Art Imitates Life; Life Imitates Art Essay

Super Columbine Massacre RPG (SCMRPG) is a case of art imitates life. Danny Ledonne patterned his game after the infamous Columbine tragedy. He created characters and situations which are very similar to those that transpired on that fateful day. The question is, up to what extent does art start and stop imitating life? Are there any boundaries that should not be crossed? Are there any rules that should not be broken? These were some of the questions that Ledonne has been trying to answer regarding his game. He was criticized for being morally insensitive towards the feelings of those who were involved in Columbine. In this case, with regards to moral grounds, should a filmmaker or developer cease to create anything inspired by actual events? According to the one of the posts in Ledonne’s website, SCMRPG is one of the most important games in gaming history. It has discussed a significant awakening that no matter what anyone had done, in reference to the quote â€Å"we should have checked their rooms† voiced by one of the gunmen’s parents – there is nothing that could stop Harris and Klebold in their plan. It also showed how things started for the two boys and this sociological way of representing Harris and Klebold through SCMRPG might be a first step towards acceptance of video games as a legitimate medium for the expression of serious thoughts. SCMRPG also comprehensively dealt with the psychological profiles of both Harris and Klebold, which no one had ever done before (www. columbinegame. com). It has been said that the actions of Harris and Klebold were brought about by watching violent video games, which is an example of life imitates art. The pattern of execution and the detailed plan of going about the killing were blamed on the detailed video games as well as the music these boys listened to. But up to what extent can we blame art for the actions of a spectator? As Ledonne answered this question in relation the Dawson College shooting incident, he emphasized that merely playing a game that looks archaic does not encourage someone like Kimveer to go out and kill. In fact the game was devoid of all the gory details that gamers would typically want. Games do have effect on teenager violence but it’s not the only one to blame for it. The columbine massacre was a disaster waiting to happen. It just so happened that the 2 kids who committed the atrocious act were playing video games and that their favorite band was Marilyn Manson. The increasing incident of kids committing suicide due to bullying is alarming. As a coping mechanism for these 2 kids they wanted to hurt those people who hurt them but as kids, they made a very bad decision and very bad planning that they hurt other people as well. Klebold and Harris lost their direction in life and were not appropriately guided on how to overcome teenage emotions such as inadequacy and inferiority complex. Conclusion Super Columbine Massacre RPG was created to give gamers a feel of what Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold felt, with the intent of preventing another Harris or Klebold. However, moving aside artistic expression and the intent to save â€Å"potential† Harris or Klebold through human contact, looking at the game as an avid fan of computer games – there is not much to see actually. The 16-bit image that moves up and down and jumps from time to time gets a little bit boring. Nonetheless, the conversation between Klebold and Harris are a must-read. Ledonne had thoroughly researched the game that 80 percent of the dialogues were taken from Harris and Klebold’s own writings. The sounds used are a bit better than regular midi since it utilizes popular music which could actually make the â€Å"thinking† moments of the characters very effective. Too many literature have been written about the reasons why Harris and Klebold created such mayhem, but too little had been said about how these two boys were as much as a victim like those people they gunned down in Columbine. Almost as always, issues were being discussed in forums, articles were being published and documentaries were being aired. But, one media form that hasn’t been utilized till now was the gaming world. Ledonne wanted to change that by turning the silly world of gaming into a platform of more serious topics. He did so by creating SCMRPG. Ledonne on an interview by the Washington Post said that he would not create another game. SCMRPG was created with the intent of