Questions On Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility

Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility Ashley Allen Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism University of Southern California Paper submitted as partial fulfillment of requirements for CMGT 540: Uses of Communication Research Fall 2014 Introduction Since the beginning of time marketing has existed to explain and promote products to consumers in an effort to persuade purchase decisions and increase sales. Traditionally, it has been a one-way form of communication, with companies providing messages to consumers without any opportunity for consumer response. These messages started as billboards, newspaper and magazine advertisements, but as technology evolved new opportunities arose.†¦show more content†¦Soon consumers also began to understand the power of being able to quickly and efficiently reach people (â€Å"Power at Last†, 2005). Dissatisfied customers began their own powerful messages, creating complex problems for the companies they target, attacking them for not caring about employees, the environment, or in basic human rights (â€Å"Power at Last†, 2005) (Thellusson, 2003). And these efforts are powerful. Some examples include; an online petition demanding PepsiCo to remove â€Å"brominated veget able oil†, a harmful ingredient avoided in many countries, from Gatorade and (O Brien, 2013) a social media campaign aimed at Burger King, requesting that the company agree to obtain all pork and egg products come from cage-free vendors by 2017 (successful)(O’Brien, 2013). The ability of the internet to provide information has created the ‘information age’, filled with extremely informed consumers who are using their power to push for healthier, safer, socially aware businesses that are honest and ‘good’ (â€Å"Power at Last†, 2005). As consumer power has grown, businesses across the globe have come to the realization that they must become more ‘customer-centric’. It also required businesses to consider how they could integrate a two-way communication form that allowed consumers to interact with and become part of the brand. Meaning, they must

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love - 807 Words

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love After analyzing Raymond Carver’s â€Å"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,† it is easy to see that there are several different ideas concerning true love that the characters in the story are in dispute over. Terri’s idea of real love is the most valid out of the group at the table. All of the members of the group are rather confused as to what real love is. Terri is included as one of the confused. However, I believe that she is the closest to understanding what love is. A key piece of evidence demonstrating her understanding of love is her remark to Laura and Nick. She scolds the couple for basing their relationship on physical aspects, rather than emotion or passion. Terri, like the rest†¦show more content†¦Mel on the other hand, is not passionate. It seems as though Terri favored marriage with Ed over marriage with Mel. In Raymond Carver’s story â€Å"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,† there is a wide array of opinions concerning the true definition of love. I believe that the character with the most absurd idea of love is Mel. Mel is Terri’s second husband. He claims to only believe in spiritual love. In his past, Mel spent â€Å"five years in seminary.† This is obviously what he bases his idea upon. Mel declares that if he could go back in time, he would enjoy being a knight in armor to shield him from other people. This reveals to me that Mel is emotionally closed off and concealed from other people. Furthermore, as seen through his wife, Terri, Mel does not have the passion inside him that is necessary to experience love. The only love that Mel does experience is the love toward his children, but that is love in a different sense. Loving his children is a natural instinct. They are born into his care, and are made with his own blood. His love for them was no t searched for. It just came to be when they were born. Mel’s relationship with Terri, or any other women that he may have encountered in the past is distant and indifferent as to who they are inside. Mel’s ideas toward love areShow MoreRelatedWhat We Talk About When We Talk About Love823 Words   |  4 Pagesanalyzing Raymond Carvers What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, it is easy to see that there are several different ideas concerning true love that the characters in the story are in dispute over. Terris idea of real love is the most valid out of the group at the table. All of the members of the group are rather confused as to what real love is. Terri is included as one of the confused. However, I believe that she is the closest to understanding what love is. A key piece of evidenceRead MoreWhat We Talk About When We Talk About Love752 Words   |  4 PagesIn Raymond Carver’s â€Å"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love† there was one theme that was consistent throughout the whole story. It is that not one of the four characters of the story could explain what love is. Each character in the story each had their own ideas to what they wanted love to be but not what it actually was. Whether it was suicidal love, abusive love, or just physical love, each person in the story held fast to what they believed love to be, even if they could not explain whyRead Morewhat we talk about when we talk about love1429 Words   |  6 Pages 11/10/13 Raymond Carter speaks about two different types of love in the Story What We talk About When We Talk About Love. The two types of love are spiritual and true love. Spiritual love is when you are connected with your significant half on a spiritual level. That could mean feeling like you can’t live without that person or just loving them so much that you would do anything to be with them. An example of true love is waking up every morning and making a cup of coffee notRead MoreTypes of Love in What We Talk About When We Talk About Love781 Words   |  4 Pagesonto ideals they cherish the most. We as human beings need some sort of physical form to attach ourselves to no matter what circumstance may be presented in front of us. Love is just one of the many presented circumstances that require such attachments, the purest and most in depth circumstance that anyone could ever be a part of. The characters within the story â€Å"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love† are considered to be within the boundaries of an in-love relationship. They show the differencesRead More What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver968 Words   |  4 PagesWhat We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver The short story What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, by Raymond Carver, is about two married couples drinking gin and having a talk about the nature of love. The conversation is a little sloppy, and the characters make some comments which could either be meaningless because of excessive alcohol in the bloodstream, or could be the characters true feelings because of excessive alcohol in the bloodstream. Overall, the author usesRead MoreImportance of Symbolism in What We Talk About When We Talk About Love1027 Words   |  5 Pagesmake. What We Talk About When We Talk About Love is a short story about four friends trying to find the true meaning of love, trying to prove points through experience. In What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, Raymond Carver uses very strong symbolism to help convey the theme of the story. Instantly, it is easy to recognize that Carvers story will be one on love, since the title clearly mentions it. He introduces the characters, two married couples, who are having a discussion about loveRead MoreAnalysis of Carvers What We Talk about When We Talk about Love1636 Words   |  7 PagesLove cannot be defined in one sentence or even a paragraph. Every human has his or her own definition of love because people usually define love based on their cultures, backgrounds, social classes, educations, and their societies. In this essay, the main point will be the different kinds of love that Carver illustrates in his story â€Å"What We Talk about When We Talk about Love.† In Carver’s story, there are some points that I can relate to my personal experience. There are a few characteristics andRead MoreWhat we Talk About When We Talk about Love by Raymond Carver649 Words   |  3 PagesLove The story started with a group of four people drinking gin in a room. The first man to say the first word was Herb. Herb was a cardiologist his specialty was the heart. He started talking about the value of love. â€Å"Love is somewhat spiritual or agape in nature,† (1) He said. Herb also thought that the real love was nothing less than spiritual love. Herb’s idea of love was totally different with his wife’s idea of love. Terri was another member from the group. She told her friends that she hadRead MoreEssay about Raymond Carver (what We Talk About When We Talk About Love)892 Words   |  4 Pages Mel McGinnis of â€Å"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love† seems like that one guy that everyone seems to know. He stands out from others; he’s unique. You either love him or hate him. Mel is very much like one of my good friends. They are both very individualistic and hey are both annoying drunks. They are both interesting characters though. I think the author Raymond Carver created the character Mel based off someone he knew. Carver created Mel for one reason or anotherRead MoreEssay on Raymond Carvers What We Talk About When We Talk About Love1355 Words   |  6 PagesLove is undoubtedly one of the most frequently explored subjects in the literary world. Whether the focus is a confession of love, criticism of love, tale of love, or simply a tale about what love is, such literary pieces force readers to question the true meaning and value of love. Raymond Carver accomplishes this in his short story â€Å"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.† As the unadorned setting and the personality of each character unfold, the reader realizes that Carver is making a grave

