A Child Is Mysterious and Powerful free essay sample

Within the child lies the fate of the future. Whoever wishes to confer some benefit on society must preserve him from deviation and observe his natural ways acting. A child is mysterious and powerful and contains within himself the secret of human nature. Explain the above quote with reference to the Montessori philosophy. The term Montessori Philosophy originated from the name of Dr. Maria Montessori, one of the most influential pioneers in early childhood education. She advised an education which combines a philosophy with a practical approach based on the central idea of freedom for the child within a carefully planned and structured environment. To analyze the above quote, we will have to know what it is in essence the Montessori philosophy. Maria Montessori was a soft hearted lady who happened to live through the two world wars. She was very much worried that in spite of the development of science and technology in the world, why men are very much unhappy, cruel and keep fighting with each other. We will write a custom essay sample on A Child Is Mysterious and Powerful or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page She believed that this is because of the lack of fulfillment of human mind. So she deducted that as the adult comes into being through the child, it is important to consider the human being way down from the very childhood itself. Montessori has once opined that â€Å"It is the child who makes the man, and no man exists who was not made by the child he once was. † (http://www. dailymontessori. com/maria-montessori-quotes/) Montessori, who became the first lady doctor in the history of her country, was appointed as assistant doctor at a psychiatric clinic. From this position she got chances to observe some mentally retarded children. Under her care and love many of these children improved even to a position that they could read and write. After that Maria Montessori got chance to look after some slum children for whom she made a home. This was called Casa Dei Bambini, means childrens house. It was from here that Montessori philosophy actually evolved into being. Montessori made a new way of education in which the child is considered as the centre of education with the adult serving only as one who is helping him to develop as a whole; hysically, cognitively, emotionally, spiritually and socially. She discovered that with such an education a unified personality is formed. According to Montessori philosophy, the child has an unrealized potential within himself when he is born. This potential is what helps him to develop from birth onwards. This is called predetermined psychic pattern. Christoph Schiebold states that Good education is not to follow the pages of a workbook. It’s following the workbook that’s within the child! (http://educationaljournal. wordpress. com/2011/07/02/quote-christoph-schiebold) The predetermined psychic pattern (also known as natural laws of development) is there in the child in an embryonic stage when the child is born. So as only a healthy mother gives birth to a healthy baby, the predetermined psychic pattern in the baby also needs a nourishing environment to grow well. In the given quote it is stated a child is mysterious and powerful and contains within himself the secret of human nature. In reference to Montessori philosophy the potentials present in the child from birth itself is what makes the child mysterious and powerful. That itself is the secret of human nature too. The child is mysterious because there is an internal guide in the child which alone lets these laws to unfold themselves. We the adults are not able to understand what is happening there within the child. We can see only certain signs of these laws of natural development reveal themselves by carefully observing the childs behavior. Now let us analyze why the child is described as being powerful. For this we will have to know what the laws of natural development in essence are. These are law of work, law of independence, development of attention, development of will, development of intelligence development of emotion and spiritual life, development of imagination and creativity and stages of growth. Thus it is said that The child is endowed with unknown powers which can guide us to a radiant future. (The Absorbent Mind ,P2) During the observation of children at Casa Dei Bambini, Dr. Maria Montessori discovered that children prefer work to play. They were able to achieve a self integration through this work. She found that the aggressive and destructive children became calm and peaceful after working with the materials. She concluded that through work the child seemed to get fulfillment of some internal need which made him normalized. Montessori found out that independence is necessary to the childs normal development. The child uses his independence to listen to his inner guide for actions that can be useful to him and one who is served is actually limited in his independence. It is well said that we habitually serve children; and this is not only an act of servility towards them but it is dangerous, since it tends to suffocate their useful, spontaneous activity. (Course manual P. 40). We can help the child attain independence by giving opportunity for him to work with the materials by himself, by directing him towards a given end to develop his will, by giving him constructive work to help him in developing discipline, by letting him know and have an understanding of what is good and bad and also giving him freedom to reveal himself completely by playing only passive role. Maria Montessori stated that at certain stages of development, the child has sensitivity to his environment and he directs his attention to particular objects with high intensity and interest. By giving the child materials to work that engage him wholesomely we can help him develop his concentration and build his personality. When the child has the maximum power to concentration or when he gain good power to attention, he becomes calmer and more controlled and rested. Montessori believed that decision taken by the child on any activity and the action taken by him are the basis for development of the will. When the child is allowed to work with the materials as long as he wants, his self concept and power of concentration develop. Thus the child gains an ability to make his own choice which helps develop his will. The perceptions made by the child with the help of his senses are his intelligence. Obtaining conscious knowledge is done by the childs intelligence, comparing and discriminating between the impressions received by the senses. Dr. Maria Montessori believed that development of imagination and creativity are inborn powers which develop through his interactions with the environment. In regard to development of emotional and spiritual life, Montessori found that the child has an inner power to react to emotional and spiritual experiences from birth itself. Montessori discovered 5 periods of growth in children and each period has specific goal, the directionality towards the goal is fixed and each period has its own sensitive periods. To help them reach their goal by maximizing own potentials, the caregivers and teachers need to know these periods of development. Here, from this detailed analysis of predetermined psychic pattern within the child what we can understand is that the child has many abilities (powers) inside him from birth itself. It is this potential that helps him to self construct himself. With this much of original intrinsic assets it is quite reasonable to assume that the child is powerful. According to the philosophy of Montessori, the potentials within the child unfold slowly during the course of time while child self constructs himself. But certain internal aids and external conditions are necessary for the predetermined psychic pattern to reveal itself. The internal aids are sensitive periods and absorbant mind. The external conditions are environment and freedom. Sensitive periods are blocks of time in the childs life when he is absorbed with one characteristic of his environment to the exclusion of all others. Montessori discovered 6 sensitive periods in child. They are sensitivity to order, sensitivity to learning through five senses, sensitivity to small objects, sensitivity to co-ordination of movement, sensitivity to language and sensitivity to social aspect of life. A child has sensitivity to order during the first year itself. It is because of this sensitivity that the child becomes irritated when he is exposed to unfamiliar objects or people, or insists on putting things back on their places and become happy when they see things in accustomed places. In a precise and determined environment only can a child categorise his perception and form an internal framework with which to understand and relate his world. Montessori found out that the child has a sensitivity to learning through his five senses. The child has a natural curiosity to explore the things around him. So he has to work with this environment to develop his neurological structures for perceiving and thinking which is the basis of intelligence development. When the child is about two to two and half years his attention is drawn towards small objects. This sensitivity to small objets helps him to concentrate his intellectual powers on a specific problem and also helps him to hold his attention for long period of time fostering his ability to focus. The child has sensitivity to movement when he is two to 4 years of age. During this period the child has a tendency to perform and repeat a movement for the sake of gaining greater control. Here the child learns to bring his body under his will. The child become sensitive to human language during the period of sensitivity to language. The sixth aspect of sensitive periods being sensitivity to social aspects of life, explains the childs interest in other children of his age group. This period enables the child to recognize affection and friendship to develop. This way child learns to be part of a group. Montessori philosophy tells us that there will be problems when the child is starved from the right environment in his sensitive periods. When there is no order, the child will feel very insecure and lack confidence. If the child is not allowed to explore his environment during his period of learning through five senses, it will hinder the childs learning, he will become rebellious, with poor will and concentration and it will be difficult for him to compare and judge. By the lack of right environment for sensitivity to small objects, the child will become less curious to learn new things and he will become passive. The lack of environment permitting co-ordination of movements decreases the childs fine and gross motor development which in turn affect the childs balance and agility. If the child is not regularly exposed to language he will lack self confidence and will develop low self-concept due to this inability to express himself. If the child is not allowed to socialise he will feel lonely and become unfriendly and antisocial. Absorbant mind helps the child gain knowledge from his environment. From birth onwards the childs mind starts absorbing everything the he sees and experiences around him. This absorbing takes place by two stages namely unconscious and conscious. When the child is zero to three years of age, he absorbs everything unconsciously and these information absorbed are stored as impressions in his mind. The impressions made by the unconscious mind prepares the childs mind which later will be used by his conscious mind. After 3 years of age the childs mind starts absorbing experiences consciously. In this stage, the child will have memory and has developed a will too. Montessori also believed that environment can help or hinder the childs development. So the environment must be a nourishing place for the childs needs for self-construction. She felt that the environment must be prepared carefully by a knowledgeable and sensitive adult and the adult must be a participant in the living and growing of the child within the prepared environment. An important aspect to be taken care of with regard to Montessori environment is freedom. It is because of 2 reasons. First, it is only in an atmosphere of freedom that the child can reveal himself. Secondly if the child possesses within himself the pattern for his own development the inner guide must be allowed to direct the childs growth. However, the childs freedom is limited in the respect that he is not permitted to interfere on the rights of others and is careful of the materials, environment and himself. Apart from freedom the other basic elements in a Montessori prepared environment are structure and order, respect for others, reality and nature, beauty and atmosphere, the Montessori material and development of community life. The teacher is the link that puts the child in touch with the environment. She prepares the environment and the child uses the environment to construct himself. The teacher has a role in helping the development of predetermined psychic pattern of the child. The teacher observes the child carefully during his activities in the Montessori environment and prepares activities for him according to the childs level of development. According to Montessori the two aspects of the psyche namely the mind and the body(the mental energy and physical energy) should work in unison. Otherwise child will be deviated. A deviation is a warp in the character that will occur in the child during the formative period, (birth-six years) because of obstacles or repressions to his natural development. This we can understand more if we consider the previously explained sensitive periods of the child. We can understand that the child self constructs himself with the aid of his sensitive periods and nourishing environment. If these are deprived, he becomes deviated. During her work with the children at Casa Dei Bambini Montessori found that some mental integration happens within the child when he works with the materials. She referred to this as normalization. In a Montessori classroom children are given nourishing environment and the teacher is careful about the different stages of development of the child and aid him with his internal necessities. Thus the child is able to work according to his will (as his inner guide directs him). So his mental and physical energy work in unison ans the child becomes normalised. Thus a Montessori classroom becomes a gathering of normalised children. In such a group they are naturally full of love, sympathy, and feel for each other. They show respect for the rights of others, they help each other, they support each other morally and there will be a total harmony in the classroom. Montessori termed this as a society of cohesion. As per the analysis of the Montessori philosophy, we understand that the Montessori classroom works based on these principles and that a society of cohesion exists in such a classroom.

