Park Tea Room Essay

Master â€Å"Hally† Harold is the seventeen year old lead of Athol Fugard’s work, a white boy of South African descent, son of his mentor Sam’s employer. Sam is one of two black waiters employed by his family’s business, the St. George’s Park Tea Room. The focus of the play is of the two men’s mutual educating of the other. The younger of the two, Hally takes great pride in his â€Å"educating† Sam on book knowledge, the things that he has learned in reading or the classroom, whereas the elder Sam spends his days educating Hally on the ways of life and the world, showing him how important it is to take pride in oneself and the things that can be accomplished by your own hands. Hally has been caught in a dastardly position being a young man desperately in search of his place in this world as he rapidly approaches manhood, and being the only son of an immensely racist drunkard in the face of South African apartheid. Hally has found himself stuck between the ideologies of his inadequate father and the teachings of his gifted mentor. He battles himself for both loving and being ashamed of his white South African roots and alcoholic father. This play is about the corrosive power and denunciation of racism, ignorance and hatred in a society where those elements are all that surround you. Hally is a very bright young lad torn by his implied societal position and his loyalties to the man whom he feels has afforded him life’s greatest lessons, a black waiter who works for his father, Sam. Hally is a tortured and tormented soul; even the title of the play denotes the societal position of these individuals-Hally is referred to as Master Harold, a seventeen year old boy while Sam and Willie are grown men referred to as boys. The division between the races is clear, there is no â€Å"distortion of the political significance† (Jordan pp. 461) of the setting in which this work takes place, white is better than black and can in no socially significant way be mixed without ill regard. The only comfort to be found in the underlying premise of this work is the fact that Harold does not initially feed into the views of his father and society. He, in the beginning sees what great things he can learn from these black African men and chooses to err on the opposing side of his father’s views of race relations. It is not until Hally begins to feel trapped and cornered by his father’s impending release from the drunkard ward of the local hospital that he slips into the standard ideology of a white male finding his path during South African apartheid. He turns on his mentor, spits in his face and throws a total tantrum because he has not learned how to deal with all the scrapes and cuts that can come of being a man in this world. The introduction of Hally’s drunkard father back into the home is the unadulterated reason for his abruptly abusive and racist behavior toward â€Å"the boys†. His underlying fear is that he won’t be able to stand up for himself and his true beliefs if his father is present. Deep down I don’t feel that Hally believes himself to be any greater or more important than Sam or Willie but he is aware that society feels him to be superior to these two men and that he has yet to find it within him to give his own personal ideals a voice. He has spent all of his life under foot of one of the most racist men in South Africa, yet in the face of that socially and paternally enforced racism Hally has, for the most part, allowed himself to remain open-minded to the gifts and understandings of others, realizing that everyone has something to offer. His father’s hospital stay afforded Hally the time he needed to reflect on his own thoughts to determine what his outlook on this world would be. He was able to live without the weight of race long enough to become comfortable with himself as an individual and the other individuals surrounding him without regard to race or social standing. Being the intelligent lad that he is, he realizes that his father coming home means a lot for the way that he has been living his life, he is inevitably going to have to make some changes; he will either have to change the way that he views the world and begin fully subscribing to his father’s way of thinking, or he will have to find his own manhood and let his father know how he really feels. Hally is a clay chameleon being molded to fit whatever situation he finds himself in; he harbors an immense amount of disgust and disdain for his father and it is apparent at every turn except when he is speaking to his father. When engaging with the patriarch of his family Hally appears loving, caring and compassionate. He does not allow his hatred for his father’s world views to be seen by the man who gave him life, instead he hunts for the underlying love and respect that a son should have for his father as a man, and harnesses that love long enough to engage in an empathetic exchange. The fact that this young man has named the cycle of life