Monday, December 30, 2019

The Media Tv - 2312 Words

By using this website and/or any ancillary applications or platforms (?Website?), you (?User?) agree to the Terms of Service, which includes and incorporates the Website?s Privacy Policy, _________ and any other guidelines, rules or requested action that we posted on the Website: Comment by David Yung Ho Kim: Here, you would insert anything else you?d like users to automatically be legally bound to (i.e., copyright infringement notice procedure, user etiquette rules, etc..) Website Terms of Service 1. Who We Are. Smash Media TV (?we?) is a a limited liability company organized and existing under the laws of the State of California and we currently operate this Website under the name of ?Smash Media TV? and is considered an online†¦show more content†¦You acknowledge that our materials are protected by copyright law and you will not copy our materials in any way. (c) You will not modify this Website or any portion related thereto, including, without limitation, Material, and our service and trade marks and intellectual property rights, unless otherwise expressly stated herein, without our prior written approval. (d) You will not violate the intellectual property (i.e., copyright, trademark, patent), privacy and/or publicity rights of any person in relation to this Website in any degree. (e) Any information that you post to the Website, including, without limitation, comments, images, videos and audio shall be the sole property of Smash Media TV and you grant Smash Media TV a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, transferable right and license to use, copy, cache, publish, display, distribute, perform, modify and creative derivative works to any degree and for any purpose. (f) You will not publish or transmit, or cause to be published or transmitted, any communication or solicitation with us or any other use of the Website. (g) You shall comply with every request we make to you related to the Website in any degree and there are no exceptions whatsoever. (h) You shall discontinue any use of the Website should you find any Material to be offensive or inappropriate in any way and you

Sunday, December 22, 2019

The Integration Of Computers And Software Tools - 940 Words

Bioinformatics is the integration of computers and software tools to analyse information associated with biomolecules on a large scale. Conventionally, biological study examines individual system in detail and uses the data that is produced to frequently compare similar systems that are related. However, bioinformatics facilitates scientists to study and conduct global analysis of all the available data. This allows researchers, to uncover common principles that may be applied across numerous systems, which results in different features to be highlighted (Luscombe , et al., 2001). Due to the increased amount of research that has been conducted in association with genes and proteins, computational methods such as bioinformatics has become†¦show more content†¦Computational biology became popular during the 1970’s when the price of computers decreased and they were easier to use and more readily available. Subsequently, this new technology was introduced primarily to store and manage data that was produced through genomic research. This then resulted in investigations to be completed in shorter amounts of time, which lead to larger investigations, leading to more data being produced. Thus, bigger and better computers were needed to manage the data that was generated. Hence, bioinformatics was used to create tools, algorithms and databases, which enabled comprehensive management of data. Therefore, as more and more data is being produced, the need for more powerful computers are needed in order to manage the data. Furthermore, due to large amount of data being generated, larger databases are required and more powerful tools are needed to manage and store the data. The proteins play a key role in the biological function and their studies make possible to understand the mechanisms that occur in many biological events. The human genome project enabled the emergence of proteomics. Proteomics is the large scale study of proteins, particularly the functions and structure of different proteins. The field of bioinformatics has had a significant effect in proteomics, as it has introduced new algorithms to handle large and heterogeneous data sets. Moreover, Bioinformatics has offered the

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Intellectual and Cognitive Development Free Essays

