Are science and religion in conflict Research Paper

Are science and religion in conflict - Research Paper Example According to science, everything which happens in the universe has a natural cause and it does not relate it to a God or an unseen force. On the contrary, the religion only believes in God and establishes its foundation on concept of God and in his unlimited powers. Science completely relies on proof and religion is depended on morality, faith and spirituality and hence both remains in conflict forever. All religion in the world is based on God and his attributes and science on other hand is a study of nature. The basis and principles of religion is passed on to people from their ancestors and elders and has strong grounds of belief and faith. But science is developed by studying and researching on elements of nature. Science only believes on fact and evidence based information and cannot rely on imagination and faith. The core reason for the conflict between science and religion is on matter of creation of universe and the former regards creation of universe as accidental whereas re ligion strongly believes that creation of universe is a planned action of God. Science does not believe in miracle or supernatural powers whereas the religious concepts have many illusionary and superficial thinking attached to it. Part Two: Argument Incompatible Nature of Science and Religion Science and religion has their ideas rooted in different subjects and as a result they conflict with each other on varied platforms. On every sphere of human activity like astronomy, history, medicine, human sexuality and religious practices and events, science and religion maintains different opinions. According to religion, the astronomy is related to the position of planets and the way they influence the everyday life of human beings. Ancient people used to make astronomical observation and understand the position of planets and assess their positive and negative effect on human beings. They integrated rituals and religious ceremonies keeping in mind the influence of planets on human life. As per science, astronomy is the study of various planets and their origin, nature and evolution. Even on history, science and religion contradict each other regarding various events taken place in the past like the creation of earth and flood story about Noah’s ark. The science neglects these stories as they believe in evidence found by fossil excavation and anthropology. Science believes in Darwin’s evolution theory and suggests that man evolved from apes. According to old and New Testament, earth is millions of years old whereas science suggests that earth are not that old as testament indicate. In relation to language, religion believes that it originated among people of Babel in Middle East. However, science point out that language evolved among people who travelled in groups and sub groups during migration. When it comes to medicine, there is also difference of opinion among science and religion .Science believes that medicine is the only means to heal diseases w here as religion is of the opinion that faith and prayers to the God helps people to keep away from illnesses. Religion believes in the connection of body with the soul and how God exists in the soul of all human beings. Since faith in religion is something related to mind and grounded in the belief of God, science does not give importance to it. According to (Cray, 2006) â€Å"God cannot be completely contained within nature, and therefore God's existence is outside of science's ability to really weigh in†. Science mainly relates itself with nature and its activities, whereas religion sees and believes in things beyond nature. In religion there

Organ black market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Organ black market - Essay Example People have to stay on waiting lists for years before they may ultimately get an organ that can replace their organ which does not function normally. During this period, patients even end up losing their lives as a result of organ failure. Transplantation of organs is very essential for certain individuals, selling organs on the black market is unethical as the act is against the foundations of organ donation, increases the expenditure of the donor and increases cost for the society. Body Presumed Consent Donation of organ is the act of giving a gift or voluntarily donating an organ to another person. When organ transplantation started taking place, the consent of the donor and his family was given great importance and without their consent organ donation and transplantation could not take place. Due to this, there was a shortage of organs available in the market and nations started applying presumed consent system. Presumed consent refers to one’s belief that a person or his family members have no objection regarding transplantation of organs of a dead individual. Presumed consent may not take place if the family members stop or disallow the transplantation procedure (Devettere 401). Due to presumed consent, ample numbers of patients who need organ donations have started gaining access to organs but the number is still quite low due to the existence of black markets. Because of the existence of black markets, presumed consent can not be practiced in an efficient manner as people prefer selling their organs in the black market rather donating it and this is a common practice in developing nations. Regulating Markets and Black Markets The huge amount of difference between the demand for organs and supply of organs has resulted in an increase in black markets for organs. The demand for organs is much higher than the supply throughout the world; this has made policy makers take measures to counter the difference between the demand and supply. This has led n ations such as Singapore to reimburse and provide incentives to donors in order to encourage them to donate their organs (Cooper 15). Nations such as Singapore are even investing heavily in the procedure of donation and this is a very high cost to the donor in financial terms. The government and policy makers have taken steps such as paying