Relational Approach to Counselling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Relational Approach to Counselling - Essay Example But for whatever the need for counselling is, it is extremely important that the counsellor at the hem of the process follows strict principles and guidelines in order to achieved success. The kind of principles to follow in a particular counselling session is largely dependant on the counselling approach used by the counsellor. Among the several counselling approaches, the relational approach is one approach that comes with a lot of principles and conditions that cannot be overlooked in the course of any counselling session. The use of relational approach to counselling has very influential impact on the counselee and even the counsellor. The relational approach also has its own weaknesses and therefore needs a lot care and professionalism in its use. Overview of Relational Approach to Counselling Relational approach to counselling is seen in the perspective of Mearns and Cooper (2005) as a person centred or individual centred technique towards counselling whereby the counselee is g iven a lot of attention and prominence by the counsellor. In relational approach to counselling, the counselee is seen as an impactful stakeholder in the counselling session. ... In this direction, Page (1999) explains that relational centred counselling has been tried and proven in research has been found to be a valid therapy that draws upon current developments in not just psychoanalytic but also in psychodynamic and humanistic theories. This confirms the notion by Erskine Moursand & Trautman (1999) that relational approach to counselling goes beyond empathy to include actual participation by the client rather than an assumption of what he or she is going through. With relational approach to counselling, the client is brought closer through contact; such that by the end of the entire experience, there becomes a relationship developed between the counsellor and the counselee. Different perspectives of Relational Approach to counselling – the UK and USA Origins In both the United States and United Kingdom, relational approach to counselling is held in highest esteem. In both parts of the perspectives, relational or person-centred counselling started i n the 1950s and 1960s. The little difference is that in the United States of America, relational approach was started as an integral factor of human potential movement that was firmly rooted on the principles of psychotherapy (Mann, 1997). Ever since, relational approach to counselling in the United States of America has followed that perspective whereby not just counsellors back and advocate concentration on the counselee but also involved other psychology experts. In the United States of America, counsellors believe that each individual; including the counselee or the client has potential to achieve success and any changes they want in their life. Because of this perspective, the client is given much room to operate during

Cultural enrichment Essay Example for Free

Cultural enrichment Essay Last February 17, 2009, I went to the ISU Juried Student Exhibition which was located in the Center for Performing and Arts Gallery building. The juror of the exhibition was Mr. Ronald Leax, Halsey C. an Ives Professor of Art in Washington; University, St. Louis, MO. Most of the paintings that were being exhibited illustrate beauty and nature. I’ve noticed that most of the people that were there during the time of my visit appear uninterested with the art that was surrounding them. They barely noticed and appreciated art in its raw form because most were just busy eating and chatting. They practically didn’t understand why their teacher sent them to the gallery; I believe they just went there for the sake of the class credits that they are going to get. But they were also a few who knew what art and beauty was, they showed their appreciation by praising and scrutinizing the works in the gallery. Other people were also busy having their pictures taken beside the beautiful paintings. As for myself, I was really intrigued by the works and the masters behind those paintings. How I wished I could come up with such art pieces that to me seemed like it was done during the middle ages. It was also entertaining to watch how some paintings depicted things about religion and politics it shows that people are really concerned with the current events happening and are even able to express it through art. It was also fascinating to watch the paintings that were cross-over from realism to non-objectivism. Those kinds of paintings are the ones that entertain the naked eye without much thought provocation. Those paintings are the ones that caught my eye because it is relaxing and entertaining to look at them. At the end of the day, I just hope that more would learn to appreciate the beauty of art rather than be overly absorbed from school or from work. They should see that art is relaxing to the soul and to the mind so people who are stressed out could go to art exhibits to unwind and to refresh their souls.

