Ethnographic Reseacrh

Ethnographic Research Ethnography is a type of social science research that investigates the practices and life of a community, by becoming one of its members. It is based on learning about a context and the people living in it, by understanding their values, needs and vocabulary. It requires faithful reporting of what is experienced or observed, avoiding any interpretation or evaluation as far as possible.Within the field of experience design, ethnography or video ethnography are methods used to capture human ehaviour in the context of the person's natural environment, as a means of gaining insights about people's behaviours and unarticulated motivations, drivers, needs, in order to create innovative solutions. Design ethnography helps answer questions like what is necessary to innovate with success; what are the key social actors and roles to take into account; and which are the limiting factors? Educated observation and participation are the main methods that enable our team to un derstand user requirements and context of use.Two examples of the ethnographic design pproach are shadowing and self-observations. Shadowing is an ethnographic technique to understand a person's real-time interactions with products, services or process and their shifting contexts and needs over the course of a day. Shadowing often focuses on particular events or tasks participants are willing to share. Talk Aloud and closure interviews are used to clarify questions. Self-observations/ Diaries is a method used when it is difficult or impossible to directly access a certain place (like people's homes) or access is too time consuming.It consists of asking eople to provide self-observations about their activities in the form of log reports or diaries, for example. Although this method involves the subjectivity of the participants in the data collected, it can be valuable to get a glimpse of life through the eyes of the people that are being studied. How ethnographic research works Ethno graphic research relies on techniques such as observation, video diaries, photographs, contextual interviews, and analysis of artifacts such as for example devices, tools or paper forms that might be used as part of a person's Job.Observations can be made at home, at work, or in leisure environments. People can be studied with their family, on their own, with work colleagues, or as part of a group of friends. Often one participant may be recruited, but several more may be studied as part of that person's family or friends. Data collection can range from a 4-5 hour contextual interview, through to following a participant for several days, or even a longitudinal study over several weeks or months to investigate, for example, how a particular product or service might be used over time.It doesn't necessarily involve full immersion' in a person's life: it can involve a depth interview in a person's home or it might involve a person simply maintaining their own video diary over a period o f time. Where and how you might use it Ethnographic research can provide extremely rich insight into ‘real life' behavior, and can be used to identify new or currently unmet user needs. This approach is most valuable at the beginning of a project when there is a need to understand real end particular audience. When not to useEthnographic research can provide a significant amount of qualitative data, and analysis can be time consuming. NOTE: The term ‘ethnographic' can be misused; it's currently a bit of a ‘buzzword' with some agencies who may not fully understand the approach. It is recommended that a specialist agency is used, who can demonstrate successful case studies (collecting and analyzing the data). Participants In principle, anyone could participate in this type of research. As with any user research, the recruitment of suitable participants is key.The full implications of the research should be fully explained to potential participants, as some may not fe el comfortable with this level of intrusion in their lives. Timescales Depending on the study needs and the approach, but 6-8 weeks from briefing to results can provide rich insight. It may take time to build trust with participants, and the analysis period needs to be sufficient to be thorough. Ethnographic research can be expensive and time consuming, but this depends on the needs of a particular project. The benefits derived can be extremely valuable.

Reality and Crash Essay

I would like to start by saying that, I really enjoyed watching the movie CRASH, some of the things shown in the movie are very realistic and much of it can’t even be put into words. Two of the behaviors that I noticed most, are prejudice and stereotyping. It was the cause of where all the events eradicated from. These behaviors are viewed as thoughts and feelings that almost everyone has felt more than once. This movie shows us the different point of view of people in our society; it gives us an insight of the stereotypes that have built within our society and within the world. It invites us to see and understand how such a small stereotype and negative attitude can go a long way and affect people differently. In the movie Crash it is apparent that emotions run high with racial and ethnic inequality such as frustration, aggression, and authoritative personalities. According to Diana Kendall in Social Problems In a Diverse Society, the frustration-aggression hypothesis is â€Å"Individuals who are frustrated in their efforts to achieve a highly desired goal tend to develop a pattern of aggression toward others (51). † In other words, when people feel as though they are being prevented from achieving a goal, their frustration will usually turn into aggression. In the movie Crash, Farhad, the Iranian/Persian storeowner tried to live his best to pursue the American dream by running his own store. He hired a Latino locksmith named Daniel to have the lock at his store changed but conflict emerged between the Sas 2 two and in the end, Daniel didn’t change the lock. Later, the store gets robbed and trashed. Farhad was already a frustrated middle aged man who struggled to make ends meet, and now having his store robbed has him act out aggressively without anyone to blame. So, he decides to lash out his anger towards Daniel, hoping it would help him feel better. Expectations of Arabs to be violent terrorists, Farhad is not even Arab. Technically, he is Persian, but what the shop owner expects from him, he eventually gets when Farhad â€Å"shoots† the little Hispanic girl. Farhad believes the Hispanic man is ripping him off so when his shop is looted, the Hispanic man is blamed although he had nothing to do with the destruction. Crash is full of many other sociological concepts, examining issues of race, social class, and gender, as well as many others. In this movie, we can see the theories of Durkheim and Marx for sure as well as many other concepts. Crash is one of those movies that make us rethink even what we think we know about the world we live in. Another sociological concept that Crash demonstrates is the Thomas Theorem. Basically, this theorem tells us that if we believe situations to be real, they become real to us. Our own subjective reality becomes our objective reality. It follows then that if we believe certain things about an individual, he/she begins acting in exactly that way. It also follows that certain crimes or problems do not have an objective realities. Using drugs would be one example of that sort of victimless crime. The best example of this in the movie might be when Jean Cabot grips her purse when passing by Anthony (Luda cris) and Peter on the street. She believes black people to be a threat. Her subjective reality becomes real in the next minute when the two young Sas 3 black men carjack them. What the characters believe about others has become real in these instances. Another sociological term demonstrated in Crash is the theory of micro-aggression. Microaggressions would be defined as â€Å"Microaggressions are subtle insults (verbal, nonverbal, and/or visual) directed toward people of color, often automatically or unconsciously. † While the individual effects of these particular instances may be small, the cumulative effects can be devastating. In Crash, I believe the character that most exemplifies this is the film director. Examples of these subtle insults would be things such as people telling him that he just isn’t really black to them or the comments about language on the set of the movie. He advises him to tell the black character to make his language â€Å"more black. † These are subtle but insults nonetheless. These kinds of comments, combined with the powerlessness he feels when his wife is sexually assaulted lead to the blow-up where he almost gets himself killed. He has endured these subtle forms of racism his whole life, and he reaches a breaking point where he just isn’t going to take it The last concept that is displayed in Crash is the sociological concept of ethnocentrism. This means that we judge other cultures by the standards of our own. Not only that, but we also believe that our own culture is superior to everyone else’s. Graham and his Latina girlfriend fight and he pokes fun at her culture by calling her Mexican even though she isn’t. Asian Americans speech patterns are made fun of, like the term â€Å"blaking† for braking. These characters don’t celebrate or even accept the characteristics of other cultures. They only mock them, assuming the superiority of their own culture. They fail to try to understand one another through Sas 4 ethnocentrism. Officer Ryan makes fun of the name Shaniqua, a more common name of African American culture. All in all, Crash is a movie full of sociological concepts. Many more could be analyzed in cry, sometimes at almost the same time. When we laugh, however, we must question the underlying sociological assumptions or concepts that make us laugh. Are we laughing at some of the racist jokes because of our own ethnocentrism. Are we failing to see the microaggressions directed at members of minority groups all the time. Are we as guilty as Jean Cabot at making our own realities our truths? Do we have beliefs about certain groups of people and essentially make them come true for ourselves? Crash asks us to question all of these things.

Coral Eugene Watts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Coral Eugene Watts - Essay Example Approaching the age of twelve, he started visualizing the torturing and killing of girls and young women. When he reached his teens he started stalking girls and there is a popular perception that he is believed to have killed his first victim before the age of fifteen. He was not a very good student and often received failing grades. He had also suffered a lot of harassment at school. During his eighth standard, he suffered from meningitis accompanied with extremely high temperature; which further affected his studies and he was unable to cope up with his class fellows. It is still not clear if this was the consequence of his brain damage or the persistent sleep problems that he faced after his illness. He was also having violent dreams in which he was trying to kill women, but these could not be considered nightmares because he enjoyed them. At the age of 15, he felt an urge to fulfill his dreams. During his psychiatric assessment, he admitted that he felt better after having one of those violent dreams. Coral finally graduated from high school in 1973, despite his poor result. He was brilliant in sports and found this an adequate way to release his built-up aggression. After graduation he got a football scholarship to Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee. He got expelled only three months later on the charges of pestering and mugging women. He was also mix up in the atrocious murder of a female student but could not be convicted because of lack of concrete evidence. He was also arrested on the allegation of the sexual assault of Joan Gave aged 26 on June 29, 1969; while en route on his paper delivery and sentenced to a mental hospital in Detroit, the Lafayette Clinic. Upon evaluation he was found to have been enduring from a mild mental retardation. He had an I.Q. of 68 and has delusion thought processes. He was released from the Lafayette Clinic five months later. He worked for nearly a year at the Detroit Wheel Company as a mechanic. He then

Canadian politic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Canadian politic - Essay Example In spite of the fact that Canada has a dominance of political parties yet Canada has been labeled with the title of executive federalism emphasizing the importance of the Prime Minister and the First Ministers in the policy making of Canada.2 Smiley has characterized the Canadian government as â€Å"executive federalism†. This is because Canada represents an intersection of parliamentary power as well as federal power. The special characteristic in Canada is that the power is centralized at each level and at the same time is dispersed between different levels. It can be said that in Canada the approval of the Senate is necessary for every issue but at the same time the Senate cannot withhold its consent. Even in the Supreme Court of Canada we can witness the presence of executive federalism. The federal cabinet is also an example of executive federalism in Canada. 3 The advocates of executive federalism were of the opinion that this form of government will reduce the responsibility of the parliament in the governance of the country whereas the provinces will be allowed to take some amount of national responsibility. They also felt that such a government will establish a welfare state in Canada. Canada under the influence of the executive federalism the benefits allowed were family allowance, unemployment insurance scheme, the scheme of old age pension, old age security plans, the Canada Pension Plan and the initiation of Child Tax Credit. Another positive step which was taken during this era was the elimination of child poverty.4 They were also of the opinion that the best way for a country like Canada was to trust the elites and hence they felt that the executive federalism which gave a lot of weightage to the Prime Minister and the First Ministers of the Provinces for policy making was most apt for Canada. They were of the opinion that executive federalism provided the

