Francis Scott Key and the "Star Spangled Banner" Research Paper

Francis Scott Key and the "Star Spangled Banner" - Research Paper Example Penned more than two hundred years ago, the Star Spangled Banner is hailed as America’s national anthem. Written at a time when the country was facing series of attacks from the British, the song does not hide its distaste for the enemy and its profound pride when the nation’s flag remained firmly etched on the ground after the war, a sign of victory. Although it is still regarded as a musical and iconic symbol of the country, critics have deemed the Star Spangled Banner as violent and overtly boastful. The question is: should the song be discarded as the national anthem for being violent and boastful? Since he was a prominent attorney at the time, Francis Scott Key was sent to negotiate the release of William Beanes from the British fleet at Baltimore. As part of the negotiations, Key and his allies presented British prisoners in exchange for Beanes. The deal was sealed; however, the British had one extra demand- Key and his allies were not to leave until they witnessed the destruction of Baltimore. They had no option but to oblige as the British ship was heavily guarded and they had no soldiers to redeem them from captivity. The ensuing battle between the British forces and Fort McHenry lasted for 25 hours. When Key saw the American flag was still standing the next day, he knew the British had been defeated. The victory stirred Key to write the Star Spangled Banner lyrics. On September 20, 1814, the Baltimore Patriots published the poem, christened as â€Å"Defence of Fort M’Henry†. The poem became a song once it was sung to the tune of a song belonging to the British Anacreontic Society known as â€Å"To Anacreon in Heaven†. The military adopted it to be their theme song during the First World War and subsequently, the congress and president Herbert Hoover raised it to the national anthem in 1931. (Maryland, n.d.) The Banner is a bone of

Community Service Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Community Service - Essay Example After liaising with the Imam, we agreed that the best time to do the cleaning was on Sunday at two o'clock. This was after the lunchtime prayers. With the help of my friends, I tried to clean everything in the mosque. Although the mosque was in relatively good condition when I started, I noticed that there were certain things needed to be improved. With the help of my parents and the savings I had, I managed to complete this task successfully. In the end, after I had made the renovations I thought would benefit the mosque, I organized a small party for all the worshippers. By engaging in this activity, I was able to gain firsthand experience in working with people. This is the main objective of this course whose main emphasis on experiential learning through community service. Engaging in community service helps an individual contribute to the society by offering the expertise and knowledge he has. This course emphasizes the need to offer such services without expecting payment or an y form of personal benefit. Community service is aimed at benefiting the larger society. I believe I managed to achieve these objectives by carrying participating in this activity. In the end, engaging in this activity was satisfying and made me feel appreciated by the community as the whole. Helping to clean the mosque helped to promote peace since a dirty environment can be a source of stress. Everyone at the mosque showed respect, and this was very inspiring to me and gave me the drive to do more in future.