The Cost of Biofuel

The Cost of Biofuel Every sector of the economy depends on energy for production and other day-to-day activities. Arguably, transport sector is one of the sectors that highly depend on energy.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Cost of Biofuel specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Each vessel of transportation uses one source of energy or the other. However, oil which is mostly used as a source of energy in the transport sector is non-renewable. In this regard, the campaign by environmentalists about the need to use renewable sources of energy which are environmentally friendly has led to the introduction of biofuel as a source of energy. Unfortunately, biofuel uses food crops in its production thus reducing the amount of food available for human consumption. Moreover, food prices have increased drastically in recent years thereby becoming unaffordable especially for the poor people. Part of this increase has been attributed to use of biofu els. Consequently, there have been arguments as to whether measures should be taken to ensure that people do not die of hunger while food crops are used to produce biofuel. With the trend of current use of energy, it is quite crucial that alternative sources of energy are found. Fossil fuels which are majorly used in energy production are not only non-renewable, but also a source of environmental pollution. Consequently, it is quite crucial that other sources of energy which are environmentally friendly should be explored to reduce the effects of environmental degradation (Gasparators Stromberg, 2012). In Addition, a source of energy that will support future generations should be found or else we leave the future generation at the mercy of fate. Biofuels are thus very crucial because despite the fact that they are renewable and will therefore be sustainable in the long run, they do not pollute the environment. It is important to note that production of biofuel does not only have ad vantages as its activists may want us to believe. Increase in use of biofuels has increased competition in food production. The amount of corn used in the production of ethanol has increased sharply in recent years. On the same note, soybeans are also increasingly being used in production of biodiesel while their consumption as food is reducing. Unfortunately, increase in production of food is not proportionate to the increase in the quantity of food demanded. Consequently, prices have had to increase due to high demand (Scragg, 2009). This has reduced the ability of people especially the poor to afford food thus exposing them to danger of starvation.Advertising Looking for essay on environmental studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Moreover, due to increased demand of corn and soybeans coupled with the good prices that these crops fetch, more and more farmers are dedicating their land to production of these crop s. This has encouraged monocropping which has proved to be dangerous in the past. It is important to note that planting one type of crop repeatedly in a place reduces fertility of the soil while at the same time it leads to resistant pests (Westhoff, 2010). Consequently, this reduces quantity of production in the long run. Though, these effects may take time to be felt, they will definitely affect future production. Similarly, increased demand for production of ethanol and biodiesel has made farmers to look for farming ways through which they can increase their production. As a result, farmers are using more aggressive methods of farming (Westhoff, 2010). These include; too much mechanization and increased use of fertilizers as well as pesticides. The result is soil depletion, increased soil erosion and environmental pollution. Therefore, contrary to the main aim of using biofuels which is to conserve the environment, biofuels contribute to environmental degradation. Notably, biofue l accounts for a very minimal percentage of energy consumed in the world currently. Nevertheless, the amount of energy used in its production is far much higher than the amount of energy produced from biofuels. However, biofuels are responsible for a very significant increase in the quantity of food consumed. Similarly, biofuels have affected biodiversity by encouraging people to rely on one crop farming. All these will affect the low income earners not only due to increased food prices, but also due to reduced choices (Scragg, 2009). We all agree that renewable and eco-friendly sources of energy should be explored to ensure sustainability of energy in the future. However, increase in world population means that food production especially for human consumption should be increased, not decreased.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Cost of Biofuel specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Much as biofuels have to be produced, steps should be taken to ensure that food security is achieved. It is very inhuman to produce food which is used for energy production while people are dying of hunger. Research should be done to increase the number of crops that can be used to produce biofuel (Gasparators Stromberg, 2012). Moreover, mixed farming should be encouraged so that the quantity of crops produced will be increased thus ensuring that food is always available. In addition, there is need to educate farmers that food can be produced for profits. This will ensure that people do not stop producing food because biofuel crops pay well. In a nutshell, the cost of biofuel should be balanced with the sacrifices made. If stakeholders do not take care, production of biofuel will jeopardize food security. References Gasparators, A. Stromberg P. (2012). Socioeconomic and Environmental Impacts of Biofuels: Evidence from Developing Nations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Scragg, A. H. (2009). Biofuels: Productio n, Application and Development. Wallingford: CABI. Westhoff, P. (2010). The Economics of Food: How Feeding and Fueling the Planet Affects Food Prices. Upper Saddle River: FT Press.

Methods of Data Collection Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Methods of Data Collection - Assignment Example In a structured interview, there are set of questions that are asked by the researcher and there is nothing more than this. (Leedy,1997). Face -to -face interview data collection method has a distinct advantage that enables the researcher to come up with a report that has potential participants. Hence this makes him able to gain their cooperation. In survey research, this interview produces the highest response rates. It also enables the researcher to be able to clarify answers that are ambiguous, seek follow-up information and when appropriate. Some of the limitations include time-consuming, expensive and impractical when large samples are used. (Leedy,1997). Telephone interviews method of data collection are less expensive and less time consuming and the researcher has easy access to anyone in the world with a telephone. The limitations are that the rate of response is not that high as that of the face-to-face interview but relatively higher as compared to the mailed questionnaire. There may be biases in the sample whereby the persons with no phones are included in the population where the researcher wants to draw inferences from. Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing involves personal interviewing, whereby the interviewer comes along with a hand-held computer or a laptop to enter the information directly into the database instead of completing a questionnaire. This data collection method saves time during data processing. It also saves the interviewer from having hundreds of questionnaires. However, on the other hand, this method of data collection can be expensive to set up and needs the interviewers to have a computer as well as typing skills (Markham, 2004). Questionnaires normally make use of rating scales and Checklist. These devices usually help in quantifying and simplifying peoples attitudes and behaviours. A checklist is a list of characteristics, behaviours or other entities which the researcher is interested in.  Ã‚  

The bottled drinking water industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The bottled drinking water industry - Essay Example Qualitative measures are to be given utmost importance as it will maintain good health and prevent us from deadly diseases. The awareness about the good quality water became significant for last two decades due to information technology and hence people started preferring bottled drinking water. There are several types of bottled water available in the world (FN2). 1) Purified drinking water 2) Naturally sparkling water 3) Mineral water 4) seltzer 5) Mineral water etc. mineral water contains dissolved solids like calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium and bicarbonates. (a) In general the consumer surveys revealed that the taste of bottled water is fine compared to that of tap water. It is due to the fact that the disinfectant used for bottled water i.e. ozone doesn't leave any residue or smell. In case of tap water residue will be left by chlorine (disinfectant). As a result 54 % of the American population is found to be consuming bottled drinking water and the it is reported that the consumption of bottled water became tripled in the last decade in U.S.A. Bottled-water consumption has also increased around the world in the past 30 years. It is estimated to be worth $22 billion, the world bottled-water market represents an annual volume of 89 billion liters. It is reported that Western Europeans are the world's major bottled water consumers-85 liters per person annually (FN4). Concern over regulations of bottled drinking water: However there has been growing concern over safety regulations of bottled drinking water in the recent days. Hence here is a need to analyze the present level of regulations, its adequacy and relevance, organization controlling regulations and information provided to the customers relating to critical health contaminants and source of water supply. Let us discuss one by one. (1) What is the present level of regulation for bottled drinking water Presently the bottled drinking water is regulated by FDA (Food and Drug Administration). FDA regulates this product under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA or the Act) and several sections of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Bottled water quality standards were initially adopted in 1973 and were based on the 1962 U.S. Public Health Service standards for drinking water. In 1974, the Safe Drinking Water Act gave the responsibility to the Environmental Protection Agency for ensuring the safety of municipal water systems, which includes setting maximum limits for chemical, bacteriological and radioactive contaminants and physical contaminants that affect odor, taste and color. In

