Frankenstein and Blade Runner Essay (Contexts and Representation) Essays

Frankenstein and Blade Runner Essay (Contexts and Representation) Essays Frankenstein and Blade Runner Essay (Contexts and Representation) Essay Frankenstein and Blade Runner Essay (Contexts and Representation) Essay Essay Topic: Frankenstein Explore the way in which different contexts affects the representation of similar content in the texts Frankenstein and Blade Runner. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, whilst separated by 174 years, feature very similar content which can be seen by comparing the two side by side. Coming from different contexts, they both express their anxieties about technology, which is shown through a man made creature, and they both exhibit a strong valuing of nature. However due to their different contexts, these ideas are represented differently. The medium of production is clearly different, as is the representation of the creature and whether or not they are able to assimilate into society. In both texts the responder is meant to sympathize with the creature but through different ways. Frankenstein, published in 1818, presents a monster unable to assimilate into society due to his grotesque appearance. This is reflective of the gothic element of the time, whilst he also exhibits parts of the Romantic Movement as well as the Age of Enlightenment. In contrast, the 1992 film, Blade Runner, has replicants that are a product of the DNA technology and cloning coming to fruition at the time of the movie’s release. The clear contextual differences effect the final presentation of texts despite the fact they deal with the same universal themes. The contexts of Frankenstein and Blade Runner affect many ways in which they represent their ideas and on the most basic level, a key difference would be their medium of production. Both creators chose to use the most popular medium of their time; for Shelley that was a novel, for Scott, a film. : At some level, this choice also reflects some aspects of their stories. In Shelley’s case, the novel places a value on literature, which is shown in the monster’s discovery of the novels and his own valuation of language, which he considers â€Å"a godlike science†. In contrast, Scott clearly felt film was the best medium to display the future and the advancements in technology that would occur. In order to emphasise this, he focused highly on cinematography, vividly portraying the setting through his camera work. The effectiveness of this can be seen in the opening aerial shot of Los Angeles, in which a slow panning long short of great structures of lighting and advertising overlay the concrete skyscrapers, many of which look reminiscent of buildings from the 1980s. It is worth noting that whilst Blade Runner is based on Philip K. Dick’s 1969 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Blade Runner achieved a must higher level of recognition. This could quite possibly be due to the fact Dick chose to express his idea in a novel rather than a film. In this way, the texts different contexts show that whilst they have the same aims, they are presented differently for in order to reach the greatest amount of people. Despite the contextual influences that are very apparent in both these texts, they both use a man-made creature as a centrepiece for their work. Regardless of the fact 170 years separated the texts both Shelley and Scott were fascinated by the notion of humans creating life. In both cases, this seems to have stemmed from an anxiety about technology. In Shelley’s instance, the Romantic Movement had been progressing for twenty years as a reaction to the age of enlightenment and reason. With the industrial revolution coming to fruition in the late 1700’s, many people had growing apprehensions about technology and the fact it could replace humans. Shelley uses this idea with regards to Frankenstein’s monster and his creation stems from galvanism, a scientific theory being explored at the time, involving the use of electricity to bring about movement in a dead creature’s muscles. The result of this is a creature that cannot assimilate into society, as is seen in his first thought upon seeing the monster in chapter 5 â€Å"No mortal could support the horror of that countenance † This vivid explanation is a feature of Gothicism, not unlike the style of Edgar Allen Poe. His inability to assimilate into society is also a feature of Gothicism, which dealt with many supernatural elements and creatures that were easily discernible from humans such as werewolves and ghosts. The grotesque appearance of this character is used to show part of Shelley’s apprehension about technology and is expressed differently to Scott’s interpretation due to the contextual influences. Scott’s depiction of the Replicants in Blade Runner is very different from Shelly’s depiction of Frankenstien’s monster as a result of its different context, however, this representation is equally sceptical about the advances in technology. Whereas Shelley created a creature that was unable to assimilate into society due to his grotesque appearance, Scott uses creatures which are described as â€Å"more human than human†. This is reflective of the unprecedented growth in technology during this period, particularly in communicative and medical fields. DNA testing was first used by Sir Alec Jeffreys in 1984 and mice were the first mammals to be cloned in 1986. Scott was clearly influenced by these advances and believed that we may definitely reach a stage in which we had to delve into a psychological test, the Voight Kampff test, in order to distinguish between human and replicant. The fear society has of them is evident in their treatment, and the derogatory terms such as â€Å"skin-jobs†. The similarity in the way society views these creatures and Frankenstein’s creature is uncanny, despite the different contexts. The notion of morality and ethics also plays a strong part of both Frankenstein and Blade Runner and the questions posed by the text’s authors are conveyed in very similar ways. The question relates back to the advancements in technology, asking whether â€Å"just because we can do this, does that mean we should? † In Frankenstein, Shelley poses this question through the monster’s narration in the central chapters. The hatred he portrays for his life can be shown in his quote â€Å"Cursed, cursed creator. Why did I live? † which he uses to open Chapter 16. This notion is also explored due to the fact Shelley positions the reader to feel sympathy towards the monster rather than Victor. When the monster begins his tale in chapter 11, his story evokes sympathy from us with his emotive and poetic language. His story makes us feel empathetic towards him, rather than Victor. From the beginning of the monster’s narration â€Å"A strange multiplicity of sensations seized me Shelley writes the monster’s dialogue as sophisticated, poetic, contemplative and also logical, which combines traits of romanticism and the age of reason into one. The sophistication and thematic structure of his words is clearly part of the Age of Reason, as opposed to the exploration of his sense, which pertains to the influences of Romanticism and this combination of the two prominent philosophy groups of t he time helps to make him appealing to both social spheres. This helps to make create empathy for the creature and in turn, evoke moral and ethical questions about his creation and treatment. Similarly to Frankenstein, Blade Runner puts forward the moral and ethical questions associated with creating life and advancing technology in general. In the same way Shelley evokes sympathy for the creature in her novel, Scott also makes his replicants more deserving of our sympathy. In the scene used to depict Zhora’s death, in which a slow motion camera captures the terrifying scene of Deckard shooting her in the back as she smashes through glass walls in a desperate attempt to live. The eye-level shot used here gives the feeling that the viewer is really observing the â€Å"retirement† and the inhumane way in which she is killed. This desperate attempt to escape and live, shows how the replicant’s value their life so much more that the humans. A good contrast to this is Tyrell’s death in which the camera gives us a close up of Batty picking up Tyrell and killing him. Whilst Tyrell screams in agony at the pain Batty causes him, he makes little to no attempt to live. The icing on the cake is in the film’s climax, when Batty selflessly saves Deckard from death, even though moments earlier, Deckard had shot and killed Pris. This act of empathy defies the humans stereotype that the replicants are unable to show empathy for other living creatures. Scott also uses the Post-Modernistic technique of intertextuality â€Å"I think Sebastian, therefore I am† to make us question what the difference is between humans and replicants. These questions of morals and ethics are very similar to the ones posed in Frankenstein, however due to their contextual differences, they are expressed through different means. The importance of nature is also a mutual theme that is expressed differently due to the different contexts of the two texts. In Frankenstein, Shelley uses the romantic style of poetic imagery and Victors first person narration of the scenery to emphasize the beauty of his surroundings. He tells us that the Alps â€Å"gave wings to the soul and allowed it to soar from the obscure world to light and joy. † Contrasting to this is Scott’s emphasis on nature and the lack thereof. From the opening pan of a decaying and burning city, we see very little flora and fauna throughout the entire movie. The wealthy are able to afford real animals as pets and the rest buy counterfeits. It is also worth mentioning that the Voight Kampff test always centres around nature, showing that the humans clearly value it, and expect that the replicants do not. The use of this lack of nature stems from the emerging beliefs of the 1980’s that the environment was decaying due to global warming, and that it was also being destroyed for city areas as part of the new wave of globalisation. Both these ideas of nature’s beauty come from different contexts and are presented differently, but have the same overall message of how beautiful and precious nature is. The texts of Frankenstein and Blade Runner, whilst created in different era’s, convey mutual concepts a nd concerns about the future of humanity. Though presented through different mediums, they both deal with the concept of creating life and the ethical and moral issues raised by doing this. In both cases these questions are raised by evoking some sort of sympathy for the creature rather than the creator. Finally they both deal with the beauty and value of nature in very different ways, and this stems from their contexts. The similarities in context, juxtaposed by their representations due to context are made clear once we evaluate these texts side by side.

