Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Construction Law Coursework The WritePass Journal

Construction Law Coursework Introduction Construction Law Coursework IntroductionRelevant LawA Legally Binding ContractAdvice to the PartiesAnalysis of the LawThe Legal Position of the PartiesAlbattBudgettCansysBibliographyRelated Introduction This essay provides advice to Albatt plc (‘Albatt’), Budgett Technology Ltd (‘Budgett’) and Cansys Ltd (‘Cansys’) in relation to their legal positions concerning a contract for the service of Albatt’s electronic processors. Firstly, the advice shall briefly outline the relevant law before analysing the applicable law and advising each party separately. Relevant Law A Legally Binding Contract In English law, the traditional approach to determining whether or not a binding agreement has been entered into is to examine whether or not the following three elements are present: offer, acceptance and consideration (New Zealand Shipping Co. Ltd v A M Satterthwaite and Co. Ltd). However, in the event that the above three elements are not clearly evident from the facts of the case, the intention to enter into a binding agreement shall be deduced by enquiring into the objective intention of the parties to enter into such an agreement by considering all the circumstances of a case: the offer, counter-offers, acceptances, revocations and rejections (Gibson v Manchester City Council). It is also noteworthy that an offer can be distinguished from an invitation to treat which arises where an individual is simply seeking to initiate negotiations as opposed to expressing an intention to be bound by their promise (Richards 2008, p 17). However, in any given case, the intention of the parties must be assessed before arriving at a decision as to whether or not there is an offer or invitation to treat (Chapelton v Barry UDC). The facts of this case would suggest that it involves an invitation for tenders. If that is the case, an invitation for tenders constitutes an invitation for offers to be submitted which can then be either accepted or rejected (Spencer v Harding).   Albeit, it ought to be borne in mind that in certain circumstances, where a tender has been submitted in accordance with the applicable rules, an invitation to tender can amount to an offer, thereby providing a party with a right to have their tender opened and considered (Blackpool and Fylde Aero Club Ltd v Blackpool Borough Council).   In the case of the supply of services, the supplier whose bid is successful is making a standing offer which is accepted by the other party every time an order is placed. Further, in circumstances concerning standing orders, a supplier can refuse to supply the services before the expiry of the agreed period without being found guilty of breach of contract providing the revocation is communicated to th e other party (Great Northern Railway Co. Witham). However, the existing orders must be honoured (Offord v Davies). An exception to the general rule that acceptance must be communicated to the other party (Powell v Lee) is the postal rule (Adams v Lindsell), which provides that acceptance takes place immediately once a letter has been validly posted (Brinkibon Ltd v Stahag Stahl und Stahlwarenhandelsgesellschaft GmbH). However, the postal rule can be negated where there is an indication from the offeror that they must receive acceptance before it shall bind them (Household Fire and Carriage Accident Insurance Co v Grant). Furthermore, in the case of forms of communication which are instantaneous, the acceptance occurs at the moment the communication is received by the other party (Entores v Miles Far East Corporation). Therefore, the position in general regarding instantaneous forms of communication is that the law in this regard seems to indicate that acceptance is effective on receipt. Finally, it is also worth noting that the terms of an offer must be unconditionally accepted otherwise any attempt to introduce new terms shall constitute a counter-offer (Hyde v Wrench). Advice to the Parties Analysis of the Law Albatt initially offered the contract for the service of their electronic processors to Budgett. The letter outlining this offer indicated that Budgett should reply by return of post. The case law in this instance suggests that a reply by post or an equally expeditious method will be acceptable (Tinn v Hoffman and Co). However, the letter did not reach Budgett until 6th September, due to an error in the address which was put on the letter. Nevertheless, Budgett did receive the letter on 6th September and, immediately upon receipt, accepted the offer and posted the acceptance letter at 11:00AM on the same day. According to the case law, the postal rule dictates that Budgett’s letter shall constitute an acceptance once it had been validly posted (Brinkibon Ltd v Stahag Stahl und Stahlwarenhandelsgesellschaft GmbH). However, Albatt had agreed by telephone to offer Cansys the contract on 5th September after not receiving any reply from Budgett, and Cansys duly accepted the offer. That said, Albatt did not send a notice of withdrawal of the original offer to Budgett until 6th September. This notice was sent by fax, which is an instantaneous form of communication (Entores v Miles Far East Corporation). A notice of withdrawal sent via this method shall become effective once it has been received if sent during office hours (The Brimnes). This is the case irrespective of whether or not the other party has had sight of the notice. The Legal Position of the Parties Albatt Albatt’s legal position revolves around the issue of when the fax setting out the notice of withdrawal was sent to Budgett. If it had been sent prior to 11:00AM, on 6th September, then it would appear that Albatt had not entered into a legally binding agreement with Budgett (The Brimnes). However, if the fax was sent after 11:00AM the issue would turn on when Budgett’s acceptance letter had been validly posted (Brinkibon Ltd v Stahag Stahl und Stahlwarenhandelsgesellschaft GmbH). If the letter was validly posted prior to the notice of withdrawal being received, Albatt will have entered into a contract with Budgett. If not, only the contract with Cansys will be valid. In light of the fact that the fax was received by Budgett at 10:30AM, no legally binding contract had been entered into between Albatt and Budgett (The Brimnes), irrespective of the fact that nobody read the fax until 5:00PM. Budgett Budgett’s legal position turns on the issue of when its letter of acceptance was validly posted, as set out above (Brinkibon Ltd v Stahag Stahl und Stahlwarenhandelsgesellschaft GmbH). If it the letter was validly posted before Albatt’s notice of withdrawal was received, Budgett can sue for breach of contract if Albatt does not honour the agreement. If the notice of withdrawal was sent outside normal business hours, however, it would not become effective until the following day (providing that this was a normal working day) (Mondial Shipping and Chartering BV v Astarte Shipping Ltd). It is noteworthy that a court would place much emphasis on the intention of the parties (Brinkibon Ltd v Stahag Stahl und Stahlwarenhandelsgesellschaft GmbH). However, given that Albatt’s fax was received by Budgett at 10:30AM on 6th September, a court would find that no contract had been entered into between the parties (The Brimnes). Nonetheless, Budgett may have a claim in neglige nce due to the mistake in the address put on the offer letter which was sent on 1st September and was directly responsible for the delay in Budgett’s acceptance being communicated to Albatt. Cansys Cansys communicated an offer to Albatt to do the servicing work on 4th September for  £160,000, per annum. However, the terms of an offer must be unconditionally accepted otherwise any attempt to introduce new terms shall constitute a counter-offer (Hyde v Wrench). Therefore, Albatt’s offer to give Cansys the contract for  £155,000, instead of  £160,000, would constitute a counter-offer which would negate the original offer. Nevertheless, Cansys accepted this offer and an agreement was struck between the parties. The facts of the case therefore indicate that Cansys entered into a legally binding contract with Albatt for the service of its electronic processors for the sum of  £155,000, per annum for five years on 5th September following a telephone conversation between the respective parties. Word Count: 1422 Bibliography Text Books Richards, P. (2008), Law of Contract, Eighth Edition, UK: Pearson Education Ltd Furmston, M. P., Cheshire, G. C. Fifoot, C. H. S. (2007), Chesire, Fifoot and Firmston’s Law of Contract, 15th Edn., USA: OUP Beale, Prof. H., Chitty on Contracts Volume 1: General Principles, UK: Sweet Maxwell Stone, R. (2011), The Modern Law of Contract, Ninth Edn., UK: Routledge Furmston, M., (2006), Powell-Smith and Furmstons Building Contract Casebook, UK: Blackwell Publishing Case Law Adams v Lindsell (1818) 1 B Ald 681 Blackpool and Fylde Aero Club Ltd v Blackpool Borough Council [1990] 3 All ER 25 Brinkibon Ltd v Stahag Stahl und Stahlwarenhandelsgesellschaft GmbH [1983] 2 AC 34 Chapelton v Barry UDC [1940] 1 KB 532 Entores v Miles Far East Corporation [1955] 2 QB 327 Gibson v Manchester City Council [1979] 1 All ER 972 Household Fire and Carriage Accident Insurance Co v Grant (1879) 4 Ex D 216 Hyde v Wrench (1840) 3 Beav 334 Mondial Shipping and Chartering BV v Astarte Shipping Ltd [1995] CLC 1011 Offord v Davies (1862) 12 CBNS 748 Powell v Lee (1908) 99 LT 284 New Zealand Shipping Co. Ltd v A M Satterthwaite and Co. Ltd [1975] AC 154 Spencer v Harding (1870) LR 5 CP 561 The Brimnes [1975] QB 929

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Choosing the Most Effective Learning Environment

Choosing the Most Effective Learning Environment There are several alternatives available when it comes to the type of education that a child can receive. Parents today have more choices than ever. The primary factor that parents have to weigh is the overall setting that they want their child to be educated in. It is also important for parents to examine the individual needs and make up of the child and the financial state they are in when deciding which learning environment is the right fit. There are five essential options when it comes to education a child. Those include public schools, private schools, charter schools, homeschooling, virtual/online schools. Each of these options provides a unique setting and learning environment. There are pros and cons of each these choices. However it is important that parents understand that no matter which option they provide for their child, they are the most important people when it comes to the quality of education their child receives. Success is not defined by the type of schooling you received as a young person. Each of the five options has developed a lot of people who were successful. The key factors in determining the quality of education a child receives is the value that their parents place on education and the time they spend working with them at home. You can put almost any child in any learning environment and if they have those two things, they are typically going to be successful. Likewise, children who do not have parents that value education or work with them at home have odds that are stacked against them. This is not to say that a child cannot overcome these odds. Intrinsic motivation plays a major factor too and a child that is motivated to learn will learn no matter how much their parents do or do not value education. The overall learning environment does play a role in the quality of education a child receives. It is important to note that the best learning environment for one child may not be the best learning environment for another. It is also important to remember that the importance of the learning environment decreases as parental involvement in education increases. Each potential learning environment can be effective. It is important to look at all the options and make the best decision