A Year Round Education and Staff Burnout Free Essays

As our population increases, schools are being faced with the problems of overcrowding and under funding. Many school districts are proposing a year round education program. I feel that year round education is only a â€Å"quick fix† for school districts d will be detrimental to teachers children and families. We will write a custom essay sample on A Year Round Education and Staff Burnout or any similar topic only for you Order Now Over crowding in schools is becoming a problem in almost all communities. Many schools are building trailers and additions to accommodate a higher capacity. Some districts are proposing building new schools. This raises issues of changing boundarie bussing, and higher taxes. Some districts are proposing a multi- track year round education program. On the surface, year round education seems a logical solution to the overcrowding. Children are separated into four tracks. Each track follows a different schedule going to school for six weeks then having three weeks off. This means that there is a ays one track out of school. This plan increases the school†s capacity by 25%. The year round education plan will only temporarily save taxpayers money. Schools were not made to be year round facilities, many schools are no even air conditioned. Maintenance and janitorial staff will need to be hired full time year round. They ll have to put in over time to get projects done and larger projects will need to be contracted out. The additional cost for transportation, utilities, support staff, ect, may not be worth the inconvenience. Not to mention the extra wear that a school ill take by having children in it year round. In the long run, maintaining a school for a full year may prove to be more costly. Staff burnout is another concern with year round education. Teachers will no longer be able to supplement their income during the summer with seasonal jobs. In some plans teachers will be able to either take the breaks with the children or act as a s stitute for the tracks who are in school. If the teachers choose to substitute they will miss out on their breaks, leaving little time for planning and relaxation. Teachers will miss out on programs to further their education, thus stunting their prof Administrators get a worse deal. They are now responsible for four â€Å"mini schools† and school is always in session so getting away is sometimes hard. Some plans offer to hire a second principal justified by the increased population. Another expense i rred by the year round education plan. Year round education may affect the quality of education for some children. Teachers with more education, credentials, and tenure will opt for the preferred track. Children on the less preferred track will get a different quality of education. Good t chers in general may prefer schools who have the traditional school year. The year round education plan also takes a toll on the family time in many ways. In some plans two children from the same family may not be on the same track and therefore do not have the same breaks. Scheduling time for family outings will be harder One child will always have to mind a bedtime. Taking family vacations is impossible unless one child is taken out of school. Non custodial parents will also have a problem spending their time with their children. Now most active non-custodial parents take their children for a large portion of the Summer break. This time spent with the non-custodial parent gives the child a ense of â€Å"living† with that parent. This arrangement will no longer be a reality. Extended time with the non-custodial parent will hardly be possible unless again one child is taken out of school. I believe this will also cause many divorced parents t eturn to court to revise their decrees, another cost to taxpayers and parents. Year round education may also put a financial strain on working parents. Many parents rely on older siblings to watch younger siblings during school breaks. If the school calendars don†t coincide parents will usually have to pay for alternate care. Some experts think that a year round education will be beneficial to children because they will not have the long break where knowledge is lost. They are concerned with the information that is lost. I believe that information will be lost anyway if a ild is not genuinely interested. School is a place to learn how to learn and to learn the foundations of the world around. College is the place where the information type of learning should take place. Retention is always a concern with any break, b studies show that learning loss begins to occur during the first two to three weeks. By having more breaks during the year we may find more learning is lost. The never ending school year can be very stressful for a child. With a multi- track system playmates will have different breaks causing children to envy different schedules and be unhappy with their own. Children will miss out on events or have to de with the anticipation of school the next day. With a three week break children barely get to relax before having to prepare for school starting again. For children who do not particularly enjoy school this can be a extremely stressful because there i not a long enough break to emerge themselves in something that they enjoy. Extra curricular activities will also be effected. Students may have to attend practices and meetings on their off weeks. They will risk missing out on the team activities, pep rallies, and major events. It is impossible to schedule four separate da es, science fairs, and homecoming games. School will never cease so students will not get the break that they deserve. The programs themselves will get a lower turnout. I believe that less popular clubs and organizations will eventually be gone. Someone posed a the question that if year round education was the traditional school calendar, and a â€Å"new calendar† was proposed where children were only educated for nine months each year would the American public even consider it? My answer is, â€Å"ye The idea of year-round schooling goes back to the seventeenth century. It is actually two hundred years older that the traditional school year. The oldest year round school today is only thirty years old. This means that all other schools once opted I think back to my own Summer vacations. The first two weeks were always spent winding down from the long school year. Then we began to venture out and embark on new adventures. I can remember long bike rides and mapping out new spots to explore, ea day getting farther in to some sort of quest. Sleepovers every other day at each other†s house with my next door neighbor. When I was a child we stayed with my father in Chicago for six weeks of the Summer. That was an experience I would never relin ish. Over the Summer my family took vacations. We went canoeing in the boundary waters of Canada and drove cross country on a whim without the anticipation of getting ready for school. School plays the role of teaching children how to learn. Summer break is a chance to apply what they have learned and enrich their lives with personal experience. Switching to a year round education plan will be detrimental to our children†s problem s ving skills, creativity, and happiness. Overall, I believe that there are too many downfalls and not enough benefits to switching to year round education. Turning to year round education as a solution to over crowding in schools would only be a temporary solution. A year round education wo d put too much stress on our children, families, faculty, and community. We should learn from the past and leave the traditional school year in tact. How to cite A Year Round Education and Staff Burnout, Papers

