Fetal Alcohol Synodrome Essay Example for Free

Fetal alcoholic swal crushed Synodrome EssayIntroduction It sounds simple women who drink profligately spell pregnant are at high run a risk for giving ingest to children with birth defects. Therefore, to hold these defects, women should stop insobriety inebriant during all phases of maternal quality. Alternatively, women who drink inebriant should not become pregnant unless and until they can control their drinking. More than 20 old age ago, when foetal intoxicant syndrome (FAS) was for the first time described in the published health check literature, there were high hopes for its prevention.In fact, this has not been simple, and the biomedical and public wellness communities are still struggling to eliminate a birth defect that should be absolutely preventable. HISTORY Although references to the effects of prenatal exposure to alcohol can be found in classical and biblical literature, fetal alcohol syndrome was first described in the medical literature in Fr ance by Lemoine et al. in 1968. Researchers in the United States soon also published a landmark write up describing a constellation of birth defects in children born to alcoholic women (J mavins and smith, 1973).FAS has since been described in nigh countries of the world. Briefly, FAS refers to a constellation of physical ab chemical formulaities, most obvious in the features of the face (see Figure 1-1) and in the tighten upd size of the newborn, and problems of behavior and cognition. These latter features lead to the most concern. The degree of ab practiceity in any one pulse can vary greatly between individuals and can change with time in the same individual. For example, people diagnosed with FAS can affirm IQs from well within the normal range to the severely morally retarded range.The physical anomalies can be slight or quite striking. Some people with FAS live fair normal lives if given adequate and structured support throughout their lives, whereas others are severe ly impaired. The defects may or may not be apparent or good diagnosed at birth. Although the manifestations of the damage might change with age, FAS never completely disappears and, as with many out proceedsal disabilities, there is no cure, although there might be just about amelioration in around individuals.FAS does not refer to signs of acute alcohol exposure or withdrawal at birth. Newborns can have blood alcohol levels high enough to affect acutely their central nervous system function and not have FAS. Newborns can also have no alcohol in their bloodstream at time of saving but still have FAS. FAS is not a drunk baby. The embodys of FAS and related conditions can be quite highfor the individual, for the family, and for society. Three free radicals have tried to estimate these costs, and these estimates vary greatly (Bloss, 1994).These estimates are problematic, because of uncertainties regarding the incidence and prevalence of FAS and uncertainties related to the full extent of health (and other) problems experienced throughout the lifetime of people with FAS. Estimates of the occurrence of FAS in North American communities range from 0 per 1,000 (incidence Abel and Sokol, 1987, 1991) to 120 per 1,000 (prevalence Robinson et al. , 1987), although rates in several of the most complete studies are similaron the order of 0. 5 to 3 cases per 1,000 births.Assuming an annual birth cohort of round 4 million, this translates into 2 to 12 thousand FAS births per year in this country. As described in the report, there is a lack of longitudinal data on the extent of possible problems of adults with FAS. Therefore, cost estimates for the United States range from $75 million (Abel and Sokol, 1991) to $9. 7 billion (Harwood and Napolitano, 1985). The total lifetime cost per typical case of FAS for a child born in 1980 was estimated to be $596,000 undiscounted1 (Harwood and Napolitano, 1985).These incidence and cost figures are offered not as established facts but they are mean to emphasize that regardless of the details, or any one specific estimate, the costs of FAS to the individual and society are high. FIGURE 1-1 Photographs of children with fetal alcohol syndrome. SOURCES Figures 4C and 4D Reprinted with permission from Jones et al. (1973). Copyright 1973 by the Lancet Ltd. Figure 4B Reprinted with permission from Clarren and Smith (1978). Copyright 1978 by the New England Journal of Medicine, Massachusetts Medical Society.Since publication of the papers by Lemoine and by Jones and Smith, the biomedical, public health, look, and public policy communities have prone much time and energy to a fascinating problem of teratology (the study of the effects of chemical exposure on the developing foetus), neurobiology, disease prevention, and social disarray. The U. S. humankind wellness Service has spent millions of dollars in look for, public education, and service programs related to the topic. Important concepts have been establish ed through research.For example, well-controlled research studies on rats, mice, and nonhuman order Primates have demonstrated that alcohol exposure causes FAS. However, piece alcohol is the necessary teratogen, it alone may not be sufficient to produce FAS in humanness or birth defects in animals. As with most teratogens, not every fetus exposed to significant amounts of alcohol is affected. The outcomes might be modulated by numerous biologic and environmental factors, such as nutrition, threshold, timing, genetic susceptibility, pattern of alcohol exposure, or fetal resilience. but research is needed to fully shit the factors that influence the expression of alcohol teratogenesis. Public education campaigns have taught many women and their disuniteners, as well as the medical community and society at large, that excessive alcohol enjoyment is dangerous during maternity. Reduction in the occurrence of spunk abomination during pregnancy, reduction in the incidence of FAS, and an increase in the questioning of patients by health care providers about alcohol and other drug use are goals of the Public Health Services Healthy People 2000 initiative (U. S. department of Health and Human Services, 1991).See Table 1-1. measure of birth defects as a salient public health goal presents close to exemplary victory stories. A good example is the advocacy for and impact of epidemic roseola immunizations for children and women of childbearing age with no history of natural rubella or rubella immunization. An bam in the United States in the mid-1960s resulted in an estimated 20,000 children born with congenital rubella syndrome (CRS). CRS occurs in 20 to 25 percent of babies born to mothers who get rubella in the first trimester of pregnancy and results in congenital heart disease, deafness, mental retardation, and other fetal abnormalities.An estimate of the lifetime cost of CRS is about $330,000 per case. With widespread introduction of rubella vaccines in the late 1960s and the requirement for rubella immunization prior to school entry, the number of reported cases of CRS in the United States hit a baseborn of 225 in 1988. As another example, new findings that folic acid deficiency during pregnancy can result in neural tube defects have led to recommendations that whit be fortified with folic acid to prevent these birth defects. Availability of effective prevention strategies led to public policy debates and recommendations for action.The emergence of crack cocaine as a major medical and public health problem in the 1980s led to worries about a generation of crack babies who would cost the medical care system, primarily neonatal intensive care wards, huge amounts of money and who would overburden the education and social service systems with problems attributable to prenatal exposure to cocaine. Further research has shown that crack cocaine can lead to serious obstetrical complications and that some of the exposed newborns do have problems. TABLE 1-1 Examples of Healthy People 2000 Goals germane(predicate) to Fetal alcoholic drink Syndrome (FAS) Objective 1987 Baseline.Target 2000 Incidence of FAS (per 1,000 live births) 0. 22 0. 12 Abstinence from alcohol during pregnancy 79% Increase by 20% Screening by obstetrician/gynecologist for alcohol use 34% 75% Referrals by obstetrician/gynecologist for alcohol word 24% 75% Screening by obstetrician/gynecologist for drug use 32% 75% Referrals by obstetrician/gynecologist for drug treatment 28% 75% Cocaine-exposed children have not been followed as extensively or for as long a time as alcohol-exposed children what data have been published show some effects of prenatal cocaine exposure at three years of age, but the problems do not seem to be nearly as crushing as predicted, nor as severe as the long-term problems associated with alcohol exposure.In fact, some of the long-term effects associated with prenatal cocaine exposure may be due in part to the concurrent use of alcohol during pregnancy. The national government invested millions of dollars in demonstration watchs for services for magnetic core-abusing women. Some of these programs include services for women who abuse alcohol, but the emphasis was usually on drugs, particularly illegal ones, other than alcohol, or on polydrug use.The attention to crack cocaine and its effects on the fetus is curious given that the percentage of pregnant women who drink (approximately 20 percent) far exceeds the percentage who use cocaine (approximately 1 percent National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1994). At the time, however, the cocaine epidemic and its potential risks to unborn children led to heated public policy debates. Policies of mandatory urine testing in delivery wards, and subsequent removal of a child from the care of a mother who tested positive for illegal substances, were bringd in many places (Blume, in press Chavkin, 1990).The unplanned negative consequences of these actions have le d to a reconsideration and reversal of these policies more recently. THE FEDERAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR FAS RESEARCH As will be described in many parts of this report, FAS is a complicated health and social problem, involving many different sectors of the government. The U. S. Public Health Service (USPHS) contains the agencies with primary responsibility for research in the area. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has the lead role in research on FAS.However, NIAAA is a comparatively small institute of NIH. The NIAAA appropriation in 1993 was $177 million, compared with more than $400 million for the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and slightly less than $2 billion for the National Cancer Institute (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1993). NIAAA programs related to FAS include very basic animal research, which has been the mainstay of research in this area clinical and epidemiologic research on the effects of low to moderate alcohol use by pregnant women and prevention research. The alcohol and pregnancy program at NIAAA included $9.8 million to $13. 5 million for approximately 70 grants in each of fiscal years 1990-1994. Most of these research grants were RO1, investigator-initiated awards. NIAAA bullion one fetal alcohol research center. In addition, many research programs sponsored by NIAAA have ancillary importance to FAS, for example, the research it funds on the epidemiology of drinking by women or on general approaches to the prevention and treatment of alcohol abuse. As an example of the level of commitment by NIAAA to this issue, the prevention research program at NIAAA has ranged from $15 million to $19.8 million annually in recent years. As the lead research agency on alcohol, the institute and the USPHS can serve as a bully pulpit for the prevention of FAS and other alcohol-related problems. In fact, this has been the case. The U. S. Surgeon General first iss ued a warning against the dangers of alcohol during pregnancy in 1981. In addition to funding and conducting research, NIAAA publishes information for the public on FAS, sponsors research workshops on FAS, and has its staff speak at public meetings. other NIH institutes fund research applicable to, but not directly about, FAS.For example, NIDA funded a $4 million National Pregnancy and Health Survey on substance abuse, including alcohol, during pregnancy. The data on alcohol were a small part of the entire bear. In addition, NIDA funds epidemiologic and clinical research on the effects of substance abuse during pregnancy, and alcohol is frequently one of the substances used by these populations. A rather large study funded by NIDA was the Perinatal 20 demonstration project assessing prevention of substance abuse during pregnancy.Although the major purpose was to look at the abuse of illegal substances, some data were collected on alcohol use, as well. Another key USPHS agency inv olved in FAS work is the Centers for Disease Control and bar (CDC). The FAS bar department is housed in CDCs National Center for environmental Health, Division of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. CDCs role is to collect data to define the scope of the problem support the development and evaluation of FAS prevention projects and build raise capacity for coordinated, state-based FAS direction and prevention programs (CDC submission to IOM committee).The CDC maintains and analyzes surveillance programs that include FAS, such as the Birth Defects Monitoring Program. In addition, CDC sponsors and supports efforts to prevent FAS. The CDC currently has FAS prevention and surveillance projects supported through states and universities. As with NIAAA, CDC has ancillary programs related to maternal and child health, alcohol abuse, and epidemiologic surveillance that can support and inform FAS programs. Other agencies in the USPHS maintain grave programs related to FAS, but these programs have much less emphasis on research.The Indian Health Service, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and the spunk Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) fund services or demonstration projects directly or indirectly related to FAS. At this time, no agency has been able to support research on the clinical aspects of FAS, on the medical treatment of children with FAS, or on the education and remediation of these children. A historied USPHS program is the Pregnant and Postpartum Women and Their Infants (PPWI) initiative. This program was authorized by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, passed by Congress in 1988.The demonstration grant program focuses on the development of innovative, community-based models of drug prevention, education, and treatment, targeting pregnant and postpartum women and their sisters (National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health, 1993). The program is funded jointly by the Center for Substance Abuse P revention (CSAP) of SAMHSA and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of HRSA. It has funded 147 demonstration projects. The most common drug addressed was cocaine, followed by alcohol and polydrug use.Because demonstration projects are rigorously evaluated solely infrequently, the nature, utility, and transferability of their findings are difficult to assess. The Center for Substance Abuse word (CSAT), a part of SAMHSA, was charged by Congress to support grants for residential and outpatient substance abuse treatment for pregnant and postpartum women and their sisters (information provided to the committee). CSAT funded 31 residential projects in 20 states in the PPWI program and 34 projects in 24 states in its Residential Treatment for Women and Their Children program.The five treatment programs that serve Native American women include comprehensive services specific to FAS. In addition, CSAT has other activities, such as its Treatment emolument Protocols, relevant to FAS, but th e abuse substance of focus is usually cocaine or opiates, not alcohol. CONGRESSIONAL INTEREST In recognition of the seriousness of this problem, which affects two the health and the societal functioning of many Americans, several times in the past few years, members of Congress have introduced legislation related to FAS (see Table 1-2).The bills have focused largely on creating an interagency task military strength on FAS and increasing resources for prevention programs and prevention research. These bills, with one exception, have never been passed. The U. S. Congress mandated