Wal-Mart Essay Example for Free

Wal-Mart Essay Wal-mart is the world’s largest retailer. The company employs some 1. 8million people,operates3,900 stores in the united states and 2,700 in the rest of the world, and generated sales of $345 billion in the fiscal year ending january31,2007. some $77billion of these sales wrer generated in 15 nations out side of the united states. Facing a slowdown in growth in the united states, wal-mart began its international expansion in the early 1900s when it entered mexico, teaming up in a joint venture with cifra, mexico’s largest retailer, to open series of super-centers that sell both groceris and general merchandise. Initially the retailer hit some headwinds in mexico. It quickly discovered that shopping habits wewe different. Most people prefered to buy fresh produce at local stores, particularly items like meat, tortillas , and pan dulce, which didn’t keep well overnight. Many consumers also lacked cars, and did not buy in large volumes as in the united states. Wal-mart adjusted its strategy to meet the local conditions, hiring local managers who understood mexican culture, letting those managers control merchandising strategy, building smaller stores that people could walk to, and offering more fresh produce, at the same time, the company beliveed that it could gradually change the shopping culture in mexico, educating consumers by showing them the benefits of its american merchandising culture. After all, wal-mart’s managers reasoned, people once shopped at small stores in the united states, but starting in the 1950s they increasingly gravidistribution systems in mexico, wal-mart was able to lower its own costes, which it passed on to mexico’s largest retailer, and the country is widely considered to be the companys most successful foreign venture.

Nuclear Fusion Essay -- physics nuclear fusion

The Industrial Revolution sparked a need for large sources of energy. Human and animal labor could not provide the power necessary to power industrial machinery, railroads, and ships. The steam engine and later the internal combustion engine provided the bulk of the energy required by the industrial age. Today most nations are still heavily reliant on energy that comes from combustion. Usually coal, petrolium, and natural gas are used. Some hydroelectric, wind power, and nuclear fission sources are used, but in the US they accounted for less than 20% of the total energy consumption in 1997 (1). Many experts are worried that natural resources such as coal and petrolium are being depleted faster than they are being replenished, which could result in an energy crisis. Nuclear fission produces highly radioactive waste that is expensive to dispose of properly. Nuclear fusion reactors would produce much less radioactive waste and would be more efficient than nuclear fission, but to date th ere have been no nuclear fusion reactors that have generated usable energy output. Why is fusion power, which could be very beneficial, so hard to come by? Nuclear fusion occurs when two atomic nuclei collide with enough energy to bind together to form one nucleus. Nuclear fusion occurs in the core of our sun, and is the source of its tremendous heat. In the sun hydrogen nuclei, single protons, fuse together and form a new nucleus. In the conversion, a small amount of mass is converted into energy. It is this energy that heats the sun. For nuclear fusion to occur, nuclei must have very high kinetic energies that will exceed the electrostatic repulsion between the nuclei. The extremely high temperature of the sun causes electrons to be stripped o... ... Power from nuclear fusion reactors would be a welcome achievement for the 21st century, and at the current rate of progress it seems likely that before the end of the new century energy will be available from nuclear fusion. It is estimated that it will take over a decade from the time a sustainable fusion reaction is achieved before fusion power will be available for use. But the attention being devoted to research is strong, the experiments are coming closer to fruition, and we are coming closer to having an almost limitless supply of energy. Bibliography 1) United States Department of Energy web site: http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/sep/us/pecg.html (Accessed 11-22-2000) 2) Fundamentals of Physics Extended: Fifth Edition. David Hanley, Robert Resnick, Jearl Walker. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc, New York, Chichester, Brisbane, Toronto, Singapore. 1997.