Forest Succession Stages and Maturity

Forest Succession Stages and Maturity Successional changes in plant communities were recognized and described well before the 20th century. Frederick E. Clements observations were developed into theory while he created the original vocabulary and published the first scientific explanation for the process of succession in his book, Plant Succession: An Analysis of the Development of Vegetation. It is very interesting to note that sixty years earlier, Henry David Thoreau described forest succession for the first time in his book, The Succession of Forest Trees. Plant Succession Trees play a major role in creating terrestrial plant cover when conditions develop to the point where some bare-ground and soil is present. Trees grow alongside grasses, herbs, ferns, and shrubs and compete with these species for future plant community replacement and their own survival as a species. The process of that race toward a stable, mature, climax plant community is called succession which follows a successional pathway and each major step reached along the way is called a new seral stage. Primary succession typically occurs very slowly when site conditions are unfriendly to most plants but where a few unique plant species can catch, hold, and thrive. Trees are not often present under these initial harsh conditions. Plants and animals resilient enough to first colonize such sites are the base community that kick starts the complex development of soil and refines the local climate. Site examples of this would be rocks and cliffs, dunes, glacial till, and volcanic ash. Both primary and secondary sites in initial succession are characterized by full exposure to the sun, violent fluctuations in temperatures, and rapid changes in moisture conditions. Only the hardiest of organisms can adapt at first. Secondary succession tends to happen most often on abandoned fields, dirt, and gravel fills, roadside cuts, and after poor logging practices where disturbance has occurred. It can also start very rapidly where the existing community is completely destroyed by fire, flood, wind, or destructive pests. Clements defines the succession mechanism as a process involving several phases when on completion is called a sere. These phases are: 1.) Development of a bare site called Nudism; 2.) Introduction of living regenerative plant material called Migration; 3.) Establishment of vegetative growth called Ecesis; 4.) Plant competition for space, light, and nutrients called Competition; 5.) Plant community changes that affect the habitat called Reaction; 6.) Final development of a climax community called Stabilization. Forest Succession in More Detail Forest succession is considered a secondary succession in most field biology and forest ecology texts but also has its own particular vocabulary. The forest process follows a timeline of tree species replacement and in this order: from pioneer seedlings and saplings to transition forest to young growth forest to mature forest to old growth forest. Foresters generally manage stands of trees that are developing as part of a secondary succession. The most important tree species in terms of economic value are a part of one of several serial stages below the climax. It is, therefore, important that a forester manage his forest by controlling the tendency of that community to move toward a climax species forest. As presented in the forestry text, Principles of Silviculture, Second Edition, foresters use silvicultural practices to maintain the stands in the seral stage that meets societys objectives most closely.

What Makes a Good Leader (Organisational Behaviour) Essay

What Makes a Good Leader (Organisational Behaviour) - Essay Example In contemporary times, we tend to understand and relate to ‘leadership’ in relation to management of people for attaining specific goals. A comprehensive concept of leadership can be obtained by learning about Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States. This report evaluates Lincoln’s leadership qualities, as explained in literature on politics, history and management, in comparison with conventional and contemporary leadership theories. Methods: Numerous concepts and theories of leadership exist in the management literature. Northouse (2009) has clubbed various leadership theories into understandable concepts, which include the trait, management, skills, style, situation, transformational, authentic leadership, psychodynamic theory etc. In this report, Lincoln’s leadership based on these theories and perspectives is evaluated in a concise manner. Results: From skills perspective, Tarbell (2008) points out that Lincoln’s efforts in spee ch making started during his childhood and used to attend court sessions to learn law. He had the ability to attract crowds by initiating story telling acts, which were highly appreciated by the crowds. Lincoln was greatly drawn towards gaining knowledge and understanding of politics, history, as well as great leadership of people such as Washington (Charnwood, 2008). According to Curtis (1902), ‘Abraham Lincoln's originality, fearlessness, and self- confidence, his unerring perceptions of right and wrong, made him a leader and gave him an influence which other men did not have† (p.371). Northouse (2009) highlights five types of power that leaders exercise namely, referent, expert, legitimate, reward and coercive power, all of which were exercised by Lincoln. From leadership traits theory perspective, Lincoln’s leadership can be compared with Stodgill’s postulation of leadership traits (see appendix 1). In fact, Northouse (2009) explains that trait theories of leadership are based on the innate qualities and characteristics possessed by great leaders of the past, of which Lincoln is also one. The skills perspective emphasizes three main competencies, problem-solving skills, social judgment skills and knowledge. Abraham Lincoln’s skills of communicating, inspiring, immense knowledge and the way he handled the civil war are exemplary of his unmatchable leadership skills. His strategic way of handling the civil war after he was elected as the President paved successful ending of the war (Wilson, 2008), especially when he did not have any experience of handling war. Moreover, his knowledge, people connect, and ability to influence and inspire helped in this situation. Lincoln’s leadership style is believed to be flexible and also firm, and it depended upon the situation. Phillips (2007) explains that Lincoln was remarkably consistent during his Presidency, which was replicated to his cabinet members’ actions and decis ions. Here, he was also directive and encouraging. He encouraged involvement from others in critical decision making processes, especially those related to the civil war. Phillips (2007) explains, ‘Lincoln was a leader who would not and did not limit himself† (p.78); this indicates his flexibility and commitment towards his responsibilities and ambition. These two skills are considered as essential skills for leaders. On the leadership grid, proposed by Blake and Mouton, Lincoln can be placed in Team management grid because of

Deploying and Managing Fire Services Assignment

Deploying and Managing Fire Services - Assignment Example It is in such spirit that the fire suppression rating schedule and standards of coverage have been created and utilized as part of the collective human resource, fiscal, and capital management of fire stations. This outline seeks to draw a distinction between the two systems by focusing on their strengths and weaknesses, as well as the premise in which the usage of any of the two can be said to be relevant. I. Context: This evaluation system is used by the Insurance Service Office (ISO). It focuses on evaluating fire prevention and fire suppression capabilities that various communities and fire protection areas have as part of systems available to the community (ISO, 2014). II. The difference from Standards of Coverage: Unlike the standards of coverage, this manual focuses fire communities rather than fire agencies or organization. Again, this manual makes use of quantitative grading system but the standard of coverage is largely based on a qualitative evaluation system. I. Context: This evaluation system is used by the utilized by the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and the commission on fire accreditation. It functions based on a data collection process which focuses on identifying expected levels of performance that should be produced by agencies, based on achievable emergency events outcomes (Spokane Fire Department, 2010). II. The similarity with the Fire Suppression Rating Schedule: All these two systems function as an assessment or evaluation manual. By this, their usefulness is based on the decision-making process that is conducted out of the outcomes they produce. This is different from other forms of guidelines that spell out processes and actions that must be taken in the actual event of a fire or emergency. I. A major strength of the fire suppression rating schedule is the fact that it is preventive in nature.  

Media corruption - other side of the coin Essay Example for Free

Media corruption other side of the coin Essay ‘Whoever controls the media, controls the mind† In today’s world, the media has become a necessity just like food, clothing, and shelter. The media was ideally designed to be impartial and unbiased – to provide information, news, and knowledge that is objective and socially constructive. Unfortunately, in recent times, because of its money making approach the media has adopted a biased approach that is benefitting politicians and the corporate leaders. Sadly, the media is known to be resorting to â€Å"Paid News† – news that is published or broadcasted to benefit a certain class of people who have huge economic power and who wield that economic power to buy â€Å"The News† in their favor. The viewer’s/readers of such â€Å"Paid News† are at such a loss with this information that lacks integrity and they can be easily misled. Actually the readers/viewers are deceived in to believing â€Å"Paid News† which is indeed misrepresentation of the truth.. Article 19 of the Constitution of India â€Å"Reach to the public† states the right to freedom of speech and expression to media .When this freedom is misused by the media, it becomes a prime reason for media corruption, and more or less the willingness of Indian Govt. to eradicate this problem. The objective of this paper is to highlight the roots and remedies of media-corruption in India and to create awareness about the general public about the distortion of news/information by the media – to enable viewers to discern, and not be uninformed consumers of the news. Key words: necessary, money making approach, freedom.

A Glimpse of Dorothy Parkers Life Essay -- Biography Biographies Writ

A Glimpse of Dorothy Parker's Life Dorothy Rothschild, later to become the famous writer Dorothy Parker, was born on August 22, 1893 to J. Henry Rothschild and Eliza A (Marston) Rothschild in West End, New Jersey. Parker’s father, Mr. Rothschild, was a Jewish business man while Mrs. Rothschild, in contrast, was of Scottish descent. Parker was the youngest of four; her only sister Helen was 12 and her two brothers, Harold and Bertram, were aged 9 and 6, respectively. Just before her fifth birthday, Dorothy’s mother became very ill and died on July 20, 1897. Three years later in 1900, Mr. Rothschild remarried to a 48 year-old spinster widow, Eleanor Frances Lewis, who Dorothy referred to as â€Å"the housekeeper.† The new Mrs. Rothschild entered Dorothy in the Blessed Sacrament Convent School, where the Catholic ways of thinking were instilled in her. Fortunately or unfortunately, in 1903 Dorothy’s stepmother dropped dead of an acute cerebral hemorrhage and consequently Dorothy di d not have to continue at the Blessed Sacrament Convent. A few years later, in the fall of 1907, Dorothy entered Miss Dana’s school, a junior college, where she studied several different disciplines and was exposed to current events and cultural activities. This environment nourished Dorothy’s intellectual appetite, but this too was short-lived; Miss Dana died in March 1908. Dorothy, now aged 14, was only at the school for one year, the fall of 1907 to the spring of 1908 (Miss Dana’s school had to file for bankruptcy). In 1913, Mr. Rothschild died leaving Dorothy, age 19, to find her own way and support herself. In search of a way to support herself, Dorothy turned to Mr. Crowninshield, an editor at Vanity Fair who published her ... ...ceiving the credit she deserves. Bibliography â€Å"Dorothy Parker†. Grolier Incorporated 1993. [2004] Available Online: http://www.levity.com/corduroy/parker.htm, accessed April 14, 2004. Keats, John. The Life and Times of Dorothy Parker: You Might As Well Live. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1970. Kinney, Arthur F. Dorothy Parker, Revised. New York, NW: Twayne Publishers, 1998. Melzer, Sondra. The Rhetoric of Rage: Women in Dorothy Parker. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 1997. Pettit, Rhonda S. A Gendered Collision: Sentimentalism and Modernism in Dorothy Parker’s Poetry and Fiction. New Jersey: Associated University Presses, Inc., 2000. Related Links: http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/parker/ http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/parker/parker.htm http://webpages.marshall.edu/~Armada2/Parker.html

