The Science of Nutrition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Science of Nutrition - Essay Example Describe the processes involved in cellular protein synthesis. How would synthesis be affected by intake of an otherwise adequate diet that is very low in glycine or low in tryptophan How would synthesis be affected by a diet that is low in energy Proteins are widely used in cells to provide different functions such as providing structural support for cells or to act as enzymes to catalyze certain reactions. Since the beginning of evolution, cells have developed the ability to synthesize proteins. To manufacture proteins, cells follow a very systematic procedure that first transcribes DNA into mRNA and then translates the mRNA into chains of amino acids. The amino acid chain then folds into specific proteins. [11] These two processes are 1. DNA Transcription Protein synthesis initiates in the cell's nucleus when the gene encoding a protein is copied into RNA. Genes, in the form of DNA, are rooted in the cell's chromosomes. The process of transferring the gene's DNA into RNA is called transcription. Transcription helps to increase the amount of DNA by creating many copies of RNA that can act as the template for protein synthesis. The RNA copy of the gene is called the mRNA. After transcription, the mRNA is transported out of the cell's nucleus through nuclear pores to go to the site of translation, the rough endoplasmic reticulum. [4] 2. RNA Translation After the mRNA has been taken to the rough endoplasmic reticulum, it is fed into the ribosomal translation machineries. Ribosomes begin to read the mRNA sequence to convert the mRNA into protein. The mRNA sequence is matched three nucleotides at a time to a complementary set of three nucleotides in the anticodon region of the corresponding tRNA molecule.... As the essay declares proteins are widely used in cells to provide different functions such as providing structural support for cells or to act as enzymes to catalyze certain reactions. Since the beginning of evolution, cells have developed the ability to synthesize proteins. To manufacture proteins, cells follow a very systematic procedure that first transcribes DNA into mRNA and then translates the mRNA into chains of amino acids. The amino acid chain then folds into specific proteins. According to the report findings protein synthesis initiates in the cell's nucleus when the gene encoding a protein is copied into RNA. Genes, in the form of DNA, are rooted in the cell's chromosomes. The process of transferring the gene's DNA into RNA is called transcription. Transcription helps to increase the amount of DNA by creating many copies of RNA that can act as the template for protein synthesis. The RNA copy of the gene is called the mRNA. After transcription, the mRNA is transported out of the cell's nucleus through nuclear pores to go to the site of translation, the rough endoplasmic reticulum. After the mRNA has been taken to the rough endoplasmic reticulum, it is fed into the ribosomal translation machineries. Ribosomes begin to read the mRNA sequence to convert the mRNA into protein. The mRNA sequence is matched three nucleotides at a time to a complementary set of three nucleotides in the anticodon region of the corresponding tRNA molecule.

English class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

English class - Essay Example It should be noted that Bush won that election only because of some of the loopholes in the American presidential election system. Even though Al Gore won majority of the popular vote, Congress and Supreme Court decided that Bush should be the winner since he had more Electoral College votes than Gore. The essence of democracy is a government elected by the majority of the people. In other words, those who were able to capture majority of the public votes should be declared as the winner; then only we can say that the election was fair under the norms of democratic principles. If I had power, I would have definitely changed the constitution to cancel the presidential election of Bush. In my opinion, the cancellation of Bush’s presidential election and the declaration of Al Gore as the winner would have changed American history in many ways. Bush is actually responsible for some of the most unfavorable incidents happening at present. It was because of Bush’s decision to attack Iraq in order to take revenge upon Saddam for humiliating his father Bush Sr, majority of the recent terrorist incidents occurred in this world. Bush’s decision to attack Iraq forced Arab world and the Muslim world to think that America is against Islam. This belief actually forced them justify terrorist attack as a mean of self-defense. In fact 9/11 was the outcome of Iraq war.

Homeostasis Of Skeletal And Muscular Systems

Homeostasis Of Skeletal And Muscular Systems Living cells of plants and animals are only able to survive under a narrow range of certain conditions that include nutrient availability, pH concentration, temperature, ion concentration among other factors. The human body, usually called inner environment has to time and again adapt to the outside environment which is ever experiencing weather changes and great climate diversification that occurs from one hour to another, one day to another day and from one season to another. It is in this respect that human beings have to device physiological mechanisms in order to survive because any inability by the human body to adjust to these changes leads to either diseases or to death. Human beings for example can only survive under a narrow range of pH values of 7.35 and 7.45.Any value below these results to a situation called acidosis whereas any excess of this causes a situation called alkalosis. It is of paramount importance to note that either condition is as life threatening as the ot her. Likewise, the normal body temperature of 37.2 to 37.7 degrees Celsius has to be equally maintained to ensure survival of a living organism. Any deviation from these results to a condition called hypothermia (if the core body temperature goes below 33 degrees Celsius or 91 degrees Fahrenheit) or hyperthermia (if the core body temperature goes above 42 degrees Celsius or 108 degrees Fahrenheit) This is done through the process called Homeostasis. Homeostasis is the tendency of a system of a living organism, either closed or open, to regulate an internal environment while maintaining a constant and stable condition. Homeostasis is made possible through multiple dynamic equilibrium adjustment and regulation mechanism and not a stable equilibrium as such. This is because internal body conditions are never absolutely stable but varies within a narrow range of average commonly referred to as set point. Several body systems are involved in the process of homeostatic regulation. The Nervous system is in charge of controlling other body parts by sending an electrochemical signal to the brain whenever there is any change from optimum levels. The brain then corresponds by sending the required stimulus to the respective body organ. The Circulatory system, made up of arteries and veins, maintains this balance through the circulation