for the transplant procedure and expenses that are bared by donors after the procedure has taken place. A major challenge recognized for the activities conducted by nations is the challenge known as transplant commercialism. Transplant commercialism is referred to the treatment of organs as a commodity which results in the buying and selling of organs and which increases the act of organ trafficking (Danovitch 443). Transplant commercialism is recognized as an unethical act because it shakes the very foundations of organ donation. Policy makers have realized that the nations that are providing incentives for organ donation are conducting an uneth ical act of reimbursing donors in return for their organs. On the other hand, policy makers do not restrict reimbursements. This will not leave the donor with a financial reward and will neither result in a disadvantage to him. According to the utilitarian view of ethics, all activities that are considered ethical must provide the optimum level of benefit to the society. If one views organ donation black

Beta Blockers Properties Of Propranolol And Atenolol Biology Essay

Beta Blockers Properties Of Propranolol And Atenolol Biology Essay Abstract This essay reports the properties of propranolol (lipophilic ÃŽ ²1-selective blocker) and atenolol (hydrophilic ÃŽ ²1-selective blocker) in the point of view of pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, and physical chemistry. It is observed that their pharmacological and pharmacokinetic properties are different, but its physicochemical properties are relative close. Introduction to ÃŽ ²-blockers The ÃŽ ²-blockers are drugs which act by blocking the effect of mediators and agonists on the relevant receptors. The ÃŽ ²-blockers show an antihypertensive effect, which is caused by reduced cardiac output, decreased release of renin, central decrease of sympathetic action. Also, they exhibit an antianginal effect, which is caused by slowing of the heart rate and thus decreased metabolic demand. The main side effects of general ÃŽ ²-blockers are cardiac failure, such as cardiac depression, hypotension, sinus node dysfunction, atrioventricular block. The side effects depend on the properties of ÃŽ ²-blockers. For instance, non-selective ÃŽ ²-blockers show the unwanted effects caused by blocking ÃŽ ²2-receptor. These show bronchoconstriction which is potentially life-threatening in asthmatic patients and clinically undesirable in patients with other respiratory problems. Lipophilic ÃŽ ²-blockers may cause psychological symptoms, such as depression. There are some important factors in the selection of ÃŽ ²-blockers, which are ISA, MSA, ÃŽ ²1-selectivity, lipophilicity, solubility, and the duration of effects. The ÃŽ ²2-selective blockers are not used clinically, because of causing bronchoconstriction. Some ÃŽ ²-blockers show the effect of not only blocking the receptors, but also stimulating ÃŽ ²-receptors. It depends on the situation whether ISA positive ÃŽ ²-blockers stimulate or block ÃŽ ²-receptors. For example, these act as ÃŽ ²-blockers under the existence of ÃŽ ²-agonists. On the other hand, these invigorate the receptors under the non-existence of ÃŽ ²-agonists. Such an effect is termed ISA which is intrinsic sympathomimetic activity. The drugs which have ISA decrease the side effects caused by ÃŽ ²-blockers. The non-selective blocks of ÃŽ ²-receptors cause the increase in cardiac afterload and bronchocostriction, because of ÃŽ ²2-blocking. The ÃŽ ²1-selective drugs slightly have the effect of ÃŽ ²2-blocking, but the ris k of causing cardiac afterload and bronchoconstriction is lower than that of non-selective ÃŽ ²-blockers. The duration of effects depends on the disease. Long acting ÃŽ ²-blockers are desirable for hypertension and heart failure, because of the low frequency of administration. In contrast, short acting ÃŽ ²-blockers, propranolol, are ideal drugs for angina, because of the fast onset of action. As I stated above, lipophilic ÃŽ ²-blockers have a risk of causing depression. The reason is such drugs are absorbed easily, so can penetrate BBB. MSA, membrane stabilising activity, is an activity which prevents sodium ions from entering inside of cells. Many ÃŽ ²-blockers, such as propranolol, have the activity, so these are useful for arrhythmia. The properties of propranolol Propranolol is a non-selective ÃŽ ²-blocker, which is clinically used as propranolol hydrochloride. The IUPAC name is (2RS)-1-(1-Methylethyl) amino-3-(naphthalen-1-yloxy) propan-2-ol monohydrochlorid. The molecular weight is 295.80, and the melting point is around 165 degrees. It is white crystalline powder, and it is easy to dissolve in water and methanol. Also, the methanol solution doesnt exhibit optical activity. Its structural formula is following. Propranolol is absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract, its plasma level reach a peak, 42.9ng/ml, after 1.5 hours of administration. The half life is approximately 3.9 hours. The metabolism of propranolol is mainly conducted by the liver, so it is metabolised to naphthoxylactic acid, glucuronic acid conjugate, and 4-Hydroxypropranolol. It is mainly metabolised by CYP2D6, CYP1A2, and CYP2C19. As I discussed above, propranolol can penetrate BBB and transition to the brain, because of lipophilic. Its dosage amount is mostly excreted in urine within 48 hours, and the rest is excreted in faeces, which is just less than 4 percentages. Its pharmacological actions include an antihypertensive effect, an antianginal effect, and MSA. Propranolol doesnt show ISA in the experiment with using rats, so it is considered that propranolol doesnt show human ISA as well as rats. Some side effects have been reported, such as, bronchoconstriction, slowing of heart rate, and allergic. These days, a new si de effect is becoming popular, which is mental symptoms, such as depression, nightmare, and insomnia. There is the drug-drug interaction in propranol. For instance, propranolol cant use with thioridazine which is a psychotropic drug, especially for integration dysfunction symptom. The reason is the side effect of thioridazine is likely to