the â€Å"principle of perpetual disappointment† speaks volumes of his outlook on the daily affairs of this world. He feels that having his father present in the home will just complicate the lives of everyone else around without justification; his father is just an impediment of unnecessary worth, a hurdle to be overcome if Hally ever desires to see himself find true happiness. As far as Hally is concerned, where reference is made to life being a dance as discussed in the play, it is his thought that no one knows the moves, no one man has all of the steps in order because no one can fully hear the music; as such the voluntary reality that these men discuss throughout the play could never exist. Just the thought of his father coming home changes Harold for the worse. Even in remembering the night that Sam strapped Harold’s father to his back and carried him home from the bar in the rain or the day that Sam took Harold under his wing and taught him not only to ‘fly a kite’ literally but symbolically by spreading his wings as a man and learning to fly on his own. The kite was merely a symbol to teach Harold how important it is to find his own way in this world, not to follow his father’s mind or anyone else’s other than his own. Yet where Sam felt that all these things made he and Harold closer, forging a bond that could not be broken, Hally instead turns on Sam stressing that he no longer refer to him as Hally but as Master Harold, signifying the social position and difference between the two. He does the one thing that Sam would have never expected him to do; he takes the position of the superior being and reduces Sam to a â€Å"nigger† thereby inflicting upon his former mentor an irreversible wound. Hally took his opportunity to put Sam in his place and let him know that no matter what Sam has been to him or done for him and his family over the years that he is not immune to the underlying hatred that erodes the human conscience in instances such as the time period in which this play has been set. Sam tries to make clear the implications of Harold’s actions and stresses the significance of what he has done to him, and their relationship, until the young lad comes to his senses and admits the effect that his love for his father has on him and his behaviors. Hally is fully dependent upon Sam for his understanding of this world because Hally can’t even understand himself. He lashes out at Sam because Sam is the closest person to him and sometimes it’s just easier to hurt the ones you love because you know better what will hurt them than a stranger, but I feel that another reason why he lashed out at Sam in such a way was because beneath it all he knew that Sam could always see his heart and his true intentions. Sam was able to discern and decipher the complex feelings that Hally had for his father and the emotions provoked by the idea of his father’s return. I understand the impressionable minds of youth but this young man is seventeen years old, it is time for him to stop relying on things like his relationship with Sam and to start making a way for himself. In a world full of adults you can’t just act out whenever you want to lashing out at those around you and always expecting people to be as forgiving as Sam was in this instance because it is my thought that the fact of the matter is-Hally was releasing some pinned up thoughts and emotions that he has been harboring, waiting for the day that he could release that portion of his father’s essence which he holds within him. There is no doubt that the relationship previously held between the two has forever been changed. Because he is seventeen years old the world says that it is time for this young lad to become a man, but he is not ready. He’s still relying upon others to tell him what he thinks and how he really feels. If he can’t handle the complexity of his thoughts and emotions for his father how could he ever hope to handle a life out in the world on his own. Harold knows that racism and hatred are wrong, both a lose thread eroding the fabric of life, but that makes no difference to him, when put in a position of discomfort he lashed out at Sam and Willie in the same manner that one would expect of a small child. In his article Boehmer makes it clear how often Fugard uses his main character to bring about the realization of conditions of separateness by shining a light on the trappings of historical pains, that his inevitable alienation has given representation to ordinary lives and not necessarily unique and therefore ‘dramatic’ situations† (Boehmer pp. 165). That is the point which commands emphasis in our analysis because there is nothing particularly special or significant about the setting of this play other than the backdrop of the apartheid era. Without knowledge of this story having taken place during the apartheid era these events could have taken place in any part of the world at any time throughout history. ‘Master Harold’ was no special case; he