The Legalization of Marijuana :: Legal Illegal Marijuana Pot Law

The debate over the legalization of marijuana is active in the United States. The problem is, most people aren’t fully educated on the good things that marijuana can bring forth. For thousands of years marijuana was not only legal, it was a common crop. It is only in the past ninety years or so that marijuana has been found to be not only unusable, buy also harmful and extremely illegal in the United States. With all the information I have received and statistics I have discovered, I am a strong advocate for the decriminalization of marijuana in the United States. It is very understandable if people believe that the use of marijuana is morally wrong. This is an argument that many people have against the legalization of the drug. My belief is that, there are many things that people find morally wrong and would never do themselves, but are still legal. Just because marijuana is legal does not mean it is being forced upon you. Everyone should be able to make that decision on his or her own. Marijuana use is known as a â€Å"victimless crime,† which means it can only harm the user, therefore shouldn’t the user make that decision on their own? I believe that one of the main reasons marijuana should be legal is because of the way it was criminalized in the first place. In the years before the depression there was a significant growth of Mexican-Americans in the Western part of the United States as a result of the revolution in Mexico in 1910. As the depression hit, larger farms started using the Mexicans as cheaper labor, which in turn put many smaller farmers out of business and caused much tension. These Mexican laborers were known to use the marijuana plant as a recreational drug by smoking the leaves of the plant. Sprouting from the many Mexicans working on farms, many farms harvesting the hemp plant popped up in Mexico itself. Around the same time many Mormons from the Salt Lake City area were traveling to Mexico. In their return they would bring back marijuana for the sole purpose of recreational use. The Mormon Church did not approve of this behavior and ruled against it, which in turn prompted the very religious state of Utah to pass the first known law against marijuana in 1915. Many other Western states followed in years to come. But, it was not until the state of Montana outlawed the drug in 1927 that the truth behind the outlaw came out.

Archetypes In Siddhartha Essay -- essays research papers fc

In analyzing the novel Siddhartha, we find that Herman Hesse has incorporated many literary techniques to relay his message to the reader. By using various writing approaches to convey the theme of the novel, Hesse appeals to the readers' senses and aides them in grasping the novel. Included in these techniques are symbolism, metaphor, allusion, and archetypes. He compares many issues that Siddhartha faces to everyday objects and forces, making the novel easier to understand. Three of the main archetypes Hesse uses to get his point across are trees, rivers, and sleep. One of the more obvious symbols used in the novel is a tree. Cross-culturally, it is extremely common for trees to represent wisdom. In Hebrew literature, when Adam and Eve eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, they are "awakened" and gain the insight of good and evil. In Norse mythology, the tree of Yggdrasil represents knowledge and life. In American literature, John Knowles' "A Separate Peace" uses a giant oak tree to symbolize Finny and Gene becoming men. Finally, in Siddhartha we see that trees (and more broadly, gardens) are present when Siddhartha discovers something about himself. On just the third page of the novel with Siddhartha contemplating in a fig garden, it becomes obvious that trees are being used as a representative of learning. This concept is repeated many times throughout the novel, some instances of usage mo...

Community Development

Community Development Planning Lecture 1: Understanding the key concepts of Community, Community Development & Economic Development Course Learning Outcomes †¢ Explain the key concepts of social infrastructure in spatial planning †¢ Analyze social infrastructure issues in spatial planning †¢ Identify the various challenges of social infrastructure in spatial planning practices Community †¢ Various definitions: ? People who live within a geographically defined area and who have social and psychological ties with each other and with the place where they live (Mattessich and Monsey, 2004) ?A grouping of people who live close to one another and are united by common interests and mutual aids (National Research Council 1975) †¢ These definitions refer to people and the ties that bind them, then only to geographic locations †¢ It means, without people and the connections/ties, community will be only a collections of buildings and streets. †¢ However commun ity does not necessarily means â€Å"living physically close to one another†.It also refers to social connections at other than living place such as workplace, sports centre, clubs or groups, or political affiliations. †¢ Community can also be created through special interest or conditions such as disability, gender, belief †¢ In this era of social media (such as FB, Twitter) madness, communities can be created on virtual platform. Community Development (CD) †¢ Community Development is defined and described as.. – the process of developing stronger communities of people and the social and psychological ties they share. The educational process to enable citizens to address problems by group decision-making – Involvement in a process to achieve improvement in some aspect of community life – All these processes will result in an outcome which is the improvement of community capital. Community Capital Human Capital †¢ Labour supply, skills , experience, capabilities Physical Capital †¢ Buildings, streets, infrastructure Financial Capital †¢ Community financial institutions, micro loan funds, community development banksEnvironmental Capital †¢ Natural resources, weather, recreational opportunities Social Capital Social Capital †¢ Social Capital refers to the ability of residents to organize and mobilize their resources for the accomplishment of consensual defined goals †¢ It refers to the extent to which members of a community can work together effectively to develop and sustain strong relationships, solve problems and make group decisions, and collaborate effectively to achieve common goalsSocial Capital †¢ Some scholars make distinction between bonding