happen, because of preventing propranolol from being metabolised thioridazine by enzymes in the liver. In the same way, propranolol cant use with rizatriptan which is a drug for migraine. Combination use with propranolol and rizatoriptan induce the extension of half life of and the increase of AUC, so increase the side effects. Also, it is essential to avoid administering rizatoriptan within 24 hours of administration of propranolol for the same reason. Its package leaflet approved by US Food and Drug Administration warns. Therefore, its administration should not be stopped suddenly. Above statement is one of the most important warnings in the usage of propranolol. Properties of atenolol Atenolol is a ÃŽ ²1-selective blocker without showing MSA and ISA, which is used for hypertension, angina, and cardiac dysrhythmias. It is sold as TENORMIN in the market. The IUPAC name is 2-(4-{(2RS)-2-Hydroxy-3-[(1-methylethyl) amino] propyloxy} phenyl) acetamide. The molecular weight is 266.34, and the melting point is around 155 degrees. It is white or light yellow crystalline powder, and it is easy to dissolve in water and methanol as well as propranolol. In addition, the methanol solution doesnt exhibit optical activity. Its structural formula is following. Atenolol is almost half absorbed from gastrointestinal tract, and the rest enter systemic circulation without getting first pass effect on the liver. Its half life is approximately 7 hours. Atenolol is little metabolised in the liver, but some are metabolised to glucuronic acid conjugate. The data shows that atenolol is low distribution to brain compared to proranolol, because its drug is hydrophilic. Therefore, it has been reported that atenolol hardly have an influence on mental symptom unlike propranolol. The excretion of oral atenolol is approximately 50% in urine and faeces respectively, but 90% of them are not metabolised. As I stated above, atenolol is a ÃŽ ²1-selective blocker, so it is little to affect bronchial tubes which is controlled by ÃŽ ²2-receptor. However, the data have been reported atenolol inhibit ÃŽ ²2-receptor at high dose. Its side effects are almost the same as propranolol. The main difference between atenolol and propranolol is the incidence of tracheal symp toms, such as bronchoconstriction and bronchial spasm. Propranolol blocks ÃŽ ²-receptors non- selectively, so causes different tracheal symptoms. In contrast, atenolol inhibits ÃŽ ²1-receptors selectively, so barely makes such symptoms happen. The sudden cessation of therapy with atenolol has a possibility of causing cardiac diseases for specific patients. Its leaflet approved by FDA cautions, The properties of ÃŽ ²-blockers in obese patients These days, the number of obese people is increasing due to high calorie foods and the decrease of exercise. It is common for obese patients to take drug therapy in clinical practice, because obesity is connected with many diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Therefore, it is important to identify pharmacological and pharmacokinetic properties in obese patients. Jerzy Wojcickia studied the pharmacological and pharmacodynamic properties between propranolol and atenolol in obese patients. As a result, he concluded following. Conclusion In summary, there are some differences between propranolol and atenolol from the point of view of pharmacology, because of the difference of selectivity of ÃŽ ²-receptor. In the same way, there are some pharmacokinetic differences as well, such as the duration of half life and the mechanism of metabolism and excretion. In contrast, their physicochemical properties are similar. In clinical use, there are some warnings respectively, and the common cautions are to avoid sudden discontinuation of administration. Its dosage should be progressively decreased over a few weeks in order to avoid such side effects. I studied the characters between these ÃŽ ²-blockers in obese patients. In the study, it was not observed there are the obvious differences between obese patients and non-obese patients

Global Warming and its Causes and Solutions :: essays research papers

Global warming has been one of the leading environmental issues for the past several years. Global warming is when an excess of certain gasses are produced and trap the sun’s heat in the atmosphere. One of the most abundant of these gasses is carbon dioxide. It is released when fossil fuels and other things are burned for their energy. The average American family of 2 will produce 41,500 pounds of carbon dioxide per year. The Earth is able to cope with a certain amount of these gasses otherwise known as greenhouse gasses. With all of this the earth is heating up faster than most of it inhabitants can adapt. Some just can’t cope with the new conditions and some are having their habitat destroyed by it. Other gasses are destroying the ozone and letting in harmful UV rays and heating the earth even more. The earth has been doing fine but now many countries are in the industrial age and are manufacturing things and releasing more greenhouse gasses. The earth is essentially being thrown out of its natural balance. We started doing harmful things and only now do we realize what we have done and what we are doing. At this current rate by the middle of next century the earth’s temperature may rise a predicted 10 degrees Fahrenheit. This may not seem as much but with the earths delicate balance we will have lost several species and habitats. We all say that we are working to help the earth and yet we have only done a very small percent of what we need to do. Scientists are worried that soon the effects of what we have done may be irreversible. We have the technology to do it, but countries are concerned they will lose too much money. They are already wasting it on other unnecessary things and if they were to reduce funding to them we could have enough money to do these changes and probably still have some left to help fund other countries efforts. We are cutting down thousands of earth’s natural air filters as we speak. Trees and plants take some of the carbon dioxide and turn it into oxygen helping us and the environment.