Unilever Business Strategy

Unilever Business Strategy Jump to: SWOT Analysis of Unilever | Unilever BCG Matrix  |  Unilever PESTEL  | Unilever Financial Analysis | Unilever Competitors This is a case study on Unilever business strategy. It would seek to analyze the strategic position of the group with the help of SWOT, PEST and BCG Matrix models. The paper would critically assess the competitive situation of the company in relation to other major product based companies in the market and companys financial performance and key issues. In the end it would submit few recommendations. The case study is my first effort towards analyzing the business strategy of Unilever and its success in the market. Since Unilever is so famous and its products so widely used all over the world, it is of great interest for me to carry out a case study on its business strategy. The paper would greatly help me and the readers to understand some key issues concerning Unilever in todays business world. Introduction 2.1. About Unilever Unilever is a multi-national corporation, formed of Anglo-Dutch parentage that owns many of the worlds consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. Unilever employs nearly 180,000 people and had worldwide revenue of almost à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬40 billion in 2005. Unilever is a dual-listed company consisting of Unilever NV in Rotterdam, Netherlands and Unilever PLC in London, England. This arrangement is similar to that of Reed Elsevier and that of Royal Dutch Shell prior to their unified structure. Both Unilever companies have the same directors and effectively operate as a single business. The current non-executive Chairman of Unilever N.V. and PLC is Michael Treschow while P Mr Paul Polman is the Group Chief Executive. The company is widely listed on the worlds stock exchanges (About Unilever: 2008). 2.2. History Unilever was founded in 1930 through merger by the British, Lever Brother; and the Dutch, Margarine Unie; now Unilever PLC in London, U.K and Unilever N.V in Rotterdam, Netherlands respectively. In 1872 before the merger, Jurgens and Van den Bergh, the Dutch, built factory in Netherlands for the production of Margarine made from milk and fact. In 1927, they formed Margarine Unie (margarine Union) together with two European Businesses, Centre and Schicht. Lever Co on the other hand was founded in 1884 by British William Hesketh Lever and his brother, James, and was producing soap Sunlight soap for people in England especially for women. William Lever wrote: to make cleanliness commonplace; to lessen work for women; to foster health and contribute to personal attractiveness, that life may be more enjoyable and rewarding for the people who use our products. In 1890, Lever Co become limited company known as Lever Brothers (Uhomhoabhi, Fredrick Albert: 2008) Unilever, Unilever N.V and Unilever PLC comprise Unilever group. Both companies have the same directors. Its annual turnover in 2005 was à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬39.672 billion and employs206, 000 employees around the world.1 Unilever brands consist of Food, Beverage, and Home and Personal Care. Some of these products are Knorr, Breyers and Magnum, Lipton, Omo (detergent) etc. Knorr has the biggest sales of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬2.3 billon in 2005.In May 2007 it became the first tea company to commit to sourcing all its tea in a sustainable manner, asking the Rainforest Alliance, an international environmental NGO, to start certifying its tea estates in East Africa. It declared its aim to have all Lipton Yellow Label and PG Tips tea bags sold in Western Europe certified by 2010, followed by all Lipton tea bags globally by 2015. Covalence, an ethical reputation ranking agency, placed Unilever at the top of its ranking based on positive versus negative news coverage for 2007. In 2008 Unilever was honor ed at the 59th Annual Technology Engineering Emmy Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Advanced Media Technology for Creation and Distribution of Interactive Commercial Advertising Delivered through Digital Set Top Boxes for its program Axe. Strategic position of the company The strategic position of the company shall be analyzed through following techniques: 3.1. S.W.O.T Analysis The overall evaluation of a companys strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats is called SWOT analysis. In general, a business unit has to monitor key macro environment forces (demographic-economic, technological, political-legal, and social-cultural) and significant microenvironment actors (customers, competitors, distributors, suppliers) that affect its ability to earn profits. The business unit should set up a marketing intelligence system to track tends and important developments. For each trend or development, management needs to identify the associated opportunities and threats. (S)trengths Recognized as a global company. Strong brand portfolio. Strong relationship with retailers Economies of scale. Corporate social behavior Variety of products (W)eaknesses Dual leadership Limited costumer connection Inefficient management of brands Inability to maximize acquisitions Lack of control in the market Reduced spending on RD (O)pportunities Changing consumer preferences Increasing need for healthy products Low income consumers Rapid increase in population (T)hreats Decrease in revenue Strong competition(PG) Tougher business climate Exchange rates Economic crisis Increase in production and labor cost 3.2. BCG Matrix Stars(High market growth share) Lux Sunsilk Walls ice cream Fair lovely Rafhan Energile AXE Vasline PG tips Dogs(Low market growth share) Wheel detergent Supreme tea Lifebuoy shampoo Cash cows(Low growth High share) Surf excel Ponds Lipton Close up Blue band Dove soap Rexona Knorr Question marks(High growth low share) Clear shampoo Rin Comfort Ben Jerrys Persil 3.3. PESTEL Analysis 3.3.1. (P)olitical/Legal environment Unilever, as a matter of policy, set a standard as to the way of tackling political issues. Unilever has its tactical way of handling political issues. First, in the 1960s, many countries began to nationalize foreign firms which also affected Unilever. This was a call for local equity participation in foreign firms. Thus, so many companies were subject to local control on prices, imports, employment of expatriates and so on. As a result of the adverse effect of nationalization policy, in the 1970, many US companies e.g. IBM and coca cola left India. There was fear by foreign companies uncertain issues such as knowledge leakage, loss of trademark etc. this was also hazardous for Unilever as its control over operation in the market was reduced. For example UAC, a subsidiary of Unilever, whose operation was in many African countries (Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, etc.), was focused on as its profit margin and rate of easy remittance of profit to its Anglo-Dutch parent was enorm ous. Nationalizing UA Chambered Unilevers control over the market where UAC operates. However, Unilever uses its experience and goodwill to make contacts in many countries to bargain with government so as to modify their regulations. In central and south America, Unilever only engaged in lobbying rather than active politicking. In other words, Unilever never get involved in sponsoring political parties. Today, Unilever has gained political ground using its tactical strategy and experience. Unilever is a member of many organizations all over the world. The aim is to create favorable business environment, and also facilitate corporate reputation management. 