capital and bridging capital †¢ Bonding capital refers to ties within homogenous groups (e. g. races, gender, people with the same economic background) †¢ Bridging capital refers to ties among different groups Community developme nt chains Capacity building process Developing the ability to act Social capital Ability to act Community development outcome Taking action Community improvement Development ready communityEconomic development †¢ Community development and economic development is highly sinergistic. †¢ Community development – a planned effort to produce assets that increase the capacity of residents to improve their quality of life. The assets include: physical, human, social, financial, environmental †¢ Economic development – the process of creating wealth through the mobilization of human, financial, capital, physical and natural resources to generate marketable goods and services. The definitions are clearly parallel : community development is to produce and improve assets, economic development is to mobilize these assets which will bring greater benefits for the community ie. more goods, services, jobs etc. †¢ Both types of development are highly dependable on ea ch other as most businesses will look for development-ready communities that are equipped with strong and established communities, good infrastructure, abundant supply of labour, safety, telecommunication etc.Community and economic development chains Community development outcome Taking action Community improvement Development ready community Economic development outcome Job creation Increased income and wealth Increased standard of living Capacity building process Developing the ability to act Social capital Ability to act Economic development process Creating and maintaining ED programs Mobilizing resources The end Community Development Community Development Planning Lecture 1: Understanding the key concepts of Community, Community Development & Economic Development Course Learning Outcomes †¢ Explain the key concepts of social infrastructure in spatial planning †¢ Analyze social infrastructure issues in spatial planning †¢ Identify the various challenges of social infrastructure in spatial planning practices Community †¢ Various definitions: ? People who live within a geographically defined area and who have social and psychological ties with each other and with the place where they live (Mattessich and Monsey, 2004) ?A grouping of people who live close to one another and are united by common interests and mutual aids (National Research Council 1975) †¢ These definitions refer to people and the ties that bind them, then only to geographic locations †¢ It means, without people and the connections/ties, community will be only a collections of buildings and streets. †¢ However commun ity does not necessarily means â€Å"living physically close to one another†.It also refers to social connections at other than living place such as workplace, sports centre, clubs or groups, or political affiliations. †¢ Community can also be created through special interest or conditions such as disability, gender, belief †¢ In this era of social media (such as FB, Twitter) madness, communities can be created on virtual platform. Community Development (CD) †¢ Community Development is defined and described as.. – the process of developing stronger communities of people and the social and psychological ties they share. The educational process to enable citizens to address problems by group decision-making – Involvement in a process to achieve improvement in some aspect of community life – All these processes will result in an outcome which is the improvement of community capital. Community Capital Human Capital †¢ Labour supply, skills , experience, capabilities Physical Capital †¢ Buildings, streets, infrastructure Financial Capital †¢ Community financial institutions, micro loan funds, community development banksEnvironmental Capital †¢ Natural resources, weather, recreational opportunities Social Capital Social Capital †¢ Social Capital refers to the ability of residents to organize and mobilize their resources for the accomplishment of consensual defined goals †¢ It refers to the extent to which members of a community can work together effectively to develop and sustain strong relationships, solve problems and make group decisions, and collaborate effectively to achieve common goalsSocial Capital †¢ Some scholars make distinction between bonding capital and bridging capital †¢ Bonding capital refers to ties within homogenous groups (e. g. races, gender, people with the same economic background) †¢ Bridging capital refers to ties among different groups Community developme nt chains Capacity building process Developing the ability to act Social capital Ability to act Community development outcome Taking action Community improvement Development ready communityEconomic development †¢ Community development and economic development is highly sinergistic. †¢ Community development – a planned effort to produce assets that increase the capacity of residents to improve their quality of life. The assets include: physical, human, social, financial, environmental †¢ Economic development – the process of creating wealth through the mobilization of human, financial, capital, physical and natural resources to generate marketable goods and services. The definitions are clearly parallel : community development is to produce and improve assets, economic development is to mobilize these assets which will bring greater benefits for the community ie. more goods, services, jobs etc. †¢ Both types of development are highly dependable on ea ch other as most businesses will look for development-ready communities that are equipped with strong and established communities, good infrastructure, abundant supply of labour, safety, telecommunication etc.Community and economic development chains Community development outcome Taking action Community improvement Development ready community Economic development outcome Job creation Increased income and wealth Increased standard of living Capacity building process Developing the ability to act Social capital Ability to act Economic development process Creating and maintaining ED programs Mobilizing resources The end

Methods of Teaching