Wired Equivalent Privacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Wired Equivalent Privacy - Essay Example Wired Equivalent Privacy, WEP is one of the options of providing security in such circumstances. WEP is the oldest security protocol specified by IEEE under the IEEE Wireless Fidelity Standard, 802.11b (Arbaugh, Shankar, Wan, & Zhang, 2002). The protocol is designed to give a level of privacy and security in a wireless local area network (WLAN), which is comparable to that available in the wired Local Area Networks. Generally, a wired local area network is protected from intrusion through physical barriers such as limited access to buildings or server rooms. Although these protection mechanisms are effective for physically controlled environment, the case is not the same for WLANs since the radio waves are not necessarily constrained by physical walls surrounding the network. WEP seeks to solve this concern by providing a similar protection as that in the wired networks through encryption of data transmitted in the WLAN. The encryption algorithm in WEP entails the use of security cod e selected at the network configuration phase. This code is usually referred to as WEP key and it uses defined hexadecimal digits such as 99D767BAC38EA23B0C0176D152 and1A648C9FE2. In order to allow for the transfer of information, the digital sequence should match in all the gadgets seeking to connect in a wireless network. Depending on the form of WEP encryption being used, WEP keys can be generated in different lengths. The overall functionality of WEP depends of the philosophy that data encryption shields the susceptible wireless links between access points and ‘client’. Once this protection is in place, other common mechanisms such as, end-to-end encryption, password protection, authentication, and virtual private networks (VPNs) come in handy to bolster privacy. How it Works The functionality of WEP security entails two parts being Authentication and Encryption. Whereas authentication is carried out at the introduction of a device in a network, encryption alters th e nature of data once they are available in the network. Authentication The process of authentication in a wireless network uses WEP to prevent a new gadget or station from joining a network if the WEP key is not known. The two authentication methods used in WEP are the Open System authentication and Shared Key authentication. In the Open System authentication, WLAN clients are not required to give any credentials at the network access point. This scenario would allow any user to authenticate themselves at the access point after which association may be established. In essence, there is no authentication taking place here. For the Shared Key authentication, the predetermined WEP key must be produced to authenticate a user and allow access to a network. This type of authentication comprises of a 4-way request and response mechanism. At the first stage of authentication, the client station, or device sends a request for authentication at the access point. The access point responds by replying a clear-text challenge. At the third stage, the client encrypts the text with the automatically configured WEP key and sends to the access point as a unique authentication request. Lastly, the access point decrypts the requested items and compares it against the clear-text sent previously. Depending on the outcome of the comparison, the access point initiates a negative response by denying access or positive response by granting the access. Encryption In WEP, RC4 stream cipher is used to encode the data in to a form that cannot be understood by third parties through a process called encryption. The data is encrypted at the transition phase between access

DC Circuit Basics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

DC Circuit Basics - Assignment Example Mathematically, ‘Q’ is directly proportional to ‘C’ keeping ‘V’ constant. The latter proves the same point. In question 3, the diagram has a voltage source and a resistance, in the form of a lamp. In order for the lamp to light a complete circuit in order for the electric current to flow is necessary. The electrons flow from high positive potential to low negative potential (in conventional current) through a low resistance path. In case, the circuit is not complete, the electrons encounter a high resistance path i.e air or vacuum. The latter causes no current to flow leading to the lamp not lighting. Mathematically, the ohms law provides reason. Ohms law is stated as: The current drawn from a battery is linked with the potential difference across the battery. When two batteries were attached the potential difference was twice as much as when a single battery was connected. Applying the latter fact with Ohms law: Since the same toy car is used each time, we can safely assume that ‘R’ is constant. This gives the relation, I is directly proportional with V. When V is halved then I must also be halved. Therefore, option B being correct. Substituting the values for the blender and car vacuum separately we find that the power drawn for the blender is 480W while power drawn by the car vacuum is 60W. And so, we can conclude that the blender draws more

Commercial Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

Commercial Law - Essay Example In the case of ascertaining the intention of the parties, both sides should take into consideration the terms of the contract, the conduct of the parties as well as the conditions of the case. In case there are different intentions coming to play, the Sales of Goods Act provides a set of rules for ascertaining the intention of the parties as to the time at which the property in the goods is to be transferred to the buyer. The first rule indicates that there is an unconditional contract regarding the sale of definite goods in a deliverable state the property in the goods passes to the buyer upon the creation of the contract. Therefore, it considered immaterial upon the postponement of the time of payment or the time of delivery. The second rule states that provided that there is a contract for the sale of specific goods and the seller is bound to do something to the goods for the intention of transforming them into a deliverable state, the property does not pass up until the thing is done and the buyer received a notice that it has been done. The third rule, indicates that provided that there is a contract for the sale of specific goods in a deliverable state, the seller is bound to weigh, measure, evaluate or do some other act or thing with reference to the goods for the intention of ascertaining the price, the property does not pass until the act or thing is done and the buyer received the notice for its verification. In the case of the fourth rule, if the goods are delivered to the buyer on approval or on sale or return or other parallel terms the property in the goods passes to the buyer in the following situations: (b)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If he does not indicate his agreement or acceptance to the seller but retains the goods without giving notice of refusal, then, if a time has been fixed for the return of the goods, on the expiration of that time, and, if no time has been fixed, on the expiration

Marketing Techniques Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marketing Techniques - Essay Example Customers are attracted by luring with many free offers so that they will fall into the trap. By this the company can increase their market share and when they have considerably large customer base the company will remove the free offers given to the customer. This is a very common tactic used in business these days. The following are the Telephone services offered to customers. 2. Cell phones offered free with many months incoming free and hundreds of minutes free talk time with camera phone all the advanced features like blue tooth, wireless internet, giga bytes of storage, mega pixel camera and many more. Ice cream: No dought ice creams are the most sought after impulse buying eatable since invention and it continues to be. Ice creams are liked by people of all ages and irrespective of gender, cast creed nationality and. Customers are attracted to buy ice creams by offering many flavors and with large varieties of making. Though all ice creams sweet the way there are made and with what ingredients it is made makes it the most desirable delicacy. The latest way of attracting the customers is by offering diet ice cream, which has low calories and which can be eaten by even sugar patients. Tennis Shoes: It is well known that sports shoes need to be of high precision so that players can rely on them. What makes shoes differ is that for which sport they are used. For every sport the making of the shoes differ. Tennis shoes are made in a manner so that they can glide on the grass court giving the player the extra mile to access the ball from a far distance and at the same time it should hold the ground firmly giving the player that extra confidence. It is this feature, which is used to attract the customers by the company and at the same time pricing them with exorbitant rates. Global players like Adidas and Nike use high end engineering to manufacture sports shoes. Hair Saloons: The most interesting part about hair saloons is that it needs the minimum investment and the returns are very high. Hair Saloons offer the latest fashion and trends set by the fashion houses. They offer wide varieties of hair color, manicure, massage, facial, grooming required for even bridal make up and etc. It not only women who are now interested but also more men are showing interest in their personal grooming. This attention is being cashed by the boutiques and hair saloons. Hair saloons offer the costumers with the latest technologies in personal grooming. The astonishing part is that hair saloons charge exorbitantly for the services offered. Frozen Pizza: The segmentation used in frozen pizza is in four categories. Regular pizza, premium pizza, Gourmet pizza and the general fill-im up pizzas. The pizza giants offer with delicious toppings on the pizza to the customer, which lures the customers to grab one at the same time getting so many categories to choose with. They offer with many toppings if selected for five persons like family packs at fewer prices. Apart from this frozen pizza are also available as break fast pizzas and bite size snacks

