ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Article Summary This article gives an overview of Coke’s presence in Africa. The author begins by giving a case study of a shopkeeper in Kenya who sells Coke products in her retail store. In the case study, an estimate reveals that per capita consumption of Coke products is 39 servings in one year. Stanford compares this consumption with Mexico, one of the biggest consumers of Coke, and mentions that it consumes 665 servings of Coke in the same duration (Stanford, para. 1). The author surveys various markets around the world, such as South Africa, China, India, Zambia, United States etc, and makes interesting observations. He concludes that Africa seems to have a lot of potential as a marketing area for Coke. The CEO of Coke, Muhtar Kent, asserts that Coke seems to be potentially in danger of losing its market share. In 1989, Americans bought $2.6billion worth of Coke, yet over the next two decades, this figure rose only by $0.3billion. This seems to be the case for most developed countries, making continents like Africa a potential “savior” for this multi-million dollar company. Implications for Professionals Involved in Coke’s Strategic Management The strategic management team must consider the above statistic in creating their strategic plan over the next decade. As it seems, developed countries like the USA do not promise a brighter future for the company. Nevertheless, the volume of money changing hands in developing countries like Kenya and South Africa implies that Coke has a better chance of scoring in third-world countries. This means that the company should make more investments in these countries as they have the potential to generate the much needed 7-9% growth investors expect from Coke Corporation. This means that the management needs to boost its distribution team so that more supplies and more product varieties reach such shops, as those analyzed in the case study. Some of the strategies that the managerial team needs to implement in these countries include making the products more affordable for the market, though one has to consider the budget that will make this to work out. The other strategy that Coca-Cola can employ is making sure that distribution channels are effective. This way, the company can cut down on transportation and distribution costs thereby lowering operation costs and hence product prices. The product’s packaging should also be strong enough to withhold some of the harsh conditions in these war-torn countries. In other words, the maintenance costs of the products should be minimal. Finally, Coca-Cola should consider economics of scale, and sell the product more in mass numbers rather than on a retail basis in these developing countries. The professionals in the managerial team may also have to look deeper into ways of combating their competitors all around the developed world. For example, China’s Coca-Cola Company is facing stiff competition from Wahaha, a beverage company owned by the richest man in China (Stanford
The novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and the short story Daisy Miller by Henry James center on independent women who lack a strong female model while growing up and, perhaps for that reason, develop their own ideas of how the world in general and men in particular should treat them. As a woman who must work to support herself it may be that Jane Eyre is the more heroic of the two heroines. Yet Daisy Miller is also a true heroine in choosing to die rather than settle for a conventional relationship. These two characters are aware of social conventions but put their own need for love before all else. As Q. D. Leavis says about Jane Eyre, she sees ‘the relations [between man and woman] as one of mutual need in which the woman is not idealized but is recognized as an active contributor’ (17), and the same can be said of Daisy. Jane is much more explicit about her needs, at least once she herself recognizes them. Daisy’s behavior, even though it mystifies everyone, also sends her chosen mate clear signals on how to proceed. It is left up to the narrator in each case has to bridge the gap between these women’s expectations and the social conventions they violate in the process. Both stories are told with the benefit of hindsight. Jane recounts her life after she marries Rochester, describing her own development as a series of lessons she had to learn before she could enter into a true marriage. The narrator of Daisy Miller looks back at Frederick Winterbourne’s infatuation several years after the fact, when the young hero has settled back in his comfortable Geneva life of having affairs with older women. The narrative voice in Daisy Miller is that of a bystander who merges with Frederick Winterbourne, the rather stiff, conventional young man who admires Daisy without ever understanding her. The narrator uses the first person pronoun only now and then, preferring to present the story from Winterbourne’s point of view, as if to make her more mystifying. Jane tells her story as explicitly as she can and yet much of the substance of that story is given in the descriptive passages where she uses natural symbolism to convey the mysteries of her heart and her subconscious mind. Jane Eyre was published in 1847 under Brontë’s pseudonym, Currer Bell. The narrator in Jane Eyre is the heroine herself, observant, critical of herself and others and very conscious of social boundaries. When Rochester has guests she accepts her status a
