Kfc Versus Mcdonald’s

INTRODUCTION 1. 1 Background KFC According to the information, â€Å"Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is a chain of fast food restaurant based in Louisville, Kentucky, United States that selling Kentucky Fried Chicken around the world. † It had been rated at number 60 as the world most famous brand by BusinessWeek. For KFC, fried chickens was the food they primary focus to sells. â€Å"Their basic products included chicken pieces, salads, sandwiches, desserts and some roasted and grilled chicken cuisines too. † Besides that, the beef and pork based products also offered by KFC outside the USA.The first idea of KFC’s fried chicken actually is in 1930 but it was only founded in 1952 by Colonel Harland Sanders, who was born on September 9, 1980 in Indiana, America and he was the man who developed the secret recipe which blends of 11 herbs and spices for making Kentucky Fried Chicken and this secret recipe still used today. Nowadays, KFC has more than 15,000 outlets in 1 05 countries around the world. In 1973, the first KFC restaurant in Malaysia was opened at Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, Kuala Lumpur. In overall, KFC currently has 445 outlets in Malaysia and it had become the largest fast food chain in Malaysia.McDonald’s According to the information, McDonald’s is the world’s largest chain of fast food restaurant based in Des Plaines, Illinois in 1955 to today that selling hamburgers around the world and it had been rated at number 9 as the world most famous brand by BusinessWeek. â€Å"For McDonald’s, foods that primarily sells by them are hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken, French fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, shakes and desserts. † But nowadays, due to the changing of customers’ tastes, the restaurant menu which are included salads, smoothies and fruits have been expanded by McDonald’s company.The founder of McDonald’s is Ray Kroc although the first concept of McDonald’s was act ually introduced by sibling Dick and Mac McDonald and they built the first McDonald’s restaurant in 1940 in San Bernardino, California. In 1954, Mr. Ray Kroc acquired franchising rights from Dick and Mac McDonald and a McDonald’s franchise was opened on 15 April, 1955 and later bought out the McDonald’s share of the McDonald brothers. The McDonald’s Corporation was then founded in 1955 and it was expanded by Ray Kroc. Nowadays, McDonald’s has more than 31,000 outlets in 109 countries around the world.In 29 April 1982, the first McDonald’s restaurant in Malaysia was opened at Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. In overall, McDonald’s currently has 200 outlets and about 20 to 25 outlets are being expanded annually. 1. 2 Problem This report has been written to compare the customer service of fast food restaurants in Malaysia: KFC versus McDonald’s. Nowadays, increasing competitive challenges have been faced by the fast food restaur ants in Malaysia such as restaurants KFC and McDonald’s. In order to satisfy the customers at a fast food restaurant, excellent customer service should be provided to customers by the management and the staff.Because beside the food quality, the standardize customer service that provided by fast food restaurants is expected by the customers. Currently, customer service is one of the factors that determine the customer satisfaction and it will directly affect the business of their fast food restaurants. However, recently the fast food restaurants are lack of customer service. The standardization in franchising business format does not ensure the standardization of customer service within the fast food restaurants due to some outlets are not able to follow up the same standards for customer service in franchise system. . 3 Purposes The purposes of this report are firstly to investigate the customer satisfaction with the customer service that is provided by KFC versus McDonaldâ €™s and secondly, to find out why students from Tar College prefer McDonald’s than KFC. Lastly, is to find out what aspects of customer service that provided by KFC and McDonald’s affect their business. 1. 4 Methods 1. 4. 1 The Sample The sample size of 30 was randomly selected, between the age of 18 to 22 from different gender. They are all students from School of Business Studies (Banking and Finance), Tar College KL Main Campus. 1. 4. 2 Data Collection ) Survey 30 sets of questionnaires were distributed as a source of primary data at Tar College KL Main Campus. These questionnaires consisted of 8 questions which focused on the customer satisfaction with the customer service that is provided by KFC versus McDonald’s, the reasons why students from Tar College prefer McDonald’s than KFC and what aspects of customer service that provided by KFC and McDonald’s affect their business. A clean copy of the questionnaire can be found in Appendix A. b) Internet Search The source of secondary data is the information obtained from the internet research.Information was gathered on the customer service that is provided by KFC and McDonald’s from the Internet. Various websites of KFC and McDonald’s were browsed through for this research. 1. 5 Scope This report investigates the customer service that provided by KFC and McDonald’s only. Other fast food restaurants are not included in this report. It focuses on the customer satisfaction with the customer service that was provided by KFC versus McDonald’s, the reasons why students from Tar College preferred McDonald’s than KFC and what aspects of customer service that provided by KFC and McDonald’s affect their business.The survey questions were distributed on 28 May 2012 at Tar College and collected back after the respondents finished their survey and only had 30 Tar College KL Main Campus students of School of Business Studies (Banking and Finan ce) were surveyed for this report. 