Riordan Manufacturing Pt 1

BSA375 Service Request SR-rm-022, Part 1 Joshua J. Farmer BSA/375 March 25, 2013 †¢ Key Stakeholders Of the majority of the stakeholders at Riordan Manufacturing, the focus would be on those most influential to the process change and those that will have direct use of the new system. Those individuals are CEO Michael Riordan, Executive Assistant Jan McCall, SVP-RD Kenneth Collins, COO Hugh McCauley, VP international operations Charles Williamson, IT service managers.In addition to the above listed key stakeholders, the individual users of the final app will be consulted for input and revisions per the information gathering steps. †¢ Information-Gathering Collection of the requirements to aid in the completion of the system will be a ten part process to ensure that the system and processes are workable and answer the demand set forth by SR-Rm-004. These processes are outlined below but are in no way set in procedural number and can be repeated numerous times or omitted based on current requirement status. 1.One-on-one interviews: sit down with the key stakeholders individually and receive input as to the solution sought and possible methods to achieve it. 2. Group interviews: focus on the departments and meet with the key individuals from the same department to get their input as a group effort. 3. Facilitated sessions: useful stage used only when there seems no cohesive solution can be found from both meeting stages above. 4. Joint application development (JAD): this stage will keep the group interview session together until a solution is agreed upon. 5.Questionnaires: are a viable way to gather information and input from the key stakeholders who are in remote locations so that they are part of the requirements and solution gathering. 6. Prototyping: create a working version of the solution for testing and refinement. 7. Use cases: create a story about how the solution will work or not work and how to refine the final process. 8. Following people arou nd: Useful stage when the interviewed cannot explain every process or routine that they follow, steps may be found that they are not aware or did not report. 9.Request for proposals (RFPs): a list of criteria and requirements already compiled to check against for possible matches between companies. 10. Brainstorming: Gather all the key stakeholders in conference to discover the best solution that they all feel will meet their requirements. Each of these steps have their own value in certain circumstances, and in many cases, you need multiple techniques to gain a complete picture from a diverse set of clients and stakeholders. †¢ Key Factors In order to keep track of progress towards the agreed upon solution there will be implementations of different progress milestones.One will be a short term milestone based on weekly reporting and the second will be long term milestone based on month end meetings. The Weekly reporting will consist of meeting agendas met and key developmental stages being met. The Monthly meetings will ensure that every weekly milestone is met and if there are problems to resolve then they can be addressed. Key performance indicators (KPIs) are at the heart of any system of performance measurement and target-setting. When properly used, they are one of the most powerful management tools available to growing businesses.The progress tracking is based on two key factors. The first is target date setting, making sure to picking out a date that can be met. The second is to create reachable goals, as demonstrated above in both short term and long term goals. Keeping these factors in mind will aid in project completion that creates a viable solution. One of the key challenges with performance management is selecting what to measure. This can be avoided by knowing what the solution is that you are working on and the requirements that need to be met. †¢ Project ScopeThe Project Scope pertains to the work necessary to deliver a product. Requi rements and deliverables define the project scope, and it is critical that the stakeholder is in agreement with the information discussed in the proposed plan. Scope planning does not occur after only one planning session, the scope baseline consists of the project scope statement, WBS, and WBS dictionary, a collaborative approach is the most effective method for scope planning, all stakeholders must understand the scope baseline to minimize scope creep during project execution Rreferences Mochal, T. (2008). TechRepublic. Retrieved from http://www. techrepublic. com/blog/10things/10-techniques-for-gathering-requirements/287 Info Entrepreneurs. (2009). Retrieved from http://www. infoentrepreneurs. org/en/guides/measure-performance-and-set-targets/ Project Scope. (2012). Retrieved from http://www. projectscope. net

Rate of Violence Essay

Describe the rates of violence (murder, aggravated assault, rape, robbery) in the United States, and compare them to at least 2 other industrialized countries. When it comes to †Homicides/murder† and †Rape† there still is a difference when you compare Sweden and Albania. â€Å"Homicides/murder† happened most infrequent in Finland and England, but about six times as often in Sweden compared with that. â€Å"Theft totally† was about twice as frequent in Sweden, when you compare to the other Nordic countries, and also more frequently than in England. Narco-criminality in Norway is about three times as frequent, when you compare with the other Nordic countries. The long coastline play an important role. Here is no available registrations for USA. Robberies during the period were down 10. 7%, motor vehicle thefts and arson declined 9. 7%, rapes were down 6. 2%, aggravated assaults were down 3. 9%, and burglaries dropped 1. 4%. The FBI report does not give reasons for the drop in crime, but criminologists have recently indicated an aging population, along with ramped-up law enforcement, have contributed to the decline in recent years. The trend has surprised experts who have historically seen crime increase during difficult economic periods Discuss some of the difficulties of comparing crime rates across countries. Different definitions for specific crime types in different countries: The category in which any incident of victimization is recorded relies on the legal definition of crime in any country. Should that definition be different, and indeed this is often the case, comparisons will not in fact be made of exactly the same crime type. This is particularly the case in crimes that require some discretion from a police officer or relevant authority when they are identified. For example, the definitional difference between serious or common assault in different legal jurisdictions may be different, and this will be reflected in the total number of incidents recorded. Different levels of reporting and traditions of policing: Different societies across the globe have been shown to have different levels of reporting of criminal incidents. This relates closely to levels of development in any society, most clearly reflected in accessibility to the police. Thus factors such as the number of police stations or telephones in any society impact upon reporting levels. The level of insurance coverage in any community is also a key indicator of the likelihood of citizens approaching the police as their claim for compensation may require such notification. In addition, in societies where the police are or have been mistrusted by the population, most specifically during periods of authoritarian rule, reporting levels are likely to be lower than in cases where the police are regarded as important members of the community. Different social, economic and political contexts: Comparing crime data from societies that are fundamentally different may ignore key issues present in the society that impact upon levels of reporting. For example, different social norms in some societies may make it almost impossible for women to report cases of rape or sexual abuse, while in others, women are encouraged to come forward.

Fashion Marketing -Marks and Spencer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fashion Marketing -Marks and Spencer - Essay Example The essay "Fashion Marketing - Marks and Spencer" concerns the fashion marketing. The company started by Amancio Ortega at the Northern part of Spain continually enjoyed growth in the Spanish market through strategic prepositions. Initially, the chain served the needs of the local consumer in the young feminine segment. Within the last ten years, the company grew proportionately to increased revenues and consumer loyalty through the modernized approaches that it employed. The company preserves the strengths of analyzing the customer targets in the market as serving the entire fashion market poses more threats than opportunities. The company defines that the youthful female consumer depicts a standardized behavior throughout the geographical segments. Zara depicts that the consumer buying decision model affects all businesses alike. The company analyzes fashion needs through the online research surveys and establishes on the fashion trends that depict a favorable rate of return on inv estment. Through a communicative channel that tends to link the company to the consumer, Zara advertises on the release of the garments that target to suit perceived consumer needs. The company runs a solely owned ultramodern factory that designs and makes garments in accordance to the anticipated consumer needs. Zara communicates actual date of releasing the new makes to the customer, and through an effective delivery chain, the company avails the garments to the more than 1500 outlets in 70 countries of the world economy. ... The Limited Collection brand was introduced in the late 2004; it was not being considered that it could significantly remain helpful to create such a unique differentiation. But it remained pretty successful and customers showed a very high adoptability towards the brand. However it has its same placement and the concept oriented approach which keenly values the notion of cost and brand consciousness. Serving segment is cost conscious group, target population is high class and upper middle class whereas positioning of the products is as a high quality and distinguished fashioned products. The Limited Collection brand offers a wide range of women’s, men’s and kid’s wear. The best feature of the brand is that the offerings are replaced each week from the outlet. In this way, it has a vast choice and unique variety because of rapid replacement of display items from the stores. The section of Limited Collection is not offered at every outlet which is a step towards a specification orientation (Marketingweek.co.uk, 2004). Competitors’ Analysis for Marks and Spencer Competitors’ analysis is really worth when designing a lucrative marketing strategy. The competitors of Marks and Spencer in fashion industry include a wide range of potential competitors. The competitors may include elite class fashion designers to middle class fashion wears. It is important to study the characteristics of the competitors. The realistic competitors of M&S are those who present their products to the population of upper middle class and higher classes of the society. Specifically the competitors of M&S may include Alde, Centra, Levi’s and ASDA. Although some of these companies

Supply Chain Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Supply Chain Management - Essay Example It is always necessary that the inventory does not get too out of hands and is not short of the predicted demand at the same time. Definition Supply Chain Management refers to the entire process and stages that go in the supply of goods and services. To coordinate the production and market supply. It refers to the management and integration of all operations within and outside of the organization to maintain the entire supply chain, like production of goods, entire process of inventory stocking, procurement of raw materials from various suppliers outside the organization, transportation and distribution of raw and readymade goods in a cost effective manner, so as to ensure the overall cost of production can be kept low, in turn resulting higher profit margins. In addition to the scope mentioned as above, one of the most important functions of the supply chain management is to draw business boundaries and define the scope of the business, which will allow an organization to analyze an d understand the feasibility of carrying out a certain production function in-house or outsourcing the stage for better results. According to Mentzer, et al: "Supply chain Management (SCM) is defined as the systematic, strategic coordination of the traditional business functions and the tactics across these business functions within a particular company and across businesses within the supply chain, for the purpose of improving the long-term performance of the individual companies and the supply chain as a whole" (Ballou 5). Functions The main roles of supply chain management can be understood by dividing them into the following heads: Identifying the Scope and Feasibility Demand and Supply/Adequate Inventory Logistics Procuring and purchasing Production Sales The primary role of supply chain management is to observe and analyze the existing operation cycle of an organization and then define the scope of the various stages and aspects of in-house production. This is done to understa nd the feasibility of outsourcing some stages of operation to a third party in order to keep the cost low, get better quality products and get the finished product in a limited time, so as to ensure smooth running of the organization. Demand and Supply as discussed are at the core of any business defining its market existence and sustenance. The key is to meet the current market demand and have adequate stocks to meet any sudden changes in the demand curve, yet ensuring that the stock inventory goes too high that it starts affecting the overall cost of production. Obtaining, storing, transporting and then distributing are the core functions in the logistics function of the supply chain management. Fetching and transporting the raw material to the production site and then storing the finished product in the warehouses to finally getting the products distributed to be consumed directly by the consumer are some of the functions of the logistics that in turn have a major affect on all t he other stages in the entire supply chain management cycle. Procuring and pur

