John Calvin and the Protestant Reformation Essay Example for Free

John Calvin and the Protestant Reformation Essay This paper is devoted to the period of Protestant Reformation in France and the key figure of this process- John Calvin. John Calvin was a Protestant theologian and the developer of the famous Calvinism theology as a system of Christian church. He is well known for his written works and his teachings, but not many know about his role played in Michael Servetus’s execution. These and some other issues will be discussed in this research. John Calvin was born under the name of Jean Chauvin in Picardie, in France. His father sent him to Paris in 1523 to get ready for the priesthood. There Calvin studied in College de la Marche and then in College de Montaigu till 1528. As he was doing quite well in ecclesiastics, he gained the chaplaincy and the curacy of Saint Martin de Martheville from his native city (Tracy, 1999). In 1529 Calvin resigned chaplaincy for the benefit of his younger brother, but however two years later he resumed and was holding it till 1534 (Gordon, 2002). Calvin proved to be a good student, but his father, who by the year 1528 had problems in relations with the ecclesiastic authorities in Noyon, took a decision, that his son should study law instead. John didn’t argue and went to Orleans, to study law at the university there. In a year he moved to another university and took classes of Andrea Alciati. During his studies at both universities Calvin was very much under the impact of Melchior Wolmar, who was a leader of humanist ranks and was a supporter of Reformation ideas. When in 1531 the father of Calvin died, he had to come back to Paris and take up study of Hebrew. In 1532 John spent another year in Orleans as a student of law again. In spring of the same year he paid his own money for publishing the text of Seneca’s De Clementia, adding his commentary. This was a confirmation of his humanistic views in connection with the Roman Church. At the same time the ideas of Reformation were rapidly spread in France, Calvin however was moving step by step to his position, he wrote in his commentary to Psalms that he â€Å"was too obstinately devoted to the superstitions of popery to be easily extricated from so profound an abyss of mire. (Barth, 1995). One of his friends, who also shared the ideas of Reformation, was Nicolas Cop. When he became the rector of Paris University, they decided to use the chance to present their comments concerning the Reformation in front of cultured and intelligent audience. In November 1533 Cop held a speech in the Church of the Mathurins, which they gave the title â€Å"Christian Philosophy†, meaning the Gospel. The relation, he built between Law and Gospel, was closely connected to the ideas of Luther. The final part of the speech was however independent and more concentrated on the one of the features of Calvinism, namely – salvation. The speech had all chances to produce a vivid impression on the audience and to attract supporters, but Cop spoke negatively about the hierologists of Sorbonne and called them â€Å"sophists†. This certainly caused their indignation, they sought for support from the government, and Cop had to escape. Calvin followed him due to their known close relation, but risked to return very soon. He couldn’t get rid of his fears, that his support of Reformation ideas could be followed by imprisonment, like it was the case with some other reformers. He decided to become a wanderer in 1534, all the time changing his name. Two and a half years he was going from place to place, was imprisoned in Noyon, visited Paris, where he met Servetus for the first time. In Orleans he published his Psychopannychia, confutation of the theory about sleeping soul between death and the Last Judgment (Gordon, 2002). In 1535 Calvin visited Strasburg under the name of Basel. There he finished his Institutes of the Christian Religion, about the book he wrote: My objects were, first, to vindicate my brethren whose death was precious in the sight of the Lord; and next that, as the same cruelties might very soon after be exercised against many unhappy individuals, foreign nations might be touched with at least some compassion toward them and solicitude about them. † (Barth, 1995). After he had published this work, he worked in Ferrara in the court of Duchess Renee. A year later he met his younger brother Antoine and his half-sister Marie in Paris. He traveled with them to Strasburg, but because of the war, had to go to Geneva, planning to remain only one night there. But Farel Guillaume, one of the like-minded persons, convinced him to stay there. Two years he spent at the side of Farel, but still the city could not stand the significant reforms offered by the Reformers and on Easter Monday in 1538 they both were ordered to leave the city. Calvin traveled to Strasburg, where he became minister to the French refugees in the Church of St. Nicolas (Brady, 1994). Two years later he married Idelette de Bure, widow of Jean Stordeur of Liege, an Anabaptist, whom Calvin managed to turn into pedobabtist. They had a son, who lived only several days. Idelette de Bure died in 1549 and Calvin never married for the second time. Calvin didn’t have the plans to return to Geneva as his financial situation was rather poor at that moment, but very soon he got the opportunity to improve his position. In Strasburg he managed to practice the reform, which he could not launch in Geneva, and his fame started to grow very quickly. He received an offer to come out with a course of cathedral lectures. In 1539 Cardinal Jacopo Sadoleto sent a letter to Geneva, asking for it to be returned to Roman obedience and Bern government gave the right to answer to Calvin. There were serious changes in the government of Geneva, and as a result the friends if Calvin won the power in the city. For the second time Calvin followed the arguments of Farel and went to Geneva. He knew perfectly, that there were a lot of his enemies, and that not everybody was ready to support him, but his faith in God was his major support. The government prepared a house for him and a corresponding salary. His work in Geneva started, the city turned into his main, but not the only one, center of activity. Geneva was a place, that gathered a lot of refugees from Holland, Italy, England, Spain, who were ready to listen and to support the ideas of Calvin. Also a number of students visited his lectures. His fame was growing, and more and more people were standing by him. At the age of fifty-five he died because of a disease. For Geneva he left one hundred and seventy dollar, faith, education and reconstructed government. Calvin chose Apostle’s Creed as the basis for his ideas, at the same time closely relating theology and ethics. Calvin’s reformation was practical, with the strongest emphasis on the doctrine of predestination; he tried to teach people of the city to refer to it as a cornerstone of the Christian faith. Opposed to lenient views concerning grace and sin, propagated by the Roman Church, the Augustinian doctrine recovered in his words. Calvin did his best to change the face of Protestantism, as he managed to address openly and directly the matters, which other reformers didn’t know or didn’t want to discuss (Brady, 1994). His main target was the proper organization of the church governance and social organization of the church in the city. He was said to be the first politic leader, who was able to build the social organization based on biblical principles. He brought very significant innovation, namely by incorporating church into the government of the city (Cameron, 1991). In the middle of 1550s the structure of Geneva was changed completely in accordance to Calvin’s ideas. As a result Geneva became the most important center of Protestantism in Europe and attracted the persecuted refugees from other countries. The branch of Calvin’s reforms became the prevalent branch of Protestantism from the seventeenth century. Calvin had the same problems as Luther with Anabaptists. On the 16-17 of March in 1537 he had a public meeting with them, and using his strong argumentation disposed of their ideas, as confirmed by Council of Two Hundred. Along with a great number of supporters Calvin had his opponents as well. Calvin played a very important role in the execution of Michael Servetus – â€Å"the Spanish physician, radical reformer (Anabaptist), and unitarian. † (Gordon, 2002). In 1531 Servetus published his ideas denouncing the Trinity, which was the key doctrine Catholics and Protestants could agree about. Three years later Calvin agreed to meet Servetus in person in Paris, Servetus however didn’t appear. From 1546 till 1548 they exchanged letters, trying to convince each other, but finally Calvin had to stop the correspondence, as it was growing more and more rancorous. In 1553 Servetus was sentenced to death in absentia by Inquisition in Spain for spreading heresy. Calvin provided very important evidences to support the conviction. Servetus escaped from the prison, but was again arrested in Geneva on the initiative of Calvin. This time he was sentenced to burning on a stake, which took place in 1553. Then Servetus was buried together with the copy of his last work De Trinitatis Erroribus. Servetus was the only one, who was sentenced to death for his religious beliefs during the lifetime of Calvin, and there is finally no agreement about the correctness of Calvin’s actions concerning this issue. Hundreds of years later modern Calvinists do not support the actions of Calvin towards Servetus. Nowadays persecution, and what is more death sentence for religious beliefs and positions, seems to be barbarous. Calvin was certainly not the only reformer. The ideas of Calvin and Farel were really close, but Farel was a missionary, a preacher and not theologian or even less a statesman. Calvin, being French would probably not be able to spread his influence so successfully either in Zurich or in Wittenberg, as Zwingli and Luther did it. Calvin was much younger than Luther and Zwingli and had an advantage of having a good foundation for spreading his ideas. He managed to build a system based on their new ideas. He proved to be better organizer and better thinker, at the same time lacking their genius and activity. His life was not as dramatic as those of Luther or Zwingli; he didn’t possess that genial humor or was able to raise popular enthusiasm. And still he remained the most influential Reformer of the Protestant Church. References: Barth, K. (1995). The Theology of John Calvin, tr. by G. W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans. Brady, T. (1994). Handbook of European History, 1400–1600: Late Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Reformation. Leiden and New York. Breen, Q. (1968). John Calvin: A Study in French Humanism. Cameron, E. (1991). The European Reformation. Oxford and New York. Gordon, B. (2002). The Swiss Reformation. Manchester, U. K. , and New York. Tracy, J. (1999). Europes Reformations, 1450–1650. Lanham, Md.