2. FINDINGS 2. 1 Findings from Survey / Questionnaire Pie Chart 1. 1 The chart shows the frequency of TARC students go to fast food restaurant. 30 respondents were surveyed. As shown in the pie chart 1. , there is a total of 12 respondents who were going to the fast food restaurant once every two weeks, which occupied 40% of the 30 respondents. There are also 8 respondents which equal to 27% of the 30 respondents are going to the fast food restaurant once a month. Besides this, there are 6 respondents, 20% of the 30 respondents go to fast food restaurant once a week. For the remaining 4 respondents, there are 3 respondents go to fast food restaurant less than once a month and only 1 respondent go to fast food restaurant for two or three times a week.This pie chart shows that, most of the TARC students are going to fast food restaurant once every two weeks as it occupied 40% of the 30 respondents and the least of the TARC students are going to fast food restaurant for two or three times a week as it only occupied 3% of the 30 respondents. Pie Chart 1. 2 The chart shows the fast food restaurants that TARC students prefer to go. 30 respondents are being selected for a survey of either KFC or McDonald’s they will prefer to go. As shown in the pie chart 1. 2, there are 26 respondents which occupied a large portion of 87% among the 30 respondents are prefer to go to McDonald’s.Whereas the remaining of 4 respondents which only occupied a small portion of 13% among the 30 respondents is prefer to go to KFC. There are large portions of TARC students prefer to go to McDonald’s rather than KFC. These may be affected by the customer services, prices and the set menu provided by the McDonald’s are better than KFC. Bar Chart 1. 1 The chart shows the customer satisfaction with the customer service that is provided by KFC versus McDonald’s. 30 respondents were surveyed. As shown in the bar chart 1. 1, there is a total of 17 respondents who satisfied with the customer service that is provided by KFC.Whereas there is a total of 13 respondents who are not satisfed with the customer that is provided by KFC. On the other hand, there is a total of 26 respondents who are satisfied with customer service that is provided by McDonald’s and the other 4 respondents are not satisfied with customer service that is provided by McDonald’s. This bar chart shows that, customer service provided by McDonald’s are more satisfied by the respondents. KFCMcDonald’s Poor AverageGoodPoorAverageGood My food order was correct and complete1161311316 Waiting time after ordering food12631209 Staff are patient when taking orders32431254Communication skills421511910 Telephone services skills72032226 Staff are friendly and polite520531710 Sauces.. untenils.. 714931710 Table 1. 1 Bar Chart 1. 2 Bar Chart 1. 3 Bar chart 1. 2 and 1. 3 shows that, for KFC and McDonald’s, we focus on seve n interesting customer services which were responded well from our 30 respondents in TAR College through the questionnaire survey which included whether the food was correct and complete, waiting time after ordering food, staffs are patient when taking food, communication skills, telephone service skills, staff are friendly and polite, and availability of sauces, tissues, and utensils.According to the survey, the questions were focused on the customer services for both KFC and McDonald’s. From the respondents view, we found that the consumers are more satisfied with the ordering service in McDonald’s compared to KFC. Ordering service is important to maintain the business because if the food order was wrong and incomplete, this may cause consumer resentful with the service that provide by the fast food restaurant.Next, the waiting time after service play an important role in the fast food restaurant and this is the reason why consumers like to have their meal in fast fo od restaurant because usually most of them are students or workers who are in the hurry so they need to get their meal in the shortest time. Based on the respondent view, the waiting time after ordering food in McDonald’s is faster and shorter than KFC, this show that respondents are more preferred to have their meal in McDonald’s.Moreover, the attitude of the staff when taking order from the consumer will affect the reputation of the restaurant. Due to the survey, staff from McDonald’s are more patient when taking order than staff from KFC. In addition, Malaysia was a multi-racial country, so the communication skills are important when communicate with their customer. The respondents from survey feel that communication skills of McDonald’s are better than KFC since the McDonald’s can speaks in multiple languages. Nowadays, apart from drive hrough and having meal in restaurant, most of the fast food restaurants are provided telephone service for co nsumer to ordering food. For the staff who responsible to the telephone service, they need to answering the phone with the polite attitude and the speed of the staff speaking was important to ensure that the customer can listen clearly and understand. According the result of survey, respondents are more likely to use the telephone service of McDonald’s compared to KFC. Furthermore, friendly and polite staffs are according to the staffs who work in a fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s and KFC.This