Bottom of the Pyramid

The quest for the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid: potential and challenges Dennis A. Pitta The University of Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, and Rodrigo Guesalaga and Pablo Marshall ? Ponti? cia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago, Chile Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this article is to examine the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) proposition, where private companies can both be pro? table and help alleviate poverty by attending low-income consumers. Design/methodology/approach – The literature on BOP was reviewed and some key elements of the BOP approach were proposed and examined.Findings – There is no agreement in the literature about the potential bene? ts of the BOP approach for both private companies and low-income consumers. However, further research on characterizing the BOP segment and ? nding the appropriate business model for attending the BOP can provide some answers to this issue. Practical implications – The article provides some guidelines to managers as to how they need to adapt their marketing strategies to sell to the BOP market, and what type of partnerships they need to build in order to succeed.Originality/value – The article presents a thorough analysis of the key elements involved in the BOP initiative: companies’ motivations, characterization of the BOP consumers, and the business model to attend the BOP. Keywords Private sector organizations, Emerging markets, Consumers, Poverty, Disadvantaged groups Paper type Research paper underpin the concept, and refutes its basic premises. Instead of a market of untapped potential, this literature stream sees a ? nancial desert that BOP principles may harm more than help. The BOP may be a less a source of signi? cant pro? ts than a source of serious losses.Karnani’s analysis posits that the poor may want the same products as the rich do but by virtue of being poor, they cannot afford them. The poor spend most of their income on food, cl othing, and fuel. For the poor, the mathematics are clear: buying a branded product reduces the funds they must devote to survival. In contrast, Karnani suggests that raising income will alleviate their poverty, provide cost effective products to other consumers, and allow the formerly poor to consume more. Raising their incomes may require that they become producers with stable jobs and wages. Both viewpoints concentrate on the poor but draw different onclusions about how to alleviate their poverty. The two positions also differ in the nature and proper role of industry and government. In light of the differences, the argument would bene? t from empirical data that tests the underlying premises of each viewpoint. Verifying the premises would allow further logical analysis of implications and applications of the concept. In fact, the need for clari? cation is recognized. In the next section, the authors provide some foundations for the most traditional and still dominant approach to market, i. e. the focus on the â€Å"top of the pyramid† (TOP).The rest of the article focuses on the â€Å"bottom of the pyramid† (BOP); it explores Prahalad’s proposition and the opposing viewpoint, reviews key aspects of the BOP initiative – companies’ motivation; the BOP business model; the role of micro? nance; and the key participants – and proposes some implications and challenges for marketing theory and practice, and ? nally some implications for marketers. An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this issue. Introduction The bottom of the pyramid (BOP) approach to earning corporate pro? ts has gained considerable attention in the arketing literature. It has awakened managers to the potential of serving an unserved market and alleviating the level of global poverty while still earning a pro? t. However, the BOP proposition, while clear, appealing, and enlightening has not been accepted in a n unquali? ed manner. One branch of the BOP literature puts forth the elements of the BOP proposition and supports its ? ndings with numerous case studies (Prahalad, 2004). Those studies portray the poor as motivated by similar desires as the rich. They want quality products and any company that can supply those products at he right price will gain their business. Some of the case studies show the strategies for reducing the effective price of products through packaging and developing lower cost sizes. Prahalad and others describe the untapped potential of the BOP, and list strategies that companies may use to tap that potential. An opposing branch of the literature (Karnani, 2007a; Martinez and Carbonell, 2007) analyzes the nature of the BOP market, the applicability of the case studies that The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www. emeraldinsight. com/0736-3761. htm Journal of Consumer Marketing 5/7 (2008) 393– 401 q Emerald Group Publishi ng Limited [ISSN 0736-3761] [DOI 10. 1108/07363760810915608] 393 The quest for the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid Journal of Consumer Marketing Dennis A. Pitta, Rodrigo Guesalaga and Pablo Marshall Volume 25  · Number 7  · 2008  · 393 –401 The â€Å"top of the pyramid† customers, and labeled them as Platinum or Gold. In contrast, those with lower to very low LCV’s earn the value labels, Iron and Lead. They point out that a single Gold or Platinum customer may have a Lifetime Customer Value, many times higher than that of someone in the Iron or Lead tier. Speci? ally, one Platinum customer may be worth more than â€Å"tons† of those labeled as Lead. Conceptually, identifying value and potential pro? t deriving from the top of the pyramid is straightforward and represents traditional organization goals. Companies can use standard market segmentation and product differentiation to satisfy these tiers. Dealing with these customers requires profess ionalism, but the normal market research processes, product development, channels of distribution, promotion, and credit functions should result in success. Thus, Zeithaml and her coauthors showed companies how to use their tried and trusted arketing approaches to maximize effectiveness and pro? tability. The key is to serve those customers most likely to generate pro? ts instead of losses. The justi? cation is clear: companies have limited resources and should concentrate their efforts where the returns will be the highest. They demonstrated the value at the top of the pyramid (TOP) and shared strategies for serving those customers while discouraging or even â€Å"? ring† the lower, money-losing tiers. For pro? t seeking companies, the customer pyramid approach is appropriate and allows them the best chances to survive in typically competitive markets.Not surprisingly, the â€Å"top of the pyramid† (TOP) approach is at the heart of Western business practice. Tradition ally, businesses require a set of four conditions to operate successfully in a market segment. The segment must be identi? able, measurable, substantial, and accessible. In Western economies, business and communication infrastructures are developed suf? ciently to meet all of the criteria for most segments. Arguably, while all four conditions are important, the substantial and accessible elements are the more important. For a pro? t-making ? rm, the segment must be large enough to generate pro? s. If that condition is satis? ed, it is critical that consumers in the segment be reachable by communications media to receive promotional messages. In addition, they must be physically accessible to distribution alternatives. From a pro? t perspective, companies concentrate on those areas in which they can be effective, namely segments that meet all four requirements. Serving the TOP inevitably means a focus on pro? ts instead of revenues, and pro? ts are central to Western business. In pra ctice, over time, numerous Western companies have ceded market share or entire markets to others when the pro? ts eclined. One prime example is the computer memory chip market. Memory chips were once produced exclusively in the US and Europe. As Asian competitors entered the market, they cut prices at the expense of pro? ts. Their goal was to make chips; the US ? rms wanted to make pro? ts. Consequently, US ? rms abandoned the marketplace and searched for targets that were more pro? table. European and US companies still make chips. Their dominance of the microprocessor markets is the result of the strategic quest for pro? tability. However, European or US players do not dominate the huge market for memory chips.To be accurate, the US companies’ actions are not driven solely by the desire to earn pro? ts. Their organization, corporate culture, and internal processes require economies of scale, which demand exploiting the richest target markets. In many cases, successful compa nies have evolved into ef? cient machines whose foundation is high structural cost. Thus targeting the most lucrative segments is vital for continued success. Pro? t, in its simplest form, is the surplus of revenue over costs. If companies can drive costs low enough, it is conceivable that prices might be low enough for the poor to fford and high enough to generate a pro? t. However, earning a pro? t with such customers today takes enormous effort. More important, companies that exist today may be unable to drive costs low enough to succeed. In fact, costs are only one part of the equation. The underlying problem is that companies are ill equipped to serve the poorest customers. They don’t really know what the poor want and don’t know what bene? ts they seek in products and services. In addition, companies may not know what mix of product bene? ts, price, quality, promotion, and distribution works best for this segment.However, the focus on pro? ts has led to success. Recognizing the importance of pro? ts, Zeithaml and her colleagues have worked on the customer pyramid concept (Zeithaml et al. , 2001). Without using the term, they focused explicitly on the â€Å"top of the pyramid,† those consumers with the highest lifetime customer value (LCV). By dividing the customer pyramid into four sections called customer pro? tability tiers, they identi? ed the â€Å"best,† most pro? table The â€Å"bottom of the pyramid† approach Prahalad’s proposition In the book The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Pro? ts, C.K. Prahalad (2004), provided that initial conceptualization that had been missing in marketing thought. His book succeeded in planting the perception that consumers with low levels of income could be pro? table customers. He painted a picture of the double bottom line: social goals combined with the business objective, pro? t (Harjula, 2005). Coincidently, he appealed to the best motives among those at the top of the pyramid. By citing examples of successful attempts to empower the poor and share in global wealth, he kindled the imagination of those who want the world to be a better place. This is an ppealing proposition: â€Å"low-income markets present a prodigious opportunity for the world’s wealthiest companies – to seek their fortunes and bring prosperity to the aspiring poor† (Prahalad and Hart, 2002). Prahalad’s proposition is an invitation to company executives, politicians, managers of non-pro? t organizations, and ordinary citizens, to view poverty as something that might be alleviated rather than inevitable. He presents a wellreasoned conceptual view – supported with case study data – of how companies might mine pro? ts from the lowest economic strata (Hart, 2005; Prahalad, 2004). Much of the reatment centers on the nature and scope of pro? ts and the collective wealth of consumers at the bottom of the pyramid (B OP). The main thesis of Prahalad’s work rests on the idea that the potential growth for many multinational (MNC) and medium sized companies does not rest on the small highincome market in the developing world. Instead, its source is the mass low-income people that are joining the market for the ? rst time. This idea goes against the following 394 The quest for the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid Journal of Consumer Marketing Dennis A. Pitta, Rodrigo Guesalaga and Pablo MarshallVolume 25  · Number 7  · 2008  · 393 –401 assumptions, which, according to Prahalad, most MNC’s make: it is not pro? table for them to attend the BOP due to their high cost structure; the low-income segment cannot afford the products and services they sell; and only developed markets value innovation and will pay for new technology. These arguments imply that governments and nongovernmental organizations (NGO’s) should take care of the low-income segment. According to Pra halad, marketers who believe that the BOP is a valuable unserved market also believe that even the poor can be good customers.Despite their low level of income, they are discerning consumers who want value and are well aware of the value brands favored by more af? uent consumers. This school of thought recognizes the obstacle that low income creates. It postulates that if companies take the correct steps and devote suf? cient resources to satisfying the needs of the BOP, they can overcome barriers to consumption. This view rests on Prahalad’s calculations of the immense size of the global BOP, in his view, a $1. 