American Democracy Essays - Democracy, Elections, E-democracy

American Democracy American Democracy The American democracy is one of the most peaceful kinds of government in the world although it is a long way from utopia. The democracy in which we live has many strengths and weaknesses. Neither strengths or weaknesses out weigh one another, but it is necessary to have both due to the varying definitions. A democracy is a government that is run by the people. The politicians that we elect to run our government are human and they are susceptible to mistakes based on their own strengths and weaknesses. The strengths and weaknesses they possess are reflected into our government but at least ?we the people? elect them and they are not chosen for us. We live in a representative democracy that means ?we the people? are given the right to elect those who represent our beliefs and values. The political campaigns of the politicians allows us the freedom of who to elect by selling us their views on how they feel our government should function. Many of the campaigns seem to dispute the candidate running against the other(s) but it normally ties into what they believe is wrong. Sometimes a candidate's campaign will run according to one of the candidates mistakes that they have made in office or in life. The candidate may then promise they would never make a mistake of that sort. The campaigns now days tend to be more on the negative side but negativity sells in this country. While positive campaigns reflect more on the positive goals of the campaignee it would cost more to promote than negative campaigns. The negativity tends to stick in our minds more than the positive. It is kind of like a relationship, you tend to remember the bad more than the good. The same applies to campaigning. When some of us go to the ballot box we remember certain commercials either on the television or radio. And nine times out of ten, we remember the negative commercials over the positive. The campaigns are suppose to educate us and negative campaigns is not a good way to do that. The positive campaigns are the ones that should educate us. Positive campaigns promote ?the will of the people.? The ?will of the people? want trust, security, someone they can relate to. But with positive campaigns there is a drawback, it costs more money. Now you have those people who want to reform campaign finance. They feel we already spend too much money on campaigning. If you have the money supporting you, then you should be allowed to spend the money in whatever way it best suits your campaigning. More money does not mean a victory, just ask Ross Perot. More money could mean more positive campaigns and better education about the politicians for "we the people." Some people feel we should let the newspapers and media inform us about candidates, but the media is the worst critic of all. Journalists are paid big bucks to see who can find the dirtiest secret one person has done. So, what positive influences could the media possibly provide to us? Our media in this country is out of control and they inform us of issues we do not need to know about. While there are some Americans who want to hear these types of issues, many of us could not care less. In order to make positive campaigns more affective we need to get back to the basics. Politicians should serve their term limit and during their time they should do for the constituents and not spend so much time and money worrying about their next campaign. "We the people" elect those who represent certain issues and sometimes when they are sworn in to do their duty, they change their view on the issues. When politicians do this, it makes those who voted for him or her disappointed and cause them to lose faith in our democracy. The political system has succeeded but I believe it has little to do with religion. The founding fathers may have had God in mind but in today's society when dealing with our democracy, religion has nothing to do with it. There are way too many diversities of

Jean Baptiste Moliere essays

Jean Baptiste Moliere essays JEAN-BAPTISTE POQUELIN MOLIÈRE16221673From The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces Vol. 2, 7th edition, ed. Maynard Mack, et. al. (New York: W.W. Norton, 1999) Son of a prosperous Paris merchant, Jean-Baptiste Molire (originally named Poquelin) devoted his entire adult life to the creation of stage illusion, as playwright and as actor. At about the age of twenty-five, he joined a company of traveling players established by the Bjart family; with them he toured the provinces for about twelve years. In 1658 the company was ordered to perform for Louis XIV in Paris; a year later, Molires first great success, The High-Brow Ladies (Les Prcieuses ridicules), was produced. The theatrical company to which he belonged, patronized by the king, became increasingly successful, developing finally (1680) into the Comdie Franà §aise. In 1662, Molire married Armande Bjart. He died a few hours after performing in the lead role of his own play The Imaginary Invalid. Molire wrote both broad far ce and comedies of character, in which he caricatured some form of vice or folly by embodying it in a single figure. His targets included the miser, the aspiring but vulgar middle class, female would-be intellectuals, the hypochondriac, and in Tartuffe, the religious hypocrite. In Tartuffe (1664), as in his other plays, Molire employs classic comic devices of plot and characterhere, a foolish, stubborn father blocking the course of young love; an impudent servant commenting on her superiors actions; a happy ending involving a marriage facilitated by implausible means. He often uses such devices, however, to comment on his own immediate social scene, imagining how universal patterns play themselves out in a specific historical context. Tartuffe had contemporary relevance so transparent that the Catholic Church forced the king to ban it, although Molire managed to have it publishe...

BSc (Hons) Computing & Web Technologies Coursework

BSc (Hons) Computing & Web Technologies - Coursework Example Over the years, e-commerce gained tremendous recognition and still going across the globe even to the remotest country ever. Dealing business through e-commerce entails fundamentals to succeed in this business approach. Establishing a successful online gateway for your targeted customer needs some internet elements established for the market. This may not only be limited to the physical server where the data are stored but may be detailed as far as visibility, accessibility and security concerns. E-commerce extends to provide and online ordering system and may apply to any business industry desiring to offer online business with their customers. This project aims to create an online Restaurant Order System which will be a web-based application that seeks to increase the number of customer by offering online order system subsequently increase sales. East Eat Chinese Takeaway is the prospect establishment for the implementation of the said system. The web application will provide menu details and provides a shopping cart for customers placing orders online. Eventually, a checkout tool is linked to the shopping cart to proceed with the payment. Delivery details will be asked during checkout. Keywords: Restaurant Order System, E-commerce, Online Shopping, Online Payments via Credit Cards 1 Introduction Today, many companies are shifting to web-centric computing to support their business enterprises. It is important to build resiliency into business operations, but it is just as important to build resiliency into a company's customer handling. One way to achieve this is by adopting

Implications of Partisanship in the Congress Essay

Implications of Partisanship in the Congress - Essay Example The role of the Congress in legislation has been affected by some elements particularly the issue of partisanship. The contemporary Congress is now polarized as inspired by such aspects as party loyalty, and policies established by individual parties. As such, there is a heated debate on the possible implications of partisanship on the overall effectiveness of the Congress. In fact, the members have noble responsibilities of passing vital bills into right on behalf of all Americans. Their tendency to engage in a tug of war before a bill is passed into law has been found to affect the timing of the consent of the president. Partisanship has led to the polarization in the Congress as attributed to unique causes, and this had a direct impact on the legislation process calling for improvised models to enhance cooperation among members. Possible Causes of Polarization in the Congress Partisanship has seen polarization in the Congress turn multiplicative in the recent past as attributed to demographic uniformity in congressional districts (Victor, 2012). In our contemporary societies, individuals tend to flock with those who share similar values and perspectives. It turns to birds of the same weather affair. This has been the case in the Senate and the House of the Representatives. This has fueled division among members based on party affiliation. A second element that has seen a rise in polarization in the Congress is the protocol and rules observed during the nomination of congressional candidates.