refers to their respond on how to serve their customer, a staff should be able to respond well such as the way they welcome their customers, taking order and answer customer question. When a staff from a particular fast food restaurant such as McDonald’s and KFC performs nicely and in a courteous behavior, this leads to frequent visit of the customers to the particular fast food restaurant. As a result from survey, we found that respondents are more preffered to M cDonald’s customer service compared to KFC.Lastly, the avaibility of sauces, tissue and utensils also act an important role in a fast food restaurants because some of the customer would like to have some sauces to favor their food and they may need some tissue after taking meal. Refer to the survey, most of the respondents are more satisfied with the facilities of the McDonald’s compared to KFC. In short, the customer services of the McDonalds are more prefered by customers if compared to KFC. Bar Chart 1. 4 The chart shows the methods that are suitable for KFC and McDonald’s to improve their customer services. 0 respondents were based on their opinion and preferences to respond how to improve the customer services for KFC and McDonald’s. Based on the survey, 17 out of 30 respondents had been choose to train the staff to be polite always for KFC and 8 respondents for McDonald’s. On the other hand, 15 of respondents had responded to train their staf f to use language to promote a good customer services and 16 respondents had choose it for McDonald’s. 9 respondents had responded to train their staff to deal with customers complaints for KFC and 8 respondents for McDonald’s.There are 20 respondents had choose to increase the speed of services for both KFC and McDonald’s. 8 respondents responded that communicate more with customer are suitable in to improve customer services for KFC and 9 respondents for McDonalds. KFC and McDonald’s both have 11 respondents respond on upgrade the staff appearance and image. Upgrade of delivery services for KFC have 12 respondents and for McDonald’s have 13 respondents. 8 respondents had responded that KFC need to upgrade their telephone services and 15 respondents responded that McDonald’s need to do so to improve their customer services.It is highly likely most of the respondents responded that the KFC and McDonald’s need to increase the speed of services because it was probably due to the staff served the staff slowly and the waiting time is long. For KFC, there are very least respondents unsatisfied with the telephone services skills and for McDonald’s there are only 8 respondents unsatisfied with the staff manners and attitude. As a conclusion, KFC and McDonald’s and should focus more on the speed of their services and the staff appearance and image so that it can help to improve their services. . 2 Findings from the internet From our secondary research, we found that the customer service provided by McDonald’s is better than KFC. Due to the good customer service provided by McDonald’s, many customers prefer McDonald’s to KFC. For KFC, we found that there is a declining service standards. A lots of complaint about KFC. Our research shows that, many customers end up with disappointed with the customer service provided by KFC after they visit it. Many customers complainted that the staff a re impatient when taking their orders and poor manners.One of the examples is â€Å"on 6 February, 2012 an serious incident was happened at KFC i-city, Shah Alam Malaysia. The KFC’s staff was fighting and hitting their customer. † Customers are paid to eat at KFC, no one deserve to be treated like that. Besides that, the food that customers orders was not correct. For example, â€Å"a customer ordered a bucket meal: 5 grilled and 5 original but when he opened the bucket, his half-grilled half-original recipe order was replaced by an all-grilled bucket. † These all indicated the bad customer service from KFC so customers less prefers go to KFC than McDonald’s.In contrast, McDonald’s less likely to have these kinds of problems. McDonald’s always provide good service based on standardization in franchising business format to their customers. So customers will prefers go to McDonald’s than KFC. 3. CONCLUSION In conclusion, most of the res pondents are prefer McDonald’s instead of KFC. As mentioned above, the reasons that respondents prefer McDonald’s from a brief view are the customer services provided such as staff attitude, communication skills, telephone service skills, availability of utensils is better than KFC as McDonald’s is compare with KFC.Based on our research, it is shown that both McDonald’s and KFC have their own customer services such as Drive-Thru services, delivery services, telephone services, staff attitude and others which can attracting customers. Both fast food restaurants are always maintained and improve their quality and services provided which can make sure their services are preferred and satisfied by everyone. This can maintain their old customers and also attracted some new customers. Most of the TARC students are prefer to go McDonald’s by referring the questionnaires.According to our research, KFC should improve their customer services until they can a chieve the similar popularity level just like McDonald’s, so that they could be the preferable fast food restaurant. Furthermore, customers can always give some opinion, suggestions or comments on their homepage or through the comment box to make sure that both McDonald’s and KFC understand the needs of the customers. Both McDonald’s and KFC also can improve their quality of products and customer services so that customers can satisfy with the services provided. 