Global and Indian Fashion Houses

Global Fashion Giants: Gucci and Louis Vuitton In order to understand the key success factors required for any fashion powerhouse to succeed in the global scenario, we decided to look at two of the world’s largest fashion conglomerates – Gucci and Louis Vuitton. We looked at the evolution of these companies and also at the different strategies these companies have employed over time to achieve the position in the world fashion market they have today. This analysis helped us in figuring out the feasibility of a similar fashion powerhouse emerging from a country like India. The complete listing of our findings from these 2 companies from the cases we analyzed is given in Exhibit 1. Shanghai Tang – the Chinese lifestyle brand After looking at the cases of the 2 global giants, we figured that the context and market in which these companies have operated are completely different from what the same would be for a company emerging from India. In order to understand the aspects of establishing a fashion powerhouse in an Indian context, we took a look at Shanghai Tang, the leading Chinese lifestyle brand. Similar to India, the Chinese market also has a niche segment in the global fashion market, and hence the learning from this company helped us better understand the issues, challenges, key success factors, etc. , for a fashion powerhouse emerging from India. Our findings from analysis of the Shanghai Tang company are given in Exhibit 2. Names in Indian Fashion Although the Indian fashion industry is projected to grow at a high rate of close to 10%, the industry is still largely fragmented with no major fashion powerhouse that provides holistic fashion solutions to its customers. There is still no single fashion house to compete with companies like Gucci or Louis Vuitton. Though there are a lot of individual designers with famous international icons in their list of clientele, none of them seem to have the potential to emerge as a global fashion powerhouse in the near future. An important noticeable trend in Indian fashion houses so far is that most of them are limited to clothes, whereas in order to emerge as a global fashion powerhouse, one needs to have a wide range of fashion goods and brands in their portfolio. In this sense, only JJ Valaya’s â€Å"House of Valaya† omes close to being called an Indian fashion powerhouse, with four brands in their portfolio offering haute couture, footwear, cuisine, furniture, tapestries, stunning fabrics and home furnishings. Some of the leading names in fashion in India today are JJ Valaya, Ritu Kumar, Ritu Beri, Rohit Bal, Manish Malhotra, Manish Arora, Rina Dhaka, Tarun Tahiliani, Abu Jani and Sandeep Kh osla and Wendell Rodricks. A brief account of these names and list of notable clientele is given in Exhibit 3. ? Exhibit 1: Global Fashion Giants: Gucci and Louis Vuitton Case Study: Rise of Gucci Gucci or House of Gucci has a rich history. Founded way back in 1923 as a family run leather saddler shop, this company’s reputation soared high right from the start because of its high quality products. After 15 years, they established their first retail outlet in Rome outside Florence. From the modest beginnings of a small family owned shop, Gucci has come a long way to become a leading name in fashion today, with over 400 stores around the world in different countries. There are also several high-end department stores that house Gucci in their shelves today. Portfolio: Premium leather products such as wallets, bags, car upholstery, clothing and also other fashion items like jewelry, watches, eyewear, ties, perfume, etc. Winning strategy: In the early 1990s, Tom Ford, the CEO of Gucci then put a strategy in place that completely turned the company around and propelled it to the global market, making it the notable fashion label it is today. Elements of the employed strategy are briefly mentioned below: Pricing: Positioning themselves in the right segment ?Lowered prices of all items at an average rate of 30%, bringing their products closer to Prada and Louis Vuitton ? Lowering prices changed Gucci’s image as a more customer oriented company Brand makeover: Coming up with the â€Å"right† product mix ?Shifted focus of products from classic to fashion, thereby changing customer’s perception towards a more glamorous edge ? Completely got rid of low-end products and maintained standard portfolio across the globe Marketing: Changing the theme of advertising ?Greatly increased expenditure on advertising and also changed focus from product to brand ? Associated product with several international personalities, thereby gaining attention from the press Distribution: full-fledged integration ?Forward Integration: Greater control of the distribution process oRemoved distribution channel and setup Directly Operating Stores (DOS) in prime areas oTook over all franchisees in North America ?Backward Integration: Greater control over sourcing oTook over Di Modolo design studio and production facilities ? Acquisitions: More products/brands oBranching out to a multi brand group oAcquired Yves Saint Laurent, Sergio Rossi, YSL Beaute and Boucheron Star Designer Strategy: ?Tom Ford made an iconic symbol for Gucci Case Study: Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton is one of the oldest French fashion houses. Established in 1854 by Louis Vuitton as a company making flat-bottom trunks with trianon canvas, LV has come a long way to build the iconic brand of Louis Vuitton that holds a huge share in the world fashion market today. Portfolio: Luggage bags, purses, wallets, jewelry, watches, footwear Winning Strategy: The Louis Vuitton strategy has more or less remained the same over the ages, with even their portfolio remaining quite similar since the days of its inception. Let us now look at the different elements of LV’s strategy that ave helped it become the global fashion powerhouse and international influencer of fashion that it is today. Pricing: Communicating high value through high price ?Pricing products very high ?Never offering any price cuts or discount sales Brand makeover: 29th most valuable brand in the world ?Showcasing at famous exhibitions ?Marketing campaigns with celebrities Product: Quality, Quality and Quali ty! ?Remarkable focus on even the smallest of details ?High focus on IPR ?No attempts at production of cheap goods ?Use of latest, state-of-the-art technology Service: ?Lets customers customize their orders ?Delivers to the doorstep Marketing: ?Publicity through word-of-mouth and PR through mass media, never uses television ? Associates brand with famous personalities ?Throws flamboyant parties to attract media attention Distribution: Limited Distribution ?Distribution channels entirely company owned, with products sold only in company owned boutiques or reputed department stores ? Maintains brand image and value through company owned channel ? Company places boutiques in prime locations, also helping in publicity Star Designer Strategy: Marc Jacobs – Face of Louis Vuitton ? Updated and refreshed the company’s image as a luggage maker to one of the most fashionable ready-to-wear and accessories. ?Recreated a brand targeted to younger customers with trendy and fashion-forward look. Exhibit 2: Learning from Shanghai Tang Background: Shanghai Tang is a leading Chinese lifestyle brand. The company was established by David Tang whose main objective was to revive the Chinese traditional fashion and introduce it to the national market, and later go on to become global. Shanghai Tang had a great advantage in the form of backing by a leading Swiss luxury fashion conglomerate – Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA. Since this conglomerate had several famous luxury fashion brands in its portfolio, it helped Shanghai Tang a lot in terms of best practices sharing. Problems faced: ?Went straight into the American/European market without gaining a foothold in the Chinese market, which saw their brand facing huge failure abroad ? Did not fare well in foreign community as brand was mostly traditional Chinese merchandize ? No proper standing in European and American markets High price not justified in the Chinese market due to lack of standing in foreign markets New Strategy: Conquer your home before going out ?Main strategy – Capture local market before going global ? Main goal – be the ambassador of the modern Chinese styles ? Main motive – Reintroduce traditional Chinese aesthetics to the new consumer audience Relevance to Indian f ashion scenario: ?Presence of a niche market for Indian fashion in global markets, similar to Chinese fashion ? Similar, much localized flavor which must be paid attention to while designing an international fashion brand Exhibit 3: An account of the Indian fashion houses JJ Valaya Often referred to as the ‘Monarch of Indian Fashion', Valaya’s house of fashion is possible the only Indian fashion house that comes close to being called a fashion powerhouse. His collection of hand embroideries and exquisite bridal trousseau are a rage in the fashion world globally. His label that was established almost three decades earlier still has strong grip of the market and excels in wedding attires and evening wears, for both men and women. Career and success: JJ Valaya was the first designer to host a solo fashion show in India. He was also the first Indian designer to showcase his collection along with prominent International Designer Todd Oldham. Hand in hand with brother, TJ Singh's entrepreneurial abilities, he launched his brand â€Å"JJ Valaya† in 1991. His brand consisted of Couture line of attire, which gained great accolades from the fashion fraternity. This was followed by â€Å"Valaya Home† in 1996 and a pret label â€Å"Studio Valaya† in 1999. In September 2006, House of Valaya entered into a licensing agreement with Genesis Color Private Ltd to design and manufacture its diffusion label â€Å"Valaya Quantum†. Valaya's novelty and his brother's entrepreneurial capabilities have made the House of Valaya a pioneer in the Indian fashion Industry. He is a founder member on the Board of Governors of the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) and the Official Brand Ambassador for Swarovski, India. Brand and Clientele: House of Valaya is one of India's most respected fashion houses. It not only caters to fashion lovers, but also provides a whole lot of luxury products, such as furniture, tapestries, stunning fabrics and home furnishings, haute couture and footwear, apart from cuisine. JJ Valaya has several successful solo fashion shows in his kitty, including the ones in New York, London, Paris, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong and Johannesburg as well as in most major Indian cities. He also made an entry into Bollywood, with the film Yaadein. Ritu Kumar An icon of the Indian Fashion industry and a frontrunner in establishing a position for India in the global forum, Ritu Kumar's contribution has been impeccable to the fashion fraternity, both nationally and internationally. With almost five decades of work for display, the designer excels in both traditional and western outfits, though ethnic attires are her specialty. She was the first women to bring the boutique culture to India, under the name â€Å"Ritu†. Career and success: Starting at a smaller scale, Ritu Kumar has diversified her works of art globally. Though she excels in contemporary and classic style, she has also evolved indo-western fusion to attract the gamut of European buyers. Some of her global achievements include the wardrobes for Miss India, for participation in the International beauty pageants like Miss Universe, Miss World & Miss Asia Pacific, respectively. Brand and Clientele: The brand â€Å"Ritu† has acquired great accolades internationally. The designer has not only restrained her work to the fashion industry, but has also dived into the other sectors that offer luxury to the people. The brand also launched a fragrance by the name â€Å"the tree of life†. In April 2002, Ritu Kumar launched her new sub brand, ‘LABEL'. She has twelve outlets in India, which offer a range of products from the conventional to the contemporary. Ritu Beri Ritu Beri is one of the top Indian fashion designers who have been continuously serving Indian fashion industry with her feminine and funky designer apparels. Career and success: Fashion designer Ritu Beri has made a consistent progress in her life. She started off by designing clothes for friends and relatives. Later on in 1990 she made her first move towards establishing her own fashion studio ‘Lavanya' from where she designed her maiden collection, a couple of which were instantly sold. Influenced by India's rich cultural heritage she has come up with the most splendid designs. She has also been given the challenge of designing for Indian counterpart in the curtain Raiser ceremony of Olympics at Atlanta. Apart from being a fabulous and top fashion designer she is a very good human being. She has got the heart of gold. She is highly compassionate for animals for which she has also started a project called ‘Caring means sharing'. The funds raised through this collection would go for animal care. This collection would exhibit a wide array of products. This charming woman has the fire to make a difference in the fashion world. Brand and Clientele: She started participating in International Fashion shows under the brand name of Ritu Beri since 1998. Her notable international clients are former US President Bill Clinton, Prince Charles, Moulin Rouge, Nicole Kidman, Hollywood actress Andy McDowell, Supermodel Laetitia Casta, famous Parisian Socialite Mrs. Lagerdere, Langes Swarovski & The Swarovski family, Elizabeth Jagger and Jerry Hall. Her notable Indian clients are Madhuri Dixit, Rani Mukherji, Preity Zinta, Parmeshwar Godrej & Shobha De. Manish Malhotra Fashion designer Manish Malhotra, a passionate fashion savvy has made his special position in the Indian film Industry. He has beautified the Indian film star celebrities with his impeccable designer outfits. Indian designer Manish Malhotra entered into the Bollywood parlance by designing wardrobe for Juhi Chawla. In the list of top young celebrity fashion designers, he is the most shining star who has been successful in earning both name and fame. Career and success: Manish Malhotra is truly a master of fashion and has achieved a tremendous appreciation. His work has been honored with various awards like Filmfare Award, Showtime Opinion Poll Award, Siemens’ Viewer's Choice Award, Bollywood Award and the Lux-Zee Cine Award. He is continuously delivering quality work for fashion boutique ‘Reverie' with which he is associated since 1998. This budding star of yesterday has truly become the pride