for you and your child. Public Schools More parents choose public schools as their child’s option to education than all of the other options. There are two primary reasons for this. First public schooling is free and many people cannot afford to pay for their child’s education. The other reason is that it is convenient. Every community has a public school that is easily accessible and within reasonable driving distance. So what makes a public school effective? The truth is that it isn’t effective for everyone. More students will end up dropping out of public schools than they will any of the other options. This doesn’t mean that they don’t offer an effective learning environment. Most public schools provide students who want it with terrific learning opportunities and provide them with a quality education. The sad reality is that public schools receive more students than any other option who don’t value education and who do not want to be there. This can take away from the overall effectiveness of public education because those students typically become distractions who interfere with learning. The overall effectiveness of the learning environment in public schools is also affected by the individual state funding allotted to education. Class size is particularly affected by state funding. As class size increases, the overall effectiveness does decrease. Good teachers can overcome this challenge and there are many excellent teachers in public education. The educational standards and assessments developed by each individual state also impact a public school’s effectiveness. As it stands right now, public education amongst the states are not created equally. However the development and implementation of the Common Core State Standards will remedy this situation. Public schools provide students who want it with a quality education. The main problem with public education is that the ratio of students who want to learn and those who are only there because they are required are much closer than those in the other options. The United States is the only education system in the world that accepts every student. This will always be a limiting factor for public schools. Private Schools The biggest limiting factor concerning private schools is that they are expensive. Some provide scholarship opportunities, but the truth is that most Americans simply cannot afford to send their child to a private school. Private schools typically have a religious affiliation. This makes them ideal for parents who want their children to receive a balanced education between traditional academics and core religious values. Private schools also have the ability to control their enrollment. This not only limits class size which maximizes effectiveness, it also minimizes students who will be distractions because they don’t want to be there. Most parents who can afford to send their children to private schools value education which translates to their children valuing education. Private schools are not governed by the state laws or standards that public schools are. They can create their own standards and accountability standards which are usually tied to their overall goals and agenda. This can strengthen or weaken a school’s overall effectiveness depending on how rigorous those standards are. Charter Schools Charter schools are public schools that receive public funding, but are not governed by many of the state laws concerning education that other public schools are. Charter schools typically focus on specific subject area such as mathematics or science and provide rigorous content that exceed state expectations in those areas. Even though they are public schools they are not accessible to everyone. Most charter schools have limited enrollment which students must apply for and be accepted to attend. Many charter schools have a waiting list of students who want to attend. Charter schools are not for everyone. Students who have struggled academically in other settings will likely fall even further behind in a charter school as the content can be difficult and rigorous. Students who value education and want to earn scholarships and further their education would benefit from charter schools and the challenge that they present. Homeschooling Homeschooling is an option for those children who have a parent that does not work outside the home. This option allows a parent to be in total control of their child’s education. Parents can incorporate religious values into their child’s daily education and are usually better attuned to their child’s individual educational needs. The sad truth about homeschooling is that there are many parents who try to home school their child that are simply not qualified. In this case, it deeply impacts a child negatively and they fall behind their peers. This is not a good situation to put a child in as they will have to work extremely hard to ever catch up. While the intentions are likely good, the parent should realistically have an understanding of what their child needs to learn and how to teach them. For those parents who are qualified, homeschooling can be a positive experience. It can create an endearing bond between the child and the parent. Socialization can be a negative, but parents who want to can find plenty of opportunities through activities such as sports, church, dance, martial arts, etc. for their child to socialize with other children their age. Virtual/Online Schools The newest and hottest educational trend is virtual/online schools. This type of schooling allows students to receive public education and instruction from the comfort of home through the Internet. The availability of virtual/online schools has exploded over the past few years. This can be a terrific option for children who struggle in a traditional learning environment, need more one on one instruction, or have other issues such as pregnancy, medical issues, etc. Two major limiting factors can include the lack of socialization and then need for self motivation. Much like homeschooling, students need some socialization with peers and parents can easily provide these opportunities for children. Students also have to be motivated to stay on schedule with virtual/online schooling. This can be difficult if a parent is not there to keep you on task and to ensure that you complete your lessons on time.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Exam preparation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Exam preparation - Essay Example y relate to administrative functions, and this creates room for specialization and empowerment to the job itself other than the person doing it as such retains the skills within an organization. Besides, it makes it easy in moderating calculations for each employee with consideration to tackling individual cases in an organization clarify (Swedberg, 2005). Based on Max Weber theory of management, both scientific management theory and school theories for of social relation are both perquisites to improve employee’s productivity through motivation (Swedberg, 2005). However, the two have conflicting ideology because scientific management entails improving employees’ prosperity and shifts occurring within different job strategies while human relations management is all about improving human resource towards achieving better organizational results. Left and right wing ideologies are political ideologies that aim at improving healthcare challenges by advocating for freedom and modern technologies in healthcare systems. The ideologies advocate against the ones that have previously been in existence. The two wings are different in the sense that left wing advocates for state responsibility in medical care while the right wing believes that everything can still operate with less government intervention (Agarwal, 1986). Capitalism entails as an economic system where private individuals own most industries in the nation. Capitalism economic system mainly constitutes huge labor cost and minimal returns from the industrial sectors. Marx criticizes such economy as quite prone to initiating hostility leading to two different classes in the society and highly susceptible to clashes (Agarwal, 1986). McKenna (2002) clarifies that several debates have existed as to whether management is a profession or not. Despite the fact that most managers own status more similar to engineers or surveyors, I totally disagree with the notion that management is a profession. Based on

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Advocacy activity Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Advocacy activity - Research Paper Example It also establishes a Class A misdemeanour for violations in regard to the distribution of an abortion inducing drug and for the failure to report the adverse effects. I do not support this bill as it is being discussed by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana. The bill is an act to amend the Indiana Code in connection to health. The bill was brought into the house by one of the members of the house committee named Morris. Even though the bill is aimed at enhancing accountability in distribution, selling, giving, administering and prescribing the abortion inducing drugs, it provides room for abortion which is against human rights of the right to life. The bill provides room for abortion by allowing physicians to terminate those pregnancies that are clinically diagnosable and with the knowledge that the termination may lead to the death of the foetus. No one has the right to terminate a pregnancy and lead to the death of a foetus since life begins at conception. The bill allows pregnancy women to abort their unborn babies as they can be given the drug for as long as they are aware of the adverse effects which may result from it. Abortion is regarded as ‘killing’ which is against the religious beliefs and human rights. Legislator Jeff Morris, who was elected to the National Conference of State Legislatures Board in September 25, 2013, brought this bill to the House. I am planning to influence Representative Kristine Lytton who is the Deputy Majority Floor Leader in the house to object to the bill. Lytton has voted to pass the bill that requires implementation of health plans that would cover abortions which is effective from January1, 2014 an indication that she also supported the bill on abortion inducing drugs. I would influence her not to vote for this bill as it contravenes human rights. Whether voluntary or involuntary, abortion is killing of innocent lives and as a woman and mother, she should not

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Vaccination debate Essay Example for Free