Plant Imagery Throughout the Scarlet Letter

Honors American Lit. B The Scarlet Letter Pathway Paper – 694 wordsApril 23, 2013 Throughout The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne uses vegetation imagery in correlation with his ideas about sinful nature and god. When describing the prison in the very beginning of the novel, Hawthorne writes, â€Å"a grass-plot, much overgrown with†¦ such unsightly vegetation, which evidently found something congenial in the soil that had so early borne the black flower of civilized society, a prison† (45-46).Hawthorne uses the imagery of a black flower to depict the sinful nature of humans as it was inevitable that even in this new flourishing society the people there saw the need to build a prison. This vivid image also relates to the Puritan’s harsh view on sin in the community. Throughout the novel Hawthorne frequently criticizes the Puritan society, this being another example, â€Å"but the proprietor appeared already to have relinquished, as hopeless, the effort to perpetuate on this side of the Atlantic, in a hard soil and amid the close struggle for subsistence, the native English taste for ornamental gardening† (97).The description of the Governor’s ornamental garden shows the garden failing, as if the person caring for it had given up and realized that it was impossible to have the ornamental garden in Boston the way it was in England. This parallels Hawthorne’s beliefs about Puritan society in that their abstruse beliefs would not sustain in the new world they were creating, for god is depicted through nature demonstrating how Hawthorne feels god is looking down on the materialistic and frivolous ways of the Puritans.Later in the novel Chillingworth says, â€Å"wherefore not, since all the powers of nature call so earnestly for the confession of sin, that these black weeds have sprung up out of a buried heart, to make manifest an unspoken crime? † (119). Nature is being associated with god in this passage theref ore Hawthorne is saying that god calls for the confession of sin and goes on to say that god disapproves of a person that does not confess, thus the black weeds, mirroring sin, grow on the graves of those who cling to secrets.This idea is also repeated later in the novel, â€Å"and all this time, perchance, when poor Mr. Dimmesdale was thinking of his grave, he questioned with himself whether the grass would ever grow on it, because an accursed thing must there be buried! † (130). Sin is again depicted as lifelessness in this passage, for Dimmesdale has sinned, and not confessed; therefore he is concerned that god will reject him. Hawthorne clearly writes with a style of dark romanticism epitomized through his description of sin in the beginning of the novel as inexorable in every society.Hawthorne also reflects his religious views and those of his times period in the way he sees god and nature as one, similar to the ideas of Pantheism, a belief in the manifestation of god th rough nature. Hawthorne frequently links god to nature as seen when Hester calls to nature, as if calling to god, for forgiveness, â€Å"’Thou shalt forgive me! ’ cried Hester, flinging herself on the fallen leaves beside him† (175). While nature symbolizes sin, it also symbolizes the comforting and forgiving appearance of god.In relation to the bible, â€Å"†¦the yellow leaves will show no vestige of the white man’s tread† (178), the yellow leaves reference the scripture Isaiah 43:25, which reads, â€Å"I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more† displaying the tie between nature and god both covering and forgetting sins; also tying into Hawthorne’s religious perspective in his writing. Nathaniel Hawthorne articulates his views on sin and god through his use of vegetation imagery throughout the scarlet letter; he continually uses dead and â€Å"black† imagery to al lude to sin and secrets.His use of dead vegetation implies that he believes confession is the relief of the burden of sin and the necessary action to obtain god’s approval and forgiveness. Hawthorne also represents god’s forgiveness through plant imagery; connecting god’s washing away of sin to the forest and nature washing away of sin. Fundamentally Hawthorne uses vegetation to convey his ideas on divinity and human sinful nature in The Scarlet Letter.