Changing Paradigms of Rebranding Strategies

According to the AMA (American Marketing Association), Brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, design, or a combination of all used to uniquely identify a producer’s goods and services and differentiate them from competitors. Specifically, a brand is a name â€Å"yahoo. com† logo, jingle ‘bus 2 minutes’, â€Å"Maggie†, slogan ‘sense and simplicity’, â€Å"PHILIPS†, package design, spokesperson, color Red color,† Vodafone† which consumers associate with a specific product. REBRANDING-WHAT IS IT?Rebranding occurs when a product or service developed with one brand, company or product line affiliation is marketed or distributed with a new and different identity. It is usually more than simply a change in brand’s logo and other superficial changes and should involve radical changes to the brand name, image marketing strategy and advertising themes. In order to complete Rebranding, several areas should be reviewed includ ing positioning, personality, cluster of values, logo, company, identity and vision prior to the building of a brand.Rebranding can take place for a new product, a mature product, or even developing products. In some cases, a total rebrand may not be necessary but rather a partial rebrand. When a brand has been firmly established but may be outdated or needs refreshing due to new products or services, partial Rebranding may be more appropriate. It is critical that the brand value that’s been developed over the years not be eliminated. Subtle changes to update it may be all that is necessary to get the message across and revitalize sales.It is important to differentiate between Rebranding of a product versus repositioning of a product. Repositioning may involve a change in any of the marketing mix elements in an effort to respond to declining sales or market share. The goal in repositioning is to target existing products at new markets or segments. Repositioning may be part of Rebranding campaign. In contrast, Rebranding should involve a total change to fundamental company elements such as mission statements, values and widely recognized logos in an effort to have the company’s brand accurately reflect what it offers.WHEN SHOULD REBRANDING OCCURS: Rebranding is appropriate and essential under several circumstances in order to ensure success in product and service delivery. Often, a company has adapted their products to keep competitive in the marketplace to the extent the company’s brand may no longer accurately reflect what if offers. In this case, a major brand overhaul is necessary. A large quantity of acquisitions or merging of companies may require Rebranding in order to adequately reflect the new, large company.When is Rebranding necessary? DRIVERS OF REBRANDING: The two major reasons of rebranding are: corporate restructuring and modifying the external perceptions. The following text highlights more drivers that call for rebranding e xercise: †¢ Outliving the usefulness: Sometimes, a brand might outlive the purpose for which it was created. In such a scenario, it is more suitable to change the name of brand and then continue or prune the product depending upon the market requirement. Values change: Sometimes, the value that promoters want to display to the audience through the brands change, and that is why they decide to change the brand name as well. †¢ Mergers and acquisitions: Cases like the merger and acquisitions force the corporates to dawn a new identity for themselves, as it was seen in the case of Air Deccan and Kingfisher. However, while conducting the rebranding exercise, the companies should conduct a thorough analysis of the values and the attributes for which the brand name of the merging companies stand for and then only a new name should be adopted or the old one should be changed. Confused brands: In the case of UTI bank which changed its name to Axis bank, the brand UTI was associate d with many other instituted in different streams financial strength, had to go for rebranding. CONSIDERATIONS FOR REBRANDING: †¢ Through analysis of the target market: A company indulging in a rebranding exercise will not like to indulge into the exercise at the cost of its existing customers. Therefore, a thorough analysis of the profile of the existing customers is warranted. The rebranding exercise may attract new segments of the market but should not drive away the existing segments being served by the market. Nature of brand equity: A thorough analysis of brand equity and the nature of its standing in the eyes of its stakeholders should be conducted before going for dropping an already well established name, because if the new name fails to live up to the expectations of the stakeholders, it may result in a huge loss in terms of the sales and goodwill of the firm and through these two elements, on the value of the firm. †¢ Project Management: It is generally the mark eting department who takes up the leadership role in implementing the rebranding exercise and tries to seek out and surmount the challenges ahead.However, in many cases, it is the board of directors with the external ad agency who decide upon the rebranding exercise and implement it. †¢ Staff Involvement : The staff involvement is seen at various levels of the organization and they are basically consulted to suggest and brain storm on the new brand name and the like. †¢ Customer Involvement: Though not many organizations go for customer feedback before rebranding themselves, feedback