Consumer Behaviour- Soft Drink Industry Essay

Introduction The soft drink industry in India is one of the most competitive with many international and domestic players operating in the market. Initially domestic players like Parle group dominated the Indian soft drink market with brands like Thums up, Limca, Goldspot etc. However with the re-entry of MNC players like Pepsi in 1991 and Coca-Cola in 1993, the market took a decisive shift in favour of these MNCs and over the years Coca-Cola and Pepsi have become the prominent players in the market. Soft drinks can be principally classified into carbonated and non-carbonated. Carbonated drinks include cola, lemon and orange flavors while non carbonated drinks principally comprise of mango flavor. The carbonated cola products constitute 60% of the soft drink market and three prominent brands in this category are Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Thums up. Thums up was a brand from Parle until Coca-Cola bought it in 1993 and tried to kill it to push its own brand. But the loyal customers of Thums up never let it die and the brand still is the leading brand in the Indian soft drink market. Company profile: The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is the world’s largest beverage company. The company’s best known product Coca-Cola was invented by John Stith Pemberton in 1886. The Coca-Cola formula and brand was bought in 1889 by Asa Candler who incorporated the Coca-Cola Company in 1892. Coca-Cola currently offers nearly 400 brands in over 200 countries or territories and serves 1. 5 billion servings each day. The Coca-Cola Company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Its current chairman and CEO is Muhtar Kent. Coca-Cola was the leading soft drink brand in India until 1977 when it left rather than reveal its formula to the government and reduce its equity stake as required under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) which governed the operations of foreign companies in India. After a 16-year absence, Coca-Cola returned to India in 1993, cementing its presence with a deal that gave Coca-Cola ownership of the nation’s top soft-drink brands and bottling network. Coke’s acquisition of local popular Indian brands including Thums. Up (the most trusted brand in India), Limca, Maaza, Citra and Gold Spot provided not only physical manufacturing, bottling, and distribution assets but also strong consumer preference. This combination of local and global brands enabled Coca-Cola to exploit the benefits of global branding and global trends in tastes while also tapping into traditional domestic markets. From 1993 to 2003, Coca-Cola invested more than US$1 billion in India, making it one of the country’s top international investors. By 2003, Coca-Cola India had won the prestigious Woodruf Cup from among 22 divisions of the Company based on three broad parameters of volume, profitability, and quality. Coca-Cola India achieved 39% volume growth in 2002 while the industry grew 23% nationally and the Company reached breakeven profitability in the region for the first time. Encouraged by its 2002 performance, Coca-Cola India announced plans to double its capacity at an investment of $125 million (Rs.750 crore) between September 2002 and March 2003. Coca-Cola India produced its beverages with 7,000 local employees at its twenty-seven wholly-owned bottling operations supplemented by seventeen franchisee-owned bottling operations and a network of twenty-nine contract-packers to manufacture a range of products for the company. The complete manufacturing process had a documented quality control and assurance program including over 400 tests performed throughout the process. The complexity of the consumer soft drink market demanded a distribution process to support 700,000 retail outlets serviced by a fleet that includes 10-ton trucks, open-bay three wheelers, and trademarked tricycles and pushcarts that were used to navigate the narrow alleyways of the cities. In addition to its own employees, Coke indirectly created employment for another 125,000 Indians through its procurement, supply, and distribution networks. Sanjiv Gupta, President and CEO of Coca-Cola India, joined Coke in 1997 as Vice President, Marketing and was instrumental to the company’s success in developing a brand relevant to the Indian consumer and in tapping India’s vast rural market potential. Following his marketing responsibilities, Gupta served as Head of Operations for Company-owned bottling operations and then as Deputy President. Product Range The product range of Coca-Cola includes beverages like: * Coca-Cola The parent brand of Coca-Cola Company, Coca-Cola has a truly remarkable heritage. The world’s favourite drink. * Thums Up Strong Cola taste. Thums Up is a leading sparkling soft drink and most trusted brand in Indian soft drink market. * Sprite A global leader in the lemon lime category, it is second largest sparkling beverage Brand in India. Sprite with it’s cut-thru perspective has managed to be a true teen icon. Sprite’s all about being true to yourself and living by the simple and honest code of your own instincts. No more†¦. no less. * Fanta Over the years Fanta has occupied a strong market place and is identified as â€Å"The Fun Catalyst†. Perceived as a fun youth brand, Fanta stands for its vibrant color, tempting taste and tingling bubbles. * Limca Lime ‘n’ lemoni Limca can cast a tangy refreshing spell on anyone, anywhere. Born in 1971, Limca has remained unchallenged as the No. 1 Sparkling drink in the Cloudy lemon segment. * Minute Maid Pulpy Orange One of world’s largest juice drink brands. Eliminated 80% of the water in orange juice, forming a frozen concentrate that when reconstituted created orange juice. * Maaza Imagine the delicious fruit, Mango bottled. This is what Maaza is all about. Universally loved for its taste, color, thickness, Maaza is the mango lover’s first choice. * Kinley Mineral water, a thirst quencher that refreshes, a life giving force that washes all the toxins away. * Georgia Introduced in 2004, the GEORGIA Gold range of Tea and Coffee beverages is the perfect solution for your office and restaurant needs. Product Information: Thums Up Background Thums Up is a carbonated soft drink (cola) popular and largest selling brand in India where its bold, red thumbs up logo is common. During the late 1970s, the American cola giant Coca-Cola abandoned operations in India rather than make a forced sale of 60% of their equity to an Indian company. Following this, the Parle brothers, Ramesh Chauhan and Prakash Chauhan, along with then CEO Bhanu Vakil, launched Thums Up as their flagship drink, adding to their portfolio of older brands Limca (lime flavor) and Gold Spot (orange flavor). Thums Up was basically a cola drink, but the company never claimed it as such. The formula was just as closely guarded as the famous Coke formula. Thums Up enjoyed a near monopoly with a much stronger market share often overshadowing its other rivals like Coca-Cola’s Campa cola, Double seven and Dukes, but there were many small regional players who had their own market. It even withstood liquor giant United Breweries Group (makers of Kingfisher Beer) Mcdowell’s Crush, which was another Cola drink, and Double Cola. In 1990, when the Indian government opened the market to multinationals, Pepsi was the first to come in. Thums Up went up against the international giant for an intense onslaught with neither side giving any quarter. With Pepsi roping in major Indian movie stars like Juhi Chawla, to thwart the Indian brand, Thums Up increased its spending on Cricket sponsorship. Then the capacity went from 250ml to 300ml, aptly named MahaCola. This nickname gained popularity in smaller towns where people would ask for â€Å"Maha Cola† instead of Thums Up. The consumers were divided where some felt Pepsi’s mild taste was rather bland. In 1993 Coca-Cola re-entered India after a prolonged absence from 1977 to 1993. But Coca-Cola’s entry made things even more complicated and the fight became a three-way battle. That same year, in a move that baffled many, Parle sold out to Coke for a meager US$ 60 million (considering the market share it had). Now Coca-Cola’s, and Coke has a habit of killing brands in its portfolio that might overshadow it. Coca-Cola soon introduced its cola in cans which was all the rage in India, with Thums Up introduced alongside, albeit in minuscule numbers. Later Coca-Cola started pulling out the Thums Up brand which at that time still had more than 30% market share. Despite its strong overall equity, the brand Thums Up was losing its popularity among the core cola drinking age group of 12 to 25 year olds, partly due to nil advertising. Coca-Cola apparently did try to kill Thums Up, but soon realized that Pepsi would benefit more than Coke if Thums Up was withdrawn from the market. Instead, Coke decided to use Thums Up to attack Pepsi. The Coca-Cola Company by this time had about 60. 5% share of the Indian soft-drink market but much to its dismay found out that if it took out Thums Up, it would remain with only 28. 72% of the market (according to a report by NGO Finance&Trade in India), hence it once again dusted out the Thums Up brand and re-launched it targeting the 30 to 45 year olds. The brand was re-positioned as a â€Å"manly† drink, drawing on its strong taste qualities. Known to be a strong drink with more power packed into it than other colas, Thums Up kick-started an aggressive campaign directly attacking Pepsi’s TV ads, focusing on the strength of the drink hoping that the depiction of an â€Å"adult† drink would appeal to young consumers. â€Å"Grow up to Thums Up† was a successful campaign. The brand’s market share and equity soared. The brand was unshakeable and Coca-Cola’s declaration that Thums Up was India’s premier cola brand in terms of market share did not surprise many. Other campaigns from Thums Up build on its â€Å"strength† and its perception as a macho drink. Ads showing the Thums Up man, riding through the desert in search of a cantina that sells Thums Up rather than drink another cola, stuck in the minds of many Indians and caught the imagination of youngsters who want to be seen as men. 4 P’s of Marketing Mix for Thums Up. Product: Thums Up is known for its strong, fizzy taste and its confident, mature and uniquely masculine attitude. This brand clearly seeks to separate the men from the boys. Beverage offered by the company in the size of: * SSRB (Standard size returnable bottle) * PET (600 ml, 1. 5 liter plastic bottle) * CANS (tin pack 330 ml) Price: Thums Up has adopted competition based pricing and so the prices are similar to that of other cola drinks. 1. Glass Bottles – 200ml, 300ml – Rs 12. 00 onwards 2. PET Bottles – 600ml, 1500ml, 2 ltrs, 2. 25 ltrs. – Rs 25. 00 onwards 3. Can – 330ml – Rs 35. 00 – 45. 00 4. Fountain – Customized – Rs 15. 00-35. 00 can go upto Rs 60. 00 in movie halls Company offers discount on prices or extra quantity of cold drink during festive seasons and winter seasons. Place: Thums Up has a strong distribution channel to make the product available in the market any time, and maintain optimum level of stock in the market. It covers the rural part also to increase the customer reach. The soft drink is made available at all the possible convenient locations to the customers – local area grocery shops, hotels, restaurants, movie halls, multiplexes, shopping malls, supermarkets vending machines, fountain outlets. Promotion: Thums Up has consistently built its sales promotion through various techniques like, blind taste tests, sponsoring exciting events and sports, conducting various contests (win a motor bike contest), etc. Also its ads are designed to create excitement and to communicate the macho personality of the brand. An ad campaign of Thums Up where Akshay Kumar (its brand ambassador since 2003) performs the extreme sport of ‘parkour’ to grab his bottle of Thums Up from a suggestively attractive lady. â€Å"Taste the Thunder† has been the most breakthrough communication campaign for the brand. It stands for masculinity that has constantly been redefined over the years. Competition Thums Up went from being the only cola in the cantina to facing competition from both Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Twenty-six years later it’s still a top cola in India and is one of the strongest brands in the country across categories. The brand name’s positive associations of victory, achievement and celebration are apparently merited as it continues to do well despite a challenging landscape. | | | | | Thums Up’s first competition came in the form of Campa Cola. There were allegations of aggressive exchanges between the two brands at street level but Thums Up (owned by Parle at the time) apparently won the battle both on the ground and in the consumer’s mind. Campa Cola discontinued in 2000 (only to re-emerge as less of a challenger in 2002 from Pure Drinks New Delhi). For a short while Thums Up’s strong taste enjoyed success across the country with scarcely any competition; the brand reigned supreme in the cola market. Currently Thums Up is facing competition from lots of brands coming in the soft drink industry and still it has maintained its top position in the minds of Indian consumers. Today, an Indian consumer sees Thums Up as a unique brand personality which no other brand has acquired in the soft drink industry. | | Conclusion| Thums Up is amongst the oldest domestic brands in soft drinks industry in India and it is the most popular and trusted brands in India. Thums Up enjoyed a near monopoly in India with a much stronger market share till 1990s. But with the advent of Pepsi (1992) and Coca Cola (1993), Thums Up started facing stiff competition. In 1993, Parle sold out to Coke and Thums Up became the brand of Coca-Cola Company. Though Coca-Cola tried to kill Thums-Up to build its own brand, it sooner realized the importance of Thums Up to survive in the Indian market to beat its core competitor Pepsi. Today Thums Up has grown its image from just a soft drink to a lot more for Indian consumers. It has established itself as a distinguished brand with strong taste and which communicates maturity, daring and excitement to its consumers. Thums Up has consistently maintained honesty and trust with its consumers and that’s why it is still the number one cola brand in the country.