Urban Areas: Population, Land Use and Health

Urban Areas: Population, Land Use and Health Urban Areas Arun Persaud Discuss land use, population, health and sanitation in urban areas. Introduction According to Ramsawak and Umraw (2001), â€Å"all the people residing within a specific geographic area, for example, within a nation, a geographic region, a state, or a city is called its population†. The population density of an area can be defined as the number of people living in a particular area of land at a particular time. Population density can be influenced by a variety of factors which include physical factors such as relief or height of land, climatic and natural vegetation, influence of agriculture, industrial influence and also urban influence (Ramsawak and Umraw, 2001). An urban area is an area that has a dense population of people and has a density of structures such as roads, railways, housing and commercial buildings. The area usual functions as a marketing town, commercial hub, administration, manufacturing and industrial sites and also tourism. Examples of urban areas include cities, towns and suburbs. Urbanization is the movement of people from rural areas to urban areas. This results in negative impacts for both areas. The rural area often suffers from brain-drain while a lot of physical pressure is placed on the receiving urban area. The urban area usually becomes overcrowded and there is a shortage of housing and other facilities. There is also usually a rise in pollution level and low level of sanitation (Ramsawak and Umraw, 2001). Sanitation is simply the provision of facilities and services to get rid of waste products such as sewage and garbage. This is very important because it promotes a healthy environment and also protects the population from any health threats which may be connected to exposure to these wastes. Land use in urban areas Land use can be defined as the use of land by human. This involves the management of land and also the modification of land into built environment so as to meet the need of the present population or the population which will utilize the land (Dickinson and Shaw, 1977). The effects of land use may include deforestation, soil erosion, soil degradation, salinization and urban sprawl. Urban sprawl can be defined as the expansion of the urban area population into area that was once classified as rural area. There are six major types of land uses in urban areas. These include:- Residential land use- The use of land for people to live. This usually makes up about 40% of an urban area. The type of housing in an area is based on the residential density which is the number of houses per hectare. Residential density may be low density (thirty units per hectare), medium density (thirty to a hundred units per hectare) or high density (exceeds a hundred units per hectare). Transportation land use- Land which is used for transporting people and goods from one place to another. This is influenced by the amount of people residing in the urban settlement, the more people the more vehicles the road infrastructure has to support and the more parking spaces will be needed. Transportation land usually makes up about 32% of the urban area. Transportation land includes land spaces which are utilized for roads, subways, railroad tracks and airports. Commercial land use- Commercial areas in an urban settlement can take up about 5% of the land. These commercial areas are used business activities such as restaurants, shopping malls and service stations which are very important in maintaining a healthy economy in the community. Industrial land use- Industrial land spaces within urban areas usually take up about 6% of the urban land and are usually found along railways or water ways. Industrial land use is the use of land for the establishment of industries factories such as power plants. Institutional land use- Land which is used for schools, hospitals, government offices, churches and other places of religious offering. Institutional land uses usually take up about 10% of an urban area land. Recreational land use- Land which is used for leisure activities example playgrounds and parks. Population Urban areas are usually very densely populated. This is so because of a variety of reasons which may include rural migration and over-population, industrialization, natural increase, lack of public and social services in rural areas and commercial sector. Rural migration is the movement of people from rural areas to urban areas. This is resulted from persons chasing after an improvement of their standard of living through employment and a better life, which may be available in urban areas. Over-population causes pressure on the land and this encourages persons to migrate to urban areas. A continuing movement of persons will eventually lead to rural depopulation and a gradual increase in urban population. There are a few industries and employment opportunities in rural area so people from here usually go seek jobs in urban areas where they could earn a livelihood. Increasing industrialization in urban areas attracts new rural migrants. Industrialization creates job opportunities. The transfer of such large numbers of people is partly as a result of the concentration of economic activities is in the urban areas. Natural increase occurs when the crude birth rate is more than the crude death rate. This simply means when there are a greater number of births over deaths in a given population The lack of basic public and social services in rural areas result in migration to urban areas where facilities such as adequate schools, transportation facilities, health facilities and telephone services are made available to the population. Even the roads in the rural areas are in poor conditions and farming areas are often inaccessible, hence the quality services in the urban areas attract the rural population. An urban area can be classified as the commercial sector in that large amount of whole sale and retail activities are undertaken here. The central business district (C.B.D) provides varied commercialized services and rural migrants are attracted to the urban areas because of these services. There is a greater opportunity for them to gain employment and also some may become involved in street vending or even self-employed since there will be market available for their services which they can provide. Urban areas face problems as a result of dense population. These include unemployment problem, traffic congestion, shortage of housing facilities and public services. A high rate of unemployment still exists within urban areas even though there are industrial and commercial activities present. This is so because rural migrants keep moving to urban areas and also there is a natural growth of the urban population, hence there is a greater demand for jobs. The unavailability of jobs for the younger population especially can result in an increase crime rate. This heavy increase of population over time leads to a shortage of housing facilities since there is a greater demand of housing. Many persons cannot afford the high cost of living and facilities since they may not be gainfully employed or they are unemployed. This leads to the development of slums/ghettoes or shanty towns and also squatting becomes a large social problem (WHO, 2014). Squatting can be defined as occupying a piece of that that is abandoned or unoccupied. Squatters do not own or rent the land nor do they have any legal rights to use the land. A shanty town consists of houses which a re poorly built from scavenged materials such as cardboard boxes, plywood, metal sheets and plastic sheets. Traffic congestion is a major issue within urban areas. This is so because as the population grows the road infrastructures have to support more day-to-day traveling of people, goods and materials within the urban area and also in and out. Therefore, inadequate road networks and parking spaces for the dense population of urban areas result in daily traffic congestions. There is a lack of public services and inadequate facilities such as educational and recreational facilities with an increased population. With an increased population, educational facilities are stretched to their limits and this result in a demand for more educational facilities and also educational improvements. The recreational facilities would have been established to be used by the past population but with a gradually increase of population these facilities may become inadequate. There is also a lack of sanitary facilities due to urban population growth and pressure is placed on the existing facilities. Health and Sanitation With a rapid increase of urban population there is a lack of sanitation, a shortage of water supplies and also a lack of facilities for the disposal of the large amounts of garbage produced. This all leads to the pollution o the environment (Water supply and Collaborative Council, 2010). Pollution can be defined as the accumulation of any unwanted substance within the environment. Some causes of poor sanitation of urban areas include:- Since urban areas are usually densely populated, there are a large amount of solid waste being produced and also waste water being produced. These solid waste materials are usually not collected regularly or there maybe restrictions on the amount of solid refuse