Problems Facing Bmw Company Marketing Essay

Problems Facing Bmw Company Marketing Essay Globalization diversifies markets for vehicle manufactures where regions like Japan, North America and Western Europe are established big manufactures with over 18 vehicle manufactures across the board. This accounts for almost 90 percent of vehicle produced thus a scramble for available markets, attention now turns to upcoming economies like Russia, Latin America and Eastern Europe, Governments in developing economies aware of the value of their prospective growth auction off their market share to the highest bidders, like BMW, this investors hoping to increase manufacturing capacities so as to build their intended market bid away their economic returns and in so doing multiply the overcapacity problem on a large scale (Griffin Pustay 2009). Risks involved in venturing into new markets weigh in and most companies aware of the consequences of losing a market place bid, this either plays out in the company over bidding or throwing in the towel and losing the market.   Differentiation Successful ECO-Specialties must emphasize their differentiation. Differentiation means that the marketing mix is distinct from and better than what is available from the competitor; product differentiation is the core to a healthy market share. An abundance of option for the vehicle buyers exists with vehicle models with almost similar functional characteristics, BMW is now forced to manufacture unique products for a particular region at a point in time, and this is to cope with tastes and fickle needs of consumers. This differentiation wanes on their budget heavily since financial consequences of missing a market are disastrous (Prahalad Hamel 1990). Innovation Commitment to innovation and product variety has brought on the greatest challenge in the companies history, the intricacy and complexity of the functions offered in BMWs premium luxurious cars has burgeoned making manufacturing costs increase. Product development is the most financially taxing for BMW, the cost of developing a new models and model parts is enormous, time consuming and carries major risks. where the ford and general motors GM experience of 1970s and 1980s implies that commonization among manufactures leads to consumer backlash and confusion, BMW is now faced with expensive process of innovating prototypes and going through rigorous expensive and risk prone testing phases (Hollensen 2007). Competition Competition from other vehicle manufacturers dictate company strategies, with 69% of the market controlled by six companies its more difficult for a manufacturer to maintain his buyers without raids from rivals, this has the most direct effect on prices. Slow growth in automobile industry intensifies competition and has affected the BMW strategy leading to the BMW brand acquiring the merger partners (Tata Motors Inc. 2009). Substitute Products Substitute products threat on the auto market relates to products, materials or resources that may cause the demand for a product to shift. BMW targets premium buyers with whom quality matters, however other manufactures targeting this premium car market like, Mercedes, Audi, and the Porsche consequently become a close substitute to BMW. Global Warming With Global Warming a great concern in the modern world, environmental activists, non governmental organizations and governments are pushing for manufacturing companies to go green, BMW The carmaker, whose stable includes its core BMW brand along with the compact Mini and the super luxury Rolls-Royce, which hopes to deliver over 1.8 million vehicles a year by 2012 is faced with stricter regulation to conform, the company warned it is also likely to be confronted in the future by stricter emission standards in many countries. This implies further costs in innovation of more environmentally friendly engines, fuels and investment into alternative sources of energy to drive their cars. Proposed Solutions On globalization BMW can solve this over taxing problem through carefully calculated mergers and acquisitions, this allow the company to gain market share and penetration as well as access to already existing technology, local professionals and local brands. Furthermore, reviewing policies to improve the ratio of profitable to unprofitable customers which tends to run 20:80. Developing a global view of the brand and the buyers portfolio will reveal uncharted regions for expansion. And the use of existing plants in suitable locations to manufacture or assemble vehicles maintaining the quality of the BMW brand will greatly cut operational start up costs. Differentiation BMW has adopted advanced technology used to increase engineering and the quality of the models which are the route to competitive advantage. Mainly the major areas of differentiation are in alternative energies and security features, ensuring the brand maintains uniqueness, the BMWs 2002 (sports sedans) ensured differentiation was achieved, BMW use of advanced electronics make their cars luxurious as well as sporty to drive Innovation and product variety The use of technologically announced Intel Xeon processor 5500 series helps BMW Group to balance hardware, energy and application licensing costs, while also increasing its performance. This allows for new applications to be run, prototypes can be virtually created and tested virtually, Dr. Burkhard Goeschel, member of BMW board explains key areas of innovation incorporated in product development, this key areas