MGM International Resorts Case Analysis Memo free essay sample

To: James J. Murren From: Date: November 18, 2013 Subject: Issues of MGM International Resorts I am writing this letter in order to address the slow recovery of your company. It has come to my attention that your company, MGM International Resorts, is facing some major issues as the gaming and hospitality industry struggles to recover. In this letter I plan to address the industries problems, and the specific issues that your company is facing. One of the major issues facing MGM International Resorts is that it is that the industry has a lot of overcapacity as demand has dropped from pre-recessionary evels when many big projects have been planned. This is evidenced by your companys ambitious pre-recession project CityCenter, the largest private development project in United States history. CityCenter ended up opening to little fanfare. The biggest sources of revenue in the industry were conventions. Due to the economic downturn in 2008, revenues from Conventions have decreased dramatically and have not fully recovered. Trade shows, associations and corporations traditionally paid a premium to meet in Las Vegas. Now with fewer organizations meet in Las Vegas, they can now negotiate lower prices. There are now increased leisure travelers going to Las Vegas to fill discounted rooms but does not help you increase revenue much as they do not like to spend money on your high end shopping and dining venues. Americans are also deciding more carefully spend their money preferring staycations in order to save money on increasing airfares and travel costs. This is mainly due to the decrease in discretionary spending of 43 percent from December 2007 to January 2011. The road to recovery from the start of the economic recession for the industry is slower than predicted. Your company also aces strong competition from competitors such as Wynn Resorts and Las Vegas Sands who have managed to fare in the recession substantially better. MGM Resorts Internationals financial statements are not very good relative to your competitors. Your company had a degradation of financials compared to your competitors whom of which fared the recession much better. Your company is highly leveraged with net debt to EBITDA of 1 1. 5 times. Boyd, Las Vegas Sands have lower debt leveraging at 8. x, 3. 3x, 3. 4x, and 1 . 9x respectively. You are also not as widely diversified in regional American markets such as in the Northeast. Your company has recently lost money posting a net loss of 1,437. 4 million in 2010. I will first analyze the health of the gaming and hospitality industry in Las Vegas in which you compete using Porters Five Forces of Competition Model. The indus try faces a lot of substitutes which your customers flock to. There is online gambling. This may keep people from flocking to casinos to gamble as they can conveniently do it at home. There are also closer example of this would be Empire City Casino in Yonkers, NY. It is only half an hour way from New York City and very convenient for those in the area who would Just like to gamble for a night and return home. You do not face a very large threat from new entrants as the capital requirements to enter the gaming and hospitality industry are very high. Customers are able to easily switch from staying on your properties to another companys property. Your company also possesses a wide variety of products that are differentiated. That being said, Industry Rivalry between you and your competitors are very high. All companies in the industry are on fairly qual ground ever since the recession. The costs to exit this industry are also very high. Customers again have very low switching costs and may switch between different properties as they see fit and the large excess in capacity in the industry means that you and all your competitors are cutting prices on rooms and services in order to attract business. The industrys suppliers of hospitality related supplies, such as food bed sheet and soap, and casino/gaming specific supplies, such as slot machines and thousands of decks of cards, have very weak bargaining power. The ew large companies within the gaming and hospitality industry have the bargaining power with when it comes to its two supplier lines as there are many of these suppliers to buy from while only a few large companies that are willing to buy. The ability to use a companys size to negotiate price and length of contracts for expensive high luxury furnishings and exclusive rights to a show or celebrity chef also gives the gaming and hospitality industry strength. While bargaining power of the suppliers is weak, the bargaining power of buyers is very strong. Customers have ery low switching costs and again the large excess in capacity in the industry means that you and all your competitors are cutting prices on rooms and services in order to attract business. Conventions, which are a large part of revenue have been on the downturn compared to capacity, again forcing prices downward. Buyers in the industry are also very price sensitive with many opting to take staycations where vacationers enjoy their time off closer to home. All of these forces add up to an industry that is relatively weak and recovering very slowly. Using the growth-share nalysis, your company is positioned as a cash cow which is very good. Your company has high market share in a slow growing industry. The company should worry though as it is close to being a dog of the industry as it has a lot of debt from ill-timed large projects such as CityCenter and must worry about other companies stealing market share as they are recovering faster. The industry is very capital intensive which means a lot of revenue is being reinvested back into the business. I will now analyze your company through SWOT Analysis. Your company has quite a few strengths that ill help your company into the future. Your companys large size gives it the upper hand in negotiating the best prices from its suppliers. It is very advantageous that your company caters to a wide range of customers from the high-end consumers with resorts such as the Bellagio offering exclusive products to the value-minded consumers with Circus Circus. Your ability to provide superior customer service by recruiting, training and retaining the best most motivated individuals is very valuable in your company. Your marketing and sales activities are another strong suit which compliments your services.

Is Advertising Ethical Essays - Smoking, Marketing,

Is Advertising Ethical? Introduction Advertisers main purpose is to make consumers aware of new products and services and to persuade them to buy. Granted advertising does differ from the news and entertainment media, but that doesnt mean it should not have to follow similar ethical standards. Advertising, too, should be held to the truth, as many people take it at face value and gullibly believe all or most of what is said. Although it is true that we should learn how to interpret advertisings, it is not our responsibility to interpret an advertisements honesty and accuracy. The definition of truth in this case should be the leaving out of any false statements used in an effort to deceive, and all relevant information, the good and the bad, must be included in the statement. I would like to discuss a few of the more abundant methods advertisers employ in order to deceive potential consumers and emphasize the features of their products. 1. Some advertisements all capitalize on half-truths and trickery. The people cheated are often too embarrassed to admit their gullibility and seek redress, or decide that the amount lost is not worth the cost of pursuing the advertisers. This allows the advertisers to continue their scam and trick even more people with their dishonesty. People have to try to figure out if advertising is legitimate and plausible. For example, shopping via Internet, consumers usually disappointment and being cheated when they receive the goods by Mail. 2. One of them is the appeal to an authority. This is clearly seen when companies use celebrities to sell their products, such as Michael Jordan selling phone services. The underlying message here is that people who use this service or buy this product will be living the high life of a celebrity, but usually these famous people do not use the same product themselves. 3. Another big deception is the use of fine print. Advertisers often tout wonderful coverage of their products in bright, bold words and pictures, but they take it away in the fine print. This is where they put all the information about how the product may harm you or the stipulations that go along with their services, but it all too often goes unread and may cause serious harm to the consumer in certain cases such as with over-the-counter medications. 4. Probably the biggest deception is the suppression of certain information. Companies will emphasize the positive aspects of their products while downplaying the negatives. This is easily shown in a majority of commercials and advertisements when companies employ half-truths and vaguery. An example of suppressed information is the common labeling of foods as fat-free. Sure, they may be fat free, but they could very well be high in cholesterol, which the advertisement does not say. When cholesterol is digested, if the body does not burn it off, it is turned into fat. It is important for companies to include the bad aspects of their products as well as the good so consumers can judge for themselves if they want to buy such products. This is especially so for companies offering medicines. They should have to clearly explain all of the possible bad side-affects of their product in order to protect their consumers from illness or death. Smoking advertising effects children Everyday 3,000 children start smoking, most them between the ages of 10 and 18. These kids account for 90 percent of all new smokers. In fact, 90 percent of all adult smokers said that they first lit up as teenagers (Roberts). These statistics clearly show that young people are the prime target in the tobacco wars. The cigarette manufacturers may deny it, but advertising and promotion play a vital part in making these facts a reality (Roberts). Dr. Lonnie Bristow, AMA (American Medical Association) spokesman, remarks that to kids, cute cartoon characters mean that the product is harmless, but cigarettes are not harmless. They have to know that their ads are influencing the youth under 18 to begin smoking(Breo). U.S. News recently featured a discussion of the smoking issue with 20 teenagers from suburban Baltimore. The group consisted of ten boys and ten girls between the ages of 15 and 17. When asked why they started smoking, they gave two contradictory

