Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Impression Sunrise essays

Impression Sunrise essays Towards the later half of the nineteenth century, many artists were pursuing new avenues in their artistic representations. They were perturbed at the rigid and constricting regulations of the Salon, and some artists decided to form and independent exhibition. Cluade Monet and his friends founded the Socit anonyme de artistes, etc. . . and continued to pursue an alternative to the Salon. On April 15th, 1874 this group of artists held their own show that directly challenged the authority of the Salon. Eventually, Monet and his colleagues became known as the Impressionists which stems from one of his works that was displayed at the first show, Impression, Sunrise. This painting was hardly recognized at the primier exhibition, but has since become a very significant work. Monet had just returned to Paris after the end of the Franco-Prussian War, and he felt that the country was in desperate need of a resurgence of nationalism. His painting, Impression, Sunrise, is a landscape of the avant-port of Le Havre which was the second largest port in France. The depiction of a richly commercial location can be interpreted as patriotic ode to a revitalized France. It shows a site that all Frenchmen would have been proud of and seems to celebrate the renewed strength and beauty of the country. . . (Tucker 157). This canvas testifies to the citys economic and commercial prowess through innovative techniques that possess a sense of renewal. These new methods of rendering an image be came the backbone for a new art movement, Impressionism. In conclusion, Claude Monet and his comrades were pioneers in the field of art. Their antagonistic views of the traditional Salon led to new ground-breaking techniques for representing an image on a canvas. Their paintings at the first Impressionist Exhibition of 1784 contained sketchy renderings and an unfinished feel which left some criti ...

Friday, November 22, 2019

Stay a While and Learn About Sojourn

Stay a While and Learn About Sojourn Stay a While and Learn About â€Å"Sojourn† Stay a While and Learn About â€Å"Sojourn† By Mark Nichol After I posted a list of synonyms for trip, a couple of readers offered sojourn as an additional alternative. Unfortunately, however, they are victims of a common misunderstanding. Sojourn is actually a near antonym of trip. It means â€Å"a brief stay.† The confusion undoubtedly arises from the presence of the syllable journ, which is cognate with the first syllable of journey and journal (as well as the last element of du jour, French and restaurantese for â€Å"of the day†). What do all these words have in common? Jour is a descendant, through the Anglo-French word jur, of the Latin term diurnum, meaning â€Å"day,† which is also the source of diurnal (the opposite of nocturnal). Journey originally referred to a day’s travel but now denotes travel of any significant duration. (Tour, though it rhymes with jour, is unrelated; it comes from the Latin word tornare, meaning â€Å"to turn.†) Journal, meanwhile, was originally a reference to a book used in church services. The meaning then shifted to any book for keeping personal or business records, and later also to daily publications. (The synonym for a personal journal, diary, is ultimately from dies, a Latin word for â€Å"day.†) Another related word is journeyman, which acquired the meaning â€Å"a craftsman more skilled than an apprentice but not yet experienced enough to earn status as a master,† came from the association of such workers with short-term projects they were (and sometimes still are) literally â€Å"day men.† So, where does sojourn come in? Perhaps the misunderstanding about its meaning stems from the connective grammatical function of the word so: â€Å"I want to travel, ‘so’ I ‘journ.’† However, it derives from subdiurnare, meaning â€Å"part of a day† (with the usual meaning of the prefix sub-) and referring to a resting period during a daylong journey. Therefore, Sojourner Truth, the nineteenth-century slave turned abolitionist and activist for women’s rights, presumably selected that name for herself because she wished not to travel toward truth, but to abide in it. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:What Is Irony? (With Examples)The Parts of a WordThe Difference Between "Shade" and "Shadow"

Thursday, November 21, 2019

The Dominican-American Convention analysis Essay

The Dominican-American Convention analysis - Essay Example In analyzing the situation it is clear that in orchestrating the arrangement the U.S. virtually secured its control over the Dominican Republic. Under the receivership agreement customs income would be distributed in the manner established in the â€Å"Modus Vivendi†: 45% for the Dominican government, 5% for the payment of the employees of the customs administration and 50% for the payment of the loan. ( The American-Dominican Convention 3-6) This â€Å"deal,† as we might call it, seems at first glance a win-win for everyone: the U.S., in that it kept European influences at bay, and the Dominicans financially and politically beholding to the U.S. For President Ramon Caceres, seeking to consolidate his power, had three million dollars to spend internally at his discretion, which certainly helped along with the U.S. guarantee for economic and military support to secure his position within the country. From a political point of view it is not surprising that some American Congressman of â€Å"anti-imperialist sentiment† (Roorda 11) would be against the move based on previous attempts to intervene in Dominican politics, as other Dominicans in the past were wary of such a close association on the basis of a weaker state being subsumed by one more powerful. In assessing the ultimate result from a political standpoint, one must see clearly the basis of their objections, since in the end, and under the agreement’s terms, officials of the U.S. War Department sent to the country to monitor its customs operations had war ships at their disposal â€Å"if local events went counter to his [Ceceres] wishes† (Roorda 15). From the main points of the treaty the results are somewhat mixed. Increased pressure was mounting from several European nations for the Dominican to pay its debt in fear of ongoing political instability. (Roorda 13) The U.S. military

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Air Jet Best Parts Inc Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Air Jet Best Parts Inc - Coursework Example The reason for it is the lower effective annual rate which Regions Best as offered the company. Their EAR is fifty basis point lower than National First which is a substantial ground to make this decision. When the coupon rate increases, the yield to maturity will rise. The bond will be attractive for the investors which will push the demand for bond upwards and the price of the bond will rise. This will result in decreasing yield to maturity to the point that it matches your required rate of return. When the YTM decreases, the investors will not find it lucrative to hold the bond as their required rate of return would be higher than the YTM. This will lead to increased supply of the bond which will eventually result in decreasing prices. When the date to maturity increases then the maturity risk is subsequently increased. This will increase an investor’s required rate of return for an investor. Therefore, it will result in a decrease in the price of the bond to push YTM up and match the increased required rate of return. Bond prices are depended on the interest rate prevalent during the period. An investor’s required rate of return is dependent on the interest rate level during the period. Bond prices are inversely proportional to the interest rates. As interest rate rises, the bond prices will fall and vice versa. For Greece, the interest rate is high in that region which has pushed the required rate of return higher and subsequently decreased the yield to maturity. In order to match the required rate of return, the bond prices should be low. On the other hand, Germany has kept their interest rates lower in comparison to Greece. This has reserved the investor’s to demand a lower return for their investment. The lower required rate of return pushes the yield to maturity upwards and hence, the bond prices will surge in that

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Alibaba Essay Example for Free