E Commerce and Business Start Up

E commerce and Business Start up Throughout the evaluation process of a potential new idea and in the development of new marketing strategy E-Commerce needs to be continually assessed. E-Commerce offers the entrepreneur the opportunity to be very creative and innovative; its importance is indicated in the continually increasing amount of both business to business and business to costumer e-commerce sales. It increase on the annual basis, according to com Score Networks, total Internet business reached to $214. 4 billion in 2008, an increase of 7% in internet business as compared to 2007. The $214. Billion was composed of $130. 1 billion Non travel spending and 84. 3 billion Dollars travel spending. Video games, consoles and accessories together was the fastest growing categories constituted of 29%, sport and fitness items 29%, event tickets, 13%, consumer electronics 9%, apparel and accessories 4% and travel spending increase by 7% as compared to 2007 over 2008. Factors that facilita ted the growth of e-commerce are wide spread use of PC’s, the adoption of intranet in companies, the acceptance of internet as the business communications platform and faster and more secure systems.Numerous benefits such as Access to broader customer base, lower info dissemination cost which expand the volume of E commerce. Using E-commerce Creatively: E-commerce is mostly use by most corporations to increase their marketing and sale channels. The internet is especially for small and medium size companies as it enables them to minimize the marketing costs while reaching broader markets. An entrepreneur starting an E commerce venture needs to address the same strategic and tactical questions as any other entrepreneur, but some new specific issues are faced because introduction of new technology used in E-commerce.An entrepreneur should decide whether should do in house or out sourcing for an inter business. In case of in house operations there are computer servers; hardware, software as well as support services are included. And in case of outsourcing entrepreneur can hire web developers to design the company’s web pages and upload them on the internet through ISP. In this case the entrepreneur main task is to regularly update the information on the web pages; another option is that to purchase the software from the local market. The correct decision b/w in-house or outsourcing depends on the size of the business.The 2 major components of internet business are Front end or Back end operations. Front end operations are the websites functions, search options, secure payments, shopping cart. The biggest mistake usually make by the companies is that they believe that the attractive website secure their business, which leads them to underestimating the back end operations. The integration of back end and front end operations represents the greatest challenge for doing internet business and at the same time provides an opportunity for developing a sust ained competitive advantage.Websites: Entrepreneurial firms mostly use websites, about 90% of small businesses today have operating websites, but majority of them are not capable of operating new websites. A good website should be easy to use. In developing a website one should keep in mind that; who is the audience? What are the objectives of the site? What do you want to costumers when they visit the site? In addressing these questions one should effectively organize the website. This requires that the material should be fresh and updated on regular basis.Another most important feature of the website is the search capability; it should be easy to find information about the products and services, which can be accomplished by advance search tools and subject browsing. Other functions that should be available are shopping cart, secure server connection, credit card payments and customer feedback. Speed is the characteristic of a successful website. Tracking costumer information: The motivation for tracking costumer information is to capture costumer attention; care must be taken in doing so to follow the laws protecting the privacy of individuals.Doing E-commerce as an Entrepreneurial Company: For online business one should take care of several factors; first the product should be delivered economically and conveniently. Fresh fruits and vegetables for individual consumers are not appropriate for long distance deliveries and online sales. Second the product should be interesting for larger no of people. Thirdly online operations should reduce the cost. And the 4th one that company can easily draw costumer to its website.

