The Beer Market in Spain Essay Example

The Beer Market in Spain Essay Group 6- Jennifer, Priya, Ricky and Barbara Beer market in Spain 1. Environmental Analysis: Porter’s 5 Forces: Buyer Power: Buyer power is relatively strong in the beer industry. The recent financial crisis showed us that buyers are price sensitive. Also, the presence of many different brands and products give buyers a lot of choice. Therefore, sellers must differentiate their products or offer very competitive prices to remain profitable. Supplier Power: Beer is made from malt, hops, water and yeast. These ingredients are relatively commoditised and are readily available . There are many suppliers offering generic products. Suppliers have relatively little bargaining power. Threat from new entrants/ Barriers to entry: The initial investment in beer production is large as plants and production technology are complex and take time to establish. Furthermore, establishing a brand identity and establishing relationships with retail outlets is time consuming and can be difficult. Because of the presence of a few market dominating firms, threat from new start-ups is small, except in niche markets. Therefore we can conclude that barriers to entry are moderate. Substitutes: The alcoholic beverage found to be the closest substitute to beer available on the market is cider. The cider industry is growing rapidly and it is becoming an increasingly popular choice among beer drinkers. Rivalry: The market leader in beer sales is Heineken, which holds 32% total volume share in 2010 (Euromonitor International, April 2011, page 3). This closely followed by Mahou with 30% total volume share. In this respect, the beer industry is not particularly competitive. However, amongst smaller brands competing for niche market share, there is fierce competition. . Who, What, How analysis: Functions or needs: Thirst, social needs, relaxation (WHAT) Customer Groups: (WHO) Teens adults Students, friends, families retirees Product varieties / Technologies: Premium Lager Beer, Standard Lager Beer, Non-alcoholic Beer, Light Beer (HOW) 3. Identification of key trends: Beer sales were affected by the 2008/09 financial crisis. Consumers decreased spending on going out and other leisure activities. Therefore on trade (drinking when out) fell by 7% in 2010 and off trade (staying in and drinking) rose by 1%. We will write a custom essay sample on The Beer Market in Spain specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Beer Market in Spain specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Beer Market in Spain specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer This follows the growing trend to stay in and socialise rather than going out to bars etc. The increase in price sensitivity of consumers has also contributed to an increase in supermarket and hypermarket market share for beer sales. Many Supermarkets and Hypermarkets have created their own beer labels that they offer at a discounted price to take advantage of this increased price sensitivity. However, the majority of sales are still ‘on trade’, due to the Mediterranean climate and the Spanish culture of going out for a drink, especially during the warmer months. Furthermore, 30% of beer sales in Spain are made by tourists. Beer sales levels are extremely sensitive to fluctuations in tourism. The economic crisis caused a decrease in the tourism industry, and thus in beer sales. In the south of Spain, lighter beers are more popular while in the North heavier beers with more body are more popular. Beer consumption in general is also strongly linked to the season, with more beer being consumed in warmer months. In 2010, the only beer product to achieve a total increase in sales growth was non-alcoholic beer. This could be the effect of an increase in health awareness and/or a reaction to stricter driving restrictions. Finally, the economic downturn has caused an increased demand for 330ml and 500ml canned beer relative to the traditional 330ml bottled variety. 4. Competition Analysis: Heineken is the market leader in beer sales, with 32% total volume sales in 2010. Second is Mahou, with 30%. However, in 2010, Heineken’s strategy to focus on premium lagers caused it to lose share, while Mahou’s standard lager and promotions focus caused them to gain market share. In third is Damm (Estrella, Voll, Xibeca Damm) with 12%. A large number of smaller labels share the remaining sales volume, with many of these brands focusing on niche product markets. To combat the sharp decrease in on-trade sales, major label have increased advertising to promote going out. For example Mahou introduced the ‘Get out the home! ’ campaign, offering small bottles of San Miguel or Mahou and a tapas dish for a low price. 5. Interpretation of results We conducted an online survey consisting of both multiple choice and short answer response questions designed to provide a level of quantitative and qualitative analysis. We received 20 responses to the survey, and 90% of these respondents selected ‘student’ in answer to the question ‘what best describes you? ’. 55% of respondents were male, 45% female. The combination of small sample size and a sample heavily skewed towards the student segment means that our research has not yielded result that are representative of the target population. However, we do believe that some of our findings are valuable to our analysis of the market. The survey revealed quality to be the most important influencing factor to our sample in choosing beer (48%). Following were price (32%) and brand (20%) and there were no votes for alcohol content. This indicates that the student segment looks for a quality beer that is reasonably priced and perhaps a recognisable or appealing brand. They do not necessarily drink beer just to get drunk. Our sample did not show a preference for the major Spanish beer labels, with 75% choosing ‘other’ as their preferred beer over Estrella, San Miguel and Heineken (the market leaders). This may be linked to the high percentage of international students completing the survey who prefer their native countries’ brands. As for where and when our sample consume beer, the responses were split between home and bars for location and showed preference for weekends and with friends for when and with whom. 40% of respondents drink beer 1-2 times a week. We can interpret these responses as showing a trend towards casual, social drinking. 