Alibaba Essay He and his team have achieved many firsts in the area of Chinese Internet Trade. He founded the first internet commercial website in China, and created a 82B marketplace platform to all small and medium-sized enterprises in Asia and around the world. He promoted the Trust Pass plan on the website, which created the worlds first on-line credit platform for companies. Under Jack Mas leadership, the Alibaba 82B websites have attracted more than 17 million registered members in 220 countries globally, with daily postings exceeding 35 million, making Alibaba. om the most active Internet market place and 82B community worldwide. Since the inception of the company, more than 400 media have reported about Alibaba and Jack Ma, in dozens of languages. In addition to numerous awards presented to Alibaba. com, Jack Ma was lso selected by the World Economic Forum as one of the 100 Young Global Leaders in 2001; was named Business Leader of 2001 by Asia Commerce Association of USA; and was featured on the covers of Forbes Magazine, Nikkei Magazine, and Fortune (China) Magazine. In 2004, Jack Ma was honored as one of the Top 10 Economic Personas of the Year by CCTV. In 2005, Fortune Magazine ranked him one of the 25 Most Powerful Businesspeople in Asia and this year Business 2. 0 ranked him 1 5th among 50 Who Matter Now and Silicon. com ranked him 1 lth among its top 50 Agenda Setters 2006. company, Alibaba. om builds its business success and rapid growth on entrepreneurship, innovation, and service. Says Jack Ma: The company will remain a start-up no matter how long it has been in existence. What ever has been stable, I will disrupt that stability. The company needs to continue to innovate and grow. I want the employees to believe that we are a small company, no matter how big we get. I believe we can create a system and culture to perpetuate this culture of entrepreneurial and start-up spirit. To fuel the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit, along with a service attitude, Jack Ma is looking for people with the following characteristics: 1) People with a dream. Dont let your colleagues work for you. They need to work for their dreams! If people dont believe in the dream and Join the company purely for money, they wont stay long (refer to Appendix 2 for Alibabas vision, mission, and values). 2) People with shared values. The value system is very important at Alibaba. We are crazy for it! In China, we might be the only crazy company who so strongly maintains our value system. People who dont fit our values cannot survive in the company. (Alibabas six ore values are customer comes first, teamwork and cooperation, embracing change, integrity, passion, and honoring your Job). 3) People with a smile. When we hire people, we look for people who are naturally optimistic and happy. In the start-up process we will meet with difficulties and challenges. Optimistic and happy people can better deal with these challenges and succeed. Its hard to make a happy person unhappy, but its even harder to make an unhappy person happy. I am able to tell whether a person is on our staff by their smile. 4) People who enjoy work and can turn stress and challenges into innovation. Employees must be able to handle pressure and challenges, and turn them into positive energy for innovation, not negative energy for depression. 5) People who work together. We dont welcome people who think they are smart because they may think they are above others. This industry is so new that it really doesnt have any real talents. The people who are real talents probably dont know they are talents. Everyone has tremendous potential. We all use other peoples strengths to overcome our weaknesses We are all ordinary people, but our goals are extraordinary. While Alibaba seeks people with strong rofessional skills, these characteristics are even more important in deciding whether a person will Join, stay, and enjoy working in the company. 2 Alibabas Unique Value Proposition † a Smiling Community with a Dream While Alibaba is clear about what kind of talent they need for business success, the question is: how can the company attract, retain, and engage such talent, especially in the startup stage, when Alibaba had limited resources? The answer is a dream, a dream to make a difference in the way people do business, and a dream to create wealth together. During the start-up stage of Alibaba, Jack Ma often told those nterested in working for Alibaba, not of the great working conditions or the high pay, of what they could earn elsewhere. Alibaba also strives to provide a community, where employees can have fun to work together to pursue their dreams with minimal bureaucracy and politics. Ma recently painted a vivid image of his ideal work environment for his employees as follows: Blue Sky Processes, systems, and decisions need to be open and transparent. Theres nothing that should be hidden from employees. We should be transparent. Solid Ground Everything we do should be honest, ethical and contribute to the welfare of the ociety. The company should be on solid financial ground so employees wont worry about the financial future of the company. Free-flowing Ocean Talent must be allowed to rotate Jobs across subsidiaries and departments. Green Forest (R Conducive conditions for continued innovation. Harmonious Community Peers with shared values and simple interpersonal relationships. The ultimate objective of such a community is to offer employees a work environment to grow, contribute, and live out their dreams. Bureaucracy, secrecy, and stagnation are all attributes that inhibit employees, and the company must actively seek out these ehaviors and destroy them. Alibaba from the Eyes of Employees To what extent do employees at Alibaba experience what the company intends to offer? Why do they Join the company and how do they feel as employees working there? Our focus group discussion with employees in different functions and levels confirms that Alibaba is indeed a unique company to work with. The following themes and direct quotations capture their experiences and the feeling of working at Alibaba: A leader with charisma and credibility: Jack Ma is the magnet that draws people into the company and provides them with a credible dream. When I spoke with Jack Ma, I was impressed with his vision and business model. I had been in the internet business for a while but had not seen a successful model like the one Alibaba is employing. Tang Zhenrong, International Website Engineering Department, and one year with the company. Although the objectives for each year seem to be very high, somehow we have always managed to accomplish those objectives. With past success, we have built up confidence that were able to achieve the objectives no matter what they are. Lili Li, Sales Research Department, six years with the company. The passion of Alibaba is from within and radiates outward to others. We can see that they truly believe in the company and the culture of Alibaba is built from there, not by programs or processes. Echo Lu, Director of Organization and People Development. The company is true to its values at all levels. When Jack Ma talks to management about hiring, he told us that we must hire people With the same smell. Zhang Yu, Director of Marketing, Taobao. com Changes, challenges, and growth: People grow under tremendous pressure to change and grow. The speed of change is three to four times that of other organizations. The objectives are crazy, but when we reach and surpass the targets, we then have a profound sense of accomplishment. With the constant pressure and changes, were also forced to evaluate how we do our own Jobs and how we work as a team. Is it sufficient to accomplish the new objectives? Do we need to look at the challenge differently and try different things? Zhang Yu, Director of Marketing, Taobao. om 4 Communication and transparency Jack will meet with all new employees in a group setting, has meetings with management at least quarterly, and bi-annual staff meetings with all employees. On the intranet, theres a BBS that allows staff to post their thoughts and opinions. Jack often interacts with staff on the BBS in an open and casual way. Echo Lu, Director of Organization and People Development A company that cares about employees During the SARS crisis, because of one suspected case, Alibaba made the decision in one day to have all employees work from home and to pass the required isolation period. As a result of this quick action, we contained any possible outbreak, May. Employees continued to perform Jobs tremendously well at home. We encouraged each other through BBS, phone calls, and e-mails. Lili L, Sales Research Department The most positive thing to result from the SARS crisis was an enormous amount of pride for employees who went through this crisis together. They built a strong bond through experiencing this event together. Its still a much talked about event in the company. In fact, some employees have named the day that staff were sent home to contain the outbreak, Alibaba Day, to commemorate the event. The spirit of Alibaba came alive on that day. Echo Lu, Director of Organization and People Development Leadership and Management Practices that Create the Unique Value Proposition Leadership priority: As CEO, Jack Ma invests most of his time in three areas: vision/ mission/strategy, customers, and employees. By clearly articulating and constantly communicating the vision and mission of the company, he creates the most important foundation in attracting outstanding talent. Dont let your colleague work for you, but work for their dreams! Also, it is important to deeply understand customer needs, not competitors actions. Understanding customer needs can help Alibaba develop concrete business plans and focus on realizing its dream. Finally, it is also critical to realistically assess the competencies of employees. It will decide how fast, how far, and how the company can execute its business strategy and targets in the coming year and next three years. His attentiveness to talent is ref lected in two management practices. First, in the monthly senior management meeting, the first question he always asked is How is your team doing? instead of How many sales has your team made? Second, he always spends a lot of time alking around different business units and departments to smell how the people are doing there. If he smells something wrong, he will immediately talk to the unit head to identify problems and improve the situation. As a matter of fact, all senior executives at VP level and above must develop such smelling skills at Alibaba, to make sure that people are being managed properly. Value alignment: Strong shared values are essential in building a harmonious community where people feel comfortable working together and in ensuring that decisions and behaviors are aligned with company direction. Alibaba has gone the extra mile to make sure that people share the same values. When Alibaba hires people, they look for people with the same smell†people who are optimistic, happy, team oriented, ha rd working, and willing to invest their lives to achieve an ideal. When employees Join the company, they attend at least 10 days of orientation, focusing primarily on the companys vision, mission, and values. When the company assesses the performance of employees, 50% is tied to values and 50% is tied to business results. When employees demonstrate behaviors contrary to company core alues, they are asked to leave no matter how strong their business results are, or very important at Alibaba. People who dont fit into our values cannot survive in the company. Stretch opportunities and challenges: While Alibaba offers different training programs for different levels of employees in both technical and management areas, people grow rapidly by achieving impossible targets year after year. Although the objectives for each year seem high and unreasonable, somehow, we have always managed to accomplish those objectives. With past success we have built up the onfidence that we are able to achieve the objectives, no matter what they are, says Lili Li, of the Sales Research Department. At Alibaba I have been stretched and challenged. I have seen myself grow more than in my previous Jobs, says Zhang Yu from Taobao. com. Indeed, Jack Ma believes that all people have potential that can be unleashed in the right environment, allowing them to stretch and challenge themselves. Ma quoted one of his favorite examples, Several years ago when I looked at the current COO Li Qi, there was no way he looked like a COO. Nowadays, from all different angles, he really looks like a COO. Talent has tremendous potential to grow. However, in order for people to grow under challenges, three elements are important. First is teamwork. Alibaba uses teamwork to complement individual strengths and weaknesses to achieve extraordinary goals. Second are the right people, who enjoy challenges and have fun working. Third are line managers who are accountable for personal growth within their teams. Jack Ma remarked that all line managers at Alibaba are entrusted with two scarce resources (capital and talent) to create value for the company. In addition to ensuring good financial returns, they lso need to create value for their talent in terms of their growth and retention. Thats why Jack Ma also walks around the company to smell how people are being managed in different departments, and why he always asks business leaders how their teams are doing in the monthly CEO review. Wealth creation and sharing: All employees of Alibaba receive stock options, and in effect are owners of the organization. At Alibaba, stock options are not a tool for retention but for reward sharing. From five cents per share to five dollars per share in 6 years, many employees have not only shown tremendous pride in the company but also shared the fruits of their collective success for the well-being of both the society and themselves. Transparency and communication: Communication is an important practice within Alibaba that helps maintain a culture of transparency to all employees. Employees have easy access to all executives, including Jack Ma, through the use of email, BBS, and face-to-face meetings (monthly, quarterly or bi-annual staff meetings). Jack Ma sets a high standard for his executives to follow by regularly interacting with employees. All decisions are transparent, and people can see how they are made. This transparency is getting somewhat lost as we get bigger, but were still given a lot of information when possible. Our trust in the leaders has helped us to overcome this change in transparency. Communication is always good and strong from Sales Research Department. Advice to other CEOs When asked about what advice he would like to offer to other CEOs in China, Jack Ma suggested four: 1) Always believe people are the most important asset, and capital comes second. 2) It is not necessary to find the best talent but the talent that best fits your company. 3) Find and groom the talent inside our company rather than keep searching for talent from outside. The best talent is home-groomed people who fit our company culture. It always takes at least three years before people become fully immersed into our company culture 4) Believe in the potential of talent.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Unconditional Love Essay -- Personal Narrative Writing