Strategic Management Report For The Campbell Soup Company Marketing Essay

Strategic Management Report For The Campbell Soup Company Marketing Essay 1.0 Introduction The report discusses the application of strategic process and stages such as strategic analysis; strategic formulation, and strategic implementation in the food processing industry. The company chosen is Campbell Soup Company. 2.0 The Campbell Soup Company Profile Campbell Soup Company is a global manufacturer and marketer of high quality, branded convenience food products. The company profile and its position within food processing industry are discussed at appendix 1. 3.0- Strategic Analysis External Analysis- Scanning Competitive Environment Conducting an external analysis to scan the company competitive environment which focused on predicting the dynamics of competitors actions, responses and intention, can help a business in understanding the dynamics of its industries and markets in order to compete effectively with its rivals in the marketplace. (Henry, 2008) 3.1.0-Porter 5 Forces Model Porters Five Basic Competitive Forces (1996) analysis which deals with microenvironment and related to the competitiveness of an industry has been conducted to find out five featured competitiveness existing in food processing industry. The factors that are considered in this model are according to the analysis of The Campbell Soup Company. Figure 1. Porters 5 Forces http://student.dcu.ie/~slejhad2/pics/porter.jpg 3.1.1-Competitive Rivalry within Food Processing Industry The rivalry among companies in the food processing industry is high and intense. These food processing companies are competing on price, quality, taste, health factors, product innovation, and product benefits (The Food Processing Industry 2006). Campbells major rivals are General Millis Progresso, Heinz and Kraft Foods. As a multinational food processing company, Campbells faces an extremely competitive market in internationally, nationally and locally due to the similarities between each soup producer and wider selection of products provided by other food processing company. (Ellison, Sarah 2003) On the other hand, various types of generic soup brands in the existing market which offer products in lower price have raised the competitive pressure. However, the Campbells high quality of soup products and the ability to keep low production costs weaken the rivalry of the generic soup brands. For instance, Campbells price their soup products only 20 to 25% higher than generic brands while maintaining a level high quality. Campbells would have to continue developing superior healthy food to distinguish itself from Progresso and smaller soup maker companies. 3.1.2 Threat of New Entrants The threat of entry depends on the presence of entry barriers and the presence of new entrants to a food processing industry typically bring to it new capacity and the want to gain market share. (Wheelen Hunger J.D 2007) Campbells major rival- Kraft foods and General Mills, create high entry barriers in food processing industry through their high levels of advertising and promotion. Besides, the intense competition in the food processing industry makes it hard to access in the market. Smaller food processing companies often have difficulty obtaining supermarket shelf space for their products as large retailers charge for space on their shelves and give priority to the established companies who can pay for the advertising needed to generate high customer demand. According to Ghemawat Collis (2001), the economy is a major factor as if the company wants to be a part in this food processing industry it must be able to face high costs for strong competition. Moreover, the slow market growth rate for the food processing industry causes acquisition between companies, resulted the barriers to entry are high with so many food processing companies and little to zero capacity remaining for any more companies. 3.1.3-The Threat of Substitutes Products The rivalry from firms of other industries which offer substitute products is intense as they are producing, supplying and serving the same food products that the food processing companies are. For example, Dunkin Donuts is in the foodservice industry and Campbell Soup Company is in the food processing industry, yet Dunkin Donuts serves soup and Campbell Soup sells soup. Consumers can still go to Dunkin Donuts and acquire the similar soups that Campbell sells. (Wall Street Journal 2003) 3.1.4- Bargaining power of buyers Consumers affect the food processing industry through their ability to force down prices, bargain for higher products quality and services, and play competitors against each other. The bargaining power of buyers is high as there are huge tendency of new entrance with new and variety of products. Besides, consumers prefer choosing products which offer lower prices. For example, Campbells soup products price is relatively 20 to 25% higher than generic brands in grocery stores, hence some consumers would choose generic brand products in the market rather than Campbells. Besides, the profitability obtained by the company is also determined by consumers. Food processing companies would be forced to lower prices if consumers think that the prices are too expensive as consumers tend to stop buying their products or switch to supplements. 3.1.5- Bargaining power of suppliers Suppliers can affect the food processing industry through their ability to raise prices or reduce the quality of purchased goods and services. In case quality products the suppliers face an important factor. Due to the inflation the overall price of materials has been significantly increased. Campbell has always purchased high quality ingredients produced from local farmers. In 2006, Campbell launched Campbells Supplier Diversity Program to grow its diverse supplier base and to ensure that the supplier base better reflects the markets served. In 2007 the Campbells goal to spend with diverse suppliers was $121 million, but the actual spend with diverse suppliers was $129 million. (Campbells CSR 2008) So for Campbells, there is a cost exists to get the reliable supplier. There is a tendency the world nowadays makes a backward integration and wants to minimize the cost of suppliers. 3.2.0- Swot Analysis A swot analysis allows the Campbell Soup Company to determine the extent of the strategic fit between its capabilities and the needs of its external environment. According to Henry(2008), the company can seek to match its strengths and weaknesses to the opportunities and treats it faces in current competitive food processing industry. The Campbells products portfolio includes soups, sauces, biscuits and chocolates and has a strong research function with high capabilities in new products development. 3.2.1-Internal Analysis-Strengths Innovative Campbell has always applied the spirit of innovation in every aspect of its business. At Campbells manufacturing plants in Napoleon, Ohio, and Paris, Texas, an innovative method called overland flow is used to treat wastewater. In terms of products introduction, the company has been consistently quick to come up with new products in the market. For example, the first portable soup product, Soup at Hand, the new microwaveable products such as Chunky and Select. Besides, Campbell frequent updates the products appearance with more contemporary design and new photography. Its popular gravity fed shelving system have been installed at 24,000 retailers nationally and credited for rejuvenating the soup aisle, expanding the category and vastly improving the shopping experience. Campbell is innovative to gauge consumer satisfaction and expectation. (Campbells Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2008) 3.2.2-Weaknesses Declining Market Share The Campbells market share in soup drop from 60% in 2007 to 49% as of October 2009. This is due to more and more private labels continue to enter the market by providing quality products in lower price. Some consumers have switched to try private labels and resulted private labels have gained 11%of the market share. On the other hand, Campbell has also faced stiff competition from brands such as General Mills Progresso and Nestle. (Campbell Soup Co Form 10-Q Quartery Report 2010) 3.2.3-External Analysis-Opportunities Demand for Wellness Products In recent years, the trend towards being more health-conscious has arisen from two main consumer groups. The younger generations currently focus more on low calorie content and on the go meals. For the more mature age group, their diets require health-consciousness in terms of limiting their sodium intake due to increased risk of ailments. Campbells Soups core product categories, notably soup and bakery products, are widely perceived as healthy and are compatible with the further development of health-oriented products, such as the existing and expanding line of Select Harvest and Healthy Request soups. In conjunction with the product improvement, Campbell has announced to expand its industry-leading sodium reduction program and to reduce the sodium content in 23 of its condensed soups by up to 45 percent in fiscal 2011.