of blood to all other body parts. Through capillaries , an exchange of nutrients in each cell is initiated. This system also enhances the transportation of toxic excretory wastes and other liquid material to the excretory organs. Through lymphatic vessels, the Lymphatic system is involved in homeostasis by collecting excess tissue fluids and taking them back to the veins. The Endocrine system, the main regulator of this process of homeostasis, on the other hand contains hormones (chemical messengers) that keeps circulating throughout the blood stream and acts on the respective target organs. As much as the Endocrine system cannot work without coordinating with the Nervous system, its effects as long lasting even thou they are slow. The process of Homeostatic regulation takes place under a mechanism called feedback. This feedback can either be negative-to ensure stability or positive-to enhance a rapid change. A negative mechanism loop is where a body senses a change in the internal environment and activates methods to negate, reverse or counter that change. A very relevant example of negative mechanism is the process of temperature regulation. A rise in blood temperatures is sensed by specialized neurons located in the hypothalamus found in the brain. This is then signaled to other nerve centers which in turn relay them to the blood vessels of the skin. The dilation of the blood vessels pushes the blood to flow closer to the body surface and excess heat is radiated from the body. If this does not cool the body back to the set point, sweating is activated by the brain. A strong cooling effect is thus felt on the skin due to evaporation of sweat. In the event that the body temperatures fall too low, the same hypo thalamus senses this and signals this to the cutaneous arteries (that supply the skin with blood) to perform an action called constriction. Deeper retention of warm blood in the body is initiated thus less heat is lost from the body surface. If this effect is inadequate, the brain likewise activities the act of shivering and in the course of shivering, each muscle tremor releases heat energy to return the body back to the set point of 37 degrees Celsius. The second mechanism of homeostasis, a counterpart to the negative feedback loop is that of positive feedback and rapid change. In this positive feedback loop mechanism, once the body is able to sense a change, it activates a mechanism to either accelerate or increase that change. As much as this mechanism aids in homeostasis, it mostly produces opposite results and can be life threatening or fatal. A good example of a beneficial positive feedback is exhibited in the process of blood clotting where an enzyme that is used to form the matrix of blood clot thrombin in the complex biochemical pathway is catalyzed thus the process is speeded up. Another beneficial positive feedback is seen in the process of childbirth where the secretion of hormone oxytocin is triggered by the stretching of uterus and this enhances uterine contraction that speeds up labor. Similarly, a beneficial positive feedback is experienced in the process of protein digestion where secretion of hydrochloric acid and enzyme pepsin is initiated by the presence of partially digested protein particles that once digestion begins, it becomes a process that is self-accelerating. However, this mechanism has more harmful and more potential fatal consequences that often results to rapid loss of internal stability. The death of a small area of a heart tissue for example triggers myocardial infarction, a kind of heart attack, because the heart is not able to pump an adequate amount of blood hence the heart itself is deprived of blood and more tissues begins to die. In many cases, this leads to rapid cardiac mal-functioning leading to death. It is therefore important to bear in mind that many deaths that occur are as a result of positive feedback loop. However both the skeletal and the muscular systems work hand in hand in the process of homeostatic regulation in a combined system otherwise known as the muscular skeletal system or rather musculoskeletal system. This system consists of the bones and joints- skeletal system and voluntary or striated muscles-skeletal muscle system. Skeletal muscle fibers contain numerous nucleuses on each cell and the cell nuclei are found beneath the plasma membrane of the skin. Both the skeletal and the muscular systems work together in the process of performing basic and essential functions necessary for life that includes protection (of the brain and other internal organs), supportive services of maintaining an upright posture, blood cell formation in a process called hematopoesis, storage of minerals and fats among other minor duties like leverage that involves magnifying movement or force speed. Musculoskeletal system comprises of five major tissues that include bones, tendons, ligaments cartila ge and skeletal muscles. The ligaments are the tissues on which one bone is attached to another bone. Cartilages are protective and gel-like substances that line interveterbral discs and joints while tendons usually attach muscles to bones. Each of these tissues has four connective blocks that build tissues. They include fibroblasts, collagen, elastic fibers and proteoglycans. Fibroblasts are the mother of all these other connective tissues as it is the one that produces them. Collagens are the principal proteins that are long and thin and are organized into various intertwining fibers to form strong ones that do not stretch. Elastic fibers are found in the walls of arteries whereas proteoglycans are ground substances normally called matrix in which the other connective tissues reside. This combination of functions by both the muscular and skeletal happens mostly when there is a change in both the body pH and the central venous pressure. Active body muscles usually respire and in the process carbon dioxide is produced. The carbon dioxide that is produced dissociates in the blood to produce both hydrogen and carbon ions which have an impact of lowering this pH. Once there is such a decrease in the pH, the chemoreceptors that are centrally located in the brain detect this and induce respiration that accelerates expulsion of the carbon dioxide gas thus maintaining the internal body temperature. The second way in which muscular skeletal homeostasis in the body is evident happens during exercise. Here, more blood is diverted into body muscles as a result of relaxation of arterioles hence a considerable decrease in the volume of blood flowing to the heart. This brings about an impact in the central venous pressure. In order to correct this defect and bring about homeosta sis, the aortic and carotid barroreceptors via the cranial nerves detects this and relays this information in the cardiovascular (medulla) part of the brain. This then lowers the action potential rate in the brain thereby increasing and decreasing the sympathetic and the parasympathetic outputs respectively. The overall result is an increase in not only the inotropy (heart rate) and chronotropy (contractility) but also in vasoconstriction and total peripheral resistance (blood pressure).