100% of respondents indicated that they would not purchase a non-alcoholic beer and do not consider health factors when purchasing beer. This does not support the growth in market share of non-alcoholic beers. Interestingly, 42% of respondents did indicate that light beer was their preferred variety. This could be linked to female drinkers’ preference towards lighter, sweeter beverages. Our qualitative analysis revealed a recurrent theme in word associations the respondents made with beer consumption. Phrases such as ‘chilling with friends’, ‘relaxing on the weekend’ and ‘out with friends at a bar’ were most common. This supports our quantitative analysis that beer is consumed primarily in non-formal, social situations. 6. FCB Matrix [pic] 7. Decision-making Process Buying beer substantially is a low-involvement process since beer is not a very expensive product. We usually buy a certain brand of beer, try it for the first time, make evaluation on the product, then decide whether or not to buy it in the future. The low-involvement decision-making process in fact is a learning as mentioned. We decide whether or not to repeat the purchase by learning from the buying experience. The graph below depicts the â€Å"Think-Do-Feel† theory. This diagram below is an elaborated version of the simplified model above:[pic] 8a. Segmentation Variables Possible options from our questionnaire survey: (i) occupation (full-time worker, part-time worker, student) and age (ii) consumption rate (high, medium, low) and consumption situation (home, bar, restaurant) (iii) purchase driver (brand, price, quality) and consumption companion (family, friend, alone) All these options are chosen from the questions we set for our survey. However, we finally decide to use option (ii), i. e. consumption rate and consumption situation as the segmentation variables. We eliminate option (i) and (iii) because of these reasons. For option (i), we feel that the segment with certain kind of people with certain age will be too large for us to focus on in terms of marketing strategy. Different people in the same age with similar occupation may possess different attitudes towards beer. For option (iii), purchase drivers, i. e. the purchase tactics, change over time in different situations since it is a low-involved buying activity. Therefore, it is difficult to predict the precise opportunity to do marketing for a new kind of brand, hence very difficult to target a very special target. The graph below shows the variables we use for segmentation, as well as some definitions of the variables. [pic] 8b. Various Segments Identified Below are some photos depicted the segments identified, as well as description of each segment. [pic] 7c. Segment Selected[pic] Target Light Beer Drinker based on the following reasons: i) Highest potential growth rate: can easily shift to the right to have medium usage rate, which means higher consumption of beer. That brings more revenue. (ii) Sophisticated drinkers have much experience on beer, which means that new brands like us could be eliminated easily in their consideration sets. (iii) Sophisticated drinkers could be brand-loyal to certain brands, which make it hard to make them shift to our brand. However, the column â€Å"light beer drinker† still leaves us three options . As a new company, we could like to do concentrated marketing so that we put all our effort into one single segment. Therefore, we need to decide which segment we would like to get involved from the variable â€Å"usage situation†. We decide that from our survey based on the response and from other considerations including secondary research. [pic] However, the results of â€Å"bar† and â€Å"home† occupy the same percentage. Therefore, we made our decision based on both our qualitative research and secondary research. From â€Å"What activities, emotions or adjectives do you associate with drinking beer? †most respondents associate beer with socialising with friends and relaxing at home or at a bar. However the market trend is showing a growth in home beer consumption. 7d. Positioning We have defined the position strategy for light beer using positioning maps. Since our survey depicts that most beer drinkers do so for socializing in bars, we have zeroed in on price and quality as the preferred attributes (and not necessarily variety, as youngsters feel comfortable with any light beer that has a good taste and reasonable variety). We see that Light Beer ranks moderately high on quality and low on price (only more expensive than non-alcoholic beer). Hence our product is positioned as a moderately low priced Light Beer that ranks medium to high on quality. 8. Product Concept We came up with two different product concepts: a light and cheap beer to be consumed in bars and a light cheap beer to be consumed at home. Both beers are competitive from a price point of view but the beer that has to be consumed in bars should be in a glass bottle of 330ml whilst the beer addressed to the off-trade should be a 500ml glass bottle or can to push further the price competitiveness. We decided we will further develop the off-trade beer because it is more coherent with our qualitative research results and with the market trends. Furthermore the decision to target a niche market, such as home beer consumption, is a better decision for a firm just entering the market, and therefore not ready yet to compete with established beer firms on the open market. Appendices [pic] [pic]