President Roosevelt Essays - Freemen Of The City Of London

President Roosevelt Essays - Freemen Of The City Of London President Roosevelt Just after war broke out in Europe, President Roosevelt hurriedly called his cabinet and military advisors together. There it was agreed that the United states stay neutral in these affairs. One of the reasons given was that unless America was directly threatened they had no reason to be involved. This reason was a valid one because it was the American policy to stay neutral in any affairs not having to with them unless American soil was threatened directly. Thus the provisional neutrality act passed the senate by seventy-nine votes to two in 1935. On August 31, Roosevelt signed it into law. In 1936 the law was renewed, and in 1937 a comprehensive and permanent neutrality act was passed (Overy 259).

Organisational Context of Management Accounting Essay - 1

Organisational Context of Management Accounting - Essay Example Agency theory has been considered as one of the significant theoretical paradigms in management accounting for the last 25 years. This theory is developed with the notion of conflicting aims between two groups, primarily agents and principals. One of the significant features of the agency theory is that it allows accounting researchers to unambiguously integrate ‘conflicts of interest, incentive problems and mechanism to control incentive problems’ (Lambert, 2007). The objective of this theory is to structure the contractual connection between the two groups: the agents take actions to exploit the welfare and benefits of principals. At the fundamental level, agency theory is utilised in accounting research in order to address two issues. The important issues involve accounting, information and compensation structure that affects incentive problems and the other significant issue is the presence of incentive problems that influence the structure and design of information, compensation systems and accounting (Lambert, 2007). On the other hand, agency theory fails to explain that the agreement between the agent and the principal is flexible in nature. This is a well known fact that principals used to possess shortage of information and are restricted in their sense of rationality; however, they are conscious that incentive related problems exist, when the contract takes place (Hauswirth, 2006). This theory can be applied in this case to understand the impact of budget cuts on the universities. The level of autonomy, as well as academic liberty in universities and colleges vary; thus it has been considered that universities act as agents, while the government acts as the principal (Auld, 2010). The contingency theory develops an expressive theory of management accounting systems (MAS). It implies that the effectiveness of a management accounting system is based on the structure of the organisation. According to this theory, the organisational structure is based on the environment and technology of the organisation. The existence of MAS enhances the effectiveness of managerial process which is dependant on the structure of an organisation. Along with the environmental and technological factor the structure of the organisation is also controlled by the situational attributes (location of information). In a ‘certain’ environment where technology is ‘routine’, there is an influence of external information. In an ‘uncertain’ environment with ‘non-routine’ technology, the information is considered to be internal. The decentralised authority is suitable for the contingency model where the environment is uncertain or technology is non-routine. When environments are certain or technology is routine, centralised authority is suitable (Martin, 1983). The contingency theory fails to explain the resemblance in the systems of management accounting across organisations. Furthermore, this provi des little assistance in designing an organisational structure (Graubner, 2006). Various aspects of this theory can be applied to the case. The structural alteration in universities is dependant upon the situational factor and based on the situational factor the decision making process of the boards can be changed. Hence, it can be concluded that the structural alte

Critical examination of the genre of my story Essay

Critical examination of the genre of my story - Essay Example fer to take interest in golf, baseball and other sports that seemed to have audiences that would be interested in reading literature composed about these sports. Compared to any other kinds of sport, boxing often calls for muse in the writers and journalists and other news reports, this is not an issue to surprise many (Kimball 2011, 25). Places or systems that have risks, often have drama, many boxers end up putting their lives at risk compared to athletes, golfers and some other sports. Within an evening, boxers often have rolled dice with their health as well as marketability and their sense of identity. If it happens that one is not lucky enough in the ring, then one can be forced to stay of action for even a week or a month, having to recover. For this reason, one has to be effectively prepared in order to be the best in the game. Boxing can therefore be described as a bad and risky game, which can at times be crazy (Boddy 2009, 23). In fact, various incidences have been reported of people who died while in the boxing ring. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the sport has been attracting few interested writers on it. This paper examines the aspect of literature and boxing, showing how the sport has slowly been attracting few people interested in writing about it in the many kinds of existing literature. In essence, boxing and literature are not expected to go together. This is because, these two fields are very contrasting in the way they approach their goals and objectives. On one hand, we have a field that has the main goal of refining people’s consciousness, enabling them to understand how various systems operate in the social, economic and political angles. On the other hand, we have another system that seems to clobber an individual into unconsciousness as swift and artful as possible. One that gives more injuries and causes harm to the other is declared the winner and celebrated. However, it is interesting to note that of the writing that is