Teachers are the main disseminators of knowledge in the schools and society. They occupy the enviable position of being the main interpreters of knowledge for the next generation and future leaders. In order to make this knowledge viable, it requires pedagogical skills that are capable to serve the minorities and all other populations equitably.Most people are locked out during the dissemination of knowledge not because they are not in the teaching venue at the right time, but because their way of knowing is not incorporated into the teaching styles and strategies (Karl, 1997).According to Lev Vygotskyas Social development theory we find that he states the cognitive development of a child is influenced by social interaction he says that while biological factors highly influence development, they just don’t occur in isolation. He says that the social environment in child’s life matters a lot in his development. He reasons that adult guidance and child’s problem so lving early in life are things that affect cognitive growth. He calls it proximal development zone.He says that this is the zone where learning takes place. This is also where the child learns from the peers. Children learn speech and writing from their immediate social environment. These are tools that develop from culture and they help children to communicate their needs (Gardner and Jerome, 2001). He reasoned that language and thought are co exist, none can happen without the other. The Neo –Vygotsian approach to child development is more effective than the radical approach.Which was used in the past didn’t provide students with an environment that encouraged learning where they play an active role in their learning and education. Through this they also influence their peers’ education. Both the teacher and students play untraditional roles together to enhance learning. Collaboration between the teacher and students in learning is better than where the teache r dictates to the students what to do. The students then just do the recitation, which is not good learning.Education or learning where the students and teachers share ideas to enhance learning is the best. According to Vygotsky classroom arrangement should enhance small groups of the students to discuss. This can be done by creating more workspace by having tables and tables clustered. This is where the students can easily interact. In such a case communal learning is encouraged in the class. Teachers develop an instruction set up that is above the students’ development level to help them develop to the next levelFrom the above theory I can therefore say that Teaching strategies can be defined as the means whereby teachers and instructors use diverse teaching methods or techniques in conveying information to a class of students or those people who are required to gain new knowledge. There are various forms of techniques that can be utilized which include expository teaching, interactive teaching, Small group teaching or discussion, inquiry teaching or problem solving, Individualization method of teaching and models of reality.This paper will focus on small group discussions and interactive methods of teaching (Gardner and Jerome, 2001). In my position I do not support the constructivism since it is a way of teaching that involve the students to get information through observation and experimentation in this case we find that constructivism method can be described as presentation by the teacher or lecturer to a big group of learners whereby the presence of active learning in the class is limited and only the teacher or lecturer takes the whole time designated for the lesson outlining whatever to be learned.This method can only be efficient and the best method if strategies that are active should be incorporated. Usually teachers are characterized by longer hours with a lot of topics to be covered which have led to the approach being inefficient, I find it to be a complex method of teaching and that it should be discouraged by any teacher (Bruner, 1996).since I believe that the constructivism is a complex method of teaching, In order to yield good teaching results in my profession I therefore choose the following types of teaching methods which are the small group discussions and the interactive teaching methods as the appropriate strategies for teaching Small Group Discuss Discussion is found to be the most important strategies applied in many learning institutions which usually involve the division of the students in class into a number of groups that are meant to represent certain points of view on the identified topic that is regarded as the most compromising subject.Under group discussions we find that there are those who support the argument, that is the proponents or those for, and those who oppose the issue referred to as those against or the critics, this actually indicates the benefits of the team work in many learning in stitutions whereby we find that students involve themselves in a number of debates through character or even assuming different roles (Print, 1993).These discussions are also believed to be leading to the achieving of new knowledge because by arguing it out a point, there is an opportunity of integrating ideas and hence conclusions arrived at being useful in the learning process. Since it is a discussing process which can generate more new knowledge it should be encouraged in learning institutions, therefore the strategies that can be applied to encourage team work in schools is that the management should ensure that courses should be introduced that only requires discussions as a method of learning where participants will be required to compile the outcome of their discussions.Teachers should constantly utilize the discussion approach especially on contemporary issues which require further research (Gardner and Jerome, 2001). The use of this approach should be encouraged in trainin g, primary, secondary, adult, and in the higher learning of institutions such as the universities because it provides an opportunity to argue or oppose certain subject which is an issue which can lead to generation of new ideas.However, it should strongly be recommended to adult, training and in the university institutions because with such knowledge the learners can utilize in the working environment when they are employed. In the primary level those who are in upper classes can be introduced to debates so that they are familiar with the approach and also get to know that constructive debate about an issue is not bad but can lead to gaining of new knowledge (Bruner, 1960).The only limitation exist in this strategy is that, there is a tendency of laziness and time wastage since students are left to choose on what topics to discuss on at their own time and may request their instructor to present their findings at their own convenient time, that