is sought in a more subtle and discreet way from the customers. Since confidentially is a concern for such an exercise, the rebranding campaign was not made more broad based.OBSTACLES: †¢ Time consuming: Most of the organizations found brand building time consuming and they failed to estimate the exact time for conducting the exercise. †¢ Internal Resistance: Employee morale is great ly affected by the attitudes associated with the organization they work with, so many a times a change in brand name greatly affects their motivation and willingness to work for their responses. PREREQUISITES OF A SUCCESSFUL REBRANDING EXERCISE. †¢ Clear Vision: The top management should have a clear vision about the organization and the direction in which it wants to take the organization.It also should have a fair idea as to what does it want to achieve through the rebranding exercise. †¢ Engagement of staff: The staff should be engaged at all levels across the organization to have a feeling or unanimity and oneness towards the entire exercise. †¢ Thorough Planning: The rebranding exercise should be thoroughly planned and if need be, contingency plans should be prepared for any crisis. Rebranding is a difficult exercise to execute and it requires a lot of planning and a very minute detailed setting of goals and milestones in the execution phase to ensure the smooth implementation of the rebranding exercise. Adequate Resources: Adequate resources should be provided to the organization in terms of manpower, money and other resources. The complexity in execution; especially in the communication process calls for expert intervention in the entire process and the dispassionate observation and wide knowledge of the experts becomes a necessary in such projects. †¢ Communication: The communication with the stake holders should be consistent, clear and multilateral to win their confidence towards the entire exercise. Impact on the Financial Markets: A firm exists for the maximization of shareholders wealth and it is therefore very important for the organization, to study the short term impact of the rebranding exercise on the financial markets and the organization should plan as to how it is going to deal with the short term impacts on the stock market prices of the rebranding exercise. TYPES OF REBRANDING EXERCISE: 1) Reiterating: These companies need not change their brand name, their names are strong enough and the brand essence has not changed over a period of years. ) Renaming: Some companies may go for renaming themselves to display the change in the ownership structure and to reflect the new owner’s identity in the name or the logo of the company. 3) Redefining: Some companies may go for redefining the qualities and attributes attached to it. It is done to give the company a new direction and also convey to the stake holders a change in the ownership pattern and the new direction of the company. 4) Restarting: These organizations feel a need not only to change the attributes attached to their brands but also the brand names ltogether. This happens when an existing brand departs from or enters into a new product line. 5) Abstract Brand Name: Companies normally go for an abstract brand name, because their abstraction lends them the flexibility of getting associated with other products also. Moreover, it is also s een that service organizations prefer more abstract names as they want to convey more complex messages than the product based organizations. REBRANDING SUCCESS: Several well-known companies have attempted Rebranding in recent years.In some cases the Rebranding effort has been all encompassing for the company and in other cases a few changes were all that were necessary in order to ensure success. Hindustan Unilever limited: Hindustan Lever, a 51. 6 per cent subsidiary of Unilever plc formed in 1956, is the largest FMCG Company in India. It operates in two segments — home and personal care products such as soaps, detergents, oral care products, hair care products, skin care products, cosmetics, deodorants and fragrances, and food and beverages such as tea, coffee, wheat flour, salt, ice creams and culinary products.With a turnover of over US$ 2200 million in 2003, HLL employs over 40,000 people across the country. Coca-Cola India: Coca-Cola is a leading player in the Indian be verage market with a 60 per cent share in the carbonated soft drinks segment, 36 per cent share in fruit drinks segment and 33 per cent share in the packaged water segment. In 2004, Coca-Cola sold 7 billion packs of its brands to more than 230 million consumers across 4,700 towns and 175,000 villages. The company has doubled its volumes and trebled its profits between 2001 and 2004. Coca-Cola continues to re-affirm its commitment to India through active ‘Citizenship Efforts. All its plants in India partner with local NGOs to alleviate local community issues in numerous small ways. It boasts of impeccable credentials on quality. Coca-Cola has succeeded in spite of an extremely price-sensitive consumer with entrenched beverage consumption habits – tea, nimbu-paani (lemonade) and a fragmented and geographically dispersed retail market, and a high tax environment. Intel India: Intel India was established in 1988 in Bangalore, and has now grown to include the maximum number of Intel divisions in any country outside the United States.India’s increasing IT and engineering talent pool, has ensured that the majority of work done at Intel India is software and hardware