Kitchenware Products Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Kitchenware Products - Essay Example The study results shows that the new product has great chances of recording high sells and profits within the target market. Nevertheless, this success is possible only if the company considers what is needed most by the customers. It was found that most customers would be looking at the overall superiority of the new product. Leo Wahl established the Kitchenware Products Company in the year 1919. Since inception, the company has been a leader in the production of quality kitchen utensils mainly from stainless steel. In addition, the company has been a major producer of simple electrical appliances for kitchen use. Currently, the Kitchenware Products Company operates within an organizational tradition of superior customer service, innovation, and superior quality. Wahl keeps on changing to a new and a better ways of effectively meeting the needs of their customers. With such efforts and frequent changes, the company ensured that products are continuously developed to meet the needs of the current modern households as it is required in product development processes (Bhote, 1996). Wahl is a brand with a global presence and trust. This brand is based on the company’s founder, Leo Wahl. As at now, the company operates in an estimated 165 countries throughout the world. The company is currently consider ing the manufacturing and marketing of a new product; a new type of curving knife. The company has done a general approximation, and the results indicate that 40,000 units of the new product will be sold during the first year. This sales quantity is projected to increase by an average of 10% in the preceding years. The variable costs for every production unit have been approximated in three ways. The variable cost of; a raw material per unit is 3.00, packaging is 0.90 per unit, distribution is 1.00 per unit, and direct labor is 2.00 per unit. The value of currency is in pounds. The company has

British Heart Foundation Organisational Analysis

British Heart Foundation Organisational Analysis The British Heart Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation. We are the UKs largest heart charity (the fifth largest charity in the UK), fighting heart and circulatory disease. Largest funder of research into heart disease in UK. Founded in 1961 Our head office is based in London and there are six regional offices. Employ 1807 staff. Heart and circulatory disease the UKs biggest killer 2.6 million people in UK living with heart disease. Income year ending March 2008 was nearly  £117 million Fund research, education/campaigns raising awareness, life-saving cardiac equipment and through BHF heart nurses, they help support patients suffering from heart disease. BHF has B2B customers, working in partnership with organisations such as Colgate, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Weight Watchers and Scottish and Southern Energy. However, this study will focus on BHFs B2C customers. Number of SBUs trading, Events, VFR, Legacies, Prevention and Care therefore serving multiple customer segments. BHFs target audiences include Heart patients, at-risk groups, health professionals, and children and parents. As with most charities, those donating money, time and support to the BHF are typically 45 plus, ABC12s. 1.2 BHFs Philosophy The philosophy of an organisation refers to its business approach, it is the principles that underlie its whole operation; the philosophy is what guides the organisation. Organisations may operate under one of three philosophies; they may be product, sales or market oriented (Lancaster and Reynolds, 2005). A product oriented organisation focuses on their existing products, their goal being to produce them as efficiently as possible. There is little, if any, consideration of the needs and wants of their customers or the market. A sales-oriented organisation, although recognising their competition, still devotes little in the way of considering the needs and wants of their customers. The sales-persons role is key and their goals are typically short-term with success being measured in terms of sales (Lancaster and Reynolds, 2005). A market-oriented organisation holds the customer at the centre of all its activities. In contrast to the sales orientation, where marketing is likely to be restricted to a marketing department, the marketing-oriented philosophy is one that permeates the whole organisation; every department recognises the central importance of the customer. There is an emphasis on understanding their target audiences; identifying their needs and satisfying them. (Lancaster and Reynolds, 2005). Products and services are developed with the target audience in mind, in fact extensive research into the customer needs and market conditions is conducted to inform the development. Andreasen and Kotler (p38, 2007) Marketing orientation means marketing planning must begin with the target audience, not with the organization The BHF follows a market oriented philosophy, Target audiences are a central focus of the organisation; the organisation only exists as a result of their audience. The focus on their customers is demonstrated not only by their current strategy to make the organisation more relevant to target audiences, but also by their corporate objectives (see appendix 1), which are customer focused; based on fulfilling their needs and attaining a high standard service. The organisation is dedicated to instilling the market-approach organisation-wide, for example internal marketing workshops are frequently held, aimed at the non-marketing departments. Lancaster and Reynolds (2007) claim that to achieve their corporate objectives, the market oriented company must recognise that they do not exist in a vacuum; rather, the external environment