generating discussion and presenting a unique perspective on the events of Columbine. This may not be the future of gaming, but it is a step towards the future of how games will be treated and viewed in our culture–as artful, meaningful objects which represent the thoughts, ideas, dreams and nightmares of a unique creator (http://alt-games. com/? p=28). With regards to the objective of the game, I believe that it has amassed the intended attention and created an awareness regarding video games and violence. Ledonne had successfully generated a forum where families and loved ones of the Columbine incident could air their grievances (even though at the expense of the game). Works Cited Crecente, Brian (September 20, 2006). â€Å"Columbine RPG Creator Talks about Dawson Shooting†. Kotaku. http://www. kotaku. com/gaming/danny-ledonne/feature-columbine-rpg-creator-talks-about-dawson-shooting-201829. php. Retrieved on December 8, 2008. Dugan, Patrick (March 13, 2007). â€Å"Soapbox: Why You Owe the Columbine RPG (page 2)†. Gamasutra. http://www. gamasutra. com/features/20070313/dugan_02. shtml. Retrieved on May 8. , 2009. Holmes, T. J. ; Betty Nguyen (November 7, 2007). â€Å"Transcripts – CNN Sunday Morning†. CNN. http://edition. cnn. com/TRANSCRIPTS/0711/11/sm. 01. html. Retrieved on May 8, 2009. Stuart, Keith (January 11, 2007). â€Å"Gamesblog: Sorry, Boris, these ‘blasted gizmos’ are here to stay†. The Guardian: p. 3. Retrieved May 8, 2009. Thompson, Clive (January 15, 2007). â€Å"I, Columbine Killer†. Wired. http://www. wired. com/gaming/gamingreviews/commentary/games/2007/01/72491? currentPage=all. Retrieved on May 8, 2009. Vargas, Jose Antonio (May 20, 2006). â€Å"Shock, Anger Over Columbine Video Game†. The Washington Post: p. C6. http://www. washingtonpost. com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/19/AR2006051901979. html. Retrieved on May 8,2009

Flexible work options Essay

With our personal lives busier than ever, offering flexible work options to your employees could be the best way to keep the good ones around. By offering flexible work options, such as flextime, it will allow employees more family time, go back to school, if desired, to further education, as well as decrease absenteeism at work. Now, who wouldn’t want a job that offered the time allowed to do those kind of things? I know I would. Flexible work hours allow employees more time with their family. It allows more time to spend with their children, and to attend all school programs and plays. It allows a parent the opportunity to be able to take their child to school, and go back to pick them up from school. This makes for happy children which makes for happy parents, which in turn, makes for a happy employee. Happy parents working flexible schedules, are more productive at work and produce better quality of care. Not only does it allow for family time, but employees working flexible work hours are able to return to school on their own, and pursue that college degree they have always wanted. Not only does it allow to obtain a college degree, it allows one to go back to school to further the degree they already obtain. Working flextime allows the time to go back to school without interrupting the work schedule at work. This allows a person to work full time and attend school. Flextime allows the ability for employers to retain key, dedicated employees whose personal needs conflict with traditional work hours. By offering flextime, you’ll gain increased productivity and worker satisfaction, along with decreased absenteeism and turnover; all great money-savers for the company. Flextime helps create a happier, more satisfying workplace, too. Because employees are often so glad that their employers are willing to allow for a work-life time adjustment, they tend to work harder and in a more dedicated fashion to hold on to their now-perfect schedule and re-balance their lives, and actually enjoy coming to work. This is why no one calls-in to work. They love it. To keep happy employees, employers, fathers, mothers, or the entire family, offering flextime is the way to go. It allows for so many benefits, neither one can go wrong with working flexible work hours. It will produce happy parents, happy children, and happy employers. Work progress will improve so much as well as the quality of work provided. With the busy lives of people and everything that is required of some of them, flextime is the best way to go. Going with flextime makes everyone happy. Yay for flextime.