in Section 705 of Public Law 102-321, the ADAMHA Reorganization Act, that the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences conduct a study of FAS and related birth defects. TABLE 1-2 Congressional Bills related to to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) or Women and Alcohol Bill No. and Date Introduced Bill Name Major Sponsor Overview H. R. 1322 3/7/91.Comprehensive Indian Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Prevention and Treatment Act Campbell (D-CO) Authorize services for the prevention, intervention, treatment and aftercare of American Indian and Alaskan Native children and their families at risk for FAS and fetal alcohol effect (fuel-air explosive). Authorization of grants to Native American tribes for breeding, prevention, and intervention programs. Convening of FAS/FAE task force including federal representation and representation from Native American tribes. Would have authorized $10 million annually for FY 1993-1995 and $15 million annually for FY 1996-2000.S. 923 5/7/93 Comprehensive Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Prevention Act Daschle (D-SD) Expand resources for basic and applied epidemiological research related to FAS/FAE. build programs to coordinate and support national, state, and community-based public awareness, prevention, and educational programs on FAS/FAE. Establish and press forward a national surveillance program to monitor the incidence of FAS/FAE and the effectiven ess of prevention programs. Establish a task force to foster coordination among federal agencies that conduct FAS/FAE research, prevention, and treatment.H. R. 3569 11/19/93 Women and Alcohol Research Equity Act of 1993 Morella (R-MD) Provide for an increase in the amount of federal funds expended to conduct research on alcohol abuse and alcoholism among women. Would have authorized up to $23,250,000 to enable NIAAA to increase such research. H. R. 3783 2/2/94 Comprehensive Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Prevention Act Richardson (D-NM) Establish a comprehensive program to help prevent FAS and FAE and to coordinate federal efforts to prevent FAS and FAE. CDC to coordinate and support applied epidemiologic research on FAS and FAE.NIAAA to conduct and support basic research targeted to developing data to improve prevention and treatment of FAS and FAE. Develop a plan to disseminate diagnostic criteria to health care and social services providers. Establish an interagency task force on FAS and FAE. SAMHSA to support, conduct, and evaluate training programs for professionals and prevention and education programs for the public. S 170 1/5/95 Comprehensive Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Prevention Act Daschle (D-SD) Establish interagency task force on FAS and FAE.Organize a program of basic research on services and effective prevention, treatment and intervention for pregnant alcohol-dependent women and those with FAS or FAE Originally introduced as S. 1821 in previous session but died in committee. H. R. 1649 5/16/95 Comprehensive Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Prevention Act Richardson (D-SD) Establish a program for the conduct and support of research and training and the dissemination of health information about the cause, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of FAS and related conditions. Establish an.Interagency organize Committee on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Develop uniform criteria for the collection and reporting of data on FAS and related conditions. NOTE CDC = Centers for Disease C ontrol and Prevention NIAAA = National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and SAMHSA = Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health funded the project. This report is in response to that mandate. The Committee to Study Fetal Alcohol Syndrome was convened in mid-1994.Committee expertise included pediatrics, developmental psychology and neurology, obstetrics, nosology, teratology, epidemiology, sociology, substance abuse prevention and treatment, and psychiatry. The charge to the committee was to improve the understanding of available research knowledge and experience on tools and approaches for canvass FAS and related disorders, the prevalence of FAS and related disorders in the general population of the United States, the effectiveness of surveillance systems, and the availability and effectiveness of prevention and treatment programs for these conditions.As part of its work, the committee assessed and reviewed U. S. Department of Health and Human Services agency research on the topic and provided guidance for the future. SOME IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS Before going further, some clarification of ground is warranted. Several terms are used in this report to refer to drinking patterns and problems. The terms used here are intended to be consistent in spirit with an earlier IOM report Broadening the Base of Treatment for Alcohol Problems (IOM, 1990), particularly in their emphasis on the heterogeneity of alcohol problems, the course of alcohol use disorders, patterns of consumption, and etiology.In this schema, alcohol consumption is seen as ranging from none to light to moderate to heavy. Alcohol-related problems (e. g. , medical, legal, social, psychological) also range from none to cushy to moderate to severe. Research has pointed to a positive correlation between level of alcohol consumption and level of alcohol problems, with the most severe pr oblems generally seen at the highest levels of drinking. This relationship is, however, variable across individuals that is, in some cases, severe problems can be seen at comparatively moderate levels of drinking.The fourth edition of the American psychiatrical Associations Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV 1994) defines alcohol use disorders as alcohol dependence and alcohol abuse. In general, these terms refer to maladaptive patterns of drinking and consequences which even out a syndrome, usually associated with moderate to heavy alcohol consumption and moderate to severe alcohol-related problems (Edwards et al. , 1981 IOM, 1990).In DSM-IV, alcohol dependence is diagnosed when the individual meets three or more of the following seven criteria in a 12-month catch (1) tolerance (2) withdrawal (3) drinking in larger amounts or over a longer period than intended (4) persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down on drinking (5) a great deal of time spent drinking or recovering from alcohol effects (6) declining involvement in social, occupational, or recreational activities because of alcohol use and (7) use of alcohol disdain knowledge of a persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problem caused or exacerbated by that use.Alcohol abuse is a less severe syndrome characterized by significant adverse consequences associated with alcohol use and is diagnosed when at least one of the following four criteria is met recurrently during a 12-month period (1) failure to fulfill major role obligations because of alcohol use (2) recurrent alcohol use in situations when it is physically high-risk (3) recurrent alcohol-related legal problems or (4) continued use despite social or interpersonal problems. In addition, the symptoms have never met the criteria for alcohol dependence (American Psychiatric Association, 1994).Alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence have fairly specific meaning in DSM-IV. However, these terms are frequently used as umbrella terms for maladaptive patterns of alcohol use. In this report on FAS, the committee has chosen to use alcohol abuse as an umbrella term to indicate heavy drinking, including binge drinking, that is risky for the given individual circumstances. If it is clear that a strict DSM-IV diagnosis is intended, it will be so noted. Similar conventions will be used for substance abuse, which is treated very similarly in DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994).DSM-IV does not define the term alcoholic, but the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence does (Morse et al. , 1992). Alcoholism, too, is used but only occasionally in this report. It should be noted that there are no specific levels of consumption associated with alcohol abuse, either as used in DSM-IV or as an umbrella term in this report. Survey data from 1992 show that approximately 4 percent of all women and approximately 4 percent of women between the ages of 30 and 44 years of age could be considered to satisfy the DSM-IV criteria for alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence (Grant et al., 1994).As described in the report, the relation between levels and patterns of drinking during pregnancy and the risk of delivering an infant with FAS is complex. In this report, terms such as heavy drinking and heavier drinking are used to refer to levels of drinking associated with the highest risk for delivering an infant with FAS. Binge drinking is used to refer to a pattern of episodic heavy drinking, which is also associated with higher risk for FAS.Terms such as risk drinking, or moderate drinking are used to indicate lower levels of drinking, usually not associated with FAS, but which may be associated with alcohol-related effects in infants. It is important to note that definitions of these terms have varied across studies, settings, and samples. In particular, operational definitions of terms used to describe the level and pattern of drinking in studies of pregnant women frequently have not corresp onded to definitions for women in general, which in turn often do not correspond to definitions for men.For example, a prospective study of the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure defines heavy drinking as an average of one or more drinks per solar day (Day et al. , 1989) a seminal FAS prevention intervention project defined heavy drinking as five or six drinks on some occasions and at least 45 drinks per month (Rosett et al. , 1981) big surveys of drinking in women usually define heavy drinking as two or more standard drinks per day, where a standard drink contains approximately 0.5 ounce of absolute alcohol) some clinical research projects define heavy drinking in women as four or more drinks per day (Wilsnack et al. , 1994), which differs from parallel definitions of heavy drinking in men (six or more standard drinks per day). The lack of consistency in terms regarding level of alcohol consumption across studies has led to confusion regarding the relationship between specific levels of drinking and risk for fetal alcohol syndrome and alcohol-related effects (see Abel and Kruger, 1995 for a review of this problem).The committee defines the relevant history for diagnosis of FAS (see Chapter 4) as one of a pattern of excessive intake characterized by substantial, regular intake or heavy episodic drinking. essay of this pattern may include frequent episodes of intoxication, development of tolerance or withdrawal, social problems related to drinking, legal problems related to drinking, engaging in physically hazardous behavior while drinking, or alcohol-related medical problems such as hepatic disease. REFERENCES Abel EL, Kruger ML. Hon v.Stroh Brewery Co. What do we mean by moderate and heavy drinking? Alcoholism clinical and Experimental Research 1995 191024-31. Abel EL, Sokol RJ. Incidence of fetal alcohol syndrome and economic impact of FAS-related anomalies. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 1987 1951-70. Abel EL, Sokol RJ. A revised nonprogressive estimate of the incidence of FAS and its economic impact. Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research 1991 15514-524. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders quaternate Edition.Washington, DC American Psychiatric Association, 1994. Bloss G. The economic cost of FAS. Alcohol Health Research World 1994 1853-54. Blume SB. Women and Alcohol Issues in Social Policy in Alcohol and Gender. R. W. Wilsnack and S. C. Wilsnack (eds. ). New Brunswick, New Jersey Rutgers University Center of Alcohol Studies, in press. Chavkin W. Drug Addition and Pregnancy Policy crossroads. American Journal of Public Health 1990 80483-487. Clarren SK, Smith DW. The fetal alcohol syndrome. New England Journal of Medicine 1978 298 1063-1067.Day NL, Jasperse D, Richardson G, Robles N, Sambamoorthis U, Taylor P et al. Prenatal exposure to alcohol Effect on infant growth and morphologic characteristics. Pediatrics 1989 84536-541. Day NL, Robles N, Richardson G, Geva D, Tay lor P, Scher M et al. The effects of prenatal alcohol use in the growth of children at three years of age. Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research 1991 1567-71. Edwards G, Arif A, Hodgson R. Nomenclature and classification of drug- and alcohol-related problems A WHO memorandum. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 1981 59225-242.Grant BF, Harford RC, Dawson DA, scratch P, Dufour M, Pickering R. Epidemiologic Bulletin No. 35 Prevalence of DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence United States, 1992. Alcohol Health Research World 1994 18243-248. Alcohol (wine, beer, or liquor) is the leading known preventable cause of developmental and physical birth defects in the United States. When a woman drinks alcohol during pregnancy, she risks giving birth to a child who will pay the price in mental and physical deficiencies for his or her entire life. Yet many pregnant women do drink alcohol.Its estimated that each year in the United States, 1 in every 750 infants is born with a pat tern of physical, developmental, and functional problems referred to as fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), while another 40,000 are born with fetal alcohol effects (FAE). Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is a condition that results from alcohol exposure during pregnancy. Problems that may be caused by fetal alcohol syndrome include physical deformities, mental retardation, learning disorders, vision difficulties and behavioral problems.The problems caused by fetal alcohol syndrome vary from child to child, but defects caused by fetal alcohol syndrome are irreversible. There is no amount of alcohol thats known to be safe to consume during pregnancy. Early diagnosis may reduce the risk of problems, including learning difficulties and substance abuse. Signs and Symptoms Fetal alcohol syndrome isnt a single birth defect. Its a cluster of related problems and the most severe of a group of consequences of prenatal alcohol exposure. Collectively, the range of disorders is known as fetal alcohol spe ctrum disorders (FASDs).Fetal alcohol syndrome is a common yet preventable cause of mental retardation. The severity of mental problems varies, with some children experiencing them to a far greater degree than others. Signs of fetal alcohol syndrome may include Distinctive nervus facialis features, including small eyes, an exceptionally thin upper lip, a short, upturned nose, and a smooth skin surface between the nose and upper lip Deformities of joints, limbs and fingers Slow physical growth before and after birth Vision difficulties or hearing problems Small head circumference and brain size (microcephaly) Poor coordinationMental retardation and decelerate development Learning disorders Abnormal behavior, such as a short attention span, hyperactivity, poor impulse control, extreme nervousness and anxiety Heart defects low birth weight failure to thrive developmental delay organ dysfunction facial abnormalities, including smaller eye openings, flattened cheekbones, and indistin ct philtrum (an underdeveloped chase between the nose and the upper lip) .Epilepsy poor coordination/fine motor skills poor socialization skills, such as difficulty building and maintaining friendships and relating to groups lack of imagination or curiosity learning difficulties, including poor memory, inability to understand concepts such as time and money, poor language comprehension, poor problem-solving skills behavioral problems, including hyperactivity, inability to concentrate, social withdrawal, stubbornness, impulsiveness, and anxiety.The facial features seen with fetal alcohol syndrome may also occur in normal, healthy children. Distinguishing normal facial features from those of fetal alcohol syndrome requires expertise. Doctors may use other terms to describe some of the signs of fetal alcohol syndrome. An alcohol-related neurodevel.