is dynamic and constantly changing. Whilst it is essential to identify and anticipate the needs and wants of their target markets, and know how best to respond to these with the most efficient use of the resources available to them, it is important that this is done within the context of their ever-changing external environment and the opportunities and threats it poses. Therefore, for a market-oriented organisation such as the BHF, the role the marketing plan plays is a crucial one. It operationalises the organisations philosophy and ensures the organisation actually is market-oriented and provides a route the organisation can follow to ensure this. As mentioned in 1.1 the marketing plan requires a great deal of research scanning the environment and aiming to meet the customer needs and wants (Beamish and Ashford, 2008). The role of marketing information and research in conducting and analysing the marketing audit The Role of Marketing Information and Research In order for an organisation to operate a market orientation and remain customer-focused, information and research is essential. When undertaken properly it can provide a thorough understanding of target audiences and the micro and macro markets. The findings guide the direction of the marketing plan and with the right information and research subsequent decisions will be informed ones and it will be possible to make more realistic future predictions. Failing to gather data and research poses serious risks; without it an organisation is effectively operating in a vacuum, future decisions are uniformed and there is no customer focus. (Beamish and Ashford, 2008). Collecting Marketing Information There are two ways of collecting marketing information; secondary and primary. Secondary data is information collected for a purpose other than for the current research. External sources of secondary data include third party databases such as keynote and mintel, government statistics, national and trade press and the internet. In addition, there are also a number of internal sources of secondary data, for example a Customer Relations Management (CRM) database providing demographic (age, gender, address, occupation) and lifestyle data (where, what, when and how they buy, how much they spend, religion). Other internal sources include customer complaints, sales reports, personnel, information on their products and services, prices, retailers, internal training of staff, marketing budget/spend, communications spend and results of previous market research studies. Much of this data may be held on a central database The Marketing Information System (MkIS), this can provide substantial inf ormation, fulfilling some research needs, however to obtain bespoke, targeted information to fulfil all research needs primary data is necessary (Taghian and Shaw, 1998) Primary data is data bespoke to the research project. It allows for a more detailed analysis specific to the organization. External sources of primary data interviews, focus groups and surveys. Internal data can be gathered through interviews with staff. Conducting Research within BHF Secondary: OneCRM Third party databases Subscribes to specialist magazines such as ThirdSector, Marketing Week and PR Week Information on external environment. Primary: Recognises importance of bespoke research uses external agencies (FIND NAME RESEARCH NOTES!!). Important to note that there are only 2 other chest and heart charities in CAF top 500, third party data therefore often only relates to charity or health charity sector, not very specific. Use surveys and focus groups. 2.4 Conducting and Analysing the Marketing Audit Environmental scanning is necessary to conduct a detailed marketing audit; it requires both primary and secondary information on both the internal and external environment. To analyse the internal environment we need to consider: Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process and Physical Evidence (7Ps) and Staff, Style, Shared Values, Systems, Structure, Strategy and Skills (7Ss). This data is specific to the organisation and therefore internal sources such as sales reports, CRM databases, staff interviews, internal observations and staff intranet are used. To analyse the external environment we need to consider factors such as political, economical, social, technological, environmental and legal (PESTEL) as well as suppliers, publics, intermediaries, customers and competitors (SPICC). This requires information sources such as third party reports, newspapers, trade magazines such as ThirdSector, focus groups, surveys and interviews of existing and potential volunteers/beneficiaries/supporters. Marketing audit and their key issues and their implications for the plan 3.1 The Marketing Audit The Internal Environment This refers to those factors the organisation has full control over. To identify the strengths and weaknesses of BHFs internal environment the 7Ps marketing mix and McKinseys 7Ss framework were used (appendix 2). These consider 14 elements such as product, price, place, promotion, strategy, structure staff and skills. In addition there are also models that can be used to help analyse certain elements, for example the BCG matrix (appendix 2) and value chain analysis. The Micro Environment To help identify the opportunities and threats that exist within BHFs micro environment the SPICC model was used (appendix 3), which considers 5 factors an organisation has partial control over; suppliers, publics, intermediaries, customers and competitors. To help analyse these factors the Product Life Cycle, Porters Five Forces model (appendix 3) and the Value Systems Analysis can be used. The Macro Environment An organisation has no control over influences within the external environment, however it is important to scan the environment in order to identify the