Unconditional Love My mother birthed me in twelve minutes. Mine was the seventh body to pass through her womb in ten years. She said I was born hungry and happy - a chubby smiling baby girl. I am surrounded by faces and touched by hands, cooed at and kissed. I am cradled in the tiny baby holder my dad built so that my mom could cook with me on the counter top. In the afternoons, when my older siblings come home from school, I am passed around; each takes their turn with me, trying to get me to giggle and smile. I oblige them. And evenings, I am taken out, a new wave of smiles and warmth peers in at me as I lie in my stroller. I am never alone. I am in my mother?s arms in a dark room, in a rocking chair. My ear hurts and she is stroking my back. I am crying and she is singing. I fall asleep. My mother is doing the laundry; I crawl in the huge pile of dirty ?whites? and smell my father?s Old Spice. I am shooed away. I find my own way around the big old house. I creep up the steep crooked steps to my oldest brother?s attic bedroom. Only the smell of mothballs is there and I crawl backwards down. In the morning my mom rushes around to get the others ready for school. I am in the bathroom alone, no more diapers for me. I want to be ?grown up.? I use half a roll of toilet paper. I can hear my mom calling my name impatiently ? she has to get the others to school. I emerge smelly but proud and my haggard mom just smiles and laughs to herself as she cleans me up. When I think about my journey I think about this beginning. I think about the gifts of such a baby?s life: love, freedom and trust. These gifts sustain a life ? or I should say, my life ? and balance the darkness and fears that inevitably emerge. A woman I inter... ...ned to the confident playful tomboy? Everything changed ? no football with the boys, no sleepovers at David?s house. I decided I would go away to school. I had learned the rules well enough to earn a scholarship to a boarding school ninety minutes away from home. After a few months away, I wrote to my mom of the shame I felt about my sin, how I felt like a terrible person for doing what I did and for making her cry. In response, she wrote: What you did was neither good nor bad. It only proves that you are part of the human race, struggling and striving ? sometimes falling down. The important thing is to learn from it and let it go. And with these simple words my mother sent me on a seeker?s life. She released me from guilt and allowed me to embrace the journey. What I learned then was the transformational power of unconditional love.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