3 trillion dollar market. Prahalad recognizes that serving the low-income sector requires a commercial strategy in response to the needs of hose people; to succeed, other players have to get involved – mainly local and central government, ? nancial institutions, and NGOs. He proposes four key elements to thrive in the low-income market: 1 creating buying power; 2 shaping aspirations through product innovation and consumer education; 3 improving access through better distribution and communication systems; and 4 tailoring local solutions. opportunities and poverty eradication through pro? ts may set unrealistic expectations for business executives (McFalls, 2007). Second, the traditional timelines for achieving social goods versus pro? s differ (Harjula, 2005). Businesses may use a ? ve-year horizon as their benchmark for returns. In contrast, social goals like reducing smoking and other unhealthy lifestyle behaviors may take generations. Thus, rather than viewing the poor primarily as consumers, this group suggest a focus on this segment as producers, i. e. potential entrepreneurs that can improve their economic situation by increasing their income level. Companies must be willing to invest time, resources and training to insure that the producers create products with some barriers to entry and a reasonable level of productivity.They need to do so to avoid the trap of producing commodities that are easy to duplicate and, thereby, keep the poor, poor. Otherwise, alleviating poverty becomes very unlikely. Reconciling the two opposing viewpoints It is clear from the previous discussion that ? ndings in the literature about the nature, scope, and value of the BOP proposition are mixed. More research is needed on this topic to gain an accurate view of the presence and extent of opportunities at the bottom of the pyramid. The following sections examine some key elements of the BOP initiative that have been, acknowledged in the literature; speci? ally, the ? rms’ motivations to attend the BOP market, the characterization of the BOP consumers, and the BOP business model. The latter element focuses on three major issues: the role of micro? nance, the importance of establishing alliances among different actors (e. g. for-pro? t ? rms, NGOs, governments), and how for-pro? t companies need to adapt their marketing mix to attend the BOP pro? tably. The opposing viewpoint The second literature thread emerged years later in the discussion and represents a thoughtful attempt to verify the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) concept.It questions the ease with which companies may tap the BOP and whether pro? ts exist there at all (Karnani, 2007a). First, this group dismisses the published calculations about the size of the BOP and its wealth. They describe the economic size of the BOP as considerably smaller than Prahalad’s estimate and cite the inherent subsistence problem: the poor spend 80 percent of their income on food, clothing, and fuel. There is hardly anything left to spend after that (Karnani, 2007b). Second, they argue that it is very unlikely that companies will be able to attend the BOP market pro? tably.In fact, the costs of serving this segment can be very high. BOP customers are usually much dispersed geographically; they are very heterogeneous, which reduces the opportunities for obtainin g signi? cant economies of scale; and their individual transactions usually represent a low amount of money. In addition, consumers at the BOP are very price sensitive, which, again, makes pro? tability a dif? cult goal to achieve. Those factors show that the ideal that both pro? ts and social good can result from serving the BOP is questionable. First, each goal has different motivations, demands, and echanisms to satisfy and they can be contradictory. The differences between business realities and development imperatives are not easy to reconcile. Some recent case study work suggests that the early language around the inclusive capitalism idea that emphasizes unlimited business Firms’ motivation to attend the BOP market A comprehensive examination of the BOP approach requires ?rst an understanding of why for-pro? t companies engage in such an initiative. The literature suggests two main motivations that companies have to attend the BOP market: 1 they can convert this segmen t’s purchasing power into ro? ts; and 2 they can bring prosperity to the poor, and thus alleviate poverty. ? For example, in the 1970s, Nestle was able to contribute to social progress while developing a competitive advantage and making pro? ts in Moga, a district in India. With the purpose ? of establishing local and diverse sources of milk, Nestle built many refrigerated diaries and then sent its trucks to collect product while providing ? nancing, nutritional supplements, and assistance and training to the farmers. With this action, ? Nestle increased its milk production and the suppliers’ roductivity, improved the quality of the product and ? processes, and increased the penetration of other Nestle products in the region. In turn, farmers raised their standard ? of living; Nestle was able to pay higher prices, and farmers were then able to obtain credit. A second case illustrates how a focus on the BOP can be an important strategic goal, with two dimensions: pro? t ability and corporate social responsibility. Masisa is a leading company in the production and trade of wood boards for furniture and interior architecture in Latin America. It has 395The quest for the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid Journal of Consumer Marketing Dennis A. Pitta, Rodrigo Guesalaga and Pablo Marshall Volume 25  · Number 7  · 2008  · 393 –401 established the goal of generating 15 percent of the revenues from inclusive businesses, i. e. the bottom of the pyramid, before 2012. Under their de? nition, inclusive businesses must be pro? table, and socially/environmentally responsible. They expect to help improve the standard of living for low-income people by facilitating their participation in the value chain as suppliers, distributors, or other element of the hannel, and by providing them with access to products and services that can help them improve their socio-economic condition. cooperatively owned items like a television, a telephone, an electric g enerator, medical services, or even something to help make products for sale. Managing that sum for the common good presents a major dilemma: community welfare versus individual choice. People in the BOP would need a high sense of community involvement and consumer education to make responsible choices. A non-pro? t community action organization or a socially conscious business would be very helpful in marshalling cooperation.However, too many of the poor make poor choices like spending money on tobacco instead of food for their children. Even if this optimistic level of potential purchasing power exists, harnessing it for pro? t will be extremely dif? cult. One further concern questions this premise. Traditionally, serving the poor was the role of charities, not for pro? t, and other non-governmental organizations. Much of the excitement that the BOP proposition has generated stems from the inclusion of pro? t making companies in the process. The thought is that pro? t will be a po werful goad toward achieving success.Pro? t is clearly an incentive but beyond the cases cited in Prahalad’s work, there is little proof that companies can make the shift. More empirical data would aid the process of developing purchasing power. Purchasing power and pro? tability Karnani (2007a) notes that BOP concept rests on a fuzzy de? nition of the target market. It is dif? cult to ? nd an article in the BOP literature that does not cite the now popular ?gure: four billion. Four billion originally referred to those people who primarily live in developing countries and whose annual per capital income is under US$1,500 per annum.Some of the literature takes as an article of faith that the BOP exists and earns that level of income. The perception is that individually the consumers are poor but together they represent massive purchasing power. However, authors de? ne the BOP income level using several standards, which obscures its true nature. For example, Hammond et al. (200 7) consider the bottom of the pyramid as composed of people with per capita incomes below $3,000 in local purchasing power. Prahalad (2004) states that there are more than four billion people with per capita income below $2 per day at purchasing power parity (PPP) rates ($750 per year).This is a signi? cant reduction in previous estimates: four billion people with per capita income below $1,500 per year ($4 per day) (Prahalad and Hart, 2002), or four billion people with per capita income below $2,000 per year ($6 per day) (Prahalad and Hammond, 2002). Other contemporary sources like the World Bank estimated the number at 2. 7 billion, in 2001. However, other researchers characterize the World Bank projection as an overestimation, with some experts estimating the poor at 600 million (The Economist, 2004). The differences range from four billion to 600 million, a large enough gap to cause oncern. The three reported income levels range from $2-6 per day. The $2 per day criterion is con sistent with previous literature in development economics. It is important to understand that how to alleviate poverty depends on the de? nition of poverty. Using the $2 per day ? gure presents different challenges than the higher levels: people who earn less than $2 per day have very different needs and priorities than people who earn $4-6 per day. Adopting the higher poverty line obscures these differences (Karnani, 2007b) and overestimates the potential at the BOP.In principle, it is clear that collectively the mass of poor customers do hold wealth. However, an additional problem is that they do not hold it in the right concentrations. If one considers a hypothetical example, the nature of the wealth at the BOP may become a bit clearer. If a village of 1,000 adults earns an average of US$750 per year (the $2 per day ? gure), the gross earnings of the village are signi? cant. However, the question becomes how much remains after satisfying the necessities. Even if an impressive 10 percent of income remains per household, that translates into $0. 0 per day. It is dif? cult to perceive how such small sums might generate pro? ts. Collectively, the village may have $200 per day in â€Å"disposable income. † That might translate into community- Poverty alleviation and prosperity to the poor From a social responsibility perspective, there are distinct differences between a market-based approach to poverty reduction and approaches that are more traditional. Traditional approaches often focus on the very poor, proceeding from the assumption that they are unable to help themselves and thus need charity or public assistance.In contrast, a market-based approach starts from the recognition that being poor does not eliminate commerce and market processes: virtually all poor households trade cash or labor to meet a signi? cant part of their basic needs. The latter approach is the one for-pro? t companies have embraced to pursue the BOP initiative. The argument regar ding poverty is that the poor face undeveloped distribution outlets and must pay monopoly prices for the goods they desire. In addition, they are unable to afford the standard quantities and qualities of products offered to richer consumers. This is consistent withHammond et al. (2007), who describe people at the BOP as having signi? cant unmet needs, and being dependent on informal or subsistence livelihoods. They are vulnerable, poorly integrated to the formal economy, and impacted by a BOP penalty under which they pay higher prices for basic goods and services than wealthier consumers. Successful attempts to bring quality products to the poor at affordable prices would overcome the high price of poor distribution (Martinez and Carbonell, 2007). In that sense, it would increase their purchasing power by bringing previously unaffordable goods within their budgets.However, the $2 per day income limit is a signi? cant obstacle and may make this goal impossible to attain. There is som e hope in alleviating poverty but it is more in line with Karnani’s vision of the poor as producers who are able to boost their income suf? ciently to rise above the bottom of the BOP. The very recent example of ITC Limited outlined the distribution based economic problems faced by poor farmers in India. There are many factors that affect the ? ow of goods and services in and out of rural areas, and thus reduce the rural population’s income and quality of life 96 The quest for the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid Journal of Consumer Marketing Dennis A. Pitta, Rodrigo Guesalaga and Pablo Marshall Volume 25  · Number 7  · 2008  · 393 –401 (Vachani and Smith, 2008). While the major source of problems was the poor transportation infrastructure, other factors operate to keep disadvantaged groups like poor Indian farmers in poverty. Buyers bully them into accepting â€Å"buyers’ prices. † Moreover, farmers are ignorant of their rights and the m arket value of their crops. In addition, they pay monopoly prices for the items they need.These factors act to keep them at a disadvantage and unable to earn the proper income from their efforts. By addressing farmers’ lack of information about the current value of their crops, the best seed to use for high yields, proper farming practice, and alternative outlets for their crops, ITC increased their welfare. To accomplish this, ITC set up a parallel distribution system, which led to increases in farmers’ income and consumption. The effort started at the grassroots with ITC hiring agents already in the ? eld and rewarding them for improvements in farmer welfare and consumption.The company placed computers with satellite based internet connections in each village and taught farmers to use them to assess current crop pricing. ITC guaranteed to match or exceed the prices offered by others. In addition, ITC provided products farmers needed like seed at a discount from the e xisting retailers. There was signi? cant â€Å"missionary† education aimed at allaying the farmer’s fears of exploitation. After a few farmers tried the system, more of them signed on. The result was increased income, higher satisfaction, more independence, and lower cost to purchase supplies.The example is encouraging and demonstrates the commitment and stamina organizations need to operate at the BOP. ITC set up a private distribution network that was more closely associated with a cooperative than the typical channel. Farmers and grassroots agents who knew their needs very well cooperated to operate the channel and share in its economic bene? ts. In essence, ITC adopted Karnani’s model of buying from BOP producers to raise their level of income developing them into pro? table customers. Can companies really generate pro? ts and alleviate poverty at the BOP? This example seems to show that they can.It also shows the extent to which companies will have to re-en gineer their approaches and operations to succeed. There is some data on the changes in the size of the BOP that aid in forecasting the future. Chen and Ravallion (2007) report a decline in the proportion of people living under the poverty line in the developing world over the period 19812004. That represents a reduction of about 0. 