opportunities and threats that may exist and to make informed decisions to prepare for them. When scanning BHFs external environment the PESTEL model was used (appendix 3), this categorises the forces into political, economical, social, technological, ecological and legal. Having analysed the internal and external environment a SWOT analysis can be conducted (figure 2), whereby the key strengths and weakness of the BHF and the opportunities and threats facing them are identified. Bringing together the strengths and weaknesses enables the identification of BHFs core strengths; their distinctive competencies (DCs), and from the opportunities and threats their critical success factors (CSFs) can be identified. CSFs Little direct competition. Many customers with a link to the cause. Media attention surrounding issues BHF tackle. Large prospect market. THREATS The credit crunch: decreased disposable income, corporate donations, legacies (accounts for 40% BHFs income). Direct Marketing not as effective as it used to be for charities (not seeing a return on investment). Hard to obtain the details of new people. More health and medicine charities than any other type, therefore a lot of competition especially as many tackle similar issues e.g. smoking, obesity. Many people find it embarrassing and give socially desirable answers when discussing issues such as obesity and exercise, i.e. issues the BHF deal with research unreliable. Governments Digital Britain Initiative could leave the BHF looking out-of-date. OPPORTUNITIES Many customers have a link with the cause potential to engage with our audiences more directly and build long-term relationships. There is a large prospect youth market opportunity to increase revenue and market share. Little direct competition, one of just 3 heart charities in top 500 opportunity to maximise differentiation. Companies are placing more importance on Corporate Social Responsibility provides more B2B opportunities. More media attention surrounding the issues BHF tackles such as food labelling and obesity raises profile. Governments Change4Life campaign has given BHF exposure. WEAKNESSES Lack of perceived relevance to the target audience hard for them to engage with BHF. Many generic products that arent customer friendly. Website is hard to navigate much information available, but buried under links. Low staff turnover lack of fresh ideas and perspectives in the organisation. Staff close to or highly driven by the cause find it hard to see general public perception. Regional offices developing their own structure, meaning BHF messages may appear inconsistent on a national level. STRENGTHS Strong and trusted brand. Market leader (number 1 heart charity in UK) Large integrated CRM large pool of customer data Highly motivated -dedicated and driven by cause. Recently launched large multi media campaign Connections increased awareness. Strong demand/need heart disease is the biggest UK killer. A number of large corporate sponsors give access to large audiences. Many professionals working for BHF high calibre and solid knowledge base. DCs A strong, trusted brand. Large CRM database. Strong demand. Large corporate sponsors. 3.2 Key issues faced by the BHF and their implications for the plan The SWOT analysis highlights the key issues now faced by the BHF, these are shown below: Key issues the BHF faces and their implications to the marketing plan. Key Issue Implications to the Marketing Plan Credit Crunch reduction in disposable income, therefore less donations slump in the housing market, therefore reduction in legacies reduction in corporate donations Income reduced therefore a tighter budget need to generate alternative, cost-efficient ways of raising funds go for low risk options such as building on existing relationships rather than investing a lot of resources trying to make new contacts. Increasing competition from other health charities. BHF needs to maximise their advantage of having little direct competition and emphasise their differentiation by highlighting unique aspects of the BHFs work rather than those that are similar to other charities and make it relevant to target audiences. Direct Marketing no longer an effective communication media for charities. Need to use alternative communication media that are equally accountable yet more effective possibly making more use of new media. Large prospect market. Targeting this market will require a great deal of resources, however in the short term; given the economic climate it is perhaps not the best time to try to enter this market. It is a great opportunity that should be should be considered in the long-term. Very high priority given to cost savings and operational efficiency, even more so due to the recession often results in generic products (Bruce, 2007). Need to optimise the use of the OneCRM database and increase product customisation. The Digital Britain Initiative is set to secure the UKs place at the forefront of innovationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦and quality in the digital communications industries rapid development could leave the BHF behind. Plan needs to make better use of new media, possibly going out of the BHFs comfort zone. Having conducted the SWOT analysis and considered the key issues, the BHF is now in a better position to set their objectives and determine their strategy. Referring back to figure 2, the DCs are well supported by the CSFs; there is a good match. Therefore we can afford to set higher level marketing objectives (discussed in section 4.1). This creates a gap, identified through gap analysis, between the initial forecast (where we will be if we continue to do nothing) and the new objectives. Taking the SWOT analysis into consideration I believe this gap can be bridged through establishing a product development growth strategy, this is a