The Birth Stories Of Christ And Buddha Research Paper

The Birth Stories Of Christ And Buddha - Research Paper Example The young Gautama was engaged in an excessive consumption and indulgence of sensual pleasures and he gave all these up only in his thirties as he must have gotten tired of temporary and fleeting pleasures. Jesus Christ lived a poor life as a young child and adolescent because his father Joseph was just an ordinary carpenter while the prince Gautama Buddha lived in a palace with all its luxuries and extravagance such that he himself got exhausted with all these pleasures. In the story of Jesus Christ, he forswore all material things in life and made the conscious or deliberate decision to live a life of poverty and humility because he knew early in his life he was destined for a work of proselytizing the unbelievers and pagans at the time. In contrast, Buddha realized his mission in life only much later when he saw an extremely old man and became worried about his own fate when he himself will grow old someday. Jesus Christ preached a gospel of love and brotherhood in order to gain en try to the Heavens through a life of sacrifice, denial, and re-connection with God the Father while the Gautama Buddha preached his teachings based on the so-called "Four Signs" to attain a level of enlightenment that is free from material or bodily desires. Both preached the twin virtues of humility and renunciation of all material things in order to attain eternal bliss in the next life. Christ promised redemption through atonement while Buddha pledged release from material torment through a series of rituals to suppress karma.

