Love is Love and Nothing Less Essay Example for Free

Love is Love and Nothing Less Essay In reflecting on my life as a child, adolescent, and adult, I have experienced love and lack of love on many occasions in the relationships I’ve experienced with others. To me, love is something that is present or is not present and cannot be split into various differing forms. I have never met the perfect, most ideal person who has loved me unconditionally, unendingly, and without interruption. The closest I’ve come to the ideal love has been through my religion, my spirituality, in my faithful relationship with God and Jesus Christ. However, even in this relationship, I have had my doubts, even if Jesus Christ, God, has never had them, so in this case as well, love has been interrupted. However, many of my relationships have incorporated loving actions, and it saddens me to recall the situations when love has been absent and hatred has crept into its place. Robert Sternberg has an interesting theory in regard to his attempt to separate out love and dissect it into varying forms, however, it is obvious that he often misses the mark in regard to what love means. The two categories which I consider to be rational evaluations of the presence or lack of presence of love are Sternberg’s two categories of nonlove and consummate love. To me, it’s always either one or the other, and one cannot assume to have a portion of love but not really, as if love has a grey area. In assuming that love has a grey or midrange area, one has to admit believing that badness mixes with good or that right and wrong are somehow united in a mesh of reality, however, in my opinion, good and good and bad is bad, wrong and right are separate, and ethics has to assume a position in regard to defining a loving way of being or loving action. Sternberg assumes that liking someone is only intimacy, devoid of passion and commitment, and in my opinion, this is illogical, as many loving relations with other people who I’ve considered friends or strangers, people who I’ve liked, have contained passion and commitment as well. Loving actions are filled with many aspects, and liking a person includes love, passion, commitment, respect, kindness, and many other values. To like someone most certainly includes having passion and commitment towards this other person. If we as a community and culture don’t have passion, commitment, and intimacy towards all members, then something is surely going wrong. Perhaps Sternberg is trying to imply that relationships with one’s spouse or family members are in some ways different from other relationships? If this is so, then he should focus on the unique attributes of playing the role of wife, son, father, or friend, and not focus on attempting to separate love into differing categories. The way one loves a person may vary, but love itself is constant. The idea that infatuation, fatuousness, or emptiness has anything to do with love is also unreasonable. How can love itself incorporate anything negative? Obsession, falsity, and voidance are certainly not aspects of love, passion, intimacy, or commitment. Has there ever been a time when being loving and kind to another person has incorporated elements of negativity? In and of itself, love is positive. It raises people up and makes them feel wonderful. In Sternberg’s attempt to triangulate love into three arenas, intimacy, passion, and commitment, he attempts to inject love with a poison of hatred or malevolence. If love is always good natured and good acting, then love cannot be split apart. People may, at times, at many times, cease to treat one another lovingly, cease to demonstrate the goods of intimacy, passion, and commitment, but that is simply the fault of the person and not an aspect of love itself. It is refreshing that Sternberg categorizes some of his love categories positively and not negatively, such as liking, romantic, companionate, and consummate, however this does not adequately explain or do justice to the fact that his other four supposed categories of love, nonlove, infatuated, empty, and fatuous are negatively termed. In my opinion, nonloving, infatuated, empty, and fatuous ways of behaving are part of hatred or evil and absent of love. If love is the right action in the right time and place with the right person, then love is fully good and absent of any mistakes. When Sternberg attempts to justify a divorce by claiming that the reason for the divorce is that one or both of the partners were loving one another, just loving one another differently, then he has certainly fallen prone to bad logic (Sternberg, 331). A divorce or a split is never caused by love, but rather by hateful or wrong actions by one person against another. It may be difficult to voice and communicate these wrong actions, however, a split, a lack of love, cannot be caused by love itself, but rather only by its absence. Although love shown towards one person or another may by expressed differently from one situation and person to the next, love itself is never aversive, yet rather uniting. The only culprit of divorce is the person behaving in nonloving ways. Sandelands very adequately states that the business of business is the human person. Everything that people do, everything that people were created by God to do, involves the spirit of the human person. Anyone believing that actions are just actions, that business is just business, devoid of the human person, has lost touch with the meaning of the high moral element of right action (93). In my own life, there have certainly been times when I acted in unloving ways towards other people, when I was empty of goodwill, false in my intentions. I remember lying to my mother, hurting my sisters, screaming at my father. My past boyfriends were often disgusted by my lack of fidelity. My daughter and husband are equally reviled by my bad manners when I overeat or eat sloppily. However, I also thankfully know that I have exuded love towards others. My father, mother, and sisters enjoyed it when I created a restaurant at home and cooked for everyone. My past boyfriends were often amused by my sense of humor in playfully lightening the moment. The caresses and kind words I offer to my husband and daughter are filled with benevolence, peace, and goodwill. It is in the interests of the whole of society to recognize that â€Å"caring as a virtue and an act of ethics is †¦ a natural †¦ point of view inseparably related to love as a universal †¦ value† (Arman Rehnfeldt, 4). When a person decides to love another person, any other person, then one consciously decides to do well towards another person and to not do badly toward another person. The sense that there is any type of human inaction proves false the fact that the universe is in constant motion. Every act or ceasing to act is directly related to cause and effect and can be categorized as fruitful or harmful. Although my mother