moderate risk strategy, which the match of the DCs and CSFs supports. The BHF will also operate a differentiation competitive strategy (appendix 4); we need to emphasise our unique selling point amongst all the other health charities. Although, other product lines may also contribute in closing the planning gap, the remainder of this plan will focus on the BHFs new product. Task 02 Red for heart campaign London to Brighton Bike Ride New Product B2B Corporate Partnerships World Events Regional Events Sponsored School Events SBU Marketing Marketing Objectives for the BHFs New Product The BHFs New Product The BHF will launch a B2C membership service that will allow them to engage directly with a large audience and encourage the development of long term relationships. Members will receive information on how to improve their heart health. Upon registering the member will receive a welcome pack containing a heart risk tape measure, a guide to heart health, a 5-a-day food diary, a heart matters fact card and a membership card. They will also receive access to the heart matters helpline, receive email alerts tailored to their needs (healthy eating, getting active, quitting smoking and well being) and will have an online account with a homepage that is regularly updated according to their stated interests upon sign up. Their membership will also provide them with special commercial offers. This is a free service because it is a belief of the BHF that heart health information should be available to all. 4.2 Marketing objectives for the BHFs Heart Matters membership service There is a hierarchy of objectives with three levels; corporate, functional and operational. At the corporate level they start off more general and are long-term and get more specific the closer the planning activity gets to the tactical implementation stage (p23 Robert et al, 2005). Corporate objectives are often expressed in financial terms, for example referring to return on investment (ROI) and return on capital employed (ROCE) (Beamish and Ashford, 2008). However, for many not-for-profit organisations, including BHF, although still long-term, they can be much harder to measure. They are typically based on the needs of the beneficiaries, now and for the future. [They] set out the direction of the organisation; they are a statement of its prioritiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Everything the organisation does should be related back to a [corporate] goal (accessed on 10/04/09 10.30 at http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/index.asp?id=488) Functional objectives are more specific than corporate objectives, often medium term referring to percentage increase in sales or market share. These then feed down to the operational objectives that are short-term and much more specific based on the 7Ps marketing mix, for example to offer a 10% discount for 2 weeks. Therefore when setting the marketing objectives for Heart Matters, they should support the corporate objectives as well as reflecting the close match between the DCs and CSFs. With regards to Heart Matters, the BHF have three options. The first is to take the view that the BHF is doing a lot of work directly related to their corporate objectives, therefore Heart Matters should be all about raising funds to help finance this work. The second is that Heart Matters should primarily focus on the need of the beneficiaries, the third is a middle-of-the-road option, whereby the need is addressed to a certain extent, but the service must be self-financing. We believe Heart Matters should initially be about addressing the need of the beneficiaries as this would provide the best opportunity to reach and engage with a wider audience. Keeping in mind the objectives should be SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound) the marketing objectives for Heart Matters are as follows: Marketing objectives for Heart Matters Membership Service Objectives To recruit over 300,000 members, with less than 7% annual attrition by 2012. This helps support the BHFs objective to provide vital information to help people reduce their own heart health risk once recruited, members will have access to heart health information to help improve their heart health. Hitting this target would indicate increased engagement with supporters. For 20% of donors to make a donation by 2012. 30% of the general population donate to charity; however, this may be skewed (as heart conditions are more prevalent in low income areas). This supports all objectives, as funds raised are invested in helping achieve BHFs objectives. For example, to achieve objective 1 (appendix 1) the BHF will provide funding, equipment and facilities to achieve the best results. Therefore, funds raised will support this. For 40% of members recruited to have engaged with another BHF product/service by 2012 e.g. to have participated in an event, donated, made a purchase from the online shop or catalogue. This serves to increase public involvement in heart health, to help achieve objective 2 (appendix 1). Achieving this target would indicate an increased understanding of the work BHF does and an increased involvement of BHF supporters. 5. Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning of Heart Matters. 