Analysis to look at Red Bulls strategies

depth psychology to look at ruby fakes strategies release squat has turned itself into a multinational company that aims a intersection that enhances the mind and the body. Their rule of managing their intrinsic and external situation and circumstances has become an interesting topic for many. Thus we conducted several(prenominal) analysis to look at blushing(a) turds strategies, and in particular the internationalist strategies. The external analysis was a mix of positive and negative observations, for example they pretend the advantage of the customer loyalty and the production cost, and however, they be in the dominion of major players in the beverage industriousness which put them at risk. Nevertheless, the industry analysis and peer review helped to shed some light on chromatic diddlysquats external report, where we puke see a substantial growth in the industry and ruby shucks headship in the ability discombobulate securities industry.Through the internal analysis we observed that ruby mother fucker leads a proactive approach towards their business by adopting conventional and unconventional methods to expand their horizons. Through the value range of mountains model, we observed that redness wangles internal food merchandiseing and sales strategies have shown ground breaking success on international scale. More everywhere, the HR has accomplished to attract the office hind enddidates to achieve the requi release goals, simple because they be young and k like a s gamey the young target market exactly. The generic strategy analysis of personnel casualty bruiser has presented red falsify a differentiated product within its market and a focused-differentiated product within the beverages industry. The norm is that any kind of differentiated products target fewer selected customers, however, cerise dump did become selective but became massively popular among the youthfulness, and hence, they produce everywhere 1 billi on cans each year.The SWOT analysis they was conducted on deprivation Bull has crystallized some Weaknesses and threats. However, the Strengths and Opportunities outweigh the downside of Red Bull more(prenominal)over, the Weaknesses and Threats that Red Bull faces can easily be managed and fixed by Red Bull.We can safely conclude that Red Bull has adopted the right target market and the right method to communicate with the target market. More interestingly, we can see that Red Bull has adopted a product and especially a marketing strategy that can easily be copied to different counties and culture. In other ledgers, it has spoken the language of the youth.History BackgroundHistoryA red cape is not alship canal necessary to attract a tinkers damn towards you like a shotadays it has become open in a can in the hypermarket, supermarket, grocery and the club near you. This all has become possible thanks to a visionary man called Dietrich Mateschitz, who is the discoverer, modifi er, and introducer of the internationally famous wassailable, Red Bull. It all started in Hong Kong, in 1982, when Mateschitz was at the hotel bar sipping a famous local health tonic. piece of practice of medicine he was beverageing he had a vision of marketing an Asian drink in the western countries. About two years from the vision, the Austrian Mateschitz teamed up with a Thai business man called Chaleo Yoovidhya to produce this product. Together they fiddled with the product, to take out the syrup nature of the product and make it fizzy. Canned in a silver and blue container, with a brand the shows two red bulls going head-to-head against each other, hence the brand was named Red Bull. (Red Bull Fo downstairs Rides jounce of Success)In 1987, the product was then taken to Austria where it had its first groundbreaking success in no time. In started going international in 1992, when they entered Hungary. Red Bull is currently active in over 100 countries, energizing the popula tion and creating competition as they go along. One source mentioned that in that respect are over 150 energy drink brands, however, all inferior to the mighty Red Bull (A REFRESHED CREW IS AN EFFICIENT CREW). With over 1 billion cans change each year, Red Bull controls 70% of the worlds market share of energy drinks.BackgroundRed Bull became strong when they created a juicy quality drink that is only made in Austria. Furthermore, all of its ingredients are synthetically made in pharmaceutical companies to grantee gritty quality and safety. Moreover, due to the ingredients of the product, it is said that Red bull (Red Bull FAQ)Improves performanceImproves concentration and reaction speedImproves vigilanceImproves emotional statusStimulates metabolismHowever, the main reason for the success of Red Bull is in its advertising style. Red Bull tends to spend very little on conventional or traditional marketing tools, like TV and mark ads. Their marketing strategy is usually out of th e box and creative. Red Bull tends to be more active in sponsoring extreme spots and giving forth samples in local events. repayable to the fact that Mateschitz has been involved in Formula One racing for more than a decade, he used the events to d in the buff circumspection to his brand. In addition, he sponsored the World Stunt Awards, an annual fund-raiser to help injured stunt workers (Red Bull Founder Rides Wave of Success). Moreover, some observers say that Red Bull uses the anti-branding method of advertising, where they broke the usual method of marketing and branding. Actually what they did was use the buzz marketing strategy or better known as word of mouth. With this strategy, they associated their brand with the youth culture and extreme and adventure-related vaunts, such(prenominal) as motor sports, mountain biking, snowboarding and dance music. Thus they targeted their brand directly to spate from Generation Y, the questionable millennials plurality born after 1 981 who were believed to be cynical of traditional marketing strategies (A Look at a draw Feature of Red Bulls Business).The Buzz over Red Bull among the youth and their underground attitude has created Red Bulls account as the drink within that community. That is why Red Bull continues to use viral marketing internationally, where the company would rather restrict the supply of Red Bull and not advertise it, expecting that maturement numbers of target consumers to catch the bug and its reputation would spreads. Through this strategy, Red Bull has flourishingly captured 70% of the 1.6 billion market (A Look at a Key Feature of Red Bulls Business).External summaryPorter Five Force AnalysisThe external analysis is one of the most important steps that a company should take to achieve to its goals and objectives. Moreover, for victorious this step we should be aware of the essence of formulating competitive strategy which is related to company and its external environment. Also, w e know that the relevant environment is very broad embrace social as well as economic forces, the central aspect of the firms environment is the industry or industries in which it competes. In addition, taking care of industry mental synthesis which has a strong influence in determining the competitive rules is very important because it includes the game as well as the strategies potentially available to the firm. Forces outside the industry are significant primarily in a relative sense since outside forces usually affect all firms in the industry, the key is found in the differing abilities of firms to deal with them. Michael porter has offered a unique framework for make an easy way to analyze. Michael Porters framework for industry analysis is described in his book Competitive Strategy (1980). In this book Porter claims that on that point are essentially five forces which determine the underlying structure of an industry.Rivalry among lively competitors, buyers, suppliers, po tential entrants into the business and Threat of substitute products are those five forces which can have positive or negative effects on industry structure by making the industry more or less competitive.Potential EntrantsIn this case the potential competitors of red bull are salving drinks companies, which can produce energy drink with out adding bubbles. If the obstructions of entry are high, it is difficult for potential competitors to enter the market. Three main sources of barriers to vernal entry brand loyalty, compulsive cost advantages, and economies of scale.Brand loyaltyDue to the done research, innovation in creating new energy drinks, proper(ip) and profession advertisement, holding many special events and sponsorships, and having high quality for its products makes Red Bull as well known brand with a strong brand loyalty which is a barrier for any new entrant to enter the energy drink industry to compete with it.Cost advantageAccording to the Michael Porter, norma lly cost disadvantage is a big barrier for companies to enter an industry as new entrants because it can be cost advantage for existing companies in that industry. Also, companies with the help of cost advantages can compete and impound their competitors very easily because usually it is difficult for new entrants to match their companies with the dishonor cost structure. Therefore, Red Bull because of Red Bulls superior production and operation processes, and their go through in the energy drink industry, and control of its inputs according to their experience in producing red bull drinks, benefit the cost advantages with keeping its quality in the high direct. Although there are many energy drinks existing in the industry with the lower monetary value rather than Red Bull, as quality aspect they have not cost advantages both in quality and price, so Red Bull is steps ahead from its competitors in this case.Customer switching costIn food and beverage industry there is no switch ing cost for costumers with considering the level of quality, therefore it can be considered as threat for existing companies in this industry. In this case, Red Bull is not exceptional, so they need to keep their quality at the same level to not loosing their market share by coming new entrants because it is real threat for them.Government regulationsOne of big issues and ever concerns for companies which like to go internationally is government regulation, also, in this case some europium countries have problem with selling Red Bull and have tried to ban it. They claim that Red Bull was the cause of death of people in those countries. France, Belgium, and Sweden ban using the mixture of Red Bull and alcohol. So, it can be a threat for them in taking the market share and having a bad envision for their brand. . (French Ban on Red Bull (drink) Upheld By European Court)Intensity of RivalryRivalry in some industries is characterized by such phrases as warlike, bitter, or cutthroat, whereas in other industries it is termed polite or gentlemanly. Energy drink industry has an intense rivalry because of a number of interacting structural factors diligence competitive structureDue to the competition in the energy drink market, Red Bull focuses on non-price competitive weapon like offering intoxicate events, high quality products and sponsorship. In contrast with other competitors Red Bull attract more costumers to its company by growing in 45%marketshare1. thence Red Bull has a major influence on its competitors performance in the industry because Red Bull is one of the pioneers in energy drink industry and many companies try to obey and consider Red Bull as benchmark.Industry demandIn the energy drink industry, because of the various proper advertisements to encourage people to use and drink energy drinks (giving the get a line that people can fly) the demand for drinks is increasing2. Thus, this is a good point for the company because there are lots of opport unities for every company to fill the current demand and rivalry tend to reduce in the industry, also there is s whole tone for everyone to start up in enter the industry (growing stage), and the profit of the company is going to increase which is a goal that every company is seeking it.BuyersHaving strong and stable costumers are suppliers and producers concerns, producers like to have costumers with large quantity level of ordering and stable financial status basically in energy drink industry especially Red Bull costumers (buyers) are wholesalers and big retailers. These buyers buy the energy drinks through the company or its representatives, and resell them to supermarket, bars, restaurants and end users. Red Bull faces buyers with high level of bargaining supply, and it is real risk for Red Bull. Main reasons for this high bargaining major power of buyers in this case are the switching costs in the energy drink industry are very low. So, Red Bull buyers can switch from Red B ull to other energy drink companies which produce it with lower prices without any difficulty. Also, in most cases energy drink buyers (retailers and wholesalers) purchase products in large quantities, and it is obvious that the more buying in quantity, the more bargaining power the buyer has. So they can use their power to reduce the cost of energy drinks.SuppliersThe bargaining power of suppliers is the same story like bargaining power of buyers but from other side. Red Bull company has both kind of suppliers as bargaining power, some very strong and others weak, so they can eternal rest between them. For instance, the supplier of Glucuronolactone is Glaxo Smithkline Company. Red Bull energy drink buys their Glucurnopolacton inputs from this company. So the bargaining power of this supplier is very high on Red Bull. save the other ingredients are assembled from several small suppliers, and Red Bull has the bargaining power on them. Also, Red Bull has many channels and substitute s suppliers for its normal raw materials, so they can switch from any supplier to cheaper and more flexible one.SubstitutesAll producers always carry the concern of substitute products for their products and always looking for ways to