Understanding Child and Young Person Development Assignment 023 – Table 2 – Intellectual and Cognitive Development Explain the sequence and rate of development Age Range 0-3 Months Babies at this age are learning a lot about their parents they are beginning to recognise the sound of their voices, especially Mum’s voice and smell, they may stop crying when Mums voice is heard. 3-6 Months Objects and toys become very interesting to babies at this time. Toys are explored with fingers and mouth. We will write a custom essay sample on Intellectual and Cognitive Development or any similar topic only for you Order Now They are very alert. 6-9 Months Around this time babies will cry when their primary carer leaves the room but then around 8 or 9 moths learn that people and objects do not disappear but continue to exist even when they are out of sight. 1-2 Years At this time in their life they recognise routines throughout the day, babies may get excited when they see a familiar face or toy or when a bib is put on for feeding. They enjoy toys that they put things in to containers and out again, they may pull off hats and socks repeatedly. They also respond well to brothers and sisters. 2-4 Years Children begin to know what they like and play with the same games over and over again. They like pretend play games like drinking from an empty cup or dressing up in clothes of their hero’s. 4-7 Years This is the age they gain load of confidence and co-ordination. They start school and learn to read, write and count they also do simple maths. -12 Years By this age children are well co-ordinated, the way children think and reason is reflected in their play, they are much more organised and focused. 12-16 Years Children of this age have learnt how to solve problems and have an understanding of reasoning. 16-19 Years Decisions have to be made at this tae of ones life, if to stay in education or to find a job. If leaving your familiar environment you have to embrace new settings, rules and people. How to cite Intellectual and Cognitive Development, Papers

Friday, December 6, 2019

Business Valuation and Analysis Altadis

Questions: 1) Summarize Altadisstrategy and give your opinion on that issue .2) The report offers an economic valution of Altadis. What do you think about it? Would you change anything in that valuation? You dont need to make any number. 3) How does the above strategy fit with the offered evaluation of Altadis? Answers: 1. Altadis strategy Altadis is a multinational marketer and manufacturer of tobacco, cigarettes, and cigars. In order to be successful in the market, the company has adopted various strategies. The company has implemented the strategy of restructuring, share buy backs and increased focus on the emerging markets (particularly Morocco, North Africa, and Middle Eastern countries) to get ahead of competition. In addition, the company has also implemented strategies to sell more of its products in countries where the prices of cigarettes are higher such as Spain. Further, the company has planned on logistic and cigar divisions due to high growth rates in these segments. With better market forecasts and improved product mix, the company plans to enhance its financial valuation and growth strategy (Brigham and Ehrhardt 2013). The reason for adopting these strategies is to improve the financial valuation of the company that is underpinned by its substantial shareholder remuneration. With the systematic buy back of shares, the company would be in a better position financially. This would increase the wealth of shareholders as well as enable the company to have substantial financial reserve that can be invested back in the business (Bodie et al. 2012). 2. Economic valuation of the company The economic valuation helps in determining what the businesss worth is. The report presented presents numerous methods of financial valuation of Altadis and is based on many assumptions that have an influence on the valuation undertaken. The company aims at withdrawing the shares from the market that can be only viable if the company has excess cash reserve. From the financial evaluation presented and the assumptions made regarding the market trends, it can be said that the company is in a better position as compared to its competitors. The net profits and earnings per share indicate that the company is improving on its financial strengths. Since, the company employs a substantial shareholder remuneration policy; this causes the company to incur huge expenses in the form of dividends. Therefore, by adopting buyback policy, the company can save these expenses which can be re-invested in the business (Titman et al. 2015).Further, for economic evaluation Consumer Price Index is taken t hat may not truly represent the market conditions, therefore, a more robust price index needs to be selected. 3. Effectiveness of the selected strategy Altadis strategy of share buyback and capitalizing on increasing markets of developing countries fits well with the financial evaluation presented in the given article. Since, the company employs a substantial shareholder remuneration policy; it causes the company to incur huge expenses in the form of dividends. Therefore, by adopting a buyback policy, the company can save these expenses which can be re-invested in the business. Further, from the comparative analysis of its competitors position in the market with that of the Altadis, indicates that the company has more cash reserves and enjoys greater share prices. With further adoption of a buyback strategy, the company can increase its market share as well as goodwill in the market (Brigham and Daves 2012). References Bodie, Z., Kane, A. and Marcus, A., 2012.Essentials of investments. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Brigham, E. and Daves, P., 2012.Intermediate financial management. Nelson Education. Brigham, E. and Ehrhardt, M., 2013.Financial management: Theory practice. Cengage Learning. Titman, S., Martin, J.D. and Keown, A.J., 2015.Financial management: Principles and applications. Prentice Hall.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Burger King is one of the most... free essay sample