4. RECOMMENDATIONSAccording to the conclusion, we are recommend that the customer services for both fast food restaurants, McDonald’s and KFC which were not satisfied by customers should be improved to achieve a higher level or more preferable and satisfied by customers. For McDonald’s, we are recommend that the communication skill of the staff should improve by training their staff to use language that promotes good customer services based on the respondents view. The McDonald’s sta ff should not talk too fast or too slow to the customers so that the customers can hear clearly what they talking about.Moreover, McDonald’s should communicate more with their customers such as distribute a survey and request a feedback. Through this method, McDonald’s can know the needs and the satisfaction of their customers about their products and services so that they can improve their products and services. Furthermore, McDonald’s can upgrade their delivery services such as delivery within 15minutes and maintain the food freshness. The delivery staff must drive carefully to avoid accident so that the customers can trust on them.Lastly, McDonald’s also can upgrade their telephone service skills. When the customers call for the delivery, the staff must explain clearly to the customers about their menu and double confirm with the menu order by the customers. McDonald’s also can provide more type of language for the customers so that they can cho ose the language they know. Besides that, for KFC, the respondents have gives some opinions and comments which the KFC’s staff needs to increase the speed of services to ensure that the customers no need to wait and queue for a long time to get the food.The KFC’s staff also needs to be polite when serving their customers. The KFC can conduct a programme which the main objective is to train their staff to be polite when serving customers to avoid their staff argue with the customers. This can decrease the complaints from the customers. When they receive complaint from customers, they need to know how to deal with the customers promptly. So, KFC may give the empowerment to their staff and give training to their staff how to make decision when dealing the complaint from customers.Lastly, KFC need to upgrade their staff’s appearance and image. For example, KFC can set up guidelines for their staff how to improve their image and appearance. If the staff looks tidy an d clean, customers will be more confident to buy their products. On the other hand, the customers will never buy their products if their staff looks messy and dirty. Therefore, we suggest that the recommendations mentioned above might be encouraged more customers to buy their products and be more satisfy when buying their products as well as both McDonald’s and KFC improved their customer services.

Arctic Mining Consultants Essay

Synopsis of the Situation Arctic Mining Consultants is a mining consulting company that does mining exploration. This particular case looks into how Arctic Mining Consultants’ crew did not effectively do their job in Eagle Lake, Alaska. Tom Parker is a geological field technician and field coordinator for the company. He acted as the project manager on the job near Eagle Lake, Alaska. His crew of field assistants consisted of John Talbot, Greg Boyce, and Brian Millar. Tom had worked with all three field assistants before. Tom has specialized skills in claim staking, line cutting and grid installation, soil sampling, prospecting, and trenching. This particular job involved skating 15 claims, which consist of marking a line with flagging tape and blazes along the perimeter of the claim. A claim post is cut every 500 yards, meaning 60 miles in line total. Tom hoped to complete the job in a week, and offered the field assistants each a $300 bonus if it was completed in time. This would be added to their fa irly low daily wages. As the job progressed, tension was thick because the deadline was approaching. The field assistants were working long days, and two of them were continually not meeting Tom’s expectations. Tom particularly took his frustrations out on Millar. Key Issues The field assistants are given little motivation to work hard. They are paid fairly low daily wages and are putting in long days. Tom Parker does not offer positive encouragement either, yelling and making the field assistants feel bad could make them care less about the job. The field assistants are provided meals and accommodations, but even Tom admitted that a lot was expected of them in a short amount of time. Tom Parker is not a good leader. He is the one who does the hiring, training and supervising for all of Arctic Mining Consultants programs. It could be possible he is not properly training field assistants to thoroughly meet his  expectations. Tom Parker, on more then one occasion, exploded with anger. He did not coach his team, he just yelled at them. If he was supervising there work on Day 3, he should have communicated with the field assistants and told them how to improve their work then. On Day 6, when the field assistants did show improvement, Parker did not give them any positive reinforcements. Also, even after Paker picked on only Millar for bad performance, he asked him to work for him again. The field assistants seem to have very different capabilities and attitudes. Boyce did not get picked on by Parker, but admitted to Millar that he only worked as hard as he had to. Boyce had the worst results of everyone. Talbot met his quota and stayed to help Boyce meet his. He