The Trip To Halawa Valley :: essays research papers

The Trip to Halawa Valley "The Trip to Halawa Valley," is a short story written by Lynne Sharon Schwartz. The story is about a son succeeding and getting married in Hawaii, and the reunification of his divorced parents. The parents become the main focus of the story when the son suggests that they go on a trip to Halawa Valley. In this story Schwartz is trying to show people that once you make a decision it is very hard to turn back on that decision. With all the characters, except for the briefly mentioned newlyweds, Schwartz shows how decisions made by a person or a couple are hard to turn back on. An example of this is Paul's parents. Lois and Jim are brought back together in Hawaii, and try to rekindle their love for each other. After their trip though, they realize it can not be done, and part in their own separate ways. Schwartz does a very good job of showing the reader the experience she is trying to convey. She does this by using a couple different characters throughout the story. The main ones she uses are the parents, and that is the very obvious example. A few other examples are not as clear, but they do show how decisions are an important factor in life and once made are very hard to turn around. Using Paul's brother Anthony, Schwartz shows that once he made the decision to join the Hare Krishnas there was no turning back, even if that meant not communicating with his parents anymore. Schwartz also uses Paul's other brother Eric. When Eric announced that he was gay, his parents had to make the tough decision to either support or not support his choice in sexuality. Schwartz develops the characters very fast, but in doing so makes the story move faster. Throughout the story the characters are being developed through the thoughts of both Lois and Jim. They talk about their kids and how one of them died at age 11 due to a brain tumor. Schwartz also makes Lois develop Jim, and Jim develop Lois. She does this by making them reminisce about their past together. The conflict in this short story is between the parents of Paul.

Zara and H&M

We have been given an assignment, where we have been divided into groups. In our group we have analyzed two companies, namely Zara and H&M. These two companies are both very big companies within clothing. The fashion business is very tough, and we will explain to you what we believe the two companies does well in this hard business, and why this is good. We have been giving time to solve the assignment in some of our classes with Gitte and Peter, the rest we have made at home. After we have analyzed the two companies we will compare their 4 P’s and their value chain, likewise we also will make a five forces analysis.Z A R A * Company profile – Zara Zara is a very big clothing chain from Spain. The chain was founded in 1975 by Mr. Ortega, and it now has more than 1. 000 stores in approximately 63 countries – so it is a very big chain. However Zara has its biggest market in Spain, where they have 364 stores in total. They sell fashion clothes of a fairly good q uality to reasonable prices – this also means that they have a broad target group, which we believe to be from kids to adults younger than 50, both men and women.Over the years Zara has expanded their product line heavily, so now they also sell accessories, cosmetics, furniture and perfumes. They have made a whole new store called Zara Home where they are selling furniture’s; we will however focus on their clothing. The founder of Zara is naturally very wealthy, in fact he is the richest man in Spain, and the second richest within the business of fashion. Also Zara’s stores are very big, most of them are between 800 and 1. 000 square meters – which makes room for a lot of fashion clothing.Inditex, the mother company of Zara has many stores under them, but it is worth mentioning that Zara stands for 77 % of Inditex’ overall sales, which is very impressive, and their plan for the future is to continue expanding and growing bigger and bigger. Zara clo thing is sold worldwide, and not long ago the first store opened on Stroget in Copenhagen. * Generic strategies Generic strategies is a marketing tool invented by Michael Porter. It is very popular and many companies use it. The generic strategy tells about the product(s) and its target group(s). Beneath you will see the generic strategies model. Low cost| Unique product / high cost| Broad target group| Overall cost leadership| Differentiation| Narrow target group| Niche – Cost focus| Niche – Differentiation focus| As seen above we believe that Zara uses the overall cost leadership strategy. Zara’s target group is very broad but their prices are also fairly low, this is why they use the overall cost leadership strategy. To a certain extend you could also say that Zara uses the differentiation strategy. This is because they have very beautiful products which are a bit more expensive than their closest competitors.But also because they have so many different produ cts – they have everything from clothes to furniture’s. But mainly we are certain that they use the overall cost leadership strategy. * Growth strategies Ansoffs growth strategy is a well known toll within marketing. The strategy is used by marketers who have objectives for growth, and Ansoffs matrix offers different strategic choices to achieve the goals. The model is shown below this text: | Old product| New product| Old target group| Market penetration| Product development| New target group| Market development| Diversification|We believe that Zara uses two growth strategies, and we will know explain why. The two strategies that Zara in our opinion uses is, market penetration and product development. If we have focus on their clothing line we believe that they have penetrated the market very much, naturally because they use the same products, clothing, and also because they aim for their existing target group. If your growth strategy is market penetration it would be obvious choice to promote your products, but that is not what Zara is doing.They are relaying on good store locations and loyal customers who will talk in nice words about Zara to their friends and family. As mentioned we also believe that Zara uses another strategy, namely product development. We base this on the fact that they have expanded their product line. Now they don’t just sell clothing, now customers also have the opportunity to buy accessories, cosmetics and furniture in Zara stores. Even though Zara is introducing new products, they still relay on their existing target group. Inditex has expanded very heavily, and to put this in perspective we have some facts that show this.In 1995 they had 500 stores worldwide, and in 2004, nine years later they had 2. 