Six Strategies for Successful marketing free essay sample

Six Strategies for Successful Niche Marketing Arun Kaile Long tail marketing is a method to grow sales while reducing the cost per sale by targeted approach, optimizing product supply chain to niche markets. This approach allows them to sidestep the competition in huge open markets. Offering products as per the customer’s preference within their disposal through appropriate distribution will reduce marketing costs and increase sales margin. The following six strategies can be implemented by a company to gain good profits for sales of their products and services Target Carefully: Identifying markets where there is a distress about the existing products or the consumers are in need of a new product for their own purposes. Such a market acts as good target, and the product that would be offered as a substitute to existing product or new product should be better in terms of consumer’s preferences and performance. It is not easy to find target markets, but they can be found through good research and study to fulfill the customers liking. We will write a custom essay sample on Six Strategies for Successful marketing or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Listen to you Customers: There are lot products that are not advertised, but the consumers know about these products. How? It is through online rating and mouth publicity about the products. A company should always listen to what their customers have to say about their product and act immediately to make it better. The advantage of online ratings and comments is that consumer’s state their likes and dislikes about the product and that feedback will help the producer to act and make the product better as consumers liking. The great American beer festivals in which, the small brewers participate every year to approach the professional critics and passionate beer drinkers. Control Production Costs: A company might offer a wide range of products and variations within a product. But it is not must for the company to have inventory of all the combinations, variations offered in the catalogue of the product. When a customer places an order for what he desires for with including variations, the production line can then react to the order by assembling everything. Hence by optimizing the production line, process production costs can be reduced and customer can be offered what he wants. Ray-Ban offers a variety of sunglasses in shapes, colors and lenses. It need not manufacture all combinations and have an inventory, but can make it when a customer orders for it. Control Distribution Costs: Distribution costs should also be controlled. It is hard to forecast the demand for product which ordered wanted by customers in limited quantity. But the company can react to customers demand when it is ordered. Flexible inventory allocation is another way to keep distribution costs under control. Shared distribution and selling products online are also other ways to control the distribution costs, given the availability of product as customers need is properly regulated. Some Apparent Losers are Worth Keeping: With the advancement of technology and changes in trending markets, many products that were good till last year might become obsolete and not required any more. But eliminating such products out of the offerings is not a good idea. It is ok to retain them for a certain period of time, because they might contribute to the tagline of â€Å"A-Z services†, or â€Å"we have everything†. Amazon retains a lot of old books are rarely ordered or not ordered anymore, but Amazon now acts as a centralized location for all books and someone down the line might need those books someday. Prune your Portfolio Ruthlessly: A company might have started with many variations and offerings of its product. But some of those variations within the product are not in demand at all due to change in trends and times. So a company should be able identify that there is no more demand for that product variation and stop its production. Computer mouse manufactures should now focus on producing optical mouse (cheaper and easy to use) than producing the old style roller ball mouse. By carefully harnessing and implementing these above mentioned six strategies, the company can generate good amount of products with lower production and distribution costs. Consumers of today have more knowledge about various products and are careful in choosing the right product for their needs with the available options and various brands in market. So a company should really act as per the consumers/customers choice and fulfill their requisites. Example: Netflix opened up a website that has a large stream of movies with different genres and many titles. Buy having everything online and unlimited access, it eliminated the distribution (delivery) costs to customer, makes suggestions to audience based on their interests(targeting customers), receives feedbacks through reviews, suggestions and adds new titles like Foreign movies and ESPN sports documentaries, TV shows etc. It retains even the least watched/searched titles, just to add to its collection and  reputation of the firm and it can act as a centralized location for all movies one day. Before there was this manual process where the customer has to go to a store and pick the DVD or movie they liked and had to return it back within a timeframe to avoid extra charges, but with entry of Netflix it has eliminated all these steps with the help of technology and relieved people of their movie watching woes. Netflix now has to focus on only adding more titles to it movies collection and maintaining its servers.