External and Internal Environmental Analysis Paper Essay

The purpose of the paper is to scan, â€Å"the internal and external environmental factors of AT&T internet access technologies for the consumer market. It further identifies and discusses the AT&T’s core competencies and sources of competitive advantage. Lastly, AT&T’s business model and its impact on the organizational performance† (UOP, 2013). AT&T uses the most common tool (i.e. SWOT analysis) to analyze its progress in the market and identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunity and, threat. External environment analysis is important in determining the strategy that should be adopted by a business and internal environment analysis is critical to identify the core competencies of the business. External environment AT&T very well understands their competitors and external factors and hence, to better meet its customer needs, it formed the Broadband & Internet subsidiary. â€Å"The external environment consisting of all the conditions and forces that affect its strategic options and define its competitive situation† (Pearce & Robinson, 2013, p. 12). External environment can be broadly classified into three types: Remote, Industry and, Operating. 1. Remote environment consists of the forces like â€Å"economic, social, political, technological and ecological factors that originate beyond, and usually irrespective of, any single firm’s operating situation† (Pearce & Robinson, 2013, pg. 87). 2. Industry environment; â€Å"The general conditions for competition that influence all businesses that provide similar products and services† (Pearce, 2013, pg. 97). â€Å"Operating environment also called the competitive or task environment comprises factors in the competitive situation that affect a firm’s success in acquiring needed resources or in profitably marketing its goods and services† (Pearce, 2013). They also control a major portion of the Tier 1 backbone of the internet. Remote  Environment (RE): See more: how to write an analysis of a research paper With each environmental factor exerting its effect individually, the analysis in these three different kinds can be done separately. Some of the main remote environmental factor that affects AT&T are economic, political and technological factors. Economic factors affect because more and more consumers can afford excellent internet service in a good economy and, the number declines as the economy slows down. Political factors do affect the day to day functioning of the service and, regulation in the internet/ cable industry is very stringent. Any changes in the government policies/ regulations will directly or indirectly impact AT&T’s business and, consumers inflow. Technological factors also affect the company because there is always a need to adapt the latest technology in the industry. The ever changing technologies, apps, products and, services will alter consumer’s attitude and buying behavior. Industry Environment (IE): The IE factors that impact AT&T are buyer power, substitute availability and competitive rivalry. The internet users have increased dramatically in the recent years. Providing great service and technology requires a large investment, but when customer switches their internet carrier, it result in high loss (bad debt expense from this trend). While Time Warner and AT&T have attempted to combat, these losses by charging one month bill in advance. Though a huge amount was recovered before the customers were gone but didn’t guarantee, customer loyalty. New entries are always a threat, mainly if they provide services in rural areas, where AT&T is still trying to make a mark. Operating Environment (OE): The OE factors affecting AT&T are customers and creditors. With the slowed economy in the country, the â€Å"assessment of suppliers and creditors is critical to an accurate evaluation of a firm’s operating environment. Question like: Does the creditors fairly value and willingly accept the firm’s pricing strategy for the service AT&T provides? Do the creditors perceive the firm as having an acceptable record of past payment?† (Pearce, 2013, pg. 114). â€Å"Operational indicators, which measure performance in planning and implementing organizational strategies, are internal, and  external customer satisfaction, quality metrics, internal processes, internal innovation, and continuous improvement efforts tend to drive future financial performance† (Curtright, 2000). Internal analysis To analyze the internal environmental (IE) factors for AT&T, one will have to first identify the strength and weakness of the organization. AT&T is amongst the largest cable companies, serving every Fortune 1000 company, as well as neighborhood businesses around the country. â€Å"AT&T serves 17.8 million broadband customers, including wireline (DSL, U-verse High-Speed Internet and, Satellite) and wireless mobile broadband LaptopConnect subscribers† (att.com, 2015). AT&T’s services and competencies are well matched with their strength to meet the market needs. â€Å"The major internal environmental changes, or areas for change, that could be expected to impact AT&T include: Marketing: new product offerings, new technology and, market trends. Financial: ability to acquire other firms and, corporate resources, capital expenditure. Operations: network management and partner relationships. Personnel: key executive management positions.   Quality: integration of controls on projects, monitoring of quality, system modernization and, operational support systems. General Management: performance and strategic planning† (Delahunty.com, n.d.) The external environment factors that are being discussed cover most of the strengths of AT&T versus weaknesses. But addressing the ethical obligations and exceptions of the consumers will always help (Team’s feedback). Core Competencies and Resources â€Å"Core competence is a capability or skill that a firm emphasizes and excels in doing while in pursuit of its overall mission. Core competencies that differ from those found in competing firms would be considered distinctive competencies† (Pearce & Robinson, 2011). The basic resources include; tangible assets, intangible assets and,  organizational capabilities. Some of the tangible assets of AT&T are inventory, cash reserves. The financial resources and physical resources; property, plant and, equipment net. The assessed intangible assets at AT&T are its brand name, (Goodwill) reputation, trademarks, licenses, trade secrets and, copyright. All the resources available at AT&T are valuables, and they provide the customer needs better than other alternatives. The resources are scarce and drive a key portion of overall profit. This makes the service provided by AT&T sustainable over a long period, which help in making better strategic plan for the organization. Competitive position and possibilities â€Å"Distinctive competencies that are identified and nurtured throughout the firm, allowing it to execute effectively so as to provide products or services to customers that are superior to competitor’s offerings, become the basis for a lasting competitive advantage† (Pearce, 2013, pg. 164). AT&T stands strong and gives very tough competition in its current competitive position. â€Å"AT&T Government Solutions provides professional services so agencies can better serve their customers and meet mission object† (Pragmatics, 2007). AT&T’s pending acquisition of DIRECTV will give more customers more opportunities to enjoy their favorite movies, TV shows, music and, sports. â€Å"Final regulatory approval of the merger will enable the combined companies to deliver more content to customers across multiple screens – mobile devices, TVs, laptops, and the backseat displays of connected cars. It’s commitment to expand and enhance its deployment of high-speed Internet service to cover at least 15 million customer locations across 48 states – most of them in underserved rural areas† (att.com, 2015). Structure of the organization and how it affects organizational performance AT&T has departmentalization structure as seen â€Å"in the division of labor as well as the decentralized decision-making assigned to teams, it shows that the existing policies, rules and regulations are directory in nature.  Apparently, the chain of command in the business unit is rather limited to the team leaders and the Chief Operations Officer. Since the organizational structure is rather flat, the business faces the adverse attitude of the employees with reference to the change in the organization. This indicates that the informal structures of the organization tend to have a great influence on the actual behavior of the employees† (Management Paradise, 2011). Conclusion By focusing on the SWOT analysis (external and internal environmental factors), AT&T can identify its strengths, weaknesses, threats and, opportunities. This can help the company to improve its competitive position in the internet market that will in turn generate additional revenues. References AT&T. (2015). AT&T Company Information. Retrieved from http://www.att.com/gen/investor-relations?pid=5711 Coppola, J., Delahunty, S., & Keune, G. (n.d.). The Internet Connection War-AT&T Internet Services for Consumers, a Strategic Evaluation. Retrieved from http://www.delahunty.com/cv/paper_att.doc Curtright, J. W., Stolp-Smith, Steven. C., & Edell, E.S. (2000, January). Strategic performance management: Development of a performance measurement system at the Mayo Clinic. Journal of Healthcare Management, 45(1), 58. Management Paradise. (2011, February 2). Organizational Structure of AT&T. Retrieved from http://www.managementparadise.com/forums/human-resources-management-h-r/214644-organisational-structure-t.html Pearce, J.A. & Robinson, R. B. (2013). Strategic Management: Planning for Domestic and Global Competition (13th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill. Pragmatics, Inc. (2007). AT&T Government Solutions. Retrieved from https://ites-2s.pragmatics.com/metadot/index.pl?op=show&iid=223 1 UOP. (2013). External and Internal Environmental Analysis Instructions. Retrieved from https://newclassroom3.phoenix.edu/Classroom/#/contextid/OSIRIS:48364100/context/co/view/activityDetails/activity/df4da69c-3472-494d-952c-e99cc3619b2d/expanded/False/tab/Instructions

SAMPLING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

SAMPLING - Essay Example Systematic sampling on the other hand, is a sampling design that employs the technique of selecting the elements to be sampled using a fixed pattern by first arranging the elements in a certain pattern (Kalton, 1983). Additionally, stratified sampling refers to a method of first partitioning the whole population into subgroups called strata after which samples are chosen from each stratum (Särndal, Swensson & Wretman, 1992). Cluster sampling is another method of sampling where the population is divided into smaller units called clusters where the researcher randomly selects the elements to be sampled from each cluster (Thompson, 2012). This technique is useful when the population is too large. There exists various sampling situations: the population in a given country is divided into districts and a household is sampled from each group to represent the whole population. Additionally, a class with 100 students; 36 female and 64 male students. Each student’s name is listed in a sheet of paper and then placed in a bowl where they are mixed thoroughly. A paper is picked each at a time without replacement and the student’s name on the paper is

Same-Sex Marriages Should be Legally Recognized Essay

Same-Sex Marriages Should be Legally Recognized - Essay Example Those people have to be given the possibility to legalize their relationships. As the relationship between gays and lesbians don't have any legal definition, and they aren't regulated by the government, those couples are left to se the parameters of their partnership by themselves, which sometimes has negative consequences, as Dorothy Pomerantz notes in her article about the legalization of the same-sex marriages published in The Advocate in 2000.1 Marriage has always been an important institution in the American society, as after tying the knot two people became able to make important decisions for each other, and the share the common responsibilities. For the U.S citizens marriage means that two people decided to share their money, resources, and responsibilities as well as their bed, a legal commitment made to the society. Almost any man and any woman in our country can register a marriage, despite of their age, social status, or their feelings towards each other. The few things that are needed to register an official union is being the representatives of the different genders, and being more or less mentally healthy. In the same time, two people who love each other, and want to share their lives, and, maybe, raise children together, are deprived of the possibility to legalize those intentions just because they are of the same gender. Eric Stoltz, the author of the article about Proposition 22, a law project that banned recognition of the same sex marriages in California, writes: I could, for example, fly to Las Vegas tonight, wed a prostitute in a drunken stupor, and return to Los Angeles tomorrow morning to have my marriage fully recognized by the law and society. Fifty women can vie on national television to marry a man they've never met for his money, and that union would be recognized by the state. Any man can marry a woman for her looks in a cynical but legally sanctioned form of concubinage, and that union would enjoy all the rights and privileges of marriage. But if two people of the same sex want to establish rights of inheritance or become legally empowered to make health-care decisions for one another, we are now told that the entire structure of Western civilization will come crashing down. (Commonweal, 2000).2 And, in fact, the situation indeed looks like it. The persuasion that marriage should be a union, which only the representatives of two different genders can enter, is a social norm that was established thousands of years ago, when people created families as they needed to unite in order to survive, and bring their children up. The social roles in the primitive society were very well-defined - men had to bring food, and women were to raise kids and maintain fire, thus such a union was perfectly justified (Sullivan, 2004). 3 As thousands of years passed after people left the caves, the distribution of social roles has changed. Today both men and women can be the breadwinners in the family, the same as both members of the family can stay home to care for the kids. The necessity in the different-gender unity nowadays is much weaker than it had been when this social norm was first formed.

Management Issue Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Management Issue Paper - Essay Example These areas of diversity bring a challenge to managers when they try to rally every employee to offer his or her best to the organization due to influence from their backgrounds. Some of the challenges that managers face includes resistance of some employees to the organizations diversity plan. Some of these employees present a challenge to the management as they try to sabotage the management efforts of ensuring that all employees relate well to each other and understand the organization’s demand. Employees’ negative attitude reduces productivity as they slow down positive change and damage moral of other employees. Secondly, communication in organizations with workforce diversity poses a challenge since there are people from different sexes, age groups among others are represented. Due to these differences, a challenge of dealing with different communication styles employees and between employees and management arises. There is also misunderstanding leading to poor of fice relations and misinterpretation of each other’s intentions. Thirdly, workplace diversity runs the risk of causing disorganization in the work place. People from the same background tend to form their own subgroups since they present the same ideas and viewpoints. This poses a challenge to the management, as they cannot rally all the employees to take a common stand through consensus building. Due to the disorganization in the workplace, the organization suffers as production is lowered when all employees and management cannot come together to champion a common course (Douglas 46). Fourthly, diversity in the workplace comes with stereotypes on how different groups of people work in the organization. Stereotyping increases stress and anxiety as the worker faced with such a challenge feels discriminated upon leading to low output levels (Konrad & Pringle 27). The main problem mangers face is coming up with strategic measure that will ensure effective management of people th rough creation of an organizational environment that attracts and retains diverse workforce by responding to changes in the demographic and social patterns in the workplace. Managers have a role to play in creating an organization that attracts workforce from diverse background while at the same time being supportive of their aspirations, promotes equality, and ambitions, (Cornelius 147). Several strategic plans can prevent crises that may come up in the organization due to the diversity of its workforce. Firstly, setting targets for diversity in the organization can help manage employees. In this regard, the management needs to come up with plan that determines the recruitment targets for various groups whether women, men, disabled, ethnic minority. Through such initiative, the organization is able to determine its progress towards workforce diversity and further practices and policies can be evaluated against the set targets (Cornelius 152). In order to manage diversity at the wor k place, managers need to create flexibility practices and policies that will ensure all employees are treated fairly in the workplace. Creating flexible time schedule ensures that all employees are available and offer their best to the organization. Other than cultural