Novel Sequential-presentation-only (SPO) Line-up Effects

Novel Sequential-presentation-only (SPO) Line-up Effects Simultaneous, Sequential and Sequential Presentation Only line-ups in mediating Hit False alarm rates   Valerie Lim Abstract Exculpating individuals due to mistaken identifications in simultaneous line-ups have stirred questions of trust to the procedure. Researchers proposed a sequential presentation line-up to reduce the false identifications more than they reduce hits as a superior procedure. This study investigated if a novel sequential-presentation-only (SPO) line-up could draw the benefits of both procedure by hypothesizing (a) a sequential line-up will yield fewer hits and false alarms than a simultaneous line-up and (b) a sequential presentation only line-up will yield fewer false alarms than a simultaneous line-up without a significant reduction of hits. 713 participants assessed a set of images to an image of the perpetrator in different line-up conditions. The first hypothesis was partially supported while the second hypothesis was not. This study suggests that simple manipulations have potential to make the simultaneous line-up more reliable and a novel SPO line-up does not redeem the effects. Eyewitness identifications are among the most persuasive, and sometimes only, juncture in the apprehension of criminals. This typically involves a simultaneous line-up(SIM) where the suspect(target) is placed among known innocents(foils) who resemble the witness’s description of the perpetrator (Wells Olson, 2003). The selection or lack of selection from the witness is given significant legal weighting. However, 75% of convictions involved exculpation through DNA testing where eyewitness misidentification was at fault. Furthermore, in 38% of these cases, multiple witnesses have misidentified the same innocent person (Project, 2009), which brings to question the accuracy of the procedure. Lindsay and Wells (1985) devised the sequential line-up (SEQ) procedure as a better alternative. Each line-up member is presented one at a time and witnesses must decide if the line-up member matches the perpetrator before moving on to the next. Witnesses are unaware of the number of members shown, similar to real world cases, where each member is shown once. The â€Å"superiority effect† stems from the enhanced overall accuracy as SEQ reduces false identifications(false alarms) when the target is absent(target-absent conditions), more than it reduces correct identifications (hits) when the target is present (target-present conditions) (N. Steblay, Dysart, Fulero, Lindsay, 2001). The differences in line-up performance can be attributed to witness’s decision strategies (Gronlund, 2004). In SIMs, witnesses employ a relative judgement strategy where they evaluate the similarity of line-up members to their recollection of the culprit relative to one another, even when the resemblance Is vague (McQuiston-Surrett, Malpass, Tredoux, 2006; N. K. Steblay Phillips, 2011). In target-present conditions, the perpetrator is the closest match, resulting in more hits (N. Steblay et al., 2001). In comparison, target-absent conditions risk foils with the closest resemblance to be picked, in effect producing more false alarms. This flaw is further enhanced when the dissimilarity of appearance in line-up members increases (Charman, Wells, Joy, 2011). Accordingly, presenting a line-up sequentially is said to eliminate relative judgements and to allow absolute comparisons to each line-up member exclusively to memory (Lindsay Wells, 1985; N. K. Steblay Phillips, 2011). However, in target-present conditions, sequential line-ups produce lower hit rates compared to simultaneous line-ups (McQuiston-Surrett et al., 2006). The reduction in hit rate is better understood with signal detection theory (SDT) (Meisser, Parker, Parker, MacLin, 2005). SDT posits that our ability to recognise and differentiate between familiar and novel stimuli rests on our response criterion and discrimination accuracy. Discrimination accuracy is the ability of an individual to correctly detect a signal (hits) vs. correctly reject its absence (correct rejections), while response criterion is the strength of evidence required before a signal (hit) is registered. In line-ups, the response criterion is familiarity-based and if a line-up member exceeds the familiarity threshold and corresponds to the witness’s memory of the perpetrator, it produces a hit, or otherwise it is rejected (Gronlund, 2004). It is important to note that witnesses lack awareness of the number of line-up members they will be shown in sequential line-ups. This raises the criterion threshold, which means more hits will be unlikely and more misses are produced. Furthermore, since witnesses cannot revise their previous decisions on a line-up member, they are subjected to a conservative response bias (McQuiston-Surrett et al., 2006). In effect, this reduces the hit and false alarm rates. Ideally, a line-up procedure that employed absolute judgement without a criterion shift would confer the best of both simultaneous and sequential procedures. This maximises hit rates while minimises false alarms, optimising the discrimination accuracy. This study examines a novel type of sequential procedure, named sequential presentation only (SPO), which theoretically can do so. The SPO involves line-up members being shown one at a time, while leaving the decision making until after all line-up members have been shown. This retains absolute judgement in the decision making process while decreasing response bias. As a result, the hit rates should be comparable to those of a simultaneous line-up. It follows that this study hypothesises in target-present manipulations (a) a sequential line-up will yield fewer hits and false alarms than the simultaneous line-up and (b) a sequential presentation only line-up will yield fewer false alarms than the simultaneous line-up without a significant reduction in hits. Method Participants The participants were 713 PSYC20007 Cognitive Psychology students who completed the task in groups as part of a laboratory experiment. Students were randomly assigned to conditions with 240 in the Simultaneous presentation condition, 229 in the Sequential presentation condition and 218 in the Sequential Presentation Only condition. 26 Participants were removed for having incomplete data files. Stimuli and Apparatus Participants were group tested in a computer lab. The experiment was completed in an internet browser running an experiment programmed using HTML and Javascript. The stimuli were black and white head shots of males taken from Kayser (1985); each photo was presented on a white background. Procedure On each trial, the words â€Å"Get Ready† were presented for 1000 ms followed by the presentation of a target face (the perpetrator), which was presented for 500 ms and was immediately backward masked by a scrambled image of that face presented for 1000 ms. The line-up was then presented, and the participants response recorded. In the simultaneous presentation condition, all five faces were presented simultaneously in a row across the centre of the screen with a small gap between each face along with identifying numbers 1 to 5. The number of remaining trials was displayed on the screen at this stage. Participants were instructed to respond with 1 to 5 indicating the line-up member that they thought was the target or to respond 6 if the target was not present in the line-up. The experiment then advanced to the next trial. In the sequential condition, the five line-up members were presented one at a time for until a response was made. For each line-up member, the participant made a response (yes or no). There was a 1000 ms blank interval between each face. Once all of the five line-up members were completed, the participants were informed of the number of remaining trials for 1500 ms, and the experiment advanced to the next trial. In the Sequential Presentation Only condition, the five line-up members were presented one at a time for 1000 ms each. There was a blank interval of 1000 ms between each line-up member. After the final line-up member, the response scale was presented until a response was made. The number of remaining trials was displayed on the screen at this stage. Participants were instructed to respond with 1 to 5 indicating the line-up 7 member that they thought was the target or to respond 6 if the target was not present in the line-up. The experiment then advanced to the next trial. In each condition, the line-up was constructed from a set of five faces drawn from a set of 54 possible faces. On target present trials, the target was drawn randomly from the set of line-up faces. On target absent trials, the target was drawn from the remaining 49 faces. There were 50 trials in the experiment. Results The mean ratings for the Simultaneous, Sequential and SPO condition as a function of Hit rates and False alarms are shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. Mean hit rates and false alarms as a function of line-up condition A one-way ANOVA showed a significant difference in the hit rate, F(2,684) = 12.62, p ÃŽ ·2 = .04. A post-hoc analysis using the Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons showed significant difference in the hit rate between the SIM condition and the SEQ condition (Mean Difference = 0.08, p Mean Difference = 0.05, p = .02), but not between the SEQ and the SPO condition (Mean Difference = 0.04, p = .10). A one-way ANOVA showed a significant difference in the false alarms, F(2, 684) = 9.28, p ÃŽ ·2 =.03. A post-hoc analysis with the Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons showed significant difference in the false alarm rate between the SIM and SPO condition (Mean Difference=0.69, p Mean Difference= 0.01, p=1.00) as well as the SEQ and the SPO condition (Mean Difference= 0.06, p= .004). According to Cohen (1988), both hit rate and false alarms demonstrated a small to medium effect of line-up procedure. Discussion This study investigated if a novel SPO line-up could attain optimal discrimination accuracy. In target-present conditions, it was hypothesized that (a) sequential line-up will yield fewer hits and false alarms than the simultaneous line-up and (b) the SPO line-up will yield fewer false alarms than the simultaneous line-up without a significant reduction in hits. The first hypothesis was partially supported as there were fewer hit rates but not false alarms in the SEQ condition. Our second hypothesis was not supported. Results showed that the sequential condition produced less hits compared to the simultaneous condition, this was consistent with previous research (Lindsay Wells, 1985). However, false alarm rates were comparable. As for the SPO condition, a significantly lower mean hit rate was produced, as well as a higher false alarm rate compared to both the other conditions. Simultaneous line-ups induce a relative judgement decision approach (Gronlund, 2004). In a target-present condition such as ours, the line-up member that most resembles witness’s memory of the culprit will induce a higher mean hit rate (N. Steblay et al., 2001). This was supported in our results. In a simultaneous target-absent line-up, the foil with most resemblance should be picked with similar reasoning, producing more false alarms. However, our results showed that false alarm rates were higher in the sequential line-up instead. Sequential line-ups cause a criterion shift, influencing a conservative â€Å"no† or â€Å"unsure† response in witnesses which reduces hits and false alarm rates (McQuiston-Surrett et al., 2006). A possible explanation our results did not replicate this is the use of instructions which states explicitly the target may be absent or present. Instructions may prompt witnesses in realising that a criminal’s absence was a genuine possibility (N. Steblay et al., 2001), and thus will consider each person in succession (absolute judgement strategy) (Dysart Lindsay, 2001). Since simultaneous line-ups do not induce a criterion shift, witnesses have less of a conservative bias and will refrain from guessing more (Palmer Brewer, 2011). This accounts for the high rate in the simultaneous line-up and low false alarm rates compared to the sequential condition. However, since the same instructions were given to both conditions, it does not explain the unexpected results in the sequential condition. Perhaps showing all the line-up members in one sitting works at ease to witnesses’ memory and hence decisions (Smith et al., 2014). Further investigations need to verify this result. Participants in the sequential condition refrain from making an identification as a result of the criterion shift (Palmer Brewer, 2011). This reduces the overall hit rate. To negate this effect, all decision making is reserved to the end of the line-up procedure in the SPO condition. However, it still produced a significantly lower mean hit rate compared to the simultaneous condition, suggesting a criterion shift is unaffected by when participants report their decisions. Furthermore, the results indicate that the difference between the simultaneous and SPO line-ups were not significant in regards to false alarms. The SPO condition was created to retain the low false alarm rates by appealing an absolute judgement framework. It appeals to memory in the sense of match-making, instead of a relative judgement among line-up members (Gronlund, 2004). By theory, this would discourage false alarms from occurring. Nonetheless, our results were comparable between the simultaneous and SPO procedures. This could also be explained in terms of the effect of imposing instructions. The caution that it gives participants makes it more likely in minimizing false alarm rates in the simultaneous condition, but may not be as dominant in a sequential set-up. This study included presenting photographs of suspects as opposed to actual human entities in line-up conditions. The photographs only contained the suspect’s neck to facial features, excluding their physical build-up. This means that our line-ups may not include ecological validity (McQuiston-Surrett et al., 2006) and should be validated in similar trials and psychological concepts before being used in practice. In conclusion, this study found that the simultaneous condition have potential in possessing optimal discrimination accuracy in regards to more hits and fewer false alarms. This is a contradiction to previous research as the superiority effect of the sequential condition may not hold even under target-absent settings. This finding followed when validating a novel SPO procedure was ineffective. A lower hit rate and higher false alarm rate resulted, becoming the worst performer of all conditions. However, it should be taken into consideration photographs cannot replicate real world ecology and may affect response criterion. Further research should focus on binding the findings to psychological concepts related to memory and decision making in line-up procedures. References Charman, S., Wells, G., Joy, S. (2011). The Dud Effect: Adding Highly Dissimilar Fillers Increases Confidence in Lineup Identifications. Law Human Behavior (Springer Science Business Media B.V.). 35(6), 479-500. Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioural Sciences (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Dysart, J. E., Lindsay, R. C. L. (2001). A Preidentification Questioning Effect: Serendipitously Increaseing Correct Rejections Law and Human Behaviour, 25(2). Gronlund, S. D. (2004). Sequential line-ups: Shift in criterion or decision strategy? Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(2), 362-368. Lindsay, R. C., Wells, G. L. (1985). Improving eyewitness identifications from lineups: Simultaneous versus sequential lineup presentation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 70(3), 556-564. McQuiston-Surrett, D., Malpass, S. R., Tredoux, C. G. (2006). Sequential vs. Simultaneous lineups: A review of methods, data, and theory. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 12(2), 137-169. Meisser, C. A., Parker, C. G., Parker, J. F., MacLin, O. H. (2005). Eyewitness decisions in simultaneous and sequential lineups: A dual-process signal detection theory analysis. Memory Cognition, 33(5), 783-792. Palmer, M. A., Brewer, N. (2011). Sequential lineup presentation promotes less-biased criterion setting but does not improve discriminability. Law Human Behavior, 36(3), 247-255. Project, T. I. (2009). Reevaluating Lineups: Why witnesses make mistakes and how to reduce the chance of a misidentification. . Smith, A. M., Bertrand, M., Lindsay, R. C. L., Kalmet, N., Grossman, D., Provenzano, D. (2014). The Impact of Multiple Show-Ups on Eyewitness Decision-Making and Innocence Risk. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 20(3), 247-259. Steblay, N., Dysart, J., Fulero, S., Lindsay, R. C. L. (2001). Eyewitness accuracy rates in sequential and simultaneous lineup presentations: A meta-analytic comparison. Law and Human Behaviour, 25(5), 459-473. Steblay, N. K., Phillips, J. D. (2011). The not-sure response option in sequential lineup practice. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 25(768-774). Wells, G. L., Olson, E. A. (2003). Eyewitness testimony. Annual Review of Psychology, 54(1), 277-295.