3.3.2. (E)conomic environment Unilever market environment is becoming highly competitive especially in the Western Europe. Procter Gamble (PG) is one of the major competitors in the European market. More so, there are so many discounters in the European market resulting from EU free trade policy. This has had adverse effect on Unilevers profit potentials. Retailers are pressurizing FMCG producers to reduce prices of their products. Consumers on the other hand would not want to buy expensive product or brands due to current economic tide. Competition in EU has grown so strong that Unilever is facing difficulties in places like France, Netherlands. In the developing countries and the emerging economies (Asia and Africa), where there are political instability, Unilever has adopted its company strategy to ensure that its profitability drive is sustained. Some Products are packaged in small size for low or regular income earner, for affordability. In some developing countries, Nigeria to be precise, there was uncertainty about duties to be paid by companies due to inflation and fluctuation of currency. The effect on Unilever was a decrease in profit in 2005 compared to 2004, though there was increase in turnover. 3.3.3. (S)ocio-cultural environment Unilever has continued to maintain momentum in its socio-cultural environment in line with its sustainability drive. The company is working relentlessly to bring improve hygiene and better nutrition to people in Asia, Africa and Latin America, especially the poor and obesity. Over 30% of Africa population lives on less than $1 per day. By this, Unilever strengthens it goodwill. However, the low literacy of consumers affects marketing vehicles such as advertisement in print media. This therefore requires employment of more resources, for instance to enhance face-to-face communication. Besides, Unilever employs about 100 nationalities. It ensures that diversity works for everybody both employees and consumer alike. In order to achieve and ensure that diversity works amongst employees, Unilever employed the strategy of so as to manage and leverage diversity. Unilever is focused on building an exclusive culture and embracing difference, which resulted in high demand of its products in th e developing and emerging markets. 3.3.4. (T)echnological environment Right in the 1930s, Unilever continue to diversify. Business continue to boom in the1950s with new technology being invented to boast production and enhance quality products for consumer, competitors improving their products using new inventions. Unilever did not give up its effort in RD. Since 2000, Unilever has been spending on IT to improve its business especially in the area of e-business so as to improve brands communication and market through internet, making transaction simple along chain. Today, Unilever is trying to minimize cost through IT efficiencies at global level. In addition, Unilever Technology Venture works in collaboration with Unilever RD group to help Unilever meet consumers needs. Area of concern is genomics, advanced bioscience, advanced materials science and nanotechnology. In 2003, Unilever installed and commissioned pallet live storage system from Bitto Storage System Ltd. This was meant to store its frozen products. The facilities include: pallet live storage systems, carton live storage systems, pallet racking, boltless shelving, plastic bins and containers, wide span and heavy load shelving, cantilever racking, and multi-tier shelving systems. 3.3.5. (E)nvironment In recognition of local legislation and to keep its corporate responsibilities, Unilever designed management system. Unilever has respect for consumer health and safety. This policy is to ensure all Unilever operators establish a formal environmental management system. Training programs are being arranged in various regions/business groups to ensure compliance with the company Standard for Occupational Health and Safety Environmental Care (SHE). This framework is based on the ISO 14001 management standard. Unilever had also worked in conjunction with government of countries of its operation as regards waste management. For instance in Ghana, 2004, over 21 tones of wastes were supplied to small and medium size recycling businesses in Accra, Ghana, by Unilever to reduce the amount of plastic waste sent to landfill. Financial performance Underlying sales growth of 7.4% was partly offset by movements in exchange rates (4.8%) and the net impact of disposals and acquisitions (1.4%). Including these effects, turnover was 40,523 million for the full year, increasing by 0.8%. Operating profit increased by 1,922 million to 7,167 million, including a higher level of profits on business disposals. These generated a pre-tax profit of 2,190 million in 2008, compared  with 297 million in 2007. Net profit was 28% higher than last year, boosted by the profits on disposals. Earnings per share were à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬1.79, including a net gain of 0.36 from  RDIs. This compared with 1.35 last year, which included a net loss of 0.07 from RDIs. Net cash flow from operations at 3.9 billion was in line with last year. Total cash returns to shareholders in the year were 3.6 billion, made up of 2.1 billion of dividends and 1.5 billion of share buy-backs. 4.4. Financial Objectives Unilevers ambition is to top Third Total Shareholder Return, over a 3 year rolling period out of peer group of 20 other companies. Its outlook for year 2010 is: Un-geared free cash flow in the period 2005-2010 to be 25-30bn. Improvement in Return on Invested Capital. Underlying sales growth of 3-5% p.a. Operating margin of over 15% by 2010 after normal restructuring. Improved capital and tax efficiency. Market share and competition 5.3. Category position in the market Strategic Issues Following are some of the key strategic issues which Unilever faces today: 6.1. Leadership Unilever maintains two business entities i.e. Unilever PLC and Unilever N.V. Due to dual chairperson approach; it faces following problems in their business strategy: List stock separately Shared board of directors Typical management; wear two, three hats Conflict in Board and Business responsibilities Company remains fragmented Reduced effectiveness Slow decision making process( Bureaucracy) Unilever believer (believe in Unilever) Unilever should create a sense of belief amongst its consumers. It should try and focus on program that focuses on brand initiative to the consumers. Use advertising that connects with consumer needs: Consumers demand high quality products that are both convenient and delicious Consumers look for new ways to use the product Large population of single parent house hold More females are working full-time jobs Increase consumer focus on health and nutrition Strategy Justification 7.1. Recommendation 1 Make an initiative to create an overall umbrella brand across all Unilevers brands that will eventually consolidate various businesses under one name. Unilever Plc Unilever NV One Unilever Provides a greater clarity of leadership, responsibility, and accountability Allows Unilever to focus on the needs of their customers and consumers thus reigniting growth and increasing sales potential Provides the ability to leverage scale of operations Create a strategic platform for brand management Recommendation 2 It should implement Unilever Believer product and brand extensions. The related example in this case is of Lipton tea. It should try and create an extension to this famous brand by focusing on energy drinks. Justifications are: Energy drinks jumped 56% in sales last year Market has exceed $100 million in the recent years Main Competitor: Red Bull Positioning Statement: A Healthier Alternative to Energy Drinks Unilever should cash in this opportunity by: Target Market: Young adults 18-32 Uses: stay up all night and/or start a night out Main Ingredients: Caffeine, Vitamin B, Guarana Advertisements: Highlight healthier ingredients of the product while showcasing its ability to give energy and revitalize body