Assignment One Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Assignment One - Essay Example However, in order to improve the safety standard at the workplace, necessary legislation pertaining to health in the workplace had to be introduced to ensure that safety standards are maintained. This is what led to the enactment of Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. The act established the Occupational Safety and Health administration (OSHA) under the command of the US department of Labor to publicize and enforce safety and health standards so as to protect employees at work. It is reported that more than two hundred local OSHA offices have so far been established in the US to enforce protective standards and implement outreach programs to employees and their employers. Rial-Gonzalez et al., (2005) notes that OSH mainly focuses on the maintenance and promotion of health and working capacity of workers; enhancing working environment and work to be conducive for workers, and to develop work organization and cultures in a manner that supports safety and heath at work. This hel ps in promoting positive social climate that allows for smooth operation, which enhances productivity of the undertaking. Nevertheless, the question that one may ask ism, â€Å"What are the factors that might have influenced the development of OSH at the international, Federal and state level?† This paper will discuss the factors argued to have contributed to the development of Occupational Safety and Health at the international, federal and state level. Data obtained from ILO, in 1919 estimates that the global fatality level from work-related diseases and injuries stand at approximately 2 million annually. The statistics also showed that annual rates of such diseases and injuries are on a decline in most industrialized nations while increasing in less-developed countries. In overall, the yearly rate of fatal and non-fatal accidents is projected at 270 million with close to 160 million workers having been found to suffer from work-related diseases. What is worrying to

System Programming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

System Programming - Essay Example This paper discusses the arguments of various researchers to prove this hypothesis. Without a doubt, at the present, operating systems come with a wide variety of tools and applications which  have been more and more improved with the passage of time so the need to write scripts to assist in performing tasks and operations on computer systems has been significantly reduced. However, it has not been eliminated. In fact, there are still a wide variety of tasks and activities which cannot be completed until we develop  or write a new code  or script for the computer system. For instance  what  if you are not using computer and we are outside the office and we want an application  or script which allows us to perform the same operations while staying far from our  office and there are so many other similar cases where we need to develop innovative scripts. Though, an operating system comes with the entire functionality and its tools and applications are continuously improving with the passage of  time but there are still many things missing.  This pap er will discuss this hypothesis in detail and will show that there are still numerous tasks which can only be performed by writing new scripts using latest programming applications. One of the well-known operating systems is the Windows operating system, which offers a solid foundation for all of the workload and application needs at the same time as being straightforward to install and administer. Additionally, most recent Virtualization tools, management improvements, Web resources, and thrilling Windows integration help minimize expenditures save time, and offer a platform for a dynamic and competently managed data center (Microsoft Corporation, 2012). One of the primary objectives of any operating system is to provide its users with an easy and fair access to computing and communication resources through the applications that will execute on top of it. Hence, in an attempt to accomplish similar

International Banking Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

International Banking Law - Essay Example [1] This essay shall look into the fictitious situation where an online company selling books is loaning a sum of money from a bank to expand and diversify their online operations. The essay attempts to advise the bank in dealing with the loan situation. The situation has therefore been viewed from the bank's perspective. The essay has been dealt with in two parts. Before any legal advice is given to Spring Bank regarding the type of loan and form of security, it is important to break down the situation. To do this a few concepts have to be cleared. Since giving an overdraft to Winter Ltd. is an option open to Spring Bank, one must consider what an overdraft is and when is an overdraft usually given by a bank. An overdraft is the amount of money that can be overdrawn from a current account, subject to a limit already agreed with the bank. There are certain facilities of an overdraft. With an overdraft, you pay money for the amount of money you use and only for the period you use. For example, an overdraft can be drawn to pay the supplier and within a week the money can be again deposited into the account, after the money comes from the buyers. Overdraft is thus an efficient form of borrowing, usually made to tide over short-term cash-flow fluctuations. Since interest is calculated daily on the fluctuating outstanding balance and is normally ch arged at the end of each month, there is flexibility. [2] [3] [4] However, in the case of Winter Ltd, the company is not looking for money to make some business payment, which cannot be accommodated from the available cash balance in their current account. It is looking for money for business diversification, which requires a permanent source of financing rather than short-term financing. So, Spring Bank should not agree to an overdraft facility but should give a term loan, as advised by their risk committee. Now, that it has been clearly established that Spring Bank will give Winter Ltd. a loan to diversify its business, one has to look at the loan options that the bank can offer the company. The advantages of giving a loan is that both the business and the bank will know the exact terms of repayment and the amount of interest to be paid and when. The Loan Options that the Bank will Consider Let's now consider the various loan options available to the bank. Banks are conservative lending bodies. A bank loan will be available usually against a security. This brings us to a broad categorisation of loans into 'secured' and 'unsecured.' A 'secured loan' is a promise to pay a debt, where the promise is 'secured' by granting the creditor an interest in specific property or collateral of the debtor. In the case where a debtor does not pay the loan in time, the creditor has the right to seize the property that has been kept as collateral, and recoup the loan. Though an 'unsecured loan' also promises to pay the debt, the promise does not include giving the creditor any interest in a particular property. In case of an unsecured loan the lender relies on the fact that the borrower is credit worthy and can be trusted. Particularly for small businesses (though it has not been specifically mentioned that Winter Ltd. is a small business, one can assume such as it is a company

Outline for Treatment Approaches Essay Example for Free

Outline for Treatment Approaches Essay There are types of approaches to help an individual with recovering from drug and substance abuse. The approaches that are being looked at to help someone recover is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET), Medication Management, Community Reinforcement Approach (CRA), and Community Reinforcement and Family Training Approach (CRAFT). Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Cognitive behavioral; therapy (CBT) was developed as an aide to prevent relapse when treating addiction. CBT is based on the principle that the learning process is important in dealing with male adaptive behaviors like substance abuse. It is a process of identifying problematic behaviors and corrects them with various skills to fight addiction. CBT is based on identifying an individual’s problems and helping the individual’s self-control by developing the ways to cope with the problems effectively. This is done by evaluating the consequences of the substance abuse positive and negative, self-monitoring and recognizing the cravings and their triggers, and developing strategies to cope with the cravings and the triggers. Avoiding the trigger situations also help. In CBT an individual may have a support group to depend on during the recovery process. Such a group is helpful while a person is struggling with solutions. The group also gives positive encouragement during stressful times. In CBT an individual addict is encouraged for positive thinking rather than dwelling in negative thought patterns. CBT can help addicts with low self-esteem to improve their self-esteem which helps in fighting addiction. In CBT an individual learns to resist peer pressure. During CBT an individual can continue his/her normal activities which avoids strained relationships and financial crises.  It is a gradual process both in learning, maintaining and being on their own. It is also very cost effective therapy(National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2014). Motivational Enhancement Therapy Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) is a counseling approach that helps individual’s confusing dilemma about the treatment of substance abuse and stopping substance abuse. MET is based on the principles of motivational interviewing. It draws self-motivational statements early on in early discussion and plan for change is built on that. This approach engages the addict in building the plan. Based on their own motivations as oppose to societal. People who cannot follow like 12 –steps may benefit from this therapy. Enlightenment can only occur if an individual wants to learn and MET is centered on this insight. Using peoples own statements about desired better outcomes initial resistance is countered after this is achieved an introduction of behavioral techniques can be introduced to support and individual’s ability to fend for him/herself. MET is often used with other cognitive behavioral approaches. MET could go a long way in offering insights for those effective by many mental illness. With this therapy one can heal from other associated problems like anxiety and depression for life style change (The Ranch, 2014). Medication Management Medication Management is when medical care is an option to help someone reduce the risk of drug abuse. It is usually a pharmacists or physicians that help with medication management by lowering the medications based on the side effects and how the person is with taking the medications. It is that the doctor will ask brief questions about the medications and the feel you need therapy or counseling that will then get set up (McNeece, 2012). Community Treatment Approach (CRA) The Community Reinforcement approach is an alcoholism treatment approach that aims to achieve the addict from looking at positive reinforcement for living a sober free lifestyle and to eliminate all enforcement or influences to drink or do drugs (Miller, 2014). This treatment approach embraces positive incentives to stop drinking or doing drugs verses punishing the addict for the continued abuse (Miller, 2014). Community Reinforcement Approach and Family Training Intervention (CRAFT) This approach is an intervention that is based scientifically on intervention strategies designed to help the family members or those concerned with the addict, (CSO), concerned significant others, to help in the facilitation of the addict entering treatment to gain sobriety (Meyers, 2014). This new intervention method was developed with the belief that since family members can, and do make important contribution in other areas of addiction treatment (Meyers, 2014). Conclusion Treatments for people with problems with drug and substance abuse can be helpful when it comes to recovery. The treatment approaches help with managing medications, giving the individual counseling, or even prevention from relapsing back to the addiction. All of these approaches help an individual become healthier and live a longer life. References McNeece, C. A., DiNitto, D. M. (2012). Chemical dependency: A systems approach (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson National Institute on Drug Abuse. (n.n.). Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/ The Ranch. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.recoveryranch.com/ Meyers, R. (2014). CRAFT. Retrieved from http://http://www.robertjmeyersphd.com/craft.html Miller, W. (2014). The Community-Reinforcement Approach. Retrieved from http://http://www.addictioninfo.org/articles/381/1/The-Community-Reinforcement-Approach/Page1.html