which will be collected by authorities per household. This may lead to persons finding alternative ways to dispose refuse or a gradual buildup of refuse which results in an unaesthetic sight and an unhealthy environment. Waste water being produced is not usually being treated right or not being treated at all. When this water mixes with fresh water it contaminates it and makes it unhealthy to drink and even use for domestic purposes such as washing clothes or bathing (Water supply and Collaborative Council, 2010). The leakage of sewers, waste and latrine contents result in the pollution of underground water. Underground water as the name suggests, is water that flows below the surface. It is also referred to as subsurface groundwater. Underground water is often used by dwellers of the slum population as a drinking source or for domestic uses such as bathing and washing. This could result in health threats (Water supply and Collaborative Council, 2010). There is also a lack of Faecal Sludge Management (FSM) systems. This allows the buildup of sludge in poorly built pits which causes the sludge to mix with the underground water and illegal dumping of waste from private pit emptier in the sea/river. This causes health risks to the environment and all the components of it (Water supply and Collaborative Council, 2010). Urban areas usually contain industries and factories which may result in pollution of the environment. This pollution can occur in the form of smoke into the atmosphere, waste water being drained out into the water ways and also solid waste materials maybe disposed poorly. As seen above, there is a relationship and interconnection with sanitation and the health of the environment and all biotic life within it. In order to obtain or maintain a good sanitation level the waste and sanitation management has to keep up to pace with the growing population since the more people the more waste and physical pressure on the environment, services and facilities from them. In urban areas there is a greater demand for social services such as health programs since a greater population has to be catered for. A densely populated region results in a low ratio of doctors and nurses to patients with in the health system. Therefore, there is an increase requirement of finance to to establish adequate health facilities with treatment and medication for all and also more money will be needed to employ new staffs and personnel to attend to these patients (Gabriel, 1989). References Ramsawak, R. and Umraw, R. (2001) Modules in Social Studies with SBA Guide CXC Questions, Caribbean Educational Publishers. Dickson, G.C. Shaw. M.G (1977) What is ‘land use’?, http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/20001161?uid=3738168uid=2129uid=2uid=70uid=4sid=21104345935161, 12th Aug 2014. Dr. Sadik, N. (1996) State of the world population 1996: Changing Places: Population, Development and Urban Future, https://www.unfpa.org/swp/1996/index.htm, 12th Aug 2014. Water supply and Collaborative Council. (2010) Sanitation/Urban Sanitation, http://www.wsscc.org/topics/sanitation/urban-sanitation, 12th Aug 2014. Unite For Sight (n.d.) Urban Versus Rural Health, http://www.uniteforsight.org/global-health-university/urban-rural-health, 12th Aug 2014. Gabriel, B. (1989) Access to Health Care in Urban Areas of Developing Societies, http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2136988?uid=3738168uid=2129uid=2uid=70uid=4sid=21104912929123, 13th Aug 2014. Smart Development Stories. (n.d.) Urban Faecal Sludge Management Program, http://www.snvworld.org/en/countries/bangladesh/our-work/urban-faecal-sludge-management-programme, 12th Aug 2014. Internet Geography. (n.d.) Population, http://www.geography.learnontheinternet.co.uk/topics/popn1.html, 15th Aug 2014. World Health Organization. (2014) Global Health Observatory, http://www.who.int/gho/urban_health/en/, 15th Aug 2014. Farooq, U. (2012) Characteristics of Rural and Urban Community, http://www.studylecturenotes.com/social-sciences/sociology/360-characteristics-of-rural-and-urban-community, 14th Aug 2014. Global Warming: Causes and Effects Global Warming: Causes and Effects Global Warming is defined as the increase of the average temperature on Earth. As the Earth is getting hotter, disasters like hurricanes, droughts and floods are getting more frequent. It is responsible for the conspicuous increase in storms, floods and raging forest fires we have seen in the last ten years, though, say scientists. Tier data show that an increase of one degree Celsius makes the Earth warmer now than it has been for at least a thousand years. Out of the 20 warmest years on record, 19 have occurred since 1980. There have always been natural climate hangs Ice Ages and the warm intermediate times between them but those even, a temperature rise as fast as the one we have seen over the last 30 years has never happened before, as far as scientists can ascertain. Moreover, normally the Earth should now be in a cool-down-period, according to natural effects like solar cycles and volcano activity, not in a heating-up phase. What Is The Greenhouse Effect? Seen from space, our atmosphere is but a tiny layer of gas around a huge bulky planet. But it is this gaseous outer ring and its misleadingly called greenhouse effect that makes life on Earth possible and that could destroy life as we know it. The sun is the Earths primary energy source, a burning star so hot that we can feel its heat from over 150 million kilometres away. Its rays enter our atmosphere and shower upon on our planet. About one third of this solar energy is reflected back into the universe by shimmering glaciers, water and other bright surfaces. Two thirds, however, are absorbed by the Earth, thus warming land, oceans, and atmosphere much of this heat radiates back out into space, but some of it is stored in the atmosphere. This process is called the greenhouse effect. Without it, the Earths average temperature would be a chilling -18 degrees Celsius, even despite the suns constant energy supply. In a world like this, life on Earth would probably have never emerged fr om the sea.  Our planet, however, has no glass walls; the only thing that comes close to acting as such is our atmosphere. But in here, processes are way more complicated than in a real greenhouse. Like a radiator in space only about half of all solar energy that reaches the Earth is infrared radiation and causes immediate warming when passing the atmosphere. The other half is of a higher frequency, and only translates into heat once it hits Earth and is later reflected back into space as waves of infrared radiation. This transformation of solar radiation in to infrared radiation is crucial, because infrared radiation can be absorbed by the atmosphere. So, on a cold and clear night for example, parts of this infrared radiation that would normally dissipate into space get caught up in the Earths atmosphere. And like a radiator in the middle of a room, our atmosphere radiates this heat into all directions. Parts of this heat are finally sent out in the frozen nothingness of space, parts of it are sent back to Earth where they step up global temperatures. Just how much warmer it gets down here depends on how much energy is absorbed up there- and this, in turn, depends on the atmospheres composition. How do these things happen Nitrogen, oxygen, and argon make up 98 percent of the Earths atmosphere. But they do not absorb significant amounts of infrared radiation, and thus do not contribute to the greenhouse effect. It is the more exotic components like water vapour, carbon dioxide, ozone, methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons that absorb heat and thus increase atmospheric temperatures. Studies indicate that until some 2.7 billion years ago, there was so much carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane in our atmosphere that average temperatures on Earth were as high as 70 degrees. But bacteria and plants slowly turned CO2 into oxygen and the concentration of CO2 in our current atmosphere dropped to just about 0.038 percent or 383 parts per million (PPM), a unit of measurement used for very low concentrations of gases that has become a kind of currency in climate change debates. Can we control global warming? Yes we can control global warm by creating jobs, saving consumers money, and protecting our national security. By investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency, and increasing the efficiency of the cars we drive, we can take essential steps toward reducing our dependence on oil and other fossil fuels that cause global warming. Using energy more efficiently and moving to renewable energy (wind, solar, geothermal, and bio energy) would significantly reduce our emissions of heat-trapping gases. Since the burning of fossil fuels releases large amounts of carbon dioxide-the leading cause of global warming-but renewable energy does not, increasing the share of our electricity generated from renewable resources is one of the most effective ways to reduce global warming emissions. Cars and trucks are another significant source (45 percent) of carbon dioxide emissions. A serious effort to address global warming must therefore reduce emissions from cars and trucks.We know that the earth is very sensitive to small changes in the amount of incoming sunlight. What about launching relatively small amounts of Mylar foil into low earth orbit? By picking the right orbits, we control how much sunlight they reflect and how long they stay up. We even could use a more complex idea of Mylar balloons with a few millbars of a specially formulated gas.  As soon as sun light strikes it, the balloon fully expands reflecting sunlight, but on the night side of the planet, the balloon collapses to allow heat to flow past it into space from earth.  We could use EM accelerator launch tubes to place them into orbit, bypassing the need for chemical rockets.   All this method can help to control global warming Maybe use lasers at a frequency that Mylar doesnt reflec t, to burn up any extra balloons that our real-time calculations say we dont need for that year.