A Comparison between Male and Female Organizational Commitment and Dissertation

A Comparison between Male and Female Organizational Commitment and Turnover - Dissertation Example While various researches have been conducted on organizational commitment in the Western world, the Eastern corporate world, such as that of Qatar still lacks research on this topic. This research aims to uncover who organizational commitment differs among employees in terms of factors including but not limited to gender. In order to understand the concept of organizational commitment, this research depends largely on the contribution of Meyer and Allen and their three types of organizational commitment, affective, normative and continuance commitment. This research further takes inspiration from the organizational commitment scale developed by Meyer and Allen that is based on a Likert scale. The method of conducting the research was quantitative in nature where the questionnaire was inspired from Meyer and Allen’s organizational scale that was distributed among all the employees of XYZ Co., a leading gas company in Qatar. The results of the survey were analyzed using percenta ges and descriptive analysis. The results pointed to the fact that organizational commitment among males and females differs by the type; that is, males are more normatively committed with the organization while females are continually commitment. Affective commitment increases as employees move higher up in the organization because the organization gives more power in their hands. Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction 4 1.1. Background of the Study 4 1.2. Significance of the Study 5 1.3. Research Methodologies and Theories 6 1.4. Research Aims and Objectives 7 1.5. Ethical Considerations 9 Chapter 2: Literature Review 11 2.1. Gender Difference in the Workplace 11 2.1.1. Female Characteristics 11 2.1.1.1. Work Style 12 2.1.1.2 Conflict Resolution 12 2.1.1.3 Management Style 12 2.1.2. Male Characteristics 13 2.1.2.1. Work Style 13 2.1.2.2 Conflict Resolution 14 2.1.2.3 Management Style 14 2.2. Organizational Commitment 15 2.2.1 Impact of Organizational Commitment 15 2.2.2. 3 Comp onent Model of Organizational Commitment 16 2.2.2.1. Affective Commitment 16 2.2.2.2. Continuance Commitment 17 2.2.2.3. Normative Commitment 17 2.2.3 Levels of Organizational Commitment 18 2.2.3.1.1 The Level of Accordance 18 2.2.3.1.2 The Level of Identification 19 2.2.3.1.3 The Level of Internalization 19 2.2.4 Antecedents of Organizational Commitment 19 2.2.4.1. Personal Characteristics 20 2.2.4.2. Work Experiences 21 2.2.4.3. Job and Role Related Characteristics 22 2.2.4.4 Assessing Organizational Commitment 23 2.2.5. Male Organizational Commitment 24 2.2.6. Female Organizational Commitment 25 2.2.7 Comparison Between Male and Female OC 26 2.2.8. Organizational culture in Qatar†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 28 2.3. Employee Turnover 28 2.3.1.Definition of Employee Turnover 28 2.3.2. Types of Employee Turnover 29 2.3.2.1 Involuntary Turnover 29 2.3.2.2 Voluntary Turnover 30 2.3.2.3Positive Turnover 30 2.3.2.4 Negative Turnover 30 2.3.3 Reasons behind E mployee Turnover. 31 2.3.4. Impact of Employee Turnover 33 2.3.4.1 Negative Consequences 33 2.3.5 Male Employee Turnover and its Reasons 34 2.3.6Female Employee Turnover and its Reasons 34 2.3.7 Comparison Between Male and Female Turnover. 36 2.3.7 Reducing Employee Turnover. 37 2.4. Conclusion 39 Chapter 3: Methods 42 Chapter 4: Results 52 Chapter 5: Discussion and Conclusion 67 Chapter 7: References 73 Appendix 1 78 Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Background of the Study Today’s corporate world is becoming increasingly competitive as people from all gender, ages and races have entered the workforce in large numbers. In terms of gender, the attitudes of

Brave New World And White Noise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Brave New World And White Noise - Essay Example The authors show how technology has formulated men’s lives and ways of living and how this has influenced their emotions and finally the outcome of their relationships. Whereas Brave New World is a landmark fictional work of the modern literature. DeLillo has been awarded multiple accolades for his ‘breakout’ work White Noise including the National Book Award in 1985. In contrast, Brave New World was published in 1932 where Huxley seems to prophesize and communicate the major struggles which dominated modern life along with the arms race that so powerfully underlines the role of modern technology in today’s world. Brave New World is a fictional novel belonging to the utopian literature genre, where the society essentially portrayed is called dystopia (the opposite of utopia) where things go badly awry. It is a parody of Well’s idealistic work Men Like Gods. As the name suggests, the setting is an imaginary society that is organized or synchronized to create an ideal conditions for human beings by scientifically orchestrating the near robot like individuals who are devoid of pain, hatred, neglect, and every other evils in the world. It is a bitterly satiric novel that was written to portray the horrors that engulf a planned totalitarian society, where the individual loses the all subtle human emotions including the sense of love in the above process. On the other hand, White Noise is set in the 1980’s with a small American town as the main backdrop. This is not a fictional state of a speculation but records the real society in the time where the individuals try to decipher the meaning of truth, that is, death in this case. The backdrop is also the age of the 80’s, which as per DeLillo’s interpretation is an age obsessed by media and where the key drivers of the society are rampant material consumption and putting up a facade to get a position of distinction in the society. In fact mass communication tools co uld be most indispensable to democracy and most abusive in the hands of a dictator. In his novel, Huxley portrays individual images of the character but they tend to take a back seat to the overall horror of a fictitious totalitarian society where the interest of the state takes precedence over the likes, opinions and thoughts of the individual characters. In such a society all the components of a press is usually controlled by the Elite and serve a purpose which is bigger and irrelevant to a common individual. In novel, the author caustically portraits the stability in the society where the individuals are programmed to be devoid of subtle human emotions that essentially gives rise to a sense of pain. The usage of ‘genetic engineering’ and ‘conditioning’ are shown as a technique to illustrate everybody is satisfied with their living. Here science is used for furthering technology, the State talks about scientific progress, what it essentially means is furt hering of technology, not in increase in horizon of scientific understanding through exploration and experimentation. In contrast in White Noise, the technology proves to be universal in its occurrence where it is both threatening and uplifting at the same time. All through the novel, technology becomes inextricably a part of the quality of regular life as are the human characters themselves. DeLillo’s narrative seamlessly weaves between the sounds of mechanical and human sounds that

The claim that in 1914 states went to war Essay Example for Free

The claim that in 1914 states went to war Essay How valid is the claim that in 1914 states went to war due to fear rather then motives of gain?Austrias quarrel, Germanys warOne of the theories about the outbreak of the First World War is that nations went to war not to necessarily gain something but mainly because of fear which caused by many different factors. Europe before the war can be compared to a round-about with the countries involved, Germany being the central pole, speeding up and thus causing the nations into uncontrollable chaos resulting in them breaking off. The basis of the alliance systems started forming as early as 1871. France and Russia had been supportive of each other ever since France lent Russia money to start industrialization during the reign of Alexander II. The bond between these two great powers was strengthened by their shared enemies, the Central Powers. Their reasons to agree on such alliance, however, were very different. After the Franco-Prussian war of 1871, in which France lost Alsace and Lorraine, both rich in coal and iron reserves to the Prussians, there was a bitter, revengeful feeling in France-Revanchism. The French believed it was their right to fight a victorious war against Germany and retrieve Alsace and Lorraine. Germany was aware of this and Bismarck demanded 5 billion francs as war reparations, believing that this punishment will cripple France for years. Bismarck was, however, no economist, and Germany was to fear France ever since 1873, when last francs were handed over to Germany. German acquisition of Alsace and Lorraine meant that there must be a war between Germany and France Karl MarxAt the Algeciras conference in Spain, almost all great powers and other nations decided to support the French rights in Morocco during the First Moroccan crisis, leaving Germany without any potential allies except for Austria-Hungary. This conspiracy against Germany led to her fear of encirclement and their alliance, therefore, was not because of strong mutual sympathy or the Gross Deutschland ideal, but simply due to this fear of encirclement- Austria-Hungary was the only option. As Germany was relatively young, full of energy, ambitions, and primarily a respect-wanting country, its main potential gain- if a war was to break out- would be widening its colonial empire. This is understandable when we realize that in the 19th century power, respect and an empire were tightly tied together. From now nothing will happen in the world without Germany and its Kaiser Wilhelm IIGermany already had some colonies, but this number was relatively small and certainly not big enough to satisfy its aspirations. But even for these colonies a navy was necessary. Therefore, under Admiral Tirpitz, the great improvement of the German navy began with the goal of protecting their existent and potential colonies. However, it was obvious that the main goal is to tease Britain. This turned out to work well; Britain had always been dependant on its navy as it was the best and only way of keeping all prospective threats away from the islands. It could not afford to let Germany develop its navy so drastically, especially because of Germanys strategic position by the North Sea where Britain had her weakest point. This accumulated with Kaisers arrogance (especially Realpolitik- accomplishes the goal no matter how- murders, blackmail†¦) and clumsy politics (The Daily Telegraph affair) resulting in a strongly anti-German felling in Britain. Except for her colonial ambitions, another goal that would come out of a war for Germany was what Von Moltke called an immediate, preventive war against France and Russia, since Russia was planning on increasing her army from 1.5 to 2.0 million. Except for the threat of German navy, Britain was not affected by the actions on the continent too much- and it did not want to get affected. It remained in Splendid isolationism as Britains attitude towards continental Europe was described by Lord Salisbury. English policy is to float lazily downstream, occasionally putting out a diplomatic boathook to avoid collisions. Lord Salisbury. As Britain did not have much to gain from a war with the Central powers, it was not clear until the last moments whether it will stick to its promise and join the war on the French side. In the end, however, the British found something profitable in the war. There were many protests in Britain as socialist parties were emerging. Ireland also wanted its own rule and first suffragettes appeared. A short, successful war would have been a good way of moving the focus of the society on something else. The obvious potential gain was destroying German navy and causing a stop to its growth. This was, on the other hand, too risky, as this could inflict big damage to the British navy. Slavs looked up to Russia as the mother of all Slavs (this is called Panslavism). The goal of most Slavic nationalists, liberals and intellectuals at the time was to form a state in which all Slavs would live together. This very much concerned Austria-Hungary, Germanys main ally, as many Slavic nations were included in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It also had its own ambitions in the Balkans (annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1908). Austria was worried as Serbia was growing stronger and stronger, wanting to form a state similar to later Yugoslavia. Russia supported this Serbian struggle. With Austria-Hungary and her support of the Central powers on one side and Russia with French, and perhaps even British support on the other, the Balkans formed a perfect conflict site. We have to crush Serbia like a viper Austrian commander in chief. Austria-Hungary and Germany thus had reasons for their slight paranoia. As and addition to this served the image of barbaric hordes from the steppes of Asia, charging the civilized central Europe. This visceral fear and the fact that with the population of 166 million people, Russia had practically unlimited human power reserves (and would be therefore practically undefeatable if there were an adequate amount of equipment) made Russia itself the biggest fear of the Central Powers, as proved by the Schlieffen plan, which stated that it was necessary to focus on Russia after quickly defeating France. We cannot compete with the Russian masses. Von MoltkeA perfect example of the fact that nations went to war mostly because of fear and not gain is first war declaration. This was caused by the Russian mobilization, which was a reaction to German aggression towards Prussia. Russia, however, was for now not going to precede any further then a mobilization. But fear and confusion led the Germans into the certainty that Russia is about to attack. German mobilization was then the obvious next step, and The Great War was about to begin. States therefore did go to war because of fear of different issues. But it must be remembered that without any perspective of profit, there would not be anything to fear in the first place. For example, Frances gain would be Germanys loss and thus reasons for war for all countries included both gain and fear aspects. It is, however, obvious that the many miscalculations of mainly, but not only, the German government caused severe confusion and uncertainty about who is actually the one in control, causing this to result in the dominance of fear reasons. Bibliography: my history teacher