Indians and Europeans shape the different colonies

It has been more than five centuries since Christopher Columbus reached the Americas. We know a great deal about Columbus, of course, and about the Europeans and Africans who crossed the Atlantic after him. We know much less about the â€Å"Indians. † as Columbus mistakenly called them?the people already living in America. But we are learning more all the time, so I want to talk about early contacts between Native Americans and newcomers.We now estimate that as many as seven million people were living in North America 500 years ago, and that their ancestors had been on this continent for at least thirteen thousand years. For all this time?hundreds of generations?they had remained isolated from Asia and Africa and Europe, building their own separate world. Over many centuries, these first North Americans developed diverse cultures that were as varied as the landscapes they lived in. And they developed hundreds of different languages.Looking back, what can we say about early enc ounters between these diverse Native Americans and the strange newcomers who arrived from across the ocean? Let me give you a few things to think about. Remember, first of all, that these Minimal contacts stretched over the entire continent and occurred over several centuries. The encounters were nearly as varied as the people involved. But key issues such as language, belief, technology, and disease arose regularly in different times and places. We may never know exactly about the first contacts from overseas.Long before Columbus, occasional boats may have arrived across the North Pacific from Asia, or across the Atlantic from Africa or Europe. They may have sailed intentionally or drifted by mistake. But such encounters were brief. So was the encounter with Norse Vikings. They visited Newfoundland in Canada about 1,000 years ago?nearly 500 years before Columbus. Their little colony of 160 people was short-lived. We know from sagas (family stories passed down orally across generati ons) that local Inhabitants attacked the Norse settlers, forcing them to retreat to Greenland after several years.In contrast, the newcomers who followed Columbus after 1492 proved far more numerous and more willing to stay. Though few In numbers at first, these European strangers brought supplies and then enforcements from across the sea. Now, imagine that you are one of those newcomers, approaching my small portion of North America for the first time. As Native American, I have diverse friends and enemies living all around me, and because I engage in trade I am used to encounters with strangers who do not speak my language.But you are different in various ways, and I have probably already heard rumors about you?some true and some false? from neighbors who have seen your ships. And believe me, your ships are a big surprise. My people live near the ocean, and we understand boats. But when we addle out to observe you, we are Impressed by the size of your ship, with Its tall masts. On the East Coast, I greet you from a birch-bark canoe or a dugout canoe. Indians are small. If you enter Upset Sound, the cypress canoes of the Northwest Coast Indians are much larger.Maybe you are Russian fur-hunters reaching Alaska. If so, you are amazed at my light, quick kayak. If you are the English explorer James Cook approaching Hawaii for the first time, you are struck to see our outrigger canoes and surf boards. One way or another, we can push off from the beach or the river mouth and visit your ocean-going vessel. But it is strange for us; you needed iron tools to create this ship, huge sheets of cloth to make it sail, and navigational charts to find your way. We have none of these.On the other hand, you are totally ignorant of our home waters. It is no secret that along Florist's coast and North Carolina's Outer Banks, Native Americans often found European shipwrecks. We Indians know ?and we may be willing to tell you?which anchoring spots give protection from storms. We k now the local streams and which house sites might flood in springtime. We know where there is fresh water?which you probably need after weeks at sea? ND we know sources of food for every time of year.The Indians in New England, watching the Pilgrims starve at Plymouth, showed them how to locate clams in the mudflats at low tide, how to trap fish, how to plant corn, and how to hunt strange, tasty birds called turkeys. But not all first encounters occurred near the coast. Before the middle of the sixteenth century, Spanish explorers were marching inland so far and so fast that rumors of their arrival scarcely had time to precede them. In the 1 sass, Native peoples living in the Carolinas, Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas ere surprised by the fierce invasion of Despot and his army.At the same time, Indians further west on the Great Plains experienced the sudden arrival of Coronal's force, traveling from New Mexico on horseback in search of sudden wealth. In these two instances, and in many later confrontations, Europeans reacted at first with disappointment, frustration, and violence. The new environment seemed strange and dangerous; local people did not fit European hopes and expectations. For Native Americans, the most serious outcome of initial encounters, whether near he ocean or far inland, was the arrival of contagious