250 stores. * PEST analysis The PEST analysis is a marketing tool in the macro environment who tells about the political, environmental, socio- cultural and technological forces that may have an influence on your company. These are uncontrollable forces which we do not have any influence on. Also, it is vital that a company considers its situation before beginning the marketing process. Political factors: Zara has stores in a lot of countries; therefore it is hard to get a good view over the political factors.But if we focus on some countries we know it is easier. In Denmark we don’t see any political obstacles for Zara – we have a stable political environment, and the only thing we see as a â€Å"threat† for Zara is new tax-laws, that could influence our buying possibilities, but on the other hand it could also go the other way around. One important global thing that could affect Zara could be new laws regarding the cheap â€Å"work power† in the east. New laws regarding this area could end up raising their costs. Economic factors: We are right now in the middle of a global financial crisis, and many fear that we will have a recession.This will of course influenc e Zara. If the recession comes, customers of Zara will have less money to spend on their products then they used to. This can be very crucial for Zara, because we might fear that their customers will tend to buy products from their greatest competitor, namely H&M. Hennes & Mauritz products are a bit cheaper then Zara’s, and therefore we fear for Zara that they would lose customers during a recession. Socio- cultural factors: Some people are against the fact that big companies use cheap production in foreign countries, but in this situation Zara has an advantage over its competitors.They produce 80 % of their clothes in Europe which is a lot more than their closest competitors. This subject we will also talk about in the SWOT analysis. Teenagers are also spending a lot of money on clothes, and they often do this without influence from their parents. This creates â€Å"a golden group† for Zara who are willing to buy a lot of fashion clothes, so they can look nice . Technological factors: When we are in the clothing business technological factors does not have a very big influence compared to other businesses.But there are things that are relevant for Zara. Because of all the technology we have today, Zara also has new opportunities to get in touch with their customers. The internet is in this case a brilliant example. Zara can promote on the internet, and they also have a homepage where you can learn more about them, and check their products. * The value chain A value chain is a chain of different activities which aims at creating value for the end user, and leaving the company with a positive margin. The activities culminate in the total value delivered by an organization.The value chain is divided into primary and support activities. UpstreamDownstream Research & Development| Inbound logistics| Production (outsourcing)| Outbound logistics| Sales and marketing| Service (After market)| It’s very important for Zara to create as muc h value in the value chain as possible, because there is a tough competition within the market for relatively cheap, but still good quality clothes. Zara creates value in production. –Their production takes place in some of the countries with a low salary, which minimizes the production cost.But they also produce their products in Spain and Portugal, which we believe many customers will like. In outbound logistics we also believe that Zara creates a lot of value. This is the place where the products are sent to the stores – and at this point Zara creates very good and vital value. We know that Zara are very fast at getting their products sent out to the stores, likewise they also can call them back very easily compared to their competitors, and this of course creates value for Zara. In the sales and marketing Zara does not gain much value.They don’t advertise for their products, and we believe that this would be a good idea, especially in the countries where Zar a still needs to get its big â€Å"break trough†, instead Zara depends on good store location. We believe that they should give advertising a chance. * SWOT analysis A SWOT analysis is another strategic method within marketing. It is used to evaluate a company’s, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Strength and weaknesses are internal factors, while opportunities and threats are external factors. We will start out with the strengths. One of their great strengths is their fast production.When their clothes are designed for the first time, it can be bought in their stores around the world only 2-5 weeks later. This means that they have a very fast production and if something goes wrong or doesn’t sell they can easily call the product back. At the same time they will also have new clothes with a great variety in the stores every second week. The fast production also gives a good control of your stock, which means that they â€Å"only† have 15-2 0 % unsold inventory each year and a good profit margin. In H&M, Zara’s worst competitor, it takes 6-8 months before their designs are in the shops – therefore it is a great strength.Location of Zara stores is also one of their strengths. They are placed where a lot of people walk by, and therefore a lot of people see the store, and they will go in, and eventually end up buying something. Because of their production, they also have a good reputation among their customers. Most of Zara’s production takes plane in Spain and Portugal. This is a good thing because many people don’t like the thought of underpaid workers. When you buy products from Zara you have a lot of different things to choose of, which is also a strength – and the products you buy are of a high quality and a reasonable price.A weakness for Zara we definitely mean to be their homepage. It is very confusing, and it is not easy to browse around. When we looked at it, we were actual ly very disappointed, and we even got a little bit â€Å"frustrated† – because it is so confusing. We also think that despite their good quality and prices they are a bit unknown among the young generation in Scandinavia. Before this assignment we didn’t know too much about Zara. We believe that H&M is more known then Zara in Scandinavia, and this is due to Zara’s lack of advertising.Right now we have a global financial crisis, which influences the customers buying possibilities. This also affects Zara’s customers, and they will think more carefully over the things they choose to buy. If the financial situation became more positive and we were facing a boom, Zara’s customers would have more money to spend on their products – therefore a boom is a possibility for Zara. Of course Zara has their competitors as a threat, especially H&M and Gap. The business which they operate in is very competitive – therefore it is vital t o â€Å"be on the marks† at all times. Zara also has some production in Asia. Therefore new political laws about salaries and â€Å"working hours† is a threat for Zara, which could end up making their production more expensive. * Price / quality grid The price/quality grid is a tool you can use to analyze a product and the company’s strategy with the given product. First it is worth mentioning that a product is anything that can be offered to a market for purchase or use, which might satisfy a want or need. A product consists of three levels, namely the core benefit, the tangible product and the augmented product. Beneath we have shown the model and we will explain which strategy we believe Zara uses. High price| Low price| High quality| Premium strategy| Good value strategy| Low quality| Overcharging strategy| Economy strategy| In our opinion Zara uses the good value strategy. This is of course because they have a high quality, but also a fairly low price. When buying clothes from Zara the customer at least get the same quality as if buying from Armani, but buying clothes from Zara also gives you a low price. This tells us that the customer gets more then he pays for, when talking about the actual product. Others would say that the brand and status other products give them is more important.But when using a good value strategy, the company will get a lot of satisfied customers. It is worth mentioning that Hennes & Mauritz in our opinion uses the same strategy, namely the good value strategy. Hennes & Mauritz * Company profile Hennes and Mauritz is a very big company, it was founded in Sweden, 1947. They started selling clothes to women and at that time their stores was called Hennes. –Later, in 1968, they founded a store that started selling clothes to men, and this store was called Mauritz, and Mauritz also started selling accessories.Later they changed the name to Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), which is the store we know today, who sells their products to both men and women. Since H&M was founded they have expanded heavily, and today you can find them in 24 different countries, with more than 1. 