Burger King is one of the most popular chains of fast food in the world which is mostly private business, franchised. In this essay, I would discuss the ownership model, strategic positioning and modes of operation by using the theories of retail management to link these factors up. The business is operating as franchising in which privately ran and owned the company. According to the research of Burger King, there are more than 12 thousands of chains that locating in 73 countries and 99% of which are privately held. More than 1.14 million customers are visiting and purchasing in Burger King every single day. (Burger King, 2018) Burger King has a large number of total market share in fast food market field as the second most significant fast food chain in the world. Plus the competitions between Burger King and its core competitor McDonald lead me to believe that this is an excellent business to research. We will write a custom essay sample on Burger King is one of the most or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Burger King is an international franchise that owned by retail investors. Franchising is a relationship that a franchisor provides the privilege of using its brand to do business. The franchisors should also offer help in training, organising, marketing, managing and merchandising in return for the initial fee (Berman and Evans, 2012: 581). It costs a minimum investment  £50,000 to become the franchise, and it needs further payments to get the other services what provided by franchisors such as training, equipment and insurance. Besides initial fee of being a franchisee, there is also a monthly payment for the franchisee to pay to the Burger King which equal to 5% monthly sales for advertising plus 6% monthly sales for royalty (FDD of Burger King, 2017). Burger King is a mature fast food company which has strong reputation and experience of running the business. Therefore being a franchisee of Burger King could acquire varies benefits such as low investment risk which increases the chances of making a profit; Obtaining systematic training by Burger King; Using the famous brand with reputation and promotion activities to improve competitive power; Centralized stocking to reduce the cost and guarantee the source of the goods. However, in addition to these positive impacts, Being a franchisee of Burger King still need to consider high franchise fee. The franchisee needs to share profit with franchisor by the contract and is restricting to the franchisor without the right to handle enterprises affairs in the way of operation to limit its growth. The enforceable acceptance of unified supply prices what provided by Burger King is also an issue of being a franchisee.However, the whole business will be influenced negatively by one franchise business(Hoy F, Perrigot R and Terry A, 2017).With regards to strategic positioning, Burger King is famous as serving high-quality, great-tasting, and affordable food (Burger King,2018). The main characters of strategies of Burger King can be summarised as Localization, differentiation and expansionary. Burger King fulfils the changing preferences and taste of the customers globally through applying geographic and demographic segmentation. For instance, they set up a research centre in Shanghai to design different taste of foods for Chinese consumers in different regions(Bhasin H, 2017). Since the taste of supply could meet the demand, the sales will rise definitely. The differences between Burger King and its competitors are their consumer group, distinguishing from its competitors like McDonald, Burger usually cooperates with films such as Star War and The Simpsons what are preferred by adults (Yasmine, 2008). Burger King continuous applying its expansionary strategy to obtain more market share through operate branch stores globally and combine with its localised and differentiated strategies to earn more profit. The core goal of Burger Kings strategy is to set up sustainable competitive strengths in the competitions, and this determines the fundamental decisions that guide the business operating strategies, marketing and financial management. (Rodrigo, 2012)Burger King is offering discounts to consumers online for promoting and operating in the franchised model to keep low operating. The main modes of operating of Burger King is controlling the costs and improve the consumer satisfaction level through providing conveniences. The most significant mode of operation for Burger King to fight for the amounts of customers is the Drive-thru service. Burger King earned more than 70% sales by this service (Burger King, 2018). Although its competitors adopted this competence like McDonald, Burger Kings Drive-thru is still famous for its efficiency and effectiveness (Rodrigo, 2012). Burger King offers delivery services as well, and this services could satisfy customers who cannot or do not want to go to the physical store. Furthermore, consumers have the ability to pre-order online to acquire discounts and save the time they suppose to spend in the queue, and the pre-order service can help consumers custom their own meal and decrea se the mistakes what made by staffs. The customer satisfaction can be increased if the self services were convenient and efficient and under control (Liljander, V., Gillberg, F., Gummerus, J. and van Riel, A., 2006).In conclusion, Burger King is keeping focusing on its quality of food and increase the number of consumers to fight for market shares with rivals. Its specific strategies localised, differences and expanded, working as a combination and help Burger King to build up a tremendous competitive advantage. When Burger King opens a branch store in different regions, they will focus on researching the preference of local people to offer better taste goods with promising quality. Other than providing better taste food, their advertising is another part which can help to increase market share. The savage war of advertising between Burger King and McDonald is fascinating; these two most prominent fast-food chain businesses have publishing niche targeting advertisement to each other continuously for 27 years (Lungyeki M, 2017). The strengths that Burger King highlighted in their advertising just presented their competitive advantages remarkably. To summarise, The sophisticated and systematic operation of Burger King causes it has a great potential to obtain more market share and keep chasing the place of the biggest fast food restaurant.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Dunkirk Battle Analysis Essay Example

