Services Marketing

Australasian Marketing Journal 18 (2010) 41–47 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Australasian Marketing Journal journal homepage: www. elsevier. com/locate/amj How the local competition defeated a global brand: The case of Starbucks Paul G. Patterson *, Jane Scott, Mark D. Uncles School of Marketing, Australian School of Business, University of NSW, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Americanised the coffee tradition. Keywords: Service brands Service quality Global branding International business Starbucks Coffee The astounding growth and expansion of Starbucks is outlined, both on a global scale and within Australia. The focus then shifts to the abrupt closure of three-quarters of the Australian stores in mid 2008.Several reasons for these closures are described and examined, including that: Starbucks overestimated their points of differentiation and the perceived value of their supplementary services; their service standards declined; the y ignored some golden rules of international marketing; they expanded too quickly and forced themselves upon an unwilling public; they entered late into a highly competitive market; they failed to communicate the brand; and their business model was unsustainable.Key lessons that may go beyond the speci? cs of the Starbucks case are the importance of: undertaking market research and taking note of it; thinking globally but acting locally; establishing a differential advantage and then striving to sustain it; not losing sight of what makes a brand successful in the ? rst place; and the necessity of having a sustainable business model.O 2009 Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction ‘‘Shunned Starbucks in Aussie exit† (BBC News, 4 August 2008) then shifts focus to describe the extent of the store closures in Australia, before offering several reasons for the failure and lessons that others might learn from the case. 2.Background ‘‘Weak coffee and large debt stir Starbucks’ troubles in Australia† (The Australian, 19 August 2008) ‘‘Memo Starbucks: next time try selling ice to Eskimos† (The Age, 3 August 2008) ‘‘Taste of defeat for the mugs from Starbucks† (Sydney Morning Herald, 31 July 2008) ‘‘Coffee culture grinds Starbucks’ Australian operation† (Yahoo News, 3 August 2008) When the announcement was made in mid 2008 that Starbucks would be closing nearly three-quarters of its 84 Australian stores there was mixed reaction. Some people were shocked, others were triumphant.Journalists used every pun in the book to create a sensational headline, and it seemed everyone had a theory as to what went wrong. This case outlines the astounding growth and expansion of the Starbucks brand worldwide, including to Australia. It * Corresponding author. Tel. : +61 2 9385 1105. E-mail addresses: p. [email  pro tected] edu. au (P. G. Patterson), [email  protected] com. au (J. Scott), m. [email  protected] edu. au (M. D. Uncles). Founded in 1971, Starbucks’ ? rst store was in Seattle’s Pike Place Market.By the time it went public in 1992, it had 140 stores and was expanding at a breakneck pace, with a growing store count of an extra 40–60% a year. Whilst former CEO Jim Donald claimed that ‘‘we don’t want to take over the world†, during the 1990s and early 2000s, Starbucks were opening on average at least one store a day (Palmer, 2008). In 2008 it was claimed to be opening seven stores a day worldwide. Not surprisingly, Starbucks is now the largest coffee chain operator in the world, with more than 15,000 stores in 44 countries, and in 2007, accounted for 39% of the world’s total specialist offee house sales (Euromonitor, 2008a). In North America alone, it serves 50 million people a week, and is now an indelible part of the urban lands cape. But just how did Starbucks become such a phenomenon? Firstly, it successfully Americanised the European coffee tradition – something no other coffee house had done previously. Before Starbucks, coffee in its current form (latte, frappacino, mocha, etc. ) was alien to most US consumers. Secondly, Starbucks did not just sell coffee – it sold an experience.As founding CEO Howard Schultz explained, ‘‘We are not in the coffee business serving people, we’re in the people business serving coffee† (Schultz and Yang, 1997). This epitomised the emphasis on customer service such as making eye contact and greeting each customer within 5 seconds, 1441-3582/$ – see front matter O 2009 Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10. 1016/j. ausmj. 2009. 10. 001 42 P. G. Patterson et al. / Australasian Marketing Journal 18 (2010) 41–47 leaning tables promptly and remembering the names of regular customers. From inception, Starbucks’ purpose was to reinvent a commodity with a sense of romance, atmosphere, sophistication and sense of community (Schultz and Yang, 1997). Next, Starbucks created a ‘third place’ in people’s lives – somewhere between home and work where they could sit and relax. This was a novelty in the US where in many small towns cafe culture consisted of ? lter coffee on a hot plate. In this way, Starbucks positioned itself to not only sell coffee, but also offer an experience.It was conceived as a lifestyle cafe. The establishment of the cafe as a social hub, with comfortable chairs and music has been just as important a part of the Starbucks brand as its coffee. All this came with a premium price. While people were aware that the beverages at Starbucks were more expensive than at many cafes, they still frequented the outlets as it was a place ‘to see and be seen’. In this way, the brand was widely accep ted and became, to an extent, a symbol of status, and everyone’s must-have accessory on their way to work. So, not only didStarbucks revolutionise how Americans drank coffee, it also revolutionised how much people were prepared to pay. Consistency of product across stores, and even national boundaries, has been a hallmark of Starbucks. Like McDonald’s, Starbucks claims that a customer should be able to visit a store anywhere in the world and buy a coffee exactly to speci? cation. This sentiment is echoed by Mark Ring, CEO of Starbucks Australia who stated ‘‘consistency is really important to our customers . . . a consistency in the product . . . the overall experience when you walk into a cafe . . the music . . . the lighting . . . the furniture . . . the person who is working the bar†. So, whilst there might be slight differences between Starbucks in different countries, they all generally look the same and offer the same product assortment. One way this is ensured is by insisting that all managers and partners (employees) undergo 13 weeks of training – not just to learn how to make a coffee, but to understand the nuances of the Starbucks brand (Karolefski, 2002) and how to deliver on its promise of a service experience.The Starbucks formula also depends on location and convenience. Starbucks have worked under the assumption that people are not going to visit unless it’s convenient, and it is this assumption that underlies their highly concentrated store coverage in many cities. Typically, clusters of outlets are opened, which has the effect of saturating a neighbourhood with the Starbucks brand. Interestingly, until recently, they have not engaged in traditional advertising, believing their large store presence and word-ofmouth to be all the advertising and promotion they need.Starbucks’ management believed that a distinctive and memorable brand, a product that made people ‘feel good’ and an e njoyable delivery channel would create repeat business and customer loyalty. Faced with near-saturation conditions in the US – by 2007 it commanded 62% of the specialist coffee shop market in North America (Table 1) – the company has increasingly looked overseas for growth opportunities. As part of this strategy, Starbucks opened its ? rst Australian store in Sydney in 2000, before expanding elsewhere within New South Wales and then nationwide (albeit with 0% of stores concentrated in just three states: NSW, Victoria and Queensland). By the end of 2007 Starbucks had 87 stores, enabling it to control 7% of the specialist coffee shop market in Australasia (Table 1). By 2008, consumer awareness of Starbucks in Australia was 90% (Shoebridge, 2008), with each outlet selling, on average, double the number of coffees (270 a day) than the rest of Australia’s coffee shops (Lindhe, 2008). 3. Expansion into Asia Starbucks currently operates in 44 markets and even has a sma ll presence in Paris – birthplace and stronghold of European cafe culture. Beyond North America, it has a very signi? ant share of the specialist coffee shop market in Western Europe, Asia Paci? c and Latin America (Table 1) and these regions make strong revenue contributions (Table 2). It is in Asia that they see the most potential for growth as they face increasing competitive pressure in their more traditional markets. Half the international stores Starbucks plans to operate in the next decade will be in Asia (Euromonitor, 2006; Browning, 2008). Indeed, Starbucks has done well in international markets where there has not traditionally been a coffee drinking culture, namely Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and China.In effect it has been responsible for growing the category in these markets. The ? rst Starbucks outside the US opened in Tokyo in 1996, and since then, Starbucks’ Japanese stores have become twice as profitable as the US stores. Unsurprisingly then, Japan is S tarbucks’ best performing overseas market outside North America. More than 100 new stores open each year in Japan, and coffee is now more popular than tea in terms of both volume and value (Lee, 2003; see also Uncles, 2008).As opposed to their entry into the Australian market, Starbucks made small changes to its formula for the Japanese market; for example, the invention of a green tea frappucino, and the provision of smaller drinks and pastries to conform to local tastes. Starbucks arrived in China in 1998 and by 2002 had 50 outlets, and 165 outlets by 2006 (BBC News, 2006), quickly becoming the nation’s leading coffee chain. Starbucks now sees China as its key growth market due to the size and preferences of the emerging middle class. In the Asia–Paci? region, Starbucks command of the specialist coffee shop market grew from 15% in 2002 to 19% in 2007 (refer to Table 2). The total market for cafes in China grew by over 135% between 1999 and 2004 to reach US$2. 6 billion. It is projected to grow another 144% by 2008 to reach US$6. 4 billion in sales. More specialty coffee shops are opening across China as a middle class with strong purchasing power emerges, although this rise in coffee consumption is highly concentrated in large cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Starbucks has said that it xpects China to become its biggest market after the US and the plan is to open 100 stores a year (Euromonitor, 2006). Signi? cantly, certain Western brands are valued by Chinese consumers and Starbucks appears to be one of them. A growing number of China’s 500 million urbanites favour Starbucks for its ambience, which is seen as an important signal of service quality, Table 2 Starbucks’ regional sales performance by outlets and value 2006. Region North America Asia Paci? c Western Europe Australasia World % of company sales (outlets) 79. 0 13. 6. 7 1. 1 100. 0 % of company sales (revenue in $US) 80. 5 10. 8 7. 7 1. 0 100. 0 Tab le 1 Starbucks’ share of the specialist coffee shop market in each major region. Region North America Western Europe Asia Paci? c Australasia Latin America Source: Euromonitor (2008b). 