Capital Punishment Essay - The Death Penalty in Canada and the USA :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

The Death Penalty in Canada and the USA The death penalty, also referred to as capital punishment, has been abolished in Canada since 1976, but still exist in a few American States. The last execution in Canada took place in 1962. I disagree with the death penalty for several reasons. My first reason is that I find it extremely inhumane to take someone's life in order to demonstrate the power of the law. Another reason for my disapproval of the death penalty, is the amount of money that it takes to put someone to death, as it would cost the same to keep an inmate in jail for life, as it would to put that same inmate to death. My third and final reason, is the guilty conscience that is placed on everyone involved: the jury who convicted the accused to death; the witnesses to the execution; and the jail warden who must give out the execution; and the person who pulls the switch or induces the poison. Early societies were based on a simple code of law: "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth". Today, now that our society has become more advanced, we do not function by this ancient code of punishment. For example, we do not rape the rapist's daughter; we do not kidnap the kidnapper's children; but if the death penalty were permitted, we would " kill the killer". So why, as educated citizens, would we want to lower ourselves to this level? Do we feel that we need to show the power of the police force by killing the killers? The death penalty is extremely barbaric and is often botched in order to let the accused suffer for several minutes. Society by now must realize that two wrongs certainly do not make a right. You do not show society anything, by killing the killers, except your ignorance for human life and well being. Some thought has been that if you do "kill the killer", it will deter others from committing such a terrible crime. However, murder rates in Canada have remained the same and there is no significant difference when comparisons are made of those States who still have the death penalty. A widely publicized execution might reduce homicides, but only for a brief period. Therefore, I do not feel that Canada should permit such a deplorable undertaking of a human life. I know they must be punished, but there is a better way. Prior to putting someone to death, the accused's lawyer will attempt