Dunkirk Battle Analysis Essay Example Dunkirk Battle Analysis Paper Dunkirk Battle Analysis Paper Essay Topic: Dunkirk Joe LeggioReaction Paper Mr. CorsoUnc. Valor Hitler, as a great leader of his country was not a great Commander. He had several blunders that ultimately led to his defeat. One of the major blunders that Hitler made was allowing the British to escape from Dunkirk. This gave the British army the boost it needed to win the war. Before the escape from Dunkirk British citizens thought the worst for its country. After the British were not able to defend France any longer, they had to fall back into a port on the Atlantic called Dunkirk. Instead of releasing the Panzers to garantee the the extermination of the British, Hitler ordered their halt and ordered that the Luftwaffe strafe the channel. Hitler was convinced by one of his generals that the air fleet can handle the job, which was another great blunder of Hitler. If Hitler would have took advantage of his ground forces and sent them into Dunkirk, it would have thwarted the attempt of the escape and possibly change the outcome of the war. While Hitler turned and focused on the Russians, Britain took advantage of his neglection. They sent of thousands of water transport ships to bring home tens of thousands soldiers hoem each day until it was entirely evacuated. If had Hitler would have used Panzers, the outcome of the war would have been extremely different. England would not longer be with a military to defend the homeland, which could then be invaded easily. The major reason for England’s survival as a nation was the leadership of Winston Churchill. Documents show that Churchill had lost the favor of his Cabinet and Parliament. If his army was destroyed, he could have possibly been replaced by Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax, who was in favor of peace with the Germans. If a peace was created between Germany and England it would have discouraged America’s involvement in the European Theater. Great Britain was America’s only remaining ally in Europe, and if Great Britain was at peace or collaborating with the Germans, no reason for the U. S to jump in. With Britain being conquered, Hitler could have not fought at two fronts and focused his ultimate military power towards one specific coutnry, Russia. The climax of the war was at Stalingrad. If Hitler was able to conquer Stalingrad everything would ahve been different. Russia could have been immobilized and not functional. With Russia out of the picture Hitler would have the total rule over Europe. If he controlled Europe it would be hard for any one army to defeat him. At the later stages of the war the German’s would suffer major defeats from the rejuvinated British army. The major two were the battles of El Aliamien and the D-Day invasion of Normandy. The battle of El Aliamien, in Africa, was the first major defeat of Rommel’s Afrika Corp. British tank Commander Montgomery was able to push the German’s out of Africa and ruin their chances of a Middle Eastern empire. This indefinately leads to the allied invasion of Italy. The D-Day invasion was one of the great invasions of the war. Though everyone suffered from many casualties, the allied forces were able to open up two seperate fronts and ultimately defeat Germany. The invasion was able to work because Hitler did not have his focus on it. If he planted a few tanks and had more ground forces the invasion would have failed and nobody knows how life would be today. You can trace almost every great blunder form Hitler back to the Dunkirk Mistake. It had a huge part in the fall of Hitler and his ultimate suicide. Resources: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Battle_of_Dunkirk theotherside. co. uk/tm-heritage/background/dunkirk1940. htm