may believe that being silent towards me is effectively loving and appropriate, I may believe that she does not love me. However, if I change my point of view and see that she is simply being silent and loving me by doing so, we come into agreement with one another and I cease to be negatively resistant to her goodwill. Also, if I loudly kiss my husband and he believes that I’m being sarcastic or hateful towards him, then I may very well be being sarcastic toward him in my actions. However, if I am aiming to love him in my kiss, then he himself is being paranoid for believing that I am not. We human beings are such sensitive creatures and it is often difficult to recognize and show love, however, the clear definition of love as a positive, ethical, valuable, and universal presence is vital in being able to correctly identify, demonstrate, and evoke loving actions. Erikson, a leader in the study of psychosocial human development, believes that people moving through the stage of young adulthood will pass through a phase of either attaining intimacy with a romantic partner or a friend or failing to achieve intimacy and becoming isolated (Goodman Mukulincer, 396). Although intimacy is important throughout the entire life of a person, perhaps it is good to note that young adulthood is primarily the time when people are selecting romantic partners and mates. Despite the fact that people from about puberty onwards toward death may seek romance with another person, many people on the search for romance are indeed young adults. However, it is very important, as in the case with Sternberg’s theory, not to box people in too much. Erickson’s ideas about intimacy and other issues related to life development are valid and worthy of consideration, but human beings crave and need intimacy from birth until death. Romantic love may be a special kind of love involving sexuality and more physical and deep interaction, reserved for one’s mate and life partner, however, love in general is necessary for every person, from conception until natural death. It would be good for people to open their hearts and minds up to the constancy of love and to make it a personal life goal or a life decision to work on demonstrating true self giving loving acts to everyone around them. Even though love may look different in varying situations between varying people, the underlying genuine goodwill is always there, love as a purposeful gift of positive and uplifting interaction. References Arman, M. Rehnsfeldt, A. (2006). The Presence of Love in Ethical Caring. Nursing Forum 41(1), 4-12. Goodman, G. Mikulincer, M. (2006). Dynamics of romantic love: attachment, caregiving, and sex. Guilford Press. Sandelands, L. (2009). The Business of Business is the Human Person: Lessons from the Catholic Social Tradition. Journal of Business Ethics 85, 93-101. Sternberg, R. Triangulating Love. The Altruism Reader, 331-333.

Educational attainment vary with childrens social class

Educational attainment vary with childrens social class   Increased diversity in our educational institutions as a result of modern globalisation has led to many different racial and linguistic backgrounds integrating together in schools. The impact on the British education system has thus seen a rise in the influx of children from different ethnic backgrounds. Despite the implementation of various policies to ensure that every child, regardless of ethnicity, social class and gender, has the access to the best education, the debate around inequality in education has still focused on the evidence of the underachievement of particular racial groups in our education system. The debate is a very complex one, and it requires looking at how each three variables interlink, since any one alone cannot account for the variation. This paper will attempt to discuss them, whilst critically analysing why and how they play such a critical role on an individual childs educational attainment, and whether or not it should concern us as practitioners.   The underperformance of certain ethnic minority children, in particular black African-Caribbean pupils, is well documented in the Swann Report (1985), which highlighted how this group of children perform consistently worse compared to their counterparts. The report also recognised that teacher racism, low expectations and stereotyping contribute to poorer performance. Indeed, pupils themselves in the report cited that there tended to be an emphasis on physical ability rather than academic, and thus felt stereotyped that they were only any good for their sports abilities. Institutional racism can play a vital role in the breakdown of rapport between teacher and pupil, which would almost certainly affect their educational attainment. Wright (1992) found in his observational research that children of African-Caribbean heritage saw their typical schooling experience as one of high teacher expectation for poor behaviour, high incidences of teacher disproval, criticism and control. Sim ilarly, Gillborn (1990) supports these findings, by highlighting how children in his study felt they were singled out for criticism, even though several pupils of different ethnic origins were engaged in the same behaviour. White students at the school confirmed these observations on unfair and frequent criticism. Thus, discrimination may influence how a child is treated within the educational institution and therefore may impede their learning opportunities within the classroom. Indeed, Sewell (1997) sought to focus on the interactions between teachers and African-Caribbean pupils with particular regard to the constructs of black masculinity and the tensions around their heritage. He found that the teachers in the survey displayed more control and criticism of these compared to other ethnic groups. Moreover, general staff views were negative. There was a high teacher expectation for challenges to teacher authority and inappropriate behaviour. Sewell (1997) concluded that there was a failure to deliver an inclusive curriculum, and to tackle institutional racism. This evidence clearly shows how a childs ethnic background can contribute to a negative learning environment which can affect their chances of performing well at school. Furthermore, Rutter et al (1999) extends this view by arguing that the notion of resistance is responsible for their underachievement; he argues that since the education system is dominated by white, middle-class male teachers, some black boys resist their efforts, and do not want to be taught by them, this negative perception creates the divide between the teacher and the pupil. Equally, as the report stated, some institutional racism on behalf of the teacher may also occur that can limit the crucial teacher-pupil rapport being built and consequent opportunities for learning. Additionally Moore et al (2001) continues to discuss how African-Caribbean males respond with aggression, and reject the education system primarily due to the do mination of white pupils. This adverse view, results in children trying to make an attempt to gain status and recognition through other means, for example through anti-social behaviour. Similar to the African-Caribbean males, those of Indian origin also revert to exhibit their anger, however rather than rejecting the educational system they use it to its advantage and proceed on to succeed. (Moore et al 2001).   