Levi Strauss & Company Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Levi Strauss & Company - Case Study Example This approach is not static by nature and its frameworks usually comprise of feedback loop so as to evaluate or monitor performance. In this particular study different strategic frameworks shall be included and applied on Levi Strauss & Company. This brand is known to be number one amongst cloth manufacturing company. The company was founded by Levi Strauss in 1853. Over the years, Levi Strauss & Company has brought forth certain changes as per changing market trends. It markets and manufactures non-work and casual work sportswear and jeans. Their products have been able to achieve high levels of customer satisfaction and are presently known for greater degree of comfort. In earlier years Levi’s jeans was considered to be a staple product for every teenager. The company in the present scenario has lost its close connection with customer’s hidden demand. There has been continuous struggle from company’s perspective in context of achieving right combination of stra tegies. Current mission statement of the firm will be analyzed along with some proposed recommendations. There are certain theoretical frameworks included in this study like CPM, EFE, IFE, Space Matrix, Grand Strategy Matrix and QSPM. All these models will be evaluated with respect to widespread operations performed by Levi Strauss Company. The company is externally surrounded by many competitors who have retained their brand image from past many years. In this case the major strategic challenge for the firm is to reformulate their brand image and sustain it for many years. It is indeed a challenge to keep blue jeans within their famous jeans sector. There would be four major aspects of the firm which shall be monitored like marketing, production, financial position and company culture. In overall context the firm has to adopt market oriented approach so as to remain competitive in the market place. Levi Strauss & Company was initially founded in 1853 and later in 1860 the famous Levi’s

What are the basic arguments of Marcuses one-dimensional man thesis To Essay

What are the basic arguments of Marcuses one-dimensional man thesis To what extent are they useful in analyzing contemporary capitalism - Essay Example wentieth century: â€Å"the calling attention to new forms of domination, repression and social control in advanced industrial societies† (Kellner, 1984: 5). Modern man, he contends, has become intellectually and spiritually complacent through his psychological dependence on the accoutrements of consumerism and the consumer society itself (repressive desublimation)—â€Å"key notions and images of literature and their fate [through the process of technological rationality [disposes of] oppositional and transcending elements in the "higher culture" (Marcuse, 1964, chapter 3: para. 1) Marcuse, equally critical of the Soviet system, offers a wide-range of criticism both of contemporary capitalism and the Soviet model of communism as it documents the parallel rise of new forms of social repression in both societies. "...totalitarian" is not only a terroristic political coordination of society, but also a non-terroristic economic-technical coordination which operates through the manipulation of needs by vested interests’ (Marcuse, 1964, chapter 1: para. 5). â€Å"Our [western] society distinguishes itself by conquering the centrifugal social forces with Technology rather than Terror, on the dual basis of an overwhelming efficiency and an increasing standard of living† which is not happiness, nor freedom, nor consistent with any social or political reality that, while the system appears reasonable is hardly so and in fact, profoundly irrational. However, it is western capitalism to which Marcuse directs his strongest and most pointed disapproval. â€Å"Herbert Marcus has displayed a prophetic vision that challenges the public to either comprehend the forces that shape their lives or limit their discourse and remain captured in a lesser dimension† (The Search for Freedom, 2001: para. 3). With the spread of capitalism through globalisation of economies, the work, ideas and arguments put forth in The One Dimensional Man are equally and perhaps more relevant, obvious and

History Lectures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

History Lectures - Essay Example Islamic Beginnings In its initial years, Islam has been considered a nomadic culture until it found a home in the Arab territories. Islam’s most famous prophet is someone you most likely have heard of--Muhammad or Mohammed. Muhammad was known to have united the Muslim religion and culture. He is considered their prophet because it is said that the teachings of Allah were revealed to him by an angel. These teachings are now present in the Muslim bible called the Qur’an (Khanbagi, 2006). When Muhammad, Islam’s holy man, passed away, various problems of succession arose. The succeeding years of the Muslim civilization brought on more conquered lands. One after another, we have seen other cultures and territories fall to the Muslims, including the Byzantines, Syria, Persia, Egypt, North Africa, and Spain. But, as the Muslims were conquering these territories, the fighting within their group got worse. Many of us have heard about Islam through the latest media coverag e; and if so, you may have heard of the two infamous groups, the Sunis and the Shiites. These two groups were borne out of the infighting Muslims, due to differing ideas on governance. The Shiites followed Ali, Muhammad’s son-in-law, and the Sunis followed the Ummayads, who were the first Muslim dynasty to rule the Arab Kingdom (Jelen & Wilcox, 2002). Islam’s Golden Years Of course, during the older rule of Islam, it was not all about fighting. There was a golden period; a time when the Arabic, Byzantine, Persian, and Indian cultures were integrated with one another. They refer to it as a golden age because learning reached its peak through Muslim associations with the Greeks and the Byzantines. The interplay became more than what one would expect—a predatory or conqueror-slave type of interaction. The relationship became as simple as a teacher and a student (Kreis, 2006). As the conquered groups learned about Islam, Islam learned from the conquered. Knowledge b ecame alive and in the process, science and philosophy was also preserved. Allah taught these Muslims to seek out knowledge and truth and to protect it (Kreis, 2006). And, this is what they did as they allowed knowledge to become a major part of their life and their daily activities. African Beginnings Most of the southern part of the African continent has been occupied by tribes known as Khoisan (Hupston, 2009). The Khoisan language is characterized by clicking sounds, very similar to that of the Bushman. From the Khoisan tribes, more divisions are later seen: the San (Bushmen) and the KhoiKhoi or Hottentots (History World, n.d). The Pygmies, which includes the Bambuti, Batwa, Bayaka and Bagyelil divisions are scattered over a huge area in central and western Africa, to include the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Congo (Brazzaville), Cameroon, Gabon, Central African Republic, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda (The Africa Guide, 1996). The Pygmies were known to occupy the tropical fore sts of central Africa, but it was the Negroes which dominated sub-Saharan Africa. Primeval Tribes The Negroes, were an African tribe who found their home in the so-called Negro systems, in western and central Sudan, Upper Guinea, and the Upper Nile regions. They spoke the Bantu language, a language which dominated much of Africa in later years. It is composed of about 500

Euthanasia Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Euthanasia - Article Example physical or mental pain without prospect of relief† and have â€Å"provided a medical practitioner, while appearing to be lucid, with two written requests more than 10 days apart expressly stating the person’s free and informed consent to opt to die†. Organizations opposed to the idea of euthanasia aver that the contentions were weak and insufficient. In particular the phrase: â€Å"appearing to be lucid† is subject to scrutiny and subjective assessment of its veracity. Euthanasia has been specifically defined as â€Å"the intentional killing by act or omission of a dependent human being for his or her alleged benefit. The key word here is "intentional". If death is not intended, it is not an act of euthanasia.† (Euthanasia.com 1) The problem has been a source of controversial debate since people from diverse parts of the world hold various beliefs and values that run counter to the objective of euthanasia. Killing, has been viewed, as a criminal act and whatever purpose it deems to be achieved, it is still regarded as contrary to human law. Organizations and states which supported and legalized euthanasia have done so on the grounds that patients who are in pain and suffering without any recourse for recovery should be accorded with the right to die with dignity. The issue therefore continues to be debated upon with an impending bill seeking amendment to the Criminal Code to permit the â€Å"right to die with dignity†. The author concluded the article through inferring that despite identification of particular circumstances allowing euthanasia, it still could be subject to loopholes. Collier (2009, 464) specifically emphasized that the phrase â€Å"appearing to be lucid† is easily contestable given the state of physical and mental condition of the patients. In this regard, he is most likely arguing against euthanasia as a way to end a patient’s misery and pain. The author identified what the particular circumstances are in considering medical practitioners

Good afternoon friends Essay Example for Free

Good afternoon friends Essay The theme of Vicki L. Sears â€Å"Grace† can be seen in the relationship that develops between two of the characters, Billie Jim and Paul. Billie is an orphan who gets along with his sister and is adopted by Paul and his wife. Billie displays a desire to trust and accept their new parents while sister remains suspicious. Vickie Sears illustrate that although children suffer abuse and neglect, there is hope that they can learn to trust and build self-esteem. Billie Jim is a silent child who relies on his sister to protect him. Paul and his wife come to get them but Billie is hiding in a tree to escape from some of the bigger boys. His sister steps in and fights the older boys to get Billie down. She describes him as a â€Å"sissy†. Billie has to use the bathroom, but instead of asking their new parents he pinches his sister. Paul takes him to the restroom and his sisters concern gives us an understanding into prior abuse and possible reasons for Billie Jim’s reserved behavior. Although Paul would never hurt Billie Jim intentionally at the  end of the story he does. His death not only means an end to their relationship, but also an end to their secure home and protection. Billie loses the starring role along with the friend he has made, and is back into his uncertain life led by corrupt adults. â€Å"The Lesson† by Toni Cade Bambara is when Toni attended college and come of age as a writer. Bambara was at the head of radical politics, the feminist movement, and African American culture in Harlem when it was the 60’s. Her writing uncovers the differences forced on  African Americans of that time which America avoided and could not interfere. The story is a window for the reader into Bambara’s reality as much as it is a lesson for the immature woman Sylvia the main character. â€Å"The Lesson† is a first person narrative told by a young, poor, black girl growing up in Harlem in an undetermined time period known as â€Å"Back in the days when everyone was old and stupid or young and foolish, Sugar and I were the only ones just right†. Going by the prices some can accept it was sometime in the early seventies. The story is about a trip started by a local woman, who is the only educated person in the neighborhood and has taken it upon herself to uncover the unthankful children of the neighborhood to the world outside of their worried community. The last stop is FAO Schwartz in Manhattan, where the toys of white children cost more than all of the children’s household yearly incomes combined and the lesson is almost lost on the children. The story closes by making plans to spend the left over cab fare change they stole from Miss Moore. At the last second Sylvia turns on her friend and goes off alone to think of the events of the day. The story’s theme focuses on education and the need for education as the results of knowledge. It proves how learning can lead to grief but that the grief is necessary for helpful change. The author also studies different types of pride and purposes of leadership and the various ways people show respect or disrespect for each other. Underlying the entire story is the concept of economic difference between whites and blacks in the United States.