The Marketing Strategy Of Starbucks And Its Effectiveness Marketing Essay

The Marketing Strategy Of Starbucks And Its Effectiveness Marketing Essay Brand recognition is crucial factor in business growth where customers readily pay premium prices for robust brands. Consumers feel satisfaction while consuming a brand that attracts strong loyalty to them. Brand yields not only expression for external stakeholders but for internal environment as well. Employees feel pleasant to work hard for the success of company and consider companys achievements as their own success that enhances organizational efficiency (Ljiljana StankoviĆ¡, 2006). Marketing connects company with customers and influence on consumer consumption habits. Latest marketing trends and technologies make value addition and steady revenue stream towards company. Marketing communication means create demand of organizational goods and services. Chief marketing officers and brand manager designations are common in marketing departments of organization. Organizations deploy adequate marketing budgets for brand management and creation of sound customer base (Kotler Keller, 2009). Consistent change management is the essence of marketing management where stagnant position of company is its failure. Importance of marketing communications in globalized environment is potential cause of choice of this topic for the sake of research and analysis report. The Starbucks has positioned its brand in the market as a high quality customer experience brand. Starbucks sells its high quality products and services at premium prices. The high quality of products and good customer experiences are the main differentiators of its brand from other coffee brands in the market. The Starbucks has designed its stores on theme of Italian bars. The Starbucks provides a home like experience to its customers. The customers of Starbucks are very loyal to the Starbucks brand. The Starbucks gives very first priority to customer satisfaction in order to form a loyal customer base of its brand. The Starbucks focuses on customer relationship management by integrating communication with customers. Research report would analyze coffee retailing industrys marketing trends by making comparative analysis of Starbucks with McDonald. The marketing of brand is very important in order to promote products of brand among the target market. The Starbucks uses word of mouth marketing for promoting its products among customers. The customers appreciate the coffee taste and environment of coffee shops of Starbucks. Starbucks has used comfortable and elegant furniture design, soft music playing on background, messages on coffee cups and visual art in a coffee shop. The Starbucks is the name of comfortableness, fascination, satisfaction, smartness, and enjoyment of life (Hanft, 2005). Starbuck is recognized as a cultural brand because it connects itself with cultures of regions and countries. Cultural nature of Starbuckss brand is the reason of choice of company for the sake of review of marketing strategies of an organization and its effectiveness. McDonald is considered for comparative analysis. The report would conduct critical analysis of Starbuckss marketing strategies by making comparison with McDonald Company. Research Objectives The research report aims to discuss attributes of marketing strategies of Starbucks and its impact on the achievement of organizational goals. Starbuckss marketing is aligned with the cultural attributes of local market where company undertakes local marketing trends by accounting customers needs analysis. Starbucks brand adopt differentiation as market competitive strategies in spite of slow down economy. Company does not bother about price competitive tactics of competitors so the report would focus on brand elements that secure its leadership of quality. Research objectives are given below: To analyze cultural attributes of Starbucks brand and uniqueness from other brands. To examine corporate social responsibility campaign of Starbucks and its impact on brand building. To consider brand differentiation strategies of company and rapid expansion strategy analysis of organization. To assess long term objectives of Starbucks to aid its marketing strategies and achievement of company objectives. Research Approach and Research Questions What are brand attributes of Starbucks that make it differentiated from other brands? What is role of strong experience that company deliver along with taste of products? What are growth opportunities for Starbucks in emerging markets by virtue of its international marketing strategies? What is the role marketing in organizational growth and strengthening sound customer base? The exploratory and explanatory research approaches can be helpful to analyze market strategies of Starbucks while answering above described research questions. The explanatory research describes the process of marketing strategies of Starbucks (Johnson Christensen, 2011). The explanatory research describes variables in the context of a research study. The explanatory research describes the nature of research variables in the research study. In explanatory research first of all target population is defined, then the sample is selected from a target population, data analysis is conducted and then the conclusion is drawn. The explanatory research is very helpful in order to study behaviour, culture, demographics, attitudes and belief of Starbucks customers. On the other hand, exploratory research is used to study new dimensions of a research area. The exploratory research is more vibrant and comprehensive than explanatory research. In exploratory research qualitative research tools are used in order to conduct a research study. The primary data are used in order to conduct an exploratory research. A problem statement may be designed in order to conduct an exploratory research. However, inductive research design is feasible in answering the research questions and addressing research objectives. My area of research is coffee retailing industry so individual cases of Starbucks would be studied to generalize the marketing trends and tactics of company on overall industry. The philosophy of inductive research approach is to study particular cases and scenarios in order to generalize the conclusions on targeted population. Part B-Business Techniques used for data collection Research Methodology The secondary data collection techniques are used in order to conduct research study. The information collected by using primary data is picked from the source of information generation. The primary data collection methods are surveys, pilot studies, focus group studies, interviews and observations. The primary data is concrete and free from any bias. The research can get more relevant information by using the primary data collection technique. The primary data collection is more objective oriented than secondary data collection technique. The quantitative and qualitative techniques are used in order to interpret the primary data and conclude the findings of a research study. The disadvantages of primary data are that, it takes a lot of time to collect primary data. Sometimes, it is very costly to collect primary data. Substantial amount of resources are required in order to collect primary data so researcher avoids using primary data due to scarcity of resources. On the other side, secondary data collection resources pick up second hand information conveniently where information is already available in this case. It includes corporate reports, corporate websites, books, journals, articles, case studies, documented information. Above prescribed information sources would be used to analyze and review marketing strategies of Starbucks and its effectiveness in organizational goals accomplishments. In order to answer the research problems and questions, secondary information sources can be conveniently used. Although, secondary information sources are easily approachable and retrievable but challenging things include credibility of source, quantity of biased information, conflict of objective between author and researcher. Case Study Approach Case study is regarded as most convenient research methodology to review the marketing effectiveness of Starbucks. Case study would consider the best in class marketing communication tools including social media marketing to aid the organizational growth by Starbucks. It is evident that international marketing strategy of Starbucks is primary cause of success of organization being the essential tool of strategic management. Case study method defines and explores the research dimensions and research areas (Kotzab et al., 2005). Case studies of company and its competitors would be studied including annual reports and corporate website information to analyze and conclude best industry practices while recommending future directions to company. Starbucks heavily relies on unconventional marketing strategies like word of mount and social media strategies. Starbuckss brand strongly emphasizes on providing high quality to customers while delivering delicious taste at premium prices. In-store atmosphere is most important at Starbucks brand to deliver world class coffee experience. It means that area of research for case study approach is wider in analyzing different dimensions of Starbuckss marketing. Problem Statement Following problem statement is defined to consider different research dimensions for current research by case study approach. Objectives of company are related to provision of high quality and fresh coffee experience. Company always tries to satisfy customers, contribute in the community development programs, environmental campaigns, provision of pleasant and friendly work environment, business diversification, setting highest standards for purchasing raw materials (coffee beans). In addition, it improves the roasting quality to increase profitability, which enhances the shareholders confidence that is essential for the success of future development strategies (Khattab et al., 2008). All of the above stated objectives appear to have potentials of long term objectives. The company objectives seem to be acceptable, suitable, understandable and flexible in nature. However, there is a problem in its measurability and achievability because most of them are without any benchmark for assessment and are ongoing. Motivation of objectives is reduced by difficulty of progress measurement (Steiner, 2001). Application of Models SWOT SWOT analysis is used for assessment of the strategic position of the company in the current environment. The SWOT framework consists of four elements called strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The strengths and weaknesses are the internal factors while opportunities and threats are considered as external factors (David, 2011). It is widely used strategic framework due to its simplicity and convenient application in almost every situation. SWOT framework would confirm how Starbucks utilizes cross selling (selling different product to existing customer) and up selling (selling upgraded or expensive version of same product to customer) marketing tactics to customers. It also analyzes the way Starbucks offers high class coffee drinking experience to its customers. Likewise, SWOT model reviews the company competitive advantages including offering best in class coffee experience by offering coffee drinking with inside store experience that act as unique selling proposition. Formulation of unique selling proposition is main point of our concern to apply SWOT. Starbucks is getting fame in Europe, US, Canada, and Japan that is being marketed and distributed by e-commerce retailing, foodservice accounts, merchandise stores, food and drug stores, which are opportunities at Starbucks. Opportunity analysis is the area of scope in SWOT where coffee appeals to youth having age range of 18-24 years that has strong proportion in Asian fast growing economies. Limitations of SWOT SWOT is too short and simple which unable to cover all aspects of the environment in which Starbucks operates that leads to strategic errors in the analysis. The decision based on SWOT analysis sometimes might be wrong but this limitation overcome by using other detailed framework with a SWOT (Pickton Wright, 1998). The SWOT framework used on the basis of assumption which sometimes might be untrue in the future. SWOT has an inherent limitation because there are rare chances that two people come up with the same results due to its subjective nature (Pehlchen, 2005). SWOT produces lots of information but all are not useful because sometimes one factor is a threat but at the same time it becomes an opportunity (Henry, 2008). SWOT is ineffective in the current dynamic environment where the pace of technology development change everything. Particularly, SWOT analysis may be conducted separately for emerging economies and developed countries in the regions of Starbucks. Dynamic nature of limitation might be reduced by conducting the SWOT on regular basis. Marketing Mix Marketing mix is widely used by organizations to understand the needs of customers which enable organizations to provide level of products and services as per expectations. In order to achieve success in the marketing campaigns, organizations need to understand their target market and their expected levels of products or services (Kotler et al., 2006). Starbucks has used aggressive strategies to sustain its position as a market leader due to intense competitive rivalry in the service industry. Starbucks has adopted branding strategy due to which it changed the logo that is more focused and highlights the sustainability of company policies. Seven attributes of marketing mix are demonstrated as product, price, place, promotion, people, process, and physical environment. (e-Marketing Mixology, 2012) The main objective of marketing mix program is to create communication and deliver value to customers. The Starbucks is using different marketing strategies like customer relationship management, integrated marketing communication, creating a good customer experience and social media marketing. The objective of Starbucks is to share its customer experience with consumers from low income groups and develops a long term relationships with them. The weak point of marketing mix strategy is that it focuses on short term goals and ignores the long term interests of a company. Research Ethics There are ethical issues involved in research like plagiarism and privacy of respondents. My project mentor has advised me to make your work original in order to avoid the plagiarism issue. I will use my own content in order avoid any plagiarism issue. The disciplinary committee of OBU will take action in case of plagiarism. I have given proper references of my research work in order to avoid any issues of copyright violation. I have used Harvard referring style in order to meet the guidelines of my university. Limitations of Research Primary data collection sources could not be used due to scarcity of time and required resources. Adequate methods of data collection, arrangement, processing and interpretation, analysis and conclusion could not be used. Researcher bias cannot be eliminated during research process (Creswell, 2009). Limited access to the confidential nature of information necessary for the sake of organizational analysis (Lancaster, 2005). Qualitative research design requires more information technology tools than quantitative one (Johnson Christensen, 2011). Conflict between the goals of researcher and author limit the credibility of research findings and analysis. Part C-Analysis, Conclusion, and Recommendations Brand Differentiation Strategy The Starbucks has adopted a brand differentiation strategy through product uniqueness and product differentiation in order to promote its products. Starbucks has used innovation in its products and services in order to gain competitive advantage in the market. The Starbucks has positioned itself best coffee brand in the market by providing attractive store design, unique environment, elegant taste and high quality coffee beans (Kotler Keller, 2009). The main target market of Starbucks is customers from professionals, businessmen, students, tourists and students of colleges and universities. The Starbucks customizes its products and services according to the tastes and culture of different regions and countries. Starbucks has opened its coffee shops in other countries in order to introduce its products and services to customers of international market. Recently, Starbucks has announced to open its first coffee shop in India. Marketing SWOT Strengths It delivers value added entertainment services as add-ons at its premises. Starbucks renders free Wi-Fi internet access in US and Canada the company owned chain of stores. Starbucks sticks customers at its stores to spend adequate time inside the store by offering web based internet portal and digital network. Its digital network allows subscribed editions of New York Times, Economist, ESPN insider, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today (Corporation, 2010). Starbucks services for in-store customers include particular download options of iTunes and e-Books. Up selling merchandise of company includes accessories, books, apparel, movies, and music. Company markets and sells its products through four channels as food service operations, consumer packaged goods, licensed stores, and companys owned chain of retail stores (Starbucks Inc, 2011). Companys competitive advantage regarding distribution strategy includes approaching customers while they are at shop, dining, travelling, and at work through formulating strong distribution network (Kotler et al., 2005). Manufacturing process of fruit juices and beverages is best in class than competitors. In order to retain natural ingredients, company prepares beverages by high pressure pasteurization (HHP) process to preserve nutrients of juices (Starbucks Corporation, 2012). In addition to stores experience and robust process of HHP, healthy beverages portfolio is also source of unique selling proposition. Starbucks has offered convenient purchase options through smart phone mobile apps. Mobile application payment option generates barcode to be usable in targeted stores. Purchasing is made by Starbucks card mobile app with the use of scanner. Customers can reload balance through PayPal. This payment option is considered as most flexible and convenient for customers because its processing is fast. Company has launched two iPhone applications for customers namely Starbucks card mobile and my Starbucks. Card mobile application allows enjoying the useful features of Starbucks card and mobile commerce features (Kharif, 2012). Company also launched mobile commerce features for Android smart phones. Company is gaining competitive edge in rendering mobile commerce transactions while leveraging technology to cater customers. On the other side, companys strong operating performance is aiding its global expansion strategy despite the poor consumer response due to weak economy. Weaknesses Company has been forced to close down 475 coffee locations of Seattles best due to impairment of assets (Thomson Reuters , 2012). Closing down of companys stores in significant amount would result in reduction in profitability. Starbucks has caused product recalls in 2011 where US food safety and agriculture department has reported bacteria issues in ready to eat chicken meals of Starbucks. Similarly, company has recalled its different products like glass water bottles causing laceration hazard whereas safety commission of consumer products ordered to close down 530,000 units of Starbucks (Scheunemann, 2010). Opportunities Starbucks is in strong need to establish robust distribution strategy to beat the competition. Most of Americans like natural ingredients in soft drinks including nectars, carbonated beverages and juices. Americans are getting more health conscious than ever. US organic food market is fast growing business segment where competitors of Starbucks are growing in wellness and health program (sustainable.org, 2012). Starbucks has decided to execute brand distribution strategy by retail stores of company and adoption of additional channels. New juice bars of company would sell fresh vegetables and fruit juices to deliver true captivating experience. Company is of the opinion that to reflect beverage natural ingredients and adopt new look of store (Starbucks Corporation, 2012). Inside walls of Starbucks contain entertaining and knowledgeable contents on juices and smoothies (sweetened beverage including peanut butter and chocolate). Starbucks is targeting the China and Indian markets that have largest population in world. China is getting fast paced economic development where disposable income of middle income people is increasing (White, 2011). There is great opportunity for Starbucks to meet growing demand of consumer products. Starbucks has formulated aggressive expansion plan in India and China (Starbucks Inc, 2011). Starbucks is targeting the demographic factors in its marketing strategy. Company is registering its strong operational performance in China that is quite positive symptom for brand marketing opportunities (Starbucks Inc, 2011). Situational analysis of India reveals that Indians are tea addicted. However, living standard and income level of middle income group of Indians is growing that is strong inclination toward coffee consumption. In India, there is 75,000 tonnes of coffee consumption as compared to 700,000 consumption of tea (AOL Inc., 2011). These statistics reveal that there is untapped market in India for coffee. Starbucks has made joint venture agreement with Tata group named as Tata Starbucks Limited and Tata Coffee Limited where Tata Coffee is supplier of Tata Starbucks (Starbucks Inc, 2012). Starbucks is creating local alliances in Asian markets to tap fast growing economies. Starbucks has entered into agreement with Courtesy Products to deliver on demand and in-room coffee service in more than 500,000 US luxury hotels (Starbucks Inc , 2011). Likewise, Starbucks made another agreement with Green Mountain for licensing, distribution, marketing, and manufacturing, and sale of coffee brands. Threats Starbucks operates in highly competitive environment that demands continuous improvement in quality from speciality stores and restaurants including strong competitor of McDonald (Starbucks Inc, 2011). Raw material prices of Starbucks may increase causing in enhanced prices of manufacturing costs (Starbucks Inc, 2011). Brazil and Columbia are largest producers of Arabica beans that have served limited production causing decreased supply (Walsh, 2011). Due to low supply, Starbucks may have to face challenges in meeting desired standards of quality (Starbucks Inc, 2011). Starbucks has offered espresso beverages at home where customers are becoming habitual to enjoy same quality products of company at home as quality of verismo is same like that of brewed coffee that is served for in-store customers (Starbucks Inc, 2011). It means they would visit stores in lesser numbers. In India and China, McDonald has already catered brand loyalty and customer coverage (Kotler Keller, 2009). Howard Schultz strategies are strongly criticized due to its announcement of closure of 600 US stores. It is argued that premium brand image of Starbucks is difficult to maintain where CEO may have to cut the prices and inside stores experience is no longer attractive to customers (Quelch, 2008). Rapid expansion strategy of company and new products offerings are blamed. Critics argue that McDonald has improved its coffee quality at substantial lower prices but it is challenging for Starbucks to maintain its offerings at higher prices. Marketing Mix of Starbucks Product The Starbucks product portfolio includes premium coffee, high quality tea, cold and Italian beverages. Iced tea, lattes, hot or cold tea and lemonades are the top flavours of Toza team. Starbucks uses cultural phenomenon in the development of product portfolio which is key to its brand success. Starbucks makes double shots; Starbucks discovers innovative product attributes whereas it has launched milk drinks in the UK market (Starbucks Inc, 2010). The company is always trying to enhance its product portfolio and diversified in complement products with its coffee, company also owned a number of bookstores in Canada and USA. The company has enough strategies but it should need diversification and innovation in its product portfolio to achieve further advancement in its objectives and goals. Price Starbucks charges premium prices for its products from customers as compared to its competitors (Lee, 2007). Starbucks believes in the brand differentiation strategy with quality and natural taste at premium prices and does not involve itself in price war strategies. Starbucks provides the pleasant environment and wonderful service attributes along with the taste of its product which enable the company to charge for that attributes also not just a cup of coffee at cafà ©s. All these attributes in one place and in one premium price add value to the customer experience and create loyalty. Overall the prices of coffee fall in the USA but not in the Starbucks stores and cafà ©s which shows how much company focused on premium prices (Fottrell, 2012). In comparison, McDonalds charged low prices as compared to Starbucks that creates a new rivalry and serious threat for the Starbucks (Krasny, 2012). Place The company has more than 17,000 stores in more than 55 countries (Starbucks Inc, 2011). Tokyo in Japan was the first international place for the Starbucks coffee house in 1996 (Starbucks Corporation, 2012). The company also has a virtual existence through its website. Starbucks acquired its rival the Diedrich Coffee chain of cafà ©s in 2006 to enhance its geographical presence and market penetration (Hirsch, 2006). In order to enhance its presence in North America, Starbucks struck a deal with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters in 2011 (Ropes Gray , 2011). Starbucks coffee and other products are located at schools, movie theatres, business organizations, grocery stores, department stores, airports and railway stations etc. Promotion The company has used various means of communication with customers like print media, TV ads, social media and the companys website. The company also operates a website for its customers where they interact with each other and give new ideas and suggestions related to service improvements, which is the best medium for retention of customers. Company use print media ads like The Time ads to promote its products and coffee houses. The main focus of advertising channels is on the promotion of high quality of its products and services. Overall the company is successful in its growth strategies but in 2008 its sales has declined due to its excessive focus on expansion and growth strategies (BBC News Inc, 2011). Social media like Facebook, Twitter, blogs and companys own website is used for creating virtual communities and forums which helps in the management of the customer relationship. Especially, the company website (www.community.starbucks.com) is used for customer feedbacks and suggestions regarding the products and service add-ons that help to keep in touch with its customers. The company also works with communities and sponsor the sports events for the sake of customer relationship management. In order to attract the sports lovers it struck an innovative deal with ESPN for developing sports learning centre. ESPN is famous worldwide among the sports lovers. This collaboration with ESPN further enhances the customer base of Starbucks (Kotler Armstrong, 2008). In order to sustain the huge campaign to attract new loyal customer bases, its needs integrated marketing communication methods. By using this approach, company is able to use various marketing channels at once that also provide most suitable use of advertising budget and resources. The company spent 1.6% of the revenue in the form of advertising and promotion expenses (Starbucks Inc, 2011). Processes The company has used various technologies in its processes and keep trying to improve them. Improvement in the product and service delivery is the main part in the process strategy of the Starbucks. Blue printing techniques like flowcharts and diagrammatic presentations are used for planning and improvement in processes for the customer services, which is based on forecasting, artificial intelligence and simulation concepts (Young Burgess, 2010). The company uses the proactive approach in the change management process of mapping the customer service process. Blue printing techniques are most widely used as feasible service tools in hospitality sector in which Starbucks operates to enhance the customer service experience (Woo Brotherton, 2008). People Starbucks has very good scope in the Europe because European people are coffee lovers. Starbucks is providing them a quality products and services at premium prices that are satisfying their expectations. Management has focused on expansion strategies to reach far in the whole Europe by opening a chain of coffee houses. Young age customers are the prime target of Starbucks. The company also tries to attract old age customers by providing them combination of different products and pleasant environment. Cultural values and attitude of people regarding the coffee provides an opportunity for Starbucks to deepen its footprint in the European market. The demand of coffee houses has increased from $8.9 billion to $10 billion in the Europe (Hilowitz, 2009). The company also focuses on its employees by providing them career development opportunities and training programs. Employees are also the part of its mission statement and considered essential part of the organizational strategy. Physical Environment The pleasant and friendly environment in all coffee houses provides a wonderful experience which helps to attract more customers. Free Wi-Fi access, entertaining music, unique combination of lighting, well mannered and trained employees, unique pieces of art collection and comfortable chairs are the add-ons with one cup of coffee or tea which attracts customers (Khattab et al., 2008). The Starbucks sitting environment is very much supportive to students, readers and researchers that provide a delightful experience. On the contrary, McDonald staff delivers best in class hospitality experience by time management, responsibility, customer service skills, teamwork, and leadership calibre (McDonald Inc, 2012). Social Media and other Marketing Tools at Starbucks Female class is more loyal customer of Starbucks than male where customer profile of company includes professional, educated, and wealthier than average Americans (Kotler Keller, 2009). As customers of Starbucks grow Starbucks experience also matures. Starbucks experience is more exciting to new customer than previous one. Although, McDonald and Dunkins donuts sell premium quality coffee but still Starbucks is preferable option for customer. Schultz never believes in competing with cost competitive coffee houses rather it aims to offer intimate and warm services at its stores. Starbucks lets the consumers believe that Starbucks is the only coffee destination sought by them. In order to meet the challenges of slow down economy, Starbucks had laid down its workforce to serve its cash strapped custome