Franklin (1998) argues that some institutional factors cause attainment to vary by ethnicity. He argues how school assessments are based on culturally biased tests, which are written primarily in English, leading to poor results and unsuitable intervention and overrepresentation in special educational needs. Although the Framework for the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs in England and Wales (DfEE, 1994) warns against blurring special needs with special educational needs, and the need for assessment tools to be culturally neutral for a range of ethnic groups, Franklin argues that it is bland and general and not in enough detail. Moreover, Franklin and Franklin (1998) argue that the IQ definition is biased against bilingual children. In their study they found that bilingual children scored lower standardised reading scores on prose tests as opposed to single writing. They concluded that these children were less able to take advantage of the context in the prose test than the predominantly monolingual group on whom it had been standardized. It instead focused on higher order processing skills for example comprehension rather than spelling which is not confounded by higher order processing skills. Indeed, this would affect the educational attainment chances of some of the ethnic minority children such as Bangladeshi. Indeed, children with Bangladeshi origin are the worst performing group of children across all four Key Stages. Strand (2008) highlights how these children tend to fall behind at Key Stage 2 assessments, and then continue to fall behind as the children enter Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4. It is interesting to note that even when accounting for other socio-economic factors, for example the free schools meals proxy for disadvantage that these children still tend to perform worse. Moreover, Strand (2008) also highlights how by the end of Key Stage 4, Chinese and Indian children actually overtake middle-class White children in the attainment league tables. It is therefore clear that there are other factors influencing why these children perform at a disadvantage to their peers, not ethnicity alone. Family factors such as family ethics may attempt to shed light on the reasons why some children are more involved at school than others. For example, the level of parental engagement with the school certainly varies between ethnic and social class group. Crozier (1996) conducted a case study of the experiences of a group of black parents in relation to their childrens schools. Although he found that many had educational knowledge and awareness of the school system, there remained a dissonance between these parents and the school. Indeed, parents are the first educators, and the most effective way of communicating with them as practitioners is to initiate a firm base of trust and openness, especially true for children with English as an additional language, since much more information is required from their pare nts in order to create fluidity across both the school and home settings. However, since Bangladeshi families face additional barriers presented to their community, since they are not as long established and therefore less fluent, this has a great influence on their childrens education. Furthermore, data from the National Child Development Study (Sacker et al 2002) highlighted how if the social class is high, then educational attainment tends to be high, however the strongest factor was parental engagement. Given that some parents are harder to reach than others; for reasons other than simply language barriers, may attempt to explain why their input into their childrens education is limited. Indeed, Harris and Chrispeels (2006) argue that certain ethnic and social groups are less likely to engage in their childs education and the school in which they attend.   The Berkow Report (2008) highlighted that children from a low socioeconomic background will have difficulties at school. Given the reality that the UKs minority ethnic groups as a whole are more likely to be in poverty than the population at large (Craig, 2002); coupled with the fact that they tend to get placed in housing in low socio-economic areas, provides a prediction towards their educational achievement. The impact of attending a disadvantaged school contributes to it also, due to uneven funding and allocation of resources. The Excellence in Cities scheme has helped to reduce low achievement through focusing on poor schools in areas of serious disadvantage. Moreover, the Narrowing the Gap (NFER, 2008) focuses on improving the home learning environment, which is essential for improving   childrens behaviour, wellbeing and later educational achievement (Sylva et al, 2004). Although the difference within social class has been a dominant feature in education, the government has tried to narrow the gap by introducing a number of initiatives from an early age, such as The Every Child Matters (2003) agenda, Sure Start schemes, and The Early Years Foundation Stage. Yet, the gap remains. Moore et al (2001) indicates that high performance in educational attainment is inclined by ones social status in society. He states that those with a lower social status are materially deprived, with less money to use, therefore are unable to use education to their full advantage. Moreover, the fact that black children attend lower quality schools on average is identified by Fryer and Levitt (2004). They argue that higher levels of free school meals, litter and gang culture makes for a more disadvantaged learning environment, as opposed to middle-class predominantly white schools. They also argue that these children lose ground to white children over the summer period as a c onsequence of a worse neighbourhood environment. Furthermore Douglas (1971) indicates that the most important factor in a child excelling through education is the parental interest given in a childs daily life at school. However, ethnicity has strong associations with the incidence of social class and poverty through different household structure, and child-rearing practices. For example, birth rates for Bangladeshi and Pakistani families are higher than the UK white population; therefore larger families need more money. Moreover, there is less individual attention on the child in these families. Barn (2006) explored the views and experiences of parents in key areas for example family support and education. The findings showed that minority ethnic family life is complex. Most parents wished to be involved in their childrens education, regardless of ethnic background and social class. Black and Asian parents in particular placed an enormous importance on the value of education which was less prominent among white. This places a tension on the reality of the educational achievements of such minority groups.   