ExxonMobil Change Management Strategy

ExxonMobil Change Management Strategy 1. Abstract ExxonMobil is the largest international oil and gas company that holds industry-leading inventory of global oil and gas resources and also the largest refiner and marketer of petroleum products. They constantly look ways to find better, safer and cleaner ways to deliver the energy. ExxonMobil was formed on 30th November 1999 by merging Exxon and Mobil. Petroleum refinery has developed in respond to changing demand. There are 4 main processes in refinery and that is distillation, thermal cracking, catalytic and treatment processes. Prince William Sounds is a private location and gives major problem to industry and government during the response effort after the oil spill incident. The disaster made a massive impact to environment, economically and socially. Positive changes in the oil refinery industry are Operation Integrated Management System, OIMS that is a better radar system and Coast Guard in Prince William Sound. 2. Introduction On March 1989, Exxon Valdez tanker en route from Alaska to Los Angeles, California ran stranded on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska. The vessel was traveling out from normal shipping lanes in an attempt to steer away from ice berg. For the reason remains unclear, the tanker failed to turn back into the shipping lanes and ran aground on Bligh Reef on March 24, 1989 at 12:04am. Within 6 hours grounding, the Prudehoe Baycrude oil spilled roughly 10.9 million gallons of its 53 million gallons cargo. Most of the tanks on board were damaged. The spilled oil finally impact over 11 hundred miles of non-continuous coastline in Alaska. The disaster makes the Exxon Valdez the largest oil spilled to date in U.S. waters. 2.1 Objectives of the Assignment From this report, many information on ExxonMobil Corporation you can discover such like the aims and objectives of the company, the oil and refinery industrial processes and operations, risks in all areas that leads to the oil spill disaster and pollution, consequences and all the hazards of the oil spill disaster, the improvement and changes in the management systems to prevent the disaster from occurring. 3. ExxonMobils aims and objectives ExxonMobil Corporation is a merger of two companies, Exxon and Mobil, which took place in 1999. This made the company one of the biggest public listed energy companies in the world with subsidiaries in over 200 countries. ExxonMobils core business is energy and it encompasses exploration and production of crude oil, natural gas, manufacturing petroleum products and transportation. They are also involved in sales of crude oil, natural gas and petroleum. ExxonMobil Corporation is also a major player in manufacturing and marketing of basic petrochemicals including polypropylene plastics, polyethylene, olefins, aromatics and a wide variety of specialty products. They also have interest in electric power generation facilities. It is committed to being the worlds premier petroleum and petrochemical company. Yet, they must continuously achieve superior financial and operating results while simultaneously adhering to high ethical standards. 3.1 ExxonMobil Sectors Aim and Objectives The aim and objectives of ExxonMobil Corporation is divided into a few sectors: Exploration: finding opportunities in concepts and plays that have high uncertainty but potential to give a long term resource growth. Exploration is pursued despite of life cycle, across geological and geographical environments leading to technology and capabilities Development: Focuses on better and industry-leading project implementation to deliver maximum value over the assets life. They also focus on disciplined investment decisions that increase reliability, profitable volumes and reduce cost. Production: Maximizes profit production by leveraging their global organization to manage oil and gas assets by applying the best practices and also sharing of experiences, learning and expertise. They describe the priorities globally with a special organizational structure combining with a set of globally consistent processes Refining and Supply: Operates network of vital and dependable, pipelines, marine vessel and distribution centers that give transportation of supplies to customers around the world. With the growing demand, they optimize their network and use selective capital investments that yield a competitive advantage. Fuels marketing: serves a dependable and profitable channel to their refineries by selling high-quality products and services to make long-term value. They focus on greater safety and environment performance. Lubricant and Specialties: serves long-term value by striving to become the head of high-technology and recognized synthetic lubricant brands. The product could maintain the top performance with fuel economy, energy efficiency and also extensive equipment life. Chemical: viewing on commerce that leverage benefit feeds of enabling technology that optimizes feel flexibility with their assets and giving access to a big variety of feedstock with addition with the upstream and downstream of the organization management. They also focus on businesses that leverage lower-cost manufacturing process by having proprietary technology, operational excellence, integration and scale combination. 4. The Oil and Refinery Processes and Operation in ExxonMobil W.R. Grace and ExxonMobil came up with their own way to increase productivity and reduced losses that are they developed a membrane-based process for improving solvents used in the refining lubricants. It provides superior yields of lube oil while concurrently overwhelming less energy, reducing cooling water use and potentially reducing level of volatile-natural emissions from the dewaxing operation. The yield increase equates to a typical commercial plant of about 2 million barrels of crude oil per year. By improving and recycling the dewaxing solvent while bypassing the energy intensive parts of plant, a single facility can decrease oil consumption by 36 thousand barrels per year and greenhouse gas emissions by about 20 thousand tons per each plant. The same plant can reduce cooling water by nearly 4 million gallons per day. The release of the solvents which are unstable organic materials can be reduced by 50 to 200 tons per year per plant depending on the mechanical condition of its equipment. This technology was first implemented commercially at ExxonMobils Beaumont, Taxes refinery. It easily retrofitted into existing plants or in corporate into new plant design and currently trademarked process max-dewax. ExxonMobil refineries operates a worldwide integrated network of consistency and efficient refineries, marine tanker, distribution centers and pipelines that serves transportation fuels, feed stock, lubricant and other high-value products to their customers. The corporation proven business model to pursue operating excellence while leveraging their global scale and integration across to capture cost efficiencies and improve limitations. Their global supply organization optimizes their network as well as selection and procurement of raw materials supply of product to customers and placement of their equity crude. They meet the growing demand through selective capital investments that give way competitive benefits. ExxonMobil Safety Goals To Protect Their People. The safety efforts are driven by clear objective Nobody Gets Hurt. Its a goal for employees and contractors alike, while ExxonMobil is a leader in the industry that has low incident rates. The corporation took an efficient move towards to hazard acknowledgement, safety work planning, field confirmation and measurement of fulfillment against their safety standards. The effort includes extensive computer based training and also increasing use of simulators. All complemented by specific test and confirmation of each workers consideration and capabilities. Protect Our Facilities They work untiringly to uphold the integrity of their operations. Its begins with implementing and determined to upgrade upon sound industry level. Instant example, they work for establish through the NPRAs National Safety Conference and the API. But it goes well beyond that. The process in the start-up and shutdown mode less than 5% of the time, near 40% of incident happens during these take-off and landing periods. Therefore, they currently conducting passing HAZOPs to proactively verify the unique risks that passing operations can present. There are also attempting to calculate the standard of risk that for each scenario/potential incident. To help identify risks, they have adopted a game-changing operation based on Incident Risk Analysis Tool. This tool scores the vital potential result of an incident in addition to procedures the layers of security in place to avoid such a situation from happening. Protect The Environment ExxonMobil strives to run business in a compatible method with the ecological and economic needs of the communities. This twin challenge stores energy in the forms necessary for economic growth, as protecting the environment. The environmental management is guided by Protect Tomorrow, Today. The tool in measuring environmental routine is a comprehensive site-by-site deliver of emissions. This enables to define site-specific priorities for development and construct an Environmental Business Plan which integrates environmental upgraded aims into business plans for each facility. They are also relentless pursuers of energy efficiency. They developed energy efficiency system by collecting knowledge from operators and engineers. Protect The Community They struggle to make a positive involvement to the living and welfare of the local community. This forms as of creating citizen optional panels to chains local contractors and vendors on top of supporting humanitarian activities. The key to their ER preparedness is maintaining the relationship with government agencies, law enforcement, state, country organizations and local communities. They made detailed plans for different types of emergencies and drill them regularly at the plant level. They hold 2 worldwide drills every year, appealing a wide network across their global organization. Most of the drills are matched with nearby plants, home responders, officials and the public leaders. They also use these to learn and consult with their neighbors. 5. Risks that Lead to the Oil Spill Disaster and Pollution 5.1 Five Causes That Leads to the Accident The National Transportation Safety Board determined and identified 5 probable causes of the accident: The third mate failed to properly maneuver the vessel due to fatigue and excessive workload The master failed to provide proper navigation watch due to impairment from alcohol The company failed to supervise the master and provide a rested and sufficient crew for the vessel The U.S. Coast Guard failed to provide an effective vessel traffic system Effective pilot and escort services were lacking In the accident that night, 8 of the 11 tanks on board were damaged. The spilled oil would finally impact over 11 hundred miles of non-continuous coastline in Alaska. The sociocultural and psychological impact of the Exxon Valdez oil spill were examined in a population-based study of 593 men and women live in 14 Alaskan communities roughly about one year after the spill occurred. Between the oil spill exposures, progressive dose-response relationships were found and the following cleaning efforts and the next variables such as reported: 5.2 Reported Variables in Dose-Respond Relationship and the Subsequent Cleanup Effort A decline in traditional social relations with relatives members, links, neighbors and co-worker A decline in continuation production and circulation activities Increase in the quantity of troubles related with drinking, drug violence and home violence A decline in observed health grade an increase in the amount of medical form confirmed by a doctor Amplified post-spill charge of global anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression. Alaskan local resident, women and 17 to 45 year olds in the high and low exposed groups were mostly at risk for the 3 psychiatric disorders. As the result of the oil spills suggest, result on the psychosocial environment was as major as its effect on the physical situation. The effect also has vital theoretical and practical implication for the perceptive and improvement of unpleasant effect of long term processes of sociocultural changes. 6. Consequences of All the Hazard of the Oil Spill The spill and its environmental consequences alongside its devastating communications were massive. The disaster cost roughly around USD 7 billion dollars including the cleanup costs. USD 5 billion dollars of this was the largest penalizing fines ever handed out to a company. The oil spills disaster results of coastal and offshore waters occupied by nearly one million birds. More than 30 thousand dead birds and almost 90 species were found dead by 1st august 1989. They recognized Murres (74%), other Alcids (7%) and sea duck (5.3%) suffered the highest mortality from oil and most of 88% birds were killed outside of Prince William Sound. A colony of 129 thousand Murres at the Barren Island was mostly devastated. From 1st August to 13th October, another 7000 birds were retrieved but most of those birds appeared to have died from natural causes. This later die off was composed largely of shearwaters and other procellariids(51%), gulls (22%), and puffin (14%). 100 thousand to 300 thousand birds were killed by the disaster and estimated by aerial and ship-based surveys for population at risk and extrapolating from the number of birds recovered. The damage to the companys reputation is more important and more difficult to quantify. Nevertheless, Exxon lost market share and slipped from being the largest oil company to the third largest in the world. The Exxon Valdez entered the language as a shortcut for corporate arrogance and damage 7. Improvement and Change Done By ExxonMobil In the result of the accident, ExxonMobil undertook important operational reforms and implemented a very systematic operational management system to prevent future incidents. The system has been applied globally and nothing similar occurs after the accident. They believe their subsequent record of safety stems first and foremost from disciplined and systematic improvements they made. The corporation considers this strong performance encouraging and it serves as a solid platform for continuous improvement efforts. In the result of the oil spill accident, ExxonMobil redoubled its commitment to safe guard the environment, employees and operating communities worldwide. As for the improvement of them prevention, they have done; 7.1 Prevention Improvement Modified the tanker routes Instituted drug and alcohol testing programs for safety sensitive positions Restricted safety-sensitive positions to employees with no history of substance abuse Implemented more extensive periodic assessment of ExxonMobil vessels and facilities They strengthened the training programs for vessel captains and pilots. Applied new technology to improve vessel navigation and ensure the integrity of oil containment systems. In the event a spill occurs, the corporation also has improved their respond capability, such as; 7.2 Respond Capability Improvement ExxonMobil is a founding member of every major oil spill response teams worldwide. There are over thousand ExxonMobil employees involved in oil spill response team worldwide The company holds frequent, extensive oil spill drill at various ExxonMobil locations around the world. ExxonMobil has developed and applied new spill-detecting technology. 8. Conclusion From the report, we learned about ExxonMobil Corporation. We study on ExxonMobils aims and objectives and we know how the corporation strives to be the number one oil and gas companies in the world. ExxonMobils refinery process and operation taught us their way to increase productivity and reduced losses. They developed a new process called membrane-based process for improving the solvent used in the refining lubricants. They also operates a worldwide integrated network of consistency and efficient refineries, marine tanker, distribution centers and pipelines that serves transportation fuels, feed stock, lubricant and other high-value products. On March 1989, an oil spill disaster occurred and gives massive pollution to environment. Just because of human and technical error, Prince Williams Sound seriously polluted. Thousands of birds and 90 species were found dead after the disaster take place. Its the largest oil spilled to date in U.S. waters. After the accident, ExxonMobil took a very systematic operational management system in order to prevent the future accident. Since they applied the system, nothing similar occurs after the accident. This tragedy can be useful experience for engineers all over the world. Every action must be seriously analyzed before proceeding to the next step.