was a team player. Millar put in more time and effort, by being the first one dropped off Day 6 and 7, last one picked up Day 6 and 7, and not taking lunch Day 5. He worked himself so hard, that he collapsed at dinner, to tired to eat. Define the Problem The key problem in this case is that Tom Parker is not a good leader. He is in charge of hiring, training, and supervising field assistants. Couldn’t the field assistants’ work be reflected on Tom because he did not properly train them? Also, Tom selected the field assistants for this job. He should have known what they were capable of before selecting them. He had worked with al of them before, so he should have had reasonable expectations for each of them. Tom also made a hostile working environment with much stress and little positivity. Alternative Solutions Solution 1: Tom needs to be retained as a project manager. Being a project manager means being a leader. Tom is not a good leader. An effective leader is one who leads by encouraging the employees and making them want to succeed, thereby making the organization meet and exceed its goals over time. (Thakur, 2005). Tom did not handle conflict well; he took his frustrations out on one particular field assistant. Relational leadership is one form of effective leadership. Relational leadership centers around person-to-person relationships. One of the significant components of all relationships is how conflict is handled. (Ferch & Mitchell, 2011). The  advantage of retaining Tom to gain leadership skills would be that Tom potentially could more effectively train field assistants and make a better team dynamic. The disadvantage is that Arctic Mining Consultants would have to spend time and money to re train the trainer, Tom. It would be beneficial for him to develop new leadership skills, but it might be difficult not having a project manager. Solution 2: Tom and Arctic Mining Consultants should offer more incentives to his field assistants. It doesn’t even have to be monetary. Offering positive reinforcement for work well done would be beneficial to Tom and his team. â€Å"While money is important to employees, what tends to motivate them to perform – and to perform at higher levels – is the thoughtful, personal kind of recognition that signifies true appreciation for a job well done. (Eastern, 2012). The advantage of this solution would be that employees would feel better about the work they are doing, and feel good hen they excel. Field assistants would be working in a positive environment. The disadvantage would be employees would start to expect positive reinforcements and bonuses, feeling they are entitled to it. Solution 2: Hire new field assistants. Tom could more carefully select his field assistants for a job. He should do more research on candidates’ capabilities and experience if he has high expectations. The advantage of having a different team of field assistants would be that he could filter out those who do not meet expectations before hand. The negative side of hiring new field assistants is the time it would take to evaluate new candidates as field assistants. Selected Solution I believe the first solution would bee best to solve this case. Tom needs to reevaluate his leadership tactics. He does not communicate effectively with his crew. He needs to think of the crew working together like a team, and he is coach. Tom is not being effective by focusing on the negatives; he needs to analyze what is being done wrong, and coach field assistants to correct their problem. Implementation/Recommendations First, Arctic Mining Consultant should have Tom trains another potential project manager that already works for the company. The candidate should undergo some type of leadership training. Then Tom will engage in a leadership-training program. The candidate will be the project manager while Tom is absent. Then, the two project managers, Tom and candidate, will work as a team to direct field assistants. Tom needs a new outlook on his management style. Implementing this plan will help achieve that. This will also help make more effective work teams. References Thakur, D. (2005, January). Short-term leaders. Quality, 44(1), 24. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.proxy.davenport.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA127543673&v=2.1&u=lom_davenportc&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w Ferch, S. R., & Mitchell, M. M. (2001). Intentional Forgiveness in Relational Leadership: A Technique for Enhancing Effective Leadership. Journal of Leadership Studies, 7(4), 70. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.proxy.davenport.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA76626374&v=2.1&u=lom_davenportc&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w Eastern, J. S. (2012, January 1). Employee rewards. Internal Medicine News, 45(1), 78. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.proxy.davenport.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA280102141&v=2.1&u=lom_davenportc&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w

Benjamin Franklin