Parenting Skills Essay Example for Free

Parenting Skills Essay 1. What role do you think discipline plays in developing a child’s self-esteem? What forms of discipline best serve the self-esteem of the child or adolescent? 2. List and discuss how activities, clubs, or sports, impact the self-esteem of children and parents. Provide at least two activities, clubs, or sports in your answer. Discussion Answers 1. I think that discipline done correctly could help in a child’s self-esteem. When you discipline a child make sure that they understand WHY and it makes them feel trustworthy, and included. If you treat discipline like a dictatorship the child feels like you’re abusive and they are stupid and untrustworthy. people with low self-esteem generally Fail to achieve their goals, Are not able to pursue accomplishments in a responsible and disciplined manner, Have poor communication skills, Have a pessimistic view on life, Are prone to anxiety, depression, hostility, loneliness, shame, and guilt, Form unhealthy, destructive relationships with others, and Make decisions in life more to please others than to adhere to their own interests and value systems. I think that discipline done correctly could help in a child’s self-esteem. When you discipline a child make sure that they need to understand what is happening and they need to feel included. If you treat discipline like a dictatorship the child feels like you’re abusive. people with low self-esteem generally fail to achieve their goals, have poor communication skills, have a negative view on life and are prone to anxiety, depression, loneliness, and guilt. Also, form unhealthy, destructive relationships with others, and make decisions in life more to please others. 2. Parents should encourage children to participate in sports and clubs that are productive and give a feeling of accomplishment. However, it is not always advantageous for a parent to push a child toward a particular sport or activity because sometimes the parents will push their children towards their dream sports or activities they wanted to do as a child. 3. parents should encourage children to participate in sports and clubs that are productive and give their children a feeling of accomplishment. However, it is not always advantageous for a parent to push a child toward a particular sport or activi ty.

Wide Variety Of Hawaiian Dishes Cultural Studies Essay

Wide Variety Of Hawaiian Dishes Cultural Studies Essay In the nineteenth century the Americans established pineapple and sugar cane plantations. As the industries expanded immigrant workers from many different places such as Portugal, Philippines, China, Japan, and Korea arrived in Hawaii. They influenced many parts of Hawaiian cuisine. They brought with them different cooking styles, and food preparation techniques. The Portuguese brought pork dishes and the use of tomatoes and chili peppers when preparing meals. The Filipinos brought with them broiled dishes, beans, adobo dishes, and peas. The Chinese brought stir fry. The Japanese brought sashimi, noodle soups, and shrimp tempura. The Koreans brought with them dishes called kimchi, marinated meats, dishes with sweet garlic sauce, and mixed rice with seasoned vegetables also known as bibimbab. The Vietnamese brought the use of lemon grass when cooking to Hawaii. Puerto Ricans brought heavy soups and casseroles with them to Hawaii. The Samoans brought fruit based poi with them to Hawaii . Some popular restaurants in Hawaii are Sam Choys, Alan Wongs Restaurant, the Diamond Head Grill, La Mer, and Tropica. Sam Choy is a Hawaiian of Chinese descent. Sam Choy is famous for being one of the 12 chefs who established the Hawaiian Regional Cuisine movement. Some of Choys famous dishes are fried tofu, tomato poke, stone crab claws, and the pake paella. Another popular restaurant in Hawaii is Alan Wongs Restaurant. Alan Wong is considered as one of the three kings of Hawaiian Regional Cuisine, and is one of the top chefs in Hawaii. Alan Wongs Restaurant in Honolulu, is among the top ten restaurants in the state.Some of their well-known dishes are seafood paella, ginger crusted onaga, kalua pig, and tomato soup and sandwiches. The Diamond Head Grill at the Honolulu hotel also offers quality Hawaiian cooking techniques. La Mers menu features Neo ÃÆ' ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ classic French cuisine. In Hawaii there are a few food festivals. Aside from food, the highlight of Hawaiian food festivals includes the hula, musical entertainment, games, and other cultural performances. Some of the Hawaiian food festivals are Taste of Wailea, Taste of Oahu, Kapalua Food and Wine Festival. The festival of Taste of Wailea is a feast. You are able to taste some dishes prepared by top chefs in Wailea, and taste some of the best wines in the world. The festival of Taste of Oahul is also a feast. At the festival of taste of Oahul you can try some of Hawaiis dishes from over twenty five of Hawaiis best establishments that are known for their signature recipes. You can also enjoy the festivals wine tasting. The Kapalua Food and Wine festival is a very famous celebration in Maui. It is a four day long celebration. Over the years, this four-day long event has been known to feature several top chefs. Aside from wine tasting sessions and seminars, this event also highlights cooking demonstrations. If you want to try some of Hawaiis traditional dishes you should go to a luau. All the islands of Hawaii celebrate a luau. During a luau, Hawaiis traditional dishes such as poi, Kalua pig, coconut, and seafood dishes are served. King Kamameha 11 started the tradition of a luau during the 1800s. This event was held as a symbol that certain religious taboos previously practiced have ended. A luau is the highlight of many important Hawaiian events including weddings, birthdays, and graduations. Since then, the term has been used in place of party, even in other countries. Today Hawaiians are still celebrating luaus today. There are some popular dishes you must sample when in Hawaii. One of these dishes is the Kalua pig. The Kalua pig is seasoned with salt then wrapped in banana leaves and then steaming it inside a ground broiler, or imu. Another popular dish is Haupia. Haupia is a gelatin like desert. Haupia is made using a thickened coconut milk. Another popular and one of the oldest recipes is a seafood dish called Luau. Luau is prepared with a mixture of coconut milk and taro leaves. Another dish you should try while in Hawaii is the Lomi salmon. The Lomi salmon is made by mixing together tomatoes, peppers, and onions with salted salmon. Tuna is also a very popular item in Hawaii. There are many varieties of tuna. The popular varieties are the Ahi, the yellow fin tuna, the Tombo, the Albacore tuna, the Aku, and the Skipjack. There is also what they call the poke, which is usually served as an appetizer in Hawaiian cuisine. Poke is a fish salad. Poke in Hawaiian means section, to slice, or cut. Poke is a dish that exhibits the heavy influence of Japanese cuisine. Another Japanese-inspired cuisine is the Spam musubi, which is a variant of a Japanese rice ball with spam wrapped in seaweed. Back in the days, the first fine dining restaurants that were established in Hawaii were mostly for the wealthy. The dishes served in the restaurants were similar to those served in Europe. Some of the items on those menus were mullet, chicken with tomatoes, cabinet pudding, and spring lamb. Back in august of nineteen ninety one a dozen chefs of Hawaii would get together and organize a movement to create a cuisine that would characterize the uniqueness of Hawaii, which marked the birth of the Hawaiian Regional Cuisine. Instead of using foreign ingredients the chefs wanted to create dishes using ingredients grown locally. These chefs wanted to make a cuisine that people visiting would find a taste of Hawaii. The Hawaiian cuisine is made up of much cuisine of many different cultures, but uses the ingredients found locally. Some of the Hawaiian dishes that were a result of the chefs desires to create a unique Hawaiian cuisine were Waimanalo salad greens, Puna goat cheese, and Kahuku pra wns. Hawaii has many crops and other edible plants, and the food served to the early settlers in Hawaii was mainly fruits and root crops. Some locally grown items are taro, sweet potatoes, yams, allspice, banana passion fruit, cinnamon, coffee, guava, java plum, macadamia nut, and mango. In the late nineteenth century, American settlers established pineapple and sugar cane plantations. As the plantations expanded, immigrant workers from around the world arrived in Hawaii. Some of the immigrant workers came from Portugal, Philippines, China, Japan, and Korea. When this happened it really influenced the Hawaiian cuisine. They brought with them different cooking styles, and food preparation techniques. Hawaii is a wonderful place with a great cuisine and someday I would like visit and taste their many different dishes. I think that it is so interesting on how they created their cuisine.

Business Report of Caterpillar Inc. Essay -- CAT Stock Market Finances

Business Report of Caterpillar Inc. Data and information relative to Caterpillar, Inc. was collected via the internet. Current information was crucial to keeping the report timely and accurate. The five members assigned to the group wrote one section per person. Research was conducted on a separate basis, and construction of the report was on a group level. Each team member is responsible for their own assigned areas and nothing more. Financial Analysis Caterpillar is a publicly traded corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It’s SIC codes indicate their main areas of enterprise are construction machinery, internal combustion engines, and short term business credit and insurance. But this dynamic company has many qualities underneath the surface of its image. These qualities are neither good nor bad. These are Caterpillar’s financial components. Sales Caterpillar, Inc. primary income is made from sales of machinery and engines . These sales are made to clients in construction, agriculture, and manufacturing industries. Caterpillar divides their sales based on geographic location where the For example, third quarter sales were split between North America, EAME (Europe, Africa, and the Middle East), Latin America, and Asia. North America on average takes up 54% of total sales each quarter (see figure 1.) Total sales revenue for the third quarter 2000 amounted to $4.78 billion, one percent higher than the previous year third quarter. Sales volume increased by 2 percent and financial products increased by 12 percent. Caterpillar bases their sales upon two different tiers, although they sell a wide range of different products. The first breakdown consists of what they deem as machinery. The second area of sales consists of engines. Operating profit comparisons for the third quarters of 1999 and 2000 can be seen in table 1. Caterpillar has blamed third quarter deficiencies in revenue on the weak Eurodollar. Since 27 percent of their total sales are made in the European region, their claim may be true. As long as Caterpillar depends on foreign markets for sales, they will face problems with fluctuations in foreign currency. Receivables Caterpillar owns and operates a financing corporation to handle its incredibly large receivable account. Receivables make up 30 percent of total assets and short-term receivab... ...on have major intellectual and financial backing, as well as good reason to come to an agreement. However, the knowledge, skills and commitment needed to survive today in international business must be found on the plant floor as well as in the office. Noting the need for cooperation, the union local president asked â€Å"What the hell are they going to do when they get that work force back in there? Who’s going to cooperate†? That quote is the basis for this weakness of Caterpillar, Inc. What is going to happen at the end of this contract when another one needs to be made? Are the employees of caterpillar still bitter about the strike? Are the supervisors and directors at Caterpillar still bitter? Only time will tell. Fites is no longer the Chairman and CEO of Caterpillar, so some problems with him may be solved. But there is no doubt that some bitterness is still present in both the floor and the towers of Caterpillar, Inc. For these reasons, Caterpillar may not be a good purchase of stock. They may be doing quite well now, but what if you invest money in them, only to see your money possibly be dwindled away by another bitter strike, or individual sales were contrived.