diseases?unfamiliar sicknesses that they had never experienced.Again and again, foreign newcomers brought deadly illnesses with them. Three hundred years would elapse between the early Spanish explorations and the forced removal of Native Americans from much of the expanding United States in the asses. That is a huge stretch of time, and the encounters between Indians and non-landing varied widely across those three centuries. Gradually, especially in the East, Non-landing gained the upper hand in terms of sheer numbers. Some general estimates regarding the southeast, from Virginia to East Texas, illustrate this point.In 1700, four out of fi ve persons in the entire region were Indians. But by 1800, Indian numbers had declined and the European and African population had risen so fast that scarcely one person in thirty was a Native American. If sickness and death moved unevenly in one direction, from non-landing to Indian, Christianity moved in the same direction. Many of the earliest encounters involved missionaries, both Catholic and Protestant, who worked energetically to convert Native Americans to their Christian faith.In New England, the Reverend John Eliot spent years translating the Bible into the Massachusetts language, and in 1663 he printed 1000 copies to be used by converts known as efforts often met with fierce resistance. In the Southwest, Catholic priests and missionaries accompanied the earliest Spanish settlers in New Mexico, and efforts began around 1600 to suppress the Pueblo religion with harsh punishments. But Pueblo leaders fought back. In the successful â€Å"Pueblo Revolt† of 1680, Indian r ebels expelled the Spanish colonizers.The Pueblos attacked missionaries, burned churches, and punished Christian converts. While the Christian religion and the strange new diseases moved in one direction, education and trade moved in two directions. Let's take education first. Europeans were a literate society; many could write letters and read books. In America they began to share this powerful tool through schools. In the seventeenth century, Harvard build a separate Indian college on its campus. In the eighteenth century, Dartmouth College in New Hampshire emphasized Native American education, at least for a few.But at the same time, Indians who understood the American land and the natural world offered education to the newcomers. They were constantly explaining matters of geography, climate, and food. They knew when to plant and harvest crops, when fish were plentiful in certain streams, when the abundant oak trees dropped their acorns. Then knew which plants were edible, and ho w to track game. Gradually they shared their knowledge with newcomers. In Louisiana, white settlers often sent a young son to live among the local Indians to learn their language and pave the way for future trade.Trading, like education, was a two-way street. From the start, Europeans were scouring the land for items they could ship home and sell at a profit. Precious metals or spices would be best, but they saw few signs of these items. What they found instead was fur. In the Southeast, the soft hides of whitetail deer could be scraped and packed and shipped to Europe to make aprons and gloves. In New England and Canada, the pelts of beaver could be sent across the Atlantic to hat makers for the creation of fashionable beaver hats.Along the Northwest Coast, Russian traders obtained the valuable pelts of sea otters, which they could trade to the Chinese for spices and tea. More often than not, it was the Native Americans who hunted the animals and processed the pelts for shipment ab road. But if people in Europe and Asia were eager for North American furs of all sorts, Native Americans were equally eager for unfamiliar trade items from Europe. Indians exchanged hides and pelts for woolen blankets and coats, yards of cloth and ribbons, supplies of buttons, beads, and thread.Metal items of all kinds represented new and dramatic improvements in a world where utensils were shaped slowly from wood and rocks and clay. Metal knives and needles had obvious appeal. Metal pots, though heavy, were more durable and more versatile than clay pots. Besides, if they were poorly made and sprung leaks, they could be broken into pieces to be shaped into sharp arrowheads. When Dutch traders moved up the Hudson River to barter with the Indians for furs, the Mohawk called them â€Å"Kristin,† meaning â€Å"metal makers. Iron axes and hatchets were especially desirable. Native Americans knew how to kill trees by peeling off layers of bark. They could fell them by slowly burni ng away the base. But a durable metal axe made it possible to shape wood rapidly, whether building a house, carving a totem pole, or hollowing a dugout canoe. Various kinds of rum and spirits also figured early and often in the trade. Hard liquor gave European traders an person consuming alcohol also became less alert?more subject to an unfair trade or a robbery.Two other unfamiliar items?the gun and the horse?swept across North America during the seventeenth and eighteenth century as a result of trade between Indians and non-landing. Laws passed in Spain prohibited Spanish colonists in the Southwest from trading guns to Indians. So guns moved steadily westward instead, purchased from the French and Dutch and English in the East. Once a tribe acquired guns through the fur