Bba International Hospitality Management

Marketing Export Plan International Business Orientation Exporting FEBO to ChinaPart 1 Table of content Introduction4 1. Strategic Profile5 1. 1 History5 1. 2 Strategies5 1. 3 What to do in China6 1. 4 Suppliers6 2. FEBO internal analysis7 2. 1 Product position7 2. 2 Marketing capability8 2. 3 Research and development capabilities8 2. 4 Organisational structure8 2. 5 Human resources9 2. 6 Facilities and equipment9 2. 7 Past strategies9 3. Target market (external research)10 3. 1 Selection10 3. 2 Operating risks10 3. 3 Market potential11 3. 4 Costs11 3. 5 Potential local and foreign competition11 . 6 In-depth analysis12 3. 7 Population characteristics and purchasing power12 3. 8 Basic infrastructure including transportation and communication facilities13 3. 9 Cultural factors13 3. 10 Resource13 3. 11 Government restrictions and regulations on trade14 4. Target group15 4. 1 Market Access Requirements (MAR)15 5. SWOT analysis19 6. Critical success factors21 6. 1 The industry21 6. 2 Comp etitive strategy and industry position21 6. 3 Environmental factors22 6. 4 Temporal factors22 6. 5 Managerial position22 Conclusion25 List of reference:26 IntroductionThis report is an export marketing plan, about exporting FEBO to China. The report is divided into two parts. This is the first part which is more about the company at the moment the internal and external analysis. It concludes a strategic profile about the history, the strategies, and what to expect in China. Than as all ready mentioned the internal analysis, what are their capabilities, product position, organizational structure, human resource and their facilities and equipment at the moment. The target market is the external analysis which concludes their market position, risks, cost, purchase power and PESTEL analysis.Then there will be explained about about the target market, what is it now and which segment do they want to reach in China. The report consist about a SWOT analysis from FEBO now and the possible op portunities and threats for the China market. In the critical success factors the industry will be discussed and the competitive strategy and industry position. The second part is more about the implementation about exporting FEBO to china. The different market entries, sales and marketing plan and the technical aspect. But there over later more. 1. Strategic Profile 1. 1 History FEBO was found in 1941 by J.J de Borst, he started with â€Å"Maison Febo† as a bakery in Amsterdam. The founder learned that quality is the key factor of success. So he was always busy with improving the quality of his products. After a while Mr. de Borst decided to expand his assortment with homemade salads and kroketten which were sold as a take away or to eat them straight away. Since, there was a high demand, he decided to close the bakery and continue with a kitchen. FEBO made all the products in its fabric. In addition, shops opened where the products could be sold, through the famous â€Å"w all†. Mr. J. J. e Borst did not want to outsource the production because then he did not have control over the quality anymore. Because of this successful concept in 1978 the first franchise settlement was opened in Amsterdam. A few years later other FEBO’s opened their doors in; Purmerend, Hoorn and Hoofddorp. Those neighbor cities of Amsterdam were chosen, to keep the existing target group also called an overflow area. In 1990 the son of the founder took over the company and built a big kitchen in Amsterdam were they produced all the products, they own this kitchen as well to keep their production in their own hands.Later, other franchised FEBO’s opened their doors in the rest of Holland. Now a day there are 61 branches and 55 of them are franchised. All of those shops need to be modern and to have the same charisma. Hygiene is very important and the counter is the hearth of the shop. Everything is about the product, high quality and quick stock turnover. All t he FEBO’s need to be located on A1 locations, and what is more, they need to have a certain surface, minimum of 80m2. (Febo) 1. 2 Strategies Strategy formulation can be analysed through the model of the Strategic lenses.This model suggests that there are 4 ways of formulating and implementing a strategy. Namely those are strategy as design, as experience, as ideas and as discourse. Companies that formulate strategy as discourse are using models and analytical tools to carefully analyze the situation. FEBO is not implementing this way of strategy formulation. It is more using the strategy as experience way, as the strategies and way of doing business are based on past experience. This can be seen yet from the begging, when FEBO expanded from bakery to franchise fast food because of the experience that this is what the customers want.Moreover, strategy as ideas is to be innovative and use the full potential of employees’ ideas. This is also what FEBO implemented, when th ey found the food walls. The last lens is strategy as discourse and this is to use language to formulate a strategy. This angle of looking at a strategy can be also found in FEBO and more particularly in its logo- The most delicious. This logo passes the strategy of good taste to both its employees and customers. (Johnson et. all, 2008). At the moment FEBO is number one mark leader of the fast food sector in the Netherlands.This also has to do with their strategy; â€Å"Quality stays†. FEBO is continuously busy with improving their receipts and products. Also freshness is one of the strategies, all the products are made the same day as they are sold. The products are made of the best quality of meat, herbs, butter and flower. After they are made they are transport by FEBO`s own trucks to keep the quality high. What FEBO is also very famous for is the concept of getting food out of the â€Å"wall†. This is a typical Dutch, and only at FEBO’s.People have to put so me coins in the machines and they can choose their snack without ordering it. This is considered as Smart strategy, because it created a better brand awareness and now everybody recognizes the food out of the wall as part of FEBO. 1. 3 What to do in China This report is analyzing and considering the possibility of export of FEBO to China. FEBO is a typical Dutch fast food chain, where people can 24/7 get food out of the wall. When exporting this to China it is important that the Dutch style identity and the same products, quality and the â€Å"food wall† are preserved. 1. Suppliers It is important that the products are kept as much as possible the same as they are in Holland. One of the basic strategies of FEBO’s is freshness, which means that is it not possible to export the products from Holland all the way to China. They need to be made in China, some essential ingredients as herbs can be exported, but products as meat and potatoes have to come from China. Those ing redients have to be prepared according to the typical Dutch receipts. This method also saves money, because the company does not have to fly over all the raw ingredients to make the snacks. . FEBO internal analysis An internal analysis of an organisation is performed to evaluate its current position and recourses and determine the strengths and the weaknesses. In this part of the report internal analysis of FEBO will be done on the basis on evaluating its product position, marketing capability, research and development, organisational structure, human resources, facilities and equipment, past strategies. 2. 1 Product position The current products of FEBO are all fast food, which can be taken from a wall.However, what distinguishes FEBO is that its products are fresh and never a compromise on quality is made. The company is choosing carefully the best suppliers and producing its products every day in a fabric in Amsterdam, in that way there is a direct control on the quality. After b eing produced in Amsterdam, the food is distributed through the companies own logistic channels to the 61 shops in the Netherlands. In order to make the product positioning of FEBO clearer, the company will be placed on the strategic clock which can be seen in the graph below. Evaluation will be made on the basis of quality and price.The product of FEBO is differentiated from the other fast food, but differentiation is not their strategy as they are also keeping the prices low. What the organisation is doing can be named as hybrid as they are offering more quality and low price. The combination of the two is normally difficult to manage and most companies provide either quality or cheap product, but FEBO achieves both by selling big quantities and distributing the costs over a big production. 2. 2 Marketing capability The marketing concept and at the same time advertising promise that FEBO is using is the most delicious.The accent of the company is definitely on the quality of the i ngredients and the freshness of the food offered to the customers. FEBO is also having a cheap price, but this is not directly communicated to the customers as sometimes people consider low priced products as low quality products. That is why the marketing capability is all about the high quality and appeal to the customers. This is also the reason why, no matter that it is a franchise company, FEBO apart from know-how and brand is also providing the franchisee with the in-house produced and distributed food on daily basis. 2. Research and development capabilities FEBO extended its range of products throughout the years of its foundation. However, the concept of high quality is something that stays in the company. It is making research and developing only the new products that fit in the major concept. In addition the company is performing a research for every new franchisee and has certain requirements as opening shops only in A1 locations. What is more, FEBO has done a research an d provided a map with possible locations for new shops. If a franchisee suggests another location, FEBO will conduct research and evaluate if it is suitable. . 4 Organisational structure FEBO was opened as a family business and still the director today is a family member. He is already a third generation running the company. His name is  Mr. JR Breast and he is on the top of the organisation. The structure of the company is kept simple with direct relations, so that it can work effectively and quickly. There are several management departments, performing the basic tasks. Namely those are- Quality manager, Franchise manager, Marketing manager, financial manager and Manager company stores.They are all directed and controlled by the director of FEBO. The Franchise manager is working together with a consultant for franchising and the financial manager has financial administration. Moreover, there are two secretaries working in FEBO as well. With this structure every employee has tasks and responsibilities and there is no confusion about who is doing what. The organisational structure of FEBO helps in achieving quick and fruitful relationships with franchisee. 2. 5 Human resources The employees working in the management of FEBO are professionals and are carefully selected.They all contribute to the process of adding value and producing and delivering high quality products to the customers. The human resources that FEBO employs also include their franchisee and the full and part time employees working in the shops, so that is why the management of FEBO is considering each case separately. An approval to be a franchisee of FEBO is only given to the ones that cover the requirements. Human resource force is important for FEBO because quality products cannot be produced by unqualified personnel. 2. 6 Facilities and equipmentThe facilities and equipment of FEBO are very important part of the competitive advantage. The walls or vendor machines placed at the shops of FEB O are something unique. They help in delivering fast service to the customers and are even considered as an attraction by the tourists. Furthermore, the shops which are also part of the facilities of FEBO are only in A1 location, which means that a lot of people pass by them and this is an advantage compared to competitors who do not have such good locations or at least not for all of their shops.Very important facilities for FEBO are its fabric and trucks without which the company will not be able to control the quality throughout its whole chain and will be highly dependent on outside organisations. 2. 