Holiday Decision Making

Name: Luong Thanh Long Class: FB3A CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND HOLIDAY I- Holiday decision-making is different from the traditional problem-solving model of consumer decision-making: 1) The traditional problem-solving model of consumer decision-making: * Behind the visible act of making a purchase lies a decision process that must be investigated. * The purchase decision process is the stages a buyer passes through in making choices about which products and services to buy. * Five Stages of Consumer Behavior: A. Problem Recognition: Perceiving a Need: Perceiving a difference between a person's ideal and actual situations big enough to trigger a decision. * Can be as simple as noticing an empty milk carton or it can be activated by marketing efforts. B. Information Search: Seeking Value Two steps of information search| Internal search| External search| * Scanning one’s memory to recall previous experiences with products or brands. * Often sufficient for frequently purchased products. * When past experience or knowledge is insufficient * The risk of making a wrong purchase decision is high * The cost of gathering information is low. * Personal sources, such as friends and family. * Public sources, including various product-rating organizations such as Consumer Reports. * Marketer-dominated sources, such as advertising, company websites, and salespeople| C. Alternative Evaluation: Assessing Value * The information search clarifies the problem for the consumer by: (1) Suggesting criteria to use for the purchase. (2) Yielding brand names that might meet the criteria. (3) Developing consumer value perception. * A consumer's evaluative criteria represent both The objective attributes of a brand (such as locate speed on a portable CD player) * The subjective factors (such as prestige). * These criteria establish a consumer's evoked set * The group of brands that a consumer would consider acceptable from among all the brands in the product class of which he or she is a ware. D. Purchase Decision: Buying Value Three possibilities| From whom to buy| When to buy| Do not buy| which depends on such considerations * Terms of sale * Past experience buying from the seller * Return policy. which can be influenced by * Store atmosphere * Time pressure * a sale * Pleasantness of the shopping experience. | | E. Postpurchase Behavior: Value in Consumption or Use * After buying a product, the consumer compares it with expectations and is either satisfied or dissatisfied. * Satisfaction or dissatisfaction affects * Consumer value perceptions * Consumer communications * Repeat-purchase behavior. * Many firms work to produce positive postpurchase communications among consumers and contribute to relationship building between sellers and buyers. Cognitive Dissonance: The feelings of postpurchase psychological tension or anxiety a consumer often experiences * Firms often use ads or follow-up calls from salespeople in this postpurchase stage to try to convince buyers that they made the right decision. In short, in the traditional problem-solving model of consumer decision-making, people tend to consider and investigate all the needs and desires of a product carefully through a range of steps. There are both internal and external factors affect on the decision-making of consumer. ) Holiday decision-making, as described in the case: * The genetic decision about whether or not to go on holiday was not always the starting point; and sometimes this genetic decision was irrelevant. * â€Å"People have a limited capacity for analysis, and this leads them to break down complex decisions into hierarchical processes and take into consideration a small number of critical variables at each level to make the decision-making process more manageable†. * â€Å"When confronted by a complex problem, the human brain ‘satisfies’ more than it ‘optimises’,† explains Nicolau. In this situation, â€Å"the individual will try to choose an option that is sufficiently satisfying, regardless of whether or not it is the best choice†. 2 * Final decision and bookings are often made very late. * Informants often expressed post-decision regret, which people strove to reduce. * Searching for holiday information tends to be affected by external factors. II- Compare the information search process, as it is described here, with the search process that consumers might follow for one other product category: Holiday information search process| Consumer search process for one product| * Information collection for a holiday tends to be stopped when the holiday has been booked * Real information are collected during the holiday * Consumer will get more conflicted conscious of information. * People do not prepare their trip in much detail. In contrast, they want to discover unexpected things. * Incidental learning seems to play a bigger role than internal learning. * For only one product, consumer will take more time to collect information of a product and analysis in more details and intensive from lots of sources. * Information collection lasts till they ensure that this information is correct and they can make a comparison with other products. * Consumer tries to avoid unexpected situation. * Information search information tends to be stimulus-based (external)| III- The implications of the findings for managers marketing and promoting holidays: 4P principle plays important role in the man agers marketing. Holidaymaker should make a holiday that meets the needs of customer. If we don't provide a holiday special or offer that helps them with those goals, we are doing them and your business a grave disservice. We also need to survey clients and customers from the current year to see how they can improve in the future. Think about how your channels work together and which channels reach your target customer. Offer a free gift or holiday discount to customers who take the time to complete your survey and do not forget to keep contact with your customer. Customer surplus is a very important area in Marketing mix. Only the marginal consumer is willing to pay just the market price in typical supply and demand equilibrium. The consumers would be willing to pay more than the market price is what makes the demand curve slope downward. The amount that these consumers would be willing to pay, but do not have to pay is known as the consumer surplus. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. 2 The magazine Tourism Management, Juan Luis Nicolau and Francisco Mas analysed data from 2,491 people gathered by the CIS http://www-rohan. sdsu. edu/~renglish/370/notes/chapt05/

Oxford Scandal Shakes up the Education World Essays

Oxford Scandal Shakes up the Education World Essays Oxford Scandal Shakes up the Education World Essay Oxford Scandal Shakes up the Education World Essay Oxford is thought to be the pioneer of education all over the world and it comes as an inherent disappointment when a scandal like this comes to the fore. The newest scandal against the ancient university is that of taking students in accordance with their wealth, reports The Guardian. The news, revealed just this week, shocked students and parents across the world because of the inherent knack of meritocracy that Oxford was so well renowned for. This is the reason why many students were rejected to be a part of Oxford last year, since they had to prove that they had a substantial amount of wealth. Not only did that form an elitist society, but also did not give any chances to students from smaller backgrounds who deserved to study at the university. The court proceedings took place this week whereby officials from the Admissions Office had to apologize for their unmentioned criterion. Their claim was that most universities followed the same pattern and it only made sense if Oxford did not miss out. However, coupled with the low acceptance rate and the fee bracket, the judge felt that the argument only made so much sense. However, this practice, it was found, was only limited to postgraduate programs. This raised much hue and cry in the House of Commons where the University Minister, David Willets stayed mum on the issue and simply commented that he knew of the lack of transparency prevalent in the admission process and how that was hindering the talents of several students. The director of graduate admissions, was therefore, made to apologize in court for wrongly depriving students of their right to be able to study in the institution. Jane Elizabeth Sherwood’s apology was then reiterated back to her as it was found that despite her claims and suggestions, college policy was twisted to suit officials as opposed to students. This not only severely disturbed students’ faith in Oxford, but also kept poor students from even applying this year. Officials were disappointed by the precedent that had been broken because of these practices and promised an action to stop this. The college being sued is St. Hugh’s. In addition to thirteen thousand pounds asked of students, they were also to pay for their accommodation costs therein, making it impossible for them to afford Oxford. The latest update is that Elizabeth was not incriminated along with several others, because she purported, she had continuously fought for admissions to be made on the ground of meritocracy. It is imperative that education be provided to the best of its extent by college officials and if universities like Oxford have started going on money based agenda, then it is only a matter of time before the rest of UK’s universities decide to flare up their fees and not let poor students attend college courses. It is that kind of attitude that keeps most from achieving what they truly deserve in life.