was a seventeen year old boy like any other seventeen year old boy enthralled in the decision to either follow in his fathers footsteps or to tread his own path. Cummings piece says that Fugards’ work â€Å"dramatizes the racial situation in South Africa† (Cummings pg. 2), this is true insofar as Fugard has taken the apartheid struggle and turned it into a dramatic work, as have many other artists, but not in such a way as for the thoughts or ideas of the characters within the play to have been exaggerated because just like I said, Hally was no special case. There was no need of exaggeration because we see young men like Hally everyday, unsure of themselves or their place in this world, worried that if they make a decision for their life that it may be the wrong one so they choose to sit idly in their comfort zone too afraid to venture into any unfamiliar territory. For Hally it would have been widely unfamiliar for him to stand up to his father and say, ‘thank you father, for giving me life, but my thoughts of this world should be formed of my own volition, not handed down from generation to generation’ and it is until just such young men can do that very thing that the older ideals of racism and hatred will begin to falter. Cummings is right about one thing though, the simplicity of the setting does largely contradict the complexity of the characters (Cummings pg. 2) but I think that it must be understood that if the setting and characters would otherwise be in constant competition with each other and no one would be able to follow the play. The characters are what carry the work. If Hally had no minutiae to set his character apart and was just another seventeen year old lead, there would be nothing pivotal to hold this play together. All the little details are what make these characters so profound and the work of such high quality; it would be a detriment to the production if anyone was to ever tamper with the formula. References Fugard, Athol. â€Å"Master Harold †¦ and the Boys†. New York: Penguin Plays (1982). Boehmer, Elleke. â€Å"Review: Speaking from the Periphery†. Third World Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 1 (Jan. , 1989), pp. 161-166. Cummings, Mark. â€Å"Reclaiming the Canon: A World Without Collisions: â€Å" â€Å"Master Harold†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦and the Boys† in the Classroom†. The English Journal, Vol. 78, No. 6 (Oct. , 1989), pp. 71-73. Jordan, John O. â€Å"Life in the Theatre: Autobiography, Politics, and Romance in â€Å"Master Harold†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦and the Boys†. Twentieth Century Literature, Vol. 39, No. 4, Athol Fugard Issue (Winter, 1993), pp. 461-472. Solomon, Alisa. â€Å"Review: [untitled]-Reviewed work(s): †¦Master Harold†¦and the Boys by Athol Fugard†. Performing Arts Journal, Vol. 7, No. 1 (1983), pp. 78-83.

Cash Connection Essay

Allen Franks, President of Cash Connections, a short-term cash lending firm realized that the most profitable endeavor in the check-cashing store industry is to set up stores in towns where no check-cash stores exist. Setting up Cash Connections in these places, his business became one of the leading companies in his industry by the mid to late 1990’s. The payday industry grew from larger financial institutions leaving the market, huge overdraft and late fee costs, and increased regulation of the firms allowing higher consumer trust. In an industry that reaches to 10% of all U. S. households, advanced about $40 billion in short-term credit a year, and contributed $2. 9 billion in direct labor income, Cash Connection utilized Sun Tzu’s principle of attacking where unprepared to beat his competitors. Charging these enormous fees and costing only around $130,000 to start-up, the industry entails a lucrative structure. The Complication: There has been some concern for how high the fees are and how the model could take advantage of those caught in a troubling financial situation. Payday loans averaged around $300, and charged fees between around $15 to $20 per $100 loaned, resulting in an annual percentage rate of 520% (Gamble 2011). The media has decried this credit system as a predatory industry thrusting people into debt, which it no doubt absolutely has in some cases. The demographic of payday customers were middle income, earning mostly between $25,000 to $50,000 a year. They were usually of average education, made up of young families, and were a part of the somewhat normal working class. Many companies including Cash Connection had requirements such as holding a job and having a bank account in order to do business with the company. As media and public outcry have risen, lawmakers have begun to react and regulate the industry. The more it does so, the more people use it. On the state level, some completely outlaw it, as 13 currently have (Teegardin 2007). Some states limit the amount of rollovers the vendor is allowed to require, and all supervise with regulatory regimes.