The reasons for this are complex. Strand (2008) focuses on socio economic classification on linguistic attainment to try and account for the gap. Through analysing data from the Youth Cohort Longitudinal Study, he highlights how children from high classified groups have a vocabulary 50% more than working class children, and 100% more of those on welfare. Since 50% of all African Caribbean births are to single women (Somerville, 2000) they are more susceptible to material deprivation, thus fewer learning opportunities. Indeed, a high quality home learning environment is essential for raising attainment highlighted through the EPPE project (Sylva, 2004). Clearly, any attempt to understand ethnic differences in the involvement/achievement link must first take into account the influence of socio-economic status. Ethnicity alone does not account. Ross and Ryan (1990) have documented that children can pick up and absorb racist values from early as three years old. They argue that positive self esteem is directly related to attainment, so it is vital that we are concerned as practitioners to raise their self esteem from an early age and promote inclusion of all racial backgrounds, regardless of their social class and gender. If a child feels they are worthless their self esteem decreased which affects their academic attainment (Purkey, 1970). It is clear to see that the Government recognises the disadvantages of children from particular ethnic backgrounds, through looking at the specific projects launched to help certain ethnic minority children, for example the Excellence in Cities scheme, and the Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant (EMAG). Moreover, the launch of the Aiming High: DfES National pilot project to Raise Levels of Attainment for African-Caribbean pupils was launched in 2003 with the aim of maximising levels of achievement. Such focus leads one to respond that indeed, educational attainment is affected by ethnicity, and therefore, as discussed, social class. The issue of gender also throws a complex light onto academic performance. On the whole, females tend to perform better than males academically, yet for Black African-Caribbeans, both male and female fall behind, compared to any other ethnic group (Strand, 2008).This therefore, seems to suggest that this particular ethnic group is underperforming for another reason, such as the reasons given above. The issues surrounding gender performance and achievement are complex, affecting different sub-groups of boys and girls in different ways, often reflecting the influence of class and ethnicity. The traditional criterion for monitoring the school system has been the proportion of students securing five or more A* to C grades in public examinations at 16-plus. Since the late 1980s this figure has been rising steadily, however the gap in the performance of boys and girls appears to have been widening parallel to this. The National Pupil Database (2002) highlighted how girls performed better a cross all groups, however there are many complex reasons as to why this is. Firstly, there are scientific explanations for example whilst children are young, numerous changes take place, each child begins to develop   physically, emotionally, socially and intellectually at their own pace, they begin to acquire   the understanding of the environments they are exposed to whilst their ability to communicate   with their peers strengthens. Scientific evidence states the physical structure of the brain may be the reason as to why both sexes have a variance in attainment. The development of language within boys comes at a slower pace than that of girls, as girls acquire language rapidly, and at an earlier stage. Girls also focus for lengthier periods of time when in conversation and are able to concentrate more in the classroom. Therefore the structure of the brain shows advantage to the girls (Watkins, 1991). Furthermore, Haralambos et al 1997 states that research over the past 30 years shows a consistency of trends whereby girls at the age of 16 left school after acquiring better grades than boys. Government s tatistics indicate that the variance in attainment achievement between boys and girls start from an early age. Data from the 2007 examinations in England, from Key Stage One and Key Stage Three examinations show that girls achieved higher marks then boys. However in the mathematics papers taken at key stage 2, showed that boys outperformed girls by 2%.In comparison to the papers taken by Key Stage 3 the differences amongst the sexes was higher. It has also been argued that the curriculum has become feminised whereby it works in favour to the females, whilst disadvantaging the boys (Mac and Ghaill, 1994). They argue that there has been a crisis of masculinity, because of the decline in traditional manual jobs. This has led, to an identity crisis, and made it easier for some males to question the need for qualifications when the jobs they would have traditionally gone into no longer exist. Unmistakably the issue around boys underachieving within education in comparison to girls is a major cause for concern. Perhaps the specific focus on some of the ethnic minority groups have shifted the concern away from the white population, with the result being that white working-class boys are now underperforming consistently through the education system. The statistics presented are undeniable, particularly whilst it is becoming an increasing trend for boys to take the opportunity of turning away from formal education at a young age. Thus being the reason why parents and practitioners need to be able to recognise the changes in a child from earlier on so that there is support available for the child to be able to make the right decisions. The variance amongst children can be immense, as mentioned above; each child is individual and develops at their own pace. Although these differences can be vast, it is up to teaching professionals and parents to be aware of this and to be able to recognise it, particularly when each child approaches the learning process in different ways. In conclusion, it is clear to see that not any one variable of social class, ethnicity and gender stand alone as a cause behind a childs educational attainment; rather they interlink in quite a complex way. It should concern us, since we, the practitioners who are helping to shape their futures, need to understand that all three interlink to produce each unique child, which is at the very heart of the Every Child Matters agenda.