of Bollywood. Brand and Clientele: Manish has designed costumes for almost all top actresses from sensuous Sridevi, Urmila Matondkar, Shilpa Shetty, and Manisha Koirala to elegant and graceful Aishwarya Rai, Rani Mukherjee and Preity Zinta. Manish has made an incredible contribution to various Blockbuster light comedy films like Rangeela to romantic movies like Dil To Pagal Hai, Kaho Na Pyar Hai and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. The highlights of Manish's career also include designs for Michael Jackson and British super model Naomi Campbell. The high-profile couture store ‘Reverie – Manish Malhotra' launched by him in 1998 was set up in association with industrialists Yash and Avati Birla which further received a tremendous response and the cream of Mumbai high society and rich non-resident Indians become his clients. Tarun Tahiliani Tarun Tahiliani is a Bollywood celebrity costume designer who is extremely inspired by ethnic styles. Tarun Tahiliani started off as a fashion retailer by establishing his own fashion boutique in Mumbai and later went on to start his own brand label called ‘Ahilian'. Career and success: Tarun Tahiliani is a Bollywood celebrity costume designer who has always been in the limelight. Extremely inspired by ethnic styles, fashion designer Tarun Tahiliani is of the opinion that Sari is the most elegant dress that has a great dazzling effect. He thinks it is the most apt apparel for sensuous look and brings out the beauty of India women in the most attractive manner. He experiments with colors and fabrics and comes up with his own unique classy designs. According to him Sari has the capability of arousing sensation. He is simply fascinated by Chikan embroidery of Lucknow and is often incorporated in his designs. He also makes use of beads and semi precious stones to embellish the ensemble. He strongly believes that fashion is all about your comfort level with a particular attire. Brand and Clientele: He has designed apparels for the Indian celebrities like Simi Garewal, Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone, Minisha Lamba, and Shilpa Shetty. The highlights of his designs are: block printing, bandhini styles, beautiful color combination and rich silhouettes. His bridal collection for both men and women is highly sought after by the rich Indian and the NRI clients. He also designs bags and also does event and interior designing for marriages Rohit Bal Style is the mantra for Rohit Bal, the fashion designer from the enduring valley of Kashmir. The â€Å"Bad Boy† of the fashion world, as Rohit Bal is popularly called, is known for his sophisticated cuts and breathing fabrics. He weaves in the best for both men and women. His creations are a reflection of his own personality- not restrained by any norms. Rohit Bal's creative mind gives a true bent of spirit in his work as well. Being christened by the Times magazine as the â€Å"Master of Fabric and Fantasy†, he purely live up to the expectations of being among the bandwagon of the Indian fashion industry leaders. Subtle in his choice of colors, Rohit prefers to use pastels and earthy tones to dress up his men and women. However, there is no one-signature style that the designer sticks to. Career and success: It was Rohit Bal's first collection which brought success to this talented designer and since then, there has been no looking back. He has made a name globally. Rohit Bal has designed outfits using almost all fabrics. Even Khadi (Indian handloom textile) has been used by the immensely talented designer, to create exclusivity for the raw product and a demand in the market. Rohit has held shows in New York, London, Dubai, Singapore and Paris, including Paris Fashion Week. Rohit Bal was also chosen by the Khadi Gram Udyog, the largest handloom textile operation in India, to work with them. Rohit bagged the ‘Designer of the Year' award at the Indian Fashion Awards in 2006. He was also made ‘Designer of the Year' at the Kingfisher Fashion Achievement Awards in 2001. His line of designer clothes has been sold at even 15000 USD. His style is innovative and inventive and he does not shy away from having popular legends, history, fantasy or folklore on the outfits. Brand and Clientele: The brand â€Å"Rohit Bal† created by the designer has been doing wonders in the fashion scenario. He has opened up a flagship store in Delhi and positioning stores at other places like Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Chennai as well. He also plans to open up stores in Middle East and Europe. After making a name for himself in the fashion fraternity, Rohit has also ventured into the designing jewellery for Kirtilals. He also plans to design and launch men's fashion accessories like cufflinks. The clientele list of this ace designer is a long one, some being celebrities like Uma Thurman, Cindy Crawford, Pamela Anderson, Naomi Campbell and Anna Kournikova. Most of his fashion shows in India, New York, Paris and Singapore are sponsored by The Swatch Group and he is also the brand ambassador for their Omega Watches, since 2001. Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla Contemporary styles and the revival of bygone works of art molded neatly into modern fashion brocade! This is what Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla are all about. The duo has made it to the fashion circuit with their sheer talent and inventive potentials of a designer. â€Å"The boys†, as the duo are famously known, have made ethnic apparels with a fresh flavor of trends that comes on year after year. To bring in a resurgence of traditional works of art, the duo has traveled to the remotest area, grasped the art and beautifully executed it in their finest of collections. Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla are among the few people who have made it big globally. The duo was the first to bring out its collection at Harrods. Career and success: Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla started with a humble beginning and launched their creative line ‘Mata Hari'. Soon, the magic of traditional and modern art captivated the interest of all and they launched themselves into the international forum. Their launch into the global forum was with a range of shawls, under the brand name of ‘Shakira Caine' mark at Harvey Nichols, Neiman Marcus and Harrods in London, along with Bergdof Goodman in New York and Knightsbridge in UK. Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla's designer label â€Å"Jashan†, launched in 1989, was previewed at the ‘Save the Children' Charity fundraising ball in London. In December 2003, they won the national award for designing some of the fabulous attires for the movie Devdas, which they had designed for Madhuri Dixit, Shahrukh Khan and Jackie Shroff. Brand and Clientele: Their clientele list includes the who's who of the film fraternity, of both Bollywood and Hollywood. Besides British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's wife, the designer duo also has dressed celebrities like Dame Judi Dench, Dame Maggie Smith, Darcey Bussell, and Sophie Marceau, as its international clients. Apart from creating apparels, Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla have also ventured into the platform of interior designing, making a mark in this aspect as well. They have designed homes of celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan, Dimple Kapadia and Nikhil and Shewta Nanda. The duo has its retail flagship stores at Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi. The beautiful and stunning designs of Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla bring in a feel of traditionalism, within the realms of modernity. Wendell Roderick Wendell Roderick is among the few designers who are obsessed with Indian fashion with his art designs drawing inspiration from ancient India. One can be sure that his clothes would have no heavy embroideries and no stiff clothes. They would be easy to carry, yet give that elegant look that one aspires to have. Wendell Roderick's clothes could be worn at society at large. His aim, to create a place for Goa in the world map of fashion, has been triumphant only because of his sheer hard work and successful fashion shows. Career and success: It was in 1990 that the designer launched his own label ‘Wendell Roderick'. Three years later after launching his own label, Wendell Roderick shifted base to Goa, creating splendid collections every time, mostly inspired by Tibetan Monasteries, Tribal symbols of Shiva and Vishnu, the Harem at Istanbul, Tattoos of the Lambadi tribe and Clothing the Soul. Wendell Roderick was the first Indian who had got an opportunity to display his collection at the world's largest garment fair at IGEDO, Dusseldorf. Apart from designing, he is also concerned with other sectors of the industry, like addressing on World Costume History, lettering for the country's leading women's magazine, Chairman of the courses committee at the Board of Technical Education, appointed by the Government of Goa, and member Advisory Board of Fashion Institutes and Lakme Fashion Week. He is also a Patron of the Kasturba Gandhi Memorial Trust, Goa that promotes handspun Khadi. Wendell retails at country's best stores, including the celebrated Wendell Rodricks Design Space in Panjim. Brand and Clientele: Wendell Roderick has done a lot of work state of Goa. He has designed uniforms for the Goa State Traffic Police, the Four Seasons, the Goa Marriott Resort, the Vasco Sports Club football team and the staff of the Goa Tourism Development Corporation. Internationally, he was involved with designing advertisements for Wellspun, Delsey, SWATCH Bijoux, Breguet and Raymond Weil. He has earned a lot of recognition in the fashion circuit and has amused people with the simplicity projected in his designs. ELLE's Nirja Shah, models like Achla Sachdev and Nina Manuel keep raving at his designs. The designer has also worked with renowned Kathak dancer Daksha Sheth. Right now, he plans to launch a book on Goa's clothing tradition. Rina Dhaka he ‘Goddess of Oomph' of Indian fashion, designer Rina Dhaka styles clothes with a lot of fun. Being in the industry for quite some time, Rina feels that globalization has opened up avenues for young and dynamic women and with it, the options of women designers as well. To be in sync with demand for comfortable, yet stylish outfits for offices, designers are trying out all possibilities of being creative. Rina Dhaka emphasizes silhouette and is willing to take risks. In one collection, she mixed fur and boots with her Indian outfits, to create a unique look. Every time, Dhaka tries to give four to five looks to in her collection. Career and success: It was very early in her career when Rina got accolades for one of her design for the Miss India event from Rohit Khosla, the only ingenious designer of that time. The encouragement acted as a booster for Rina, who was all the more excited to bring out the best in her. Her first show in Singapore â€Å"The Best of Indian Haute Couture† met with a thumping success. Rina has also won a Yuva Rattan award in career, which is spread over almost three decades now. She is best known for her theme collections – sheer trousers, crochet, stretch jersey, woolens and spider web motifs. Western wear still remains an area of dominance, though she also designs ethnic and conventional attires. She prides on the fact that her pieces can be worn as separates. Attaining a lot of success nationally, Dhaka has also achieved accredits internationally. Her works were featured in magazines, such as Vogue and Elle. Brand and Clientele: Rina Dhaka has her collections, under the label ‘Rina Dhaka', in stores like Carma-Delhi, Design Studio-Mumbai, Kimaya-Mumbai, Selfridges-London, Coin-Italy and Lord and Taylor-New York. She has also opened a studio in Hauz Khaz village for Lycra in Delhi. The clientele list of this bold designer includes eminent personalities such as Naomi Campbell, Uma Thruman, Susan Fales Hill, Molly Simns, Tara Palmen Tomkison, Lara Dutta, and Diana Hayden. Her work has been featured in publications such as Marie Claire Paris, Madame Figaro Paris, Vogue London, New York Post, Vanity Fair, etc. Manish Arora Manish Arora is an Indian fashion designer based in New Delhi. In early 2011, he was appointed as creative director of the womenswear collection of the French fashion house Paco Rabanne. Born and brought up in Bombay (now Mumbai), Manish was studying to graduate in Commerce, when he decided to change his career path and applied for the National Institute of Fashion Technology in New Delhi. He graduated in 1994 after winning the Best Student Award. Career and success: In 1997 Manish Arora launched his own label â€Å"Manish Arora† and started retailing in India. Three years later, Manish participated in the first-ever India Fashion Week held in New Delhi and represented India at the Hong Kong Fashion Week. Arora launched his second label, â€Å"Fish Fry†, in 2001. This colorful, sportswear-styled line was created in association with the athletic apparel manufacturer Reebok. During 2002 Manish opened his first flagship store, Manish Arora Fish Fry, in New Delhi and in the following year opened a second store in Mumbai. Another successful showing at India Fashion Week (2003) led to a stocking deal with the fashion house Maria Luisa (Paris) and the beginning of a successful export business. He had a successful debut at the London Fashion Week in September 2005 and received an overwhelming response from the press as well as the buyers. Manish opened his first Manish Arora franchise store in Villa Moda, Kuwait and another Manish Arora Fish Fry store at Crescent, New Delhi in 2006. In 2007 the first Fish Fry for Reebok concept store opened at the Garden of Five Senses, New Delhi, and Arora teamed up with make-up and cosmetics giant MAC for designing a signature collection. He has also collaborated with Swatch for a limited edition of watches. In 2008, once again, Reebok launched the ‘RBK Fish Fry Collection 2008', an exclusive lifestyle range designed by Manish Arora. Indian by Manish Arora†, a brand designed for the growing Indian market for women's wear, is licensed to another fashion company. Manish was invited to show his collection at the â€Å"Fashion in Motion† exhibition held at Victoria and Albert Museum, London in September 2007. By 2009 Manish owned four stores in India and sold his collections to more than 80 retailers worldwide. Brand and Clientele: The three famous brands of Manish Ar ora are – Manish Arora, Fish Fry and Paco Rabanne. In terms of clientele, Manish Arora is mostly associated with pop divas like Katy Perry, Rihanna and Lady Gaga and other international A list celeb clients

