Starting a high-end female sports underwear brand in the uk market Essay

Starting a high-end female sports underwear brand in the uk market - Essay Example Competitive analysis reveals that the underwear market in the UK is highly competitive and overcrowded. It has an enormous extent, making it difficult to break it down to narrower segments. On this basis, the underwear market is regarded as too large for the high-end female sport underwear to handle. As such, the UK underwear market was eliminated from further exploration (Halasa 2008). The sportswear market is anticipated to grow in the coming years, reaching its peak in 2015 at 4.89 billion pounds (Morgan 2001). This growth has encouraged various non-sport retailers to widen their clothing lines, including clothing lines. The sportswear market is growing more quality conscious, and consumers have shown significant potential to pay for it. This has created an opportunity for the high-end female sports underwear in the region. Findings show that females aged between 21 and 24, both within active leisure and mainstream sport are the appropriate target group for the high-end female sports underwear in the UK. This group is an opportunity for the company, as it provides it with an opportunity to tailor its products, and offer wool underwear in line with sports underwear. Nike and Adidas are the major players in the market. As such, it is vital for the high-end female sports underwear start up to gain a strong position. By entering the market as an untraditional retailer, the company will build a strong brand and manage to enter the UK market successfully. An agent will be highly suitable, as this will offer the high-end female sport underwear company with sufficient information about the market. The company will specialize in the production and sale of high-end female sports underwear brands. With sufficient information regarding the market, strong brands for children, men and women, the company will contribute to growth as well as profitability for convenience goods. The high-end female sport underwear brand will serve as part of an

Mohammed Daoud Khan Essay Example for Free

Mohammed Daoud Khan Essay The chapter begins where the last left off, Amir was left speechless after Hassan’s criticism. Before Amir could respond to Hassans criticism of his story, gunfire erupted outside. The boys huddled together with Ali until Baba came home. For the first time, Amir saw fear on his fathers face. He was even glad for the violence for a moment, because Baba held him and Hassan close. The events of that night, July 17, 1973, were a precursor to the end of life as Afghanis knew it. What would follow was the Communist coup detat of 1978, followed by the Russian occupation beginning in December of 1979. On that July night, the kings brother, Daoud Khan, had seized Zahir Shahs kingdom while he was away. Afghanistan had gone overnight from a monarchy to a republic. Tired of listening to the radio news, Amir and Hassan went to climb their favourite tree. On the way, a young sociopath named Assef and his friends confronted them. He taunted Hassan for being a Hazara; Assef also had a habit of taunting Ali, whom he called Babalu. He praised Hitler and then said that he wanted to finish what Hitler started and rid Afghanistan of Hazaras. He called Amir and Baba a disgrace to Afghanistan for taking in Hazaras. Just as Assef threatened to punch Amir with his brass knuckles, Hassan pointed his slingshot at the bully and threatened to take out his eye. Assef and his friends retreated, but promised to come back for Amir and Hassan later. On Hassans birthday, Baba summoned him to the house as usual to collect his present. To Hassan, Amir, and Alis shock, Baba had hired a plastic surgeon to correct Hassans harelip. Amir was jealous that Baba was giving Hassan such special attention. The surgery went well and Hassan could finally smile an unbroken smile. Ironically, Amir explains, it was soon after that Hassan stopped smiling for good.