Introduction Accreditation is the issue concerning a great number of spheres of human activity. It contains accreditation of laboratories, educational institutions, the field of healthcare, diplomacy, and journalism. This notion means the process of granting specific duties and possibilities to act in a particular sphere. It is important to analyze at least basic fields of human activity that need accreditation. The current report will cover the accreditation requirements in business in the USA, the European countries, and Saudi Arabia. It also contains explanation of the process of obtaining accreditation and discussion of its importance. Accreditation is the way to control the efficiency of fulfilling duties. Every sphere of business in different countries can impose changes and improvements into the activities. Consequently, accreditation is the chance to improve the business and, at the same time, one can obtain accreditation only by means of improving the business. Accreditation and its importance As every area presupposes human participation (education, healthcare, diplomacy, and others), it is necessary that all businesses should be accredited. Personally I would feel more confident if I visited an accredited hospital. Do you ask people about their accreditation? Is it necessary to ask people about accreditation of their business? Is it required to provide clients with documents testifying accreditation of the business. Accreditation is important from the point of view of globalization. Global sphere of economic, cultural, social, and political interrelations presupposes a number of specific requirements. Thus, the requirements must represent a single system of approving and granting. Professionals working in any business are to obtain accreditation in order to meet the requirements of the modern global community and to be competitive. Professionals are people who are concerned in accreditation the most because they need some verification of their skills level. Accreditation Requirements in Business Different countries may have different accreditation bodies. These bodies are aimed at issuing certificates or some other documents confirming the level, professionalism and sufficiency of skills possessed by the employees of the particular business. Moreover, different spheres of human activity acquire approvals from different accreditation bodies within the country or the conti
Abstract The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is a multi-mission organization that focuses on several security issues in America. It was established in the 1970s to support the agenda of the United States Department of the Treasury. Several changes led to the establishment of the current USCG. This paper discusses the unique roles performed by this organization in an attempt to protect the country. Such duties include search and rescue, disrupting human trafficking and drug smuggling operations, and protecting the United States’ natural resources. USCG’s key partners are also identified in this discussion. Introduction The United States Armed Forces is tasked with protecting the country’s territories, infrastructures, citizens, and assets. It has several branches that collaborative to achieve every intended objective. One of them is the United States Coast Guard (USCG). This uniformed service is a multi-mission agency that operates under the country’s Department of Homeland Security. This paper begins by analyzing the history of the USCG and the kind of protection the organization provides to the United States. Several partners that collaborate with this organization to improve efficiency are also identified. History In the mid-1970s, the United States Department of the Treasury launched several vessels to collect revenues. According to military historians, this idea led to the establishment of the Coast Guard (Willoughby, 2016). During the same period, Congress decided to support the construction of revenue cutters. This became the country’s major naval force. Towards the end of the century, these cutters were required to complete additional roles, including rescuing mariners, ferrying mail, combating increasing levels of piracy, and transporting different officials. In 1915, the United States Life-Saving Service merged with the existing Revenue Cutter Service (RCS) to create the current USCG. Within the next three decades, the management of the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation (BMIN) became the duty of the Coast Guard. After the formation of the U.S. Department of Transportation in 1967, the USCG was managed and controlled by the Department of Treasury (USDT). After America was attacked by terrorists on September 11, 2001, the USCG was combined with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The objecti