Computer Security Measures Essay

The Problem and Its Scope The Internet and computer networking means that there is a need for new security measures to reduce the threats and challenges inherent from these new technologies and software applications and network devices. Information, network equipments, transmission media, computer systems, and servers are subject to threats. â€Å"Yet the use of information and communication technologies has increased the incidents of computer abuse.† Computer security involves safeguarding computing resources, ensuring data integrity, limiting access to authorized users, and maintaining data confidentiality. Effective computer security therefore involves taking physical security measures (to ensure hardware and media are not stolen or damaged), minimizing the risk and implications of error, failure or loss (for example by developing a resilient back-up strategy), appropriate user authentication (for example by employing strong pass wording), and possibly the encryption of sensitive files. We live in a world where â€Å"information wants to be free† and in which people are getting used to having access to whatever information they want anytime, anywhere and from a wider range of computing devices. Unfortunately, in terms of the security and control of the resources to which computers permit access, this can prove quite a problem. Indeed, many users unfortunately often view security and control measures as inhibitors to effective computer use. The student’s awareness about computer security measures can be a big help to them to acquire some knowledge about protection of their digital asset. In this sense, the students acquire knew knowledge on how to use computer security measures in order to protect all the data stored in their computer system. Because of the computers evolution, the researchers want to share the implications on how important the computer security measures, so that the respondents will be able to know on how to handle some cases in the future. Globally, the most used computer security measures are Anti-virus programs are the most frequently used tools to protect computer systems, and they must be upgraded regularly to protect against any new viruses. Firewall  is different from anti-virus software, which simply verifies that a file is virus free. You can also add an anti-spy ware program. Spy ware is a small program downloaded onto your computer via the internet, usually with your approval, to collect information. Anti-spy ware operates a lot like an anti-virus program, but its role is to prevent malicious spy ware (or malware) from sneaking onto your computer and transmitting your personal data. Firewall intercepts and controls traffic between networks with differing levels of trust. It is part of the network perimeter defense of an organization and should enforce a network security policy. By Cheswick’s and Bellovin’s definition, it provides an audit trail. A firewall is a good place to support strong user authentication as well as private or confidential communications between firewalls. As pointed out by Chapman and Zwicky [2] , firewalls are an excellent place to focus security decisions and to enforce a netw ork security policy. They are able to efficiently log internet work activity, and limit the exposure of an organization. The exposure to attack is called the â€Å"zone of risk.† If an organization is connected to the Internet without a firewall, every host on the private network can directly access any resource on the Internet. Or to put it as a security officer might, every host on the Internet can attack every host on the pri vate network. In the Philippines, some of the businesses are employing security products, such as intrusion detection system and firewalls, and other internal controls which are meant to safeguard, physically and logically, all servers and information systems, including the data stored in the systems. In Davao City, many colleges’ offers IT courses and one of these schools is the Holy Cross of Davao College. Some computer security measures used in some colleges are anti-virus, firewall, ad ware, spy ware and etc. This help to secure data from viruses, unauthorized a ccess, hardware failure and hardware theft. Rationale of the Study The term Information Technology is the area of managing technology and spans wide variety of areas that include computer software, information systems, computer hardware, programming languages but are not limited to things such as processes, and data constructs. In short, anything renders data,  information or perceived knowledge in any visual format whatsoever, via any multimedia distribution mechanism, is considered part of the Information Technology (IT) domain. Computer security is to prevent or detect unauthorized actions by users of the system. The protection of data stored in your computer system. The protection of data (information security) is the most important. The protection of networks is important to prevent loss of server resources as well as to protect the network from being used for illegal purposes. The objective of this study is to know the level of awareness and utilization of all first year BSIT students in terms of computer viruses, unauthorized access, and hardware failure and hardware theft. Theories and Concept This study was anchored on the concept of Dynamic awareness theory (DAT) offers an alternative to explaining the creation of awareness in distributed work groups. DAT highlights the important role of users and social practices in awareness creation. The theory further points to the dynamic nature of awareness creation: Awareness emerges over time and depreciates when not being actively attended to by the users. A person’s awareness is not a static state which can be arbitrarily turned on and off. It is rather a slow build-up of information about his surroundings (Kai Riemer, Russel Haines, 2008).  This theory of awareness is use to conceptualize each individual of their daily awareness about what happen in their community, because awareness requires active maintenance because it diminishes over time. Independent variable Dependent variable Figure 1. Conceptual Framework Showing the Variables of the Study The response of the first year BSIT students in the level of awareness and utilization about computer security measures in terms of Virus, Unauthorized Access, Hardware Failure and Hardware Theft depends with the experiences  they encountered in their system in which it is the basis of the reasons for the awareness of the students. Statement of the Problems 1. What is the level of awareness of the respondents about computer security measures against the following threats: a.Virus b.Unauthorized access c.Hardware failure d.Hardware theft 2. What is the level of utilization of the respondents on computer security measures? 3. What is the most practiced computer security measure by the respondents? 4. What is the least practiced computer security measure by the respondents? 5. Is there a significant difference between the level of awareness and utilization of the computer security measures by the respondents? Method The researches conduct this type of research in order to obtain certain information about the computer security measures. The researchers used descriptive assessment method in order to meet the objective of the study. To gather data, the researchers use these procedures in order to analyze the data that has been collected. Research Design In order to determine the level of awareness and utilization about computer security measures, the descriptive assessment method of research is used. This is used by the researches because the objective of this study is to determine the level of awareness and utilization within the first year BSIT students without affecting them in any way. Descriptive research design exhibits specific subject and as precursor to more quantitative studies. The actual survey is conducted during the second semester of the year 2011-2012. The procedure used is carefully, analyzed in order to obtain accurate information. Research Environment The researchers conducted a research to a certain private school. The Holy Cross of Davao College is located at Sta. Avenue Davao City. The respondents of this research are all first year BSIT students. Respondents of the Study To achieve the desire information, all first year BSIT students of Holy Cross of Davao College were the participants of the study. They were chosen because they are not more knowledgeable compared to the higher years. The selected numbers of respondents were expected to give their honest answers. Research Instruments In this study, the researches use questionnaire as research instrument. It is most common instrument or tool of research for obtaining data beyond the physical reach of the observer.  Part I of the questionnaire is the level of awareness of all first year BSIT students towards computer security measures in terms of Viruses, Unauthorized access, Hardware Failure and Hardware Theft. Part II of the questionnaire is the level of utilization of all first year BSIT students towards computer security measures in terms of Viruses, Unauthorized access, Hardware Failure and Hardware Theft. Data Gathering Procedures In gathering data procedure, first the researchers conceptualized what study to conduct and arrived to a research title â€Å"Level of Awareness and Utilization of All First Year BSIT students about Computer Security Measures†. The research title was approved by the research adviser with the panel of examiners. After the approval of the title, a questionnaire was established to answer the research study was validated. Data Analysis The following statistical tools were employed to answer pertinent problems of the study, as follows: Frequency Count: This tool was used to count the number of items of the respondents who are aware and unaware about the computer security measures and its utilization. Weighted Mean: The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The notion of weighted mean plays a role in descriptive statistics and also occurs in a more general form in several other areas of mathematics.