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Managing Financial Decisions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Managing Financial Decisions - Essay Example On the other hand, sole proprietorship and partnerships have unlimited liability for shareholders. Although, it is easier to set up sole proprietorship or partnership as compared to the limited company, but limited companies have better access to external markets for funding and business opportunities. This implies that there is a separation of the business and individuals holding interests in the company. This type also has the advantage of being able to raise large amounts of funds from external sources. Also, the business is managed by a group of professional directors who have the experience and knowledge to operate different affairs of the business (Bendrey, Hussey, & West, 2004). In addition, only those profits, which are taken out from the limited company’s accounts are taxed as compared. Whereas, the entire profit of sole proprietorship is taxed. 1b Types of Source of Finance Types of Finance Definition Advantages Disadvantages Short Term Finance Trade Credit Credit ob tained by business for inventory and receivables management. It is less costly. It is easier to arrange. It does not require security. It is difficult to arrange large amounts. It is only trade related. Factoring Sale of receivables for cash in advance. It allows transfer of risk associated with credit sales. It frees up cash of businesses tied up in receivables. It is highly costly. It is not available to all kinds of industries. It involves complicated legal terms. Bank Overdrafts Short term borrowing from banks. It is not fixed for a specific period of time. It is suitable for businesses requiring finance occasionally. It is less costly for large companies. It is difficult to manage in periods of high interest rate volatility. It requires personal guarantees from owners or directors of the company. Medium Term Finance Loans Medium term borrowing from banks. It is for specific period of time and less fluctuation in interest payments. It allows businesses to ascertain the cost of f inance in advance. It allows businesses to negotiate terms of repayment according to their projections. It is faster to arrange such loans. It is costlier as compared to overdrafts. It can affect creditworthiness of the business if fails to meet loan obligations. Lease Obtaining the right of use of asset without purchasing them. Allows a business or individual to preserve liquid assets. Fixed repayments are required and the lender can not cancel the agreement on its own. It is difficult to arrange. It is difficult to record and report leases. It may not be possible to acquire all types of assets on lease. Long Term Finance Debt Finance Long term borrowing from banks or other finance providing companies. It allows access to larger pool of funds. It allows to upgrade equipment and machinery on regular basis. It requires security. It involves high interest charge due to its long-term nature. It is difficult to obtain loan for assets other than property in some countries. The accessibil ity to this type of finance depends upon assessment of creditworthiness of companies. It is finance against future profits of the business and can therefore restrict utilization of internal funds for business growth. Debentures and Loan Stock By issuing debt instrument in the secondary market.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Extra Credit ANTH Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Extra Credit ANTH - Essay Example The scientists simply study humanity; they tend to figure around how the human race has changed to the current state it is today. Cultural Anthropology is a branch that is concerned with the behavior patterns of the human race. This entails acts of man of clothing, religious activities, and land activities. The cultural branch of anthropology is divided into two, on is ethno linguists, which deals with the study of culture language and ethnomusicologists which is the study of music traditions. Archeology is also another branch of anthropology that deals with the study of society culture. This involves the study of artefacts which reflect the early mans culture and their daily life.Lingustic deals with the study of language. This branch tends to explain how man communicated both verbally or in written form. Physical Anthropology is a branch of anthropology that is concerned with the study of human evolution and the genetics of human race. Anthropologists study everywhere humans and th eir ancestors lived. The scientist through their investigations tend to answer the question ‘why are we what we are’ as biological organisims.The biological changes responsible for bringing humanity to its present state. The ancestral remains in bone form of the human race are called hominids. Anthropologists study the hominids on their physical appearance, intelligence change that makes man distinct from other creatures. The study of the genes in man and how they influenced by the environment. Environmental factors and the effect it has to man, this include climate. The scientists investigate on the reaction of man in relation to the climatic changes. The advantages and the disadvantages of climate on the social and cultural well being of man. The scientist study the human population in relation to climate. The difference of human beings to other creatures in relation to physical anthropology research have been identified. Man is a bipedal creature, he walks on two fee t. The human race has a unique dental structure different from other creaturers.Human beings have a material culture, of which they use objects to manipulate a given environment. According to Anthropologists man has a developed thinking capacity compared to other creatures. Scientists have built a system of ideas to link thoughts explaining the result of an experiment. A fundamental theory on the origin of man was constructed by Charles Darwin. He was given the responsibility of collection, documentation and study of the natural world. Darwin succeeded in coming up with the variations of physical characteristics and their adaptations. He termed adaptation as Natural Selection; this is where the biological characteristics of species boost their survival. In his research he acquired information from scientific subjects which are taxonomy, geology, paleontology, demography and systematics. There were various contributions of scientists in coming up with a theory on evolution.Scientst R obert Hooke was the first in the discovery of cells using a simple microscope. Georges Cuvier discovered the concept of extinction by studying a fish fossil. James Hutton provided evidence is the construction of evolution life span. John Ray discovered the first scientific classification of plants and animals. Thomas Malthus came up with the survival characteristic concept. Carolus Linnaeus came up with a classification system by giving organisms unique names for easy classification. He came up with the taxonomic classification o