John Locke on Tacit and Unintended Consent Essay

In his Second Treatise on Law and Government, John Locke outlines clear and coherent standards for what constitutes a legitimate government and what persons one such government would have authority over. Both are determined by citizens’ acts of consenting to relinquish to the government part of their natural authority over their own conduct. Unfortunately, the situation becomes much less clear once we consider how his standards would apply to the political situation existing in the real world today. If we continue to subscribe to Locke’s account without altering its standards, we would see a precipitous drop in the number of people whose interests existing governments are responsible for serving. In this paper I will show that with certain changes and clarifications to Locke’s standards, the responsibilities of existing governments need not be allowed to shrink so drastically. This creates a tradeoff, however. Changing the standards to apply more closely to actual functioning governments has the consequence of making it more difficult to determine the legitimacy of those governments. Some of the clarity of Locke’s theoretical model is lost in translating it to apply to actual instances of government. A cornerstone of Locke’s political philosophy is the idea that a government holds power legitimately only through the consent of the governed. A civil society consents to grant a particular government rule over it, and each person chooses on an individual basis to become a member of a particular civil society (II, 117). As giving such consent has far-reaching consequences over a person’s life, Locke provides further explanation of what â€Å"consent† entails in this context. Only one way exists to become a member of a civil society: express consent. From Locke’s account this would have to be a fairly formal business, which the individual enters â€Å"by positive Engagement, and express Promise and Compact† (II, 122). Locke’s original wording is important because it seems to imply that unless a person actually makes a public agreement to submit to government law in return for protection of person, liberty, and property, she has not expressly consented. He makes it clear that there are no alternatives to this official process if one is to become part of a civil society, (II, 122). Even if one is not considered part of a particular civil society, she must submit to its authority to the extent of her involvement in that society. Someone who owns land within the territory occupied by a civil society is obligated to obey the law of whatever body has ruling authority in that territory as it applies to ownership and use of property. Someone merely travelling on a public road through a country will have less contact with the civil society of that area and so fewer laws of that society will have application to her behavior. Still, those laws that do cover what activities she carries out have binding force on her (II, 120-121). These people incur the obligation to submit to local authority because that authority is protecting them, perhaps by preventing the citizens of the area from acting in ways that would harm other people including the outsider. For the outsider to be free of those restraints and take advantage of the area’s citizens would be unjust; therefore she is obligated to comply with the legal restraints observed by citizens the area. In neither of these cases would the person in question be considered a member of the civil society whose laws she is obeying unless she expressly consented to join that society in addition to her tacit consent to follow its laws. An immediate criticism of Locke’s account thus far is that in practice, hardly anyone expressly gives consent to join any civil society. Even in most real-world cases where a person does announce submission to a particular government, the declaration would not meet Locke’s conditions of consent that would give legitimacy to the rule of government over that person. Oaths such as the U. S. Pledge of Allegiance are usually only indications that the speaker is prepared to obey directives from the government of a particular state. Consent in the strict sense would have to make explicit what the person is consenting to. Someone joining a civil society under Locke’s conception would need to spell out that she is giving up the right to make and enforce her own judgments to the government of that society, in return for that government’s protection of her interests. Even promises of blind obedience are far from universally practiced, and in most countries are the practice of reciting such pledges is confined to schools and youth groups as a form of education rather than contractual agreement. (The idea that most civil societies do not consider young people mature enough to consent to become members is discussed later in this paper). Explicit contractual consent is far rarer than these questionably binding declarations. If most people fail to give explicit consent to trade away some of their natural rights, under Locke’s terms they have not joined any civil society, and so should not be counted as the citizens of any state or the subjects of any government. This has profound significance because of the relation between civil society and government. The agreement of a civil society is the force and justification behind its government’s authority (II, 149); in return for the mandate that grants it power, the government exists to protect the interests of that particular group of people. Anyone not the member of a particular civil society has no legitimate voice in the form or operation of the government that society creates, and she has no right to expect that government to protect her interests. This does not mean that the government will not take any actions that are to her benefit; the laws of that nation which prevent its citizens from killing and robbing may also prevent them from killing or robbing her. When the government enacts laws, however, it need only do so with the interests of its constituency in mind, and has no obligation to create laws conducive to the interests of an outsider. Any benefits the outsider enjoys as a result of the laws of a particular country are purely coincidental to those laws’ intent. Someone who is not a member of any