Writing a Business Letter

Writing a Business Letter Abstract: Stylistics is a systematic and marginal subject which studies the characters of literature, innate character and its discipline. English business letter is a specific type of writing ,and it is a comprehensive subject that combines English writing and international business practice, the main function of it is transmit information. This article is going to apply the theories of stylistic to the analysis of English business letter from the view of stylistic, and analyze stylistic features in language feature, textual structure features and grammatical features, and it makes many examples to prove them respectively. From the view of linguistic characteristics, the English business correspondence has to follow 7Cs principle; from the view of text, the standardized structure and complete outline, furthermore normative format, strong logic, clear thought, and precise structure are the characteristics of text structures; from the view of grammar, complex structure of sentence is an importa nt syntactic characteristic of business correspondence. Furthermore, this article is to propose how to follow these features in English business letter writing as well. At last, it makes the estimated effect and research prospect of studying stylistic to integrate with business letter. Key words: Stylistics, English Business Correspondence, type of writing, language features, textual features, vocabulary features Introduction of Stylistics Stylistics is a systematic and marginal subject which studies the characters of literature, innate character and its discipline. It is a subject that falls between linguistics, art theory, esthetics and psychology, it is a subject that is in the view of linguistics to interpret the objectives of literature and writing styles as well. Actually, it has a long history in studying of linguistics at home and abroad. The study of modern western Stylistic can date back to the study of rhetoric in ancient Greece and ancient Rome. In a long period before twentieth century, the discussion about the styles of stylistics was limited in the subjective impression, and it was studied in rhetoric, literature and the analysis of grammar, so it didnt have its own status in the area of researching. Until the beginning of twentieth century, after adapting the modern language method, the style analysis started break away from the limit of traditional analysis which based on intuition, and systemized and became scientific gradually. The European historical linguistic and normal linguistic became influential independent subjects in the beginning of twenties century, and integrating with linguistic, stylistics became a inter discipline which had independent status as well. Stylistics was initial known as literature criticism in China. But with the development of linguistics, people started to know the substance of stylistics, and tried to apply relevant theories to analyzing stylistics, so that it could promote the rapid development of stylistics. To the time of twenty-first century, Liu Shi Sheng who derived Stylistic from style, stylistics ,functional stylistics, textual stylistics and social cultural stylistics which based on Carters point of view, and its rationale is based on Foucouhs point of view that the knowledge and belief of people owns the features of social symbols(Chen, 2003:4), it further promoted the development of Stylistic in China. Stylistic is in the stage of development and improvement currently, yet there are different point of views about the definition of stylistic and the understanding of its meanings among literates. Stylistic has widened meaning and narrowed meaning: the narrowed one means literary style, while the widened one means language varieties of literary style (Qin, 2001:2). Therefore, more and more scholars study and investigate it in the area of theories and practices widely and massively. A numbers of the scholars even apply the theories of stylistic to analyze business writing, which promote the rapid development of studying in this area. 2. An Overview of English Business Letters In todays highly developed and competitive society, communication between individuals and groups is becoming more and more important. And it serves to pass on information, to express ideas and to exchange their own feelings as well. Generally speaking, business letters plays an important role in various trading businesses, which is the principle means used by a business firm to keep in touch with its customers. Business letter usually is a formal written style that for external contacts, such as inter-organizations, among organizations and their clients, and it is used for business connection such as getting or conveying business information, business negotiation such as making or accepting an offer and so on. 2.1 The Definition and Classification of Business Letters Hutchinson Waters and Halliday stressed that business letter belonged to the branch of professional English, it was the generic term of English Language Variety adapted by business trade members in business activities, and the use of English in business ways. Robinson used to sum up the characteristics of business English in such ways: (1) content-based; (2) goal-directed; (3) needs analysis; (4) time pressure. (Zhou, 2010:4) Very often, letters are a companys only contact with a client, and through letters, the receivers form an impression of the company. In the present age of information, however, people tend to make phone calls instead of writing letters for the purpose of communication. The rapid development of telecommunication seems to have decreased the importance of letters. Nevertheless, in this age of electronic communication, the business letter not only retains its importance on account, but also is re-born in the form of e-mail and fax. The purposes of business correspondence are building and maintaining business relationship, promoting business cooperation, maintaining good business relationship, and the expression of business correspondence will influence the economic benefit of the company. Thus, business letters may be defined as a media or means through which views are expressed and ideas or information is communicated in the process of business activities Business letters can be classified in such ways as follows: First, business letters can be classified according to the content of the letter such as request letters, claim and adjustment letters, reply letters, credit and collection letters, sales letters and so on. Second, classification can appear according to different functions in the process of a business communication. There are letters for establishment of business relations, enquiry letters, quotation letters, ordering letters, payment letters, shipment and insurance letters, claim letters, etc. Thirdly, business letters can also be classified into personal business letters and official business letters. In personal business letters, the greeting may be formal or informal. And the body is usually intended paragraphs; the typed signature line can be omitted and the full name or the first name should be handwritten. While on the other hand, the official can be more formal in greeting and its body. And the signature is made up of a typed signature with professional or social or company name, under which the Chinese name should be typed by its Pinyin in the next line. 2.2 The Stylistic Features of Business Correspondence As a branch of professional English, business correspondence has its own characteristics of style. Business letters are now meant for modern businesspeople, so their style should not be long-winded, old fashioned, or jargon-filled, as it was several decades ago. Business letters today should be simple, concise, concrete, and easy to understand, etc. And from the view of characteristics of style, consult letters are usually with direction, request and courtesy; business informal letters are usually tendentious, illustrative and flexible; the formal business letters are usually optional, informative, contactable and courtesy. (Zhao, 2007 ¼Ã… ¡186). 2.3 The Necessity of Using Business Letters Properly However, we may misuse the business letters if we are lack of general knowledge of stylistics, and the consequence of misusing business letters maybe serious. So when we observe language activity in the various contexts in which it takes place ,we find differences in the type of language selected as appropriate to different types of situation(Cheng,1988:3)à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ 3. Specific Studies on Business Letters from with the Perspective of Stylistics English business correspondence is a special type of writing, and it is a comprehensive subject to integrate English writing with international trade, we can analyze characteristics of stylistics from the views of characteristics of language, characteristics of text, and characteristics of grammar. 3.1 Language Feature of English Business Letter Business letter is a common style used in international business activities. As it comes from and serves for kinds of business, and reflects the relative professional content, its words, syntaxes, meanings and intensions have a strong charm of business. And a business message is considered successful when (1) the receiver interprets the message as the sender intended it, and (2) it achieves the senders purposes. The language of it is brief and accurate, the expression is strong but moderate .And its manner of writing follows the principle of 7Cs, which are Courtesy, Consideration, Completeness, Clarity, Conciseness, Concreteness and Correctness. They tie in closely with the basic concept of the communication process, which are significant for business letters by providing guidelines for the choice of content. 3.1.1 Courtesy Business letter plays a decisive role in business activities, and Courtesy is a virtue of all business documents ¼Ã‹â€ Wang ¼Ã…’2007 ¼Ã… ¡8 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °,it create so friendly atmosphere of equality that it can promote bilateral cooperation and reach an agreement. However, it is not merely politeness with mechanical insertions of thank you or please. Instead, it stems from sincere respect and friendly human concern for one another. So in your business message, you can develop courtesy by putting yourself in your readers shoes(Wang ¼Ã…’2007 ¼Ã… ¡8), and observing the following techniques: to be prompt, to be polite, to be on a positive tone. Firstly, applying promptness is an important way to show courtesy in business communication. Whenever we are asked a question or receive a letter that needs our response, we should reply it within the day. If it is impossible for us to give a prompt reply in detail on the same day, we should write a short note to the customers to explain the reason. Promptness is so good manners that it prompts goodwill. In addition, it indicates efficiency because of its quick process in business letters. Secondly, the senders should be very polite even in asking the receivers to pay back the debts or refusing their demand, and irksome expressions should to be avoided, particularly when we use with you: Thirdly, Courteous letters should be written in a positive tone, which helps to create or to strength goodwill. E.g. (1) We are sorry that you misunderstood us. (2) We are sorry that we didnt make ourselves clear. The meanings that the author tries to express are basically the same in these two sentences. However, in the sentence (1), it intents to blame others; while in sentence (2), the author takes responsibility actively and uses courtesy .So the results of these two sentence are obviously. 3.1.2 Consideration Consideration used in business letters means that the senders should keep receivers in the first place when composing and transmitting the letters, because they are dealing not only with a business organization, but more significantly with the people whose reaction determines what the sender can achieve in transmitting the business letters. Consideration means using you attitude in business letter  ¼Ã…’which is to consider in others perspective and be considerate others desires and feelings. (Yuan Li, 2010:11) We will compare with the following sentences, sentences (1) adapt we attitude, while sentences (2) adapt you attitude e.g. We are pleased to announce that You will be pleased to know We want you to do that. You will no doubt do it. Sentences 1) adapt we attitude which are in a rigid tone and express a feeling of ordering others, and it shows that senders think only of themselves and their problem, not about the receivers, while Sentences 2) adapt you attitude, that can reflect politeness and tact, emphasize what the receivers want to know, refer to the receivers request or order specifically, protect the receivers ego and respect the receivers intelligence. So The you attitude also creates a conversational tone 3.1.3 Completeness Business letter should fully express the contents and meanings. When the message is complete, it contains all facts the receivers need for the reaction that the senders desire. The function of completeness in business letters is bringing the desired response without the expense of additional messages, both parties can do a better job of building goodwill and averting the costly lawsuits that may result becomes possible, even if important information is missing. You can use 5Ws and 1H to verify whether it has fully replied what the others perspectives requests. Whats more, you should give something extra, when desirable. Sometimes we must do more than answer customers specific questions. Because they may not know what they need, or their questions may be inadequate. For instance, in the letters of placing an order, it has to explain What you want, When you need the goods, to whom and where the goods to be sent, How the payment will be made. And you should explain why when you reject t he request of the parties (i.e. reject to an offer, reject to settle of claim etc.). The 5Ws and 1H question method is especially useful when we write requests, announcements, or other informative messages. 3.1.4 Clarity In business letter writing, Clarity is important in such business writing as reports, memorandums ,procedures ,and proposals(HuCheLiSu,2004:43) clarity means making sure the meaning of letters you have written is clear, and it will not generate misunderstanding (Wei , 2005:6),we should avoid ambiguous thought and equivocate phrasing in the letter. And there are three specific ways to help make the message clear: 1. choose understandable words, 2.construct effective sentences and paragraphs, 3.write on the Write on the level of the receivers understanding E.g. As to the steamer sailing from Wenzhou to Italy has bimonthly direct services. In this sentence, the writer chooses these understandable words such as sailing, direct to make the receivers understand clearly as there is a strong need for words that are not only familiar and clear, but simple and easy to read. However, the word Bimonthly may cause misunderstanding, because it can be understood either as twice a month or once every two months, so it is easy to misunderstand the meaning of this sentence. Therefore, it should be amended as We have two direct sailings every month from Wenzhou to Italy. or We have direct sailings from Wenzhou to Italy every two months. 