protect and survive themselves from this phenomenon. Energy drink industry isnt an exception, so players in this industry always try to keep level of quality high, convenience price and other thing which may make costumers more satisfy. Coffee industry can be a threat for energy drinks because of the existing caffeine in coffee and it can be a powerful potential product substitute for energy drink. Therefore, Red bull must take care of its determine strategy and product quality to keep its costumers and satisfy them more day by day which they were successful due to reports not only Red Bull could protect its products against other substitutes but also, they have increased in their market share in US market by 45%3.Industry Analysis and Peer ReviewIndu stry CharacteristicsBeverage industry is divided into many categories such as alcoholic vs. non alcoholic, (hard vs. soft drinks) and within soft drinks still there is other segmentation such as carbonated soft drink (CSD) and non carbonated soft drink. Carbonated Energy Drinks account for less than half of the fundamental volume. This figure is heavily skewed however by the popularity of still brands in Asia (Canadean constringe release)According to Beverage Digest, in 2004 the U.S. non-alcoholic diversion market totaled 14 billion cases (192-oz). Carbonated soft drinks made up 73.1% of the total with non-carbonated products comprising 13.7% and packaged bottled water accounting for 13.2%. Americans spent roughly $92.9 billion annually on refreshment beverages.4Energy drink is a relatively new product introduced in 80s and has been growing noticeably with the market more than doubling in size since 1998 (Canadean Press release5). The following chart is evidence of this inevitabl e growth and the attraction of this growth for drink manufacturer. The industry has been experiencing a significant growth and still growing at the speed that draws the big players in soft like Coca Cola drink to enter to this high margin business.Food and beverage market are critical enough that out of 100 new product development 90 NPD fails. The failure results from a poor interpretation of consumers trend and commentary of those to opportunities6. Austrian company, Red Bull, as a pioneer trend settler has made its fortune from their unique strategies in advertising, marketing and other products characteristics such as Packaging, Flavor, color and Product claim.Global consumptionAccording to Beverage digest report, Asia is the largest leading market in consumption of energy drinks followed by Western Europe and North America as the chip and third markets.Asia has been loosing some of 20% of its market share is past 6 years. However, this decline has been offset by the second an d third market mainly due to the steady growth in market of carbonated E.D in North America. North American market is now almost 40 times greater than it was in 1998Peer ReviewIn North America today more than 200 energy drinks existed in US. According to bevNET.com, after a rigorous marketing research the best energy drinks are AMP by Pepsi Cola, KMX Red by Coca-Cola Company Red Bull by Red Bull North America.Red Bulls market dominance seems assured. No other competitors have either the distribution channels or, more importantly, the posture of rebellious infamy to be considered real threats7.Year 2001, in UK energy drinks market 21 new drinks8have been introduced that would have force the red bull into a competition. However, red bull can still enjoy being a market leader.In the following table there are representations of top 14 non- alcoholic markets where some of them are in the specific market of the energy drinks.Coca-Cola (Juice, Soft Drinks, Water) ($21bn)Suntory (Water, Sof t Drinks) ($4.4bn)Nestle (Coffee, Soft Drinks, Water) ($19bn)Starbucks (Coffee) ($4.0bn)PepsiCo (Juice, Soft Drinks, Water) ($10bn)Sara leeward (Coffee) ($2.7bn)Kraft Foods (Coffee, Powdered Drinks) ($4.6bn)Tchibo (Coffee) ($2.7bn)Unilever (Tea ) ($4.5bn)Red Bull (Energy Drinks) ($1.6bn)Cadbury Schweppes (Soft Drinks) ($4.5bn)Cott Corp (Juice, Soft Drinks) ($1.4bn)Danone (Soft Drinks, Water) ($4.5bn)Ocean SpraySource http//www.mind-advertising.com/sectors/sector_softdrinks.htmIndustry Life CycleEnergy drinks were originally pioneered by Asian companies, but they became popular in Europe the late 80s with the arrival of Red Bull9. There are more than 200 energy drinks existed in US market only and this figure is increasing due to the high margin of this business.In 2004, carbonated soft drinks post the growth of 1% which is remote its usual trend, case of growing 2% to 4%. Noticeably, this inevitable growth was driven by Diet and Energy drinks10. While other carbonated drinks posted volume change of one Digit, brands like Red Bull and Hansen Natural reported the 45% and 56% of positive volume change in 2004.The market, now estimated to be worth $10 million, has been predicted to grow to $300 million or even as much as $2 billion in the attached few years.11Double digit growth in the market is the main factor contributing to Energy drinks life cycle in its embryonic course (growth).Since the market is not old enough, the number of players are increasing and even the Coca Cola and Pepsi are the new entrant which add to the well-built assumption of embryonic phase.Brand loyalty and high expectations are still questionable in this stage and its because the consumers are still exposing to new products and new claims. Thus, players are fighting for product feature extension such as low-carbs and sugar free plus new products claims such as improve concentration, reaction time and endurance.12After substructure of Red Bull in late 80s, industry went to an introduc tion phase. By 1998, the size of the industry doubled and still growing with a fast pace following highlighted area in the graph is an approximate stage of the life cycle at the moment.Internal AnalysisValue ChainPrimary natural action Inbound outbound logisticsLogistical issues at Red Bull in of high importance. Due to the fact that all ingredients in the Red Bull drink is synthetically made by pharmaceutical companies, they make sure that their products are carefully handled to maintain the quality and avoid unnecessary costs. Red Bull always makes sure that they align with premium logistics provider to achieve their strategic goals. Red Bull aims to have web-based visibility on their supply chain, thus they base their logistical activities or selection onFlexible warehouse networkTransportation management capabilitiesStrong information technology offeringWith 1,600 employees working for Red Bull world wide (Gulf News, Red Bull plans to set up Dubai plant), Red Bull required th ose standards as they are experiencing year-after-year of high growth, which make the inventory call and management challenging. That is why logistical issues have become increasingly important, and that is why they choose to outsource the logistics to companies that can comply with their network of multi-client warehouses needs (Red Bull OH Logistics). Interestingly, Red Bull uses small distributors in small regional markets, if those small distributors dont perform up to Red Bulls standards they establish a warehouse and push young people to stuff their vans with Red Bulls product and distribute it every where. This way, the small distributors generally break even within three months and are profitable within sextet (A Bulls Market The marketing of Red Bull Energy Drink).Primary Activity OperationsThere is little information about the operations process of Red Bull. However we will enlighten you with the contents and brief information about the packaging company that Red Bull deals with.The great product which is provided by Red Bull one of its main elements of success. Known for improving performance, improving concentration and reaction speed, improving vigilance, improving emotional status and stimulating metabolism, Red Bulls hugger-mugger is in its ingredients. The ingredients in each Red Bull drink (250ml) consist ofTaurine (1000mg)Glucuronolacton (600mg)Caffeine (80mg)Niacin (20mg)Vitamin B6 (5mg)Pantothenic Acid (5mg)Vitamin B12 (0.005mg)According to Red Bull, It is a cabal of all the ingredients together, which result in Red Bulls benefits (Red Bull, Ingredients)..The packaging process of Red Bull is fully done in Austria. And the supplier of Red Bulls cans is Rexam, and they are considered to be the worlds largest provider of beverage cans. Rexam manufactures different types of cans for different industries, however almost half of their revenues come from Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola. Moreover, industry estimates present that Rexam gained about $ 22 million from the sales of Red Bull cans (How Does Red Bull Package Its Product?).Primary Activity Marketing and SalesWith the control of 70% of the 1.6 billion market (about 1.12 billion), Red Bull has achieved all of this through intensive unconventional marketing strategies. Targeting young people, mainly the Y-generation, Red Bull has utilized eccentric marketing tools that has extremely effective on the target market. The strategy of sponsoring local activities like the Red Bull music academy in the USA, parachuting in South Africa, Go-Karts in Kuwait, and many more in different countries has achieved its target of attracting its target market which gets excited when viewing such sports. Some of the strategies used for marketing Red Bull include utilise pick-up trucks as mobile displays, painted blue and silver with a giant can of the drink mounted on top of the vehicle.Designed to be eye-catching, these devices were aimed at promoting the red bull brand as youthful and sligh tly off-the-wall.Cans of the drink were also given out free to people on the street who had been determine as being in need of energy.Red Bull was given to club DJs, empty cans would also be left on tables in hot spots such as trendy bars, clubs and pubs.Secondary Activity TechnologyThe information about the technology that Red Bull uses was quite scares. However we could safely say that Red Bull little activity done on their RD side because Red Bull does enjoy any sort of economies of scale. Red Bull has only one main product, which is the Red Bull energy drink and recently they introduced the new Red Bull energy drink sugar-free. Hence, the main digression between the original Red Bull drink and the sugar-free drink is that it has 0g of sucrose and 0g of glucose, where the original product has 21.5g of sucrose and 5.25g of glucose. Moreover, each sugar-free drink has only 8 calories (EU)/ 10 calories (USA), yet it does not loose any of its energetic effects (Red Bull, Ingredient s).Secondary Activity Human RecourseRed Bull is famous for practicing what they preach, especially when it comes to recruitment. Due to the fact that Red Bull promotes their product as a Hip and young product, they make sure to recruit staffs that are young, in touch with youth culture, dynamic and innovative. For example, they achieve that by recruiting university students as student brand managers to promote its product among young student groups (What Sort of People Work For Red Bull?). However their recruiting does not happen by Red Bull themselves, but they makes sure that it is implemented by all of the outsourced activities. However, it is known that most of Red Bulls 1,600 employees are marketing experts and are the real movers of the Red Bull drink (Marketing Eye, Red Bull Car).Group Customers and Market SegmentationAs it is known any successful company should have a certain customer group. The customers that were targeted by Red Bull were the ones that were looking for exc itement, alertness, and concentration depending on the age, status, and lifestyle. Four consumer categories were Red Bulls target under the age of 16-30 students, club people, sport people, and employees.College students were the main target of Red Bull. Since college students look for something that would enhance their concentration on doing their assignments and projects, and reposeing overnight for studying for exams then Red Bull is the best solution for them. It would improve their concentration in their studying Moreover Red Bull has used this group to enhance their promotion. According to Biz/ed, commit parties those students were emboldened to market the product in the campuses of the universities as what they call them student brand managers. Those students collect the information and make a report of a market data research to the company. Depending on that strategy and the youth generation (high school and colleges students), Red Bull was able to spread the reputation an d the popularity of the drink and concentrating on planning the product rather than applying the traditional marketing ways of promotion (A Look at a Key Feature of Red Bulls Business).The second category of Red Bull customers are the night club people, since the drink has some substances that would increase the persons emotional status. Moreover, Red Bull is offered in the nightclubs depending on the cultural background. For example, nightclubs in Dubai offer Red Bull for the people who do not drink alcohol like the Muslims, which made it a major substitute for alcohol to that group. However, Red Bull is still individually mixed with alcohol to create both the Red Bull highness and the alcohol sensation. Furthermore, Red Bull has also made music events for those groups of customers like the Red Bull Music Academy in 2005 in Seattle, Washington in the United States. (Red Bull Music Academy 2005)For the physical performance that the drink offers, Red Bull has also promoted the prod uct for the sport people. Among those people, there are the athletes, the racing drivers, the airborne-sport people, water-sport people, the bikers, the skateboarders, and the skiers. Red Bull highly endorsed this group with many sport festivals, and one of the famous one among those is the Red Bull Dolomite Man that took place in Austria in 2005. (Red Bull Dolomite Man)Red Bulls minor groups are the white-collar and the blue-collar workers. Red Bull can support white-collar workers to concentrate more on the job to improve their performance, and it would also help them stay overnight if he or she needed. The drink would also allow the blue-collar workers to work extra hours with out the feeling of exhaustions for the physical exertion that the drink provides. However, Red Bull did not concentrate on this group, so there were no special efforts directed towards them.Within the four groups, there a considerable sum of customers who look for diet product. For that category, Red Bull produced the sugar-free Red Bull to combine the diet customers with rest of the customers that are within the four groups.Business Level and generic StrategyIn the generic strategy Red Bull there are two views, there is a generic strategy from energy drink market perspective, and there is a generic strategy from soft drink market perspective. From the energy drink market perspective, since Red Bull has few economies of scope, the strategy adopted by Red Bull to follow is differentiation. The price of the drink is about 5Dhs in the UAE, which shows the clear differentiation of the product, especially in a market where every body is competing on the same customer segment. According to Biz/ed, Red Bull was able to build a strong brand image through using Red Bull cars that had big cans on them, giving free cans to people, and providing Red Bull cans to club DJs (A Look at a Key Feature of Red Bulls Business). This strategy made Red Bull to be the market leader of 70% market in the ener gy drink market.From the soft drink market industry wide perspective Red Bull applies the Focused-differentiation generic strategy. Red Bull has a very good brand image in terms of soft drinks industry. The drink can only maintain this image through focus-