2002 (%) 44 17 15 6 0 2007 (%) 62 21 19 7 18 Source: Percentage of company sales in each region is calculated from retail sales within this market in 2006, with sales data drawn from Euromonitor (2007). P. G. Patterson et al. / Australasian Marketing Journal 18 (2010) 41–47 43 nd Starbucks’ design concept rests easily with China’s consumers, who tend to lounge with friends while sipping coffee. Its outlets in China frequently maintain larger seating areas than average outlets in other countries, and plush chairs and davenports are provided to accommodate crowds that linger. However, success for Starbucks in China is not a given, and they will face several challenges in the coming years. China’s accession to the WTO has led to the gradual relaxation of the policy gove rning foreign-owned retail outlets, and this will lead to more foreign investment and thereby competition (Lee, 2004).Several multinationals are engaged in selling coffee (including KFC, McDonald’s, Yoshinoya, and Manabe), and a number of local brands have recently emerged, some even imitating Starbucks’ distinctive green and white logo and its in-store ambience (notably Xingbake in Shanghai). Furthermore, the reduction of import tariffs on coffee will also encourage foreign investment in coffee. 4. The Australian retail coffee industry Australia’s taste for coffee is a by-product of the waves of immigrants arriving on the country’s shores following World War II. European migrants, predominantly Greeks and Italians, were the ? st to establish the coffee culture, which was later embraced more widely in the 1980s. For decades Australians enjoyed a variation of the ‘lifestyle coffee experience’ that Starbucks created from scratch in the US. Aust ralians did not need to be introduced to the concept of coffee as many other countries did. Savouring a morning cup of coffee was already a ritual for many consumers. It is fair to describe Australia’s coffee culture as mature and sophisticated, so when Starbucks entered Australia in 2000, a thriving urban cafe culture was already in place.This established culture saw Australians typically patronise smaller boutique style coffee shops, with people willing to travel out of their way for a favoured cup of coffee, especially in Melbourne where coffee has developed an almost cult-like following. For Australians, coffee is as much about relationships as it is about the product, suggesting that an impersonal, global chain experience would have trouble replicating the intimacy, personalisation and familiarity of a suburban boutique cafe.Furthermore, through years of coffee drinking, many Australians, unlike American or Asian consumers, have developed a sophisticated palate, enjoying their coffee straighter and stronger, and without the need to disguise the taste with ? avoured, syrupy shots. This love of coffee is easily quanti? ed. The Australian market is worth $3 billion, of which $1. 8 billion relates to the coffee retailing market. For every cup of coffee consumed out of home, two cups are consumed at home (AustralAsian Specialty Coffee Association, 2006). Per capita consumption is now estimated at 2. kg-twice as much as 30 years ago. Whilst Australians are among the highest consumers of instant coffee in the world, they are increasingly buying coffee out of the home (Euromonitor, 2008c). More than 1 billion cups of coffee are consumed in cafes, restaurants and other outlets each year, representing an increase of 65% over the last 10 years. Even between 2000 and 2005, trade sales of coffee have increased about 18%. In 2007, the growth in popularity of the cafe culture resulted in trade volume sales growing at an annual rate of 5%.Some 31% of the coffee so ld through foodservice is takeaway, and it is thought that ‘fast coffee’ will be a growth area in future years (Euromonitor, 2008d). There is also a trend towards larger takeaway sizes, with 400 ml cups increasing in popularity (Euromonitor, 2008d). One might argue that Starbucks drove these trends, especially in regards to larger sizes. There are almost 14,000 cafes and restaurants serving a variety of coffee types in Australia, and during 2006/07, they generated $9. 7 billion in income (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008).However, despite these statistics, the coffee business does not guarantee success. As Paul Irvine, co-founder of Gloria Jean’s notes, ‘‘Australia is a tough retail market and coffee retailing is particularly tough†. According to of? cial statistics, the cafe business is not always pro? table, with the net pro? tability of cafes falling to about 4%. For a cafe to be successful, it has to offer marginally better coffee than local competitors, and do so consistently. Coffee drinkers in Australia are discerning, and they will go out of their way to purchase a good cup of coffee.They are not as easily persuaded as people from other countries simply to visit their nearest cafe. Secondly, for a cafe to make a pro? t, it needs to turn over 15 kg of coffee a week. The national average is 11 kg, so a cafe has to be above average to begin with to even make a pro? t. Any newcomer needs to understand this before entering the market. The other signi? cant constraint on pro? tability is the cost of hiring baristas, with a good one costing between $1000 and $1500 a week (Charles, 2007). However, it seems that this is a necessary cost in order to deliver a superior product.The question that then begs to be asked is: How well did Starbucks understand this existing coffee culture? Did they under-estimate the relational aspect of coffee purchasing in Australia, as well as the importance of the quality of ingredients and the skills of the person making each cup? Did they overestimate the value consumers attach to the in-store experience and the ‘third place’ concept? Or did they just look at the statistics regarding coffee consumption and think that operating in Australia was a license to print money? Did they simply see Australia as the next logical step to global domination?Starbucks has 87% of the US specialty coffee shop market, and only now is it beginning to feel pressure from non-traditional competitors such as Dunkin Donut, 7 Eleven, McCafe and Krispy Kreme (Burritt, 2007). However, in Australia, the competitive landscape is different. Gloria Jean’s dominates the high-street part of the coffee retailing market and McCafe dominates the convenience end (Shoebridge, 2008). Other signi? cant competitors include The Coffee Club and Wild Bean Cafe (an add-on to BP petrol stations) and Hudson’s Coffee (see Table 3).All offer a similar in-store experience to Starbucks, wi th McCafe from 2007 onwards refurbishing many McDonald’s stores to imitate the Starbucks’ experience, albeit at the economy end of the market. 5. Growth grinds to a halt . . . store closures In recent times however things have started to go wrong for Starbucks. Internationally, company earnings declined as cashstrapped consumers faced record petrol prices and rising interest rates meaning they have had to pull back on gourmet coffee and other luxuries. Sales fell 50% in the last 2 years, the US share price fell more than 40% over the past year and pro? s dropped 28% (Bawden, 2008; Coleman-Lochner and Stanford, 2008; Mintz, 2008). Consequently, Howard Schultz, the founder and chairman of Starbucks, resumed the position of CEO in 2008 with the aim of revitalising the business. He slowed the pace at which stores were opened (and in fact closed more stores than he will open in the coming year), introduced key performance targets (KPTs) and an employee rewards system in the US, and simultaneously shut down every store in America for three and a half hours of staff training (Muthukumar and Jain, 2008).Customer-oriented initiatives have included the addition of more food, the launch of the Starbucks card and Starbucks express, and the provision of highspeed wi-? internet access (Hota, 2008). Notably, Schultz acknowledges that the company’s focus has been more on expansion than on customer service – the very thing that was at the heart of its unique value proposition. 44 P. G. Patterson et al. / Australasian Marketing Journal 18 (2010) 41–47 Table 3 Competition in the Australian specialty coffee chain market (chains arranged in order of the number of stores operating in Australia).Number of stores in Australia Gloria Jean’s 500 Year established in Australia 1996 Business model Price of an espresso coffee (e. g. , ? at white, cappuccino) Regular $3. 25 Small $3. 25 Standard $3. 40 Regular $3. 40 Small $3. 10 Tall $3. 60 Perform ance highlights and lowlights Franchise  Overall Winner, 2005 Franchisor of the Year  Sales rose 18% to an estimated $240 m for 07/08 driven by new stores and growth from existing stores  The fastest growing cafe brand in Australia and NZ  Number of stores up from 60 in 2002  Winner, 2008 Food Franchisor of the Year  The number of stores reported here includes NZ  Plans to open more sitesMcCafe Coffee Club Wild Bean Cafe 488 220 105 1993 1989 2004 Some store-owned, some franchise Franchise Part of a franchise with Wild Bean Cafe (BP) Connect Franchise Store-owned Hudson’s Starbucks 45 23 1998 2000  Plans to expand store numbers by 20–30% 08/09  Prior to closures in August 2008 there were 84 stores had a perceived lower quality product Sources: Various company reports as at the end of 2008. However, it seems that these measures were too late for the Australian operation. On 29th July 2008, Starbucks announced that it would be closing 61 of its 84 Australian sto res (i. . , 73%) by August 2008, resulting in a loss of 685 jobs. All of these stores had been under-performing (8 were in SA, ACT and Tasmania, 28 in NSW, 17 in Victoria and 8 in Queensland). This decline of Starbucks in Australia was not as sudden as many would have us believe and in fact some reports (Edwards and Sainsbury, 2008; Shoebridge, 2008) indicated that by late 2007 Starbucks already had:      accumulated losses of $143 million; a loss of $36 million for that ? nancial year; lost $27. 6 million the previous ? nancial year; loans of $72. million from Starbucks in the US; was only surviving because of its US parent’s support. Whilst the troubled economy might seem an easy scapegoat, with people tightening their belts and eating out less, it is unlikely that this was the core problem as evidenced by the continuing growth of their competitors. Indeed, coffee is no longer considered a luxury item by many Australians, but rather an affordable part of their daily ro utine. Instead, there is substantial evidence to suggest a number of factors combined to bring about Starbucks’ demise. . 1. Starbucks overestimated their points of differentiation and customer perceived value of their supplementary services ‘‘I just think the whole system, the way they serve, just didn’t appeal to the culture we have here† Andrew Mackay, VP of the Australian Coffee Traders Association, in Martin (2008) Whilst there was initial curiosity and hype about Starbucks, after trying it, many Australians quickly found that it failed to offer a particularly unique experience that was not offered by other chains or cafes.Given the strong established coffee culture and discerning palates of Australians, the core product – coffee – was not seen as particularly different from, say, a latte or short black from a good suburban barista, Gloria Jean’s or Coffee Club. Its point of difference in Australia, where a coffee culture alr eady existed, had to be in its supplementary or value-adding services – i. e. , its unique servicescape, engaging customer service, brand image and so on (Lovelock et al. , 2007).But was this worth a premium price, especially as the competition began replicating Starbucks in-store experience? Starbucks has since been harshly criticised by Australian consumers and the media. Their coffee has been variously described as ‘a watered down product’, ‘gimmicky’, and consisting of ‘buckets of milk’. These are not the labels you would choose to describe a coffee that aspires to be seen as a ‘gourmet’ product. It has also been criticised for its uncompetitive pricing, even being described as ‘‘one of the most over-priced products the world has ever seen† (Martin, 2008).Even the idea of the third place has come under criticism – ‘‘why would you want to sit around a pretend lounge room drinking a wea k and expensive coffee when you can go around the corner and have the real thing? † (Wailes, 2008). It seems that Starbucks’ rapid expansion, its omnipresence, somewhat standardised store design and recent insistence on staff achieving various sales KPTs (key performance targets) such as serving ‘x’ customers per hour, all combined to diminish the instore experience. The introduction of sales targets for front-line These closures saw 23 stores kept open in prime locations in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.But this begs the question: can a 23-store chain be viable for the brand in the long-term? Based on the approximate numbers in Table 3, Starbucks had a 6% share of stores in Australia before the closures; this has now fallen to a share below 2%. Even before the closures, Australasia represented only 1% of company sales (Table 2) and now the ? gure is expected to be much lower. This may not make much commercial sense as it will be dif? cult to achieve econo mies of scale in terms of marketing and purchasing, and such small numbers are totally out of step with the clustering strategy adopted in its strongest markets – the US, Japan and China.However, it could also be argued that with Starbucks’ strategy of global domination, it is unlikely that it will ever close its Australian business entirely. Whilst Starbucks’ management have been keen to suggest that ‘‘this decision represents business challenges unique to the Australian market and in no way re? ects the state of the Starbucks business in countries outside of the United States†, the US market has also suffered. By September 2008, 600 stores had closed (or were due for closure), with about 12,000 workers, or 7% of Starbucks’ global workforce affected (Mintz, 2008).It should be noted that the situation in the US has only worsened as a result of the global ? nancial crisis. 