Americas Fear of Evolution :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

America's Fear of Evolution In August of 1999, the teaching of evolution in schools was banned by the state of Kansas. In Texas, educators have debated over which textbooks to use in grade school science solely by the language of evolution each text contains. In Georgia, educators talk about replacing the word "evolution" with the phrase "biological changes over time." (1) Apparently, our apprehensions about teaching the theory of evolution are popping up all over the news. In hearing these debates, one usually thinks that it is only religious groups or fanatics trying to preserve their stories by eradicating the teaching of evolution. However, I think that culturally we have trouble accepting the theory of evolution because of other stories we tell ourselves. While religion does play a large role in our stories of creation, we have many ethics and ideals outside of faith that contrast with the theory of evolution. We may have trouble facing the facts of evolution because of what it says about the human race. A ccepting the theory of evolution places us on the same level as all other species in terms of how we came into existence and how that existence will end. It means letting go of many misconceptions we hold about ourselves. For example, that humans are somehow superior or meant to wield control over the earth. It affirms that we have not been here for nearly as long as our world, and will be long gone before the world ends. Evolution, it seems to me, touches more closely on our fears about death and our place in the grand scheme of things than it does on our faith. The reason evolution comes into such great conflict with religion is because questions such as, "Where will we go after our lives here end?" are so important to us. Consequently, the fear surrounding the theory of evolution belongs not only to the religious and the fanatical, but also to anyone who has ever asked him or herself such questions. America was founded on the concepts of idealism and opportunism; we all are broug ht up to take advantage of our opportunities and succeed to the best of our abilities. The nature of evolution is to go against these ideals. Evolution occurs randomly, meaning the human race did not "earn" its place as sovereign of the earth. As Americans, we see ourselves working toward a society that is closer and closer to perfection.

Family Meal Essay

In her essay, â€Å"The Magic of the Family Meal,† Nancy Gibbs, explains the important role of having meals plays on children. Gibbs begins her essay by telling us how valuable having a family meal is and the positive outcome. She believes that having a family meal, more than three times a week, with no interruptions, can have a great power over a family’s communication skills. Gibbs then explains that children who eat meals with their families, are less likely to get into trouble and eat healthier. She writes, â€Å"Studies show that the more often families eat together, the less likely kids are to smoke, drink, do drugs, get depressed, develop eating disorders, and consider suicide, and the more likely they are to do well in school, delay having sex, eat their vegetables, learn big words, and know which fork to use†(209-210). Gibbs then starts explore the negative effects of not having family meals. She writes that 45 percent of all family dinners have the TV running at the same time as the meal is being eaten. This is part of the reason kids feel like their parents aren’t proud of them as well as why there is tension among that particular family Gibbs states. She then concludes that back in the day dinner was a very precious event for most U. S. families. Overtime however, Gibbs believes this has dissipated due to social, economic, and technological factors. As a result, families became busier with these factors, which made it harder for families to sit down. Meanwhile, the message embedded in the microwave was that time spent standing in front of a stove was time wasted,† (211) Says Gibbs. She explores the effects of the fast food business and what role it played in destroying family meals and its importance. Overall Gibbs concludes that every family needs to have an uninterrupted family meal time, whether it be breakfast, lunch, or dinner, family meals are important, and writes, â€Å"So pull up a chair. Lose the TV. Let the phone go unanswered. And see where the moment takes you† (213). After reading Nancy Gibbs Essay, I looked back at my life and all the family dinners I have had. My parents got divorced when I was really young. Even though I lived with my mother and my sister, we stopped eating as a family every night. My mother got a job as a banker, where she left at 7 am and didn’t come home until around 7 pm. Thus, all of our meals were at the babysitter’s house, sitting by ourselves. After my father moved to Lincoln city and got married, we went to his house to visit every weekend. We sat down as a family to have a meal every night. We did not have phones, TV’s, or any other interruptions. At the dinner table we always had pretty in depth conversations which brought us closer as a family. It always made my sister and me feel like we were important and our dad was proud of us. After my father and his wife had their second child, my father cut us off and he didn’t have us come over very much anymore. My sister and I both started acting out in the beginning of middle school year getting into trouble, experimenting with drugs and hanging with the wrong crowds. Regardless of what we had been told, we didn’t care. Soon my mother got married to my step dad. We started having family dinners again, and my sister and I straightened up. Now that I look back, I do see how important it was for my sister and I to have family meals. These days, it is hard with the world moving so quickly, with jobs and school to sit down and have family dinner. However, we manage to make an effort successful or not, it brings us closer together and we know how important it really is now.