Outsourced Delivery Services Of Ikea

Outsourced Delivery Services Of IkeaThe purpose of our thesis is to keep out the factors that affecting the customers satisfaction on outsourcing. The enormousness of add Chain oversight (SCM) is being a vital part of a comp either(prenominal) however, a well SCM is not as mature as many old start like Human Relation Management, Accounting, etc. Thus, companies may outsource SCM or particular function among SCM to the 3rd party run go awayr.Meanwhile, the quality and effect on outsourcing would be a concern to companies. Customers make the sales, profit of a accompany. If the part which being outsourced may reach customers directly, is there any precaution and measurement to ensure the service provide will not be affecting during outsourcing, or how to minimize the influence to companies.Todays Supply Chain ManagementMany companies today are strengthening their connections with partners all along the supply kitchen range. They no longer just treat suppliers as vendors and distributors as customers. They treat both(prenominal) as partners in delivering customers value. Most worry nowadays are customer-oriented, e.g., Sales, CS Business, Insurance, Banking/Finance, Beauty Care/Health, etc.Background of OutsourcingIn a global market an increasingly huge competition forces companies striving to find strategies that give them competitive advantage over the competitors (Christopher, M., 1998). Outsourcing has been treated as one of the most important tune and economic concepts for achieving competitive advantages.Outsourcing outhouse be defined as the transfer of the intersectionion of dangerouss or service that had been performed internally to an external party (Van Weele, A., 2005). Company can focus on their core business if the companies transfer its operations to another company to produce goods or operate well-nigh 3rd party services provider.The basic reason for outsourcing is the increased trend of globalization (Enarsson, L., 2008, p.33) . The reasons behind outsourcing may lower the approach on economy, utilize local firms resources thus avoid not bad(p) investment on fixed asset for exploitation non core products, and to gain access technology, performance through effective partnership.Problems discussionOutsourcing, regardless a mighty economic and business system, does not always ensure success to the outsourcesr involved in the entire cultivate. There are many drawbacks in outsourcing operations. It might athletic supporter a company on cost saving, focus on core business enhance capacity for innovation, wider experience and knowledge, etc. However, there are some arguments on guaranteeing quality of service, qualifications of outsourcee, standpoint of labor.Once a company determined which projects will be outsourced, they have to know why outsource and when to be put out out, how to prevent from mistakes while outsourcing.CONCEPTUAL STUDIESIn this part we will explain the concept of supply chain manag ement and outsourcing as well as their birth from the point of view of different available and established theories and literatures. In this section our goal is to elaborate more about outsourcing in a theoretical frame.Supply Chain Management (SCM)A customer focused definition is stipulation by Hines Supply chain strategies require a total systems view of the linkages in the chain that work together efficiently to create customer satisfaction at the end point of delivery to the consumer. As a consequence cost essential be lowered throughout the chain by driving out unnecessary costs and focusing attention on adding value. Throughput aptitude must be increased, bottlenecks removed and performance measurement must focus on total systems efficiency and equitable reward distribution to those in the supply chain adding value. The supply chain system must be responsive to customer requirements.SCM describles a longer channel, stretching from raw materials to components to final produ cts to final buyers. To implement an efficiency and effective supply chain systems take lots of time to design and manage, and so many companies nowadays decided to outsource parts of logistic function to a 3rd party services provider. Then they can allocate more resource and pay more effort on their core business.The turn of OutsourcingThere are no constrains to any functions which can be outsourced or not to be outsourced. To enhance the trains of competition, many organizations have started to consider in developing and maintaining the range of expertise and skills needed to compete effectively. This need has led many companies to engage with various kinds of sourcing like outsourcing (Oshri, I., Kotlarsky, J., Willcocks, L.P., 2009)Definition of OutsourcingDifferent authors have defined the outsourcing that covers a wide scope of the concept of outsourcing. The word of outsourcing can be split as out and source which means sourcing externally. Some simple definitions of outso urcing are given as followscontracting with a third service provider for the management and completion of a certain amount of work, for a specified length of time, cost, and level of service (Oshri, I., Kotlarsky, J., Willcocks, L.P., 2009, p 4)A contract is the means by which the planning, responsibility, knowledge, and administration of processes is transferred to an external party (McCarthy Anagnostou, 2004, Blumberg, 1998)According to Franceschini, F. et al., 2003, Outsourcing is a managerial approach usually interpreted for delegating the responsibility to an external source for carrying out the operation of production process or services of an enterprise.In these contexts, it can be summarized that, outsourcing is an agreement amidst buyer and supplier(s) to avail processes or services that the buyer is providing internally at present with an intention to reduce cost, increase focus on core business, modify quality of products and services and to ensure more flexibility.Ev aluation Process for OutsourcingAn organization needs to maintain an operational cycle to conduct the outsourcing operation. There are the outsourcing disembodied spirit cycle brought up by M.J., Desouza, K.C., Bonifazi, C. (Source Power, M.J., Desouza, K.C., Bonifazi, C., 2006)Strategic assessment As the first stage of the outsourcing process, strategical assessment is the crucial activity in the whole life cycle of outsourcing. The organization should identifie a certain business case and assesses the potential benefit of adopting the outsourcing as a strategy.Needs analysis After completion of the strategic assessment, the next step for the organization is to define the needs and more specifically areas of the needs that are needed to be focused on.Vendor assessment institution goes for soliciting, evaluating and choosing the vendor for its outsourcing needs.Contract and negotiation management To be engaged in negotiations (and renegotiations) until an agreement is reac hed about the details of outsourcing work.Project initiation and transition This is the most prestigious stages of the outsourcing relationship. The client organization slowly starts to hand over the control of the work to the outsourcee. Outsourcer should always pay attention to deal with emergent issues and smooth out any problems that occur. This stage marks the foundation of the continued relationship.Relationship management To keep up to date with the outsourcing relationshipContinuance modification or exit strategy Organization must evaluate its current outsourcing contract to see if its best interest lies in continuing, modifying or exiting the relationship.Motives for OutsourcingCost EfficienciesCost reduction has been the prime causation for outsourcing (Ford, D., et al., 1993). To develop a complete product is always expensive for a company as it needs huge investment to improve products and production process through continuous research and technology development. Ou tsourcing reduces the cost of the client company in this area as the service providers invest in this area to butt up the demand of the buyers in a large scale. In this way, a company can achieve the competitive advantages in the market reducing the cost through outsourcing process.Focus on Core BusinessEvery company has some activities that are not as essential as compared to its core business functions. By sourcing non-core business activities a company can focus on its core business in a better way. So, the efficiency of a company is likely to increase as more time and resources are focused only on the core business functions (Davis, J., 2002).In addition, there are some other driving factors that encourage the buyer company to adopt the outsourcing strategy. Such as operational expertise, enhance the capacity for innovation, capacity management where the risk in providing the excess capacity is borne by the supplier.EMPIRICAL STUDIESIKEA Hong Kongs Concept and HistoryThey offer s a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them. This is the idea at the core of every(prenominal)thing IKEA does, from product development and purchases to how they sell their products in retail stores.IKEA can make a good-quality product for a high price, or a poor-quality product for a low price. But to make good products at low prices, they need to develop methods that are both cost-effective and innovative. This has been the focus of IKEA since its beginnings in Smland, Sweden. Maximizing the use of raw materials and production variation to meet peoples needs and preferences has meant that their costs are low. The IKEA way of doing things is to pass these cost savings on to customers.Importance of Select Reliable OutsourceeUnder our investigation, IKEA Hong Kong has outsourced the home delivery and assembly services to an independent contractor. Basically, with return or exchange , home delivery and assembly services would be the final stage for company to provide services to customers. From ordering to delivery, IKEA takes at least three workings, even the staff give excellent customer services at retails store, the experience in store close to fade out after placing order. As the period from waiting order delivery to complete can replace the experience in store, services provide during these period of time is essential to decide will this customer return or not.No customers, no business, no sales. Those satisfied ones turns to be a devoted customers, otherwise, unsatisfied customers will bad month our company. Word of mouth is a reference to the passing of information from person to person. The influence of word of mouth is not measurable and difficult to rebuild company image.The dimensions of reliability responsiveness assurance empathy tangibility and cost in the service quality approach can be used in identifying critical factors that may suggest so me ideas on selection of logistic services provider (LSP) (Kong Mayo, 1993 Bienstock, et al., 1997).ReliabilityResponsivenessAssurance pointation timeService ConsistencyDocumentAccuracyResponsivenessVariety of Services give tongue to DeliveryGlobal coverageUpdated ratesTrack and constructContainerizationConsolidationReputationNo Goods DamagesEmpathyTangibilityCostCRMEmployeeCourtesyLocationModern EquipmentsOwn CFSE-servicesEDIPriceDiscountCredit term display case Study I Apple Computer and TNT gestate (See Appendix I)Apple Computer has been outsourced its delivery services to TNT Express. There would be a list of complaint about the services of TNT Express. The complaints are regarding to package missing, long delivery time, with recomfirm to package receiver.FINDINGSApple Computer outsourcing its delivery services to TNT, every one who place the order from Apple store knew this. Once the order is placed, there are an implication of customers are agreed to let TNT Express to tak e over the duty of product delivery.Unlike IKEA Hong Kong, the delivery materials of contractors like trucks, boxes are printed in IKEA logo. It is difficult for customer to identify they are not the staff of IKEA. In order to protect the image or reputation, IKEA should ensure the contractor can perform like an IKEA staff, i.e., the delivery worker should have basic product knowledge, especially for solving the enquiries during the process of