6. So what went wrong? Opinions abound as to why Starbucks failed in Australia. Our research suggests there is some truth to many of these opinions. P. G. Patterson et al. / Australasian Marketing Journal 18 (2010) 41–47 45 employees, for example, meant staff and baristas had less time to engage with customers. It began to stray too far from its roots and the very values upon which the brand was built.Some of these actions were forced upon Starbucks by emerging competitors seeking to imitate the brand, and thus gain a slice of the ever growing lifestyle coffee market. Starbucks’ points of differentiation were systematically being eroded and, in a sense, the brand that taught the world that coffee is not a commodity was itself becoming one. 6. 2. Declining service quality The brand has also come under ? re for declining customer service as it continued to expand. For example, the quality of baristas is said to have declined as Starbucks widened its pool of applicants in order to meet demand at new stores.Can a 17 year old high school student really compete with a boutique trained barista with a passion for coffee? By not offering a better experience and product than emerging direct competitors, Starbucks found itself undermined by countless high street cafes and other chains that were selling stronger brews at lower prices and often offering better or equal hospitality. Whilst they may have pioneered the idea of a ‘third place’, it was an easy idea to copy, and even easier to better by offering superior coffee, ambience and service.Now, with so many coffee chains around, Starbucks have little point of differentiation, even wi-? internet access has become commonplace across all types of cafe. Furthermore, while customers were offered promotional rewards for returning to Starbucks, the card-based scheme is no more sophisticated than equivalent me-too cards at Gloria Jean’s, Coffee Club, Hudson’s and many independent cafes. And as noted earlier, one of the things that set Starbucks apart from the competition – i. e. , acknowledging customers (often by name for regulars) within a few seconds of entering the store and eriously engaging with them, began to unravel when Starbucks imposed both customer service and sales targets for its cafes. The imposition of these targets plus an ever widening range and complexity of coffees to remember and make to perfection, meant staff morale and inevitably customer service levels declined. In fact in the USA some staff were so disillusioned with the imposition of sales targets (because it meant they simply didn’t have time to engage with customers) they posted blogs openly stating that Starbucks had lost its way.Finally, it appears that Starbucks were not even delivering on their core promise of serving superior coffee in comfortable surroundings, thus justifying its premium price. By switching to vacuum packaged coffee, consumers are denied the store-? lling aroma of the coffee beans. The switching of traditional cof fee machines to automated espresso machines (which can make coffees 40% faster and move customers through the lines more quickly), has also resulted in a loss of ‘theatre’ (Grove et al. , 2000) for people wanting to see their coffee made that way and has also had implications for taste.In-store, it has been noted that there are fewer soft chairs and less carpeting, and Starbucks recently lost ground in the ‘service and surroundings’ category of the Brand Keys 2007 Customer Loyalty Engagement Index (Cebrzynski, 2008). It seems that Starbucks is now less about the quality of the coffee, and is more about the convenience of faster service and being on every corner – whilst still charging a premium. 6. 3. Starbucks ignored some golden rules of international marketing Ironically, it seems that the very thing that made Starbucks successful in the ? st place, its ability to adjust the original (European) business model and coffee tradition to local (US) con ditions, is the thing that let it down. Whilst Starbucks has made minor changes to its menu in countries such as Japan and Saudi Arabia, it generally offers the same products all around the world. When the company came to Australia, it brought its ‘American’ offering, simply bringing what worked in the US and applying it here, without really understanding the local market.But with more than 235 ethnicities speaking more than 270 languages and dialects, companies wanting to get ahead in Australia need to be aware that they are not dealing with one homogeneous market. Unfortunately what worked in the US was ‘‘bitter, weak coffee augmented by huge quantities of milk and sweet ? avoured syrups. Not so much coffee, as hot coffee-based smoothies†. For the Australian consumer raised on a diet of real espresso, this was always going to be a tough sell (Mescall, 2008) As McDonald’s Australia chief executive Peter Bush noted, US retailers that have had tr ouble making it work in Australia (e. . , Starbucks, Denny’s, Arby’s, Taco Bell) are those that have ‘‘introduced formulae developed for US palates and for the US way of doing business . . . These formulae have, at best, modest relevance in Australia†. Peter Irvine, co-founder of Gloria Jean’s, also noted that ‘‘US retailers often arrive in Australia thinking the size of their overseas chains and the strength of their brands in other markets will make it easy for them to crack the local market. Their focus is on global domination rather than the needs of the local consumers†.Further, there is a strong sense in Australia of buying local, supporting the community, having relationships with the people you buy from, and supporting ethically-minded businesses. Starbucks clashed completely with that, whereas local stores can differentiate themselves as being local and non-corporate. Furthermore, some would argue that Starbucks has b ecome a caricature of the American way of life and many Australians reject that iconography. Many are simply not interested in the ‘super-size’ culture of the extra-large cups, nor want to be associated with a product that is constantly in the hands of movie stars. . 4. Expanding too quickly and forcing themselves upon an unwilling public In the US, Starbucks started in Seattle as a single store. In a nation bereft of a genuine cafe culture, that single store captured people’s imagination, and soon became a second store, quickly followed by a third. Before long, Starbucks had become a demand-driven phenomenon, with everyone wanting a Starbucks in their local area. McDonald’s grew exactly the same way in Australia, opening just one or two stores in each city – nowhere near enough to meet demand – thus creating an almost arti? ial scarcity, which created huge buzz around the brand experience. Krispy Kreme did the same. But when Starbucks opened in Australia, they immediately tried to impose themselves with multiple store openings in every city – adopting the US-model of expansion through store clusters. Australians were not given a chance to ‘discover’ it. As Mescall (2008) points out ‘‘they took key sites, hung huge signs, made us order coffee in sizes and gave the coffees weird names. Starbucks said to us – ‘that’s not how you drink coffee. This s how you drink coffee’†. They took the Coca-Cola strategy of being available wherever people looked, but this quickly led to market saturation. Their expansion did not hurt their competitors so much as themselves, and they found themselves cannibalising their own stores. Furthermore, by becoming too common, the company violated the economic principles of cultural scarcity and the novelty wore off. By having too many outlets, becoming too commercial and too widely used, it began to lose its initial appeal of status and exclusivity.It began to have a mass brand feel, certainly not the warm feeling of a neighbourhood cafe. Furthermore, they became more reliant 46 P. G. Patterson et al. / Australasian Marketing Journal 18 (2010) 41–47 on less af? uent consumers who now, with a worsening economy, are spending less, making Starbucks more vulnerable to economic ? uctuations. 6. 5. Entering late into a highly competitive market ‘‘In America, Starbucks is a state of mind. In Australia, it was simply another player. † Barry Urquhart, quoted in Delaney (2008) From Day 1, Starbucks got off on the back foot.They lacked the ? rst-mover advantage they had in the US and Asia, ? nding themselves the late entrant in an already very developed, sophisticated and competitive market. Indeed, the competitive landscape in the Australian retail coffee market is very different to that of other countries. Here, Starbucks found themselves competing with hundreds of independent cafes and special ity coffee chains (see Table 3), where the coffee was generally better and the staff knew their customers by name. Signi? cantly, they were also the last of the major chains to gain a presence in Australia. 6. 6.Failing to communicate the brand Worldwide, Starbucks rarely employs above-the-line promotion, and this was also the case in Australia. Instead, they maintained that their stores are the core of the business and that they do not need to build the brand through advertising or promotion. Howard Shultz often preached, ‘‘Build the (Starbucks’) brand one cup at a time,† that is, rely on the customer experience to generate word-of-mouth, loyalty and new business. But in a market as competitive as Australia, with a consumer whose palate is discerning and whose loyalty often lies with a speci? barista, advertising and promotion was essential to communicate the Starbucks message. The issue is not so much about building awareness – which, at 90%, is hig h – but to communicate what the brand means and to give consumers reasons for patronising Starbucks. Their lack of advertising made this branding issue even worse, with many people unable to articulate why they should be loyal to Starbucks. At the same time, competitors were communicating their messages very effectively – McDonald’s, for instance, is a heavy spending, award-winning, advertiser in the Australian market.Added to which, more subversive counter-messages were coming from those who saw in Starbucks a ‘brand bully’ riding rough shod over the nuanced tastes and preferences of local cultures (Klein, 2000; Clark, 2008). In other words, a range of strong contrary messages were undermining Starbucks’ own very limited communications. 6. 