include, Connected Drive which allows for an innovative and comprehensive concept networking the car, the driver, and the surrounding world, by-wire technology and iDrive control, all these concepts are available in the new BMW 7 series. Competition BMW has introduced new models, the x5, x3 and z4 with advanced electronics to make them sporty as well as luxurious, BMW has also acquired the Mini Cooper and Rolls Royce car manufacturers and the new models have boosted their competitive edge. Substitute products BMW prioritizes quality and product differentiation such that for its targeted premium market the BMW standards remain top and the car is still prestigious. Environmental challenges To combat this BMW along with other motor companies have tried to use some of the emerging technologies to make money, lower costs and ultimately help in reducing pollution. Toyota, Ford and BMW have incorporated this mentality in manufacturing of three lines of their cars, the new BMW 7series and the greatly awaited z4 are all projected to embrace these environmental friendly features, in future innovation of electric cars and alternative fuel sources are being considered. Major Strategic Alternatives BMW has established a basic supply chain in order to improve its load planning, this aids in determining its allocation strategies to cope with globalization; this supply chain ensures putting up of new manufacturing plants in suitable foreign countries and dedicated assembly lines for every product with few variants and thus increases productivity and reduces costs. With the market full of options for the buyer, the chain allows BMW to establish its brand in emerging anomies before competitors bid for market shares. Mergers and acquisitions of key brands of premium brands of cars have further solidified BMW market dominance. Beginning with the BMW Rover merger, the company has newly acquired MINI, and Rolls Royce cars. Its products cover the full range of size classes and car types but consist exclusively of premium-class cars, this allows the company to venture into new markets use the facilities used by former brands to re model new cars thus reducing operational costs while fostering growth. Unlike former mergers like the vole-Renault deal of the early 1990s which collapsed because the company cultures were incompatible, BMW integration with their new acquisitions have proved profitable, most vehicle manufactures have resulted to creating entirely new vehicle segments, and BMW hit home run with its 2002 sports sedan which generated returns to its innovator by fending its differentiated position, the company has designed and always built cars with exponentially greater responsiveness to a dri vers actions, this has been greatly attributed to the companies product differentiation policies (Teece et al 1996). The BMW engine roaring sound is music to the ears of sports and performance car lovers, outside the box thinking like the BMW sedans and convertibles give BMW a competitive advantage over other manufacturers. New and advanced technology like greatly improved safety features, advanced control features have led to market dominance. BMW cars typically have product life cycle of seven years. and according to Jim McDowell, vice president of marketing at BMW If a product is declining, we would prefer to withdraw it from the market, as opposed to having a strategy for dealing with the declining product this awareness ensures that BMW ventures are only profitable ones, the rover case shows how failing mergers operate and instead of working on it BMW sold it to UK venture capital firm Alchemy Partners (Siciliano Zuvich 2006). To foster growth BMW instead acquired profitable mergers like with luxury cars rolls Royce. This ensures the company always remains relevant to the market and trendy to its buyers With advancing technology and introduction of fiber optic cables in developing economies, the world has become a global village where car enthusiast can order in their premium BMW cars online, check features and ask questions on performance, : BMW Car maker uses web mostly to drive its brand, taking the phrase beyond the banner seriously, online adds like the Marketing Channels Internet 46860 banners, appear on equal rotating basis with each search result, with BMW targeting 26.5% the percentage of viewers between age group (25-34) , this along with E-mail Marketing, Brochure test-drive Registration for Mail alert message, and e-catalogue, enable more availability of information anywhere to prospective buyers, BMW has launched an email marketing campaign for the release of the long awaited Sporty new Z4 Convertible, Z4 BMW (Key General Motors Financial 2007). This guarantees availability to buyers who dont have to attend gallery shows at the dealership. BMW has established Numerous Overseas Subsidiaries in countries like, south Africa, India, china Canada and Egypt, where BMW vehicles are assembled, 2003 saw the signing of a deal the production of sedans in China, this subsidiary firms are well equipped to build cars for export to specific markets like, the south Africa plant builds left hand drives for the Taiwan market, and also right hand drives for sub Saharan Africa, Malaysia and Singapore. This shows a great understanding of the market and understanding of the buyer needs in different regions, Predictions If put in place supply chains will enable the company to greatly take advantage of existing infrastructure in different regions, this will allow for strategic