is, when they feel that they have fully exhausted the topic to discuss on. Small group discussions are regarded as the best strategy to learning and it is said to be democratic since it gives freedom to the learners and the teachers.Through which they are given an opportunity to organize themselves in groups that everyone that allow individuals to raise different opinions relating to the particular issue under discussion without any restrictions. Under this strategy everyone is entitled to give contributions is given an opportunity to air his/her opinions without victimization or favors. Further the aspect of freedom of scheduling the activities by the students and the presence of good environment makes discussions more democratic and interesting (Print, 1993).Interactive Method of Teaching Interactive teaching is one whereby learners are provided with an interactive environment where they can express their views, opinions, suggestions and have an opportunity to support their arguments. It involves both the teacher and t he learner where the teacher comes up with the topic to be discussed which is open to any form of criticisms or additions to the main point. This interactive teaching method can be utilized whereby there is a big number of audience or learners expected to gain from the knowledge being passed.This method is found to be effective only if active methods of learning are introduced. The aspect of interactive learning should be incorporated in order to avoid boredom and tiredness among the participants. It should not only be done through talking by the speaker but also the use of boards and lecturers being open discussions should be considered (Print, 1993). The time of interacting should be revised as often as it is allocated a lengthy time frame which has been the main reason behind boredom and tiredness among the partners.Good communication skills by the teachers should be encouraged in order to pass clearly the intended messages to the learners which lead to solving the most common pr oblem of ambiguity, that is, to enhance passage of clear messages to the listeners or the participants. It is also advisable that lecturing should be encouraged if the topics to be covered are easy and to understand and also interesting to the learners and thus making them more attentive because there will be no boredom and tiredness during the session or lesson and hence gaining knowledge (Karl, 1997).The interactive teaching method is found to be prescriptive because it does not give the learner an opportunity to air their views or make suggestions. Usually it gives the teacher or the instructor an opportunity to decide for the students thus being prone to being an effective approach. It is a rigid way since it does not provide an opportunity to participants to make any suggestions concerning the subject matter thus there limited generation of new ideas.The students normally have to follow the set course outline and they are not open to criticize anything even if they are unsatisf ied thus rendering this approach to be narrow in terms of the output expected. The lecturer has to come up with what is required and to be covered in the cause and this depends mostly on his professionalism in relation to his duties. For example the topics to be covered during the lecture might be formulated in such a way that some important topics are left out may be because the lecturer may not be conversant with the topics (Gardner and Jerome, 2001).The use of interactive whiteboards should be encouraged. Recent studies have looked at how interactive whiteboards influences learning and teaching processes in schools. It suggests that whiteboards offer visual display that go in line with the explanations offered by the teacher thus helps students to understand better. It further outlines that the use of technologies in methods like debate and lectures can act as a motivational effect especially when used at the primary school level.For this interactive teaching method to prosper, w e find that many schools are found to be using the Information and Communication Technology which refers to technologies used to collect, store, edit and pass on information in various forms these ICT technologies that are utilized include; Interactive whiteboard, Videoconferencing, PowerPoint research presentation, and Internet use. For example during class lessons, the teacher can use the laptops in presentation when explaining an issue to the students (Bruner, 1960).Another technique that can be utilized in the interactive method of teaching is the radio broadcasts which are regarded as day to day learning procedures in many learning institutions most radio programs are said to be like lectures because they usually educate the public and the students. Sometimes the conversions are open to callers who make their suggestions thus coming up with different opinions. Recent studies have looked at how interactive whiteboards influences learning and teaching processes in schools.It sugg ests that whiteboards offer visual display that go in line with the explanations offered by the teacher thus helps students to understand better. It further outlines that the use of technologies in methods like debate and lectures can act as a motivational effect especially when used at the primary school level. (Print, 1993) Creative Thinking Creative thinking is defined as the process of thinking that enables the mind of an individual to improve its ability of being creative, this in simple terms means that it is a process bringing in new and different ideas from the existing ones.Research indicates that there are different types of creative thinking examples of the creative thinking are; the expressive creativity this type of thinking is believed to be occurring most often in children which is presented by children through their drawing and playing, the productive creativity this is the type of thinking which is practiced by many scientists since it involves the process of a cont inuous production that is characterized by the urge of creating but not expressing, the other type of a creative thinking is that of an inventive creativity thinking which is always geared towards solving and improving the technology in question. Research indicates that this creative thinking is always characterized by its ability to be nurtured and changed by an individual (Ennis, 1991). Research indicates that those individuals using the creative way of thinking actually indulge in the making of instinctive approaches to the existing solutions depending on the insights and