Scharnhorst - German World War II Battleship

Scharnhorst - German World War II Battleship Scharnhorst - Overview: Nation: Germany Type: Battleship/Battlecruiser Shipyard: Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven Laid Down: June 15, 1935 Launched: October 3, 1936 Commissioned: January 7, 1939 Fate: Sunk December 26, 1943, Battle of the North Cape Scharnhorst - Specifications: Displacement: 32,600 tons Length: 771 ft. Beam: 98 ft. Draft: 32 ft. Propulsion: 3 Brown, Boveri, Cie geared steam turbines Speed: 31 knots Range: 7,100 miles at 19 knots Complement: 1,669 men Armament: Guns 9 Ãâ€" 28 cm/54.5 (11 inch) SK C/3412 Ãâ€" 15 cm/55 (5.9) SK C/2814 Ãâ€" 10.5  cm/65 (4.1 inch) SK C/3316 Ãâ€" 3.7  cm/L83 (1.5) SK C/3010 (later 16) Ãâ€" 2 cm/65 (0.79) C/30 or C/386 Ãâ€" 533  mm torpedo tubes Aircraft 3 Ãâ€" Arado Ar 196A Scharnhorst - Design: In the late 1920s, debate ensued within Germany regarding the size and place of the nations navy.   These concerns were heightened by new shipbuilding in France and the Soviet Union which led to the  Reichsmarine planning for new warships.   Though restricted by the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I to building warships of 10,000 long tons or less, initial designs far exceeded this displacement.   After ascending to power in 1933, Adolf Hitler authorized the building of two D-class cruisers to supplement the three Deutschland-class panzerschiffes (armored ships) then under construction.   Originally intended to mount two turrets like the earlier ships, the D-class became a source of conflict between the navy, which wanted larger more powerful vessels, and Hitler who was concerned about overly flaunting the Treaty of Versailles.   After concluding the Anglo-German Naval Agreement in 1935 which eliminated the treaty restrictions, Hitler canceled the two D-class cruisers and moved ahead with a pair of larger vessels dubbed Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in recognition of the two armored cruisers lost at the 1914 Battle of the Falklands.   Though Hitler desired the ships to mount 15 guns, the necessary turrets were not available and they were instead equipped with nine 11 guns.   Provision was made in the design to up-gun the vessels to six 15 guns in the future.   This main battery was supported by twelve 5.9 guns in four twin turrets and four single mounts.   Power for the new ships came from three Brown, Boveri, and Cie geared steam turbines which could generate a top speed of 31.5 knots.   Scharnhorst - Construction: The contract for Scharnhorst was given to Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven.   Laid down on on June 15, 1935, the new warship slid down the ways the following year on October 3.   Commissioned on January 9, 1939 with Captain Otto Ciliax in command, Scharnhorst performed poorly during its sea trials and showed a tendency to ship large amounts of water over the bow.   This frequently led to electrical issues with the forward turrets.   Returning to the yard, Scharnhorst underwent significant modifications which included the installation of a higher bow, a raked funnel cap, and an enlarged hangar.   Also, the ships mainmast was shifted further aft.   By the time this work was completed in November, Germany had already started World War II. Scharnhorst - Into Action:       Commencing active operations under the leadership of Captain Kurt-Caesar Hoffman, Scharnhorst joined Gneisenau, the light cruiser Kà ¶ln, and nine destroyers for a patrol between the Faroes and Iceland in late November.   Intended to draw the Royal Navy away from its pursuit of Admiral Graf Spee in the South Atlantic, the sortie saw Scharnhorst sink the auxiliary cruiser Rawalpindi on November 23.   Pursued by a force that included the battlecruiser HMS Hood and the battleships HMS Rodney, HMS Nelson, and the French Dunkerque, the German squadron escaped back to Wilhelmshaven.   Arriving in port, Scharnhorst underwent an overhaul and repaired damaged sustained by heavy seas. Scharnhorst - Norway: Following training exercises in the Baltic during the winter, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sailed to take part in the invasion of Norway (Operation Weserà ¼bung).   After evading British air attacks on April 7, the ships engaged the British battlecruiser HMS Renown off Lofoten.   In a running fight, Scharnhorsts radar malfunctioned making it difficult to range the enemy vessel.   After Gneisenau sustained several hits, the two ships used heavy weather to cover their withdrawal.   Repaired in Germany, the two ships returned to Norwegian waters in early June and sank a British corvette on the 8th.   As the day progressed, the Germans located the carrier HMS Glorious and the destroyers HMS Acasta and HMS Ardent.   Closing with the three ships, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sank all three but not before Acasta struck the former with a torpedo.   The hit killed 48 sailors, jammed the aft turret, as well as caused extensive flooding which disabled machinery and led to a 5-degree list.   Forced to make temporary repairs at Trondheim, Scharnhorst endured multiple air attacks from land-based British aircraft and HMS Ark Royal.   Departing for Germany on June 20, it sailed south with a heavy escort and extensive fighter cover.   This proved necessary as successive British air attacks were turned back.   Entering the yard at Kiel, repairs on Scharnhorst took around six months to complete. Scharnhorst - Into the Atlantic: In January 1941, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau slipped into the Atlantic to commence Operation Berlin.   Commanded by Admiral Gà ¼nther Là ¼tjens, the operation called for the ships to attack Allied convoys.   Though leading a powerful force, Là ¼tjens was hampered by orders which prohibited him from engaging Allied capital ships.   Encountering convoys on February 8 and March 8, he broke off both attacks when British battleships were sighted.   Turning towards the mid-Atlantic, Scharnhorst sank a Greek cargo ship before finding a dispersed convoy on March 15.   Over the next several days, it destroyed another nine ships before the arrival of the battleships HMS King George V and Rodney compelled  Là ¼tjens to retreat.   