7 Past strategies FEBO started as a family owned bakery and because of the success and interest it started growing. It can be said that the strategies were not carefully planned, but they emerged from the everyday doing business and from the customer needs. Moreover, as FEBO`s strategy is to produce in-house to keep the quality, this was a strategy that was formulated from the gaine d experience.The family saw that the customers value the personal touch. That is why no matter that the range of the products is growing and there are more and more FEBO restaurants, the quality is kept high by still holding the production and distribution in house, because the past experience shows that this is the formula for success for FEBO. 3. Target market (external research) 3. 1 Selection The choice of market selection is a key strategic option in export marketing which provide the basic information for export marketing mix decisions.In general, the selection is through identifying and analyzing different possible markets for export market expansion from aspects such as market size, market growth, competitive conditions and government regulations, etc to determine the most suitable target market for the company to export at the current situation. Therefore, the selection for target market can be seen as a really essential process for the exporting and international marketing . FEBO is a traditional Dutch company. In addition, it is liked by most of people in the Netherlands no matter from which nationality they are.Therefore there are a lot of choices of feasible countries for export marketing. According to Douglas and Craig (1983), by examining the operating risks, market potential, costs and potential local and foreign competition, the list of feasible countries could be evaluated and ranked. As the result, the most suitable market would be selected out. However, it still needs to be further in-depth analyzed later. (Albaum, 1998, P132-133) For the reasons above, the following part would be the assessment of different choice markets for FEBO’s export marketing later in order to select the most suitable target market for FEBO.The assessment had been divided into three possible options: a Central or Eastern-European country, a North-American country and an emerging Asian country and would be test as the above four aspects according to Douglas and Craig. 3. 2 Operating risks Operating risks, which is also called business risks, mean the risk arising from a computer’s business. To be more specific, it includes risks from the change of people, system and process during the business. What is more, some factors like fraud risks, legal risks, and physical or environment risks also could be involved in operation risks. Operating risk definition. (n. d)) At this aspect, the three options have almost the same risks if choose to expand because for FEBO the three options are all new markets. If FEBO wants to open new stores no matter in the centre or eastern-European or north-American country or an emerging Asian country, a lots of risks at aspects like manufacturing, transportation or even customers and suppliers would exist undoubtedly. However, among this situation, the emerging Asian country such as China has low labor costs which could also mean low labor risk and can be considered as an opportunity. . 3 Market potential M arket potential means the potential of the new market for the future development. For instance it could include the potential amount of customers, the potential products demands, and the potential profits. From this point of view, the Central or Eastern-European market and North-American market are not suitable because the lifestyle of people there is almost the same as in the Netherlands, although the majority of people like fast food so that there are a lot of customers and high products demands, the alternative fast food, competition of FEBO is very high.Therefore it can be predicted that the potential profits can suffer. However, in an emerging Asian country, like China traditional food still stands in a leading position. Although many fast food companies such as KFC and McDonalds’ become increasingly popular by people there, FEBO still seems a new kind of fast food for the â€Å"get food out of wall†. Time saving could attract more potential customers which would lead great potential profits as the result. 3. 4 Costs Simply the costs contain material, time, resource, manufacture and delivery of the products or services of the company. Cost definition. (n. d. )) Among the three options, only the emerging Asian country like China has low labor costs and low tax, therefore at this point, China accounted for the most of advantages and could be seem as a good choice for FEBO’s export. 3. 5 Potential local and foreign competition The same as what had already been mentioned in the point of market potential, there are too much competition in the Central or Eastern-European market and the North-American market as there are too many similar industries, so FEBO has lower opportunities and higher threats if choose these two options.On the contrary, China, as a developing Asian country, has scant fast food industries which mean less local competition. Moreover, at the beginning of international business, FEBO could seize the first opportunities an d then could be easier foothold in the China market than the other similarly industries or companies which entered later. To sum up, according to those reasons above which got from careful analysis, the best choice of FEBO’s export marketing could be clearly seen as China. 3. 6 In-depth analysis After market selection, the most suitable option for FEBO’s export marketing is China.For further analysis, a number of variables which could also be called indicators are useful for assessing the export potential of the international market—the China market. In order, to have a more complete and detailed overview of the China market, the potential impact of those variables needs to be examined. In accordance with Albaum, G. , generally speaking, the physical characteristics, political tendencies, socio-culture characteristics and economic factors are the four main elements which would influence the results of in-depth analysis.More specifically, indicators would include a list of for instance the physical geography of the country, the local industries. Since it would be much more difficult and complex to examine every indicator, several relatively important variables are chosen to analysis. Those are the following: population characteristics and purchasing power, basic infrastructure including transportation and communication facilities, cultural factors, resource and government restrictions and regulations on trade. (Albaum, 1998, P136) 3. Population characteristics and purchasing power As all known, China has a large population which can be seen as benefit for export because more people means more demands. Therefore, it will be clear that the first choice for FEBO to export is the bigger cities in China such as Beijing or Shanghai. In those bigger cities, there are more people and especially more rich people who have larger purchasing power in comparison to people in other small cities. In addition, Big cities have more competition and the major ity of people there have a fast pace of life.There is a very high possibility that they would like FEBO’s â€Å"get food out of wall† model. As a famous typical Dutch fast food, FEBO could help people save a lot of time from cooking and there is no doubt that it would be accepted and further loved by most people living in the bigger cities of China. 3. 8 Basic infrastructure including transportation and communication facilities Take Shanghai as an example, there are lists of transportation methods that could be choose for transportation such as bus, truck, subway, train and even plane if necessary.For one of FEBO’s strategies of freshness, the bigger cities in China like Shanghai could be ensure the transport the raw materials or final products in time and always keep fresh as their original quality. Second, the same as Amsterdam and Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the bigger cities such as Beijing and Shanghai in China also have complete and sound communication f acilities. The internet system is the bridge between the headquarters and branches both in the Netherlands and China as well as that between stores and distributions or manufactories.In a word, no matter which link has problems, the communication facilities could assume the responsibility for exchange information. 3. 9 Cultural factors For the cultural aspect, people living in bigger cities in China are more likely to want to try international food than those living in small cities. The reason is that there are a lot of foreigners living in the bigger cities in China especially Shanghai and Beijing and the local population there is more opened to European cultures.Since different nationalities are living together, they are influenced by each other and it is obviously that more and more Chinese accept and even love the foreign food. Usually people that live in bigger cities in China often have less prejudice or fear, furthermore, they have a more modern lifestyles, and they treat for eigners more friendly. Most of them can speak English or other languages so that they would probably prefer to talk with traditional Dutch employees in FEBO’s stores in China about the lifestyle or environment if the Netherland.They will be able to communicate in English. 3. 10 Resource As mentioned above, one of the strategies of FEBO is freshness which means it is not possible to transport the products from the Netherlands to China every day. To address this problem, the products sold in China’s stores need to be made also in China. Therefore only some essential ingredients as herbs still can be exported to keep products of FEBO in China also have traditional Dutch taste and at the same time could save costs.As China is large and owns many resources, it is believed that most of resources that FEBO needs to make products could be found in China such as meat and potatoes and so on. In addition, human resource is another significant element. The larger population especi ally in bigger cities of China means that FEBO does not need to worry about labor problems. Moreover, the lower labor costs in China could also help FEBO save money and can be a better option than exporting Dutch employees from the Netherlands. 3. 11 Government restrictions and regulations on tradeWith China’s accession of WTO, the government pays more attention on international trade than in the past. In addition, Chinese are encouraged to develop international business abroad and the government also welcomes foreign investments in China. Lowering the amount of restrictions on trade and formulating stimulating regulations on trade are what the government already did and would further developed in the future. Therefore this is a good opportunities for FEBO’s export marketing plan to China. Many encouraging regulations such as lower taxes could also lower the risks of FEBO’s export. . Target group Since the first target market for FEBO’s export plan had be en determined as bigger cities in China such as Beijing and Shanghai, the next step is to search for the most suitable location for FEBO’s first store. After a list of researches, the first destination for FEBO’s export would be Shanghai, therefore the following part would be about the situation in Shanghai. FEBO is a fast food company; so that the target group of it would of course young people as for example students and office people.The young usually like fashion and could easily accept new products. They like foreign foods better than the older people. Therefore the problem is how to attract them come to FEBO. To address this problem, some research had been done. Through the results, there are a lot of European companies established in every district of Shanghai, so that it can be hardly to circle for a specific district for Europeans. For this reason, the final location of FEBO would be the city centre of Shanghai which also could be seen as the a1 location. Gene rally peaking, people come from other places, especially from other countries always choose the most famous food to eat; however, there is another choice, that is to follow with the local people. That is because the natives would choose the best food among the whole city so that there is no doubt that the tourists could find delicious food with the local people. Therefore, to attract more customers, the target group for FEBO at the beginning should be those European people in Shanghai. When people see a lot of European people come to FEBO, then they would come as well.Furthermore, with a lot of European people, FEBO could have a more European environment as it is expected. 