Principle Of Color In Multimedia Media Essay

Principle Of Color In Multimedia Media Essay Q1. Explain the principle of color in multimedia. How many dimensions are used in the color? Explain with suitable example. Color is a sensation produced by the human eye and nervous system. It is related to light, but an understanding of the properties of light is not sufficient to understand color, and is especially not sufficient to understand the art of color reproduction. Overwhelming experimental evidence tells us that the perception of a color is related to the strength of three signals which are transmitted along the optic nerve to the brain. Color is a phenomenon of light caused by how our eyes detect differing qualities of projected or reflected light. Because science and technology has allowed us to understand the physiology of the human eye, to measure wavelengths of light and chart energy patterns, we have come a long way in grasping the complexities of color. The importance of this is that: It is useful to represent a color by a set of exactly three numbers. In practice, the set of three numbers must be related to some actual color reproduction process. The numbers commonly specify portions of some set of primary colors such as: Color is the principal way the mind separates elements in space and chooses something to focus on. Thus you should use rich or bright colors like red and yellow sparingly, and generally only for items you really wish to emphasize. Use different colors rather than different shapes to distinguish features on a page. Beware of the negative effects of certain highly contrasting colors placed next to each other (such as green and red), as well as the off-putting optical illusions created, for instance, by a series of parallel lines. If navigational elements have color at all, make sure their hues dont distract viewers from focusing on the main content of the page. Web design publications often talk about using only web-safe or browser-safe colors, meaning a limited palette that will show up roughly the same in all browsers and operating systems. But, as the web designer Lynda Weinman has noted, very few computers still display only 256 colors, their capability when the web was young. Indeed, most people view the web in millions of colors now, and so historians just starting on the web may ignore the browser-safe palette and its often garish, overly bright colors chosen for their mathematical simplicity rather than aesthetic value. Those experienced with this palette can continue to use it with no harm, but others shouldnt bother. The possible exception to this rule is if many of your anticipated users will be using very old computers, in which case you should choose something from the web-safe palette for any major swath of color on your page, as well as any colored fonts. Dimensions of Color   Ã‚   There are three dimensions to color-hue, value and intensity. This makes color multidimensional-any color appearance can be described in terms of these three dimensions. 1. Hue:     Hue refers to the names of the colors. It is the contrast between redness, blueness and greenness. We most typically think of hues as coming from white light divided into the visible spectrum-red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet or as a circle of hues or color wheel. Of the three dimensions of color, hue is the simplest to identify. It is that element most often referred to as color. Looking at a rainbow, we can recognize the different dominant hues: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet. We also realize that any hue can appear in many variations other than their spectral form. Red, for example, exhibits a broad range of appearance, running from light to dark and weak to strong. Regardless of their appearance in terms of light or dark, weak or strong, they would all belong to the hue family: red. Hues are generally arranged in a circular fashion (hue circuit) or color wheel. Red is the name of a broad color family. The popular term, pink, is a variation of that hue, as is the familiar name, maroon. 2. Value: Value refers to the lightness or darkness of a color. It is often related to a gray scale where white is the lightest value followed by a series of grays to black, the darkest value. The hues are located somewhere in between the extremes of white and black in value. A color value scale is a hue mixed with white to form tints and with black to form shades of that hue. Red plus white makes pink. Pink is a tint or light value of the hue red. Red plus black makes brown. Brown is a shade or dark value of the hue red. As an example, fire-engine red would carry a notation of R 5/16 on this variation of a Munsell chart. When a hue is lighter or darker that its original spectral state, the amount of light it reflects has changed: value is the dimension which refers to the lightness or darkness of a hue. Adding white to red produces a tint; adding black produces a shade. Some examples of red shades: maroon, brown, cordovan, chocolate. A pink shade is an oxymoron. Values are usually displayed in a series of about ten steps, but actually are unlimited. Value steps are displayed vertically, darkest at the bottom. 3. Intensity Intensity refers to the purity or impurity of a hue. The more pure hue a given color contains, the more intense it is. Opposing terms used to describe this contrast are intense vs. gray, saturated vs. desaturated or bright vs. dull. When a color is too bright and its intensity needs to be reduced, we will often say,Gray that color. The most typical ways to gray a color are to add gray (black and white) or by adding some of the complementary color. The complement of a hue is the hue opposite it on the color circle. Red and green, orange and blue, and yellow and violet are examples of complementary colors. 4. Chroma Pure red, as well as light and dark variations all belong to one hue family. When we encounter a weak red, i .e., a red that is neither lighter or darker of a sample hue, we are not dealing with value (light reflectance) but with the dimension of chroma. Synonyms for chroma: strength, purity, saturation, intensity. It is the degree to which a hue departs from full intensity and moves towards a neutral gray. A red rose and a red brick may be of the same hue and value, but the rose exhibits greater purity of saturation. Chroma steps are arranged horizontally, left to right- weakest to strongest. Each complementary hue at the same value displaying various intensities (chroma) Q2. How an appearance of an image on a monitor is depend on monitor resolution and monitor size? Ans. Imagine lying down in the grass with your nose pressed deep into the thatch. Your field of vision would not be very large, and all you would see are a few big blades of grass, some grains of dirt, and maybe an ant or two. This is a 14-inch 640 x 480 monitor. Now, get up on your hands and knees, and your field of vision will improve considerably: youll see a lot more grass. This is a 15-inch 800 x 640 monitor. For a 1280 x 1024 perspective (on a 19-inch monitor), stand up and look at the ground. Some monitors can handle higher resolutions such as 1600 x 1200 or even 1920 x 1440-somewhat akin to a view from up in a tree. Monitors are measured in inches, diagonally from side to side (on the screen). However, there can be a big difference between that measurement and the actual viewable area. A 14-inch monitor only has a 13.2-inch viewable area, a 15-inch sees only 13.8 inches, and a 20-inch will give you 18.8 inches (viewing 85.7% more than a 15-inch screen). A computer monitor is made of pixels (short for picture element). Monitor resolution is measured in pixels, width by height. 640 x 480 resolution means that the screen is 640 pixels wide by 480 tall, an aspect ratio of 4:3. With the exception of one resolution combination (1280 x 1024 uses a ratio of 5:4), all aspect ratios are the same. Here are some recommended resolutions for the different screen sizes: 14 15 17 19 21 640480 BEST GOOD TOO BIG HUGE TERRIBLE 800600 GOOD BEST GOOD TOO BIG HUGE 1024768 TOO SMALL GOOD BEST GOOD STILL GOOD 12801024 TINY TOO SMALL GOOD BEST GOOD 16001200 TERRIBLE TINY TOO SMALL GOOD BEST SCREEN RESOLUTIONS, MONITOR SIZES AND VARIATIONS IN IMAGES SIZE The dimensions of image on screen will often be very different to the size of the original we are scanning in. The size of the image on screen depends on monitor resolution and monitor size. Video cards are able to display a particular set number of pixels horizontally and vertically on the screen. For example, the card may display (width and height ) 640 x 480 pixels or 800 x 600 pixels. Physical dimension of the monitor. A large monitor set to 640 x 480 pixels uses larger pixels than a small monitor with the same setting. 1. Two monitors with the same physical dimension, fixed-size image, but different screen resolutions. Suppose you have a monitor that displays 800 x 600 pixels and you want your image to take up 1/4 of that screen across and 1/3 down, then: 800/4 x 600/3 = 200 x 200 pixels (Figure 1). However, the same image (200 x 200 pixels) displayed on a monitor of the same size but with different resolution (e.g. 640 x 480), will look much larger as it will take up a larger proportion of the screen (Figure 2). Figure1: Screen Resolution 800x 600 Image Size 200 x 200 Figure 2: Screen Resolution 640 x 480 Image Size 200 x 200 2. Two monitors with the same screen resolution, fixed-size image, but different physical dimensions. Suppose your image size is 200 x 200 and the screen resolution of both monitors is the same (e.g. they both have a 640 x 480 screen resolution). The monitors are of different physical proportion, (e.g. one is a 21 inch monitor, the other a 15 inch monitor). In this case the image will take up the same proportion of space in both monitors, although the absolute size of the image is different (larger in the larger monitor). Figure 3: Monitor Size 21 inch Screen Resolution 640 x 480 Image size 200 x 200 Figure 4: Monitor Size 15 inch Screen Resolution 640 x 480 Image Size 200 x 200 Q3. Discuss the physical and psychological principles as to why animation works, as well as how it is usually presented? Ans. The 12 basic principles of animation is a set of principles of animation introduced by the Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas in their 1981 book The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation. Johnston and Thomas in turn based their book on the work of the leading Disney animators from the 1930s onwards, and their effort to produce more realistic animations. The main purpose of the principles was to produce an illusion of characters adhering to the basic laws of physics, but they also dealt with more abstract issues, such as emotional timing and character appeal. The 12 principles are as follows: Squash and stretch Anticipation Staging Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose Follow Through and Overlapping Action Slow In and Slow Out Arcs Secondary Action Timing Exaggeration Solid Drawing (same or different as Weight) Appeal 1 SQUASH AND STRETCH The most important principle is squash and stretch. the purpose of which is to give a sense of weight and flexibility to drawn objects. It can be applied to simple objects, like a bouncing ball, or more complex constructions, like the musculature of a human face. Taken to an extreme point, a figure stretched or squashed to an exaggerated degree can have a comical effect. In realistic animation, however, the most important aspect of this principle is the fact that an objects volume does not change when squashed or stretched. If the length of a ball is stretched vertically, its width (in three dimensions, also its depth) needs to contract correspondingly horizontally. Illustration of the squash and stretch-principle: Example A shows a ball bouncing with a rigid, non-dynamic movement. In example B the ball is squashed at impact, and stretched during fall and rebound. The movement also accelerates during the fall, and slows down towards the apex (see slow in and slow out). 2 ANTICIPATION This movement prepares the audience for a major action the character is about to perform, such as, starting to run, jump or change expression. A dancer does not just leap off the floor. A backwards motion occurs before the forward action is executed. The backward motion is the anticipation. A comic effect can be done by not using anticipation after a series of gags that used anticipation. Almost all real action has major or minor anticipation such as a pitchers wind-up or a golfers back swing. Feature animation is often less broad than short animation unless a scene requires it to develop a characters personality. Anticipation: A baseball player making a pitch prepares for the action by moving his arm back. For special effect, anticipation can also be omitted in cases where it is expected. The resulting sense of anticlimax will produce a feeling of surprise in the viewer, and can often add comedy to a scene. This is often referred to as a surprise gag. 3  STAGING A pose or action should clearly communicate to the audience the attitude, mood, reaction or idea of the character as it relates to the story and continuity of the story line. The effective use of long, medium, or close up shots, as well as camera angles also helps in telling the story. There is a limited amount of time in a film, so each sequence, scene and frame of film must relate to the overall story. Do not confuse the audience with too many actions at once. Use one action clearly stated to get the idea across, unless you are animating a scene that is to depict clutter and confusion. Staging directs the audiences attention to the story or idea being told. Care must be taken in background design so it isnt obscuring the animation or competing with it due to excess detail behind the animation. Background and animation should work together as a pictorial unit in a scene. 4 STRAIGHT AHEAD AND POSE TO POSE ANIMATION Straight ahead animation starts at the first drawing and works drawing to drawing to the end of a scene. You can lose size, volume, and proportions with this method, but it does have spontaneity and freshness. Fast, wild action scenes are done this way. Pose to Pose is more planned out and charted with key drawings done at intervals throughout the scene. Size, volumes, and proportions are controlled better this way, as is the action. The lead animator will turn charting and keys over to his assistant. An assistant can be better used with this method so that the animator doesnt have to draw every drawing in a scene. An animator can do more scenes this way and concentrate on the planning of the animation. Many scenes use a bit of both methods of animation. Computer animation removes the problems of proportion related to straight ahead action drawing; however, pose to pose is still used for computer animation, because of the advantages it brings in composition. The use of computers facilitates this method, as computers can fill in the missing sequences in between poses automatically. It is, however, still important to oversee this process, and apply the other principles discussed. 5  FOLLOW THROUGH AND OVERLAPPING ACTION When the main body of the character stops all other parts continue to catch up to the main mass of the character, such as arms, long hair, clothing, coat tails or a dress, floppy ears or a long tail (these follow the path of action). Nothing stops all at once. This is follow through. Overlapping action is when the character changes direction while his clothes or hair continues forward. The character is going in a new direction, to be followed, a number of frames later, by his clothes in the new direction. DRAG, in animation, for example, would be when Goofy starts to run, but his head, ears, upper body, and clothes do not keep up with his legs. In features, this type of action is done more subtly. Example: When Snow White starts to dance, her dress does not begin to move with her immediately but catches up a few frames later. Long hair and animal tail will also be handled in the same manner. Timing becomes critical to the effectiveness of drag and the overlapping action. 6 SLOW-OUT AND SLOW-IN As action starts, we have more drawings near the starting pose, one or two in the middle, and more drawings near the next pose. Fewer drawings make the action faster and more drawings make the action slower. Slow-ins and slow-outs soften the action, making it more life-like. For a gag action, we may omit some slow-out or slow-ins for shock appeal or the surprise element. This will give more snap to the scene. The movement of the human body, and most other objects, needs time to accelerate and slow down. For this reason, an animation looks more realistic if it has more frames near the beginning and end of a movement, and fewer in the middle. This principle goes for characters moving between two extreme poses, such as sitting down and standing up, but also for inanimate, moving objects, like the bouncing ball in the above illustration. 7  ARCS All actions, with few exceptions (such as the animation of a mechanical device), follow an arc or slightly circular path. This is especially true of the human figure and the action of animals. Arcs give animation a more natural action and better flow. Think of natural movements in the terms of a pendulum swinging. All arm movement, head turns and even eye movements are executed on an arcs. 8 SECONDARY ACTION This action adds to and enriches the main action and adds more dimension to the character animation, supplementing and/or re-enforcing the main action. Example: A character is angrily walking toward another character. The walk is forceful, aggressive, and forward leaning. The leg action is just short of a stomping walk. The secondary action is a few strong gestures of the arms working with the walk. Also, the possibility of dialogue being delivered at the same time with tilts and turns of the head to accentuate the walk and dialogue, but not so much as to distract from the walk action. All of these actions should work together in support of one another. Think of the walk as the primary action and arm swings, head bounce and all other actions of the body as secondary or supporting action. Secondary action: as the horse runs, its mane and tail follow the movement of the body. 9 TIMING Expertise in timing comes best with experience and personal experimentation, using the trial and error method in refining technique. The basics are: more drawings between poses slow and smooth the action. Fewer drawings make the action faster and crisper. A variety of slow and fast timing within a scene adds texture and interest to the movement. Most animation is done on twos (one drawing photographed on two frames of film) or on ones (one drawing photographed on each frame of film). Twos are used most of the time, and ones are used during camera moves such as trucks, pans and occasionally for subtle and quick dialogue animation. Also, there is timing in the acting of a character to establish mood, emotion, and reaction to another character or to a situation. Studying movement of actors and performers on stage and in films is useful when animating human or animal characters. This frame by frame examination of film footage will aid you in understanding timing for animation. This is a great way to learn from the others. 10  EXAGGERATION Exaggeration is not extreme distortion of a drawing or extremely broad, violent action all the time. It ¹s like a caricature of facial features, expressions, poses, attitudes and actions. Action traced from live action film can be accurate, but stiff and mechanical. In feature animation, a character must move more broadly to look natural. The same is true of facial expressions, but the action should not be as broad as in a short cartoon style. Exaggeration in a walk or an eye movement or even a head turn will give your film more appeal. Use good taste and common sense to keep from becoming too theatrical and excessively animated 11 SOLID DRAWING The basic principles of drawing form, weight, volume solidity and the illusion of three dimension apply to animation as it does to academic drawing. The way you draw cartoons, you draw in the classical sense, using pencil sketches and drawings for reproduction of life. You transform these into color and movement giving the characters the illusion of three-and four-dimensional life. Three dimensional is movement in space. The fourth dimension is movement in time. 12 APPEAL A live performer has charisma. An animated character has appeal. Appealing animation does not mean just being cute and cuddly. All characters have to have appeal whether they are heroic, villainous, comic or cute. Appeal, as you will use it, includes an easy to read design, clear drawing, and personality development that will capture and involve the audience ¹s interest. Early cartoons were basically a series of gags strung together on a main theme. Over the years, the artists have learned that to produce a feature there was a need for story continuity, character development and a higher quality of artwork throughout the entire production. Like all forms of storytelling, the feature has to appeal to the mind as well as to the eye.Appeal in a cartoon character corresponds to what would be called charisma in an actor. A character who is appealing is not necessarily sympathetic villains or monsters can also be appealing the important thing is that the viewer feels the character is r eal and interesting. There are several tricks for making a character connect better with the audience; for likable characters a symmetrical or particularly baby-like face tends to be effective. Q4. What are the different color models? What is the need to use different color models? Ans. A color model is an abstract mathematical model describing the way colors can be represented as tuples of numbers, typically as three or four values or color components. When this model is associated with a precise description of how the components are to be interpreted (viewing conditions, etc.), the resulting set of colors is called color space. This section describes ways in which human color vision can be modeled. A color model is a 3D unique representation of a color. There are different color models and the use of one over the other is problem oriented. For instance, the color model RGB is used in hardware applications like PC monitors, cameras and scanners, the CMY color model is used in color printers, and the YIQ model in television broadcast. In color image manipulation the two models widely used are HSI and HSV. DIFFERENT MODELS ARE AS FOLLOWS: RGB Model CMY Model CMYK Model HSV Model HSL Model 1. RGB Color Model In the RGB color model, we use red, green, and blue as the 3 primary colors. We dont actually specify what wavelengths these primary colors correspond to, so this will be different for different types of output media, e.g., different monitors, film, videotape, slides, etc. This is an additive model since the phosphors are emitting light. A subtractive model would be one in which the color is the reflected light. We can represent the RGB model by using a unit cube. Each point in the cube (or vector where the other point is the origin) represents a specific color. This model is the best for setting the electron guns for a CRT. Note that for the complementary colors the sum of the values equals white light (1, 1, 1). e.g. red (1, 0, 0) + cyan (0, 1, 1) = white (1, 1, 1) green (0, 1, 0) + magenta (1, 0, 1) = white (1, 1, 1) blue (0, 0, 1) + yellow (1, 1, 0) = white (1, 1, 1) Media that transmit light (such as television) use additive color mixing with primary colors of red, green, and blue, each of which stimulates one of the three types of the eyes color receptors with as little stimulation as possible of the other two. This is called RGB color space. Mixtures of light of these primary colors cover a large part of the human color space and thus produce a large part of human color experiences. This is why color television sets or color computer monitors need only produce mixtures of red, green and blue light. Each color can be a point in the RGB color model cube. Red, green and blue are known as the primary colors. These colors can be added to produce secondary colors which are: magenta = red + blue cyan = green +blue yellow = red + green Other possible combinations: white = blue (primary) + yellow (secondary) white = green (primary) + magenta (secondary) white = red (primary) + cyan (secondary) RGB Color Cube Color Model 2. CMY Color Model CRTs produce color by emission and uses the RGB model. Printers produce color by reflective light so it is a subtractive process and uses a model based on the colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow. Remember that cyan = green + blue, so light reflected from a cyan pigment has no red component, i.e., the red is absorbed by cyan. Similarly magenta subtracts green and yellow subtracts blue. Printers usually use four colors: cyan, yellow, magenta and black. This is because cyan, yellow, and magenta together produce a dark gray rather than a true black. It is possible to achieve a large range of colors seen by humans by combining cyan, magenta, and yellow transparent dyes/inks on a white substrate. These are the subtractive primary colors. Often a fourth black is added to improve reproduction of some dark colors. This is called CMY or CMYK color space. The cyan ink will reflect all but the red light, the yellow ink will reflect all but the blue light and the magenta ink will reflect all but the green light. This is because cyan light is an equal mixture of green and blue, yellow is an equal mixture of red and green, and magenta light is an equal mixture of red and blue. 3. CMYK color model Unlike RGB, which is an additive color model, CMYK is a subtractive color model. Typically used in printing, CMYK assumes that the background is white, and thus subtracts the assumed brightness of the white background from four colors: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (called key). Black is used because the combination of the three primary colors (CMY) doesnt produce a fully saturated black. CMYK can produce the whole spectrum of visible colors thanks to the process of half-toning, whereby each color is assigned a saturation level and miniscule dots of each of the three colors are printed in tiny patterns so that the human eye perceives a certain color. Like RGB, CMYK is device-dependent. Theres no straightforward formula to convert CMYK color to RGB colors or vice versa, so conversion is typically dependent upon color management systems. ColoRotate easily converts one system to the other. Still Life with Crystal Bowl, 4. Hue, Saturation, and Value Color Model First described by Alvy Ray Smith in 1978, HSV seeks to depict relationships between colors, and improve upon the RGB color model. Standing for hue, saturation, and value, HSV depicts three-dimensional color. If you think about HSV as a wheel of cheese, the center axis goes from white at the top to black at the bottom, with other neutral colors in between. The angle from the axis depicts the hue, the distance from the axis depicts saturation, and the distance along the axis depicts value. The angle from the axis depicts the hue, the distance from the axis depicts saturation, and the distance along the axis depicts value. The HSV (Hue, Saturation, and Value) color model is more intuitive than the RGB color model. The user specifies a color (hue) and then adds white or black. There are 3 color parameters: Hue, Saturation, and Value. Changing the saturation parameter corresponds to adding or subtracting white and changing the value parameter corresponds to adding or subtracting black. 5. HSL Like HSV, HSL was described by Alvy Ray Smith and is a 3D representation of color. HSL stands for hue, saturation, and lightness. The HSL color model has distinct advantages over the HSV model, in that the saturation and lightness components span the entire range of values. Based on the HSL color model, ColoRotate contains all the hues at different levels of saturation along its horizontal plane and with variant intensity along its vertical plane. In the bicone or diamond of the HSL structure, all the visible colors can be seen. These are the three dimensions in which our brain analyzes the colors we see. The first dimension is brightness (a vertical slice). The hue is comprised of the second and third dimensions (corresponding to round slices through the diamond).   HSV and HSL representations: Need to use different color models: We also use color model to indicate a model or mechanism of color vision for explaining how color signals are processed from visual cones to ganglion cells. For simplicity, we call these models color mechanism models. There are any numbers of approaches to describing colors using a mathematical model; each one qualifies as a color model. You can, for example, assign a specific hue, saturation, and brightness level to define a color (HSB color models); or a value of red, green, and blue (RGB color models); or a value of cyan, magenta, and yellow (CMY color models); or a value of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK color models). Within these general descriptionsHSB, RGB, CMY, CMYK, and moreany model can use any arbitrary number of steps for each parameter. Some schemes, for example, use 100 steps each. Others use 256 steps, a convenient number for the digital world because you can define 256 steps for each color by assigning 8 bits to each color. All of these color modelsand moreare widely used to describe colors, both by software and by various types of hardware like digital cameras, scanners, monitors, and printers. Unfortunately, most of these have historically been device-dependent models meaning that the designation for a given color applies only to the particular device. And that makes it hard to move color information between devices without introducing errors. Two device-dependent models can share the same name, but they wont share the same descriptions for each color except by pure co-incidence. For example, some printers use CMYK color models. (Not all do. A printer can use an RGB color model, and translate the colors to the right amounts of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black ink.) Suppose you define a color in a drawing program as cyan 120, magenta 75, and yellow 130, and then print on three printers, each of which uses a device-dependent version of a CMY or CMYK colo