The Benjamin Franklin is quintessential American in the American history. The Benjamin Franklin was a great scientist, politician, printer, musician, economist, inventor, and environmentalist. He was a person with many historical stands with him which illustrated his excellence in various field whether it was politics or science or painting or any other field. He was an intuitive and sensitive person with many qualities. He was one of the persons who were known as the founders of America. He had a diverse area of interests and thus was having diverse qualities.He was a political leader, but at the same time he was a scientist also. This shows his quality of grasping and using his skills. The life span of Benjamin Franklin started in 1706 and lasted up to 1790. This was remarkable as the age above 80 was very rare in the in 17th century. He was the core person in the American Revolution who utilized his qualities to evolve as the politician in the American history. He used his scienti fic, diplomatic, industrial, philosophical ways to contribute to American Revolution.He conveyed his knowledge throughout the America for the building and construction of the America of his beliefs. Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts on 17th January, 1706. (Benjamin Franklin 1) His father Josiah Franklin was a wax maker. His mother’s name was Abiah Folger. The Benjamin Franklin was the youngest son among the 17 children from his father. He was 15th in his brothers and sisters. Initially his father earned his money from selling soap and candles. He was very naughty boy in his childhood. But his father did not earn well.His father as was not a rich person could not send him to school, so the Benjamin Franklin did his studies through voracious studies. Thus the Benjamin Franklin was not having enough education in his childhood as his father was a poor person. He was a person with very hard will and thus he evolved himself from the core. The Benjamin Franklin sta rted working with his father and sold soap and wax. He was an intelligent and practical person without relying on the theories. After this, he started working with his brother for five year in printing press.During these five years he had access to many books which he had borrowed from his partner sellers. Thus he started his education actually from these books related to various fields. Thus he gained his control over many fields and which he utilized further in his life. The elder brother of Benjamin Franklin started a news paper, The New England Courant where Benjamin started working and used his skills and became the apprentice. He wanted to write for his news paper, but his elder brother was against his writing in news paper.He moved to Philadelphia from Boston and worked as a printer. The elder brother of Franklin did not allow him to write for the newspaper, so he wrote some articles with a pseudo name even. He was a man with great deed. The Benjamin Franklin started working as a clerk in Denham’s merchant business. He founded a library with his friends for studying the books as the books were rare and expensive to purchase. This showed that he was very fond of reading and studying.In 1728, after the death of Deham, Franklin established a printing partnership with Hugh Meredith. In 1732, Franklin started the newspaper Philadelphische Zeitung. Up to 1734 he was a prominent person in Pennsylvania and for the first time he published the first book, reprinting of James Anderson’s The Constitution of the Free Masons. He wanted to became a high quality writer which would be renowned for his works. He spent his many years in England and made known his famous Poor Richard’s Almanac and the Pennsylvania.In his these books he used his writing skills and cited many proverbs which got famous from that time. These proverbs are used today also. He formed a public lending library and fire department in America. He was against many political steps like Iron Act in 1750, the Albany Plan of Union in 1754, but favored the stand for paper money as currency. He was acknowledged as a national hero in America at that time when he went forward to oppose the parliament to put down the Stamp Act.He also became a minister and went to Paris where he was respected comprehensively by the French people. Later in his life he became the Postmaster General and was the President of the Supreme Executive Council. He made great efforts to contribute in the American Revolution. The Benjamin Franklin was a writer also through out his life. His famous works were Poor Richard’s Almanac. This book comprised of many proverbs like â€Å"a penny saved is two pence dear†, â€Å"Fish and visitors sink in three days†.These were some of the famous proverbs from his book. These famous proverbs showed his high level of his writing. Franklin was a scientist and an inventor also in his life. He was assumed to be a magnificent person in field of science in 17th century. His famous experiment of flying kite showed his deep interest in field of electricity. He showed the concept and theory for positive and negative charges. He was the first person who showed the conservation of charges. This later became a theory.He invented Franklin stove, Catheter, Swim fins, Glass Harmonica, and bifocals. He founded the American Philosophical Society in 1743. He had a deep interest in philosophy. He was also elected as the first President of the American Philosophical Society. He started his experiments in this society about the electricity. He got retired from the printing press in 1748. In 1759 he gave his suggestion for experiment of electricity in lightening. Due to his renowned work he was elected as the first American for Royal Society’s Copley Medal.In his political career he became a councilman in 1748 in Philadelphia and in 1751 he was elected as the Justice of Peace in Philadelphia. He was appointed as the deputy postm aster general in 1953. He was elected as chief of a delegation to Albany Congress. He was sent to England to protest against Penn family in 1757. In 1763 when Franklin returned back to Pennsylvania, where he saw some war was