Vaccination debate Essay People ought to have a right not to vaccinate their kids, even if refusal to do so puts one’s own kids at risk, along with other people’s children. Do you agree? Childhood immunisation must be one of the most significant public health advances in medical history. Thanks to vaccines, children and teens that have been immunised would not have to experience the abhorrent epidemics like polio, mumps, measles and smallpox the older generations did. While it is safe to assume vaccines are here to stay, critics have presented damning yet unverified accounts of the ineffectiveness and harmful side effects of vaccinations urging parents to second guess their choice to immunise their child. The act of immunisation itself is the process of equipping one’s immune system with an immunological memory by introducing a weakened foreign molecule to the body that orchestrates an immune response that the body later uses to protect itself against an attack by said foreign molecule. Immunisation has been under constant fire since its inception in the late 1700’s with the introduction of the smallpox vaccine. People believed that the smallpox vaccine could literally turn vaccinated people into cows because the vaccination for smallpox was inducted from cows (William and Gunn, 2004): There was a famous Gilray cartoon [of vaccinated people sprouting cow heads in] 1804, which I always interpreted as people just being concerned about the source or purity of the vaccine. But they weren’t. They were concerned that they or their children would actually turn into cows. (Melnick, 2011) This proves that people’s views in regards to the ineffectiveness of immunisa tion are not always logical thus bringing to light the question of whether or not parents should be allowed to decide to or not to vaccinate their children, bearing in mind parental and social responsibilities. Parents should have the right to be aware of all the risks and advantages involved and understand for themselves that the pros far exceed the cons. People tend to be misled, in the scurry to do the best for their children, by other parents and antivaccine activists who base their beliefs on unproven, board dismissed studies and theories. One such theory brought to life by a British gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield who claimed to have discovered a strong co relationship between the MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) Vaccine and autism: Wakefield based his conclusions on a case  study of a dozen children who’d been brought to his clinic at the Royal Free Hospital in London. Almost immediately, Wakefield’s research methods and his interpretations, which had been published in the medical journal The Lancet, came under fire. Wakefield’s response was to appeal to the public rather than to his colleagues: The medical establishment was so determined to discredit him, he said, because he threatened their hegemony by taking parents’ concerns seriously. The media took the bait, and despite Wakefield’s lack of proof and his track record of dubious assertions and unverified lab results, they began churning out stories about how a maverick doctor was trying to protect innocent children from corrupt politicians and a rapacious pharmaceutical industry. Within months, vaccination rates across Western Europe began to fall. (Mnookin, 2011) Wakefield’s research was based on a very minuscule percentage of the entire population thus rendering unreliable. Despite the G.M.C’s (General Medical Council) dismissal of his studies, Wakefield utilised the media to manipulate paranoid, confused, gullible parents into depriving their children of the MMR vaccine. As a result, incident rates for two out of the three diseases increased significantly in the UK rising from 56 confirmed cases in 1998 to 449 cases within the first five months of the year 2006 with the first death since 1992. (Asaria and MacMohan, 2006) Since the wake of Wakefield’s MMR-Autism theory, issues have been raised linking thimerosal (a preservative containing ethyl mercury) to the cause of autism. Mercury is a known neurological hazard but the quantity of mercury present in vaccines then were ‘around 50micrograms 0.5 per-ml dose’ (Biba, 2009) which was ‘far short of toxic.’ Although the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) publicly suggested the subtraction of a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal from childhood shots in 1999 (Mnookin, 2011), the CDC has found no relationship between the MMR vaccine and autism after conducting scientific studies. (CDC Factsheet, 2004) (Melnick, 2011)Unsatisfied with the provided information parents tend to overlook proven statistics and rather look to their inner circles or celebrities with no knowledge of the background science, that have been given inappropriate media attention and ‘who have no new or credible data, and for which their assumptions and hypotheses have  been discredited.’ (Poland, 2011) They risk contracting a vaccine preventable disease to avoid a different health issue they believe the vaccinations themselves will cause proving to be a dire lose-lose situation. ‘Such individuals are denialists at best and dangerous at worst.’ In addition to the autism scare, parents also worry about a concept known as ‘immuno- overload.’ This is when some believe, the injection of multiple immunogens (foreign agents) in one vaccine or even spread out, may overwhelm the immune system of a toddler/child. (Hilton, Petticrew and Hunt, 2006). This however isn’t accurate: Children are given vaccines at a young age because this is when they are most vulnerable to certain diseases. Newborn babies are immune to some diseases because they have antibodies given to them from their mothers. However, this immunity only lasts a few months. Further, most young children do not have maternal immunity to diphtheria, whooping cough, polio, tetanus, hepatitis B, or Hib. If a child is not vaccinated and is exposed to a disease, the childs body may not be strong enough to fight the disease. An infant’s immune system is more than ready to respond to the very small number of weakened and killed infectious agents (antige ns) in vaccines. (CDC FAQ) Parents are drawing their own conclusions of the importance of immunisation. They presume certain vaccines are no longer necessary because there is no longer a threat. This is absolutely bogus. It is because of the vaccines the diseases that once swept out children and adults alike in the millions, are now invisible. If even a few parents stop vaccinating their children these diseases could resurface. (Biba, 2009) This generation of the pre-Wakefield, dubious parents, who have mostly been immunised themselves, have not witnessed the true calamity of the diseases the vaccines they withhold from their children, prevent. They have a diminished sense of urgency for vaccination. (Hilton, Petticrew and Hunt, 2006) Instead they choose to believe ‘†¦anti-vaccine books claim that all shots are bad, the diseases arent really anything to fear, and as long as you live a natural and healthy lifestyle, you dont have to worry. I think this is a very irresponsible approach to the vaccine issue. Vaccines are beneficial in ridding our population of both serious and non-serious diseases.’(Sears, 2011) Parents ultimately have a duty towards their children, but also have a social responsibility as a citizen. They have a right to be conscientiously involved in their child’s health and welfare. But as most parents choose to ignore the unbiased scientific studies that have been conducted, consult the internet for vaccine information. Anybody who has access to a computer has the liberty to free float their own thesis’ ridiculous or not, which appease to the parents unsatisfied with factual evidence which has become a serious cause for concern. (Haase, 2012) Combined with the self-reinforcing nature of online communities and a content-starved, cash-poor journalistic culture that gravitates toward neat narratives at the expense of messy truths, this disdain for actualities has led to a world with increasingly porous boundaries between facts and beliefs, a world in which individualized notions of reality, no matter how bizarre or irrational, are repeatedly validated. (Mnookin , 2011) Obviously, the more kids who are vaccinated, the better our country is protected and the less likely it is that any child will die from a disease. Some parents, however, arent willing to risk the very rare side effects of vaccines, so they choose to skip the shots. Their children benefit from herd immunity (the protection of all the vaccinated kids around them) without risking the vaccines themselves. Is this selfish? Perhaps. But as parents you have to decide. (Sears, 2001) Parents may justify their decision to deny their child of immunisation over the illusion that it is for their own good, by riding on the herd immunity for protection. But with more and more parents succumbing to the bystander apathy, the levels of herd immunity thins resulting in ominous consequences. (John and Samuel, 2000) In reference to the question at hand, it is beneficial for the health of society that laws are passed to make compulsory the immunisation of children given the vaccinations are meticulously researched and tested for safety and effectiveness thus disagreeing with the statement provided. Vaccinations are a medical gift to the progressing world and should thus be taken advantage of. If you want to save your child from polio, you can pray or you can inoculate. Choose science. (Sagan, 1997) Bibliography William, S., Gunn, A (2004) The Surgeon’s Word- Vaccination. World Journal of Surgery. DOI:0.1007/s00268-003-7346-4 Melnick, M. ( 2011, February) The Dangers of the Antivaccine Movement. (Conversation with Dr. Paul Offit, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and the director of the Vaccine Education Centre at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia.) Time Magazine Retrieved from: http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2053517,00.html Mnookin, S. (2011) The Panic Virus. New York, NY. Simon and Schuster. Retrieved from: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=mxqVQQMZzFcCprintsec=frontcoverdq=The+Panic+Virushl=ensa=Xei=jV5FU5yJE8jVkgXogIHwAgved=0CDUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepageq=The%20Panic%20Virusf=false Asaria, P., MacMahon, E. (2006) Measles in the United Kingdom: Can we eradicate it by 2010? BMJ 333 (7574): 890-5. DOI:10.1136/bmj.38989.445845.7C Biba, E. (2009, October) How to Win an Argument About Vaccines. Wired Magazine Retrieved from: http://www.wired.com/2009/10/ff_waronscience_argument/#corrections CDC Fact Sheet. (2004) MMR vaccine and autism-CDC (measles, mumps, and rubella). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Retrieved from: http://www.in.gov/isdh/files/MMR_VaccineAutismFacts.pdf. Poland, G. A. (2011) MMR Vaccine and Autism: Vaccine Nihilism and Postmodern Science. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 86(9): 869–871. DOI: 10.4065/mcp.2011.0467 Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3257990/?tool=pmcentrezreport=abstract Hilton, S., Petticrew, M., Hunt, K. (2006) ‘Combined Vaccines are like a sudden onslaught to the body’s immune system’: Parental concerns about vaccine ‘overload’ and ‘immune-vulnerability’. Elsevier. DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2006.03.003 CDC Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/vaccines/multiplevaccines.html#6 Sears, R. (2011) The Vaccine Book: Making the Right decision for Your Child New York, N. Y, Little, Brown Haase, N., (2012) Parents Trust Other Parents: Lay Vaccination Narratives on the Web May Create Doubt about Vaccination Safety. Sage Publications. DOI: 10.1177/0272989X12445286 John, T. J., Samuel, R. (2000) Herd immunity and herd effect: New insights and definitions. Eur. J. Epidemiol. 16 (7): 604-6. DOI:10.1023/A:1007626510002 Sagan, C. (1997) The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. Ballentine Books New York Scheibner, V. (1998) Vaccination: The Hidden Truth (Documentary Video). Taycare Private Limited Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqsT5EoIk8U#t=34

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Computer Crime :: essays research papers