Arriving at Brest, France on March 22, work soon commenced on Scharnhorsts machinery which had proved problematic during the operation.   As a result, the vessel was not available to support Operation Rheinà ¼bung involving the new battleship Bismarc k that May. Scharnhorst - Channel Dash: Moving south to La Rochelle, Scharnhorst sustained five bomb hits during an air raid on July 24.   Causing extensive damage and an 8-degree list, the ship returned to Brest for repairs.   In January 1942, Hitler directed that Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen return to Germany in preparation for operations against convoys to the Soviet Union.   Under the overall command of Ciliax, the three ships put to sea on February 11 with the intention of running through the British defenses in the English Channel.   Initially avoiding detection from British forces, the squadron later came under attack.   While off the Scheldt, Scharnhorst struck an air-dropped mine at 3:31 PM which caused hull damage as well as jammed a turret and several other gun mounts and knocked out electrical power.   Brought to a halt, emergency repairs were conducted which allowed the vessel to get underway at reduced speed eighteen minutes later.   At 10:34 PM, Scharnhorst hit a second mine while near  Terschelling.   Again disabled, the crew were able to get one propeller turning and the ship limped into Wilhelmshaven the next morning.   Moved to a floating drydock, Scharnhorst remained out of action until June. Scharnhorst - Back to Norway: In August 1942, Scharnhorst commenced training exercises with several U-boats.   During these maneuvers it collided with U-523 which necessitated a return to drydock.   Emerging in September, Scharnhorst trained in the Baltic before steaming to Gotenhafen (Gdynia) to receive new rudders.   After two aborted attempts during the winter of 1943, the ship moved north to Norway in March and rendezvoused with Là ¼tzow  and the battleship Tirpitz near Narvik.   Shifting to Altafjord, the ships conducted a training mission to Bear Island in early April.   On April 8, Scharnhorst was rocked by an explosion in an aft auxiliary machinery space which killed and injured 34 sailors.   Repaired,  it and its consorts were largely inactive for the next six months due to fuel shortages.    Scharnhorst - Battle of the North Cape: Sortieing on September 6 with Tirpitz, Scharnhorst steamed north and bombarded Allied facilities at Spitzbergen.   Three months later, Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz ordered German vessels in Norway to attack Allied convoys sailing to and from the Soviet Union.   As Tirpitz was damaged, the German attack force consisted of Scharnhorst and five destroyers under the command of Rear Admiral Erich Bey.   Receiving aerial reconnaissance reports of convoy JW 55B, Bey departed Altafjord on December 25 with the intention of attacking the next day.   Moving against his target, he was unaware that Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser had laid a trap with the goal of eliminating the German ship.    Detecting Scharnhorst around 8:30 AM on December 26, Vice Admiral Robert Burnetts force, consisting of the heavy cruiser HMS Norfolk and light cruisers  HMS Belfast and HMS Sheffield, closed with the enemy in increasingly poor weather to open the Battle of the North Cape.   Commencing fire, they succeeded in disabling Scharnhorsts radar.   In a running battle, Bey sought to loop around the British cruisers before deciding to return to port at 12:50 PM.   Pursuing the enemy, Burnett relayed the German ships position to Fraser who was in the vicinity with the battleship HMS Duke of York, the light cruiser HMS Jamaica, and four destroyers.   At 4:17 PM, Fraser located Scharnhorst on radar and ordered his destroyers forward to launch a torpedo attack.   With its radar down, the German ship was taken by surprise as Duke of Yorks guns began scoring hits.   Turning away, Scharnhorst narrowed the range with Burnetts cruisers which rejoined the battle.   As the fight developed, Beys vessel was badly battered by British guns and sustained four torpedo hits. With Scharnhorst critically damaged and the bow partially submerged, Bey ordered the ship abandoned at 7:30 PM.   As these orders were issued, another torpedo attack scored several more hits on the stricken Scharnhorst.   Around 7:45 PM a massive explosion tore through the ship and it slipped beneath the waves.   Racing forward, British vessels were only able to rescue 36 of Scharnhorsts  1,968-man crew. Selected Sources Battleship ScharnhorstSinking of the ScharnhorstMilitary Factory: Scharnhorst

Justice & Pluralism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Justice & Pluralism - Essay Example (Baker, 1997 & Kymlicka, 1995) J.S. Furnivall was the first known person to coin the term pluralistic society and distinguish as a separate form of society. A Banker by profession, he had travelled a lot particularly to the colonial Far East where he discovered the wide range of culture and ethnic diversity that existed within that society. He described his experience and observation in the following words â€Å"in the strictest sense, a medley for they mix but do not combine†. As Furnivall tried to convey his idea and observation of a society that is a cultural melting pot, similarly this prose incorporates the same ideology and tries to observe pluralism in the light of justice and the importance of establishing a state that is beyond religion or religious beliefs. (Baker, 1997 & Young, 1979) Justice and pluralism have a high correlation and for a just system to be established in a society, social pluralism must prevail. The depth of their relationship will be further elabor ated. However, the following parts of the prose will discuss and analyze the philosophy and science of social pluralism; its essence and importance in order to establish social order in the society. Pluralism is generally a philosophical term; however the term has now become synonymous with social and political science as well. During the last few decades, political and social scientists have carried out intense debates regarding the validity of a pluralistic analysis and evaluation of modern societies. (Conn, 1973) The argument presented against pluralistic interpretation