services delivery. That is unreasonable to say we are contractor rather than direct staff of IKEA.Customer service is any contact between a customer and a company, which can cause a negative or positive perception by a customer during services delivery. As an outsourcer, they may state clear of relationship between outsourcer and outsourcee may reduce complaints caused by misunderstanding.The case of Apple, sometimes online checking system of TNT Express does not show the actual product delivery status. Those complainers about product delivery did focus on the services provider TNT Express instead of plain the Apples decision making on contractor selection.Case Study II Survey on Outsourcing of Government Activities on 2002 and 2004 (See Appendix II)The Efficiency Unit of HKSAR has been conducted a survey about outsourcing of governemt activities as at 2002 and 2004 since 2000. In this two heralds, it showed, over 80% of bureaux and departments have beed outsourced at least one function to an indepentend contractor.FINDINGSAccording to the report on 2004, those functions which occupied the most outgo were capital works constraction, building property management and environmental hygiene are the top three outsourced functions.By analyzing the pattern of annual expenditure, the fluctuation of transport services is the most serious among the listed functions. The ratio of reducing expenditure is the most significant as well. In 2000, the expenditure was around $1 billion and then it dropped to $0.1 billion in 2002. Un like other services categories, transport services were doubling up the expenditure on 2004.The focus of outsourced function of IKEA Hong Kong is the delivery services, it may categorize as transport services among the government functions. Reference to the expenditure on different services categories, transport services it is did not donminated the propular function of being outsourced.Reference to the page 6 of survey on 2004, there are current satisfaction of outsourcees performance. Around half(a) of the outsourcee full met the requirement of outsourcer. notwithstanding there is also another half that only partially fulfill.CONCLUSIONIKEA is now the worlds largest furniture retailer they have a fixed group of partners on manufacturing, purchasing and supply functions, design and development of products in the IKEA range. For distribution they have their own logistics center atomic number 63 is located in Dortmund, Germany and Asian logistic center is located in Singapore along with its IT base. To retaining customers, they have the customer relation system of IKEA Family.IKEA perform well in Europe no matter for SCM, marketing and customer retention. In Hong Kong region, they also have a good SCM, even they outsourced parts of service to an independent services provide. Yet the seldom to hear so negative comment to those outsourced services.Furthermore, under our investigation, we found that only one contractor took over the job of delivery, assembly services. The part that would revalue is even the delivery services are being outsourced, IKEA Hong Kong still having a backup delivery term in-house. Once there are any conflicts or under peak seasons of ordering, IKEA can take over part of the order themselves.However, it is difficult to understand why they have not launch the loyalty wit in Hong Kong. To strength the loyalty of customer, which is important to understand the purchase pattern of customers, in order to give related promotion and informatio n to encourage them repeating purchase.There are no absolute anwser for good to be outsoure or not to be.Companies should adopt a planned approach towards outsourcing taking into account the interests of employees and customers analogous and come up with a balanced advance.The cycle of evaluation process for outsourcing is a good model for a company which would interest in outsourcing a/some particular function to a 3rd party services provider.For those companies which have been outsourced, a regular evaluation on before and after outsourcing is important. In todays dynamic marketplace, there are no rules can last till the end. The one who wants to be dominant of the market, they should keep track on of market trend, find out the competitive advantage and having a periodical review companys performance from time to time.APPENDICEhttp//discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2537721start=0tstart=0APPENDICEhttp//www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/tnt-shipping-c41785.htmlAPPENDICE Some links of complaint about TNT Express when taking over the order from Apple Computer.http//www.uwants.com/archiver/?tid-10549683.html(a brief survey hold by some forum members)http//www1.17t17p.com/viewthread.php?tid=452427http//boardreader.com/thread/Apple_HK_TNT_FRUSTRATION_9udfX1jc6j.htmlhttp//discussions.info.apple.com/click.jspa?searchID=-1messageID=12054701

The Growing Market Of Organic Clothing

The Growing Market Of Organic ClothingThis proposed search paper is based on the growing grocery of ingrained raiment in UK room and retail industry. The essential industry has started with the organic food because people argon very much informed about a healthy life ardor. exclusively straight elbow room the consumers be concerned about the environment as surface. So the organic industry has increased the range of harvests from food to gifts, garment, accessories, skin c atomic number 18 products, beaut products baby and maternity products. Now organic industry is becoming popular in high streets and retailers sympathised that the consumers be looking forward for the ethic all toldy exit fashion. Moreover government is very much concerned about the increasing UK landfill and they oblige launched a campaign for tackling the environmental imp lick of the current fashion culture. They necessitate the retailers to give sustainable frock where people enkindle use an d dispose it without damaging the environment. The gimcrack throwa expression clothes atomic number 18 adding to the landfill because these clothes atomic number 18 non eco friendly. So poisonous gases atomic number 18 emitting from these sites and harm the environment as well as living beings. Though people are witting about all these things, organic clothes are not able to compete with the another(prenominal) materials. The entrance of organic clothes is a sore challenge for retailers, suppliers and as well the innovati adeptrs. The cheap throwa charge clothes are fewer values compared to organic clothes. The main problem which is going to be proveed in this search is how gross revenue of organic clothes are affected by cheap throwaway clothes and how we sack up puzzle out the organic clothing to an anyday reality? If cheaper clothes become the market attracter, thusly organic clothing forgetinging not be in that respect in the future market. So how organic industry can be the market lead and make it affordable and fancy everyone with its designs and prices. To communicate a expand ex designingation about these problems the researcher give assess the challenges lining by organic clothing industry shows the comparison of organic and other fabrics and also the benefits of organic clothing.This research involves the analysis of how cheap regular clothing affects organic clothing industry and environment, challenges facing by organic clothing and also the future of organic clothing industry in the competitive retail market. Below are the following aims of this research Analysing the impact of cheap regular clothing industry over organic clothing industry. Consumer awareness about the benefits of buying organic clothes Analysis of sales prospects for organic clothing and its future to establish a sustainable market share. Environmental impact and the consequences on s subjectholders imputable to cheap clothing market. Below listed ar e the objectives which are the main focus of this research and it depends on the above mentioned aims. Understanding the honest fashion and the importance of biodegradable clothes. Production and the process involved in the manufacturing of organic clothing Consumer behaviour in fashion and retail industry Market of cheaper clothes affecting the growth of organic clothing industry. Better selling strategy for easy penetration of organic clothing in to the fashion industry 2) Research MethodologyThis following partitioning talks about the order which has been implemented for the purpose of conducting this research. Each methods and its performance will be described and also the reasons for using these methods and techniques. Towards the end of this research paper, restrictive weakness regarding the applied methods and techniques will be explained briefly. there are two methods of research and that is inductive and deductive. In inductive method general principles are micturatei ng up from detailed observations. The deductive research approach is a method which is expanded on the basis of general principles from the exact expectations of hypothesis.Types of research in that location are 2 types of selective information compendium method in a market research and that is Qualitative research method and decimal research method. When the two methods of research unite, the effect of research can be more useful.Qualitative researchQualitative research is used to inspection and repair us understand how people feel and why they feel as they do. It is concerned with collecting in-depth information asking questions such as why do you say that? Samples tend to be smaller compared with quantitaive projects that include much larger samples. Depth inter sop ups or group discussions are two common methods used for collecting qualitative information. http//www.marketresearchworld.net Qualitative is a kind of scientific research and this localizeigates the areas which give answers to the question, collect evidences, ca-ca findings etc. it takes researcher to the deeper truth of the report. It gives a proper understanding of a wedded research topic from the perspective bear witness of view of the locality which is involved. Qualitative research is an effective method to gain information about the opinion, value and behaviour of the population. Qualitative research provides appropriate answers to the question given by the researcher and also gives roundwhat valuable evidence which whitethorn not get from other methods.Quantitative researchQuantitative research is a research method that relies less on interviews, observations, small numbers of questionnaires, focus groups, subjective reports and case studies but is much more focused on the entreaty and analysis of numerical data and statistics.(paranormality.com, 2009)This is a research method which will measure the peoples reaction in a particular way. That means the way they think, feel, a ct and it provides the information in a statistical and numerical way. The common methods used in quantitative researches are experiments, documentary, survey etc which will give a statistical and numerical data for a final judgement. Qualitative research will gain some information to form theories and those theories can be tested with quantitative research. In this research the former has used twain qualitative and quantitative research methods. There are certain reasons why the researcher has used both qualitative and quantitative methods in this research paper. That is given below.The researcher will be conducting interviews with an online retailer of organic products to collect information which will make the topic clearer to the reader. This will be both qualitative and quantitative data appeal method.There are questionnaires to customers which are used to collect some data from the customers point of view. This is quantitative in character but when the researcher gives expl anation to it, turns to be qualitative and quantitative ending.Research strategyThis is an area where the researcher is going to discuss about the research strategy that is used for conducting the research. The information about research strategy in the website www.lib.unca.edu shows that research strategy will give just directions to the drop dead and will make researcher to do the research systematically instead of arbitrarily. It reduces the frustration of the author, saves time and also mends the theatrical role of the research.Here the researcher has taken retail clothing industry and in that, organic clothing market as a focusing area to find out the challenges and business issues which they are facing. The research is not do on a particular organization or a company but the researcher has approached an organic retailer to collect some information and data for an in-depth study of the topic. With all these information, the researcher tried to analyse the competitive stat es of the clothing industry, the difference between the throwaway clothes and the organic clothes and its benefits, the environmental effects, easy penetration, product developments and innovation, future of organic clothes market, pricing strategies etc.Data collection methodsHere the researcher would give a detailed description about the data collection methods which is used in this research. There are two types of data collection methods. They are primary data collection method and secondary data collection method.Primary data collection methodsIn primary data collection method, data is collected by the author by using certain methods same interviews, surveys, questionnaires, focus group interviews, case studies etc. the very important thing to be noticed in this is, the data which is collected by the author for the purpose research should not be taken from any books or from others works. It should be unique until it publishes. The primary data may be qualitative in its behaviou r or can be quantitative. Here the researcher has collected primary data by taking interviews and questionnaires. institutionWhat is organics?The organic world is detailed and compound with governments, businesses, organisations and other individuals from many part of the world