(Campbell Growth Plans for U.S 2010) 3.2.4-Threats Intense Competition Campbells main profitable core soup category has been facing intense competition and also been losing market share to its strong competitors, particularly General Mills Progresso and private label brands produced by companies such as Wal-Mart. Moreover, Campbells other segments have not produced consistent profits. According to Wolpert (2002), shifting consumer habits and preferences indicate the need to constantly innovate their products and minimize costs, in order to retain loyal consumers and keep up with the fast-changing consumer environment Extensive Laws The company is governed by a multitude of local and international laws and regulations with regards to food safety and environmental standards. For instance, in accordance with the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, Campbells food products must be inspected before they can be marketed. The company faces the risk of fines, injunctions, recalls or asset seizures, and criminal sanctions if it violates these laws and regulations. ( Campbells CSR 2008) 3.3.0- Benchmarking Campbell understands the importance of using benchmarking to evaluate performance. Hence, the company analyzed few top companies which mainly involved in food and beverage processing manufacturing company in a few aspects such as sustainability, supply chain, consumers, community and workplace. Moreover, Campbell have also highlighted the primary ways that companies are implementing their goals as well as select initiatives and key past achievements. In terms of community, Campbells have chosen to focus on nutritional and environmental programs by partnering with nonprofit organizations, universities and Think Tanks to conduct RD for new products. Besides, it also partnered with environmental experts to develop innovative solutions to protect the environment. For instance, Nestle has been launching malnutrition and obesity programs targeting children and adolescents of lower-income families while General Mills has been contributing 5% of pretax profits to charitable causes. The Campbells benchmarked the best practices by promoting nutritional and hunger elimination programs. Besides, Campbells also promote micronutrient products to attend lower income families and develop environmental initiatives. (Campbells Annual Report 2009) In terms of workplace related programs, Nestle, Coca Cola, Pepsi.co, General Mills, have done excellent job. For instance, Pepsi CO has been providing job opportunities for people with disabilities while General Mills, the company has reduced lost-time injury rate by 25% over five years. Hence, Campbell benchmarked and developed workplace programs by focusing four key areas: Ensuring diversity of the workforce thereby bringing a broad range of talents and perspectives to the business Helping employees achieve both personal and professional development Ensuring the health and safety of employees both at home and at work Ensuring that employees have a fair work environment Campbells strived for an injury-free workplace through a strong health and safety program supported by high employee engagement. They train their employees to conduct their activities in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. (Campbells CSR 2008) 4.0 Strategy Formulation For Campbells to achieve sustainable competitive advantage in food processing industry, strategy formulation which derived from the objective and mission is undertaken. Porter (1980) argues that competitive strategy is about developing a defendable position in an industry which enables a firm to deal with the five competitive forces and thus generate a superior return on investment for the film. 4.1 Business Level Strategy-Differentiation To achieve superior value that is recognized by the consumer, Campbells needs to provide unique and superior value to the customers in terms of its products quality and value added up services. It is appropriate to relate differentiation strategy to the Campbells Soup Company as the companys goal is very straight forward, which is Together we will build the worlds most extraordinary food company by nourishing peoples lives everywhere, every day. Campbell has always focused on providing superior, healthy and nutrition food by expanding their icon brands in simple meals (especially soup). The Campbells latest plans are to enhance more than 60 percent of its condensed line with product improvements, further sodium reduction, more contemporary packaging, improved shelving systems and new marketing aimed at the simple meals category. ( Campbell Growth Plan 2010) Nowadays there are increasing numbers of consumers who are very concerned with nutritional values of foods they eat. The Campbells Soup Company which is having superior research abilities has been taking advantage of this avenue and further develops this product line. According to Douglas R. Conant, Campbells President and CEO, Campbell is going to fire up the important condensed soup business and step up the competitive posture of their ready-to-serve products. (Campbells 2009 annual report) The improvements and innovations of Campbells has made over the past several years has made Campbell outwit most of its rivals in the condensed soup category. Low-sodium products are pivotal to Campbells long term success as the majority of Campbells consumer base is  baby boomers. The majority of baby boomers diets are comprised of low sodium. A recent study shown that high cholesterol, attributed to high levels of sodium intake, is the number one diagnosed health condition for the baby boomer generation.  The condensed soups have one of the highest sodium contents of all processed foods in existing market. Therefore Campbells low-sodium products have differentiated themselves with many rivals. Besides sodium, Campbells also has to focus on other aspects such as MSG and low calories of its soups by hoping that these healthier offerings will help gain market share among younger, more health conscious consumers. (Campbell CSR Report 2008) Besides, Campbell understands that creating a quality product begins with quality ingredients. Campbell purchases most of the ingredients from domestic farmers in countries where they manufacture products and also obtain certain ingredients from carefully selected suppliers around the world. Any ingredient that does not meet the quality requirements will not be used in a Campbell product to ensure superior product quality. On the other hand, providing value-added services help Campbells to outwit its existing rivals. Campbell continually experiments with new programs to provide consumers with useful information on meal ideas, health and wellness, and other tips. For example, each day their Campbell Meal-mail program delivers nearly 500,000 recipes electronically to busy Americans who are hungry for convenient, great-tasting meal ideas that will please their families. Consumers can access the Campbells Kitchen website at any time to download recipe ideas that have been tested and approved by Campbells nutritionists. Consumers also have the opportunity to share their ideas and comments on recipes with one another on the Campbells Kitchen website. ( Campbellsoupcompany.com) It is suggested that the Campbell Soup Company to improve the flavour of its soup products to attract more demand. Besides, Campbell can try to create more contemporary design for its existing soup products instead of the familiar red and white colour design in order to stand out from various types of products in the market. 4.2 Corporate Level Strategy-Diversification The corporate level strategy of The Campbell Soup Company deals with three key issues: i) The firms overall orientation toward growth, stability, and retrenchment. ii) The market in which the company competes through its products and business units iii) The manner in which management coordinate activities and transfer resources and cultivates capabilities among product lines and business units The Campbells operates with four products divisions and has expanded its product to microwavable soups to make customers more convenient for preparing soup without container. (Campbells annual report 2009) Obviously, the Campbell Soup Company, which is a decentralized company, has been using a related diversification multiproduct strategy. Its strategy is to diversify its business to produce several products, and expanding its market share. Campbell used its engineering support and diversified production to support customers with convenient, good taste and quality food. To support its operating system, department such as Research Development (RD), product development, engineering systems, are required to produce high quality and stable operating system to avoid the unexpected shut down. Campbell has tried to use unrelated diversification strategy under the leadership of McGovern as Campbells CEO with the aim of rapidly expand product line to increase profits and revenue. Campbell has tried to acquire other firms to quickly gain access to new products and new markets. Instead of acquiring only food products, Campbell began to use the unrelated diversification strategy to acquire firms that it felt were positioned to capitalize on the consumers trend and also bought firms involved in all types of business. For example, the triangle Manufacturing Company, a fitness products maker, which is clearly unrelated to the firms core products. (Ireland, Hoskisson Michael 2006) A major reason for Campbells failure to generate financial economies while using the unrelated diversification strategy is that the firms approach to managing its core products divisions never changed. At the same time, corporate headquarters personnel didnt implement the strong financial controls necessary to efficiently manage an internal capital market. David Johnson who replaced McGovern decided that Campbell should not longer use the diversification strategy but to reduce the level of diversification by using related constrained strategy to create value through operational relatedness. Campbells related constrained diversification strategy involves transferring core competencies which lead to competitive advantage and start with value chain analysis to identify ability to transfer skills or expertise among similar value chains and on the hand, to exploit ability to transfer activities. Campbell should enhance more than 60 percent of its condensed line and be more committed to ac celerate the performance of their existing portfolio, most notably in U.S. soup, and continuing to lay the foundation for superior long-term growth. (Campbell Growth Plan 2010) 4.2.1 External Acquisitions and Partnerships Through value-creating external development, Campbells is able to increase its market presence throughout its product lines. For instance, Campbells Baking and Snacking segment is positioned to grow due to the companys recent acquisition of Ecce Panis, a manufacturer of artisan breads. This acquisition allows Campbells to enter into the thriving artisan bread market. With the ever growing foreign population in America, it is suggested that Campbells should consider products that have more of the ethnic background of these immigrants. The brand could quite possibly extend the depth of the line with consideration to the vast number of different tastes in the society today. 