teacher as it is carefully set up by educators to challenge the childs curiosity and learning. Documenting is a display of what the childs experiences are shown through language and creativity. Provocation is when educators listen carefully to what the children are saying and further guide the thoughts and accomplishments. Plans and investigations are also made by everyone involved, which is known as progettazione. A unique principle found in the Reggio Emilia approach is the one hundred languages of children which means that the children use many different resources and materials to make symbolic representations o f ideas that may arise (Fraser, 2000, Page 8). The principles from the Reggio Emilia Approach also include uninterrupted play. As a whole it is an exciting learning environment for the children, educators and parents all co-learning together. As a second point, lets discuss which theories influence the Reggio Emilia curriculum. For instance in a Montessori school the philosophy will be of Maria Montessori and the day will be planned out using didactic materials and sequential steps based on her research on child studies. The Reggio Emilia Approach is not just based on one philosophy like the Montessori but it is actually based on a number of different philosophers. including Jean Piagets theory for the sequences of cognitive development, Lev Vygotsky theory for the social aspects of learning and the importance of play, Jean Deweys theory for the role of play, human nature and viewing the child in the context of the family and society (Fraser,2000, Page14), Hugh Gardiners theory of multiple intelligences, Urie Bronfenbrenners theory on the environment, Barbara Bibers theory included collaboration and positive self image, and there may be more. As a result of having so many philosophies combined in the Reggio Emilia Approac h, it is known to be a model, focusing on the whole child, development, environment, play, family involvement, self image controlled by educators really understanding how to guide children to express their feelings, and how children use their multiple intelligence and symbolic language. The third topic this paper is addressing, what are the curriculum elements and key programming used in Reggio Emilia Schools? Curriculum is what the children learn from and the experiences they have when being cared for in a child care centre. Key programming is the goals and schedules that a school may have. Traditionally a lot of early childcare centres would plan what toys and activities the children would play with and then help and teach the children how to use them or how to do an activity and then a report may be written to show parents how the child is getting along according to the childs development stage. In the Reggio Emilia Approach the curriculum is very different to traditional teacher taught curriculums. It is planned by what the children are interested in while playing and engaging in activities of their choice. Assessment is used to plan what to do in the classroom based on a childs interests. Its role in the project process is to learn the childrens behaviours, to discover childrens interests, to revisit projects with the children, to gain knowledge on the childrens capabilities and as a tool to study children. The Reggio Approach suggests that by assessing projects over and over again, children understand their own questions. It also stresses that parents, children and educators are co-learners. Additionally the rationale for educators is to assess alongside the children. Educators facilitate rather than directing the children. Educators assess by observing and stepping in or stepping back whenever they need to. They also ask important questions that challenge the children to figure things out by their own curiosity. Documentation is also used to plan the Reggio Approach. Here there are many different methods of documentation from simple note form to the more sophisticated electronic equipment, such as digital cameras, webs, audio recorders, and video recorders (Fraser, 2000, Page 83) depending on what kind of observations are being made. The different observational techniques are running records which are the method used more often, time sampling, art displays, event sampling, anecdotal records, tape recording, sequences of photographs, displays of projects, and video tapes. In the Reggio Approach documentation is used as soon as something happens, The diary of Laura a diary taken from a Reggio Centre in Italy states that teachers work closely with the children taking notes, recording observations they think have meaning toward the learning of that child. Documentation is done when needed theres not only specific timings, notes can be taken at any time, Documentation is done to further assessment and planning towards projects that children want to start or are already working towards. The Reggio Emilia Approach does not have an organized planned curriculum it is actually very spontaneous and is built according to individual or group interests of the children. To emphasize that the curriculum is spontaneous and is planned on the interest of the children educators use different methods of observations at any time. There are many ways to observe in the Reggio Approach. Note taking is one way to observe, they also use diaries to write reflections on observations, photography, videos, audio, written, watching play and careful listening to conversations. Parental observations are taken at home and noted. The rationale for the parent assessments are that they know their children best and children are carefully observed on how the environment is used. The Reggio Emilia Approach suggests that children speak one hundred symbolic languages and they use observations to determine and understand what these languages are. To clarify, observations are used for assessment, documen tation, planning and implementing the curriculum. With this in mind the educators role is to guide the natural curiosity and learning of the children, and the environment is known as the third teacher. The children are little researchers. They can and want to communicate with the surrounding world (Reggio Emilia Philosophy, www.education.com). There are many factors that have to be taken into account when it comes to the role of observations and implementing. The decision to carry out observations is usually the result of a question that has arisen about a child or a group of children and their behaviour or activities in the centre. (Fraser, 2000, Page 81) Similarly, other