Understanding Learning essays

Understanding Learning essays On my journey to a better understanding of how learning theories have shown themselves in my life, I realized that I have had more experience with them than I had first thought. I dont see myself as being changed dramatically by any one learning experience, but I do realize that my desire to learn has increased as I have been introduced to a variety of teaching methods. In short, I could not pick one theory that I could relate most of my learning experiences to. Therefore, as I looked through our textbook, I tried to remember if and how any of these theories played a role in my educational development so far. As we have studied, most learning theories can be placed into one of two groups: cognitive learning and association learning. The cognitive learning view states that learning is based on a restructuring of perceptions and thoughts occurring within the organism. This restructuring allows us to perceive new relationships, solve new problems, and gain understanding of a subject area. Cognitive learning theorists stress the reorganization of ones perceptions in order to achieve understanding. (Sprinthall, Sprinthall, and Oja; Educational Psychology- A developmental Approach 1998) One of these cognitive-learning theorists is Wolfgang Kohler. Kohler performed many experiments with chimps during World War I. Kohler constructed a variety of problems for the chimps, each of which involved obtaining food that was not directly accessible. In the simplest task, food was put on the other side of a barrier. Dogs and cats in previous experiments had faced the barrier in order to reach the food, rather than moving away from the goal to go around the barrier. The chimps, however, presented with an apparently similar situation, set off immediately on the roundabout route to the Over the last few years my husband and I, for lack of anything ...

Qualitative Research- Fieldwork Observation Assignment

Qualitative Research- Fieldwork Observation - Assignment Example These issues can be accessed and evaluated through observation. This is true because most of the traits that determine students’ performance are physically portrayed. Most of these characteristics are associated with the environment which students grow in. For example, literatures have found that students brought up in poor backgrounds perform poorer than those brought up in middle class backgrounds (Billie & Bette & Wolfe, 2006). Specifically, physical characteristics like students behavior and the way they conduct themselves have a lot to say about their academic performance. In the effort to determine this concept, I sought to carryout a research through observation from a public school in a poor background setting. The aim of this research was to find out how the students conduct themselves and if their behavior conducts have any relationship with their academic performance. In learning theories, main focus is on behavioral psychology. For children to be able to learn and remember new things, some things are considered to take place in the learning process. According to Billie & Bette & Wolfe, (2006), some of these things are explained by behavioral and constructivism theories which focus their attentions on acquired factors that help the learner acquire knowledge. Burkhardt, (2004) asserted that students’ achievement is influenced by environmental factors such as cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic factors. These factors are said to shape students behavior, which have adverse, effects on their academic performance. According to Burkhardt, (2004), students who come from poor back grounds have been found to perform poorly in their academic works. In some instances, living conditions are extremely harsh that the students have to attend school with empty stomachs. Field-notes My field-work started early in the morning at 7: am. I purposely decided to start my research at this hour in order to gather information on the arrival of students from the ir homes since this was a day school. Students started arriving some minutes after 7: am. There was only one teacher who had arrived by then. I later came to realize that he was the teacher on duty that day. He mobilized students in cleaning their classrooms and the compound. Most students were seen to be sluggish in responding to the teacher’s instruction. For example, when they were told to clean their classes, most of them hid themselves behind the classes. The teacher was forced to come after them with a cane. When the bell for the assembly was rung, some students were still arriving from their homes. In the effort to capture them for punishment, the teacher had difficult times as the students ran away while others hid themselves. In fact, some of those that were caught and given some punishment to do, they retorted to the teacher. When the lessons started, I visited one of the classes where I observed various occurrences. Some minutes before the teacher entered the class room, most of the students seemed not to be settled. They were discussing the previous night’s happenings. Some were chatting and gossiping. However, a few were seen to be preparing themselves for the lesson before the teacher entered. When the lesson started, some students were lying on their desks while others were busy chatting. In fact, remarkably few students concentrated on what the teacher was teaching. This was evident when the teacher asked questions related to what he taught. The students gave irrelevant answers while other said