Computer Crime Computer crimes need to be prevented and halted thought increased computer network security measures as well as tougher laws and enforcement of those laws in cyberspace: Computer crime is generally defined as any crime accomplished through special knowledge of computer technology. All that is required is a personal computer, a modem, and a phone line. Increasing instances of white-collar crime involve computers as more businesses automate and information becomes an important asset. Computers are objects of crime when they or their contents are damaged, as when terrorists attack computer centers with explosives or gasoline, or when a "computer virus"--a program capable of altering or erasing computer memory--is introduced into a computer system. As subjects of crime, computers represent the electronic environment in which frauds are programmed and executed; an example is the transfer of money balances in accounts to perpetrators' accounts for withdrawal. Computers are instruments of crime when used to plan or control such criminal acts as complex embezzlements that might occur over long periods of time, or when a computer operator uses a computer to steal valuable information from an employer. Computers have been used for most kinds of crime, including fraud, theft, larceny, embezzlement, burglary, sabotage, espionage, murder, and forgery, since the first cases were reported in 1958. One study of 1,500 computer crimes established that most of them were committed by trusted computer users within businesses; persons with the requisite skills, knowledge, access, and resources. Much of known computer crime has consisted of entering false data into computers, which is simpler and safer than the complex process of writing a program to change data already in the computer. With the advent of personal computers to manipulate information and access computers by telephone, increasing numbers of crimes--mostly simple but costly electronic trespassing, copyrighted-information piracy, and vandalism--have been perpetrated by computer hobbyists, known as "hackers," who display a high level of technical expertise. For many years, the term hacker defined someone who was a wizard with computers and programing. It was an honor to be considered a hacker. But when a few hackers began to use their skills to break into private computer systems and steal money, or interfere with the system's operations, the word acquired its current negative meaning. Organized professional criminals have been attacking and using computer systems as they find their old activities and environments being automated. There are not a large number of valid statistics about the extent and results of computer crime. Victims often resist reporting suspected cases, because they can lose more from embarrassment, lost reputation, litigation, and other consequential losses than from the acts themselves.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) Essay

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) causes AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) that disables the immune system.  It was discovered in 1983 .HIV enters the body through the bloodstream and duplicates itself rapidly.  The victim is susceptible to infectious diseases that eventually are fatal (1). Statistically, HIV/AIDS is the number one killer of African-American women ages 25 to 34, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Between 2000 and 2003, they were nineteen times more likely than White females and five times more likely than Hispanic females to contract the disease.  African-American men were seven times more likely than White men and three times the rate of Hispanic men to contract HIV/AIDS (2). In 2008, there is still not a cure for AIDS.  Instead, scientists have discovered drugs that can slow down the progression of the disease. Protease inhibitors (PIs) are antiviral drugs that slow down the spread of HIV (1). The virus produces a protein called protease so that it can replicate itself.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Protease cuts long chains of proteins and enzymes into shorter chains, the first step in the process by which HIV infects a cell† (1).  If this doesn’t happen, replication does not continue. In 1987, AZT was the first anti-HIV medication that was created.   It showed hope and kept people healthier longer.   However, the side effects were very high for men.   Since that time, more HIV medications have evolved.   Antiretroviral therapy usually consists of combinations of nucleoside/nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors, non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, protease inhibitors, or fusion inhibitors, which are prescribed in the later stages of HIV (19). Dual protease inhibitor therapy is also being used clinically (3).  They are also associated with improving morbidity and mortality of HIV-positive persons (5).  Although these drugs are expensive, they have proven to be the most successful therapy in managing HIV.   However, some patients don’t comply 100% with their treatments.   This is largely due to the side effects. Sometimes they make a patient feel worse than the actual disease. The most commonly reported ones are abdominal pain, abnormal bowel movements, diarrhea, fatigue, headache, and nausea.   Children usually develop a skin rash. The more serious side effects are liver problems and pancreatitis.   Some patients have also seen large increase in triglyceride ad cholesterol levels.   Diabetics saw an increase in their blood sugar levels.   Other patients developed diabetes while taking protease inhibitors (16). Presently, nine PIs have been approved for use in the United States and Europe:   amprenavir, atazanavir, fosamprenavir, lopinavir, indinavir, ritonavir, saquinavir, tipranavir, and nelfinavir. Three non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) are used for treatment of HIV:  nevirapine, delavirdine, and efavirenz (7). Drug treatment selection depends on factors such as drug resistance, tolerability, drug interactions, and effectiveness. Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) â€Å"has been proposed so that practitioners may better maintain appropriate plasma concentrations of drugs in their patients by identifying interactions with other medications and assessing medication adherence   (7). Figure 1 shows the structures of these compounds. Fig. 1. Chemical structures of protease inhibitors and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. About 50% of â€Å"treatment-naà ¯ve patients† don’t have continued antiviral response after one year of therapy (18). In some cases, there is a development of drug resistance and metabolic complications.   Also, â€Å"there is increasing evidence that virological treatment failure is correlated with variations in the pharmacokinetic parameters of drugs (20).   This can be due to drug interactions, low bioavailability, and variations in metabolic enzyme activity.   Atazanavir (ATV) has good oral bioavailability and a favorable pharmacokinetics profile (18).   With this in mind, patients can mostly take a once-daily dose. A separate analytical method has been recently published for quantifying ATV in human plasma using solid phase extraction and HPLC with PDA (photodiode array) detection at 201 nm (18).   This method provides excellent separation of ATV from its internal standard, clozapine (CLZ) and the other PIs, thus, obtaining an accurate measurement of the drug (see figure 2). CLZ elutes at 8.9 minutes, and ATV elutes a 24.4 minutes. A 40-ml injection resulted in a recovery yield of 100%. Fig. 2.   Chromatogram of ATV with PIs/NNRTIs (8000 ng/ml) spiked with CLZ Nelfinavir mesylate has been shown in phase III controlled clinical trials to significantly reduce viral load and increase CD4+ cell counts when used with reverse transcriptase inhibitors. It’s prescribed as part of triple drug combination therapy (9). CD4+ are helper T cells.   They are important for immune reconstitution in patients that are receiving antiretroviral therapy (10).   After a large number of these cells are destroyed, AIDS develops (7). Six clinical trials was conducted in the past ten years using 2, 148 HIV-infected children enrolled in the Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group treatment trials (10).   Patient ages varied from 2 to 7 years of age.   The focus was to observe short-term variability of CD4 percentages.   The study found that 49% of patients had CD4 percentages above 25%.   32% of patients had CD4 counts between 15% and 24%; 19% were less than 15%.   Finally, 5.4% had a CD4% of less than 5% (10). In June 2006, Darunavir (DRV) was licensed in the United States.   It is a promising PI that is active against HIV strains that are resistant to the other PIs that currently on the market (17).   It is prescribed in 600-mg doses that are taken twice daily with 100 mg of ritonavir that acts as a booster. Protease inhibitors are associated with unfavorable pharmacokinetics and many side effects such as gastrointestinal disturbances and lipid abnormalities (5).  Four of the most common PIs used are indinavir, ritonavir, saquinavir, and nelfinavir (3).  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Monitoring blood concentration of PIs, which can indicate both therapeutic and toxic levels of the drugs as well as patient noncompliance with the medication, may improve the care of both HIV-infected adults and children† (3). When ritonavir was first introduced, it was given in doses of 600 mg every 12 hours. â€Å"However, patient intolerance of full doses led to its primary use as a pharmacologic enhancer to increase the concentrations in plasma of a second protease inhibitor to improve the convenience of antiretroviral regimens by extending the dosing interval, reducing pill burden, and /or eliminating food-induced reductions in pharmacokinetic exposure† (8).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Researchers used High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) to determine concentrations of PIs in blood.  Various methods have been used to study the pharmacokinetics and drug interactions. Interpreting plasma levels can be used to â€Å"individualize drug dosage of antiretrovirals (4). Quality control (QC) procedures must be done to ensure that these methods are accurate and precise.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Such procedures usually include intralaboratory (internal) method validation, intralaboratory QC procedures, and participation in an interlaboratory QC program for antiretroviral drugs† (4). Since the latter hadn’t been done before, it was established so that laboratories can obtain better measurement results of antiretroviral drugs. Nine laboratories participated in the first part of the program.  The first part of the experiment involved the measurement of the protease inhibitors:  indinavir, nelfinavir, ritonavir, and saquinavir.  All had a specified purity of 99% or higher.  QC samples were prepared by spiking blank plasma from HIV-negative volunteers with PI standard. The low concentrated standards ranged from 0.087 to 0.15 mg/L while the intermediate concentrated standards contained ranged from 2 to 3 mg/L of all four PIs.  Finally, the high-concentrated standards contained approximately 5 to 11 mg/L of drug.  All drugs were dissolved in methanol following accurate weighings and diluted with blank plasma (4). High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was used to analyze twelve samples.  All laboratories measuring more than one protease inhibitor used as assay for â€Å"simultaneous determination† (4).  Six laboratories used HPLC/UV and three labs used HPLC-MS/MS. Mass spectrometry detection is often recommended for measurement of low concentration levels.  Also, this type of analysis is usually faster and â€Å"does not require complete resolution of drugs for detection and quantification† (5).  Only five laboratories were able to measure all four PIs.  Three laboratories were not able to determine nelfinavir.  One laboratory only measured indinavir (4). Acceptable accuracy results are between 80% and 120%.  Only indinavir resulted in an acceptable accuracy of 80%.  The remaining PIs had between 36% and 74% accuracy.  These results should encourage laboratories to improve their analytical methods and QC procedures.  Other PIs, such as amprenavir and lopinavir, can be analyzed as well (4). HIV-positive plasma samples are heat inactivated before analysis, approximately 58 °C for 40 minutes, to decrease the risk of infection to the operator.  They may also go through a freeze/thaw cycle. As with the QC study, blank plasma was spiked with seven PIs (indinavir, amprenavir, atazanavir, ritonavir, saquinavir, lopinavir, and nelfnavir) at low, intermediate, and high concentrations measured in ng/ml.  Certain assays only require 100  µl of plasma for analysis.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"This is advantageous when measuring PI concentrations as part of clinical studies as they often necessitate hourly sampling to generate complete PK profiles; therefore less blood can be drawn from the patient† (5).  