The World Turned Upside Down :: essays research papers

When the Europeans established colonies in the New World, they sought to convert the Indians way of civilization. Their obsession was to spread Christianity and their culture throughout all of the colonies including the Indian villages. Some Indian people accepted these traditions because they felt as if they had no where else to turn. When the settlers invaded the new land they brought with them many diseases which wiped out many Indian villages and tribes. The Indians also had a hard time excepting the invasions on new territories, which led to many wars. This resulted in a large decrease of the Indian population, so some Indians turned to Cristianity and other European traditions. On the otherhand, many Indians insisted that European beliefs should exist only amongst themselves. They had no business trying to introduce a new religion when the Indian's traditions have been practiced for years. The Indians during this time were forced to accept the Europeans establishing new territories, even if they did not belong to them. As the Indian populations continued to decrease, some Indians intermarried with the Europeans and even the Africans to try and boost the population once again. This of course produced mixed children who were confused and could not decide which culture they would accept. This mix of people changed the ways of living for the Native Americans as well as the Europeans throughout early America. It is obvious to me that land was the largest reason for war among the Indians and the Europeans. It was simple: the Indians did not want to give up their land that they had claimed for so many years to a bunch of irrogant settlers who take what ever they want. The English felt that God had granted them the land and the Indians should be removed. However, the Native Americans also wanted something from the new colonists, trade. The American Indians were great hunters who collected many furs that were valuable trade products. After time some Indian tribes grew in debt with the settlers and the only way they could pay their debts is by giving them land. That is where the Europeans and the Indian's attitudes differ over land. The Indians were willing to sometimes negotiate about certain territories, where most of the Europeans were going to take the land whether the Indians were going to cooperate or not. Battles often broke out when larger Indian tribes felt they could fight for their land. Sometimes they were able to defeat the English in battles, but most of the time they were out numbered. During this time the English were very greety.

Business Culture: China vs. the United States Essay -- International T

Business Culture: China vs. the United States   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cultures are varying among different parts of the globe. People with different cultures have different characteristics and viewpoints on the subjects due to diverse understanding and method of learning. During the past few decades, the international trade grows in a very rapid rate due to the advantages that it provides; â€Å"increased sales, operational efficiencies, exposure to new technologies and broader consumer choices† (Heslin). Therefore, when considering the culture aspect to current business world, it is crucial for business to understand the culture aspect because of the tremendous growth of international business as well as utilize the international market to its maximum utility.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Today’s world’s leading markets are the United States of America and People Republic of China. The United States market growth is not a â€Å"jump† growth, instead it grows in steady manner. On the other hand, China’s market is not a very significance market until several decades ago where all suddenly, the market leaps from an insignificance market to highly imperative market and it seems unstoppable. Although both of the markets and its potential for growth is considerably dominant but the ways of managing its business are very distinct; both societal and institutional differences and values differences.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  American workers are more individualize. American workers focus on their individuals and lives in the world of dist...

Sociology and Globalisation Essay -- Sociology Essays

Many historians and sociologists have identified a transformation in the economic processes of the world and society in recent times. There has been an extensive increase in developments in technology and the economy as a whole in the twentieth century. Globalization has been recognized as a new age in which the world has developed into what Giddens identifies to be a â€Å"single social system† (Anthony Giddens: 1993 ‘Sociology’ pg 528), due to the rise of interdependence of various countries on one another, therefore affecting practically everyone within society. In this essay I will give a detailed explanation of what sociologists mean by the term ‘globalisation’ and how they have tried to explain it. Globalisation can be construed in many ways. Many sociologists describe it as an era in which national sovereignty is disappearing as a result of a technological revolution, causing space and time to be virtually irrelevant. It is an economic revolution, which Roland Robertson refers to in his book ‘Globalisation’ 1992 pg 8, as â€Å"the compression of the world and the intensification of consciousness of the world as a whole†. It is argued that globalisation allows the world to become increasingly more united, with people more conscious of ethnic, societal, civilizational and individual aspects of their lives. When exploring the topic of globalisation, sociologists have categorised the term into three components, economic, political and cultural globalisation. They have done this in order explain what it means. I have aimed within this essay to explain all three types of globalisation in order to answer the essay question. I intend to concentrate mainly on the economic an... ...e† them (Marsh, ‘Making Sense of Society’, 2000 pg 487). What we can understand on the whole, is what sociologists mean by the term globalisation is that it is a profound, dynamic process which is affecting the world immensely. It seems from what I have examined so far about globalisation that there may come a time eventually, when a world government comes into existence, where international inequalities will always remain and where social conflict will always be active. This is because the policies that drive the globalisation process are largely focussed on the needs of business. Globalisation is a continuing process which needs to be managed wisely. It is a crucial development which has and always will cause significant social changes within society and the world as a whole.