8 percent points per year over the period. Separate from the numbers, the question remains, â€Å"Who are BOP customers? † Current demographic labels such as â€Å"blue-collar’ or working-class,† fail to capture the extreme level of poverty.As marketers gain more experience with the BOP, it is possible that other useful differentiations may emerge based on speci? c variables, such as behavioral or psychographic. The global distribution of BOP customers adds another factor to consider: culture. The cultures of Latin America, Asia, and Africa differ widely. It is logical that differences in culture will affect future attempts to unders tand the needs of the BOP segments. In general, D’Andrea et al. (2004) ? nd that consumers at the BOP spend a higher portion of their income on consumer goods (50 to 75 percent), as compared to wealthier segments (around 35 percent).These authors also ? nd that, due to their limited and unstable cash ? ow, lowincome consumers tend to shop daily and spend small amounts of money each time. Then too, they are reluctant to buy in places that are located far away from their homes. The ? ndings show that â€Å"stay at home† mothers make most of the purchases and family spending decisions; by doing this, they ful? ll roles as wife, mother, and household manager. Companies currently devote resources to listening to the voice of the customer and are con? dent in their efforts with currently serviced segments. A change of focus to the BOP ill require new techniques, and freedom from â€Å"accepted knowledge. † The BOP is so radically different that companies will have to ignore what they know as â€Å"truths† that may not apply anymore. Faulty new product development eradicates the potential for pro? t and unfamiliar product development (NPD) territory increases the risks of failure. Firms can increase their NPD success rates by integrating consumers into the process as boundary spanning team members instead of mere respondents to surveys. Thus, product development will bene? t from the input of customers at the lowest levels of income (Pitta and Franzak, 1997).However, that initiative will be supremely different from current successes. A good example of how companies, NGOs, governments, and other institutions can collaborate in this aspect is the formation of BOP learning laboratories (McFalls, 2007). The laboratories were designed to investigate the complex factors that interact at the BOP as well as opportunities for both sustainable and human development. More initiatives like this one are needed, as well as research on the characteristic s of the BOP consumers. Characterization of BOP consumers A fundamental requirement to attend the BOP market uccessfully is to know deeply the characteristics of the people in this segment. Some academic studies and reports from NGOs have contributed re? ning the understanding of the BOP: how many they are, where they are located, what their income level is, and what some of their characteristics in terms of needs and habits are. According to Hammond et al. (2007), the BOP is concentrated in four regional areas: Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean. 12. 3 percent of the BOP lives in Africa, 72. 2 percent in Asia, 6. 4 percent in Eastern Europe and the remaining 9. 1 percent lives in LatinAmerica and the Caribbean. Rural areas dominate most BOP markets in Africa and Asia while urban areas dominate most in Eastern Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean. Estimates of the size of the BOP in US dollars or buying power approximate $1. 3 trillion. The Asia m arket has a buying power of $742 billion, Latin America market is $229 billion, the Eastern Europe market $135 billion and Africa $120. The BOP business model In spite of the opposing viewpoints in the literature regarding the extent to which there is a business opportunity at the BOP, there is agreement that serving the low-income sector ro? tably requires a different business model (Chesbrough et al. , 2006; Prahalad and Hart, 2002). Prahalad and Hart (2002) state â€Å"doing business with the world’s four billion poorest people – two thirds of the world’s population – will require radical innovations in technology and business models†. Moreover, the market at the BOP requires a 397 The quest for the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid Journal of Consumer Marketing Dennis A. Pitta, Rodrigo Guesalaga and Pablo Marshall Volume 25  · Number 7  · 2008  · 393 –401 combination of low cost, good quality, sustainability, and pro? ability (P rahalad and Hart, 2002). As a result, for-pro? t ? rms need to understand how the BOP segment differs from upper tiers, and adapt the marketing approach to meet the characteristics of consumers at the bottom. Prahalad’s concentration on the bottom of the pyramid requires a sea change in a company’s approach to business. Attempts to reap pro? ts from the BOP using current marketing techniques will fail. Failure will result because the products are too expensive or complicated, are not available in small enough quantities or sizes, or are simply not what the poor want. The BOP is not low hanging fruit.It is a market with potential, and achieving that potential will require costly effort and innovative strategies (Seelos and Mair, 2007). Even with a completely new management approach, evidence suggests that pro? ts at the bottom of the pyramid may be elusive (Karnani, 2007a). The literature suggest that the three most critical aspects in developing a new business model to serve the BOP are the access to credit, the establishment of alliances, and the adaptation of the marketing mix. The following subsections address these issues. still in its early stage in countries like Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina.Most of the banks that have participated in micro? nance are large commercial banks in search of new and attractive markets. The main reasons for commercial banks to attend the BOP have been: . the strong competition among large banks; . the evidence by NGOs supporting the BOP initiative; . the social responsibility dimension; . the opportunity to diversify their business operation; and . the possibility of working together with other institutions, like NGOs and governments. According to Westley (2007), by the end of 2005, there were 30 commercial banks in Latin America oriented to the microentrepreneurs.The establishment of alliances There is recognition that serving the BOP requires the involvement of multiple players, including private companies, go vernments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), ?nancial institutions, and other organizations – e. g. communities – (Prahalad and Hart, 2002). By infusing the pro? t motive into value creation, the hope is that private companies will take the leading role in serving the BOP and, thus, the purpose of alleviating poverty will more likely succeed. Prahalad and Hart (2002) suggest that, among private companies, multinational corporations (MNC) with extensive ? ancial resources are in the best position to lead the process of selling to the poor. However, MNC’s have built-in weaknesses that limit their potential for success with these consumers. They are simply too large, too rigid and too far from the customer to be effective. Instead of the top down approach that MNC’s represent (McFalls, 2007; Harjula, 2005), a bottom up process is necessary (Karnani, 2007a). Changing perspectives from top down to bottom up is so complicated that if MNC’s are to be involved, they may have to create ? exible subsidiaries free from the corporate structure, processes, culture, and assumptions.ITC has succeeded using that model and has done so at the grassroots level. Therefore, more research is needed to ? nd out under which circumstances MNC’s or other types of private company should lead the BOP initiative. This line of reasoning is consistent with D’Andrea et al. (2004) who, in the context of retailing in Latin America, suggest that smallscale independent supermarkets and traditional stores are more likely to reach emerging consumers than MNC’s. Likewise, NGOs have been critical in the development of the business model infrastructure in several successful cases of for-pro? t ? rms serving the BOP.For-pro? ts have created sustainability for the technology used (Chesbrough et al. , 2006); NGO’s, understand people’s needs. In addition, NGO’s are closer to people at the BOP, and are better prepared to educ ate them. For example, in Uganda, Africa, the NGO Infectious Disease Institute in Kampala collaborated with P? zer by educating people about the causes of AIDS, and how to prevent and combat it. This facilitated P? zer’s initiative to provide these people access to drugs that combat HIV/AIDS (Chesbrough et al. , 2006). Lastly, the public sector has an important role in developing the BOP proposition.The focus is changing from traditional governmental assistance delivery, to different ways of creating a sustainable environment for aiding the BOP. For example, Micro? nance Microloans are well known and originally seemed like the answer to self-suf? ciency. The concept that a poor consumer could gain a small loan and become a producer contributing to family income and independence is tantalizing. There is evidence that microloans have succeeded in aiding the bottom of the pyramid. There is also evidence that many of the would-be entrepreneurs failed to capitalize on such credit. They got deeper into debt (Karnani, 2007a).Some authors point out that the entrepreneurial skill that can lead to success is rare. Most individuals would rather have a guaranteed income rather than assume the risk that entrepreneurship entails. This adds to the argument that if businesses can create jobs and boost the poor’s income, then consumption will follow. Those businesses may not be able to obtain outside ? nancing. The BOP segments are not able to generate suf? cient pro? ts to justify a high cost of capital. To reduce the cost of capital, perhaps collaboration with funding sources like the World Bank or other NGO will be necessary.With ?nancial aid, companies trying for the BOP market may be able to succeed. The creation of buying power is one of the key elements that allow low-income segments to reach product and services. Formal commercial credit has been unavailable to this market and the cost of accessing and getting ? nancial services in the informal ? nancial market is enormous. Since the pioneering initiative of Grameen Bank, in the mid of the 1970’s, several ? nancial institutions have been very successful in offering ? nancial services to low-income people who were not traditionally served by the formal bank system.Programs for microcredit have characteristics that are speci? c and different from those of the traditional banking sectors. These differences include property and corporate governance of the institutions, characteristics of the consumers, the technology used to manage credit, and the characteristics of the product and service. The growth of the microcredit market has been heterogeneous across countries. For example, in Latin America, the micro? nance industry has had a signi? cant ? growth in countries like Peru, Bolivia and El Salvador but it is 398 The quest for the fortune at the bottom of the pyramidJournal of Consumer Marketing Dennis A. Pitta, Rodrigo Guesalaga and Pablo Marshall Volume 25  · Number 7  · 2 008  · 393 –401 the provision of funding and training to entrepreneurs is a way governments can support consumers and producers at the BOP. Another example is engineering supportive tax structures that promote private sector investment in BOP initiatives. distribution makes the poor poorer. Today, with escalating global fuel costs adding to the cost of transportation, the poor face an increasingly rigorous future. The lack of infrastructure serving rural areas also increases prices.For example, in Chile, consumer goods prices in the remote North and South of the country are 20-25 percent higher than the more highly populated central zone of Santiago and Valparaiso (Ferreira and Litch? eld, 1999). The idea of closeness in distribution channels for consumers at the BOP is very important. This means, for example, having stores that are both geographically close and affectively close. In other words, emotional proximity is also very important. A good example is Banco Estado, a stateowned commercial bank, which consumers consider the â€Å"closest† to the BOP segment.The reasons are its extensive distribution, its perception of being adaptive to people’s needs, its ? exibility, and its position as affectively close. In the context of retailing, D’Andrea et al. (2004) show that the development of personal relationships with the stores’ personnel has a positive effect on consumers’ self-esteem and well-being. Pricing for the bottom of the pyramid is, of course, also very critical. The challenge here is twofold. On the one hand, there is the issue of affordability: prices need to be affordable to BOP consumers. Ramaswamy and Schiphorst (2000) emonstrate the challenges in companies trying to serve the poor. In order to achieve affordability, they must reduce the costs of production and simplify the products. On the other hand, ? exibility in payments is also very important. Providing options of how and when low-income consume rs can pay for their products and services constitutes both a challenge and a source of competitive advantage to private companies. To do this, private companies may need the assistance of commercial banks and NGOs as key partners. Some marketing theorists (Karnani, 2007b) view the BOP as a collection of producers rather than consumers.Therefore, innovative payment models, which allow BOP consumers to pay using a marketing exchange model would increase their ability to pay for the things they consume. The ? Nestle milk agricultural exchange model cited above comes to ? mind. In that model, Nestle actually paid farmers for their milk at attractive prices. They could use the money to buy seed at equally attractive prices. It is a small step to consider a more traditional barter system. As long as the barter system offered fair pricing it would present a win-win situation that would help sustain the arrangement. The marketing mixIt is no surprise that serving different market segments may require different marketing mixes. Therefore, for-pro? t ? rms need to understand how the BOP segment differs from upper tiers, and adapt the marketing approach to meet the characteristics of these consumers. Since