factors have important roles in implementing the learning process, for example time is important. Children need lots of time to work on ongoing projects. In the Reggio Emilia Approach there are no time limits on projects. Children work on projects as long as they are still interested. Space and layout is carefully set up for dramatic play, water play, block play, physical and manipulation, art and creativity, outdoor play, and quiet time area. This encourages social skills, problem solving skills, making personal choices and team work methods. Teachers carefully organize spaces for small and large group projects and small intimate spaces for one, two and three children. (About Reggio Emilia philosophy, www.education.com) The environment is made to look beautiful and inviting. Another factor in implementing the curriculum process is that the resources that are provided by the educator, another important role of the educator. Materials are carefully chosen they can be natural materials, toys, games, water play, creative materials, open ended materials, blocks, puzzles, books, sand toys, or even dress up clothes for dramatic play. Children use the materials so they can play and further their learning. To manipulate and start the process of projects the educators use positive language and encouragement to help children learn how to express their emotions. Educators plan team meetings to discuss the observations and planning. Parents are always welcome to join or help make decisions. Meetings are used to plan what materials need to be taken out, how the environment should be set up, what is needed for projects that are emerging and also what things need to be changed. The Reggio Emilia Approach is very similar to the emergent curriculum. A lot of the factors used in Reggio are used in the emergent curriculum, but the emergent curriculum emphasizes development and interest and Reggio emphasizes on interest. The final point to discuss in this paper is about how the Reggio Emilia Approach uses all six principles of the ELECT document. In the Reggio Emilia Approach there is a link to the first principle of the ELECT document which is Early child development sets the foundation for lifelong learning, behavior and health An example of this is that diaries are shown to parents, each project is based on being child centered and play based which means that it has to be developmentally appropriate, each assessment is done to figure out the interests of the child and each child is observed to their own developmental stage and long term projects are used so educators can see how children are growing and are developing their learning. Also there are various philosophies used in the Reggio Approach one in particular linked to the different stages and sequences of development are the philosophy of Piaget. The second principle of the ELECT document is Partnerships with families and communities strengthen the ability of early childhood settings to meet the needs of children. The link to the Reggio Emilia Approach to the second principle are that parents work as co learners with educators and children in the Reggio Emilia approach and photographs are displayed around the centre for the children to have a reminder of home. The third principle of the ELECT document is Respect for diversity, equity and inclusion are prerequisites for honoring childrens rights, optimal development and learning:. The next link to The Reggio Emilia Approach is parents are important, one influence is the philosophy of Bronfenbrenner, everyone involved -children, parents and teacher pay an integral part in what is known as the circle of we (Fraser, page.102) Reggio centres respect and support families, cultures and all diverse situations, in addition to this, the Approach also brings families together, learning about the different families, cultures, food and dressing up. The fourth principle of the ELECT document is A planned curriculum supports early learning. This principle is met by the projects that take place in the Reggio schools, projects are worked on in depth and detail, the child centered approach and childrens interest plan the curriculum. The Reggio Emilia Approach can be defined therefore as contextual, that is, it is determined by the dialogue among children, teachers and the environment surrounding them (The Reggio Emilia Approach Truly listening to young children, www.oecd.org). The fifth principle is Play is a means to early learning that capitalizes on childrens natural curiosity and exuberance, this principle is linked to the Reggio Emilia Approach The Reggio Approach is play based and has the same philosophy to the ELECT and the Emergent which is that children learn and grow through different types of play. The word play is not a frequently used word in The Reggio Approach, although as seen above, spontaneous play and play valued as meaningful learning figure among the goals for learning and development. (The Reggio Emilia Approach Truly listening to young children, www.oecd.org), in addition to this the Reggio Emilia Approach also states that play is used to depict 100 different languages through symbolic languages. The last principle, principle six is Knowledgeable, responsive early childhood professionals are essential. This principle is also linked to Reggio Emilias Approach, as Reggio Centers have teachers with extensive staff development; teachers make goals for them self and teachers also learn alongside the children enhancing their understanding of children. Another example of this principle is that the educators of Reggio schools sometimes are not qualified but learn from the other teachers and through each daily experience with the children. In conclusion to this paper it shows that it can take a number of philosophys to create a high quality model, and that not just one philosophy is better than another, but each philosophy actually compliments one another, similarly it proves that children dont necessarily need to be taught by a teacher but can learn by having the opportunity to construct their own learning through a child centered approach. In addition this paper also shows that the role of play, culture, parents, educators, the environment, observations, assessment, documentation, and planning are all very important to implement a childs learning to make up a model like the Reggio Emilia Approach. Finally this paper proves that the Reggio Emilia Approach follows an emergent curriculum that can link to all six principles of the framework provided by the ELECT document.