Phisicology

Evidence-Based Strategies Name: Institution: Date: Finding a new life after an abusive marriage and prison sentence is an article that talks about a woman who was a police officer. Her husband used to abuse her physically and psychologically and one day she shot the husband as he was trying to beat her (Finding a New Life, 2014). For two sisters, A family bond tightens in bullet's wake is an article that talks about a fourteen year old Aka Leigh Harriet who is paralyzed from the chest downwards after being shot when she was three years.Her elder sister Ajax David does blamer herself as the cause of the little sister being paralyzed as a result of being shot. She gives many reasons as to why she blames herself for her sister being shot (For Two Sisters, 2014). Describe the major adjustment issues discussed in each story. According to the article on Finding a new life after an abusive marriage and prison sentence does display major adjustment issues. These issues include physical abuse and psychological abuse by her late husband whom the wife killed.The husband used to beat her and this resulted into psychological abuse for the wife which caused used the wife to feel pain as a result of being mistreated. This caused the wife to shoot the husband so that she could be free from the depression. According to an article for two sisters, a family bond tightens in bullet's wake, there are adjustment issues like the older sister Ajax David blaming herself for being responsible for a little sisters who was shot and became paralyzed.This is because Ajax thinks she did not take good care of her sister and she was not careful enough and that's why she was shot. Examine at least three (3) evidence-based strategies from the selected articles that could help the individuals enhance their adjustment skills. One evidence-based strategy is cognitive behavioral therapy. This therapy is normally of two types which are cognitive therapy and behavioral therapy. Cognitive therapy does focus on a person's opinions and attitude and the way they control a person's mood and behaviors.Behavioral therapy focuses on a person's behavior and intends to modify unhealthy behavior patterns. Cognitive behavioral therapy is important because it helps people to solve heir present problems and come up with various ways of solving the issues. Another strategy is the dialectical behavior therapy is used to treat people who have borderline personality disorder which is involved in suicidal thinking and behavior. This therapy helps to teach people new skills to help them deal with their situations in the right way.There will be a change in the way people behave so that there will be few incidences of people suffering from psychological problems. People will be able to control their characters and attitudes in the right way in order to avoid sisters situations. Interpersonal therapy is another strategy that helps in improving communication behavior and the way people communicate with others to help relieve depression. This therapy assists people to interact with other people in the right way and direct a person to change their attitude.This will bring better communication among various families that face the problem of miscommunication with their family members hence families will live free from distress. There will be low incidences of psychological issues happening in families. Recommend the evidence-based strategy that is best suited for the people in the selected articles. Provide a rationale for your response The best evidence-based strategy for people in the above articles is the interpersonal therapy which assists to improve communication between family members and other members.This means that in the article finding a new life after an abusive marriage and prison sentence, communication was the best way in which the problems could have been solved better. If there was better communication between the spouses, then there could be no physical abuse and ps ychological abuse since they could have solved their robbers. This could not have caused the wife to shoot the husband (Cornier, Nurses, & Osborn, 2009). Better communication skills between the spouses could have helped to minimize the anger of the husband so that he could not continue to beat the wife without any reason.This could help the wife to minimize her distress which lead her to kill the husband because of the pain she felt living a life full of distress. For two sisters, A family bond tightens in bullet's wake article communication is the only way that could have helped Ajax David to have no depression as a result of not having to blame herself. This is because she thinks she was responsible for her little sister being shot hence her being paralyzed. If only Ajax David had talked with the little sister after her being shot she could not have felt being responsible of what happened to her sister.

Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 11

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Communication, Ethics, and Society - Assignment Example Despite the disparities in cultures, Carola slowly adjusts to the new culture; they start a business, and have a child. Her husband becomes jealous of her, especially in the event of her flirting with other men. The movie ends with Carola travelling back to Switzerland with her daughter after several arguments with Lemalian. Lemalian doubts that she would return to him. In as much as I can clearly recall the movie, I am not able to recall all the names of the characters in the movie, for instance, the serviceman at Lemalian’s and Carola’s shop, the priest in the church amongst others. Basing my argument on DeFleur’s argument, the movie is well portrayed, thus, making it less tasking for me to recall the major characters and the plot of the movie (78). The audience’s perception, attitude and attention have been aroused, allowing the audiences follow involuntarily the contents of the movie. Conclusively, the manner in which content has been displayed by the media determines the permanence and the consistence in which the audience will have in following up the themes displayed to the

Neurotransmitters and Their Relation to Intelligence Essay

Neurotransmitters and Their Relation to Intelligence - Essay Example Wechsler (1944) sets the more widely accepted definition, as he describes intelligence as "the aggregate or global capacity of an individual to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment". From a neurological perspective, the anatomical localization of the neurological processes that give rise to intelligence is generally considered to be the Wernicke's area, located in the superior temporal gyrus, an area of the brain not only related to language and speech, but also to logical and abstract thought. This was determined by research done on patients that have lost their higher intellectual functions when their Wernicke's area. Guyton claims that the prefrontal association area is also associated with intelligence, but not to a great extent. Neurotransmitters in essence represent chemical messengers of the neural circuits and pathways, and in combination with the synapses, represent the physiological method of communication between neurons. In the synapses, the neurotransmitter is released from a pre-synaptic neuron and bonds with receptors on the post-synaptic neuron. It should be noted that there are many types of neurotransmitters, each found in specific areas of the nervous system and therefore, each has a specific action.