In addition, seven PIs can be quantified in one assay, but impossible to assay all seven in a single preparation. â€Å"The use of liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) has emerged as the developmental method of choice supporting clinical and pre-clinical pharmacokinetic studies† (13). Recovery for the HPLC-MS/MS methods was above 87% for all seven drugs at all three concentration levels (5).  It was successful in quantifying seven PI concentrations in plasma of HIV positive persons that participated in a run time of nine minutes.  Therefore, the assay may be used for determining PI concentrations in semen, lymphocytes, and cerebrospinal fluid (5). A fast and highly-sensitive LC-MS-MS method was developed that could analyze five protease inhibitors (amprenavir, indinavir, nelfinavir, ritonavir, and saquinavir) in one run using an internal standard.   Sample sizes were small (ng/ml) and run times were approximately 5 minutes.   Recoveries for all five PIs were between 87% and 92%(11). Tipranavir is part of a class of non-peptidic PIs that works against both â€Å"wild-type virus and variants resistant to current PIs†(6).  It also has a high genetic barrier.  Tipranavir is prescribed in a 500-mg dose taken in combination with 200 mg of ritonavir twice daily as part of antiretroviral therapy for patients with HIV-1 strains that are resistant to multiple PIs (6). Fig. 3. Tipranavir chemical structure   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An HPLC-UV method has been validated and is currently applied when monitoring tipranavir (TPV) plasma levels in HIV patients.  Samples were prepared for solid phase extraction (SPE) by conditioning the cartridges with 0.1% phosphoric acid, pH 7.  TPV stock solutions with a concentration of 5 mg/ml were diluted from with 50% methanol. Samples were spiked with TPV at 1.875, 7.5, 18.75, 37.5, 60, and 75  µg/ml in triplicate. QC samples were diluted with blank plasma and phosphate buffer to 5.625, 22.5, and 67.5  µg/ml.  Clozapine was used as the internal standard (6).  5-ml aliquots of blood samples were obtained from HIV infected patients.  The plasma obtained from centrifugation was heated at 60 ° C for one hour in a water bath. TPV in plasma was measured at a UV absorbance of 201 nm with a retention time of 32.2 minutes. Its internal standard, clozapine (CLZ) has a retention time of 8.3 minutes (6). Figure 4 below shows the chromatogram of TPV, its internal standard, and all other PIs and NNRTIs  present.   Figure 5 shows TPV and its internal standard CLZ only. Fig. 4. Chromatogram of plasma control sample of TVP (22.5 mg/ml) spiked with internal standard and all PIs and NNRTIs. Fig. 5. Chromatogram of calibration sample of TVP (37.5 mg/ml) spiked with internal standard CLZ. Isocratic HPLC methods combined with the use of UV and fluorescence detection produces more sensitivity. Amprenavir is a fluorescent compound.   Its internal standard PR25 can also be seen under fluorescence (see figure 6). Fig. 6.   Blank plasma with 100 ng/ml amprenavir and 1000 ng/ml of PR25 seen under fluorescence. In conclusion, much progress has been made in the development of protease inhibitors and other antiretroviral therapy. HPLC with UV detection has been the most commonly used method of analysis.   It is rapid, simple, and highly sensitive.   LC-MS-MS has been noted at the developmental method of choice for clinical and pre-clinical pharmacokinetic studies (13).   More compounds can be analyzed in less time.   Also, they can be used for methods using other human biological matrices. For the majority of protease inhibitors, all side effects are not known. In 2007, darunavir was the new HIV protease inhibitor with eleven other antiretroviral agents on the market.   They can affect patients that have diabetes, liver problems, and hemophilia; their conditions can worsen as a result of taking PIs. Only a patient’s health care provider can determine the best treatment option REFERENCES Nagel, Rob. 2007. Protease Inhibitors. UXL Encyclopedia of Science; [cited 2008 May 8], Available from http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SciRC?ste=1&docnum=cv2644301082. Health Hotline:   HIV and Genital Herpes [cited 2008 May8]; Available from http://www.ebony.com. â€Å"HPLC Assay for Common Protease Inhibitors Developed.†Antiviral Weekly; [cited 2008 May 07; Available from http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SciRC?ste=1&docNum=A60069570. Aarnoutse, Rob E., Verweij-van Wissen, Corrien P.W.G.M., van Ewijk-Beneken Kolmer, Eleonora, W.J., Wuis, Eveline, W., Koopmans, Peter P., Hekster, Yechiel A., and Burger, David, M. 2001. International Interlaboratory Quality Control Program for Measurement of Antiretroviral Drugs in Plasma; Antimicrobial Agents and Chemo 46(3): 884-886. Dickinson, Laura, Robinson, Lesley, Tjia, John, Khoo, and Saye, Back, David. 2005. Simultaneous determination of HIV protease inhibitors amprenavir, atazanavir, indinavir, lopinavir, nelfinavir, ritonavir and saquinavir in human plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry; J of Chrom. B 829:82-90. Colombo, S., Beguin, A., Marzolini, C., Telenti, A., Biollaz, J., and Decosterd, L.A. 2006.   Determination of the novel non-peptidic HIV-protease inhibitor tipranavir by HPLC-UV after solid-phase extraction; J of Chrom. B 832:138-143. Rezk, Naser L., Tidwell, Richard R., and Kashuba, Angela D.M. 2004.   High-performance liquid chromatography assay for the quantification of HIV protease inhibitors and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors in human plasma; J of Chrom. B 805:241-247. Shelton, Mark J.,Hewitt, Ross G., Adams, John, Dela-Coletta, Andrew, Cox, Steven, and Morse, Gene D. 2003. Pharmacokinetics of Ritonavir and Delavirdine in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Patients; Antimicrobial Agents and Chemo 47(5): 1694-1699. Zhang, Kanyin E., Wu, Ellen, Patick, Amy K., Kerr, Bradley, Zorbas, Mark, Lankford, Angela, Kobayashi, Takuo, Maeda, Yuki, Shetty, Bhasker, and Webber, Stephanie. 2001.Circulating Metabolites of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus protease Inhibitor Nelfinavir in Humans:   Structural Identification, Levels in Plasma, and Antiviral Activities; Antimicrobial Agents and Chemo 45(4): 1086-1093. Carey, Vincent J., Pahwa, Savita, and Weinberg, Adriana. 2005.   Reliability of CD4 Quantitation in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Positive Children:   Implications for Definition of Immunologic Response to Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy; Clinical and Diagnostic Lab Immunology 12(5): 640-643. Chi, Jingduan, Jayewardene, Anura L., Stone, Judith A., Motoya, Toshiro, and Aweeka, Francesca. 2002.   Simultaneous determination of five HIV protease inhibitors nelfinavir, indinavir, ritonavir, saquinavir and amprenavir in human plasma by LC/MS/MS; J of Pharm and Biomedical Analysis 30:675-684. Verbesselt, R., Van Wijngaerden, E., and de Hoon, J. 2007. Simultaneous determination of 8 HIV protease inhibitors in human plasma by isocratic high-performance liquid chromatography with combined use of UV and fluorescence detection: Amprenavir, indinavir, atazanavir, ritonavir, lopinavir, saquinavir, nelfinavir and M8-nelfinavir metabolite; J of Chrom. B 845:51-60. Frerichs, Valerie A., DiFrancesco, Robin, and Morse, Gene D. 2003. Determination of protease inhibitors using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry; J of Chrom, B 787:393-403. Gangl, Eric, Utkin, Ilya, Gerber, Nicholas, and Vouros, Paul. 2002. Structural elucidation of metabolites of ritonavir and indinavir by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry; J. of Chrom. A 974:91-101. Turner, Michele L., Reed-Walker, Kedria, King, Jennifer R., and Acosta, Edward P. 2003. Simultaneous determination of nine antiretroviral compounds in human plasma using liquid chromatography; J. of Chrom. B 784:331-341. 2008. Kaletra. [Cited 2008 May 16], Available from http://www.heartandsoul.com. D’Avolio, Antonio, Siccardi, Marco, Sciandra, Mauro, Lorena, Baietto, Bonora, Stefano, Trentini, Laura, and Di Perri, Giovanni.2007. HPLC-MS method for the simultaneous quantification of the new HIV protease inhibitor darunavir, and 11 other antiretroviral agents in plasma of HIV-infected patients; J. of Chrom. B 859:234-240. Colombo, S., Guignard, N., Marzolini, C., Telenti, A., Biollaz, J., and Decosterd, L.A. 2004. Determination of the new HIV-protease inhibitor atazanavir by liquid chromatography after solid-phase extraction; J. of Chrom. B 810:25-34. Weller, Dennis R., Brundage, Richard C., Balfour, Jr., Henry H., and Vezina, Heather E. An isocratic liquid chromatography method for determining HIV non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor and protease inhibitor concentrations in human plasma; J. of Chrom. B 848:369-373. Sarasa-Nacenta, Maria, Lopez-Pua, Yolanda, Mallolas, Josep, Blanco, Jose’ Luis, Gatell, Jose’ M., and Carne’, Xavier. Simultaneous determination of the HIV-protease inhibitors indinavir, amprenavir, ritonavir, saquinavir and nelfinavir in human plasma by reversed-phase high- performance liquid chromatography; J, of Chrom. B 757:325-332.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Marketing Plan on Product Coca-Cola

Assignment Marketing Plan On (Product Coca-Cola) Prepared by Md. Mosaddek Hossen Id # 0220012 Tanima Trina Id#0220063 Sohel Mahmud Id # 0220013 Sabrina Chawdhury Id # : 0000000 Group- Leo Marketing Management Sec-1 Submitted to Mr. Rumman Hassan Lecturer School of Business Independent University, Bangladesh 25th April, 2006 25 April, 2006 Mr. Rumman Hassan Course Instructor Marketing Management School of business IUB, Dhaka-1212 Sub: Letter of transmittal Dear Sir, It’s our great pleasure to submit you this report on Market plan of Coca-cola. We have got a great experience while working on this report. We would like to leave this report to your kind consideration for any unintentional mistake that may accuser while doing this report. We are always at your service if you want to ask us any thing about this report and it will be a great pleasure to work with you again in future. Sincerely yours Md. Mosaddek Hossen Id # 0220012 Tanima Trina Id#0220063 Sohel Mahmud Id # 0220013 Sabrina Chawdhury Id # : Group- Leo Table of Contents Page number Acknowledgement ——————————————————————— 5 Executive Summary ——————————————————————-6 Introduction —————————————————————————-7 Beginning of the project ——————————————————–7 Preface ————————————————————————â⠂¬â€7 Company Overview ——————————————————————- 7-8 History —————————————————————————7 Coca-Cola Company in Bangladesh —————————————–8 Mission Statement ———————————————————————8 Motto of Coca-Cola: ——————————————————————–9 Strategic Goals —à ¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€-9 Short term ————————————————————————9 Long term ————————————————————————9 Situational Analysis ——————————————————————– 10-14 Product Definition —————————————————————10 Brand Name of Coca-Cola ——————————————————-10 External Factors —————————————————————– 11-12 Demographic ————————————————————–11 Social Factors ————————————————————11 Political Influence ———————————————————12 Competitors —————————†”———————————12 Government —————————————————————12 Internal Factor ——————————————————————- 13-14 Human Resource Management ———————————————13 Technology —————————————————————-13 Management Levels ——————————————————–13 Financing Capaci ty ——————————————————–14 Marketing Department —————————————————–14 Brand Building Efforts ————————————————————— 14-15 Relationship Building Effort ————————————————– 14 Building Values ——————————————————————-14 Target Market ———————————â€⠀Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€15 Consumption Rate ———————————————————————-15 Strategic Group Map of competitors in the beverage industry —————16 SWOT Analysis ————————————————————————-17 Critical Success Factors ————————————————————— 17-21 Strength ————————————————————à ¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€œ 