Gatsby Summary :: essays papers

Gatsby Summary Jay Gatsby is one of the most interesting and memorable males in fictional literature, even though he is not a dynamic and changing character during the novel. In fact, Jay Gatsby has changed little since he was a teenager. Born as James Gatz to poor farmers in North Dakota, he decided at an early age that he wanted more out of life than North Dakota could offer. He leaves home to find excitement and wealth. While lounging on the beach one day, he sees a yacht docked off the coast. He borrows a boat and rows out to introduce himself to the owner of the yacht. Dan Cody is an extremely wealthy and wildly extravagant man. He takes a liking to young James Gatz and offers him a job. When the boy boards the boat to become Cody's assistant and protector, he leaves behind the identity of James Gatz forever; the rest of his life he will be known as Jay Gatsby, an incurable and idealistic romantic who fills his life with dreams. After Cody dies, Gatsby joins the army and is stationed in Louisville, Kentucky, where he meets and falls in love with Daisy Fay, the most popular and wealthy young lady in town. She is also attracted to him and even thinks about marrying him and running away, but her parents stop her plans. When Gatsby is sent to Europe to fight the war, Daisy is faithful to him for a short while. She soon, however, tires of waiting for Gatsby and marries Tom Buchanan. When Gatsby receives her final letter, explaining her plans, he is crushed; he vows he will dedicate the rest of his life to winning Daisy back for himself. He is sure that if he amasses a large enough fortune, he will be able to manipulate time, erasing Daisy's marriage and fixing her future with him. Gatsby comes to the East Coast and makes a fortune in bootlegging and other questionable business activities due to the help of characters such as Meyer Wolfsheim. He buys an ostentatious mansion on West Egg, in order to be directly across the bay from Daisy Buchanan. He gives his wild, extravagant parties and drives his flashy automobiles in hopes of attracting Daisy's attention. She has become his reason for being - his holy grail.

Death Of A Salesman :: essays research papers

No one has a perfect life. Everyone has conflicts that they must face sooner or later. The ways in which people deal with these personal conflicts can differ as much as the people themselves. Some insist on ignoring the problem as long as possible, while some attack the problem to get it out of the way. Willy Lowman's technique in Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman, leads to very severe consequences. Willy never really does anything to help the situation, he just escapes into the past, whether intentionally or not, to happier times were problems were scarce. He uses this escape as if it were a narcotic, and as the play progresses, the reader learns that it can be a dangerous drug, because of it's addictiveness and it's deadliness. The first time Willy is seen lapsing off into the past is when he encounters Biff after arriving home. The conversation between Willy and Linda reflects Willy's disappointment in Biff and what he has become, which is, for the most part, a bum. After failing to deal adequately with his feelings, he escapes into a time when things were better for his family. It is not uncommon for one to think of better times at low points in their life in order to cheer themselves up so that they are able to deal with the problems they encounter, but Willy Lowman takes it one step further. His refusal to accept reality is so strong that in his mind he is transported back in time to relive one of the happier days of his life. It was a time when no one argued, Willy and Linda were younger, the financial situation was less of a burden, and Biff and Happy enthusiastically welcomed their father back home from a long road trip. Willy's need for the "drug" is satiated and he is reassured that everything will turn out okay, and the family will soon be as happy as it was in the good old days. The next flashback occurs during a discussion between Willy and Linda. Willy is depressed about his inability to make enough money to support his family, his looks, his personality and the success of his friend and neighbor, Charley. "My God if business doesn't pick up , I don't know what I'm gonna do!" (36) is the comment made by Willy after Linda figures the difference between the family's income and their

Fyffes Case Study