Kingsford Charcoal Essays

Kingsford Charcoal Essays Kingsford Charcoal Paper Kingsford Charcoal Paper Brand managers Marcilie Smith Boyle (HBS MBA Class of 1996) and Allison Warren were getting together for their weekly Kingsford Charcoal (Kingsford) debriefing meeting in February 2001 at Cloroxs corporate offices in Oakland, CA. As the job-sharing brand managers for the $350 million charcoal business, Smith Boyle and Warren had a lot to discuss during their Wednesday overlap day. Both women were assigned to the brand in July 2000, just as it became apparent that the summer results were going to come in below forecast. Since the 1980s, Kingsford had continued to enjoy steady, moderate growth of 1-3 percent in revenues each year. During this time, the charcoal category as a whole had been growing as well. However the summer of 2000 represented the first softening in the overall charcoal category in several years, and Smith Boyle and Warren were tasked with determining the causes and coming up with recommendations. As the team analyzed various trends relating to competition, pricing, advertising, promotion, and production, Smith Boyle and Warren were faced with a series of critical strategic decisions that would impact the future trajectory of the Kingsford brand. Kingsford had not raised prices in several years, nor had it advertised in any significant way since 1998- options that now required consideration. With Kingsfords long track record of being heavily driven by sales and merchandising activities, Smith Boyle and Warren wondered whether there was an opportunity to balance this effort and invest more in rekindling consumer interest in charcoal grilling( ). They realized that this initiative could significantly impact the brand image and the advertising message. There were also some production issues looming( ) in the horizon- if Clorox did invest in building( ) the Kingsford business, would the existing capacity be adequate? Smith Boyle and Warren were scheduled to meet with their marketing director, Derek Gordon, the following week and they were eager to get his feedback on their recommendations before Kingsfords annual business review later in the month. GRILLING IN AMERICA People cook over an open flame the world around but Americans do it more often and better Grilling is the essential American culinary art, ( ) a glorious birthright( ) celebrated everyday from coast to coast. Its a passion, a party, a way to cook that wont let you call it a chore( ). Its about playing with fire under an open sky, wielding a mean spatula ( ) in one hand, a cool drink in the other. Most of all its a surefire means ( ) to get yourself from here to a decent ( ) meal having loads of fun. Make that a great meal. - Excerpt from the front flap of Born to Grill:An American Celebration (1998) by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison By the late 1990s, three out of four U. S. households owned a barbecue grill which over 80 percent of grill ownership being among younger, larger, higher-income families. The total number of barbecue events In the United States had gone up from 1. billion in 1987 to 2. 7 billion in 1995 and over3 billion In 2000. Just over half of grill owners were heavy/medium users but they did the vast majority of the barbecuing (more than 85 percent of all occasions). Over 60 percent of barbecuers were men and the most popular occasions cited for grilling were: July 4, Labor Day, Memorial Day, ( ) and special occasions such as tailgating ( , â€Å" †). Common reasons for a barbecuing included great flavor, desire to be outdoors, hanging out with family and friends, change of pace, easy clean-up, and informality. Although barbecuers had greatly expanded their cookout repertoire (all the things that a person is able to do) over time, the foods that typically topped the â€Å"cooked frequently† list had not changed much. The most popular foods for the grill included hamburgers, steak, hot dogs, chicken breasts, pork chops, ribs, and sausages. Roasted potatoes, steamed vegetables, and marinated vegetables ( ) were the side dishes grilled most frequently. Charcoal and gas grilling were the two most commonly used grilling methods. Although charcoal grilling took longer to set up and cook, most die-hard rillers preferred charcoal grilling over gas grilling for its hands-on experience and the flavor imparted to the food ( ). Gas grilling, on the other hand, was preferred by those that were looking for convenience, greater control over cooking temperature, short cooking times, and ease of dean-up. CLOROX COMPANY HISTORY The Clorox Company (Clorox) was founded in 1913 as The Electro-Alkaline Co mpany. Its first product was industrial strength liquid bleach made from a combination of chlorine and sodium hydroxide. The bleach was originally made in Oakland, California, and sold in the Bay Area. In 1922, the company changed its name to the Clorox Chemical Company, and soon expanded its distribution to the rest of the United States. By 1957, Clorox was the leading producer of bleach in the United States and it changed its name to The Clorox Company. Procter Gamble( ) was attracted to Cloroxs category leadership and offered to buy the company in 1957. Although the sale was completed, the U. S. Federal Trade Commission challenged ( ) the acquisition on the grounds that the combined company could create a monopoly in household liquid bleach. Alter ten years of litigation, the U. S. Supreme Court forced PG to divest ( ) Clorox, and in 1969, Clorox became an autonomous company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. After obtaining its independence, Clorox pursued an aggressive growth strategy ( ) driven by acquisition and internal research and development. By 2000, the company had over 50 products that were marketed to consumers around the world. As of June 30, 2000, Clorox had annual sales of $4. 1 billion and net earnings of $394 million. For reporting purposes, the company split its results into three major categories: U. S. Household Products and Canada (40 percent of sales), U. S. Specialty Products (45 percent of sates) and International (15 percent of sales). (See Exhibit 1 for Clorox company financials. ) In addition to Clorox Bleach, household products included Glad, water filters (Brita), and cleaning products such as Formula 409, Pine Sot, Soft Scrub, liquid Plumr, Tilex, and Ready Mop. Specialty products consisted of cat litter (Fresh Step, Scoop Away); auto care (Armor All, STP); charcoal and lighter fluid (Kingsford, MatchLight); and dressings and sauces (Hidden Valley, ICC Masterpiece). Nearly all of Cloroxs products were among the leaders in their respective categories. Each product group was managed by a brand team that typically consisted of a brand manager and several associate brand managers. The brand organization was generally responsible for setting the business strategy understanding the consumer, developing advertising, creating short-term forecasts and helping with sales promotions. As a result, the brand team had to work closely with other functions, particularly sales, product supply and finance. Gordon explained, One of the key functions of the brand team is to understand the consumer and apply that learning. Clorox sold the majority of its products to grocery retailers and distributors, worldwide military installations, mass merchandisers, warehouse clubs and drug, discount, hardware, and variety stores. The company relied on its own sales force as well as a combination of brokers/distributors. Clorox also sold products to professional/institutional customers through a network of brokers and manufacturer reps. As of June 2000, Clorox had approximately 11,000 employees worldwide. KINGSFORD CHARCOAL Kingsford represented one of the largest product groups within Cloroxs portfolio. In 2000, charcoal represented approximately 9 percent of Cloroxs revenues, and a substantially higher percentage of its net income. The business was started in the 1920s when Henry Ford developed a process for turning wood scraps ( ) into charcoal briquettes ( ) that burned longer and hotter than regular wood. E. G. Kingsford, a lumberman ( ) and relative of Fords, helped build the first briquette plant and commercialized the business. The plant was later bought by an investment group and then purchased by Clorox in 1973. Product and Pricing Kingsford Charcoal was manufactured from wood, minerals, limestone, starch, borax, sodium nitrate, and sawdust ( , , , , , , ) in a two-part procedure. The process began with transforming waste wood (e. g. , scrap from furniture plants) into wood char ( ) in a $15-$20 million retort ( ) facility that heated wood in an oxygen-controlled atmosphere. The wood char was then combined with the other ingredients in a $20-$30 million facility that converted the materials into pillow shaped briquettes. As of June 2000, Kingsford had five plants in the U. S. each of which housed both parts of the operation. Some of the charcoal briquettes were packaged as-is in blue bags and sold as Kingsford Charcoal (regular or blue bag), while others were treated with Kingsford lighter fluid and sold as Kingsford Match light in red bags (â€Å"instant or red bad†). The bulk of the volume for both types was sold in three sizes: 10-pound, 20-pound and 48-pound bags) regular, and 8-pound, 15-pound, and 30-pound (two 1 5 pound bags) for instant. The largest size was typically available only in club stores such as Costco and Sams Club, while food stores (e. . , supermarkets), mass merchandisers (e. g. , Target, K-Mart), and drugstores (e. g. , Walgreens), and Wal-Mart carried a mix of the other size. In 2000, food stores accounted for 66 percent of total charcoal sales; mass merchandisers and Wal-Mart for just over 15 percent; drug stores for 2 percent; and club stores and other non-tracked channels accounted for the remaining 16 percent. Regular charcoal represented approximately 75 percent of total shipments, with the 20-pound size of sales comprising approximately 60 percent of sales. Pricing varied based on the product and the size. In January2001, the average price to consumers for the regular 10-pound bag was $4. 25 and the regular 20-pound bag was $6. 78. The average consumer prices for the instant bags were $5. 20 for the 8-pound and $8. 