Prepare a report for an employee in the hospitality industry sector Essay

Prepare a report for an employee in the hospitality industry sector analysing the impact of the London olympics 2012 on at least three policy areas in the manag - Essay Example This is a marathon effort but an excellent opportunity for the Human Resources department in UK. The role of the head of HR will have to be strategic and influential, and focused on delivery (Karen Dempsey). It is estimated that 12,000 new jobs will be created because of the development of the Olympic Park area (People 1st). The two main areas that will have an impact are the hospitality sector and the construction sector. Employment in the hospitality industry is growing at a rate faster than overall employment in the UK (People 1st). The hospitality sector has been behind the games bid but the shortage in this industry has always existed because it is either tough or underpaid for the British. Besides, the unemployment is very low (Encore Personnel) and with baby boomers retiring soon, there will be an increased gap between the demand and supply. Training for the skilled workforce has to start now to ensure smooth operations. In view of the above, the greatest challenge before the HR department will be recruitment of the skilled personnel, and retention and motivation of the existing personnel. The success of the Olympics depends entirely upon the skills and the commitment of the people involved. Hence, the three core areas where HR has to concentrate are recruitment and retention, motivation, learning and development. The hospitality sector comprises of hotels, providers of holiday accommodation, pubs and bars, restaurants and take away food outlets (Low pay Commission Report 2005). It is probably the world’s fastest growing, job-creating profession (Hospitality: As it is). The hospitality industry exhibits tremendous diversity both with respect to the types of jobs on offer and the workers required. (Migration: A Welcome Opportunity). There is a huge shortage in the hospitality sector and it is estimated that the industry will require 30000-35000 trained people by 2010 at the management and supervisory

Social Policy Development Pertaining to Education in India Essay

Social Policy Development Pertaining to Education in India - Essay Example imarily comprised of two areas that are one that were directly under the control and the administration of Great Britain and then there were the princely states that were under the dominion of the native rulers, who exercised their jurisdiction on behalf of the British Crown (Mill & Thomas 1976). Before the revolt of 1857, India was under the rule and control of the British East India Company. A formal system of governance under the British dominion was introduced in India in 1858 when the British East India Company passed over the control of India to the Crown then represented by Queen Victoria (Mill & Thomas 1976). Queen Victoria was formally proclaimed the empress of India in the year 1877. The British colonial rule in India lasted until 1947. The non-violent opposition and resistance to the British rule initiated and guided by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi finally brought freedom to India in 1947 (Mill & Thomas 1976). Indian scholars and historians respond to the British colonial rule with a mixed sentiment. Some hold the British responsible for depriving India of its economic prowess and wherewithal through a system of sustained exploitation. Then there are others who appreciate the British for introducing the policies and measures that led to the modernization of India. Perhaps, the truth lies somewhere between these two views. 3.0 Indian Education System under the British Modern education in India is the result of gradual evolution. History of education in India is closely linked up with the history of education in England. The beginnings of the modern system of education in India can be traced to the efforts of the Christian missionaries who poured into India in the wake of European traders (Willinsky 2000, p. 97). It was the... This paper stresses that in many ways and perspective, India could be considered to be a modern and democratic nation with a fast growing economy that to a great extent is integrated with the outside world. In that context the challenges before the Indian education system are immense and multifarious. However, it would be pragmatic to touch upon a few issues that are of immense importance to India, being a mature and responsible member of the international community. This report makes a conclusion that subjugation is not an ideal state of existence for any nation, still the British Raj did one good thing that is it introduced and exposed the Indian education system to Western thought, literature and scientific knowhow. Not to say, the policy makers and administrators in the independent India did much to build on the start given by the Raj. The current economic growth and development of the modern India to a great extent testifies to the success of its education system and educational policies. Still, the policy developments in India need to go a step ahead to include the weaker and sidelined segments of the Indian population. Besides, India also needs to get over its cultural and political compulsions and hesitations to make way for the inclusion of such subjects and disciplines in its education system that are in tandem with the trends prevailing in the free and modern nations.

Subway Franchise Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Subway Franchise - Article Example This study declares that the franchise fee for the investors from other countries ranges between $10,000 and $15,000. In addition, the required investment is about $116,000 and $263,000 for those in the United States. However, the total investment for the franchisees in Canada ranges between $102,000 to 234,000. The Subway franchisees contribute 12.5 percent weekly. Eight percent of the aforementioned percentage accounts for franchise royalties while 4.5 percent is used in advertising. According to the paper the Subway has a training program for the franchisees. Notably, the franchisees are supposed to enter an agreement with the franchise by signing the Franchise Agreement. Such individuals undergo through World Training program at the franchise headquarters in order to attain the required skills. The franchisees benefit from the training opportunities that equip them with the necessary skills in the market. However, it is noteworthy that the training is examinable, and franchisees must satisfy the Subway’s administration by passing the examination. The most interesting opportunities with the Subway include financial assistance, on-the-job training, and aid from the site location team. The Subway franchise offers some financial support through a leasing program. The in-service training is essential for equipping the franchisees with solid skills needed in the industry. In addition, the site location team offers free advice on the perfect location.

The role of federal agencies in fighting digital crime Essay

The role of federal agencies in fighting digital crime - Essay Example These agencies have to be up to date about all the digital networking so that they can help protect the common people, businesses and governments from getting cheated or played by digital criminals. They know that it is the requirement to keep their strategies in dealing with this threat more innovative so that this problem can be handled appropriately. Mostly the security agencies that work under the government are more influential in countering digital crimes because they have more financial support and thus are more technologically advanced. Political assistance also plays a vital role in increasing their significance. High priority is given to prevent digital crime and efforts are being made to spot crimes before they occur. There are various agencies that are working to prevent this problem. One of these agencies is the Secret Service. This agency is responsible for the prevention of three digital crimes, which are financial institutional frauds that include savings, loans and banks, the access devised frauds that include credit cards, personal identification numbers and passwords, and last but not the least digital crimes conducted on the national level. Another agency that works to prevent digital crime is the Department of Justice. This department takes care of the investigations related to computer hacking, electronic privacy laws and various other digital crimes. It basically takes care of all the legal implications of digital crimes. The department of Homeland Security agency is the combination of two agencies: U.S Customs Service and Immigration and naturalization, and the digital crime that is investigated here with highest level of priority is the child exploitation case (Wiles, 2007, p.90). Federal Bureau of Investigation is one of the largest criminal investigating agencies in the United States and in digital crimes it handles the hacking, fraud via the internet, sending of illegal material across the state borders etc. It works with the

Special interest Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Special interest - Essay Example One kind of an interest group is that which takes the form of political groups; the aim of the creation of this kind of interest group is to influence people in the political arena to create policies that favor the interest of a political interest group. One such interest group is Texas Medical Association, this group is said to be the largest medical association that has been operational for years with the aim of representing over 46,000 physicians and other individuals related to the field of medicine (Newell, 2009, p.92). Interest groups often derive their strength from their membership. Some of the largest and most powerful interest groups in the nation include the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). This association has a membership of over 32 million persons. With this kind of membership, pushing for championing of certain interest is not very hard. Other equally influential interest groups include the National Rifle Association (NRA), AFL-CIO and American Medical Association (Chapter 11, n.d). The relationship between interest groups and political groups is a very close one and it has been in existence for a very long period of time. Both these groups are defined to conduct separate functions in a particular nation (Bardes, 2012, p.224). A party has the task of ensuring candidates are elected for various public positions after nominating them. On the contrary, interest groups focus on the policy side of the political environment, where they try to influence the policy decision making process. Even though both these groups are defined to have different operational functions, they have a strong relationship which has lasted for quite a long period of time. For example, interest groups such as environmentalists have close ties with a particular state’s democratic political parties. The close alliance