IntroductionFyffes are an Irish company founded in 1888 that specialise in fruit production. The company is said to be â€Å"world famous† according to the Fyffes website, one reason being that their bananas were the first branded fruit in the world (Fyffes, 2013). Fyffes are the oldest fruit brand in the world and are headquartered in Dublin. The company began in London, soon to become the most popular banana brand in the world, the organisation was born into the marketplace devoid of competition.Their â€Å"blue label bananas† allowed them to become unique and furthermore dominators of the fruit market. Today, their main product is the banana, although they also produce other fruits including the Fyffes Gold Pineapples and Fyffes melons. Fyffes currently market their produce in Europe and the United States and are involved in the production, procurement, shipping, ripening, distribution and marketing of bananas, pineapples and melons.SWOT Analysis of Fyffes.StrengthsF yffes have several strengths such as a large brand portfolio that is very well recognized. Furthermore they have a strong brand recognition among both customers and institutions, that allows them to penetrate new markets and also hold a large share in existing markets. They operate a vertically integrated supply chain that allow economies of scale in fruit in both sourcing and distribution. (Fyffes,2013) There strong market position allows them with a lot bargaining power in the market. They have a large number of supply chain activities that include ; Production, procurement, shipping, ripening and the distribution and marketing of bananas but also melons and pineapples.WeaknessesFyffes lack in the scale of operations when compared to their competitors ; Chiquita Brands, Dole foods and Fresh Del Monte produce. They are somewhat dependent on european market, but this has greatly improved since 2008 when  there 51% of their revenue came from the eurozone. There competitors have sig nificantly bigger distribution and marketing channels along with greater financial resources. This can be seen in 2013 revenues were Fyffes is listed fourth behind Dole food, Fresh Del Monte, Chiquita and Total Produce. (Fyffes,2013)OpportunitiesA company acquisition may help enhance pineapple production. This would increase production and supply. Fyffes have identified their weakness of lack of scale and made progress by establishing a network(s) across Germany. This includes both distribution and ripening centres. Fyffes have been paying a tariff on bananas imported in to the european union since 2006 due to the European Union banana import regulation. This has given competitors importing from other regions the upper hand. However the EU have agreed to reduce this tariff on latin american bananas in stages, when this fully implemented this could reduce Fyffes’ operating costs significantly. (ibid)ThreatsFyffes have strong competition across all their product lines, competit ion include global companies as listed previously but also agricultural cooperatives and foreign government sponsored producers. Further to this competitor companies have larger financial resources allowing them more purchasing power along with more capital to expand and improve. (ibid)Target CountryAs the huge demand for bananas and tropical fruits in Europe constantly increases Fyffes have found themselves sourcing throughout The Tropics,Caribbean and countries in Central America for example Costa Rica and Columbia. With the European Union being the largest consumer importer for bananas, it is Fyffes target market. In Britain alone over 5 billion bananas are consumed each year, hence why they are the 4th largest importer bananas in the world and one of Fyffes major target countries. They have a strong competitive advantage as the British market is one they know very well and can use this against other companies such as Chiquita who are a  Latin American company.Another target co untry for Fyffes is Germany being the 2nd largest importer of bananas in the world.Fyffes can easily trade with Germany as it is within the European Union.Although the United States are the number one largest importers for bananas it is unlikely that they would be able to compete with the firms from South America. Companies such as Del Monte,Dole Food Company and Bonita are the largest banana firms in the US and dominate the market.As bananas are only produced in countries with a very specific climate such as The Carribean or The Tropics they’re target countries are the places where the fruit cannot be readily grown and must be imported.â€Å"Bananas and pineapples are grown in countries of the tropics – Africa, Latin America, Caribbean, Pacific etc. Many countries produce bananas as a staple food and only around 20% of all bananas that are produced are actually exported.Most bananas and pineapples sold on the British market are exported from Latin America, and increa singly West Africa, as companies relocate in search of ever ‘cheaper' fruit, pursuing a ‘Race to the Bottom' in terms of social and environmental standards.