345 retailers worldwide. Hennes & Mauritz has their biggest market in Scandinavia; likewise their target group is very broad. –They sell clothes to small children but also to adults, both men and woman. * Generic strategies Porter’s generic strategies were made in the 1980’s, and since then it has been a very popular marketing tool.Today it is still very used among companies worldwide. | Low cost| Unique product| Broad target group| Overall cost leadership| Differentiation| Narrow target group| Niche – Cost focus| Niche – Differentiation focus| The generic strategy is used to find the company’s competitive advantage, so they will know what to focus on while they are maintaining their core competitive advantages. –H&M has a very broad target group, and their products are also at a relatively low price. Therefore they use the strategy which is called overall cost leadership.They can sell their products at a low price because they produce them in countries such as China and other Asian countries. H&M has used this strategy with great success. * Growth strategies Ansoffs growth strategies were first published in 1957. Today it is still used by many marketers who have objectives for growth. This model offers different choices of how to achieve your goals. | Old product| New product| Old target group| Market penetration| Product development| New target group| Market development| Diversification| H&M operates uses the market penetration strategy, obviously.They have their existing products, mainly their clothes, which they sell to their existing target groups. They have a good brand within clothing which they are trying to make stronger and stronger. You could say that they over the years also have used market development. Because in the beginning they only sold clothes to women, but know they also sell clothes to men. This is why their strategy for many years has been market penetration. * PEST analysis Before a company begins its marketing process it would be wise to consider its environment. This can be done with a PEST analysis.Political forces: In Denmark we don’t believe that the political forces play any role, but in their production countries it can affect them. New laws about salary and working hours can make production more expensive, which won’t be good for H&M. Economic forces: Not long ago we had a boom period in Denmark, therefore people had â€Å"more† money to spend on clothing for example. But now we are slightly heading towards a recession. But actually we don’t mean this has any negative influence on Hennes & Mauritz. People will still have the money to buy their products because they are cheap compared to others.So maybe they will even experience to get more customers, if the population does not feel that they so much money to spend on clothes. Socio- cultural forces: The trends are very important for H&M. We believe that many girls like having clothing from H&M. This we believe to be their biggest target group also. They have lots of different products which can be bought at a good price, and they feel comfortable wearing clothes from H&M. Therefore it is important that H&M keeps them self updated on new trends. A more negative factor could be the fact that some people are against cheap production in foreign countries.This will hurt their image among some people, because they have so much production in the east. Technological forces: On the technological forces H&M is â€Å"up to date† in our opinion. They have cheap production, partly because of good technology. Also they have a very good homepage where you can see their collection, and also shop online. Furthermore you have the opportunity to r ead about the company and get the newsletter via their homepage. * The value chain UpstreamDownstream Research & Development| Inbound logistics| Production (outsourcing)| Outbound logistics| Sales and marketing| Service (After market)|Above we have shown the value chain. Earlier we have mentioned the purpose therefore we will now start with the analysis. When we look at their production we know that many of their products are produced in China. This makes production cheap and therefore also the products that are sold to the end users. This creates value for H&M. Also they have 700 independent suppliers, primarily in Asia and Europe. Hennes & Mauritz only produce 30 percent of their own clothes, the other clothing they get from firms such as L. O. G. G. , which they have a permanent contract with.This way they don’t spend too much money at their own production, while having lots of independent suppliers. And due to all the suppliers they will naturally get a good p rice, because they order a huge amount each time, but also because the suppliers would like to have their products in H&M stores. H&M has a â€Å"top of mind status† when we think of cheap and fashionable clothing. And this is very valuable. Not many company’s has achieved to make the same brand and position as H&M, therefore they gain great value in sales and marketing.Many big designers has designed clothes for H&M such as Stella McCarthy and now also Madonna wants to design clothes for them. She wants to make a series of clothes for women called â€Å"M by Madonna†, which we believe could be a huge success. If Madonna designs clothe for H&M it will be good promotion and great value. * SWOT analysis Strengths| Weaknesses| Good repetition Loyal customers Good quality Reasonable prices| Slow production Some think of H&M as discount label Recall of products| Opportunities| Threats|Economy (recession, to a certain extant) Growth in the Asia n retail sector| Rising salaries for the workersNew political laws regarding productionCompetitors – intense competition| The purpose of a SWOT analysis we have already mentioned. We believe that their strongest strength is their quality and brand compared to their prices. In H&M you get something in return of your money. But as we see it they also have one very big weakness, especially compared to their strongest competitor, Zara. H&M has a very slow production compared to Zara and it takes up to 8 months before the new designs are available in the stores.If something goes wrong it won’t be easy for them to call the products back, so at this point they have to improve. Regarding the economy we believe that they are well prepared for both a boom and a recession. If we experience a boom people will buy even more clothes then they usually do, and if we experience a recession they will maybe get some new customers. The biggest threat we believe to be new laws rega rding their production, this would give them extra costs. Comparison * The 4 P’s The marketing mix, also known as the 4 P’s, is probably the most famous marketing term.The marketing mix is very simple, and it tells us something about the product, place, price and promotion. We can also say that the marketing mix is the company’s offer to its potential customers. We will start out with the most important P – the product. Product: As we know both Zara and H&M primarily sells clothing. Their products are very similar; they both sell fashionable clothes, so at this point we don’t see any big differences. But Zara has expanded their product line. They have made new stores where it is possible for their customers to buy furnitures, so at this point we see a difference.Also Zara offers cosmetics to their customers. Price: At the price there is a little difference, but again these two companies are very similar. H&M is a little bit cheaper then Zar a and this is a result of their cheap production. Zara is also fairly cheap, but H&M, their closest competitor is a bit cheaper. Place: We believe that we roughly can divide their markets into two in Europe. Zara has their biggest market in the Southern Europe, while we believe that H&M has their biggest market in Northern Europe and Scandinavia.This is also naturally because of the firms â€Å"birthplaces†. Furthermore they both operate worldwide in hard competition with each other. They sell their products worldwide, and