Two Reasons why Water Resources and Traditional Rain-fed Farming in Wes

Two Reasons why Water Resources and Traditional Rain-fed Farming in West Africa have Declined Declining water resources are one of the causes of the efforts to raise the productivity of the traditional rain-fed farming in West Africa and have affected the growing season and water conservation. With the shortage of water comes the potential for conflict between several African countries. Water resources are declining in West Africa. The annual renewable water resources in West Africa reported by the World Bank in 1994 was about 350 billion cubic meters (1 cubic meter = 35.3 cubic feet). This averages out to 1,400 cu m per person per year, which is less than 20 percent of the world median water consumption per person (Rogers, 1997, 1). Water availability per capita is predicted to drop to less than one-half the present inadequate levels by 2025 (Ayub, 1994,1). North African countries are also entering a critical dilemma regarding declining water resources. At the rates of their water consumption, all available water resources will be used up within 15 years. In both the northern and western regions, water demand is continuing to rise because of growing populations and expanding economies. For instance, in Burkina Faso, the women must walk 20 miles just to get a jar of water for their families (Ayub, 1994, 1). Traditional rain-fed farming in West Africa has always been difficult. Seven of the West African countries are among the poorest in the world,1 so they have to continue the traditional method. Despite the extremely harsh environment, agriculture plays the most important factor in the economy. Farming supports 75 - 90 percent of the population while only four percent of the land can be classified as arable. The d... ...l. 159 (July, 1993): 209-218. Ayub, Mahmood Ali, and Ulrich Kuffner. "Water Management in the Maghreb." Finance and Development. no Vol no. (June 1994): 28-29. Day, John C. Soil and Water Management in West Africa." Foreign Affairs. 289 (October 23, 1989): 1-10. Pearce, Fred. "Water Supply: The World's Next Challenge." New Scientist. 129 (March 23, 1991): 34-40. Moorehead, R. "Access to resources in the Niger Inland delta, Mali. Environmental Issues in African Development Planning. Ed. J. Seeley and W. M. Adams. Rogers, Peter. "Water Crisis in the Middle East and North Africa." Britannica Online. [CD-ROM.] http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=boy/98/L04181. html&bold=on&sw=. 1998. Scudder, Thayer. "River Basin Projects in Africa." Environment. 31 (March, 1989): 4-31. Starr, Joyce R. Starr. "Water Wars." Foreign Policy. 82 (Spring 1991): 17-36.