07 for the 1 5-pound bag. In most channels, Kingsford competed with Royal Oak and private label brands. The private label brands typically sold at a 25-30 percent discount to Kingsford with Royal Oak being typically priced between the two. Virtually all of the private label products were manufactured and distributed by Royal Oak. Key Success Drivers Kingsfords business was seasonal, with nearly 60 percent of consumer purchases occurring between May 1 and September 1. (See Exhibit 2 on page 674 for 2000 sales by week. ) The Memorial Day and July 4th holiday weekends represented 35 percent of Kingsfords annual sales, fueled in large part by store-based promotions organized by the Kingsford team. Smile Boyle explained, Our sales team makes a big impact with retailers to ensure that there always are at least 7,500 pounds on the floor during the primary grilling months. Summer holidays are particularly important and Kingsford often contributes trade money to help reduce prices for our products during those key weekends. The Clorox sales team had years of experience in working with key accounts and many of the senior sales executives at the company such as Grant LaMontagne, Vice- President of Sales, had sold charcoal earlier in their careers. LaMontagne believed that Clorox really understood the category. He explained: Our success in the charcoal category is discipline†. This has led to a constancy of marketing and sales actions over time, and a consistency in the message communicated within our own sales and marketing organization, to the channel, and to the end consumer. I have found that successful brands can get derailed over time when the firm begins to tinker with the brand. In their effort to grow the business, it is common for marketers to change the brand image as they go after new market segments. Over time, such actions create enormous confusion within the firm and in the marketplace. The net result is that the various sales and marketing efforts begin to operate at odds with one another. When Warren took over the brand manager position in July 2000, she recalled hearing from the sales team at least five times in her first week: With Kingsford, the key is â€Å"display†- you need to pile it high and watch it fly- Display drives sales since over a third of charcoal purchases are impulse purchases. When the weather is good, shoppers bump into charcoal displays in the store and think, Today would be a great day to barbeque? Our job is to make the charcoal visible and let the weather do the work. In terms of product quality, Kingsfords lab tests showed that its product was superior to Royal Oak and the private label brands. Consumer studies also showed that Kingsford was perceived as a better product with approximately 60 percent of surveyed consumers indicating that Kingsford is a high quality brand, relative to 13 percent for private label. KINGSFORD BUSINESS IN 1999- 2000 When Smith Boyle and Warren started with the group, Gordon had warned the two brand managers that it would be difficult to achieve the forecasts created earlier in the year, as business was starting off at a slower pace. Warren recalled: Derek said to me on my first day with the brand, Welcome to Kingsford. Based on how July 4th is shaping up, you are already in the hole and there is no additional money to spend. Kingsford didnt do as well as we had hoped in fiscal 2000 [ending June 30], and we are concerned that fiscal 2001 doesnt look much better. Were hoping you and Marcille can figure out what to do. Smith Boyle added, We felt the pressure right away. Kingsford is such an important part of Coloroxs overall performance that when Kingsford misses its number, there is a good chance that Clorox will miss. Smith Boyle and Warren started with an in-depth analysis as to why the category appeared softer than it had in previous years. The charcoal category had slowed from 4 percent growth from 1998 to 1999 to 2 percent growth from the first half of 1999 to the first half of 2000. The forecasted growth for the second half of 2000 looked even worse, and by the end of 2000 the entire category was down relat ive to 1999. The declines were most pronounced in the food channel, with a 5. 7 percent decline during the second half of 2000. (See Exhibit 3 for volume growth by channel. With the help of two associate brand managers, the team ran numbers on all of the different factors that could have led to a softening in the category. The analysis revealed some interesting trends. The team was surprised to find a narrowing of the price gap across the various charcoal brands as a result of a series of private label price increases that the channel had passed along to consumers. By the end of 2000, the prices of private label bags were nearly 10 percent higher than they were in 1999 across all channels, the biggest price jump in years. See Exhibit 4 on page 676 for pricing trends. ) Smith Boyle explained, In prior years, prices rarely moved more than 5 percent over the course of the year. We found that stores had recently increased the price of their private label brands. We also found that Royal Oak had increased prices during this period. Finally, although we had kept the Kingsford prices constant, several of our channel partners had chosen to increase Kingsford prices as well to consumers during this period. The Kingsford team believed that gas grilling could have captured some of the consumers that had negatively reacted to the charcoal price increases. In 2000, gas grill shipments grew 8 percent relative to 1999 with 9. 3 million new gas grills being shipped, while charcoal grill shipments dropped 3 percent year over year with just under 6 million new charcoal grills shipped (see Exhibit 5 for grill shipments from 1996 to 2000). Overall, charcoal grill penetration had trended down since 1997, while gas grill penetration had trended up. In 2000, approximately 54 percent of U. S. households owned a gas grill, relative to 49 percent that owned a charcoal grill, and approximately 20 percent of U. S. households owned both grill types (see Exhibit 6 for grill penetration trends). Smith Boyle and Warren also believed that Kingsfords absence of media advertising further contributed to the category weakness. Neither Royal Oak nor the private label brands did any advertising, so when Kingsford did not advertise, there was no charcoal message on the air. This was compounded by the fact that while Kingsford had reduced its media spending from over $6 million in 1998 to a little over $1 million in 2000, gas grilling had increased its media spending during the same time period from less than $4 million in 1998 to over $10 million in 2000. Warren explained, The charcoal category was now paying the price for several years of reduced advertising. This trend was further exacerbated by a reduction in promotional activity across the category. In past years, Royal Oak had contributed substantial funds towards merchandising opportunities at retailers such as temporary price reductions, features and displays. However, these efforts were pulled back during 2000. In addition, the Kingsford team speculated that retailers might have been inclined to do fewer major promotions for Royal Oak after the price increases. The private label brands had fewer feature and display promotions during 2000, but stores did continue with temporary price reductions (see Exhibit 7 for category merchandising in 2000). Kingsfords merchandising in 2000 was consistent with that in 1999. A final factor that contributed to category softening was traced to weather patterns in 2000. Precipitation and temperature comparisons with 1999 showed a slight increase in rainfall in October through December 2000, coupled with a major drop in temperatures. Average U. S. temperatures in November and December 2000 were nearly 10 degrees lower than temperatures during the same period in 1999. Fall and winter grilling were positively correlated with mild temperatures, so the cold weather reduced opportunities for grilling occasions. Although the overall category sales volume dropped in 2000, Kingsfords volume rose slightly and its market share had increased. For the first half of 2000, Kingsford had a 56. 1 percent market share, relative to 7. 7 percent for Royal Oak and 34. 9 percent for private label. For the second half of 2000, Kingsford rose to a 59. 5 percent market share while Royal Oak dropped to 6. 4 percent and private label shifted to 32. 7 percent (see Exhibit 8 for market share trends). According to Smith Boyle, The price increases drove more consumers to Kingsford, so we benefited to a large degree. But given our large market share, our success is tied in to the overall success of the category, so we couldnt be complacent? In addition to the data on market trends, Smith-Boyle and Warren had access to a detailed internal segmentation study of over 300 heavy Kingsford users (that grilled at least 6 times a month) that uncovered three heavy charcoal user segments: Regular Exclusive users that grilled exclusively with regular charcoal; Instant Exclusive users that used only instant charcoal; Instant Acceptors that were comfortable and committed to both charcoal types. The three segments accounted for roughly 30,10, and 60 percent of all heavy Kingsford users, and 28, 11, and 62 percent of the total volume consumed by these users respectively Exhibit 9 on page 680 summarizes the findings of the segmentation study 2001 BUSINESS DECISIONS With all the analysis and consumer segmentation information in hand, Smith Boyle and Warren started to think about an action plan to present at their business review meeting with senior Clorox executives. They knew profitability was critical, and they believed continued growth was important as well. After a series of meetings with Gordon and others at the company, they focused on four areas: pricing, advertising, promotion, and production. Pricing The price increases by both private label and Royal Oak raised a number of key questions: Should Kingsford increase prices as well? if so, how big a price increase should they consider? Should they raise prices for both regular and instant and for all channels? If they did raise prices, would retailers pull back on the merchandising support (e. g. , features and special displays) they have been giving to Kingsford over the last several years? Would a price increase drive consumers to purchase other brands? Or worse yet, to gas grills? In order to help answer these questions, the brand team did price elasticity studies for several different scenarios to estimate the volume and profitability impact from potential price increases. The scenarios included: (1) a moderate price increase (-4. 0 percent) only for dub stores, (2) a small (-2. 5 percent) blue bag price increase across all channels, (3) a moderate (-5. 