allocation of plants in areas where the BMW brand will not be compromised, this areas will preferably have skilled professional workers, laid out infrastructure which the company will exploit. This aids in reduction of start up costs in new markets. Integration with already existing local brands allow for easy market penetration (Franey 2008). E-commerce is a must have for companies in the modern world and will increased emphasis on e marketing, BMW stands to break into markets far and wide, most upcoming economies have low income citizens without many premium luxurious cars available, the internet brings the BMW experience closer to them, thus when the market is established the concept of luxury cars wont be so alien, this allows for easier market penetration and preparation of a ready market (Juslin Hansen 2003). Product differentiation among premium car market is a key to successes, with the targeted buyer giving more emphasis to quality and uniqueness and elegance as opposed to pricing, BMW seeks to offer intricate designs and features to these new models allowing for elegance that buyers crave. In reaction to the differentiation major competitors like Volkswagen, Porsche, Mercedes, have released new models like the jeep Cherokee luxurious SUV, and the mustang pony cars so as to try and keep up. Establishing of overseas subsidiary in developing markets in the Latin America, and parts of eastern Europe, and Africa BMW will be able to put up assembly plants closer to the buyer, sales are predicted to sore with introduction of this new markets, the subsidiary firm are able to carry out research in respective Regions and integrate the outcome in their strategic plans to give the buyers exactly what they desire, this bolsters sales, Strategy outcome Prediction When implementing E- Marketing as a basis for extending growth and penetration to market regions, various risks are involved especially when the internet is being used to launch details of new vehicle series being manufactured, BMW had a case in 2004 when there were cases of website incursions, theft of vehicles and a constant threat of arson even in its UK head offices in Bracknel (Hambrick Fredrickson 2001). In addressing all these, the company specified a self-sufficient security solution that was cost effective and that required minimal human supervision and intervention. Reliance securities implemented a state of the art security solution including CCTV surveillance with intelligent detector activation, to avoid future incursions. Mergers and acquisitions are effective in breaking into new markets through acquiring and integrating an already existing brands, great risks are involved in such takeovers, having seen the BMW-Rover merger record massive losses, in light of this failure BMW has learnt to plan its mergers with companies whose cultures are compatible, this has seen successful mergers with luxurious car manufactures rolls Royce and the mini (Pearce Robinson 2009). Production of entirely new brands is the most expensive aspect of car manufacturing with average of 2 models released in a decade, across the wide range of car manufactures, though this allows for product differentiation and preferences to the buyer, great risks are involved, since the sports sedan in 2002, only the 2seater roadster and coupe have been sold since 2002 (Marshall Stuart 2008). The company has however heavily invested in technology when intricate applications are put in place to virtually make desired prototypes, and virtually test the models this greatly reduces costs of manufacturing a car and having it fail.   Many countries have enacted stricter environmental restrictions on pollution and emissions, BMW, has greatly put in place measures to manufacture more fuel efficient cars, this comes with elevated costs and consequently the cost is projected down to the buyers, more fuel efficient engines are expensive, electric cars which are regarded as the future are even more costly even to premium market target manufacturers, The 2011 BMW Active Hybrid 7 and the vision Efficient Dynamic Concept car which was unveiled during the September 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show are projected to offer fuel economy of 62.6 mpg. BMW also has a recycling policy where they use the shredded parts of the cars in their yard, this reduces pollution, and the foundation for the environmental friendly recycling of vehicles is laid during the production of each vehicle (Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft 2008).    Supply chains overall levels of integration ensuring a reduction to fixed costs of assets and labor, they also serve to reduce the number competitors supplying into the same market, for instance India is a viable market but has competitors such as, Audi, Daimler Chrysler, Tata, Mahindra an Hyundai looking to invest in that market by putting up assembly units, the supply will ensure such a flooded market is avoided or a more appropriate means of entry is effected (Thompson Strickland 1996). Globalization leads to governments of up coming economies take advantage of their growth potential and thus bid off their markets to the highest bidders amongst the major vehicle manufactures. But there is growing unwillingness within the supply community to invest in plants that might not reach potential in over a decade, this leads to investors pulling out instead of bidding away, this markets form good grounds for take over and acquisitions of already in place plants (Kiley 2004).