Reflection on reading and writing case study Coursework

Reflection on reading and writing case study - Coursework Example It is necessary to review the progress made after implementation of a strategy in order to know whether to continue with it or develop a new one. While some strategies work on some students, they are not successful in other students because of differences as in academics and cognition. Discussing the student’s knowledge strategies helped my student in reading skills. The voice of a student is indispensible in the whole process because they made me aware of the available skills that were necessary. Failure to do that may have caused a repetitive process and poor choice of a teaching strategy. For the word, I believe the practice with my student helped him to improve his phonics. He was able to improve his word reading skills with prefixes and correctly pronounce prefixes with Vowel Consonant Words (VC). It is essential to choose a task-specific strategy that identifies the immediate requirement of a student, and is compatible with his needs. My strengths as a teacher include the modification of a teaching strategy in lieu with the changing demands of a student. I am able to understand the right time to change a student and move to the next step. My experience with Chris was beneficial as we created a good bond and everything else fell into place. A good working relationship creates an environment in which everybody interacts comfortably and with ease. My weaknesses as a teacher include impatience. There were times when I moved slightly fast than was required and I realized Chris was lagging behind. This was especially true when he failed to complete tasks that I thought were quite simple. For instance, after reading â€Å"fire fire†, I realized that he does not understand some words, which I thought were simple. Although Chris knew the meaning of the word ‘extinguisher’, he did not know the pronunciation. However, I learn the need for awareness and patience in the implementation of intervention strategies.

Pride and Honor in the Time of Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet Coursework

Pride and Honor in the Time of Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet - Coursework Example The sudden, fatal violence in the first scene of Act 3 and the accumulation of violence in the fight between Romeo and Tybalt reminds us that everything is focused on love, conflict, pride, and honor. Romeo and Juliet always occur in a male world in which notions of honor, pride, and the state are likely to erupt in a fury of conflict. Rage and danger in the social environment of the community are tools that Shakespeare uses to emphasize conflict and drama, making the lives of the characters seem even more precious and fragile. For example, compared to the relationship between Romeo and Juliet, the relationship between Romeo and Tybalt represents the brutal world in which their love is doomed. Clashes between Mercutio and Tybalt, as well as Romeo and Tybalt, are chaotic; Tybalt kills Mercutio under Romeo’s arm, flees, and then suddenly and inexplicably returns to fight Romeo, who kills for revenge. The pride and honor of violence are imposed at all times because, in this socie ty, violence is something that is equated with masculine honor. Romeo and Tybalt work to show how pride and honor work as a foil to love and tenderness in Verona society, represented by Romeo and Juliet. This is seen in Verona as a when the unwelcome reality of the society in which they must live rushes in to counteract their positive feelings of the union.  