Customer Satisfaction on Marketing Mix of Lux Soap Essay

1. Introduction 1.1 Background of the study The trade atmosphere today is changing more rapidly than ever before. It is characterized by increasing competition from both domestic and foreign companies, a brandish of mergers and acquisitions, and more sophisticated and demanding customers who have great expectations related to their consumption experiences. Since services are intangible, heterogeneous, and inseparable, it is difficult to measure service quality objectively. So the companies have focus to so many different aspects in order to make sure their sales. This report deals with meeting up the new challenges that LUX is facing to manage the selling environment. LUX has stared so many projects to get a better position in the market. The objective of the study is to see customer satisfaction about marketing mix of LUX soap. 1.2 Significance This report is a requirement of the program for MBA program. We have tried our level best to make it as an excellent one. We used all the latest data and information. The report can help as the indicator of the level of satisfaction of the customers of the LUX soap and its marketing mix. It provides the true practice taking place in the marketing industry, which plays an important role for every student to meet the extreme challenges of the job market. It helps us in gathering knowledge on the modern practices of the marketing programs of LUX and its way to serve its customers. Its data comparison is based on the published information and further analysis. 1.3 Scope of the study It illustrates a study on customer satisfaction about the marketing mix of LUX soap. This report will help us to acquire information about the beautification industry of Bangladesh and systematically investigate the satisfaction pattern of the LUX soap users. This information will improve our knowledge, which will positively impact our learning experience. This report provides us the opportunity to exchange ideas with our classmates and faculty and learn about different techniques. It is necessary to stay current with new processes, ideas, and methods. By doing this report we get the opportunity to explore the areas of research and bring the new  information into our report. 1.4 Objective of the study 1.4.1 General Objective: The main objective of this report is to study the customer satisfaction on marketing mix of LUX soap. 1.4.2 Specific Objective: * To study the marketing mix of LUX soap. * To find out the level of customer satisfaction about LUX. * To know about the beautification industry of Bangladesh. * To know about the competitor products of LUX. * To know the impact of those competitor products on the customers of LUX. 1.5 Methodology: 1.5.1 Type of research design: We have applied â€Å"descriptive research† to conduct the report. This includes the method of data collection and the sources of the data or information of the research. 1.5.2 Source of data: 1.5.2.1 Primary data: This type of data collected by doing survey and observes the behavior of the customer. 1.5.2.2 Secondary data: This type of data collected from official web site of LUX, and different articles. 1.5.3 Data collection procedure: We have used data both qualitative and quantitative method .We have collected data for this report in two ways: 1.5.3.1 Primary data: We collected primary data through survey and for doing survey we have prepared a questionnaire on LUX soap. We observe the behavior of customer. 1.5.3.2 Secondary data: In order to collect secondary data we used official website of Unilever Bangladesh, LUX and different articles related with this topic. 1.5.4 Research instruments: 1.5.4.1 Questionnaire: As a tool for collecting primary data a questionnaire was constructed to carry on the sample survey. 1.5.5 Sample plan: 1.5.5.1 Population: The entire customer group of LUX soap. 1.5.5.2 Sample elements: The sample element is the individual customer of LUX soap. 1.5.5.3 Sample frame: No structured sample frame was found. 1.5.5.4 Sample procedure: Non-probability convenience sampling procedure is used in the survey. 1.5.5.5 Sample size: The sample size is 30 customers. 1.6 Limitation: The present study was not out of limitations. Some constraints are given bellow— * The main constraint of the study is inadequate access to information, which has hampered the scope of analysis required for the study. It was unable to provide some formatted documents data for the study. * Due to time limitations, many of the aspects could not be discussed in the present report. * The customers were too busy to provide much time for interview. * The customers couldn’t provide proper information about some aspect due to their lack of knowledge. * Only few areas of Dhaka city have been considered for the study. * Samples were selected conveniently. * The sample size does not represent the total 2. Overview of the Product 3.1 Profile: LUX is a global brand developed by Unilever. The range of products includes beauty soaps, shower gels, bath additives, hair shampoos and conditioners. LUX started as â€Å"Sunlight Flakes† laundry soap in 1899.In 1924, it became the first mass market toilet soap in the world. It is noted as a brand that pioneered female celebrity endorsements. As of 2005, LUX revenue is estimated at â‚ ¬1 billion, with market shares spread out to more than 100 countries across the globe. Today, LUX is the market leader in several countries including Pakistan, Brazil, India, Thailand and South Africa. Developed by Unilever, LUX (soap) is now headquartered in Singapore. LUX launched the world’s first mass market beauty bar, â€Å"made like the costliest French soap†. Since then, LUX has been associated with over 400 of the  world’s most glamorous actresses from Hollywood legends like Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, and Grace Kelly, to Bollywood Royalties such as Aishwarya Rai and Katrina Kaif. Origins and history: The brand was founded by the Lever Brothers (today known as Unilever) in 1899. The name changed from â€Å"Sunlight Flakes† to â€Å"LUX† in 1900, a Latin word for â€Å"light† and suggestive of â€Å"luxury.† LUX toilet soap was launched in the United States in 1925 and in the United Kingdom in 1928. Subsequently, LUX soap has been marketed in several forms, including hand wash, shower gel and cream bath soap. Early beginnings: LUX’s early advertising campaigns aimed to educate users about its credentials as a laundry product and appeared in magazines such as Ladies Home Journal. By the early 1920s, it was a hugely successful brand and in 1924, the Lever Brothers conducted a contest that led them to a very interesting finding: women were using LUX as toilet soap. Building beauty soap credentials: Introduced in the United States in 1924, LUX became the world’s first mass market toilet soap with the tagline â€Å"made as fine as French Soap†. In the first 2 years of launch, LUX concentrated on building its beauty soap credentials. Advertisements offered consumers â€Å"beauty soap made in the French method† at an affordable price, with the promise of smooth skin. Made with fine-texture, rich in fragrance, and manufactured using a method created in France, the first LUX toilet soap was sold for 10 cents apiece. 1928–1940: 9 out of 10 stars: This era saw key launches of LUX in the UK, India, Argentina and Thailand. The brand concentrated on building its association with the increasingly popular movie world, focusing more on movie stars and their roles rather than on the product. In 1929, advertising featured 26 of the biggest female stars of the day, creating a huge impact among the movie-loving target  audience. This was followed by Hollywood Directors talking about the importance of smooth and youthful skin. This pioneered the trend of celebrity product endorsements. The series of print ads had stars talking about preserving youthful skin. LUX also launched campaigns featuring interviews with Stars and Close Ups of Stars, bringing to life the ‘9 out of 10’ idea. 40s & 50s: Romancing the consumer: Using movie star as role models, LUX’s strategy was to build relevance by looking at beauty through the consumer’s eyes. While still retaining the star element, the focus shifted to the consumer and the role of the brand in her life. Advertising commercials showed ordinary looking women with direct references to stars, such as Deanna Durbin. 60s: Romancing the brand: The 60’s saw a shift in advertising to product stories and the romanticizing of brand through its â€Å"sensorial & emotional† dimensions. This was the era of ‘the film star feeling’ and the ‘Golden LUX’, featuring stars such as Sandra Dee, Diana Rigg and Samantha Eggar. The bathing ritual, the ‘fantasy’ element that has been the imagery of LUX was created in this era. The brand also moved forward with launching LUX in the Middle East, entering a more conservative market. 70s: Dimensionalizing beauty: Reflecting the shift in beauty trends in the 70s, the LUX stars stepped down from their pedestals and were portrayed as multi-faceted women with natural, wholesome beauty that the ordinary consumer could relate and aspire to. The executions were more of ‘a day in the life’ of the stars with focus on their ‘natural beauty’. Stars included Brigitte Bardot and Natalie Wood. 80s: Owning the category space: Establishing itself as THE beauty soap for stars and beautiful women, the 80s emphasized the importance of skin care – the first step to beauty. LUX was launched in China at this time. Sophia Loren, Raquel Welch and Cheryl Ladd were some famous celebrities used during this time. In India actresses Hema Malini, Parveen Babi, Madhuri Dixit, endorsed LUX soap. 90s – Early 2000s: Advanced skin benefits: In the 90s, LUX moved from generic beauty benefits to focus on specific benefits and transformation. More emphasis on functionality and variant associations with different skin types as well as mention of ingredients. The communication was far more regional specific and localized, using stars like Malu Mader and Debora Bloch. This period launched product brand extensions Shower Cream and Gels and LUX Super Rich Shampoo in Japan and China. 2000s: Beyond movie stars: In early 2000, the focus shifted from specific skin benefits to a stronger emotional space. The brand provided the link between the aspirational role models and real life with the campaign, ‘LUX’ brings out the star in you’. The benefit was now more than just beauty, it was also about the confidence that comes from beautiful skin. In 2005, LUX encouraged women to celebrate and indulge their femininity with the â€Å"Play with Beauty† philosophy, with stars like Aishwarya Rai. The brand also connected with consumers to take a more ‘active’ stance on beauty. From 2008, building off the brand’s root strengths, focus has shifted to beauty (vs. femininity), appealing to consumers’ fantasies and aspirations. LUX believes that ‘beauty is a female instinct that shouldn’t be denied’ and showcases the pleasure that every woman enjoys from using her beauty, encapsulating that idea in a simple phrase: Declare your beauty. Today, LUX products are manufactured at 71 locations with more than 2000 suppliers and associates providing the raw materials. It has key markets in Pakistan, Brazil, China, Bangladesh and South Africa, and is a market leader in India (for soap bars), Pakistan, Brazil, Saudi Arabia (for soap bars), Bangladesh, Thailand and Vietnam. 3.2 Vision, mission, goals and objectives: LUX began its story in 1924 as the first mass marketed beauty soap. Now sold in over 100 countries, it is the most recognizable soap brand in the world – bringing a combination of fun, pleasure and comforts to women’s beauty routines the world over. Since its start in 1924 as the first mass marketed beauty soap, LUX has made its way to over 100 countries across the globe and  is now the most recognizable soap brand in the world. During this long journey, some of the world’s most talented and beautiful women have become a part of LUX’s history as brand ambassadors. LUX combines exquisite fragrances with the most exotic ingredients to give a truly unique bathing experience. VISION It is the vision of LUX to give women that million dollar feelings every time they use a LUX product, be it one of their fragrant beauty soaps or refreshing body washes. LUX believes beauty doesn’t have to be a chore and brings a combination of fun, pleasure and comfort to women’s beauty routines all over the world. MISSION The mission of LUX is to embrace consumers’ new expectation, to maintain good governance, product quality and long experience of working with communities. Their vitality mission will focus brands on meeting consumer needs arising from the biggest issues around the world today – ageing populations, urbanization, changing diets and lifestyles. They see growing consumer need for: * A healthy lifestyle * More variety, quality, taste and enjoyment * Time, as an increasingly precious commodity * Helping people to feel good, look good and get more out of life will enable us to meet these needs and expand our business. GOALS The goals of LUX are- * To maintain strong science capability. * Ensuring the quality of the raw materials and the ingredients needed to make products. * To manufacture high-standard products. * Promoting products to the highest extent. * Producing large volume to achieve production cost economies. * Enabling quality products to be sold out at obtainable product. * Maintaining healthy relationship with the customers. OBJECTIVES The objectives of LUX are- Always working with integrity: Conducting operations with integrity and with respect for the many people, organizations and environments. Positive impact: LUX aim to make a positive impact in many ways: through the brands, commercial operations and relationships, through voluntary contributions, and through the various other ways in which they engage with society. Continuous commitment: They’re also committed to continuously improving the way they manage the environmental impacts and are working towards the longer-term goal of developing a sustainable business. Setting out our aspirations: Their corporate objective sets out their aspirations in running business. It’s underpinned by the code of Business Principles which describes the operational standards that everyone at Unilever follows, wherever they are in the world. The code also supports their approach to governance and corporate responsibility. Working with others: They want to work with suppliers who have values similar to them and work to the same standards as they do. 3.3 LUX Range: LUX Peach & Cream blends juicy peach and moisturizing cream extracts to give you velvety, soft skin. LUX Fresh Splash is crafted with the icy freshness of cooling mint and the invigorating power of sea minerals to transform your skin from dull to vibrant in an instant. LUX Sandal & Cream uses extracts of alluring sandalwood and a unique consistency of moisturizing cream to give your skin a captivating and mesmerizing glow. LUX Purple Lotus & Cream is infused with fragrant moisturizing and beauty oils, leaving your skin silky smooth. 