Innocent Smoothies Essay

What is branding? Branding is the process involved in creating a distinctive look for a product or company to create desire and trust from the customers for the product or company. A way a company can use branding is by having a unique logo or motto because it’s a way for the public to recognise the brand. The name of the company is another method of branding, because if your company has a name that stands out from others it will catch people’s attention, and people will be familiar with what you’re talking about and who they are purchasing from. There are 3 different types of branding: Product branding, service branding and corporate branding. Product branding is a specific product for example Nike Air by Nike. It’s a unique part of branding because it’s a small part of the main brand. Service Branding is a specific service by a brand for example iTunes by Apple as that is just a music downloading service, while Apple is a multi product company. Corporate branding i s a larger part of branding because it’s a brand that applies to a variety of products within one company, for example Malteasers are a part of the Mars Inc. corporate brand. Branding in Action: Innocent Smoothies and Children In Need This company was founded in 1998. They started with smoothies and from there expanded into food, juice and children’s smoothies. They concentrated on a health focus of their products contained 2 of your 5 a day. Innocent have about 78% market share. Innocent smoothies use an angel with a halo with no mouth as their logo; they use this as their logo to persuade customers that their products are ‘innocent’ like angels and that they are good for you and your body. This logo is a significant part of the Innocent brand because they use a distinguishable logo; no other well known brand uses a smiley without a mouth and a halo. Innocent is also uniquely recognisable because its marketing is that it’s healthy and good for you, this health aspect is a major part of Innocent’s branding. Innocent add value to their products by saying how healthy they are and how good they are for you. They only use recyclable packaging when they first formed their recycling eff orts stood at  70% they are now at 100% which is a huge achievement. The company use lots of different combinations of flavours, some you would not think of putting together. All their products are natural, no added flavours. They do their best to promote their brands by making a big thing out of being good for your body. Parents are more likely to buy as there are no additives. They boost their image as more people buy the products as lots of people are health conscious now. They also do various promotions like a woolly hat campaign to raise money for charity. They changed the name of their product to make it more successful, their previous name was Naked. That would have needed a completely different promotion as they want to be associated with good. These businesses need to promote themselves for people to see them and to recognise them for doing something differentiating them from competitors. Innocent smoothies promote themselves by doing unique things that other brands don’t, for example they notified customers how much the bottle had been recycled and they eventually had a 100% recycled bottle Children in Need are a charity in the UK that was founded in 1980. As a charity they have raised over  £600 million and they help to change the lives of disabled, vulnerable and young people of the UK. Children in Need raise money doing baking activities, fancy dress events and they encourage the public to do sponsored challenges and they have a big Children in Need television show. The Children in Need brand is best known for Pudsey the bear and its big telethon around November. Pudsey is highly recognisable in the brand because he has a unique eye patch that makes him stand out from any other mascot bear. Pudsey is also another way for Children in Need to attract children because he is a character as well as a mascot. The Children in Need brand is well known for its telethon in BBC, people recognise the telethon because it’s on a Friday night on a channel that is advert free so people are more likely to tune in. The telethon is well known for its challenges and celebrity e ndorsement and they also will have a combination of two well know shows for example Eastenders and ITV’s Coronation Street called ‘East Street’. Children in Need add value to their product by having unique merchandise; the products are unique because of Pudsey as he himself is a unique mascot. They add value to the customer because they emphasise the fact that all the money they make will go to a good cause which makes  people sympathetic, and even people who are not concerned about the children will donate because the products they provide are ‘fashionable’. Children in Need’s brand personality is that they help children and therefore that they’re caring and considerate. They are a fun charity and do a lot of fundraising events and activities, which is attractive to children and parents. Their ethical image is a large benefit to their company because people will recognise that what they do will help unfortunate children, and that will increase their customer preference for donating to their charity. This will enable them to raise more money therefore they will be able to do more fundraising and provide more entertainment. Them being seen as a fun charity will help them because the public can be encouraged to get involved in their work as it is enjoyable as well as helping at the same time. If the branding for Children in Need was not successful, and did not make them appear to be caring and considerate, then people wouldn’t donate and they would boycott from donating and participating from their fundraising . If they weren’t a fun charity then people wouldn’t be as interested in donating to their charity and they wouldn’t be as well known as they are now. They need to promote themselves so they can raise awareness of their various charities, for example in Southend they help the following charities: Southend Association of Voluntary Services, Southend Mencap and Southend Mind. Children in Need differentiate themselves by the way they promote their company, for example they have popular celebrity endorsement in their adverts. They need to differentiate themselves from other charities so that they can stand out so they can get more donations. The Children in Need charity promote their service by having famous and popular comedians in their shows and they have well known children entertainers. Another way they use promotion is by the way they have the show on BBC One where there are no TV adverts, so no adverts for competitor charities. They also promote themselves by having well known supermarkets selling their product and supporting them, for example Asda. They also use paper promotion, for example leaflets and flyers and billboards. T he most popular way they are recognised is by advertising using their mascot Pudsey. Innocent is environmentally friendly , recycle , sustainable ingredient sources, super market promo , festival , tv , humor Children in need :  helping , money 4 good , super market promotion , tv , humor Marketing mix a key tool in marketing. The marketing mix is usually vital when deciding a products marketing and include the following P’s : Pricing , Promotion, Place and Product. I will be talking about the Innocent Fruit Tubes and how the marketing mix is used in branding. Fruit tubes are a yoghurt mad by Innocent and they are made from 100% fruit and they have 2 different combination flavours: Strawberry mixed with raspberry and mango and pineapple. The company are proud to say that this product has no artificial sweeteners or any added sugar and lumpy bits. This product has and overall rating of 4.5/5 and a majority of 5/5 ratings. The packaging is designed for kids, you can tell this by the way it is very colourful and the fruit logos on each tube has a character name and an interesting fact. The size of the packaging is small and easy for customer and children to manage. The Innocent Fruit Tubes are roughly priced at around  £1.99 for a average packet of 6 tubes. The yoghurts are priced at roughly  £0.33 per yoghurt which is a reasonable cost and affordable for many people Innocent promote their fruit tubes by having promotional offers such as 12 tubes for just  £3.00 and they use TV, magazine, billboards and posters to promote their Fruit Tubes. They will have a sales team who will go and pitch their product to popular supermarkets and confectionary retailers. The most well known promotional campaign they used was The Big Knit which was when they appealed for members of the public to knit mini woolly hats for their innocent products to help raise money for the elderly and to keep people warm during the winter. Innocents Fruit tubes are on sale in multiple different places for example super market stores or online super markets and shops, cafe’s and sandwich bars. The product is distributed all over the UK as well as many places in Europe such as: Belgium, Denmark, Germany. France and many other countries in Europe and in the Maldi ves .