5.0- Strategy Implementation A clear mission statement helps in providing focus to an organization and is essential for effectively establishing objective and formulating strategies. (Haberberg and Rieple 2001) In order for the Campbell to proceed into a future where competition is highly competitive, they need to define who and what they truly are, their concerns, their philosophies, and what gives them the competitive advantage over their competitors. This must be clear throughout all areas and divisions, at all levels in the company, in order for the implementation of the mission statement to be successful.   The Campbells strategy implementation includes designing the organizations structure, allocating resources, developing information and decision process, and managing human resources, including such areas as the reward system, approaches to leadership, and staffing. According to Wheelen and Hunger (2007), the strategy implementation process includes the various management activities that are necessary to put strategy in motion, institute strategic controls that monitor progress, and ultimately achieve organizational goals. 5.1- Management Issue Restructuring In food processing industry one year is relatively indiscernible from the next from a macroeconomic point of view. Campbells corporate strategy and the companys management structure have undergone several restructuring since 1980. On April 28, 2008, the company announced a series of initiatives to improve operational efficiency and long-term profitability, including selling certain salty snack food brands and assets in Australia, closing certain production facilities in Australia and Canada, and streamlining the companys management structure. As a result of these initiatives, in 2008, the company recorded a restructuring charge of $175 millions. The charge consisted of a net loss on the sale of certain Australian salty snack food brands and assets, employee severance and benefit costs, including the estimated impact of curtailment and other pension charges, and property, plant and equipment impairment charges. The cost of restructuring activity is shown at Appendix 2 Workforce Diversification The Campbell strive to uphold their promise of Campbell Valuing People, People Valuing Campbell by providing employees with the resources required to do their jobs well; competitive compensation and benefits; the opportunity to learn; and grow through their work. At present, the Campbells Board of Directors consists of 14 independent members and one company executive, the CEO, Doug Conant. Board operations are managed by an independent, non-executive Chairman. The Board believes that diversity in the backgrounds and perspectives of their directors contributes to sound corporate governance. Currently, three of their directors are women, one director is from India and one director is African-American. The Campbells Board of Directors is shown at Appendix 3. The CEO believes that workforce diversity is essential to be a mainstay within the company overall strategic objectives. Hence, Campbells is committed to attract a diverse group of talented employees and providing all their associates with development opportunities and a culture in which they can flourish and provide their employees with career development and quality-of life enhancements that make Campbell a special place to work. Campbells diversity and inclusion strategy is focused on five specific goals: -Firmly establishing leadership support and accountability -Linking diversity and inclusion to performance management -Integrating diversity and inclusion into talent management -Building diversity and inclusion into business practices. -Educating and training to advance diversity and inclusion ( Campbell Annual report 2009) The directors receive annual fees equal to the median directors compensation paid by peer food and consumer products companies. Approximately 50 percent of each directors fee is paid in cash and 50 percent is paid in common stock. Director stock ownership requirements have existed at Campbell since 1993. Currently, the directors beneficially own more than 44 percent of the companys common stock. (Carlin, M Harris R 2008) Though the Campbells has successfully implemented workforce diversification strategy, it is recommended that the company offers stock options to their rank-and-file employees too. By offering employee stock options, workers are given the chance to buy shares in their company at a specified price. The grant or strike price, should be pegged to the value of the stock when it is offered to employees. Employees have the option of buying the stock at a set price then selling it after a period of time. Employee Engagement The Campbell believes that employees will feel most valued when they are fully informed, understand the companys business goals and plans and are invited to offer their feedback on a regular basis. In 2007 and 2008, Campbell was recognized by Gallup as one of the Best Places to Work in America. The company believes that its work environment has contributed to their relatively stable retention rate and their improved marketplace performance. (www.euroinvestor.co.uk) Campbell conducts annual employee survey to develop work group action plans, empower individual employees to improve the workplace and to strengthen the companys business practices. 5.2 Marketing Issues The Campbells understands that successful marketing implementation is affected by marketing variables. 5.2.1 Market Segment The companys 2009 financial reports segment their business into four key categories: US Soup, Sauces and Beverages, Baking and Snacking, International Soup, Sauces and Beverages, and North American Foodservice. With sales approximating $3.8 million, US Soup, Sauces and Beverages accounted for approximately half of the sales in FY 2009 and drove the bulk of profits for the company. Core brands like Campbells, V8, Swanson and Prego delivered a combined 4% growth through a combination of innovation, consumer trade downs, and improved distribution channels.( Appendix 2) 5.2.2 Marketing Strategies Product The Campbells positioning is providing healthy and nourishing products within the product line. The product line width come in many different options. This being said, the depth of the product line is in fact the largest. Each product comes in a multitude of different sizes and flavours. The brand offers adequate products for the consumers. In addition to the size and flavours, the packaging is well organized for that of single or multiple item purchasing. The packaging also achieves an accurate perception in the consumers mind. They use well known athletes to convey the message of health to the consumer. Price The pricing of the products within the brand name are consistent with that of the positioning. They provide the perception that to eat healthy the consumer should not have to pay more. The Campbells brand is typically priced at twenty cents above that of their major competitors. This is the act of swaying the consumers mind to the perception that Campbells is of a higher quality than the competitors. While operating in an elastic market, Campbells employs special event promotional pricing strategies in order to remain competitive. The company also offers discounted pricing on certain seasonal items and during holidays. In addition to these promotional strategies, they employ the odd even strategies to convey the message that their brand is that of higher quality. Distribution Campbells brand is distributed intensively throughout all geographic locations within the United States and many foreign countries. In the distribution process, Campbells deals with wholesalers and retailers thus creating the supply channel. This is a very profitable concept as long as the lines of communication remain opened. Catalog marketing is also another form of distribution that is employed. This is easily achieved due the fact that the shelf life of the products is long. The products are very easily purchased at any marketplace at any given region of the US. Promotion In using the most recent athletic figures in their advertisements, they are successful in maintaining their position of health. In the use of the retailers to help marketing, they are employing the cooperative advertising technique. This helps to advertise their products from numerous different angles. The effectiveness of the  marketing  strategies  employed by Campbells has made them recognized as the premium brand within their product lines. In comparison to the competition, Campbells focuses a great deal on interacting with the public with such efforts as sweepstakes and giveaways and also education. Their public relation efforts have ranked them as one of the most society conscious brands in the business. 6.0 Conclusion A strategic analysis is most applicable to strategic management at the business unit level of large multinational firm such as Campbell Soup Company. At the strategic analysis stage, internal and external environmental scanning by using Porters 5 forces model and Swot analysis are conducted. Besides, benchmarking is used to evaluate performances. Strategy formulation which derived from the Campbells objective and mission is undertaken to outline the business level and corporate level strategies. Strategy at business level deals with which market the company chooses to compete while strategy at the corporate level is more concerned with managing the portfolio of business. The final strategy implementation stage includes the management issues, staffing and marketing variables which can influence the profit margin of the company. ( 4498 words) Prepared by _______________ ( NG LIN JIA) List of References 1. Campbell Soup Company, About Us, online, retrieved 2 March 2010, http://www.campbellsoupcompany.com/about_us.asp 2. Henry, A 2008, Understanding Strategic Management, Oxford University Press, New York United States 3. Porter, M. E. (1996) What is Strategy,  Harvard Business Review, 74 (6):61-78 4. Food Processing Industry,2006, retrieved 6 March 2010, http://www.miti.gov.my/cms/documentstorage/com.tms.cms.document.Document_7674150a-c0a81573-2d952d95-c9439446/Chap%2019.pdf 5. Wheelen T.L, Hunger J.D, Concepts in Strategic Management and Business Policy, 2007, tenth edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, United States of America 6. Ghemawat, P., Collis, D., Pisano, G. and Rivkin, J. (2001) Strategy and the Business Landscape: Core Concepts, Upper S