they both have good locations – especially Zara. Promotion: Zara is against promotion, so they do not advertise for themselves, instead they rely on good store locations and a good repetition among their customers. The case is different for H&M, they advertise for their products, so that they can create attention upon their products. The 4 P’s have been a very good way at comparing these two companies.Overall we can conclude that t hey look alike each other a lot, and they are in a very hard competition against each other. They both have strong sides which they will use, both they also have weak sides which they can improve. But one thing is certain – the competition is very tough. * Porters 5 forces Five Forces Analysis helps the marketer to contrast a competitive environment. It has similarities with other tools for environmental audit, such as PEST analysis, but tends to focus on the single, stand alone, business or SBU (Strategic Business Unit) rather than a single product or range of products.Five forces analysis looks at five key areas namely the threat of entry, the power of buyers, the power of suppliers, the threat of substitutes, and competitive rivalry. Analysis for Zara and H&M There will always be a thread of new comers on the market. In many cases these companies will not become a big threat, because there on the clothing market is such big competition, that they will be ousted within a relatively short period of time. The Power of buyers is if big buyers like Magasin choose how much they want from a certain company like e. . Bruuns Bazar. Then Magasin sets the standard, they can do this because of their good reputation, and because many costumers do their shopping in this mall every day. Therefore they got a big buying power. The threat of Substitute Products will always be there, for example the walkman was substituted be the MP3 player, and the horse-wagon was substituted by the car. There will always be a development, and companies must be sure to be updated at all times.Therefore it’s extremely important to use a big sum of money in the Research and Development Department because that’s the companies â€Å"future†. The suppliers also have a certain power. –They are the ones providing the company with the raw-materials, so that they can produce the products. * The value chain In the value chain we believe that Zara and H&M gain s value at different places. Zara creates value in their production because some of it takes place in â€Å"good production countries†, while some of it also takes lace in Spain and Portugal which also creates value. But at this point they are similar, because also H&M creates value in the production chain. Most of their production takes place in foreign countries, and this makes their products cheap which will give them more customers. The place where there is a big difference is in the inbound logistics where Zara creates a lot of value, and H&M does not. As we have mentioned earlier Zara can send their new designs quickly to their stores, and also call them back again.H&M can also do this, naturally, but for them it takes much longer time. But then Hennes & Mauritz are good at creating value in Sales & Marketing, where Zara is not so good in our opinion. H&M has huge stars like Madonna who wants to design clothes for them, this is very good promotio n and it also creates a lot of attention. Zara, on the other hand doesn’t even promote their products – they are depending on good store locations as mentioned.[ 1 ]. http://www. marketingteacher. com/Lessons/lesson_fivefoces. htm

Transformative Power of Civil Society

Apartheid divided people and was in favour of white people and left the majority of black people poor. This created inequality between black people and white people, thus this resulted in the people in the people who are disadvantaged by apartheid to form civil societies to help fight poverty themselves. This essay will critically discuss whether civil society has transformative potential in south Africa and also to what extent does it have transformative potential, that is if it has transformative potential. This paper will discuss this by looking at what at what civil society is, looking at development and how ordinary people challenge forced development (top down) by engaging in civil society. In this paper three case studies namely the Victoria mxenge and amadiba crisis committee and the xenophobia protest will be used as examples to analyze the topic further. Essentially this paper will attempt to show that civil society is both transformative and non-transformative. Development has been debated by social scientist and they came up with different theories of development. Development theories are trying to equalize the inequalities that were created by apartheid and anlyse and find reasons about why things are like this in south Africa. The theories of development include modernization theory, dependency theory, people centred development theory and sen’s development theory. Modernization theory implies that western culture is more superior and modernization theory looks at the different levels of technological development across the globe and explores development in terms of inequality ( Graaf, 2001). According to Davids (2005) modernization theory focuses on the fact that if the less developed country wants to develop then it should follow the developed countries. According to davids (2005,09) â€Å"modernization theory regards western culture to all others†. This notion of modernization takes us back to apartheid where the western culture was seen as the ideal culture out of the cultures we have in south Africa argues David (2005). This makes the people to start civil societies so that they can voice out their views. Roodt (2001) argues that civil society is formed when the formal government becomes more distant from rural people and the people decide to do things for themselves. Modernization theory is often challenged by civil society by counteracting and challenging the status quo. Graaf (2001) talks about the two main approaches for development which is top-down and bottom up approach. The two approaches monitors how development happens the people that are needed to participate in order for development to happen. According to Roodt (2001,469) argues that â€Å"participation is seen as one of the ingredients necessary to promote sustained development†, thus roodt further says that â€Å"this not to say that development equals sustained development†. The â€Å"top- down approach to development refers to the tendency of the state to implement development with little or no consultation with the people who are meant to benefit† Roodt (2001,469). For example when wanting to develop the poor in south Africa the rich people will come up with ways to do develop them and the poor people will not have a say or will have a little voice. Bottom up approach of development is when the beneficiaries of any proposed development participate through their organizations in determining the type of development most relevant to their needs, and may also participate in the implementation and subsequent running or monitoring of the development† Roodt (2001,469). This approach is dependent o n the needs of the community and its about how the community want to develop its self and not getting some one from the state to tell the community what they should do. But its about the community telling the state what they are doing (Roodt,2001). The bottom-up approach goes hand in hand with civil society and sen’s theory of development. According to Roodt (2001) civil society is the part is the part of the society outside the boundaries of both government and the family which is often seen to be the source of democratic innovation and of resistance to government excess. This means that people create social movements that does not include the government getting involved and so civil society is non-governmental. Walby (2009) argues