Introduction Communication is the practice of moving a message from one entity to another. It is a process involving two or more agents who share a collection of signs and symbols. Thus, it involves exchanging thoughts, opinions or information via a medium such as speech, written works or even visual signs (Miller, 2006). One can communicate to persuade, warn, coerce, inform, educate, and (or) entertain. According to Wilbur Schramm (1954), there are various different types of communication; intrapersonal communication where individuals communicate within themselves, interpersonal communication that involves transfer of messages from one person to the other and mass communication where messages are sent to a large heterogeneous audience. Interpersonal communication can involve group communication; the exchange of messages among several individuals with a common goal (Beebe &Masterson, 2006). Such goals could involve conflict resolution. In resolving a conflict, people try to communicate to change the behavior believed to cause the conflict (Stewart, 2006). They may use several strategies like force, persuasion or providing the individual with knowledge about the available choices so that they can decide which is better for them (Poole & Roth, 1989). It involves the tactical use of communication to promote a positive behavior and it may involve segmentation of the audience into groups to enable different communication choices to be used (Centre for Global Health Communication and Marketing [CGHC], 2009). In this regard, the substance of this paper is to discuss how Connie Rice has used communication to reduce violence in Los Angeles. We consider the choices, ethical dimensions and the situation created by her choice of communication strategies. Main Body Conflict resolution, a range of strategies for averting the cause of a disagreement between two or more parties, involves several communication methods. They include; negotiation, mediation, litigation, arbitration and even diplomacy (Wilmot &Hocker, 2007). In the interview, “…Connie Rice Lays down the Law to Cops and Gangs”, we can identify three main communication choices. They include litigation, negotiation and mediation. All these strategies were aimed at trying to solve the tensions between the criminal gangs in Los Angeles [LA] and the police division in endeavour to put down the levels of violence, the conflict in question. Litigation is the conduct of the lawsuit- a civil action brought before a court of law seeking redress for the damages done by the defendant. Connie used it in trying to fight the police brutality against the youth gangs. She would sue the police and try to argue that they were using excessive force in reducing crime (Lefer, 2008). The youths were targeting each other and the police, the police were also armed which led to con
Abstract This paper examines the background and economic performance of the Target discount retail chain against Walmart as benchmark, by reason of the fact that the latter is the global leader and sets an example of numerous operating efficiencies in retail. Both are listed companies that rank in the top 28 of the Fortune 500. The paper traces the origins and retailing experience of Target to 1903 in small town Minneapolis and shows how the chain began to take off only after embracing the still-popular discount mass merchandiser approach to retail. In the process of building and stocking hundreds of stores throughout the nation, Target appears to have gained operating efficiencies and sustained an ethical sense of HR management, despite important omissions in adopting logistical efficiencies that propelled the more aggressive category leader to its preeminent position today. An attempt is also made to carry out demand, cost and margin analysis based on the economic theory of the firm. Introduction Target Corporation is a mass-merchandise retailer with $65 billion in annual turnover as of end-2008, headquartered in Minneapolis and listed in the New York Stock Exchange (TGT). Under the “Target” and “Super Target” trademarks, retail operations are nationwide with the exception of Vermont. Among discount retail chains, Target ranks second only to Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the latter boasting $404 billion in turnover (as of January 31, 2009 end of the company’s fiscal year) that makes it the world’s largest public company and largest private employer as well. Unlike Walmart (the trade name), Target has no foreign subsidiaries. Target Australia, also a discount retailer, merely licensed the trade name and logo. Even as a far second in its industry, the revenue performance of Target is robust enough to land the chain 28 th rank in the 2009 Fortune 500 and, by the same token, earn a place in the Standard & Poor 500 stock index. History and Background of Target Stores Like Walmart, Target had its start in the suburbs and obscure byways of rural America; both also took over existing retail concepts. Target had much the earlier head start since continuous retail operations can be traced back to founder George Dayton taking over a tenant of his, the Goodfellows department store in 1903, nearly sixty years before the “Walton Five and Dime” came into being. Other than renaming the operation the “Dayton Dry Goods Company” and it again to the more concise Dayton Company in 1911, George Dayton seemed content with the solitary retail operation in Minneapolis. Beginning in the 1950s, however, Dayton felt it was ready to participate in the great postwar boom tha