3.4 SWOT Analysis for LUX: The SWOT analysis for LUX helps identify the internal environment, its strengths and weaknesses as well as the external environment faced by it, and the opportunities and threats that it presents: Strengths: * LUX possesses a very strong network of market research. * LUX has a very wide range of products to offer. * The parent company of LUX has helped in establishing a strong supply and distribution network. Besides, it also has access to the resources of the parent company of Unilever. * LUX possesses a very strong brand image in the market. * The focus of LUX is going strong on beauty segment. * LUX is a dynamic brand and is undergoes changes as per the changes in demand and trend. * The brand has innovative sales promotions tactics that spread across different forms of media – print, electronic and social. * The brand is known to deliver value-for-money in the eyes of the consumers. * It has a broad market presence and mass appeal, being the market leader in so many countries. * As per the BCG matrix, developed by the Boston Consulting Group, LUX can be put into the STAR category for high market growth and high market share. Weaknesses: * LUX lacks a unisex appeal as it has essentially been portrayed as a women’s beauty soap and has a lot of feminine appeal. * The wear rate of the soap is very high. It gets dissolved pretty fast and gets mushy and soggy quickly. * Certain variants of the soap, like the Haute Pink, Sunscreen, etc did not do so well in the market as some of its other variants have. * The stock replenishment in semi-urban areas and rural areas is quite long, despite having such a wide distributor network. This leads to stock out in these areas. * Some of its advertisements have been quite controversial. * It includes too much base which makes the skin dry. Opportunities: * The industry today is growing at a rate of more than 10% per annum. * LUX can yield great benefits by reinforcing itself in the beauty segment. * Promotions strategies like trade fare, price offs, sample distributions, etc are essential with competitors. * The soap is in the maturity stage of its life cycle, so it is essential that a retentive strategy be adopted so that this can be sustained. * Ayurvedic variant of LUX could have a big scope in the market. So far, the only variant of LUX that has somewhat come close to Ayurveda, though not actually is the festive glow variant, which had the goodness of haldi and chandan ubatan. This could cater to a new segment in the market. * LUX Kids Special soap would also help the brand greatly, as this segment has been running dry for quite some time now. In this way, brand loyalty could be caught young. * The brand extension products of LUX – the body washes, with its new range launched recently, is in the growth stage of its life cycle. They can pick up fast pace is positioned and marketed properly. Active marketing of these body washes is going on in the social media. * It can also launch face wash range as it is in great demand to today’s women. Threats: * Number of competitors is rising – ITC, P&G, etc are fast catching up. * High internal competition also exists for the soap like Dove. * LUX seems overly relied on the beauty segment, so in case the consumer trends or preferences change, then LUX stands to be highly vulnerable. * More focus needs to be put on the newer technology. * If constant reinvention is not there, then LUX can slip down from the maturity stage it currently is in and get into a declining phase. 3.5 Marketing Mix of LUX: This chapter describes the way Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. use the tactical marketing tools for marketing LUX in Bangladesh. The chapter comprises of four sections. Section 2.5.1 discusses the product attributes of LUX. Section 2.5.2 visualizes the price of LUX according to different size. Section 2.5.3 conceptualizes the distribution channel of Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. This section includes a table that shows the location of the company’s  warehouses all around the country. Finally section 2.5.4 discusses the promotional activities that the company undertakes for LUX. 2.5.1 Product: LUX is an internationally renowned beauty soap brand of Unilever. Though manufactured in Bangladesh for the local market by Unilever Bangladesh Ltd, as an international brand, it maintains an international quality for the product. Formula given by Research and Development departments in foreign countries, LUX is produced in Bangladesh from imported raw materials like sodium soap, glycerol and different extracts according to flavors, coming from Unilever plants situated abroad. LUX is offered in Bangladesh in four different flavors which are: LUX Peach & Cream, LUX Fresh Splash, LUX Sandal and cream and LUX Purple Lotus & Cream. Taking into account the convenience of its customers, the company manufactures all flavors of LUX in three different sizes, 40gm, 80gm and 120gm. 2.5.2 Prize: Though Unilever Bangladesh gives its LUX customers a lot in terms of the product itself, it cannot provide a better pricing. This is due to some constraints in the beauty soap industry. Beauty soap is a product with a vulnerable demand in Bangladesh. A change in price has a high risk of creating price war among the rivals which will eventually cause a loss of profit. Its prices are almost equal to its competitor. Company carries out research on competitors’ price and brand loyalty when it feels extreme necessity of changing price. 2.5.3 Place: Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. has a huge distribution channel for LUX all over the country as its sales reach more than 10 million pieces a year. The company has six huge warehouses, one in each division of Bangladesh, where the product goes after they are manufactured at Kalurghat factory. The company does not use its own fleet of transport for distributing its product. However, it has outsourced its distribution process to various  third party distributors, exclusively dedicated to Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. These distributors then supply the product all over Bangladesh to a huge number of retailers. Even though LUX targets the urban and sub urban middle and upper middle class people they are distributing their products all over Bangladesh because of a recent increase in demand of its product to all segments of the population. 2.5.4 Promotion: Unilever Bangladesh undertakes huge promotional activities to promote LUX which has topped the beauty soap industry of Bangladesh. It spends almost 20% to 25% of its Net Proceeds from Sales (NPC) of LUX for promotional activities for LUX. It’s certain annual promotional campaigns like LUX Channel i Superstar and LUX Channel i Annual Cinema Awards has made the product a part of the glamour world. Since the 1930s, over 400 of the world’s most stunning and sensuous women have been proudly associated with LUX advertisements. They do not only promote LUX in Bangladesh for the beauty conscious females, it also promotes the brand for males and the company proved that, by including world famous male celebrity Shahrukh Khan for their advertising campaign. Unilever Bangladesh Ltd spends a huge amount of money for promoting LUX through TV commercials, newspaper advertisements and billboards. 3. Theoretical Aspect 3.1 Customer satisfaction: Customer satisfaction is a term frequently used in marketing, is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. Customer satisfaction is defined as â€Å"the number of customers or percentage of total customers, whose reported experience with a firm, its products, or its services (ratings) exceeds specified satisfaction goals†. In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, 71 percent responded that they found a customer satisfaction metric very useful in managing and monitoring their businesses. The importance of measuring customer satisfaction is discussed below: * It is seen as a key performance indicator within business and is often part of a Balanced Scorecard. In a competitive marketplace where businesses compete  for customers, customer satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business strategy. * Within organizations, customer satisfaction ratings can have powerful effects. They focus employees on the importance of fulfilling customers’ expectations. Furthermore, when these ratings dip, they warn of problems that can affect sales and profitability. These metrics quantify an important dynamic. When a brand has loyal customers, it gains positive word-of-mouth marketing, which is both free and highly effective. Therefore, it is essential for businesses to effectively manage customer satisfaction. To be able do this, firms need reliable and representative measures of satisfaction. * In researching satisfaction, firms generally ask customers whether their product or service has met or exceeded expectations. Thus, expectations are a key factor behind satisfaction. When customers have high expectations and the reality falls short, they will be disappointed and will likely rate their experience as less than satisfying. For this reason, a luxury resort, for example, might receive a lower satisfaction rating than a budget motel—even though its facilities and service would be deemed superior in ‘absolute’ terms. * Customer satisfaction provides a leading indicator of consumer purchase intentions and loyalty. Customer satisfaction data are among the most frequently collected indicators of market perceptions. * Within organizations, the collection, analysis and dissemination of these data send a message about the importance of tending to customers and ensuring that they have a positive experience with the company’s goods and services. * Although sales or market share can indicate how well a firm is performing currently, satisfaction is perhaps the best indicator of how likely it is that the firm’s customers will make further purchases in the future. Much research has focused on the relationship between customer satisfaction and retention. Different processes to measure Customer satisfaction are given below: 1. Theoretical Ground: In literature antecedents of satisfaction are studied from different aspects. The considerations extend from psychological to physical and from normative to positive aspects. However, in most of the cases the consideration is  focused on two basic constructs as customers’ expectations prior to purchase or use of a product and his relative perception of the performance of that product after using it. Expectations of a customer on a product tell us his anticipated performance for that product. As it is suggested in the literature consumers may have various â€Å"types† of expectations when forming opinions about a product’s anticipated performance. 2. The Disconfirmation Model: The Disconfirmation Model is based on the comparison of customers’ expectations and their perceived performance ratings. Specifically, an individual’s expectations are confirmed when a product performs as expected. It is negatively confirmed when a product performs more poorly than expected. The disconfirmation is positive when a product performs over the expectations. There are four constructs to describe the traditional disconfirmation paradigm mentioned as expectations, performance, disconfirmation and satisfaction. The usual measures of customer satisfaction involve a survey with a set of statements using a Likert Technique or scale. The customer is asked to evaluate each statement and in term of their perception and expectation of performance of the organization being measured. Their satisfaction is generally measured on a five-point scale. Customer satisfaction data can also be collected on a 10-point scale. Regardless of the scale used, the objective is to measure customers’ perceived satisfaction with their experience of a firm’s offerings. Good quality measures need to have high satisfaction loadings, good reliability, and low error variances. 3.2 Marketing mix: The marketing mix is a business tool used in marketing and by marketing professionals. The marketing mix is often crucial when determining a product or brand’s offering, and is often synonymous with the four Ps: price, product, promotion, and place; in service marketing, however, the four Ps have been expanded to the Seven Ps or eight Ps to address the  different nature of services. In recent times, the concept of four Cs has been introduced as a more customer-driven replacement of four Ps. And there are two four Cs theories today. One is Lauterborn’s four Cs (consumer, cost, communication, convenience), another is Shimizu’s four Cs (commodity, cost, communication, channel). ————————————————- 3.2.1 Producer-oriented model The marketer E. Jerome McCarthy proposed a four Ps classification in 1960, which has since been used by marketers throughout the world. Classification| Category| Definition| Product| A product is seen as an item that satisfies what a consumer demand. It is a tangible good or an intangible service. For example good will for intangible. Tangible products are those that have an independent physical existence. Typical examples of mass-produced, tangible objects are the motor car and the disposable razor. A less obvious but ubiquitous mass-produced service is a computer operating system. Every product is subject to a life-cycle including a growth phase followed by a maturity phase and finally an eventual period of decline as sales falls. Marketers must do careful research on how long the life cycle of the product they are marketing is likely to be and focus their attention on different challenges that arise as the product move.The marketer must also consider the product mix. Marketers can expand the current product mix by increasing a certain product line’s depth or by increasing the number of product lines. Marketers should consider how to position the product, how to exploit the brand, how to exploit the company’s resources and how to configure the product mix so that each product complements the other. The marketer must also consider product development strategies. | Price| The amount a customer pays for the product. The price is very important as it determines the company’s profit and hence, survival. Adjusting the price has a profound impact on the marketing strategy, and depending on the price elasticity of the product, often it will affect the demand and sales as well. The marketer should set a price that complements the other elements of the marketing mix. When setting a price, the marketer must be aware of the customer perceived value for the  product. Three basic pricing strategies are: market skimming pricing, market penetration pricing and neutral pricing. The ‘reference value’ (where the consumer refers to the prices of competing products) and the ‘differential value’ (the consumer’s view of this product’s attributes versus the attributes of other products) must be taken into account. | Promotion| All of the methods of communication that a marketer may use to provide information to different parties about the product. Promotion comprises elements such as: advertising, public relations, personal selling and sales promotion. Advertising covers any communication that is paid for, from cinema commercials, radio and Internet advertisements through print media and billboards. Public relations is where the communication is not directly paid for and includes press releases, sponsorship deals, exhibitions, conferences, seminars or trade fairs and events. Word-of-mouth is any apparently informal communication about the product by ordinary individuals, satisfied customers or people specifically engaged to create word of mouth momentum. Sales staff often plays an important role in word of mouth and public relations (see ‘product’ above). | Place| Refers to providing the product at a place which is convenient for consumers to access. Various strategies such as intensive distribution, selective distribution, exclusive distribution and franchising can be used by the marketer to complement the other aspects of the marketing mix. | ————————————————- ————————————————- 3.2.2 Consumer-oriented model Robert F. Lauterborn proposed a four Cs classification in 1993 which is a more consumer-oriented version of the four Ps that attempts to better fit the movement from mass marketing to niche marketing: â€Å"P† category| â€Å"C† category| â€Å"C† definition| Product| Consumer solution| Represents the actual product which meets up the consumer needs and wants.