5.1 Segmentation Customers are very diverse; therefore the same product and tactics will not appeal to all of them. We need to use segmentation; the process of dividing the market into specific groups of consumers/buyers who share common needs and who might require separate products and/or marketing mixes (Kotler, 1998 as cited in Ashford and Beamish, 2008). B2B and B2C markets each require different techniques to do this, as Heart Matters is a B2C product consumer segmentation will be used. Consumer markets can be segmented based on the following criteria: Geographic segmentation is based on variables such as region, population density and size of the area. Demographic segmentation uses variables such as age, gender, income, occupation, ethnicity and social class. Geo-demographic segmentation is a combination of the above, assumes that people either socialise according to class and occupation, or their lifestyles and geographic factors (Ashford and Beamish, 2008). ACORN (A Classification of Residential Neighbourhoods) is a system commonly used to segment the population according to geo-demographics. Psychographic segmentation groups according to lifestyle using variables such as social activities, interests, opinions and values. Behaviouristic segmentation refers to customer behaviour, segmenting based on variables such as benefits sought, purchasing rate and usage rate. Segmentation for the BHF differs depending upon whether the market to be segmented is donor or beneficiary. When segmenting the donor market, all of the above criteria are important, however when segmenting the beneficiary market, behaviourist segmentation will typically be given priority (Bruce, 2007). There will be 2 main phases to Heart Matters; the first will target beneficiaries. Upon recruitment of the target beneficiary groups the product will move into its second phase, to raise donations, therefore the target beneficiary groups will be further segmented and new target groups identified (for example this will determine those members receiving a  £5 donation ask and those receiving a  £15 one) . This report will focus on phase 1, therefore segmentation will be specific to the BHFs beneficiary market (for further information on phase 2, please refer to appendix 5. As previously mentioned, the BHF gives priority to behaviourist segmentation when segmenting their beneficiary markets. Potential segments Heart Matters could target include: Seeking help recovering from a heart condition Seeking help living with a heart condition Seeking information on caring for someone with a heat condition Desire to improve their lifestyle Desire to improve their diet Frequent user of BHF products/services Infrequent user of BHF product/services Use products and services from a variety of health charities Loyal to an alternative health charity Although behaviourist variables form the basis of segmentation, further segmentation is necessary as within these groups there are still huge differences from one customer to the next. Further, given limited resources it may not be possible to serve everyone within a particular needs group. The BHF also use the other criteria to identify additional segments: Geography: The BHF is a nation-wide organisation, however they segment according to Densely populated areas Large metropolitan areas Areas of low income Demographics: Parents educate about keeping their childrens hearts healthy 65+ higher risk of heart disease, inform on how to reduce risk 30-45 leading busy lives, but still have a chance to make a change 7-16 to educate about the importance of keeping their heart healthy Sedentary occupation High stress occupation Geo-demographic: Segment into different ACORN groups all of which are within the BHFs beneficiary market as heart health information should be made available to everyone. The market is segmented according to ACORN group as solutions and recommendations may differ depending on income and social class, for example EF14 category affordable healthy recipes, gym-free ways of keeping fit. Psychographics: Internet-savvy Dependents Families Older couples (no children or left home) Gym Members 5.2 Target audience for Heart Matters The marketing of Heart Matters will follow a differentiated strategy, that is Heart Matters will only be targeted at certain segments of the total market and the marketing mix (section 6) will be tailored towards these target segments of the market. Figure 4 below shows the target groups chosen for Heart Matters Membership. Recovering/living with heart conditionhigh risk Glasgow and London Age 50+ Behaviour Geographic Demographic Target groups for Heart Matters Target Group Reason for Choice Recovering/living with a heart condition and high risk groups. This is a large market; heart and circulatory disease is the UKs biggest killer, almost 2.6 million people are living with heart disease. It is a current strategy of the BHF to make the organisation more relevant to target audiences; this is a large audience where the need is currently greatest and it is important to ensure the BHF is made relevant to them. These are issues that are unique to the BHF, no other large charity tackles them targeting this group provides an opportunity to highlight the BHFs differentiation. Glasgow and London As this is a new product, and one which is free it will initially be launched into just 2 cities, this is to reduce the risk involved. Densely populated cities give a wider market reach. Glasgow has been chosen as there is a high concentration of heart disease, London has been chosen as people living here tend to have a faster pace of life, encouraging them to be unhealthy. Initial rates of membership registration of the two cities may give an indication of where to roll the membership out to. Age 50+ Heart disease is more common and risk is greater in older people. Further, a survey under-taken by one of our corporate sponsors Fitness-First revealed that of all age groups the over 50s showed the greatest percentage eating healthily, this indicates a large market that would be receptive to health-related information. In addition, this is the baby-boomer generation, a large percentage of which are wealthy home owners may provide significant fundraising opportunities in phase 2. 