A study to understand market acceptability of Pepsi Atom Essay

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The project gives an overview of the Indian soft drink market various players, new entrants etc. The highlight of the project is to understand the launch of PepsiCo’s new drink Pepsi Atom and its market acceptability. PepsiCo’s drink didn’t appeal to masses. In spite of the innovative ideas, 360 degree marketing and a grand product launch the product didn’t do well. PepsiCo being a huge company launching such a product can be questionable. One of the motives could also be that the huge campaign could help brand recall. Pepsi Atom was target with consumers who need stronger drink. It was to attack the market share of Coca-cola’s Thums Up; however it failed. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I wish to express my gratitude to all those who have helped to make this project a success. I would like to thank my project guide, Prof. Rajesh Vyas without his guidance and support this project would not have been possible. Also I would like to thank our director Dr. Kalim Khan who has provided us with the necessary infrastructure and guidance in the course of the project. Also I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the teaching as well as non-teaching staff for their continuous help and support. INDEX Sr. No. Particulars Page No. 1 Introduction 1.1 Industry Overview : Food & Beverage 6 1.1 A) Indian Soft Drinks Market – Detailed Report 7 1.2 Company Overview : PepsiCo Inc. 12 1.3 Pepsi Atom – The Josh Cola from Pepsi 20 2 Research Methodology 22 2.1 Research Design 25 2.2 Tools for Data Collection 25 3 Data Interpretation & Analysis 26 4 Findings 40 5 Recommendations 43 6 Annexure 6.1 Questionnaire 36 6.2 Bibliography Introduction 1. An Overview of Indian Food and Beverage Sector The Indian food and beverage sector is huge and highly competitive in nature. The industry comprises of several sub-sectors such as fruits & vegetables, meat & poultry, dairy, marine products, grains and consumer foods. Snack is one of the major segments of the packaged food division, which comes under the broad category consumer foods. Though the snacks market in India is dominated by the unorganized sector, the organized sector has shown remarkable growth in terms of market share in the last few years. The report provides a snapshot of the Indian snack industry which has witnessed several changes since 1995. In the initial years, the market was dominated by two players – traditional snacks player Haldiram and ‘Uncle Chips’ manufacturer Amrit Agro. Later on, with the entry of global beverage and snacks player PepsiCo, the market dynamics changed completely. Now, the market is dominated by PepsiCo with its wide range of product portfolio. The other major players include Parle Agro, ITC, Parle Products, Balaji Wafers and Parle Wafers among others. A number of regional players have also entered the market in the last few years and are giving tough competition to the big players. In 2012 India’s soft drink market grew about 23% to 435.54 million rupees ($7.29 billion) from 353.77 million rupees, while the carbonated drinks business grew 13% to 179.51 million rupees from 158.71 million rupees in 2011, Euromonitor data showed. 1.1.A. Indian Soft Drinks Market – Detailed Report 1970’s and early 80’s—the entry and exit of Coke India has proved to be perhaps the toughest battle ground for the Cola giants. Coca-Cola was the 1st international soft drinks brand to enter India in early 1970’s. Indian market was dominated by domestic brands, with Limca being the largest selling brand. Cola was the largest selling flavor with market share of 40%, Lemon drinks 31% and orange drinks only 19%. Up till 1977, Coca-cola was the leading soft drink brand in India. But due to norms set by the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA), Coca-Cola left India and did not return till 1993 after a 16 year absence from the Indian beverage market. FERA needed Coca-Cola to reveal its secret concentrate formula as well as reduce its equity stake which was not acceptable. Pure drinks, Delhi launched Campa-Cola, to take advantage of Coke’s exit and by the end of 70’s, were the only Cola drink in the Indian market. In 1980, Parle, another major Indian player launched Thums Up, the drink which till date is most popular soft-drink in India. Pure Drinks strongly objected to Thums Up being called a â€Å"soft† drink as it felt its taste is too strong. For over a decade, Parle led the Indian soft-drinks market, with its market share reaching a peak of 70% in1990. Attempt 1: In May 1985, PepsiCo joined hands with the RPG group to form Agro Product Export Limited. It planned to import Cola concentrate and sell soft-drinks under the Pepsi label and in return offered to export Juice Concentrate from Punjab. The government rejected the proposal due to its using a foreign name and importing the concentrate. Attempt 2: Pepsi decided to play the Punjab Card by promising to invest $15 million in Punjab, establish an Agro Research centre (costing Rs 1.55 crores), a potato and grain based processing unit (costing Rs 8 crores) and a fruit and vegetable processing unit (costing Rs 5 crores). Benefits and proposal included better market for rice, wheat and fruits in Punjab, creation of 25000 jobs in Punjab and 25000 more in other areas. In 1988, government agreed. PepsiCo entered as Lehar Pepsi and by 1991, it was clear that most of its promises were just on paper. The company did improved the productivity in India, introduced farmers to new technology, established agriculture research centers in Jallowal and Channo (in Punjab) and Nelamangla in Karnataka and invested more capital than promised (by the year 2000, total investment was Rs 18 billion), but the picture on many other aspects was gloomy. The planned operations in Punjab were delayed and as a result, local farmers had to bear a combined loss of Rs. 2.5 Million. Pepsi paid only 0.75 Rs/Kg of Tomato compared to open market price of Rs 2/Kg. Employment was provided to only 783 people as compared to 50,000 promised (although company claimed it to be 26,000 due to direct and indirect operations). It began exporting tea, rice, shrimps,  glass bottles, leather products as against fruits and vegetable products. There was an even a show-cause notice to Pepsi by the ministry of commerce. Luckily for PepsiCo, in 1991, the government of India liberated the economy on grounds of severe foreign e xchange crisis and Pepsi was freed from all the commitments it had made during entry. Re-entry of Coca-Cola in 1993 On the 26th of October 1993, Coca-Cola re-entered the Indian market having acquired some of the leading Indian soft drink brands from Parle, namely Thums-Up, Maaza, Limca, Goldspot & Citra. These brands joined Coke’s portfolio of international brands i.e. Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Schweppes as Coca-Cola India took control of the top soft drink brands in India from the very beginning. From 1993 to 2003, company invested US $ 1 billion in India. The beginning of Cola War For the Cricket World Cup 1996, Pepsi was not the official sponsor of the tournament, Coke was. But Pepsi had a whole pool of best players roped in as brand ambassadors from the sub continent and abroad. The ad campaign of â€Å"Nothing Official About it† rocked the country and despite Coke being the official sponsor, it was Pepsi which hogged the publicity. In 1998, with the release of blockbuster movie â€Å"Kuch Kuch Hota Hai†, Pepsi took out another ace from its sleeve, featuring Shahrukh, Rani and Kajol in its ad. The punch line was â€Å"Yeh Dil Maange More† which was an iconic line and struck a chord amongst the people. Coca-Cola countered by spoofing the ad, using Sprite, to hilarious effect. Pepsi responded with a spoof of its own, starring Azhar and Jadeja hitting on the Coke line of â€Å"Eat Cricket, Sleep Cricket, Drink Only Coca Cola† with the punch line of â€Å"More More Cricket, More More Pepsi†. Coke again hit back, this time with Thumbs Up ad. They portrayed the cricketers as monkeys and ended the ad with â€Å"Don’t be a bunder (monkey) Taste the Thunder!† Situation  turned ugly with Pepsi going to court and finally ended with Coke withdrawing the ad. The Cola wars went on full-fledged till 2003, when a pesticide controversy forced Coke and Pepsi to fight on the same side in so called â€Å"India’s New Cola Wars†. The Controversies Presence of Pesticides: In 2003, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) findings stirred the beverage industry in India. CSE claimed to find dangerous levels of pesticides in all the 57 samples of 11 soft drinks brands collected by the organization from 25 different manufacturing units of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo spread over 12 states. The study found a cocktail of three-five different pesticides in all the samples – on an average 24 times higher than norms laid down by government-run Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS). Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Kerala banned the sale of Colas in schools, colleges and government departments, and other states also took adversarial measures. The day after the CSE’s announcement, Coke and Pepsi came together in a rare show of solidarity at a joint press conference. The companies attacked the credibility of the CSE and their lab results, citing regular testing at independent laboratories proving the safety of their products. They promised to provide this data to the public, threatened legal action against the CSE while seeking a gag order, and contacted the United States Embassy in India for assistance. They roped in major film stars to explain their purity to public. Despite all these measures, sales dipped by as much as 80% in some regions. The soft drinks industry took over a year to get back on the growth track. Ground Water Crisis: Coca-Cola was recently accused of ground water depletion in many areas of the country. Coca-Cola’s bottling operations – which extract hundreds of millions of liters of water from the groundwater resource – have significantly worsened the water crisis as groundwater  levels have dropped sharply since Coca-Cola started its operations. The company was also accused of indiscriminately dumping its toxic waste into the surrounding areas – polluting the water as well as the land. The Coke reiterated its commitment to trim down water usage and take steps towards environment sustainability and farmer’s welfare. However, activists retort that Coca Cola is in the business of water usage and wasting, creating a luxury product largely for the middle class. They are unlikely to put water concerns over profits, until they are forced to. The road ahead Amidst various allegations and controversies, the soft drinks industry in India, supported by its booming economy, strengthening middle class and low per capita consumption, is growing at a cruising pace. The focus has shifted from carbonated drinks to Fruit drinks, with both the companies launching Lemon drinks in 2009-10. In the next few years, the fruit juice category is likely to carry the growth flag forward as consumers become more health conscious. The companies are likely to take more steps to deal with environment sustainability. But the Cola wars are here to stay. We as customers can be assured of superior products and hilarious ads in the process. And are we complaining? 