engineering; and has also established the Intel India Design Centre, as Intel’s largest non-manufacturing site internationally. Intel has over 2,000 employees, of whom 1,200 work at the development centre. Significant market development groups include education and Intel Capital, which helps Intel make strategic investments in technology and online start-ups. Intel has invested US$ 60 million in infrastructure in India. REBRANDING FAILURES:For every successful Rebranding story, there is at least one corresponding failure. The example given below outlines some of the reasons why Rebranding does not always succeed. New Coke: One of the most infamous rebranding failure stories in history is that of New Coke. On April 23, 1985, Coca-Cola Company took one of its biggest risks by anno uncing it was changing the formula for the world’s most popular soft drink. The outcry which followed was heard around the world. The motivation behind the formula change was a shrinking market share which the company believed to be the results of its arch rival Pepsi-Cola.During the 1970’s, the â€Å"Pepsi Challenge† campaign seemed to erode the coke market even further. The company felt compelled to do something as it appeared consumers; particularly the baby boomer market, had a preference for sweeter drinks. Coke experimented with a new sweeter formula and market tests indicated the new formula was preferred overwhelmingly to both regular Coke and Pepsi. A first hint of pending disaster was when focus groups indicated indignation upon finding out they were tasting a possible new Coca-Cola and threatened to stop drinking coke altogether.Nevertheless, the company relied heavily on the market analysis and research and launched new coke in April of 1985. Initial results were promising but the backlash that followed almost took the company down. The company did not factor in the rich, cultural history tied to the original coke. Even though taste tests continued to indicate a preference for the sweeter drink, brand loyalty was staunch for the classic coke and consumers boycotted the new coke as a result. With in 3 months, coca-cola was forced to bring back classic coke, which resulted in a resurgence of sales to bring coca-cola to the fore front once again.Eventually, New Coke became Coke II and is virtually unavailable in distribution today. So what went wrong? Research was extensive, leadership supported the rebranding and an extensive advertising campaign was launched. Perhaps the company should have listened to that minority segment in the focus groups who were offended that Coca-Cola would even think about changing its formula(which it actually did any way when it changed from a sugar sweetness to a more inexpensive high fructose corn s yrup sweetener). This was a hint of the cultural backlash that would result, particularly from the southern U.S. where coke was a part of the regional identity. Perhaps the launch was not successfully implemented. Pepsi was able to strategically maneuver advertising by claiming they had won the cola wars prior to the official launch of New Coke. In addition, Coca-Colas CEO was unprepared for the â€Å"launching news conference resulting in alienation of reporters. He could not answer simple questions about the taste change. What ever the reason New Coke is now history and coke classic with other coke products maintain a lead in overall sales.Volume for the classic brand has risen 24 percent since 1984 making it the No. 1 soft drink in the land since 1987. It is interesting how loyal consumers can be to a brand once you take it away temporarily. The rebranding failure actually led to revitalization of the existing brand and a newfound respect by company leadership for the â€Å"cul ture† surrounding the original Coca-Cola product. MISTAKES MADE WHEN REBRANDING: †¢ Lack of True Change: It is important to remember that rebranding signals change. Your brand is more than your logo or corporate colors.Simply repacking the goods and providing some new designs will not get results you need. Putting a new cover on an old book doesn’t make it new. Brands include every thing from customer perception and experience to quality, look and feel, customer care and retail and web environments. Make sure the changes instilled are all encompassing or customers will catch on quick and make a fast departure. †¢ Lack of Quality Research: Research is required in order to be able to establish a plan for rebranding. Current and prospective customers must be involved when creating solutions.Knowing customer attitudes and desires is essential in order to deliver the product they want in the way they want it delivered. In addition, research should be interpreted cu rrently or the rebranding efforts can take a wrong direction. Coca-cola performed extensive research but discounted a portion of it which ultimately became very important foreshadowing of things to come. †¢ Ignoring Brand Equity: By ignoring existing brand equity when rebranding, a company faces the risk of alienating and subsequently losing existing loyal customers. This was evident during the attempted rebranding of coke.The company assumed all customers would like and want the taste of new coke because they didn’t understand the extent of the current brand loyalty. AT & T took this into consideration after merging with Southwestern Bell to ensure customers were comfortable and unconcerned about any loss of service. †¢ Basing Rebranding on Advertising: Just as rebranding is not