Slavery and freedom is said to be the central paradox of American history. Since the rise of United States as a nation, historians have long thought of the emergence of slavery and freedom in our society as a great contradiction. This pushed many critics to think that how could it be possible that slavery can co-exist for so long in a nation that upholds liberty and freedom? During the early 1970s, a great historian Edmund Morgan articulated that slavery and freedom can be far from being a contradiction. Fact is that American slavery and American freedom are a paradox. This is because these two concepts may seem contradictory, but in reality they are true elements of one another. If we sift through the seventeenth and eighteenth century American history, this paradox becomes more comprehensible and clearer because we will come to know that slavery is a vital element so that Americans will come to understand the true meaning of American freedom. In his book American Slavery, American Freedom , Morgan (1975) informed that the people who united together seek the independence of the United States had felt uncomfortable about the fact that they are “dedicated to freedom and equality” yet “they either held slaves or were willing to join hands with those who did”. However, most of these “masters” have just inherited “both their slaves and their attachment to freedom from an earlier generation, and they knew that the two were not unconnected”. Morgan (1975) thought that: The rise of liberty and equality in America had been accompanied by the rise of slavery. That two such seemingly contradictory developments were taking place simultaneously over a long period of time, from the seventeenth century to the nineteenth, is the central paradox of American history (Morgan, 1975, p. 4). The first impulse was to think of freedom as a contrast to slavery. Emancipation immediately released slaves from the most oppressive aspects of bondage—the whippings, the breakup of families, the sexual exploitation. Freedom also meant movement, the right to travel without a pass or white permission. Above all, freedom meant that African Americans’ labor would be for their benefit. After seeing the ultimate denial of rights, American revolutionaries knew the slavery of African Americans could lead to what the Black bondservants are experiencing. They made it clear in their pamphlets that they would fight hard not to be debased to the position of the black slave. Finally, as time went on, the concept of American freedom widened and it now focuses on the terms of community and national belonging that frowns upon the exclusion of people of color. This new concept of freedom was expected to promote cohesion among people who were, in reality, not considered as equals because they are in different class positions. As the central paradox, slavery needed to emerge before the true meaning of American freedom has been realized. Works Cited Morgan, Edmund S. American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia . New York: Norton, 1975.
Marketing Strategy The Halal diet is consumed mostly by the Muslims in different countries of the world. The diet has been accepted in various countries, and this makes it popular in many countries where Islamic faith is practiced. Countries advocating for religion diversity, such as the United States, have accepted the use of such products in their markets. This means that the product is not limited to Muslim countries but also other countries globally (Brazin, 2006). For this reason, the diet is intended to be marketed across the religious and other sects in the United States. The diet is to be marketed across different eating cultures. This means that the diet is to be marketed to Muslims and people of other religions because it helps in weight loss reduction. The health benefits of the product will make it acceptable by other religions, cultures, communities and countries. Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) has been an efficient method of accessing and maintaining a product in the market (Shimp, 2010). Firms use IMC to improve their market position by delivering the important information that consumers might require. The marketers also collect important information about the behavior of consumers. This helps develop products which match the needs of the customers. On the other hand, the consumers are able to deliver the information they feel is important about the products being offered in the market by the company. The major importance of IMC is that it makes a product to have a stronger competitive advantage in the market (Shimp, 2010). This strategy will be adopted in the marketing of the Halal Diet in the United States. Since Halal Diet is not a new product in the market, the difference has to be brought about in order to make distinction from the normal Halal diet in the market. Therefore, issues that will be given maximum attention in strategizing the marketing process are: branding and advertising, promotional activities, budgeting and media rationale and publicizing of the diet. The first thing will be the branding of the diet since it will give the diet the aspect of uniqueness in the market (Franzen & Moriarty, 2009). The diet will have a single brand name which is ‘Special Halal Diet for Weight Loss.’ This name will be enclosed in a caption on a packet in which the diet will be packaged for delivery. The color of the packages will differ for the vegetarian diet and for the non-vegetarian diet, and this will be written on the packet for ease of differentiation. This is because the diet is meant for customers with differing consumption habits. A clear distinction has to be made when packaging and branding in order to make it easy for the customers to identify their taste of the diet. Since the diet will be introduced as a new product in the market, massive advertising is required in order to make the product known to the market (Ishikawa &