civil society at all will accordingly have no power over any government, and her interests will deserve the consideration of no government. Since the vast majority of people have not given express consent to join a particular society, the majority of humanity has no right to expect its interests to be served or protected by any of the governments existing on earth. Everyone, however, is required to submit to the control of one government or another depending of where they live, since basically every part of the earth inhabited by humans is under the dominion of one state or another. Rule is solely in the hands of those few people who have actually signed some kind of formal social contract, and needs only to consider their interests. Any government with which no living person has made a formal consent agreement rules illegitimately. The fact that Locke’s model leads to an implication that most of humanity is neither the legitimate authors nor the deserving beneficiaries of government does not prove the model is logically flawed. However, the very great majority of people consider themselves members of a civil society, and are considered as such by other people and, most importantly, by governments. However real governments define their constituency, few if any set express consent as the standard. Enslavement of the tacitly consenting masses by the expressly contracted few thus fails to provide an accurate theoretical model of governmental institutions in the real world. Locke himself describes of the formation of government as an action taken by and for the â€Å"community† (II, 149); this wording suggests that he would have disagreed with the idea that citizenship by express consent leading to dictatorship by a de facto minority is, in practice, the most typical form of legitimate government. It is possible that those without citizenship (the majority of people under our present definition) actually benefit by not being contractually bound to any particular civil society. As long as someone who is not an official citizen resides within the territory of an existing government which fulfills the duties expected of government (II, 131), its laws discourage both citizens of the civil society and other â€Å"outsiders† from threatening her life, liberty, and property. Thus someone could enjoy much of the security that membership in a civil society would provide simply by living in a well-governed area without joining in civil society. In PHI 309 lecture, Prof. Sreenivasan pointed out a possible advantage that such a living arrangement could provide for the unaffiliated: in cases where it was in one’s best interests to abandon a country beset by war, pestilence, or economic or other disaster, noncitizens could jump ship without that act being considered an injustice. Those who had by express consent tied themselves to the civil society might well be obligated to remain with the community, and would not have the option of fleeing the war or hardship. Yet in most of the world, nomadic living is considered the exception, not the rule. Citizens of the world’s various nations must be considering factors not included in Locke’s account. One of the most significant of these is a convention that has introduced a new kind of consent enabling people to become citizens of particular states. Most civil societies have found it desirable to designate officially who is a member of that society, i. e. a member of that state. As a government’s power depends on its constituency, government function is expedited by the government’s having accurate knowledge of the extent of its power base, that is to say the extent of its citizenry. At the same time, concern for its own integrity and distrust of outsiders drives a civil society to delineate who is and is not a member. These and perhaps other factors have led to the creation of conventions (usually expressed as laws passed by governments) by which a person is declared to be a member of a particular civil society (i. e. citizen of a country) regardless of whether or not that person has actually expressed consent to what such membership entails. The most typical example is a law declaring that anyone born in the territory of a particular nation is a citizen of that nation. When still a juvenile, that person of course has not actively consented to anything, and so is usually considered not complete member of civil society; although part of a community, the juvenile generally lacks certain rights and powers given to full members of the society. Upon reaching the age when she can make her own decisions, laws indicate what society the person is considered a member of in the absence of active consent by that person. The person continues to hold that default membership until she makes an active decision to join another civil society. The conventional reflection of this active decision is generally a naturalization process by which someone can become a citizen of a country she did not belong to by default. By going through the naturalization process, a person is understood to consent to the tradeoff which would make her a member of that civil society. It could be objected that being considered the member of a civil society by default is another matter entirely from consenting to join that society and willingly relinquish one’s rights. Where is the consent in this instance? This question is less troubling before the person has come of age, because most would agree that a juvenile generally lacks the judgment to be signing any kind of binding social contract. But can a government legitimately assert that a person has consented to cede her rights to it simply because she has not actively protested? This question could be answered affirmatively. A person can choose not to consent to membership in her default civil society, or give up her membership in a civil society she already belongs to, by joining another civil society through a more active process such as naturalization. This means that if she does not take such an action, she is accepting the convention that interprets her inaction as an expression of consent to join the civil society she was assigned to by default. By systematizing and codifying standards for consent, then, states in actual practice ensure that the great majority of people are not lone agents. One might