† (www.Bananalink.org.uk 2013)Products Selected to Go InternationalHeadquartered in Dublin, Fyffes has expanded greatly and is now operating in several different regions including the United Kingdom, mainland Europe, U.S.A. along with Central and South America. With Fyffes being one of the largest fruit companies in the world, their internationally distributed products include bananas, melons, pineapples and the newly added product that is plantains.Fyffes are renowned on a world stage for being the most notable distributor and seller of bananas. Operating in a vast amount of countries in the Caribbean and South America, as of 2012 Fyffes was the â€Å"largest importer of Fairtrade bananas into the European Union† (Fyffes, 2012). These bananas are sourced from countries such Ecuador, Costa Rica, Brazil, P eru and the Ivory Coast. After the bananas have been harvested and washed they are palletised for shipping in temperature controlled holds.Fyffes have marketed their bananas from the standpoint that they are nutritionally beneficial to all. They preach the biological benefits of their products whether it is through their website, general advertising or through they’re labelling etc. They boast the fact that â€Å"bananas are known as the energy fruit because they provide a quick-but-sustained energy boost in a natural, nutritious and easily digestible form† as well as the rather low caloric count of just 95 kcal per banana. Much of the same marketing is used for their pineapples. Fyffes’ ‘Gold Pineapples’ are described as â€Å"Supersweet† (Fyffes.com, 2013) and is sourced mainly from Ecuador, Panama and Costa Rica. These are packaged and distributed around the world.The pineapples are shipped in condition controlled vessels to ensure an appr opriate balance of sugar and acidity is maintained. Once again Fyffes market their product based on the nutritional benefits. They declare that their â€Å"Supersweet† pineapples contain â€Å"three times more vitamin C than traditional pineapples† along with their low fat content and the presence of digestive enzymes (Fyffes.com, 2013). Fyffes third main product is their variety of melons. Fyffes’ selection includes a range of both summer and winter melons. The summer melons include galia, watermelons and cantaloupe.The winter melons include watermelons, honeydew and cantaloupe. They are high in vitamins A and C and contain digestive fibre. The countries in which they are in grown in include Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica. As previously mentioned, Fyffes introduced what are known as ‘fruit snacks’ in the form of plantains chips. The plantain is a variation of the banana and is being marketed as a variation to potato chipsEntry Modes UtilisedFyf fes have been exporting to the UK for the last 120 years from its base in Ireland. The first step Fyffes took after exporting to the UK was to export to EU member states. This was a low risk natural progression for Fyffes as the EU operate a free trading policy within member states and many of the original member states have a similar demographic as that of Ireland and the UK.These markets had similar demand as their climates were not susceptible to growing bananas and this proved to be a venture that increased the recognition of the blue label brand and maximised the use of current  resources as well therefore proving highly profitable. In 1995 to expand on its European distribution channels Fyffes entered into a venture with the Windward Island Banana Development and Exporting Company (WIBDECO), and bought out Geest Bananas which were a major competitor in the British market (Bananalink, 2013). In 2005 the company entered into a strategic alliance with the Turbana Corporation in order to expand its market reach and develop its US market share.As Fyffes grows and increases its market share larger economies of scale are allowed for. Fyffes buy most of their fruit from farms in Belize, Panama and Costa Rica, it does however own about 6,000 acres of land in Costa Rica as well as smaller farms in Panama and Belize (Carswell, 2013).The company is hoping that by 2014 they will grow 60 per cent of the pineapples they sell. A recent development in the containers used to keep the fruit fresh while shipping means that the fruit could be kept fresh for 35 days of shipping, far longer than the current 23. Fyffes are hoping this will allow them to export their fruit from their Central American headquarters in Costa Rica to growing markets in Russia and the Middle East.Resource Commitmentâ€Å"Resource commitment refers to the level of dedicated assets – physical or human – that cannot be transferred from one country to another without loss of economic val ue†. An example of this may be that a firm adapt its product and resources to suit the needs of the host importing company (Petersen, 1999). This essentially may result in increased revenue in that specific area but may not help revenue figures as a whole for the firm. Fyffes has continuously shown resource commitment to several different foreign markets.Due to the very nature of the fruit business Fyffes was technically always an import-export business. As an Irish company selling tropical fruit there was always a need for shipping the fruit from the likes of Costa Rica and Panama. Therefore these resources were already owned by the company. In order to grow their exports Fyffes had to expand on these resources. Fyffes were the first company to properly transport their fruit on their ships. They changed from just transporting the fruit in bunches to using proper containers on board, this was key to shipping the fruit further afield.Alasdair MaCleod, head of Fyffes in their Ce ntral American base said that  only once in his 20 years in the business had he lost an entire shipload of fruit as a result of a ripe box of bananas prematurely ripening others on board the ship. As mentioned