there known as the Pontiac’s Rebellion. There were attacks on his character during this period and so he lost his assembly election in 1764.In 1764 when he reached England, King George III sent him back to Pennsylvania as the agent for the colony. He also became agent of Georgia, New Jersey and Massachusetts colonies also. He opposed the Stamp Act in London and later Townshend Acts of 1767 ends his wishes for working for English Government. He was a man with zeal and passion to work and to oppose also. So when he watched the disgusting acts of the English Government, he opposed them severely. This showed his character for freedom against the oppression.The Franklin came back to Philadelphia where the American Revolution had started. The Pennsylvania Assem bly had selected the Benjamin Franklin as delegate for the Second Continental Congress. He was a member of committee which drafted the Declaration of Independence of America in 1776. The Franklin devoted himself as a leader in the American Revolution for the independence of his nation. He coordinated with great Thomas Jefferson and made many changes in the drafts proposed by the Thomas Jefferson.He was an Ambassador to France from 1776 and became the commissioner for the United States. He lived in the France up to 1785. He was very famous personalities in France as many people buy his paintings. He, when, returned to the America back then he received an honor as he was placed just below the George Washington. He became an abolitionist in America after 1785. He worked in many fields for welfare of the people also. He donated 200 Pound for the development of Franklin Collage. He also finished his autobiography during this period of 1771 to 1788.His political career went to the peak wh en he was elected as the President of the Pennsylvania in 1785. He was the President for just three years. Thus this was the end of his political career. He worked as the President to work for the people and for the welfare of the country. He thus was very famous and respected among the people. When he was President, the people felt relaxation and were content. He, during his office duration worked with many great people or politician like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington etc.Many famous writers like Thomas Paine wrote about him and admired him for his qualities. The Benjamin Franklin was a most important character in the history of America whether it was related to science or politics or development also. The Benjamin Franklin through out his life work for the America and just remained a part of American politics up to his death. His death was termed as great loss to politics in America. He advocated the republicanism of his country in his life. He advocated this concept widely. He thought that his country when became a republic could remain when the people would attentive for their social rights and their duties. He also explained this concept in famous book Poor Richard’s Almanac. The person with a deed and character was known as Benjamin Franklin. He worked in the American Revolution for the freedom of the America from colonialism of England. He fought against the English Empire although he had worked for them. But he had a great love for his country.He had worked as the politician through out his life and became the President of Pennsylvania for the benefit and safety of his state. He was a very wise man and had rebellion character also. He strongly opposed the English Government for Stamp Act and Townshend Act in England. He worked in many committees as the delegates to explore the new political ideas. Even he was in the committee known as Committee of Five for drafting the Declaration of Independence which was comprised of Thomas Jefferson.He w as also rewarded as the second person to George Washington in his time which was a great political honor. This honor was given to him as he was hero in American Revolution. There were many myths prevailed about Benjamin Franklin as he was a great character. Some of them were true and some of them never had been proved by the people. One of the myths was that the Benjamin Franklin was a womanizer when he was residing in France as the Ambassador from America.He had thirteen children which were not legal. It was a myth that he had an illegal relation with a French woman. But it was termed to be a fake as no historian or any other captured any note about this relation. Although he had many woman friends associated with him like Catherine Shipley which was only eleven year old when she came in contact with Benjamin Franklin. He was very lovable character in women. But there were no proof that he had gone with any illegal relations with these women.But he had academic, brave and scholar r elations with them. The Benjamin Franklin was wise men who devoted his time and indulged himself completely to make a new and constructive America. There were many myths encountered through out his life which were accepted in the history. He was venerated for his beliefs which had grown to a myth. He called a three days of prayer session during recess in July, 1787 and clergyman for the prayers for daily meeting in the constitutional convention.It was also stated that the after these sessions of prayer gathering, the constitution was written very speedily. This myth was true as there were many records about this myth. There was also myth related with the Benjamin Franklin that he discovered electricity when he was flying the kite and his kite got struck by the lightening. But real fact is that when Benjamin Franklin was flying a kite, his main goal was to