The Vietnam War On The Americans Reputation History Essay

The Vietnam War On The Americans Reputation History Essay War is an inevitable concept within American history. A nation that in some way or form has risen as an ally to many, and gained a reputation for being amongst, if not, the most powerful nation in the world, based on a series of victories both internally and externally, significantly as a key figure throughout the Cold War (1947-1989). The loss of the Vietnam War (1956-1973) is a black mark on Americas reputation and indeed history. There are a series of contributing factors to Americas downfall which include implemented strategies and tactics from both opposing sides, political and economic factors, the TET offensive and of course the American anti-war movement. Each factor inevitably played a role and adds to the list of reasons as to why America lost the Vietnam War. The effective strategies and tactics implemented by the communist forces namely the NVA (North Vietnamese Army) and Vietcong can be seen as a significant factor to the communist victory in 1975 Vietnam. These tactics and strategies employed by the South Vietnamese and US forces ultimately impacted strongly on the civilians in Vietnam and lead to the rise of anti-war movements in the USA. Mao Zedongs Golden Rules seemingly formed the basis for communist attacks by the Vietnamese. It entitled that The enemy advances, we retreat; the enemy camps, we harass; the enemy tires, we attack; the enemy retreats, we pursue (FOOTNOTE). This made communist forces a very strong and able fighting force, as they were both militarily and politically strong. Politically they were able to persuade civilians through nationalism and the promise of land reforms. Guerrilla warfare was the main tactics employed by the communist forces to achieve their main aims. It proved very successfully prior to 1960 in defeating both the French and Japanese as they adopted guerrilla warfare to textbook perfection (FOOTNOTE). Similarly guerrilla warfare favoured communist forces namely the Vietcong and the NLF (National Liberation Front) as the jungle like terrain of Vietnam was much suited to guerrilla warfare and they had the support from majority of the peasantry who were essentially the eyes and ears (FOOTNOTE) of the communist forces. Guerrilla warfare was also adopted in response to the military might and the sophisticated weaponry of the US and ARVN (Army of The republic of Vietnam). Tactics implored to combat this included a 300 kilometre intricate network of underground tunnels built by the Viet Cong and the NLF which housed food and weapon supplies, hospitals and protection from American artillery barrages and air strikes (FOOTNOTE). General Giap believed the way to victory was by gradually wearing down the enemy the way to win is by small defeats, one after the other until the coup de grace (FOOTNOTE). The result of guerrilla warfare was very successful, particularly in demoralising the enemy, as there was a constant threat of an ambush or stumbling upon the many mines and traps planted by the communist forces which accounted for 10% of American casualties (FOOTNOTE). Essentially it was the view that one guerrilla killed is equal to two main force killed. (FOOTNOTE) In comparison to the Vietcong, the US and ARVN had no effective strategies implemented to combat the communist forces guerrilla tactics, and in comparison to the American infantry, communist forces namely the Viet Cong were well trained in political indoctrination for the villages and gaining their support, as civilian support would ultimately prove essential for victory (FOOTNOTE). Another contributing factor as to why the Americans lost in Vietnam can be seen in contrast to the communist forces. Both the USA and the South Vietnamese forces implemented ineffective tactics and strategies which consequently contributed to the communist victory. Many historians such as David Chandler believed that the United States could have never won as French President Charles de Gaulle in 1962 predicted, step by step, is sucked into a bottomless military and political quagmire (FOOTNOTE). The escalation of advisors from 1962-1964 to 100,000, and after the Gulf of Tonkin incident in August 1964 American troops numbers increased and where engaged in military operation (FOOTNOTE). This gradual build of troops historian Stanley Karnow believed is another reason for the communist victory, as they should of began with a full-scale commitment as a gradual build up allowed the North to expand and the South to deteriorate (FOOTNOTE). The American and South Vietnamese forces relied heavily on their advance weaponry and conventional military tactics instead through political and social means as historian High Higgins states Americans sought to achieve liberation by means of destruction.(FOOTNOTE) Tactics employed include Search and Destroy which aimed at surrounding and attacking suspected villages which had potential for harbouring Vietcong (FOOTNOTE). Many of the villages were attacked even without Vietcong infiltration, leading to the increasing peasant support for the communist forces. Other tactics employed include many bombing operations including Barrel Roll and Rolling Thunder, with use of napalm, defoliants and herbicides such as Agent Orange were used in the belief of removing significant amounts of jungle to make the Vietcong easier to spot, these operations destroyed over 1/3 of the Vietnamese jungles (FOOTNOTE). These many tactics used by the US and South Vietnamese led to many civilian casualties thus increasing support for the communist forces. There was an alleged 1.3 million civilian casualties as a result from both US forces as well as communist forces with many of these casualties due to the ineffective US strategies including the bombing operations having much effect on peaceful villages (FOOTNOTE). It is the massacre at My Lai highlights in which 450 men, women and children were killed, which highlights the low morale and frustration of the American soldiers resulting in a media and anti war movement backlash (FOOTNOTE). The ineffectiveness led to greater civilian support for the communist forces, which was vital for a communist victory. The US and South Vietnamese forces failed to develop a democratic and reformed government in the south in opposition to the North. America backing the Diem regime during the escalation of the war, a dictatorship that features oppression, repression, censoring, corruption and nepotism created much dissent from the civilians and boosted support for the communist forces. The Strategic Hamlet programme (1962) which removed peasants from their lands and was militarily enforced, created resentment towards the US and South Vietnamese governments (FOOTNOTE). There were also easily infiltrated by the Viet Cong, thus creating more support for the communist forces. Under Nixons introduction to the policy of Vietnamisation in 1969 began the start of US troop withdrawal and leaving the responsibility of the war to the South Vietnamese ARVN, which highlights another ineffective tactic amounting to the victory of the communist forces. The US still provided financial and military support, but the ARVN were much dependant on the US forces and without them were unable to defend South Vietnam. They were poorly trained and lacked military logistics and intelligence. Vietnamisation left an inadequate South Vietnam to defend itself against the North, leading to the inevitable Communist victory on April 30, 1975. TET is the Buddhist New Year and an informal recognised truce was usually held (FOOTNOTE). Beginning 1968, January 31st, North Vietnams military leader Vo Nguyen Giaps plan was to simultaneously attack all targets, but this had failed. But it did not diminish intensity of a campaign that nearly defeated South Vietnam. Six major cities in South Vietnam were attacked, for nearly a week Saigon was in flames and the US embassy was temporarily occupied by the Vietcong. The TET offensive was a military victory for the US/ARVN forces. All battles won by US and the casualty rates were in favour of the US at this point after massive US bombing missions decimated North Vietnamese positions. The primary focus of the news in the US was the heroic struggle of the American soldiers to defeat communist menace in the south; the US population was led to believe they were winning the war. The US continued to claim their forces were pushing back the NVA into Laos and Cambodia. But as the conflict intensified, many news reporters clashed with military authorities in Saigon. The idea of US success was crushed by TET Offensive in 1968, the world saw Saigon in flames and the US embassy occupied (FOOTNOTE). Viewers began to question war effort. Hanois military losses converted into a media victory as anti-war demonstrations accelerated in US. Hanoi lost the TET offensive because it was not a quick victory, troops were overextended and under supplied, the South Vietnamese stood their ground and didnt retreat, the US air power provided crucial support and no uprise of the people took place. Even though the North lost the battle during the TET Offensive, it was effective in diminishing the will of the US, which was another significant contributing factor. The origins of anti-war movements in the USA can be traced to the commencement of President Johnsons massive bombing campaign (Operation Rolling Thunder 1965-68) on North Vietnam and the introduction of conscription (FOOTNOTE). On university campuses groups like Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the War Resisters League began to spring up, questioning why their peers were fighting without a cause and being killed on the other side of the world. They refused to fight, and avoided the draft by changing their name or moving to Canada. 13 000 young men were convicted for draft avoidance and fined up to $10 000 or sentenced to 12 months hard labour (FOOTNOTE). Others who were conscripted showed their dissatisfaction with the war by wearing peace symbols and refusing to obey orders. The media coverage of the war once more instrumental in communicating the horrors of the conflict to a public who had been consuming optimistic propaganda they received from the government. Protest activities included rallies, marches, draft-card burning, teach-ins, and speeches to name a few. By 1967 there was a bitter change in Americas attitude to the war. In New York 100 000 anti-war protesters congregated and many more did the same in San Francisco, while urban riots occurred in Detroit (FOOTNOTE). An anti-military backlash meant that soldiers returning from war were considered baby-killers, not heroes like their fathers had been in WWII. Vietnam Veterans Against the War was formed. It was inevitable that the US and RoV were to be defeated in the Second Indochina war. What attributed to this defeat were not only the strengths of the Norths strategy of guerrilla warfare and the vital success of the Ho Chi Minh Trail in supplying the troops. The strategy of the US and the South was hopeless in all senses for this type of war. Their use of conventional techniques and Pacification programs in the end pushed the people to believe they are in fact the enemy. The fact that the North has an emotional cause appealing to the whole of the people and the all-round inappropriate strategy of the south and US it was inevitable from the stat that the South would be defeated.