The Degradation of Wives in the Victorian Period Essay -- Exploratory

The Degradation of Wives in the Victorian Period The degradation of the married woman in the Victorian era existed not only in that she was stripped of all her legal rights but also that no obligations were placed in her realm. Upon marriage, Victorian brides relinquished all rights to property and personal wealth to their husbands. Women were, under the law, â€Å"legally incompetent and irresponsible.† A married woman was entitled to no legal recourse in any matter, unless it was sponsored and endorsed by her husband. Helpless in the eyes of civil authority, the married woman was in the same category with â€Å"criminals, lunatics, and minors† (Vicinus 7). Eighteenth-century, English jurist, William Blackstone curtly described her legal status, â€Å"in law a husband and wife are one person, and the husband is that person† (Jones 402). The Victorian woman was her husband’s chattel. She was completely dependent upon him and subject to him. She had no right to sue for divorce or to the custody of her children should the couple separate. She could not make a will or keep her earnings. Her area of expertise, her sphere, was in the home as mother, homemaker and devoted domestic. Clear and distinct gender boundaries were drawn: Men were â€Å" . . . competitive, assertive, . . . and materialistic.† Women were â€Å"pious, pure, gentle . . . and sacrificing† (Woloch 125). No greater degradation took place in the Victorian woman’s life than in the bedroom. The Victorian woman had no right to her own body, as she was not permitted to refuse conjugal duties. She was believed to be asexual: â€Å"The majority of women, happily for them, are not much troubled with sexual feeling of any kind† (Woloch 128). The inference is, if the husband did not demand the f... ... Fiction, and Contract Theory: Trollope’s He Knew He Was Right.† Criticism XXXVI (Summer 1994): 401-14 Hellerstein, Erna Olafson, Hume, Leslie Parker, and Offen, Karen M., eds. Victorian Women; A Documentary Account of Women’s Lives in Nineteenth- Century England, France, and the United States. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1981 Marshall, Gordon, ed. Dictionary of Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. National Center for Victims of Crime. Public Policy Issues: â€Å"Spousal Rape Laws: 20 Years Later.† 27 March 2002 . Perkin, Joan. Victorian Women. New York: New York University Press, 1993 Vicinus, Martha, ed. A Widening Sphere: Changing Roles of Victorian Women. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1977 Woloch, Nancy. Women and the American Experience. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2000