| Price| Cost| Reflecting the total cost of ownership. Many factors affect Cost, including but not limited to the customer’s cost to change or implement the new product or service and the customer’s cost for not selecting a competitor’s product or service.| Promotion| Communication| Represents a broader focus. Communications can include advertising, public relations, personal selling, viral advertising, and any form of communication between the organization and the consumer.| Distribution(Place)| Convenience| With the rise of Internet and hybrid models of purchasing, Place is becoming less relevant. Convenience takes into account the ease of buying the product, finding the product, finding information about the product, and several other factors.| 4. Analysis & Findings We have conducted our survey on â€Å"Customer Satisfaction about the Marketing mix of LUX soap†. We have design our sample with 30 respondents. Respondent Sample: Among 30 people, 25 were female and 5 people were male. Among 25 Female most respondents were students of Masters, Bachelors and colleges, some respondents were housewives (4 people). In case of Male respondents all were the students. Total Respondents| 30| Female Respondents| 25| Male Respondents| 5| Figure 1: Types of respondents Age of Respondents: We divided respondent’s age into four categories. The categories are 15-20 years, 21-30 years, 31-40 years and 41-50 years. Among 30 respondents 3 respondent’s age were in between of 15 to 20 years, one respondent was from the age category 41-50 years, 3 respondents were from 31-40 years and the others (23 respondents) were in between of 21 to 30 years. Age| No of Participants| Between 15 to 20| 3| Between 21 to 30| 23| Between 31 to 40| 3| Between 41 to 50| 1| Figure 2: Age of respondents 1. Are you Happy with this Brand? Options| No of Respondents| Yes| 29| No| 1| Figure 3: Level of satisfaction of respondents with the brand When we asked about this question, 29 people agree that they are happy with this Brand LUX. Only one person seems to be unhappy. Her only reason for disappointment was, in her opinion this soap should contain extra moisture. From the above graph it is seen that 97% people are happy with this brand and 3% is unhappy. 2. Which features do you like most? Options| No. Of respondents| Color| 5| Shape| 2| Price| 0| Fragrance| 23| Others| 0| Figure 4: Level of preferred feature of the soap by the respondents We have observed that 17% of people like the different color of LUX soap.7% people like the shape of LUX and among 30 people 23 people or 76% agree that among all the features, the fragrance of LUX soap is the best feature of LUX. 3. Do you like to add any other aroma? Options| No of Respondents| Neem| 7| Lemon| 3| Orange| 4| Strawberry| 6| Rose| 10| others| 0| Figure 5: Level of suggested new aroma to the soap by the respondents When we are conducting the survey, we observed that every people want to add other aromas like Rose, Neem, Strawberry, orange in LUX soap. It is seen that 34% people want the aroma of Rose, 23% like to add Neem, 20% want the fragrance of Strawberry, 13% orange and 10% want Lemon aroma in LUX soap. 4. According to quality, which brand is the strong Competitor of LUX? Options| No of Respondents| Dove| 20| Sandalina| 8| Tibet| 0| Meril| 0| Dettol| 2| Others| 0| Figure 6: Level of competitors of LUX According to quality, 67% respondents think that â€Å"Dove† is the strong competitor of LUX. Other 27% person thinks â€Å"Sandalina† as the strong competitor. Rest 6% feels â€Å"Dettol† is strong competitor of LUX. We have put Tibet and Meril as other options but no one thinks these are the strong competitor of LUX brand. Respondents also mentioned that â€Å"Dove† is very much expensive but in terms of quality this soap is excellent. On other hand the quality of â€Å"Sandalina† is good enough and less expensive. On other hand, â€Å"Dettol† is specially known as the bar soap which fights against the wide range of germs. 5. Are you satisfied with the quality of this soap? Options| No of respondents| Yes| 18| No| 12| Figure 7: Level of satisfaction with the quality of the soap by the respondents From the survey we get that, 60% of the respondents are satisfied with the quality of LUX soap. Remaining 40% are not satisfied. When we asked about the dissatisfaction of the participants, they show the cause of higher amount of alkali in the soap which makes the skin rough enough. 6. For how long you have been using LUX? Options| No of Respondents| Below 2 Years| 5| Between 5 to 10 years| 25| Over 10 years| 0| Figure 8: Level of time period of using LUX by the respondents During the time of survey we noticed that 83% of the people are using LUX for more than 5 to 10 years, rest amount of participants which means 17% are using LUX below than 2 years. 7. Which type of fragrance you have used in LUX? Options| No of respondents| Peach and cream| 3| Fresh splash| 7| Sandal and Cream| 12| Purple Lotus and cream| 8| Figure 9: Level of used fragrance of the soap by the respondents When we are conducting our survey, we find that 10 % people use peach and cream, 23% people use fresh splash, 40% use sandal and cream and 27% use purple lotus and cream. During the time to discussion with participants we noticed that people have used almost every fragrances of LUX time to time, finally they chose their favorite one and most of the people like sandal and cream because they feel that this fragrance may keep their skin more natural and healthy. 8. Which size of LUX soap you use? Options| No of respondents| Small| 0| Medium| 25| Large| 5| Figure 10: Level of size of the soap used by the respondents From the survey we found that 17% of the respondents use large size of the soap whether 83% of the respondents use medium size of the soap. When discussing the size of LUX being used by the people, many respondents told that not for regular use but during journey they use small size of LUX because it is easy to carry. 9. In your opinion which type of skin care you get from this soap? Options| No of respondents| Clean| 1| Glow| 0| Soft| 0| Perfumed| 29| All| 0| Figure 11: Level of skin care derived from LUX by the respondents 3% respondents said that in their opinion LUX soap keeps their skin clean and according to 97% people, LUX keeps the skin perfumed. Here we can see most of the people think that the perfume of LUX is the most popular skin care they have got from the soap. 10. Do you think LUX should introduce more products? Options| No of Respondents| Yes| 8| No| 22| Figure 12: Level of need for introducing new products of LUX of the respondents Here 27% people thinks that LUX should introduce more products like LUX face wash, LUX body powder because of its unique fragrance and rest of the people, 73% thinks that there is no need to introduce more products of LUX. 11. From which source you have got information about LUX soap? Options| No of respondents| TV advertisement| 14| Newspaper| 4| Promotional Events| 2| Bill board| 10| Friends and relatives| 0| Figure 13: Level of sources of information about LUX 47% people have got information about LUX soap via TV advertisement, 13% people got information by Newspaper, 7% people know about LUX from promotional events and remaining 33% got information by the huge billboards of LUX advertisement. 12. What do you think about the promotional activities of LUX? Options| No of respondents| Perfect| 8| Sufficient| 22| Not enough| 0| Figure 14: Level of opinions about promotional activities of LUX From the survey we found that 73% agree that the promotional activity of LUX is sufficient, they think LUX don’t need to give extra focus on their promotion activities and 27 % people voted that the promotional activity of LUX is perfect. 13. Do you think the price of LUX is affordable? Options| No of Respondents| Yes| 20| No| 10| Figure 15: Level of satisfaction about the price of LUX by the respondents 67% respondents think that the price of LUX is affordable and remaining 33% think that the price of LUX should be reduced. 14. Are you satisfied with the availability of this soap? Options| No of Respondents| Yes| 29| No| 1| Figure 16: Level of satisfaction about the availability of LUX by the respondents Almost all the respondents agree that the availability of LUX is up to the satisfaction level and only one respondent disagree with the availability of LUX. 15. Your overall satisfaction about using LUX†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Options| No of respondents| Strongly satisfied| 2| Satisfied| 26| Less Satisfied| 2| Not Satisfied| 0| Figure 17: Level of overall satisfaction about the performance of LUX by the respondents The customer is asked to evaluate each statement and in term of their perception and expectation of performance of LUX. 87% people are satisfied with the overall performance of LUX, 7% people are strongly satisfied with this brand and 6% agree that they are less satisfied with the performance of this soap. The less satisfied respondents give cause about their less satisfaction is the proportion of Alkali in the soap makes skin rough and LUX should reduce their price as it is used by every level of classes. 5. Major Findings 1. They are more focused about their Promotional activities. 2. The proportion of Alkali is too much high and makes skin rough. 3. They are not so focused about the quality improvement. 4. Most of the people uses LUX because of its unique fragrance no one uses LUX for skin care. 5. Dove is the strongest internal competitor of LUX and Sandelina is the external strongest competitor in Bangladesh. 6. Some people expect that LUX will introduce more products of LUX like Face wash and body powder. 7. As every class of people use LUX, respondents think that the price of LUX should be reduced. 8. Sandal and Cream is the most used fragrance of LUX in Bangladesh. 9. Most people get information about LUX from TV advertisement. 10. People are satisfied with size of LUX Soap. 6. Conclusion LUX has been operates its business for many years in Bangladesh where each and every person knows brand quality and different product of it and consumers are also aware about the different strategies which are used to  attract more consumers to buy the product but still it has lacking to survive in the market. From the above analysis it’s been conclude that Bangladesh Unilever Limited facing competition from the other companies. Thus to keep its market share for the growth in their business it should focus on quality management and improvement to achieve its objective. However LUX soap should penetrate the market in order to survive in this competitive world and also introduce some new product with the reasonable range in order to increase its sale and which will have greater impact on their sale. However marketing activity should also be consider throughout which will result in gaining competitive advantage from its competitors. 7. Recommendation * Most of the respondents suggested that they would like to see more Fragrance of LUX Soap. * In order to increase more sales LUX should concentrate on appropriate reduction of cost which will directly lead to gain leadership in price. * By hiring famous stars LUX is investing huge amount to promote their products. Our suggestion will be now LUX should discontinue spending huge amount in promotional activities. * LUX Will also have to do product development for the product line extension. * As this soap makes skin rough enough; we think LUX should invest more to improve the quality of LUX soap rather than promotional activities. Or else it can lose its market at any time because there are many strong competitors in soap market. * LUX can introduce more products like- Face Wash; Body Powder etc as this product cover a huge and different market segment. 8. Bibliography www.google.com.bd www.unilever.com.bd www.unilever.com/brands-in-action www.lux.com www.hul.co.in www.luxnaturals.com en.wikipedia.org 9. Appendix Questionnaire A study on â€Å"Customer satisfaction about marketing mix of LUX Soap† Respondent Name: Age: Occupation Work Place: Income: around †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 1. Are you happy with this Brand? a) Yes b) No If No please specify †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 2. Which features do you like most? a) Color b) Shape c) Price d) Fragrance e) Others (please Specify) 3. Do you like to add any other aroma? a) Neem b) Lemon c) Orange d) Strawberry e) Rose f) Others (please Specify) 4. Which brand is the strong competitor of LUX (In your opinion)? a) Dove b) Sandelina c) Meril d) Tibet e) Dettol f) Others (please Specify) 5. Are you satisfied with the quality of this Soap? a) Yes b) No (explain†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.) 6. For how long you have been using LUX? a. Below 2 year b. Between 5 to 10 year c. Over 10 year 7. Which type of fragrance you have used in LUX? a. Peach and Cream b. Fresh Splash c. Sandal & Cream d. Purple Lotus & Cream 8. Which size of LUX soap you use? a) Large b) Medium c) Small 9. In your opinion which type of skin care you get from this soap? a) Clean b) Glow c) Soft d) Perfumed e) All 10. Do you think LUX should introduce more products? a) Yes (please specify†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..) b) No 11. From which source you have got information about LUX soap? a) TV advertisement b) Newspaper c) Promotional events d) Billboards e) Friends and relatives 12. What do you think these promotional activities of LUX? a) Perfect b) Sufficient c) Not enough 13. Do you think the price of LUX is affordable? a) Yes b) No 14. Are you satisfied with the availability of this soap? a) Yes b) No 15. Your overall satisfaction about using LUX †¦. a) Strongly satisfied b) Satisfied c) Less satisfied d) Not satisfied