Red Bull Case Study

Q1. The pure and strong cola drink comes with all power packs. By looking at Red bull cola drink and its profile, I would prefer to target two market segments specifically; behavourial and psychographic. I will pre-dominantly be focusing at behavourial segmentation. As it going to speak much about product’s quality. BEHAVOURIAL SEGMENTATION: Behavourial segmentation is the major segmentation which I would like to focus in order to be succeeded in capturing market. The very vital point through I feel that market of Red Bull cola can flourish is the quality and awareness to people of its product. QUALITY: Red bull cola that holds natural and pure ingredients plus there are no sweeteners, preservatives and artificial colour in the drink. Just a simple dedicated pure drink which enhance the quality of brand. Product quality must be differentiation point from competitors. ?AWARENESS: This is perhaps the best option where Red Bull cola can flourish their self. One way or another; th is is the most important part of segmentation. This is where they have to get their strategy right, Red bull cola making awareness to particularly people of UK, who are very conscious about their health and diet. The message which can be send by Red Bull cola about their drink is that; it is fully designed to people’s preference diet. As it is the only drink which contains the original kola nut and coca leaf with more caffeine that helps people to stay active in their day to day life. There is no artificial colour, preservatives and sweeterners. Therefore, it is build to serve your health most than other cola drinks. It’s ‘100% natural and strong’. PSYCHOGRAPHIC: Marketers are increasingly segmenting their market on consumer’s lifestyle. Red Bull cola must also target psychographic segments as it appeals to be iconic brand. They have more focus on life style and social class of people. They are trying to be trendy. ?SOCIAL CLASS: I would further like to divide social class into disco club, gig, sporting venues and musical concerts. Red bull segmenting social class may also prove to be a fruitful venture. This segment target those people who loves to go gigs, concert, sporting venues and disco clubs. Red bull cola will be main organizers of above areas and that create an icon in consumers mind about Red Bull cola essentials. ?LIFE STYLE: The reason I have chosen lifestyle segmentation is because the people of UK more renown as the nation who loves to be healthy and fit. Perhaps we can say them mainstreams, these people need security. They will buy well known, safe brands and avoid risk. Therefore Red Bull cola is just tailor made for those who loves to go secure. Red Bull cola is 100% pure and strong and dismiss the philosophy of artificial flavour. You can take it with you on exercise, you can use it as appealing product. Red Bull brand name says it all. Q2. Red bull cola wants to sparkle in a way with their product ingredients information. Therefore, their message is clear; they want to captualize the market on basis of pureness and naturalism of their product. As they have used slogan â€Å"strong and natural† prominently. According to them â€Å"we use high quality, authentic ingredients that create a greater tasting out of other cola†. However, Red bull campaign for their energy drink went successful when represent their brand by cartonize advertisement and appealing slogan â€Å"Red bull gives you wings†. Red Bull Cola marketing campaign much focusing strategically on psychographic segmentation particularly than any other segment. 00% natural ingredients may get customer toward them but high caffeine; once again prove to be a barrier in their targeting customer. Before I get to strategic segments let me post the article which Red Bull cola has disclosed. â€Å"LONDON: Red bull unveils ? 2 million campaigns for simply cola – Red Bull is rolling out a ? 2m marketing drive to support its e ntry into the ultra-competitive cola market, which will push the naturalness of the product† – DATED: June 08. STRATEGIC SEGMENTS: Market and service segments which require changes in marketing mix can be distinguished from strategic segments. Strategic segments are those segments which are aligned by company for long period of return. In other words they look out for longer vision of company which compromises strategic planning. They can by outlined by 4 P’s, let me explain the Red Bull Cola’s strategy on 4P’s which I believe they belong to. 4 P’s; product, price, promotion and place. ?PRODUCT: This is the very important point and red bull cola trying a lot to stick with it. Product’s information, as they defines it’s a 100% natural product, contains no artificial colour, sweeteners and preservatives. Truly a pure blend of 100% natural sources. Perhaps, they want to create product differentiation from competitors by adding natural ingredients, this is where they strengthening their product knowledge. This is where their main target is; to catch the market on the basis of product quality. Thus, for that they have to put the message right to the people. However, product is sold in 25cl and 35. 5cl cans, and it also comes in multipack of containing 4 bottles in it. ?PRICE: Price which are red bull cola charging is varying in different stores, Tesco selling it at ? 1. 0, Waitrose selling at ? 1. 20 and Budgens at ? 1. 