A History of Greece Essay Example for Free

A History of Greece Essay Western Civilization owes much of its development to Greek history because most of the current principles and knowledge of man was derived from this ancient culture. The foundations of mathematics, science, medicine, philosophy, politics and even the different forms of art nowadays were first established long before Christ was born in these Mediterranean islands. The Bronze Age (3000 BCE to 1100 BCE) Bronze became a heavily used metal in Greece during 3000 B. C. It was used to make different tools and ancient battle weapons that were all part of Greek daily life. The three great civilizations that are worth studying were born on different parts of Greece. The Minoans settled on Crete at around 2600 B. C. This community got its name from Minos, a legendary son of Zeus, who ruled Crete and rid it of sea pirates (Minos, 2007). By the year 2000 B. C. , these people were able to establish a very dynamic community life marked by favorable trade activities that helped make its citizens rich. The people of Minoa became known for their palaces and socio-economic political organization. The first evidence of Greek writing called Linear A, came from this period. There remain specific evidences that Minoans held great but peaceful influence over the islands of the Aegean despite being naval conquerors. At around 1500 B. C. , records seem to imply that a volcano on Santorini erupted which caused major earthquake and huge tidal waves that could have wiped out the Minoan civilization (Greeka, n. d. ). Mycaenaeans, another community evidenced to have come from the north in around 2000 B. C. , settled on the main island and became the center of trade after the reign of the Minoans. The previous centuries’ records show that these two civilizations had a complex relationship in that it had strong business connections to each other but were also competing in their dominance of the Mediterranean. However, with the sudden disappearance of the Minoan civilization, the Mycenaeans became the trade hub during the 1400 B. C. to 1200 B. C. with â€Å"much of the Minoan cultural tradition transferred to the main island† (Mycenaean Civilization, 2007). Some of their differences with the Minoans, however, were shown through their use of armors in battles and better fortified territories. Mycenaeans are also noted for their beards. The people of Mycenaea chose to live in smaller units or kingdoms but were united by one dialect. The story of the Trojan War seems to be based on some facts between the Mycenaeans and the â€Å"inhabitants of the Troad, or Troas, in Anatolia† which is now Turkey (Trojan War, 2007). There are indications that when Troad was afflicted by a terrible fire, the Mycenaeans wanted to conquer the city. The greatness of Mycenaean community ended at around 1200 B. C. when â€Å"crops began to fail and famine† gripped Greece (Ancient Greeks, n. d. ), This caused â€Å"peasant rebellions and internal warfare (Greeka, n. d. ). The Cycladic community began in the different isles of the Aegean which were in the middle of Crete and mainland Greece. The Cyclade area was a vital location because it was the Greece’s business connection to the rest of Europe and Asia from which the Greeks learned many of their agricultural practices. This time period was characterized by a very fast growth in population and very dynamic development in all aspects of society. Sculpture using marble and pottery were popular art forms during this period in this area of Greece. The Dark Ages (1100 B. C. to 800 B. C. ) The Dark Ages are called so because little evidence could indicate what happened during this time frame. There are some findings that Dorians, a Greek-speaking tribe from the North, may have caused the decline of Mycenaean civilization. â€Å"The Dorians kept power entirely to themselves, creating a ruling military class which they solely occupied’ (Dorian, 2007). It seems that the centralized systems were broken and that monarchies dominated the political structure. This period’s significant contribution to Greek history, however, seems to show that it was at this time when Homer wrote the Iliad which included the epic of the Trojan War (Greeka, n. d. ). Archaic Period (800B. C. to 500 B. C. ) During the Archaic Period, Aristocratic Republics replaced the political structure of Greek civilization and foreign influence abound. It is during this time that human and mythological figures began to appear in different art forms. The first Olympic game was held in 776 B. C. wherein a cook named Koroibas won the 600 foot race called stadion (The Games, n. d. ). These festivals were held for the God on Mount Olympus, Zeus. People felt that Greece at his point in time, was overpopulated and began to migrate to other European territories bringing with them their advanced culture. Coins became a currency at around 600 B. C. (Ancient Greek Civilizations, 2003) due to the influence of traders from Asia Minor where the first coin was supposedly made. Panathenaic festivals became popular sometime in 566 B. C. This very important occasion celebrated for numerous days sometime between July and August, supposedly Athena’s birthday, was well-anticipated because anyone can join except for slaves. It consisted of contests, processions and sacrifices (The Panathenaic Festival, n. d. ). Democracy Another very significant contribution of this period is the birth of democracy in Athens at around 508 B. C. There were two types of people in Greece. Men who were born in the city they resided in were called citizens while all other individuals are considered non-citizens. Only citizens have the choice of politicians and vote in plebiscites. There were large conventions called â€Å"The Assembly† that must be attended by at least 6, 000 citizens before it was considered official enough to be heard by the government. This meeting was done regularly wherein citizens may address their concerns regarding laws that needed to be implemented. A body of law-makers called Council was made up of 500 citizens which was changed annually. The members held the task of making new laws and debated on how these could be best implemented. Life in Greece There was an â€Å"agora† in the middle of each Greek city (Ancient Greeks, n. d. ) which was sort of like a town square wherein merchants can trade their various goods whether native or foreign. This was the center of commerce wherein anyone, even foreigners, was allowed to buy what they wanted. It was also where men may hang out to with friends, know the latest political announcement or trade views with foreigners. Very few women could be seen in the agora and they were mostly female slaves who have been sent by their rich masters to shop for market goods. The most important infrastructure of the city were built around the agora. Because of the hot climate, Greeks prefer to wear light clothes which are evidenced on the carvings that present-day archeologists have been able to study. Depending on the warmth, some men even prefer to wear only their loincloth. During cold weather, they place a cloak over their normal clothes which are tunics or â€Å"chitons† square shaped textile that are held at the shoulders using pins and around the waist by belts (Ancient Greeks, n. d. ). Women often wore a fancier shorter version called a peplos that was worn on top of the chiton. To take off boredom, these tunics were usually dyed and embroidered according to tastes. Protection for the feet was usually used when outside of the house and these came in the form of sandals and leather boots. Brooches and pins were necessary jewelry to fasten their chitons. The women adored every form of jewelry. The wealthy females also used make-up and allowed their slaves to fix their hair according to what was in fashion. At around 500 B. C. , men saw it fashionable to wear beards and short hair styles. Greek women family members usually shared the tasks of cooking but the wealthier ones could hire slaves to handle the responsibility. The diet was a merry mixture of fruits and vegetables during the summer and dried versions during the winter. Sometimes, the families are able to store enough fruit and make cheeses in summer months which could be enough to tide them over the winter. Those who were near the sea enjoyed its produce as long as the weather permitted a catch. Meat was considered to be an expensive food and the poor of society cannot afford it. When occasions do allow the impoverished to eat meat, they take advantage of the situation to eat every edible part†¦even the brains. The Role of Women in Greece Women enjoyed very little freedom in Greek society. Only wealthy women were allowed to get music or writing lessons at home. Only the rich seven year old boys were sent to the gymnasium (school) and returned after eight years to wait for another three years to become citizens. However, girls were not allowed to get education outside of the confines of her house. Much of a girl’s knowledge in music, dancing, cooking and weaving are imparted by their mothers. They were expected to follow whatever their husbands or fathers asked. A girl can get married even when she is just fifteen years old and is expected not to go back to her former home anymore. It is the wife’s responsibility to run the chores of the house and ensure the good services of the slaves. Because the streets were considered unsafe, most women are tied down to spend most of their time at home. Every now and then, the husband may give the woman a reprieve from boredom by taking her to the theater or allowing her to be accompanied outside the house by a male servant. Aside from doing housework, women made the clothes, blankets and whatever textile needs of their families. They also were expected to prepare the food needed for winter. How the Gods Influenced Greece The Greeks believed in many gods and built temples for each one. Each god was powerful up to a certain extent depending on what they ruled on: Poseidon was the god of the Sea, Hades ruled the underworld, Hera was the goddess of youth, Aris was the god of war, Athena was the goddess of wisdom, Apollo was the god of truth, and many more. Whenever misfortune beset them, the Greeks believed that these were caused by the gods’ anger. The temples were usually constructed on hilltops to show that the god or goddess was protecting their community. The area on which a temple is built is called acropolis. One can tell the riches of the