De Havilland Essay

Executive Summary De Havilland is a major player the Canadian aircraft manufacturing industry. Founded in 1928 by a British company, De Havilland has had multiple acquisitions by various organizations including the government. As of 1992, the organization was co-owned by the government of Ontario with 49% shares and Bombardier Inc. with 51%. The company’s strategic goal is to keep their competitive advantage by focusing on cost reduction through negotiating long-term contracts with various vendors to capture economies of scale as well as set a fixed cost to secure price stability. Although de Havilland’s existing flap shroud supplier was unwilling to accept the renegotiated 25% discount to the current price, the company had more than a year’s inventory left with the contract expiring in 1993. De Havilland decided that it would be appropriate to solicit suppliers. Nine submissions were received, with the cost difference between the lowest and highest bid at $2,061,180. Based on the information provided it was evident that Marton Enterprise had the most attractive proposal. Issue Identification Long Term – Strategic * Contract between de Havilland and Dollard Plastics of Montreal, Quebec for flap shrouds for Series 300A airplane will be expiring at the end of 1993. * Dash 8 airplane represented 60-65 per cent of de Havilland’s total manufacturing costs * De Havilland buyer tried to negotiate 25% discount from Dollard, but was rejected * De Havilland’s BSB is trying to implement cost reduction strategy by: * Partnering with smaller base of vendors to capture economies of scale * Commit to long-term contracts for a span of five years with firm, fixed prices Environmental and Root Cause Analysis Founded in 1928 by a British company, De Havilland has become a significant part of the Canadian aircraft manufacturing industry. As of 1992, the organization was co-owned by the government of Ontario that held 49% of the shares and Bombardier Inc. owning the remaining 51%. With multiple acquisitions by various companies and the government over the past half-century, the organization has implemented several activities into their operations. These activities implemented in different stages of the supply chain have successfully provided versatility in satisfying customers’ needs, from procurement to production. During Boeing’s ownership, de Havilland experienced tremendous evolution in their corporate processes. In particular the purchasing cycle is a noteworthy system developed during this time. In Exhibit 1 of the case study the diagram demonstrates the step-by-step procurement process the company goes through when it encounters a design change/new design, requiring sou rcing of a new part that has not been previously purchased before. Parties that are involved are mainly composed of representatives from Finance and Material departments. The level of management involvement depended on the size of the contract. De Havilland’s current issue was selecting a new vendor to source flap shrouds from. Dollard Plastics, a company based in Montreal, Quebec has been supplying flap shrouds for their Series 300A airplane, but their contract was about to expire at the end of 1993. With parts costs of the De Havilland’s Dash 8 accounting for 60-65% of the organization’s total manufacturing costs, the purchasing department attempted to request a 25% discount from Dollard as a strategy for cost reduction. However, their request for a lower price was rejected. With the failed renegotiation, the procurement process had to move back to bidder selection board stage. In addition to the cost reduction strategy mentioned earlier, de Havilland’s objective was to partner with a smaller base of vendors to take advantage of economies of scale. They would like to establish long-term cooperative contracts (i.e. five years) with fixed pricing so frequent negotiations won’t be necessary . Based on the nine RFQ submissions from various vendors, Marton Enterprise Inc. offered the lowest prices. With the comprehensive data and additional information that Kim Tomar obtained, it was evident there was great potential in a long-term business partnership with Marton. The difference between Dollard and Marton’s normalized bids total for the program was a whopping $2,061,180 ($2,810,174- $748,994), which could be a substantial saving amount de Havilland would be making. Marton has stated in their pricing proposal that their bid is a stand-alone pricing. This could mean it would be difficult for de Havilland to discuss a lower price than the proposed. The vendor has also stated from past history material costs typically increased 4% to 6% per year, and with that assumption which they have accounted they are willing to enter into a firm fixed