Pricing Strategies for NIVEA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Pricing Strategies for NIVEA - Essay Example For this reason Nivea launched the ‘Nivea for Men’ in the year 2008 (The Times 100, 2008). In the face care category, Nivea Visage is the most successful product in the markets of Europe, France, Austria, and Germany. In Germany this product captured 1% market share, in Austria it surpassed 1% market share just 3 months after product launch, in France it covered more than double the target market share (Maschauer & Et. Al., 2004). In Germany’s shower segment, Nivea Bath Care occupied 11.9% share, in bath product segment Nivea Bath Care occupied 11.5% share, in the liquid soap segment, it occupied 7% of market share and in solid soap segment Nivea Bath Care occupied 13.6% market share (European Cosmetic Markets, 2007). Beiersdorf operates in imperfect competitive markets. There are generally many sellers in this type of competition. The offered products are primarily differentiated. There are competitor brands present such as Rexona, FA, Palmolive, Dove and many ot hers. There is free entry for entering the market and company can sustain in the long run. The products are also differentiated. The product cost in this type of competition is determined by market power and buyers or sellers have ideal information about the brand of the company (Reynolds, 2005). During 1970 to 1980, Nivea extended the brand to a wide range of skin care products, such as Nivea creme and Milk Soap among others. Nivea creme first came in the market of Germany in the year 1912. In Europe, this creme was launched in the year of 1912, in the United States it was launched in the year of 1922 and in other countries including South America, it was launched in 1926. The other products of the brand are body soap, powder and sun protection... Nivea is one of the leading names in the global consumer products market pertaining to skin care and beauty related products. The discussion will further proceed with identification of certain factors such as market share and products of Nivea along with the competition that the company faces. In the subsequent section of the assignment, value based market segmentation will be applied along with its six relevant steps in order to comprehend the market and consumer segment of Nivea. Nivea has emerged as a popular name in superior quality skin care and beauty products. It is one of the biggest cosmetic brands which transformed from a skin care product to a trustworthy personal care product for all family type. Nivea has been able to create a niche for itself in not only European market but also global market. It has been able to withstand tough competition globally and has emerged as a leading player. It has expanded its operations in many new markets such as South America, Eastern Eur ope, Central America and Asia. Nivea occupies almost 15% of men’s fairness market. Sales of male skincare products have increased after launching of the ‘Nivea for Men’. The company wanted to raise its share in the UK male skincare segment. Value based segmentation facilitates pricing with actual value perceived and delivered to customers. This provides information that which type of customers are paying most profitable price. For making a value based segmentation six steps are needed.