city by looking at its temples. The wealthy ones built their temples using stone and had many different forms of artwork to beautify it. Each temple had a huge statue of the god or goddess. Athens built their statue of Athena using ivory and gold (Ancient Greeks, n. d. ). Sacrifice offerings such as food and animals were placed on a table within the temple before the individual pursues to worship his god in the courtyard which had an altar. Intellectual Growth in Greece Although the Greeks attributed most of the occurrences of their daily lives to the activities of the gods, at around 500 B. C. , they began to find out more about the world. Philosophers and many scholars who thirsted for more knowledge regarding mathematics, medicine, astronomy and geography lived during this time. Some of these famous people are Plato, who wrote about politics, Aristotle whose interest led him to discover many information on biology, Parmenides who hypothesized that the world was spherical, Archimedes who invented the Archimedian screw that spiraled irrigation to high farmlands and Phythagoras who is still popular in the mathematical arena for his right angles. The Abode Most homes in Greece at that time were made of stone or clay. There were bungalows and two-storey houses with roofs made of tiles or reeds. The flooring was also made of tiles to ensure the cool temperature inside the houses. These houses were built in the middle of courtyards with walls and a sturdy gate. Altars were not only found to be in the temples but also within the courtyards of the houses as well. This was where the family members can worship their gods and leave their food and wine as offerings. Wood was the primary element used to make furniture but these can sometimes be accentuated with ivory and different metals. More families lived in the rural areas compared to the cities wherein the rich usually prefer to reside. The wealthy may have residences in the city while their servants take the responsibility of maintaining their countryside homes. The poorer farmers had the help of the children to do the agricultural chores such as herding sheep and goats or ploughing the fields. Crops like grapes and olives grew well in the stony land but wheat to make bread had to be bought from Egyptians. These grapes either became raisins or wine while the olives became oil or pickles. Farmers also took care of farm animals because they are excellent sources of basic needs like clothing, milk and meat. The Persian Wars The Persian Wars began to affect Greek life in 490 BC, â€Å"with a Persian invasion in Greece led by Darius the Great of Thrace† (History of Ancient Greece, n. d. ). Darius’ army was almost crushed by his first attempt to conquer the Danube if not for the Ionian Greeks who were his allies at that time. However, this made the Ionians realize that they should rebel from the empire and they asked for the support of the other city-states to go against Persia. This started the popularly known Ionian Revolt. Only the Athenians gave ships to the effort and were able to win the war. The Persians proudly retaliated, recaptured their supremacy in the battle of Lade in 494 B. C. and destroyed the city of Miletus by massacring or enslaving the inhabitants (Setzer, n. d. ). Angered by the Athenian bravado, Darius sought to battle on mainland Greece at around 492 B. C. but the ship that held his army became badly hit by a storm. Another fleet was sent and this time, Eretria was completely destroyed. The next target was Athens and the army went onshore at Marathon which led towards Athens. The Athenians tried to ask Spartans for help but due to â€Å"a religious festival, the Spartans were detained, and the 10,000 Athenians had to face the Persians aided only by 1,000 men from Plataea† (Greco-Persian Wars, 2007). However, the Athenians under the leadership of ten generals including Miltiades, were able to block this attempt which made the Persians retreat and reorganize to try and attack from the Saronic Belf. They were surprised to find the Athenian army back in their territory and ready to fight them again. The Persians went back to Asia Minor, defeated. A runner was sent to Athens to deliver the good news and this was how the Marathon Race got its name (The Persian War, n. d. ). After a decade from the first attempt of invasion, Darius’ son, Xerxes took the throne of Persian Emperor and wanted to target Greece. His strategy involved less violence because instead of attacking head on, he decided it would be best to send envoys to start negotiating with the different cities to surrender without battle. He constructed a bridge at Hellespont and ensured that a canal was dug across the isthmus to protect his army from storms while rounding the Cape of Mount Athos (Setzer, n. d. ). He collected his troops from every satrapy (territory within the Persian Empire) which numbered about 150,000 of the best soldiers from Persia and Mede while his naval fleet had about 1200 ships that were prepared against an estimated 300 brave warriors from Athens and Sparta. The large army of the Persians resulted to a slower pace in their attack and this gave the Greeks a chance to plan out their defense (Greco-Persian Wars, 2007). The different cities of Greece held a meeting to plan their defense which resulted to the delegation of the army to Sparta while Athens was in-charge of the navy fleet under Themistocles, an Athenian statesman (Kreis, 2006). They also consulted the Delphic Oracle. The oracle of Delphi was at Mount Parnassus where a Pythia (woman supposedly used by the God Apollo as his medium) could be asked to predict answers to their questions (Roach, 2001). The Pythia foretold that they would lose the battle and that their only chance of success was through a wooden wall. There were so many interpretations that could mean â€Å"wooden wall† but in the end, the Athenians took it to imply that the wooden walls were their ships. The Spartans suggested that the only way to position themselves well against the great army of Persia was by blocking them at the Isthmus of Corinth. The Athenians and authorities from Central Greece did not agree because their territories will be pillaged by the Persians before they reach the Isthmus of Corinth. However, Evaenetus, commander of the 10,000 Hoplites who decided to help Greece agreed with Sparta and so the minute number of soldiers repositioned themselves at the Isthmus of Corinth. The Spartans and Hoplites were at an advantageous position in Thermopylae until a â€Å"traitorous Greek led a Persian force through the hills to the rear of the Greek forces† (Kreis, 2006) for a surprise attack that led to a massacre. On the naval side, the Athenians left their city which allowed the Persians to burn it. Themistocles realized that battling with the Persians in the open sea will make them lose because of their minute number. He realized that the only way to win against the Persians was to turn their large army into their own handicap. This he did in the Battle of Salamis – a very narrow strait between Athens and the Island of Salamis. â€Å"He sent his best slave to Xerxes to tell him that the Greek navy was retreating to the Isthmus of Corinth to form a combined force with the army† (Moerbeek, 1998). He tricked Xerxes by sending a misleading message that the time of the Persian army to attack was at hand. Xerxes then allowed his unsuspecting contingent to enter the strait between Athens and the island of Salamis where a surprise attack by the Greeks was waiting for them. This caused the eventual defeat of the Persians. By 479 B. C. , the Greek forces had all conquered the Persian army and navy (Kreis, 2006). Conclusion The fast paced development of civilization owes its foundations to the very intelligent and industrious Greeks. Every aspect of modern day life has its roots on Ancient Greek mathematics, logic, philosophy, science, art and even politics. Wars were intelligently won through cunning minds and not annihilating weaponry. Our modern world can truly learn so much just by looking at its past. References Ancient Greek Civilizations. (2003). In Minnesota State University Mankato Online. Retrieved June 11, 2007, from http://www. mnsu. edu/emuseum/prehistory/aegean/timeline. html Ancient Greeks. (n. d. ). In Anglia Campus Online. Retrieved June 11, 2007, from http://www. angliacampus. com/public/pri/history/greeks/index. htm Dorian. (2007). In Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 12, 2007, from Encyclop? dia Britannica Online: http://www. eb. com:180/cgi-bin/g? DocF=micro/175/77. html Greco-Persian Wars. (2007). In Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 12, 2007, from Encyclop? dia Britannica Online: http://www. britannica. com/ebc/article-9037907 Greeka. (n. d. ). Greece History: Stone Bronze Age. Retrieved June 11, 2007, from http://www. greeka. com/greece-stone-bronze-age. htm History of Ancient Greece. (n. d. ). In Think Quest. Retrieved June 11, 2007, from http://library. thinkquest. org/10805/history-g. html Kreis, S. (2006). Lecture 7: Classical Greece. In The History Guide. Retrieved June 12, 2007, from http://www. historyguide. org/ancient/lecture7b. html Minos. (2007). In Encyclop? dia Britannica. Retrieved June 11, 2007, from Encyclop? dia Britannica Online: http://www. britannica. com/eb/article-9052881 Moerbeek, M. (1998). Warfare in Hellas. Retrieved June 12, 2007, from http://monolith. dnsalias. org/~marsares/warfare/battle/salamis. html Mycenaean Civilization. In The Columbia Electronic Encyclopledia, 6th ed. Retrieved June 11, 2007, from http://www. infoplease. com/ce6/history/A0834633. html The Panathenaic Festival. (n. d. ). Brooklyn College Classics Department. Retrieved June 12, 2007, from http://depthome. brooklyn. cuny. edu/classics/dunkle/athnlife/rligious. htm The Persian War. (n. d. ). In Think Quest. Retrieved June 11, 2007, from http://library. think quest. org/CR0210200/ancient_greece/persian_war. htm Roach, J. (2001). Delphic Oracles Lips May Have Been Loosened by Gas Vapors. In National Geographic News. Retrieved June 11, 2007, from http://news. nationalgeographic. com/ news/2001/08/0814_delphioracle. html Setzer, T. (n. d. ). The Persian Invasion of Greece. Retrieved June 11, 2007, from http://www. cais- soas. com/CAIS/History/hakhamaneshian/greece_invasion. htm Trojan War. (2007). In Encarta Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 11, 2007, from Microsoft ® Encarta ® Online Encyclopedia: http://encarta. msn. com