7-18 Patent ———————————————————————17 Own production plant —————————————————– 17-18 Research & Development ————————————————-18 High market share ——————————————————–18 Brand image ————————————————————– 18 Weakness ————————à ¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- 18-19 Don’t sell on account ——————————————————18 Less motivation down stream ———————————————-19 Insufficient advertisement ————————————————-19 Not skillful village distributor ———————————————19 Overconfidence in their product ——————————————-19 Opportunity ———————â⠂¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€-20 High growth rate ———————————————————-20 Huge local market ——————————————————–20 Acceptance of Pet bottles ————————————————–20 Good relationship with the distribution channel —————————20 Good relation with the Government —————————————20 Threats ——————————†”——————————————21 Other existing company —————————————————21 Good taste of competitors ————————————————-21 Political instability ——————————————————–21 Better professional promotion of competitor ——————————-21 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs ——————————————————–22 Marketing Mix ————————————————————————– 22-26 Product ————————————————————————–22 Price ——————————————————————————23 Distribution Channel —â €”——————————————————24 Promotion ———————————————————————– 24-26 Promotional activities of Coca-Cola —————————————24 Sales Promotion ———————————————————–25 Advertising —————————————————————-25 Public Relation ——————————————à ¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€26 Strategy Alternatives ——————————————————————26 Strategy Recommendations ———————————————————-26 Brand Element Choice Criteria —————————————————– 27-28 Exorability ———————————————————————–27 Meaningfulness ————————————————————â €”—27 Transferability ———————————————————————28 Adaptability ———————————————————————–28 Protect ability ———————————————————————28 Marketing research ——————————————————————-29 General objective ——————————————————†”———29 Specific research ——————————————————————-29 Data collection ——————————————————————29 Bibliography: ————————————————————————-29 Acknowledgement First of all, we would like to thank our lecturer Mr. Rumman Hassan; we are grateful to him for his cooperation in preparing this report. His proper guidance & helpful attitude help us to make this report. We like to thank Mr. M. A. Majed manager (statistics) of Tabani Beverage Company limited from whom we collected all the information. We offer special thanks to Mr. Shah Suja of Abdul Monem Ltd who really helped us by giving some information, which is required for our project. We also like to thanks Mr. Mustafir rahman who is a student of IUB & at the same time he is a distributor of coca-cola in Maymanshig districts who helps us to provide information. Executive Summary More than a billion times everyday, thirsty people around the world reach for beverages for refreshment. All around the world, drinking beverage is like an entertainment for people. Soft drinks are considered as consumer products. All round the world we can see a different marketing phase used by the beverage producing companies but in Bangladesh it is a little different. The companies do not directly sell their products to the end consumers. Companies such as Soft Drinks (Coca-Cola, Pepsi, RC-Cola, Uro-Cola, Virgin, etc), Mineral waters (Fresh, Mum, ACME and etc), Juices (Pran, Danish, Sezan, etc) are dependents on the distribution channels for making their products reach the final consumers. As the companies are not making the people aware about their beverage through directly selling it to them, they use other media and means to make its customers know about their products. They use the advertisements as one of the most important promotional tools. Along with advertisement they also use other promotional tools. We have done a study on Coca-Cola Company with the aim to learn about the different marketing prospects in Bangladesh and our selected product is Coca- Cola. Like always the company is doing quite well although at the current moment RC-Cola is dominating the market a little more than Coca-Cola. Still Coca-Cola has more market share than its competitors. Coca-Cola has an effective marketing and advertising campaign. As the company does not have that skillful village distributor they cannot reach out to a lot of people. There are lots of recommendations which are provided for the improvement of the functionality in the marketing sector The company’s investment in local communities in over 200 countries totals billions of dollars in jobs, facilities, marketing, purchase of local goods and services and most importantly the local business partnership. Introduction Beginning of the project We are students of MKT-302 â€Å"Marketing Management†. Our faculty Mr. Rumman Hassan, Lecturer, School of Business, Independent University, Bangladesh has assigned to us this report writing as a part of our course study. We are sincerely thankful to him for assigning or group such type of a project work in a group of four members. Preface In the past we had only two foreign companies in the production of beverages. One is Coca-Cola Company and the other Pepsi. In the recent years there is a change that we all can see. Some newer companies have entered into this market. Still Coca-Cola is holding on to its position in terms of its market share and market position. Like always it has got the same tremendous response from the people in Bangladesh. Previously it used to dominate a little more than what it does today. After the introduction of RC-Cola, a sister concern of Partex group they have seen a little down fall in their market share. As people are getting more choice many of Coca-Cola’s customers have diverted to RC-Cola beverages. Still with the company’s ever attracting advertise they have been able to hold on to most of its customers. They also serve to their customers the best quality beverage. Company Overview History The first company that conducted its operation in the soft drink industry was Coca-Cola. They brought a new revolution in the history of the world. Coca-Cola was established in May 1886 when a pharmacist Dr. John Styth PEMBERTON first produced syrup in a three-legged brass pot in Atlanta, Georgia backyard. Coca-Cola first bottled in 1894. Large scale bottling was only possible in 1899. They marketed and distributed the product in specific territories. Coca-Cola Company in Bangladesh Even before our independence of Bangladesh the Coca-Cola Company has started its operation in Bangladesh. Coca-Cola started its operation under a franchise agreement. In Bangladesh there are two franchisees conducting operation on behalf of Coca-Cola Company. One is Tabani Beverages Company Ltd and the other Abul Monem Ltd. Tabani Beverage was established in 1963 at 257, Tejgaon, Dhaka. It had a rated capacity of 50 BPM on and acre land area. After independence, in 1972, the plant was handed over to Bangladesh. Freedom fighter welfare trust under the ministry of industry with the increase of gradual market demand in 1985 transferred and newly installed the plant with an increased capacity of 250 BPM at Mirpur on seven acre land area. In 1993 a new plant with 500 BPM capacities was established just beside the previous plant. Now the total production line capacity of the company is app. 830 BPM. Tabani beverage produces 175 ml, 250 ml, 50 ml and 1000 ml glass bottle. They supply Coca-Cola drinks to Dhaka and Rajshahi divisions. Other than Tabani beverage the other franchisee of Coca-Cola Company is Abul Monem company ltd. In 1982 Abul Monem started their operation after they acquired the plant of K. Rahman & Company. In 1987 the company made an aggressive move to expand their market. They installed new H & K bottling line along with and installed capacity of 450 BPM at Comilla. Furthermore they company established another plant Chittagong. The state of the art bottling plant with an installed capacity 600 BPM is the most modern plant in the country and is equipped with the straight-line-technology from KHS German. Abul Monem produces the PET Bottles, CANS and GLASS Bottles of a newly introduced product. Mission Statement Respect for labor and a human right is the fundamental to Coca-Cola Company’s principles for conducting business around the world. We treat our employees in more that 200 countries in which we do business in fairness, dignity with respect. Or bottling partners and we operate in accordance with local laws and contribute to the communities. Ultimately, a company’s identity is measured by how it connects with people and with the world around it. That is why The Coca-Cola Company’s mission is articulated as a promise. The Coca-Cola Company exists to Benefit and refresh everyone it touches. All of our success, both past and future, is a product of this promise. Our growth hinges upon our ability to build and nature relationship-with consumers, customers, bottling partners, suppliers, government agencies, communities, employees and share holders. Further, as we help to build thriving communities all around the world, we seek to ensure a healthy and sustainable marketplace for our beverages-today, and far into the future. Motto of Coca-Cola: Through out the history of the world’s most popular soft drink, advertising for Coca-Cola has followed the trends of time. Coca-Cola’s advertising slogans are memorable and create lasting impressions. Since the first slogan was introduced in 1886 ‘Delicious and refreshing’. The overall theme has been refreshment- one of the pleasant things in life, distinctive and available nearly everywhere. Motto followed the lead to make Coca-Cola the best known soft drink in the world. Today, motto for Coca-Cola and the company’s other products are carefully aimed towards individual tastes while understanding the universal appeal of refreshment. And very appropriately, the company has globally launched its new motto Theme –â€Å"Enjoy Coca-Cola†. ‘Coca-Cola motto’, the world’s best-known consumer product demands the talents of professionals in many different areas. The mottos that has used till now are: â€Å"Dil thanda to duniya thanda† Strategic Goals Short term To create Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value in their current product† Long term To acquire the position as a market leader of the beverage industry in Bangladesh by producing & serving high-quality and high value-added soft drink. Situational Analysis Product Definition Coca-Cola is consumer product because final consumer for personal consumption buys it. It also falls under the category of Convenience product, which requires very little planning, Little Comparison, low customer involvement, low price. It widespread distribution at convenient place makes it easier for the consumer to purchase the product. Coca-Cola has different sizes. They have 1 liter glass bottle as well pet bottle. Coca-Cola also has 175 ml and 250ml glass bottles. In addition, they also have 1. 