price proposal with de Havilland from August 1992 to July 1997. Although Marton’s initial bid amount is quite attractive, de Havilland will have to take into account the possibility of Marton overstating their position in order to acquire the bid. This may become a strategic barrier that could become costly down the road. Another reason for such a significantly lower price offered by Marton could be the fact they may be compromising the quality of the materials or services. Lastly, it could just plainly be that Marton operates more efficiently than other vendors, thus able to incur higher savings. Whatever the case may be, de Havilland should conduct a thorough quality analysis of vendor production to determine whether Marton’s quality and cost levels are aligned with de Havilland’s expectations. Based on the reviews of past purchasing trends, forecasts conducted by representatives from the Finance and Material department, the Bidder Selection Board should have an idea of how much the parts should cost and if the prices submitted are realistic. De Havilland should also keep the other vendors who offered close bids in consideration (i.e. DAS Composites and Lakesides Industries). These bids would help in the negotiation process in strategically obtaining a potential value. With Kim Tomar’s recommendation to the Source Selection Board, SSB should establish low, target and authority price levels for one or more of the vendors and see which group provides the best offer. In terms of power relationships, it seems like it is a fairly level playing ground for both de Havilland and Marton. Based on the comprehensive data provided by Marton and the side documents obtained by Tomar it seems like Marton’s well-prepared proposal has gained them a high amount of seller power in the negotiation. At the same time, with the favorable bids de Havilland received from other vendors, they would be able to use those bids to help negotiate a good deal. At the bottom line though, it depends on how much power each company has to make decisions or if both would require approval from the parent companies. Alternatives Alternative 1 – Select Marton Enterprise as vendor based on analysis conducted for negotiation Advantages: Â  1. Lowest bid out of all nine bid submissions, providing substantial savings in manufacturing costs, more than the original targeted 25% discount 2. Establish a long-term contract with fixed pricing reducing the need for renegotiations 3. Potential for long-term relationship that would greatly improve operational efficiencies Disadvantages: 1. Quality and service might be compromised to reap savings 2. Puts de Havilland at risk if partnership with Marton is a poor decision (poor quality, service), may cause ripple effect 3. No BATNA in case negotiation does not succeed with Marton Enterprise Alternative 2 – Select Marton Enterprise, DAS Composites, and/or Lakeside Industries as vendors for negotiation . Advantages: 1. Provides a BATNA in case negotiation with Marton Enterprise fails 2. May open up other opportunities with sourcing of other parts 3. Can be used as a good negotiation tool Disadvantages: 1. Time consuming, may require more management involvement in the beginning to make decision Recommendation Based on the comprehensive data provided by Marton and the additional information that supports the credibility of the company, it would be best for De Havilland to select Marton Enterprise as vendor based on analysis conducted for negotiation. Implementation 1. After all the analysis and normalization has been conducted, de Havilland should inform Marton that they have been selected as the potential flap shrouds vendor. 2. As a team from the source selection board that is made up of Finance, Materials, Engineering and higher management personnel, they should meet with representatives from the other party to discuss the finer details of the agreement 3. They should review the proposal once again as a group and make modification of estimates 4. With a lawyer present, write out the outline of the contract 5. Once a draft has been made, each party should review it and schedule a time to meet again to sign the contract 6. Supply of flap shrouds will commence Monitor and Control De Havilland should assign staff from the source selection board that is already familiar with the vendor’s representatives to meet with the other party for periodic meetings. These meetings will allow both groups to review the progress, discuss issues that may have arise, and perform periodic quality assurance checkups/inspections. These periodic performance reviews and audits would confirm vendor compliance based on the agreement. References * Module 2 Procurement_Candidate Manual 2013 1.0.pdf * Module 2 Readings Manual 2013 1.0.pdf