Forecasting Best Practices Essay -- essays research papers

Forecasting â€Å"Best Practices† â€Å"Effective demand planning and sales forecasting across the supply chain can bring a host of benefits. Specifically, it can help improve labor productivity, reduce head count, cut inventories, and speed up production flows, and increase revenues and profits.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  -Edward J. Marien To find the â€Å"best practices† for forecasting, our team researched many cases of forecasting success, and found five companies with a common theme. Rayovac, the Coca-Cola Bottling Company, AAi. FosterGrant, the Sara Lee Corporation, and the Scotts Company all had major problems with forecasting, some of them very similar. To address and solve these problems each of these companies made major improvements to their forecasting systems. Although some used similar methods and others very different, these companies found that the right people, process and information technology was the key to efficient and accurate forecasting. Rayovac  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rayovac discovered the proper use of forecasting when it implemented its consensus decision-making teams to improve their performance. They believe that the best information comes directly from the customer. Therefore, their forecasting takes place from the bottom-up. Sales, marketing, finance, and supply chain builds a consensus for forecasting, inventory management, scheduling, warehousing, and transportation. Their consensus forecasting is the responsibility of a cross-functional team.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For their annual planning process, a bottom-up and a top-down forecasting procedure is used. The top Key Results Measures (KRMs) are compared with the bottom-up forecast which is developed by the consensus teams. Meetings are held to align the two when there are discrepancies. Monthly meetings are held to update the bottom-up forecast and actions are taken to bring the forecast and annual plan into alignment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rayovac has discovered some key guidelines to be used for successful forecasting and planning: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Actually using the forecast to drive the business and not... ...orecasting cannot be understated. Many companies have found that after successful forecasting and proper use of people, process, and technology have led to increased performance of the company as a whole. This has been proven in our analysis of the current best practices of forecasting in the workplace. References 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bowman, Robert J. â€Å"Scotts Cultivates a Customer Centric Supply Chain Strategy.† Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies, July 2004. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hoffman, Kurt C. â€Å"Who’s That Behind FosterGrant’s Demand.† Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies, December 2003. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Marien, Edward J. Demand Planning and Sales Forecasting: A Supply Chain Essential. Supply Chain Management Review, 1999 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Murphy, Jean V. â€Å"More Accurate Forecasts Give Sales, Operations Planning New Life at Sara Lee Unit.† Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies, March 2003. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Murphy, Jean V. â€Å"Special Issue: Collaborative Commerce Forecasting Tool Lowers Coke Bottler’s Inventory.† Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies, November 2002.

Resisting Negative Peer Pressure Essay -- Peer Pressure Essays

"God made you so you can be your own individual. You shouldn't be anyone else." -- Wyclef Jean "Everything don't mean a thing if it ain't the thing you want. Express Yourself!" -- Charles Wright Remember when you were first taught the concept of peer pres ­sure back in elementary school? Your teachers educated you on the value of respecting yourself and others around you and to nev ­er force someone to do something that they do not want to do. As we get older, the lessons of peer pressure go on without much to say. We experience life and learn from our mistakes. We think that we carry our wits about us every ­where we go when we are with groups of people. We may think that we, as older students, are not subjected to peer pressure, but it happens more times than we think. As students from high school transition into college, times can be rough. They have to get used to their new environment and adapt to any changes that come their way. Someone who was not into the party scene in high school might wind up living on a floor that is wild and crazy, and they will have to adapt to their environment in order to fit in with everyone else. Next thing they know their whole persona changes. They be ­gin to think differently, dress differently, and act differently just to fit in with a group of people. It is crazy to think that a group of peo ­ple can have such a massive influence on one person, but someone’s lifestyle can be changed drastically just by conforming and adopting to other people’s values and actions as they forget about their own. However, peer pressure does not only relate to the party scene. Students can experience peer pressure when it comes to doing well in their classes. If every ­one else is stressing out, you are... ... to dress a certain way or act a certain way, just so that I could fit in with them. I think now is the perfect time to say, â€Å"ain’t no body got time for that!† And that’s just it. Ain’t no body got time for that. Nobody should have time to conform to other people’s wants and needs. We should be surrounding ourselves with people who are accepting us for what we have to offer. However, for some people, they succumb to the peer pressures in college. In college it is all about finding your nitch; what you are good at, establishing a group of friends, and participating in activities and organizations you want to be a part of. College is not about seeking approval from others, it is about seeking approval from yourself. You are the only person that is standing in your way to be successful, so do not let anyone pressure you to do something that will dull your sparkle. Resisting Negative Peer Pressure Essay -- Peer Pressure Essays "God made you so you can be your own individual. You shouldn't be anyone else." -- Wyclef Jean "Everything don't mean a thing if it ain't the thing you want. Express Yourself!" -- Charles Wright Remember when you were first taught the concept of peer pres ­sure back in elementary school? Your teachers educated you on the value of respecting yourself and others around you and to nev ­er force someone to do something that they do not want to do. As we get older, the lessons of peer pressure go on without much to say. We experience life and learn from our mistakes. We think that we carry our wits about us every ­where we go when we are with groups of people. We may think that we, as older students, are not subjected to peer pressure, but it happens more times than we think. As students from high school transition into college, times can be rough. They have to get used to their new environment and adapt to any changes that come their way. Someone who was not into the party scene in high school might wind up living on a floor that is wild and crazy, and they will have to adapt to their environment in order to fit in with everyone else. Next thing they know their whole persona changes. They be ­gin to think differently, dress differently, and act differently just to fit in with a group of people. It is crazy to think that a group of peo ­ple can have such a massive influence on one person, but someone’s lifestyle can be changed drastically just by conforming and adopting to other people’s values and actions as they forget about their own. However, peer pressure does not only relate to the party scene. Students can experience peer pressure when it comes to doing well in their classes. If every ­one else is stressing out, you are... ... to dress a certain way or act a certain way, just so that I could fit in with them. I think now is the perfect time to say, â€Å"ain’t no body got time for that!† And that’s just it. Ain’t no body got time for that. Nobody should have time to conform to other people’s wants and needs. We should be surrounding ourselves with people who are accepting us for what we have to offer. However, for some people, they succumb to the peer pressures in college. In college it is all about finding your nitch; what you are good at, establishing a group of friends, and participating in activities and organizations you want to be a part of. College is not about seeking approval from others, it is about seeking approval from yourself. You are the only person that is standing in your way to be successful, so do not let anyone pressure you to do something that will dull your sparkle.