Essay on Satire - Voltaires Candide as a Satirical Peice :: Candide essays

Voltaire's Candide as a Satirical Peice The novel Candide by Voltaire is a great peice of satire that makes fun of the way people in medievil times thought. The book is about a man, Candide, and his misfortunes. Throughout the book Candide has countless things go wrong in order to show that this is not "the best of all possible worlds" Voltaire is trying to make a point through the exaggeration of the inhumanities of man in a humorous way. The story begins in a castle in Westphalia. Candide is convinced by Cunegonde to take a lesson in "experimental physics". The two are caught and Candide is kicked out of the castle. While Candide is suffering from hunger and cold he is met by two men who trick him into service in the Bulgarian army. Candide has a terrible time in the army, he tries to escape, and he is punished severely. During the confusion of war Candide manages to escape. Time passes and Candide meets some other interesting individuals and has one bad experience after the next. One day Candide meets a woman who takes care of him and this is none other than Cunegonde. They amuse each other with stories of misfortune and travel around the world. At every place Candide goes something unthinkable seems to happen to him. Candide meets several people along the way who all have their own interesting story of misfortune and the inhumanities of mankind. Candide ends up on a small farm, married to Cunegonde and living with two philosophers. He argues with others at the end of the book if this really is the best of all possible worlds and they conclude the we must "work without reason" and "must cultivate our garden". In this novel Voltaire is extremely influenced by his frame of reference and mindset. He finds room to include almost all of his political views. He takes Candide on a journey through all of the wrongs he beleives in the world in order to prove that it was not the best of all possible worlds. He shows us the inhumanities of man through war and social interaction. He basically paints an exaggerated picture of the wrongs of medievil people.

The Adult Spinal Column :: Biology, Tissues

Abstract—Understanding the relationship between repetitive lifting and the breakdown of disc tissue over several years of exposure is difï ¬ cult to study in vivo and in vitro. The aim of this investigation was to develop an asymmetric Porovisco elastic ï ¬ nite element model of a lumbar motion segment that reï ¬â€šects the biological properties and behaviors of in vivo disc Finite element predictions were compared to in vivo measurements published by Tyrrell et al. (1985) of percent change in total stature for two loading protocols, short-term creep loading and standing recovery and short-term cyclic loading with standing recovery. Future models will treat the tissues as poor-assume elastic and 3D in order to be more accurate and the relationship between repetitive lifting and disc degeneration T I. INTRODUCTION he adult spinal column is made up of 26 bones, called vertebrae: 7 cervical in the neck, 12 thoracic in the rib area, 5 lumbar in the lower back, a sacrum and a coccyx. Located between adjacent vertebrae are intervertebral discs. The human intervertebral disc acts as the body’s shock absorber to properly diffuse the stresses that the spine encounters. It is made up of the inner, gel-like nucleus pulposus and the outer annulus fibrosus. Fluid flows through the disc in a diurnal cycle At the beginning of each day, the disc is fully hydrated, but as the day progresses, fluid is forced to flow out of the disc; this flow helps to carry nutrients into and waste out of the disc [1]. The exploration of biomechanical properties of living tissues is fundamental to the analysis of structural behaviour of the musculoskeletal system. It is known that mechanical properties of living tissues are time dependent. Creep, relaxation, constant strain rate loading, and cyclic loading represent the various physiological loading conditions that the human body confronts. For example, higher strain rates of loading can be used for simulating vehicular accidents or trauma, medium strain rates of loading for daily activity, creep for the prolonged static posture, and cyclic loading for work in vibrating environments, i.