Marketing Case Study

CASE 4? 6 Making Socially Responsible and Ethical Strategic decisions move a company toward its stated goals and perceived success. Strategic decisions also re? ect the ? rm’s social responsibility and the ethical values on which such decisions are made. They re? ect what is considered important and what a company wants to achieve. Mark Pastin, writing on the function of ethics in business decisions, observes: There are fundamental principles, or ground rules, by which organizations act. Like the ground rules of individuals, organizational ground rules determine which actions are possible for the organization and what the actions mean. Buried beneath the charts of organizational responsibility, the arcane strategies, the crunched numbers, and the political intrigue of every ? rm are sound rules by which the game unfolds. The following situations re? ect different decisions made by multinational ? rms and governments and also re? ect the social responsibility and ethical values underpinning the decisions. Study the following situations in the global cigarette marketplace carefully and assess the ground rules that guided the decisions of ? rms and governments. Marketing Decisions: Selling Tobacco to Third World Countries expanding market. As an example, Indonesia’s per capita cigarette consumption quadrupled in less than ten years. Increasingly, cigarette advertising on radio and television is being restricted in some countries, but other means of promotion, especially to young people, are not controlled. China, with more than 300 million smokers, produces and consumes about 1. 4 trillion cigarettes per year, more than any other country in the world. Estimates are that China has more smokers than the United States has people. Just 1 percent of that 1. 4 trillion cigarette market would increase a tobacco company’s overseas sales by 15 percent and would be worth as much as $300 million in added revenue. American cigarette companies have received a warm welcome in Russia, where at least 50 percent of the people smoke. Consumers are hungry for most things Western, and tobacco taxes are low. Unlike in the United States and other countries that limit or ban cigarette advertising, there are few effective controls on tobacco products in Russia. Russia, the world’s fourth largest cigarette market, has proved to be an extremely pro? table territory for British American Tobacco (BAT). BAT Russia, established in 1949, sold 65 billion cigarettes in Russia in 2005, giving it almost one? fth of market share. EXPORTING U. S. CIGARETTE CONSUMPTION In the United States, 600 billion cigarettes are sold annually, but sales are shrinking rapidly. Unit sales have been dropping about 1 to 2 percent a year, and sales have been down by almost 5 percent in the last six years. The U. S. Surgeon General’s campaign against smoking, higher cigarette taxes, non-smoking rules in public areas, and the concern Americans have about general health have led to the decline in tobacco consumption. Faced with various class-action lawsuits, the success of states in winning lawsuits, and pending federal legislation, tobacco companies have stepped up their international marketing activities to maintain pro? ts. Even though companies have agreed to sweeping restrictions in the United States on cigarette marketing and secondhand smoke and to bolder cancer-warning labels, they are ? hting as hard as ever in the Third World to convince the media, the public, and policymakers that similar changes are not needed. In seminars at luxury resorts worldwide, tobacco companies invite journalists, all expenses paid, to participate in programs that play down the health risks of smoking. It is hard to gauge the in? uence of such seminars, but in the Philippines, a government plan to reduce smoking by children was â€Å"neutralized† by a public relations campaign from cigarette companies to remove â€Å"cancer awareness and prevention† as a â€Å"key concern. A slant in favor of the tobacco industry’s point of view seemed to prevail. At a time when most industrialized countries are discouraging smoking, the tobacco industry is avidly courting consumers throughout the developing world using catchy slogans, obvious image campaigns, and single-cigarette sales that ? t a hard-pressed customer’s budget. The reason is clear: The Third World is an ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION In Gambia, smokers send in cigarette box tops to qualify for a chance to win a new car. In Argentina, smoking commercials ? ll 20 percent of television advertising time. And in crowded African cities, billboards that link smoking to the good life tower above the sweltering shantytowns. Such things as baby clothes with cigarette logos, health warnings printed in foreign languages, and tobaccosponsored contests for children are often featured in tobacco ads in Third World countries. Latin American tobacco consumption rose by more than 24 percent over a ten-year period. Critics claim that sophisticated promotions in unsophisticated societies entice people who cannot afford the necessities of life to spend money on a luxury—and a dangerous one at that. The sophistication theme runs throughout the smoking ads. In Kinshasa, Zaire, billboards depict a man in a business suit stepping out of a black Mercedes as a chauffeur holds the door. In Nigeria, promotions for Graduate brand cigarettes show a university student in his cap and gown. Those for Gold Leaf cigarettes have a barrister in a white wig and the slogan, â€Å"A very important cigarette for very important people. † In Kenya, a magazine ad for Embassy cigarettes shows an elegant executive of? cer with three young men and women equivalent to American yuppies. The most disturbing trend in developing countries is advertising that associates tobacco with American af? uence and culture. Some women in Africa, in their struggle for women’s rights, de? antly smoke cigarettes as a symbol of freedom. Billboards all over Russia feature pictures of skyscrapers and white sandy beaches and slogans like â€Å"Total Freedom† or â€Å"Rendezvous with America. † They aren’t advertising foreign travel but American cigarette brands. Cases 4 Developing Global Marketing Strategies Every cigarette manufacturer is in the image business, and tobacco companies say their promotional slant is both reasonable and common. They point out that in the Third World a lot of people cannot understand what is written in the ads anyway, so the ads zero in on the more understandable visual image. â€Å"In most of the world, the Marlboro Man isn’t just a symbol of the Wild West; he’s a symbol of the West. † â€Å"You can’t convince people that all Americans don’t smoke. † In Africa, some of the most effective advertising includes images of af? uent white Americans with recognizable landmarks, such as the New York City skyline, in the background. In much of Africa, children as young as ? e are used to sell single cigarettes, affordable to other children, to support their own nicotine habits. Worldwide nearly one-fourth of all teenage smokers smoked their ? rst cigarette before they were 10 years old. The scope of promotional activity is enormous. In Kenya, a major tobacco company is the fourth-largest advertiser. Tobaccosponsored lotteries bolster sales in some countries by offering as prizes expensive goods that are beyond most people’s budgets. Gambia has a population of just 640,000, but a tobacco company lottery attracted 1. million entries (each sent in on a cigarette box top) when it raf? ed off a Renault car. Evidence is strong that the strategy of tobacco companies is to target young people as a means of expanding market demand. Report after report reveals that adolescents receive cigarettes free as a means of promoting the product. For example, in Buenos Aires, a Jeep decorated with the yellow Camel logo pulls up in front of a high school. The driver, a blond woman wearing khaki safari gear, begins handing out free cigarettes to 15- and 16-year-olds on lunch recess. Teens visiting MTV’s Web sites in China, Germany, India, Poland, and Latin America were given the chance to click on a banner ad that led them to a questionnaire about their exposure to cigarette ads and other marketing tools in their countries. Some 10,000 teens responded to the banner ads. â€Å"In the past week, more than 62 percent of teenagers in these countries have been exposed to tobacco advertising in some form,† the 17-year-old SWAT (Students Working against Tobacco) chairman told Reuters. The tobacco companies learned that marketing to teens and kids worked in this country, but since they can’t do it here anymore, they’ve taken what they learned to other countries. † At a video arcade in Taipei, free American cigarettes are strewn atop each game. â€Å"As long as they’re here, I may as well try one,† says a high school girl. In Malaysia, Gila-Gila, a comic book popular with elementary school students, carries a Lucky Strike a d. Attractive women in cowboy out? ts regularly meet teenagers going to rock concerts or discos in Budapest and hand them Marlboros. Those who accept a light on the spot also receive Marlboro sunglasses. According to the American Lung Association Tobacco Policy Trend Alert, the tobacco industry is offering candy-? avored cigarettes in an attempt to continue to target teens. 1 Advertising and promotion of these products uses hip-hop imagery, attractive women, and other imagery to appeal to youth in similar ways that Joe Camel did a decade ago. Marketing efforts for candy-? avored cigarettes came after the Master Settlement Agreement prohibited tobacco companies from using cartoon characters to sell cigarettes. Researchers recently released the results of several surveys that showed that 20 percent of smokers ages 17 to 19 smoked ? avored cigarettes, while only 6 percent of smokers ages 17 to 20 did. In Russia, a U. S. cigarette company sponsors disco parties where thousands of young people dance to booming music. Admission is the purchase of one pack of cigarettes. At other cigarettesponsored parties, attractive women give cigarettes away free. In many countries, foreign cigarettes have a status image that also encourages smoking. A 26-year-old Chinese man says he switched from a domestic brand to Marlboro because â€Å"You feel a higher social position† when you smoke foreign cigarettes. â€Å"Smoking is a sign of luxury in the Czech Republica as well as in Russia and other Eastern countries,† says an executive of a Czech tobacco ? rm that has a joint venture with a U. S. company. â€Å"If I can smoke Marlboro, then I’m a well-to-do man. † The global tobacco companies insist that they are not attempting to recruit new smokers. They say they are only trying to encourage smokers to switch to foreign brands. The same number of cigarettes are consumed whether American cigarettes or not,† was the comment of one executive. Although cigarette companies deny they sell higher tar and nicotine cigarettes in the Third World, one British tobacco company does concede that some of its brands sold in developing countries contain more tar and nicotine than those sold in the United States and Europe. A recent study found three major U. S. brands with ? lters had 17 milligrams of tar in the United States, 22. 3 in Kenya, 29. 7 in Malaysia, and 31. 1 in South Africa. Another brand with ? ters had 19. 1 milligrams of tar in the United States, 28. 8 in South Africa, and 30. 9 in the Philippines. The ? rm says that Third World smokers are used to smoking their own locally made product, which might have several times more tar and nicotine. Thus, the ? rm leaves the tar- and nicotine-level decisions to its foreign subsidiaries, who tailor their products to local tastes. C. Everett Koop, the retired U. S. Surgeon General, was quoted in a recent news conference as saying, â€Å"Companies’ claims that science cannot say with certainty that tobacco causes cancer were ? t-footed lies† and that â€Å"sending cigarettes to the Third World was the export of death, disease, and disability. † An Oxford University epidemiologist has estimated that, because of increas ing tobacco consumption in Asia, the annual worldwide death toll from tobaccorelated illnesses will more than triple over the next two decades. Perhaps 100 million people died prematurely during the 20th century as a result of tobacco, making it the leading preventable cause of death and one of the top killers overall. According to the World Health Organization, ach year smoking causes 4 million deaths globally, and it expects the annual toll to rise to 10 million in 2030. GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT Third World governments often stand to pro? t from tobacco sales. Brazil collects 75 percent of the retail price of cigarettes in taxes, some $100 million a month. The Bulgarian state-owned tobacco company, Bulgartabac, contributes almost $30 million in taxes to the government annually. Bulgartabac is a major exporter of cigarettes to Russia, exporting 40,000 tons of cigarettes annually. Tobacco is Zimbabwe’s largest cash crop. One news report from a Zimbabwe newspaper reveals strong support for cigarette companies. â€Å"Western anti-tobacco lobbies demonstrate unbelievable hypocrisy,† notes one editorial. â€Å"It is relatively easy to sit in Washington or London and prattle on about the so-called evils of smoking, but they are far removed from the day-to-day grind of earning a living in the Third World. † It goes on to comment that it doesn’t dispute the fact that smoking is addictive or that it may cause diseases, but â€Å"smoking does not necessarily lead to certain 1 See â€Å"From Joe Camel to Kauai Kolada—The Marketing of Candy-Flavored Cigarettes,† http://lungusa. org. Part 6 Supplementary Material 350 million smokers, China has 50 million more cigarette buyers than the U. S. has people, according to Euromonitor. While smoking rates in developed countries have slowly declined, they have shot up dramatically in some developing counties where PMI is a major player. These include Pakistan (up 42 percent since 2001), Ukraine (up 36 percent), and Argentina (up 18 percent). death. Nor is it any more dangerous than other habits. Unfortunately, tobacco smoking has attracted the attention of a particularly â€Å"sanctimonious, meddling sector of society. They would do better to keep their opinions to themselves. † Generally, smoking is not a big concern of governments beset by debt, internal con? ict, drought, or famine. It is truly tragic, but the worse famine becomes, the more people smoke—just as with war, when people who are worried want to smoke. â€Å"In any case,† says one representative of an international tobacco company, â€Å"People in developing countries