Handling Difficult People

How to handle difficult people General purpose: To inform Specific purpose: I will speak on how to handle difficult people Thesis statement: I will explain how to handle difficult people by first introducing the topic and discussing different ways to handle difficult people. * Attention getter: â€Å"Difficult people are your key to self empowerment, you need to learn how to cope with them, not let them dominate and affect you†. * Audience Motivation: So why do we need to handle difficult people?Well in life we face more than one difficult people and knowing how to handle them will not just make this world better but makes your life a lot easier and smooth. * Credibility: I have dealt with difficult people for over 10 years. I also took some help from my research articles and by reading a book â€Å" how to handle difficult people† by John Townsed. * Thesis -Purpose: I will inform on how to handle difficult people -Preview: at first, I will start by explain/defining dif ficult people.Second, I will discuss different measures to handle difficult people and lastly I will repeat the main points. I. First, definition A. Handle B. Difficult (Now that we have understood the meaning , we can discuss the measures. ) II. Time to discuss the measures. A. Understanding that people are difficult for reason B. May be you are difficult for him/her C. Step on his shoes and think D. Go to higher authority E. Avoid him or don’t think of him Now that we know how to handle difficult people, lets review) 1. Summary: Today we have learned that we can handle difficult people in various ways depending where and when. We learned that we have to take control of ourselves first and be careful on how you are going to react. 2. Closing: the more you confront difficult people, the easier it becomes. When you confront and handle difficult people around you, people respect for your courage, your honesty and control over yourself.Your associate, employees or co- workers fo r example and taking positive action, despite fear, is kind of courage all successful people must have to succeed. Work Cited Townsend, John. Handling Difficult People: what to do when people try to push your buttons. New York. Thomas Nelson. April 21, 2009. Print â€Å"Dumb Little Man | Tips for Life. †Ã‚  9 Useful Strategies to Dealing with Difficult People at Work. N. p. , n. d. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. .

Annotated Bibliography Cord Blood Banking

Annotated Bibliography Waller-Wise, Rene. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov. Umbilical Cord Blood: Information for Childbirth Educators, Winter 2011. Web. 15 Feb. 2013. The author, a licensed clinical nurse specialist and childbirth educator, was driven to do research and write this article because she only had the basic information for cord blood banking to offer to couples is her classes. She shares that the first recipient of a cord blood transplantation was a 6-year-old boy who was treated for Fanconi's anemia using cord blood collected from his younger's sister's birth. She continues to list the disorders that stem cell transplants can treat.She discusses the advantages of using umbilical cord blood stem cells over bone marrow stem cells. A couple of reasons is that it is easier to collect and process and there is a decreased risk of transmission of infectious disease. One point she mentioned that was interesting and that I was not aware of was that if the pregnant woman had a history of grou p B streptococcus, active genital herpes, or prolonged rupture of membranes and chorioamnionitis, the umbilical cord is not saved. A disadvantage that the author points out is that cord blood is discarded in about 50% or more cases due to insufficient volume.In addition to discussing private and public cord blood banks, the author brings to light the topic of direct-donation cord blood bank which accept autogenous donations and reserve them for the family whose infant has a sibling with a disorder. In this article, the author also shares professional organizations' s positions. She mentions that ACOG and AAP recommends the collection and banking of private cord blood only if a sibling or a family member has a medical diagnosis for which stem cells are currently being used for treatment.I found this article very helpful because not only did the author share the benefits of cord blood stem cell transplantation, she brought to surface many of the limitations. I will particularly use th e information about the percentage of cord blood that is discarded due to insufficient volume. Also, I will add the information about the conditions during pregnancy, labor and delivery that can affect the usability of the units. Percer, Beth. â€Å"Umbilical Cord Blood Banking – Helping Parents Make Informed Decisions. Nursing for Women's Health (Volume 13, Issue 3): 217-223. Print. In this article, the author discusses the potential benefits and drawbacks of cord blood transplantation. One of the benefits that she discusses is that there is a reduced risk of acute graft-versus-host reaction. One of the concerns is that a cord blood recipient cannot go back to the same infant donor to receive further cord blood stem cells. Another concern is the odds that children will need to use their own stem cells range from 1 in 400 to 1 in 200,000.It is because the cord blood stem cells may already have a genetic defect to the disease needing treatment. The author also lists the drawb acks for private versus public banking. The negatives for public banking is that families will not have access to the stem cells in the future as they would have with private banking. This article also shows the different views of multiple respected organizations such as American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), and World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA).I will use the information in this article to discuss key points in my paper regarding benefits and negatives for stem cell transplantation and private versus public banking. In addition, I will include some of the organizations' views in my paper. Journal of Midwifery & Woman's Health. â€Å"Share With Women. † jmwh. org. Cord Blood Banking – What's It All About, 24 Dec. 2010. Web. 15 Feb. 2013. This article breaks down exactly what Cord Blood Banking is. It looks specifically at what illnesses can be treated by stem cells, how stem cells are collected, and the re asons for not banking cord blood.It also answers commonly asked questions relating to Cord Blood Banking such as what is the difference between private and public Cord Blood Banks and can a parent donate their own stem cells like donating a liver or kidney. It also lists out some general questions to ask yourself in order to determine if Cord Blood Banking is the right choice for you. The article does a great job of explaining what Cord Blood Banking is in a simple and understandable tone that everyone can understand.The article was direct and gave an abundance of good information without going into a lot of discussion whether Cord Blood Banking is right or wrong. The article stuck to the facts and outlined some key questions to be asked before making a decision on Cord Blood Banking. I will use information from this article to paint a clear picture of what Cord Blood Banking is. American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation. â€Å"Guidelines, Policy Statements, and Reviews . † asbmt. org. Collection and Preservation of Cord Blood for Personal Use, 20 Sept. 2007. Web. 15 Feb. 2013.This article goes into more detail into the technical aspects of storing UCB (Umbilical Cord Blood) and encourages parents to store their newborn's UCB in public blood banks. The article supports storing umbilical cord blood, which the ASBMT states is rich in HSCs (hematopoietic stem cells), but it does not recommend private storage of cord blood only public storage. The reason for the articles position favoring public storage and opposing private storage is because the ASBMT states, â€Å"that cord blood in public banks is 100 times more likely to be released for transplant than a unit privately stored. Although the article supports public cord blood banking, it declares that expectant parents should review all information accurately and completely, including contracts and financial responsibilities, in order to make an informed decision. The article was published by the ASBMT (American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation), which is an international association that is responsible for the advancement of the field of blood and marrow transplantation. It only makes sense that the article is supportive of the cord blood banking industry but surprisingly the article distinguishes between public and private cord blood banking.Furthermore, the ASBMT's Board of Directors developed a report based on careful review of published studies and interviews that acknowledges the potential for expansion in the future and stating that they will review their position on cord blood banking periodically. I will use information from this article to speak about the differences between public