Blue Collar Essay

Blue- Collar workers are the ones that deserve the most respect in this world. They work so hard to perfect what they actually do. In the short passage Mike Rose expresses his own emotion not only towards his life but he basically broke it down for us piece by piece. He starts off by telling us his experience with being with his mom in the restaurant that she works at when he was a little kid. He learned a lot of things about the restaurant when he was there; most importantly he learned the hardship of being an adult. He tells us how is mom was always on point with things like scanning the restaurant like she was a hawk for people that needed help and to satisfy their needs because they were the valuable customers. He would say how she would make work easier for the workers because she knew that everyone has their own little problem so she had to speak with them with a tone they will make them more comfortable with their work instead of making them more sad or upset because she wanted to make not only the customers happy but also her fellow co-workers. She did many more things than just that, the way she served her customers were amazing to him because of how many plates she can hold in both arms and how she can remember each and every one of the orders for which customer. He knew the mental and physical work his mom goes through all from watching his mom work every day. It takes intelligence to run a restaurant the way his mom does. As Mike Rose said â€Å"She never wasted a single movement† (Pg. 246) which she never does as you can tell. Soon Mike started talking about education how he struggled throughout freshman year but he soon realized how education can help him make a life for himself. He went on to study humanities, social and psychological science. He taught for 10 years then went back to grad school to study even more. He believes that intelligence is closely associated with formal education- the type of schooling a person has. (Pg. 247) This was his train of thinking. He starts to talk about his uncle Joe Meraglio from his mother’s side. Mike was talking about how his brother dropped out of school in the 9th grade to work at a Pennsylvania Railroad. Soon after his uncle joined the Navy, then when that was over he returned back to the railroad industry but sadly it was in decline so he eventually joined his brother at a motor shop where he moved from working as an employer to supervising basically managing the paint-and-body department. Mike remembered when his uncle gave him a tour of the factory. He notice that even though he didn’t get a proper education he still made it big you can say because his uncle was learning every day in the factory. Mike explains how Joe learned many skills that help him make the job easier on himself because if he was acting the way he did back in the day Mike knew his uncle wouldn’t last even at the assembly line. Joe actually learned so much that he not only solved the problems but he look for problems to solve. Mikes uncle was the one that redesign the nuzzle for the paint spray. He made a lot of the working machines easier to use and less costly after learning the budgets and management of them. For example he had each worker to learn each other’s jobs so they could rotate their roles because he believed he will give the workers a longer break and more frequent breaks, which he was correct about. This shows how much intelligent you need to be able to be successful. Mike sooner later explains how he has been observing blue- collar workers as you can tell and he has come to the conclusion that each person has a certain mind power to master to successfully survive in this world of class discrimination and so forth .

Image and Photographer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Image and Photographer - Essay Example The picture shows an injured Gunnery Sgt. Jeremiah Purdie reaching out to a stricken friend, who is resting on the ground, with his back against a mud embankment, clutching a wooden stub. The gunnery sergeant is oblivious to his own injury, and even though his head is bandaged, he is rushing forward to his friend. Other soldieries are trying to restrain him or supporting him, as he gazes at his friend, with deep concern, ignoring his own wounds, at the friend who is probably in his dying breath. The background shows other soldiers tending to their wounds, and resting. In the foreground, a couple of soldiers are staring with concern and horror at the fallen soldier. Tents and other equipment of the soldiers are seen in the background, with the trees reduced to ragged and jagged stumps from the heavy artillery fire. In the far background, the forest covered mountains rise and extend to the horizon, showing the enormity that is Vietnam. It is very heartening to see that the Gunnery Serg eant, who is an African American, has developed an intense friendship with his fallen comrade, who is white. One should remember that when this picture of shot in 1966, USA was in the depth of racism, with Blacks fighting for their rights and equality in White America. The picture shows that in war, the color of the skin does not matter, but only friendship and camaraderie (Cosgrove, 2014). It appears that the picture was taken in daylight using a head shot, with the photographer looking down on the scene. The artist has used a wide-angle lens of 50-100 mm, which allows for close up pictures to be taken, while still capturing the background scenery. Natural lighting with sunlight is used, and Flash does not appear to be used since the background shows the muddy ridge in detail with the brown earth. The dog tag on the Gunnery Sergeant does not show any glimmer or reflection from any flash. In addition, war photographers avoided using Flash, in case the light