Free Essays on Hermaphadites

It seems as though society today only excepts male and female. Hermaphadites, pseudohermaphrodites, and pseudohermaphrodites are all unaccepted. Today’s society doesn’t accept anything that isn’t the ‘norm’. People can not help how they are born, before you are born you do not have the choice of what sex you will be, or in this case how many sexes you will contain. The concept of intersexuality is rooted in the very ideas of male and female. In the ideal world, human beings are divided into two kinds. Males have an X and a Y chromosome, testes, a penis and all of the appropriate internal organs for delivering urine and semen to the outside world. They also have well-known secondary sexual characteristics, including a muscular build and facial hair. Women, on the other hand, have two X chromosomes, ovaries, all of the internal organs to transport urine and ova to the outside world, a system to support pregnancy and fetal development, as well as a variety of recognizable secondary sexual characteristics. The term hermaphrodites, comes from the Greek name Hermes, known as the messenger of the gods, the patron of music, the controller of dreams, and the protector of livestock. Aphrodite, is the goddess of sexual love and beauty. These two gods parented Hermaphrodites, whom at the age of fifteen became half-male and half-female. A hermaphrodite is an individual which has the attributes of both male and female, or which unites in itself the two sexes. 55% of hermaphrodites are more masculine then feminine. Intersex is all three major subgroups with some mixture of male and female organs. Pseudohermaphodites also known as merms have testes and some aspects of the female genitalia but no ovaries. These people who can not help how they are born aren’t excepted into today’s society due to gender difference, yet- other people who pay to be different from what they were born with are. Also, pseudohermaphrodites also known as f... Free Essays on Hermaphadites Free Essays on Hermaphadites It seems as though society today only excepts male and female. Hermaphadites, pseudohermaphrodites, and pseudohermaphrodites are all unaccepted. Today’s society doesn’t accept anything that isn’t the ‘norm’. People can not help how they are born, before you are born you do not have the choice of what sex you will be, or in this case how many sexes you will contain. The concept of intersexuality is rooted in the very ideas of male and female. In the ideal world, human beings are divided into two kinds. Males have an X and a Y chromosome, testes, a penis and all of the appropriate internal organs for delivering urine and semen to the outside world. They also have well-known secondary sexual characteristics, including a muscular build and facial hair. Women, on the other hand, have two X chromosomes, ovaries, all of the internal organs to transport urine and ova to the outside world, a system to support pregnancy and fetal development, as well as a variety of recognizable secondary sexual characteristics. The term hermaphrodites, comes from the Greek name Hermes, known as the messenger of the gods, the patron of music, the controller of dreams, and the protector of livestock. Aphrodite, is the goddess of sexual love and beauty. These two gods parented Hermaphrodites, whom at the age of fifteen became half-male and half-female. A hermaphrodite is an individual which has the attributes of both male and female, or which unites in itself the two sexes. 55% of hermaphrodites are more masculine then feminine. Intersex is all three major subgroups with some mixture of male and female organs. Pseudohermaphodites also known as merms have testes and some aspects of the female genitalia but no ovaries. These people who can not help how they are born aren’t excepted into today’s society due to gender difference, yet- other people who pay to be different from what they were born with are. Also, pseudohermaphrodites also known as f...