Life as a Female Slave Under the Code of Hammurabi Essay Example for Free

Life as a Female Slave Under the Code of Hammurabi Essay I am a female slave, given into slavery for 4 years by my father, he owed a debt that he could not pay. A debt for grain that he was to pay back 3 fold. The debt collector would have taken what little we had and perhaps would have made father pay with his life if Hammurabi had not made a way for my family to cancel our debt in this way. It is only for 4 years, such a long time for so little a debt, but we are fortunate to have this option. I will be provided with the basic necessities for survival. I am counted as nothing more than property, or currency, for my Master. I am not considered human. I was formerly a member of the middle class, paupers that can farm. There are only three classes in our society, the wealthy, the poor, and the slaves. Now, I am a slave for the next four years. It is very common practice, so much so that even the poor have slaves. Our most common forms of currency are grain, silver, slaves, cattle, and livestock. As you can imagine, I am not alone in my experience in slavery. Many of my peers are or have been enslaved at least once in their lives. Both my mother and father were slaves at some point. Many female slaves usually end up with their Master for many more years than the 4 required by law. After 4 years, they are no longer slaves and are often in the same class as the man they have lived with. In our society many children are products of those relationships. Until the time of slavery is up, I must work off a debt. I am not permitted to deny my Master, or I could be punished. One such punishment could involve having my ears cut off. This is not very common. Many of us understand we are here to work and that we must be submissive to avoid conflict. As I mentioned we will be allowed the basic necessities, food and water, and protection from the environment if the weather is harsh. The laws of how I live as a female and as a slave are outlined in Hammurabi’s Code. Hammurabi is a fair and just man. I feel his laws are fair and just given my position and given the alternatives that could have taken place if my father’s debt went unpaid. And to lose an ear and not a life for disobedience is more than fair. Hammurabi has provided us with options which has been beneficial for us at this time. We all know the laws. We can all read and understand them. Our officials rule by the law and laws pertain to everyone. For example, I am safe with my Master, should anyone take me from my Master- he could be put to death.. Everyone in the city knows this law and should someone see another take me from my Master, they will notify officials. The officials will investigate the matter. The person who takes me could be put to death. Few people risk this. Also, should my Master lend me out to another man and that man harm me, he would have to pay my Master fines for the damage he caused. It is very difficult for the common man to pay fines, so little harm is ever done to a slave that is on loan. Slavery here is not a social stigma. I am of the same class as the majority and speak the same language. Business and practicality are more important here than ideology, thus it is more beneficial for a Master to have strong, healthy slaves for commercial purposes. The law is clear and written out and encourages this kind of a society. Physical abuse is not very common among our people, but it is used in extreme cases. I was very surprised when studying this to discover that laws regarding slavery in the United States, while similar in many ways, were more harsh than the laws for the slaves in a more primitive environment. For example, the Code of Hammurabi stipulates that if a slave is given in trade for a debt it is for a period of 4 years. In the Unites States, the slave codes suggested that slavery was a life long event. There was no limit to the length of time a person could be a slave. I could not find many similarities, with the exception that it was not uncommon for female slaves to bear children with their Masters. In further research I found evidence that slaves in Babylonian captivity not too long after the Code of Hammurabi was implemented, owned property and were allowed to trade. Some even made more money than their Masters. So, I could not really compare and contrast the Code of Hammurabi with the Slave Codes of the Southern States, which was not only disappointing but deeply troubling. The one thing that does stand out as the most obvious similarity to something we are familiar with today is the epilogue to the Code of Hammurabi and the Preamble of the US Constitution. Both introduced a set of laws that were created to protect the people, provide a basis for justice, promote the welfare, ensure prosperity. Actually, I believe Hammurabi said it best, â€Å"That the strong might not injure the weak†.

Order, Memory, and Anxiety in Borges Fiction :: Reading Memorize Memory Essays

Order, Memory, and Anxiety in Borges' Fiction The fundamental questions of how and why we read have an infinitude of answers, none of which entirely 'do the job', simply because they bear too closely upon the automatic, (and therefore, to us, secret) processes of the mind; the act of reading is too closely related to the act of living in the world for us to comprehend definitively. There are few writers who understand and exploit this primal link more persistently than Jorge Luis Borges. One of the ways in which he forces us to examine the parallels between reading and existing (I use the word 'force' because it is not always a pleasant confrontation) is through the thematic use of memory. I. Total Recall "It is because I forget that I read." -Roland Barthes, S/Z One of the most masterful treatments of the memory theme is in "Funes the Memorious", the brilliantly, (and somewhat absurdly), touching story of a man who cannot live under the strain of his natural and inescapable ability to remember everything perfectly. The story begins with the words "I recall", and immediately we are plunged into the realm of memory-we understand that what we are about to read is a semblance of a reminisence. Jon Stewart calls attention to the importance of the repetition of this verb in the opening paragraphs of the story: "The continual use of this verb clearly foreshadows the most important element of the character of Funes-his prodigious mnemonic powers: but there is more to it than this. Borges continually uses the same verb and with it brings together a number of scattered and seemingly chaotic memories that he has of Funes. The point of this repetition is to underscore his own impoverished memory of Funes." (p.74) But Stewart neglects to take this point to its logical and important conclusion; the narrator's 'impoverished memory' is not merely a foreshadowing of Funes' infinitely rich one-it comes to be, in fact, the necessary circumstance, and the subject of the story. Borges tells us that the story grew out of his own bouts of insomnia: "I remember that I used to lie down and try to forget everything, and that led me, inevitably, to remember everything. I imagined the books on the shelves, the clothes on the chair, and even my own body on the bed... and so, since I could not erase memory, I kept thinking of those things, and also thinking: if only I could forget, I would certainly be able to sleep.