Analysis of the Chocolate Industry in India

Analysis of the Chocolate Industry in India Project Objective This project aims at understanding the overall Chocolate Industry in India, the product portfolios of different players in the market, various factors affecting the growth and success of chocolate industry in India, the challenges and opportunities which the market offers and the changing trends in the Indian Chocolate Industry. The project also covers a brief study of Cadburys India with reference to above points. An Overview of Chocolate Industry in India The chocolate industry in India as it stands today is dominated by two companies, both multinationals. The market leader is Cadbury with a lions share of 70 percent. The companys brands (Five Star, Gems, Eclairs, Perk, Dairy Milk) are leaders their segments. Till the early 90s, Cadbury had a market share of over 80 percent, but its party was spoiled when Nestle appeared on the scene. The latter has introduced its international brands in the country (Kit Kat, Lions), and now commands approximately 15 percent market share. The Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) and Central Arecanut and Cocoa Manufactures and Processors Co-operative (CAMPCO) are the other companies operating in this segment. Competition in the segment will get keener as overseas chocolate giants Hersheys and Mars consolidate to grab a bite of the Indian chocolate pie. Per Capita Chocolate Consumption (in lb) of first 15 countries of the world Rank Countries Per Capita Consumption (in lb) Switzerland 22.36 Austria 20.13 Ireland 19.47 Germany 18.04 Norway 17.93 Denmark 17.66 United Kingdom 17.49 Belgium 13.16 Australia 12.99 Sweden 12.90 United States 11.64 France 11.38 Netherlands 10.56 Finland 10.45 Italy 6.13 INDIA, stands nowhere even near to these countries when compared in terms of Per Capita Chocolate Consumption. The Indian chocolate industry is extremely fragmented with a range of products catering to a variety of consumers. We have the bars/slabs, jellies, lollipops, toffees and sugar candies. Given Indias mammoth population, it comes as a surprise that per capita chocolate consumption in the country is dismally low a mere 20 gms per Indian. Compare this to over 7 kgs in most developed nations. However, Indians swallowed 22,000 tonnes of chocolate last year and consumption is growing at 10-12 percent annually. The market size of chocolates was estimated to be around 16,000 tonnes, valued around Rs. 4.16 billion in 1998. Volume growth which was over 20% pa in the 3 years preceding 1998, slowed down thereafter. Both chocolate and sugar confectioneries have abysmally low penetration levels, in fact, even lower than biscuits, which reach 56 per cent of the households. Market growth in the chocolate segment has hovered between 10 to 20%. In the last five years, the category has grown by 14-15% on an average and will expect it to continue growing at a similar rate in the next five years. The market presently has close to 60mn consumers and they are mainly located in the urban areas. Growth will mainly come through an increase in penetration as income levels improve. However, almost all of this consumption is in the cities, and rural India is nearly chocolate-free. But the fact is that three quarters of Indians live in Rural Areas. Average summertime temperatures reach 43 degrees Celsius in India. Chocolate melts at body temperature of 36 degrees. Per capita consumption of chocolates in India is minuscule at 20gms in India as compared to around 5-8 kgs and 8-10 kgs respectively in most European countries. Awareness about chocolates is very high in urban areas at over 95%. Growth of other lifestyle foods such as malted beverages and milk food have actually declined by 3.7 per cent and 11.7 per cent, however the CHOCOLATES continue to grow at the rate of 12.6%. Low priced unit packs, increased distribution reach and new product launches can be said to have fuelled this growth. The launch of lower-priced, smaller bars of chocolate in the last two years and positioning of chocolate as a substitute to traditional sweets during festivals, have boosted consumption. This is also because chocolate, which was considered to be an elitist food, has caught the fancy of buyers looking for a lifestyle item at affordable cost. Till recently, chocolate consumption had been restricted by low purchasing power in the market. Chocolates and other cocoa-based snack foods were looked upon as food suitable only for the well-off. After economic liberalization in 1991, major changes have occurred in food habits, partly on account of rise in gross domestic product (GDP) growth and higher purchasing power in the hands of the middle-class representing a third of the total population. Availability of chocolate products has also exploded. A study had projected that sales of the Indian chocolate industry would rise from $125/$130 million in 1998 to $175/$180 million by the year 2000 and to $450 million by the year 2005 which ACTUALLY happened irrespective of various negative factors. Per capita chocolate consumption continues to be low at about 200g per person, being mainly consumed in urban areas. In the middle and higher income groups, 70 per cent of children, 43 per cent of young adults and 16 per cent of adults consume chocolate. AC Nielsen ORG Marg report estimates the Indian Chocolate Industry worth at Rs 2,000-crore (Rs 20 billion) Types of Chocolates Depending on what is added to (or removed from) the chocolate liquor, different flavors and varieties of chocolate are produced. Each has a different chemical make-up, the differences are not solely in the taste. 1. Unsweetened or Baking chocolate is simply cooled, hardened chocolate liquor. It is used primarily as an ingredient in recipes, or as a garnish. 2. Semi-sweet chocolate is also used primarily in recipes. It has extra cocoa butter and sugar added. Sweet cooking chocolate is basically the same, with more sugar for taste. 3. Milk chocolate is chocolate liquor with extra cocoa butter, sugar, milk and vanilla added. This is the most popular form for chocolate. It is primarily an eating chocolate. Cocoa is chocolate liquor with much of the cocoa butter removed, creating a fine powder. It can pick up moisture and odors from other products, so you should keep cocoa in a cool, dry place, tightly covered. There are several kinds of cocoa Low-fat cocoa has the most fat removed. It typically has less than ten percent cocoa butter remaining. Medium-fat cocoa has anywhere from ten to twenty-two percent cocoa butter in it. Drinking or Breakfast cocoa has over twenty-two percent left in it. This is the cocoa used in chocolate milk powders like Nestles Quik. Dutch process cocoa is cocoa which has been specially processed to neutralize the natural acids in the chocolate. It is slightly darker and has a much different taste than regular cocoa. Decorators chocolate or confectioners chocolate isnt really chocolate at all, but a sort of chocolate flavored candy used for things such as covering strawberries. It was created to melt easily and harden quickly, but it isnt chocolate. Categories of Chocolates Commercial Chocolates are available in the following forms: Bars or Moulded Chocolates Counts Panned Chocolates (Gems) Éclairs Assorted Chocolates Bars or moulded chocolates (like Dairy Milk, Truffle, Amul Milk Chocolate, Nestle Premium, and Nestle Milky Bar) comprise the largest segment, accounting for 37% of the total chocolate market in volume terms. Wafer chocolates such as Kit-Kat and Perk also belong to this segment. Panned chocolates accounts for 10% of the total chocolate market. Wafer chocolates such as Kit-Kat and Perk also belong to this segment. .. Form of Consumption Pure Chocolates Toffees Cakes Pastries Malted Beverages Wafer Biscuits Baked Biscuits Chocolate Desserts Chocolate Manufacturing Process Workers cut the fruit of the cacao tree, or pods open and scoop out the beans. These beans are allowed to ferment and then dry. Then they are cleaned, roasted and hulled. Once the shells have been removed they are called nibs. Nibs are blended much like coffee beans, to produce different colors and flavors. Then they are ground up and the cocoa butter is released. The heat from the grinding process causes this mixture of cocoa butter and finely ground nibs to melt and form a freeflowing substance known as chocolate liquor. From there, different varieties of chocolate are produced. What is conching? Raw unprocessed chocolate is gritty, grainy and really not suitable for eating. Swiss chocolate manufacturer Rudolph Lindt discovered a process of rolling and kneading chocolate that gives it the smoother and richer quality that eating chocolate is known for today. The name conching comes from the shell-like shape of the rollers used. The longer chocolate is conched, the more luxurious it will feel on your tongue. Market Size (by value by volume) The Indian chocolate market is valued at Rs. 650 crores (i.e. Rs. 6.50 billion) a year. The Indian chocolate bazaar is estimated to be in the region of 22,000-24,000 tonnes per annum, and is valued in excess of US$ 80 million. Chocolate penetration in the country is a little over 4 percent, with Indias metros proving to be the big draw clocking penetration in excess of 15 percent. Next, comes the relatively smaller cities/towns where consumption lags at about 8 percent. Chocolates are a luxury in the rural segment, which explains the mere 2 percent penetration in villages. The market presently has close to 60mn consumers and they are mainly located in the urban areas. Major Players their Market Share The major players in the Indian Chocolate Industry are: Cadburys India Limited Nestle India The Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) AMUL Cocoa Manufactures and Processors Co-operative (CAMPCO) Cadburys India Limited A Study CADBURYS INTERNATIONAL Cadbury is a very old trusted name. It all started in Birmingham in England when John Cadbury started his family grocery shop with side business of cocoa and chocolate products in around 1824. His two sons, Richard and George, expanded their family business of cocoa and chocolate. Bournville, a town near Birmingham, was build by them as a part of expansion of their business. Cadbury family is also known for their contribution in social reforms and considered as liberals. This family was in the forefront of adult education movement in England. CADBURYS INDIA LIMITED Cadbury was originally incorporated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Cadbury Schweppes Overseas Ltd (CSOL) in 1948. The companys original name was Cadbury Fry (India) Ltd. In 1978, CSOL diluted its equity stake to 40% to comply with FERA guidelines. In 1982, the name was changed to Hindustan Cocoa Products. CSOLs shareholding was increased to 51% in Jan 83 through a preferential rights issue of Rs700mm. The current name was restored in Dec 89. In 2001, Cadbury Schweppes made an open offer to acquire the 49% public holding in the company. The parent holds over 90% of the equity capital after the first open offer. A second open offer has been made to buyback the balance shareholding, after which the company would operate as a 100% subsidiary of Cadbury Schweppes Plc Ever since the Cadbury is in India in 1947, Cadbury chocolates have ruled the hearts of Indians with their fabulous taste. The company today employs nearly 2000 people across India. Its one of the oldest and strongest players in the Indian confectionary industry with an estimated 68 per cent value share and 62 per cent volume share of the total chocolate market. It has exhibited continuously strong revenue growth of 34 per cent and net profit growth of 24 per cent throughout the 1990s. Cadbury is known for its exceptional capabilities in product innovation, distribution and marketing. With brands like Dairy Milk, Gems, 5 Star, Bournvita, Perk, Celebrations, Bytes, Chocki, Delite and Temptations, there is a Cadbury offering to suit all occasions and moods. Today, the company reaches millions of loyal customers through a distribution network of 5.5 lakhs outlets across the country and this number is increasing everyday. OBJECTIVES AND VALUES Our objective is to Grow shareholder valueover the long term Cadbury in every pocket Our marketing strategy is aimed at achieving this vision by growing the market, by appropriate pricing strategy that will create a mass market and to have offerings in every category to widen the market Our Managing For Value Process incorporates Setting stretched financial objectives. Adopting Value Based Management for major strategic and operational decisions and business systems. Creating an outstanding leadership capability within our management. Sharpening our company culture to reflect accountability, aggressiveness and adaptability. Aligning our management rewards structure with the interests of our shareowners. VISION Life Full Of Cadbury Cadbury is an organisation which impacts and interacts with the consumers. Cadbury is present in most happy occasions in the life of our consumer. Our brands excite our consumer. Cadbury is an expression of a consumers life. Cadbury Full Of Life Cadbury as a company is vibrant. Cadbury ia a fun and energising workplace. Cadbury is robust and alive. Business Cadbury dominates the Indian chocolate market with above 65 70 % market share. Besides, it has a 4% market share in the organized sugar confectionery market and a 15% market share in milk/ malted foods segment. Cadburys Indian operations are not just the largest in Asia but also the cheapest. In India, Cadbury has the largest market share anywhere in the world and has been the fastest growing FMCG Company in the last three years with a compound annual growth rate of 12.5 per cent. Plant locations Cadburys manufacturing operations started in Mumbai in 1946, which was subsequently transferred to Thane. In 1964, Induri Farm at Talegaon, near Pune was set up with a view to promote modern methods as well as improve milk yield. In 1981-82, a new chocolate manufacturing unit was set up at the same location in Talegaon. The company, way back in 1964, pioneered cocoa farming in India to reduce dependence on imported cocoa beans. The parent company provided cocoa seeds and clonal materials free of cost for the first 8 years of operations. Cocoa farming is done in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. In 1977, the company also took steps to promote higher production of milk by setting up a subsidiary Induri Farms Ltd near Pune. In 1989, the company set up a new plant at Malanpur, MP, to derive benefits available to the backward area. In 1995, Cadbury expanded Malanpur plant in a major way. The Malanpur plant has modernized facilities for Gems, Eclairs, Perk etc. Cadbury also operates third party operations at Phalton, Warana and Nashik in Maharashtra. These factories churn out close to 8,000 tonnes of chocolate annually. Cadburys Dairy Milk (CDM): Cadburys Dairy Milk is the flagship brand of Cadburys not only in India but world wide. CDM is the single largest selling unit in India. It has annual sales to the tune of Rs 200 crore. CDM not only accounts for 30 per cent of the total chocolate market in value, but commands nearly 26 per cent in volume terms and close to 30 per