F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby as Criticism of American Society

  Ã‚  Ã‚   In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald criticizes American society in the 1920?s for its tendencies to waste, advertise, form superficial relationships, and obsess over appearances. The work has been praised for both its brutal realism and its keen depiction of the age that The New York Times referred to as the era when, 'gin was the national drink and sex was the national obsession'(Fitzgerald vii).   ' . . . indifference is presented as a moral failure - a failure of society, particularly the society of the American east to recognize the imperatives of truth and honesty and justice? (Gallo 35).     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   F. Scott Fitzgerald criticizes the wasteful tendencies of American society.   He uses the valley of ashes to refer to this ugly aspect of American society.   The valley of ashes is a bleak area situated between the West Egg and New York City, 'where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air'(Fitzgerald 23).   This unpleasant wasteland is located right along the roadway and train route between the eggs, home of the lofty aristocrats, and New York City, the exciting and fashionable metropolis where many of the nations wealthiest people live, work, and entertain themselves.   'There is no essential difference between the moneyed wastelands of New York City and Long Island and the valley of ashes,' (Gallo 49)  Ã‚   Referring to an eye doctor's billboard in the valley of ashes, Nick, our narrator comments:   Evidently some wild wag of an oculist set them there to fatten his practice   in the borough of Queens, and then sank down himself into eternal   blindness or forgot them and moved away.   But ... ... Moment: The Novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1970. Whitley, John S.   F. Scott Fitzgerald: "The Great Gatsby." London: Edward Arnold, 1976. Outline Thesis statement: In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald criticizes American society in the 1920?s for its tendency to waste, advertise, form superficial relationships, and obsess over appearances. I. Introduction   A. Literary Classic   B. Societal Criticism    1. wasteful tendency    2. advertising obsession    3. superficial relationships    4. appearances fixation II. Wasteful Tendency   A. Valley of Ashes   B. Gatsby   C. Tom and Daisy III. Advertising Obsession   A. Billboard   B. McKees   C. Tom   D. Daisy   E. Gatsby III. Appearances Fixation   A. Myrtle   B. Catherine   C. Gatsby IV. Superficial Relationships   A. Billboard   B. Myrtle?s Party

Literature Courework Essay

Choose two stories from ‘An Evening in Guanima’ that you considered to be the â€Å"best† or your favourite. Explain the reasons for your choice considering: theme, characters and writer’s style. The author got her inspiration for these stories from her birthplace, Cat Island, which many believe was originally called â€Å"Guanima† by the Lucayans. She frequently visited her grandparents in Port Howe, where, via storytelling, she discovered the fascinating world of Bahamian folklore. Therefore, it was for this reason ‘An Evening in Guanima’ was created. One of my personal favourites is â€Å"The Girl on the Gallows† because of the writer’s style – which I felt encompassed varied techniques; impressive characterization and theme. Another favourite is â€Å"The Gaulin Wife† with its distinct writer’s style, ingenious characterization and obvious, clear-cut theme. I love the writer’s extremely descriptive writer’s style; it paints picturesque scenes of this exotic land and enabled me to visualise the characters while learning about their personalities. â€Å"The sheen of Christa’s skin, the colour of honey from bees feeding on wild marigolds†¦ and no less golden and beautiful was her hair† – this allowed me to effortlessly visualise Christa and Glinton describing her personality as being â€Å"sweet† told me she was a kind-hearted character. On the contrary, the author used words like â€Å"jealous† and â€Å"spiteful† when describing Anacarla and this, to me, denoted a vicious character. Christa was portrayed as a becoming yet humble girl with a kind personality while Anacarla on the other hand, was portrayed as â€Å"a cruel viper of a princess†. This made me despise Anacarla but feel nothing except fondness and sympathy toward Christa. I greatly admired the manner in which Glinton intertwined structure and symbolism when discussing the bird-messengers. She structurally highlighted the words â€Å"Princess† and â€Å"Queen† by capitalizing them and used each type of bird to symbolize both Christa and her impending destiny. The first bird was common; a duck, this to me represented Christa’s humble social status as â€Å"a daughter of the common people†. The second bird was an iridescent parrot which, I felt represented Christa’s undeniable beauty. The bird’s feathers were used to fashion a bonnet for â€Å"a sour-faced woman who had no eye for their beauty† and I took this to mean that this woman did not appreciate the bonnet’s inordinately beautiful plumage. In the same way Christa’s rejected admirers and jealous rivals ceased to appreciate her beauty when she was sentenced to be hung. The third and final winged-messenger was a powerful, majestic eagle. It was observed that this was the only messenger that addressed Christa as â€Å"some-day Queen† and because of her prowess the eagle was able to soar above the clouds, thereby evading hunters. From my perspective, the eagle soaring above the clouds symbolized Christa rising in status and power to the prestigious position of queen. The theme of this story was that â€Å"Good always triumphs and evil doers eventually get what’s coming to them†. This made me feel optimistic that this theme would hold true to real life. I like the title of â€Å"The Gaulin Wife† because it is short and has an interesting key word. I like the fact that the title is short because it does not reveal much about the story, leaving me to puzzle over what the story will entail. This coupled with the use of the key word â€Å"Gaulin† piqued my interest and prompted me to read the story. The writer’s style added to my joy in reading the story because it contained an abundance of Bahamian dialect. I felt the writer infused the writing with Bahamian dialect in order to add a â€Å"cultural flavour† to the story. This, in turn, made the story more interesting to me. This technique was used in the line â€Å"her ma musse pity frog or goggle-eye fish†. It was lines like this that showed me that the main character was disrespectful and completely inconsiderate of others’ feelings. The author’s description of his actions also added to my perception of his personality. The fact that he promised to wed several girls before leaving them â€Å"high and dry† showed me the narcissistic and down right cruel aspects of his personality. This characterization flowed perfectly into the theme which was â€Å"Bad karma tends to seek out those who deserve it†. I gravitated toward â€Å"The Girl on the Gallows† because of its writer’s style, my favourite technique being the imbedded symbolism, and characterization – which made me feel different emotions toward the characters; I despised Anacarla but sympathized with Christa. I chose â€Å"The Gaulin Wife† because of the use of dialect in the writer’s style and the clear-cut, hard-to-miss theme.