7. Unsustainable business model Starbucks’ product line is limited primarily to coffee. Sometimes a new product idea will be developed, such as the Frappucino, but these tend to have limited product life cycles and/or are seasonal.For example, the Frappucino has traditionally made up 15% of (summer) sales, but recently sales have been down, suggesting that customers are already bored with it (Kiviat, 2008). Furthermore, in the instance where other products were offered, people failed to purchase them as they only really associate Starbucks with coffee and generally seek food elsewhere. This is a very different model to The Coffee Club which has much more of a cafe feel to it, or McDonald’s which has a full range of breakfast and lunch/dinner items that can be complemented by a McCafe latte.Hence the average transaction value at Starbucks is lower than its competitors, and therefore more customers must pass through its doors to reach the sales and pro? t levels of its competitors. It also creates con? ict with the Starbucks ethos of the third place (and allowing people to sit around for 30 minutes sipping lattes and reading, talking or sur? ng) versus the need to get peo ple in and out quickly and not take up valuable ‘real estate’ (which in itself means that the average Starbucks store needs to be much bigger than the average cafe).Unlike most of the other retail coffee chains, Starbucks does not use a franchise model, preferring to lease and ? t-out its own outlets. This means more cash is being spent upfront, and in Starbucks’ case, more debt accrued. But adopting a franchise model would have numerous other advantages than just minimising this. It would mean that local investors, with a good sense of the local market, put their own money into the business and take an active role in running it and shaping its direction. 7. What are the main lessons from this case study?Several key lessons emerge that should be of interest to both domestic and international marketers. 7. 1. Crossing international borders is risky and clearly Starbucks did not do their homework, or ignored their homework Well conceived market research involving b oth primary and secondary data, including qualitative and quantitative approaches, would have uncovered the extent of the ‘coffee culture’ that existed in 2000 when Starbucks entered the Australian market. It seems inconceivable that Starbucks management, or at least its Australian representatives, were not suf? iently apprised of the extent to which many consumers were already well acculturated in terms of buying and consuming European styles of coffees such as short black, lattes and cappuccinos, nor the extent to which many customers were in fact loyal to their suburban cafe or competitive brands such as Gloria Jean’s. As a late market entrant, Starbucks clearly failed to do thorough homework on the market before entry – this is a failure in terms of due diligence. Alternatively, they chose to ignore the messages that were coming from any due diligence that they had undertaken.This may or may not have been due to some arrogance on the part of Starbucks, or due to the fact that they considered they had a strong global brand which would meet with universal acceptance. An example of where Starbucks did do its homework, and act on it, was in France when it entered that market in 2006, establishing a cafe in the middle of Paris. Research had clearly shown the American way of consuming and socialising over a coffee was an anathema to many French, so Starbucks held back from entering the French market and when they ? ally entered it was with great trepidation, expanding at a very slow pace and testing the market at every step. 7. 2. ‘‘Think global but act local† This familiar maxim in international marketing should be well understood. While Starbucks had brand awareness as a major global brand, it failed to adapt the product and the customer experience to many mature coffee drinkers in Australia. As noted earlier, all the evidence suggests that it simply tried to transplant the American experience into the Australian ma rket without any adaptation.In particular, it failed to adapt either its core product or its supplementary services to create the intimacy, personalisation and familiarity that is associated with established boutique cafes in Australia. 7. 3. Establish a differential advantage and then strive to sustain it A question of strategy that Starbucks perhaps failed to address was, ‘‘Is our product differentiation sustainable in the long term P. G. Patterson et al. / Australasian Marketing Journal 18 (2010) 41–47 47 and does it continue to justify a price premium? As noted earlier, it can be argued that the core product in this case, that is the coffee itself, is essentially a commodity, and that Starbucks’ coffee, according to many consumers, was no different to the competition, and in some cases inferior. Then Starbucks’ points of difference clearly revolved around its brand image and supplementary services. It was these supplementary services, such as its unique servicescape and excellent customer service, that they used to justify a premium price. However, as competitors (e. g. , The Coffee Club) quickly imitated the ‘Starbucks experience’ (i. . , their supplementary services, ambiance, etc. ), by providing premium coffee and an intimate casual experience, Starbucks’ value proposition began to fade. In other words, their key points of difference could be easily imitated and were not sustainable. Faced with this scenario, the onus was on management to re-fresh and evolve any lingering differential advantage that Starbucks might have had or, at the very least, give customers reasons to continue patronising Starbucks through its communications. 7. 4. Don’t lose sight of what made you successful in the ? st place As more and more competitors emerged, both individual cafes and chains such as Gloria Jean’s and The Coffee Club, competitive pressures forced Starbucks to impose rigid sales targets on their frontline staff including baristas to increase store productivity. However, the imposition of these KPTs and the pressure to serve more customers more quickly meant that Starbucks forgot the very thing that made it unique in the early days, namely, to provide a customer experience in an intimate casual setting that set it aside from competitors.As more pressure was placed on staff to have higher throughput, this meant that baristas and other employees had little time to engage with customers. In other words, Starbucks forgot about the very things that made it unique in the ? rst place. This is akin to the Wheel of Retailing hypothesis (Hollander, 1960) where a no-frills retailer gradually moves upmarket in terms of variety of product, price and more services and within several years ? nds itself competing with the more established premium supermarkets that were the very competitors that they tried to distance themselves from in the ? st place. The only difference with Starbucks is t hat it reversed the direction of the Wheel – by gradually moving downmarket it brought itself into direct competition with cheaper operators and lost sight of what made it successful in the ? rst place. 7. 5. Consider the viability of the business model It has to be questioned whether the Starbucks’ business model is viable in the long term, or even the medium term. A business model that uses a premium price to justify the excessive ? or space and elaborate servicescape, and allows customers to sit in this environment for an hour sipping one latte, has to be questioned. Given that Starbucks do not have the array of products that, say, a McDonald’s might have and, as documented earlier in this case, therefore do not generate the same sales volumes and revenues, it is hard to see how the Starbucks’ model is ? nancially viable. 8. Conclusion In summary, it appears on all the evidence that Starbucks not only misjudged the Australian coffee culture but also mi sjudged the extent of the competition, and failed to adapt its offering to the local market.Furthermore, with the advent of high quality barista training, the availability of premium coffee beans and the technology to produce a high quality cup of coffee (at a modest cost), sole operators who knew their customers by name, were able to set up business as viable competitors. Starbucks may have been responsible for growing the premium coffee category, but the emergence of Gloria Jean’s and the Coffee Club (and McCafe, a premium coffee shop embedded in McDonald’s restaurants) turned out to be serious competitors.Finally, questions have to be raised about Starbucks fundamental business model in a market where many small niche players can easily replicate the ‘Starbucks Experience’. References AustralAsian Specialty Coffee Association, 2006. Australian Coffee Market: Key Facts for 2006. Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008. Cafes, Restaurants and Catering Servi ces, Australia, Report 8655. 0 for 2006–07. Bawden, T. , 2008. Starbucks reports ? rst loss in 16 years. Times Online, 31 July. (accessed 15. 08. 08. ). BBC News, 2006. China central to Starbucks growth. BBC News, 14 February. (accessed 29. 08. 08. ). Browning, E. 2008. Starbucks hopes growth abroad will save its bottom line. ABC News, 31 July. (accessed 29. 08. 08. ). Burritt, C. , 2007. McDonald’s challenges Starbucks with cheaper lattes. Bloomberg, 11 September. (accessed 29. 08. 08. ). Cebrzynski, G. , 2008. Starbucks-dominated category wakes up and smells McD’s espresso rollout. Nation’s Restaurant News 42 (3), 1–6. Charles, E. , 2007. In the trenches: Coffee. In the Black, May, 28–31. Clark, N. , 2008. Starbucks: The brand we love to hate. Marketing, 2 April. Coleman-Lochner, L. , Stanford, D. D. , 2008. Starbucks reports ? rst loss since 1992, predicts slower growth.Bloomberg, 30 July. (accessed 29. 08. 08. ). Delaney, B. , 2008. Star bucks to go. Guardian, 30 July. (accessed 29. 08. 08. ). Edwards, V. , Sainsbury, M. , 2008. Weak coffee and large debt stir Starbucks’ troubles in Australia. The Australian, 31 July. Euromonitor, 2006. Starbucks Ups Expansion Plans. Euromonitor International. Euromonitor, 2007. Starbucks Corp – Consumer Foodservice – World. Euromonitor International. Euromonitor, 2008a. On-trade Watch: Identifying Key Growth Markets to 2012. Euromonitor International. Euromonitor, 2008b. Company Watch: Starbucks Wakes Up and Smells the Coffee.Euromonitor International. Euromonitor, 2008c. Coffee – Australia. Euromonitor International. Euromonitor, 2008d. Impulse Food and Drink Channels – Coffee – Australia. Euromonitor International. Grove, S. , Fisk, R. , John, J. , 2000. Services as theater. In: Swartz, T. , Iacobucci, D. (Eds. ), Handbook of Services Marketing and Management. Sage Publications, CA, pp. 21–35. Hollander, S. , 1960. The wheel of ret ailing. Journal of Marketing 25 (1), 37–42. Hota, M. , 2008. Starbucks: brewing more than just coffee. European Case Clearing House (ECCC), 508-025-1. Karolefski, J. , 2002.Conquering new grounds. BrandChannel, 11 February. (accessed 29. 08. 08. ). Kiviat, B. , 2008. Wake up and sell the coffee. Time South Paci? c (Australia/New Zealand edition) 7 (13), 52–56. Klein, N. , 2000. No Logo. Flamingo, London. Lee, H. , 2003. Japan: a nation of coffee lovers. Euromonitor International. Lee, H. , 2004. Coffee brews a future in China? Euromonitor International. Lindhe, J. , 2008. One skinny cap to go. Business Review Weekly, 7 August. (accessed 15. 08. 08. ). Lovelock, C. , Patterson, P. G. , Walker, R. , 2007. Services Marketing: An Asia Paci? c and Australian Perspective.Pearson Education, Singapore. Martin, S. , 2008. Starbucks: a study in liberal failure, Part II. Conservatism Today, 29 July. (accessed 29. 08. 08. ). Mescall, J. , 2008. Starbucks in Australia: where did it go wrong? Unleashed, 7 August. (accessed 29. 08. 08. ). Mintz, J. , 2008. Starbucks closing 600 stores in the US. International Business Times, 1 July. (accessed 14. 09. 08. ). Muthukumar, R. , Jain, S. , 2008. Starbucks suffers: Schultz returns. European Case Clearing House (ECCC), 308-152-1. Palmer, D. , 2008. Starbucks: what went wrong? AFN Thought for Food, 31 July. (accessed 29. 08. 08. ).Schultz, H. , Yang, D. J. , 1997. Pour Your Heart into It: How Starbucks Build a Company One Cup at a Time. Hyperia Publishing, New York. Shoebridge, N. , 2008. Local palate bucks another US retailer. The Australian Financial Review, 4 August. (accessed 15. 08. 08. ). Uncles, M. D. , 2008. Aroma Australia Pty Ltd goes to Japan. In: Schiffman, L. , Bednall, D. , O’Cass, A. , Paladino, A. , Ward, S. , Kanuk, L. (Eds. ), Consumer Behaviour, fourth ed. Pearson Education Australia, Australia, pp. 584–588. Wailes, N. , 2008. Taste of defeat for the mugs from Starbucks. Sydney Morning Herald 31 (July).