that the aims of civil society is to respond in changes inresources, power, and material positioning, revorking the frames and material positioning and reworking the frames and discourses that provide meaning. Blaaw (1999) argues that â€Å" civil society is increasingly being looked on as the source of alternative and more equaltable forms of society. Civil society focuses more on people centred development and according to Scholte (1999,07) Civil society exists whenever people mobilise through voluntary associations in initiatives to shape the social order. Civil society challenges top down approach of development because it gets people involve in their own development by challenging the notion of top down approach For example according to Ismail (2009) Victoria Mxenge was building houses for poor people because the houses that the government was building were too small and the government a lot of time to build the house so they built the houses. Note Ismail (2009) notes that since South Africa is a developing country so poor people regards or acknowledges learning and education to overcome poverty. The case study of Victoria Mxenge Housing Development Association part of the south African homeless peoples federation, its an organization made up of women who wants to develop themselves by forming a housing social movement Ismail (2009). In this case study civil society has transformative potential because previously during apartheid â€Å"in South Africa poor women have been excluded from mainstream education by apartheid legislation, lack of money, no easy access to educational facilities, or social prejudices which dictate that women stay at home to care for the family† Ismail (2009,282). So by doing this civil society changed the social order or the functioning of the country by breaking the bounderies. According to Ismail (2009,292) â€Å"The VM women built on traditional notions of African ‘motherhood’ but went further in important ways and developed political skills in mobilising resources and learnt through great personal endeavour, patience, sacrifice and rigour but seldom developed a feminist consciousness and therefore made no analysis of patriarchy or capitalis According to Ismail (2009) this social movement also broke the of women learning in informal and non- formal way, there for civil society transformed them because they can now participate in learning in their every day life and support their daily struggles. Ismail (2009,01) further says that â€Å"in South Africa informal education and learning has developed so that excluded groups do have some opportunity for learning. This development is eople centred because if people where not there it wouldn’t take place. Furthermore â€Å"this development response has given rise to a ‘poor women’s pedagogy’ in which they become the advocators and innovators of development practice†. Victoria mxenge did have transformative potential because it built house for the poor and made a difference and changed the social order that not only can government can build houses for the poor but also women can build houses on their own. However in the end the organization did not have transformative because Victoria mxenge was taking loans from banks to build the houses left the organization in debt and in that sense Victoria mxenge didn’t have transformative potential. Furthermore the state ended up getting involved in the matter and they did not have much of a say now in the development so it didn’t have transformative potential because they did not change the top-down approach of development. Victoria mxenge shows that civil society can be transformative and non transformative. Roodt (2001) talks about sen’s theory, Sen’s theory argues that freedom is the primary end and principal means of development and Victoria mxenge has lost that freedom because they did not choose in the end, but the government choose for them and Victoria mxenge doesn’t have collective agency. Sen’s theory of development talks about development as freedom that looks at human well-being and how to evaluate it. According to Roodt(2001) Sen’s theory values that in order for people or a community to develop, freedon should be taken as the foundation for development. Furthermore more the theory talks about substantial freedoms or opportunities in the sense that if people have substantial freedoms they will have the â€Å"ability to achieve what they value, engage in economic transactions ,participate in political values will be equal to the capability to function in ways they consider valuable archieving the goals they have set for themselves† Roodt,2001. Sen’s theory is people centerd and participation is important in order for development to take place and thus democracy matters in the sense that choice matters and so the theory takes equality and rights of the people seriously ( Roodt,2001). So this means that people centred way of taking decisions about what the community wants and what is valuable is important. sen’s theory of development has human agency because public participation is important. â€Å"Globalization refers to the fact that we all increasingly live in one world , so groups and nations become interdependent† Giddens (2006). The interdependency takes place ecomonically, technology wise and communication wise. During apartheid in south Africa, the global civil society got involved and helped to fight apartheid. According to Klungman (2011,09) â€Å"global civil society is manifestation of social energies released by awakening of human consciousness to possibilities for creating societis that nurture and rejoice in a love of all human beings. According to Scholte (1999) argues and says that global civil society is ensures peace around the world for example if the is war global civil society has to fight and try to create peace there. So in the context of south Africa global civil society helped and fought apartheid . o in this context civil society has shown to have transformative potential by changing the social order that the apartheid government was using and brought democracy in south africa. When globalization takes place they are people who are benefiting from it and some are not benefiting but are actually disadvantaged by globalization. For example looking franchise wise mc donalidazation is not benefiting south Africa in the sense that they build their restaurants but more of the m oney that they get goes to their country of origin so it does not do much on south africa’s economy. So it does not transform south Africa in that context however it does transform south Africa by creating jobs for the unemployed and they get money so it does have transformative power because it helps fight unemployment. Blaauw (2003,02) argues that â€Å"the economic and social choices that government entails for national government also have ernomous implications for civil society organizations and formations†. By this blaauw (2003) argues that the dicisions that the government takes economically and socially affects civil society. Furthermore Blaauw (2003,02) argues that â€Å"the new global reconfiguration, which compels governments to become more responsive to financial markets than the needs of their poor citizens, has met with resistance from social forces ostensibly because of the dialectic of inclusion and exclusion†. This means that since when the state gets involved in global reconfiguration it stops paying attention to the poor and pays more attention to globalisation . n addition Blaauw (2003) argues that as â€Å"global markets forces rise the role of the state as an economic provider lacks and this calls for a need for civil society to develop and grow†. The people respond to being disadvantaged by globalization by striking, forming civil society groups and some by sticking more to their ways of doing things. For example people are afraid of getting involved in globalization because they think they will loose they will loose their