affordability is at the heart of serving the BOP, product modi? cation will help lower the price and improve affordability. The parallel strategy, reducing product size works in higher customer tiers but has limited usefulness at the lowest levels. In India, unit-use reduced size cachets of shampoo do promote consumption but are not the answer.The higher cost of packaging erodes pro? ts, and the resulting discarded packaging adds to pollution. The problem remains that the customer still has to allocate scarce income to the shampoo. One answer is to create a bare-bones product with fewer product features that the poor can afford. One example, Nirma detergent made in India, highlights a â€Å"poorer† product that is affordable. A single entrepreneur created Nirma to compete with Hindustan Lever’s market leading detergent, Surf. Surf gained market share because it is an excellent product. It has numerous additives that make it effective yet gentle to humans.Its cost was signi? cant. In fact, Nirma does not contain many of the ingredients and safeguards of its rival. It works but can cause blisters on the skin (Ahmad and Mead, 2004). Despite its harshness, the poor embraced it because they could afford it. The implication is that â€Å"research must also seek to adapt foreign solutions to local needs† (Prahalad and Hart, 2002). Evidence shows that consumers at the BOP care about branded products, because leading brands are a guarantee of product quality, which is particularly important to this segment because â€Å"the ? ancial loss from an underperforming product is greater for people with limited incomes† (D’Andrea et al. , 2004, p. 6). However, emerging consumers are not very loyal to speci? c brand names, altho ugh they do not experiment with unknown brands. In practice, they switch among a few known brands (D’Andrea et al. , 2004). D’Andrea and colleagues also argue that low-income consumers prefer products in small sizes, even if the perunit cost is higher, because of their income and space constraints. Moreover, too many varieties of products can harm emerging consumers’ purchasing experience. They may eel tempted to buy things they don’t need or can’t afford, which can produce a feeling of inferiority or frustration (D’Andrea et al. , 2004). Marketers also need to revisit distribution channels also to attend the BOP market effectively. Vachani and Smith’s (2008) recent work dealing with inclusive distribution has merit as a model for success. In essence, their examples infused a social action philosophy into a business model. One of their focal companies, ITC, demonstrated the vision necessary to discern pro? ts in the future and the det ermination to invest in a new distribution channel as a in-win proposition. Undoubtedly, the high cost of Conclusions and challenges for marketing theory and practice While the picture is not completely clear, the bottom of the pyramid may offer opportunities to create value for both the poor and companies. Early promises of a fortune seem to have been overstated. The degree of wealth present among the poor is much lower than ? rst reported. In addition, that wealth is too fragmented to be tapped under the current business models. It now appears that the basic concept overestimates the role that BOP consumers can play in contributing to company pro? ts.There is still no agreement in the literature about how bene? cial selling to the BOP can be for private companies, or for alleviating poverty. However, there are several elements of the BOP proposition that have been identi? ed as critical to 399 The quest for the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid Journal of Consumer Marketing Den nis A. Pitta, Rodrigo Guesalaga and Pablo Marshall Volume 25  · Number 7  · 2008  · 393 –401 succeed. First, an accurate characterization of the low-income sector – both as consumers and as producers – is required to understand their needs, perceptions, and behavior, which in urn will help companies to design a better business approach. Second, it is important to recognize that serving the BOP market requires a different business model, one incorporating access to microcredit, the establishment of alliances of collaboration among different types of institutions, and the adaptation of the marketing mix. â€Å"Until companies better understand the needs of emerging consumers and adapt their business models to serve them more ef? ciently and effectively, their growth will be limited† (D’Andrea et al. , 2004, p. 3). It is well known that BOP markets involve managing ubstantial challenges in technical and economic infrastructure, education, ? nanc ial resources, and cultural differences. As participants from the economic sectors progress, a number of questions need to be addressed. Gardetti (2005) articulated them clearly. They include: â€Å"How can a company turn its strategy at the BOP into a competitive advantage? What kind of business model will work? How can it build trust in the informal economy? What kind of education do business schools need? How does new technology integrate? How can we develop the educational/ social infrastructure? Moreover, from the viewpoint of egulatory and policy formulation, if entering the markets at the base of the pyramid is a sound choice for both development and business, what does it take to turn this into a reality? † Scholarly research, as well as practitioners’ participation in BOP initiatives, can provide some answers to clarify the true nature and scope of the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid. example in India showed its value in distribution and in customer relat ionship management. It will be equally valuable in research, product development, pricing, and promotion. Fourth, pricing is of paramount importance in serving the oor. In a for-pro? t enterprise, consumers must pay for the cost of serving them. Microcredit is one potential solution. It may be a limited solution, useful only to consumers with the skills necessary to manage it. However, innovative exchange models may offer even those without ? nancial management skills a chance to improve their condition. Fifth, given the economies of the BOP, it is likely that if pro? ts come, they will come later rather than sooner. Organizations need to choose a long-term involvement in order to avoid disappointment and a ? nancially ruinous midterm decision to exit.Finally, marketers should understand that some products are simply not suited for the poorest of the poor. Some products of dubious value to this segment, like Armani handbags, or even cheap counterfeits, will have no place at the BOP. More importantly, some products and services related to health care will always be simply too expensive. Altruistic surgeons may care for uniquely disadvantaged patients by donating their time but they are only one part of a surgical team. Even if the hospital and every member of the team donate facilities, their time, and the resources to save a atient, that model is not sustainable as a for-pro? t venture. Similarly, the cost of a ten-day supply of a life-saving antibiotic cannot be reduced realistically using the â€Å"smaller package size† option. The implication would be either reduced daily doses or fewer full strength doses. Both are likely to breed drug resistant organisms and thereby threaten the life of the patient and society. To remedy this situation, other players like governments and NGO’s will be important. Many marketers must realize that collaborating with them is important. To be effective, the collaboration must be proactive.Marketers wishing to ser ve the BOP, who recognize the importance of alliances with others, should seek out relationships with both government and NGO’s. Early and persistent outreach will be valuable in alerting all of the players to each other’s strengths and in creating an accurate picture of the challenges. Politically, coalitions of organizations with different fundamental objectives are prone to misunderstanding. Often their terminology is similar but the meaning is different. Alternatively, their objectives may be so totally different that they are fundamentally foreign to one another.If the goal is poverty eradication at a pro? t, all the players must collaborate. The goal may be so dif? cult and achieving effective teamwork is essential. Implications for marketers In general, if pro? t-seeking companies plan to serve the BOP, numerous factors will have to change. First, marketers will have to approach the BOP in a novel manner different from any they used in their prior successes. The BOP is mostly unknown territory. They may have to reinvent themselves or create divisions with substantial independence. If the old segmentation rules that worked at the TOP no longer apply, either will the product development, sales, pricing, distribution policies, and management. In addition, the pro? t objectives and revenue goals will have to be changed. Those who are not prepared to address the sea change in marketing approach should avoid entering this market. Second, simply modifying products and selling them is a path to failure. Success will depend on knowing the BOP intimately. Currently the BOP is terra incognita in terms of segments and their needs. To succeed, marketers must be able to differentiate different income segments and their value. Within the various BOP de? itions, there are three apparent segments, â€Å"under $2 per day†, â€Å"$4 per day†, and â€Å"$6 per day†. The needs and incomes of the segments seem to differ enough to indicate t hat they be treated differently. Marketers need to know which ones to serve and how to serve those successfully. Third, in order to understand the voice of the BOP consumer, companies need grass roots sources of intelligence. Collaborating effectively with agents â€Å"on the ground† who have direct contact with relevant BOP segments is vital. Moreover, companies must train those agents to seek ? information that will help serve those customers.The Nestle References Ahmad, P. S. and Mead, J. (2004), Hindustan Lever Limited and Project Sting , Darden Business Publishing, Charlottesville, VA. Chen, S. and Ravaillon, M. (2007), â€Å"Absolute poverty measures for the developing world, 1981-2004†, Policy Research Working Paper 4211, World Bank, April. Chesbrough, H. , Ahern, S. , Finn, M. and Guerraz, S. (2006), â€Å"Business models for technology in the developing world: the role of non-governmental organizations†, California Management Review, Vol. 48 No. 3, Spri ng, pp. 47-62. 400 The quest for the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid Journal of Consumer MarketingDennis A. Pitta, Rodrigo Guesalaga and Pablo Marshall Volume 25  · Number 7  · 2008  · 393 –401 D’Andrea, G. , Stengel, E. A. and Goebel-Krstelj, A. (2004), â€Å"Six truths about emerging-market consumers†, Strategy and Business, Vol. 34, pp. 2-12. (The) Economist (2004), 13 March, p. 84. Ferreira, F. G. H. and Litch? eld, J. A. (1999), â€Å"Calm after the storms: income distribution in Chile, 1987-1994†, World Bank Economic Review, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 509-38. Gardetti, M. A. (2005), â€Å"A base of the pyramid approach in Argentina†, Greener Management International, Vol. 51, pp. 65-77. Hammond, A. L. , Krammer, W.J. , Katz, R. S. , Tran, J. T. and Walker, C. (2007), The Next 4 Billion. Market Size and Business Strategy at the Base of the Pyramid, World Resource Institute, International Finance Corporation. Harjula, L. (2005), â€Å"Tensi ons between venture capitalists’ and business-social entrepreneurs’ goals: will bottom-of-the pyramid strategies offer a solution? †, Greener Management International, Vol. 51, pp. 79-87. Hart, S. L. (2005), Inclusive Capitalism: The Unlimited Business Opportunities in Solving the World’s Most Dif? cult Problems, Wharton School Publishing, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Karnani, A. 2007a), â€Å"The mirage of marketing to the bottom of the pyramid: how the private sector can help alleviate poverty†, California Management Review, Summer, Vol. 49 No. 4, pp. 90-111. Karnani, A. (2007b), â€Å"Misfortune at the bottom of the pyramid†, Greener Management International, pp. 99-110. Martinez, J. L. and Carbonell, M. (2007), â€Å"Value at the bottom of the pyramid†, Business Strategy Review, Autumn, pp. 50-5. McFalls, R. (2007), â€Å"Testing the limits of ‘inclusive capitalism’: a case study of the South Africa HP iCommunity†, T he Journal of Corporate Citizenship, Vol. 28, Summer, pp. 85-98. Pitta, D. A. and Franzak, F. 1997), â€Å"Boundary spanning product development in consumer markets: learning organization insights†, Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 235-49. Prahalad, C. K. (2004), The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Pro? ts, Wharton School Publishing, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Prahalad, C. K. and Hammond, A. (2002), â€Å"Serving the world’s poor pro? tably†, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 80 No. 9, pp. 48-57. Prahalad, C. K. and Hart, S. L. (2002), â€Å"The fortune at the bottom of the pyramid†, Strategy and Business, Vol. 26, January, pp. 54-67. Ramaswamy, E. A. and Schiphorst, F.B. (2000), â€Å"Human resource management, trade unions and empowerment: two cases from India†, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 11 No. 4, pp. 664-80. Seelos, C. and Mair, J. (2007), â€Å"Pro? table bus iness models and market creation in the context of deep poverty: a strategic view†, Academy of Management Perspectives, November, pp. 49-63. Vachani, S. and Smith, N. C. (2008), â€Å"Socially responsible distribution: distribution strategies for reaching the bottom of the pyramid†, California Management Review, Vol. 50 No. 2, Winter, pp. 52-84. Westley (2007), Commercial Banks in Micro? nance: BestPractices and Guidelines for Project Design, Monitoring, and Evaluation, IADB, MSM – 138. Zeithaml, V. A. , Rust, R. T. and Lemon, K. (2001), â€Å"The customer pyramid: creating and serving pro? table customers†, California Management Review, Vol. 43 No. 4, Summer, pp. 118-34. Further reading Anderson, S. N. (1994), â€Å"Unions/management create collaborative culture†, Communication World, Vol. 4 No. 1. Corresponding author Dennis A. Pitta can be contacted at: [email  protected] edu To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [email  protect ed] com Or visit our web site for further details: www. emeraldinsight. com/reprints 401