09. By looking out the prices they are charging we can say that they are charging premium price for their product where as their giant competitors (PEPSI and COCA-COLA) sell their cola drink mostly on 60pence. Therefore, they are charging almost double of their competitors drink. The value added for their premium price is that red bull cola blended from 100% natural sour ces â€Å"Strong and Natural. † ?PROMOTION: Red bull cola, particularly promoting their drink by slogan â€Å"Natural drink†; through which customers normally are attracted. They have achieved a great amount of success by setting energy drink slogan â€Å"Red bull gives you wings†. However, as far as their promotion activities are concern, they are putting banners and advertisement in almost every store, and also offering free fridge to stores for placing their cola drink in unique and catchy way for customer. ?PLACE: The product is also in clubs, bars, restaurants and stores. Whereas Coca-Cola and Pepsi cola drink are normally not available in most of clubs and bars; where they have targeted places like clubs and bars. As per red bull cola’s initial strategy was capture the people who attends musical and sporting events, thus in cola drink they are also targeting the same genre. CONCLUDING 4P’s STRATEGY OF RED BULL COLA: The main thing which I have observed that Red Bull Cola targeting is specifically product and promotion. Even though they are not emphasizing enough on price and place. Product information which underlay product topic plays evenly crucial and important role to push Red Bull Cola one step ahead of competitors. However for that they have to get promotion strategy right. Q3. How is Red Bull differentiated from its competitors? Red Bull Cola is differentiates itself in four main ways from its competitors (Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola). Those four ways are ingredients, taste, appearance and price. INGREDIENTS: The Red Bull Cola drink is only cola drink which contains original coca leaf and kola nut. Other ingredients which they have used are; †¢Galangal †¢Lemon/Lime †¢Vanilla †¢Cinnamon †¢Cardamom †¢Orange †¢Corn mint ea †¢Ginger †¢Mace †¢Coca †¢Mustard seeds. †¢Clove †¢Liquorice †¢Pine Whereas, Pepsi and Coca-Cola use ingredients like caffeine, caramel flavour, natural flavour, phosphoric acid, carbonated water and high fructose corn syrup (sugar). TASTE: Apparently the taste of Red Bull Cola is much different than the taste of its competitors, and that is quite understandable as well, as Red Bull Cola contains original sources of Cola drink; like original coca leaf and kola nut. In my survey; which is enclosed at the end of question 5, lot of people are quite surprised to taste original cola drink taste (Red Bull cola) as they were very much addicted of Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola taste. APPEARENCE: The can of Red Bull cola is very much different than the can of Coca-Cola and Pepsi cola. Pepsi and Coca-Cola has almost same type of can. However, Red bull can is much taller and thinner in size as compared to Pepsi and Coca-Cola. PRICE: Price which is charged by Red Bull Cola drink is almost double of price which is charged by their competitors; however they are also giving value added as their drink is extracted from 100% natural sources. Q.. 4 Target market is basically a breaking of market in segments and then focusing on particular key segments. It helps business to be cost effective when 4Ps are applied within the selected or desired market segments. Red Bull Cola mainly targeting the psychographic segmentation, and at some extent Red Bull nergy drink is also targeting psychographic segmentation. Now let me explain some of the advertisement of Red Bull energy drink that has made on athletes. On their website I have seen video and testimonials of people which were something like this. A girl 24 year old doing climbing rock because she drinks red bull energy drink; she got the energy which she ever wanted. A 23 yea r old guy who's a motor cycle champion in 2008 uses same drink because he wants energy to perform exceptionally well, same with the person who is 34 year old and doing water sports. So the main theme is that if u wants to feel energy use red bull energy drinks. Whereas, Red Bull cola for those who wants to drink fresh and natural drink because Red Bull cola is made of natural ingredients, no sweeteners, no artificial flavour and no artificial colour – 100% natural. However, Red Bull GmbH targets the social and sporting events specifically to leave a note on people’s mind, for example that they proudly presents x games; in one way or another they are playing a mind game here, they are encoding a indirect message that passionate and extra ordinary athletes having a drink like Red Bull; so if you have similar passion or desire then you also try Red Bull. COMPARING TARGET MARKET: To some extent Red Bull cola and energy drink; both are falling into a same target market; as ?Both are being sold in same stores normally. ?They both are trying to capture market on basis of psychographic segmentation, as red bull cola is targeting health conscious people and red bull energy drink targeting lifestyle of people who wants to feel pure freedom, who wants to try something new, energetic and innovative generation. However both underlay in psychographic segmentation. Both drinks are meant to boost up energy level. One is â€Å"Strong and Natural† so other is mainly energy drink. ?Both products are proud organizers of musical, games and social events. POSITIONING: Positing is simply that how customer recall your product. By looking Red Bull Cola slogan â€Å"Natural and Strong† one can say; whenever customer think about original cola drink; first thing which they will get in their mind is Red Bull Cola drink as it is 100% natural. Whereas, Red Bull energy drink has now a firm grasp in world as one of leading energy drink, therefore whenever some one think about energy then he must think about Red Bull energy drink, further more their slogan says it all which is proving to be a very successful slogan for capturing market â€Å"Red Bull Gives You Wings. † Q5. Through my research and findings, I came to this point that red bull cola can not survive for long in market. There is not reason but reasons that can leave red bull’s step of introducing cola in vain. Many have come and many have failed in sector of cola. After my qualitative research I would like to mention the things which are potential threats to red bull cola’s fancy entry, competitors, alternatives of product, price, taste and expectations. First thing which is consistently giving red signal to red bull cola entry is their giant competitors; Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola. The