The Scaffold Scenes in Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter Essay -- Scarlet

â€Å"Hester Prynne passed through this portion of her ordeal, and came to a sort of scaffold (51),† Hawthorne tells in the opening seen of the novel, The Scarlet Letter. The scaffold is a place for punishment. â€Å"This scaffold constituted a portion of a penal machine, which now, for two or three generations past, has been merely historical and traditionary among us, but was held, in the old time, to be as effectual an agent in the promotion of good citizenship, as ever was the guillotine,† Hawthorne states in explaining the scaffolds use. The scaffold had wooden steps leading on to it. The steps of the scaffold became the walk of death for many people before they were beheaded. A balcony or open gallery stood over the platform and was attached to the meetinghouse. During Hester’s punishment, the ministers and Governor sat in the gallery in order to question her. The scaffold was located at the â€Å"western extremity† of the market place, near the chur ch. The scaffold was a raised platform made of wood and iron. Men and women who sinned would be forced on the scaffold, either for beheading or, in Hester’s case, extreme embarrassment. The scaffold appears in the book three times, during three major scenes. The scenes are placed equally apart in the book, one at the beginning, in the middle and in the final scene at the end. The first scaffold scene encompasses Hester’s punishment and open confession. While the third scaffold scene includes Dimmesdale's confession. In the second or middle scaffold scene, both Hester and Dimmesdale are on the scaffold in the middle of the night. The scaffold is introduced in the novel for its literal uses, but the scaffold comes to symbolize and embody many other meanings. The scaffold is a symbol of the... ... for his sin. Both in the novel and in everyday use, the scaffold has a certain connotation to it. For instance, a person told that they were going to be scaffolded would most likely be fearful. However, as used scaffolding could simply mean that they were going to be propped up. Likewise, in The Scarlet Letter all Puritans fear chastisement on the scaffold.   In the novel, the scaffold is never used for public speaking or a theatrical performance, but only for the confession of sin. Most Puritans did not realize that the scaffold could have many positive uses. Likewise, to be scaffolded, by definition, is just as likely to be a good action as a bad one. Unfortunately, most historical documentation about the scaffold relates to of executions and punishments. Thus, the word scaffold can do many beneficial things for mankind, yet carries a very negative aura.

Job Analysis Methods

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT 1 DETAILS OF METHODS OF GETTING INFORMATION FOR JOB ANALYSIS Job analysis may be defined as a methodical process of collecting information on the functionally relevant aspects of a job. It involves job description (determining the duties and skill requirements of a job) and job specification (determining the kind of person who should be hired for the job). The methods of Job Analysis are as follows: 1. INTERVIEW METHOD This tool is considered to be very useful to the analysis of jobs.It is a method to collect a variety of information from an incumbent and supervisors by asking them (individually or as a group) to describe the tasks and duties performed. The benefits are that it allows the incumbent to describe tasks and duties that are not observable. However, they may exaggerate or omit tasks and duties. Three types of  interviews  are used to collect  job analysis  data: *  Individual  interviews  with each  employee. * Group   interviews  with groups of employees having the same job, and *  Interview  supervisor who are knowledgeable about the job  being analyzed.Interviews consist of structured Interviews and unstructured interviews. 2. QUESTIONNAIRE METHODS There are many techniques, one of them which is: 3. POSITION ANALYSIS QUESTIONNAIRE (PAQ MODEL) This model developed by McCormick, Jeanerette, and Mecham (1972) is a structured instrument of job analysis to measure job characteristics and then associate them with human characteristics. It consists of 195 job elements that describe generic human behaviors during work activities. It includes: 1. Information input (where and how the worker gets information), 2.Mental processes (reasoning and other processes that workers use), 3. Work output (physical activities and tools used on the job), 4. Relationships with other persons, and 5. Job context (the physical and social contexts of work). Over the years it has been observed that there exists a wea lth of research on the PAQ since it has yielded reasonably good reliability estimates and has been linked to several assessment tools. 