who attempts to generate an agreement on what has to be organic. For eg. Organic food production, the farm and agriculture is done by using the system that stay away from any kind of artificial interference. These method of organics doesnt harm the environment as well as wildlife by avoiding the use of pesticides and fertilisers and if necessary antibiotics can be used. The whole idea is to work in accord with the nature using the techniques and tools which nature house instead of dominating and destroying the nature with man-made fertilisers and pesticides.Clothing with scruples-organic clothing.Organic clothing is becoming a trend in high street. The intermixture of organic clothing is massive and it sta rts from organic sportswear to night wears. Most of the people go for shopping and buy things which magnetize their eyes without a second thought of who made that and what it is made up of or where are they coming from. But nowadays there are consumers who are conscious about their healthy life style as well as environment. And that is the reason behind the rise of organic cotton and bonny trade clothing.People are al ways fashion conscious and each season leap from one trend to another trend because the retailers in high streets are imitating the bleakest catwalk looks. But now the high street retailers are into another trend that is organic materials. Though they are trying to make the organic trend popular there are lot of challenges facing by organic world of clothing. This research goes through that challenges and difficulties facing by organic clothing industry and appears with some findings which provides an answer for organic materials are just a pricey opulence for well- off or will it mature into a high street reality? if the retailers can provide the customers with eco friendly and ethically audio recording apparels and get them into fashion stakes, then organic clothes can become an everyday realism.Production of organic clothes is done by using sustainable resources like hemp, silk, organic cotton, bamboo fabric and linen. The harvesting and the production process should not affect the environment and the surrounding or human being. Organic clothing does not include only food, sandals or t-shirts. It includes a wide range of clothing which we can see in other fabrics. There are reusable nappies for babies. There is a ripe market for baby products by organic industry. Naturally drived materials are very important for babys health and skin. The fabrics which are chemically treated can irritate the baby skin because they are delicate. For example cotton fabrics, everyone think it is pure, safe and comfortable for people in any climate but it is inglorious when we look into the production methods of this fabrics. So by purchasing organic materials we support a beneficial and eco friendly working practices, protecting the environment from toxic waste, legal transfer the life of living beings and as well as getting a healthier life style for ourselves.The retailers are investing lot of money for producing ethically sound fashion. Marks Spencer and its suppliers attain started developing eco factories to make a way for different process of sustainable manufacturing. They have realised that the customers want clothes which are not only look good or feel good but also should not leave harmful effects in the environment. publications reviewEthical fashionAccording to ethicalforum.com Ethical fashion represents an approach to the design, sourcing and manufacture of clothing which maximizes benefits to people and communities while minimizing impact on the environment. The meaning of ethical goes beyond doing no harm, represent ing an approach which strives to take an active role in poverty reduction, sustainable livelihood creation, minimizing and counteracting environmental concerns. It covers a range of issues such as working specifys, exploitation, fair trade, sustainable production, the environment, and zoology welfare. (ethicalfashionforum.com, 2009)Ethical fashion is defined as an approach to the manufacture, source of clothing and also designs range which has to be aware of society and environment and also sustainable. Ethical fashion and its products should do the promotion of eco friendly materials and the process of production should not harm the environment. It also has to provide fair wage and fair working atmosphere for the employees in the industry.There are two areas to focus when we talk about ethical fashion, environment and the people or giving preference to organic standard and fair-trade standard. Fair-trade standards are about the employees who make the clothes and who fabricate the raw materials. Worldwide there are more than 30million cotton farmers. Much of the materials are coming from developing countries. This fair-trade ensures that the workers are given a fair pay and also exploit child outwear. It also ensures the working condition and the atmosphere.Basically ethical fashion respects the nature and the earth. Cotton cultivation will pollute the atmosphere. Cotton cultivation take ups eight times more chemicals than what we use on a normal food crop. This pollutes air, soil and river. It also affects the people who are working in this field. A large percentage of oddment is happening every year due to pesticides in the cotton field. Many pesticides are used unnecessarily. We can protect the cotton by using soap, garlic, cayenne pepper etc. Rest chemicals are used at the time of processing and dyeing the fabric. One company approximation is almost 8000 types of chemicals are used to produce a t-shirt. Ethical fashion is clothing which is made with f air-trade organic cotton where in sweatshop free conditions. This is a growth market and it is slowly finding its way to high streets. Ethical fashion mention the way fashion industry currently works and the problems such as labour exploitation, environmental destruction, cruelty towards animal etc. It is very important for the people to know the need of ethical fashion in todays world. The organic industry has to find a permanent market place in retail industry and fancy people with its quality, benefits, designs, price etc. So ethical fashion has to be promoted by the government, retailers, suppliers and the consumers, who are the stake holders and this can give a better living condition, health and a good lifestyle. This is a great challenge for the designers to promote ethical fashion by getting the currentest trends to the organic fabrics like organic cotton, hemp, bamboo fabrics etc.The way a chair breaks up space or a building cuts into the pitch with so many different vie ws is how I feel a garment relates to the body, says Brooklyn designer Nina Valenti, who launched the sustainable line nature vs future in 2002. I design pieces that have a strong line, form and texture. (organicconsumers.org, 2009)The designers are trying to widen the range of designing in organic clothes. For example designs of Nina Valenti, her clothes has gathers, pleats, stiffness, slits etc and she uses the fabrics like organic cotton, hemp, wool and also the fabric made from recycled soda bottle. If the consumers understand the difference between organic and cheap clothes and if they are getting the vast variety of products based on their demand, the eco fashion will be a turning point to the todays fast fashion culture and organic clothing industry will turn to be everyones choice.BrandingFamous trade author Kotler saysA name, term, symbol or design (or combination of them) which is intended to signify the goods or services of one seller or groups of sellers and to differe ntiate them from those of the competitors. (Groucutt, 2005)Here it gives a proper understanding that stigmatisation is not about achieving the target market and be the market leader but it is about receiving the outlook to see the steel as that is the only thing which gives solution to the consumers problems. Branding creates many challenges to the marketers. To get success in imperfectioning the brand should have clear prospects about the needs and wants of the consumers. It is important to spend some time for defining, understanding, researching and then building a brand. A brand is a kind of promise which is given to the consumers and it is also a foundation in the marketing communication. Before branding was just identification for the customers to differentiate one product from another. Gradually people became brand conscious and they started rating the products with the brand name. Then marketers started creating effective brands. Now every sector has got brands and people c hoose the products with the brand names. In the case of organic clothes there are lot of brands like Eden clothing, Edun, rain tee etc and there are designers as well to encourage eco fashion. But still ethical fashion is not able to compete with the larger brands. The organic brands are targeting niche group of green consumers instead of mainstream brands consumers. There are some ethical fashion brands that are successful in the way they are communicating with the target consumers. Patagonia is one of them who became an international brand. But now the retailers have worked out another way to penetrate organic clothing in to the market. They are promoting eco friendly clothes as a different section of the live brands. For example Nike, Levis, MS etc, these brands are taking a significant pace to progress the organic industry to the mainstream. These global brands are producing profit of multimillion pounds every year by using sweatshop labour in developing countries. After decade s, the brands like Nike, Gap etc have admitted that the employees have been abused and exploited by draw and quarter labour in the factories. So they promised that they will improve the working condition for a lot of people who are not paid well to produce their highly demanded goods. There are lot of factors which affect the purchasing habit of the consumers. Though they are concerned about the environment and social problems, there are lot more reasons for the consumers to select a particular brand or the product. As the high streets are welcoming ethical fashions or organic clothing, there are some changes in consumers buying behavior. They are being responsible socially and culturally. The marketers are aware of this situation and even they are making changes to the existing brand to make sure that they are ethical in the way they process.Ethical marketing and advertisingEthical marketing frames messages in a way that the consumer identifies with. It encourages companies to int egrate cultural, social, economic and environmental values into their culture, strategy and actions, and reinforces the positive values of the brand, creating a strong citizen brand. This is all done on a voluntary basis, and is mainly an creviceing above and beyond statutory requirements.Through the effective use of ethical marketing and corporate social responsibility, companies are able to positively run to society and manage the environmental impact of their organisation, whilst maintaining and even growing the contribution to their bottom line. It can have direct benefits on businesses and can divine service secure long-term competitiveness. (grassrootsideas.co.uk, 2009)Ethical marketing is defined as applying marketing ethics into the process of marketing. Ethical marketing comes in a socially, culturally responsible and tenuous business area. It is an examination from the example point of a marketing issue which needs a moral judgment. The survival of human race for lon g stopover and the successful future basically depends on accepting these concepts or refuse them. Ethical marketing should also have an observation whether the representation or marketing of a product or service has reached in a framework where social and cultural values meet. It is a business which makes its own way of marketing ethics and uses this code in every portion of business process which gives ability to offer valuable benefits to the customers. The consumers have to realise this competitive advantage. The ethical issues like child labour, the employers working condition, the environmental problems etc made the world think that they are more responsible socially and culturally. This pressured the companies and made them market their services and products which is socially moral and responsible. The best example for ethical marketing is the increasing demand of fair-trade. The whole idea of this fair-trade is, consumers pay a certain amount for the goods to a group of pro ducers and the producers offer fair wages to employers and also preserve the environment. This sets up a trade which is ethically sound.The main aim of ethical marketing is to achieve customer consignment by supporting positive values of a brand to make it a strong citizen brand. Though it is a new method of process which forms new challenges for the marketers, this will pressurize in developing products which gives long term benefits without any reduction of quality of the products. Ethical marketing comes in the picture when the marketers and the organisation realise that more improvements has to be done for making a better human life possibilities. Some companies like Coop Group have decline to invest money in business of fur, tobacco etc. In the case of organic clothing a strong awareness has to be done to improve the sales and the demand. The retailers of organic clothes have to be more concentrated in the way they market they products.In highly developed markets where consume rs are ofttimes cynical about brands, word of mouth is increasingly the main source of recommendation. And the brands most likely to be recommended are from companies that are ethical in the way they behave. With the explosion of blogs and online social networking, word of mouth has become one of the most potent brand management tools available. There is no longer anywhere to hide-your brand will be found out and rejected unless you commit to ethical business and marketing practices. (The Marketing