perception surrounding the situation.Here we find that in the process of taking information through individuals’ senses, the brain therefore functions in the following process that is after the information is gathered the brain is enabled to reach a decision through the process of thinking or even feeling, and in normal cases these decisions are therefore allowed to through the judgment process under whic h is found to be relating to the brains approaches towards the global externally thus the brain is found to be dealing with the judgment on how individuals handle their daily activities, therefore an individual using the right side of the brain are said to be preferring situations to be put in an orderly and an organized manner including the factor of neatness and a good establishment before reaching a conclusion (Tama,1989). The people using the creative thinking are therefore divided in two that is the perceivers and the judgers. Under this grouping the judgers are said to first of all come up with a plan which will enable a number of things to be done before getting a solution thus the brain allows them to get ready by making sure that their work is done in advance, thus bringing in the idea of them preferring their solutions to be prepared, worked upon and brought to a solution with a particular plan to move on at a later time (Bruner, 1996).The other types of individuals using the creative thinking are the perceivers who are believed to be having an affinity of postponing decisions with the progress of seeking for different options by actually dealing with socializing with other people, listening to others, farming among other activities, this indicates that they usually proceed unexpectedly, the brain makes them not to plan for their solutions in advance and they usually do their obligations at the last minute (Gardner and Jerome,2001). Therefore in this case we find that when many people are found to be more concentrated with either the creative or the critical thinking of the brain in the process of dealing with facts and logic when solving a situation. The majority of the individuals do not understand the problems that always go hand in hand with the elements of social knowledge. Under their expectations and achievements, those applying the use of both types of thinking, usually plan more as compared to what they would actually achieve in actual terms . Future possibilities in them are easily connected with the feelings of the persons affected.Compared to the individuals using a single type of thinking, who are less genuine in interest and exceptional awareness in their day to day activities; they are special in giving in to the interest their personal experiences, thus they fail to have a strong need for intimate relationships which are usually needed for close interrelations in the society, thus failing in the solving of particular problems (Beyer, 1987). The best example of a creative thinking is the personal experience is the relationship I had between me and my students in a classroom, whereby as a teacher I had a role to motivate a creative thinking to my student, in this case we find that I used a method referred to as a Comprehensive Assessment Test which is an average assessment for students whose outcome represents the position of a particular student in relation to their capability of achieving a learning standard that is always expected by others.Being a teacher I was given the opportunity of enabling my student to undertake the assessment in a number of activities which features the knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation practiced on her by me, I utilized the following procedures to make her exercise successful (Tama,1989). Benchmarks- under this research indicates that it always involve the setting up of the students ability of creative thinking and solving problems, here I provided the student with a reading test, whereby I ensured that the student was served with the mandate of analyzing, understanding and assessing the information provided to her and then follow the measures required to carry out the exercise. In this test the students’ creative thinking surpasses the essential comprehension of many test questions I gave the student (Bruner, 1960).In this case the student was also put in the practice of reading passages which allowed her to be able to create meaning from the number of texts she read, the passages were always provided in two forms, one consisting of two to three literary passages such as short stories, poems, historical fiction among others, while the second one carries four to five informational passages such as texts derived from magazines, diaries and newspaper articles Among others (Anderson, 1990) Multiple Choices- this is another method that I the teacher applied in the students’ learning to motivate a creative thinking to her; in this case, I gave her a question and four choices of answers, where she was recommended to choose the most excellent answer for the available question.Short Response Task- here, I provided the student with a number of questions with a space of eight lines below the question requiring her to write their answers in a duration of five minutes, this particular response carries two points scoring rubric, whereby, the I ensured that the student applies the read, think and expla in concept in answering the questions thus the student was needed to be creative in answering the questions provided to her (Karl, 1997). Extended Response Task- This involved a question with a symbol carrying fourteen lines just next to the question which allowed the student to give a longer written answer; here I gave the student more time, at least ten minutes to answer the provided questions, these responses always carry four point scores. This method is usually designed with an objective of improving the students understanding abilities (Anderson, 1990). To apply all these methods of creative thinking in my students’ learning I actually needed her to use her critical thinking in order to succeed in answering the questions I provided to her. ConclusionIn order to yield good teaching results in my profession I therefore choose the above techniques of teaching methods which is the small group discussions, the interactive and creative thinking teaching methods as the appropr iate strategies for teaching as compared to the other teaching methods which are stated to be the complex methods of teaching, like the constructivism teaching should be discouraged since it is stated to be one of the most complex method of teaching by any