cent of Cadburys annual turnover. Moving from a predominantly adult positioning in the days of the legendary dancing girl ad, to the teens and the tweens, when the Cyrus Broacha ads hit the airwaves, CDM has made a long sweet journey. In spite of the new categories being explored by Cadbury, its star brand remains Cadbury Dairy Milk (CDM) which continues to corner almost 30 per cent of the chocolate market. Cadburys Temptation: Cadburys Temptation is premium chocolate brand aimed for high value consumption. Various variants available are Almond, Rum, Cashew Orange. Cadburys temptation is priced at Rs. 40 Cadburys Celebration Cadbury India launched its premium Celebrations range, which contains traditional Indian dry fruits wrapped in Dairy Milk chocolate. This gifting option combines the pleasure of giving away dry fruits which Indians traditionally consider a premium, healthy gift with chocolate. Cadbury now has 90 per cent market share in this profitable segment. PRODUCT REVAMPING INNOVATIONS Cadburys chocolate brands registered double-digit growth in 2002, touching an astounding 19 per cent in the second half of that calendar year. Getting the power brands right was the first priority, so genuine re-launches of the products were made. However, the growth rate was declining after that. The growth went down from 19 per cent in 1999 to 12 per cent in 2000 to single-digits, with seven per cent in 2001. If it staged a smart recovery to nearly 10 per cent in 2002, it was largely on the back of Chocki and the revamped power brands. PRODUCT INNOVATIONS: 5 STAR: Consumer feedback suggested that the old 5 Star was too chewy, and people complained of it sticking to their teeth. It was made softer and melted easily in the mouth introduced as 5 Star Crunchy PERK: Perk was made much lighter and the size of the bar increased to match Nestles Munch. Perk had been under fire from Nestles deadly duo of KitKat and Munch, but after the relaunch, its marketshare is two per cent more than KitKats. And, the five-year-old brand is now almost as big as the decades-old 5 Star in size, both in the region of Rs 50-55 crore. HEROES: Packaging innovation has played a vital role in revamping of various Cadburys brands. Heroes brand is simply a multi-pack with miniatures of all its most popular brands in a single outer case. NEW PRODUCT LAUNCHES Rich Dry Fruit Collection For Gifting Festive Season Cadbury Celebrations Rich Dry Fruit Collection a range of premium chocolate gift boxes. Available in attractive packs, the Collection caters to a premium gifting consumer and is an ideal festive gift. It is a unique combination of the best Cadbury chocolate and premium dry fruits and comes in four different formats each of which is a mix of select premium dry fruits enrobed in rich Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate. Cadburys Creative Launch A new after dinner segment Cadbury Desserts for sweet moments after dinner Khaane Ke baad Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye. Rs. 20/- per packet of 44 gms Cadbury Dairy Milk (CDM) Desserts with rich indulgent crà ¨me center, in exotic traditional flavors of Tiramisu and Kalakand. CDM Desserts offer the perfect rounding off taste, after meal that adds special Meetha moments to the family. The rich tastes of CDM combined with the unique crà ¨me center in exotic flavors provide a special chocolate experience. CDM Desserts add delight to the after-meal moments, especially with the consumers whose current choice of sweets range from home made delicacies to fruits to meethai. PRICING After the roaring success of Nestles Munch and Chocostick, Cadburys empire struck back hard. The Rs 5 price point accounts for more than half of all chocolate sales. Nestle had seized the initiative at this price point, with its launch of Munch, now a roaring success (and the largest selling product at that price point). Today, Cadbury has four products at this price point: CDM, Perk, 5 star and Gems and the five-rupee CDM bar is its single largest-selling SKU. This is a potent price point in India, because the average purchasing power is abysmally low, is what industry analyst have to say. Nestle kicked off one of the biggest success the liquid chocolate category with its brand Chocostick priced at Rs.2 three months ahead of competition. Cadbury did react with Chocki, priced at Rs 2, expanding the concept of sachetisation to new frontiers. Chocki has been the single biggest growth driver for Cadbury as well as the entire chocolate category. The novelty of the format endeared itself to the existing customer. In less than one year, it constituted nearly 10 per cent of the total chocolate market, split equally between Cadbury and Nestle. Volume led growth strategy Cadbury has followed a well-planned strategy of fuelling volume growth by introducing smaller unit packs at lower price points. Simultaneously, the company seems to have astutely juggled with the larger pack sizes and raised prices to a degree higher than what appears at face. The strategy has driven volumes in the last two years and we expect the volume growth to continue in the next two years. PRICE WOES Chocki, selling at a potent price point of Rs 2, was ideal for smaller towns, especially since it did not need refrigeration. But Chocki started to cannibalise other higher-priced chocolates in larger markets. The students of Bombay Scottish (an upmarket school in Mumbai) are not supposed to eat Chocki, they should not have even heard of the product. Distribution Chocolate needs to be distributed directly, unlike other FMCG products like soaps and detergents, which can be sold through a wholesale network. 90% of chocolate products are sold directly to retailers. Distribution, in the case of chocolates, is a major deterrent to new entrants as the product has to be kept cool in summer and also has to be adapted to suit local tropical conditions. Cadburys distribution network used to encompasses 2100 distributors and 450,000 retailers. The company has a total consumer base of over 65 million. Besides use of IT to improve distribution logistics, Cadbury is also attempting to improve distribution quality. To address the issues of product stability, it has installed VISI coolers at several outlets. This helps in maintaining consumption in summer, when sales usually dip due to the fact that the heat affects product quality and thereby offtake. To avoid cannibalization of its higher priced products from lower priced ones, Cadbury is setting up two separate distribution channels one for CORE business other for MASS markets, with different stockists, wholesalers and retailers. One set will be dedicated to Cadburys high-end products and traditional chocolates. The other will cater to the mass market brands namely Chocki, Halls, Eclairs et al all products priced below Rs 3. But today, Cadburys distribution network reaches out to six lakh outlets each for its chocolate confectionery brands (i.e. total reaching12 lakh outlets). Promotion Typically it is said that chocolates are being eaten when everyone is happy. And this is something advertising has always portrayed. But it is found chocolates are eaten under diverse conditions and moods when people are anxious, when they are sad, when happy a whole range of emotions. Condensing these views thoughts, it can be said chocolate is a true soul mate. Someone who is with you through the ups and downs of life, helping you bounce back. And thats what Cadburys Dairy Milk (CDM) positioned itself as a special friend. % Share of various Brands Ad spending of Cadbury Here, the 6 Cadbury brands shown in the graph comprise 85% of the advertising pie, whereas, rest of the 9 brands advertised by Cadbury comprise 15% of the advertising. Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate is the most advertised brand (with 22%). RE-INVENTING CABDURY Kya Swad Hai Zindagi Mein redefined the way Indians looked at Cadbury Chocolates. (The commercial showed a beautiful young lady overcoming all obstacles on the cricket ground, crossing boundary, watchman, securities and embracing her lover who won the game by hitting a six). This theme introduced in around mid 90s bought instant growth to Cadburys Dairy Milk. The Ad campaign ran successful for about four years and immersed deeper inside hearts of Indians. In March 2002, Cadbury launched its next advertisement campaign for its flagship chocolate brand, Cadburys Dairy Milk (CDM). The campaign featured a television (TV) commercial that was significantly different from the companys earlier commercials for the brand. It featured Cyrus Broacha interviewing college students and asking why they liked to eat CDM. This was followed by college students singing their excuses for eating CDM. Just as the commercial seems all set to end with the students and Cyrus singing the famous CDM theme, Khane Walon Ko Khane Ka Bahaana Chaahiye (those who want to eat, will find excuses), a student comes up and questions Cyrus, The advertisement aimed at conveying the idea that no specific occasion is required for consuming CDM. This was a significant departure from CILs strategy of appealing to adults in India, who sought a rational justification for indulging in chocolate consumption. Cadbury roped in Preity Zinta for its PERK brand. Preity Zintas angelic dim ples laid the foundation for what would become the Indian teenagers favorite snack. After this campaign, PERKS sale surged Cadburys advertising has, over the past few years, aptly reflected Indias passion for chocolates. Cadbury And The Worm Controversy The discovery of worms in some samples of Cadburys Chocolate in early October 2003 created one of the biggest controversies in India against a Multi National reputed for being a benchmark of QUALITY. The controversy created an deep adverse impact on the company with their sales not only drastically dipping down, but at the same time allowing the competitors to establish their foothold and taking maximum advantage of Cadburys misfortune. The controversy, and the adverse publicity received in several countries, set back its plan of outsourcing model which would have resulted in significant revenue generation, several months back. The worms controversy came at the worst time.the next few months were the peak season of Diwali, Eid Christmas. Cadbury sells almost 1,000 tonnes of chocolates during Diwali. In that year, the sales during festival season dropped by 30 per cent. The company saw its value share melt from 73 per cent in October 2003 to 69.4 per cent in January 2004. In May, however, it inched up to 71 per cent. CDM sales volumes declined from 68 per cent in October 03 to 64 per cent in January 2004 Clearly, the worm controversy took a toll on Cadburys bottom-line. For the year ended December 2003, its net profit fell 37 per cent to Rs 45.6 crore (Rs 456 million) as compared with a 21 per cent increase in the previous year. However, Cadburys reiterated that all through the 55 years of leadership in India, that it has remained synonymous with chocolates and have remained committed to high quality and consumer satisfaction. CABDBURYS FIGHT-BACK Project Vishwas Steps to ensure quality regain the confidence Following the controversy over infestation in its chocolates, Cadbury India Ltd unveiled Project Vishwas, a plan involving distribution and retail channels to ensure the quality of its products. The companys team of quality control managers, along with around 300 sales staff, checked over 50,000 retail outlets in Maharashtra and replaced all questionable stocks with immediate effect. The Vishwas programme was intended to build awareness among retailers on storage requirements for chocolates, provide assistance in improving storage conditions and strengthen packaging of the companys range of products. Cadbury reduced the number of chocolates in its bulk packets to 22 bars from the present 60 bars. These helped stockists display and sell the products safely and hygienically 190,000 retailers in key states were covered under this awareness programme. The Big B FACTOR The big factor that has pushed up CDM sales is the Amitabh Bachchan campaign. It helped restore consumers faith in the quality of the product. In early January, Cadbury appointed Amitabh Bachchan as its brand ambassador for a period of two years. The company believed that the reputation he has built up over the last three decades complements their own, which was built over a period of 50 years. Yet, the entire credit of recovery could not be attributed to the brand mascot. Incisive action taken by the company also helped. Some of which were: Responded to consumers concern over the issue rapidly. Also, the communication campaign worked effectively in giving out the central message. The packaging was changed to include a sealed plastic wrapper inside the outside foil. Cadburys launched a new purity-sealed packaging for its flagship product, Cadbury Dairy Milk. The packaging is in response to foreign bodies, notably worms, being found in its products. Over the next few weeks Cadbury will work towards introducing either a heatsealed or a flow-pack packaging that offers a high level of resistance to infestation from improper storage. New advertising promotion campaigns were in place which accounted for an Ad spend of nearly Rs 40 crore (Rs 400 million) Cadbury invested nearly Rs 25 crore (Rs 250 million) this year on new machinery for the improved packaging. CADBURYS SINGING SWEETLY AGAIN All is well that ends well. And for Cadburys India, nothing can be sweeter than Regaining Back the Consumer Confidence. Thanks to quick action taken to recover the damage done by the worm controversy like Operaion Vishwas, adopting new packaging massive advertising with Mr. Amitabh Bachchan as their brand ambassador, Cadburys regained its market share. The survey conducted by the company says that consumers have long forgotten the controversy and are back to their merry chocolate-chomping ways. Sales were back to the precontroversy levels. Consumer confidence in the product was back and there was a steady progression in sales .The company posted a high double digit sales growth in that year end. The recovery began in May 2004 when Cadburys value share went up to 71 per cent. Hires AT Kearney to curb costs Cadbury India appointed management consultancy firm AT Kearney to draw up a strategy to control costs in several areas, including sourcing of raw materials and packaging. This was partly an outcome of the worms controversy more than a year ago. Among other things, it changed the wrappers for its Cadbury Dairy Milk brand and introduced better coolers. The consultancy firm will also look at the sourcing of direct and indirect materials like renegotiating with suppliers for longer term contracts and vendor management. Other costs (indirect expenses) like travel costs and hotels were also being studied. In other words, Cadbury is trying to reduce the cost per stock keeping unit (SKUs, or packs). The aim is to improve efficiencies. Earnings sensitivity factors Cocoa bean prices: Domestic as well as international prices of key raw material cocoa have significant impact on margins. Excise duties : Changes in excise levied on malt and chocolate influences end product prices and thereby volume growth as well as margins. Changes in