The Count or Monte Cristo

Monte Cristo is paying an older gentleman to act as Marquis Bartolomeo Calvacanti, father of Andrea Calvacanti. They are both receiving an allowance to act as Andrea Calvacanti. They are presented to one another. Monte Cristo also invites them to his dinner party. He intends to introduce Andrea Calvacanti to Parisien society. Analysis: Monte Cristo is here setting the stage for Calvacanti's entrance to Parisien society where he will be instrumental in the downfall of Villefort, Caderousse, and Danglars. Chapter 32 In this chapter one learns that Maximilien Morrel and Valentine are in love.Valentine's father however, is to marry her off to Franz d'Epinay, whom she can never love. Her stepmother is opposed to the idea of her marrying in general for it means that Madame de Villefort's son will have nothing to inherit, for valentine will receive the fortune. Valentine and Maximilien meet in the garden, but Valentine must hurry off to meet her stepmother. Analysis: This chapter presents V alentine's marriage dilemma. Her father still is trying to loose his ties to the Bonapartists. He thus wishes to marry her to the son of a staunch royalist.Valentine, however, is closer to her Bonapartist grandfather. Noirtier will reveal his biggest secret to save her from the arms of a man she does not love. This chapter also presents Valentine's stepmother as a greedy mother who only seeks funds for her son. This woman's monetary greed foreshadows the tragedies that will strike the Villefort household. She is in fact a mirror image of Villefort, who was willing to sacrifice human life for is own gain. Chapter 33 Monsieur and Madame de Villefort live with Noirtier, Villefort's aged paralyzed father.Noirtier's fortune shall pass to Valentine upon her marriage. Thus, in this chapter, the Villefort's proceed to Noirtier's chamber to tell him of Valentine's coming marriage to Baron Franz d'Epinay. Noirtier is unable to speak since he suffered a stroke, however his discomfort and fury at this arrangement is apparent. There is existed much political enmity between Noirtier and this family. In fact, Noirtier was suspected of murdering the Baron's father. Villefort's goal in marrying Valentine to the Baron is thus to allay suspicion of this assassination. Valentine is summoned.She alone can decipher the old man's thoughts. He decides to make a will disinheriting Valentine if she marries the Baron. She, of course, approves of this for she does not wish to marry the Baron. She will still have Noirtier's love. Valentine also has other sources of income. Thus, Noirtier's actions are a threat to Villefort, not Valentine. Villefort, however, will not allow themselves to be intimidated by the whims of an old man. Let him donate his money to charity, says Madame de Villefort, for he has also made it clear that the money will not go to Madame de Villefort's son.Analysis: This chapter is a continuation of the previous chapter. Noirtier attempts to save Valentine from marriage . By denying her of his fortune, (but not his love) he hopes to prevent her father from marrying her to Franz. He will have to resort to greater measures, however. Only after he reveals his guilt in the death of Franz d'Epinay's father Chapter 34 The Count visits the Villeforts to remind them to attend his dinner party at his Auteuil house. Monsieur de Villefort of course recognizes the address of this haunting house.It is the one where he was stabbed attempting to bury his live newborn child. The Count also sends a telegram to Debray in this chapter relating a contrived news bulletin of a political chaos in Spain. Debray thus rushes to Danglars' wife telling her to recommend to her husband that he sell all his Spanish bonds. He does so, though he loses money. At the end of the day when the news is proven false, the bonds rise to twice their original value. The net loss for Danglars is thus a million francs. Analysis: The Count's mechanism to destroy two of his enemies is set in mot ion.He insists that the Villeforts attend, even though this shall be very emotionally taxing for the public prosecutor. The Count also is responsible for providing false information to Debray. This will cause Danglars to speculate incorrectly and lose one million francs. Chapter 35 The guests arrive at the dinner party. Monte Cristo serves them astounding exotic foods. Bertuccio, his servant recognizes Andrea Calvacanti as the newborn baby he has saved from Villefort's box. It is the baby his sister in law raised. He also recognizes Madame Danglars as the woman Villefort used to visit at Auteuil.After dinner, Monte Cristo gives the guests a tour of the house and makes several insinuations that a crime was committed in his new house. He gives the guest a tour, finally leading them to the garden where he says he dug up the skeleton of a newborn baby. All the while he has observed Villefort and Madame Danglars tremble. Analysis: The Count's tour causes Villefort and Madame Danglars muc h psychological trauma. The rest of the guest's are astounded at the Count's exotic hospitality. The exotic foods are a symbol of the Count's worldliness. He is no longer a naà ¯ve youth.Villefort trembles because he now realizes that the Count knows the secrets of his past. He is aware that there was no skeleton buried in the garden, for he had searched for this very same skeleton and had never found it. Thus, he is aware that the count is lying to everyone by saying that he had found the remains of a newborn baby. Chapter 36 Caderousse returns as an escaped convict and enters Andrea Calvacanti's carriage as he is leaving Monte Cristo's dinner party. He demands a cut of what Calvacanti is being paid by Monte Cristo. Andrea agrees. Analysis:This chapter links both Caderousse and Calvacanti (Benedetto). It creates tension between the two that shall not be resolved until Benedetto kills Caderousse when he attempts to rob the Count. Chapter 37 Monsieur Debray, upon leaving Monte Crist o's dinner party, returns to Madame Danglars' residence. He notices her agitation but she denies any trouble. Danglars enters their suite. He advises his wife that she should not keep Debray away from his house late at night since Debray's residence is some distance away. Debray is shocked at this intrusion.Danglars, however, wins the battle of words between himself and his wife. Debray leaves. Danglars proceeds to blame her for ruining his fortune. He demands that she pay him a quarter of what he lost because it was at her request that he had sold his Spanish bonds. After all, he reasons, when he earns money he pays her a cut of the profits. When he gives her this money he claims that he does not ask her where she spends it, though he insinuates that he knows she passes it on to Debray. Thus, if she does not have the money to pay for the loss, she should ask Debray for the money.Danglars knows all about her love affairs. He knows that Debray is not the first, and he tolerates it un til it dips into his fortune. He even knows that her past includes her lover Monsieur de Villefort, and that she was at one time six months pregnant by him. Madame Danglars is overwhelmed. Analysis: Monte Cristo has succeeded in ruining a million francs of Danglars' fortune by providing false knowledge to Debray. Danglars consequently falsely speculated after his wife relayed Debray's false information. Thus Monte Cristo is on the road to destroying the man who was the mastermind behind his incarceration.His destruction must occur slowly, however, just as he was made to rot slowly away in prison. Chapter 38 Danglars pays a visit to Monte Cristo. He complains of his investment adviser, Jacopo, who never made a mistake till now. He just lost seven hundred thousand francs at Trieste. Calvacanti is also opening credit with Danglars, and Monte Cristo backs up this man's â€Å"incredible fortune† verbally for Danglars. He also mentions that Calvacanti's son may be looking for a Par isien wife. Danglars, the speculator is intrigued at this prospect.He reveals to Monte Cristo that he is not completely sure about his daughter's engagement to Albert de Morcerf.. Danglars was made a baron, but de Morcerf made himself a count. They are both of humble birth, but there has been scandal attached to Morcerf's name. Monte Cristo feigns vague recollection of the Ali Pasha affair. Analysis: Monte Cristo continues to destroy Danglars financially. He also wishes to humiliate Danglars publicly. He thus introduces Danglars to the idea that Calvacanti may be looking for a Parisien wife such as Eugenie.Danglars shall make the arrangements for the betrothal despite his daughter's wishes. Chapter 39 Madame Danglars visits Monsieur de Villefort, for he had given her an appointment to discuss the previous evening's events. Recollect that Monte Cristo had told his guests that he had found a skeleton in the backyard of a newborn baby. However, Villefort now admits to Madame Danglars t hat this is impossible. It is impossible because he had returned after his recuperation from the Corsican's stabbing to find the garden devoid of any box containing the dead child.He thus assumes that the Corsican saved the child and that it is alive. Monte Cristo must know their secret and he swears to find out how. Within a week he says he will know who Monte Cristo really is, where he comes from, and why he knows their secret. Analysis: This chapter clarifies that Madame Danglars did not know that her baby was born alive. She believed it to be a stillbirth. She was unaware of Villefort's evil sin. Ironically, Villefort will soon know Monte Cristos true identity, but only once he has been ruined and Monte Cristo chooses to deliver the final blow.Chapter 40 Albert returns from Treport and visits Monte Cristo. Albert states that the thought of living with Mademoiselle Danglars every day horrifies him. Monte Cristo reassures Albert by stating that Monsieur Danglars may back out on hi s word in favor of another husband for his daughter. At this Albert wonders why he is not good enough for Danglars, despite his desire to be rid of the duty to marry. Monte Cristo reassures Albert Danglars is a man of bad taste, and thus prefers another to Albert. The Count or Monte Cristo Monte Cristo is paying an older gentleman to act as Marquis Bartolomeo Calvacanti, father of Andrea Calvacanti. They are both receiving an allowance to act as Andrea Calvacanti. They are presented to one another. Monte Cristo also invites them to his dinner party. He intends to introduce Andrea Calvacanti to Parisien society. Analysis: Monte Cristo is here setting the stage for Calvacanti's entrance to Parisien society where he will be instrumental in the downfall of Villefort, Caderousse, and Danglars. Chapter 32 In this chapter one learns that Maximilien Morrel and Valentine are in love.Valentine's father however, is to marry her off to Franz d'Epinay, whom she can never love. Her stepmother is opposed to the idea of her marrying in general for it means that Madame de Villefort's son will have nothing to inherit, for valentine will receive the fortune. Valentine and Maximilien meet in the garden, but Valentine must hurry off to meet her stepmother. Analysis: This chapter presents V alentine's marriage dilemma. Her father still is trying to loose his ties to the Bonapartists. He thus wishes to marry her to the son of a staunch royalist.Valentine, however, is closer to her Bonapartist grandfather. Noirtier will reveal his biggest secret to save her from the arms of a man she does not love. This chapter also presents Valentine's stepmother as a greedy mother who only seeks funds for her son. This woman's monetary greed foreshadows the tragedies that will strike the Villefort household. She is in fact a mirror image of Villefort, who was willing to sacrifice human life for is own gain. Chapter 33 Monsieur and Madame de Villefort live with Noirtier, Villefort's aged paralyzed father.Noirtier's fortune shall pass to Valentine upon her marriage. Thus, in this chapter, the Villefort's proceed to Noirtier's chamber to tell him of Valentine's coming marriage to Baron Franz d'Epinay. Noirtier is unable to speak since he suffered a stroke, however his discomfort and fury at this arrangement is apparent. There is existed much political enmity between Noirtier and this family. In fact, Noirtier was suspected of murdering the Baron's father. Villefort's goal in marrying Valentine to the Baron is thus to allay suspicion of this assassination. Valentine is summoned.She alone can decipher the old man's thoughts. He decides to make a will disinheriting Valentine if she marries the Baron. She, of course, approves of this for she does not wish to marry the Baron. She will still have Noirtier's love. Valentine also has other sources of income. Thus, Noirtier's actions are a threat to Villefort, not Valentine. Villefort, however, will not allow themselves to be intimidated by the whims of an old man. Let him donate his money to charity, says Madame de Villefort, for he has also made it clear that the money will not go to Madame de Villefort's son.Analysis: This chapter is a continuation of the previous chapter. Noirtier attempts to save Valentine from marriage . By denying her of his fortune, (but not his love) he hopes to prevent her father from marrying her to Franz. He will have to resort to greater measures, however. Only after he reveals his guilt in the death of Franz d'Epinay's father Chapter 34 The Count visits the Villeforts to remind them to attend his dinner party at his Auteuil house. Monsieur de Villefort of course recognizes the address of this haunting house.It is the one where he was stabbed attempting to bury his live newborn child. The Count also sends a telegram to Debray in this chapter relating a contrived news bulletin of a political chaos in Spain. Debray thus rushes to Danglars' wife telling her to recommend to her husband that he sell all his Spanish bonds. He does so, though he loses money. At the end of the day when the news is proven false, the bonds rise to twice their original value. The net loss for Danglars is thus a million francs. Analysis: The Count's mechanism to destroy two of his enemies is set in mot ion.He insists that the Villeforts attend, even though this shall be very emotionally taxing for the public prosecutor. The Count also is responsible for providing false information to Debray. This will cause Danglars to speculate incorrectly and lose one million francs. Chapter 35 The guests arrive at the dinner party. Monte Cristo serves them astounding exotic foods. Bertuccio, his servant recognizes Andrea Calvacanti as the newborn baby he has saved from Villefort's box. It is the baby his sister in law raised. He also recognizes Madame Danglars as the woman Villefort used to visit at Auteuil.After dinner, Monte Cristo gives the guests a tour of the house and makes several insinuations that a crime was committed in his new house. He gives the guest a tour, finally leading them to the garden where he says he dug up the skeleton of a newborn baby. All the while he has observed Villefort and Madame Danglars tremble. Analysis: The Count's tour causes Villefort and Madame Danglars muc h psychological trauma. The rest of the guest's are astounded at the Count's exotic hospitality. The exotic foods are a symbol of the Count's worldliness. He is no longer a naive youth.Villefort trembles because he now realizes that the Count knows the secrets of his past. He is aware that there was no skeleton buried in the garden, for he had searched for this very same skeleton and had never found it. Thus, he is aware that the count is lying to everyone by saying that he had found the remains of a newborn baby. Chapter 36 Caderousse returns as an escaped convict and enters Andrea Calvacanti's carriage as he is leaving Monte Cristo's dinner party. He demands a cut of what Calvacanti is being paid by Monte Cristo. Andrea agrees. Analysis:This chapter links both Caderousse and Calvacanti (Benedetto). It creates tension between the two that shall not be resolved until Benedetto kills Caderousse when he attempts to rob the Count. Chapter 37 Monsieur Debray, upon leaving Monte Cristo's dinner party, returns to Madame Danglars' residence. He notices her agitation but she denies any trouble. Danglars enters their suite. He advises his wife that she should not keep Debray away from his house late at night since Debray's residence is some distance away. Debray is shocked at this intrusion.Danglars, however, wins the battle of words between himself and his wife. Debray leaves. Danglars proceeds to blame her for ruining his fortune. He demands that she pay him a quarter of what he lost because it was at her request that he had sold his Spanish bonds. After all, he reasons, when he earns money he pays her a cut of the profits. When he gives her this money he claims that he does not ask her where she spends it, though he insinuates that he knows she passes it on to Debray. Thus, if she does not have the money to pay for the loss, she should ask Debray for the money.Danglars knows all about her love affairs. He knows that Debray is not the first, and he tolerates it until it dips into his fortune. He even knows that her past includes her lover Monsieur de Villefort, and that she was at one time six months pregnant by him. Madame Danglars is overwhelmed. Analysis: Monte Cristo has succeeded in ruining a million francs of Danglars' fortune by providing false knowledge to Debray. Danglars consequently falsely speculated after his wife relayed Debray's false information. Thus Monte Cristo is on the road to destroying the man who was the mastermind behind his incarceration.His destruction must occur slowly, however, just as he was made to rot slowly away in prison. Chapter 38 Danglars pays a visit to Monte Cristo. He complains of his investment adviser, Jacopo, who never made a mistake till now. He just lost seven hundred thousand francs at Trieste. Calvacanti is also opening credit with Danglars, and Monte Cristo backs up this man's â€Å"incredible fortune† verbally for Danglars. He also mentions that Calvacanti's son may be looking for a Parisi en wife. Danglars, the speculator is intrigued at this prospect.He reveals to Monte Cristo that he is not completely sure about his daughter's engagement to Albert de Morcerf.. Danglars was made a baron, but de Morcerf made himself a count. They are both of humble birth, but there has been scandal attached to Morcerf's name. Monte Cristo feigns vague recollection of the Ali Pasha affair. Analysis: Monte Cristo continues to destroy Danglars financially. He also wishes to humiliate Danglars publicly. He thus introduces Danglars to the idea that Calvacanti may be looking for a Parisien wife such as Eugenie.Danglars shall make the arrangements for the betrothal despite his daughter's wishes. Chapter 39 Madame Danglars visits Monsieur de Villefort, for he had given her an appointment to discuss the previous evening's events. Recollect that Monte Cristo had told his guests that he had found a skeleton in the backyard of a newborn baby. However, Villefort now admits to Madame Danglars that this is impossible. It is impossible because he had returned after his recuperation from the Corsican's stabbing to find the garden devoid of any box containing the dead child.He thus assumes that the Corsican saved the child and that it is alive. Monte Cristo must know their secret and he swears to find out how. Within a week he says he will know who Monte Cristo really is, where he comes from, and why he knows their secret. Analysis: This chapter clarifies that Madame Danglars did not know that her baby was born alive. She believed it to be a stillbirth. She was unaware of Villefort's evil sin. Ironically, Villefort will soon know Monte Cristos true identity, but only once he has been ruined and Monte Cristo chooses to deliver the final blow.Chapter 40 Albert returns from Treport and visits Monte Cristo. Albert states that the thought of living with Mademoiselle Danglars every day horrifies him. Monte Cristo reassures Albert by stating that Monsieur Danglars may back out on his w ord in favor of another husband for his daughter. At this Albert wonders why he is not good enough for Danglars, despite his desire to be rid of the duty to marry. Monte Cristo reassures Albert Danglars is a man of bad taste, and thus prefers another to Albert.