1.2 About PepsiCo Inc. PepsiCo is a global food and beverage leader with net revenues of more than $65 billion and a product portfolio that includes 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in annual retail sales. Their main businesses – Quaker, Tropicana, Gatorade, Frito-Lay and Pepsi-Cola – making hundreds of enjoyable foods and beverages that are loved throughout the world. PepsiCo’s people are united by their unique commitment to sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for people and our planet, which they believe also, means a more successful future for PepsiCo. They call this commitment Performance with Purpose: PepsiCo’s promise to provide a wide range of foods and beverages from treats to healthy eats; to find innovative ways to minimize our impact on the environment by conserving energy and water and reducing packaging volume; to provide a great workplace for our  associates; and to respect, support and invest in the local communities where we o perate. Headquarters: Purchase, New York U.S. Area Served: Worldwide Key People: Indira Nooyi (Chairman & CEO) Core net revenue: $65.492 billion (Source: Balance sheet of PepsiCo Inc 2012) PepsiCo India PepsiCo entered India in 1989 and in a short period, has grown into one of the largest and fastest growing food and beverage businesses in the country. PepsiCo India’s growth has been guided by PepsiCo’s global vision of â€Å"Performance with Purpose†. This means that while businesses maximize shareholder value, they have a responsibility to all the stakeholders, including the communities in which they operate, the consumers they serve and the environment whose resources they use. They are one of the largest food and beverage businesses in India. PepsiCo India’s diverse portfolio includes iconic brands like Pepsi, Lay’s, Kurkure, Tropicana 100%, Gatorade and Quaker. PepsiCo India has not only grown to become one of the country’s largest food and beverage businesses but has also become a powerful and consistent driver of PepsiCo’s global growth. Within 2 decades, the company has been able to organically grow eight INR 1000 crore plus brands in India, which are household names trusted across the country. A growing portfolio of enjoyable and wholesome snacks and beverages PepsiCo’s portfolio reflects its commitment to nourish consumers with a diverse range of fun and healthier products. The portfolio includes several healthier treats like Quaker Oats, Tropicana juices, multigrain Aliva range which is baked, rehydrator Gatorade, Tata Water plus, Lay’s baked range and Lehar Iron Chusti fortified extruded snack with superior quality iron & B-vitamins. Model partnership with over 24,000 farmers: PepsiCo has pioneered and established a model of partnership with farmers and now works with over 24,000 happy farmers across nine states. More than 45 percent of these are  small and marginal farmers with a land holding of one acre or less. PepsiCo provides 360-degree support to the farmer through assured buy back of their produce at pre-agreed prices, quality seeds, extension services, disease control packages, bank loans, weather insurance, and the latest technological practices. Global leader in water conservation: In 2009, PepsiCo India achieved a significant milestone, by becoming the first business to achieve ‘Positive Water Balance’ in the beverage world, a fact verified by Deloitte Touchà © Tohmatsu India Pvt. Ltd and has been Water Positive since then. The company made this possible through innovative irrigation practices like direct seeding, water recharging, and by reducing the consumption of water in its manufacturing facilities. PepsiCo is lauded for its efforts for water conservation. Care for the environment: PepsiCo is focused on reducing its carbon footprint. Nearly 30 percent of its energy is today generated from renewable sources such as rice husk boilers and wind turbines. Initiatives such as reduction of use of chemicals, eco-friendly packaging initiatives and efficient waste management help reduce load on the environment. PepsiCo India’s award-winning Waste to Wealth recycling program reaches 465,000 families. Exemplary employment practices: PepsiCo India presently employs 6,400 people and provides indirect employment to almost 2,00,000 people. The company believes in providing employment and growth opportunities to local talent. Its ‘College of Leadership’, ensures early identification of talent, and employees’ focused development through critical experiences. The company emphasizes â€Å"Winning with Diversity and Inclusion† and has a significant number of women in the leadership team in India. PepsiCo India has won the prestigious Hellen Keller Award from the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP). Brands of PepsiCo in India PepsiCo India has various brands under its umbrella the food and beverage industry in India. It enjoys second position in terms of market share, at 34.1% in an aerated drinks industry which is valued at Rs. 14k Cr. Foods PepsiCo’s foods division Frito-Lay is the leader in the branded salty snack market. All its products are free of trans-fat and MSG. It manufactures Lay’s potato chips, Cheetos extruded snacks, Uncle Chipps and traditional snacks under the Kurkure and Lehar brands. The company’s high-fibre breakfast cereal, Quaker Oats and low-fat and roasted snack options like Aliva increase the number of healthy choices available to consumers. Aliva Cheetos Kurkure Lay’s Lehar Namkeen Quaker Oats Uncle Chipps Beverages PepsiCo India’s expansive portfolio includes iconic refreshment beverages Pepsi, 7UP, Nimbooz, Mirinda, Slice and Mountain Dew, in addition to low calorie options such as Diet Pepsi, hydrating and nutritional beverages such as Aquafina drinking water, isotonic sports drink Gatorade and fruit juices such as Tropicana and Tropicana 100%. 7UP Aquafina Duke’s Gatorade Mirinda Mountain Dew Nimbooz Pepsi Slice Tropicana PEPSI Brand History Pepsi is a hundred-year-old brand loved by over 200 million people worldwide. The largest single selling soft drink brand in India, Pepsi is ubiquitous on just about every social occasion. Youngistaan loves it. 200 million people worldwide love it. But what has made Pepsi the single largest selling soft drink brand in India is actually a formula concocted a century ago in a faraway continent. 1886, the US. Caleb Bradman, a man with a plan formulated a blockbuster of a digestive drink and decided to call it Brad’s drink. The potion was to become Pepsi Cola in 1898, and eventually, Pepsi in 1903. Since its inception, Pepsi has always been at the forefront of the beverage industry and has come up with revolutionary concepts such as Diet Pepsi, 2l bottles, recyclable plastic cola bottles and the enviable My Can. Brand Advantage Pepsi has become a friend to youth and youth culture. Over generations, youngsters have grown up with Pepsi and have shared an emotional connect with it unlike with any other cola brand. Be it parties, hangouts with friends, or just another day at home, a day is never complete without the fizz of Pepsi! Pepsi has always fuelled youth passions like cricket, Bollywood, music and now football. Youth icons like MS Dhoni, Ranbir Kapoor, Didier Drogba, Virendar Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone have endorsed Pepsi since its launch in India. Pepsi Changed the Game during the 2011 cricket world cup by challenging convention, celebrating the unorthodox and by becoming the official sponsor of everything that was unofficial about the sport! Change the Game even as a thought has gained enormous popularity and generated tremendous buzz. Taking the same theme forward in 2012, Pepsi changed the game yet again by  taking the lead in celebrating the exciting new platform of football. Having brought the biggest international football stars and pitching them against the mighty Indian cricketers in a classic faceoff for Pepsi – is something which only a brand like Pepsi can deliver. Quick Brand Facts Flagship brand of PepsiCo. 100 year old brand loved by over 200 million people worldwide. An iconic youth brand in India. The single largest selling soft drink brand in India. 1.3 Pepsi Atom – Josh cola from Pepsi Created for the Indian market, in collaboration with Pepsi-Co’s global innovation team, it is a result of extensive flavour development and consumer testing in the country. The cola, the latest addition to the fast growing branded beverage market in India, is available across the country. It comes in a bold black and blue packaging including a 250 ml My Can at an introductory price of Rs 15 and a 500 ml PET bottle at Rs 25. 200 ml returnable glass bottles (RGB) are also available in select markets at Rs. 10. Introductory prices, however, may vary slightly in different markets. Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput is its brand ambassador. See beyond senseless stunts and exaggerated action. Get ready to get real with the Pepsi Atom, the Josh cola from Pepsi. Piyo Josh Mein. Jiyo Hosh Mein PepsiCo India vice-president (beverage marketing) Deepika Warrier said Pepsi Atom addresses the consumer need for a stronger, fizzier cola with a sharp taste hit. â€Å"From robust distribution to large-scale sampling; high-visibility launch at Pepsi IPL to an insightful and relatable campaign, we have aggressive plans,† she added PepsiCo spoofs Thums Up with its Atom campaign The Atom commercial reminds us of the old Thums Up ad. The launch campaign of Pepsi Atom brought spoof advertising back to the cola war turf after years. For at least 10 years, Thums Up has been showing extreme daredevilry in its advertising, through actors such as Akshay Kumar and now Salman Khan. The Atom ad shows a macho man getting slapped by a woman after he mistook her husband for a thief and then the smart guy comes and offers him Atom. Pepsi’s new ATOM to fizz over TOOFAN With an estimated market share of 15%, Thums Up aka TOOFAN is the undefeated champion in the Rs. 14000 cr. Indian soft drinks market. The local brand from the house of Parle Agro was sold to Coca-Cola and then started a journey the buyers never dreamt of. Coca Cola apparently tried to kill the brand once they got hold of it. But, they misread the market and had to channelize the brand in a whole new avatar. The Indian Youth of 80’s and early 90’s were more flaunting in nature and Thumps Up added the zing to this macho era. But with the launch of Spicy Pepsi, there can be a tough completion. PepsiCo the title sponsors of IPL who have bagged the pouring rights for the event, spent approximately Rs. 160 cr. over a span of 50days. ATOM is launched into the markets as internal completion to Thums Up. High Carbonation is the only difference that makes Thums Up a leader in it segment. With the huge failure of Pepsi Blue, this new variant looked a lot promising. Some questions that will be answered towards the end of the report: 1. IPL has started to lose out in terms of viewership, is it safe to put money in this platform? 2. Yougistan was much appreciated, but are they on the right move with their ‘OH YES ABHI’ act? 3. Spicy gives it a Desi Kala Khatta effect, so is it positioned right? 4. It’s hard to play with Consumer Taste Preferences, is the right move taking the approaching summers into consideration? 2. Research Methodology What is Research? Research is a logical and systematic search for new and useful information on a particular topic. It is an investigation of ï ¬ nding solutions to scientiï ¬ c and social problems through objective and systematic analysis. It is a search for knowledge, that is, a discovery of hidden truths. Here knowledge means information about matters. The information might be collected from diï ¬â‚¬erent sources like experience, human beings, books, journals, nature, etc. A research can lead to new contributions to the existing knowledge. Only through research is it possible to make progress in a ï ¬ eld. Research is done with the help of study, experiment, observation, analysis, comparison and reasoning. Research can be conducted by a proper and systematic method. Research methods are the various procedures, schemes, algorithms, etc. used in research. All the methods used by a researcher during a research study are termed as research methods. They are essentially planned, scientiï ¬ c and value-neutral. They include theoretical procedures, experimental studies, numerical schemes, statistical approaches, etc. Research methods help us collect samples, data and ï ¬ nd a solution to a problem. Particularly, scientiï ¬ c research methods call for explanations based on collected facts, measurements and observations and not on reasoning alone. They accept only those explanations which can be veriï ¬ ed by experiments. For any research to be accurate and upto the mark, one needs to collect data and information and conduct analysis accordingly. Thus data collection has to be done. Data can be collected in mainly two ways: Primary data collection Secondary data collection 1. Primary Data: The primary data is that data which is collected fresh or first hand and for first time which is original in nature. Primary data can be collected through personal interview, questionnaire, experiments, survey etc to support the secondary data. Primary data can also be collected by observation. Primary data collection gives a personal touch to the data. It also requires field visits. Primary data is not easily available as one has to go for field visits. 