of the society is vastly polemic and based on abstract. As researches continue to study the phenomenon extensively and produce copious amounts of data on the subject; however, the subject of pluralism remains in the shroud of ambiguities. Pluralism is in fact a multifaceted phenomenon and there has been numerous that, if not completely elucidate the subject but does provide sufficient amount of insight. M. G. Smit h, a renowned social scientist has been known for organizing the concept that made Social pluralism a central concept in the society. He defined pluralism as the division of the society into small units on the basis of race, culture, ethnicity, language and language. These units were politically meaningful and this stratification of society was responsible determining or influencing people’s behaviour in a society. (Quong, 2004, 43-67) These units later evolve into sophisticated corporate units that were responsible for the amount of wealth a society generates and the level of discord. However, on the down side the more stratified a society became the likelihood of collective violence and discord amongst the units increased. The prime focus of studies was on the correlation between collective violence and a pluralistic society and he stated: â€Å"Having spent my life trying to clarify the conception of pluralism, I now wish to test and demonstrate its relevance for the solu tion of many urgent problems in the modern world. To that end I have compiled information on the demographic, economic, social and political characteristics of all sovereign nation-states, together with such detailed records as I can gather of internal

DQ52 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

DQ52 - Essay Example The business needs to understand its overhead and should be looking at this from a fixed cost perspective. If the wage rates are fluctuating in this or different departments, the element of fixed costs is removed and makes this practice unpredictable for maximizing the reporting of financial health. Measuring overhead has to do with the health of the operating environment which relies on understanding costs that are generally not variable. These costs can include administration, groundskeeping, machining and assembly (Horngren et al, 2008). When looking at administration overhead, it is going to be practical to want to know if their wages are fixed. If wage rates continue to fluctuate, deciding where to allocate the total overhead costs is going to be highly difficult if the goal is to maximize financial reporting data to show better corporate health at the accounting level. For example, the monthly or weekly groundskeeping maintenance required could be looked at as a fixed cost, especially if contracted at x dollars per month/week. This overhead cost would be a necessity as part of operations and could be predicted for financial reporting based on the contract cost negotiated throughout the business operating year. Direct-labor cost would be an appropriate cost allocation opti on here if the wages, such as for administration, remained constant. This method would also give the senior business leaders more accurate overhead costs, if they were needed, for strategic review or for assessing the health of certain divisions. Direct labor costs should be seen as costs which are directly incurred by the organization and should have an element of predictability surrounding them. It would be a guess that most real-life organizations do not have varying wages for certain things such as administration, unless they had structured some sort of bonus system where wages were subject to bi-annual

NHS and Community Care Act | Critiques

NHS and Community Care Act | Critiques Community Care is really care by families which is really care by women; and it always will be! Discuss Introduction When Margaret Thatcher came to power in the late 1970s one of her Government’s primary aims was to roll back the welfare state and cut spending on services. They argued that state services, and the health service in particular, were inefficient and costly. They further maintained that the introduction of market principles into welfare provision would increase efficiency, provide better services, and reduce costs. The Conservatives were anti-institutionalisation and began closing geriatric wards and psychiatric hospitals. The 1982 Government White Paper Growing Older emphasised the role of the family and that the role of Government was to enable, rather than replace that care. There was an implicit assumption here that much of this care would be provided by women. Twigg (1993) maintains that the 1988 Griffith Report which advised on more effective use of Government funds for community care also recognised that public services would only have a role where community and family su pport had broken down. Large numbers of the elderly and the disabled have always been cared for in the community, the state took over where this became a burden and the Tories were keen to discourage too much state provision. In 1990 the NHS and Community Care Act was introduced where the state was no longer the sole provider of care. Community care is the term used for both social and health care. Voluntary and Charitable organisations would also play a part and care packages would be organised by local authorities. This might include provision of services in a person’s home, residential care, respite care, day care and family placements, sheltered housing and group homes and hostels. This Act placed a much greater burden of care on those professions associated with healthcare e.g. social work, and at the same time resulted in further inequalities as care provision differed depending on what region of the country a person was in. It was argued that this kind of care would al low individuals to live with dignity and independence in their own communities. This paper therefore, aims to assess the statement that Community Care is really care by families which is really care by women and it always will be. Under the terms of the 1990 Act, responsibility for care in the community became the responsibility of local authority social services. Each authority has a duty to publish its care plans and has a duty to assess all those people who might need care. It is the authority’s responsibility to provide care and to promote the work of voluntary and charitable organisations by purchasing care from them. Local authorities are also bound to establish a complaints procedure and have the responsibility of checking out care packages.