and private cord blood banking and to expound on the positives of public cord banking. March of Dimes Foundation. â€Å"Get Ready for Labor. † marchofdimes. com.Umbilical cord blood, May 2009. Web. 15 Feb 2013. This article is highly detailed and is more focused on the aspects of Umbilical Cord Blood relating to the actual stem cells. It defines stem cells as unspecialized cells that produce all blood cells including platelets for blood clotting, red blood cells which transports oxygen, and white blood cells which help in fighting diseases. The article goes on to explain how stem cells are used to treat diseases such as leukemia, other cancers, and serious blood disorders like anemia.After chemotherapy the radiation destroys a lot of the patient's stem cells so after treatment many patients receive a stem cell transplant from either transplanted bone marrow, peripheral blood, and from cord blood. Stem cells from cord blood have advantages over stem cells from bone marrow because it is easier and safer to collect, stem cells from cord blood is more likely to be a match, it's faster, there is a lower risk of infections, and there is a reduced risk of GVHD (graft vs. host disease). GVHD is a condition that occurs when the donor's cells attack th e recipient's cells and tissues.The article gives good examples of the advantages of using stem cells from cord blood in treating patients after chemotherapy or patients that need a blood transfusion. The article clearly states that cord blood is more beneficial over using bone marrow or peripheral blood. The article gives real-world examples of why using umbilical cord blood reduces risks of diseases, is significantly faster, and is a lot easier to treat patients. There is one section in the article that speaks to the disadvantages of using cord blood which is that cord blood contains a relatively small volume of blood and consequently a small amount of stems cells.Besides that one argument against using cord blood the article overall is in support of cord blood banking. I will use this article in my discussion of stem cells and to highlight the advantages of stem cells from cord blood over alternative treatments. Agovino, Theresa. CBSNews. com. Banking Umbilical Cord Blood, 11 Feb . 2009. Web. 15 Feb. 2013. This article is more personal and explores the individual's private decision to store umbilical cord blood. It also examines the companies that are responsible for storing cord blood from a business perspective as well as the patient's monetary and financial dilemmas.The article follows actual mother's and doctors on the front lines of the UCB debate. In the article an expecting mother named Marla Dalton says, â€Å"It was really stressful. The marketing makes you feel guilty. There is this feeling that if you don't do it, you are not doing something to save your child's life. † The article speaks about how the marketing divisions of these companies try to coerce patients into the service which can range from $1000 to $1740 per child. three years ago there were 12 cord blood storage companies and today there are at least 27 such companies.The cord blood banking industry is fairly new and the research is not conclusive yet whether these private compa nies are even worth the money. Some research actually shows that the overwhelming majority of cord blood stem cell transplants (about 3,500) have been done from independent donors or from public banks. At the end of the article the author, Theresa Agovino, gives an example of how a mother chose to use a private blood banking company and it was ultimately the right decision because her son was diagnosed with aplastic anemia at the age of two.That son later died of an infection but it was without a doubt the right choice because at the time it gave him the best chance to live. The author is clearly in support of cord blood banking whether it be private or public but she is highly critical of the means in which some of these private companies advertise their services. Instead of pointing to the limitations of blood banking they prey on parent's fear and perpetuate the myth that blood banking as a golden bullet for future diseases. This article was well written and contained a number of personal anecdotes that captures the reader's attention.It was informative regarding the business side of blood banking and gives measurable numbers, percentages, and price points within the industry. I will rely on statistics from this article to go along with a couple of stories to add a personal connection to the paper. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. acog. org. Cord Blood Banking – FAQ172, Aug. 2011. Web. 15 Feb. 2013. This article is by far the most informative of all the articles and is written in a question and answer format which makes it very easy to follow.In the article there are 10 bullet points discussing different topics including: what is cord blood, what are stem cells, how are cord blood stem cells used, what are the limits to stem cell use, how is cord blood stored, how do public cord blood banks operate, how do private cord blood banks operate, how is cord blood collected, what are some situations when it is not possible to collect cor d blood, and what should be considered when deciding whether to store cord blood. The author states the facts and gives to the point answers but does not interject any personal opinions.In the last section of the article some of the answers have a slant toward opposing the storage of cord blood. For instance, the article states that currently it is not known how long cord blood can successfully be stored. The article also points out that the chance that cord blood stem cells will be needed to treat your child is very low at 1 in 2700. In my opinion, these ten topics are the most important topics relating to stem cell cord blood banking. The author is especially comprehensive and gives the reader good information and exceptional questions to consider.I will use this article to add to my paper's overall knowledge base of stem cells and cord blood and to point out some excellent questions that should be asked before making a decision on cord blood banking. U. S. Food and Drug Administr ation. â€Å"Vaccines, Blood, ; Biologics. † fda. gov. Cord Blood Banking – Information for Consumers, 23 July 2012. Web. 15 Feb. 2013. This article focuses on FDA (Food and Drug Administration) regulations relating to Cord Blood Banking and gives additional information for consumers on where to find additional information.The FDA regulates everything from how cord blood is stored to whether the cord blood can be used for personal use or for family use. All public and private blood banks have to follow the FDA's strict requirements and the FDA will conduct periodic inspections of any blood storage facilities. The article also outlines how cord blood donors are matched so that blood transplant recipients get the right blood type or HLA (Human leukocyte antigen). The article is short but packed with educational information.It is very specific as to the terminology and gives very detailed instructions on what the FDA considers appropriate use of cord blood banking. This a rticle was posted on the FDA website and contains numerous links to other government websites that have supplementary information on cord blood banking such as the HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administration) website. I will use this article as a reference to let the reader know how cord blood banking is regulated by the FDA.I will also use it as a glossary to site definitions of terms and abbreviations such as HPC (hematopoietic progenitor cells), IND (investigational new drug), and BLA (biologics license application). Revelant, Julie. foxnews. com. 7 Things You Should Know about Cord Blood Banking, 04 July 2012. Web. 15 Feb. 2013. This article was written by Julie Revelant and starts out by telling the story of Jamie Page and her husband in Illinois that saved their newborn's cord blood after hearing about cord blood banking from their doctor.Just 4 weeks later the doctor's found a grapefruit sized mass blocking her kidneys. Luckily, because they stored the cord blood they were able use the stem cells to do a complete transplant after chemotherapy which saved her life. The article seems to begin as an advertisement for cord blood banking with the fortunate story of the Page family but later the article brings up some concerns about cord blood pricing and necessity of it. The article hits on seven topics ranging from it could be life-saving to your doctor could be cashing in, which makes for a lot of contrast in the article.On one extreme the author points out that umbilical cord blood is an extremely rich source of stem cells that are used to treat more than 80 life threatening diseases and disorders including cancer, blood disorders, immune system disorders, and genetic diseases and on the other extreme she says that it is common practice for doctors to receive referrals for discussing the topic of cord blood banking with their patients. I will use this article to compare and contrast all the various points within my paper.