Exploring Schizophrenia Essay example -- Research Paper Mental Disorde

Exploring Schizophrenia "Schizophrenia is a cruel disease. The lives of those affected are often chronicles of constricted experiences, muted emotions, missed opportunities, unfulfilled expectations. It leads to a twilight existence, a twentieth-century underground man...It is in fact the single biggest blemish on the face of contemporary American medicine and social services; when the social history of our era is written, the plight of persons with schizophrenia will be recorded as having been a national scandal." E. Fuller Torrey, M.D., Surviving Schizophrenia I personally don't know anyone with schizophrenia, or at least I don't think I do. Perhaps I don't realize that my neighbor is walking through life with a secret, like the homosexual who, afraid of society's unfounded prejudice, confusion, and doubts over issues not talked about, remains silent. For this reason, my interest in schizophrenia developed: not because I have been affected by the disorder in a direct (or even indirect) way, but precisely because I haven't. I haven't because mental disorders are not something discussed over coffee. In our society schizophrenia isn't everybody's problem, and so most are content not to think – and consequently not to do – anything about it. My concern with schizophrenia stemmed from the unknown; thus it was fitting that my search to discover facts about it steadily uncovered more gray areas. What are the causes of schizophrenia? No one knows for certain. The symptoms? They vary. What about treatments? They too have varied throughout history and current treatment differs from case to case. Faced with the frustration of unanswered queries, I began to wonder why I chose this topic. However, that is the nature of scienc... ...: Longman Publishers USA, 1997. Keefe, Richard & Philip Harvey. Understanding Schizophrenia. New York: The Free Press, 1994. Mortensen PB, Pedersen CB, Westergaard T, et al. "Effects of family history and place and season of birth on the risk of schizophrenia." New England Journal of Medicine 340 (1999): 603-8. O'Brien, Patrick. The Disordered Mind. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1978. Rund, Bjorn Rishovd. How do neuroleptics affect cognitive dysfunctions in schizophrenia? Nordic Journal of Psychiatry 53.2 (1999): 121-125. Stephenson, Joan. "Schizophrenia researchers striving for early detection and intervention." Journal of the American Medical Association 281.20 (05/26/99): 1877. Swartzendruber, Phil. "Mainstreaming the marginalized." Printed in The Record (April 2, 1998). http://www.goshen.edu/record/1997-98/April2-1998/mainstream.html. Exploring Schizophrenia Essay example -- Research Paper Mental Disorde Exploring Schizophrenia "Schizophrenia is a cruel disease. The lives of those affected are often chronicles of constricted experiences, muted emotions, missed opportunities, unfulfilled expectations. It leads to a twilight existence, a twentieth-century underground man...It is in fact the single biggest blemish on the face of contemporary American medicine and social services; when the social history of our era is written, the plight of persons with schizophrenia will be recorded as having been a national scandal." E. Fuller Torrey, M.D., Surviving Schizophrenia I personally don't know anyone with schizophrenia, or at least I don't think I do. Perhaps I don't realize that my neighbor is walking through life with a secret, like the homosexual who, afraid of society's unfounded prejudice, confusion, and doubts over issues not talked about, remains silent. For this reason, my interest in schizophrenia developed: not because I have been affected by the disorder in a direct (or even indirect) way, but precisely because I haven't. I haven't because mental disorders are not something discussed over coffee. In our society schizophrenia isn't everybody's problem, and so most are content not to think – and consequently not to do – anything about it. My concern with schizophrenia stemmed from the unknown; thus it was fitting that my search to discover facts about it steadily uncovered more gray areas. What are the causes of schizophrenia? No one knows for certain. The symptoms? They vary. What about treatments? They too have varied throughout history and current treatment differs from case to case. Faced with the frustration of unanswered queries, I began to wonder why I chose this topic. However, that is the nature of scienc... ...: Longman Publishers USA, 1997. Keefe, Richard & Philip Harvey. Understanding Schizophrenia. New York: The Free Press, 1994. Mortensen PB, Pedersen CB, Westergaard T, et al. "Effects of family history and place and season of birth on the risk of schizophrenia." New England Journal of Medicine 340 (1999): 603-8. O'Brien, Patrick. The Disordered Mind. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1978. Rund, Bjorn Rishovd. How do neuroleptics affect cognitive dysfunctions in schizophrenia? Nordic Journal of Psychiatry 53.2 (1999): 121-125. Stephenson, Joan. "Schizophrenia researchers striving for early detection and intervention." Journal of the American Medical Association 281.20 (05/26/99): 1877. Swartzendruber, Phil. "Mainstreaming the marginalized." Printed in The Record (April 2, 1998). http://www.goshen.edu/record/1997-98/April2-1998/mainstream.html.