tempcolon Confronting Colonialism and Imperialism in Aime Cesaires A

Confronting Colonialism in A Tempest   Ã‚  Ã‚   A Tempest by Aime Cesaire is an attempt to confront and rewrite the idea of colonialism as presented in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.   He is successful at this attempt by changing the point of view of the story.   Cesaire transforms the characters and transposes the scenes to reveal Shakespeare’s Prospero as the exploitative European power and Caliban and Ariel as the exploited natives.   Cesaire’s A Tempest is an effective response to Shakespeare’s The Tempest because he interprets it from the perspective of the colonized and raises a conflict with Shakespeare as an icon of the literary canon.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In The Tempest by William Shakespeare one might argue that colonialism is a reoccurring theme throughout the play because of the slave-master relationship between Ariel and Caliban and Prospero.   It is also noticeable through the major and minor changes in status among the temporary inhabitants of the island like Trinculo and Stephano (Brower 463).   These relationships support the theme that power is not reciprocal and that in a society someone will be exploited.   Shakespeare first introduces the idea of colonialism when he allows Prospero to be ruler over Caliban, the native inhabitant of the island.   This is a direct link to the colonization by the Europeans in the late 1400’s.   Caliban reveals this idea of colonization in Act I Scene 2 when he says, â€Å" This island’s mine by Sycorax, my mother, /Which thou tak’st from me†¦For I am all the subjects that you have, /Which first was my own king; and here you sty me/In this hard rock, while you do keep from me /The rest o’ th’ island† (Shakespeare 37).   Shakespeare’s diction in this dialogue as well as in Prospero’s response that fol... ....2001 http://www.britannica.com /seo/a/aime-fernand-cesaire/>    Becker, Zachery. â€Å"Aime Cesaire’s A Tempest†. (1999) 18 April.2001    Brower, Reuben. Shakespeare: Modern Essays in Criticism. Ed. Leonard Dean. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1967.  Ã‚      Cesaire, Aime. A Tempest. Trans. Richard Miller.   USA: UBU Repertory Theater Publications, 1992.    Hawkes, Terence. That Shakespearean Rag: essays on a critical process. New York: Methuen and Company, 1986.    Mullenix, Elizabeth Reitz. â€Å"The Tempest.† Illinois Shakespeare Festival. (1996) 18 April2001.    â€Å"Negritude.† Encyclopedia Britannica. (1999): 27 April.2001 http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?idxref=283623    Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. London: Washington Square Press, 1994. tempcolon Confronting Colonialism and Imperialism in Aime Cesaire's A Confronting Colonialism in A Tempest   Ã‚  Ã‚   A Tempest by Aime Cesaire is an attempt to confront and rewrite the idea of colonialism as presented in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.   He is successful at this attempt by changing the point of view of the story.   Cesaire transforms the characters and transposes the scenes to reveal Shakespeare’s Prospero as the exploitative European power and Caliban and Ariel as the exploited natives.   Cesaire’s A Tempest is an effective response to Shakespeare’s The Tempest because he interprets it from the perspective of the colonized and raises a conflict with Shakespeare as an icon of the literary canon.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In The Tempest by William Shakespeare one might argue that colonialism is a reoccurring theme throughout the play because of the slave-master relationship between Ariel and Caliban and Prospero.   It is also noticeable through the major and minor changes in status among the temporary inhabitants of the island like Trinculo and Stephano (Brower 463).   These relationships support the theme that power is not reciprocal and that in a society someone will be exploited.   Shakespeare first introduces the idea of colonialism when he allows Prospero to be ruler over Caliban, the native inhabitant of the island.   This is a direct link to the colonization by the Europeans in the late 1400’s.   Caliban reveals this idea of colonization in Act I Scene 2 when he says, â€Å" This island’s mine by Sycorax, my mother, /Which thou tak’st from me†¦For I am all the subjects that you have, /Which first was my own king; and here you sty me/In this hard rock, while you do keep from me /The rest o’ th’ island† (Shakespeare 37).   Shakespeare’s diction in this dialogue as well as in Prospero’s response that fol... ....2001 http://www.britannica.com /seo/a/aime-fernand-cesaire/>    Becker, Zachery. â€Å"Aime Cesaire’s A Tempest†. (1999) 18 April.2001    Brower, Reuben. Shakespeare: Modern Essays in Criticism. Ed. Leonard Dean. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1967.  Ã‚      Cesaire, Aime. A Tempest. Trans. Richard Miller.   USA: UBU Repertory Theater Publications, 1992.    Hawkes, Terence. That Shakespearean Rag: essays on a critical process. New York: Methuen and Company, 1986.    Mullenix, Elizabeth Reitz. â€Å"The Tempest.† Illinois Shakespeare Festival. (1996) 18 April2001.    â€Å"Negritude.† Encyclopedia Britannica. (1999): 27 April.2001 http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?idxref=283623    Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. London: Washington Square Press, 1994.