An Introduction to Socioeconomic Status

An Introduction to Socioeconomic Status Socioeconomic status (SES) is a term used by sociologists, economists, and other social scientists to describe the class standing of an individual  or group. It is measured by a number of factors, including income, occupation, and education, and it can have either a positive or negative impact on a persons life.   Who Uses SES? Socioeconomic data is gathered and analyzed by a wide range of organizations and institutions. Federal, state, and local governments all use such data to determine everything from tax rates to political representation. The U.S. Census is one of the best-known means of collecting SES data. Nongovernmental organizations and institutions like the Pew Research Center also collect and analyze such data, as do private companies like Google. But in general, when SES is discussed, its in the context of social science. Primary Factors There are three main factors that social scientists use to calculate socioeconomic status: Income: This is how much a person earns, including wages and salaries, as well as other forms of income such as investments and savings. The definition of income is sometimes expanded to include inherited wealth and intangible assets as well.Education: A persons level of education has a direct impact on their earning ability, with higher earning power leading to more educational opportunities that in turn increase future income potential.Occupation: This factor is more difficult to assess because of its subjective nature. White-collar professions that require a high degree of skilled training, such as physicians or lawyers, tend to require more education and thus return more income than many blue-collar jobs. This data is used to determine the level of ones SES, usually classified as low, middle, and high. But a persons true socioeconomic status doesnt necessarily reflect how a person sees him or herself. Although most Americans would describe themselves as middle class, regardless of their actual income, data from the Pew Research Center shows that only about half of all Americans are truly middle class. Impact The SES of an individual or group can have a profound influence on peoples lives. Researchers have pinpointed several factors that can be affected, including: Physical health: Communities with low socioeconomic status in the U.S. have higher rates of infant mortality, obesity, and cardiovascular health issues.  Mental health: Along with poor physical health, communities with low SES report more cases of depression, suicide, drug abuse, behavioral and developmental issues.General health and welfare: Along with the impact on an individuals well being, socioeconomic status can also have an impact on communities, including rates of crime and poverty. Oftentimes, communities of racial and ethnic minorities in the U.S. feel the effects of low socioeconomic status most directly. People who have physical or mental disabilities, as well as the elderly, are also particularly vulnerable populations. Resources and Further Reading Children, Youth, Families and Socioeconomic Status.  American Psychological Association. Accessed 22 Nov. 2017. Fry, Richard, and Kochhar, Rakesh. Are You in the American Middle Class? Find Out with Our Income Calculator. PewResearch.org. 11 May 2016. Tepper, Fabien. What is Your Social Class? Take Our Quiz to Find Out! The Christian Science Monitor. 17 Oct. 2013.

Video summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Video summary - Essay Example E.g. if they would breed with the normal salmon. However, the company that is involved has argued that these fish are sterile. The FDA is yet to decide if the genetically modified fish will carry a special label. Farmers in Arkansas are facing huge losses because their crops have been infested with a type of weed known as the ‘pigweed’. The weed is native to North America. Farmers have over the years been able to fight the weed using special chemicals. However, the chemicals have suddenly stopped working. The weed has adapted to the herbicides that were being used to kill them. The weed grows 3 inches a day and kills crops and destroys farm machinery like combine harvesters and cotton pickers. The farmers have now resulted to the traditional way of dealing with weed (using manual labor) which is slow and expensive. Scientists believe that the weed is now resistant to the herbicides used to kill it and a new herbicide needs to be developed. This might take close to seven