reason I all them giant competitors is because they are the oldest companies in cola sector and has world wide distribution mechanism. Through their product life they have targeted the every market segmentation; plus they hold customer loyalty status that has positive response to their cola drinks. Second thing which is bothering to Red Bull Cola at the moment is alternatives to a product. Basically we can say it change of people preference culture. As per healthy requirement; people are now moving to a product which offers more nutrition and energy; just like natural fruit drink and energy drinks. Thus change in preference culture has not only affected the Red Bull cola but also to giant companies (Pepsi and Coca Cola); as their profits of last two year has slimed. But at this point, some may say this is the right time to capture market but I personally dismiss this idea. Thirdly, their pricing strategy didn’t work out properly. In other words, barrier from Red Bull cola to their customer is high ‘price’. Even if above two threats (competitors and alternatives to product) satisfy the product needs – still price problem will stand firm. Therefore, product’s price is not at good value. Fourth thing which I want to languish here is the taste of Red Bull Cola differs a lot from the taste of others cola drinks. People are so used to taste of Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola that even if they taste pure cola like Red Bull Cola they dismiss its taste preference. Now last and final threat through which I think they can’t be succeeded into the UK market is that they haven’t lived up to the people’s expectation. People were expecting something innovative and energetic from Red Bull Company, but unfortunately it hasn’t come out to be a product which people were expecting. However, bottom line is that Red Bull Cola has come up with flop strategy that seriously need to be reviewed because the threats that are standing as barrier for Red Bull Cola for flourishing in markets are very competitive and strong.

Jet Etihad Deal Analysis Essay

Jet-Etihad deal On April 24 Jet Airways and Etihad signed the strategic alliance. The Etihad agrees to buy a 24% stake in the Jet for about Rs 2,060 crore. It is the biggest deal in Indian aviation sector. On May 24, Jet shareholders approved the stake sale. The airline deferred its resolution to amend the company’s articles of association. However the deal is facing hurdles with share holders and even Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) of India raising concerns over â€Å"substantial rights† being accorded to Etihad Airways. The FIPB has deferred granting sanction to the proposal until the issues regarding control are addressed. The Jet Airways-Etihad share holder agreement is likely to be revised again following SEBI and FIPB concerns over substantial control to the Abu Dhabi airline under the deal. The major concern of SEBI and FIPB were- * Under the current agreement board resolutions require consent of 3/4th of members majority for decision and As per the agreement Etihad would get three board positions while Jet Airways would have four members. There will be seven independents on the board. * The agreement has unilateral right and can be terminated by Etihad any time. * The jet airways headquarters will be shifted to Abu Dhabi where it is subjected to law and control of Abu Dhabi. On May 27, the two airlines amended its shareholder agreement to address shareholder and SEBI concerns on ‘control’ and ‘ownership’. The major changes were- * Etihad will not have the unilateral right to terminate the commercial cooperation agreement and this right will now be held by both sides. * The other change pertained to constitution of the nomination committee of the board which will make key board and management appointments. The nomination committee will include one person nominated each by Jet Airways and Etihad and three other board members will be chosen through consensus. But still the Foreign Investment Promotion Board defers approval to Jet-Etihad alliance due to More changes were being proposed to address the concerns. Impact on Economy, Stock Market and various other Areas The favour of the bilateral pact point to the 1.8 million Indians who live and work in the UAE that, they can fly to India cheaply. Earlier they had to spend their yearly savings to make one trip back home. The latest exchange of seats with Abu Dhabi is because of Abu Dhabi has agreed to invest $50 billion in infrastructure projects in India. It will lead to growth of aviation sector and will generate employment in India. The agreement has a clause that deal can be terminated if requisite permissions are not received before July 31. However, the discussions are now on to renegotiate the terms of the deal at a price lower than that agreed upon earlier.† The two airlines are now discussing changes in the investor agreement. These include a possible revision in purchase price. Under the agreement signed by the airlines on April 24, Jet Airways had agreed to issue 24 per cent equity to Etihad by way of preference shares in a deal valued at about Rs 2,060 crore. Etihad had agreed to a pay a premium of 31 per cent on Jet’s stock price (Rs 573 at that time). The Jet stock fell four per cent from its previous close on BSE to end the day at Rs 403.45. after the FIPB decided to defer the approval of Jet-Ethiad deal. It further fell drastically and came to 369.85 till date. Impact if deal is approved by FIPB If the deal gets green signal from the regulating authorities, their would be a positive impact on our economy. It will push the stock of all the airlines upward especially Jet airways because it will open doors for other airlines for merger with other foreign airlines and would attract FDI which in turn will lead to growth and development of our economy. It would ease the pressure of high current account deficit in long run because if more and more dollars will flow in form of FDI’s in India, than rupee will appreciate in terms of dollar.