The Man-Made Disaster: Chernobyl

Gulin Langbroek 11. 1 THE MAN-MADE DISASTER: CHERNOBYL â€Å"It is one of histories ironies that the worst nuclear accident began as a test to improve safety. †, states Snell (1988). The Soviets wanted to find out how the Chernobyl power plant would cope with a sudden power loss, therefore the experiment tested how long a spinning turbine could provide electric power to certain systems in the plant. Like many accidents, the Chernobyl accident resulted from a combination of human error and weaknesses in the design of the plant.The man-made disaster occured at Unit 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the former Ukranian Republic belonging to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and near the borders of Belarus and the Russian Federation. Following a short explanation of the health and social impacts of the accident, this essay will discuss the errors in judgment and biases that went on while running the Chernobyl power plant. As a result of the accident, tons of radioact ive material was released to the air, still posing a threat to living beings in that region.The radioactive doses caused long term health effects ranging from thyroid cancer to leukemia. The Chernobyl area was also connected directly with the river systems of the Ukranian Republic, causing destruction of biological life in rivers and also deaths of people who had consumed river water. It is also a fact that cleaning the area was just as dangerous to those people who had to do it as they were exposed to higher doses of radiation. Agricultural regions near Chernobyl had caused the production of foods such as milk and vegetables with radioactive material contamination.Lots of people were forced to migrate from contaminated areas to uncontaminated areas, creating social problems such as loss of staff, no job availability and many more difficulties which made everyday life miserable. Overall, the Chernobyl accident has caused great distress and casualties in the USSR and European countri es. 1 There were some errors which should be mentioned before going into details on the errors in judgment. One error which might have caused the accident was that it was a rushed experiment.The test was scheduled to be carried out just before a reactor shutdown which only occurred once a year, so the operators felt under pressure to complete it promptly so that another year wouldn't have to be waited. This probably didn't trigger the accident directly but perhaps was one of the factors causing the necessary measures and precautions to not be taken. The test was thought to be an electrical test only, so instead of the reactor specialists, turbine manufacturers were the ones who were observing it. Thus, the effects on the reactor was not weighed fully.Finally, the Chernobyl plant was one of the most developed and highly technologic power plants ever constructed, therefore the operators running it felt as if they were an exclusive and elite crew and had built too much overconfidence, not realising possible disasters. To be specific, some biases could be named and analyzed further. Perhaps the most crucial bias which should be looked at in all man-made disasters is the neglect of probability which is the tendency to omit the probability of failure when making a decision.This also ties in with the overconfidence bias since if the managers had doubted the reactor in the first place, more precautions would have been taken. In this case, such a massive disaster had never happened before among Russia, and since the power plant as stated before was assumed to be very reputable and exceptional, the managers of the plant had neglected any probability of the experiment going wrong. According to Kletz (2001)â€Å"The managers do not seem to have asked themselves what would occur if the experiment was unsuccessful.Before every experiment we should list all possible outcomes and their effects and decide how they will be handled. † 2 The second biggest bias of the owne rs and constructors of the plant which caused the accident was the functional fixedness bias. As it is stated in Wikipedia (â€Å"List of Cognitive Biases 2012) â€Å"This bias limits a person to using an object only in the way it is traditionally used†. The reactor was operated in a rule-based behaviour, meaning that the operators were informed on what tasks they should complete but not told why it was so important to complete them.This had caused them to operate the plant in a way which Kletz (2001) states as â€Å"process feel rather than theoretical knowledge†. Before the Chernobyl accident, all reactors were designed and relied on the fact that rules would be obeyed and instructions would be followed so there was no need to set up extra protective facilities. This of course could have been the worst approach to building a nuclear plant, considering the fact that the workers were not trained to their best abilities.Instead of relying on the traditional method of a ssuming operators would follow the rules, the reactor should have been built in a way that the rules could not be ignored. That way the workers would not have been limited to using their insufficient information on how to run a power plant and technology would have done this job instead of them. In short, the traditional way of relying on man-made decisions should have been abandoned and relying on automatic equipment should have been adapted. Assuming operators would obey rules brings another issue to light, the projection bias.The projection bias is defined as unconsciously assuming that one's personal emotions, thoughts and values are shared by others. The lack of communication between the managers of the power plant and the operators in how seriously safety measures should have been taken is among the biggest causes of the disaster. According to Kletz (2012), the managers of Chernobyl had â€Å"talked about getting things done without any mention of safety, leaving the operator s with the impression that safety is less important.Managers should remember, when giving instructions, that what you don't say is as important as what you do say. † 3 Last but not least, the biggest error in judgment the operators could have had was caused by the ostrich effect. This bias is the act of ignoring an obvious negative sitution. The big question is, why should any operator ignore situations which could cause the death of many people including their own? The answer lies in how the management system was established.Because the reactor relied on decisions of the higher authorities and not on protective safety equipments, every little detail of the power plant had to be consulted with the managers. As Kletz states (2012), â€Å"Everything had to be referred to the top so it was necessary to break the rules in order to get anything done†. Running a power plant should have not relied on this kind of system since operators were more likely to take shortcuts, not i nform the managers or simply ignore problems so that they could get things done quickly. Had these biases and errors in judgment not occured, the accident would perhaps never have happened.In operating such intricate systems such as a power plant, one must keep in mind two crucial things: Always having protective equipment installed and never letting workers neglect safety rules. Unfortunately as humans, only after this disaster have we began to take these precautions, making us victims of the normalcy bias. In any case, we must always look out for human errors that might lead to irreversible damage. 4 RESOURCES Marples, D. R. , & Snell, V. G. (1988). The social impact of the chernobyl disaster. London: The Macmillan Press Kletz, T. (2001). Learning from accidents.Retrieved from ftp://193. 218. 136. 74/pub/anon/ELSEVIER-Referex/1-Chemical%20Petrochemical%20and%20Process%20Collection/CD1/KLETZ,%20T. %20A. %20(2001). %20Learning%20from%20Accidents%20(3rd%20ed. )/Learning_from_Accident s_3E. pdf European Commision, International Atomic Energy Agency & World Health Organization. (1996). One decade after chernobyl: Summing up the consequences of the accident. Austria: IAEA List of Cognitive Biases. (2012). In Wikipedia. Retrieved November 16, 2012, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/List_of_biases_in_judgment_and_decision_making 5