‘Night of the scorpion’ (page 9) Essay

Question: compare the ways people are presented in the ‘Night of the scorpion’ (page 9) with the ways people are presented in one other poem of your choice from the poems form different cultures, * Who the people are * What you find out about the people * Similarities between the methods the poet use to present the people * Differences between the methods the poets use to present the people * What you think about the people and how they are presented. People are at the central of some poems as some of the poets are interested with the society and the attitudes towards the people on how they treat each other. On the other hand, sometimes people live completely different lifestyles from one and another. Others are interested in the people who are on their own and get on things individually. As you can see, that in the anthology of the poems from different cultures, people are presented in many different ways. The local people in ‘Night of the scorpion’ believe in reincarnation as its set in a Hindu community. Though the child is scared and confused by the religious response due to his mother’s sting from the scorpion. In contrast ‘Island man’ describes how an immigrant in London reacts to his environment as he dreams of his Caribbean home. ‘Night of the scorpion’ uses structure to show the sense of panic in the villagers’ reactions. Its two stanzas long the first stanza with 45 lines and the second stanza with only 3 lines. The final three lines are separated from the rest of the poem as it’s about the mother’s calm unselfish reaction. It’s separate because it’s a clear contrast to the panic in the first stanza of the poem. ‘Island man’ uses structure to show the confused thoughts of the awaked man. There is no punctuation the line lengths vary and some phrases are misplaced, just like this individual line is, ‘He always comes back groggily groggily’. The poetic devises used in he poems differ to show the different ways people are presented. ‘Night of the scorpion’ is written in the first person, which is from the Childs point of view, but he’s an outsider throughout the poem and he can’t affect anything. There is a simile used as well, ‘the peasants came like swarms of flies and buzzed the name of God hundred times’. The simile makes the villagers seem really panicked. Also there is the use of repetition of the word ‘may’ as it makes it sound like a prayer, but when having the same word at start of so many lines makes this reaction seem repetitive and unthinking. ‘They said’ is also repeated at the end of many lines. In contrast, the poetic devises used in ‘Island man’ are limited. As it shows the confusion of that the character is going through. The reader gets a series of contrasting images for example ‘the sound of the blue surf’ of the Caribbean, which conflicts, with the ‘Grey metallic soar’ of London. The word ‘wombing’ suggests the sense the dream has on his ’emerald island’. Both poets show how the people feel in their different situations and give us their own view. The poet in ‘Night of the scorpion’ is frightened by what is happening but admits his mums courage. Though Ezekiel seems critical of religion, the ceremonial language and all that talk of the next life seems unhelpful and premature. The feelings revealed in ‘Island man’ obviously has fond memories of the Caribbean but represent his dull London. We can feel his depression as he ‘heaves himself’ to ‘Another London day’. Grace Nicholas has sympathy for this man as he feels the conflict of these two cultures. Finally, ‘Night of the scorpion’ has made me feel that believing in god could always be a solution to the problem also it has made me aware of the people around me who can help me in such difficulties I am struggling with. Though ‘Island man’ has made me aware of how it might feel to be trapped in a foreign country, which you are not too familiar with. Both poems have made me hope that in the future, if I am in trouble or I am home sick then I can count on the society who will always be there to support me.

PHIL Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

PHIL - Essay Example The contentious documentary entitled â€Å"The Bridge† featured the well-known Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. According to The Bridge, â€Å"the mythic beauty of the Golden Gate Bridge, the most popular suicide destination in the world, and the unfortunate souls drawn by its siren call† (Morrow, 2006). This controversial documentary documented how 24 people in year 2004 chose to commit suicide and die at the Golden Gate Bridge (Morrow, 2006). According to Fimrite (1998), a staff writer of the Chronicle, the Golden Bridge is the â€Å"No. 1 suicide landmark in the world.† Another famous bridge is the Coronado Bridge in San Diego, considered to be a suicide magnet too (Dotinga, 2009). Dotinga (2009) stated that Coronado Bridge is â€Å"one of the highest suicide tolls of any bridge in North America, almost certainly placing it in the top five.† Sunshine Skyway of St. Petersburg was also identified as the â€Å"nations fourth-most-frequent suicide brid ge† (Morales, 2011). Bridges are therefore considered to be sure, swift, clean and accessible method of committing suicide. The alarming cases of suicides committed in Golden Gate Bridge, Sunshine Skyway and Coronado Bridge are the proofs that commission of suicide in bridges is already common especially among the youth. In order for this situation and fact to be addressed, the engineers who build and design bridges should therefore take good consideration of the fact sheet of the country. Before they design and build bridges they should know the possible effects of their decisions. In cases like the Golden Gate Bridge, Coronado and Sunshine Skyway, what engineers could possibly do is to put barriers and or any devices that would surely prevent people commit suicide. It can be said that suicide is way out of the hands of the designers or engineers who build the bridges, but in the end, they can be considered partly responsible of the effects of the bridges they built. If the

Democracy High School Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Democracy High School - Essay Example . Offering many view points as to why, how ,where and why we got this idea of democracy as we now see it, it begins with the very needed statement saying that democracy is not one set institution which I believe over the course of time people have begun to try to force that idea. The idea was forced here in our own country that democracy had to be this way and was supposed to look exactly like this or that, and that is simply not the case, and then again nor should it be. According to the article one of the most important aspects of a democracy is its citizens, and I could not wholeheartedly agree more. The more people who can vote and the much more democratic a state of being is, and just that much more power that is given to the people. In my mind democracy is really all about the powers that the people hold, and how accountable the government is to the people. The government is only there to help run the people, and should be held completely responsible to the democratic voting process. Of course there are some expected procedures that are needed to make a democracy possible, which is completely different from things that can make a democracy feasible. These two ideas should not be confused with one another.

State Coordinating Boards and accountability measures Essay

State Coordinating Boards and accountability measures - Essay Example In order to enhance competitiveness in the international marketplace, Governments are increasingly focusing on the need to improve the quality of human capital that is the product of higher educational institutions. Therefore, there is an accountability that is being demanded of these organizations, through the use of external evaluation and performance measures to assess the quality of the education that is being imparted and the effectiveness of policy outcomes. These moves are posing a threat to academic freedom, which gives an individual the right to â€Å"study and teach whatever he or she wants to without threat of sanction† [Tierney, 1998, pp 41], even if this course of study may be such that it does not contribute to maximizing economic returns for the public dollars that have been funneled into education. Educational institutions have traditionally functioned with autonomy because that makes them more â€Å"flexible and responsive, given their relative freedom from command and control by centralized Government†¦..[The result] is higher levels of organizational innovation and more variety within national systems of higher education† [Dee, Henkin and Chen, 2000, p 204]. However, increasing economic pressures leading to the corporatization of higher education are impinging upon the autonomy of educational institutions [Bok, 2003] and pose a serious threat to the achievement of true academic goals [Kirp, 2003]. The conflict between maintaining academic autonomy while simultaneously persevering policy accountability is an ongoing one, in which State Coordinating Boards are faced with the greatest difficulties in defining their role and achieving the right balance between autonomy and accountability.

The Cuban Missile Crisis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Cuban Missile Crisis - Research Paper Example Then, the Civil War was fought in order to determine that America was established for the freedom of all regardless of race. The biggest and largest scale engagements that the United States was involved in were World War I and World War II. After the end of these worlds, very few superpowers existed to maintain the world order. Europe had taken the hammer the hardest and suffered the most. The two superpowers that were still standing was the democratic United States and the communist run Soviet Union. Because of the advent of nuclear technology and the development of nuclear warheads, each country was hardening itself trying to take hold of superiority. Many of the small fires which flared up were fought based on the policy of containment that the United States upheld to as well as fighting a war based on proxy. The single most defining event in United States history, in my opinion, was the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was an event in which the whole world was watching waiting for armage ddon to occur. Mutual assured destruction (MAD) seemed inevitable. The historical setting was that Cuba was and still is a communist controlled country. The United States had tried to intervene by supporting a particular communist government in which would be friendly and cooperate with the United States (Batista Dictatorship).