Knowledge and Understanding of “the Human Seasons” Essay

The poem â€Å"The Human Seasons† is a poem by John Keats is a poem John Keats wrote to a friend in a letter. â€Å"The Human Seasons† is a fourteen line English sonnet with twelve lines in the beginning followed by two final lines at the end. The poem has rhymes however the whole poem is neither uniform nor consistent throughout. The first four lines rhyme in an ABAB pattern. The second rhyme can be found between line six and eight. The Third rhyme can be found between nine and eleven and the final rhyme is in the last two lines, line thirteen and fourteen. All these rhymes are different, however they do share one thing in common the rhyming pairs all have one line in between to separate them. Another pattern that can be found in the poem is an iambic pattern. In pattern flows with the human blood flow making it easy to read. These patterns construct the bases that show the amount of thought John Keats put into the poem to express himself. The speaker we assume is John Keats himself since this poem was used in a letter to a friend from John Keats. The intended audience is the recipient of the letter, but now the poem is shared to all. In the poem John Keats is comparing the two different natural process, the four seasons of a natural year and the stages of human life. The season become metaphors for the various feelings and thoughts humans experience in the various phases of one’s life. The tone is serious as John Keats is expressing his thought on the topics of the natural human process. This serious tone can be felt from the diction since the John Keats choses to use formal language to write this poem. â€Å"The Human Season† is an example of John Keats ability to put a lot of thought in a fourteen line poem. The patterns and thoughts expressed in the poem are densely compressed but not too much that makes it hard on the reader to understand the topics and the expression of the speaker. One can really appreciate this with the careful analysis to see how much work John Keats puts into a short fourteen lines.

Health Care Solutions Case Study Answers Essay

1.Assess the current strategy of HCOS toward its most critical market (mid-sized physician office). The current strategy of HCOS towards mid-sized physician’s offices is to increase their market share and profits by expanding the operation to the point that HCOS is nearly everywhere that there are mid-sized physician’s offices. This â€Å"increased market share by expansion† approach has worked for the most part. They have expanded operations to cover almost all main cities in the United States and thereby acquired a considerable portion of the market share in the third- party (small to mid-sized) physician’s office management industry. The pillars of HCOS’s approach to acquiring and retaining clients are to deliver superior customer service along with a high quality of products and services. This was a good strategy in part. The expansion strategy has worked by enabling HCOS to gain more customers. However, HCOS has recently noticed slowed growth and the loss of new business at an increasing rate. Their competitors are winning contracts over them. Their client’s feedback is that their once superior levels of customer service (competitive edge) have declined. 2.Can you offer any suggestions on how HCOS can improve its relationships with existing customers and develop new business opportunities more effectively? It is clear that with the expansion of their operations, HCOS has lost the high level of customer service that they were delivering to their clients when they were smaller. A couple of theories need to be examined in further detail to come to an accurate conclusion that can be acted upon. As the physician’s offices have grown they have incrementally required more and more from HCOS’s sales people. It is possible that the current sales force is spread too thin to cater to the increased needs of priority customers along with those of the rest of the region including new contracts. If this is the case, one possible solution is to hire more sales people to cover the gaps. At this point, HCOS has a solid core of experienced salespeople (more expensive salary) they can deviate from the previous hiring model and hire good sales people that do not have a healthcare background (less expensive salary) which can be mentored by the existing sales force. Another theory that needs to be examined is whether or not the experienced sales force has simply become complacent making 80k per year on average and have reduced their attention to customer service and to acquiring new contracts. If this is the case, the sales people that have become complacent need to be put on notice by hiring new salespeople and possibly reassigning existing accounts to those who earn them based on merit, such as those who acquire the most new accounts within a year or those who receive the most accolades for excellent levels of customer service from their clients.