Business Ethics and dilemma Essay

1. Review the assigned readings from the text and article by Carroll (1991). 2. Prepare a 3- to 5-page paper titled, Corporate Social Responsibility. 3. Reflect upon your text readings from Chapters 1 and 9 with a focus on the following core concepts: Organizational Social Responsibility (Chapters 1 and 9) The Ethical Decision-making Process (Chapter 1) Corporate Reputation (Chapter 9) The Corporate Social Responsibility Pyramid (Chapter 9) The Importance of Trust (Chapter 9) The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility (article by Carroll and Chapter 9) 4. Read The Merck and River Blindness Case at the end of Chapter 9 of your text. 5. Compose your paper in Microsoft Word. Include your name, the assignment name and number, the course and section number, and the date on your title page. Follow APA guidelines for formatting and citations.. NOTE: Your paper must meet the minimum requirements as outlined in the section of Weekly Written Assignments of the Assignment Guidelines and the grading criteria of this assignment. You are to provide a minimum of 2-3 references in your work. For this assignment, use of general google.com or Internet search references is not acceptable. Use the university library’s scholarly databases. 6. Respond to each of the following questions and statements: Stakeholders: Produce a list of all key stakeholders that you perceive to have a bona fide interest in the Merck company’s dilemma. Corporate Social Responsibility Pyramid: Frame the Merck company’s ethical dilemma within the Corporate Social Responsibility Pyramid. E.g. State briefly the key economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic responsibilities. As a focal point, compare and contrast the economic implications against the ethical and philanthropic considerations. Organizational Values: State briefly and specifically whether the decision to a) proceed with the drug project or b) not to proceed with the drug development best fits with the company’s declared organizational values and its principles of profitability. Stakeholder Impact and Trust: If the drug development failed and cost hundreds of millions of dollars, would that harm to the company and its stakeholders be justifiable? If Merck decided not to pursue development of the new drug, what implications do you see this having for stakeholder relations such as the scientists who desire the development. E.g. Is this a trust and leadership consideration? Final Decision: If you were the CEO of Merck and the final decision on this risky new drug development was yours, what would you do and why? Justify your decision. Using Carroll’s theory, are you comfortable stating your opinion to the board of trustees, employees, and media? NOTE: Since this is an actual, real-life case, your focus should be on producing creative and new thinking that applies the ethical concepts to the material. Also, include an introduction and conclusion in your paper. You are encouraged to use the headings above in Action Item 7 in your paper for organizational purposes. 7. Submit your paper to Turnitin.com. NOTE: Turnitin.com is used by Franklin University to assist students in detecting plagiarism. Turnitin generates a report within minutes of submitting your paper. Your results will not be e-mailed to you; you must login to review your results. Submitting a paper ahead of an assignment deadline provides you with the opportunity to take action if you need to rewrite any part of the paper. Your professor will provide you with a class ID and password as an e-mail or a Class Communication object. Submission Instructions By Sunday, upload your paper using the Submit tool. Grading Criteria Content and focus: Response addressed the question(s) posed in a logical, cohesive manner: 0 – 35 points Analysis and critical thinking: Writing illustrates higher order critical thinking, analysis, synthesis, and/or evaluation: 0 – 35 points Writing style, grammar, sentence structure: Sentences are consistently clear, concise, well written; grammar and punctuation are correct: 0 – 15 points APA and research: Correct use of APA style in body of paper and appropriately references the text and/or other research sources: 0 – 15 points

The Clouds as Mental Therapy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Clouds as Mental Therapy - Essay Example The researcher will strive to bring the concept of aesthetic healing whereby the city residents can heal their disturbed mind through nature therapy. In this project, the researcher wishes people can look at the sky and engage their mind by thinking about the artwork that brings the shapes of the clouds. Actually, an installation made in clouds shape, and recap about their childhood which let them have a breath and break from their routine tasks. Unfortunately, modern people forget about their childhood where they had a dream and passion for the world. In the current world, people get obsessed with the new idea and they have a fixed mind that the new idea can change the world. In order to unburden ones with tired mind and body, the researcher is going to give them a break and mental relief within their imagination. The clouds are marveling; that nature and artwork so mysterious such that when one sees the installation done in a cloud shape, they can play around within their mind like what we did in our childhood. Finally, one would have a mental relief that most of the city dwellers desperately need.

Children with Traumatic Brain Injury Term Paper

Children with Traumatic Brain Injury - Term Paper Example TBI refers to brain injuries that are caused by external physical forces and not brain injuries that result during childbirth or those that are congenital and degenerative (Ponsford, Draper &Schonberger, 2008). In actual fact, TBI may occur in several ways for instance when the head hits an object, when the head comes into contact with force or when there is movement inside the skull. This results in the development of two types of TBI first being the closed head injury (CHI) which refers to brain damage that is not caused by exterior force and the damages are not visible. The other is open head injury (OHI) which is caused by the impact of external force resulting in the development of visible head injuries for instance swelling. Unfortunately, a child that sustains a brain injury may look fine at the moment but later in life, especially in the adolescent stage exhibit intense behavioral and cognitive problems. This implies that TBI causes children to have lifelong disabilities incl uding cognitive, perceptual, memory, abstract thinking, psychosocial behavior, speech, language, attention, judgment, information processing, sensory, physical functions and problem-solving impairments (Saatman, Duhaime & Workshop Scientific Team and Advisory Panel Members, 2008). These disabilities are manifested in an array of characteristics depending on the location and extent of brain injury. They may also be permanent or temporary in nature where they can either cause total or partial psychosocial adjustment or functional disabilities. For instance, students with cognitive impairments suffer from long or short-term memory deficits thus remembering things and facts become quite difficult. Such students also suffer from impaired concentration and limited attention span. Therefore, they cannot engage in any activity for a long period of time even concentrating in class becomes difficult. Moreover, these students suffer from impaired perception where sequencing, judgment, and plan ning pose a serious problem. In addition, such children gravely suffer from communication problems which inhibit both their writing and reading skills. This is as a result of damage that occurs in the frontal lobes of the brain (Aimaretti & Ghigo, 2007). TBI also manifests behavioral and emotional characteristics which include mood swings, lowered self-esteem, self-centeredness, fatigue, anxiety, depression, restlessness and nosedived motivation. They are also unable to control their emotions as at times they may excessively cry or laugh. As a result, they can neither self-monitor nor relate well with others. This arises because of damage that occurs in the limbic system in the brain. On the other hand, the physical impairment characteristics include sensory impairments as well as vision, speech and hearing problems. Conversely, the students may suffer from constant headaches, paralysis or paresis of either or both sides, lack of proper balance, gait impairments, spasticity of muscl es and seizure disorders. They also lack effective coordination especially the fine motor coordination. These physical characteristics arise due to an imbalance that affects the brain equilibrium. This is because of the development of the midline shift syndrome which further affects the weight, posture and drift posture of patients with TBI. As a result, the patients do not see a straight horizon or wall they see them as tilted (Parikh, Koch & Narayan, 2007).