5.3 Positioning Heart Matters Having selected the target segments, it is important the service is then positioned with their needs and requirements in mind. Positioning is the act of designing an offer so that it occupies a distinct and valued place in the minds of target customers (Kotler et al, 1998). The target segments are likely to have concerns, it is therefore important the service is positioned as reassuring. However, we do not want to be patronising and compromise our brand, the service tackles serious issues so needs to be positioned as a provider of expert advice. Each customer treated as an individual, we wish the service to be viewed as providing customised, not generic information. Figure 4 below shows how we would like our target audiences to perceive our service. Customised Reassuring Expert, trusted advice Generic Inaccessible Amateur advice Depressing Accessible Perceptual Map for Heart Matters Marketing mix for the BHFs Heart Matters Membership Service Strategy Justification Product USP (Unique Selling Point) Core product: USP no other charity provides information and advice specific to living with and recovering from a heart condition. Supports our competitive differentiation strategy. Secondary and tertiary product: Carbon Copy many other charities provide free membership services offering newsletters, free calendars, membership cards etc (appendix 4) Price Intermediate strategy, in terms of the value the customer will place on the product. This supports our quality of information positioning and selective marketing strategy. Heart Matters core product has a USP; however we want it to be available to everyone within our target market, not just a specialist group, so therefore skimming is not applicable. Price penetration is also not applicable as this is a strategy typically used for lower quality, carbon copies therefore does not support our quality of information positioning strategy. In addition we do not want to target everyone within the beneficiary market; this is a new product, do not want to appear low quality and generic, the intermediary price strategy supports this. Place Dual distribution use both direct and indirect (via intermediaries) distribution to the customer. Selective Distribution Interdependence BHF retains full control. Dual distribution: the core product will only be distributed directly, this is essential to support the expert positioning and give the BHF full control over the service. Indirect distribution of the core product may confuse customers and fail to relate it to the BHF. Indirect distribution of Heart Matters registration and materials. This will give a greater access to the market and provide customers with the option to register in person or online. Selective distribution will give access to the right customers i.e. our target groups. This also supports our quality positioning strategy and intermediate price strategy, as we can choose intermediary locations that support our brand such as pharmacies. Intermediaries will be interdependent the BHF will retain full control. This is because the BHF has a strong brand and a greater understanding of the customer needs, particularly as this is a service aimed at beneficiaries. Giving independence to intermediaries may risk bad PR for the BHF. Promotion Objective Differentiate and Inform Str

Loneliness in Steinbecks Of Mice and Men Essay -- essays research pap

How true is the statement "Guys like us are the loneliest guys in the world" Personally I believe that this statement is true in every aspect. Loneliness is a big part of the book "Of mice and men." The book shows loneliness in every ones life in the book. The quote says "Guys like us" George is talking about the ranch workers by saying "us" we know they are all lonely because they all show signs of loneliness, they try to fight this by making friends I think that in the book Steinbeck tries to show us that loneliness can be resolved by friendship. George blames Lennie for him being lonely ?I could get a girl, shoot some pool and stay at the cat house? George seems to be in denial as even if Lennie wasn?t there he wouldn?t be able to get all those things because of the depression 1929. Loneliness has made Crook's a very bitter and isolated man. He is truly not able to leave this situation because of his race. The other men at the ranch do not communicate with Crooks unless he is working because he is black. Other than when they are working, the other men ignore Crooks off all of their activities. Crooks is very isolated, and doesn?t seem to want any company. He has become bitter and known to lash out at people because of the loneliness that he has. Crooks's emotions are showed to the reader when he talks to Lennie in his room about having no one to relate to and communicate with. "Maybe you can see now. You got George. You know he's goin' to come back. S'pose you didn't have nobody. S'pose you couldn't go into the bunk house and play rummy `cuase you was black...A guy needs somebody--to be near him." Crooks has never been treated well by anyone because he is black. This has affected Crooks. Crooks's was shocked when... ..."I tried Aunt Clara, ma'am. I tried. I couldn't help it...I'll go right off in the hills an' I'll fin' a cave an' I'll live there so I won't be no more trouble to George." Lennie was basically in denial of his own loneliness. Loneliness has made Lennie want a better life for himself. This involves these soft items and the dream for his and George's farm. He believes at the farm he will not have to deal with all the problems that he has now. Lennie became unrealistic in many ways because of both his condition and his loneliness. Lennie most likely would have never got the farm or the soft items even if he wasn't killed, but his loneliness acts as motivation for these goals. In conclusion to this, yes I do think the statement ?Guys like us are the loneliest guys in the world? is true because loneliness is seen in all the ranch workers life?s, as I?ve just proved.