Tourism And Regional Development In Romania Tourism Essay

Tourism And Regional Development In Romania Tourism Essay 1. Introduction Considering its largely acknowledged economic and social effects, tourism represents a sector of great interest to many countries development strategies (Zanina, 2011), (Egan 2003). The positive impact of tourism development is usually addressed in connection with the balance of payments, regional development, diversification of the economy, income levels, state revenue, employment opportunities (Pearce, 1991). The tourist life cycle, the local tourist strategies and policies, the use of information and communication technologies in promotion campaigns, etc. have an important influence in this context (Quian, 2010), (Hu, 1996). As far as regional development is concerned, tourism is seen as a driver able to turn to good account the less developed regions potential and, thus, to contribute to a more balanced distribution of economic activities over time and space as well as to the co-ordination of various policies in an inter-sectorial perspective (Nijkamp, 1999), (Constantin and Mitrut, 2008). It can also bring about encouraging responses to the question of regional competitiveness, based on the positive influence on regional employment and income. As a result of the indirect and induced effects, tourism generates jobs not only in its own sector, but also in connected sectors such as financial services, retailing, telecommunications, etc. However, the regional multipliers record significant variations, depending on the characteristics of each region, locality, project, etc. so that careful analyses are recommended in order to promote those projects able to generate the most important benefits to the region. Highly beneficial are the coastal, mountainous, urban and historic regions as well as those with exquisite natural resources. On the other hand, regions with different profile such as rural regions promoting green tourism, leisure and nature activities, the remote ones or undergoing industrial restructuring can also benefit from tourism growth (OECD, 1999) A focus on the factors that influence tourism development is also required in this respect, considering that, depending on the regional profile in terms of tourist attractions and economic situation, they might have a different significance within the corresponding strategies (Aghdaie and Momeni, 2011; Fletcher and Cooper, 1996). Thus, Crutch and Ritchie (2005) quoted by Koufodontis et al. (2007) place a special emphasis on the physical, economic and social factors embedded in the so-called regions image. Among them, the supporting factors and resources such as infrastructure, accessibility, facilitating resources (human, knowledge and financial capital), hospitality, and factors political will seem to play a special role. Only infrastructure alone, to mention one of them, is a multifaceted factor, with manifold implications. It is considered a component of the regional tourist product, comprising basic devices, buildings and service institutions of a major importance for economy and society. The main defining elements relating to a certain destination refer to accommodation facilities, gastronomy facilities, transport to destination, services for active leisure (e.g. ski resorts, sailing schools, golf clubs, etc.), retail network, other services (e.g. information, equipment rental companies, etc.) (Panasiuk, 2007). From a broader perspective, the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report prepared by the World Economic Forum (2011) has developed a complex, overall competitiveness index made of three main subindexes, namely regulatory framework, business environment and infrastructure and human, cultural and natural resources. Again, if reference is made to the business environment and infrastructure component, the corresponding subindex takes into consideration the following pillars: air transport infrastructure, ground transport infrastructure, tourism infrastructure, information and communication technical infrastructure, price competitiveness in travel and tourism industry. Consequently, the regional policy measures meant to improve the frame conditions for tourism development at regional and local level play a key role: they should constitute a coherent package, including economic, legal, institutional, infrastructure, cultural and social elements. The aim of the package must be the definition of a regional profile, stressing and taking advantage of specific feature of each local area (Funck and Kowalski, 1997). Based on these overall considerations our paper aims to discuss the tourism development factors proposing Romania as a relevant case study from two complementary perspectives: on the one hand, it displays an uneven regional development, which requires appropriate solutions in terms of regional strategies and policies; on the other hand the less developed regions have an important tourist potential, which might and should be turned to good account in order to reduce the gap separating them from the developed ones. Though, despite this potential the results are far behind the expectations, so that the study of the factors that still need a special consideration is highly required. In line with the results provided by the World Tourism Organization via the country ranking in terms of Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (Blanke and Chiesa, 2011), which indicate the weak infrastructure as one of the major obstacles for the development of the tourism in Romania, we have proposed and tested a model able to quantify and shed light on the regional disparities in this respect. Accordingly, the paper is organized as follows. First, a review on the tourism development in Romania is provided, emphasizing the disparities between its eight NUTS 2 regions. Second, a couple of econometric models are elaborated and tested in order to evaluate the impact of infrastructure on tourism activity, revealing the specific bottlenecks at regional level. Third, various solutions for tourism support, focusing on those able to surmount the infrastructure hurdle are discussed. 2. General discussion on tourism development in Romania The evaluation of Romanias tourist patrimony relies on a comprehensive activity of tourist zoning that was first developed in 1975-1977 and then periodically updated. Considering tourism as a system at national scale it has aimed at establishing a model for evaluating, constructing a hierarchy and proposing the most suitable ways of turning the tourist patrimony to good account. Multiple criteria have been used in order to delimit the tourist zones and to propose the priority actions in each specific case. As a result, a wide range of tourist zones have been identified, some of them of a particular importance to the European and worlds natural and cultural heritage. Thus, the natural patrimony includes the Delta of Danube as biosphere reservation, the Romanian shore of the Black Sea, the Romanian Carpathians, North Oltenia, Banat area, the Danube Valley, and so on. The most representative areas for the cultural heritage are North Moldova (with monasteries and churches declared worlds heritage by UNESCO), the medieval core of Brasov and Sibiu cities in Transylvania, the medieval fortress of Sighisoara also in Transylvania (the only one still inhabited in Europe), Bucharest and its surroundings, the Greek, Dacian and Roman archaeological sites in Dobrogea and Transylvania, the Neolithic archaeological sites in Moldova most of them located in extremely attractive areas from natural beauty viewpoint as well. More recently, the Spatial Planning of the National Territory has structured the zones of a major tourist potential into two categories, namely: (1) zones of a highly valuable and complex tourist potential (24% of the national territory), which includes national parks and biosphere reservations, protected national areas, cultural patrimony of national and international interest, museums and memorial houses, spa resources  [i]  ; (2) zones of a high tourist potential (34% of the national territory), with natural and cultural patrimony resources of especially national interest. An important characteristic of Romanias natural and cultural-historic patrimony is its relatively well-balanced territorial distribution that has a particular significance especially for the lagging regions, with other economic activities less developed. Based on its potential contribution to the general economic recovery, competitiveness and reduction of interregional disparities tourism is approached by all significant actors population included as one of the priority sectors of the Romanian economy. All governments after 1990 have included tourism development in their strategies, this interest being reflected by its privatization prior to other sectors  [ii]  . Though, the results recorded in the last fifteen years are far below the expectations: the rate of tourism growth is under the economic growth rate and the contribution of tourism to GDP is pretty low (2.3% in 2005 and approx. 2.0% in 2009 according to the methodology of the National Institute of Statistics  [iii]  .). According to the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index launched by the World Economic Forum in March 2007 Romania was ranked the 76th among 124 countries in 2006, with a score of 3.91 on a scale from 1 to 7. In 2011 the overall rank of Romania is 63, with a score of 4.17. With its three pillars referring to travel and tourism regulatory framework, business environment and infrastructure and human, cultural and natural resources, the index reveals relatively good results in terms of policy rules and regulations, price competitiveness in travel and tourism industry, human resources (education and training, workforce wellness), natural and cultural resources and quite poor results in terms of environmental regulation, air transport infrastructure, ICT infrastructure, availability of qualified labour. As a result, about Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index Romania is behind almost all former or current EU candidate countries such as Estonia (score 4.88 and rank 28), Czech Republic (4.77 and 35) , Slovakia (4.68 and 37), Hungary (4.54 and 40), Slovenia (4.64 and 44), Bulgaria (4.39 and 54), Poland 4.38 and 63), etc. and, respectively, Croatia (4.61 and 38), Turkey (4.37 and 52) (Source: The Travel Tourism Competitiveness Report 2011, World Economic Forum, Geneva, 2011). 3. Some comments on the number of departures and arrivals of international tourists in Romania Romanian tourism has seen important changes during the transition from planned economy to market economy. Table 1 presents a series of indicators calculated in order to characterize arrivals and departures of tourists in Romania during the period 1990 to 2010, and also during the political cycles in this period. Statistical indicators are computed on the total number of tourists and transport categories. Table 1. The dynamic of the arrivals and departures of tourists for Romania (%) Indicator Index/rhythm Time period for the indicator 1990-2010 1990-1992 1993-1996 1997-2000 2001-2004 2005-2010 Arrivals of tourists in Romania Total Index change 114.8 98.0 90.0 102.2 133.7 128.4 The average annual rate of change 0.7 -1.0 -3.5 0.7 10.2 5.1 Road transport Index change 161.0 131.5 94.5 98.9 149.1 133.4 The average annual rate of change 2.4 14.7 -1.9 -0.4 14.2 5.9 Railway transport Index change 9.5 48.0 49.0 110.6 64.7 72.8 The average annual rate of change -11.1 -30.7 -21.2 3.4 -13.5 -6.2 Air transport Index change 448.0 113.7 147.2 122.9 100.0 132.1 The average annual rate of change 7.8 6.6 13.8 7.1 0.0 5.7 Ship transport Index change 63.6 57.4 110.3 82.5 137.8 82.4 The average annual rate of change -2.2 -24.2 3.3 -6.2 11.3 -3.8 Tourists departures from Romania Total Index change 96.7 96.7 53.4 102.3 108.8 152.7 The average annual rate of change -0.2 -1.7 -18.9 0.8 2.9 8.8 Road transport Index change 98.6 114.4 46.5 107.6 118.2 137.9 The average annual rate of change -0.1 6.9 -22.5 2.5 5.7 6.6 Railway transport Index change 7.8 44.1 74.3 69.0 34.6 87.8 The average annual rate of change -12.0 -33.6 -9.4 -11.6 -29.8 -2.6 Air transport Index change 911.3 57.4 184.1 132.1 127.0 274.1 The average annual rate of change 11.7 -24.3 22.6 9.7 8.3 22.3 Ship transport Index change 16.8 24.8 144.0 82.7 38.3 51.4 The average annual rate of change -8.5 -50.2 12.9 -6.1 -27.3 -12.5 Figure 1. The ratio between the number of arrivals and departures of tourists in Romania during 1990 2010 During the period 1990 2010 the two indicators, departures and arrivals of tourists have evolved quite different. Over the period 1990 2010 the number of arrivals of tourists in Romania recorded an increase of 14.8% with an average annual rate of 0.7%. For the same period, departures of tourists fell by 3.3% with an average annual rate of -0.2%. Figure 1 shows the evolution of ration between the annual number of arrivals and departures of tourists for Romania in the period 1990 to 2010. The values à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹of this ratio for the entire period are subunit which shows that throughout the analyzed period, the annual number of tourist arrivals in Romania was lower than the