don’t have a long enough life expectancy to worry about smoking-related problems. You can’t turn to a guy who is going to die at age 40 and tell him that he might not live up to 2 years extra at age 70. † As for promoting cigarettes in the Third World, â€Å"If there is no ban on TV advertising, then you aren’t going to be an idiot and impose restrictions on yourself,† says the representative, â€Å"and likewise, if you get an order and you know that they’ve got money, no one is going to turn down the business. † Cigarette companies ? gure China’s self-interest will preserve its industry. Tobacco provides huge revenues for Beijing because all tobacco must be sold through the China National Tobacco Company monopoly. Duty on imported cigarettes is nearly 450 percent of their value. Consequently, tobacco is among the central government’s biggest source of funding, accounting for more than $30 billion in income in 2005. China is also a major exporter of tobacco. ANTISMOKING PROMOTIONS Since the early 1990s, multinational tobacco companies have promoted â€Å"youth smoking prevention† programs as part of their â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility† campaigns. The companies have partnered with third-party allies in Latin America, most notably nonpro? t educational organizations and education and health ministries to promote youth smoking prevention. Even though there is no evidence that these programs reduce smoking among youths, they have met the industry’s goal of portraying the companies as concerned corporate citizens. In fact, a new study proves that youth smoking prevention ads created by the tobacco industry and aimed at parents actually increase the likelihood that teens will smoke. The study, â€Å"Impact of Televised Tobacco Industry Smoking Prevention Advertising on Youth Smoking-Related Beliefs, Intentions and Behavior,† published in the December 2006 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, sought to understand how the tobacco industry uses â€Å"youth smoking prevention† programs in Latin America. Tobacco industry documents, so-called social reports, media reports, and material provided by Latin American public health advocates were all analyzed. The study is the ? rst to examine the speci? c effect of tobacco company parent-focused advertising on youth. It found that ads that the industry claims are aimed at preventing youth from smoking actually provide no bene? t to youth. In fact, the ads that are created for parental audiences but also are seen by teens are associated with stronger intentions by teens to smoke in the future. Brazil has the world’s strictest governmental laws against smoking, consisting of highly visible antismoking campaigns, severe controls on advertising, and very high tax rates on smoking products. Despite these obstacles, the number of smokers in Brazil continues to grow. In 2006, there were approximately 44 million smokers in the country, up from 38 million in 1997. Factors driving this trend include the low price of cigarettes, which are among the lowest in the world; the easy access to tobacco products; and the actions taken by the powerful tobacco companies to slow down antismoking legislation in Brazil. FOCUS ON DEVELOPING MARKETS Lawsuits, stringent legislation against advertising, laws restricting where people can smoke, and other antismoking efforts on the part of governments have caused tobacco companies to intensify their efforts in those markets where restrictions are fewer and governments more friendly. As part of a strategy to increase its sales in the developing world, Philip Morris International (PMI) was spun off from Philip Morris USA in 2008 to escape the threat of litigation and government regulation in the United States. The move frees the tobacco giant’s international operations of the legal and public-relations headaches in the United States that have hindered its growth. Its practices are no longer constrained by American public opinion, paving the way for broad product experimentation. A new product, Marlboro Intense, is likely to be part of an aggressive blitz of new smoking products PMI will roll out around the globe. The Marlboro Intense cigarette has been shrunk down by about a half inch and offers smokers seven potent puffs apiece, versus the average of eight or so milder draws. The idea behind Intense is to appeal to customers who, due to indoor smoking bans, want to dash outside for a quick nicotine hit but don’t always ? nish a full-size cigarette. The CEO of PMI says there are â€Å"possibly 50 markets that are interested in deploying Marlboro Intense. † Other product innovations include sweet-smelling cigarettes that contain tobacco, cloves and ? voring—with twice the tar and nicotine levels of a conventional U. S. cigarette. Marlboro Mix 9, a high-nicotine, high-tar cigarette launched in Indonesia in 2007, and a clove-infused Mix 9 will be exported to other southeast Asian markets next. Another iteration of the Marlboro brand, the Marlboro Filter Plus, is being sold in South Korea, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. It touts a special ? lter made of carbon, cellulose ac etate, and a tobacco plug that the company claims lowers the tar level while giving smokers a smoother taste. One of PMI’s immediate goals is to harness the huge potential of China’s smoking population, as well as some of that country’s own brands, which it has agreed to market worldwide. With some ASSESSING THE ETHICS OF STRATEGIC DECISIONS Ethical decision making is not a simplistic â€Å"right† or â€Å"wrong† determination. Ethical ground rules are complex, tough to sort out and to prioritize, tough to articulate, and tough to use. The complexity of ethical decisions is compounded in the international setting, which comprises different cultures, different perspectives of right and wrong, different legal requirements, and different goals. Clearly, when U. S. companies conduct business in an international setting, the ground rules become further complicated by the values, customs, traditions, ethics, and goals of the host countries, which each have developed their own ground rules for conducting business. Three prominent American ethicists have developed a framework to view the ethical implications of strategic decisions by American Cases 4 Developing Global Marketing Strategies ? rms. They identify three ethical principles that can guide American managers in assessing the ethical implications of their decisions and the degree to which these decisions re? ct these ethical principles or ground rules. They suggest asking, â€Å"Is the corporate strategy acceptable according to the following ethical ground rules? † These questions can help uncover the ethical ground rules embedded in the tobacco consumption situation described in this case. These questions lead to an ethical analysis of the degree to which this str ategy is bene? cial or harmful to the parties and, ultimately, whether it is a â€Å"right† or â€Å"wrong† strategy, or whether the consequences of this strategy are ethical or socially responsible for the parties involved. These ideas are incorporated in the decision tree in Exhibit 1. Principles Utilitarian ethics (Bentham, Smith) Question Does the corporate strategy optimize the â€Å"common good† or bene? ts of all constituencies? Does the corporate strategy respect the rights of the individuals involved? Does the corporate strategy respect the canons of justice or fairness to all parties? Rights of the parties (Kant, Locke) Justice or fairness (Aristotle, Rawls) Exhibit 1 A Decision Tree for Incorporating Ethical and Social Responsibility Issues into Multinational Business Decisions Does the decision efficiently optimize the common good or benefits of: THE BUSINESS FIRM? Stockholders Management Profits Growth Other SOCIETY? Culture Order Justice â€Å"The good life† Other THE ECONOMY? THE INDIVIDUAL? Economic growth Freedom Allocation of resources Health and welfare Production and distribution Self-realization of goods and services Human dignity Other Opportunity Other YES NO YES Are there critical factors that justify suboptimizing these goals and satisfactions? NO Does the decision respect the rights of individuals involved? YES NO Reject Decision YES Are there critical factors that justify the abrogation of a right? NO Does the corporate decision respect the canons of justice or fairness to all parties involved? YES YES NO Reject Decision Are there critical factors that justify the violation of a canon of justice? NO Accept Decision Reject Decision Part 6 Supplementary Material See www. who. int, the World Health Organization’s Web site, for more details regarding the current tobacco controversy. See also www. getswat. com for a worldwide student initiative against smoking. Laczniak and Naor discuss the complexity of international ethics or, more precisely, the ethical assumptions that underlie strategic decisions for multinationals. 2 They suggest that multinationals can develop consistency in their policies by using federal law as a baseline for appropriate behavior as well as respect for the host country’s general value structure. They conclude with four recommendations for multinationals: 1. Expand codes of ethics to be worldwide in scope. 2. Expressly consider ethical issues when developing worldwide corporate strategies. . If the ? rm encounters major ethical dilemmas, consider withdrawal from the problem market. 4. Develop periodic ethics-impact statements, including impacts on host parties. 2 QUESTIONS 1. Use the model in Exhibit 1 as a guide and assess the ethical and social responsibility implications of the situations described. 2. Can you recommend alternative strategies or solutions to the dilemmas confronting the tobacco companies? To governments? What is the price of ethical behavior? 3. Should the U. S. government support U. S. tobacco company interests abroad? . Should a company be forced to stop marketing a product that is not illegal, such as cigarettes? Gene R. Laczniak and Jacob Naor, â€Å"Global Ethics: Wrestling with the Corporate Conscience,† Business, July–September 1985. Sources: â€Å"Smoke Over the Horizon; U. S. Gains in Tobacco Control Are Being Offset Internationally,† The Washington Post, July 23, 2006; â€Å"Death and Taxes: England Has Become the Latest in a Series of Countries to Vote for Restrictions on Smoking in Public Places,† Financial Management (UK), April 1, 2006; â€Å"Trick or Treat? Tobacco Industry Prevention Ads Don’t Help Curb Youth Smoking,† PR Newswire, October 31, 2006; â€Å"China Exclusive: China, With One Third of World’s Smokers, Promises a ‘Non-Smoking’ Olympics,† Xinhua News Agency, May 29, 2006; â€Å"Tobacco Consumption and Motives for Use in Mexican University Students,† Adolescence, June 22, 2006; â€Å"A Change in the Air: Smoking Bans Gain Momentum Worldwide,† Environmental Health Perspectives, August 1, 2007; â€Å"Adams Won’t Kick the BAT Habit: The Head of British American Tobacco Is Stoical About the Looming Ban on Smoking in Public Spaces: BAT will Adapt,† The Sunday Telegraph London, June 10, 2007; â€Å"Heart Disease, Stroke Plague Third World,† Associated Press (Online), April 4, 2006; â€Å"Get a Detailed Picture of the Tobacco Industry in Brazil,† M2 Press Wire, December 20, 2007; Vanessa O’Connell, â€Å"Philip Morris Readies Global Tobacco Blit z; Division Spin-off Enables Aggressive Product Push; High-Tar Smokes in Asia,† The Wall Street Journal, January 29, 2008; â€Å"The Global Tobacco Threat,† The New York Times, February 19, 2008; â€Å"How to Save a Billion Lives; Smoking,† The Economist (London,) February 9, 2008; â€Å"Whether Here or There, Cigarettes Still Kill People,† The Wall Street Journal, February 4, 2008. Marketing Case Study 1. When 7-UP introduced itself into the soft drink industry, they were generally thought of by consumers as a company that produced a clear soft drink for mixing alcoholic beverages.   After conducting extensive research, 7-UP found that colas were the best-selling category in the soft drink industry.   7-UP then repositioned itself in the market by introducing the slogan, â€Å"7-UP, the uncola.†Ã‚   This repositioning allowed them to take third place in the market, after Coca Cola and Pepsi, and also allowed for growth and gains over competitors in the lemon-lime category of soft drinks.   In addition, 7-UP differentiates itself from other soft drink manufacturers in several ways.   Within the lemon-lime category, 7-UP has introduced a new tagline, â€Å"all things in green bottles are not the same.†Ã‚   This tagline is meant to differentiate 7-UP from Sprite and Sierra Mist.   Two other new taglines will include â€Å"for less sweet, syrupy taste, the only way to go is Up† and â€Å"When you add it all up, the only way to go is Up† (Wikipedia).2. 7-UP was able to change consumer behavior by using psychology and working with the concept that everyone wants to be an individual.   When introducing the â€Å"uncola† tagline, 7-UP based this introduction on consumer research.   Purchasing and consuming Coke and Pepsi were part of going along with the group since many people were purchasing those products at the time.   Introducing 7-UP as the â€Å"uncola† brought to mind a sense of individuality for consumers.   The 7-UP marketing executives put the idea in their heads that purchasing and consuming 7-UP products would make them stand out from the crowd.   7-UP has continued this tradition of changing consumer behavior since that time.The company hopes to change consumer behavior in the twenty-first century by introducing a product called 7-UP Plus.   This product will create a whole new category wit hin the soft drink industry, as it is going to be sold as a soft drink with added nutritional value.   Again, 7-UP is basing the introduction of this product on consumer trends and research.   Due to the obesity epidemic in America, combined with raised health awareness on the part of many men and women, 7-UP will be introducing this reduced sugar product with added vitamins and minerals.   Introducing this product shows that 7-UP is on top of trends in consumer spending and, by introducing this product, the executives may be able to change consumer behavior from purchasing sugar-laden soft drinks with empty calories to purchasing a less sweetened product with vitamins and minerals that are needed to fuel the human body (Dillon).3.   Like any company, 7-UP has had many successes and failures throughout its history.   In the initial stages of the company, there were 600 lemon-lime beverages competing for market share with 7-UP.   7-UP was able to survive and rise to the t op of the market by successfully becoming one of the first lemon-lime soft drinks to be nationally distributed. 