teacher, in this case we find that it is actually passive and involves the teacher take the major part of participation such as organizing the information that is to be conveyed to the students in a manner that will enhance their understanding on the particular topic, we also find that in this method there is no room for the students to offer their views on the subject being discussed, it is regarded as the most inefficient mode of teaching and has contributed mostly to deterioration of education standards around the world (Print, 1993). Reference: Anderson, G. (1990) Teaching Creativity for Professional Growth and Personal Reward. NACTA Journal; 34 (4) pp 53-56. Beyer, B (1987) Practical Strategies for the Teaching of Thinking, B oston MA, Allyn &Bacon Inc Bruner, J. (1996) the Culture of Education- Cambridge, Mass- Harvard University PressBruner, J (1960) the Process of Education- Cambridge, Mass- Harvard University Press Ennis, R. (1991). Critical Thinking; a Streamlined Conception, Teaching Philosophy 14 (1), 6-20 Gardner, H. , Jerome B (2001) Modern Thinkers on Education from Piaget to the present, in J, Palmer 50 edition London: Routledge Karl, A. (1997): Children-Schools & Inequality- Boulder, Co Westview Tama, C (1989) Critical Thinking has a Place in Every Classroom. Journal of Reading, 30, 63-66. Parkerson, D (2001): Transitions in American Education, a Social History of Teaching Routledge; Vol. 242 pp. 14-19 Print, M. (1993) Curriculum development & design second edition St Leonards Allen & Unwin Publishing

Naturebros

Q1. Summarize the information presented regarding the present and proposed products. Briefly describe the company’s 2004 and 2005 objectives. Ans. Dale Morris, being a cooking enthusiast, created a new season mix in 1993 which was based on a nutritive yeast extract and used a considerable amount of lesser salt than other seasonal mixes. This mix being very popular among family and close friends, he decided to ‘test market’ his product via a charity event and once successful, he saw an opportunity of a new saleable product. His vision however was stalled till 2002 due to lack of startup capital. Eventually, he raised enough money (a total of $65,000) by selling 15 percent each of his stock to his mother and two work colleagues to lease machinery and setup a small production facility and bring his product to grocery stores by August of 2002. The product was an instant hit among customers. Having a sales background himself, Morris had no problems in coming up with ways to promote his product. His tasting demonstrations, similar to what he held for family and friends were a hit and attracted enough sales in seven states and to consider expanding the product line and make inroads to markets in more states as well. In order to expand however, Morris needed more capital. Not only was the market to be expanded, two new products had to be launched as well. This meant additional expenses in product development, production, advertising and distribution. The present product, although a low salt seasoning, does not cater to the salt free market. Thus a salt free variant is to be developed along with an MSG based flavor enhancer. The company’s 2004 objectives are to stabilize its current markets in terms of sales and distribution and to achieve a 5 percent market share in the category of seasoned salt, a 10 percent market share in salt substitutes and a 5 percent market share in MSG based flavor enhancers. Strategy for 2004 concentrates more on existing markets. Although a 10 percent market share in the salt free category seems a bit optimistic, it is possible due to the lack of competitors in this market segment. For 2005, the company plans to expand to eight new markets namely Los Angeles, Phoenix, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, Seattle, San Francisco, Spokane and Portland. These new markets make up 17.1 percent of total grocery sales and thus are an attractive market to tap into. Like 2004, here too 5 percent shares for the salt based seasoning, 10 percent for the salt free version and 5 percent market share for the MSG based enhancer are objectified. The methods to be used will range from aggressive advertising to tapping into the more health conscious West Coast psyche. Price advantages will further help realize these aims for both existing and new markets. All this will be done due to the fact that the company is currently in the market expansion process and has to make unique selling propositions in order to capture a larger share of the market. Q2. After reviewing this material, make a list of additional information which should be supplied to support the sales projections. Ans. The sales forecasts seem to be well worked upon but that isn’t the case. The biggest blunder is that percentage aims for each new market and existing market have not be clearly specified. Only totals have been given for existing and new markets and new ones with the aims at 5 or 10 percent (as per product) being calculated based on the overall totals of each market. Since the existing markets have to be stabilized and expanded, there should e more specific information regarding each individual state in terms of market and percentage to be achieved in dollar amounts. Same should be the case for new markets as well. The second problem with these forecasts is that although the company has outlined its financial and percentage aims in each of these markets, no specifications whatsoever have been given as to the volume and price of the product being sold there. This is essential because Nature Bros. will have to decide what packages and what volume of sales they plan on distributing in these areas. Thus sales have to be given not only in dollar amounts but in amount of units and weight per package as well. Thirdly, the price set for each package should also be included in order to calculate how Nature Bros. will capture the market. A proper product into price figure is needed here rather than the existing dollar amounts. Q3. Comment on objectives: Are they reasonable, optimistic, or conservative? What marketing mix would best support this growth rate? Ans. The objectives seem to be reasonable for the current markets but are a bit too optimistic for new markets. The main reason for this is that the current markets are aware of their products. They just need to keep enhancing their advertisement efforts in order to capture a larger market share. New products too will be welcomed more openly. New markets always show resistance to new entrants. Secondly, local home grounds are