[1] There have been a number of problems with the terms of the Act. Since 1993 the number of old people need support has continued to grow while NHS short and long term care has continued to shrink (Filinson, 1997). At the same time it is actually cheaper for social services departments to keep a person in residential care than to support them in their own home. New policies such as the Carers Representations and Services Act 1995 and the introduction of Direc t payments which were intended to empower users and give them greater choice have been implemented without all the additional resources. Thus demands for service have increased while budgets have remained much the same. While there has been a lot of rhetoric about the needs of pensioners the focus has, necessarily been on the user, and carers needs are largely ignored. Unell (1996) points out that changes in community care: †¦simultaneously raised the profile of carers and made their needs more difficult to meet in the short term (Unell, 1996:9). Community Care and Familial Obligation Since the 1970s there has been an increasing emphasis on care in the community and care within the family. This does not always work well and the greatest burden usually falls on those families with the least resources. Familial obligation is defined in law. In the UK it usually refers to the nuclear family of husband and wife, parents and children and benefits and taxes almost always recognise these relationships (Millar and Warman, 1996). The provision of services are intended to support, rather than take the place of the care and support that is expected of the family. Although Britain and most other European countries give some recognition to gender equality much policy making stems from post-war understandings within the welfare state, of the male breadwinner and the female housewife/carer. Community care and familial obligation are based on these hidden gendered assumptions. In Britain these obligations only extend downwards i.e. parental obligation to their children. In some c ountries adult children have familial obligation to their parents but this is not the case in the UK (Millar and Warman, 1996). In spite of this the decreasing number of acute hospital beds means that there are more older people with chronic conditions in the community. They receive care from the local authority in their own homes but in many instances they rely heavily on informal carers, usually members of the family. Informal care involves a number of different activities and relationships and has been explained in the following way. Informal care: †¦normally takes place in the context of family or marital relationships and is provided on an unpaid basis that draws on feelings of love, obligation and duty (Twigg, 1993:2). Thus, this kind of care normally occurs within the family and Kirk (1998) states that data from the General Household Survey tends to suggest that the bulk of this kind of care is undertaken by women. Phillips and Bernard (1995) maintain that the kind of caring that many women give are the difficult tasks of physical and personal care. These carers may also have contact with a range of other community services and district nurses who might be involved in the caring process. The meaning of community care changes over time and during the 1970s and 1980s policy in this area brought changes to services for people with disabilities, people with learning disabilities, and people suffering from the frailties of old age (Kirk, 1998). Cost concerns meant that many institutions were closed and care was focussed on the community. Lewis and Glennerster (1996) maintain that during the 1990a community care was a policy shift to aid spending cuts. There was a change from residential care for older people to care in the community. How successful the shift from residential care to care at home has been is, Wistoe (1995) maintains still unclear. In the 1990s health policies in the UK have focussed on primary care, this has come about because of cost concerns, demographic shifts and changing patterns of illness. Many services that were provided in hospitals are now operating in the primary sector. This has resulted in complex nursing care being undertaken in a domicilary context. Which shifts the burden of care to informal carers, usually female family members with the help of district nurses. In some cases informal carers and the person themselves undertake some tasks such as intravenous injections (Conway, 1996). Costain and Warner (1992) maintain that if this continues then more dependent people with complex, intensive needs will be cared for at home thus increasing the burden on the family and on community care services. Manthorpe (1994) points out that informal carers are gi ven little choice over their caring role and there is little respite as they are not often presented with an acceptable alternative. There has been little research into how this kind of caregiving affects family members although feminists (Abbott and Wallace, 1997) have expressed concern over the hidden assumptions underlying the concept of community care. The Feminist Critique of Community Care Feminists have focused on the informal caring that women do and which is often ignored by the professionals. Caring for an ageing or disabled relative for twenty four hours a day is bound to have an effect on women and yet there is little available help for respite.. Furthermore, the Community Care Act of 1990 has imposed further responsibilities on women in the role of informal carers (Abbott and Wallace, 1997). Based on the gender roles that existed in the welfare state, the discourses of health take it for granted that when members of their family are sick a woman will care for them. It assumes that women will put the needs of their children before their own. Health care is defined as care that is given by doctors, nurses, and other health professionals and the caring that women do in the home is recognised only as a part of the role that