5 liter of pet bottle and in the recent past they introduced into the market 2 liter pet bottle coke. It has also 250ml of can coke. Brand Name of Coca-Cola Coca-Cola Has become one of the most popular and widely known Brand roduct in the world It has high brand equity, and because of its high brand loyalty, name awareness, Perceived quality, strong brand association and other assets such as patent trademark and channel relationship. The Coca-Cola brand is value at $ 70 billion. Here we are dealing with tow most important situational factors- External & Internal factors. Some important determinants for this situation analysis are as follows: |EXTERNAL FACTORS |INTERNAL FACTORS | |1. Demographics |1. Human Resource Management | |2. Social Factors |2. Financial Capacity | |3. Political Influence |3. Technology | |4. Competitors |4. Management Level | |5. Government |5. Marketing Department | Table 1: situational factors External Factors Demographic Demographic is the study of people’s vital statistics such as their age, race, ethnicity and location. It is an uncontrollable factor in the external environment. Demographic is very important for marketing managers. After survey we find that teenagers are the prime consumer of Coca-Cola products, rather than the people at the age group of 60. Coca-Cola does not have an effective and fast distribution channel in the villages of Bangladesh. Their competitors have an upper hand in this zone. From the demographic point of view we have done a survey on the population who consume more Coca-Cola. |Age Limit |Percentage of Consumer | |Below 10 |10 | |11-15 |20 | |16-20 |23 |21-25 |18 | |26-35 |14 | |36-45 |11 | |45 and above |04 | |TOTAL |100 | Table 2: Source [Tabani beverage Ltd] Social Factors The most difficult external factors for marketing managers to forecast control or incorporate into marketing plans is the social factor. Social factors include our attitudes, values and lifestyle. According to the company’s mission statement or other statements it is clear that they do not use any such ingredients (e. g. Alcohol), which, contradict to our perception, values of Islamic religion or any other norms, and believes. Political Influence In Bangladesh hartal is a part of our life. Like all other third world counties we have political problems too. The marketing manager of Coca-Cola Company generally sells Coca-Cola 8,000 cases (1 case = 24 bottles) per day but during hartal time the company faces a great loss as they cannot transport their products to the market. Other than hartals they seem to have lesser problems regarding the political condition of Bangladesh. Competitors Pepsi is a very powerful brand name and is one of the biggest competitors of Coca-Cola. They compete with Coca-Cola throughout the world and it is no different in Bangladesh. At the current moment RC- Cola is a very big brand name in Bangladesh and is the greatest rival for Coca-Cola in Bangladesh. Mountain Dew is a new brand and is a threat for Coca-Cola. RC beverages with the brand image that Partex holds in this country RC beverage easily became a big competitor for Coca-Cola. RC’s market share is increasing which in not a good sign for Coca-Cola. Mineral water such as Mum, Fresh, ACME also a competitor of Coca-Cola. Different kinds of Juice also compete with soft drinks. Government Coca-Cola has been in business in Bangladesh for a long time but still today there is no record of the company being in any conflict with the government. Coca-Cola always tries to follow the government rules and regulation and they always pays the government the taxes and tariffs while bringing in their raw materials from their Parent Company. Internal Factor Human Resource Management Human resource management refers to the system that influences employee’s behavior, attitudes and performance. The roles of the Human Resource in Coca-Cola Company are as follows: †¢ Change Agents †¢ Choose a Strategic Partner †¢ Expert Administration Body †¢ Recruit Skilled and Efficient Employees Technology Like all other companies, for Coca-Cola, technology is the most important factor. Coca-Cola uses very high-tech machines for its production. In 1993 a new plant with 500 BPM capacities was established just beside the previous plant. Now the total production line capacity of the company is app. 830 BPM. In 1987 the Abul Monem Company installed new H & K bottling line along with and installed capacity of 450 BPM. The state of the art bottling plant with an installed capacity 600 BPM is the most modern plant in the country and is equipped with the straight-line-technology from KHS German. Management Levels Coca-Cola Company has three management levels: †¢ Strategic level: The Production Procedure, HRM, Store, Finance, Quality Control is all under his control. Technical Level: They are responsible for the administration, production, sales & distribution of Coca-Cola products. Under production department they have quality managers; under brand manager they have brand officer and marketing officer. †¢ Operational manager: They are responsible for the distribut ion of the products and are responsible for al operational activities. Financing Capacity From the financial report of 2002 and 2003 we can conclude that the company has a very good and sound financial capacity. Coca-Cola has a very high level of income. Moreover they are successfully conducting their business all over the world. Marketing Department All their distribution & sales promotion falls under this department. Coca-Cola Company has the marketing intelligence. They do a survey in all over the market situation and then they decide what step they should take. During the off seasons the marketing managers takes some promotional activities and uses few strategies to maintain their economic growth rate. The promotional strategies they use are like giving gifts, coupons, scratch cards etc. Brand Building Efforts Relationship Building Effort As the world's largest bottler of liquid, nonalcoholic refreshment, we operate in markets with dramatically different consumer preferences, product delivery systems, economic conditions, and marketplace opportunities. Despite these variables, Coca-Cola Enterprises meets the needs of local customers and communities throughout its diverse territories with a strong commitment to local, community-based marketing and superior marketplace execution. These concepts, combined with our firm belief in a decentralized operating structure that places responsibility and accountability as close as possible to the customer, clearly distinguishes Coca-Cola Enterprises from other bottlers. Building Values The people of Coca-Cola Enterprises are the heart and soul of our business, building relationships with our customers and our consumers in the communities we serve. By putting people first, we hope to create value for everyone touched by our Company. We strive for an atmosphere in which all employees are comfortable being themselves – offering ideas, making suggestions, expressing views, and appreciating our shared and unshared differences – regardless of their age, race, gender, nationality, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. Target Market From the above table we can see that Coca-Cola Company’s main target audience is the teenage people (16-20). They aim their advertisement mostly at them. Then they target the age group of 11-15. They are also quite a significant consumer of Coca-Cola products. They hardly target the aged people. Their target is between the ranges of 11-35 years old population. Consumption Rate Figure 1: Consumption rate of Coca-Cola & other brands No matter how hot or â€Å"cool† the flavor feud becomes this summer; Coke won't be sweating it too much. Coca-Cola up 30 Tk to 40 Tk, the world's largest beverage maker, is still comfortably perched in its slot as the local market leader, according to Beverage Digest. Currently market share of product Coca-Cola is 23%. Comparing to other beverages Coca-Cola is the market leader product brand. Strategic Group Map of competitors in the beverage industry Figure 2: Strategic Group Map of competitors in the beverage industry Products in adversely affected strategic groups may try to shift to a more favorably situated group. Here in beverage industry entry barrier is low that’s why too much product are available. Currently Coca-Cola, Pepsi, RC-cola, Virgin cola stands in same strategic group. Here Coca-Cola is the leading product of the beverage market industry in both market share and revenue generation. Pepsi has 2nd largest market share but its revenue generation is less than RC-cola. RC-cola has low market share comparing Coca-Cola and Pepsi but revenue generation is high. In Beverage industry upper 10, RC orange are the worst revenue generation product. Mum mineral water has demand but that’s market share is also low comparing to Coca-Cola. In this figure u see strategic gap. No company wants of reached their product in that position because it is not possible low market share with high volume of revenue. On the other hand no company wants for a product with high market share but low revenue generation. SWOT Analysis Strengths |Weaknesses | |Patent |Do not sell on account | |Own production plant |Less motivation down stream | |Research & Development |Insufficient advertisement | |High market share |Not skillful distributor | |Brand image |Over confidence on their product | |Opportunities |Threats | |High growth rate |Other existing company | |Huge local market |Good taste of competitor | |Acceptance of pet bottles is higher than |Political stability | |bottles |Better professional promotion of other | |Good relation with distribution channel |competitor | |Good relation Govt. | Table 3: SWOT Analysis Critical Success Factors Strength Patent Patent is most important and powerful strength of Coca-Cola Company. It’s an intangible asset for the company. Coca-Cola Company is a very well established group not only in Bangladesh but also all through out the world. They have a strong brand image all over the world and the same follows in Bangladesh. First half of the Coca-Cola Company is trade marked as â€Å"Coca†, so nobody can use this name. Patent is their powerful strength because its carries their image as one of the most reputed producers of beverage in the whole world. Own production plant: Coca-Cola Company has their own production plant in Bangladesh-Tabani Beverage established their own production plant with the capacity of 250 BPM, and beside that they newly installed higher capacity of 500 BPM. So they don’t need to depend on others. They only import the Syrup from the patent company & produce it for production. Another franchisee, Abdul Monem Company Ltd. started bottling line with the capacity of 450 BPM. Furthermore, they installed the most modern bottling plant capacity of 600 BPM from KHS German. Research & Development: They have well-established research & development department where they research over their existing product concentration & try to develop it. They also do researching on different taste of their products. They have highly qualified employees for their research & development dept. High market share: They are the most prominent manufacturers among all the beverage company in Bangladesh. They have higher market share than their competitors. Coca-Cola captures a market share of 26% where as the other products of Coca-Cola Company has very little share compared to it. Their greatest rival in Bangladesh is RC-Cola, which has a market share of only 19%. This shows that Coca-Cola Company has a high market share. Brand image: They have the most dominant brand name all over the world; they made their image for their brand name â€Å"Coca-Cola†. Whenever people think about soft drinks, the first name that comes into their mind is Coke. This shows how popular they are and how strong is their brand image. Weakness Don’t sell on account: Coca-Cola Company doesn’t sell on account, whereas other companies like selling on account to their dealers. For not selling on account their profit margin tends to go down. Also, they are loosing their dealers and distributors. Other companies are attracting those distributors and as distribution channel is the only way that the company can use to reach its final consumers they are facing serious problems. Less motivation down stream: They are very steady flow motivators for their product. They motivate but not so strictly, mean not maintaining the time period†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ [Need more] Insufficient advertisement: In our country, Coca-Cola does not have enough advertisement promotion. Thus their competitors are professionally more advanced than them. Their customers are not properly informed. They think that their brand name would always do the trick for them. Due to less advertisement promotion they are behind their competitor. We hardly can find any advertisement of Coca-Cola in villages. So, many of the customers of that parts of Bangladesh are not having Coca-Cola. Not skillful village distributor: Coca-Cola does not have a good