Origins of the à in Spanish

Origins of the Ñ in Spanish The Spanish letter à ± is original with Spanish and has become one of its most distinctive written features. Where Did the Ñ Come From? As you could probably guess, the à ± came originally from the letter n. The à ± did not exist in the Latin alphabet and was the result of innovations about nine centuries ago. Beginning in about the 12th century, Spanish scribes (whose job it was to copy documents by hand) used the tilde placed over letters to indicate that a letter was doubled (so that, for example, nn became à ± and aa became ). How Is the Ñ Used Today? The popularity of the tilde for other letters eventually waned, and by the 14th century, the à ± was the only place it was used. Its origins can be seen in a word such as aà ±o (which means year), as it comes from the Latin word annus with a double n. As the phonetic nature of Spanish became solidified, the à ± came to be used for its sound, not just for words with an nn. A number of Spanish words, such as seà ±al and campaà ±a, that are English cognates use the à ± where English uses gn, such as in signal and campaign, respectively. The Spanish à ± has been copied by two other languages that are spoken by minorities in Spain. It is used in Euskara, the Basque language that is unrelated to Spanish, to represent approximately the same sound as it has in Spanish. It is also used in Galician, a language similar to Portuguese. (Portuguese uses nh to represent the same sound.) Additionally, three centuries of Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines led to the adoption of many Spanish words in the national language, Tagalog (also known as Pilipino or Filipino). The à ± is among the letters that have been added to the traditional 20 letters of the language. And while the à ± isnt part of the English alphabet, it frequently is used by careful writers when using adopted words such as jalapeà ±o, pià ±a colada, or pià ±ata and in the spelling of personal and place names. In Portuguese, the tilde is placed over vowels to indicate that the sound is nasalized. That use of the tilde has no apparent direct connection with the use of the tilde in Spanish. The Rest of the Story After this article was published, this site received additional information from Robert L. Davis, associate professor of Spanish from the University of Oregon: Thanks for including the interesting page on the history of the à ±. In a few places you express uncertainty about some of the details of this history; below I offer the information you need to complete the story. The reason the tilde appears over an N (as in Latin ANNU Sp. aà ±o) and Portuguese vowels (Latin MANU Po. mo) is that scribes wrote a small letter N over the preceding letter in both cases, to save space in manuscripts (parchment was expensive). As the two languages developed phonetically away from Latin, the double N sound of Latin morphed into the current palatal nasal sound of the Ñ, and Portuguese N between vowels got deleted, leaving its nasal quality on the vowel. So readers and writers began to use the old spelling trick to indicate the new sounds that did not exist in Latin. (Its really nice the way you framed the Ñ as the only Spanish letter of Spanish origin!) Also of potential interest to your readers: The word tilde actually refers to both the squiggle over the Ñ as well as the accent mark used to mark phonetic stress (e.g., cafà ©). There is even the verb tildarse, which means, to be written with an accent mark, to stress, as in La palabra cafà © se tilda en la e.The unique character of the letter Ñ has led to its becoming a marker of Hispanic identity in recent years. There is now a generacià ³n Ñ, the children of Spanish-speaking parents in the U.S. (parallel to Generation X, etc.), a stylized Ñ is the logo of the Cervantes Institute (cervantes.es), and so forth.The squiggle under the à § in Portuguese and French has a similar origin as the à ±. It is called a cedille, meaning little Z. It comes from the diminutive of the Old Spanish name for the letter Z, ceda. It was used to represent the ts sound in Old Spanish, which no longer exists in the language. E.g., O.Sp. caà §a (katsa) Mod. Sp. caza (casa or catha).Restaurants in the U.S. now offer dishes made with a very spicy pepper, the habanero, which is frequently mispronounced and misspelled as habaà ±ero. Since the name comes from La Habana, the capital of Cuba, this pepper should not have Ñ. I think the name has been contaminated by jalapeà ±o, which of course is simply a pepper from Jalapa, Mexico.

Supply Chain and Logistical Tools and Techniques

Supply Chain and Logistical Tools and Techniques New Product Development New Product Development refers to a distinct set of activities that companies use to develop and introduce a product into the market. It has a two concurrent phases. On one hand, there is the product design process culminating in a viable market, while on the other hand, there is the marketing component that starts from market research and ends with the purchase of the product by the eventual consumer. Solar Technical (SL) is a medium sized company that distributes solar products.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Supply Chain and Logistical Tools and Techniques specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It specialises in solar water heating systems. It fabricates solar water tanks for clients that have needs not covered within the conventional systems provided by manufacturers. There have been some problems with the current operations because of problems with the company’s supply chain. This paper will investigate the potential to improve the supply chain performance of the company. In particular, it will compare the potential to improve the supply chain by examining the New Product Development process at SL. Current Operations and Supply Chain SL is a medium sized company with about thirty employees. It has a technical department that deals with the installation of solar water equipment in client premises. It also fabricates special order tanks and accessories to meet unique needs of the specific clients. It also coordinates Research and Development (RD) activities. Other departments of interest include the sales and marketing department that create and execute a marketing strategy. The company deals with a high number of suppliers that includes international manufacturers of solar power equipment. The company aims at holding the widest variety of solar water heaters as its specialty. It also resells products made by local manufacturers as a distributor. For some brand s, the company serves as the distribution point to smaller retailers in the solar industry. When the company fabricates tanks, it sources for components from a wide array of suppliers, both locally and internationally. Table 1 shows the process diagram used to deliver the tanks to the clients. Table 1: Process diagram for fabricated water tanksAdvertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Strengths of the Current Supply Chain The current supply chain has two strengths. The organization of the technical department tries to use Just in Time manufacturing methods to produce the tanks as soon as it establishes the demand for them. The department does not keep an inventory to make the tanks, except what in need to fill in a week’s demand based on demand foresting figures. This measure is responsible for the reduced need for storage places for materials, and losses due t o damage to materials. Delays in supply of materials are rare and far between because the suppliers of most of the components also supply other industries in the regions with the same materials. The second strength of the current supply chain comes from the highly streamlined manufacturing process that uses computer based modelling to develop designs. The department also uses computer aided manufacturing methods for cutting the aluminium sheets that form the body of the water tanks. The welding process takes place by manual means because of the differences in the shapes of the tanks. The welding workshop connects to the testing centre where the company tests the tanks for leaks before the final assembly. This reduces the risk of defective work and returns from clients further down the supply chain. Weaknesses of the Current Supply Chain The most serious weakness in the supply chain is the exposure to disruptions in supply of materials. While the company do have a record of any serio us disruption in the supply of any of the material it needs for its solar water tanks, it is always aware of the disruption in business such a disruption would cause. The second weakness in the supply chain is a weakness in the manufacturing process. The quality of the tanks depends a lot on the skill of the welders that they seem to be indispensable. This puts the company at the risk of losing its manufacturing prowess if any of the welders move on. The impact of losing the welders can cost the company a lot of money in lost business. The third problem with the current supply chain is that there is always need to send a technical person to a client’s location to determine the required dimensions for the custom tanks. This work is too skilled for the marketers. However, it costs the company a lot more time to get this information because after the marketing team finds an interested client, then the company sends an engineer to the site. This brings about a high cost of labour .Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Supply Chain and Logistical Tools and Techniques specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Application of New Product Development The new product development process can help SL to develop a better way of managing its productions process. The solutions are not in the reengineering of the processes but increasing their efficiency. New product development follows a distinct path Idea Generation This is the first step in developing a new product. The need for new ideas comes from various aspects. In the case of SL, there is always a need to consider the best shape to use to construct solar hot water tanks. The main reason for this is that most of the clients that ask for custom tanks cannot use standard ones to meet their construction needs. Such needs include very small spaces to fit the tanks, or unusually shaped spaces where conventional tanks cannot fit. Initial Screening of Ideas Afte r generating different ideas, a team should reduce them to a few workable ones based on thermal qualities, manufacturability and cost. This stage will reduce the risk of creating a tank that is too expensive, or one that will take too long to fabricate. Technical Evaluation This stage addresses the need to evaluate in detail the final design that makes it past the initial screening. The role of technical design is to determine the manufacturability of the product along the lines of the processes required, the availability of the tools, materials and expertise. Commercial Evaluation The question for SL in this stage is to determine whether the client can meet the cost of production of the tank. This stage will determine whether the tank will come off the production line or otherwise. If a tank requires more money than a client is willing to pay, then it is not viable to produce it. Final Development Finally, SL can settle down to produce the product. In this case, it will involve che cking the inventory to ensure all the materials are in the store, setting up the manufacturing line, and alerting all staff on the production line to play their role. After production, the installation team takes it to the client. SL should always plan for more than one tank when the manufacturing is going on to ensure that the client has other options ready for manufacture if the client rejects the best tank offered by the company. In the case of SL, the product launch would compare to the delivery of the product to the client. Table 2 below shows the resource implications of new product development, while Table 3 shows the network diagram for the same process.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More New product Development Process Current Practice Recommended Practice Required Resources Human Time Money Idea Generation Use of existing designs fitting the approximate needs of new clients Use old designs as one source of ideas but develop fresh ideas based on unique client requirements Marketing and technical teams 30 minutes Initial Screening of Ideas No comparisons made, the chosen existing idea goes to production Reduce the new and old ideas to at least three ideas that can move to evaluation stage Marketing and technical manager 30 minutes Technical Evaluation For new ideas, conduct technical evaluation Technical manager 1 hour Commercial Evaluation Always conduct commercial evaluation because of changes in economic environment Marketing manager 1 hour Final Development Develop the best idea based on the technical and commercial evaluation Technical team 2 days Product Launch Product sent to client Send product to client Technical team 3 hours Tab le 2: Resource implications of the new product development cycleTable 3: Project network diagram with critical path Reference List Flannes, S. Levin, G., 2005. Essential People Skills for Project Managers. Vienna, VA: Management Concepts. Gilson, S., 2010. Creating Value Through Corporate Restructuring: Case Studies in Bankruptcies, Buyouts, and Breakups. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons. Iliescu, D.C., 2008. Customer Based Time-to-Event Models for Cancellation Behaviour: A Revenue Management Intergrated Approach. Dissertation. Gorgia: ProQuest Georgia Institute of Technology. Kerzner, H., 2009. Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling and Controlling. 10th ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons. Kopezak, L. Lee, H., 1994. Coordinated Product and Supply Chain Design. Case Study, pp.331-404. Meredeth, J.R. Mantel, S.J., 2011. Project Management: A Managerial Approach. 8th ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.

An Over View Of Apple Inc

An Over View Of Apple Inc Introduction One of the most fundamental factors that determine a successful business is the possession of feasible, clear and achievable business and corporate strategies with a purposeful organizational sense of direction. It is a statement of fact that business and corporate strategies are unachievable without a well laid-out plan at attracting a solid customer base for the organization (Parkinson, 1991). Customers are the facilitators of profits for organizations and any company that intends to remain in business should take the issue of customer service very seriously. Evolving a well-planned customer service automatically translate into programmes set out by companies to draw new customers and retain old ones. This forms the basic tenets or principles of marketing upon which organizational success in business rest. Though the aforementioned assertions have briefly introduced the core elements that drives a successful business, however, it takes far above the points mentioned f or a business firm to survive in whatever industry that it locates itself. This is due to the vociferous competing forces that are struggling with the business firm for the same customers and for the similar goods being offered by the industry. Despite the high rate of competition that threatens and even shut down some businesses, Jobber (2007) asserts that the principles and practice of marketing forbids customers to be chased about at whatever price. However, good marketing principles were identified as factors that would set a company to gain competitive advantage over the rest of the market players. Therefore, companies all over the world have been developing and establishing crack marketing team whose responsibilities will include devising policies and programmes that would impact on the company’s products through which the company can gain competitive edge (Jobber, 2007; Srinivasan et al, 2009). Having dwelt on the necessity of good marketing strategies for the success and survival of businesses in the highly competitive industries, this report will now narrow down its view on the case study of this research; APPLE Incorporations, one of the leading players in the computer retailing industry not only in the U.K., but globally. Suffice it to say that the computer retailing industry world over is a highly competitive one with many players competing for the patronage of their products. It may be rightly put that the industry is indeed saturated with products and services of the competing companies, however, the continuous growth in technological innovations has continued to enliven the industry and continued to open doors of marketing and sales opportunities for the industry. APPLE INCORPORATION: Background of the Company The company Apple Computer Inc. was established and cited in California, U.S.A on the 1st April, 1976 as Apple Computers Inc. for the design and manufacture of computer electronics, computer hardware and commercial servers (Hormby, 2005). However, in the year 2007, the company shed the word â€Å"computer† from its name to Apple Inc. to reflect its new business expansion into consumer electronics and telecommunication hardware. Apple’s most popular hardware products include Macintosh computers, the iPods, iPads and iPhone. Meanwhile for the software, Apple boast of the Max OS X operating system, the iTunes media browser the iLife suite of multimedia and creativity software; the iWork suite of productivity software; Aperture, a professional photography package; Final Cut Studio, a suite of professional audio and film-industry software products; and Logic Studio, a suite of audio tools. Presently, the company has about 284 retail stores in ten countries across the world. (MacRumors.com, 2010).