Taking the ACT in 7th Grade Should You Do It

Taking the ACT in 7th Grade Should You Do It SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips It’s just a short while before school ends for the day. You settle in to enjoy a discussion about sea monkeys in your 7th grade Science class when all of a sudden, one of your classmates starts complaining about having to take the ACT. What is she talking about? Who would want to take the ACT in middle school, and who even cares about 7th grade ACT scores? If you’re a parent, you may have heard or read about programs designed for early-achieving students. But it can be hard to figure out if those programs are for students who do well on the ACT, or if the students get to take the ACT if they do well in school. Fear not- I’ll clear up the confusion in this article as I go over the pros and cons of taking the ACT in 7th grade and the programs you can get into with high 7th grade ACT scores. feature image credit: Thinking by Jonathan Evans, used under CC BY-NC 2.0/Cropped from original. Is Taking The ACT This Early Useful? There's no one easy answer to the question "Should I take the ACT in 7th grade?" Taking the ACT Early Is Not Useful If... You're planning on using your ACT scores to apply to college, and only for that. Unless you're planning on applying to college within a few years (around age 15 or thereabouts), colleges are going to care much more about your current abilities and much less about what you were like when you were 12. While technically ACT scores don't expire, unless you get a 32+ score at age 12 you're probably going to want to take the test again once you've taken high school classes like precalc and biology. Even for the most ardent and ambitious students, 9th grade is plenty of time to start studying for the ACT. This doesn't mean that you can’t start prepping earlier than that, but it’s generally more helpful to spend that time in middle school focusing on your studies in school so that you have a good base for ACT prep later on. Taking the ACT Early Is Useful If... You want to become accustomed to the test. For some students, anxiety over the ACT can make it seem like an insurmountable hurdle that you must clear to make it out of high school and into college. Taking the ACT in 7th grade is especially handy if you live in a state where it’s mandatory and you know you’ll have to take it to graduate from high school anyway. Paying to take the test is not a financial hardship and you're curious about it. It's unlikely you’ll be able to get a fee waiver if you’re taking the ACT for personal enrichment, but if that's not a problem and you want to see what taking the ACT is like, go for it. You're interested in participating in certain programs for early achievers. For talent searches and other programs aimed at academically-gifted younger students, the SAT or ACT is often required either as a prerequisite or as part of the program. While the ACT isn't necessarily the only test you can take to qualify for these programs (they often accept other standardized measures like IQ tests and state-mandated standardized tests), it is a test you can study for, and there are plenty of high-quality prep materials available. What Programs Require Taking the ACT Early? There are many different programs that provide advanced academic opportunities, mentoring, and recognition for high 7th grade ACT scores. It's important to keep in mind, however, that the programs aren't going to judge your score the same way colleges would. Since you're so much younger than the average ACT test-taker, the talent searches and other programs aren't looking for perfect scores; instead, you'll be compared to other students your age. We have more on what a good ACT score for a 7th grader is in this article. Here's a couple of the most well-known programs that involve taking the ACT in 7th grade: Duke TIP By participating in Duke's 7th Grade Talent Search, you can qualify for a number of different summer programs (and awards ceremonies, if your ACT scores are high enough). If you're eligible for the Talent Search (based on your score on any one of a number of qualifying tests), you'll take the ACT. You can also take the ACT to qualify for the 7th Grade Talent Search in the first place. Read more about the ACT requirements for various Duke TIP programs here. CTY at Johns Hopkins Taking the ACT can also qualify you for certain programs at Johns Hopkins' Center for Talented Youth, including summer and online courses. It's also possible to take the ACT through the CTY talent search, which then gives you preference for enrolling in any of the CTY programs. We have more information about the ACT scores required for different CTY programs in this article. Other Programs In addition to the two programs I mentioned above, there are also several other programs for gifted youth that provide summer courses and general resources. We've already written in detail on our blog about Stanford EPGY, Summer Institute for the Gifted, and NUMATS, but there are several other programs worth looking into for gifted and talented adolescents: Belin-Blank Student Talent Search at the University of Iowa Joseph Baldwin Academy (JBA) at Truman State University Western Academic Talent Search (formerly the Rocky Mountain Talent Search) VAMPY at Western Kentucky University Vanderbilt Programs for Talented Youth Talented and Gifted Program at Southern Methodist University Halbert and Nancy Robinson Center for Young Scholars at the University of Washington talent by George, used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. Why Do These Programs Use the ACT? You might be curious about why students have to bother taking the ACT (a test designed for college entry) for programs intended for young, non-high school students, On the surface, it seems like it would make more sense to have program applicants take a test that is specifically designed for younger students. In actuality, there are three reasons that these programs for early achievers care about 7th grade ACT scores. #1: It's Easy to Find Somewhere to Take the ACT Unlike an IQ, which often requires setting up a special (and expensive) session with a counselor, the ACT is a widely offered and available standardized test. This is especially true in states where ACT is required for high school graduation. There are still some special arrangements necessary (for example, students under age 13 must register for the ACT by mail), but on the whole, it's much easier for students to take the ACT than it is any other national or international standardized test. #2: There's a Lot of Data About the ACT Programs for high-achieving middle-schoolers have been using the ACT as a standard for many years, so they can see how your score compares to those of other students of a similar age (rather than against the graduating senior data the College Board provides on their site). #3: The ACT Measures Valuable Skills While it bills itself as a "curriculum-based achievement test," the ACT also measures critical thinking and general mathematical abilities to some extent. This means that even if you haven't taken all the courses necessary to understand every single question, your 7th grade ACT score can still provide valuable information about your ability to think well under pressure. Because the ACT has four different subscores, you can perform unevenly well across the different sections and still place into a summer program. For example, even if you don’t do well on the ACT English and Reading sections, you might still be able to participate in certain summer program courses with relatively high ACT Math and Science scores. ACT Prep for 7th Graders: What's Different? The key principle of 7th grade ACT prep is knowing that you should expect to get a (relatively) low score, compared to if you were taking the ACT to apply to college. In general, you won't have learned everything you need to score highly on the ACT by the time you're in middle school, just by sheer dint of not having been alive and talking as long as a high schooler. Your vocabulary will be smaller, your reading level will be lower, and you won't have learned all the math or science in school yet. Summer programs know that 7th grade ACT scores will be lower, which is why even upper-tier summer programs have a much lower bar for entry than upper-tier colleges. To settle on a realistic ACT score to aim for as a 7th grader, you should fill out our score target worksheet with information for the programs you want to get into. Another way in which ACT prep for 7th graders differs from what it is for high schoolers is that there are lower stakes attached to scoring well on the ACT, so the pressure should be lower. The summer programs I mentioned earlier do offer challenging, advanced, and diverse courses that can enrich your education, but they certainly aren’t as essential to your future as college is. Scoring well or poorly on the ACT in 7th grade won't prevent you from attending college or from graduating high school, and summer programs for early achievers compare the scores of students to other 7th graders, rather than high schoolers; perfect scores are not expected. One final, minor aspect of preparing to take the ACT in 7th grade is knowing that you won't be able to register for it online. Because of Internet privacy laws, ACT, Inc requires all students under the age of 13 to register for the test by paper. The main effect this has on your ACT prep is that you have to decide further in advance if and when you're taking the ACT to make sure your registration materials get there on time- you can't just decide a month before the test "oh hey, I guess I do want to take the ACT after all." Sorry, lightbulb. You should've decided to take the test at least six weeks before the test date. Now your registration materials won't get there in time. ACT for 7th Graders: Yes or No? You should take the ACT in 7th grade if you want to get acquainted with the test and lower your anxiety or if you want to qualify for special academic programs. You shouldn’t take it in 7th grade if you’re just using it to apply to colleges, since most schools won’t want or care to see your 7th grade ACT score. What’s Next? After reading this article, you might decide to go ahead and take the ACT in 7th grade, but what's a good score? Find out more about what makes a good or bad 7th grade ACT score here. On the other hand, you might decide that you don't really need to take the ACT just yet. But should you start to study then anyway? Read more about preparing for the ACT as a 7th grader in this article. Got your score, but not sure if you qualify for summer programs? Compare your 7th grade ACT score to the score requirements for Duke TIP and CTY at Johns Hopkins! Want to improve your ACT score by 4+ points? Download our free guide to the top 5 strategies you need in your prep to improve your ACT score dramatically.

Suicide Resulting from Job Stress Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Suicide Resulting from Job Stress - Essay Example Studies have also revealed that most of the people relate their mental health problems to their job and the cost of the time which is lost due to any kind of mental health problem is immense. (Lewis, 2003). Every year in the UK, the absences due to stress related issues cost 4 billion pounds annually. Estimates in Canada reveal that annually the cost of time lost due to stress costs $ 12 billion. Factors that cause stress at workplace There are some people who think that stress works as a motivator and thus it is positive, however it can also be negative if it is very much and the workers get negatively affected by it. Excess stress can also result in various problems such as physical and health problems as well as thoughts of suicide. There are various factors that contribute to workplace stress. For instance, very long hours at work or a lot of work are a cause of stress. However, even if the work is too less it can also be a cause of stress for an individual. Other factors are thr eats to personal safety which occurs mainly in those places of work which are dangerous such as coal mines and oil refinancers. At every workplace, workplace conflict is a must and it occurs between those employees who disagree with one another on anything. This also occurs because of politics at work. Moreover, due to inflation and for cost cutting purposes, companies often downsize and opt for cutbacks which increase the issue of job security. Poor communication is another factor that causes stress at workplace because when the people are unable to understand what has been communicated to them, things do not work well. Besides this, lack of autonomy at work, few chances of growth and advancement and low involvement in decision making are some other factors. (Leat, 2001). Suicidal behaviors at the workplace Any individual who recognizes the signals a depressed person gives can intervene and help that person. However, most of the people do not feel comfortable being involved in such cases due to fear. There are some strategies that help in overcoming this fear and these are mentioned below. The companies should educate the employees as well as the management regarding suicide and they must be informed about the factors and warning signs that lead to suicide. Before any kind of crisis occurs, community resources and the referral options must be identified. The employees should know that intervening in their life does not mean that the counseling process would be prolonged. After A Suicide Attempt When an employee attempts for suicide, there are two major concerns he has when he returns to the job. Firstly, he thinks he would go through psychiatric hospitalization and secondly their other concern is what their colleagues will think about them. It is shown in some studies that psychiatric hospitalization can be negative for an employee since it can lead to assumptions which are incorrect because of which the individual will not be treated properly. There are howe ver some steps which can be followed to make it easy for the employees to return to their work without much problems. (Barker, 2008). The management must safeguard the confidentiality of the employee that he has attempted