Responsibility to Protect Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Responsibility to Protect - Case Study Example Therefore, the power of the international community has proved impotent while thousands suffer. In September of 2005, the world leaders assembled at the U.N. The largest such gathering of heads of state in history produced the 'responsibility to protect' document in which 150 signatures were attached. The nations of the world agreed "to take collective action, in a timely and decisive manner, through the Security Council, in accordance with the UN Charter ' on a case by case basis and in cooperation with relevant organizations as appropriate, should peaceful means be inadequate" (Rasul, 2005). Since the end of World War II and the Nazi's implementation of the 'final solution,' the phrase, 'never again' has echoed throughout the world, but genocide has occurred over and over again. The responsibility to protect is an agreement late in coming. It has not curbed the violence in Darfur and its complex implications have not existed without continued debate and controversy. The U.S., in co ncert with all nations of the U.N., is compelled by reasons of human compassion to protect any group from genocide. We are our brother's keeper. We all have the responsibility to protect and support the people of Darfur. The 'Responsibility to Protect' provides that a country cannot refuse assistance or support from other countries when it cannot or will not safeguard its citizens from genocide or other actions deemed as a crime against humanity. All nations' sovereignty is respected as is their ability to conduct their own affairs but this is a qualified condition, not one that is considered absolute. "When peaceful means are exhausted and leaders of a UN member state are 'manifestly failing to protect their populations,' then other states have the responsibility to take collective action through the Security Council" (O'Neill, 2006). In some respects, the concept of "Responsibility to Protect" was founded in the common concern for human rights worldwide, the concept that initiated the formation of the U.N. The Genocide Treaty (1948) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) are manifestations of the U.N.'s founding principles. In the 1960's, the international human rights covenants furth ered this philosophical stance of the U.N. However, these treaties, covenants and resolutions were not effectively enforced. Affected countries argued that their right to national sovereignty superseded the intentions of uninvited intrusion. For many years, the U.N. and others have debated the subject of humanitarian intervention issue regarding the question of when the nations of the world should unite to take military action against a country so as to protect that country's population. Supporters of 'the responsibility to protect' and 'humanitarian intervention' concepts include liberal-minded persons worldwide who encourage the use of military forces to come to the aid of desperate people (International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, 2001). However, the questions surrounding the use of force has been of great concern to many especially following the recent 'humanitarian' efforts

Gender representations in The Big Bang Theory Essay

Gender representations in The Big Bang Theory - Essay Example This study aims at giving insight on how the use of gender representation is utilized in The Big Bang Theory to attract a large audience. As indicated by the title, this project explores the gender representations in The Big Bang Theory. There have been other studies about this subject too. However, what makes The Big Bang Theory a classical study is the controversial sexist position it adapts. This is the reason why this research aims at conducting a scientific inquiry on the unbalanced gender portrayal. One of the sets of questions that urgently require addressing is the relationship of discourses of gender in the media. For instance, what contributes to the popularity of The Big Bang Theory show notwithstanding the unsurpassed gender misrepresentation overriding in the show? This study will compare, contrast, investigate, examine, develop, and evaluate the subject matter. An proper indulgent of the facts contributing to the popularity of the show is quite significant as it would i ndicate the exact reasons as to why the various attempts to fight for egalitarianism have never been prolific. . It is beneficial to gain an appreciation regarding gender representations, the values and ideologies presented in The Big Bang Theory as this might aid in formulation and implementation of effective policies to circumvent the menace, change people’s psychological perspectives on gender and improve societal welfare and amalgamation.

Multiple paragraphs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Multiple paragraphs - Essay Example I expect my art to inspire my audience to be able to make change just as I did, and to fulfill their dream of what they are passionate about. Again, there is neither right nor wrong in making a hobby into a job, nor making a passion into reality and so they need to be their own judge, and take charge for their own life. Bill does not think his art is great, but he likes how he actually uses bold colors, flashy accessories and trends in the making of his art. Although he sees some technical issues, his art always puts people in light because he seeks the beauty that people wear on the street and finds it. His art changed him, for example, he started to find beauty in his own interactions with people, better than before and will tend to look in his eyes like a genuine human being. He became engaged in life that is because his natural enthusiasm and joy that he cannot help to uplift everyone. Cunningham’s art would influence other people’s lives, because he tends to know much about people without judging them in his art and tends to bring the beauty in them. His art has an underlying message which is â€Å"no matter how you do or look like you will find the beauty within you and you will have a light that will shine on you, so don’t let people judge you, judge yourself

What Makes a Pizza More Acceptable than Another Essay Example for Free

What Makes a Pizza More Acceptable than Another Essay Pizzas are often preferred by majority of fast-food consumers since they are available in different sizes with fresh toppings at an affordable price. They are ideal during a family get-together when large size pizzas can be ordered for a free home delivery with a choice for vegetarian or non-vegetarian type. Besides, pizzas are sold as a handy slice, which can be eaten by a busy professional while commuting. Among the leading pizza brands, Pizza Hut, Domino’s Pizza and Papa John’s have been able to develop brand fidelity by creating a variety of tasty pizzas according to different tastes of consumers. Although the tastes of different pizzas depend on toppings, the crispiness, and the quality of wheat dough, a health conscious consumer chooses a pizza according to the calories present in it. Diet Bites reports different calories in a single slice of 14† cheese pizza of three different brands. In case of Domino’s Pizza, the number of kcal is 272, while for Papa John’s, it is 304 kcal, and in case of Pizza Hut, the number of kcal per slice of 14† pizza is 266. Marketing strategy also differs for the pizza brands. According to Stern (2007), Papa John’s has been able to create a niche in the market by delivering pizzas within 30 minutes of an order placed through SMS on the mobile phone. This marketing strategy of Papa John’s has been successful to beat the existing marketing efforts of Domino’s and Pizza Hut. During delivery of pizza from a restaurant to the customer’s place, it should remain hot and crispy without loosing its fresh taste. Alva (1986) reported the claims made by Domino’s group that it makes every effort to retain freshness and taste of its pizzas while delivering hot pizzas to its customers, and that is why Domino’s has been more successful than its competitors. Thus, different brands of pizzas have contrasting tastes, marketing strategies, and consumer preferences. References Alva, M. (1986, October 20). Domino’s and Pizza Hut stress different aspects of delivery. Nations’ Restaurant News. Retrieved from http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_v20/ai_4479642/ Diet Bites. (n. d. ). Calories in Pizza- Calories in Domino’s, Little Caesar’s, Papa John’s and Pizza Hut pizzas. Retrieved from http://www. dietbites. com/calories/calories-in-pizza. html Stern, A. (2007, November 15). Papa John’s mobilizes pizza ordering to beat Pizza Hut/ Domino’s. Center Networks. Retrieved from http://www. centernetworks. com/papa-johns-goes-mobile

Cup Plate Method | Cultivation Of Microorganism

Cup Plate Method | Cultivation Of Microorganism An Adduct formed by stirring (0.01 mole) of aromatic aldehyde with the 40% of NaHSO3. O-phenylenediamine (0.01 mole) was dissolved in 50 ml of warm Ethanol 80. The NaHSO3 adduct of the aldehyde is added slowly with constant stirring in the warm solution of O-phenylenediamine stirred for 20-30 min still solid product obtained, then added 100 ml of Distilled water and filtered . Now the product was recrystallised by using Ethanol. Step 2: Nicotinoyl Cloride 0.1 mole of Nicotinic Acid was refluxed for 6 hrs with the 20 ml of Thionyl Chloride. After this the excess of Thionyl Chloride was distilled off and separated from the product and dried it. Step 3: 0.01 mole of 2-phenylbenzimidazole solution in 100 ml Pyridine stirred for 8 hrs constantly with the 0.01 mole of Nicotinoyl Chloride ,then the water added 50 ml to get a solid product. The product was filtered, dried and recrystallised using Ethanol. Scheme: AIM AND OBJECTIVES Molecular modification of a promising lead compound is still a major line of approach for the discovery of new drug. Molecular modification involves substituting, elimination, or adding new moieties to a parent lead compound, there by making gradual changes in the physico-chemical properties of the parent compound and thus biological activity of the compound. It is clear from the literature review that a number of Benzimidazole derivatives are known for the, antibacterial, antifungal and ant-inflammatory activities properties. The present studies were performed with the following objectives: Synthesis of new series of 1,2-substituted benzimidazole derivatives. Characterization of newly synthesized compounds by spectra methods viz.infrared spectra (IR spectra), Nuclear magnetic resonance spectra ( ¹H NMR spectra) and (Mass spectra). Screening of the antibacterial and Antifungal of the newly synthesized compounds using various strains of bacteria and fungi by determining their MIC. Screening of anti-inflammatory action of Benzimidazole derivatives. Scope and Plan of work: Literature survey revealed that Benzimidazole nucleus is a part numerous class of reported molecules exhibiting diverse range of biological activities like antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anticancer, analgesic ,anti-inflammatory activity, antihyperlipidemic, antihistaminic, antiulcer, anti-arrhythmic , HIV-RT inhibitor. Considering the reported data about Benzimidazole nucleus we have tried to synthesize some Nicotinoyl derivatives of Benzimidazole. The Benzimidazole derivatives of all above mentioned activities are mostly of 2-substituted type .The synthesis of 2-(substituted phenyl)-benzimidazolyl-1-pyridinyl-3-methanone was carried out and screened for antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory activity. The present work was divided in to three sections: Synthesis of 1,2-substituted derivatives of Benzimidazole . Chemical Characterisation of the synthesized compounds. Biological evaluation of synthesized compounds. Pharmacological screening of the synthesized compounds. ANTIMICROBIAL SCREENING An antibiotic is a chemical compound that in high dilution hinders the growth and the survival of one or more species of microorganism.A drug is considered to have bacteriostatic or fungistatic activity when it inhibits the growth of bacteria or fungi respectively and bactericidal or fungicidal activity when it kills the bacteria or fungi. In vitro tests are used as screening procedure for new agents and for testing the susceptibility of individual isolates from infection to determine which of the available drug might be useful therapeutically. Important factors for antimicrobial activity are size of the inoculums, metabolic state of microorganism, pH, temperature, and duration of interaction, concentration of the inhibitor and presence of interfering substance. ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY STUDIES Literature survey reveals that the synthesis and evaluation of antibacterial activity of various 2-substituted benzimidazole derivatives. The development of resistant among various pathogenic microorganisms towards the antibiotics has increased the impetus for investigating new antimicrobial agent. When a compound are synthesized in the hope that one of them would be more effective than the existing one. The antimicrobial effectiveness of a compound can be evaluated by serial dilution method and cup plate method. Dilution susceptibility tests are used to determine the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC). MIC is the lowest concentration of a drug that inhibits the growth of a particular organism under specific condition. The sensitivity of a compound against a particular organism can be studied by cup plate method.Initially the zone of inhibition method was carried out to evaluate the sensitivity of the organism were selected for determination of MIC. CUP PLATE METHOD: Cultivation of Microorganism: The following microorganisms were used to study the antibacterial activity. Bacillus subtilis Gram positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureous Gram positive bacteria Escherichia coli Gram negative bacteria Salmonella typhi Gram negative bacteria Standard: Streptomycin (1000mcg) Solvent: DMF All the test compounds were tested at 250  µg, 500  µg , and 1000  µg. Preparation of the medium: Composition of nutrient agar medium Beef extract†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..10g Peptone†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..10g Sodium chloride†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..5g Agar†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.20g Purified water†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦1000ml pH 7.2 ± 0.2 The medium was prepared by dissolving the specified quantity of the dehydrated medium in purified water by heating on a water bath and were dispensed in 100 ml volume conical flasks. The conical flasks were closed with cotton plugs and were sterilized by autoclaving at 121 °C (15 lb psig) for 15 minutes. The contents of the conical flasks were poured aseptically into sterile Petridishes are allowed to solidify. These sterilized Medias were used to subculture the bacterial culture. PROCEDURE: Each Petridish was filled to a depth of 4-5 mm with a nutrient agar medium that was previously inoculated with suitable inoculums of suitable test organism, and then allowed to solidify. The petridish were specially selected with flat bottom and were placed on level surface so as to ensure that the layer of medium is in uniform thickness. The petridishes were sterilized at 160-170 °C in hot air oven for 30 mins before use. Small sterile borer of uniform size was placed approximately at 10 cm height, having an internal diameter of approximately 6-8 mm and made of aluminium (or) stainless steel. Each plate was divided in to four equal portions along the diameter. To each portion one cylindrical cavity was made in medium with the help of sterile borer. Three cavities for test compounds and one cavity for the standard. The petridishes were incubated at 37 °C for 18 hours. Diameter of the zone of inhibition was measured and the average diameter for each sample was calculated. The diam eter obtained by the test sample was compared with that produced by standard Streptomycin. CUP PLATE METHOD: Cultivation of Microorganism The following fungal strains were used to study the antibacterial activity. 1. C.raphigera 2. A.polytricha Standard: Ketocanazole (1000mcg) Solvent: DMF All the test compounds were tested at 250  µg, 500  µg , and 1000  µg. Preparation of the medium: Composition of nutrient agar medium Sabraoud Dextrose broth..64gm Distilled water.1000ml pH..7.2 ± 0.2 The medium was prepared by dissolving the specified quantity of the dehydrated medium in purified water by heating on a water bath and were dispensed in 100 ml volume conical flasks. The conical flasks were closed with cotton plugs and were sterilized by autoclaving at 121 °C (15 lb psig) for 15 minutes. The contents of the conical flasks were poured aseptically into sterile Petridishes are allowed to solidify. These sterilized medias were used to subculture the fungal culture. ROCEDURE: Each Petridish was filled to a depth of 4-5 mm with a nutrient agar medium that was previously inoculated with suitable inoculums of suitable test organism, and then allowed to solidify. The petridish were specially selected with flat bottom and were placed on level surface so as to ensure that the layer of medium is in uniform thickness. The petridishes were sterilized at 160-170 °C in hot air oven for 30 mins before use. Small sterile borer of uniform size was placed approximately at 10 cm height, having an internal diameter of approximately 6-8 mm and made of aluminium (or) stainless steel. Each plate was divided in to four equal portions along the diameter. To each portion one cylindrical cavity was made in medium with the help of sterile borer. Three cavities for test compounds and one cavity for the standard. The petridishes were incubated at 37 °C for 18 hours. Diameter of the zone of inhibition was measured and the average diameter for each sample was calculated. The diam eter obtained by the test sample was compared with that produced by standard Ketocanazole.