a woman plays in the home. Not only is her caring role invisible but the impact of shouldering the burden of caring is also ignored (Graham, 199 3). The Office for National Statistics reports that in 1995 there were three times the number of female informal carers to male carers. Watson et al (1999) maintain women, who are the primary care givers in the family actually negate the view that the responsibility of care should primarily be in institutional structures. This is because as wives and mothers, even if they are employed full time, they still give care to other family members. Walby (1990) contends that women have been oppressed because of their biology and this is evident in the healthcare system. However, patriarchal control of women operates through an inter-related set of structures and practices through which women are oppressed by men, the state is patriarchal in its policies and practices and its interests are biased towards men. Thus it is not surprising that implicit in discourses of care in the community is the view that women will shoulder the burden of care. Abbott and Wallace state that: While it is rarely given official recognition, and the tendency is to see paid health workers as the primary providers of health care, women provide most health care, within the confines of the family (Abbott and Wallace, 1997:170). Conclusion Care in the community is care in the home and feminists are right to suggest that this largely means care by women. The gendered nature of care giving needs to be re-examined if policy continues to shift the greater burden of care to the community. While there are such things as carer’s allowances these are very low and means tested, therefore many people do not claim them. There seems to be a stigma attached to the idea that people should claim allowances for long term care within the family. Perhaps a better option, once a person was assessed as needing long term community care would be an automatic payment for informal carers. It might also be useful if Government debate on care in the community lauded the work undertaken by informal carers and promoted a positive image of care within the family. Those families where men are the informal carers could, perhaps, be promoted as positive models for other men to follow. This might not only bring a shift in the implicit assumptio n that women will do the caring, but might give a broader and less stigmatised view of caring within the family. Assessment packages for long term informal carers should have regular respite care built into them so that carers get a regular break. Free community nursing care and domicilary care should be provided so that informal carers can go on holiday without having to worry about what was happening at home. Government may be keen to establish policies that shift even more care into the community but should also recognise that truly cost effective care takes account of all eventualities. At present it seems as though the notion that problems may arise in informal care settings is ignored, so that when these problems do occur it actually costs more to rectify than if an allowance for such eventualities was made in the first place. Too much strain is placed on many women because of the expectation that they will be informal carers, community care, it would seem needs much more care ful planning than is presently the case. References Abbott and Wallace, 1997 An Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspectives. London, Routledge Conway A.1996 Home intravenous therapy for bronchiectasis patients. Nursing Times 92(45), 34 35 Costain D. Warner M.1992From Hospital to Home Care: The Potential for Acute Service Provision in the Home. Kings Fund Centre, London Filinson, R. (1997) ‘Legislating community care: the British experience, with U.S. comparisons’, The Gerontologist, 37,3: 333-140. Giddens, 2001. 4th ed. Sociology. Cambridge, Polity Press Graham, H. 1993 Hardship and Health in Women’s Lives Hemel Hempstead, Harvester Griffiths, R. (1988) Community Care: An Agenda for Action. A Report to the Secretary of State for Social Services, London: HMSO. Kirk, S. 1998 â€Å"Trends in community care and patient participation: Implications for the roles of informal carers and community nurses in the United Kingdom† Journal of Advanced Nursing Vol 28 August 1998 Issue 2 p.370 Lewis J. Glennerster H.1996Implementing the New Community Care. Open University Press, Milton Keynes. Manthorpe J.1994 The family and informal care. In Implementing Community Care (Malin N. ed.), Open University Press, Milton Keynes Millar, J. and Warman A. 1996 Family Obligations in Europe Family Policies Centre in association with Joseph Rowntree Foundation Moore, S. Scourfield, P. Sinclair, S. Burch, S. and Wendon, B. 3rd ed. 2002 Social Welfare Alive Cheltenham, Nelson Thornes. Phillips J. Bernard M.1995 Perspectives on caring. In Working Carers (Phillips J. ed.), Avebury, Aldershot. Twigg, J. (1993) ‘Integrating carers in to the service system: six strategic responses’, Ageing and Society, 13: 141-170. Unell, J. (1996) The Carers Impact Experiment, London: King’s Fund Publishing. . Walby,S. 1990. Theorising Patriarchy. Blackwell, Oxford. Walsh, I ed. 2000 Sociology: Making Sense of Society. Edinburgh, Prentice Hall. 1 [1] http://www.infosci.org/MS-UK-MSSoc/pubcca.html

Interpretive Essay on Edward Taylors Poem, Huswifery -- Edward Taylor