still question how conscious most people are that they are held to be making this sort of contract, even in the most open societies. A case can be made that essentially, they are aware. No one is unaware of what society she belongs to. Each person is effectively the member of whatever civil society exerts control over her, usually through its government. As soon as that person is conscious of the control being exerted over her, she is made unmistakably aware of what her citizenship is. With the realization of what government she is under comes the option to change her membership. The final and most damaging criticism of the consent model is the question of what happens when a person does not have the option to move to a new territory and join a new civil society. This may occur because of a person’s own lack of means to carry out or simple ignorance of the options ostensibly available to her. It may also be the result of oppression by the government, preventing citizens of the country from leaving. Any of these conditions can force a person to remain an official member of a particular civil society. However, the standard of â€Å"conventionalized explicit consent† introduced above is only able to maintain that most people consent to join a civil society because it assumes those people have options besides their initial citizenship. If people are not being given other options, the model is still not logically flawed. Rather, it suggests a situation similar to that originally introduced as the consequence of applying Locke’s model to the real world: the people in such situations are not really part of the civil society that created the government to whose control they are forced to submit. As such, they retain undiminished the right to join another civil society through a new social contract. If they do so, they may create a new government to follow instead of the one they currently submit to by tacit consent. Of course, there is no guarantee that the government ruling them in the status quo will allow them to replace its control. If it retains control over them by force, Locke’s model would still hold them to be tacitly consenting to its authority by â€Å"enjoyment† of its dominion. This counterintuitive conclusion is avoided by the model requiring choice for real consent. If we follow that paradigm, we come to the conclusion that the government is ruling without any consent from the governed in those cases. According to Locke, such government is mere enslavement and so is illegitimate. To say that a government is wholly illegitimate if it hold power over even one person without her consent is clearly excessive; probably no government could ever achieve legitimacy under that criterion. However, we can say that a government is legitimate to the extent that its citizens are aware of other options and consider membership in their current civil society with its ruling government preferable to those options. The problem with such a standard is that it depends on what is thought by the citizens of a country, and to ascertain a person’s mentality is difficult. The most reliable test is to provide citizens with realistic options and observe whether they remain with the status quo or seek a change in their situation. That change may involve leaving their current civil society, or it may mean seeking to change the structure or behavior of that society’s government. The country’s citizens can be said to consent to the government ruling them to the extent that they posses the power to change their situation, but still maintain the status quo. Thus, the legitimacy of a government can be measured by the effective options available to its citizens. If we had held to Locke’s standards for consent to membership in a civil society and submission to government rule, we would have concluded that most people in the world are tacitly consenting to the rule of governments created by very small groups of explicit signers of social contracts. This would lead to a bizarre picture of the political landscape very much at odds with intuition and with modern reality. By changing standards for consent to mean compliance with official requirements for citizenship when other options are available, we are able to account for those who consider themselves and are considered members of a civil society without having given explicit consent, while at the same time freeing those not given a choice from the appearance of having given consent. A government is then legitimate to the extent that its citizens have given consent according to these standards. It is one of those rare examples where laws have made the situation clearer. Sources: Locke, John. Second Treatise. From Two Treatises of Government, Laslett, Peter, ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988.

A Five Year Marketing Plan For Tulip Clothing Essay

This five-year marketing plan for Tulip Clothing has been created to secure additional funding for growth and to inform employees of the company’s current status and direction. Although Tulip was launched in the UAE only three years ago, the firm has experienced greater-than-anticipated demand for its products, and research has shown that the target market of sport-minded consumers and sports retailers would like to buy more casual clothing than Tulip currently offers. In addition, Tulip plans to explore opportunities for online sales. The marketing environment has been very receptive to the firm’s high-quality goods – casual clothing in trendy colours with logos and slogans that reflect the interests of outdoor enthusiasts around the country. Over the next five year, Tulip can increase its distribution, offer new products, and win new customers. 2. Company Description Tulip Clothing was founded three years ago by entrepreneurs Damian Thomas and Geoff Compton. Tulip Clothing reflects Damian’s and Geoff’s passion for the outdoors. The company’s original cotton T-shirts, caps and denim jackets bear logos of different sports such as kayaking, mountain climbing, bicycling, skating, surfing, and horseback or camel riding. But every item shows off the company’s slogan â€Å"Let’s Rock!