Analysis of Gender Roles in Macbeth

In many cultures, such as European in society, women are perceived as the primary caretaker of the home among other oppressive notions that pertain to them. They were in charge of organizing social events, maintaining the family’s reputation, cooking, and cleaning occasionally with assistance from their children. They were considered to be of less value than their male counterparts and, thus, were not permitted the opportunity to have a role in politics, religion, and society. Since the time of Shakespeare, the majority of gender inequities in society have been abolished, and a new era of complete equality is on the horizon.However, there are barriers of ignorance, whose sole purpose is to hinder progression, that people have yet to break. Women have made efforts to gain equality in society since the 1800’s as seen by the writer and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft who wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, the first great feminist treatise. It listed and discussed her grievances concerning gender inequality and had a total influence on the art of travel writing as well as the Romantic Movement.A sign of this progress in society, other than women’s introduction into several facets of society (i. e. entertainment, business, politics, etc. ), is the adoption of gender role reversal, partly due to its comedic portrayal in television but also its necessity in some homes. As expected, there were some who were more conservative towards gender equality such as, William Shakespeare which was seen in his gruesome play, Macbeth that used this idea of general role reversal to oppose this idea.Macbeth and Lady Macbeth show the first instances of this peculiar gender role reversal, which occurs exceptionally early in the play when Macbeth is conflicted with the choice of either killing Duncan as according to the plan or spare his life as he begins to see the true wickedness of this act. Here Macbeth exhibits weakness, an inability to do something treac herous and soul sullying that was relatively common for men to do in plays written by the likes of Shakespeare.Because Shakespeare has established what he believes to be a typical man and woman in his assortment of plays, for example Romeo and Juliet, one can definitively claim that Macbeth is acting exceptionally feminine during this section of the play. Lady Macbeth demonstrates her masculinity as she taunts and ridicules Macbeth for even considering terminating their plan to kill Duncan, â€Å"excerpt†. She even goes as far as suggesting killing him herself if it weren’t for the fact that Duncan resembles her father; however, she compensates for her inability to kill Duncan by placing the bloody knife in the hands of the unsuspecting servants.This role reversal is accentuated by Lady Macbeth’s soliloquy that was essentially her grievances of being a lady and her burning desire to become a man because men have the inherent ability to be dastardly, â€Å"excer pt†. While her motives for unsexification are not the most benevolent, the fact that the only method of obtaining equal mental capacity to men is to physically be a man, which at the time meant being born as one or, evidently, replacing breast milk with gall, is Shakespeare explicitly exhibiting his misogynistic notions.Aside from the subliminal sexism seen throughout the play, Shakespeare’s project pertaining to traditional gender roles is seen as the play progresses, but the true message is exhibited nearing end of the play when Lady Macbeth’s guilt induced insanity causes her to commit suicide and Macbeth’s head is decapitated. Macbeth can easily be seen as either an elongated Direct T. V. commercial—if you reverse gender roles you will go insane. When you go insane, you will be hospitalized. When you are hospitalized, you commit suicide. Don’t commit suicide.Stay with tradition—or a 17th century PSA warning the public about what ha ppens if man and a woman choose to act as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth do. Shakespeare obviously believes in traditional views concerning gender hierarchy, the questionable element of it, though, is how he conveyed this message. The consequences of both Lady Macbeth attempting to adopt the role of a man and Macbeth’s seemingly unintentional femininity were gruesome and grotesque that was used to convey a relatively simple idea; this passionate conveyance has several potential explanations.The first is, because Shakespeare’s plays are suffused with suicide, murder, and death in general, the reader is seeing an integration of gender role reversal with his style of writing which happens to produce a feminist’s nightmare. Shakespeare could have been modestly incorporating this idea into his play but it appeared to the audience as something more. Second is that the catastrophic ending was not unintentional but was for all intents and purpose to scare people into never tr ying to break tradition.Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s demise was due to their non-conformity; therefore, if one were to do as Lady Macbeth and Macbeth did, they would suffer the same consequences. Either way, an underlying theme in the play, if not the most prominent, is that chaos will ensue if the most intrinsic system of humanity is upset, thus, making Macbeth a cautionary tale for all women who dare challenge the system in an attempt to gain rights. However, some are oblivious to the blatant sexism and believe that any implication of this is simply being misinterpreted.

Snapple Pricing and Product Strategy

Snapple Pricing and Product Strategy Snapple is an American soft drink company that ensures it has an effective product strategy: the strategy ensures that the company comes up with products that are competitive and responsive to the needs of the customers.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Snapple Pricing and Product Strategy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The company makes brands of different flavors depending with the target market; some of the products include juice of different flavors, tea drinks, water, diet drinks, and fresh squeeze among others. The driving force to buying a certain product is the target market that the products are aimed at selling to. To come up with the products, the company engages in massive products and market research (Snapple Official Website). The main change that should be made in the company’s products is the packaging that they use: most of the products have been packed on plastic material that destroys the e nvironment; with the decomposition rate of plastics, when they have been deposited, they pollute the environment. The company should look for paper packaging material (when using paper concentration should be on recycled paper material), they will be less polluting. Snapple can be said to have a strong brand name across the markets it operates in, despite the competition in the soft drinks company, the company has been able to command an increasing market share and in the future its markets are likely to improve even further. When faced with an issue that can challenge the growth of its brand, the company is quick to react and change the ill move. The company can increase its markets further if it can have some low alcoholic products alongside the main line. The strategy will be a move of brand extension strategy: to get into the market, the company should make use of the strength of the current brand to persuade people adopt and embrace the new products (Monroe 63).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Pricing strategy The company uses a premium pricing model; the products can be said to be slightly higher than the average price of commodities in the industry. The reason why they have adopted the method is because of the strength of the brand. It has high quality products that can command a higher market than the others; when using the method, the company targets the working class and the high class members of the society. Premium pricing model is a strategic pricing model where the company rests on it strength in the market as well as the quality it offers. Since 1972, when the country was incorporated, they have developed unique products designs and they can blend sweet flavors to increase the market. When pricing the products, the company looks into the costs incurred, the profit margin as well as the costs sold by other companies in the same industry. After noting the average price in the market, the company’s marketing team then adds a margin that represents the premium as required by premium pricing strategy. The pricing method gives a higher return to the company but makes the products not affordable by the less fortunate in the society. The company should looks into the pricing approach that it is using; the current approach is locking the less fortunate in the society to afford the products. It should start taking use of economies of scale that it currently enjoys; with the current rate of economies of scale, the company can have some quality flavored products at a lower price (Kotler and Armstrong 263). Kotler, Philip, and Armstrong Gary. Principles of Marketing. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2010. Print. Monroe, Kent. The Pricing Strategy Audit. Cambridge: Cambridge Strategy Publications, 2003. Print. Snapple Official Website. Snapple. 2011. Web.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Snapple Pricing and Product Strategy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More

Evidenced Based interventions in Mental health The WritePass Journal

Evidenced Based interventions in Mental health Introduction Evidenced Based interventions in Mental health ). As noted in the earlier part of this discussion, intervention involves a two-way dialogue process between the healthcare professional and the service user and therefore there is a continuously movement between the two entities as the professionals look for the best way to achieve the desired result by observing the activities of the service user . The service user is also then learning about the aspects of their treatment, which are being particularly productive with a view to becoming more self-sufficient over a prolonged period of time. When looking at the concept of learning in this broader sense the entire the entire intervention process facilitated learning can develop with both parties. Learning from each other and creating an effective strategy which may involve a completely different form of intervention at some point or another. It is argued here, however, that continuous learning is the central fact or as to whether or not intervention is ultimately a success. Conclusions By looking at the analysis above it is concluded that evidence based treatment is likely to offer a much deeper understanding of the treatment options available and crucially the practical likelihood of the success of such treatments. Intervention presents a real challenge as picking the precise point and level of intervention and it is argued here that intervention which is patient led will be more likely to be successful in the long run and should form a central part for this type of treatment.   References Chambless, D., Hollon, S. (1998). Defining empirically supportable therapies. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66, 7-18. Griffiths, C., (2007).The theories, mechanisms, benefits, and practical delivery of psychosocial educational interventions  for people with mental health disorders    International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation. 11 (1), 21-28. Kaufman Best Practices Project. (2004). Kaufman Best Practices Project Final Report: Closing the Quality Chasm in Child Abuse Treatment; Identifying and Disseminating Best Practices. Rogers, A., 2003. What is the Difference? A New Critique of Adult Learning and Teaching, Leicester: NIACE. Ryan, P., (2012). Empowerment, Lifelong Learning and Recovery in Mental Health: Towards a New Paradigm. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan. Saunders, B., Berliner, L., Hanson, R. (2004). Child physical and sexual abuse: Guidelines for treatments. Retrieved September 15, 2006, frommusc.edu/cvc.guidel.htm Thomas, M. Burt, M. and Parkes, J., (2010). Chapter 1. The Emergence of Evidence-based Practice, In McCarthy, J. and Rose P. Values-Based Health Social Care: Beyond Evidence-Based Practice. London: Sage.