4. OBSERVATION In this method incumbents are observed performing their jobs which enables the trained job analyst to obtain first-hand knowledge and information about the job being analyzed.This method is suited for jobs in which the work behaviors are 1) observable or 2) job tasks are short in duration or 3) jobs in which the job analyst can learn information about the job through observation. With observation, the trained job analyst can obtain first-hand knowledge and information about the job being analyzed. It allows the job analyst to see the work environment, tools and equipment used, interrelationships with other workers, and complexity of the job. 5.CRITICAL INCIDENT TECHNIQUE (CIT model) This method applied to discover behaviors towards working which can help classify performance into a good and bad level. These  observations  are used to solve practical problems and develop psychological principles. The main purposes are building  job descriptions, job specification and job standards, creating a list of good and bad behaviors which can then be used for  performance appraisal and testing the effectiveness of  the job  description and job specification. . WORK SAMPLING This method is a  measurement technique  for  the  quantitative  analysis of  non-repetitive  or  irregularly occurring activity. Work sampling operates by an observer taking a series of random observations on a particular thing of interest (machine, operating room, dock etc. ) to observe its state (working, idle, sleeping etc. ). When enough samples are taken, an analysis of the observations yields a statistically valid indication of the states for  each thing analyzed.It is relatively inexpensive to use and extremely helpful in providing a deeper understanding of all types of operations. 7. REPERTORY GRID The  repertory grid technique is a method for eliciting personal constructs, i. e. what people think about a given topic. It is based on George Kelly's  Personal Construct Theory. It is called a ‘grid' because one way of doing it is to use a matrix with the people along one side and the similarity and contrast poles along another side. The method is as follows: Identify a range of 10-20 people who do the job (these are called  elements). * Select three at random. * Select two that seem more similar in some way. * Identify what it is about them that is similar (this is the  similarity pole). * Identify what is different about the other person (this is the  contrast pole). * Repeat this until you have about 20 contrasts. * Thin this down to about 10 by combining similar contrasts. The remaining contrasts should give a good idea of the factors that make up the job.

Twenty four hour truce

As women, we all dream of a life where we finally feel free and safe. Just the mere thought of being able to walk down the street alone at 1 1 PM without worrying that someone might take advantage of you Is beyond exhilarating, feeling safe In our own homes, safe In our relationships, safe amongst the figures who were deemed to be protectors but have proved time and time again to be the mall source of our pain. Andrea Drinks calls upon a truce, â€Å"†¦ A Twenty-Four-Hour Truce During Which There Is No Rape†.Henceforth this essay will critically analyses Drinks plea, not only ringing forth an end to rape and the rise of men in against this patriarchal war but to bring an upturn in gender equity and the evaluation of restorative and punitive justice. First and foremost we need to define what gender equality is. Gender equality can be regarded as the measurable equal representation of women and men. Gender equality does not Infer that women and men are the same; amongst oth er reasons we are not the same and we will never be the same mainly because of our biological stand points.But gender equality does Imply that both men and women ought to eve equal value and should be accorded equal treatment; not only In the workplace but In the societal view as a whole. In Drinks speech, she proves that patriarchy Is a framework that is socially embedded in the eve stands of the clothes that we wear. Even to those who proclaim that they do not support such backward yet very present views of patriarchy, their silence, their standing in the shadows doing and saying nothing is a clear indication of their support.As it verifies that he who is most violent stands in the place of being the alpha male. Men such as Joseph Kong or militant ropes such as the Book Harem, Doll Hitler, Fillmore Slim.. And so forth; have made their marks in the sand of time for the oppression of women . All opposed by the female masses yet the males, those who are supposedly on the same superio r ranking, have remained on the side-lines of this In Just war against women abuse In all angles. L would Like to scream; and In that screams I would have the raped and the sobs of the battered; and even worse, In the centre of that scream I would have the deafening sound of women's silence, that silence into which we are born because e are women and in which most of us die† – Andrea Drinks I believe that we have reached a point in time where this on going struggle against male dominance should not be necessarily headed by females only.We live in this world where when it is deemed necessary in the public eye men and women are equal, we have seen and embraced the leadership skills of women, the inventors and of those have proved to be twice as strong in combat. It Is time that men pulled out their placards from their cupboards and voiced out their feelings of rebellion against patriarchy and put their foot forward towards gender equality. Ender equality or gender equity does not Ill In the hands of men. As It Is with any battle that Is being fought the greatest victory comes from the mind of the oppressed.Realigns that they themselves are indeed worth the fight and that they are not and should not be educate other women. This is possible through education because, yes, even in this day and age most women especially of