†. Tulip sells clothing for both men and women, in the hottest colours with the coolest names – such as sunrise pink, sunset red, twilight purple, desert rose, cactus green, ocean blue, mountaintop white, and river rock grey (Thomas 2011). Tulip attire is currently carried by small retail stores that specialize in outdoor clothing and gear. Most of these stores are concentrated in Abu Dhabi and malls in the northern Emirates. The high quality, trendy colours, and unique message of the clothing have gained Tulip a following among consumers between the ages of 25 and 45. Sales have tripled in the last year alone, and Tulip is currently working to expand its manufacturing capabilities. Tulip is also committed to giving back to the community by contributing to local conservation programs. Ultimately, the company would like to develop and fund its own environmental programs. This plan will outline how Tulip intends to introduce new products, expand its distribution, enter new markets, and give back to the community. 3. Tulip’s Mission and Objectives Tulip’s mission is to be the leading producer and marketer of personalized, casual clothing for consumers who love the outdoors. Tulip wants to inspire people to get outdoors more often and enjoy family and friends while doing so. In addition, Tulip strives to design programs for preserving the natural environment. During the next five years, Tulip seeks to achieve the following financial and nonfinancial goals: Financial Objectives: Obtain financing to expand manufacturing capabilities, increase distribution, and introduce two new product lines. Increase revenues by at least 50% each year. Donate at least AED 25,000 a year to conservation organizations. Nonfinancial Objectives: Introduce two new product lines—customized logo clothing and lightweight luggage. Enter new geographic markets in neighbouring GCC countries. Develop a successful Internet site, while maintaining strong relationships with retailers. Develop its own conservation program aimed at promoting environmental awareness in local communities. 4. Core Competencies Tulip seeks to use its core competencies to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage, in which competitors cannot provide the same value to consumers that Tulip does. Already, Tulip has developed core competencies in (1) offering a high-quality, branded product whose image is recognizable among consumers; (2) creating a sense of community among consumers who purchase the products; and (3) developing a reputation among retailers as a reliable manufacturer, delivering the requested number of products on schedule. The firm intends to build on these competencies through marketing efforts that increase the number of products offered as well as distribution outlets. By forming strong relationships with consumers, retailers, and suppliers of fabric and other goods and services, Tulip believes it can create a sustainable competitive advantage over its rivals. No other clothing company can say to its customers with as much conviction â€Å"Let’s Rock!†. 5. Situation Analysis The marketing environment for Tulip represents overwhelming opportunities. It also contains some challenges that the firm believes it can meet successfully. A SWOT analysis of the company highlights Tulip’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Drawing the right conclusions from a SWOT analysis is the most important purpose of performing the analysis (Kotler 2009). Strengths: Tulip’s dedicated founders understand the target market and product. Tulip has achieved distribution in several markets with quick acceptance. Tulip has very little debts with great potential for growth. Tulip works with a single manufacturer, allowing high quality control levels. Weaknesses: Tulip’s founders may lose sight of the potential scope of the business. A limited number of consumers around UAE are aware of the Tulip brand. The firm has limited cash flow. Tulip relies on a single manufacturer which limits the production capacity if the firm wants to expand. Opportunities: Tulip’s loyal customers are likely to buy more products. Gaps exist in the UAE market that can be filled with new products such as customized clothing items and luggage. The key challenge in filling these gaps is in the shaping process that allows ideas to move forward; to be processed and refined in a way so that management can â€Å"pick the winners† (Florà ©n & Frishammar 2012). Tulip has a chance to expand across the GCC into new markets. The firm can reach more consumers via a website. Threats: Consumers may tire of the concept and the firm needs to keep it fresh. Larger competitors such as Marks & Spencer or Timberland may establish a similar product line. Clothing sales have generally been flat over the past few years, even though UAE has the highest fashion spending in the developed world (Sambidge 2011). Relationships with retailers may deteriorate if they feel internal competition from the internet site. The SWOT analysis presents a thumbnail sketch of the company’s position in the marketplace. In just three years, Tulip has built some impressive strengths while looking forward to new opportunities. Its dedicated founders, the growing number of brand-loyal customers, and sound financial management place the company in a good position to grow.

Online Course Development Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Online Course Development - Research Paper Example ive and apply other corresponding tools and processes in curriculum development when developing projects consistent with their professional aspirations and expectations. 1. There are different types of theorizing as presented by different authors and scholars. Define the term â€Å"Theorizing† as discussed by different scholars. What are the implications for the different definitions for practice? 2. Read chapter 4 of Marsh and Willis and other online readings recommended for this course. Develop a virtual mental picture of the teachers; prescriptive theorizer (TED), Descriptive Theorizer (TAMMY) and Critical-Exploratory Theorizer (TODD). Remember to include in your mental picture of these teachers, their common beliefs, goals, beliefs, practices, and habits 2. Students must reflect the different priorities, backgrounds, experience and skill brought by different stakeholders during curriculum planning. Remember to develop detailed discussions on the role played by teachers, principals, parents and student during curriculum development 1. Write a critical response on the basic concepts that underlie curriculum research and some of the approaches schools are using to support the process of curriculum development. The reflection should thorough and present a clear thesis. 2. Discuss the problems faced during curriculum planning and implementations. Include approaches that can be used to solve the problems you stated and possible recommendation for future implementation process 1. In Chapter 6 of the course textbook, Marsh and Willis (2007) elaborate and present the different players during the curriculum process and the hats they wear. In the hats presented in the chapter, identify the hats that you may wear. Visit and open the course website and click on that hat. Read the role associated with that hat during the curriculum planning and implementation process. 2. You are a crucial member of the curriculum planning group. Two facilitators have agreed to work