Interpretive Essay on Edward Taylor's Poem, Huswifery In the poem, Huswifery, by Edward Taylor, a very severe shift seems to take place. The poem begins with an analogy between the writer and a spinning wheel. However, at the end of the poem suddenly he is no longer the spinning wheel, he is now a man wearing the cloth that was spun by the spinning wheel. How could the main analogy of the poem shift so drastically? Actually, upon closer inspection, the shift does not seem so bizarre. The main idea of the poem is followed through from beginning to end. It is the story of a man who is truly devoted to the Lord and how his relationship with the Lord evolves from the point where he is seeking God in his life to the point where he has found him and become a changed man. As the man changes, the analogy within the poem must naturally evolve to keep up with his changes. In the first line, Edward Taylor asks that God be the master spinner behind his spinning wheel self which indicates his desire for the Lord to take control of his life and to use that life to create what He will. He then expounds upon this idea by incorporating many of the parts of a spinning wheel into the analogy. Taylor asks that all that he believes come from the Holy Word (his distaff) and that all that he longs for be kept in line with the Lord's wishes by His "swift flyers". He wants his conversation to spring forth from that which the Lord is creating in him, just as the thread, once spun, does not change in nature as it is wound around the reel. Essentially, in this stanza, he is saying: Lord, take me and mold my heart for I am Yours. The second stanza starts off saying much the same thing. It expands upon the idea of wanting the Lord to mold his heart an... ...to others and bringing others to devote their lives to God as well. And so, in the third stanza the spinning wheel is completely dropped out of the poem which makes sense, for once a machine's work is complete, there is no longer a need for that machine. In essence, he's saying that his life was just a machine for serving and creating hearts devoted to God. Now that this purpose is complete, it is time for him to pass on. But he asks one thing of the Lord. Though his earthly body and life may pass away, he wishes for his eternal soul, for all that truly makes up who he is to be clothed with the virtues the Lord has instilled in him. This is so that his "apparel shall display before [God]" that he is "clothed in holy robes for glory." In other words, he has done his best, followed the Lord all his life, and now he is ready to be taken to his eternal reward in Heaven.

Critical Review of Poor-Bashing: The Politics of Exclusion Essay

Social struggles and cultural crisis have been the subjects of various books over the years. They have resulted into an abundance of works done by social and theoretical experts as well as literary and media practitioners. One society crisis that these writers have discussed is the issue of poverty, the people involved in this situation, and the issue of poor-bashing they are faced with. However, only a few of these sources have really created their work using their own or personal experiences. The perspective coming from people who belong to the poverty block is significantly helpful and useful. This is because their personal experiences and battles ignite the search for truth and manifest the real issue that the poor people are the targets of a well-designed and orderly crusade of discrimination and exploitation. All it needs is a real presentation and argument of the issue for the public to realize that these poor people do not welcome being blamed for a condition that only society dictates.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Included in these first-hand writers is Jean Swanson (2001) who tackled the existing yet unfamiliar issue of poor-bashing in her book entitled â€Å"Poor Bashing: The Politics of Exclusion.† Swanson’s presentation of poverty, particularly poor-bashing, is a well-attested discussion that turned out to be a depiction of the real emotional expressions of the poor people and the author’s own cry from her heart.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The book is a passionate disclosure by anti-poverty activist Swanson of poor-bashing, a condition of the society that continuously fails to claim general information despite its existence and utilization as an anti-poverty tool for the past two decades. A seasoned anti-poverty activist, Swanson employed her personal experiences and various interactions with the rest of the poor people in her country to present the real issues brought about by poor-bashing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to Swanson (2001), the term of poor-bashing hides the actual origins of poverty and the pain it inflicts to poor people. It degrades the employed people while taking away the pressure and responsibility from the rich members of the society. The Swanson book critically presents a new approach of writing poverty with the provision of the personal stories, ideas, and analysis of the poor about poverty. The book disputes the position that there is no one to be blamed for the condition of the poor people but themselves. The book serves as an expressive style of poor-bashing which was introduced in our terminology use and traditions. It is also an instrument for academic progress and direction (Swanson, 2001).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The term poor-bashing was defined by Swanson as a condition when poor people are pictured, neglected, accused, sponsored, sympathized, and wrongly blamed for being intoxicated, and contented of having big yet unmanageable families and settling as unemployed individuals depending on the welfare and financial assistance from the government. Aside from the said societal presentations, the poor people are likewise subjected to poor-bashing by the institution. A manifestation of low financial assistance rates for the promotion of social welfare is a type of poor-bashing by the establishment. Swanson added that having or allowing the existence of poverty when the society can possibly do away with it is also another poor-bashing kind.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Poor-Bashing: The Politics of Exclusion† critically looked into how low-income people and even those belonging to below poverty line are marginalized and maltreated by the state, media and the corporate world. However, Swanson pulled off some entertainment when she pictured how the term poor-bashing, which was used to represent people who are dependent on financial assistance and benefits, actually better fits to demonstrate the behavior of the sluggish rich members of the society. In presenting the many points of the book, Swanson featured several realistic voices and emotions of the poor, such as those of single mothers, a side that has not been focused on by other works. These single parents are made to experience poor-bashing when they are shown as people struggling to give food, clothes, and shelter to their kids because of an unforgiving and unacceptable financial condition. The structural and personal poor-bashing of single mothers denied them the chance to decide better for themselves and their children, thereby negatively affecting their way of living.