number of tourists departures from Romania. During the analyzed period, the data series of the number of departures and arrivals of foreign tourists in Romania are non-stationary, and they are integrated of order 1. Table 2 presents the results of applying the ADF (Dickey and Fuller, 1979) and Philips-Peron (Philips and Peron, 1988) tests used to determine the properties of stationarity and to determine the order of integration of the two data sets. Table 2. Unit root tests Variables Dickey-Fuller Philips-Perron L trend trend 1 Yes Yes 0 No No 3 Yes Yes 2 Yes Yes The null hypothesis H0 is non-stationarity of the variable. For each case the statistics value is specified and statistical probability of a type I error in given between brackets. Here, N_DEP_T means the number of departures during a time period and N_ARRIV_T designates the number of tourist arrivals during the same period. The two tests indicate non-stationarity of the data series of the number of departures and arrivals of foreign tourists in Romania. These series are non-stationary in levels but are stationary in first difference which shows that the two series are I(1). Furthermore, arrivals are stationary around a deterministic trend, while departures dont have this property. These properties are confirmed by applying two statistical tests: ADF and PP. In the following we mention some of the most plausible explanation of these evolutions. Firstly, political changes in 1989 caused an increase in the number of Romanian tourists who went abroad in the first years that followed. Secondly, the accession to the European Union caused a considerable increase in the number of Romanian tourists who went abroad, this being an immediate consequence of the free movement within the European Union. The largest growth of Romanian tourists who went abroad occurred in the 2005-2010 period of time. During this period the average annual growth rate was 8.8%, this growth being the immediate result of the accession to EU starting on January 1, 2007. The number of Romanian tourists who went abroad in the first three years of accession was 23.8%, 46.78% and 31.6% higher compared with 2006. Thirdly, the evolution of the number of Romanian tourists went abroad was caused by an increase in the average wage in the economy. During the period 1990 2010 the average annual growth rate of the average wage in the economy was 0.82%. The most significant increase occurred in the periods 2001 2004 and 2005 2010 for which the annual average increases were 7.85% and 11.37%. Table 3 presents the results of the Granger test applied to determine if there is a Granger causal relationship between the number of departures and the evolution of the average wage in the economy (N_NAW). The results confirm that the evolution of the average wage in the economy Granger causally determined the number of Romanian tourists who went abroad. By applying this statistical test we also established that there is no Granger causality between the number of tourists departures and arrivals. Table 3. Granger causality analysis between the number of departures, number of arrivals, and average net wage in the economy. Hypothesis F statistics Decision N_DEP_T does not Granger Cause N_NAW 0.09994 N_NAW does not Granger Cause N_DEP_T 5.68426 N_DEP_T does not Granger Cause N_ARRIV_T 0.32140 There is no causal relationship between variables N_ARRIV_T does not Granger Cause N_DEP_T 0.57462 4. Features of regional tourism development One of the main reasons of this unsatisfactory overall image is the insufficiency and bad state of both general and tourism-specific infrastructure, unable to meet the requirements of a modern, internationally competitive tourism. Other disfavouring factors in the last fifteen years have envisaged the rigidity of tourism administrative structures, the social instability, the poverty which the majority of population is confronted with, the deficient supply of food, fuel and other goods absolutely necessary to a proper tourism, the low managerial competence and tourism personnels behaviour, the image of Romania abroad, various environmental damages. Some of these drawbacks have been partially alleviated as a result of including tourism development as one of the priorities of the National Development Plan since 1999 (when the first plan was launched) and, consequently, of supporting it via national budget as well as EU pre-accession instruments (e.g. Phare). The investment and management efforts in tourism made it possible to stop the decrease in the total activity volume of this sector recorded between 1990 and 2000 and an upward trend has been recorded starting from 2001. Table 4 shows the average annual rates of three important economic indicators used to characterize the tourism activity at national level and each of the eight development regions: accommodation capacity (AC), staying over night (SON) and arrivals (A). The annual average rates are calculated for 1990 2010 period of time, and the electoral cycles of this period: 1990-1996, 1997 2000, 2001 2004 and 2005 to 2010. Table 4. The evolution of the main indicators of tourism between 1990 and 2010 Region Accommodation Capacity (AC) (number of beds) 2010 Staying over night (SON) 2009 Arrivals (A) 2009 Indicator Average annual growth rate 1990-2010 1990-1996 1997-2000 2001-2004 2005-2010 North-East 21279 1509550 1509550 AC -0.80 -4.62 -2.42 0.41 2.60 SON -4.45 -10.88 -6.43 4.96 1.38 A -4.77 -11.05 -3.15 1.94 1.26 South-East 13687 4423728 4423728 AC -0.86 -3.13 0.20 -0.30 0.58 SON -3.65 -9.43 -4.59 4.45 1.09 A -5.92 -10.79 -3.66 -1.23 -3.68 South 22625 1674366 1674366 AC -0.86 -2.13 -1.88 1.80 0.30 SON -4.32 -9.95 -6.08 1.79 0.76 A -4.73 -10.19 -6.59 0.44 -1.89 South-West 16410 1441604 1441604 AC -2.34 -7.05 -3.68 -3.12 2.26 SON -5.27 -11.09 -8.98 2.24 2.31 A -5.29 -12.69 -1.84 -1.90 -2.60 West 23257 1676496 1676496 AC -0.56 -2.73 -0.85 -1.88 1.78 SON -4.48 -12.46 3.32 -0.33 1.82 A -4.58 -12.05 3.13 0.10 -2.24 North-West 26103 2098589 2098589 AC -0.54 -1.55 -1.18 -0.83 0.06 SON -3.72 -10.36 -3.32 5.40 -0.03 A -4.38 -12.56 0.16 1.61 -2.16 Centre 42029 2665298 2665298 AC -0.26 -3.15 -1.61 -0.27 3.45 SON -3.23 -7.74 -3.97 5.64 0.11 A -4.46 -10.14 -5.36 0.94 -1.07 Bucharest-Ilfov 23120 1835779 1835779 AC 2.99 -5.35 -3.84 7.49 15.55 SON -0.65 -8.67 -10.23 14.37 4.46 A -2.59 -11.97 -10.67 12.00 5.51 Romania 188510 17325410 17325410 AC -0.61 -3.20 -0.83 -0.30 1.92 SON -3.59 -9.86 -4.94 4.97 1.42 A -4.85 -11.20 -3.46 0.69 -1.46 Data source: NIS TEMPO 2011 and the authors processing of data; for SON and A the rhythms are calculated for the period 1990 to 2009. We highlighted the following aspects of the evolution of the considered indicators on national level and for the eight development regions on the 1990-201 period: the average annual growth rate of the accommodation capacity of 2.99%, was recorded only in the Bucharest Ilfov region, in all other regions it have declined between -0.26% annual average in the Central region and -2.34% in the South West region; at national level the decline was -0.61% on average each year; in all developing regions there has been an annual average decrease in the number of overnight stays over the whole period 1990 2009. The annual average decrease of this index value among regions ranged between -5.27% in South-West and -0.65% in the Bucharest-Ilfov region. Nationally there was a decrease in the annual average number of overnight stays of -3.59%; the number of arrivals over the 1990-2010 period decreased every year with an average of -4.85%. The annual average rate for the eight regions ranged from -5.92% in the South East region to 2.59% in the Bucharest Ilfov region; the most significant decrease for the three indicators in most regions were recorded during the first two election cycles between 1990 to 2000. Since the period 2001 2004 there is a noticeable stabilization and a relative increase of values à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹for the three indicators both at national and regional level. This tendency is correlated with the overall evolution of the Romanian economy, which has recorded an important economic growth during 2000-2008 period (annual growth rates were above 5%). During the 2001 2004 period the annual average GDP growth was 6.0% and for the period 2005 to 2010 it was 3.9%. The economic growth rate during 2005 2010 has been reduced significantly due to economic crisis that affected the Romanian economy in 2009 and 2010. In the period following the political changes of 1989 a reduction of the values à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹of above mentioned three indicators has been recorded at both national and regional levels because of the following reasons: the number of employees in the economy has significantly decreased and thus the number of employees who requested a ticket for rest and treatment by union decreased. In the planned economy era unions distributed a considerable number of tickets for rest and treatment to its members. Many times the employees right to such a ticket turns into an obligation to accept it. Under these conditions a large number of spa resorts have completely closed their accommodation capacities; a significant number of Romanians have preferred spending the holiday in other countries, mostly in Greece and Turkey; public road infrastructure and railways has not developed to the level required by Romanian and foreign tourists. The average annual increase in length of public roads during 1990 2010 was only 0.62%, and the length of railways was reduced on average by -0.25% annually. The accommodation capacity in use increased by 8.39% at national level as a result of the major increase in Bucharest-Ilfov region. Most of the other regions recorded smaller or bigger increases and only in the South region the accommodation capacity in use decreased. This is a result of the restructuring and modernization of the tourism capacity inherited from the communist period. The progress is visible in term of increase in the share of higher quality standard capacities (3-5 star capacities), especially after 2000 (Baleanu et. al., 2008) (Olteanu, 2011). As far as the distribution by region of the accommodation capacity is concerned, an important disequilibrium can be easily noticed between the South-East region and the rest of the country, which is explained by the high concentration in the Black Sea area (Secara, 2010). However, the use of the accommodation capacity in this area is characterized by a big seasonality. The number of arrivals and staying over night has recorded different evolutions: the number of arrivals increased whereas the number of staying over night decreased, especially in the seashore area. These figures not only reflect the increase of the weekend tourism but also the increase in the number of tourists who chose as seashore destinations other countries such as Bulgaria, Turkey, and Greece (Olteanu, 2011). The index of using the accommodation capacity has a slightly increasing overall trend, as a result of combining important decreases (especially in the Black Sea area and Bucharest), but it has a relatively low overall level: only approximately one third of the accommodation capacity is used (Table 5). Table 5. The index of using the accommodation capacity in function in 2007 compared with 2000 (percentage) Region 2000 2008 North-East 31.7 29.3 South-East 44.8 42.5 South 28.9 32.8 South-West 42.6 41.2 West 36.3 35.1 North-West 29.9 32.7 Centre 28.0 30.0 Bucharest-Ilfov 36.3 24.6 Romania 35.2 36.0 Source: Territorial Statistical Yearbook of Romania, 2009 Romanian tourism in general is still confronted with the outdated and insufficient infrastructure, unable to offer proper access to architecture monuments, archaeological sites, to meet the demand of parking lots, information points for cultural sites, belvedere points for defence walls, medieval fortresses, churches, monasteries, camping lots for pilgrims, etc. Also the connected facilities hotels, motels, restaurants, gas stations, car rental firms are still behind the demand. The transportation infrastructure is particularly weak in all its forms road, rail, naval and air, with an emphasis on road infrastructure: the highways are almost inexistent while the modernized roads are insufficient and concentrated especially around the Capital city (Table 6). Table 6. The density of public roads and modernized public roads (Km/100sq Km) in 2008 Region PR/100kmp MPR /100kmp North-East 36.6 9.34 South-East 30.7 6.64 South 36.5 11.79 South-West 36.5 12.56 West 32.1 9.17 North-West 35.4 8.39 Centre 31.4 8.17 Bucharest-Ilfov 48.9 36.37 Source: Territorial Statistical Yearbook of Romania, 2010 In almost all regions the public roads have a low density, whereas the modernized public roads represent less than one third out of total. The exception is the Bucharest-Ilfov region, where the density is higher than in the rest of Romania and the modernized public roads represent approximately 60% of the total length at country level. For comparison, in 1998, the density of public roads was 165.45 in Denmark, 64.75 in Germany, 51.29 in Sweden (referinta). The importance of public roads is explained by the fact that a big share of tourist activity in Romania is supported by road transportation. Thus, according to NIS da