Simon: The Unexpected DJ :: Personal Narrative Writing

Simon: The Unexpected DJ Driving up Route 9 towards Poughkeepsie in a snow storm was not something I wanted to do. The time itself—an hour’s drive—was elongated by the pretty, but dangerous, falling snow. As my Beetle and I plowed up through Fishkill and made our way to the town of Poughkeepsie, I started getting nervous. I would be interviewing a real live DJ! Since I was a child I had always loved music and the radio. I remember leaping up onto my kitchen counter and perching there, anxiously listening to who would be crowned Number One that week on the Top 40. Or I would be in my cool, newly-furnished bedroom listening to the most-requested five-song countdown on Monday and Wednesday evenings at 8pm. For this assignment, I had emailed local rock and alternative radio station WRRV, explaining my situation and asking if there was a DJ interested in having a 30 minute interview with me. The next day, Simon emailed me back saying he’d like to take me up on that offer. I was to drive up to WRRV and we would conduct the interview in the station in two weeks time. I remember that on the night before the interview I was driving home from Pace, and I was able to clearly receive WRRV (unusual, as the station is normally out-of-range at that location)—and I heard Simon on the radio. How exciting it was, to know that I would be talking to him the very next day! So there I was, thundering (or carefully maneuvering) my way up Route 9. After a quick stop at the local police station to re-orient myself (as I missed a left turn), I pulled into the small parking lot of the small, two-story, stucco-and-shingled building with an enormous satellite dish on it. I double-checked my questions, made sure my recorder was working, and headed in. I sat in the small waiting area as the secretary went to fetch Simon. Palms sweaty, I rubbed them on my jeans to calm myself and let out a little nervous energy. â€Å"Melissa? I’m Simon. Nice to meet you.† A hand stretched out before me, and I rose to shake it. Simon, The Voice From The Radio, was a normal guy! He was taller than me, of medium build, had short, cropped hair, and a welcoming smile.

Tuesdays With Morrie :: Tuesdays With Morrie Essays

Tuesdays With Morrie Tuesdays With Morrie is a true novel based upon an older dying man's outlook on life. Throughout the story, the older man teaches his past student about life as his body is slowly withering away from the " Lou Gehrig's Disease." CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: Morrie Schwartz (the older man) teaches his student, Mitch Albom, what really matters in life. The only way that I can begin to describe Morrie's character, is to quote an excerpt from pg. 10 regarding his reaction after being diagnosed: " But my old professor had a profound decision, one he began to construct the day he came out of the doctor's office with a sword hanging over his head. Do I wither up and disappear, or do I make the best of my time left? He asked himself. He would not wither. He would not be ashamed of dying. Instead he would make death his final project, the center point of his days. Since everyone was going to die, he could be of great value, right? He could be research. A human textbook. Study me in my slow and patient demise. Watch what happens to me. Learn with me. Morrie would walk that final bridge between life and death, and narrate the trip." Based on his decision not to wither up and die, and instead use his dying, as an opportunity to teach others what truly matters in life, shows how unselfish and positive he really was. Morrie didn't see his time spent ill as a waste, instead, he said, and I quote, " I mourn my dwindling time, but I cherish the chance it gives me to make things right." (Pg. 167) As a way to further carry out Morrie's wish to be useful, both Morrie and Mitch decided to meet every Tuesday to study and discuss life's greatest lessons. Not only do we see evidence of Morrie's character, we also see a change in Mitch and his values. With Morrie as a guide, Mitch begins to understand that money, and materialistic wealth, have less significance than things such as relationships, forgiveness, and love. IMAGERY: An excerpt from the book, which related to imagery, was what Morrie referred to as detachment.

Otello Aslam Essay -- Character Analysis, Lago

Othello â€Å"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves† as Victor Frankl once explained, that it is our environment that makes us who we are. And if we don't like who we have become, than we have to change ourselves to change the environment we are in. In Shakespeare's Othello, the order and disorder of the setting parallels the order and disorder of Iago's character. The story begins in Venice where Iago's character is parallel to the setting that is â€Å"orderly [and] law-binding†, of the city where the society is peaceful. Iago's charter reflects the current setting, since Iago has not yet caused any problems. He is acting orderly, like when he did not get the promotion, Iago simply said â€Å"there’s no remedy† (). Which develops his character as a peaceful person,because he simply accepted Othello's decision and dose not fight back or go against it. Thus reflecting the setting, because just like the setting Iago is acting orderly and peaceful. Not only did Iago not fight back when he did not receive the promotion, he also questioned himself â€Å"weather I in any.. term am affined to love [the] Moor† (1.1.40). By Iago questioning himself, it shows that Iago is being civil, because he is not attacking Othello, or hating Othello right away for not promoting him. Instead he is making a decision through thinking logi cally weather or not he likes Othello. So like the orderly setting of Venice, Iago’s character is the same because by thickening through the options you have before making a decision represents order since the decision will have reason behind it. Furthermore, Iago not only thought through his decisions while in the tranquil city of Venice, but he also provided security for Ro... ...arter thorough violence when â€Å"[h]e stabs Rodrigo† (5.1.61). Thus Iago’s character reflects the setting, since anger leads to violence because both anger and violence are directly related to each other. Also because it is our anger that causes us to become over passionate which causes us not to behave in order, casing us to commit violent acts . In short the new chaotic and tense,setting parallels with Iago’s character. Since Iago, stirs conflict between people, murders Rodrigo which reflects both a chaotic and tense environment. Altogether, in the story Othello, as the setting changed from orderly, to unpleasant, and to chaotic, Iago's character reflected the setting each time. As his character also changed through the story, from being orderly in Venice to finally becoming violent in Cyprus. Thus Iago’s character is parallel with the setting.