Anointed King :: essays research papers

Within Shakespeare’s play Richard II there are many questionable and untrusting characters. Truth and duty are only illusions within the play. Lust for power and control override the order of England and its ordained king. It’s believed that it is by the will of God that Richard is king. No mortal man can come between what God has set before them as rule. The final decision is God’s and the only way that God’s choice can be changed is by God himself, and no one else. God takes the Garden of Eden from Adam, and like Adam, England is taken from Richard. It is questionable if Bolingbroke acts against God’s will or through God’s will. Richard is king, and though a sad choice, he has been ordained by God as king and ruler of England. It is not for his followers to decide if he is to be replaced by someone that they feel would be a better caretaker of the “garden';. In Richard II , by overtaking the crown and replacing R ichard with Bolingbroke, society is going against its own belief that Richard is ordained by God. From an Englishman’s point of view it could be argued that God is somewhat responsible for the state that England is in, because they believe Richard was chosen by God. Within Richard II , God is believed to be forsaken so that England can become a great kingdom again, and this is done in hope that Richard’s wrongs can be made right by Bolingbroke. Richard’s opposition - York, Bolingbroke, and Northumberland - believe that what they are doing is done to regenerate the badly tended “garden';. They want to replant it with Bolingbroke as king, and this they believe will restore England to order. By judging and replacing Richard they are going against what their society believes is God’s will. This is the worst mistake of all, because as the saying goes “two wrongs don’t make a right';. They are playing against a power fa r greater than anything they could imagine Richard being able to do. Their worries should not be of what Richard will do to them if they do not succeed, but what God will do to them at any given time. Northumberland tells of how the kingship will be restored and the garden revived. "If then we shall shake off our slavish yoke,/ Imp out our drooping country’s broken wing,/ Redeem from broking pawn the blemished crown,/ Wipe off the dust that hides our scepter’s gilt,/ And make high majesty look like itself," (Richard II II.

Fine Arts Classes Are Necessary Essay examples -- Persuasive Essay

Fine arts classes benefit students and schools alike. Fine arts are needed courses, not just as electives but as core classes that promote learning and creativity in the lives of students. There are three different styles of learning: auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. Fine art provides an avenue for all of these learning styles to be utilized during one class period; therefore, all students are able to understand and benefit from the curriculum. In a normal academic setting all types of learning may not be used, so a percentage of the classroom will not understand the lessons as well as it could have if it had arts incorporated into the class. It may seem impossible to include arts into an academic setting, but it is possible, effective, and fun. According to Barry Oreck, it has been proven that students learning molecular bonding through a dance had a more proficient understanding of the concept. He states, â€Å"We have found that if you learn something through a theater game, you can still answer a test question† (new horizons Dickerson 3). This statement proves that arts are extremely important and beneficial. With fine arts, students have a safe environment to express themselves, a motivation to stay in school, and higher test scores. The fact that fine arts are needed is evident, but will schools respond or live in denial? The arts provide a safe environment for students to express themselves without the worry of ridicule. These kids should have the opportunity to participate in multiple fine arts activities as a way to communicate their feelings in a healthy atmosphere (Weber). Green Lake Elementary School believes its students â€Å"acquire a positive learning attitude for a lifetime, celebrate the uniqueness of... ...rts into schools is not as hard as it seems. Including arts in the class room is a simple as playing music. It is proven that just listening to music or even a simple rhythm will engage both sides of the brain and help it to learn more efficiently (Weber 1). Even though this country is in an economic recession, fine arts are a necessity to the schools. The arts may cost a little extra money, but in the end the benefits of keeping fine arts in the school system will bring about rewards never imagined. The students will have a safe place to express themselves, a motivation to stay in school, and a higher test score. Fine arts are evidently needed; so now, what will people do to make sure that the arts have a permanent place in the schools? Will people realize the difference the arts make and change their ways, or will the voice of fine arts dwindle and die?

Norman Foster

Norman Foster  Ã‚  Norman Foster is a major contributor to twentieth century architecture both in the westernworld and further afield. After starting his studies in architecture over 50 years ago he has designeda range of buildings (and bridges) and continues to produce outstanding designs today. Aswell asexploring Foster's career this essay will focus primarily on two of Foster's buildings, Creek VeanHouse in Cornwall and the Willis Building in Ipswich (originally the Willis Faber and DumasHeadquarters).Born in Manchester on 1 June 1935 to working class parents, Foster was a bright studentwho after attending a private school and a grammar school was pressurised to leave early in order toearn a living. It wasn't until 1956 after working in a bakery, a city treasurer's office, a factory,selling furniture, spending time in the Royal Air Force on national service and studying commerciallaw that he finally started his studies in architecture.Graduating from Manchester university school of architecture and city planning in 1961, Foster won the Henry fellowship to study at Yaleuniversity where he obtained his master's degree and also met Richard Rogers, another Britisharchitect whom he became good friends with. In 1963 Rogers and Foster along with their  respective wives Su and Wendy formed ‘Team 4', a practice known for its high-tech designs and thegroup behind Creek Vean House. In 1967 Team 4 ended and Foster and Wendy set up Foster  Associates (now Foster and Partners).Between 1968 and 1983 Foster collaborated on a number of  Ã‚  projects including the Samuel Beckett Theatre project with Richard Buckminster Fuller whohappened to be one of his idols. Foster called him a â€Å"lone voice,† whose work with geodesicsdemonstrated how building form could be both economical and ecological. Orientation and  building form became, for Foster, touchstones in his design of ecological architecture. – Michael J. Crosbie, ArchitectureWeek.Foster Asso ciates has produced many well known works such as theSainsbury Centre in Norwich, the Hongkong and Shanghai bank, the Millau Viaduct in France, theBritish Museum Great Court in London and the Swiss Re tower in London to name but a few. Over  History and Theory of Architecture the years Foster Associates has achieved more than 190 awards and won over 50 competitions for  its work, in 1990 Foster was Knighted and in 1999 he was honoured with a life peerage giving himthe title Lord Foster Of Thames Bank, in the same year he became the 21 st Pritzker ArchitecturePrize laureate.Creak Vean house was the first work of group Team 4, built in 1964, it was commissioned  by Marcus Brumwell as a home for himself and his wife who were the parents of Su Rogers. Although Foster has concentrated more on buildings for the workplace, houses which showsimilarities to Creek Vean are the Jaffe house and Murray Mews which were also designed by Team4, these buildings are orientated to make the most of their views and have large slanting glass walls,similar to the glass walk way and large glass walls in Creek Vean. The Willis Faber ; Dumas Headquarters in Ipswich was built from 1971-1975 as aworkplace for around 1300 employees.Foster has mostly designed buildings for the workplaceand is very good at designing space for employees to enjoy their surroundings. The three storey  building is surrounded by a glass facade, similar to that in some of his later buildings such as HearstTower in New York City, the Swiss Re Headquarters in London, the HSBC UK Headquarters inLondon and City Hall in London. The facade also has a curved appearance, with no hard edges or  corners, similar to the Swiss Re and City Hall buildings, the American Air Museum and the newWillis Headquarters in London.Inside the Willis Faber and Dumas Headquarters escalators lead upthrough the central atrium, in Foster's Hongkong and Shanghai bank he uses a similar approach buton a larger scale with a ten storey at rium and the escalators leading up to the main banking hall. The  Ipswich building established a couple of themes that Foster returned to in project after project: howthe building meets the ground in an accommodating way; how light, views, and the interior  environment can be adjusted and modified; and how to introduce green space into an urbanenvironment such as an office building. ArchitectureWeek Creek Vean House is positioned overlooking the Fal estuary in Cornwall on a steepriverbank. The house is made up of two separate blocks at different angles to each other linkedtogether by a long glass-roofed corridor which was used as a gallery. One of the blocks is one storeyhigh and contains the bedrooms and studio and the other block is two storeys high and contains theliving room and dining room, the ground floor ooms are cut back into the hillside and the onestorey block's roof is covered in vegetation, this gives the impression the house is carved into thelandscape. All the mai n rooms have large sliding doors off the main corridor and are angled so thatthey have the best views possible out over the estuary, this results in the rooms being fan shapedwith very angular corners. The house is constructed of exposed concrete blocks and reinforcedconcrete slabs, the floors are slate. Outside the building, winding steps lead down the slope fromthe access road above the house.They step down through the building over the corridor that linksthe two blocks (the corridor has a solid roof at this point), emphasising the split in the two parts of  the building and continue down through the garden to a boat house on the shore below. The Willis Faber ; Dumas Headquarters is situated in Ipswich. unlike many office buildingsit is only three storeys high and is spread out to fit in with the shape of the surrounding streets, withthe curved glass facade showing reflections of the surrounding buildings. On entering the buildingthere is a central atrium with escalators leading right up to the rooftop restaurant.Overlooking theatrium are the different storeys with open plan office space, the layout of the office space and factthat it is so open plan gives the workplace a very communal feel. †¦ orientation is direct:you alwaysknow where you are, one can move freely, the sun penetrates everywhere and there are only a fewvisual barriers. – Norman Foster. The building was also built with a rooftop garden and aswimming pool for the employees to use in their lunch breaks but the swimming pool has since  been covered with a glass floor.Around the time Creek Vean was built (1964) James Sterling had just built the Leicester  University engineering building (1963). There are similarities between their work, both use a lot of  History and Theory of Architecture glass and non standard geometry for walls however where Foster's house tries to blend in with thesurrounding area the University building is very bold and brutal. Another house built around thesame period is Hanselmann House in Indiana, 1967 by Michael Graves. This house is verymodernist with lots of open spaces and like Creek Vean it uses steps as a link to the house.VannaVenturi House was built between 1962-1964 by Robert Venturi. Unlike Creek Vean which blends inwith its environment Venturi's house really tries to make a statement. Around the time the Willis Faber and Dumas Headquarters was built (1971-1975),The Creek Vean House shows similarities to Frank Lloyd Wright's building's, particularlyFallingwater built from 1935-1937. Wright designed the house around the surroundings, similar toFoster and so it appears that the house is almost growing out of the rock beneath it. In both housessteps are used as a passageway from the house down to the water. History and Theory of Architecture