7-UP also floundered in the soft drink market due to poor marketing.   Originally, the soft drink was a means of calming children with upset stomachs.   Later, it became a mixer for alcoholic beverages.   Because 7-UP was thought of as a bartending mixer and not an individual beverage, sales were mostly due to people intending to mix the 7-UP with a type of alcoholic beverage.7-UP conducted extensive research and found that cola drinks were the best-selling soft drink in the industry.   However, these cola drinks contained a considerable amount of caffeine.   After careful consideration, they introduced the slogan, â€Å"7-UP, the uncola.†Ã‚   This slogan appealed to consumers because it carried a sense of individualism and it also appealed to those who were health-conscious and knew the effects of too much caffeine.   This was one of 7-UPs great success es.   Another failure by 7-UP was the introduction of 7-UP Gold.   7-UP Gold was designed as a spiced version of 7-UP, similar in taste to the ginger ale soft drink.   Although it was widely marketed and advertised, the product was never a hit and was discontinued.Another successful marketing campaign capitalized on the principles of Zen.   A television commercial featured a Zen master asking disciples to correctly choose.   The 7-UP symbolized light and consciousness while the cola featured in the commercial symbolized darkness.   With that commercial, 7-UP made consumers think they were making a good life choice by purchasing and consuming 7-UP.   Another failure in 7-UPs history is its poor bottling and distribution structure.   When 7-UP was first introduced, it had little competition because Coca Cola and Pepsi did not manufacture lemon-lime soft drinks.   This changed when Coca Cola introduced Sprite and Pepsi introduced Sierra Mist.   Bottlers were then fo rced by these respective companies to discontinue bottling 7-UP and exclusively bottle their products.   Unfortunately, this had led to an inability for 7-UP to be widely distributed to smaller stores.   As a result, 7-UP can often only be found in large stores or chains (Wikipedia).4.   7-UP's marketing strategy has been successful in many ways.   With the introduction of new taglines and slogans, 7-UP has been successful at positioning themselves in consumers' minds and increasing market share in the soft drink industry.   7-UP's marketing strategy has also been successful because marketing executives have capitalized on consumer trends throughout the history of the company.In the 1970s, the company seized upon the fact that the popular cola drinks had high levels of caffeine and redesigned their advertising to reflect the healthier choice that 7-UP was.   In addition, they appealed to the consumer's sense of wanting to be an individual and introduced advertisements ge ared toward that concept.   With the invention of new technology, 7-UP has also gained a presence on the World Wide Web with a well-designed web site that gives important information about the company and its products (Wikipedia). Marketing Case Study CASE 4? 6 Making Socially Responsible and Ethical Strategic decisions move a company toward its stated goals and perceived success. Strategic decisions also re? ect the ? rm’s social responsibility and the ethical values on which such decisions are made. They re? ect what is considered important and what a company wants to achieve. Mark Pastin, writing on the function of ethics in business decisions, observes: There are fundamental principles, or ground rules, by which organizations act. Like the ground rules of individuals, organizational ground rules determine which actions are possible for the organization and what the actions mean. Buried beneath the charts of organizational responsibility, the arcane strategies, the crunched numbers, and the political intrigue of every ? rm are sound rules by which the game unfolds. The following situations re? ect different decisions made by multinational ? rms and governments and also re? ect the social responsibility and ethical values underpinning the decisions. Study the following situations in the global cigarette marketplace carefully and assess the ground rules that guided the decisions of ? rms and governments. Marketing Decisions: Selling Tobacco to Third World Countries expanding market. As an example, Indonesia’s per capita cigarette consumption quadrupled in less than ten years. Increasingly, cigarette advertising on radio and television is being restricted in some countries, but other means of promotion, especially to young people, are not controlled. China, with more than 300 million smokers, produces and consumes about 1. 4 trillion cigarettes per year, more than any other country in the world. Estimates are that China has more smokers than the United States has people. Just 1 percent of that 1. 4 trillion cigarette market would increase a tobacco company’s overseas sales by 15 percent and would be worth as much as $300 million in added revenue. American cigarette companies have received a warm welcome in Russia, where at least 50 percent of the people smoke. Consumers are hungry for most things Western, and tobacco taxes are low. Unlike in the United States and other countries that limit or ban cigarette advertising, there are few effective controls on tobacco products in Russia. Russia, the world’s fourth largest cigarette market, has proved to be an extremely pro? table territory for British American Tobacco (BAT). BAT Russia, established in 1949, sold 65 billion cigarettes in Russia in 2005, giving it almost one? fth of market share. EXPORTING U. S. CIGARETTE CONSUMPTION In the United States, 600 billion cigarettes are sold annually, but sales are shrinking rapidly. Unit sales have been dropping about 1 to 2 percent a year, and sales have been down by almost 5 percent in the last six years. The U. S. Surgeon General’s campaign against smoking, higher cigarette taxes, non-smoking rules in public areas, and the concern Americans have about general health have led to the decline in tobacco consumption. Faced with various class-action lawsuits, the success of states in winning lawsuits, and pending federal legislation, tobacco companies have stepped up their international marketing activities to maintain pro? ts. Even though companies have agreed to sweeping restrictions in the United States on cigarette marketing and secondhand smoke and to bolder cancer-warning labels, they are ? hting as hard as ever in the Third World to convince the media, the public, and policymakers that similar changes are not needed. In seminars at luxury resorts worldwide, tobacco companies invite journalists, all expenses paid, to participate in programs that play down the health risks of smoking. It is hard to gauge the in? uence of such seminars, but in the Philippines, a government plan to reduce smoking by children was â€Å"neutralized† by a public relations campaign from cigarette companies to remove â€Å"cancer awareness and prevention† as a â€Å"key concern. A slant in favor of the tobacco industry’s point of view seemed to prevail. At a time when most industrialized countries are discouraging smoking, the tobacco industry is avidly courting consumers throughout the developing world using catchy slogans, obvious image campaigns, and single-cigarette sales that ? t a hard-pressed customer’s budget. The reason is clear: The Third World is an ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION In Gambia, smokers send in cigarette box tops to qualify for a chance to win a new car. In Argentina, smoking commercials ? ll 20 percent of television advertising time. And in crowded African cities, billboards that link smoking to the good life tower above the sweltering shantytowns. Such things as baby clothes with cigarette logos, health warnings printed in foreign languages, and tobaccosponsored contests for children are often featured in tobacco ads in Third World countries. Latin American tobacco consumption rose by more than 24 percent over a ten-year period. Critics claim that sophisticated promotions in unsophisticated societies entice people who cannot afford the necessities of life to spend money on a luxury—and a dangerous one at that. The sophistication theme runs throughout the smoking ads. In Kinshasa, Zaire, billboards depict a man in a business suit stepping out of a black Mercedes as a chauffeur holds the door. In Nigeria, promotions for Graduate brand cigarettes show a university student in his cap and gown. Those for Gold Leaf cigarettes have a barrister in a white wig and the slogan, â€Å"A very important cigarette for very important people. † In Kenya, a magazine ad for Embassy cigarettes shows an elegant executive of? cer with three young men and women equivalent to American yuppies. The most disturbing trend in developing countries is advertising that associates tobacco with American af? uence and culture. Some women in Africa, in their struggle for women’s rights, de? antly smoke cigarettes as a symbol of freedom. Billboards all over Russia feature pictures of skyscrapers and white sandy beaches and slogans like â€Å"Total Freedom† or â€Å"Rendezvous with America. † They aren’t advertising foreign travel but American cigarette brands. Cases 4 Developing Global Marketing Strategies Every cigarette manufacturer is in the image business, and tobacco companies say their promotional slant is both reasonable and common. They point out that in the Third World a lot of people cannot understand what is written in the ads anyway, so the ads zero in on the more understandable visual image. â€Å"In most of the world, the Marlboro Man isn’t just a symbol of the Wild West; he’s a symbol of the West. † â€Å"You can’t convince people that all Americans don’t smoke. † In Africa, some of the most effective advertising includes images of af? uent white Americans with recognizable landmarks, such as the New York City skyline, in the background. In much of Africa, children as young as ? e are used to sell single cigarettes, affordable to other children, to support their own nicotine habits. Worldwide nearly one-fourth of all teenage smokers smoked their ? rst cigarette before they were 10 years old. The scope of promotional activity is enormous. In Kenya, a major tobacco company is the fourth-largest advertiser. Tobaccosponsored lotteries bolster sales in some countries by offering as prizes expensive goods that are beyond most people’s budgets. Gambia has a population of just 640,000, but a tobacco company lottery attracted 1. million entries (each sent in on a cigarette box top) when it raf? ed off a Renault car. Evidence is strong that the strategy of tobacco companies is to target young people as a means of expanding market demand. Report after report reveals that adolescents receive cigarettes free as a means of promoting the product. For example, in Buenos Aires, a Jeep decorated with the yellow Camel logo pulls up in front of a high school. The driver, a blond woman wearing khaki safari gear, begins handing out free cigarettes to 15- and 16-year-olds on lunch recess. Teens visiting MTV’s Web sites in China, Germany, India, Poland, and Latin America were given the chance to click on a banner ad that led them to a questionnaire about their exposure to cigarette ads and other marketing tools in their countries. Some 10,000 teens responded to the banner ads. â€Å"In the past week, more than 62 percent of teenagers in these countries have been exposed to tobacco advertising in some form,† the 17-year-old SWAT (Students Working against Tobacco) chairman told Reuters. The tobacco companies learned that marketing to teens and kids worked in this country, but since they can’t do it here anymore, they’ve taken what they learned to other countries. † At a video arcade in Taipei, free American cigarettes are strewn atop each game. â€Å"As long as they’re here, I may as well try one,† says a high school girl. In Malaysia, Gila-Gila, a comic book popular with elementary school students, carries a Lucky Strike a d. Attractive women in cowboy out? ts regularly meet teenagers going to rock concerts or discos in Budapest and hand them Marlboros. Those who accept a light on the spot also receive Marlboro sunglasses. According to the American Lung Association Tobacco Policy Trend Alert, the tobacco industry is offering candy-? avored cigarettes in an attempt to continue to target teens. 1 Advertising and promotion of these products uses hip-hop imagery, attractive women, and other imagery to appeal to youth in similar ways that Joe Camel did a decade ago. Marketing efforts for candy-? avored cigarettes came after the Master Settlement Agreement prohibited tobacco companies from using cartoon characters to sell cigarettes. Researchers recently released the results of several surveys that showed that 20 percent of smokers ages 17 to 19 smoked ? avored cigarettes, while only 6 percent of smokers ages 17 to 20 did. In Russia, a U. S. cigarette company sponsors disco parties where thousands of young people dance to booming music. Admission is the purchase of one pack of cigarettes. At other cigarettesponsored parties, attractive women give cigarettes away free. In many countries, foreign cigarettes have a status image that also encourages smoking. A 26-year-old Chinese man says he switched from a domestic brand to Marlboro because â€Å"You feel a higher social position† when you smoke foreign cigarettes. â€Å"Smoking is a sign of luxury in the Czech Republica as well as in Russia and other Eastern countries,† says an executive of a Czech tobacco ? rm that has a joint venture with a U. S. company. â€Å"If I can smoke Marlboro, then I’m a well-to-do man. † The global tobacco companies insist that they are not attempting to recruit new smokers. They say they are only trying to encourage smokers to switch to foreign brands. The same number of cigarettes are consumed whether American cigarettes or not,† was the comment of one executive. Although cigarette companies deny they sell higher tar and nicotine cigarettes in the Third World, one British tobacco company does concede that some of its brands sold in developing countries contain more tar and nicotine than those sold in the United States and Europe. A recent study found three major U. S. brands with ? lters had 17 milligrams of tar in the United States, 22. 3 in Kenya, 29. 7 in Malaysia, and 31. 1 in South Africa. Another brand with ? ters had 19. 1 milligrams of tar in the United States, 28. 8 in South Africa, and 30. 