Mass Media In A Liberal Democratic Society

Mass Media In A Liberal Democratic Society What is the proper role of the mass media in a liberal democratic society? In the contemporary world, the use of mass media has been on the increase and thus this has not exempted its use in the political arena. In connection to this point, there is a vital role that is played by mass media especially in the liberal democratic society. As such, a liberal democratic society is the one in which elections are fair and free while encouraging competition in the political process. This kind of democracy is a representative of the American, Brazilian and Canada among other such like democracies. In particular, a liberal democratic society seeks to bring developments in the political arena, social and economic sectors. In this sense, the government is used as a tool of making developments where they are needed. On the other hand, democracy brings about vesting of authority on the citizens. In this context, the proper role of mass media in such a society may be not understood. Therefore, the undertaking of this work will cover the proper role played by mass media in a liberal democratic society. Following this point, democracy involves a set of measures followed in the making choice of the state elite. It actually requires meaningful electoral choice that which can be made possible by the mass media which is important in any large democratic polity. In this sense, there have been ongoing arguments regarding the autonomy granted to the mass media as far as politics are concerned. Arguably, the success of any liberal democratic society is direct connected to the free flow of both ideas and arguments. This is necessitated by the mass media which should in fact maintain a deliberative exchange of such ideas and arguments. From a general point of view, mass media plays a pivotal role in a liberal democratic society which is termed as a role of being a guardian of the democracy along with the defending of the interest of the public  [1]  . In actual sense, mass media plays the role of correcting the arms of the government which involve the executive, judiciary and in the large r perspective the legislative. In other words, the mass media plays a major role as the major player in the theatre of elections  [2]  . It was also noted that democracy requires inhibited public debates along with free speeches and along with this point, citizens should be equipped with the ability to make informed decisions of which this is accomplished by the use of mass media  [3]  . In addition, a liberal democratic society should actually provide sufficient information along with transparency in the matters of political decisions. As well, it should provide competition in terms of ideas and arguments which encourage participation from the members of the society and thus meet the demands of a democratic society. According to research, mass media has a great role to play in the context of a liberal democratic society. As such, it has been pointed that there are three major roles that media plays in the given society  [4]  . The most important one has been pointed out as the media acting in the capacity of a regulator against the state. In the same line of thought, the media is given to the role and responsibility of ensuring that accurate as well as sufficient information is provided to the society from the larger point of view. Accordingly, the mass media has another major role to play which cannot be underrated. As a matter of fact, it should work hard to ensure that it represents people in the sense of sufficiently reflecting the range of public opinions together with the aspect of political competition  [5]  . It is important at this point to note that media has a major communication role to play in the context of a liberal democratic society. So to speak, communication entails the facilitation of the public dialogues, representation of the public, making the public to live being informed, and acting as a regulator or rather a watchdog of the structures of power which affect the wellbeing of the public. As well, media is used as a tool of social unity and thus it is important to bring into view the major types of media systems in use to accomplish roles assigned within a democratic society. In line with this point, media covers the instruments of communication employed in order to accomplish the roles of communication in a democratic society. As such, these instruments of communication involve books, internet, films, newspapers and TVs among others as such. In essence, democracy advocates for freedom of speech to be granted to the members of the society. In this sense, media works to represent the members within the given society of which due to the limited space, they use some members of the society to speak for the citizens and as well representatives of particular groups and communities together with other such like organization representatives. Therefore, through the use of media, the ideas and arguments along with the information of the given people in the society is brought into public view for the necessary actions to be taken. Basically, the media is expected play the role of a watchdog for the public. This is to suggest that it should take the responsibility to protect the very citizens or rather the society it is mandated to serve. So to articulate, the public is always out to see that the media is regulating the power structures of the society by exploring their functioning and then notify the public when there has arisen some issues in the structures  [6]  . This is also accompanied by the media pointing out to the interests of the people and where they want to act. Another point to note is that a liberal democratic society as it has been highlighted requires a good flow of information. This is to suggest that the public requires to get information and to stay informed. In such as society, citizens are inclined towards making collective decisions for the societal benefit altogether. In the light of this point, democratic societies grow when there is flow of the shared information among the society members and thus it is imperative for the media to inform the society regarding the contemporary issues that need attention and the public stance in regard to them. As far as social unity is concerned, the media acts as a tool that works to bring together the members of the society by making use of a common culture which is only achieved when the media gives the society an experience of culture that is shared. According to research findings together with arguments from various scholars, media as a key player in the flow of information in the society has failed in most of its roles. This is what has brought about the misconception of the proper role of the mass media in a liberal democratic society. However, pointing out to what should be done so that the media can play its proper role, will help to alleviate the burden of the media abuse in a democratic context. As such, the mass media should not accept the manipulation by the political leaders who use it for selfish interest  [7]  . In the light of this point, the media should seek to ensure a universal access in that members should be given room to the right of entry to the mass media to contribute as well as gain from the public. The role of the mass media in the democratic society will be realized again when the mass media works independent from the structures of power present in the society. In all the undertakings of the media, influential leaders should be presented separately from the titles so that there may be no bias. Owing to the manipulation of the mass media by influential leaders, mostly the media may ignore the interests along with the concerns of the public and as such, this should not be done but rather the media should respond to the public interests and concerns altogether. From a more practical point of view, the media is expected to provide truthful and honest information if the development of the democracy is to be achieved. It has been argued that media is central to a democratic society as it leads to information accessibility at all social levels and geographical locations of a society  [8]  . Equally, mass media works as a critic essential to the government along with the investigations of wrong doing. In essence, mass media has its proper role as that of acting as an advocate for good along with bad causes. It is the responsibility of the mass media again to state the different constituencies of the democracy. So to speak, it works towards the creation of common experiences to the society while offering shared public symbols. Needless to say, it is through media that the public gets to interact with the leaders and as such solicit information from them. Accordingly, mass media plays the role of constantly reminding the society the essence of their national identity  [9]  . Following this point, the instruments of media have experienced developments which are closely linked to the technological development. This is to suggest that it is not only though books, newspapers and TVs among others that the mass media operates, but rather internet has come into the scene. Thus, it is possible for the political leaders to use the internet to influence the citizens and as well interact with them  [10]  . Of importance to note in this case is the abuse of mass media by the leaders in order to serve their self driven interest. Therefore, regulation of the mass media should be carried out so that no cases of abuse can be reported. Arguably, contemporary democracy has been pointed out as not to be working. This is given to the reason that the media has engaged in politics with the citizens engaging in the internet citizenship and thus the point of contact and development has been lost  [11]  . Besides this point, mass media has developed to a point whereby it has thus constrained leadership and leaders in the democratic society and thus on the other hand mass media has worked to drag back the democratic societyà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s growth  [12]  . More to this point, arbitrated political communication in the public specialty can smooth the progress of deliberative legalizing of the processes in multifarious societies only if an autonomous media system gains self-government from its social situation and if unidentified audiences grant a criticism between a knowledgeable leader conversation and a reactive civil society  [13]  . Although there have been many challenges limiting the media from achieving its objective, it is essential to note that mediaà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s role in the liberal democratic society is paramount. As such, it serves the role of being the watchdog by regulating and criticizing the operations of the government. It provides a platform whereby the leaders of the society interact with the citizens and thus serve their needs. Debates concerning the political and social matters are carried out in the media and thus it serves the interests of the public. It further corrects the wrongs of the government and thus it keeps the government on check so as to ensure freedom and fairness in the society altogether.