The Brady Bunch :: essays research papers

THE BRADY BUNCH The word sitcom is short for Situation Comedy. A good sitcom story idea places the star (or supporting character) into a situation in need of a resolution, which will cause the character to respond in unexpected, exaggerated, and hugely sidesplitting ways (Rannow, pg. 13). A comedy now days are different from how they were in the 1960's and 1970's though. Today directors use sexual content and foul language to make people laugh and do not usually have a purpose or point to get across to the audience with each show. In earlier comedy, such as The Brady Bunch, Director Jack Arnold tried have a lesson learned in each episode while still maintaining a sense of humor, minus the foul language and sexual content. Although the show is not extremely funny to most people it is still a classic show that deserves to be remembered. The Brady Bunch tends to say that our society is corrupt in a way. It displays many problems that people deal with on a daily basis and expresses how they feel they should be fixed. The show tries to get across to the audience that even though there are some people out there that are not right in the head, you yourself still have to be. Mike Brady, the father always gives out these lessons. For example when Marcia's new boyfriend steals Greg's phony playbook for the football game, Mike tells Greg that in actuality, Greg would win the game by cheating himself, unless he confessed to Marcia's boyfriend and told him the truth. After doing so, Greg and his team prevailed as champions of that game. Although The Brady Bunch sends out loving vibes every episode, as the hippie's did at that time, it did in fact portray surprising violence in one memorable episode. A boy by the name of Billy continuously calls Cindy 'Baby Talk'; due to her lisp. One time Peter stands up for her and ends up getting punched in the eye. Mike Brady then teaches Peter how to fight in order to defend himself if the time comes. Sure enough the time came and Peter knocks the boy's teeth loose and he ends up having a lisp himself. After Cindy calls him 'Baby Talk'; though Peter sticks up for Billy and tells her not to tease him because she remembers how bad it felt to be teased herself.