Biography of Chandragupta Maurya, Indian Emperor

Biography of Chandragupta Maurya, Indian Emperor Chandragupta Maurya (c. 340–c. 297 BCE) was an Indian emperor who founded the Maurya Empire, which rapidly expanded across much of India into modern-day Pakistan. Maurya did battle with Alexander the Great, who invaded the Indian kingdom in 326 BCE, and prevented the Macedonian king from conquering the far side of the Ganges. Maurya went on to unite almost all of what is now India and defeat Alexanders successors. Fast Facts: Chandragupta Maurya Known For: Maurya united ancient India under the Maurya Empire in 322 BCE.Born: c. 340 BCEDied: 297 BCE in Shravanabelagola, Maurya EmpireSpouse: DurdharaChildren: Bindusara Early Life Chandragupta Maurya was reportedly born in Patna (in the modern-day Bihar state of India) sometime around 340 BCE. Scholars are uncertain of some details about his life. For example, some texts claim that both of Chandragupta’s parents were of the Kshatriya (warrior or prince) caste, while others state that his father was a king and his mother a maid from the lowly Shudra (servant) caste. It seems likely that Maurys father was Prince Sarvarthasiddhi of the Nanda Kingdom.  Chandragupta’s grandson, Ashoka the Great, later claimed a blood relationship to Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, but this claim is unsubstantiated. We know almost nothing about Chandragupta Maurya’s childhood and youth before he took on the Nanda Empire, which supports the hypothesis that he was of humble origin- no records about him exist until he founded the Maurya Empire. Maurya Empire Chandragupta was brave and charismatic- a born leader. The young man came to the attention of a famous Brahmin scholar, Chanakya, who bore a grudge against the Nanda. Chanakya began to groom Chandragupta to conquer and rule in the place of the Nanda emperor by teaching him tactics through different Hindu sutras and helping him raise an army. Chandragupta allied himself to the king of a mountain kingdom- perhaps the same Puru who had been defeated but spared by Alexander- and set out to conquer the Nanda. Initially, the upstart’s army was rebuffed, but after a long series of battles Chandragupta’s forces laid siege to the Nanda capital at Pataliputra. In 321 BCE the capital fell, and 20-year-old Chandragupta Maurya started his own kingdom. It was named the Maurya Empire. Chandragupta’s new empire stretched from what is now Afghanistan  in the west to Myanmar (Burma) in the east, and from Jammu and Kashmir in the north to the Deccan Plateau in the south. Chanakya served as the equivalent of a prime minister in the fledgling government. When Alexander the Great died in 323 BCE, his generals divided up his empire into satrapies  so that each of them would have a territory to rule, but by about 316, Chandragupta Maurya was able to defeat and incorporate all of the satrapies in the mountains of Central Asia, extending his empire to the edge of what is now Iran, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Some sources allege that Chandragupta Maurya may have arranged for the assassination of two of the Macedonian satraps: Philip, son of Machatas, and Nicanor of Parthia. If so, it was a very precocious act even for Chandragupta- Philip was assassinated in 326  when the future ruler of the Maurya Empire was still an anonymous teenager. Conflicts With Southern India and Persia In 305 BCE, Chandragupta decided to expand his empire into eastern Persia. At the time, Persia was ruled by Seleucus I Nicator, founder of the Seleucid Empire, and a former general under Alexander. Chandragupta seized a large area in eastern Persia. As part of the peace treaty that ended this war, Chandragupta gained control of that land as well as the hand of one of Seleucus’s daughters in marriage. In exchange, Seleucus received 500 war elephants, which he put to good use at the Battle of Ipsus in 301. With as much territory as he could comfortably rule to the north and west, Chandragupta Maurya next turned his attention to the south. With an army of 400,000 (according to Strabo) or 600,000 (according to Pliny the Elder), Chandragupta conquered all of the Indian subcontinent except for Kalinga (now Odisha) on the east coast and the Tamil kingdom at the southern tip of the landmass. By the end of his reign, Chandragupta Maurya had unified almost all of the Indian subcontinent. His grandson Ashoka would go on to add Kalinga and the Tamils to the empire. Family Life The only one of Chandragupta’s queens or consorts for whom we have a name is Durdhara, the mother of his first son Bindusara. However, it is believed that Chandragupta had many more consorts. According to legend, Prime Minister Chanakya was concerned that Chandragupta might be poisoned by his enemies, and therefore  started introducing small amounts of poison into the emperor’s food in order to build up a tolerance. Chandragupta was unaware of this plan and shared some of his food with his wife Durdhara when she was pregnant with their first son. Durdhara died, but Chanakya rushed in and performed an emergency operation to remove the full-term baby. The infant Bindusara survived, but a bit of his mother’s poisoned blood touched his forehead, leaving a blue bindu- the spot that inspired his name. Little is known about Chandragupta’s other wives and children. Chandraguptas son Bindusara is likely remembered more because of his son than for his own reign. He was the father of one of India’s greatest monarchs, Ashoka the Great. Death When he was in his 50s, Chandragupta became fascinated with Jainism, an extremely ascetic belief system. His guru was the Jain saint Bhadrabahu. In 298 BCE, the emperor renounced his rule, handing over power to his son Bindusara. He then  traveled south to a cave at Shravanabelogola, now in Karnataka. There, Chandragupta meditated without eating or drinking for five weeks until he died of starvation in a practice known as sallekhana or santhara. Legacy The dynasty that Chandragupta founded would rule over India and the southern part of Central Asia until 185 BCE. Chandraguptas grandson Ashoka would follow in his footsteps in several ways- conquering territory as a young man and then becoming devoutly religious as he aged. In fact, Ashokas reign in India may be the purest expression of Buddhism in any government in history. Today, Chandragupta is remembered as the unifier of India, like Qin Shihuangdi in China, but far less bloodthirsty. Despite a paucity of records, Chandragupta’s life story has inspired novels, movies such as 1958s â€Å"Samrat Chandragupt,† and even a 2011 Hindi-language TV series. Sources Goyal, S. R.  Chandragupta Maurya. Kusumanjali Prakashan, 1987.Singh, Vasundhra.  Maurya Empire. Rudra Publishers Distributors, 2017.

Critique for a Quantitative Research Article Paper

Critique for a Quantitative Article - Research Paper Example Because each instrument has both merits and demerits, a researcher has to choose only appropriate tool to apply in his/her study. This paper reviews an article that describes evaluation study of an Advance Care Plan (ACP) in the Residential Aged Care Facility (RACF). The evaluation follows implementation of various strategies to improve outcomes of ACP. In-depth Review of the Article Introduction Section Purpose of the â€Å"Advanced Care Planning: How does current practice compare with best practice† study is clearly explained. The author of the article, Elizabeth van der Spek, explains that the study is a post-implementation audit to determine whether ACP outcomes have actually improved. In the abstract section, the author says that after the Getting Research Into Practice (GRIP) phase of the project, it was necessary to evaluate effectiveness of strategies implemented. Main problem of the study was, thus, determining whether GRIP really had an effect in the RACF. The author exhaustively gives details of what she is doing. As a proof, the author, in the background section, introduces her subject by comprehensively discussing importance of planning for end of an individual’s life. ... However, after the GRIP phase, there is need to check whether the shortcomings have been eliminated. In page two, the author include an audit question to reveal what the study attempts to answer. Through the question, the author generates her study variables. Three types of variables are used; specific GRIP strategy, specific post-implementation ACP outcome, and standard ACP outcomes. Based on findings of the study and using similar variables, the study can effectively be used to solve any clinical problem. Literature review, Theoretical Framework, Study Hypotheses In literature review, the author carefully introduces the concept of planning for end of a person’s life. As basis of the study, the author uncovers significance of â€Å"End-life wishes.† Spek, thus, did a wide research about her study topic. However, the author does not clearly relate her study with previous studies. In fact, the study does not quote a similar research that had studied ACP. Consequently, th e author does not describe literature gaps. That is, the study is geared towards improving services of RACF and not filling any literature gap. Theoretically, no plain study rationale is stated. Based on this fact, the entire project can be nullified. Ambiguity of the study is also evident in forming hypotheses. The study is a comparative research but no postulate is made about possible outcome of ACP in the facility. Because of vagueness of hypotheses, the study does not allow easy testing procedures. Methodology Even though three classes of variables are used in the study, they are, nevertheless, not easily measurable. The strategies are considered as independent variables, which after implementations, lead to a change in the

Media Analysis Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Media Analysis - Research Paper Example Some sources also helped to reform the nation in better way. Among those sources films, songs and political cartoons were playing important part. These all were worked for the purpose of motivation and for changing the views of the political leaders and parties. Describing about the importance of each of the above mentioned methods this can be said that each of them were equally important during the post civil war period in America. Political cartoons never failed to create patriotism and enthusiasm which were very much important for the civilian in the post war period. Thomas Nast was playing an important role in this particular field. He was the famous as the father of American political cartoonist. The young generation was also attracted by the political cartoons and these cartoons directed their views in proper and right way so that future generation has not to face the trouble of civil war. Public opinions were reflected regarding the situation and affect of war through the cartoon figures (Hogge, 2008). Some film makers also took initiative to focus on the certain pictures such as scale of death in war through some documentary films. Drew Gilpin Faust, Eric Foner etc were some renowned film makers who made such kind of documentary fil ms. American sheet music also provided significant perspective on the history of civil war during the post war period. There was 3, 042 pieces of sheet music at that point of time which influenced the people of nation. The collection of music included political music, patriotic music, sad songs etc which had strong impact especially on the young generation. At that point of time music was a form of propaganda. During the post civil war period illiteracy rate was high especially in the rural areas and communication system was poor. In that situation sheet music was an important way to convey the positive messages to the people of those rural areas. The most important

Law Enforcement Investigators (Traditionalist vs. Revisionist) Assignment

Law Enforcement Investigators (Traditionalist vs. Revisionist) - Assignment Example The traditionalists, on the other hand, have dismissed revisionists as using dubious means to undo the work of revolution. Both schools of thought, ideologies can be useful in the implementation of the law. When analyzed, they can tell how investigation officers who ascribe to either of the two paradigms have portrayed these ideologies in solving criminal cases. The traditionalist school of thought is important for various factors. One is that it helps to appreciate the knowledge of previous generations. By using this approach, law enforcement agents can find a way to finding a solution to a criminal situation. Another advantage is that traditionalists appreciate that even though people from previous generations were not as technologically advanced as those in the present generation, progression patterns can be seen. This is because even though inferior to the present generation, they were superior to those that came before them. This approach helps in analyzing details so as not to miss the point that was missed in previous events. This approach can, however, be detrimental because the circumstances that were there in the past could be different in present cases. Another disadvantage is that with improved technology, the way to solve problems today is through the use of better technological tools to help analyze present cases. This theory is advantageous in that it puts into place the facts and circumstances of the time. The benefit of this is that all scenarios will be considered before taking a certain direction during criminal investigations. Another advantage is that it looks at a particular even not as though it was inevitable due to past occurrences, but as one that happened due to circumstances just prior to the event. It is necessary to look at a particular instance, independent of other historical chains of events, but overlooking such matters can be detrimental during investigations. There could be different sides of the story.  