3.1.5 Conciseness Conciseness means that on the premise of not going against the other C qualities, we use words as less as possible to express the actual meanings you are trying to express. Use brief, direct, simple words to prevent unnecessary repetition and ornate words. It gets rid of hackneyed and stereotyped phrases in business letters, saves time and expense for both sender and receiver, aids the receiver in understanding the message, and makes the communication more interesting. E.g. We use We have begun to export machines. instead of We have begun to export our machines to the foreign countries. Because the former sentence eliminates the unnecessary expressionsto the foreign countries, which express the same meaning with export. 3.1.6 Concreteness The contents of business letters must be detail and clear, especially those letters that request other parties reply or will affect contact in after period. So we should use specific facts, figures to achieve concreteness instead of using words that are unclear, generalized or abstract. Because concrete words are direct and vivid, clear, and exact. While abstract words are often intellectual, academic, or philosophical. Using specific rather than general language, using concrete rather than abstract words, using active rather than passive voice will be helpful to compose concrete, convincing messages E.g. We say We confirm our goods of January 3th,2011 rather than We confirm our goods yesterday. The reason is that the former sentence use concrete words that are clear so that there will be no question in the receivers mind as to the meaning intended. And on the other hand, yesterday is less clear in meaning and is more likely to create wrong or confusing connotations in the receivers mind. 3.1.7 Correctness The terms and phrases and punctuations should be used correctly in business letters because most parts of business letters involve bilateral right, duty and interest among business communications. And it will cause needless troubles if any mistakes happen. The term correctness, as applied to a business letter, means the sender should use the right level of language and include only accurate facts, words, and figures. And one erroneous digit (for example, $75,000 instead of $750,000) can make a difference of millions of dollars. Even small errors of a few cents can annoy customers and undermine goodwill. E.g. Using It is the lowest price we can offer you now. is more accurate than using It is the lowest price available to you. 3.2 Textual Structure in Business Letter The success of English business letter writing is not only based on its words and sentences, but its structure as well. Text which is the meaning unit to communicate by using language symbols is made up by sentences, so it can be either short or long. A novel can be a text, a sentence or phrase, even a word can make up text. Business letter is a way of communication that bilaterally communicates in written form (Qin,2001:82). In the aspect of text, business letter should indicate the image of writers through orderly and clear structure; indicate the accomplishment of writers through polite language; indicate the goal of letters through accurate and logical expression. Sono matter how simple or complex the business letter is, it is generally concerned on the goal of writing which has clear and standardized structure and complete outline. Whats more, the textual structure should exist with standardized form, logically structured, clear clue, and tight structure. First of all, the length of business letter is short and pithy whose language is frankly and condensed, and most business letters have an average sentence length of 20 words or fewer. Short and pithy, and straightforward indicate the terseness and effective of business letter. In contrast, overly long sentences can make the whole message clumsy and difficult to understand and the reader soon begins to lose interest in the letter, thus hinder clear communication. Next, Paragraph length is also significant in business letters. Because most businesspeople are so busy that they do not have more time to waste through a series of long paragraphs. Instead, they may only skim a line or two in each paragraph. Therefore, paragraphs in business letters should be short enough with the average length between one to eight sentences. Besides, the paragraph should be arranged in a clear, logic order, with the most important idea getting primary emphasis and the less important points placed in secondary positions, which will make the letter more clear and improve the success of establishing business relationship. Furthermore, the format is standardized in business letter. A typical business letter consists of seven parts: the letterhead ,the date line ,the inside address ,the salutation ,the body of the letter ,the complimentary close ,and the signature(Chen ¼Ã…’2002 ¼Ã… ¡11). (1)The letterhead of a business letter shows where the letter comes from, contains details of addresser, such as company name, address, telephone number and so on, which have usually stated in the up-left of the letter. It also expresses the companys personality and contributes to the companys image. So a good letterhead is always a soft sell, but should not look like an advertisement. (2)The date line is generally typed two or three lines below the letterhead and may start from the left margin, or be centered, or appear on the right-hand side, which differs from country to country. (3) The inside address should be the same as the name and address on the envelope. It is conventional to set it at the left-hand margin in business letters, about two or three lines below the level of the dateline and above the salutation. And the inside address usually includes the full name of the recipient, business title of the recipient, name of the company addressed to. (4) Dear Sirs or Dear Madams are usually used as the salutation, which is placed against the left-hand margin with at least two lines under the inside address and two lines above the body of the letter (5)The schematic structure of body should depend on the alternating goal of business letters whose contents mainly concern on attention, interest, desire, and action and raising expectations. For example, letters which reply to the enquires should contain: the expression of thanks to enquire; description of the name, specification, quality, quantity, package, price, payment methods, the date of shipping; the comments on the goods; other relative matters, such as other goods that the other party may interest; and the expression of the desires to establish business relationship with the parties and to look forward to placing the orders. (6) The complimentary close is a line following the body of the letter that politely signals the end of the letter. (7)The signature should be signed by the addresser himself/herself, which is four lines below the complimentary close. And signature always contains three or four parts: the name of the company, the signature of the writer, the typed name, and the business title. The paragraphs of business letters usually exist with hierarchy, which is based on the topic in the introduction. And the sentences are cumulated layer upon layer with conjunctions, so that these multi-layer sentences can be linked in a vertical hierarchy, in which progressive, adversative, causal relationship should be most commonly used. The complimentary closes usually use Sincerely or Sincerely yours. 3.3 Grammatical Features of English Business Letter Complex structure of sentence is an important syntactic characteristic of business correspondence. And these complexly structured sentences can not only express the business meaning, but make the main information be emphasized and make the essay formal. 3.3.1 Use of Complete Sentences and more Compound Sentence. Business letter is a formal style, the most significant grammatical feature is that sentences are completed, the structure is complex and the sentences are long. And adverbial clause, parenthesis, appositive, and the absolute structure are frequently used. Because the complex long sentences in business letters can not only express complex meanings so that the writing will appear to be rigorous, but also the main information will be emphasized in the form of word order, and strength the degree of formality. E.g. With the increase of the prices which becomes conspicuous this year, the next consignment will be much dearer, so we recommend you to take prompt advantage of this offer. This is a compound sentence that compounded by so, the prepositional phrase With the increase of the prices which conspicuous this year is located in the first half, and the attributive clause is among the prepositional phrase which makes the structure more complex. However, the hierarchy is clear and precise, and it clearly indicates the condition of each other relationship. 3.3.2 Use of Assertive Sentences rather than Negative Sentences. In order to express polite and friendly relationship, business letters should not use negative sentences too much. Assertive sentences emphasize to the receivers what can be done rather than what cannot be done, thus helping the writer develop and maintain favorable relationships and goodwill. In contrast, negative sentences may generate other unfavorable reactions, and if we point the undesirable things that the other party cant complete , it will give the impression of disrespect which against the principle of polite, so we should use as more assertive sentences as possible, so that the manner will be circumbendibus and polite. E.g. We cannot fill your order because you failed to send your check. 2) We shall be glad to fill your order as soon as we receive your check. By comparing these two examples, it can be easily found that sentence (2) is more circumbendibus and polite than sentence (1), which is in accord with the grammar of business letter, and it imparts enthusiasm and confidence. 3.3.3 Use of Common Language Since the primary purpose in business letters is to transmit information, ideas, beliefs, and emotions, the sender dont need to impose burden upon the receiver with too difficult words that influence quick and precise communication between both parties. Whats more, business letter is an official letter that is with property of business to business. So we should use common and familiar language to express the politeness and formality of the letter, and these words are gradually fixed to become a routine after long time used in business activities, and now they are widely used in business letters, such as We offer you Enclosed we hand we are pleased to inform you thank you for.. 3.3.4 Use of Declarative Sentences rather than Imperative Sentences Most of the two parties involved in the business letters are business partners, so each others statuses are equal. Therefore, imperative sentences will not be used, even if one party wants another party to take some actions, because imperative sentences express the manner of giving orders which seems too arrogant and direct. However, the manner will become so polite if we use declarative sentences to express ones desire in the letter that building the image of writers will become possible. Whats more, this manner often motivates the other party to take actions (Peng, 2008:198). E.g. It would be appreciated if you could send us your shipping instructions. What this sentence trying to express is Please send us your shipping instructions, however, using declarative sentences will show the politeness of the writer and be in accordance with polite principle. 3.3.5 Use of Passive Voice Properly The passive voice is a very important way in writing business letter. The passive voice does not emphasis the action of source, which will appear that the action is not imposed on the other party. In business letter, we usually use It is hoped that the offer is made as soon as possible instead of Make the offer as soon as possible. 3.3.6 Use of the Inversion Sentence Properly We use inversion sentence in two situations: one is placing the emphasized component in front, especially when the writer wants to remind that the recipient materials have been posted with the letter; another situation is to express the possibility of uncertainty. E.g. Enclosed please find the invoice of 60 bales wool bought by your order. In this sentence, the writer place enclosed in front of the sentence to emphasis the objective. 3.3.7 Use of Abbreviations Abbreviation, strictly means a shortening or abridgment word or phrase, and commonly refers to a letter or a group of letters taken from a single word or phrase. Because of its space-saving and time-saving, abbreviations are used frequently in business letters. And most abbreviations have fixed meanings in the business letters, such as FOB=Free On Board, CFR=Cost and Freight, CIF=Cost, Insurance and Freight, UK = United Kingdom ¼Ã…’S.S=steamship, etc. 4. How to Follow Stylistic Features in Business Letter Writing As business letter has particularity in communication and transmitting on the information, the functions and goals of business letters are not only obviously different from literary activities and daily life, but other business text, such as instant advertisement. So in the business letter writing, we should grasp the format, use proper words, attentive to the details, and use appropriate tone. 4.1 Grasping the format Though the basic parts in the business letter have remained the same for centuries, ways of arranging do change. Sometimes a company adopts a certain format as its policy. Three major letter formats are commonly used: Full-Block style, Indented style, Semi-Block style, whose major differences lie in indentation of paragraphs, placement of letter parts, and use of punctuation. In general, first, we should place the date in front of the salutation; second, the salutations generally use a fixed format Dear then, the body should come straight to the topic; at last, we should end with sincerely or sincerely yours 4.2 Use of proper words There is a direct relation between business letter and the success of the business, so we should use fair-spoken, polite, formal and professional vocabularies properly and accurately. E.g. We trust you will see to it that the order is shipped within 3days, as any delay would cause us no little inconvenience and financial loss. The writer uses trust and no little inconvenience in the example sentence to show a so mild tone that the other party will accept it easily. 4.3 Attentive to details Business letter must be practical and realistic, it should neither exaggerate the vocabularies nor narrow its vocabularies. We should not be careless and be ambiguous in the details of business activities, such as quantity, date, price, the amount and insurance. E.g. Our offer is a firm offer and remains good until 3:40p.m., 20th January, 2010, Wenzhou. 4.4 Use of Appropriate Tone Business letter is a mean of written communications, so we should particularly pay attention to the mood, which should be polite, in appropriate manners, objective and formal. They have more life, and can therefore best hold the readers attention and interest and build the company image of the sender and show the quality of the employees. Beside, we should select polite language to point the other partys undesirable things that the other party cant complete ¼Ã…’which is to express thank, happiness and satisfaction. E.g. We shall appreciate it if you will make us a firm offer for 60tons of peanuts. 5. Conclusion: Estimated Effect and Research Prospect of Studying Stylistic to Integrate with Business Letter.