always easier to work in; it’s the new markets that always create problems especially due to the startup inertia faced by products. In order to achieve these objectives, Nature Bros. will have to go big in these new markets. They will ahev to concentrate a lot on achieving the right marketing mix so as not to expend too much and still achieve their objectives:  §Ã‚   Promotion: promotional campaign launched by Nature Bros. have so far been successful in most cases. Form personal friends to tasting stalls, Morris has done well so far in achieving fame for his product. The new products however might need that extra push. First of all, they should go for more branding of the products. Customers might confuse the positioning of the existing product and leave it and the salt free version might eat away into the original products sales. Since Nature Bros. have thus far marketed their existing product as healthy and low salt, a salt less substitute will only shed bad light on the existing seasoning mix. Thus Nature Bros. should start repositioning its existing brand and use the same in new markets. Quality should be strictly controlled and maintained at all costs.  §Ã‚   Price: the pricing strategy as outlined in the plans seems to be fine for this product. One aspect that Nature Bros. have neglected however is the price demand elasticity of their product. They should test this strategy in their existing markets and see if they are in a position to charge premiums at this stage or not. This will give a fair idea as to for how long they will have to sell their products at reduced prices (how long it takes to achieve customer loyalty) and how sensitive the customers are in terms of price changes. If a little drop in price means a considerable increase in sales then Nature Bros. can achieve their target market shares without 3040 percent price cuts as they currently plan to. On the other hand if this is not the case and customers are not too elastic, then not only discounts but extra promotion will also have to be done and this would mean leaner profit margins with additional promotion costs.  §Ã‚   Promotion: the promotion strategy is fine and tested in the existing markets. Their decision to advertise in cooking magazines is a good one as well. One additional aspect however would be to properly launch their product and activate their brand through a certain event or fair. A proper launch and enough publicity can do wonders for a product in any given case. The church sale was the most successful for Morris and made him realize that a marketable product is at hand. Similarly, if ature Bros. were to contact other organizations such as churches or TV shows to use their product, this would result in a lot of publicity. This along with a few interviews to newspapers and leading cooking magazines will help a lot in creating enough hype and launching the product.  §Ã‚   Distribution: this is probably the weakest link in the whole plan. There seem to be no formal plans nor strategies regarding the actual distribution of the product. Being a young company, Nature Bros. will have to carefully assess which distribution strategies are cheapest and yet most effective. Although all products will be sold at grocery stores, Nature Bros. can decide whether it will be supplying directly to these stores or use the services of a third party in the form of a distribution intermediary. More intermediaries however mean higher product selling prices and this could result in Nature Bros. not effectively achieving their pricing strategy in the new markets and thus eventually losing market share. Q4. Evaluate the information supplied regarding a new product development and physical assets in light of the pro forma income statements Morris developed. Ans. The case shows that new product development and physical assets are going to be beneficial in nature, primarily due to the reason that the cost of goods sold as projected by the pro forma sheet show a decline over the years. Additionally, sales increase over the years. The new product if developed can help in terms of profits eventually, since profits automatically increase with the decrease in cost of goods sold and increase in sales over the years projected. Apart from operational expenses though, research and development expenses, and depreciation expenses of physical assets would increase causing an increase in the total cost incurred by the organization apart from the cost of goods sold. Q5. Is the capital sought appropriate for the circumstances? If more information is needed, state what it is and how it could be obtained. Ans. The capital sought is not appropriate mainly due to two reasons. The objectives outlined in terms of market shares are too optimistic in some cases. If Nature Bros. seriously intends to achieve these objectives   then they might have to expend a lot more in promotion and also further lower their prices. Secondly although promotion expenses are stated, not much has been said about other below the lien activities. It is rare that the cost of BTL activities are easily anticipated and put on paper for budgeting purposes. The second reason is that no mention has been made of distribution channels and strategies. This whether they decide to own the channel themselves or employ third parties, in both cases additional expenses will most certainly entail. Lastly, every firm always keeps a certain excessive amount of capital for emergencies. Since these are projections, Nature Bros. will most certainly have to attain a little more extra capital and retain it for unpredictable circumstances. Q6. What sources should Morris approach for this amount of capital? Ans. The product has done well in the past few years. A proper business plan and more professional projections can easily help Morris market his idea to banks as well as more serious venture capitalists in a very effective manner. The best option would be to borrow from a financial institution as opposed to selling off more equity to individuals. This is so because selling off equity might result in loss of ownership and decision power and at this stage conflicts among partners is something Nature Bros. should not risk. The ownership once diluted would result in actually loss of control, and decision making power would be vested in the hands of the shareholders. Apart from this, Nature Bros. has become too big to rely solely on funds borrowed from family and friends and is not big enough to go public as yet. Thus the best options would be to find capital form either banks at a fixed interest rate or