Biography of William Wordsworth Essay

William Wordsworth was born April 7th, 1770, in Cockermouth, Cumberland. He attended school at Saint John’s College, University of Cambridge. He was said to have loved nature. During school breaks he visited places known for their scenic beauty. While in France, he fell in love with Annette Vallon. They had a daughter in December of 1770, shortly before he moved back to England. Wordsworth had written poetry while he was still a schoolboy, but none of his poems were published until 1793.His first published poems were An Evening Walk and Descriptive Sketches. These poems exhibit the influence of the formal way of poetry in England throughout the 18th century. Wordsworth had met Samuel Taylor Coleridge, a fellow poet, and in 1797 Woodsworth moved to Alfoxden, Somersetshire, alongside his sister Dorthy. Their residence was near Coleridge’s home in Nether Stowey. This move created a sustained friendship between Wordsworth and Coleridge, and they both worked on a volume of poems entitled Lyrical Ballads, which was published 1798. Lyrical Ballads is said to have indicated the beginning of the Romantic Movement in English poetry. Wordsworth wrote the majority of the poems in the book, such as â€Å"Tintern Abbey†. Coleridge’s main contribution was Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Lyrical Ballads was met with hostility from most critics, as it represented an uprising against contemporary English poetry. In justification of his unconventional philosophy of poetry, Wordsworth wrote a â€Å"Preface† to the second edition of Ballads, which emerged in 1800. His idea was that the basis of poetic genuineness was the sincere occurrence of the sense. He said that poetry derives from â€Å"emotion recollected in tranquility.† He insisted that the scenes and actions of every-day life and the speech of common people were the basic material of which poetry should consist of. Prior to his publication of the â€Å"Preface†, Wordsworth went with Coleridge to Germany in 1798-99. During this time period, Wordsworth wrote a number of his best lyrical verses. Many critics consider theses verses as Wordsworth’s greatest work. William and his sister returned to England in 1799, and moved to Dove Cottage in Grasmere, Westmorland. This area is near the English Lake District. Robert Southey, another poet, and Coleridge, lived nearby. Wordsworth, Southey, and Coleridge became known as the Lake Poets. Wordsworth married Mary Hutchinson in 1802. She was a childhood friend, who was depicted in â€Å"She was a Phantom of Delight†. Poems in Two Volumes was published in 1807. Wordsworth’s poetic ability and insight became dull as he became older. His later poetry cannot measure up to the poetry written during his youth. Wordsworth was awarded a government pension in 1842. He died at Rydal Mount, on April 23rd in 1850. He was buried in the Grasmere cemetery.