Responses to Persecution :: Jews Judaism Religion Suffering Essays

Responses to Persecution Jews are no strangers to suffering. Throughout the ages, many others have also been victims to unspeakable cruelty, but the judgement of Winston Churchill is almost certainly the definitive description of the uniqueness of the Holocaust: "The Final Solution is probably the greatest, most horrible crime ever committed in the whole history of the world." Holocaust scholar Deborah Lipstadt points out two reasons why the German program of genocide remains in a class by itself as an example of evil: "It was the only time in recorded history that a state tried to destroy an entire people, regardless of an individual's age, sex, location, profession, or belief. And it is the only instance in which the perpetrators conducted this genocide for no ostensible material, territorial, or political gain." In fact, the Holocaust remains incomprehensible. But that is all the more reason why it must at the very least be remembered. Hitler played heavily on the anti-Semitism already rooted within his people. He resurrected ideas that a previous king of Germany, Frederick the Great, had introduced. There were distinct categories of human beings. Essentially, the Germans were Aryans, and everyone else was sub-human. Hitler took these ideas and embellished them. He blamed the Jews for "two great wounds upon humanity: "Circumcision of the Body and for the conscience of the soul.† As Hitler gained popularity, his hatred of Jews spread and became a rallying cry. The Nazi propaganda paper, Der Sturmer, revived the "Blood Libels." The church would warn their constituents: "Watch your children 6-7 weeks before Passover†¦ Everyone knows that just before Passover Jews need the blood of a Christian child, maybe, to mix in with their Matzah." The attitude taught to the children was, "Just as one poisonous mushroom can poison a whole family, one Jew can poison a whole town or a whole country!" Der Sturmer was running contests encouraging German children to write in. One little girl wrote, "People are so bothered by the way we’re treating the Jews. They can’t understand it, because they are God’s creatures. But cockroaches are also God’s creatures, and we destroy them." Words can create an attitude. If a person says something loud enough and often enough, he creates a climate. And under that climate, all sorts of things can happen. This was one of the was the Jews where terribly and horrifically persecuted.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The German scientific community got on the bandwagon with scientific presentations.