Society Forum, 2009)As we mentioned above developed markets will have consumers who are more conscious about the brands. Word of mouth has become an effective marketing tool in todays world. This has become powerful with the help of online social networking, creating blogs etc. The brands need recommendation from the companies to be shown that they are ethical in all the ways. Each brand has got its own production ways and marketing. They have to make sure that they are processing their b usiness in a social responsible way. It should be acceptable culturally and socially. For example Gap, the brand which had highest turnover, they got a black mark when the brand name was related to child labour practices in the manufacturing state. This has affected their sales and the retailer Zara had hit the highest turnover label in the following year. Also Gap had to remove those items from the sale which they used child labour. All western clothing chain makes their production process in Asia. They take the advantage of cheap labour providing by Asian countries like India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, China, Indonesia etc. So the way they process should be ethical in all the ways because there are consumers who encourage ethically sound business and its marketing. In this instance each brands can encourage the organic clothing industry by providing organic clothes with their brand name. In UK like places people are very much conscious about the newest fashion as well the brand which t hey wear. So if every brands make their clothes eco friendly, that means they are being fair towards the human and the society as well. Consumers are acquiring better quality products which dont harm their skin and the environment. Through effective advertisement organic retailers can make everyone aware of the importance of organic clothes in todays era. The government and the marketers have launched campaigns to give awareness about eco fashion and also to undertake environmental impact of fast fashion culture. Organic consumers association launched global campaign to push the awareness of proscribe health and environmental effects of cheaper clothes and its production process. Then we can make ethical fashion an everyday reality.Market leadershipMarket leadership is usually understood in terms of the position of a given company within an industry or market, based on three factors. When determining whether a corporation can properly be referred to as a market leader, the profita bility of the company will play a major role. Along with how profitable the company happens to be, the market share volume and value will also be considered. (wisegeek.com, 2009)In the above sentence it is explained that an industry, market or an organizations position in the market is depends on three points. That is profitability, market share, market volume. But now the market is more competitive and the competitors are also high in number. So there are some more points which have to be added to get a market leadership like innovations and developments, advertising, branding, quality, price etc.Fashion is a very copycat industry, says Scott Hahn, who launched Loomstate, an American organic cotton denim line, to the likes of Harrods and Selfridges last year. There are a few pioneers and other brands follow. For some its because they think organic cotton is trendy now that its escaped its tree-hugger image. But more I think are now doing so for the right reasons. (organicconsumers. org, 2009)In the case of organic industry, the organic clothes have penetrated to the market. To increase their market volume, share and profitability and be a market leader they need to do innovations, product development, pricing and advertising. Advertising and promoting the product is a very important and effective marketing tool to get the consumers attention. There are some consumers who are concerned about the environment as well as they has realized the benefits of using organic clothing. It is not only an understanding about the benefits of organic clothing but they also have to know the harmful effects of cheaper clothes to the environment and to the health of human beings. The BBC has released news about the environmental problems and UK landfill due to the growing sales of cheaper throwaway clothes. According to the survey done by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) says the clothing and textiles sector in the UK produces some 3.1m tonnes of ca rbon dioxide, 2m tonnes of waste and 70m tonnes of waste water per year. Gases such as CO2, emitted by fossil fuel burning, and methane, released from landfill sites, are widely believed to be contributing to global warming. (bbc.co.uk, 2009)UK ministers told that the consumers should make sure that the production, selling and disposal of clothes are not harming the environment as well as not exploiting the workers by the use of poor labour practices. The fashion has to be more sustainable throughout the whole process which includes design, production, selling and disposing. The whole idea is to get the attention of consumers to make them understand the negative impact of cheap throwaway clothes which is highly in demand in the high streets of UK but this is making a way to increase the landfill in UK. The campaigns launched by the government and clothing associations were useful to make consumers aware about why to use organic clothes. Through these campaigns the retailers of organ ic clothing and the government is aiming to build a highly demand market for eco-fashion. To enter in a vast market like fashion or clothing industry, need to plan highly competitive business strategies. Marketing and advertising alone will not make the organic clothes sustain in the market and capturing the market to be a market leader. From the perspective view of new entrance like organic clothes, entering a drenched market with limited designs wouldnt make a difference in the market and wont get an entrance easily. The entrance of Body Shop to the market is the best example here. Anita Roddick has entered in the augmentative market where lots of high end brands are competing each other. But her innovative idea of handmade and natural cosmetic products attracted the customers and gave body shop a permanent position in the market.According to a study done by OCA (Organic Consumers Association) sales of organic cotton is doubling every year. gross sales of organic cotton are set to triple to $2.6 billion at the end of 2008 from its current $900 million level as retailers and brands make significant new commitments to sustainable textile and apparel production. (organicconsumers.org, 2009)There is lot of brands like Nike, Timberland, MarksSpencer, Wal-mart etc have already opened organic lines they were joined by Reebok, CA etc as new comers. The market of organic cotton is widening every year and it also attracts the global investors. In this situation the only issue which is worrying is the availability of role to satisfy the increasing demand for cotton and other organic fabrics. It is a known factor from these reports that organic industry is going to be a good competitor in the fashion and retail world in the coming years.Consumer behaviourBlackwell et al said, Consumer behaviour is defined as activities people undertake when btaining, overwhelming and disposing of products and services.(Blackwell et al, 2001).Consumer behaviour is a study of buying be haviour of the customers in the market that means what consumers are buying, why they are buying. Better understanding of the consumer behaviour will help organisations to improve the products and services and also their business, marketing strategies. This will influence consumers to buy that particular product. In the case of organic clothing, they attract the consumers by quality and the elegant designs of the products. The consumers are aware that organic products are good for health and skin. So they started getting attracted to the food products firstly and then to baby products. Much of the consumers are worried about the delicate skin of the babies, so they go organic especially nappies which can be recycled. Here comes the importance of the study of consumer behaviour.One authoritative definition of consumer behavior is The study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or id eas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society. (consumerpsychologist.com, 2009)Understanding consumer behaviour will help to develop the marketing strategies like pricing, segmentation, targeting, product designing, positioni

Trophosperic Ozone :: essays research papers

The source of the tropospheric ozoneThe tropospheric ozone has two major sources. One is intrusion from the stratosphere. Most of ozone in the atmosphere is in the stratosphere and created from solar UV radiation. The stratospheric ozone sometimes flows into the troposphere by the upper layer trough and cut-off low activities. Some part of ozone may subside in the troposphere directly by the Hadley circulation or the beer maker Dobson circulation. Another source is production from photochemical reactions. Ozone is produced from relatively longer-wavelength solar radiation under NOx and non-methane hydrocarbons rich environments. These photochemical reactions possibly bring well-nigh photochemical smog in urban area. http//www.asahi-net.or.jp/wt2y-ttm/what.htmThe characteristics of the tropospheric ozone About 8 % of the total column ozone is in the troposphere. The tropospheric ozone also plays an important role in the atmosphere.1) Ozone is a kB house gas and possibly contributes to the planetary warming.2) Ozone is harmful for human being and crops in the troposphere.3) Ozone oxidizes many chemical substances in the troposphere, and controls tropospheric chemistry.The trend of the troposheric ozone Some global supervise stations show the increase of ozone in the troposphere. It may be a big problem, be display case if tropospheric ozone increases, it might damage to human beings and many crops, and fairly contribute to the global warming and change the tropospheric chemistry. If the tropospheric chemistry changes, the nature of pollution and acid rain might change.But not all monitoring stations show the change magnitude trend. We have to monitor the tropospheric ozone at many suitable observation points. This also has the mean to study influence of human activities on Nature.Causes of ground-level ozone Other culprits-besides car and truck exhaust-are gas lawn mowers, over-filling and topping-off a gas tank, which allows vapors to escape, and leaking fuel, which react with sunlight and heat to produce ozone. Alternatives that reduce air pollution and ground-level ozone include using native plants for embellish rather than a lawn, using an electric or push mower, limiting planting areas for lawns, carpooling and public transportation. Effects on people with preemptive respitoary problemsGround-level ozone can cause flare-ups of asthma, chronic bronchitis, other lung diseases and cardiorespiratory illnesses. Symptoms may take days to appear following exposure. Ground-level ozone can decrease lung function and cause chest tightness and coughing. In addition, ozone and microscopic particulates, small enough to be inhaled into the lungs and "sticky" enough to attract pollens and other allergens, can contribute to asthma and allergy attacks, and make other lung diseases more severe.

Wake Island :: essays research papers fc

When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, America was at last forced to formally enter World War II. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt officially declared war on the Japanese and in his famous radio address to the American people, he professed that December 7 was a day that would live in infamy. Americans and Japanese alike, still remember Pearl Harbor Day, but how many remember the gallant, conflict Marines who served on a tiny atoll in the Pacific by the name of Wake Island?Prior to the war, Wake Island, located 2300 miles west of Honolulu, was an unincorporated territory of the get together States, which was placed under the jurisdiction of the navy blue in 1934. It was also a Clipper stop on Pan American Airlines famed Trans-Pacific run, and in 1939, the U.S. Navy began construction of an air and submarine base, which was half completed at the time of the attack. Because of the construction of the base, approximately great hundred0 civilians were on the is land, working for the American construction firm, Morrison-Knudsen, in admission to the Navy military group and Marines who had been sent to defend the island. The first attack came at noon on December 7, 1941, when 36 Japanese bombers initiated the first bombing of the island. The bombings by the Japanese continued until December 23, when under continuous shelling, the Americans, under U.S. Navy Commander Winfield Scott Cunningham, were finally forced to surrender. Although the Japanese finally took the island, they incurred heavy losses. Three cruisers and unrivaled transport sustained heavy damage, two destroyers and one patrol boat were sunk, while 820 Japanese soldiers were killed, with another 333 wounded. In contrast, American military casualties included 120 killed, 49 wounded, with two missing in action. Initially, Japanese strategists assumed that the tiny island would be overwhelmed in a matter of hours. However, they underestimated the fighting spirit of the military personnel and civilians stationed on the island. For sixteen days these brave men fought against overwhelming odds, but demonstrated both to the Japanese and to their fellow Americans back at home that the Americans could and would frame up a courageous fight. During the first air raid, Pan Americans facilities were destroyed, and ten civilian employees of the airline were killed. When the assault on the island was first launched, the Americans had twelve aircraft. By December 21, they were down to two planes and by the 22nd of December, none was left in the fleet.