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   An interview by Swanson with a single mother revealed that the latter did not prefer to be financially dependent and always on the welfare of other people. According to Swanson’s interpretation, the society where the single mother belongs and her partner in particular are the ones that actually put her life and that of her children where it is now. The poor-bashing applied to single mothers is just one of the pieces of evidence of the wide gap between the rich and the poor. Accordingly, in Swanson’s country (Canada) and in most parts of the world, statistics proves that the poor people tend to share only a small percentage of wealth while the rich people enjoy the biggest portion. It is generally perceived that people who have a share as that of the rich are assured of a dependable education and stable job. This is not because poor people are legally restricted to be a part of the majority, but it is because there are laws that are apparently in favor of the rich than the poor. This results in more options and opportunities available for the rich than for the poor.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Swanson’s book unveiled the orientation of poor-bashing in a clean, strong manner. One example is the author’s analysis of how the media, particularly the reporters, function when they cover and tell stories about poverty. Swanson called this as the media â€Å"poornography† where the media utilizes many attacks to get and present poverty stories. In the book, media â€Å"poornography† depicts poor people as sufferers. Swanson said that this is part of the journalistic approach to â€Å"putting a face on the problem.† However, this media portrayal does not change the problem. This is because the said media approach fails to determine the real causes of poverty. Charity, financial aid, and welfare dependency offered to poor people oftentimes do not offer a solution to the poverty problem.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Despite the strengths of the book and that of Swanson’s arguments, they did not allow readers to draw their own conclusions and realize for themselves the main points of the issue of poor-bashing. Instead, the author dwells and banks on rhetorics about the need to solve the problems of classism, racism and sexism. Although these issues are valid, they made the book feel and look out of focus. The non-stop utilization of poor-bashing term or affiliation, apparently to picture evident situations pertaining to the problem, actually created a feeling for the public to be subjected to reader-bashing. This is simply because the book is all but representation of the poverty problem and poor-bashing in particular but without drawing a definite solution on how to address the said condition.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     The book which depicts the poor as unworthy, lazy, possibly involved in criminal acts and a threat to stability of the society deviate attention away from the real problem of poverty. This is because it diverts the true reasons of poverty and unemployment into the poor people who are presented as victims of inequality. The book’s individualization of the causes to poverty and unemployment distracts focus on the actual solutions to the problem. These realities include legalities and corporate decisions that are designed to produce and promote the undermining of wages and employment conditions of the poor. The book turns out to be just an endless discussions of who are the poor yet deserving people. This eventually encourage self restriction instead of self-esteem among poor people. Even the book’s presentation of the creation and multiplication of profit and wealth among the undeserving rich is overdue and uncalled for.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In challenging poor-bashing, it should be understood by the poor that they are not to be blame for their conditions. There are factors to be considered such as an apprehension of the economic system that actually cause poverty and how treatment of poverty is supported by the government. One must learn and realize that there is enough profit and wealth to end poverty, for both the rich and the poor to share. People in turn, should benefit from poor-bashing and poverty. Poverty is a condition that entails government policy and the poor people that are subjected to poor-bashing actually benefits because they become cheaper in the labor market. Sometimes, the poor has to challenge bashing created not by poverty but by the condition resulting from the conditions of racism or sexism. The poor just have to dispute the depictions created by the term, myths, media, and the government.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Instead of stating proposals to address poor-bashing, the book should have encouraged the poor people to understand the underlying policies of the government, corporations, and media. These plans of action actually create confusion and exclusion and promote inequality and the feeling of blame. It is essential to unite crusades about poor-bashing with alliance against racism and other negative conditions of the society. It requires a lot of understanding and ultimately the need to build an organization of thoughts and actions. A concrete step is to end the kind of notion and feeling that group people into being poor or those on welfare dependency. This will not justify treating them badly and blaming them for poverty. There should be an end to blaming poverty to the poor or other oppressed people. In this manner, an adaptable and effective policies, laws, and economic system can be worked out that will allow poor people to productively compete against each other. Poverty should have a different and justifiable image. In the end, resolving poor-bashing requires addressing the issues of unequal distribution of wealth and income among all members of the society. With this, putting the blame of poverty on the poor would be stopped. Reference Swnson, J. (2001). Poor-Bashing: The Politics of Exclusion. Toronto: Between the Lines.