Monday, November 18, 2019

This I Believe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

This I Believe - Essay Example According to nationsonline.org (2010), the number of people whose first language is Chinese, when investigated in all countries of the world was discovered to be 874000000 while the inclusion of Chinese language speakers, for whom Chinese is the second language makes it 1052000000. This is in contrast with the statistics for the number of English speakers since English is largely considered as the first language all over the world. nationsonline.org (2010) records that population of first-language-English speakers is currently 341000000, which becomes 508000000 when people for whom English is not the mother language are included in it. What further exaggerates the matter is the fact that the statistics mentioned in this paper have been recorded for one particular dialect of Chinese language where there are many more in reality. The large number of Chinese speakers is fundamentally because of the ever growing and expanding Chinese population. China has grown in literacy rate over the past few decades, though Chinese nation had always been ahead in various fields of art, intelligence and technical knowledge. Today, Chinese students make a significant portion of the total number of international students enrolled in foreign reputable universities particularly in the most scientifically and technologically advanced countries. This is in addition to the fact that the innumerable Chinese universities within China are already equipped with Chinese students. The large international Chinese students make others feel a need to learn Chinese in order to be able to interact with them. Chinese prefer to communicate with the foreigners in Chinese language unlike many other nations. Although English is taught as a second language in a lot of Chinese schools in the present age, yet Chinese prefer to stick to their first language as all legal, political and cultural