money. For example looking at people in eastern cape are still farming for themselves to resist development and globalization. For that reason civil society has changed that and therefore it did not show to have transformative potential, because it did not change the social order of doing things. Looking at the under development in the transkei Bundy cited in (Graaf & Venter, 2001) argues that poverty and self-reliance in the former Transkei region was not in the form of the community not wanting to participate to the modern economic sector opportunities. Amadiba community crisis committee is Community-based organisation which has members of about three thousand local people from Amadiba. Amadiba crisis development fought the lobby group against Xolobeni sand dune mining walby (2009). The organisation was fighting to get the mine back so that it can be theirs and amadiba favour sustainable community based eco-tourism argues Walby (2009). by this the community was in charge of their development and the development it their choice . madiba crisis committee has also partnership with ACC and Sustainable community based tourism Civil society has transformative potential because looking at the amadiba case study the community fought to get the mine back from the people from austraila. The people fought by themselves without the help of the government and the government was not part of the people who wanted the mine. This brought transformation to the community because they were fighting for one thing and with the same vision and they got wh at the mine that they were fighting for . However even though they got the mine they are not using it which brings the point that civil society can have transformative potential and non transformative potential. They don’t have transformative potential in the sense that the mine is not benefiting them in any way because it is not opened and they are fighting alone and taking each other to court. Its also not transformative because the people who are fighting might be both members of the state and business and it leads to conflict, so now they don’t know what to choose between the two. his shows that amadiba crisis committee have agency, because it manage to change the social functioning . The paragraph shows that one organization can have society having transformative potential and also not having transformative potential. During may 2008 south African citizens started a xenophobic attack , where by the citizens were removing people who came from other countries to work here while they are not south African cit izens were removed ( Bond,2010). Bond (2010) furthermore argues that the xenophobic attacks were violent such that 62 migrants were murdered while hundreds of people which includes children and women were attacked and some were raped. Bond (2010) argues that not only did the people attack the migrants but they also burnt their houses and some of the houses were destroyed. According to Bond (2010) peoples reasons for the xenophobic attacks was employment in the sense that they saw the migrants taking cheap labour and taking most of the job opportunities. Employment was the key factor for the xenophobic attact because Bond (2010) mentions that some of the citizens were saying that the migrants come in to the country and open businesses so jelousy was also involved and some said its because the number of foreigners was uncontrollable. So this was implemented because of the lack of effective communication between communities and the state so it caused conflict and the citizen were angry and decided to things by the selfs and remove the foreigners out of the country. In this case civil society had transformative potential because the community did what they wanted to do because the government was not doing anything for them. A civil society was formed then to move the people who are not south African citizens out of the country. The movement was not formal in the sense that was not like amadiba crisis committee or Victoria mxenge because this social movement did’nt have a name and it was a group of people from different parts of south Africa who saw the same problem and started the attack. nd it had transformative potential in a bad way, thus according to Scholte (1999) civil society can be good and evil. Xenophobia brought social change because it resulted in the people going back to their countries and south African citizens getting the job. The movement used bottom up approach of development but the question is, is it really bottom-up because they might have been someone who incited it. The transformation also has consequences which resulted in people loosing their lives . he whole xenophobia transformed the image of south Africa and it made people to have doubts about whether the country will be able to host the 2010 FIFA World cup safely . It led to people wanting to change their minds about coming to watch the world cup. The transformation was bad in the sense that it disturbed south africa’s interrelationship with other countries. So this brings out the proves that this social movement was creating the bounderies that globalization is trying to break. So the transformation was against globalization in the sense that people were now not comfortable coming here and they lost their trust in south Africa. This negative transformation leads to a drop in the number of tourists that comes in the country and this ended up affecting the economic growth which ended up affecting those people who started xenophobia. However while people were chasing foreigners out of the country the was also civil societies formed which had people who were protecting the victims by hiding them (Bond, 2010). Bond(2010) argues that the civil societies that were formed to protect the foreigners used mostly churches to accommodate the people who were being chased out of the country until the xenophobic attacks calms down. This brings the thought that not everyone sees things the same way because some saw the chasing the people out of the country as not good and others saw it as being good. This shows that civil societies can clash with one another and throught the clashing it shows that civil society had a transformative potential because a lot of the foreigners when back to their countries. To conclude civil society has shown to have transformative potential as well as not being transformative potential in south Africa. I have proved that civil society has transformative potential it has helped the country to fight apartheid and change the social order of the way things were done during apartheid. This proved that civil society has a lot of transformative power when people have the same goal and showed that participation is important in order to change things. In the case of xenophobia civil society showed to have transformative potential in the sense that it achieved the goal of the social movement and removed the foreigners from the country. The xenophobic attack showed that civil society can be can be evil as Scholte (1999) argues because during the social movement people were killed and some were hurted and this attack showed that civil society can be negative because people ended up looting houses of the people who were foreigners. The xenophobic attack also showed that civil societies can clash because people want different things. The Victoria Mxenge showed that civil society doesn’t have transformative potential because the organization did not change the top down approach. Furthermore the amadiba crisis committee showed that civil society has transformative potential because the people fought for the mine and got the mine. However it showed that even if people form civil societies to fight for things at times they end up not using the things they are fighting for when they have it. By compering this I can conclude that civil society has more transformative potential in south Africa since apartheid as it has changed many social orders.