trade, neighboring tribes worked desperately to acquire similar weapons, or else they risked being defeated in war or outdone as hunters and fur traders.The horse, reintroduced into North America by the Spanish in the Southwest, moved in the opposite direction, After the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, horses spread north and east across the Great Plains?traded from one nation to another, or stolen in order to gain new mobility and power. A map shows clearly how the horse frontier and the gun frontier pushed in opposite directions. During the 18th century, tribes such as the Sioux on the Northern Plains and the Comanche on the Southern Plains gained access to both guns and horses, giving their cultures great power.For a long time, these complex exchanges proved mutually beneficial. Both Indians and non- Indians felt they were gaining valuable benefits from trade. But eventually, major changes undercut and ended this beneficial and agreeable trade. For one thing, the non-landing population continued to grow, while the Indian numbers declined sharply as a result of warfare and disease. But even more importantly, European newcomers sired Indian land even more than they wanted peaceful trade.Soon, land it self became an item of trade, and land that could not be bought was taken by force. Gradually, we are learning more about early contacts between Indians and non- Indians, and the way these relationships changed over time. The contacts were numerous and varied. They took a different shape in every part of the continent, depending upon which Indian cultures lived there and which foreigners first invaded their land. At first, these contacts were often mutually beneficial, as strangers learned from, and traded with, one another.But later, sickness, warfare, and crushing demands for land changed these connections. Contacts became more lopsided and destructive, through long chapters of our history. So, from now on, I hope that any time you see a horse or a rifle or a metal pot or a colorful ribbon you will think about these early contacts between Native Americans who had lived here for untold generations and newcomers who have been here scarcely five centuries. After all, these varied con nections are a rich and forgotten part of our shared heritage here in North America. Thanks for Joining me.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Building Restoration

Advantages and Disadvantages of Building Restoration Using examples explore the advantages and disadvantages of allowing redevelopment and reconstruction of historic buildings. For the purposes of this discussion it is primarily important to determine what is meant by historic and to rationalize the terms redevelopment and reconstruction. The terms will be used in the context of preserving and conserving buildings. This includes maintaining their predominant features and characteristics, whilst enhancing new features in keeping with the style and building constraints relating to traditional use of materials and resources. According to English Heritage buildings exist across the UK that span over a thousand years. They also work with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and local authorities to allocate buildings such as these according to their criteria for listing – or categorizing for the purposes of their historic importance. These are identified using the following criteria: Those having architectural interest: bu ildings which are nationally important for the interest of their architectural design, decoration and craftsmanship; also important examples of particular building types and techniques. Those deemed of historic interest: this includes buildings which illustrate important aspects of the nation’s social, economic, cultural or military history. A variety of places that have a close historical association with nationally important buildings or events. Places which have group value, especially where buildings are part of an important architectural or historic group or are a fine example of planning (such as squares, terraces and model villages) [1] English Heritage define historic in relation to a number of factors. All buildings constructed before 1700 are automatically listed. Similarly this is the case with most properties up to 1840. A number of post 1945 buildings are also included in these terms. A comprehensive breakdown of listed buildings statistics across the UK is illustrated below: 38% are domestic dwellings 15% date from before 1600 nearly 20% date from the 17th century 31% from the 18th century 32% from the 19th century 3% from 1900-1944 0.2% from 1945 or later [2] Introducing conventional features can have negative consequences on properties such as those defined above. Not only for cosmetic or domestic purposes but also in relation to implementing safety measures into a property. and accessibility by way of lifts and hand rails etc for the benefit of people with disabilities. There is also a trend for interpreting properties of historical interest into entertainment or ‘edutainment’ orientated experiences which can be argued devalues the historic importance and often encourages historical inaccuracy from the learning perspective. The final consideration to be made in relation to this essay question is the notion of whether old buildings should remain preserved exactly as they are without any