Innocent Drinks Was Formed Management Essay

Innocent Drinks Was Formed Management Essay Innocent  Drinks was formed in 1998 by Richard Reed, Adam Balon and Jon Wright BBC NEWS Business, 2010. The general idea of the company was to produce 100 fruit, with no water, sugar, concentrated juices or preservatives (GMID, 2012). It is also a firm that is synonymous with healthy lifestyles and ecological ethics.  Innocent  Drinks is now the leader of the smoothie market (see Appendix 2) in the UK, with the Coca-Cola Company owned a 58% of the companys stake (GMID, 2012). Moreover they sold their products in supermarkets, local shops, coffee shops and several other outlets. Furthermore Innocent drinks are now sold in ten European countries (Fast Track 100, 2012). Innocent shows a big interest to achieve the five-a-day in order to improve publics health. Thus, the company is working with Government consultants and nutrition specialists in order to find ways to promote fruit consumption (Marketing Week, 2011). They have shown a big interest about charity and according to the companys official website they donate 10% of their profits to the charity, the majority of which goes to the innocent foundation. Foundation is currently supporting sixteen partner projects mainly in countries where innocent drinks supplies its fruit. They focus on agricultural, because company believes that people should use the natural resources in order to enable a better future (Innocent website, 2012 b). The company emphasise that it is workers show respect for the environment and all the fruits used are 100% eco-friendly produced (Innocent website, 2012 b). Additionally the company have won many awards such as World Juice Award Foodnews World Juice Award for best new product (Apple Juice) on 2011 and Marketing Week Effectiveness Award for New Product of the Year (Kids) on 2010 (Innocent website, 2012 b). In general, smoothie market had a growth in sales and the forecasts were positive until 2007. However due the economic crisis the consumers modified their shopping list and th e revised forecast are not encouraging for the future according to Mintel report in 2009 (see Appendix 1). Figure 1: Business excellence model (Adapted from University of Cambridge Publications, 2012)http://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/uploads/Research/CSP/Modified_Large.png The business excellence models are frameworks that when operated within an organisation can help to focus ideas and action in a more methodical and structured way that should guide employees to increase their performance.  Moreover those frameworks help the company to introduce its HRM practices and also apply them more effectively. HRM Practices-Best Practices According to Marchington and Wilkinson (2005), best practice HRM is capable of being used in any organisation, irrespective of product market situation, industry, or workforce. There are many activities which human resource is focused on. Examples of HRM practices are recruitment and selection, training and development, employee wellbeing, negotiation, health and safety, payment and reward etc. (Foot and Hook, 2011). The two human resource practices that the Innocent focus on are the Training and Development and Payment and Reward. Training and Development Figure 2: Interaction between different levels of development requirements and the wider corporate planning process (Adapted from Investors in People, 2012 a) There are several methods to achieve the employees progress which are usually extent according to sector and size of the company. The progress within the company can be individually or team based. Additionally the employer has to take into consideration that the development starts form the organisation then moves to the department and finally to the individual (Figure 1). Moreover there is a several methods for the company when it is considering the training and development of both decision-making and non-decision making personnel. The firm can give emphasis to formal training procedures and self-development in order to achieve an improved standard for its employees. The table below illustrates information about the most effective methods for employees to learn. It is remarkable that the majority of them prefer to learn in the work place which Innocent provides during the induction compulsory programme. Employees prefer to learn during the work period instead of self-study through co urses and work experience. Method Percentage On the job 41 Formal Courses 21 The experience of work 15 Coaching/ Mentoring 10 Informal help from colleagues 7 Other 4 E-learning 2 Self-study in own time 1 Table 1: Most Effective way for people to learn (Adapted from CIPD, 2007) The Innocent Company engages this HRM practice and supports it in several ways in order to encourage its employees to work to in the maximum level of their ability. Thus, those practices can act as examples of ways of maximising employee performance. Firstly, the introduction of an induction programme is necessary of a smaller company, whereas a grater company might be providing series of training programmes (Investors in People, 2008). Innocent provides two week induction programme in addition to other courses. For example the Innocent Drinks Company provides two compulsory training programs for its employees such as the innocent academy and the innocent business academy. However, the company provides optional programmes such as Managing your own development and Building expertise in what you do (Innocent website, 2012 b). Compulsory courses: The innocent academy: This is a two day compulsory programme which helps the employee to familiarise with the work environment. This induction course equips the employee with uncomplicated tools and ideas. The general aim of this course is to help the new member of the company to be more valuable and efficient to the workplace. Moreover this is a great opportunity for the employee to meet people who may work way with on a daily basis. Furthermore the employee can listen to the older employees and get a general idea about working in Innocent (Innocent website, 2012 b). The innocent Business Academy (IBA): This is an additional two day course. The companys plan is to teach core business skills to its future employees, for example project management and financial skills. This course occur during the first year at innocent, in case of the employee is at manager level or beyond (Innocent website, 2012 b). Optional Courses Managing Your Own Development: These courses run during the year. They are optional courses designed to give to the employees additional information, guidelines and useful tools in order to managing their ideas, strategies and strengths in addition to planning the next move (Innocent website, 2012 b). Building expertise in what you do: The Company is divided to many small teams. Each team has an aim to do its best to hold the Innocent to the highest level. For example sales team focuses to the methods of negotiation, and technical team focus on the latest methods for keeping the drinks safe from bacteria and microbes. Moreover some other teams have to study for professional exams in order to improve their skills (Innocent website, 2012 b). Payment and Reward for Employees According to CIPD (2009), approximately a quarter of employers have a reward strategy in their company. Based on Investors in People (2012 b), there are several ways of rewarding people such as one-off bonus payments for personal performance, commissions, performance related pay, profit related pay, competency based pay, employee share scheme, benefits and non financial approaches. One-off bonus payments for personal performance: In addition to salary each employee can get an extra bonus for the achievement of the annually goals. Commission: This reward refers more to the sales team. The commission price depends on their achievement of effective selling methods. Performance related pay: This method reflects not only outcomes or output but also actual performance in the work (MacKenna and Beech, 2008). Increases level of basic pay based on overall personal performance, rather than as a one-off payment. Profit related pay: The employees pay and bonuses may be straight related to the companys profit or the achievement of effective targets. Principally employees would be given a motivation to work harder, and in high profit times for the company they will earn the rewards, though in bad times they would share the companys collapse. However it is possible for the employer to design a strategy in order to protect the employees when profits decreased (MacKenna and Beech, 2008). Competency based pay: Rewards can based on employees work, skills and attitude, and not only when the goal has achieved because sometimes is out of their control in several circumstances. Employee share scheme: Frequently used to link performance and long service to possession of the company. The method of offering share ownership to employees can include an individual financial value in the success of the company, as a part owner as well as an employee benefits. Non-financial approaches: This is an excellent performance and a motivation to take on more responsibility might make the employer to think a possible promotion or extra responsibility for an employee. Innocent adapts this HRM practice, and support the general idea of Payment and Reward. This practice is designed to motivate employees to work to the best of their ability and consequently is an example of method to maximising employee performance. The company organises meetings every week and the employees have the chance to talk about the topics which arise. Based in Innocent Drink company people who contribute more in the company get the highest salary and rewards. Every year the salary of each employee is reviewed and based on the annually high performance is rewarded by increasing ability to receive. Moreover the PRP Bonus  is an annually reward (Innocent website, 2012 b). If the yearly goals are successfully reached all the employees has the chance to share in the success. Furthermore all the employees have a private health care as well as life assurance and critical illness cover. Additionally there are tax saving schemes  in order to help people to save money where possible through tax saving system, for example they run the childcare coupon scheme (Innocent website, 2012 b). An once a year scholarship is offered by the company for an employee, in order to work in one of their foundation projects. Moreover the compa ny organised different clubs such as massage, cake club and Cheese Club. The best employee of the month has to wear hat or tiara and many cups of tea. Finally there are free smoothies for every employee, free breakfast and a weekly beer party every Friday (Innocent website, 2012 b). The company wants to create a friendly environment for its employees in order to increase the productivity and the will for work. 3. Employment Law-Legislation According to CIPD (2012), employment law refers to the legal rights of employees and employers. A range of employee rights are protected by employment law. Those regulations are either provided by European Union or by UK government. European Union can make suggestions for employment law and its members can vote against or can enact them. However some common employee rights such as those that encourage improvements related to health and safety must adopted by all members , including those members who vote against them (Foot and Hook ,2011). Moreover a general role which applied to all EU countries is the regulation which specifies to a maximum of 48 weekly working hours (Foot and Hook, 2011). According to the Equality Act 2010, no employee has to be discriminated about age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity (ACAS, 2010). This law became to practice in October 2010 (ACAS, 2010). Two examples of the Equality Act 2010: Employers have to design policies to encourage equal opportunities (Foot and Hook, 2011). They also have to train and inform the managers and the employees and ensure that no discrimination is occurring in the work environment (Foot and Hook, 2011). According to the Equality Act 2010, it is illegal for employers to discriminate because of anything of the above (ACAS, 2012). Discrimination is divided in four categories. Firstly, direct  discrimination occurs when an employer or employee treat someone less positively because of their actual or perceived sex or because of the sex of someone with whom they relate. Secondly indirect discrimination can happen where the company has a policy, training or actions that apply to all employees, but particularly disadvantage employees of a specific sex (ACAS, 2012). Thirdly, harassment occurs when unnecessary behaviour  related to sex has the reason or consequence of violating a persons dignity  or creating an unapproachable,  antagonisti c, humiliating, embarrassing or unpleasant environment. Fourthly victimisation is the unreasonable behaviour of an employee who has made or supported a criticism about sex discrimination (ACAS, 2012). As well as sex discrimination, race discrimination occurs under four categories. Race discrimination can occur because of colour, race, nationality, citizenship, ethnic or national origin are illegal (ACAS, 2012). Innocent: Innocent alight with the equality act and also it respect people from different race. For example Innocent foundation is currently supporting sixteen projects principally in countries where  innocent drinks get its fruit (Innocent website, 2012 b).   They give work to the local people with an agriculture focus in order to motivate them to use the natural sources. This move shows respect and equality between employees. Moreover Innocent provides work opportunities for both genders with equal pay, thus the company engaged with the Equality act 2010. No evidence found about discrimination or similar action from any employer at Innocent. Recommendations-Ideas for Improvement The company has to think about children nutrition (see Appendix 2), in order to decrease its high acid and sugar levels (Nexis, 2012). Innocent can organise conferences about sugar and acid levels and through the Training and Development HRM practice can develop employees knowledge about this key issue for a company which claims that is selling healthy drinks. Through this action the firm can improve its general reflection and also can show respect to the consumers. An additional recommendation can be the cooperation with a health promoting organisation or restaurant instead of McDonalds with which the company had cooperation the last five years (see Appendix 2). The cooperation with McDonalds had a bad reflection to the consumer and the firm can essentially represent its first idea which was the production of healthy drinks (Marketing Week, 2007 b). In order to succeed this cooperation the company has to encourage its personnel and motivate them through the different HRM practices such as Payment and Reward. 5. Conclusion To conclude Innocent applies the current HRM practices and current legislation effectively. According to their website and the information which are provided by the company employees are working in a friendly environment and they have many options to improve their performance through the HRM practices. Furthermore the company shows respect to the different race and gender, thus they follow the current employment law end especially the Equality Act 2010. Moreover by following the recommendations, the company can develop its functioning through employees ideas and actions as the business excellence model illustrates (Figure 1). 6. References ACAS, (2010), The Equality Act 2010, [Online]. Last accessed on 22 October 2012 at: http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3017 ACAS, (2012), Advisory handbook The A-Z of work, [Online]. Last accessed on 4 November 2012 at: http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=857 BBC News Business,(2010), Richard Reed, Innocent Drinks, [Online]. Last accessed on 21 October 2012 at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11551271 Britvic, (2012). Soft Drinks Report Data. [Online]. Last accessed on 30 October 2012 at: http://www.britvic.co.uk/reports/Soft-Drinks-Report-Data-2012.indd/index.html#/1/zoomed CIPD, (2012), [Online]. Last accessed on 17 October 2012 at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/ Fast Track 100, (2012). Last accessed on 30 October 2012 at: http://www.fasttrack.co.uk/fasttrack/leagues/dbfastDetails.asp?siteID=1compID=1378yr=2008 GMID, (2012), [Online]. Innocent Drinks Co Ltd in Soft Drinks (United Kingdom), Last accessed on 21 October 2012 at: http://www.portal.euromonitor.com.lcproxy.shu.ac.uk/Portal/Pages/Search/SearchResultsList.aspx Design Council, (2012), Innocent Drinks: creative culture and strong brand. [Online] Last accessed on 22 October 2012 at: http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/case-studies/innocent-drinks/# Innocent website, (2012 a), Full Sustainability report, [Online] Last accessed on 22 October 2012 at: http://assets.innocentdrinks.co.uk/innocentsustainability.pdf Innocent website, (2012 b), [Online], Last accessed on 22 October 2012 at: http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk Investors in People, (2008), Evaluate training and development, [Online], Last accessed on 4 November 2012 at: http://www.investorsinpeople.co.uk/Documents/Interactive/Developing%20people/DP21.pdf Investors in People, (2012 a), How to analyse your teams development needs, [Online], Last accessed on 4 November 2012 at: http://www.investorsinpeople.co.uk/Documents/Interactive/Developing%20people/How%20to%20Analyse%20Your%20Teams%20Development%20Needs.pdf Investors in People, (2012 b), Rewarding People, [Online], Last accessed on 4 November 2012 at: http://www.investorsinpeople.co.uk/Documents/Interactive/Managing%20performance/Rewarding%20People.pdf Marchington M, Wilkinson A.,(2005),Human Resource Management, High Commitment HRM and Performance,71-98, CIPD, [Online]. Last accessed on 1 November 2012 at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/7FE8ADEB-EA96-4836-83DD-2E95FD309B15/0/samplech3.pdf MacKenna E., Beech N. (2008). Human Resource Management. A Concise Analysi. 2nd edition Prentice Hall Marketing Week, (2007 a). McDonalds to trial sale of Innocent smoothies. [Online], Last accessed on 31 October 2012 at: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/mcdonalds-to-trial-sale-of-innocent-smoothies/2056106.article Marketing Week, (2007 b). Innocent guilty of sell-out? , [Online], Last accessed on 1 November 2012 at: http://web.ebscohost.com.lcproxy.shu.ac.uk/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=f4ff9d99-0c5d-47f9-8745-45e97cb0c6b5%40sessionmgr112vid=8hid=128 Marketing Week, (2011).Innocent lobbies Govt to promote five-a-day. [Online], Last accessed on 30 October 2012 at: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/innocent-lobbies-govt-to-promote-five-a-day/3024563.article Marketing Week, (2012 a). Innocent encourages kids to be gardeners, [Online], Last accessed on 30 October 2012 at: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/innocent-encourages-kids-to-be-gardeners/4000213.article Mintel,(2009). Market Re-Forecasts: Food and Drink: 2009: Smoothies., [Online], Last accessed on 31 October 2012 at: http://academic.mintel.com/sinatra/oxygen_academic/search_results/show/display/id=227765/display/id=447522#atom0 Mintel, (2012), [Online]. Last accessed on 17 October 2012 at: http://academic.mintel.com Mintel, (2011), Smoothies, Executive Summary UK October 2011. [Online]. Last accessed on 17 October 2012 at: http://academic.mintel.com/display/545342/?highlight=true Nexis, (2012 a), High acid levels in juice bad for your kid s teeth!, [Online]. Last accessed on 17 October 2012 at: http://www.lexisnexis.com Nexis, (2012 b), High level of acid in fruit drinks may harm teeth enamel. [Online]. Last accessed on 17 October 2012 at: http://www.lexisnexis.com Reynolds J. (2012), McDonalds ditches Innocent Smoothies, Marketing Mgazine, [Online]. Last accessed on 1 November 2012 at: http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news/1145352/McDonalds-ditches-Innocent-Smoothies/ Foot M, and Hook C,(2011), Introducing Human Resource Management, 6th Edition, FT Prentice Hall The food and grocery experts, (2009). Innocent drinks measuring their carbon footprint from farm to fridge to the recycling bin, [Online]. Last accessed on 1 November 2012 at: http://www.igd.com/index.asp?id=1fid=1sid=5tid=49folid=0cid=924 University of Cambridge publications, 2012, Developing Business Excellence Model for Performance Measurement in Transitional Economies,[Online]. Last accessed on 5 November 2012 at: http://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/research/csp/excellence/ 7. Appendices