The Effect of Transcendentalism on Americans - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 772 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2019/07/01 Category Philosophy Essay Level High school Topics: Transcendentalism Essay Did you like this example? During the 19th century, led by Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and other talented writers, the idea of Transcendentalism exploded in America. The founders of transcendentalism encourage people to go into nature and discover the good found inside nature. Due to the encouragement of going into nature and live self-reliant, Americans started to live independently. Nature served as the counselor of Americans, and it teaches them lessons. Those who learned the lessons evaluated into another dimension and contributed to the society. But how did nature teach American? The might of nature is beyond description, Nature is full of genius, full of divinity, so that not a snowflake escapes its fashioning hand. Nature is formidable which it can act as a good guide for all people if we have the determination to accept its coaching. Through living a simple life in the wilding alone for days, it is possible to gain feedback from nature. Nature can a be the good instructor that provoked us of thinking these meaningful life truths that we will need of step by step. The fickle of nature teaches us the importance of adaptability instincts. The miracle inside nature compels us to believe that everything live, even us, live and server for a purpose. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Effect of Transcendentalism on Americans" essay for you Create order The power of nature taught people can not control everything. The consequence happens to those who do not bend before nature teaches us to be flexible. The fortuitous meeting in nature instructed us to be on our own. The surviving inside nature forces us to make our own decisions and take the aftermath alone teaches us to be self-reliant or we face death. When thinking of our life in nature, we will also be pondering on questions such as who are we! Where are we! By following the steps given by nature, all humans learn skills like how to be self-independent. These skills are important for both independent and social. On one hand, if we are not an independent thinker, instead, we are only a hard-working people, then it is not enough to be industrious; so are the ants. What are you industrious about? We humans will have no difference from ants or any other animals who just work hard. This will make us being just like the other unintellectual species, and we will not be standing out from them. On the other hand, those being an independent thinker will be able to hear beyond the range of sound, see beyond the range of sight. They are able to understand the surface of all things as all the others do, but also, their independent thinking granted them the methods to penetrate deeply from the appearance into the core of many things. Furthermore, independent thinking can help one to penetrate and smash the idea of inherent the badness of people and fatalism of Calvinism. Thus becoming passionate and an expert to express oneself. The ability of independent thinking can be acquired through both living in n ature and meditatively searching ones soul. But, most importantly, it is significant to believe in that people is the dominator of their own. Society also demands independent thinkers, The fate of the country does not depend on how you vote at the polls† the worst man is as strong as the best at that game; it does not depend on what kind of paper you drop into the ballot box once a year, but on what kind of man you drop from your chamber into the street every morning. The actions that all humans act on the public and private space will be accumulated and decides the countrys fate. Thus it is necessary for all of us to be and act like self-reliant in order for the better destiny of our country. Moreover, The law will never make men free; it is men who have got to make the law free, we have to strive for better content insides the law. However, if a fool gets to make a law, every other fool will mind it, this will tear apart the society instead of uniting it. Therefore, a society full of independent thinkers can avoid the aforementioned situation instead, they will despise on authority and traditions, but depending on their own experience to construct the society. Once every individual in society is solid, strong, and independent, it is certain the society will become an ethical perfect utopian. In conclusion, the limitation of focus inside nature simplify ones life and enable people to go into deeper discovery of everything thus receiving the most experience and gain out of it. This process of nature breeds independent thinker that can contribute to society.

Analysis Of The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock - 1386 Words

â€Å"The Love Song of T.S Eliot† In â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock† the reader can clearly understand that T.S Eliot is straightforward as one can get within a poem. In the beginning of the poem, one can infer that Prufrock is being used as a facade to convey Eliot’s inner self who is an introvert that doesn’t quite fit in with the modern day society. â€Å"Prufrock† sees his personal life as a burden that he cannot mend while he tries to conform into the middle class society that everyone views as pristine. Meanwhile, being scrutinized by others he has also deemed himself as weak and unworthy of life. We are choosing to shed light on Eliot s inadequate personal life and on how others perceive him as well as how he perceives himself, within†¦show more content†¦In college Eliot met the love of his life and he soon married Vivien Haigh-Wood. This would make Eliot a new person in the way he would write and view the world. He self trained himself to make his writing more modern in efforts to reach a bigger crowd (Bush). These efforts would eventually pay off with writings like Ulysses, The Wasteland, and The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. These writings would give T.S Eliot the strength to quit his job in a local bank and live off the success of his writings. Eliot used his life struggles as his inspiration to create his successful writings just like how he used it to create Prufrock in â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock†. T.S Eliot uses his poem as an outlet to express what he has experienced throughout his personal life through Prufrock. In his poem, he makes the character, Prufrock, becomes very judgmental on himself since Eliot has encountered many self-degrading life lessons. Prufrock believes that his worthlessness terminates his chances of any woman falling in love him and which is the cause of his hesitance to approach women. Eliot is the same way since he got his heartbroken by his first wife, Vivienne Haigh-wood Eliot. Elio t s â€Å"habitable tentativeness† has always restrained him from being with a woman and what Vivienne does to him proves why he was and now always will be skeptical to be with a woman. A man by the name of RussellShow MoreRelatedLiterary Analysis Of The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock Essay1336 Words   |  6 PagesA Literary Analysis of T.S. Eliot’s â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock† T.S. Eliot was one among few poets and authors that dominated the years between the First and Second World Wars. Eliot showed his use of modernism techniques through â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock†, creating a powerful reputation around the world, particularly as a member of The Lost Generation in the 1920s. Eliot moved to and settled in London where he worked with famous poets including Ezra Pound, and published hisRead MoreCritical Analysis : The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock895 Words   |  4 PagesEssay Two- Critical Analysis Writing a critical analysis is diving into the text. Readers must break down all parts of the text and pin pointing the author s purpose for the writing. A very challenging poem to analysis is T.S. Eliot’s â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock†. It has been declared that â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock† started that Anglo-American modernist movement with poetry. The poem was the first poem with American poetry to flow free verse. At the time, it was deemedRead MoreAnalysis of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Essay602 Words   |  3 PagesAnalysis of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock J. Alfred Prufrock constantly lived in fear, in fear of life and death. T. S. Eliot divided his classic poem into three equally important sections. Each division provided the reader with insight into the mental structure of J. Alfred Prufrock. In actuality, Prufrock maintained a good heart and a worthy instinct, but he never seemed to truly exist. A false shadow hung over his existence. Prufrock never allowed himself to actually live. He hadRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock1497 Words   |  6 PagesLiterary Analysis of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock The human psyche has perpetually been characterized by a nagging sense of doubt. When one makes the decision to follow through (or, rather, not follow through) with an action, it is unlikely that he does so without questioning whether he made the right choice; this is recurring theme in literature, evident in works such as Crime and Punishment and A Separate Peace. T.S. Eliot’s The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock explores the universal natureRead More Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Essay: An Analysis846 Words   |  4 PagesAn Analysis of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock The general fragmentation of The Love Song of J. 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Alfred Prufrock, despite being one of T.S Eliots earliest publications, still manages to remain one of the most famous. He uses this poem to not only draw out the psychological aspect of members of modern society, but also to draw out the aspect of the time that he lived in. The speaker of this poem is a modern man who feels alone, isolated, and incapable of making decisive actions for himself. Prufrock desires to speak to a woman about his love for her, but he