Disc leade Mod 11 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Disc leade Mod 11 - Essay Example The assessment that has been an eye-opening of them all is the leadership trait questionnaire (LTQ). This is because it helped me determine my personal leadership traits, as I took the assessment and evaluated the score; I know have admirable leadership traits, even though previously, I was not certain on the same. In order to improve the organizations leadership and determine individuals that have leadership traits I can utilize the LTQ on my colleagues and followers in the firm (Rosch, 2007). Prior to introducing the assessment in the organization, I will conduct my personal research on the firm’s leadership structure and the traits of those in leadership. This research will give me an opportunity to determine the traits that need to be addressed, the strengths and weakness of my colleagues. I will then analyze these factors and start my assessment by asking my colleagues what they fill about varying leadership issues and the traits they believe a quality leader should have in order to help the firm attain its goals. In essence, I will be asking the questions contained in the LTQ and I will be ranking an individual’s response on the scale; at the long last I will evaluate my colleagues’ scores and thereby determine an individual that qualifies as a

EHR3007 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

EHR3007 - Essay Example The organizational structure will determine the firm’s ability in distributing the activities and how it coordinates the operations (Maguire, 2003, p.11). The organizational structure and design that is adopted by a given organization will greatly determine the performance and the final achievement of the organizational objectives. The kind of relations that is developed among all the stakeholders of the organization is very essential in ensuring that organizational objectives are set that are aimed at satisfying the needs of the stakeholders. There is need for the top management of a given organization to involve these other stakeholders in the development of policies that govern the operations within the organization. The way in which information is being passed from the top management down the hierarchy to the low-level implementers will influence the effective decision making process within the organization. A structure that has several layers may not allow for easy dissem ination of information between the low-level employees to the top managers. The paper examines the organizational structure that was seen at H.P, a business firm that deals in electronic products in the global market. An analysis is provided for various structural challenges that have been faced by the organization. The poor organizational structure that was seen in the organization in the late 1990s and the early 2000s had various negative impacts on the operations of the organization. The organization was seen to have certain strategies that were not developed according to the competitive nature of the current global market and the needs of some stakeholders. The appropriate organizational structures that can be adopted by the organization to avoid future challenges are also examined. Concepts like corporate governance that have been seen to be behind the successes of various organizations are suggested here as the best measures to be taken in managing the situation at this organi zation. 1. Overview of the organization Hewlett-Packard (H.P) is business firm in the United States that deals in electronic products in a global market. The firm was established back in 1939 by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard both from Stanford University. The company initially produced a sound electronic device known as an audio oscillator. Various developments have been seen in the types of products produced by the firms and it currently supplies products like laptops and desktop computers, printers, servers and digital cameras (Case Study). The organizational structure at HP is a complex hierarchical one with various management levels. At the top of the hierarchy is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or the President. This is followed by executive vice presidents serving in different areas of jurisdictions (Hewlett-Packard, 2011). The individuals at this level include the Chief Technical Officers (CTO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), the Chief Marketing Officer, the Human Resource Manager and others. There is also the level of the senior vice presidents followed by the vice presidents in the hierarchy. There are other managers at different levels like marketing managers, procurement managers, and sales managers down the hierarchy before

Report (addressing the key issues surrounding financial and marketing Essay

Report (addressing the key issues surrounding financial and marketing applications of management information system - Essay Example MIS systems enable organisations to transform unmanageable volumes of data into formats that supports faster decision making. Faster decision making empowers organisations with the capability to survive in today’s rapidly changing business environment. MIS systems also enables organisations run simulations based on raw data which allows them to answer ‘what if’ questions regarding their strategy. Broadly, MIS  increase information utility across an  organization. Information availability is essential  to the decision making process at all levels of the organisation: functional, operational and strategic. In this discussion we shall look at the key issues surrounding application of MIS in two major business processes, namely: marketing and finance. Marketing management information systems (MkIS) are computerized systems designed to support the availability of information required to ensure effective marketing activities of an organization. These needs of the organization can only be met by the marketing information systems if it provides the organization with operational, analytical and collaborative functionality (Harmon 2003). The operational needs aspect is addressed by the customer management applications that focus on daily customer transactions and customer service. The analytical function is done by MkIS decision support systems that enable data analysis on factors affecting the market conditions such as customers, competition and technology. The collaborative MkIS applications make it easier for managers to share information and work together virtually. Also, it assists in encouraging organizations to collaborate with their customers on product designs and preferences. Managing marketing information by means of IT has become an indispensible element of effective marketing. MkIS offer new approaches for making better the internal efficiencies of a firm especially with

Effects of News Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Effects of News Media - Essay Example Secondly, the journalists have often received threats of violence and legal action from people avoiding unfavorable publicity. This is a significant challenge especially if the coverage is on drugs or political agendas that are opposed to the government. The career is also risky based on the bribes that are presented to the media to avoid publication of an unfavorable story. Some journalists may be vulnerable to bribes which results to dishonest at work and an eventual dismissal. Other key challenges relate to gifts that are used by leading companies to buy friendship with the media so as to avoid bad publicity, family where a journalist may fear to offend the clan, organization or friends by producing an article on them and tradition in which case the writer may be pressured into a certain patterns of behavior (Campbell, Martin & Fabos 387). As a journalist, one has to be careful on what sites in the web the right information can be obtained. The credibility of information especially with regard to political issues in the websites is questionable since most of the people will post issues that favor and are of interest to them. Some may not even weigh the repercussion of the information they post in these sites. A journalist thus has a challenge to look at the formation provided and obtain data that is relevant, accurate, fair, unbiased and concentrate more on the content information and source. In this case, the journalist has to understand that the news publicized influence the level of thinking of the readers of such content. Therefore, media production is not just about writing articles, but more about filtering all content to ensure that the information provided is proper. The information and news media have influenced the American culture through many ways. Not only do they produce proper and relevant information, but also destructive sites especially with regard to pornographic material. The media thus has a social

Criminal Law (Damage to Property) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Criminal Law (Damage to Property) - Essay Example The Criminal Damage Act 1971 has three different types of criminal damage offences: simple criminal damage which is covered under section 1(1), aggravated criminal damage under section 1(2) and Criminal damage by arson under section 1(3) (Crown Prosecution Services, 2011). This Act does not define what damage is or what may be assumed to be damage under certain circumstances, which has led to courts construing the term freely. The Act also does not limit damage to large scale life threatening destruction of property, small acts like smearing mud in a police cell’s walls is also considered a criminal offence under this law. The maximum punishment for an aggravated and arson criminal damage is life imprisonment. All other offences covered under this act attract a maximum penalty of ten years. Horace’s Liability In the first case scenario, Horace knowingly tinkers with the shop’s lock so that it may temporarily refuse to open. He causes this damage with the intent of making it possible for his boss to attend the Tennis Finals at Wimbledon. However, Horace’s well intentioned act is not appreciated by his boss who would rather open his shop than attend the match. He (the owner) is forced to close shop the whole day since he cannot secure a new part for the lock. According to the law, what Horace has committed is a simple criminal damage.... He causes this damage with the intent of making it possible for his boss to attend the Tennis Finals at Wimbledon. However, Horace’s well intentioned act is not appreciated by his boss who would rather open his shop than attend the match. He (the owner) is forced to close shop the whole day since he cannot secure a new part for the lock. According to the law, what Horace has committed is a simple criminal damage. S.1(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971 states that an individual is guilty of a criminal damage offence if he or she recklessly or intentionally destroys or damages property that belongs to another without any lawful excuse. Horace causes temporary damage to the shop’s lock so that it can stay closed on the day of the tennis finals at Wimbledon. He has committed an offence by knowingly damaging property that dos not belong to him (Ashworth, 1991). However, Horace did believe that he was doing his boss a favour by tinkering with the padlock. His action may have a lawful excuse since he believed that his boss’s attending to the shop was just as important as attending the tennis finals at Wimbledon. Under section 5 part 1 of the Criminal Damage Act 1971, a lawful excuse may exist if at the time of the damaging act the person accused of the offence â€Å"believed that the person or persons whom he believed to be entitled to consent to the destruction of or damage to the property in question had so consented, or would have so consented to it if he or they had known of the destruction or damage and its circumstances† (Crown Prosecution Services, 2011). Part b of the same subsection allows for lawful excuse if the accused party caused damage or destruction to property so as to protect

Report (addressing the key issues surrounding financial and marketing Essay

Report (addressing the key issues surrounding financial and marketing applications of management information system - Essay Example MIS systems enable organisations to transform unmanageable volumes of data into formats that supports faster decision making. Faster decision making empowers organisations with the capability to survive in today’s rapidly changing business environment. MIS systems also enables organisations run simulations based on raw data which allows them to answer ‘what if’ questions regarding their strategy. Broadly, MIS  increase information utility across an  organization. Information availability is essential  to the decision making process at all levels of the organisation: functional, operational and strategic. In this discussion we shall look at the key issues surrounding application of MIS in two major business processes, namely: marketing and finance. Marketing management information systems (MkIS) are computerized systems designed to support the availability of information required to ensure effective marketing activities of an organization. These needs of the organization can only be met by the marketing information systems if it provides the organization with operational, analytical and collaborative functionality (Harmon 2003). The operational needs aspect is addressed by the customer management applications that focus on daily customer transactions and customer service. The analytical function is done by MkIS decision support systems that enable data analysis on factors affecting the market conditions such as customers, competition and technology. The collaborative MkIS applications make it easier for managers to share information and work together virtually. Also, it assists in encouraging organizations to collaborate with their customers on product designs and preferences. Managing marketing information by means of IT has become an indispensible element of effective marketing. MkIS offer new approaches for making better the internal efficiencies of a firm especially with

Criminal Law (Damage to Property) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Criminal Law (Damage to Property) - Essay Example The Criminal Damage Act 1971 has three different types of criminal damage offences: simple criminal damage which is covered under section 1(1), aggravated criminal damage under section 1(2) and Criminal damage by arson under section 1(3) (Crown Prosecution Services, 2011). This Act does not define what damage is or what may be assumed to be damage under certain circumstances, which has led to courts construing the term freely. The Act also does not limit damage to large scale life threatening destruction of property, small acts like smearing mud in a police cell’s walls is also considered a criminal offence under this law. The maximum punishment for an aggravated and arson criminal damage is life imprisonment. All other offences covered under this act attract a maximum penalty of ten years. Horace’s Liability In the first case scenario, Horace knowingly tinkers with the shop’s lock so that it may temporarily refuse to open. He causes this damage with the intent of making it possible for his boss to attend the Tennis Finals at Wimbledon. However, Horace’s well intentioned act is not appreciated by his boss who would rather open his shop than attend the match. He (the owner) is forced to close shop the whole day since he cannot secure a new part for the lock. According to the law, what Horace has committed is a simple criminal damage.... He causes this damage with the intent of making it possible for his boss to attend the Tennis Finals at Wimbledon. However, Horace’s well intentioned act is not appreciated by his boss who would rather open his shop than attend the match. He (the owner) is forced to close shop the whole day since he cannot secure a new part for the lock. According to the law, what Horace has committed is a simple criminal damage. S.1(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971 states that an individual is guilty of a criminal damage offence if he or she recklessly or intentionally destroys or damages property that belongs to another without any lawful excuse. Horace causes temporary damage to the shop’s lock so that it can stay closed on the day of the tennis finals at Wimbledon. He has committed an offence by knowingly damaging property that dos not belong to him (Ashworth, 1991). However, Horace did believe that he was doing his boss a favour by tinkering with the padlock. His action may have a lawful excuse since he believed that his boss’s attending to the shop was just as important as attending the tennis finals at Wimbledon. Under section 5 part 1 of the Criminal Damage Act 1971, a lawful excuse may exist if at the time of the damaging act the person accused of the offence â€Å"believed that the person or persons whom he believed to be entitled to consent to the destruction of or damage to the property in question had so consented, or would have so consented to it if he or they had known of the destruction or damage and its circumstances† (Crown Prosecution Services, 2011). Part b of the same subsection allows for lawful excuse if the accused party caused damage or destruction to property so as to protect