9 in the Philippines. The ? rm says that Third World smokers are used to smoking their own locally made product, which might have several times more tar and nicotine. Thus, the ? rm leaves the tar- and nicotine-level decisions to its foreign subsidiaries, who tailor their products to local tastes. C. Everett Koop, the retired U. S. Surgeon General, was quoted in a recent news conference as saying, â€Å"Companies’ claims that science cannot say with certainty that tobacco causes cancer were ? t-footed lies† and that â€Å"sending cigarettes to the Third World was the export of death, disease, and disability. † An Oxford University epidemiologist has estimated that, because of increas ing tobacco consumption in Asia, the annual worldwide death toll from tobaccorelated illnesses will more than triple over the next two decades. Perhaps 100 million people died prematurely during the 20th century as a result of tobacco, making it the leading preventable cause of death and one of the top killers overall. According to the World Health Organization, ach year smoking causes 4 million deaths globally, and it expects the annual toll to rise to 10 million in 2030. GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT Third World governments often stand to pro? t from tobacco sales. Brazil collects 75 percent of the retail price of cigarettes in taxes, some $100 million a month. The Bulgarian state-owned tobacco company, Bulgartabac, contributes almost $30 million in taxes to the government annually. Bulgartabac is a major exporter of cigarettes to Russia, exporting 40,000 tons of cigarettes annually. Tobacco is Zimbabwe’s largest cash crop. One news report from a Zimbabwe newspaper reveals strong support for cigarette companies. â€Å"Western anti-tobacco lobbies demonstrate unbelievable hypocrisy,† notes one editorial. â€Å"It is relatively easy to sit in Washington or London and prattle on about the so-called evils of smoking, but they are far removed from the day-to-day grind of earning a living in the Third World. † It goes on to comment that it doesn’t dispute the fact that smoking is addictive or that it may cause diseases, but â€Å"smoking does not necessarily lead to certain 1 See â€Å"From Joe Camel to Kauai Kolada—The Marketing of Candy-Flavored Cigarettes,† http://lungusa. org. Part 6 Supplementary Material 350 million smokers, China has 50 million more cigarette buyers than the U. S. has people, according to Euromonitor. While smoking rates in developed countries have slowly declined, they have shot up dramatically in some developing counties where PMI is a major player. These include Pakistan (up 42 percent since 2001), Ukraine (up 36 percent), and Argentina (up 18 percent). death. Nor is it any more dangerous than other habits. Unfortunately, tobacco smoking has attracted the attention of a particularly â€Å"sanctimonious, meddling sector of society. They would do better to keep their opinions to themselves. † Generally, smoking is not a big concern of governments beset by debt, internal con? ict, drought, or famine. It is truly tragic, but the worse famine becomes, the more people smoke—just as with war, when people who are worried want to smoke. â€Å"In any case,† says one representative of an international tobacco company, â€Å"People in developing countries don’t have a long enough life expectancy to worry about smoking-related problems. You can’t turn to a guy who is going to die at age 40 and tell him that he might not live up to 2 years extra at age 70. † As for promoting cigarettes in the Third World, â€Å"If there is no ban on TV advertising, then you aren’t going to be an idiot and impose restrictions on yourself,† says the representative, â€Å"and likewise, if you get an order and you know that they’ve got money, no one is going to turn down the business. † Cigarette companies ? gure China’s self-interest will preserve its industry. Tobacco provides huge revenues for Beijing because all tobacco must be sold through the China National Tobacco Company monopoly. Duty on imported cigarettes is nearly 450 percent of their value. Consequently, tobacco is among the central government’s biggest source of funding, accounting for more than $30 billion in income in 2005. China is also a major exporter of tobacco. ANTISMOKING PROMOTIONS Since the early 1990s, multinational tobacco companies have promoted â€Å"youth smoking prevention† programs as part of their â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility† campaigns. The companies have partnered with third-party allies in Latin America, most notably nonpro? t educational organizations and education and health ministries to promote youth smoking prevention. Even though there is no evidence that these programs reduce smoking among youths, they have met the industry’s goal of portraying the companies as concerned corporate citizens. In fact, a new study proves that youth smoking prevention ads created by the tobacco industry and aimed at parents actually increase the likelihood that teens will smoke. The study, â€Å"Impact of Televised Tobacco Industry Smoking Prevention Advertising on Youth Smoking-Related Beliefs, Intentions and Behavior,† published in the December 2006 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, sought to understand how the tobacco industry uses â€Å"youth smoking prevention† programs in Latin America. Tobacco industry documents, so-called social reports, media reports, and material provided by Latin American public health advocates were all analyzed. The study is the ? rst to examine the speci? c effect of tobacco company parent-focused advertising on youth. It found that ads that the industry claims are aimed at preventing youth from smoking actually provide no bene? t to youth. In fact, the ads that are created for parental audiences but also are seen by teens are associated with stronger intentions by teens to smoke in the future. Brazil has the world’s strictest governmental laws against smoking, consisting of highly visible antismoking campaigns, severe controls on advertising, and very high tax rates on smoking products. Despite these obstacles, the number of smokers in Brazil continues to grow. In 2006, there were approximately 44 million smokers in the country, up from 38 million in 1997. Factors driving this trend include the low price of cigarettes, which are among the lowest in the world; the easy access to tobacco products; and the actions taken by the powerful tobacco companies to slow down antismoking legislation in Brazil. FOCUS ON DEVELOPING MARKETS Lawsuits, stringent legislation against advertising, laws restricting where people can smoke, and other antismoking efforts on the part of governments have caused tobacco companies to intensify their efforts in those markets where restrictions are fewer and governments more friendly. As part of a strategy to increase its sales in the developing world, Philip Morris International (PMI) was spun off from Philip Morris USA in 2008 to escape the threat of litigation and government regulation in the United States. The move frees the tobacco giant’s international operations of the legal and public-relations headaches in the United States that have hindered its growth. Its practices are no longer constrained by American public opinion, paving the way for broad product experimentation. A new product, Marlboro Intense, is likely to be part of an aggressive blitz of new smoking products PMI will roll out around the globe. The Marlboro Intense cigarette has been shrunk down by about a half inch and offers smokers seven potent puffs apiece, versus the average of eight or so milder draws. The idea behind Intense is to appeal to customers who, due to indoor smoking bans, want to dash outside for a quick nicotine hit but don’t always ? nish a full-size cigarette. The CEO of PMI says there are â€Å"possibly 50 markets that are interested in deploying Marlboro Intense. † Other product innovations include sweet-smelling cigarettes that contain tobacco, cloves and ? voring—with twice the tar and nicotine levels of a conventional U. S. cigarette. Marlboro Mix 9, a high-nicotine, high-tar cigarette launched in Indonesia in 2007, and a clove-infused Mix 9 will be exported to other southeast Asian markets next. Another iteration of the Marlboro brand, the Marlboro Filter Plus, is being sold in South Korea, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. It touts a special ? lter made of carbon, cellulose ac etate, and a tobacco plug that the company claims lowers the tar level while giving smokers a smoother taste. One of PMI’s immediate goals is to harness the huge potential of China’s smoking population, as well as some of that country’s own brands, which it has agreed to market worldwide. With some ASSESSING THE ETHICS OF STRATEGIC DECISIONS Ethical decision making is not a simplistic â€Å"right† or â€Å"wrong† determination. Ethical ground rules are complex, tough to sort out and to prioritize, tough to articulate, and tough to use. The complexity of ethical decisions is compounded in the international setting, which comprises different cultures, different perspectives of right and wrong, different legal requirements, and different goals. Clearly, when U. S. companies conduct business in an international setting, the ground rules become further complicated by the values, customs, traditions, ethics, and goals of the host countries, which each have developed their own ground rules for conducting business. Three prominent American ethicists have developed a framework to view the ethical implications of strategic decisions by American Cases 4 Developing Global Marketing Strategies ? rms. They identify three ethical principles that can guide American managers in assessing the ethical implications of their decisions and the degree to which these decisions re? ct these ethical principles or ground rules. They suggest asking, â€Å"Is the corporate strategy acceptable according to the following ethical ground rules? † These questions can help uncover the ethical ground rules embedded in the tobacco consumption situation described in this case. These questions lead to an ethical analysis of the degree to which this str ategy is bene? cial or harmful to the parties and, ultimately, whether it is a â€Å"right† or â€Å"wrong† strategy, or whether the consequences of this strategy are ethical or socially responsible for the parties involved. These ideas are incorporated in the decision tree in Exhibit 1. Principles Utilitarian ethics (Bentham, Smith) Question Does the corporate strategy optimize the â€Å"common good† or bene? ts of all constituencies? Does the corporate strategy respect the rights of the individuals involved? Does the corporate strategy respect the canons of justice or fairness to all parties? Rights of the parties (Kant, Locke) Justice or fairness (Aristotle, Rawls) Exhibit 1 A Decision Tree for Incorporating Ethical and Social Responsibility Issues into Multinational Business Decisions Does the decision efficiently optimize the common good or benefits of: THE BUSINESS FIRM? Stockholders Management Profits Growth Other SOCIETY? Culture Order Justice â€Å"The good life† Other THE ECONOMY? THE INDIVIDUAL? Economic growth Freedom Allocation of resources Health and welfare Production and distribution Self-realization of goods and services Human dignity Other Opportunity Other YES NO YES Are there critical factors that justify suboptimizing these goals and satisfactions? NO Does the decision respect the rights of individuals involved? YES NO Reject Decision YES Are there critical factors that justify the abrogation of a right? NO Does the corporate decision respect the canons of justice or fairness to all parties involved? YES YES NO Reject Decision Are there critical factors that justify the violation of a canon of justice? NO Accept Decision Reject Decision Part 6 Supplementary Material See www. who. int, the World Health Organization’s Web site, for more details regarding the current tobacco controversy. See also www. getswat. com for a worldwide student initiative against smoking. Laczniak and Naor discuss the complexity of international ethics or, more precisely, the ethical assumptions that underlie strategic decisions for multinationals. 2 They suggest that multinationals can develop consistency in their policies by using federal law as a baseline for appropriate behavior as well as respect for the host country’s general value structure. They conclude with four recommendations for multinationals: 1. Expand codes of ethics to be worldwide in scope. 2. Expressly consider ethical issues when developing worldwide corporate strategies. . If the ? rm encounters major ethical dilemmas, consider withdrawal from the problem market. 4. Develop periodic ethics-impact statements, including impacts on host parties. 2 QUESTIONS 1. Use the model in Exhibit 1 as a guide and assess the ethical and social responsibility implications of the situations described. 2. Can you recommend alternative strategies or solutions to the dilemmas confronting the tobacco companies? To governments? What is the price of ethical behavior? 3. Should the U. S. government support U. S. tobacco company interests abroad? . Should a company be forced to stop marketing a product that is not illegal, such as cigarettes? Gene R. Laczniak and Jacob Naor, â€Å"Global Ethics: Wrestling with the Corporate Conscience,† Business, July–September 1985. Sources: â€Å"Smoke Over the Horizon; U. S. Gains in Tobacco Control Are Being Offset Internationally,† The Washington Post, July 23, 2006; â€Å"Death and Taxes: England Has Become the Latest in a Series of Countries to Vote for Restrictions on Smoking in Public Places,† Financial Management (UK), April 1, 2006; â€Å"Trick or Treat? Tobacco Industry Prevention Ads Don’t Help Curb Youth Smoking,† PR Newswire, October 31, 2006; â€Å"China Exclusive: China, With One Third of World’s Smokers, Promises a ‘Non-Smoking’ Olympics,† Xinhua News Agency, May 29, 2006; â€Å"Tobacco Consumption and Motives for Use in Mexican University Students,† Adolescence, June 22, 2006; â€Å"A Change in the Air: Smoking Bans Gain Momentum Worldwide,† Environmental Health Perspectives, August 1, 2007; â€Å"Adams Won’t Kick the BAT Habit: The Head of British American Tobacco Is Stoical About the Looming Ban on Smoking in Public Spaces: BAT will Adapt,† The Sunday Telegraph London, June 10, 2007; â€Å"Heart Disease, Stroke Plague Third World,† Associated Press (Online), April 4, 2006; â€Å"Get a Detailed Picture of the Tobacco Industry in Brazil,† M2 Press Wire, December 20, 2007; Vanessa O’Connell, â€Å"Philip Morris Readies Global Tobacco Blit z; Division Spin-off Enables Aggressive Product Push; High-Tar Smokes in Asia,† The Wall Street Journal, January 29, 2008; â€Å"The Global Tobacco Threat,† The New York Times, February 19, 2008; â€Å"How to Save a Billion Lives; Smoking,† The Economist (London,) February 9, 2008; â€Å"Whether Here or There, Cigarettes Still Kill People,† The Wall Street Journal, February 4, 2008.