Health and safety at work Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Health and safety at work - Case Study Example Some of the employments by nature are hazardous and both the employer and the employee should be aware of the dangers involved in such employments. Definitely there are inherent risks of the employment and they vary in degrees depending on the kind of work, material used, mode of work and ultimate work achievement. If we go through some of the cases over the years, it is easy to find how difficult it is to avoid danger in certain jobs. Cases like Thomas v Quartermaine (1887), Smith v Baker & Sohs (1891), Paris v Stepney Borough Council (1951), General Cleaning Contractors Ltd. V. Christmas (1953), Ellis v. Ocean S.S. Co. Ltd (1958) show us the varied dangers that are inherent in different employments. But according to the modern law the employer is responsible for a duty of care towards his employees and the weight squarely rests in him. "Under the general law of tort, a duty of care arises when two persons are so closely and directly related that the activities of them may involve appreciable risk of injury to the other: Donoghue v. Stevenson [1932]" Munkman (1975, p.82). The Health and Safety Act is a landmark in the history of labour and employment, because it provides maximum safety and care to the workers and this is one act where the employer's responsibility is of major gravity in looking after the health and safety of his employees. "The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act (1974) is the most important statute for industry and commerce ever to have been passed through Parliament. Unlike the Industrial Relations Act, this one is here to stay. It affects companies, firms and individuals, employers, from Boardroom to shop floor; manufacturers, designers, importers, suppliersoccupiers, builders, erectors, installers," Mitchell (1976, p.xv). The employer, under the legal compulsion, must make all the attempts and take reasonable care not to expose his employees to any kind of avoidable and unnecessary risk. This responsibility is a personal responsibility and cannot be transferred to othersi. In Peter's case ABC cannot be held responsible to a very large extent, because they have provided all kinds of protective necessary clothing and mask. Safeguarding the health and safety of the employees is the duty and responsibility of the employer and ABC has done so. So, if the position of ABC is assessed from that angle, they cannot be held responsible for Peter's accident. All the injuries that occur during the work are not due to employer fault. Some of them could be because of the carelessness and easygoing habits of the employees like Peter. Still there is a possibility of a court ruling that it is vicarious responsibility of the employer because the employer is responsible for providing a safe workplace for his employee to work. It was not safe enough for Peter, because the chemical was insufficiently diluted by another employee causing grievous damage to Peter. ABC will have to answer for the insufficient dilution of the chemical by another employee. There is no doubt that Peter was at mistake because he did not wear the mask that has been provided for his safety by the ABC. Unfortunately for him, he thought, as his manager did, that the risk involved was very small. The risk involved w

Microeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 4

Microeconomics - Essay Example In addition, microeconomics looks into decisions made by businesses regarding production and prices attached to goods and services produced by individual businesses. In general, microeconomics deals with economic decisions made on a micro level (McEachern 13). A clear understanding of microeconomics is essential since it builds a platform through which macroeconomics is constructed. Macroeconomics pays attention to a wider perspective of economic issues. Its main focus is on the national economy in general, providing a basis understanding of how issues relate to each other in the world of business. It is essential to have an understanding of microeconomics and macroeconomics in order to learn how the economy works for a given country. Decisions made by firms and individuals in microeconomics are largely influenced by costs and benefits. In this case, cost can occur in the form of financial cost or opportunity costs. Financial costs can be in the form of total variable costs or average fixed costs while opportunity costs are alternatives foregone (McEachern 14). Microeconomics has a number of questions that economics under this branch of economy attempt to answer. Examples of such questions include impacts of changes on prices of goods on people’s purchasing decisions, impacts of increased income, and impacts of changes on interests on national savings. Economists are of the opinion that the market has two parts; the demand and supply part. The demand side consists of households, economic agents, and firms. These components of the demand side go to markets to source certain goods and services. The supply side comprises of suppliers who supply goods and services to specific markets. In this case, firms are the main suppliers (Boyes & Melvin 21). In markets holding finished goods, those who demand mainly comprise of consumers at household levels. Contrary to this, the main consumers of capital goods include firms such as