angel investors who are interested and more patient than other categories of venture capitalists. These investors are interested in returns but rarely intervene in the management aspect of the business and are more accommodating as well. This source of funding or capital would help in reducing the amount of taxes that the company would have to pay, and additionally, fewer amounts would have to be given out to the shareholders as dividend. Thus any source which costs below the going interest rate and doesn’t result in selling of equity would be suitable for Nature Bros. Q7. Based on the current balance sheet, how much equity should he give up for the investment? The current balance sheet of the company shows several things. One of the basic aspects is the amount of assets that the company holds at this point in time. The total assets are about sixty seven thousand, and corresponding to that, the total liabilities are about fifty eight thousand. This shows that the company can cover its liabilities through the assets that it currently holds. On the other hand, the equity that the company has at this point in time is about nine thousand. A lot of potential in terms of equity investment is seen here since the company can not only withhold the amount of liabilities but also has enough to cater to the shareholders as well in terms of its liquid assets. In this case, about half of the liabilities amount can be given up for the investment and still be able to keep a significant amount of money in the liability section. The ball park figure is assumed in order to create a fifty-fifty balance between the liabilities and the equity side. The ideology is that the amount of figure noted would be able to create enough equity in the organization that would not jeopardize reporting and decision making in the company, and yet, be enough that it balances out the loans taken from banks and other individuals and institutions. References: Hisrich, R., Peters, P., & Shepard, D. (2008). Entrepreneurship. 7th Edition. Irwin: McGraw-Hill. Entrpreneur.com (n.d.). Retrieved February 17, 2007, from http://www.entrepreneur.com/bizstartups/index.html U.S. Small Business Administration (n.d.). Retrieved February 17, 2007, from http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/index.html   

Describe and evaluate the main macroeconomic policies used by the Essay - 4

Describe and evaluate the main macroeconomic policies used by the Government and Central Bank of China over the last two years - Essay Example Monetary policy involves regulating the money supply and interest rates by a central bank with the aim of controlling and stabilising the currency (He and Chen, 2014). Over the last two years, china’s macroeconomic policies aim at containing inflation to 4% eventually, to contain real estate by bringing prices of houses down, to maintain a decent growth rate of about 8 to 9% and to preserve the value of China’s foreign assets (He and Chen, 2014). This essay discusses the monetary and fiscal policy as used by the government and Central Bank of China. China has used a proactive fiscal policy over the last two years. A proactive fiscal policy is a moderately expansionary policy, which creates demand and triggers economic growth by growing domestic demand (Zhang, Fan and Haan, 2010). The policy has over the period aimed at ensuring the steady growth of China’s economy, making proper adjustments to its economic structure, promoting reforms and benefiting its people. That said, the policy continues to try to maintain balance between enhancing economic growth, keeping prices stable and protection against financial risks. Unfortunately, China’s economy risks being stalled. This was seen in 2014 where the annual GDP growth hit a low of 7.4% (see figure 1), the lowest rate since 1990 (Wei, 2015). However, as many economic policy enthusiasts believe, continued use of moderately expansionary policy will generate positive results on China’s economic growth in the midst of slow export growth. The expansionary policy is aimed at spending to generate income. Build-up of development and infrastructure needs and vast fiscal resources have made China channel immense spending into the economy. China has in recent years has relied on its large population to provide the required demand for their products to generate the required income. Government expenditure has, however, been seen to mainly lie in the areas of education, healthcare and other social expenditures (Jia,

Engineering ethics paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Engineering ethics - Research Paper Example This specific branch of Genetic Engineering is called Transgenics (Frewer, 2013). Even though Genetic Engineering has led to the emergence of very superb hybrid and chimeras species of animals and plants and, has also resulted to the discovery of vaccines for various diseases, it is still unethical scientific practice that has always violated the integrity and rights of many animals and the culture of man as well. Many people live in fear of this mysterious technology and a number of animals, both wild and domestic are at risk of being killed in the course of the several Genetic tests. In fact, much concern is on these victimized animals (Ormandy, 2011). Below are some of ethical issues. To the religious world, the Transgenic practice of isolating genes and tissues from one animal and inserting them into another is very immoral and unacceptable act. Such acts are unnatural practices that seek to dismantle the creation design of God. For instance, the harvesting of genes from human tumor and implanting them into tobacco plant has ignited a bitter disagreement religious culture of man and Science (Brad, 2009). During the transfer of genes and cells from an animal to human being, some zoonotic diseases (diseases that are found in both animals and human) may be carried along side. Such diseases include Nipah and Bovine, commonly known as the â€Å"mad cow disease†. These diseases are very lethal and can easily lead to sudden death of man if not diagnosed in good time (Conn, 2008). The genetically modified food has posed health threats to lay society which do not clearly understand how such foods were quickly manufactured in laboratories. It is very evident that genetically modified foods can interfere with normal functioning of the human body and has a long term health effect. Some individuals have rapidly gained weight after eating highly processed and hybrid products. Animal Welfare has been the main concern when it comes to ethical issues in Genetic