simply repacking the product, neither is it simply the advertising campaign. Brand strategy should be the core item leading advertising; advertising should not lead brand strategy.Interesti ngly, some rebranding efforts may not include traditional advertising. Make sure the rebranding campaign is more than advertising or nothing will change for the company. †¢ Inability to Analyze the Positioning: The literature revealed that ‘Repositioning’ is one of the most important drivers for rebranding. Positioning is not what company does with the product; it’s all about what they do with the mind of the target audience, and what customers think about the company. So, it is vital for rebranding to clarify and refine the positioning.Both the present as well as desired positioning of the company should be apparent. †¢ Lack of Top Level Support: Even though the rebranding may be born in the marketing department, it should be owned and supported by the top level managers especially the CEO. The CEO (Chief Executive Officer) is the only authority who can drive change in all the functional areas across the organization. The CEO needs to set the vision an d lead rebranding to ensure that Product, Service & People are aligned and determined to deliver the implied promises through rebranding. CONCLUSION:As branding trends continue to evolve, rebranding success seems to depend on the ability to adapt to the rapidly evolving media environment and taking advantage of new opportunities to reach the target audience. In order to remain competitive, companies will need to embrace â€Å"hot† media to spread the message to younger and techsavvy customers. New methods include blogs, pod casts, mobile phone-based programming, and social networks. However, a balance must be maintained with traditional methods of media in order to reach and retain the existing customer base. In order to rebrand successfully, key steps need to be taken in the process.Companies who embrace the elements of rebranding usually are able to obtain their goals. Companies who fail to address all of the elements of rebranding often make mistakes and succumb to failure . So does rebranding work? Yes, and NO. It works when it is based on quality information, has the support of leadership and employees, is well-planned, provide adequate training, is integrated throughout the whole company, has a well-balanced multi-media advertising campaign that communicates the brand message consistently across multiple platforms, is customer driven, and is evaluated on an on-going basis to determine if alterations are need.When these elements are not present, the chance of rebranding success diminishes rapidly. EXHIBITS |IBM | |Old |New | |[pic] |[pic] | Hindustan Lever Limited |Hindustan Unilever Limited | |Old |New | |[pic] |[pic] | Indian post | |Old |New | |[pic] |[pic] | [pic] [pic] [pic] PHILIPS | |Old |New | |[pic] |[pic] | |COMPAQ | |Old |New | |[pic] |[pic] | HUTCH |Vodafone | |Old |New | |[pic] |[pic] | |APPLE | |Old |New | |[pic] |[pic] | KFC | |Old |New | |[pic] |[pic] | | AIWA | |Old |New | |[pic] |[pic] | KODAK | |Old |New | |[pic] |[pic] | |SATYAM |MAHINDRA SATYAM | |Old |New | |[pic] |[pic] | VIDEOCON | |Old |New | |[pic] |[pic] | |CANARA BANK | |Old New | |[pic] |[pic] | |JET AIRWAYS | |Old |New | |[pic] |[pic] | BANK OF BARODA | |Old |New | |[pic] |[pic] | RELIANCE | |Old |New | |[pic] |[pic] | [pic] BIBLIOGRAPHY: †¢ Kotler, Keller, Koshy, Jha. â€Å"Marketing Management†, 13th Edition, Pearson Education. YLR Moorthi, â€Å"Brand Management, The Indian Context†,2006, Vikas publishing house pvt ltd. †¢ Bhavishya, The journal of futuristic managers, Jan-Mar 2008. †¢ Dr. M. A. Azeem, Prof. T. Venkat Ram Raj, December-2008,†Rebranding – A business imperative†, Indian Journal of Marketing, Page no: 15-21. †¢ M. Saeed, Ravinder vinayek, Narender kumar, September-2008, â€Å"Rebranding: An emerging brand marketing strategy (Trends, Issues and challenges)†, Indian Journal of Marketing, Page no: 3-10.WEBLIOGRAPHY: †¢ http://blong. styleap ple. com †¢ http://images. google. co. in/imgres? imgurl=http://remade. files. wordpress. com/2008/01/canarabankbeforeafter. jpg †¢ http://www. mobilepandit. com/2005/12/07/rebranding-reliance-infocom †¢ www. thehindubussinessline. com ———————– Change in Service Name Change Change in Product Acquisitions & Mergers Change in market Place New Product Launch Rebranding

Is Technology Making Us Stupider

Nicholas Carr starts his essay with the observation that his win book reading and long article writing habits have suffered immensely due to lack of concentration which can be attributed to the time being spent on the internet. He goes on to say that the human beings are developing a new reading habit which he doesn't think is best suited given that there is much less concentration and even lesser contemplation. While commenting on how the future researcher will not do a lot of reading, Carr paints a sad picture of the new generation of readers.While accepting that his work has o backing from neurology and other brain related science, Carr presents a theory that unlike the ability to speak, which he says comes naturally, the ability to read has to be taught. Here in he says the internet is doing no good to that particular ability. Carr makes a reference to the great German philosopher Nietzsche and his use of the typewriter. He quips about how the typewriter had made the philosopher' s work even more abrupt. Carr then reaches the central topic of his essay – the