Friday, November 15, 2019

Drug Promotion in the Media

Drug Promotion in the Media THE GHANAIAN MEDIA AND CONSUMER PROTECTION: THE CASE OF THE (TRADITIONAL) MEDICINE INDUSTRY The issue of consumer protection has been widely discussed in many countries across the world and especially in the advanced countries. In recent times, this discussion has diffused into developing countries, especially in Africa and most particularly in Ghana. Also, the media’s integrity and ethics of Journalism has been extensively debated. The subject matter of using the media to promote drugs and drug related products to consumers directly has undergone much scrutiny lately. The literature on these issues is profuse, yet some notable ones will be reviewed in the subsequent paragraphs. To begin with, Julie Donohue in her article, â€Å"A History of Drug Advertising: The Evolving Roles of Consumers and Consumer Protection† (2006) queried the importance of direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) on drugs. Although she agreed on the fact that â€Å"the main tool of consumer protection laws is the disclosure of information in order to level the playing field between buyers and sellers† (p662), to her, this phenomenon actually encourages â€Å"self-diagnosis† and is therefore detrimental to consumer’s health. She blamed this problem on the legal and cultural changes in health care. In her own words, she argued that the â€Å"legal and cultural changes in health care brought about by the patients’ and consumers’ rights movements laid the groundwork for the DTCA of prescription drugs. DTCA was surely an unintended consequence of these social movements and may, paradoxically, serve to frustrate future efforts to protect patients and consumers† (p691). She further argued that the use of mass media advertising for prescription drugs misleads consumers into taking costly prescription drugs that they do not need. She opined that mass media advertisements were only intended to be a â€Å"vehicle for pharmaceutical manufacturers to tell end users about their products’and ‘not to help businesses market their products† (p662). According to her, drugs that advertised to consumers had the advantage of established brand recognition, and this is what has accounted for most pharmaceutical companies pushing their products to the mass media to be advertised. Also, in the book The Truth About the Drug Companies (2004), Angell Marcia, apprised us thoroughly on underpinnings of drug companies. Tracing their eruption from 1980, Angell, lamented the manner in which the pharmaceutical industry has not been innovative. To him, â€Å"only a handful of truly important drugs have been brought to market in recent years, and they were mostly based on taxpayer-funded research at academic institutions, small biotechnology companies or the National Institutes of Health. The majority of ‘new’ drugs are not new at all but merely variations of older drugs already on the market. These are called ‘me-too’ drugs†. (p3). He explained that the thinking behind these â€Å"me-too† drugs is to grab a share of an established, lucrative market and make profit. Thus, to him, drug companies spring up almost every day, not because they intend to bring any new product onto the market, but only to reproduce drugs which are already in existence, and with the motive of making profit. This motive informs their resort to the mass media for direct-to-consumer advertisements (DTCA) so as to gain advantage over their competitors. He thus advocates that the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) must stiffen their approval of new drugs coming unto the market. Thus, to him, â€Å"the me-too market would collapse virtually overnight if the FDA made approval of new drugs contingent on their being better in some important way than older drugs already on the market† (p12). He is of the view that this measure would make drug companies focus on finding truly innovative drugs and also reduce the incessant and enormously expensive marketing necessary to jockey for position in the me-too market. Furthermore, in their article â€Å"Media Credibility and Informativeness of Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertising†(2004), Huh et al evaluated consumer perceptions of the media credibility and informativeness of direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertisement and examined how those perceptions were influenced by consumer predispositions and demographic characteristics. To them, DTC advertisements are targeted mostly at â€Å"older consumers’’a segment that is particularly susceptible and vulnerable to commercial persuasion† (p29). This is because, to them studies have documented â€Å"various physical, psychological and social changes that accompany aging, including reduced sensory abilitiescognitive impairmentsthat can alter the communication process and result in decision-making difficulties and decreased resistance to persuasion† (p34). This trend, they argue is what has necessitated the insistence on media credibility because †Å"audience tend to rely on media they consider credible and informative† (p29) in choosing which drug to buy or not to buy. They argued that, in recent times, the basic objective of DTC advertisements are to â€Å"inform, persuade and remind consumers to take prescribed actions toward advertised drugs-to learn, to prefer, to ask for, and to ask for again† (p30). This, to them, is a significant departure from the original form of advertising, which concentrated on â€Å"influencing and maintaining demand for prescription drugs through the use of the push promotion strategy† and which took the form of â€Å"trade advertising directed at physicians and was used to deliver information that would work with other promotional tools to educate, persuade and help sell advertised drugs to physicians† (p29). Notable among their findings was the fact that â€Å"consumers place greater value on the information utility of the media of DTC drug advertising than its credibility as an information source about prescription drugs† (p53). Moreover, Burke et al in their article â€Å"Deception by Implication: An Experimental Investigation† (1988) set out to, among other things, measure the â€Å"misleading of two common types of advertising claims and their relative effectiveness for increasing consumer brand preference and purchase likelihood† (p484). These types of advertising claims include, those â€Å"that might lead the consumer to have a false impression of a product not by literal interpretation, but by implication† (ibid). To them, there is a need for consumer protection for products such as â€Å"pain relievers, where brands offer similar or identical performance and consumers lack a rigorous reality test of the truthfulness of ad claims† (p492). This is because, they found out that â€Å"expanded and qualified claims can enhance consumers’ images of advertised brand and related purchase intentions† (ibid). They then proffered that in view of the potential of these ad vertisements to â€Å"mislead consumers in cases where the advertised brand has no real competitive differentiation, advertisers are advised to use such claims judiciously† (ibid). To add to, in his article â€Å"Self Regulation and Television Advertising: A Replication and Extension† (2001), Abernethy Avery opined that â€Å"although television stations have the right to reject almost any advertisement submitted for broadcast, exercising that power to protect consumers from potentially false or misleading claims can directly lower station revenues† (p1). Thus to him, because of the possibility of television stations, like other media platforms, of losing revenue or not making much profit, these media outlets accept any advertisement from advertisers and air them on their platforms, without recourse to whether or not the advertisement can harm or mislead the consumer. Though he agrees that there are state and federal laws regulating the advertising of certain products such as tobacco, and also specific punitive measures for false and misleading or defamatory advertisements, he is of the view that much responsibility rests on media houses to engage in â€Å"self-regulation† (p2) or â€Å"clearance process† (p3) to sieve advertisements before putting them out for the public’s consumption. In his own words, â€Å"owners and managers of media vehicles have great power to determine the type of advertising they carry’’and determine if it is acceptable for their audience† (p2). He believes this process has the potential to â€Å"provide considerable consumer protection from false, misleading, or, inappropriate advertising† (p3). He found out through his research that â€Å"only 3% of stations substantiate the claims of every submitted advertisement and 2.5% of stations reject 10% or more of advertisements submitted for broadcast† (p9). These results to him, indicate that the â€Å"consumer protection provided by television advertisingis uneven† (ibid). As part of measures to curb this anomaly, he posits that the Federal Communications Commission must â€Å"require stations to submit their advertising review policies during license renewal and that those policies be part of public record† (p10). He believed that this measure would improve consumer protection since media houses and advertisers will be under obligation to put out true information about products. REFERENCES: Donohue, J., (2006) â€Å"A History of Drug Advertising: The Evolving Roles of Consumers and Consumer Protection† in Milbank Quarterly, Vol. 84, Issue 4, pp 659-699 Marcia, A., (2004) â€Å"The Truth about the Drug Companies†. Huh et al., (2004) â€Å"Media Credibility and Informativeness of Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertising† in Health Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp 27-61 Burke et al., (1988) â€Å"Deception by Implication: An Experimental Investigation† in Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 14, No. 4, pp 483-494 Abernethy et al., (2001) â€Å"Self-regulation and Television Advertising: A Replication and Extension† in Journal of Adertising Research, Vol. 41, Issue 3, pp 31-37