previously Fyffes hope to further improve their shipping containers and therefore advance into more new markets. This is a resource commitment that is sure to pay off . (Carswell, 2013)Environmental Factors Impacting on InternationalizationThere are four main environmental factors that can impact the internationalization of a company. These are the competitive, legal, political and economic environments. It is imperative that a company must overcome these obstacles in the marketplace in order to establish internationalization of their firm. For fyffes, their competitive environment struck them first in the late 1920s.Their first competitor, Jamaica Bananas Producers Ltd, began to sell their fruit in large amounts to the British market. Fyffes counteracted by branding their f ruit to enable recognition of their bananas. The blue Fyffes label then became iconic, it was their major selling point. Henry Stockery CEO of Fyffes in 1929 said that,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"today people are asking for the ‘Blue Label’ bananas†.The popularity of their ‘blue labeled bananas’ allowed them to dominate the banana market and to wipe out all of their competitors.With regards to the legal, political and economic aspect, according to Fyffes website, it states that,   Ã¢â‚¬Å"fyffes is aware of the social and environmental issues associated with the products that it sources and sells†. (Fyffes, 2013).They follow a strict code of practices in order to produce their product at the highest quality and approved ethical standards. Furthermore, Fyffes is said to be â€Å"pro-active† with matters such as environmental impact and fair labour prices by heavily participating in industry forums on social, ethical, health and safety and environmental is sues.Success (or otherwise) ExperiencedBeing one of the worlds most prominent fruit distributors, Fyffes has enjoyed an overwhelming amount of success since its founding all those years ago in 1888. Not only are they still in existence, but they have still maintained their image as one of the fruit industry’s big guns. A huge contributing factor to their success was tapping into the retail supermarket area and producing at a large scale.â€Å"Our business has evolved to meet the needs of the big retailers and today, 90% of our produce is destined for supermarket.† (Barrett, 2013)Fyffes is Europe’s biggest banana importer with estimated sales of about â‚ ¬1 billion annually, exporting up to 40 million boxes of bananas (roughly 4.5 billion bananas) and 8.5 million boxes of pineapples from farms in Costa Rica, Belize and Panama every year. Ireland accounts for 10 per cent of the company’s exports. They became the first company in their area to place a bra nd on their fruit in 1929. The company’s approach to business in todays market is structured by the same commitment to quality and confidence in the integrity of it’s fruit that prompted the introduction of the pioneering brand label idea.As a company, Fyffes have pledged to carrying out the utmost of fair trade as well as environmentally sustainable production. Innovation is a highly influential factor in relation to Fyffes’ approach carrying out business. â€Å"Fyffes taps container technology to broaden market reach† (Carswell, 2013) This is a recent example of innovation where Fyffes propose the use of a new container system which can preserve fruit for as long as 35 days. This would allow the company to export more produce into Europe, better quality food into Russia and more fruit into the Middle East. Growth in business is something that Fyffes concentrate on every year and they are currently succeeding to do so according to a recent article on the dublin headquartered company.â€Å"The Dublin-headquartered international banana exporter yesterday posted pre-tax profits of â‚ ¬22.2m for the first six months of 2013, a 1.1% increase on the same period last year.† (Percival, 2013) However in 2007, Fyffes suffered an 11% fall in first- half profits because of losses at its melon joint venture in Brazil. This is one of very few examples of occasions of misfired venture for the company, where they suffered a â‚ ¬2.8m loss from their share of a Brazil-based melon producer Nolem. This was an event which was uncharacteristic of the company and it wasn’t ignored, judging by a  statement released at the time. â€Å"Significant internal resources have gone into addressing Nolem’s business in order to deliver an improved result in the forthcoming season† (Guider, 2007).ConclusionFyffes are an excellent example of a public quoted Irish company who have experienced success in international markets. Their innovative use of the blue label way back in 1929 made them the first fruit brand in the market. This was a huge development from Fyffes and has set them up to be the instantly recognisable brand they are today. This is a brand that has loyal customers who associate the Fyffes fruit with reliability, sustainability and most importantly a high quality product. It is this basis that has allowed them to grow into the flourishing business they are today along with their tactful low-risk foreign entry strategy.