Poetry Research Paper on Langston Hughes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Poetry Research Paper on Langston Hughes - Essay Example His was to make, living forever, the pride found in the African-American identity and culture. Through writings and action, he boldly campaigned against racial stereotypes and social injustices against the Blacks. He tirelessly worked to bring the idea of African-American beauty into reality as in one of his poems, My People: The Night is Beautiful, So the faces of my people. The Stars are beautiful, So the eyes of my people. Beautiful, also, in the sun. Beautiful, also, are the souls of my people (Leach, 7). Langston Hughes and his contemporaries tried, in their literary works, to describe the real life of their people, who belonged to the lower economic classes, and with miserable life. They strongly opposed discrimination against Blacks by Whites, based on skin color. These were people who were not ashamed of being black during a time when being black was considered a curse. Hughes emphasized the idea of â€Å"black is beautiful† and therefore took it upon his life to explo re this beauty largely (Leach 5). Hughes promoted a nationalism characterized by not only racial consciousness but also one, which had a cultural inclination, free of self-hate, a characteristic of Blacks in Africa. He encouraged them to be proud of their cultural identity. His technical experience was seen in his emphasis on the use of folk and jazz rhythms as a corner stone for his poems. He first published his poem, â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers,† in The Crisis in 1921. Many considered this poem as his signature poem. He proceeded to publish his first collection of poetry, The Weary Blues, a collection in which he included the â€Å"signature poem† (Leach 5). â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers† is a poem, which has attracted both critics and fans alike. Its allusions of dusky rivers, the setting sun, sleep, and the soul provides with both the idea of death and immortality. The poet bounces back to life from desperate grief, an action he does by resorting to his belief in his people and his sense of identity with them. He portrays his weak self as a child as well as that of his father. He uses the imagery of a muddy river for his race. This is where he gets his source of life, from the â€Å"muddy bosom† (black mother). Hughes also equates his vision to the angle at which the sun shines above the muddy water, which has the power to turn mud into gold (Rampersad qtd. in On â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers†). As Owuchekwa Jemie puts it, Hughes accounts in this poem go back to a period before human existence. The rivers can be traced back to the time of creation, and with that is part of God’s eternity since they are everything from deep, mysterious and even continuous. Hughes has named them in chronological pattern, similar to that of the Black man’s history. Their waters have given the black man an immortal life. He has actually become part of the river. Hughes also captures Abraham Lincoln’s freeing of black slaves in the writer’s unprecedented turning of the muddy Mississippi into gold. Just like the river, the black man’s soul becomes deep with time. The waters in these rivers also flow incessantly, a declaration that the human soul will endure all the difficulties. In addition, since the blacks have seen civilizations come and go, they will certainly emerge victorious at the end. According to Jean Wagner, the Black’s long history endows them with a rare form of wisdom; wisdom better than that of the great civilizations in man’

Wuthering Heights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Wuthering Heights - Essay Example However, this novel is not an ordinary love story with a happy end. It represents an awful picture of destructive feelings, which ruin the lives of many people. The most interesting thing is that nowadays, such stories become more and more popular. The famous novel â€Å"Twilight† written by Stephenie Mayer brought thousands of clients to the book shops all over the world. When the story was filmed, it was impossible to get the tickets to the cinema due to its extreme popularity among youth. Millions of people thoroughly watched the deviant relationships between the main heroes of the story, Edward and Bella, observing simultaneously the representation of cruelty and violence in it. The aim of this work is to analyze the features, which attract the audience to read such novels. Though, the plot of such stories has the scenes, which can be unpleasant for the reader, for example, domination of men over women, unnatural forces and so forth, they still attract much attention from the audience, which is an unusual phenomenon. This paper specifies on the attractive sides of these novels, which are of paramount importance for the reader. The plot of â€Å"Wuthering heights† does not represent anything unusual from the first sight. In its center there are two men (Heathcliff and Edgar Linton), who love one woman. The main female character of the story is Catherine Earnshaw. Catherine is a young, beautiful and egoistic girl, whose feelings are confusing and inconstant. She views the relationships with Heathcliff and Edgar differently. Her love to Edward Linton is calm, measured and harmonious, while her relationships with Heathcliff are rapid and unconscious. During the whole story, Catherine tears around her reserved marriage with Linton and the spirit of her past love to Heathcliff, who appears as a cruel and imperious person.

The study on Human resources in a digital age Dissertation

The study on Human resources in a digital age - Dissertation Example Primary research is conducted for the study. This is done using the questionnaire method on a sample of 100 HR professionals across different sectors. They are primarily HR executives and HR managers in organizations. The analysis is done based on the responses collected from candidates and presented in the form of graphs and pie charts. The drawbacks and loopholes in the system are identified and suitable recommends are provided to eliminate them. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Introduction 5 Background 6 Research aims and objectives 7 Problem Statement 8 Literature Review 8 Impact of Information technology in human resources in organizations, changing trends 8 Human Resource Management using information technology and competitive edge of firms 13 Strategic constraints on human resource management in the digital age 17 Technology and training for human resource professionals 20 Research Methodology 24 Primary Research Study 24 Scope of Research 25 Data Collection methods and technique s 26 Research Limitations 27 Questionnaire design 28 Research Findings and Analysis 29 Quantitative Analysis 29 Qualitative Analysis 38 Recommendations 42 Conclusion 44 Reference 46 Bibliography 49 Appendix 51 Questionnaire 51 Introduction Globalization and global competition has been imposing great pressure on managers in organizations to make better and faster business decisions. Investments in information and technology have also been creeping up along with this pressure. Investments in the area of information and technology in considered being one of the critical means of improving and fastening up of management decision making. Even then, organizations have faced the great difficulty in realising the potential of investments in the areas of information and technology in businesses. This has been particularly visible in the business area of human resource management, despite the fact that longer lead times associated with changes in human resource management systems necessarily means HR accounts for a major candidate to derive benefits from information and technology. In order to emerge successful amidst the increasingly and global competition managers are constantly faced with the pressure of controlling labour costs, motivating employees and subordinates to provide high quality services, enhancing customer oriented performances and constantly searching for better and new ways of doing the jobs successfully. Circumstances make it mandatory for organizations to meeting these objectives against all odds in the face of a shrinking workforce and the global environment in which employees hail from diverse and multicultural backgrounds located across different parts of the globe. Even the routine and conventional tasks maintaining records of employees and regulatory and legal compliance have become increasingly geometrically intensified. In other words systems and operations in organizations have become more complicated and this consequently demands more sophis ticated technology applications which go much further beyond the conventional tasks of improving the routine task activities. Managers have their own stake in exploiting information technology for furthering and bettering human resource management. However, various managers have different views regarding the effectiveness of use of IT in human resource

Poetry Research Paper on Langston Hughes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Poetry Research Paper on Langston Hughes - Essay Example His was to make, living forever, the pride found in the African-American identity and culture. Through writings and action, he boldly campaigned against racial stereotypes and social injustices against the Blacks. He tirelessly worked to bring the idea of African-American beauty into reality as in one of his poems, My People: The Night is Beautiful, So the faces of my people. The Stars are beautiful, So the eyes of my people. Beautiful, also, in the sun. Beautiful, also, are the souls of my people (Leach, 7). Langston Hughes and his contemporaries tried, in their literary works, to describe the real life of their people, who belonged to the lower economic classes, and with miserable life. They strongly opposed discrimination against Blacks by Whites, based on skin color. These were people who were not ashamed of being black during a time when being black was considered a curse. Hughes emphasized the idea of â€Å"black is beautiful† and therefore took it upon his life to explo re this beauty largely (Leach 5). Hughes promoted a nationalism characterized by not only racial consciousness but also one, which had a cultural inclination, free of self-hate, a characteristic of Blacks in Africa. He encouraged them to be proud of their cultural identity. His technical experience was seen in his emphasis on the use of folk and jazz rhythms as a corner stone for his poems. He first published his poem, â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers,† in The Crisis in 1921. Many considered this poem as his signature poem. He proceeded to publish his first collection of poetry, The Weary Blues, a collection in which he included the â€Å"signature poem† (Leach 5). â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers† is a poem, which has attracted both critics and fans alike. Its allusions of dusky rivers, the setting sun, sleep, and the soul provides with both the idea of death and immortality. The poet bounces back to life from desperate grief, an action he does by resorting to his belief in his people and his sense of identity with them. He portrays his weak self as a child as well as that of his father. He uses the imagery of a muddy river for his race. This is where he gets his source of life, from the â€Å"muddy bosom† (black mother). Hughes also equates his vision to the angle at which the sun shines above the muddy water, which has the power to turn mud into gold (Rampersad qtd. in On â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers†). As Owuchekwa Jemie puts it, Hughes accounts in this poem go back to a period before human existence. The rivers can be traced back to the time of creation, and with that is part of God’s eternity since they are everything from deep, mysterious and even continuous. Hughes has named them in chronological pattern, similar to that of the Black man’s history. Their waters have given the black man an immortal life. He has actually become part of the river. Hughes also captures Abraham Lincoln’s freeing of black slaves in the writer’s unprecedented turning of the muddy Mississippi into gold. Just like the river, the black man’s soul becomes deep with time. The waters in these rivers also flow incessantly, a declaration that the human soul will endure all the difficulties. In addition, since the blacks have seen civilizations come and go, they will certainly emerge victorious at the end. According to Jean Wagner, the Black’s long history endows them with a rare form of wisdom; wisdom better than that of the great civilizations in man’