and skillful village distributor. Coca-Cola products can hardly be seen in village areas. Their advertisements are also hardly seen in those areas. The distributors are not promoting Coca-Cola products in villages, which their competitors are. Their distributors do not have outlets or any other such facilities, which could be promotional for the company’s products. Overconfidence in their product: Just from the point mentioned above we can know that the company has overconfidence over their product. As they are the first beverage producers in the world and has a very strong brand image and patent, the company thinks that they will be able to sell their products without too any promotional activities. Coca-Cola does not have too much advertisement and are also not willing to sell their products on account to their dealers. As such they do not have that good distribution channel outside Dhaka city. They think people would buy their products because of its brand name. Opportunity High growth rate: From its very inception in Bangladesh, Coca-Cola has a very potential market in our country because of its international reputation, quality and high acceptance among people of all ages. Coca-Cola does not have that good distribution channel outside Dhaka but now they are trying to get hold of better distributors and thus the village people can have access to their products. So it can be seen that in the near future they can have even a greater market share than today. Huge local market: The selling activities of Coca-Cola are very high in the local market than other existing company. They capture the whole market by giving the best quality to their customer and dealing professionally. Acceptance of Pet bottles: Coca-Cola launched attractive pet bottles, which is accepted by the entire customer, as it is portable and people are willing to buy these pet bottles rather than the bottles. So their effort to launch pet bottles is successful. Good relationship with the distribution channel: Coca-Cola Company and its distributor have a very good relationship with each other. They supply their product according to their needs. They promote their distribution channel through discount & allowances. They serve their dealers on time. Good relation with the Government: Good relationship with the Govt. is very important for any company to run its business. Threats Other existing company: The other rising companies are becoming threat for Coca-Cola. Opening of one company decreases 1% market share each year. Today RC Cola is a very reputed beverage producer and with their attractive advertisements and distribution channels they are at this moment in a better position then Coca-Cola and it is a big threat to them. Not only RC Cola but Pepsi, Virgin and euro lemon are also in this business. This means that consumers have more options to choose. Good taste of competitors: The other beverage company’s product is also coming up with the different taste like; mountain dew, URO cola with lemon, Fizz- UP, Pepsi has but Coca-Cola Company does not have any product like that in our country. So that it’s been a great threat for Coca-Cola. Political instability: Like all other companies Coca-Cola also faces a lot of problems regarding the political situation of our country. The political instability creates a lot of problems in the production of goods. Due to hartals, the transportation of their products is affected a lot. Better professional promotion of competitor: Competitors are becoming very professional with their advertising. RC Cola has designed a very attractive advertisement. They are using all well-known models like Nobel and Reshmi, who is an Indian model, for heir advertisements. Not only RC-Cola but also other beverage producers are using models and jingles for their advertisements. Coca-Cola on the other hand does not have that many advertisements an as such is being threatened by its competitors. There is a possibility that their competitors would capture greater market share through advertisements. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs In 1943, Abraham Maslow first published his famous â€Å"Hierarchy of Needs† to explain what energizes and directs human behavior. It is no accident that very successful brands, such as Coke, appeal too many of Maslow’s deficiency and growth needs and that these needs are linked to powerful emotions: †¢ Physiological Needs (Coca-Cola quenches thirst and hunger. It is† delicious†& â€Å"refreshing. †) †¢ Safety/Security Needs (Coca-Cola is safe to drink worldwide. It is unchanging: â€Å"Classic Coca-Cola. †) †¢ Belongingness Needs (You are part of a large group of people who love Coca-Cola. ) †¢ Esteem Needs (Coca-Cola is recognized as a premium soft drink worldwide. It also call to mind memories of â€Å"special times and places. †) †¢ Aesthetic Needs (All Coke ads and designs have a sense of order and beauty. †¢ Self-actualization Needs (On the Coca-Cola web site, there are many stories on how Coca-Cola has deeply affected people’s lives) Marketing Mix Product Our selected product is Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola has different sizes. They have 1 liter glass bottle as well pet bottle. Coca-Cola also has 175 ml and 250ml glass bottles. In addition, they also have 1. 5 liter of pet bottle and in the recent past they introduced into the market 2 liter pet bottle Coca-Cola. It has also 250ml of can Coca-Cola. What's in a Coca-cola †¢ Carbonated Water †¢ High Fructose Corn Syrup †¢ Caramel Color †¢ Phosphoric Acid †¢ Natural Flavors †¢ Caffeine Price The retail price of the beverage products are given below: Product Item |Quantity per pack |Price | | | 250 ml. |12. 00 Tk | |Coca-Cola |500 ml |20. 00 Tk | | |1000 ml. (Pet) |40. 00 Tk | | |1500 ml |50. 00 Tk | | |2250 ml |65. 00 Tk | | | 250 ml. |12. 0 Tk | |Sprite |500 ml |20. 00 Tk | | |1000 ml. (Pet) |40. 00 Tk | | |1500 ml |50. 00 Tk | | |2250 ml |65. 00 Tk | |Fanta | 250 ml. |12. 00 Tk | |RC- cola | 250 ml. | | |500 ml |10. 00 Tk | | |1000 ml. (Pet) |18. 00 Tk | | |1500 ml |35. 00 Tk | | | |45. 00 Tk | |Pepsi | 250 ml. |12. 00 Tk | | |500 ml |2 0. 0 Tk | | |1000 ml. (Pet) |40. 00 Tk | | |1500 ml |50. 00 Tk | | |2250 ml |65. 00 Tk | |7 up | 250 ml. |12. 00 Tk | | |500 ml |20. 00 Tk | | |1000 ml. (Pet) |40. 0 Tk | | |1500 ml |50. 00 Tk | | |2250 ml |65. 00 Tk | |Mum |500 ml |10. 00 Tk | | |1000 ml |20. 00 Tk | |Sezan juice |250 ml |15. 00 Tk | |Pran juice |250 ml |12. 00 Tk | Table 4: Source [Tabani beverage Ltd] Distribution Channel Figure 3: Distribution Channel The company will establish an extensive distribution channel for all brand of coca-cola company to make it available throughout the country. It will build six distribution centers (Agent) in the six divisions of Bangladesh: Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Khulna, and Barishal. From these distribution centers, they will supply the coca-cola & other brands to different districts dealers. From dealers, the sales representatives will supply retail shops (small and mega) on the basis of their demand. The small traders will purchase Coca-Cola directly from the dealers. Promotion Promotional activities of Coca-Cola Promotion means activities that communicate the merits of the product and persuade target customers to buy it. According to Coca-Cola promotion is one of the major tools of marketing. A good way of promoting a product not only helps to influence and motivate people to buy it but also give a good impression about a company and it products. Sales Promotion Sales promotion includes marketing activities-other than personal selling, advertising, and public relations- that stimulates consumers, trade and dealer effectiveness. Sales promotion can be aimed at end consumers, trade customers, or company’s employees. Coca-Cola offers all of these sales promotions every year for various purposes. Coca-Cola s sales promotion tools include free samples. Sales promotion is generally a short run tool used to stimulate immediate increase in demand. Frequently Coca-Cola uses sales promotion to improve the effectiveness of their promotion mix ingredients, especially advertising. Research shows that sales promotion complements advertising by yielding faster sales responses. Advertising Advertising is a form of impersonal, one-way mass communication paid for the sponsor. Many different media may transmit it. Examples include television, radio, newspapers, magazines, books, billboards etc. Coca-Cola does advertise by these media as well. The Coca-Cola advertising usually follows a campaign process that consists of five phases: †¢ Determining the advertising objectives †¢ Setting the campaign budget †¢ Determining the message to be transmitted to the target market †¢ Selecting the message vehicle and †¢ Evaluating the campaign Advertising is one of the most important promotional tools among the promotion mix of a company, which is used in order to convey their message along with visual effect. Coca-Cola is number one global brand in soft drinks items. So it also uses media advertising in order to capture full market coverage through out the world. In case of any sort of advertising campaign or slogan i. e. he central theme of ad is the most important part advertisement along with its storyboard. In fact, ad campaign communicates the product message to its target customers. Public Relation Concerned about the public images, Coca-Cola often spend large sum of money to build a positive consumer i mage. Public relations are the marketing function that:- †¢ Evaluates public attitudes †¢ Identifies the policies and procedures of the company and †¢ Executes a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance. A solid public relations program can generate favorable publicity also. Thus Coca-Cola now spends huge money in the game field such as football and cricket, Sponsoring for charity shows etc. Organizing the ‘Asian Test Cricket Championship’, Coca-Cola Companies of Bangladesh paid Tk4, 000,000 approximate only for the final match of this tournament. Strategy Alternatives †¢ Maintain existing strategies †¢ Consolidate resources to focus on the soft drink market and divest of other businesses such as fruit drinks †¢ Leverage brand equity and financial resources to accelerate global market penetration with a view toward long-term profits Strategy Recommendations †¢ Focus on global market expansion †¢ Leverage brand equity and financial resources to dominate the global market †¢ Consider divesting of fruit drink lines and then reallocating resources to dominate the global soft drink market Brand Element Choice Criteria Exorability Brand Element |Criterion | |Brand Name |Coca-Cola can be easily recalled and recognized | |Slogans |â€Å"Coca-Cola Enjoy† â€Å"Always Coca-Cola† â€Å"Pio Saar Uthake† â€Å"Thanda M atlab Coca-Cola† â€Å"Dil Thanda to | | |Dunia Thanda† â€Å"Thandar naam Coca-Cola† can be chosen to enhance brand recall and recognition | |Jingles |Jingle can be also memorable | |Package |Attractive color with different packaging which contain all the information to make the package | | |memorable one | |Logos & Symbol |Unique logo and style of it by using red and white color that creates attraction to it’s | | |consumers mind | Table 5: Source [Tabani beverage Ltd] Meaningfulness Brand Element |Criterion | |Brand Name | Name of Coca-Cola has come from coco leaves and cola nut. | |Slogan |Its slogan has excellent meaning which can convey a message to build association | |Jingle |Its jingle carries distinctive message to its customer | |Package |Its packaging color convey the meaning of joy and pleasure | |Logo & Symbol |Its logo & symbol is unique and different from its competitor | Table 6: Source [Tabani beverage Ltd] Transferability Brand Element |Criterion | |Brand Name |Coca-Cola is globally accepted Brand | |Slogan |Its Slogan is easily acceptable through out the world | |Jingle |Jingle is transferable according to the culture of the host country | |Package |Packaging color and style is attractive through out the world | |Logo & Symbol