those coming up from townships and surrounding violent areas still believe that if a man hits you; leaves you with bruises, if a man puts you down emotionally and if a man forces himself on you especially if o are in a relationship. This is seen as a proud declaration to the public of his love towards you. As we know first and foremost change comes from within.So before we can expect anyone on the outside to protect women and to speak on behalf of women the oppressed minds of those whose lives have revolved around playing victim need to be able to stand up for what is that they believe in; which should be gender equality â€Å"A gun in every holster, a pregnant woman in every home will make America a man again† -Ronald Reagan One needs to define and fully understand what it really means to be a man. In this case we see that being a man takes on the form of being superior and being in control.On the perspective of gender equity gender based violence is not the only form of oppression. Abuse comes in many forms and sizes. Gender violence includes rape, sexual assault; relationship violence in heterosexual and same sex relationships, sexual harassment, stalking, prostitution and sex trafficking. The term â€Å"gender violence† reflects the idea that violence often serves to maintain structural gender inequalities, and includes all types of violence against women, children, adolescents, gay and transgender people.This type of violence in some way influences or is influenced by gender relations. To sufficiently address this violence, we have to address cultural issues that encourage violence as part of masculinity. The workplace is also one of the places where great oppression against women occur. In the workplace women are often obliged to perform favors whether it be sexually they or other; they are subsequently expected to earn lower salaries than their male counterparts even if though they might do the same amount of work if not more.People often misinterpret the teaching of religion to fit their own demented fetishes in relation to male dominance. Where one religious book would teach the readings of the submissiveness of women and how respect is a two way streak; another would look at that teaching as a means where women are to be treated as puppets and they are the puppeteers in that they control every movement. Society also places a huge role on how women are supposed to think, look, eat, enhance, wear and behave. There has been a great shift in the way that women dress in the asses as apposed to now.It is onlooker about looking reprehensible and elegant and well put togeth er at all times. It is indeed about how much skin you can show, it is about sex appeal. Now this sex appeal is not directly directed to other women it is in actual fact directed at men, as they are seen as having the most purchasing power in all angles. The common phrase sex sells is true, but at what cost? It is at the cost of thousands of women pioneering to walk around half naked to be recognized by men; it is at the heart of a multimillion dollar food chain (Hooters) .Women may not monumentally realism this pressure to constantly look good, not necessarily for ourselves but for the pleasure of males. This is a form of oppression because it means that as women we are unconsciously forced to sell ourselves for the benefit of those who will view women as nothing more than Just visual pleasures. The current resolutions is given to individuals that do not have an interest in the matter, which ultimately prevents the individuals involved from determining their own form of justice. Add itionally, obedience to this system is enforced under duress.Rather than sing force to achieve compliance, the anarchist approach to resolving conflict is voluntary, and believes Justice can only be determined by the involved parties through dialogue. This means, rather than sending offenders to Jail, they confront the people that have been harmed by their actions, and take responsibility for rectifying the situation and by helping them recognizes their mistake. But how does one find comfort in rehabilitating a fully grown man who rapes a child? How does one rectify years and years of broken bones, black eyes and blank outs when the fear of being rut again is deeply rooted in the women's soul.Whereas, punitive Justice works on the basis that it is indeed an eye for an eye. It believes in punishment an in a sense, revenge; but could also have detrimental outcomes as the root of the problem was not resolved and because of this the perpetrator can do it again. Not much punishment can b e done because of the human right laws that are in place to protect everyone equally It is like a child that is being punished for something that he or she does not understand, the chances of that child doing it again are very high cause they could not see where they went wrong.There is no sure fire way of preventing perpetrators from acting again. We do not know if restorative Justice or punitive is the way forward as we are all different some people have higher moral values than others and some Just don't have them. Period. In closing Drinks claims do have merit in South Africa as our rape and women abuse ratings sky rocket by the minute. Is it possible, yes, purely because anything is possible. But not in the near future, equality is system that will take a lot of time to adjust too. This not only applies to men but to women as well.