0 percent) blue bag increase across all channels, and (4) increasing both blue bad and red bad by 5 percent across all channels. For each scenario, the Kingsford team estimated the impact on volume, sales, and profit, while also accounting for potential withdrawal of merchandising support (see Exhibit 10 for information from the elasticity studies). Gordon believed that raising prices was a great way to increase short-term profits and would provide some money that could be reinvested in Kingsford and other businesses in Cloroxs specialty division. In addition, it ensured that Kingsford would stay within the targeted 25-30 percent price gap relative to private label. There were, however, some potential drawbacks. Sales director Nick Vlahos believed that Kingsford had gained a great deal of goodwill with Cloroxs channel partners over the last year that could translate into increased opportunities for Clorox. He explained: We’ve been working with our retail partners over the last several years to increase promotion of Kingsford, particularly at the expense of Royal Oak. If we hold off on any price increases for another year, we might be able to convince more chains to focus distribution and merchandising support on Kingsford and private label. Weve been advocating this two-brand strategy for some time, and this could be our year to see it happen. If we do raise prices, we may lose all the merchandising momentum we have gained. In fact, a price increase might cause us to lose some big accounts altogether, particularly because we dont have a clear justification for the higher price point. Smith Boyle and Warren agreed with Viahoss assessment, but Smith Boyle explained that: Taking price increases is particularly challenging for sales people: retailers inevitably resist, and we all knew that the sales team was being compensated based on volume. In reality, there is never a good time for a price increase; its a matter of finding the best of the bad times. The retailers almost certainly wouldnt be surprised with a price increase given what our competitors have done over the last year. As for the consumers that buy Kingsford, charcoal is considered a happy product- its associated with family and fun- so that sometimes gives us more leeway with pricing changes. Advertising Smith Boyle and Warren believed that anticipated volume losses from a potential price increase could be restored through increased advertising. Kingsford had gradually decreased its advertising since 1996, as more money was spent on sales promotions, reduced revenue spending, and dropping to profit. As of February 2001, the forecasted advertising spending for Kingsford was under $1 million. (See Exhibit 11 for Kingsford marketing spending from FY 97 through forecasted FY 01. ) According to Warren, The prevalent belief around the company was that Kingsford was a sales-driven business and that advertising would be a waste of money. The brand team disagreed and looked for ways to build their case. They started by hiring a third Marketing Management Analytics (MMA), to analyze the effects of advertising on Kingsford sales in past years. MMAs analysis of 1998 spending indicated that TV advertising drove a 7 percent incremental volume increase in targeted markets in 1998, and the benefits accrued in 1999 as well with an estimated 3-4 percent volume increase from the residual impact of advertising. Based on the data provided by MMAs marketing mix analysis, Smith Boyle and Warren believed that Kingsford should be spending at least $7 million on advertising during the peak grilling season of April-September. They knew it would be difficult to get those funds, but they believed that base volume would continue to rode if Kingsford didnt start advertising again. Gordon offered to help them apply for $5-7 million of mid-year funds from a corporate kitty; but he wanted the team to first think through their intended advertising message. In past years, the brand team had worked with agencies to develop separate messages for regular charcoal and instant. From 1991 through 1998, the message for regular was based around product q uality relative to other charcoal: lights twice as fast as other coals and Lights faster, burns longer. Nearly all of the MMA effectiveness studies were based on these advertising campaigns. Match light advertising was based on a different message targeting higher end customers seeking convenience. In 1996-1998, Match Light advertising centered on a Ready in 15 minutes message and in 1999 the team had reverted to a 1991 spot need just one match. Smith Boyle and Warren wondered if they should go back to the 1998 advertising that had proven results, or if should they try a different message. In past years, Kingsford had viewed other charcoal brands as its biggest competition; it now appeared that gas grills might be the product to beat. They debated if they should be advertising to grow the number of grilling occasions overall, to focus on growing the charcoal category or to focus on growing Kingsfords share within the charcoal category They thought about incorporating data from a blind taste test performed with 796 men and women ages 18-54 in Sacramento, Dallas, Tampa, and Chicago in June 2000 that had asked consumers to compare chicken, steak, or hamburgers cooked over Kingsford Charcoal to those same foods cooked over gas. Across all meat types, 2-to-1 participants preferred the taste of charcoal-grilled food to gas. Tasters commented that meat grilled over charcoal has a real barbecue flavor, has a smoky flavor, and tastes like it was grilled over a real wood fire. The brand team wondered if there were specific advertising executions that could leverage this data in a meaningful way. Promotion As the brand team focused on pricing and advertising, the sales group took the lead on thinking through Kingsfords promotional strategy. Clorox worked to optimize four sales levers at each distribution outlet: Merchandising, Assortment, Pricing and (MAPS). Within merchandising, the Kingsford sales team worked with stores to feature the product in circulars that were mailed to local consumers and to get Kingsford displayed on prominent end of aisle displays (end-caps). Assortment reflected the different Kingsford stock keeping units (SKUs) that were carried by each store. Here, the team focused on making sure that the individual stores were stocking the appropriate mix of SKUs that maximized sales volume. The Kingsford marketing team used scanner data to develop detailed quantitative models for each local market that the sales team used to educate the management of the individual stores on these issues. Pricing represented the various everyday prices of each SKU and the target numbers for temporary price reductions. The Kingsford sales team helped the channel partners plan the frequency and depth of price reductions since the volume spikes from price promotions were very significant. Shelving related to where Kingsford products were located, both in terms of aisles and exactly on which shelf each SKU was located. It was important that Kingsford products were treated consistently across stores members of the sales team spent a great deal of time visiting store managers and working on the execution details. Kingsford also worked with customers to capitalize on big holidays with targeted Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day promotions. According to LaMontagne: On a sunny July 4th weekend a Wal-Mart store could sell 5,000 pounds of charcoal in one thy. It is critical that each store keep enough product on the floor in a central location. This not only serves a reminder but generates the impulse to purchase. Ideally we want each person who walks into a store to see pallets of Kingsford charcoal and we push to get our charcoal in two different locations. When the displays are combined with featured pricing and inclusion in store circulars, Kingsford does particularly well- which is good for us and good for the store overall. Our research has shown that consumers who buy Kingsford charcoal tend to spend 30 percent more during their store visit than consumers who do not buy charcoal. We do our best to show these data to stores so that they can see the benefits of promoting Kingsford. The Kingsford team was also working on plans to extend the grilling season outside of the peak summer months by creating NASCAR promotions for March, April, September and October as well as by encouraging fall tailgating events. Dawn Willoughby, sales merchandising manager, explained, We have put together a 12-month plan to increase charcoal consumption. The goal is to increase grilling occasions and we want stores to help reinforce this objective? The sales team pursued co-marketing opportunities with other brands such as Pepsi and Budweiser to help pay for increased promotions throughout the year. As the sales team worked with stores on the various promotions, they also continued to push the stores to focus primary support on two brands- Kingsford and private label. LaMontagne explained: We see ourselves as custodians of the charcoal category. Our research shows that supporting too many brands of charcoal hurts the channels revenues and profits. For example, with too many SKUs to manage, the channel would routinely face stock-outs of the popular products that could lead to lost sales, or even worse, lost customers if the consumers switched stores altogether. Armed with compelling evidence on lost revenues and margins, we are going to the channel with a message of less is more? We are telling them that brands in the middle such as Royal Oak are driving consumers away from the premium brand that was sought out by brand-loyal consumers or away from the stores profitable private label brand. Product and Capacity The Kingsford team hoped to increase growth through a combination of advertising and promotion and therefore was working with the Clorox product supply group to ensure adequate supply. Based on the numbers run by the product supply team, it looked as if the plants were currently running at approximately 80 percent of total capacity. As a result, there would only be supply issues if volume grew more than 5 percent for several years in a row. It was difficult and expensive to build additional capacity Bill Lynch, Vice-President of Product Supply explained: A new plant can cost $30-$50 million to build and it could take at least five years once Clorox started the permitting process. It could take two to three years just to acquire all of the necessary regulatory approvals. If we want to expand one of our current plants, we still need to go through a two-year permitting process. In addition, some of our plants are not expandable- often for environmental reasons. If Kingsford did run out of capacity; there were not many alternative sources for charcoal production. The business could try approaching a competitor in the United States or looking at several offshore options. if those turned out to be prohibitively expensive, the Kingsford team ran the risk of running out of product towards the end of the summer season. 3 A shortfall in supply would mean that Kingsford would have to pacify its customers by moving pallets around the country to wherever demand was greatest, a very expensive proposition. CONCLUSION Smith Boyle and Warren were interested in getting Gordons perspective on how Kingsfords growth objectives fit into the broader context of the overall company growth targets. Cloroxs stock price in December 2000 was at a three-year low when Clorox had warned Wall Street that its sales growth would not be as high as it had predicted earlier in the year. On January 31 2001, Clorox had announced its second quarter earnings, which included a 6 percent decline in sales for the company. Clorox Chairman and CEO Craig Sullivan said, While these results are in line with the estimates we announced on December 14, we are obviously disappointed with our performance this quarter. Over the past 45 days we have heightened our focus on those activities that are most critical to securing a solid foundation for future growth. We are taking action, first and foremost, to regain momentum on our core businesses in the United States. Smith Boyle and Warren felt Clorox was relying on Kingsford to improve sales and profits, and they didnt want to let the company down. They knew their recommendations about pricing, advertising, promotion, and capacity could make a big difference for both Kingsford and Clorox as a whole. Armed with all the research data, they were eager to develop a strategy for taking the Kingsford brand to a new level of growth and profitability. With this in mind, Smith Boyle and Warren walked out of the building on Wednesday evening, planning to talk more the following week. They waved goodbye with their usual parting message, See you next Wednesday! †