Negative effect of Sodium Lauryl Sulfate(SLS) & Sodium Laureth Essay

Negative effect of Sodium Lauryl Sulfate(SLS) & Sodium Laureth Sulfate(SLES) on the health - Essay Example 1). If these two chemicals are being used in products that most of us use everyday, we can argue that SLS and SLES must and should be safe and should not be detrimental to our health but sadly, this is not the case. SLS and SLES are actually cheap ingredients, which is why they are commonly used in soaps and shampoos but they are probably the most dangerous ingredients in our personal care products (Kramer, "Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate," par. 1). There are lots of studies which have shown that there are indeed possible ill effects that SLS and SLES may bring to us. Sodium lauryl sulfate is being used for clinical testing as a skin irritant wherein the skin of test animals and humans are being irritated with SLS then healing agents are tested to determine the effectiveness of those agents to skin irritated by sodium lauryl sulfate (Kramer, "Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate," par. 2). ... 3) According to a report published in the Journal of The American College of Toxicology in 1983, SLS "concentrations as low as 0.5% could cause irritation and concentrations of 10- 30% caused skin corrosion and severe irritation" (qtd. in "Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES)," par.4). We should not wait for the time when we experience skin irritation; we can already take an action by throwing out whatever products we have that contain SLS or SLES. In addition to being skin irritants, SLS and SLES are also eye irritants and can even cause eye deformities. Experimental, acute eye tests have revealed that, a solution of 10 percent SLS caused corneal damage to the rabbit's eyes if not irrigated or irritation is delayed and a solution of 5.1 percent caused mild irritation (Steinman, "Sodium Lauryl Sulfate," par. 6). We are not rabbits but most of us have already experienced eye irritation when we use personal care products like shampoos. If we really want to protect our eyes, let us avoid SLS and SLES containing products. SLS may also be damaging to the immune system due to its protein denaturing properties (Steinman, "Sodium Lauryl Sulfate," par. 5). Furthermore, SLS that has been absorbed by the body from skin application is said to mimic the activity of the hormone estrogen and estrogen levels are said to be associated with health problems like PMS, menopausal symptoms, dropping male fertility, and cancers in women like breast cancer ("Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES)," par. 8). In relation to cancer, SLS and SLES are also said to be carcinogenic because they may cause potentially carcinogenic nitrates and dioxins to form in shampoos and cleansers by reacting with commonly used ingredients

Hamlet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 9

Hamlet - Essay Example The thesis statement shall be: Hamlet is more of a philosopher prince than a young man seeking to revenge the death of his murdered father. At the beginning of the play, the ghost comes to Horatio who then calls others to him. Apparently, it is Hamlet’s father ghost. When the ghost reveals that Claudius is the one responsible for his murder, Hamlet is asked to seek revenge (Act 1, Scene 5 Line 7). Revenge is his idea of justice for the injustice done to his late father. Hamlet resolves to avenge his father’s death, but he is first withdrawn in a philosophical search of the meaning of death. One can say that by doing so, Hamlet is following the philosophical principle of reason and logic as the guiding principles for the justification of any action taken (Burnor and Raley 49). His deepest questions about death begin in the aftermath of his father’s death where he seeks to find out how the world of the dead may be like of what it means to be dead. Although he makes not so conclusive steps to find out practically the answers to such questions, one can observe his approach to his father’s revenge as philosophical. It may be taken that Hamlet does so to determine the extent to which the ghost’s claims may be reliable as the informing premises in which his actions would be based (Kane 475). While contemplating about the philosophy of death, Hamlet also delves into thoughts about whether one has the right to take his/her own life. In so doing, Hamlet may be seen to be trying to make comparisons to the nature of his father’s death. He silently engages in deductive reasoning that since it is morally illegitimate for one to take his own right, then it is morally wrong for another man to kill another man for no reason at all. His soliloquy can be seen to lead to a conclusion that his uncle Claudius did a heinous crime by killing his own brother for political