Financial Markets Assignment Essay

Explain how interest rates decline following major Fed purchases of mortgage-backed securities. The FED implements quantitative easing by buying financial assets of longer maturity, e. g. , mortgage-backed securities, from commercial banks and other private institutions in order to inject a pre-determined quantity of money into the economy. This is a means of stimulating the economy and lowering longer-term interest rates further out on the yield curve; quantitative easing increases the excess reserves of the banks, and raises the prices of the financial assets bought, which lowers their yield. Graphically, this can be explained with the aid of Figure below. The supply of money is shifted from point 1 to the right (MS1 to MS2) and, all else equal, the new equilibrium point (with aggregate money demand curve) is at point 2, where the interest rate is lower. i i1 i2 AD1 MS1 MS2 Quantity of Money 2. What could be the implications of lower interest rates for households and businesses? By implanting the policy of purchasing mortgage-backed securities, the FED has set its sight on increasing consumption and investment, which will ultimately increase employment. As described in question one Bernanke’s policy decreased interest rates to new record lows, encouraging borrowing for both businesses and households. The ability to borrow money at more attractive rates stimulates investment in durable consumer goods, such as automobiles, and in operational necessities such as buildings and capital equipment for businesses. Indeed, after the implementation of the policy mortgage applications increased significantly. Because of low interest rates households and businesses as investors could shift their preference away from bonds and into stocks. According to frbsf. org, the increase in stock trading volume has the effect of raising the value of existing stock portfolios, which in turn stimulates consumer and spending across the country due to the psychological effects of rapid capital appreciation. Lower interest rates can have negative effects on the value of the local currency compared to other currencies. As foreign investors dump their local-denominated investments in favor of more profitable currencies, exchange rates can shift to the detriment of the local currency. The weakening of the local currency serves to increase the attractiveness of local goods to foreign purchasers, which has the effect of boosting exports and international sales. All of the factors mentioned above have the combined effect of increasing productive output, or GDP, and increasing employment across a wide range of industries. As individuals, businesses and foreign investors are encouraged to spend more due to increased access to capital, higher portfolio valuations and weaker currency values, businesses in nearly every sector experience an increase in sales, often requiring them to grow their operations and employ additional labor. However, there are some negative implications from this policy. Without a strong commitment to control inflation over the long run, the risk of higher inflation is one potential implication of experiencing real interest rates below the economy’s natural interest rate. Low interest rates provide a powerful incentive to spend rather than save. In the short term, this may not matter much, but over a longer period, low interest rates penalize savers and those who rely heavily on interest income. If short-term interest rates are low relatively to long-term rates, households and firms may overinvest in long-term assets, such as Treasury securities. If interest rates rise unexpectedly, the value of those assets will fall (bond prices and yields move in opposite directions), exposing investors to substantial losses. Finally, low short-term interest rates reduce the profitability of money market funds, which are key providers of short-term credit for many (large) firms, e. g. the commercial paper market. 3. Explain the Fed’s policy dilemma and try to rationalize why unemployment in the US is stubbornly high while inflation is low. Based on the theory of the Philip’s curve diagram we notice that there is an inverse relationship between inflation and unemployment. Stated simply the lower the unemployment in an economy the higher the rate of inflation. Philip’s Curve Inflation Unemployment The explanation of the inverse relationship between inflation and unemployment is based on two assumptions. The first has to do with the fact that as unemployment rises there is no room for workers and labor unions to demand an increase so a wage inflation that would increase the prices of the final products cannot occur. Secondly high unemployment is a reflection of the decline in economic output and indicates an economy’s slowdown. Therefore competition among firms in recession will lead the prices at lower levels. But this is not the case currently in the US since we observe high unemployment and low inflation. The FED is concerned about the unemployment rate and in an effort to stimulate the economy and improve the labor market conditions it started implementing the quantitative easing policy. So the FED purchased MBS, helped banks to rebuilt their balance sheets, contributed into maintaining price stability, preserved interest rates near zero for more than three years, and prevented the economy from slipping into greater recession. Despite all these efforts the situation in the labor market did not improve. Apparently the fact that unemployment is still very high depicts the limitations of the monetary policy. The low business confidence, policy uncertainty, and the government’s reluctance to act are beyond the FED’s capacity. What is more the infinite use of the quantitative easing may produce undesirable effects in the long run such as stagflation. The only optimal solution under these circumstances is the co ordination of the FED’s monetary policy with the government’s fiscal policy plan that could boost the society’s confidence. . Do you think that another round of quantitative easing (QE) by the