The impact of Hurricane Katrina on the economy Essay

The impact of Hurricane Katrina on the economy - Essay Example There are some strategies implemented to overcome the disaster caused to the economy by this hurricane. Hurricane Katrina has affected the Gulf of Mexico, New Orleans and Louisiana, which is the main hub of nation's oil, gas production and distribution. It severely damaged the oil production and refining facilities in these areas crippling the oil and gas production of the country. The fuel produced by the country is a contributing factor to the economic growth of a country. The damage of such a resource has its implications of various sectors. Although, there is sometime required to estimate the damage caused by this hurricane, predications are made about the potential loss that the economy will incur. Hurricane Katrina has resulted in the increase in prices of gasoline and other oil products. The damage of oil production and refining facilities has resulted in high demand of gasoline. The prices of fuel have increased by about by 15 times. [Hurricane Katrina's impact on US economy should not be overestimated, 2005]. Because of this increase in price, there are various industries, which are predicted to be affected by this calamity. This damage caused to the oil and gas production of the country is likely to affect the import and export of goods, retail market, real estate business and large organizations. [Little, 2005]. Gulf of Mexico comprises of about 30 percent oil production, 20 percent of the gas production and 60 percent of the oil imports in the U.S. [Samuelson, 2005]. This increase in the oil and gasoline price has affected the import and export of goods. Oil and gasoline is essential for transportation of products into and outside the country. The devastation caused to the oil and refinery productions in these areas have affected the transportation of the grains and goods outside the country and inflow of coffee and cargo into the country. [Hurricane Katrina's impact on US economy should not be overestimated, 2005]. However, there is a consolation that most of the import and export of goods occur after the fall so it has not causes a major damage to the foreign trade. [Samuelson, 2005] The increase in the price of the fuel has resulted in increase in price of every petrol-chemical and other related product. For instance, due to the increase in crude oil, the price of home heating products is expected to reach a soaring height during the winter season. [Little, 2005]. The hurricane has also affected the *retail market. There is increase in price on most of the products as a result the consumer budget is being affected. Most of the people spend large amount of money on the fuel due to the increase in prices of the fuel, while there is no increase in their salary or wages. As a result, they are unable to purchase high priced products. This will tend to affect the retail sales. *Consumer spending accounts to about two-thirds of the economy due to which a recession is forecasted in the economy. [Little, 2005]. The real estate business will make huge profits due to the hurricane. The hike in prices of the fuel and the shortage of building material in the country will result in increase in the value of the land and

Managerial Finance in a Health Spa Resort Assignment

Managerial Finance in a Health Spa Resort - Assignment Example In the face of looming competition, the company has decided to revamp its operations and in this respect formulate a suitable strategy, taking into account the escalating demand for the services provided by the Health and Beauty sector in the leisure industry, with the aim of sustaining growth and strengthening its market share. â€Å"The method a company uses to expand its business is largely contingent upon its financial situation, the competition and even government regulation. Some common growth strategies in business include market penetration, market expansion, product expansion, diversification and acquisition†. (Suttle, R., 2012) The following important issues have been identified, in connection with the strategies to be evolved, during the discussions at board level. Better marketing and cost reduction exercises could not improve profitability dramatically as the company in these cases cannot push beyond certain limits. The idea of bringing down the debt level, so that the company can plow back the profits generated for investment, is not consistent with the objectives of growth and increasing market share, which calls for new investment. The company needs to think about new strategies to improve profitability and market share. It is in this backdrop, the following strategies have been put forward for consideration after discussion between the board and the management team. This paper seeks to analyze the above strategies and advise the company with regard to the advantages and critical issues related to the strategies put forward and the strategy best suited for the company for achieving its objectives of growth and increase in market share in the long run. It is proposed to acquire the assets of the company New You. Smith, H.T.J. & Moraitis, T. (2009, p.86) state â€Å"The traditional logic of an acquisition is based on inter-assets synergies that are expected to arise when the merged organizations can support activities more proï ¬ tably in combination than they could separately.† New You is a major player in  the industry with a market share of 28% as given in Exhibit 1.  

Wastewater Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Wastewater Management - Essay Example With the increase in population, the demand for water has increased drastically over the years. As a matter of fact, besides the water that is locked in the glaciers and icecaps, about 97 % of the fresh water is in the lakes, rivers, streams, and groundwater. The pollution of these water resources is a serious concern all over the world. As the number of industries is increasing, growing volumes of industrial wastewater are being discharged to surface waters. Due to the lack of funds and proper initiatives, the treatment provided is usually poor to protect the desired uses of the receiving waters. Before getting into the principal steps involved in industrial wastewater treatment, it is important to understand that reducing the generation of waste through proper management of resources could be an easier step than treating the effluents. Thus, through this process, the companies will benefit from the reduced input cost or the expenditure on raw materials and also reduces the wastewater treatment costs. It also improves the efficiency and the working conditions in the industry. Industries that use large amounts of water for processing have the potential to pollute waterways. Industrial waste consists of both organic and inorganic substances. Organic wastes include pesticide residues, solvents and cleaning fluids, dissolved residue from fruit and vegetables, and lignin from pulp and paper industry. Effluents can also contain inorganic wastes such as salts and heavy metals. When these effluents are released into the water bodies without proper treatment, it can cause serious damage to the ecosystem. Besides, it can also affect the people who use this water for drinking or any other household purposes. It is therefore essential that the industrial effluents are treated to high standards before they are released.

The problems associated with the Blockbuster company Essay

The problems associated with the Blockbuster company - Essay Example The firm that is analyzed in the paper is Blockbuster. It was started in the year 1985 in Dallas as a single movie-renting store. With its aggressive growth strategy, the company managed to grow to nearly 7,265 stores in 24 nations around the world. Though the company remained as the world leader in movie rental during 1990s, problems emerged as new technologies developed in the area of entertainment distribution. New technologies that allowed online booking and online delivery of content developed as time passed, but the company management was adamant to give up its basic brick and mortar movie renting stores. As a result, while its competitors like Netflix effectively shifted to, and excelled in, methods like online booking, mail delivery and VOD, Blockbuster went on struggling with the already declining in-store movie renting systems and fell into debts. This resulted in a lot of issues in customer service that again made many existing customers leave the company. Firstly, the num ber of titles on offer declined dramatically, and secondly, popular items often went out-of-stock. Also, the delivery system was too slow as compared to that of its rivals. Thus, the company closed its year 2007 with a net loss of $ 85.1 million. This work looks into the various reasons behind the existing issues and tries to suggest ways for improvement in the future. A look into the performance of Blockbuster proves that once glamorous Blockbuster where everyone stopped to pick up a few movies has become a shadow of its past. There are a number of issues ranging from stiff competition, indifferent and doubtful management, lack of clear objectives, and finally, the continuously changing industry dynamics. Until the end of 1990s, Blockbuster was at the top of the rental business, and it never considered Netflix or any such other companies as consequential competitors. So the company paid little attention towards the emerging technologies and the changing customer preferences. Soon, the company found that its profits were going dramatically down. Thus, the stock price of the company fell from $29 to $2 per share. This was mainly the result of the emergence of other forms of entertainment delivery like rental by mail and video on demand. As these technologies emerged, a significant proportion of customers found them more convenient than in-store renting. It was at that juncture that the company made the most terrible mistake in its history. Instead of adapting itself to the emerging trend, the company decided to strengthen its in-store business. However, as the in-store business was destined to fail as technology allowed more convenient renting options, the effort proved futile. On the other hand, its rivals like Netflix who successfully adopted rental by mail and video on demand technologies found significant improvement in business and profit. As the company found itself in trouble, it started new strategies like kiosks, rental by mail and video on demand. How ever, each of the new strategies had its own defect too. For example, the rental by mail offered by Blockbuster was not as effective as that of Netflix. While Netflix managed to deliver the order in a single day, Blockbuster took one to three days. Also, while Netflix ensured successful delivery in more than 95% of the cases, many of the Blockbuster visitors found their favorite titles out-of-stock. Admittedly, the company has taken beneficial steps that will improve the position of the company in future. First of all, it has widened the product array in its brick and mortar stores by adding electronic appliances and video games. Secondly, it has started VOD though it has not been seriously explored. In fact, most of the problems faced by the company are associated with the lack of a specific objective. The management goes on changing its strategies in very short intervals, and hence, the customers get too puzzled to take a decision. Also, even the company representatives find it

Abortion & The Religious Opposition Research Paper

Abortion & The Religious Opposition - Research Paper Example Belief in religion was so strong earlier which prevented people from performing abortion. Most of the religions, especially the Christian religion, oppose abortion because of the serious ethical issues involved in it. According to Christian belief, only the creator (The God) has the sole right over creations and doing something against the will of God is unethical. Christians or the church argue that even after tremendous advancements in science and technology, the mysteries around life and death are not unveiled yet. In other words, Christians do believe that the secrets behind human life are uncatchable to human abilities and only the God has the authority on human life. In short, church always believes that denying the opportunity of a child to live in this world cannot be justified. On the other hand, critics of above argument argue that everything in this universe is meant for the wellbeing of the human and human has the right to do everything needed to make his/her life comfort able. Thus churches and current liberal or advanced societies have different perceptions about topics such as abortion. This paper analyses the various arguments in favor and against abortion through religious perspectives. â€Å"The Catholic Church has always condemned abortion as a grave evil. Christian writers from the first-century author of the Didache to Pope John Paul II have maintained that the Bible forbids abortion, just as it forbids murder† (Abortion). Abortion is an act of murdering. It is just like a person being killed by another person. Some people believe that God forgives every sin and in order to get salvation, a confession before the end of life is enough. But in many cases, people may not get an opportunity to confess their sins because of the unexpected arrival of death. Under such circumstances, it is better to stay away from committing mistakes rather than expecting forgiveness from God later. Killing of fetus in order to rescue the life of mother coul d be the justified up to certain extent. Didache and Pope John Paul II justified abortion based on the above belief and argument. Old Testament is more critical on causing damages to a fetus. The following words from Exodus 21:22-24 clearly suggests that the life of a fetus is as important as the life of a human. If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely, but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot (Ex. 21:22–24) (Abortion) The life of a fetus is as important as the life of a human according to Moses. Destruction of a fetus is nothing smaller than killing of another person. Moses declared that a criminal who causes damage to a fetus should be punished severely which is evident from the above words from Holy Bible. However, Jesus Christ has li beralized many of the laws of Moses. Jesus gave more importance to Forgiveness and Love. Jesus came to this world in search of sinners rather than saints. So he did everything possible to save the lives of sinners. In fact he sacrificed his life for saving the lives of sinners. He taught the sinners that if they confess their sins and accept Jesus as their savior, they will get salvation. In other words, it is possible to argue that Jesus may forgive the sins with respect to abortion