2. Secondary Data: The secondary data are those which are already collected and stored. Secondary data can be easily obtained from records, journals, annual reports, web-blogs, periodicals, magazines. Easily available after the invent of electronic media. For this project primary data has been collected by questionnaire filling method. Secondary data is also used from company websites, other research websites, books and reference material. Recommendations are given on the basis of personal observations and responses received by asking verbal questions to respondents. Data collected by questionnaire is based on sample method. Sampling Sample is a subset of elements from population. It can be better explained as a process of selecting members or elements of a sample from a given population. A bunch of people have been considered, and considered as a universe and sampling is conducted on them. Probability Sampling Methods – A mathematical chance of selecting respondents. There are number of probability sampling strategies that can be used that vary in their complexity. They are: Simple Systematic Stratified Proportionate Cluster Multistage Simple Random Samples: Under this method of sampling the potential people you want to interview are listed e.g. a group of 100 are listed and a group of 20 may be selected from this list at random. The selection may be done by computer. Simple random sampling is the most straightforward of the random sampling strategies. We use this strategy when we believe that the population is relatively homogenous for the characteristics of interest. For example, let’s say you were surveying first-time parents about their attitude towards mandatory seat belt laws. You might expect that their status as new parents might lead to similar concerns about safety measures. On campus those who share major might also have similar interests and values; we might expect psychology majors to share concerns about accesses to mental health services on campus. 2.1.A Research Design Primary data was collected for understanding consumer preferences Secondary data was used for the competitive analysis. Data available on the internet was used in the research. 2.1.B Tools for Data Collection: Primary Data Collection was done through responses collected from questionnaire. The competitive analysis had to be done on the television commercials of the competitors. Secondary data was also collected through various websites. Data Interpretation and Analysis Inference: It can be seen that out of the sample size of 100, 86 people consume aerated drinks. This shows that the market for soft and aerated drinks is huge. The soft drink market today is estimated to be at 14000K Cr. (July’13 A.C.Neilson report). Inference: The awareness about various brands is very well known in the market. All brands are equally known by the consumers. Even the newly launched drink Rio- by Silver Ice Beverages is well known to the masses. Inference: The above chart shows that the major reason behind people not consuming soft drinks is that they find it unhealthy. The unhealthy factor could be due to excess sugar, or the way it affects the tooth. Also a major chunk does not like its gaseous effect. Inference: PepsiCo did a high visibility launch of the product in IPL. PepsiCo roped in Kai Po Che star Sushant Singh Rajput as their brand ambassador. Pepsi Atom has a huge brand recall. Inference: Pepsi Atom’s first commercial was released on 1st May’13. The commercial was shown during all the breaks during the IPL matches, the frequency was huge. Thus the highest level of awareness about the product was created by TV commercial. Apart from this, their facebook page also gave them a good engagement ratio. Inference: Out of the entire sample 86% people said they consume soft drinks. Out of this only 47% people have tried Pepsi Atom. These are mostly the first time buyers. After the huge media spends and the kind of buzz created this ratio could have been better. Inference: Pepsi Co. launched Pepsi Atom as a strong drink to compete with Coca-cola’s Thumps Up which has a standalone market share of 15% in the Rs.14000 cr.  soft drink market. The commercial was an direct attack to Thums Up ads which shows macho men doing high end stunts. But the following research shows that this was not very much appreciated by the masses. The ad couldn’t even create an interest for consumers to try Pepsi Atom. Inference: The following data analysis clearly shows that people were dissatisfied with the taste of Atom. Almost 50% found its taste to be bad. Pepsi Atom was an innovation by PepsiCo which was targeted at the Northern region, which demands a stronger fizz. But Pepsi Atom couldn’t satisfy the taste buds of Indian consumers. Inference: The fizz content of Pepsi Atom was more than satisfactory, which is a added advantage for the product. Even then huge chunks of approximately 33% were not satisfied with the level of fizz. Inference: The colour of the product is like any other black colour drink; hence not much could be said about this parameter. Inference: The packaging of the bottle is very stylish, agreed almost 50% of the respondents. Interference: The product is priced according to industry levels. The product is available in tetra packs as well as returnable glass bottles and is priced same as PepsiCo’s other beverages or Coca-Cola’s other products. Inference: PepsiCo had invested huge amount in the distribution channel of Pepsi Atom. Also spent a lot of amount in its marketing, thus it can be seen that the availability was very good. Inference: The SKU of Pepsi Atom was on par with other industry players. This can be seen in the above bar diagram. Q.9 How different is Pepsi Atom’s taste from other products? This question was answered by individuals by mentioning how they actually found the taste. A snap shot of the same is given below: Inference: 72% repondents denied making a repurchase of Pepsi Atom. If there are no repurchaes it will certainly affect the brand Pepsi as an entity. Inference: PepsiCo conducted a sampling and engagement exercise for Pepsi Atom with over one million consumers across key centres. It said the new brand was in line with its commitment to the Indian consumer. In spite of this 50% of the respondents found the taste to be inappropriate. The market research could be faulty in this case. Findings: Taste: The taste of Pepsi Atom did not touch the tongues of people. Pepsi Atom tastes like cinnamon cola; people preferably do not like taste of cinnamon into cola. It actually feels like one is having some spicy cola. I had also come across a random opinion which mentioned Pepsi Atom tastes like liquefied chawanprash. This chawanprash type taste can certainly lack acceptability to people who like to consume Pepsi along with their meals. Branding v/s Reality: The branding of Pepsi Atom did very powerfully keeping in mind all the factors: Brand Ambassador like Shushant Singh Rajput, a powerful event campaigning and above all positioning it as ‘Josh Cola From Pepsi’. Since it was supposed to be positioned against ‘Thumbs-up’, it campaigned it as Josh Cola. Positioning a spicy cola as Josh cola is merely nothing but an exaggeration. Josh cola builds a perception that it’s an energy drink which is not the reality. Product Innovation: Its time when people are getting health conscious. Since cola drink are not considered healthy to consume, Pepsico could have thought of drink with combination of Cola and some energy ingredients making it a real energy drink for Machos (Young Adults). It would have been best way to shoot thumbs-up. Recommendation: The product should be discontinued immediately and sent back to R&D department. If not this than at lest the advertising spends on this product should be stopped with immediate effect. Pepsi Atom’s packaging was very much appreciated by the masses; PepsiCo can use this packaging on other product or on some new product which it may launch in future. Coca-cola has reduced the prices of their product which has helped in increasing the sales. PepsiCo can also adopt this strategy. Coca-cola reduced their advertising spends and all that cash was used here. PepsiCo has received a huge brand re-call during this IPL span; hence advertising now is not very much needed. PepsiCo India President Manu Anand Quits Manu Anand, region president for India and South Asia at beverage and snacks company PepsiCo, quit the company on Wednesday, 20th June’13. PepsiCo India’s overall share in April was lower than last year, with Coca-Cola managing to increase market share in the same period. PepsiCo’s market share in April this year fell to 29.7% from 32.1% over the same month last year, Coca-Cola increased its market share to 48.3% from 45.8%. PepsiCo had been banking heavily on the IPL T20 and spent a record Rs 160 crore on the tournament, but Coca-Cola grew faster in the period was the final trigger for Anand’s exit. PepsiCo had paid the cricket board Rs 396 crore to buy title sponsorship rights for five years of the IPL starting this year — double of what previous title sponsor, real estate firm DLF, had paid. The spend, media buyers, believe, over-estimates the potential of the controversy-ridden IPL. What Coca-Cola did? To match PepsiCo’s heavy ad spends in the summer season, Coca-Cola has dropped prices of 200-ml glass bottles to Rs 8 in most markets. Coca-Cola has also been discounting heavily in sales to trade and pushing multi-serve packs such as 400 ml, 300 ml glass bottles and 500 ml PET bottles. Annexures Questionnaire Name: _____________________________________________________ Contact no.: _________________Email id: ______________________ Age group 12 yrs – 18 yrs 19 yrs – 30 yrs 31 yrs – 45 yrs 46 and above Gender: Male Female Occupation: Employed Business Self-employed Student House-maker Retired Others ________________ 1. Do you consume soft drinks? a) Yes b) No (If yes please skip question no. 3) 2. From the following soft drinks which ones are you aware off? a) Pepsi b) Coca-cola c) Fanta d) sprite e) Limca f) Thums-up g) Mountain Dew h) Rio i) Appy Fizz j) Miranda k) 7 Up l) Any Other __________________ 3. Please share with us the reason for not consuming soft drinks? a) Its unhealthy b) Allergic to such drinks c) Do not like the gaseous effect d) Do not like the overall taste e) Do not like the sweet taste f) Others: _______ 4. Are you aware of Pepsi Atom? a) Yes b) No (If yes go to next question, if no please exit the survey) 5. Please share with us the mediums through which you became aware about Pepsi Atom? a) TV b) Radio c) Print d) Outdoor e) Internet f) Friends and relatives g) Others (Please specify) _____________ 6. Have you ever consumed Pepsi Atom? a) Yes b) No (If yes skip the next question and go to questions no 8, if no answer next question) 7. Please share with us the reasons why you never consumed Pepsi Atom. a) It was not available b) The advertisement couldn’t create interest for me to try Pepsi Atom c) Doesn’t find it to be worth the price d) Loyal consumer of other brand; Please mention the name of the other product ______________ e) Others : ______________ 8. Kindly rate Pepsi Atom on the basis of the following parameters, 1 being lowest and 5 being highest a) Taste b) Fizz c) Colour d) Packaging e) Price f) Availability g) Volumes/Sizes 9. Does it have a similar taste to any other product? If yes, please mention the name of the similar product : ________________ 10. Will you purchase Pepsi Atom again? a) Yes b) No (If yes exit the survey; thank you for participating. If no then proceed to next question) 11. What is that you did not like about Pepsi Atom a) The taste was not appropriate b) Highly carbonated c) Gives a burning sensation d) Not worth the price e) Others ______________ Bibliography Source The article is published in the 2010 edition of theAnnual Marketing Magazine titled â€Å"MADazine† of VGSOM, IIT Kharagpur. https://www.facebook.com/pepsiatompepsi http://www.campaignindia.in/Tag/pepsi_atom.aspx http://pepsicoindia.co.in http://www.pepsico.com/