The study on Human resources in a digital age Dissertation

The study on Human resources in a digital age - Dissertation Example Primary research is conducted for the study. This is done using the questionnaire method on a sample of 100 HR professionals across different sectors. They are primarily HR executives and HR managers in organizations. The analysis is done based on the responses collected from candidates and presented in the form of graphs and pie charts. The drawbacks and loopholes in the system are identified and suitable recommends are provided to eliminate them. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Introduction 5 Background 6 Research aims and objectives 7 Problem Statement 8 Literature Review 8 Impact of Information technology in human resources in organizations, changing trends 8 Human Resource Management using information technology and competitive edge of firms 13 Strategic constraints on human resource management in the digital age 17 Technology and training for human resource professionals 20 Research Methodology 24 Primary Research Study 24 Scope of Research 25 Data Collection methods and technique s 26 Research Limitations 27 Questionnaire design 28 Research Findings and Analysis 29 Quantitative Analysis 29 Qualitative Analysis 38 Recommendations 42 Conclusion 44 Reference 46 Bibliography 49 Appendix 51 Questionnaire 51 Introduction Globalization and global competition has been imposing great pressure on managers in organizations to make better and faster business decisions. Investments in information and technology have also been creeping up along with this pressure. Investments in the area of information and technology in considered being one of the critical means of improving and fastening up of management decision making. Even then, organizations have faced the great difficulty in realising the potential of investments in the areas of information and technology in businesses. This has been particularly visible in the business area of human resource management, despite the fact that longer lead times associated with changes in human resource management systems necessarily means HR accounts for a major candidate to derive benefits from information and technology. In order to emerge successful amidst the increasingly and global competition managers are constantly faced with the pressure of controlling labour costs, motivating employees and subordinates to provide high quality services, enhancing customer oriented performances and constantly searching for better and new ways of doing the jobs successfully. Circumstances make it mandatory for organizations to meeting these objectives against all odds in the face of a shrinking workforce and the global environment in which employees hail from diverse and multicultural backgrounds located across different parts of the globe. Even the routine and conventional tasks maintaining records of employees and regulatory and legal compliance have become increasingly geometrically intensified. In other words systems and operations in organizations have become more complicated and this consequently demands more sophis ticated technology applications which go much further beyond the conventional tasks of improving the routine task activities. Managers have their own stake in exploiting information technology for furthering and bettering human resource management. However, various managers have different views regarding the effectiveness of use of IT in human resource