4. 1 Market Access Requirements (MAR) Standardized products and services are considered to be a confidence builder, and that can be perceived as safety, healthy, secure, high quality and flexible. So the standardized products or services are widely accepted, commonly trusted and highly valued. There are several st andards for FEBO to export to China. This part will be discussed by different aspects. In this part, PESTEL will be used to analysis these factors. Political:It is an important economic development strategy for China to bring more foreign investment, so Chinese government offers more preferential policies to foreign companies. The most relative policy for FEBO is tax; it is lower than in Netherlands. Chinese government announced that foreign companies have to pay 25% of income, which is lower than 25. 5% in Netherlands. FEBO will earn more money because of this low tax. And for the new foreign companies, if they want to operate more than ten years, and then in the first two years, they can exempt from corporate income tax. It is a good open policy for FEBO to enter to Chinese market.Economic: Source from official says that the economic in China is optimistic. Generally, Chinese economic is increasing rapidly. Ranked seventh in the world GDP, GDP growth rate is the first in the world . It is suitable for FEBO to develop to China. Social: Although China has a long history, Chinese people are becoming more open to different cultures than other countries with deeply embedded local customs. Nowadays, the educational level is high, and Chinese people can adopt more foreign customs and values. In some big cities, the pace of life is fast, so people prefer fast-food than traditional one.As it can be seen that McDonald, KFC and many more foreign fast-food stores opened in China, FEBO can be next good choice for them. Technological: FEBO has more or less the same technologic as other fast-food stores. But for some sauces and some special traditional Dutch food, FEBO has its own technologic. What is more, FEBO will use this Dutch fast-food technologic also in China. Environment: As food industry is famous and quickly developing in China, FEBO can catch up with the situation, and develop to Chinese market. After FEBO set foot in China, there will be more jobs for local peo ple.It will also bring competitive crisis to relative stores, and this will promote the virtuous circle of competition in the market. FEBO can be an environmental company, and will do more changes on environmental item, so it could be more adopted than other non environmental friendly business. Legal: FEBO has to obey the laws and relative constraints, some important legal issues are described detailed as below: * FEBO first has to obtain the certification of International standard organization (ISO), which is the world’s largest developer and publisher of international standard.FEBO is a Dutch brand, and if it wants to develop to Chinese market, then it becomes an international business. If FEBO gets the ISO application, it will bring a lot of advantages to the business: * Strengthen quality management and improve enterprise efficiency. If FEBO implement at ISO, it can be scrutinized in according to international standard quality system for quality management. It will greatl y improve work efficiency and product qualification rate, and rapidly increase their economic and social benefits. * Access to international trade pass, it is conducive to across international technical barriers.Especially in the â€Å"World Trade Organization†, member countries exclude the tariff barriers each other, so certified is the main way to eliminate trade barriers. * To be an invincible position in the competition of product quality. Quality competition has become the primary means of competition in international trade. ISO certification can help FEBO improve the product quality stably. * What is more, to enter Chinese market, it is essential for FEBO to have Market access barriers for other relative stores. So FEBO has to get certificate from Chinese food industry. FEBO has to meet China`s health, safety, quality and environmental objectives.As it has been mentioned in the previous part, some essential ingredients as herbs can be exported. So the technical trade ba rriers of China can help FEBO realize these policy objectives by restricting entry of unsatisfactory products at the border. The barriers can be divided into mandatory approval and voluntary approval. * Mandatory approval CCC (China Compulsory Certification) is the fastest way to enter Chinese market. It is a system to replace the Compulsory Supervision System for Product Safety Certification and the Safety License System for Import Commodities.Besides, for the food products, FEBO has to comply with the Chinese GB standard. * Voluntary approval FEBO can apply for the CQC(China Quality Certification) Mark certification. This safety products certification system involves hundreds of products divided into over 50 categories, which include protecting consumers’ personal and property safety and safeguard their rights and interests, improving the product quality of domestic enterprises and increasing the product competitiveness in the international market; and also facilitating for eign products accessing into the domestic market.The products categories that not covered under CCC certification can be subject to the CQC Mark certification. So CQC Mark certification can be regarded as the replenishment of CCC certification. There are several items in CQC Mark certification, and what FEBO needs to get are: CQC Safe&Performance Product certification, and CQC Environmental Product Certification. If FEBO can have two powerful certifications to ensure its quality and safety, it will be treated as a European fast-food brand that with very high quality.Strengths * Number one fast food chain in the Netherlands * 61 shops in all big cities in the Netherlands * A1 locations only * Big target segment * longer opening hours) * Unique â€Å"food out of the wall† concept * Large assortment * FEBO mobile * Daily fresh produced products * High owners equality * Own their production (logistics and production)| Weakness * Lot of waste because of large assortment * Lack of control because of all the different franchises * Cost a lot of money / time to manage the hole distribution channel * Only in the Netherlands| Opportunities * Easy expansion though franchising * The pace of life is fast, and people do not have much time to cook and eat. | Threats * Cheap image * People get more aware of healthy food * Not much option for expansion in Holland (, most big towns and cities of Holland already have a FEBO) * Lots of competition fast food restaurants| 5. SWOT analysis In this chapter the swot analysis of Febo in Holland, will be presented in a table. After having the current SWOT analysis of FEBO, further opportunities and threats for FEBO in China are formulated. Opportunities| Threats| * China has joined WTO, it is being economic globalization, and there is a large space market in China. * China is a new market for FEBO development. As the results show – other fast-food brand has created a score higher than the local business in China * Accordin g to the analysis, it will be the golden age in the next 20 years for China’s economic growth; China will continue to grow as one of the most active region of economic growth. So the financial situation is satisfied. * Chinese consumption level and hierarchy of consumption are increasing. * The tax burdens are less than European countries because of China’s open policy. * No special European food in China, especially traditional Dutch food. | * Other fast-food brand has opened chain stores in China and occupied a vast market, like McDonald and KFC. The gap of brand image in the fast-food industry in getting smaller and smaller. * After China joined WTO, more and more fast-food brands keep their focus on the huge Chinese market. They bring advanced production technology, marketing ideas and service modes. So the relative position of FEBO has a lot of competitors. * New technologies and more modern fast food threaten to displace FEBO and its products. | 6. Critical succe ss factors In general, Critical Success Factors (CSF’s) are the critical factors or activities required for ensuring the success the business. The term was initially used in the world of data analysis, and business analysis.Critical Success Factors have been used significantly to present or identify a few key factors that organizations should focus on so that they are successful. As a definition, critical success factors refer to â€Å"the limited number of areas in which satisfactory results will ensure successful competitive performance for the individual, department, or organization†(Critical Success Factors – CSF analysis, (n. d. ). According to Rockart and Bullen, there are five key sources involved in critical success factors. To better understand FEBO, it will be analyzed on the five parts. 6. 1 The industry In addition to several common CSF within the same industry, there are also many different and unique CSF for different companies.FEBO is a leader in the fast food chain within the Netherlands, so that it has some common CSF like other fast food companies, for instance low price, flexibility and convenient, customer orientation and high quality. Apart from these, FEBO has the unique CSF to be the most famous one among others with its â€Å"get food from the wall†. Because of the revolutionary way of getting the food quickly and easily, FEBO is so successful in the Netherlands. 6. 2 Competitive strategy and industry position Different strategies are used to deal with different situation, and different value/ price position could lead to different markets. Therefore, different strategy and position would gain different market shares and risks at the same time for the company.For example, the values of the company, or the target market and target group the company choose will all impact the CSF’s of that company at a given point in time. FEBO position itself as fast food so that it needs to deliver tasty food to the cu stomers while the service should be quick at a reasonable price and available at any time. Only achieved these can FEBO stand out among the fast food industry. FEBO achieves this with the CSF of holding production and distribution channel in house. 6. 3 Environmental factors The environmental factors mean that any changes in economic, regulatory, political or demographic would affect the CSF of the company. (Critical Success Factors, Guide on How to Write University Essays and Dissertations(n. d. ) This aspect of factors could not be controlled by FEBO, but since FEBO wants to export to China market, so that it already gained a lot of advantages at this point. For instance, China has many regulations to encourage the foreign investments. In addition to that, China is a developing country so that the political development and economic performance of China is very promising. Therefore these all could be seen as the CSF’s for FEBO in the future. 6. 4 Temporal factors These usual ly relate to short-term situation and are influenced by some specific events. These kinds of factors often result in internal organizational needs and changes. A temporary CSF for FEBO can be finding a suitable A1 location and reliable franchisee at a certain destination.This is a CSF which has to be given great attention when expanding to China, because without a good franchisee and good location, there is no way that the shop is successful. 6. 