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Contrast in Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”

Conrad uses contrast in his novel â€Å"Heart of Darkness†. Conrad would use contrast to convey meaning in his writing. Not only did contrast help convey meaning, but he also used it to show feelings. Of the many contrast in â€Å"Heart of Darkness† the difference of light and dark and the difference between the Thames River and the Congo River are the most obvious. The biggest contrast in â€Å"Heart of Darkness† is the difference between light and dark. London represents the light. London is in civilization, and if London represents the light, then civilization also has a big thing to do with light.The light represents everything that everyone has learned in their life, whether it was through experiences or through other peoples mistakes. On the other side there is the darkness. Africa is the main representation of darkness. Africa was uncivilized territory that everyone wanted to explore, but the darkness frightened people. Everything that happened in the dark ness, â€Å"cannibals† and â€Å"savages† prowled the darkness, awaiting travelers. Africa is the â€Å"heart of darkness†. The contrast of the Thames River and the Congo River is also big in the story.The Thames is characterized as calm. Like the light the Thames represents good. The light from London makes sure the river is seen and nothing is cryptic about the river. On the other hand, the Congo is a dark, cryptic river. It is a place of evil. The contrast of these two rivers is the difference between the good and the evil, and light and dark. The Thames is peaceful and tranquil; it symbolizes light and civilization. The Congo is wild and barbaric; it symbolizes the dark and everything uncivilized and frightening.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Free Essays on Lady Macbeth

Deceitful, Manipulative, Sinful: Lady Macbeth The book Macbeth by William Shakespeare is about a general in King Duncan’s army, Macbeth. He meets three witches, who foretell that he will be made Thane of Cawdor and eventually King of Scotland. He finds that the first prophecy comes true and becomes excited about the second one coming true. He waits but becomes impatient and with the push of his wife, he murders the king to come into power. In this play Shakespeare uses Lady Macbeth to show that ambitious, lying, manipulative people don’t finish first, to say the least. Lady Macbeth was a severely manipulative and deceitful character. It is shown throughout the play that, to further her own powers and position, she will deceive and change people. At the party of the new kings crowning, her husband, she lied about her husband’s infirmity so that he would not be considered to be ill suited to stay king. Her deceit might have even assisted MacDuff to cause her husbands murder. It is said in proverbs 6 that â€Å"A scoundrel and villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth, who winks with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers, who plots evil with deceit in his heart he always stirs up dissension.† This explains that deceitful people stir up trouble. Lady Macbeth’s deceit extends even to the murder of the king. Her ambition clouded the soon to be Kings mind, because of her ambition, into thinking that the only way that he would become king to slay the king himself. It is clear said in the bible in Galatians 5 t hat â€Å"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality...selfish ambition†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Because of her selfish ambition due to sin she killed three people. Lady Macbeth with her deceitful, manipulative, sinful nature, because of selfish ambitions, caused the murder of three people. She manipulated and lied to her husband and caused his death and him to murder. Also, in the end, in my opinio... Free Essays on Lady Macbeth Free Essays on Lady Macbeth Deceitful, Manipulative, Sinful: Lady Macbeth The book Macbeth by William Shakespeare is about a general in King Duncan’s army, Macbeth. He meets three witches, who foretell that he will be made Thane of Cawdor and eventually King of Scotland. He finds that the first prophecy comes true and becomes excited about the second one coming true. He waits but becomes impatient and with the push of his wife, he murders the king to come into power. In this play Shakespeare uses Lady Macbeth to show that ambitious, lying, manipulative people don’t finish first, to say the least. Lady Macbeth was a severely manipulative and deceitful character. It is shown throughout the play that, to further her own powers and position, she will deceive and change people. At the party of the new kings crowning, her husband, she lied about her husband’s infirmity so that he would not be considered to be ill suited to stay king. Her deceit might have even assisted MacDuff to cause her husbands murder. It is said in proverbs 6 that â€Å"A scoundrel and villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth, who winks with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers, who plots evil with deceit in his heart he always stirs up dissension.† This explains that deceitful people stir up trouble. Lady Macbeth’s deceit extends even to the murder of the king. Her ambition clouded the soon to be Kings mind, because of her ambition, into thinking that the only way that he would become king to slay the king himself. It is clear said in the bible in Galatians 5 t hat â€Å"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality...selfish ambition†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Because of her selfish ambition due to sin she killed three people. Lady Macbeth with her deceitful, manipulative, sinful nature, because of selfish ambitions, caused the murder of three people. She manipulated and lied to her husband and caused his death and him to murder. Also, in the end, in my opinio... Free Essays on Lady MacBeth Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth is quite possibly one of the most intriguing characters in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. The wife of the protagonist, Lady Macbeth is a complex character who undergoes a major transition throughout the course of the play. Readers and audiences alike can clearly see her go from one end of the spectrum to the other; she begins as a take-control, no-regrets-type woman, but slowly changes into a mass of guilt and confusion by the end of the play. When Lady Macbeth first hears of the Witches’ prophecy for her husband, she states that he is too cowardly to do what needs to be done, so she plans the first murder herself. After reading his letter, she begins by telling herself that he lacks the innate qualities to carry out such deeds in the following passage: Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be What though art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great, Art not without ambition, but without The illness should attend it. (1. 5. 15) Soon after she is heard asking the spirits, â€Å"Unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty (1. 5. 48).† In this line we understand that Lady Macbeth is asking for the traditionally male qualities of ruthlessness, lack of fear, and the means by which hideous crimes may be committed. These passages clearly convey a sense of determination, in which Lady Macbeth shows her strength and views regarding the situation at hand. When Macbeth expresses concern and doubt about killing Duncan, Lady Macbeth tears into his words as if his opinion were worthless. Macbeth acknowledges that Duncan is a good man, and had helped him many times, so it would be terribly wrong to kill such a man. Lady Macbeth both denounces his manhood and uses disturbing imagery to convey her thoughts. I have given suck, and I know How tender ‘tis to l... Free Essays on Lady Macbeth â€Å"Lady Macbeth is a powerful and dramatic character, but her death at the end of the play is no surprise to the audience.† Discuss this statement with close reference to the text. â€Å"Macbeth† is one of the most famous tragedies written in the Elizabethan times by William Shakespeare for King James 1. Set in Scotland, it details the story of man, so desperate for the status of king, that he will do anything to achieve it. As an established ‘good and hardy soldier’, and quite content within that role, Macbeth is surprised to find some witches who predict his reign as king. ‘All hail Macbeth! who shalt be king hereafter.’ (Act 1 scene 3) On informing his wife, Lady Macbeth, he soon embarks on a killing spree that doesn’t end until both partners’ demise. However, Macbeth could not have committed the first few crimes without the help and insistence of his wife. She acts as the fate the witches spoke of to make him king and yet i ronically is mainly responsible for aggravating Macbeth’s struggle between morality and ambition. She has a hugely diverse character, and this helps plant the seed of Macbeth’s, and her own, eventual downfall. Lady Macbeth receives a letter from Macbeth at the beginning of the play, telling her of his experiences with the ‘weird sisters’. ‘They met me in the day of success: and I have learned by the perfect’st report, they have more in them than mortal knowledge.’ (Act1 scene 5) After she has read the letter, she is determined to make the witches’ prophesy come true. She imagines that she has the capability to be a remorseless and determined villain. However in reality this is just an act, and in fact her true self possesses no such traits. This is obvious when she makes a huge effort to get herself into a murderous state of mind, crying out, ‘Come you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from th e crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty!’ Lady Macbet...