Sustainable Socio-Technological System Essay Example for Free

Sustainable Socio-Technological System Essay Every thread of the problems faced by the present human society can be traced back to first industrial revolution of late 18th century and early 19th century that took place in Britain and from where it was embraced by the entire world. The industrial revolution set in motion the process of changes that have since then subsequently transformed the character of not only human society but of entire earth. Air, water, land and sky, all bear the effects of the changes inflicted by human march through industrial revolution and the effects have not been pleasant by any order.   One of the consistent features of the industrial and post industrial revolution has been unprecedented rate of consumption of energy resources, which is the principle reason behind depletion, and instability of earth’s ecological and environmental system (Pirages, 1996). In the endeavor to exploit the full range and scope of advancing technology world required huge energy supplies, which it was unable to obtain from traditional wood fuel or steam power. A quest was soon underway to find that magical energy source that could fuel world’s transition in the new age of speed and power. And soon this magical source was discovered in the form of fossil fuels-petroleum oil and coal with which human world completely shifted in the modern age. The age of automobiles, airplanes, rockets, and computers almost rushed in simultaneously and since then continued to evolve and modify endlessly on the same essential design that is solely based on using the energy of fossil fuels at an increasingly higher rate. 20th century did not merely saw extravagant increase in the consumption of energy resources but also a massive population explosion where population of world tripled from 2 billion in 1930 to 6.5 billion by 2005, thereby making it impossible to reduce the consumption rates (Tyler, 1997). With demands continuously pressing ahead, world’s energy intake also almost doubled from 1973 to 2002. This giant rate and quantity of energy consumption has put world across two crises that have s potential to challenge the very existence of humanity and accompanying life forms, if its not resolved immediately. In the blind rush of growth that world has followed, it became over occupied with the immediate enjoying of wonders of fossil fuel without ever considering the consequences of its maniac pace of growth. The consequences of exploitation, on their part, did not take much time to manifest and air-pollution, water pollution and marine pollution, terms hitherto unheard of, were entering popular terminology. Fossil fuels are essentially hydrocarbon compounds and although they are extremely rich in energy content, their extraction from deep oil wells, refinement and use involve release of harmful and poisonous gases at each step of process, that dangerously increased contents of carbon di-oxide, sulfur oxides, nitrous oxides and chlorine compound in environment, changing the chemical composition of land, air and water. After the discovery of ozone hole in 1985,   humanity encountered the first major threat to its own existence in   so far innocuous journey in the modern high-energy, high-speed age. In subsequent years more catastrophic phenomena, such as global warming and melting of polar ice caps conclusively showed the inherent flaws and dangers associated with man’s present course. Of all the actors of the modern world that have caused upshot in consumption of fossil fuels and hence contributed towards the crisis of environmental pollution and global warming, transportation sector takes the role of the progenitor and spearhead. The role of transportation has been preeminent in humanity’s march through economic development of 20th century. The great mobility offered by transportation sector in personal and freight movements created the foundation of entire industrial infrastructure. However, in the process it also emerged as the biggest consumer of fossil fuel, accounting for more than 70 % of the fuel consumption all over the world. Also it is one of the   biggest polluter and driving cause of pollution. The exhaust fumes from millions of vehicles add toxic gases to atmosphere resulting in poisonous smog. While these gases and fumes add to atmospheric pollution and contributes in global warming their direct impact on human health results in diseases like asthma, migraine and cancer along with sharp rise in cases of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.   Apart from all these, transportation sector results in thousands of purely avoidable deaths each year due to road accidents.   The largest share in transportation sector belongs to personal and individual motorized vehicles, which are currently numbered at over 600 million and are expected to grow to 2 billion by year 2050 (Heywood, 2006). In the view of already depleting oil resources, the size of motorized industry in 2050 would be unsupportable by even existing fossil reserves and certainly untenable in 2050. These figures and analysis put the sustainability prospects of current transportation model in question. Every study conducted shows that if transformative changes are not introduced at institutional and policy level, the entire transportation sector may come to a standstill in few years, turning the wheels of development backward. Sustainable transportation is also a vital issue from current environmental and economic perspectives because researches have proved that increase in motorized transportation has negative economic implications eventually. Thus finding a sustainable transportation model that represents and safeguards interest of both society and industry is essential if world aims to achieve balanced prospects of growth and development (Burwell and Litman, 2006). Part II Sustainable Transportation Transportation plays two important roles in the economy. First it is a complete industry in itself, with various component industries as its part to create the whole structure and second it is the backbone of various other industries and economic activities (OECD, 1998). Transportation affects prospects of sustainable development at many places. The extraction of fossil oils and their consumption in internal combustion engine causes pollution, smog, acid rains and lead to increased concentration of carbon-dioxide in atmosphere; transportation network and road construction cause additional damage to natural environment and contribute in climatic change; the waste generated through transportation, fuel waste as well as industrial waste add toxic and harmful waste to environment (OECD, 1998). Therefore transportation has become the prime focus area in the quest of sustainable development. The sustainable model of transportation attempts to integrate the entire scope of transportation with real needs of human movement and renewed energy sources that does not pose dangers of depletion, or add to environmental pollution (Pirages, 1996). Sustainable transportation strategies include the vital dimensions of operations management, pricing policies, use of clean fuels, improvement in vehicle operation technologies, and integration in land use and planning in transportation infrastructure (Deakin, 2003). The implementation of these strategies requires combined operations at national and regional levels and need to channel efforts at government, business, scientific and community levels (ibid). Guidelines and principles for Sustainable Transportation In devising the guidelines for transportation to make it sustainable and environment friendly, the following issues emerge as areas of prime concern (Guiding Principles, 1996) Access: Transportation is the principle form through which people can access places and goods, contributing prominently in social and economic development. The integrated strategic direction involve a) demand management- Optimizing transportation needs and requirements of society. It includes curtailing unnecessary transportation requirements through use of better communication technology and packaging technologies and redesigning urban landscape. b) diversifying options: it includes providing people with greater number of options through which they can meet their transportation needs. Equity: It defines the need for government and communities to institute transportation policies that ensures social, regional and government equity by striving to attend to transportation needs of all the sections of society. Health and Safety: The sustainable design of transportation system shall include measures that make it conducive for physical and mental health of people and social and community well being. Responsibility at individual level: The safety of climate, natural environment and resources concern every one and hence it’s a collective as well as individual responsibility of people to safeguard them Policy intervention for sustainable development It is widely recognized at policy level that modifying the present transportation framework on sustainable paradigms would be more convenient and cost saving, rather than completely replacing it with a new framework that might be unable to perform at satisfactory levels. The various   policy options to make the existing model of transportation sustainable are broadly categorized as a) regime optimization and b) regime-shifts (Hoogma, Kepmp, Schot and Truffer, 2002). The distinctions assigning the different technologies in either of the two categories are somewhat vague and they are constantly being worked and assessed. The vital trend to emerge so far out is that there are potential technologies and innovations that can be used for both regime optimization and regime shift. The current transport regime considered exclusively for policy and technological intervention is land transportation system, with its huge impact on environment, society and economy. Various policies and strategies for sustainable transportation, as categorized by Deckins (2003), are, Vehicle and Fuel Technological Changes: The only practical solution to the problem of growing fuel scarcity and harmful level of pollutants ejected   technological innovations in energy field that can reduce dependence on petroleum oil by providing alternative and sustainable sources of energy. It shall serve two immensely useful purposes that are a. minimizing U.S dependence on foreign oil and b. preventing the environment from damages associated with use of petroleum oils and products. The certainty of oil exhaustion has inspired efforts from both government and corporate sector to research and develop the new fuel technologies as a providential measure for survival, growth and progress in forthcoming days of oil crisis. Past decade has seen great move on technological researches in alternative fuels. Various new techniques and models have already been introduced in the market to test their viability and capacity to successfully replace petroleum as chief source of energy. Most of these innovations are specifically aimed at transportation sector because it is the chief consumer of petroleum oil and as principle cause of increasing oil imports. Due to distinct requirements of different sectors in transportation, there are various technologies. Passenger vehicles, public transport vehicles and freight transportation carry specific needs that are difficult to be met by a single alternative fuel technology.   Some of the major and most popular of these technologies, where majority of research and development has taken place, are (Aldrich, 1996) Hybrid Vehicles, electric vehicles, use of ethanol as fuel, fuel cell vehicles, use of hydrogen as fuel and vehicles operated by solar power. Road vehicle operations improvement: The management of road vehicle transportation has significant bearing on sustainable transportation. It consists of areas such as-a) traffic flow improvements that involve measures of improving traffic signal timings, ramp metering, flow metering and removal of bottlenecks to improve the efficiency. The net benefit is reduction of time, better fuel efficiency and smooth transportation; b) Transport system improvement with thrust on constructing smart highways, smart vehicles, accident management and scheduling arrangements; c)educating drivers on appropriate fuel conserving techniques as well as traffic guidelines to help them utilize the system better; d) Improving management techniques in logistics and fleet management. Demand management: To optimize the transportation system according to exact requirements of people, so as to minimize the waste and maximize benefits, it suggests measures as such a) modal substitution where transits are redesigned and improvements are made for walking and biking purposes that provide incentives to people for using alternate mediums of transportation; b) substituting trucks by rails that is environmentally cost effective and involves less consumption of fuel and emission of harmful gases while improving efficiency; c) telecommunication improvements or transport telematics that involve technological systems that are either follow either driver oriented approach or centralized management oriented approach by introducing traffic automation that are vital from safety and efficiency point of view (Hoogma, Kepmp, Schot and Truffer, 2002). The major tools of this measure include telecommuting, tele-shopping, teleconferencing, distance learning and use of information technology in transportation and traffic management. Vehicle Technologies 1.Hybrid Vehicle: As the name suggests, hybrid vehicles combine dual technologies for their operation. Technically they are hybrid electric vehicle with an electric motor that drives the vehicle (Hoogma, Kemp, Schot and Truffer, 2002, 41 ). In the case of a typical electric vehicle, hydrogen fuel cell or chemical batteries such as advanced sealed lead battery, nickel cadmium and lithium ion are used for auxiliary power (Aldrich, 1996). However in the hybrid electric vehicles, the electric drive technology is combined with a gasoline-based power generator for running the electric motor and charging the batteries. Bio-diesels: Bio-diesel, as the term suggests, is a type of renewable fuel obtained by agricultural products and used as fuel in heavy-duty vehicles. The major sources currently under research for bio-diesel are soybean, rapeseed, corn, cottonseed, peanut, sunflower, and canola (Aldrich, 1996, 85). The process of making bio-diesel involves use of an alcohol such as methanol which is treated with oil of selected agricultural produce to form glycerin followed by separation of fatty esters, recycling of excess alcohol and purification of esters to produce a fuel that bears remarkable closeness to diesel, however with higher octane number (Aldrich, 1996, 85). Currently bio-diesel is used when blended with petroleum diesel, especially in European markets, with commendable results. Hydrogen: There are great interests in using hydrogen as fuel in transport industry due to the great flexibility of options and performance it offers. Hydrogen can either be used as fuel in place of gasoline in internal combustion engine or it can be used as energy carrier in fuel cells, the latter being the major research area in automobile sector (Aldrich, 1996, 87). Generally, hydrogen is obtained by decomposing hydrocarbon fuels, electrolysis of water and photolysis. It is stored directly in form of gas, liquid or as chemically with metal hydrides (Hydrogen Economy, 2002, 2). Due to its low energy volume, direct use of hydrogen as a fuel would require considerably large volumes to fuel the vehicle. On the other hand, hydrogen is extremely efficient in fuel cells. In a fuel cell, hydrogen combines with oxygen to produce electricity, Use of public transportation and mass transit system: Mass Transport System Apart from introducing alternative fuel and technologies to replace and minimize fossil fuel consumption, another area where fuel consumption can be easily reduced is creating a more robust and functional public transport and mass transit system. It is cost effective and time consuming to redesign the existing public transport system, especially in major cities, to cut down fuel consumption by reducing number of vehicles on the road. While airplanes are already a popular and heavily used long distance intercity mass transit system, there are many available areas of intervention in short distance intercity and intra-city transport to provide fast and reliable transit facilities while simultaneously reducing traffic, freeing up space on roads and parking and moderating fossil oil consumption. The transportation system , excluding freight transport, is presently divided in two broad categories a. privately owned individual all purpose vehicle transport system and b. public transport system consisting of buses, trains, trams, and metros under the control and maintenance of public administration and public transport companies ((Hoogma, Kemp, Schot and Truffer, 2002, 36-37). Public transport system is usually characterized by low cost, fuel-efficient transit system capable of carrying large number of people on a fixed route (ibid). It has been felt over time that a sustainable and efficient fuel policy needs to incorporate advanced public transport system as one of its key focus area. Additionally the light rail and bus services can be expanded to cover specifically high traffic and downtown areas of major cities. An integration of public transport and private vehicle system can be achieved by providing sufficient parking space at stations and depots of public transport system. It would encourage people to use their private vehicles to access public transport system, resolving one of major issues of limited accessibility involved with mass transit system. Inventing new strategies for sustainable transport development Sustainable development, by its definition, is development that has capacity to meaningfully continue itself without negatively affecting any chance of its failure or degeneration. Therefore sustainable transportation, according to this parameter, requires to incorporate measures and policies that help to grow along with changing dynamics of transport network and fuel technologies. These strategies include (Deckins, 2003) Land use and community development: It includes such activities as preservation, rehabilitation, redevelopment and redesigning of cities and suburbs with high population density. It also include additional measures such as infill in cities and suburbs, reusing of brown-fields, recycling buildings, and improving the quality of life through close location of workplace and residence. Consumer response to sustainable strategies: The major issue is to integrate consumers interests in sustainable strategies and technologies. Consumers should view these measures as crucial for creating a long term sustainable transportation plan that is adaptable for new vehicle and fuel technologies, technological up gradation and increased use of automation system, information technology and communication networks. Another major strategic intervention is about urban planning and transportation planning. It deals with concentration of urban growth, limiting urban sprawls and providing strategies for mixed land use that make intelligent urban structure and land use policies. It would help to mitigate transportation requirements by moving destination and source closer. It also recommends prioritising pollution prevention strategies and encouraging pedestrian and cycling movements as alternative to motorized mode of transportation (Guiding principles, 1996). Working towards a sustainable future transport Designing a transport system that successfully meets the present challenges of eliminating pollution, utilizing landscape space, carrying people safely and timely over their destination and most importantly which runs on such fuel technology is sustainable, without risks of running into shortage or worse, total depletion. Keeping in view of the every rising challenge of maintaining an increasingly large fleet of vehicles on the road in the coming years, the sustainable transportation should be able to accommodate both the present and future range of issues. The future sustainable strategy has following important policy and socio-technological dimensions (Schaller, 2007) Creating economic disincentives to drive: Presently the socio-economic system is oriented towards personalized driving. People prefer to ply to their respective destinations through personal mode of transport because it is time consuming, convenient and cost effective. However, in this process they do not pay for the environmental damage of pollution, cost of traffic congestion, charges of using roads, bridges and tunnels and appropriate parking charges. Further, even people are compelled to use personalized motor vehicles due to absence of a supportive framework of alternative medium of transportation. These problems can be tackled economically by raising the cost of driving personal vehicles while simultaneously improving the alternative transportation. The measures taken shall incorporate the total cost of owning and driving personal vehicles, in terms of the damage they inflict on the environment, quality of city life, congestion and accident risks involved. As discussed earlier, strengthening the public transport system and making it more affordable and cost effective would be greatly beneficial in creating disincentive for individual transportation. Redesigning cities and implementing thorough changes Redesigning cities and modelling them to make them conducive for future transportation needs is one of the most important policy and socio technological measures. The structure of major urban centres has already seen fundamental changes in their design and orientation with advent of mass transport structures of railways and metro and mono rails (Barret, 1996, 1971). It is well exemplified by cities of New York, London and Tokyo. With advent of motorized vehicles the cities started to grow and differences between workplace and residential places expanded due to speed and ease provided by these vehicles. Cities that are more dependent on non personal modes of transportation, or mass transportation are traditionally denser than cities whose entire urban structure is based on individual ownership and use of vehicles (ibid). The sustainable urban models requires cities to implement planning measures that make structure of transport more efficient by attuning both the urban landscape design and transportation system to each other requirements. The land use policies need to take such factors into account as population density and new settlement areas. Citing Kenworthy and Newman (1989), Barret shows as the density of population decreases in the urban areas, the consumption of petroleum goes up (ibid). Thus many cities of low population density in United States of America have per head consumption of gasoline several notches more than Asian mega cities like Hong Kong, Tokyo and New Delhi. Therefore sustainable designing of cities would require to create urban forms so that people have greater opportunities to access different destinations in limited time. Most, if not all, destinations, should be within walking distance (Ibid). Scaling of services and facilities should be with the view to minimize the travel requirements with well structured support provided in every locality. For the final step, the densely populated areas should be well connected with highly efficient public transport system. Reference Aldrich, Bob.. ABCs of AFVs: a guide to alternative fuel vehicles. California Energy Commission, Sacramento-CA. April 1996. 1st Feb 2007 http://www.p2pays.org/ref/26/25156.pdf Barret, Georoge. 1996.The Compact City: A Sustainable Urban Form?. Contributors: (edit) Burton, Elizabeth,. Jenks, M., Williams, K. E FN Spon. London Burwell, David and Todd Litman. Issues in Sustainable Transportation. Int.J. Global Environmental Issues, Vol.6. No.4. pp.331-347. 2006 Deakin E, Sustainable Development and Sustainable Transportation: Strategies for Economic Prosperity, Environmental Quality and Equity, Institute of Urban and Regional Development, University of California at Berkley, Accessed on net on 21st February 2007 http://www-iurd.ced.berkeley.edu/pub/WP-2001-03.PDF Definition, Sustainable development, 2007,Global Development Research Center, Accessed on net on 21st February 2007   http://www.gdrc.org/sustdev/index.html Guiding Principles for Sustainable Development, 1996, OECD International Conference, Accessed on net on 21st February 2007 http://www.gdrc.org/uem/sustran/sustran-principles.html Hoogma Recmo, Rene Kemp, John Schot, Bernhard Truffer.   Experimenting for Sustainable Transport: The Approach of Strategic Niche Management.: Spon Press: New York: 2002. 36 Organisation For Economic Co-Operation And Development , 1998, Towards Sustainable Development: Environmental Indicators: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development: Paris, 1998 http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/29/9/1890501.pdf Pirages DC, 1996, Building Sustainable Societies: A Blueprint for a Post-Industrial World, M. E. Sharpe, Armonk, NY. Page Number: 3 Policy Brief, Sustainable development: critical issues, 2001, OECD Observe, Accessed on net on 21st February 2007 Schaller, Bruce, Sustainable Transportation for 2030, Gotham Gazette, 23rd February, 2007. http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/transportation/20070213/16/2104 What is Sustainable Development? 2006, Sustainable-development .gov.uk, Accessed on net on 21st February 2007 http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/index.asp   Heywood, John. 2006. Energy For Rapidly Evolving World. MIT world. Feb 5, 2007. http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/350/