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Essay on Gregor as Christ in Kafkas Metamorphosis -- Metamorphosis es

Gregor as Christ in Kafka's Metamorphosis In his "Metamorphosis", Kafka utilizes an allegorical technique to compare Gregor's sacrifices to those of Jesus in the Bible. Ultimately, both Gregor and Jesus sacrifice their lives so that they can help their loved ones, despite betrayal.   Kafka uses this biblical allegory to illustrate Gregor's Christ-like actions. In the Bible, God, sacrifices his only son, a respectable, revered "heavenly" figure, allowing Jesus to live amongst sinful people. In human form, Jesus treats the common people's illnesses and performs miracles to help them; above all, he cares for them and loves them.   Jesus is selfless, endlessly devoting himself to helping and serving others, and ensuring that they will have a better life by showing them "the way" to God.   Jesus sacrifices his life in heaven to come to Earth and help his people. Just as Jesus makes personal sacrifices to help his people, Gregor similarly sacrifices his dreams and happiness to provide a good life for his family.   Gregor's life revolves around his job as a travelling salesman.   He is committed to his work, although he dislikes his job, "what a gruelling job I've picked.   If I didn't hold back for my parents' sake, I would have quit long ago" (4).   Gregor's life lacks comfort and joy; he is constantly travelling, and is unable to form quality relationships.   However, he sacrifices his dreams for future happiness so that he can provide for his family.   As the sole 'breadwinner' of his family, Gregor keeps only a few dollars from his paycheque each month, using the rest to pay family debts and sending the money home to his parents.   His family is completely dependent on him for financial security, and Gregor's generosity preven... ...trayed by his family, he is imprisoned in his room; however, he "thought back on his family with deep emotion and love".   His affection for his family results in his conviction that he must disappear, so that he can bring them happiness and peace.   Gregor sacrifices his life and dies during the night to save his family from hardship.   He loves them unconditionally, like Jesus loves his people, and does not criticise them for betraying and mistreating him. Gregor's final sacrifice of his life is the strongest comparison of his Christ-like attributes. In Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" Gregor's sacrifices are shown to be Christ-like by the horrible treatment he receives from others, his betrayal by his family, and his selfless reactions and eventual death. Works Cited: Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. Trans. and ed. Stanley Corngold. New York: Bantam, 1972.