Internet Regulations essays

Internet Regulations essays Internet is the most used tools for research nowadays, it is the haighway of informations which connects and communicates the world in seconds, it is a place in which you can fin every kind of information of almost any topic that you are interested in, even tough I realize that internet is an invaluable tool, i believe that some regulations should be made in order to make it a safer place for every people who surfs on the web. A big issue that has been on the news lately is the children pornography, children pornography is a reality on the web and some acti9on must be taken in order to protect our kids from the inherent danger that a place without laws can be. Every internet user has seen the so called "pop-up" windows; these windows are, most of the time, not requested, for example, in 10 websites I found 6 "pop-up" windows. While many of those windows are just marketing or adds, there are also some pornographic adds, which are opened without your consent, the webpages wich i visited are aimed to the general public, and not to a particular audience, these pages can be viewed by anyone with access to the net, and these users includes children. Is for this reason that i believe that there should be some regulations on the internet, I am not saying that every webpage should be blocked, but that the web pages that are displayed should not contain morally wrond content, I believe that some regulations cound en with this problem and our society, particularly our kids, would be safer while surfing the net. ...

Four Paired Stocks Worth Watching This Week Essay

Four Paired Stocks Worth Watching This Week - Essay Example However, at least three things mitigate this news. One is that the FDA is not compelled to heed the advice of its panels. Two is that pronouncements by spokespersons of the FDA point out that the recent panel recommendation summarized above is not likely to have an impact on existing applications for drug approval. This means that the applications for approval. Three, consensus wisdom from insiders is that at any rate, the two companies already have in their possession a wealth of existing, prior to approval clinical data on human trials involving measuring the impact of their respective medications on strokes and heart ailments, and can comply with the recommendations of the FDA panel if necessary, without resorting to new, pre-approval clinical trials. All these taken together means that while on the surface, the FDA panel recommendation seems to be somewhat of a drag on the approval train for Vivus and Arena, the reality, especially with the announcements of the FDA spokespersons hinting that the approval processes have a slim chance of being derailed, is that both companies are probably in for a rosy future as far as the approval process is concerned, at least at the moment. Indeed, in reaction to the news on the recommendation of the FDA panel, the stock prices of both Vivus and Arena rose (Edney and Larkin; The Fly on the Wall). This joint rise in the stock price underscores market perception and underlying market and research dynamics that couple the two stocks and make of the two a stock pair worth watching. Moreover, the two are locked in a tight race for billing and for first-mover, as well as for the corollary financial rewards, to get to market with their respective medications for obesity. It is interesting, looking at the stock price charts over the last six months, how in recent weeks the fate of the two stocks seem to have coupled even more tightly. Vivus shares spiked fifty percent in early February of 2012, and has plateaued at a level of arou nd US 20 dollars a share. Following this trend, Arena shares spiked 50 percent in early March, plateauing so far at around US 3 dollars a share. It is interesting to see how further milestones and market development for the two firms will reflect on their respective share prices (Edney and Larkin; The Fly on the Wall; Google Finance (a); Google Finance (b)). The market is on a keen lookout for key approval milestones for the two competing medications from the two firms. The drug Qnexa by Vivus seems to be ahead of the pack, with positive news coming from an FDA panel on February 22 of this year which weighed risks against benefits and found that the drug's risks were dimmed by its benefits. The FDA may or may not heed that panel finding, and at any rate come up with a decision on Qnexa by April 17 of this year. Lorcaserin, which was developed by Arena, is set for an FDA panel scrutiny by May 10. The FDA will then, by the 27th of June of this year, make its decision on the latter dru g. The consensus is that positive news for Qnexa/Vivus ought to translate to positive news for lorcaserin/Arena,

Cultural communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cultural communication - Essay Example He broke up the code of honor that is one of the codes of communication by throwing away her wife in the public. It was considered a shame for Dakota men to reveal their emotions and feelings concerning anything publically. By throwing his wife publically, he made a mistake of breaking up the code of honor of Dakota tradition. He showed his cultural dominance by throwing away blue Bird. Men are considered to have an upper hand in Dakota tradition. The story Waterlily is based on the lifestyle and cultural norms exercised in Dakota Tradition by the people of that society. The story circulates around the main character, Waterlily, whose birth in a forest and her association to Waterlily enables her to get the name, Waterlily. Her mother, Blue Bird regards her very beautiful. Blue Bird marries to a Dakota man named Star Elk. After her marriage with the man, she comes to know that her husband is a lethargic and covetous individual and has no regard for Dakota tradition. At a victory dance, he in his overly emotional state shows his disregard for the Dakota tradition by throwing away his wife in front of all the people. This incident appears as a sort of humiliation for Blue Bird and her daughter Waterlily. Due to the publically upheaval displayed by Blue Bird’s husband, she runs away with her daughter and grandmother to her relatives called tiyospaye. Tiyospaye are the people who live in western plains. Waterlily is brought up in a cultural set up where she learns about cultural norms and how can she become a part of culture. The story, Waterlily not only talks about the protagonist, Waterlily but also informs about various cultures and conventions adopted by the Dakota people. Waterlily learns the rules of kinship. She learns the code of honor and all the aspects that come under this code of communication. She learns aboput how can a person be part of