Management accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Management accounting - Essay Example The company has had a history of high turnover and this is based on the fact the employees were not feeling motivated under the current payment scheme. For instance, the largest production center, which has 75 employees, was paying the employees just 9040 while under the new scheme the employees are going to be paid more salary at 10250. According to Kline (2010), the increase in salary will motivate the employees to work extra harder. Several motivation theories also point out that better remuneration is key to motivation of employees. When employees are paid salary, which is commensurate with their input at the organization, they will become more productive which in turn boosts the competitive edge of the company irrespective of the industry in which it operates. The cost of high turnover is an indication that the employees are not motivated. Moreover, it is a costly affair to the company because the cost of replacing workers, which have exited the company, is a huge expense, which eats into the profitability of the company. On the other hand, the new hourly pay rate is also cost effective because under the new hourly rate, the electronics department will pay less to employees. Prior to the new scheme, the total cost incurred on employee salary for the three employees, Ewelina, Danesh, and Sarah. For instance, under the new hourly rate the company will pay $810 less to the employees because previously the paid  £4522.2 but under the new hourly rate the pay is  £ 3712.5. Siddiqui (2006) asserts that the sole objective of operating a business is to make profit, which is achieved through increased revenues and reduced cost. The fact that the company will register less expenses in salaries means that it will improve its profitability hence the new hourly pay scheme is a welcomed

Hilton Hotels Corporation Marketing Analysis Essay Example for Free

Hilton Hotels Corporation Marketing Analysis Essay The marketing issues addressed here are focused on how to draw more consumers from other gambling casinos, and how to make Hilton a resort destination. Two-thirds of Hiltons total operating earnings in the early 1990s were derived from the four casinos they owned in Las Vegas, Nevada. Expanding on this idea will ensure the hotel chain firmly plants its feet in the entertainment and resort business (Hilton Case Study). By investing massive amounts of revenue into developing their gaming division, the Hilton will become a destination resort that would encompass of all the guests needs to keep them interested staying within the confines of the resort. Some considerations include how Hilton would get its market share of the billions of dollars in casino revenues. The percentage of gambling versus side attractions will influence the profit margins, depending on how much focus is placed on each area. The hotel chain can also strive to increase its overall occupancy rate of seventy percent while continuing to set the industry benchmark (Hilton Case Study). In researching how to improve marketing to attract customers, we must first look at where the Hilton stands today. Second, we must analyze what has worked in the past and see if we can apply past practices into the current market. Third, we shall look at how the competitors are more effective by looking at their gaming plans, marketing structure, customers spending habits and dollar/cost value based on guest surveys. Hilton entered the gaming market as an attempt to compete with the other big hotels for the gambling dollar. Investments in renovation and expansion caused Hilton to over- extend. Although the investments were needed to compete, the hotel chain felt it needed to lure big money to its locations, and extend credit more than usual. Heavy hitters receive this same courtesy from other hotels, but this puts a strain on the operating cash flow, as chasing bad credit costs money, and slows up cash flow. Gaming revenue was already down, which was attributable in part to renovation and more so to extended credit that had been difficult to reclaim. In todays market, families are a prime target. Big beautiful hotels are  catering to families all along the Las Vegas strip. Gambling is still the main focus, but todays gambler is more inclined to visit the Casino Resort, a place that the kids can stay, have a good time and be entertained. Meanwhile, the parents can drop next months mortgage money at the casino. This type of package appeals to the whole family. As far as quality of service, no one does it better than Hilton, because they create an environment that the customer, family or non-family guests will remember and to which they will want to return. The focus on entertainment is important, but Las Vegas is still sin-city. Three point six billion dollars have been spent in packaging entertainment; focus on the family is important, but a balance of adult-only and child-friendly entertainment is required. Gambling is the central purpose for casinos to exist. Continue to market the standard tables of chance, card tables, slot machines, and lavish floor shows, with headliners people recognize, and the main source of revenue will continue to flow. Have shopping, kids activities, and outdoor recreation available, but not as the focus of why travelers should visit, and that will provide entertainment for the rest of the family. Hilton should pull back the extended credit. By doing so, they may lose a few customers, but the resulting loss of risk will increase bottom-line profit. By changing the focus to families, the customers that discontinue patronizing the hotel for credit line reasons are not the desired target anymore. The chain should pay more attention to the middle-market segment, conventions, and sporting events such as youth tournaments and professional venues. In volume, the more people that move through the doors, the more money there is to be made. With this said, room rates must stay within the $100.00 a night rate with weekend promotions of Thursday through Sunday at a lower rate; perhaps 25% to 35% lower. This would be a novel concept, as the industry generally promotes lower room rates Monday through Thursday. The food and beverage structure should remain the same, as it has proven to be more than adequate and very popular. The increase in competition can be dealt with through better values in room rates, childrens activities, slot machines that pay off more frequently and the most important aspect of the business, service. Hilton could offer something that the other hotels do not: ensuring the employee responses to each customers needs are met with enthusiasm and expedience. People are paying for an experience along with the opportunity to break the house; give them what they are looking for. Word of mouth is far more powerful than any media advertisement. Hilton has entered the gaming industry. Gaming must focus on gambling and hotel must focus on hotel amenities and service. It would be the hotels responsibility to insure the entertainment, promotions and accommodations were settled; leaving the gaming operations to generate gaming interest. Advertising would be a joint effort, but casino operations would focus on the age 21 and older market. The two operations would report to the Chief Executive Officer and his staffs to ensure all objectives are met. It would be the CEO and staffs responsibility to ensure both lines were working hand-in-hand, while maintaining separate operations. The purpose for this suggestion is to keep revenues separate so one function does not bear the full brunt of any losses that may occur. The casino will always show a bigger profit than the hotel, but by having separate bottom lines, profit and losses are easier to control. The hotel/casino is one business, but must have two different mindsets as the casino and hotel does, and will operate much differently. Situational AnalysisThe U.S. based Hilton Hotels Corporation is a multi-billion dollar corporation and a leading brand in the hotel and gaming industry. Conrad Hilton started the company in 1919 with his first hotel purchase. Since then the company has grown to over 2,000 hotels globally, with several brand name acquisitions, including Ballys, Hampton Inn, Doubletree Suites and Homewood Inn. Besides standard hotel service, the Hilton Corporation runs casinos, vacation ownership businesses and luxury hotels, like the Conrad Line. The Hilton Hotels Corporation earned in excess  of $3.8 billion in fiscal year 2003 (Datamonitor, p. 4). External FactorsAccording to the Datamonitor report, the Marriott and Hyatt Corporations are the Hilton Hotel Corporations biggest competitors. Las Vegas is a gaming town, thus every hotel is expected to have gambling casinos within. The Las Vegas Hilton website shows that they also provide live entertainment, including comics and headline musical acts, as well as hosting a million-dollar Blackjack tournament. These factors, along with the attractive room packages and gambling activities, should be enough to maintain the occupancy rate and keep the gambling action constant. According to its website, the Las Vegas Marriott is a hotel with 278 rooms. The Hyatt franchise is located 17 miles away from the Las Vegas strip on Lake Las Vegas, but is a resort, casino and spa. While the Hyatt is a luxury hotel chain, the Marriott is a corporation more in line with Hilton. The Marriott made over $9 billion in fiscal year 2003; more than three times the Hilton Hotel Corporation (Marriott Datamonitor report). To contend with a company of this magnitude is not an easy job for any of their competitors. Hilton Hotels Corporation is an enormous company as mentioned above; so sizable that they had to split the corporation into six main divisions, totaling approximately 100,000 employees worldwide. Hilton Hotels Corporation has been very successful since they were established in 1946. Their diversification profile is significant and ambitious; no matter where you go, there are Hilton hotels there. In addition, Hilton Corporation has been leading in customer service and efficient staffing by utilizing a call center to help them maintain their reputation for hospitality. Hilton Reservations Worldwide handles reservations and information requests for thousands of hotel properties, under their various brands, positioning the company on the top of: †¢ Accurate intraday forecasts†¢ Reduced management costs†¢ Excellent customer service †¢ An edge over the competitionA companys strength does not solely lie in the size of the company but in the management of the company, the employees and their commitment to their customers. Hiltons management promoted brand relevancy within minority markets. Their sales team strategic initiatives are to target the multicultural market. In relation to their employees, Hiltons are some of the finest. They are trained to do their jobs with care and make sure the customers are comfortable and happy. The customer personal profile allows the Hilton employees to treat each customer as a unique and special individual. WeaknessEvery company has weaknesses; Hilton Hotels weakness lied in its inability to recover quickly from the attacks on America in 2001. Although Hilton Hotels is a large company in many locations across the country, they had to reduce their manpower due to the decline in business. Matthew J. Hart (president and CEO) said; we have had a lot of job losses about 2,500 full-time equivalent jobs out of a worldwide workforce of 100,000. But we have no plans for any more, unless business gets worse (Finch, 2001, p.1). The September 11th attacks left the whole nation in awe, in grief, and for many New Yorkers, jobless. The attacks left the airline and hotel industry to recover from lost sales. Another weakness the hotel industry is facing is the evident decline in supply. The below chart shows how the demand to occupy the Hilton hotels has been a declining behavior during the last years:A closer examination of the demand cycle for economy hotels during the past several years reveals a pattern that is not consistent with other hotels. The rate of demand growth in this segment began declining during mid-2000, about nine months before a similar effect was felt industry-wide. In addition, as the industrys demand recovery has begun to accelerate the rate of demand growth, the economy segment has plateaud. Of even more concern is that the number of rooms currently being purchased in this segment is still declining when compared to previous-years levels. (Look Smart Articles, 2004, p.1)OpportunitiesAs mentioned earlier, Hilton Hotels Corporation is known worldwide; with this notoriety their reputation will carry them to expand their hotel empire even further. Their opportunity lies in the growing international market. The company is expecting 4-5% fee growth in 2004 within; new management contracts in Austin, Houston, Omaha and Conrad Miami. The company market overview reveals that recent trends in major markets are:†¢ Strong in New York, D.C., Hawaii†¢ Stable in New Orleans, Boston†¢ Weak in San Francisco, ChicagoThere will always be a demand for hotels and resorts. Currently, Hilton Hotels are working on more room availability; 80% of rooms have been renovated within last five years, and they are expanding into new markets. They also have Best Rates. Guaranteed, Internet easy access with a success rate of utilization from the customers:†¢ 13% of all reservations†¢ 85% through proprietary websites†¢ Self-service kiosksThis kind of service assists in making the experience convenient for the customer. Along with the convenience, Hilton Corporation and their six divisions take pride in making every building fee l like home and ensuring the customer is satisfied and pleased with their accommodations (Hilton Hotels Corporation, 2003, s.3-5). ThreatsA few of the threats for The Hilton are competition, and a declining economy. The competition for The Hilton is not only other hotel companies, but restaurants and other service centers as well. Marriott is the main competitor of The Hilton amongst other hospitality companies. Because Hilton is so grand and reputable, they have more room for error, which also makes them vulnerable. As time passes, the Hilton Hotels continue to strive for excellence and perfection. They make each new hotel or resort better than the last. Because of the continuous growth of this company, it has dealt  with its competition head on (Nairn, 2001, p.3). The second threat is the economic decline of this century. Since the September 11th attacks in New York City, the American economy has been declining in all service industry areas. There was an ominous fear of flying and for quite some time, many people chose not to travel for vacations or long-distance business trips. This reaction to the events of 2001 hurt the hospitality industry, and made difficult rebuilding what they lost in revenue. Fortunately, this trend has started to change and the industry will soon recover from their losses. This is an area that still needs close monitoring from the executives of the corporation. References Datamonitor Hilton Hotels Company Overview August 2004. Datamonitor Marriott International Inc. Overview August 2004. Finch, J. (2001, November 16). Hilton reports impact of September 11. Retrieved October 26, 2004, http://www.union-network.org/unitourism.nsf/2c89b80c011f2519c1256b06002163c2?OpenDocumentHotels Hilton Hotels Corporation. (1998, Fall 1998). Corporate History. Retrieved October 26, 2004, Http://hiltonworldwide.hilton.com/en/ww/company-_info/corporate_history.jhtml;jsessionid=FGTDSXUCGXCGSCSGBIX222QKIYFCXUUCHilton Case Study. https://mycampus.phoenix.edu/secure/resource/resource.asp Retrieved October 23, 2004. Hilton Hotels Corporation (2003, July). Hilton: Great Brands and a Balanced Business Model (presentation). Retrieved October 26, 2004, http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/NYS/HLT/Hilton%20Presentation%20February%202004/tsld002.htmhttp://www.lakelasvegas.com/http://www.lv-hilton.com/http://www.vacationclub.com/en-us/vc/about/marriottworld/lasvegas.asp?cookies=trueLook Smart Articles (2004, January 14). Economy segment lags industry in key performance measures Trends Stats. Retrieved October 26, 2004,