Sectionalism essays

Sectionalism essays Between the War of 1812 and 1828 many events took place that divided the still embryonic and developing United States into different sections with their own specifics interests and priorities. In 1816 Monroe was elected president. He went on a goodwill tour of the United States and brought about a feeling of nationalism and harmony to everyone. This was known as the Era of Good Feelings. Yet this was also the same time when the seeds of sectionalism began to germinate, and within a few years time, the country would be drastically divided. The birth of sectionalism began in December 1814 during the Hartford Convention. The Hartford Convention was a meeting of Federalists from New England to protest the War of 1812 and to revise the Constitution. The Federalists saw the war as impolitic, improper, and unjust. They rebelled by encouraging banks not to lend money to the government, by trading with Britain, and by not supplying militia. Some extremists even wanted to separate themselves from the Union! Obviously, the Federalists had a different view than the rest of the country about this whole issue; they were becoming very unpopular fast. The extremists were controlled by moderates, and before this secret convention was over, news of an American Victory arrived and the Federalists were discredited. One issue that helped bring about sectionalism in the U.S. was the tariffs. Due to the war, Congress was forced to double all tariffs; yet after the war was over, high tariffs still remained. The North and some of thewest were all for these tariffs which boomed their manufacturing and textile industries and protected them from foreign competition. The south, however, had a different point of view on this issue. They did not favor protective tariffs because they had no industry and they exported all of their cotton and tobacco, which in turn would mean that everything they bought from the north would be more expensive and inter...

Review article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 20

Review - Article Example The control phenomenon is attributed to a gating system of cell division within the eukaryotic organisms. Consequently, the purpose of the research was to ascertain whether prokaryotes would also manifest circadian control in the period of cell division timing. In order to achieve this, the authors measured cultures of DNA content, cell division rate, gene expression and cell size. This measurements were carried out on the prokaryotic cyanobacterium Synnechococcus PCC 7942. The results indicated that populations were rapidly dividing at 10h periods of circadian gating of cell division. The experiment proved Synechococuss cells, with extensive circadian rhythms of gene expression and cell division, exhibited double growth rate that were significantly greater than once per 24h. Another new an important finding by the research article showed that Synechococcus cells had the ability to simultaneously sustain double circuits timings that exhibited different timing periods. Mori, Tetsuya, Brian Binder, and Carl H. Johnson. "Circadian Gating of Cell Division in Cyanobacteria Growing with Average Doubling Times of Less Than 24 hours."  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America  93 (1996): 10183-10188.

Economic Development Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Economic Development - Research Paper Example However not every policy makers and academicians have the same opinion regarding the contribution of the organization in the achievement of economic development. Thus this paper aims in studying the relation between the economic development and economic stability of a nation and the contribution of the IMF in achieving so. Meaning of economic development Economic development of a country means the process of increasing the per capita income as well as per capita output of a nation accompanied by the increase in the overall productivity and improvements in the techniques of production that will ultimately result in the increase in the well being of the overall society. There is considerable difference between economic growth and economic development of a nation though sometimes they are used synonymously. Growth of the economy of a country must precede as well as prompt the economic development of a particular nation. Therefore it can be said that economic growth accompanied by the st ructural transformation of a nation results in the economic development of the overall nation. Thus for the overall economic development of a nation, growth of the country’s economy is the necessary condition and the structural transformation forms the condition of sufficiency. ... These factors in simple words differentiate growth of an economy from the overall development of the same. Therefore for a proper definition of economic development it can be said that the structural, institutional and the qualitative changes that are needed in an society for expanding the capability and the potential of the same in the proper utilization of the scare economic resources of the country is reflected in the economic development of the country. The structural transformation if an economy imply the overall growth of the Gross Domestic Product of an economy contributed by the productive increase of the primary , the secondary and the tertiary sector of the economy and the relative contribution of each sector in the country’s total GDP. Moreover the degree of openness of an economy and the country’s dependence on foreign trade also encompasses the economic structure of the country. Therefore for development of an economy there is the requirement of a positive change in each of these variables with a long term impact on the economy that is fundamental. These changes in the structure of the economy is in need of changing, more specifically improving the poverty level of the country for the achievement of economic development. In case of economic development the increase in the economic well being of an individual as well as the society as a whole gets reflected in the changes in the living conditions of the society people with improved nutrition, improved health, improved housing facilities along with betterment in the education structure of the society that will impact on an overall upliftment of the society with flavors of metropolis.