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Spend Time, Not Money Cheap Hobbies for Students

Spend Time, Not Money Cheap Hobbies for Students You’ve got one life to live so we want you to have plenty of inexpensive options. Not everything has to drain your bank account, there are endless legions of things you could do with your time that will enrich you and this world and won’t cost much if anything. For example†¦ 1 Body Sculpting If you’re a college student, a part of your tuition pays for a nice well-equipped (hopefully) gym somewhere, usually near the stadiums and locker rooms. Now, once you’ve found it you should know that Body Sculpting isn’t just â€Å"working out† like everybody thinks. It takes time, effort, discipline and hard work to REALLY sculpt your body into something brag-worthy. But what a way to spend time! And hey, even if you aren’t into the gym scene, you can sculpt through pure body weight training and nutrition. However, it should be noted that if you opt to put on tons of extra muscle (vs. just sculpting what you were born with) this is going to cost a fair amount of money! 2 Outdoor Fitness Sure, there’s probably hiking and jogging and walking and so forth but what if you got into something a bit cooler? Like, there’s suspension rope training where you walk tight ropes low to the ground, say, between two trees. Or, how about outdoor obstacle courses or serious mountain biking (the kind that involves scary trails and requires you to wear protective gear)? There’s no end to the things you can do for free outside your dorm room. Tons of people like you have already created fun little outdoorsy groups and they’re yearning for more members! 3 Podcasting Why not create a Podcast? You can do that for free. All you gotta do is talk and minimize the amount of â€Å"dead air† on the channel and you’ve got the basic down. Who cares if anyone’s listening, because if you podcast regularly and consistently you WILL build some kind of audience (which you can then monetize for free as well) over time. If you want to be super-cool, have the topic revolve around your major, or your career goals. For example, focus on the industry you’re aiming at. But technically, you can podcast about ANYTHING. 4 Twitch If you’re going to game, why not set up a stream and do it with people around the world? You can set up your own stream channel, start broadcasting your gaming and even interact with viewers. Did you know that tons of gamers now make their living through streaming on Twitch? Not a bad way to make your gaming hobby a bit more productive. Like podcasting, just remember it will take time to build a viewing audience. 5 Volunteer! If you already volunteer, thank you! If not, and it’s something you avoid because of whatever preconceived notions you harbor, try it out! What you’ll find is that volunteering is a proverbial good-karma-factory. And, it typically leads to new exciting opportunities as well, especially once you put your heart into it. It’s not always the â€Å"bleeding heart† stuff either. You could mentor someone, or teach people a skill you possess. You could even create your own way to give back to the community and make your environment a better place without spending a dime. 7 Politics Here’s a thought†¦get involved in local and state politics! And this goes for all college kids across the world: you’re sorely needed! The world needs more people to care about what politicians are doing and where the money and resources are going. Join a current events or politics-based discussion group and start from there. Plus, this type of stuff always looks good on a resume. 8 Certifications Hop online and take a gander at all the little certifications you can get for free. Some are funny, but some are actually quite interesting and handy. Just don’t go â€Å"cert-crazy† and start collecting certifications like stamps†¦it starts to look weird after about four or five. Then of course there’s all the ultra-cheap certifications that you can get for probably around $20-$40 and the same thing goes – don’t jump completely overboard. Stick with certifications that you can see yourself actually putting to good use. 9 OpenSource Ed If certifications aren’t up your alley and you would like something a bit more challenging, then head into the online OpenSource Education revolution and pick something spectacular! Think of it†¦imagine any subject, discipline or methodology†¦and you’re likely to find an OpenSource class, course, ebook, training manual, or something on it. Welcome to the 21st century! So, now you know about some pretty cool options to put your time to use and keep yourself productive rather than lounging around wasting it. If all the listed hobbies are too boring for you, consider these weird hobbies. Perhaps youll find them more suitable for you!

Sunday, November 3, 2019

SHOULD ETHANOL BE REQUIRED IN GASOLINE Research Paper - 2

SHOULD ETHANOL BE REQUIRED IN GASOLINE - Research Paper Example However, many others argue that ethanol is neither economical nor environmental friendly and it cannot cater the energy needs of America even if the whole lands in America are cultivated with ethanol producing plants. This paper tries to find answers to the question; SHOULD ETHANOL BE REQUIRED IN GASOLINE? Korzeniewski, (2009) argued that ethanol is cheap compared to gasoline and it helps mixers generate higher octane ratings (Korzeniewski, 2009). Oil prices are growing day by day and more over, the oil sources are exhausting every day. Some experts pointed out that the available oil sources may last for only 30-40 years more if the consumptions continue at the present rate. Under such circumstances, it is necessary for us to find an alternate energy source and many people believe that biofuel may replace oil fuels in future. However, Taylor and Van Doren, (2007) have questioned above argument. In their opinion, the perception about ethanol as an economical fuel is only a myth. They have quoted a 2005 report issued by the Agriculture Department, and argued that corn ethanol costs an average of $2.53 to produce, or several times what it costs to produce a gallon of gasoline (Taylor and Van Doren, 2007). In other words, ethanol use cannot be encouraged in America without giving subsidie s. It is difficult for the government to spend huge amounts as subsidies for encouraging ethanol use, especially in the present economic crisis situations. Another major question raised by the critics of ethanol is the feasibility of ethanol fuel in old cars. These people argued that ethanol may create major problems in old car engines and the engine could be damaged if ethanol fuels used for a prolonged period. In their opinion, new engines and new cars compatible with ethanol is required to encourage the ethanol use in America. Korzeniewski, (2009) has pointed out that â€Å"todays cars and trucks are all fully