Luxury Brands Insights Essay Example for Free

Luxury Brands Insights Essay Over years, India’s tryst with luxury brands has changed gears. With high disposable incomes and a penchant for all things luxury amongst affluent Indians on the rise, the country is emerging as the next stopover for global luxury brands such as Gucci, Christian Dior and Versace. However, we must realize that Luxury marketing is a whole new ball-game altogether, both from the perspective of the marketer as well as the luxury consumer. It therefore becomes important to view it both in relation and isolation from the ‘regular’ goods marketing. To achieve the above objective, we would first look at how luxury goods are different from regular goods and then go on to explore some facets and trends of the luxury goods as well as their market and consumers. This analysis would finally sum up into a SWOT analysis of the luxury goods segment, thereby helping in obtaining a bird’s eye view of the exercise at hand. Considering that the luxury concept has shifted to the ‘new’ meaning, we would further delve into that aspect to understand the drivers for luxury brands presently, as well in the time to come. This is followed by a luxury potential determination of the Indian market both in terms of quantitative growth factors as well as qualitative initiatives. INDEX Abstract5 Objectives Sub Objectives6 Research Design6 Getting To Know Luxury8 Difference Between Regular Luxury Goods10 Luxury In India14 Qualitative Insights15 Quantitative Insights16 The Affluent Indian: Profiling The Indian Luxury Consumers17 Classification Of The Indian Luxury Consumer21 4p Trends24 Consumer Trends29 Strategies For Luxury Marketing In India57 Moving Forward66 References69 Annexure70. â€Å"Why do I need to know how the watch market is doing? I’m in the business of luxury† Partick Heiniger, CEO, Rolex GETTING TO KNOW LUXURY Luxury brands have often been associated with the core competences of creativity, exclusivity, craftsmanship, precision, high quality, innovation and premium pricing. These product attributes give the consumers the satisfaction of not only owning expensive items but the extra-added psychological benefits like esteem, prestige and a sense of a high status that reminds them and others that they belong to an exclusive group of only a select few, who can afford these pricey items. The luxury sector targets its products and services at consumers on the top-end of the wealth spectrum. These self-selected elite are more or less price insensitive and choose to spend their time and money on objects that are plainly opulence rather than necessities. For these reasons, luxury and prestige brands have for centuries commanded an unwavering and often illogical customer loyalty. Luxury, derived from the Latin word luxus, means indulgence of the senses, regardless of cost. Luxury brands are brands whose ratio of functional utility to price is low while that of intangible utility to price is high. Such brands share characteristics like consistent premium quality, a heritage of craftsmanship, a recognisable style or design, a limited production run of any item to ensure exclusivity, an element of uniqueness and an ability to keep coming up with new designs when the category is fashion-intensive. THE market for luxury brands in our country has expanded in recent times. With income levels going up, customers prepared to buy such brands are growing in numbers. According to an NCAER Household Income Survey, in 2001-02, there were 20,000 families in India with annual incomes of more than Rs 1 crore. By 2005, that number increased to almost 53,000. By 2010, India will have some 1, 40,000 crorepatis. Retail management company KSA Technopak estimates the market for luxury and high-end clothing in India at Rs 1,000 crore and for accessories at another Rs 1,000 crore. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LUXURY INDUSTRY 1. Luxury is a product category in itself: This can be best explained by the fact that both an expensive watch and an artwork can be considered to be luxury items. Therefore, all luxury marketers are not just competing in their ‘technically defined’ product categories (like manufacturers of refrigerators compete amongst themselves) but for the wallet share of luxury goods in total. 2. The meaning of luxury had changed Luxury has moved from its ‘old’ meaning of ownership that is also known as conspicuous consumption Conspicuous consumption is a term used to describe the lavish spending on goods and services that are acquired mainly for the purpose of displaying income or wealth rather than to satisfy a real need of the consumer. In the mind of a conspicuous consumer, such display serves as a means of attaining or maintaining social status. Invidious consumption, a necessary corollary, is the term applied to consumption of goods and services for the deliberate purpose of inspiring envy in others has now changed its objects to the ‘new’ meaning of the experience / fulfilment derived from possessing a certain object. 3. Aura is more important than exclusivity Exclusivity is something that cannot be ensured to a great extent and neither is it the prime requirement of a luxury consumer. The consumer bases his decisions on the relevance of the aura of the brand to his fulfilment or actualization needs. 4. Trading up A mass of wealthy people have emerged the world over, give rise to a large section of consumers who are now moving to luxury / premium brands, thereby creating greater business opportunity for luxury marketers. 5. Trading down Today, fashion brands are giving luxury brands competition because of marketing mix and branding strategies, which make it acceptable to pair these two brands. This is something that was not practiced before. eg. Wearing an Armani shirt with a pair of GAP jeans 6. Emergence of luxury brands. Sea of luxury brands have emerged giving a wide choice to consumers, in all segments of luxury goods. 7. Factors at play In luxury marketing there is a subtle interplay between three factors that most strongly influence the luxury consumer to buy: product brand; dealer or store’s brand or service providers’ reputation; and price/value relationship 8. Customer loyalty is more important that brand awareness Rather than focus on measuring the brand awareness of a luxury company, measuring customer loyalty is far more significant a metric regarding the success or failure of corporate strategy to connect with the luxury consumer. CONSUMER PERSPECTIVES TOWARDS LUXURY Consumers can be segregated in 3 groups according to what luxury means to them: Luxury is Functional – these consumers tend to buy luxury products for their superior functionality and quality. Consumers in this segment, the largest of the three, tend to be older and wealthier and are willing to spend more money to buy things that will last and have enduring value. They buy a wide array of luxury goods, from artwork to vacations, and conduct extensive pre-purchase research, making logical decisions rather than emotional or impulsive. Messages that highlight product quality and are information-intensive are powerful with this group. Luxury is Reward – these consumers tend to be younger than the first group but older than the third. They use luxury goods as a status symbol to say â€Å"I’ve made it! † They are motivated by their desire to be successful and demonstrate this to others. Luxury brands that have widespread recognition are popular, however they don’t wish to appear lavish or hedonistic in their appearance. They want to purchase â€Å"smart† luxury that demonstrates importance while not leaving them open to criticism. Marketing messages that communicate acceptable exclusivity resonate with this group. Luxury is Indulgence – this group is the smallest of the three and tends to include younger consumers and slightly more males than the other two groups. Their purpose for luxury goods is to lavish themselves in self-indulgence. They are willing to pay a premium for goods that express their individuality and make others take notice and are not overly concerned with product longevity or possible criticism. They enjoy luxury for the way it makes them feel; therefore they have a more emotional approach to purchases. They respond well to messages that highlight the unique and emotional qualities of a product. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REGULAR LUXURY GOODS Luxury has never been something easy to define, yet this mystery concept is something highly desired by one and all alike. We look at delving deeper into this mystery and aura of luxury goods by way of comparing them against ‘regular goods’ as well as highlighting the characteristics of the luxury industry. Strategies for Luxury Marketing in India There are conventional foundations for ensuring success of a brand and they are listed below in brief: 1. The brand must be â€Å"expansive† Which means it should be full of innovation opportunities for the marketer and in terms of satisfying the divergent needs of the luxury consumer 2. The brand must tell a story It is this story, of either heritage or performance or other aspects that goes on to build the aura of a brand over time. The story always accentuates the identity of the brand. 3. The brand must be relevant to the consumers’ needs Depending upon the mindset of the luxury class, it is imperative for a brand to satisfy those needs, whether they are for recognition or functional use etc. 4. The brand must align with consumers’ values A brand that does not concur with the basic values of a consumer’s society has a small chance of succeeding because luxury items are forms of expression or identification for a luxury consumer. This makes it difficult for the consumer to adopt the brand in such cases. 5. The brand must perform Irrespective of which category the brand belongs to, a performance assurance is a must for the brand if it wishes to be in the evoked set of luxury consumers, considering the price being paid for luxury. INDUSTRY OVERVIEW. In the past, brands like Liz Claiborne and Pierre Cardin tested Indian waters but made a hasty retreat following poor customer response. This led to a general perception that India is still not ready for luxury brands. But now that impression is changing. Many leading global luxury brand marketers have started taking our market seriously. Luxury goods marketing is a different ball game as the type of customers involved fall in a different class altogether. These customers are influenced more by glamour and style and want to stand out in a crowd. They do not bat an eyelid whey they buy a Vuitton bag costing Rs 50,000 or a Mont Blanc diamond-encrusted pen for Rs 50 lakh, Ermenegildo Zegnas top-of the-line, custom-tailored suit costing Rs 6 lakh or a mid-range Louis Vuitton briefcase priced Rs 1. 27 lakh. As these figures suggest, luxury brands are prestige products characterised by high-involvement decision-making that is strongly related to the persons self-concept. Sensory gratification and social approval are the primary factors in selecting a prestige product. Cutting prices or giving discounts can be detrimental in case of luxury brands. A higher price implies a higher level of quality and also suggests a certain degree of prestige. Similarly, distribution should be restricted. Status-sensitive consumers may reject a particular product if the feeling of exclusivity goes away. Managing luxury brands is as much an art as a science. The challenge is to create a demand for something which is not really needed. After all, it looks crazy to spend Rs 50,000 on a handbag or Rs1,27,000 on a briefcase. Creativity plays a key role in creating such a premium image. Many luxury brands achieve legitimacy and fashion authority as a result of the creative talent of their design teams who respect the brand heritage and yet continuously reinvent it. MARKET SIZE AND INDUSTRY GROWTH RATE With the European and American markets reaching a saturation point, leading players are now concentrating on the BRIC countries and the action is expected to shift to India, being the fastest growing luxury market, growing at 25%. , and is expected to maintain these rates for the next 10 years. The Indian Luxury Market is estimated to be to be USD 4. 35 billion and this forms only 2% of the global share. The growth of luxury markets is on the basis of GDP per-capita growth and the High Networth Individuals (HNI’s) in a country. India will be the second largest economy by 2040. Factors like Consumer Attitudes, Real Estate, Regulatory Environment and Ecosystem are important for the growth of luxury market and these are improving in the country. India has 83,000 millionaires and every year 16,000 more are getting added to this. The main trigger behind Indians indulging in luxury is to flaunt status, and the consumers here are becoming aware of leading global brands in the space, but tend to be extremely value conscious. There is a sizeable population engaging in outbound travel and getting exposure to global luxury market. The Indian consumer wants not just to be pampered, but entertained, excited and Inspired by Luxury brands and hence global players will have to look at innovative methods of reaching and engaging customers to succeed in the Indian market. With India emerging as one of the important players in the Luxury Space, the rich and famous across the globe are interested in exploring Indian Luxury products. Also, because of the availability of high disposable income Indians have developed an appetite to live a lavish lifestyle. India is being looked upon by the entire world as an emerging market and a potential Global hub. Hence, considering the potential of the Country many big brands from across the Globe either have set up their base here or are planning to do the same. GDP CONTRIBUTION The Gross Domestic Product or GDP is the indicator of the performance of an economy. According to the estimates of 2008, Indias GDP is $1. 209 trillion and this is slated to make improvement in the coming times. It is estimated that Indias GDP will grow by 6. 5% in the year 2009. In 2008 the countrys GDP was 9%; the slowdown that has been witnessed this year in the estimates is largely due to the slowdown witnessed by the agriculture and the industrial sectors. A look at the India GDP composition sector wise throws up some interesting figures. The agriculture sector contributed 17. 2%; industry contributed 29. 1% while the service sector had a contribution of 52. 