Benefits of Family Counseling Essay

This is a very arguable statement, and there are many reasons for it to be. I believe that the reasons for family counseling completely out weight the reasons why some families shouldn’t participate in it. Family counseling is often looked at as a tool to help families with problems, but counseling can be helpful to everyone. Counselors try to help with all scenarios of life, work, school, friends, etc. Even if you are a pretty balanced person you can still get tips from a professional, whether your family has been through a major turmoil, or could simply gain from refining their communication skills with each other. Counseling can be a way to help everyone in a family. Therapy for children as well as parents can help reduce all types of stresses for everyone involved. Major abuses, little arguments, as well as general venting can all be addressed in a calmer, quieter atmosphere. These are just a few reasons why every family should attend counseling. By attending counseling it can help children learn how to deal with tough situations, strengthen communication, and overcome differences. We all have to face obstacles in our lives and some of them can be pretty tough. To teach children, through adolescence to adulthood, skills to deal with tough situations could mean the difference and difficulties in how many college graduates there are, how many overcome poverty, and how families are in a secure loving environment. Teaching youth to face their difficulties instead of running or quitting is highly important, and should be one of the emphasized parts of school. In our society many people think that if things are hard for them, obviously it is not something that they should be doing. I think that with the guidance and some positive reinforcement that people can learn to overcome their difficulties. Being in a new situation or learning new skills is hard and everyone struggles. Because we allow teens to quit, many young adults decide not to attend college. They often feel that since they didn’t do well in high school college would be too difficult. With parents and a professional both helping kids to overcome difficulties at an early age it will instill within them that obstacles are just a part of life that they have to overcome; quitting is not an option. Many times kids learn how to deal with differences from their parents or other people around them. A lot of parents yell and show anger when they are mad at their spouse or their boss, or even their children. Cartoons normally deal with problems through violence and teachers even yell at kids. All of this teaches children that it is okay to act with anger and violence, and that these are solutions to their problems. Then parents get mad at them for mimicking them and their environment, and then what happens? Most of the time parents show more anger, yelling, and sometimes use violence to correct them. With all of this, I believe that it’d be nice to have a professional help parents in order to teach them the proper way of disciplining without aggression, and to help children learn the right way of solving their everyday problems. Communication and discipline problems between parents and children are very common and can lead to marital problems as well. Divorce and the creation of stepfamilies also create difficulties. Often, the partners themselves are the problem because of poor communication, continuous conflict, sexual problems or even in-law problems. If a low income mother and child had counseling how do you think it would affect them? I think that not only would the child benefit from it, but it may even teach the mother what is possible for her: a better job, how to find a stronger more secure relationship, and how to teach her child. The child would learn skills, and by doing so, set goals for future achievements. With the help of a counselor and a well taught mother, the probability of the child may doing crime, selling or using drugs, participating in a gang, or living in prison, is significantly lower. Strengthening communication skills is also important, often time teens can be to out spoken and not think before they say something that can hurt someone feelings. Other times teens can be really shy and not open up to anyone. Communication skills are fundamental, and should be worked on. Communication is a skill that will have to be worked on throughout life because in different environments different communication skills will be needed. The biggest negative about family counseling is the cost. There would probably be families or certain people in the family that did not contribute in the experience, which means that the counseling would have little or no effect on their lives. Another downside is that it is possible in the environment to focus on one person and blame them for certain family problems. I am sure that there are other negatives about family counseling but in my opinion nothing really significant. I think that the government can use add to schooling tax dollars and use some of it for this program. Regardless if all families and all family members use the program to benefit, I think many people Family counseling relates to the narratives in many ways. Some of the families experience a death, others have parents get divorced, or teens getting pregnant and having a baby. I think counseling could help with these major emotional distresses, and also help with the everyday problems that some of the other narratives experience as well. The narrative represent just a few people in our society, but I believe that they, like most people, could use a little more guidance to stay on a stable, successful path with strong relationships and a positive knowing belief in themselves. I think this program should be financially supported from the government. It should become a law in which I think will ultimately preserve our rights and freewill. Laws are being passed all the time that conflict with our constitution and with crime and fear spreading epidemically it’s just a matter of time before most citizens will give the government complete control in order to stop the chaos. The foundation of this country is crumbling and I think it is time to reinforce it, so that we can continue to follow the path of our dreams, and not fall like every great kingdom in the past. I believe to stay as a free country, and a prosperous nation thing have to change, in fact many things will probably have to change. I think my idea of a professional guiding both, parents to raise their kids and to help lead kids to overcome difficulties is a good starting place for a significant change in this country. I think that counseling could help with every family, even if it is just to bring them closer together. Whether it is a stable family, or a family with stepparents and stepsiblings, that need to learn that these people are now someone that is going to always be around, and are in the same situation. They can learn from one another and become close like real family. From family counseling our society maybe better educated, more responsible, less violent, more dependable, and have a stronger sense of belonging.

Leanardo da vinci

Biography: Leonardo Dad Vinci was born in 1452, April 15 in Italy and passed away in 1519, May 2 at the age of 67. He was one of the best apprentices at Andrea del Veronica and he learnt many things as a student. His most famous works were Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, The Vitamins on Man and The Lady with a Ermine. Leonardo was one of the most acknowledge artist of his time, he did not only paint he also drew and made sculptures. He was an inventor and a scientist. Visual analysis:Movement- my eyes first go to the baby and this is because the image is filled with quite dark colors whereas the baby painted in a lot lighter neutral colors. Then it goes to the hands of the baby and his mother Mary and you can see the flower they are holding, then it goes to the window and the background. When everything is so dark your eyes immediately go to the lighter areas and I could see that in this artwork. Harmony-The emotion of Mary and the baby are very calm, comfortable and pure happiness and t he colors are also similar and it complements each other.Contrast- The use of the light and the shadows give it depth although it has a low contrast because the work feels soothing and subtle and not so energetic. Emphasis: I padded special attention to the baby because it is the focal point of the artwork and it pops out of the whole image, even though it doesn't take up a lot of space it still is clearly visible. I blurred out the rest of the image when I looked at the baby and you can see the great depth of the artwork. Balance- The balance would be asymmetrical because there is a vary of visual weight.Line-He used curved lines which make it feel, soft, relaxing and brings a sense of comfort. Form- The form would be three dimensional because there is depth and it also looks extremely realistic. Color-Len this painting he has a variety of tone you can see this with the baby because it goes from skin color, to a bronze skin color, light brown and then a darker brown. There is not a lot of hue. Texture: because it's a mother with a baby it looks very warm like the baby shows comfort and it looks very soft. Leonardo dad Vinci By Angier_21

Outliers Part 7

In chapter 7 of outliers Gladwell talks about plane crashes in the 1990's in Korea. He says that there are far to many crashes that statistically should happen. Also since Korea was having way to many crashes other countries started to say that they were not going to let Korea fly over them or use their airports if they did not turn themselves around. With this threat Korea began to investigate the reasons for the plane crashes.They first tried to us common sense by saying it was the condition of the plane, the pilots were not trained properly and so on, but what they found out was that everything was up to code. So then they had to investigate deeper and look at other things and what they found out was it was the culture. The plane crashes were happening because Korea had a high power index, this meant that no matter what the pilot said everyone would agree with him and not question him.So int the end common sense doesn't always give you the answer you sometime have to look more dee ply into the situation. Also it's sometimes good to question authority. Its not always good to have a high power index and then again it's not always good to have a low power index. One occasion that it is good to have a low power index is in a hospital. This is good because even though doctors have much more experience nurses are right out of school so that means that they would know more about new technology and newer ways of doing different operations.Doctors may also be used to doing an operation one way but the nurse who is just out of school may now of some newer way of doing the same operation that has been proved to work better. Also since the nurses are with the patients more they may now something the doctor doesn't know that may affect the operation. It's also sometimes good to have a high power index, it would be more beneficial to have a high power index in a family because the kids should respect their elders. The parents and grandparents know more than the kids do and the kids can always learn something from older people.

Frank Lucas; American Gangster

Frank Lucas; American Gangster What is the one thing every person, white or black, rich or poor, American or Hispanic, wants to have plenty of in their possession? If it’s green, flimsy paper with different values on the front then money is the answer. Whether it’s 19th Century, 20th Century, or 21st Century, people work, steal, worship money. Human beings aren’t always satisfied with the amount of money they have, so they work harder, steal, rob, or cheat hoping to satisfy their money obsession. This describes the efforts and actions of an â€Å"American Gangster† named Frank Lucas. Frank did whatever it took to become rich to provide for his family, driving him to drug trafficking. Despite being a murdering, lying, threat to the North East gangsters involved with the drug trafficking, Frank Lucas elicits enthrallment from the audience due to his intriguing and charismatic character, emphasizing the pleasure of grasping possessions wrongfully will only bring you joy for a short period of time. Frank Lucas thought he had it all. He was dealing the most pure drug there was on the street during this time for a lower price, had a system that was literally untraceable, and was wracking in the big bucks. The question is why did Frank Lucas become like this and how did he become like this? Frank used to drive around the most famous dealer before he was shot and killed. Frank was close to this man, him being a father figure in his young life. Frank wanted to be like that, so he decided to start his own business in the drug trafficking business. Frank was power hungry like Satan in Paradise Lost. Satan used to be one of God’s angels until one day Satan decided he could be even with God and be on top. Just as Satan was trying â€Å"to set himself in glory above his peers,† (1. 39) so was Frank Lucas trying to set himself the â€Å"king† of the slums up north. What this lifestyle brought to Frank Lucas looked good at the beginning but got harder and harder as time rolled on. Frank became rich quick, helping out his family tremendously with financial problems. But as his business kept drawing attention, life became more miserable with threats to his wife and himself making his life more and more of a secret from society. The same goes with Satan. He begins to realize that trying to be on top isn’t going to be easy, â€Å"for now the thought/ Both of lost happiness and lasting pain/ Torments him. † (1. 54-56). Both Frank Lucas and Satan realizing there power thirst comes with major consequences they didn’t expect. Both Satan and Frank Lucas give the reader and audience an intrigue that is likeable. Frank Lucas has this way of carrying himself as the man around town, no one messes with him but fear him. That’s power that people are gravitated towards to like, being the â€Å"center of the world. † Also this intrigue rubs off onto Frank’s brothers. They are canceling there dreams in there mind because they want what Frank has, rich and fame. Satan also has that feature. The way he believes he can be equal to God makes you feel his confidence. You are intrigued in his decision making and are curious to see if he succeeds. He also is good at rubbing this business of his to other angels who end up following him. People look up to them and want what they have. In the end, both Frank Lucas and Satan have the urge to be the most powerful person, have it all, but don’t succeed like they had hoped. Frank Lucas gets caught and put in jail, and Satan has to keep wishing he could â€Å"have equaled the Most High† (1. 40). While they are both hated by the world they live in, the reader and audience begin to smile, and begin to feel a little likeness towards these characters especially for their intrigue ways.