The Integrated Curriculum Model Education Essay

The Integrated Curriculum Model Education Essay William and Mary Center for Gifted Education Research Model, the Parallel Curriculum Model, and the Integrated Curriculum Model are advanced, progressive curriculum models, which contribute to a consistent improvement of the learning process, engaging students in learning and encouraging them to learn more and more successfully. In this regard, principles and components of these models are very important for the overall success of the learning process. At this point, it is important to place emphasis on the fact that William and Mary Center for Gifted Education Research Model attempts to apply a combination of the Parallel Curriculum Model and the Integrated Curriculum Model. On analyzing, the three models, it is possible to distinguish some common principles and components. First of all, the three curriculum models focus on the self-development of students, which is extremely important today, when students are overwhelmed with a huge amount of information and they need to process information to obtain knowledge and generate new ones. What is meant here is the fact that modern students cannot rely on their educators solely. Instead, they should focus on self-development and this is exactly what the three curriculum models are concerned with. Students obtain a lot of information from the outside world and they have to be able to process the information to accumulate knowledge and to generate new knowledge on the ground of acquired one and their own experience. As a result, students, prove to come prepared to the life in the modern society, where information rules. Furthermore, all three models focus on the development of engaging curriculum. According to the three models, the main purpose of the curriculum is not only to help students to acquire new knowledge, develop new skills and abilities, but also to be engaged in the learning process. The latter means that students should be interested in the learning process and the three models focus on the engagement of students because a profound, sincere interest of students to the learning process increases the effectiveness of learning consistently. In this regard, the high motivation of students is another fundamental principle the three models follow strictly. The three models attempt to reach the high level of motivation through non-material encouragement of students. They focus on the revelation of good perspectives of personal and professional development for students. In addition, these models provide students with a positive feedback from their educators for any successes students reach in the course of their learning. At the same time, William and Mary Center for Gifted Education Research Model and the Integrated Curriculum Model focus on the use of the multidisciplinary approach, whereas the Parallel Curriculum Model tends to the intradisciplinary approach. The multidisciplinary approach leads to the close interaction between different disciplines. In practice, this means that students have to use their knowledge, skills, abilities and experience from different disciplines in the course of learning. For instance, while performing a task on history, they may need to use their knowledge of geography, language, mathematics, and other disciplines. The Parallel Curriculum Model tends to use the intradiscipline approach, which focuses on specific disciplines and helps students to expand their knowledge to focus on specific field, which are particularly interesting to them maintaining the correlation to other disciplines. Furthermore, William and Mary Center for Gifted Education Research Model and the Integrative Curriculum Model, in a way, focus on the use of art in the learning process. In this regard, William and Mary Center for Gifted Education Research Model is particularly concerned with the use of art. The use of art is closely intertwined with the aesthetic development of students, which is another concern of William and Mary Center for Gifted Education Research Model and Integrated Curriculum Model. In this respect, it is worth mentioning the fact that art and aesthetic development of students are extremely important in the contemporary society because students live in the highly materialistic world. The emerging consumerism leaves little room for the aesthetic education and art in the life of students. In such a situation, education should offer students an opportunity to learn and to understand art, to develop the non-material, aesthetic side of their personality. The use of art is particul arly useful for potentially gifted students. Therefore, William and Mary Center for Gifted Education Research Model uses art to reveal gifts of students and to help them to realize their full potential. Finally, all the three models use humanistic principles, which are also very important in the modern, consumerist society. In such a way, the three models attempt to return students to fundamental, humanistic principles, which lay the foundation to the modern western civilization. These humanistic principles are closely intertwined with democratic norms and principles, which are fundamental for the modern society. NEEDS ADDRESSED The three models pay a lot of attention to the development of critical and creative thinking. As the matter of fact, critical and creative thinking is essential for the extensive students personal development. Students receive a lot of information from the surrounding world but they have to evaluate the information critically to accumulate knowledge and to avoid fallacies, which they can fall in without critical thinking. At the same time, creative thinking, which is particularly important for William and Mary Center for Gifted Education Research Model contributes to the broad development of students values, beliefs, norms and standards. In addition, creative thinking helps students to develop skills of effective problem solving. In fact, William and Mary Center for Gifted Education Research Model encourages creative students to realize their full potential because it is through students creativity they can realize their individuality. At the same time, the three models maintain the differentiation of students. What is meant here is the fact that all students have a different level of academic development, different psychological traits and characteristics, different gifts and inclinations. Therefore, the three models tend to develop differentiated curriculum to meet needs and wants of each students. In this regard, the individual approach to students is particularly effective and the three models attempt to find the individual approach to each student. Furthermore, the enrichment of students is another concern of the three models, although the Integrative Curriculum Model and the Parallel Curriculum Model focus on the academic development of students and stress the importance of the practical application of knowledge and skills acquired by students in the course of learning, they still focus on the enrichment and broad development of students. Unlike the Integrative Curriculum Model and the Parallel Curriculum Model, William and Mary Center for Gifted Education Research Model focuses not only on enrichment of practical knowledge, skills and abilities of students, but also on the development of aesthetic values and creativity of students. In addition, William and Mary Center for Gifted Education Research Model focuses on the acceleration of students development to help them to realize their talents. In this regard, the Integrative Curriculum Model and the Parallel Curriculum Model avoid excessive acceleration of students development because such acceleration affects consistently the personal development of students. Often the accelerated development can become an unbearable burden for students, they become too concerned with their learning and they face problems with their socialization because of the lack of free time. In addition, the three models focus on social and emotional needs of gifted and talented learners. The three models view social and emotional development as an essential element of education. Students need to undergo the process of socialization and develop the balanced, harmonious personality. The three models focus on motivation of students. They encourage students to learning and increase their interest to learning. In this regard, questioning is an important part of educational process because the three models stand on the ground that students should always question (VanTassel-Baska Brown, 2000). Through questioning, they learn how to find and obtain knew knowledge independently of educators. Finally, the three models focus on the use of technology in the process of education. Today, technology affects all spheres of human life. Therefore, students should come prepared to learn using new technologies and to develop new skills and abilities. In this regard, education helps students to use technology in their everyday life. ADVATNAGES AND DISADVANTAGES Obviously, each of the three models has its own advantages and disadvantages. On analyzing advantages of each model, it is worth mentioning the fact that William and Mary Center for Gifted Education Research Model focuses on the development of talents of students. This model pays a lot of attention to the development of creativity of students. In addition, the model contributes to the creative development of students and to the formation of their aesthetic tastes, values, norms and standards. The Integrative Curriculum Model focuses on the use of multidisciplinary approach and contributes to the close integration of all disciplines (Avery VanTassel-Baska, 2001). As for the Parallel Curriculum Model, this model allows students to focus on the specific field they are interested in. On the other hand, each model has its own disadvantages. William and Mary Center for Gifted Education Research Model tends to overestimate the aesthetic development of students and individual approach to each student, whereas the Parallel Curriculum Model focuses on the practical aspects of the development, underestimating the significance of creative and aesthetic development of students. The Integrative Curriculum Model does not always allow students to focus on the narrow, specific field, which may be helpful for their future professional development. BEST MODEL On comparing the three models, it is possible to distinguish William and Mary Center for Gifted Education Research Model as the best model. Obviously, William and Mary Center for Gifted Education Research Model provides students with ample opportunities to realize their full potential. At the same time, educators can develop an individual approach to each student and develop their creativity. In such a way, educators can identify gifted students and develop their talents. Today, the creative development of students is essential because the highly technological society and information age raise the demand on creative professionals. In addition, William and Mary Center for Gifted Education Research Model helps to the personal development of students. As a result, this model contributes to the broad development of students, shapes their values, views, norms and standards. In fact, this model prepares students to the adult life and allows them to find their own way in the professional de velopment and in their personal life. Each student should be capable to realize his or her unique inclinations and capabilities.