7% according to 2008 estimates. FDI LIMITS AN INTERESTING FACT!!! What is the size of US Luxury Market? A) A third of India’s GDP B) Half of India’s GDP C) Equal to India’s GDP D) More than double India’s GDP ANS: D) More than double India’s GDP. While India will certainly not match the US, Japan or China in terms of its domestic market size for luxury goods and services for decades to come, its influence on global luxury business will steadily increase in the coming years. The reasons are many and mostly historical. Unlike Japan or China, India has a history and a tradition of luxury for millennia. It has an influence on textiles and handwork on them, on gems and their setting in jewellery, in food (including ingredients and spices), on natural skin and body care, on fragrances and cosmetics, and even furniture, furnishings, and objects d’art. For centuries, India’s nobility and the wealthy have been used to â€Å"commission† and patron works of luxury and extraordinary human skill. LUXURY MARKET SECTORS SECTORS| KEY PLAYERS| MARKET SHARE %| Jewellery| | 27| Clothing| | 16| Digital Accessories| | 13| Time Wear| | 8| Cosmetics Skin Care| | 8| Foot Ware| | 6| Wine Liquor| | 6| Accessories| | 6| Fragrances| | 4| Crystal Wear| | 2| Others| | 4| The Key Player Analysis The following table summarizes the marketing mix adopted by the 4 leading luxury brands. In order to arrive at successful strategies to market luxury in India, it is pertinent to look at the marketing strategies instituted by the existing luxury players in India. Product| Price| Place| Promotion| Valentino offers a limited assortment due to the nascent demand of gowns in India. This is attributed to Indian women’s preference of sarees over gowns. Because of this trend, Valentino has launched â€Å"saree inspired gowns† in their latest collection. Valentino has also included a few sarees (worn by Elizabeth Hurley) in its trademark red in their collection. | Valentino claims to charge prices same as their western counterparts. | Opened its first store in August ’06 at Delhi’s Shangri La hotel. it is currently looking for space to open a standalone store each in bangalore, Mumbai surprisingly, Ludhiana. Has no plans of opening a store in a luxury mall due to a fear of dilution of identity. The brand owns numerous stores in China. | The brand has little promotional presence. In the west it relies on red carpet events fashion shows to promote its gowns. However due to lack of such events in India, it uses little print advertisements from abroad in India. They predominantly feature Hollywood actresses models. | Product| Price| Place| Promotion| The brand offers a smaller assortment of their products in west in India. This is attributed to the cultural difference the differences fashion trends. | The brand claims to price their products equitably in India when compared to their western counterparts. However, it does admit to the greater taxes. | Launched operations in India in 2005. has only one boutique in India as opposed to 8 boutiques in China. The brand’s only boutique in India is located at The Imperial Hotel in Delhi. | Has no. promotional campaigns targeted exclusively at Indian market. Nicole Kidman, the brand’s leading endorser, recently shot an advertisement with Indian model/actor Arjun Rampal in Rajasthan. However, the advertisement will not be aired in India as Chanel only promotes in print media in India. Came into headlines for dressing up actress Sonam Kapoor for a film premier. | Product| Price| Place| Promotion| Made headlines with their intention to design sarees. However, the brand has shown no signs of actually producing them. Offers limited amount of their product offerings due to limited demand in Indian market. However, is planning to expand their offering in future. | The brand admits to charging a higher price due to the tax structure high infrastructure costs. | Launched operations in India in 2007 with boutiques in Mumbai and Delhi. Murjani Group is the master franchisee of this brand in India. The brand’s store in Delhi is located at The Oberoi’s Hotel. the brand has currently shelved the plans of opening four more stores including one in the Emporio Mall. The brand owns close to 27 stores in almost all leading cities of China. | The brand relies heavily on print advertisements. However, it regrets its recent decision of promotions through newspaper advertisements as it harmed the brand’s exclusive luxe image. Has no specific advertisements promotional material for Indian customers. | Product| Price| Place| Promotion| Armani offers all of their latest collection in their Indian stores. The brand recently made headlines in Indian newspapers for including Sherwanis in the 2009 fall-winter collection. The sherwanis are now sold globally in all their stores. The brand has registered a tremendous growth by selling above 200 items a month and registering a growth of above 50 percent annually. | Armani claims to price their products same as abroad refuses to comment further. | Armani has recently entered the Indian market with a joint venture with DLF. The store currently operates through two exclusive stores in Delhi’s first Luxury Mall DLF Emporio. The is currently in plans of opening four more standalone stores in Delhi and Mumbai. It owns 15 stores in China. | Armani, unlike in west, only relies on print media (in magazines) to promote their products. The brand features its international promotional material in India as well. However, in its latest ad campaign, it featured a model of Indian descent (Vasuki)| DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE MACRO-ENVIRONMENT Political Trends One positive factor for any company entering India is the political stability of the nation as well as democratic style of leadership. Government apart from tariffs has taken a neutral stance towards the luxury stalwarts, FDI and tariffs as only concern which will be strengths in coming future. The implementation of the Free Trade Area, which laid out a comprehensive program of regional tariff reduction, will be continuously implemented in phases through the year 2010. Over the course of the next several years, the programs in tariff reductions will be made broader. Efforts to eliminate non-tariff barriers and develop common product certification standards were initiated. In addition, ASEAN also was able to formulate framework agreements for the intra-regional liberalization of trade in services. Economic Trends Despite the adverse economic trends in the last year, the luxury goods industry as a whole experienced relatively robust economic growth. Many countries have also seen the risk-weighted capital adequacy ratios of their banking systems improve due to government-sponsored bank recapitalization programs, continued progress in financial restructuring, and improvements in financial risk management. Overall Indian economic trend is a silver lining for companies as India is increasingly becoming the hotbed for millionaires and billionaires the new found riches is growing and will continue to be so, hence economic trend which was a challenge will grow as a big advantage. Social / Cultural Trends. There have also been social and cultural trends that have been evident over the last few years in the luxury goods industry. These include: (a) The irreversible rise of civil society (b) The rise of civil society and urbanisation blends perfectly with dreams that luxury brands sell (c) The increase in the roles of intellectuals and social awareness. (d) Indians are a peculiar breed, victims of centuries-old socio-economic oppression. Where each of us is pinned on the social matrix is revealed by our last name or even a stray twist in accent. Money or the display of it can rarely manage to unsettle the hierarchy. Awareness or rather subtle awareness is something which luxury marketers are happy about and aiming at. With more and more urbanisation and globalisation the need to be in parity with the world will fuel the demands for more upmarket and more luxurious lifestyle. Technological Trends It is a common knowledge that the luxury goods industry is still a relatively new industry in the country and is still in its early stages of development. Technology being a important factor still comes as second at times in various luxury categories, though make no mistakes that that second is still way above what a mid level brand can aim at. India being hub of technological development still does not provide luxury brands enough lucrative options as tech advancement are not synchronised and homogeneous, hence it is a dark spot but might be a very significant area in future. Legal Trends. Intellectual property (IP) and IP Rights (IPR) creation, commercialization, and protection have been a significant source of comparative advantage of enterprises and economies and a major driver of their competitive strategies. Indeed, countries all over the world are fully aware of the pressing need for a long-term policy commitment to collectively transform the luxury goods industry into one which is largely based on knowledge, driven by innovation and sustained by life-long learning. Countries all over the world have pledged to work together to help accelerate the pace and scope of IP asset creation, commercialization and protection; to improve the regional framework of policies and institutions relating to IP and IPRs, including the development and harmonization of enabling IPR registration systems; to promote IP cooperation and dialogues within the region as well with the region’s Dialogue Partners and organizations; to strengthen IP-related human and institutional capabilities, including fostering greater public awareness of issues and implications, relating to IP and IPRs. INDIA and IPR are a big problem, just not having the stringent and encompassing laws is not the only issue, and problem also arises due to weak enforcement of laws. Cheap imitation and intellectual property infringement is a common occurrence in the nation. Luxury Goods Industry SWOT Analysis Strengths: †¢Has products that boast of a very powerful retail. This includes a reputation for value of money, convenience and a wide variety of products †¢Has grown significantly over the years, and has experienced global expansion. †¢Main competence lies on the use of information technology (IT) to fully support its international logistics system. Therefore, companies in this industry can see how their individual products perform within the United States for instance, or even at stores at a glance. †¢Is able to deliver good customer care, as the limited amount of work would mean plenty of time to devote to customers. †¢Products have established a strong reputation within the market. †¢Offers little deficits and overheads. Therefore the companies in this industry can offer good value to customers on a consistent basis. Weaknesses: †¢Is one of the worlds largest industries but has a weak control of its empire, despite its IT advantages. This could lead to a decrease in productivity in some areas where it has the least control. †¢Since companies in this industry sell products across many sectors, they may lack the flexibility that some of its more focused competitors possess. †¢Operates globally, but its presence is located in only relatively few countries worldwide. †¢Some luxury goods lack market presence or reputation †¢The company’s cash flow is unreliable especially in the early stages of a new luxury product development. †¢Over flooding doesn’t leave a luxury brand a real luxury brand. Opportunities: †¢Taking over, merging, or forming strategic alliances with other luxury good companies while focusing on strong markets like Europe or the Greater China Region and India. †¢Luxury good companies operate only on trade in a relatively small number of countries all over the world. Thus, this would open the opportunities for future businesses in expanding various consumer markets, such as those in China and India. †¢The opening of new locations and branches offer luxury good companies the opportunities to exploit market development. This could lead to the diversification of the company’s branches from large super centres to local-based sites. †¢Opportunities exist for luxury good companies to continue with their current strategy of establishing large branches worldwide. †¢The industry is continuously expanding, with plenty of future opportunities to exploit for success. †¢AS FOR INDIA IT IS â€Å"THE â€Å"INDUSTRY OF FUTURE maybe 10 more years. Threats: †¢Being number one means that the luxury goods industry is the target of competition, the industry to beat, both locally and globally. †¢Being a global retailer means that luxury goods companies might be exposed to political problems in the countries where the company has operations. †¢The production costs of most luxury products have the tendency to fall because of lower manufacturing costs. Manufacturing costs fall because of outsourcing to low-cost regions around the globe. This phenomenon could lead to competition in prices, which in turn would result in the deflation of prices in various ranges. Intense price competition must definitely be considered a threat. †¢Indian mentality of the masses. †¢REPUTATION, if it goes down company goes down. Detailed Analysis of the Industry Environment The assessment of the industry attractiveness is performed using the Porter’s Five Forces Model. A. Threat of New Entrants New entrants in the luxury goods industry will have to deal with high costs of entry for their latest technologies. Most major competitors in this industry have yet to establish strong distribution channels. This will severely hamper their plans to retaliate with their technological developments as without distribution channels, their products would never be seriously considered in the market by customers. These companies must worry though about certain government laws in some countries that might weaken their competitive position (2002). B. Bargaining Power of Suppliers. Suppliers of luxury goods have relatively lower bargaining power because their products have yet to establish consistency in the market. This is in contrary to ordinary brands where these products have been able to secure the confidence of its customers worldwide. C. Bargaining Power of Buyers A majority of consumers in the luxury goods industry are professionals who rely on mobile and expensive gadgets and expect seamless services every time they use them. For instance, a customer phones in a service request from the New York airport while boarding a plane bound to Paris the same day. The technical people in New York will immediately work on the service ticket of the client. And when that client arrives in Paris, he / she would be able to call the New York service centre and pick up exactly where he / she left off (1999). The bargaining power of buyers in the luxury goods industry is relatively high because there are only few, large players in the industry. D. Threat of Substitutes There are very little threats that could emerge from possible substitutes. This is because product-for-product substitution could not possibly happen especially with luxury goods. Other products cannot simply replace the ingenuity of the established luxury products in the market. Also, the millions of users of these luxury products surely would find it too uncomfortable using other products other than their luxury products CASE STUDY: THE MURJANI GROUP OVERVIEW Murjani Group develops, launches, and builds various designer lifestyle brands. It operates in the United States, India, and internationally. Murjani Group was founded in 1930 and is based in New York, New York. They partner with international luxury brands and retail them in India. KEY EXECUTIVES Managing Director: Mr. Vijay Murjani. Chief Operating Officer: Mr. Pradeep Mansukhani Business Head of French Connection: Mr. Dhiresh Sharma Marketing Head of Luxury Division: Mr. Vikram Raizada Business Head of Gucci: Ms. Ananda Kara JOURNEY 1930: Mr B. K. Murjani found the group in Shanghai, CHINA with it’s first retail store 1950: After the world war Murjani commenced operations in Hong kong with a trading company. 1952: Murjani sets up Hong Kong’s first garment manufacturing factory. 1958: With 6 years, Murjani grew to one of the largest apparel producers in the world, with a production capacity in excess of 10 million units per annum. 1966: The current Chairman, Mohan Murjani, joins the group. 1966: The Group commenced its transition from manufacturing to designer lifestyle brand development and marketing, by launching its first brand in the USA, â€Å" Marco Polo† 1976: Murjani launches the â€Å"First Designer jean† 1980: Murjani sponsors the US Open 1985: Murjani launched Tommy Hilfiger,in 1985. Here again Murjani group re-enforced their panache with ground breaking and ingenious marketing, to ensure that Tommy Hilfiger, would almost immediately, positioned amongst the top designers in the world. The innovative brand marketing and management techniques adopted by Murjani Group over the years, have changed the very paradigm of marketing, merchandising and retailing, as we know it today. 1986: Murjani launches â€Å"Coca-Cola clothes Why India With a luxury boom in India, there are over one million luxury consumers, which is only a fraction of eight million plus consumers who have the disposable incomes but are unfamiliar with the luxury segment. The growth rate is 14. 6 per cent. Target audience is 22-55 year olds. India’s luxury goods market of Rs 717 billion is set to expand with a new firm to facilitate process by bringing together buyers and manufacturers. India’s total retail market has been estimated at $160 billion or Rs 7,170 billion, covering eight million consumers. Of them, one million are considered to be in the luxury brands segment 2000: NAMASTE INDIA The Murjani Group for many years, was very keen to establish a presence in the Indian market, but had to wait for the right time. In 2000 with the rapid growth in the consuming class, Murjani was amongs.