effect of internet on the cognitive ability of man.He says that man had a series of intellectual tasks in his daily routine all of which have now been taken over by the internet He further adds that the style of the internet has been adopted by other media as well, further denting man's cognitive ability. Another key aspect of the internet that Carr says has dumber down the human brain is the conversion of an abstract concept to a concrete knowledge. This he says was previously done by the human being as an intellectual exercise but has now been taken over by the computers.Carr ends his essay on the note that in the past some great hinders such as Socrates and Sacrificing have expressed similar concerns about new ideas such as the written language and printed working. On this note, he leaves the question open to the reader (Carr). Steven Johnson bases his book on denying the argument that pop cult ure has affected human intelligence negatively. He first refers to the sleeper curve to make a point that even the society that existed before us had not discovered how cream pies could be a nutritious diet.However here he denies that just the fact about sleeper curve, which itself he draws from the movie Sleeper, can exhaustively prove his argument. He then goes on to suggest that the video games of today, contrary to popular perceptions Of spreading addiction through violent and vulgar content, are instead addictive because of their structural superiority. He says the games give the mind a lot to think and organize – a task previously not natural to the human cognitive process. He further speaks about television and says that the TV has taken the understanding of the emotional quotient to a higher level.He gives the example of reality shows and says that these shows have got a realistic understanding of the complex human engagements and relationships. While speaking about t he evolution of films, Johnson says that stories are no more being spoon-fed to the audience. Symbolic references made to help the audience understand moments like flash-back have reduced and it is now assumed that the audience will understand what is going on. This he says has helped the people explore and express their cognitive self – much more than in the past (Johnson). Studies have found that the human brain's evolution ceased over a thousand years ago (Connors).The technological advances that have been made in recent history have only served to compensate in the declining intellect of the human mind. While people who live between 2000 to 6000 years ago had to depend greatly on their mental strength to solve problems, the current availability of technology and inventions eliminates this need greatly. However, â€Å"the decline in intellect itself is not associated with the advent of technology but to deterioration in human genes† (Connors). Neither of the two the orists – Carr and Johnson have made scientific claims in their arguments.These arguments however are presented in a logical format with each claim being justified by significant arguments. Critics have remained vastly dismissive of both the arguments, calling the latter – an absolution for couch potatoes and the former a little too mournful too early. It is therefore clear that a real understanding of the effect of internet on the human mind can only be justified through neurological correlations and studies. However, human intellect has witnesses a decline for several thousands of years and hence it cannot be solely attributed to technology.

Airline Deregulation essays

Airline Deregulation essays The airline deregulation act is considered as one of the important economic policies of the United States of America. The Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 controlled all the airliners in US till the rising fuel costs and increasing public pressure forced the government to deregulate the airlines in 1978. The airlines deregulation act, signed on October 1978 removed the barriers and opened the way for a new market. The previous price controls and route restrictions were withdrawn and this offered airliners the freedom to set competitive prices. The public were the immediate beneficiary of the deregulation act as it made air travel more affordable for them. The deregulation act had a multi pronged effect as it reduced the prices, created more businesses and jobs and improved the operating efficiency. [Christine Chmura] Deregulation creates an open market that generates more competition, which ultimately favors the consumer. This contrasts with a monopoly or oligopoly situation where only a single or a few giants take control of the market. Before the opening up of the market traveling prices were unbelievably high as there were only very few companies in the field and the whole market profits were shared amongst them. . However the opening up of the market had serious implications for some of the old companies. While many old airline services like Pan American, Frontier struggled under the open market new entrants like South West airlines', Peoples Express', etc had great success. People's Express' in particular offered highly competitive prices and with a flourishing business the airliner earned a revenue of more than $1 billion between 1980 and 1985. [Asif Siddiqi]. The success of the airline deregulation did have a tremendous impact on many other sectors particularly the transport sector. The whole industry structure has changed in the transport sector. The net result of...