enhancement, improvements, additions or restorations. That they should reflect the period they were constructed in and be immortalized as a historical or scientific study. This paper will seek to exemplify many of these issues relating to the redevelopment and reconstruction of historic buildings which covers a broad argument for discussion. The English Tourist Board published a paper in 1991 entitled ‘Maintaining the Balance’ which proposed new schemes designed to ensure that historic town environments worked in sync with their communities whilst providing the visitor with a traditional experience. Visitor Management Plans were adopted and Town Centre Managers were recruited as means of taking these initiatives forward. The conservation and preservation of built heritage often involves maintaining tight restrictions and limited planning opportunities which is not conducive to new housing projects or business opportunities which could generate enterprise and economic benefits. Inste ad many of the UK’s classified historic towns remain stagnant and non progressive. [3] Similarly there are currently plans to renovate and restore the city centre of Amsterdam in keeping with its cultural heritage. The city centre is divided by two groups of residents. One enjoys the aesthetic benefits of living in this area, while the second are simply living centrally for the purposes of work and being close to amenities. This second group is unconcerned with the historical importance of the city and is not prepared to invest in maintaining or developing it as such. Often when areas such as this are under preservation orders high costs are incurred for maintenance and renovation in the style accustomed to the period. This in turn raises the rents of properties which become too high for existing residents to afford, eventually forcing them out of their homes, as is feared in Amsterdam. [4]

Marketing strategy in Nokia Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing strategy in Nokia - Research Paper Example [Accessed 29 November 2011] 17 Appendix A: 20 Appendix B: 21 1. Introduction The aim of this report is to analyze, appraise and make recommendations on the marketing strategy of one of the leading Mobile manufacturing companies, Nokia. The paper will identify the company’s strengths and exploit the opportunities that it has in the competitive market today. The paper would further analyze the environment in terms of internal and external factors and make appropriate recommendations to its current marketing strategy to attain higher customer satisfaction, brand loyalty and market share. 1.1 Background and origin of Nokia: Nokia is world’s leading mobile phone manufacturer operating globally. It is the symbol of quality, ease and excellence. It is a Finnish multinational information technology manufacturing company with head office in Keilaniemi, Espoo, Finland. It has wide operations in 120 countries with more than 100,000 employees worldwide (Forbes). It is the second la rgest mobile manufacturer of the world following the Samsung Incorporation. It has 22.5% market share in mobile phone industry (Damian and Calvin, 2012). The products are mobile phones, handhelds, electronic gadgets and notebook computers. Till the year 2012, it had been a world largest mobile phone manufacturer but after emergence of Samsung and Apple iPhone 5, it got its sales down sufficiently. A lavish life of Nokia brand was observed as lesser popular after when people started adopting Samsung Galaxy smart phones and iPhones. A couple of years back, it faced a similar situation when Blackberry phones were on demand fashion (Kotler, 2012). To cater the needs, Nokia has jumped in to the competition while the competitors are enough substantial to moderate the competition. Since Nokia has lost the market leader position but still it is on priority for student, middle class man and quality seekers (Dibb and Simkin 2013). 1.2 Nokia’s Position in the Market Figure 1: Leading mo bile manufacturing Companies’ market share Source: Samsung, Nokia, and Apple dominate phone sales in spring 2012- August 2012 (Hill, 2012) Based on the 2012 results, Nokia is ranked as the second largest company in the competitive mobile industry. The further sections of the report shed light on Nokia’s current market status in the mobile industry. In order to achieve its aims, the paper uses tools like SWOT analysis and competitive analysis to understand the competitive edges that company stands on. After the careful analysis, Nokia’s marketing strategy is evaluated in terms of segmentation, targeting and positioning. Its marketing objectives are evaluated and strategies analyzed to identify any gaps between the marketing goals and strategies adopted. The paper reaches its conclusion after providing a number of recommendations to fill the gap in marketing strategies and suggests Nokia some efficient and effective strategic changes. 2. Situational Analysis 2.1 S WOT Analysis Strengths Nokia is ranked second largest distributer of mobile sets in the competitive mobile manufacturing industry (Figure 1). Nokia keeps its market share high by investing a considerable amount of capital in Research and Development strategies. It had spent 4.94 billion Euros on R&D in 2010 and was ranked 11th in the list of top R&D spending Multinational organizations globally (Sitkin & Bowen 2013).

Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

Case study - Essay Example That was the time when she realized that this bag can be popular product for people who loves innovative designing articles like cloths, umbrella, handbags, wallet, makeup bags, lamp shades etc. Clare, mother of Calypso also helped her with the business. Her first year turnover was ?180 000 and she became the London Business person of the year at the age of 22 (Burns, 2011). Calypso and her mother Clare chose to manufacture the bags from UK and use their house as the office. The reasons are: Working from home was advantageous cause their Calypso did not had to pay any rent for her office to anybody. Except that no extra electricity or internet bill there are flexible office time. She could able to work any time in a day and handle any matter whenever they arise without delay. And she got her mother’s help from home (Clippy London, 2013). She was worried that any big and established manufacturer in market can easily steal her idea or copy it so she had to make the sales fast an d regular, to do that she needed the supply unit and manufacturing unit to be close. If the supply unit is thousands of miles away somewhere in china and she had import everything from there it would took couple of valuable days. Instead of that if that if both the unit in UK the orders can be more quickly handled. And once the business start and run smoothly the payment terms for business chain will be regular and spontaneous and it will help the cash flow for her business. An online directory namely Kelly’s online directory (Kelly Search, n.d.) helped her to find out a manufacturer from UK (Smith, 2010). Calypso was a first timer in business field and she had no experience in that domain. Also her volume of business was not very big it was precisely 250 bags only. So for 250 bags going to foreign country to search supplier and renting a separate office would have been more fancy for her cause she was not sure the idea of transparent and graphics bag would hit in the market or not. Her initial customers were family, relatives, friends and those people who appreciated her idea earlier. The official launch of the product was on 2004 during Christmas Fair in Olympia’s Spirit (Stylist.co.uk, n.d.). These three were the main reason of choosing UK as the place of manufacturing for calypso for her fashionable see through bag with customised designs. During start ups and initial growth period manufacturing unit of Clippy was at UK, there were some advantages as well as some disadvantages also. Advantages can be: If supply and manufacturing unit are nearby then time cycle from order of raw materials –delivery of them –and making finished items and delivering them to market become fast and regular. Communication between various members in supply and delivery chain is become easy and effective. In that respective if we look at Clippy’s initial days (start up and initial growth) it was quite expectable for such an innovative product. It was an innovative product no such see through bags with pockets and photos of family and friends on it was available previously in any market. It was an experiment for her to launch it in small scale in UK market from where she also got couple of encouragements from various fashion lovers. So it was like a gamble for her. So it was better to choose her home market rather than foreign market for manufacturing (Department for Business Innovation and Skills, 2012). Calypso did not have any experience as a

Report Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Report Plan - Essay Example 3. Identify the Purpose of the Report The purpose of the report will be twofold. First, it will help the company increase its market share in third-world countries where the demand for laptops is increasing with every passing day but people have no other choice than to buy economical brands, such as, Samsung, Acer, and Fujitsu. The aim of the report is to help Apple, Inc. increase its market share in such countries by providing people with low cost laptops. People like to buy Apple products more than the products of any other brand. However, a high percentage of consumers cannot buy Apple products because their buying power does not let them do so. Therefore, if Apple Inc. manufactures low cost laptops particularly for third-world countries, I believe that both Apple Inc. and the consumers will benefited as the company will increase its chances of gaining competitive edge even in third world countries and the consumers will have an access to the top quality brand of the world. The se cond purpose of the report will be to make Apple Inc. play its role in reducing the problem of obesity in America. I think it is the responsibility of every major brand of the world to show corporate social responsibility by putting some efforts for solving social issues. I think putting efforts for reducing obesity is also a social cause for which Apple Inc. should play some role as popular brand. People like the products of Apple Inc. and when the company will take steps to create awareness among people about the severity of the disease, people will definitely listen to the advice with interest. Obesity is a disease for which level of awareness really matters in order for it to be reduced. Apple Inc. can create awareness about it through television ads, magazine ads, and social events. 4. Identify Potential Resources that will be needed for Support The potential resources that will be needed for support include commitment of top management towards change, financial resources to de velop low cost products, and employee support. All of these factors will work together to make the above-mentioned recommendations feasible for the company. 5. Identify Methods to be used to Gather Information To gather information about feasibility of the recommendations, surveys and questionnaires can be used. Distribution of online survey to the users of internet, particularly from third-world countries, can be a suitable choice to gather relevant data. Users of the internet will fill the survey form through which the company will know whether the idea to develop low cost laptops for the population of third world countries is feasible or not. Information about the need to work on the second recommendation about obesity can be collected through the statistics given on published journals. 6. Identify Criteria to be used to evaluate the Information Collected The collected information will be evaluated considering the age, qualification, and profession of people. For example, age of 18 to 40 years, qualification level of at least high school graduate, and job experience of at least 6 months will be considered. If a person fulfils any of the three criterions mentioned above, his/her filled survey will be considered for evaluation. The