Fed would help stimulate the US economy? Please explain. The FED declared that the use of QE will be aggressively continued until the economy is improved. The cash injections into the economy helped interest rates to remain at low levels. Consequently everyone wins from this decision in the short run; homeowners can borrow at historical low levels of inter est rate, corporations can also take advantage of this act and invest, consumption increased and also the banks increased their profits and the stocks record a growth. So as long as the QE is active in the short run everyone is a winner. But in the long run things become vague. First of all historical evidence shows that despite the fact that interest rates may be at levels near zero it remains uncertain whether this will be the incentive to boost the actual economy. Secondly the fact that consumers will have more money to spend but fewer goods to buy might lead to a hyper inflation. Furthermore by repeating the use of QE is very possible to lead to a liquidity trap, unless the economy finds ways to stimulate production. Last but not least the FED’s decision to inject cash into the economy by purchasing MBS is questionable; Mortgage backed securities entail the risk of defaulting once again as they did in the real estate crisis and that would cost the Americans a lot more money repeating the history that started back in the September of 2001. To sum up the use of QE is indeed very effective but only in the short run. Short periods of economic recession can be avoided by stimulating the economy temporarily through cash injections but to maintain growth on the real economy we need to improve labor market conditions, productivity, innovation and bolster the economy’s confidence. So a combination of fiscal and monetary policy is the only way to prevent an economy from collapsing, and also is this is the only way to avoid a possible systemic risk that will negatively affect all the institutions and individuals. . How is a loose Fed monetary policy in the US affecting fundamentals (such as inflation, asset and commodity prices) in other countries? What does that imply about global monetary policy? Since the dollar is the vehicle currency in the global economy almost every country is tied to its value and everyone is affected by the monetary decisions of the FED. By the QE, the supply of dollars is increased and consequently the dollar depreciates against foreign currencies. This means that America’s exports will increase and on the contrary the imports will decrease. So countries trading with the US fear about the capital inflows and the possible inflation on commodities. On the other hand the FED support that there can be no further inflation since the global economy is in recession. Moreover countries experiencing huge capital inflows resulting in inflation can implement fiscal policy, such as imposing taxes, in order to contain the effects of foreign capital inflows which push up local stock prices and the currency itself. Every country should focus on its own monetary policy adjusting it to the problems that may experience. For example the US chose to inject more money in the economy. The results of such a decision are low interest rates, more exports but always with the risk of inflation. On the other hand a country experiencing high inflation might limit the money supply, increasing the interest rates with the risk of experiencing a decline in exports.

Basic Psychological Problems: Importance of Mental Health Essay

Importance of Mental Health If you want to develop into a healthy individual, it is very important to have a good mental health. Mental health can be broadly defined as a psychological state of well-being, characterized by continuing personal growth, a sense of purpose in life, self-acceptance, and positive relations with others. In short, it is our attitude towards life and our psychological, environmental, genetic, or physiological factors that has a profound effect on our overall mental development. Some Factors Influencing Mental Health Ones mental health has a huge impact on every aspect of life. A person with a good mental health is always appreciative of achievements and readily accepts his shortcomings. On the other hand, if one does not have a good mental health it can lead to feelings of inferiority. Such a person devalues his own self, forming a negative image of his body. He can harbor intense feelings of self-hate, anger, disgust, and uselessness. Such feelings can transform into extreme depression, psychosocial disorders, or eating disorders – many of which we will discuss further in the series. Mental health also effects education. Good mental health assures an all-round educational experience that enhances social and intellectual skills leading to self-confidence and better grades. People who lack good mental health generally tend to isolate themselves developing anxiety disorders and concentration problems. Relationships are also affected by ones mental health because the functioning of relationships is based on it. If one is not mentally healthy, his interactions with family, friends, and colleagues may not be positively oriented. They will find it difficult to nurture relationships and face problems with commitment or intimacy, frequently also encountering sexual health issues. People with good mental health have a good sleep during the night. This is so because they are generally devoid of stress and anxiety. A mentally healthy individual can effectively cope with stress and anxiety. A bad mental health can lead to sleep disturbances causing insomnia. This in turn leaves one exhausted, and reduces efficiency levels. The effect of mental health can also be directly seen on physical health. Stress generally can lead to hypertension and this in turn can lead to many other disorders. How to Be Mentally Healthy It is important that we make a conscious effort to improve and maintain our mental health. Here are some points, which will help you in achieving a good mental health. * Develop within you adequate feelings of security.