5 Managerial position It is an additional aspect and is important when considered from an individual’s point of view. It highlights individual contribution for the CSF’s of the company. It is normal that the company would be wholly successful if it has many successful managers in different specific area and take good control of each department. At this point of view, FEBO’s CSF are manufacturing managers took the responsibility of provide good quality of products, and the store managers did well in building good relation ship with customers with offering kinds of services. Strategic capability applied to FEBOThe capabilities of a company can be broadly grouped into four categories- Threshold recourses, threshold capabilities, unique resources and core competences. Each of them will be explained and applied to FEBO (Johnson et. all, 2008). * Threshold recourses Threshold recourses are tangible or intangible assets that the company needs to have in order to fulfil the minimum customer requirements. If a company does not have those resources, the customers will not buy from that brand. However, as this is the minimum and every company in the same business needs to have the same to survive, these recourses do not create competitive or superior advantage (Johnson et. ll, 2008). FEBO has the threshold physical resources of having a fabric, machines and shops for selling. Without this the company will not be able to deliver its offering to the customer. Moreover it has the financial resources of its franch isee and company equity. The human threshold recourses of FEBO comprise of the managers who direct the franchisee and the franchisees and their employees at the shops. These all are the minimum resources and without having them, FEBO cannot exist. However, just the presence of these resources is not important. The customer expects that they are deployed in the right way to deliver value. * Threshold competenceThreshold competences are the abilities that are necessarily to satisfy the basic needs of a customer in this case, the minimum expectations from a fast food restaurant (Johnson et. all, 2008). As FEBO is in the business of fast food shops, the threshold competence that it needs to posses in order to have customers is to deliver tasty food to the customers. Moreover, the service should be quick at a reasonable price and available at any time, because that is what all the fast food restaurants are doing. * Unique resources Unique resources are those tangible and intangible asset s that the company posses and are better or different from the competitors.Those resources give competitive advantage (Johnson et. all, 2008). In the case of FEBO the most obvious unique resource it has are its vending machines in the shops. Those are easily recognisable by customers as being part of FEBO and deliver superior- quicker service. In addition, a unique intellectual resource is the brand of FEBO. It is already for a long time in the market and customers know it and value it. The business system of FEBO can also be regarded as a unique resource as the company is keeping production and distribution in house by having its own fabric and trucks. Those are things that are usually outsourced in the fast food industry. Core competence Core competences are the abilities of the personnel to deploy the resources in a way that delivers more value than competitors. The core competences are the key to achieving competitive advantage as they are more difficult to imitate (Johnson et. all, 2008). The core competence of FEBO is to in-house produce and distribute its high quality food quickly to all its A1 shops in Holland. The achievement of quality and at the same time speed makes it possible to sell fresh products in the shops. What is more, the high quality is achieved by using only the best suppliers and carefully choosing the franchisee that represent the brand.So, the core competence of FEBO is embedded in its supply chain. The whole functioning of the operations of FEBO, synchronizing the work of quality suppliers, employees and machines in the fabric, quick logistics, A1 shops and skilled franchisee add to the process of delivering the best quality to the customer. Through the big volumes, FEBO is also keeping the prices of its products down. Conclusion The idea behind the report is to analyze the possibility to expand FEBO to China. To sum up, FEBO opened as a bakery and the experience showed the successful strategy of producing in house and franchising s hops for fast food. The main strategy of the company is resolved around quality and freshness.FEBO is implementing the hybrid quality/price strategy and it is marketing proposition is the â€Å"most delicious†. The structure of the organisation is flat, which makes it effective. FEBO possesses the key facilities- vendor machines and own production. The reasons why to chosen target market is China is because, the labour cost are low, fast food popularity is increasing, Government is stimulating international investments through low taxes, the competition in the fast food is not that fierce yet, the country has the basic recourses to produce FEBO`s products and because of the large population, the target market is also expected to be bigger.More specifically Shanghai is chosen for the first shops as it has good transportation and communication connections and the people in the city are more open to different cultures, which also have a fast pace of life and tend to eat fast foo d, moreover, a bigger proportion of the population is speaking English. In addition, the early adopters of FEBO in Shanghai will be targeted to be the European people. When there are enough European customers this will built trust in the local Chinese population and they will perceive it as exotic and quality food. In order to enter the Chinese market, FEBO has to obtain ISO, China Compulsory Certification and China Quality certification. Having these will make it easier and cheaper for the company to begin business in China and the local population will see it as a quality chain.The critical success factors for FEBO were found to be the get food out of the wall, tasty food with high quality and good choice of franchisees who keep the traditional way of business and the image of FEBO. And last but not least, the unique resources and core competences of FEBO are the walls, the brand name, the business system, quality and speed at the same time and the coordination of the whole supply chain. List of reference: 1) Albaum, G. , Standskow, J. Duerr, E. Dowd, L. , International marketing and export management, Prentice Hall, 3rd edition, 1998 2) CCC US OFFICE – China AQSIQ, CCC Mark, CCC Certificate, 3C Certificate – Your fastest way to enter China Market. (n. d. ). CCC US OFFICE – China AQSIQ, China CCC, CCC Mark, CCC Certificate, 3C Certificate – Your fastest way to enter China Market.Retrieved December 12, 2010, from http://www. ccc-us. com/otherservices. htm? gclid=COaLkoKwy5ICFRmiiQodBRGdmA 3) China Market Access: How to Succeed in this Growing Market. (n. d. ). Bureau Veritas : QHSE-SR Management, Inspection, Certification, Training & Consulting. Retrieved December 12, 2010, from http://www. bureauveritas. com/wps/wcm/connect/bv_com/group/Home/About-Us/Our-Business/Our-Business-Consumer-Products/our+services/services+and+solutions/china%20market%20access 4) Cost definition. (n. d. ). BusinessDictionary. com – Online Business Dictionary. Retrieved December 12, 2010, from http://www. businessdictionary. com 5) Critical Success Factors. (n. d. ).Guide on How to Write University Essays and Dissertations. Retrieved December 12, 2010, from http://university-essays. tripod. com/critical_success_factors_csf. html 6) Critical Success Factors – CSF analysis, formulation and construction. (n. d. ). Rapid Business Improvement Review – Organizational Diagnostic tool – BIR/ change tools/ health check/ diagnostic/ organizational development/ RapidBI. Retrieved December 12, 2010, from http://rapidbi. com/created/criticalsuccessfactors 7) Homepage. (n. d. ). Homepage. Retrieved November 24, 2010, from http://www. febodelekkerste. nl/ 8) ISO – International Organization for Standardization. (n. d. ).ISO – International Organization for Standardization. Retrieved December 12, 2010, from http://www. iso. ch 9) Johnson, G. , Scholes, K. , & Whittington, R. (2008). Foundation of strategic c apability. Exploring corporate strategy: text and cases (8. ed. , pp. 95-99). Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall. 10) Operating risk definition. (n. d. ). BusinessDictionary. com – Online Business Dictionary. Retrieved December 12, 2010, from http://www. businessdictionary. com/definition/operating-risk. html 11) 2) Strategic Management ::  The Areas That Most Businesses Should Analyze. (n. d. ). Strategic Management ::  . Retrieved November 24, 2010, from http://strategy-formulation. 24xls. com/en126

Music Can Do Wonders

It’s amazing how one song can change your entire mood. Whether it brings back an old memory, or pumps you up for a basketball game, music can do wonders. One simple song could change a lot.  Music originated in the Paleolithic era, scientists have found ancient flutes made of bones with lateral holes punched in them. The Hurrian song, found on clay tablets that date back to approximately 1400 B.C., is the oldest surviving notated work of music.If it weren’t for the music legends like Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Bob Marley, Johnny Cash, and of course, Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson, music would have never evolved into what it is today. `Music today mostly consumed by pop, country, rap, and whatever Miley Cyrus is. A few of the popular artists today are Florida Georgia Line, Katy Perry, Eminem, Drake, and Imagine Dragons. Most of the artists who rise in music today are quickly pushed out of the spotlight by the next â€Å"big thing†.The particular genre of music I prefer is rap. Artists like Kendrick Lamar, Kid Cudi, and Wiz Khalifa are some of the people I like to listen to. I also like country and some pop. Country and pop artists whom I like are Florida Georgia Line, Imagine Dragons, and Blake Shelton.I love listening to music. Relaxing in my room listening to my favorite song is probably my idea of mini paradise. Music to me is one of the most powerful and important things in my life. Music is an expression of someone’s feelings that can be translated into other people’s feelings, depending on how the person interprets it.Music has a very strong impact on society. People that live in different areas of the world like different types of music. For example, people around South Dakota probably prefer country music more than people in New York.Music is as popular today as it’s ever been. Everybody likes music. Music allows people a release from the stress that life puts on people, allowing them to feel em otions that they have never felt before, emotions that they can’t feel anywhere else.The reason we feel the emotions that we do is because when a person listens to a song that they really like, their body releases a hormone called dopamine. Dopamine improves blood flow in humans, reducing risk of heart attacks, heart failure, kidney problems, and low-blood pressure.Robert Young McMahan, music theory professor at the College of New Jersey, says people listen to music to help them feel good in whatever situation they are in and that different types of music call for different situations. â€Å"If you go to a grocery store, you hear music played in the background that usually has popular standards,† McMahan says. â€Å"But, if you go to the Penn Station in New York, you usually hear classical music. There is a reason that they are playing those specific kinds of music.†That reason is because subway stations in New York can get really hectic, and classical music wou ld relax people hopefully enough for them not to cause a ruckus. Popular music plays in grocery stores, because that’s the music that most people like. If you want to relax, most people would probably recommend classical music. They would probably recommend it because of the slow melodies, and a generally relaxing sound. What they don’t know is that classical music can actually slow down your heart rate, causing real relaxation Music also makes you think than you would consciously.When your brain listens to music, it tries to separate each individual sound. An example would be when you listen to a song, your brain focuses on the beat of the drum while also focusing on the strum of the guitar and the lyrics to the song. This causes your brain to exercise without you even realizing it, causing you to send out brain waves. The brain waves can make you either more alert or relaxed, depending on the song. In conclusion, I think music is one of the most powerful forces in th e world today. Every single person on Earth listens to music. I love music more than anything. I love listening to different genres and exploring what kinds of music other people listen to. Music can take you on an adventure, so hop on and enjoy the ride!