Between Harrison Bergeron and a&P

Tim Kenda English 102 Short Story Essay 2/28/10 Heroism Through Choice When people think of heroes, they often think of muscle bound men in spandex with unrealistic powers of flight, strength, or x-ray vision. But in real life, heroes are often determined based on the smallest of situations and their outcomes. In both of the stories I have chosen (A&P and Harrison Bergeron), the main characters are classified as heroes because of their willingness to defy the authoritive forces around them, whether it be the store manager Lengel in A&P or the Handicapper General in Harrison Bergeron, as well as their willingness to strike out on their own instead of adhering to social norms. In Harrison Bergeron, the main character Harrison stands up to a society that attempts to dull his individual qualities by ripping off his physical handicaps and temporarily liberating all of the oppressed people watching the television for a moment. In A&P, the main character stands up to his dreary, Sunday school teaching boss when he feels as though his boss has embarrassed three female customers in a grocery store. Both Harrison and the cashier pay the price for their defiance (Harrison gets killed and the cashier loses his job), and it is because of the character’s selflessness that the actions appear heroic. Both characters fit the definition of a hero, the cashier for his willingness to lose his job over what he deems an inappropriate action by his manager, and Harrison for ripping off (literally) the shackles that his society has placed on him in a fight to show his individualism. The fact that they performed these actions with no thought towards their own outcome helps outline their true heroic qualities. In the story A&P, the cashier exhibits a heroic quality when he quits his job due to a perceived insult made by his manager to three young ladies. While it first appears to be a dangerous and rash decision (quitting your job over an apparent slight made by your manager to a girl you do not know), the underlying factors actually make this a very heroic choice. When the cashier quits the A&P, he is not quitting as a direct result of that one insult but rather he is quitting because he does not want to work in what he views as a strict and religious workplace. After he quits, he looks back and sees â€Å"Lengel in [his] place in the slot, checking the sheep through. † and then goes on to describe Lengel by saying â€Å"His face was dark gray and his back stiff, as if he’d just had an injection of iron. †(Updike 529). When he sees Lengel in this state, he realizes that moments before that had been him. At the end of the story, the cashier becomes a symbol of the thoughts of many young people during the late fifties and early sixties. He does not want to work in the same dreary place for his whole life. He does not want to be just like his parents and Lengel. And despite that fact that he knows it will be hard, he makes the decision to strike out on his own, and consequently to fight back against what he views as a dreary and depressing reality. That is a hard decision to make, and a heroic one as well. As a result of his actions, the cashier in A&P not only commits a heroic gesture, he also becomes a symbol of the change that was taking place in the late fifties and early sixties. Many young people at that point in time were breaking away from what their parents were doing and were bravely striking off onto their own paths, just like the hero in our story. The overall theme of the story mirrors the same path, showing the drear and the tension and the uncertainty that crept into the American conscious following the start of the cold war and the adolescent urge to do something better than what ones parents did. The cashier represents many of America’s younger generation in that aspect. In the story Harrison Bergeron, the main character is a â€Å"genius and an athlete† and is sent to jail for â€Å"suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government. †(Vonnegut 536). He then breaks out of jail and declares on national television that he is the emperor. Now in our society, these actions would be considered those of a madman or a lunatic. But in his society, Harrison’s actions are very heroic. When Harrison rips off his handicaps and declares to the world he is emperor, he represents the idea that individualism and competition are superior to similarity and monotony. His actions also represent the destruction of the limitations that society has attempted to place on him just because he was different. Also, the fact that he did this and was then killed makes it even more heroic. This shows us that Harrison’s real intent was not to simply take over the world, but rather his intent was to show everyone that they could be different and they could fight the limitations imposed on them. The theme of this story is one of oppression and normalcy, and idea that Harrison attempts to destroy. Harrison becomes a symbol of freedom and liberation, showing us as readers that it is possible to break free of social normalcy despite the possibly grave consequences. In both Harrison Bergeron and A&P the main characters in the story are considered heroic for their willingness to stand up against authority and their ability to commit what they perceive as â€Å"good† actions regardless of the consequences they face. In both stories society is a dull, oppressive place, and the characters fight against the oppression in their own unique ways. And ultimately each character suffers a consequence as a result of their actions. But despite these consequences, which in the story were apparent before the characters committed their actions, both characters made their choices based on what they believed was right. This is why the cashier and Harrison are both heroic figures in their stories. Works Cited 1. Updike, John. _A&P. Literature and its Writers. Ed. _Ann Charters, Samuel Charters. Bedford/St. Martins, Boston. 2009. 2. Vonnegut, Kurt. _Harrison Bergeron. Literature and its Writers. _Ed. Ann Charters, Samuel Charters. Bedford/St Martins, Boston. 2009.