prove the electrical nature of lightening. Hi kite just picked up the stray charges which cause the phenomenon of stray capacitan ce.If his kite got struck with the lightening, he might be killed at that instant. He discovered the nature of charge in the lightening and thus discovered the electricity. He was the first person who showed high interest and make use of his high quality knowledge for this experiment. Thus this belief that the Benjamin Franklin had discovered the electricity was true. There were many myths about the acceptance of symbol of America at the time of Benjamin Franklin.Many people wanted eagle to be the symbol, but the bald eagle was accepted as national symbol of America. These myths were also related with the Benjamin Franklin. He was not agreed upon the bald eagle to be a symbol of a nation. It did not seem good for having bald eagle as the symbol of a nation as according to the Benjamin Franklin. But in his letter to his daughter Sally on January 26, 1784(The Eagle, Ben Franklin, and the Turkey 1), he putted his doubt on using the Bald Eagle as the symbol for America.The statement poi nted to the Benjamin Franklin â€Å"a penny saved is a penny earned† represents a myth which was broken later in the history. He wanted to utilize the money through the savings. Thus he was incorporated with the foundation of habit of saving. He was closely associated with saving the money and thought that saving money is the best method of earning. But this myth was broken as the due to modernization of the society today. There are certain myths and stories behind the Benjamin Franklin which were not true.These myths were held across the nation was due to the lack of information medium in America at that time. The medium of information was the major factor which was lagging extensively. This myths stands throughout the history because the information which was given by one person when had reached the last person, had changed due to replacement from different persons. Sometimes it might happen that, when an historian or writer had written some myths about the Benjamin Frankli n, they got reached other person.Thus these myths reached from one person to other. The major reason for the spread out of these myths was gossiping. These gossiping were the main reason for these myths. The Thomas Jefferson was very inspired with Benjamin Franklin and wrote â€Å"I have seen, with extreme indignation, the blasphemies lately vended against the memory of the father of American philosophy. But his memory will be preserved and venerated as long as the thunder of heaven shall be heard or feared. † (The Real Benjamin Franklin, pages 232-233).Instead of all the myths and stories which proclaimed about the Benjamin Franklin, he was renowned as the great and legendry personality of American history. He was one of the founding fathers of America. He had done widely for America and American Revolution with his full efforts. Work-Cited: 1) Benjamin Franklin, From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin 2) Thomas Jefferson, The R eal Benjamin, Page 232-233. 3) The Eagle, Ben Franklin, and the Turkey. http://www. greatseal. com/symbols/turkey. html

History of olympic games Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

History of olympic games - Term Paper Example The system in vogue then was, the Spartan messages were particularly carried by naked runners and they ran between the city-states. Travel light was one of the purposes of their nakedness and also to prove that they did not carry anything unlawful except the message. Thus they were able to run one hundred miles in one day, ensuring the speedy delivery of the messages. Training athletes began with gymnastic exercises a month before the Olympics were to commence. Total nakedness was considered as homage to the gods and gratitude for the male form. It was sort of a security check that women camouflaged as males did not participate in the games. The procedure at the starting point of the race differed much as compared to the present practice in vogue. Twenty contenders stood erect with their arms extended in front of them. The race would be re-run, if the first resulted in a tie. Peace was the watchword during the ancient Olympic Games. It was known as â€Å"ekecheiria†, meaning à ¢â‚¬Å"holding of hands.† Safety of the competitors and spectators was assured and all wars, mutual threats and capital punishment stood suspended during the course of games. The ancient Olympic Games were linked to warfare as per the specially adopted procedure. The participants would run 800 yards in full body armor. Thus it was a competition of strength clubbed with speed. That was also to remind all concerned about the physical demands of warfare. In the 3nd century AD, virgins were allowed entry to the Olympic Games as spectators. But for the married women traced watching the game, it was inviting death. They would be thrown off the cliff at Mount Trypeum. Punishment for cheating was almost instant. Judges carried a switch to beat the frauds they were able to catch. Those who indulged in malpractices were fined and bribery and fixing of bets were punishable offences. Complaints regarding corruption were properly investigated and punishment was severe. The participating ath letes mostly did not receive any monetary rewards but were hailed as the proud boys of the city. Sometimes, olive oil, and vases were given as prizes. Star athletes received special favors from the state. Politicians of the state met the expenses of the participating athletes. The ancient Olympics were abolished in 393 A.D. The Olympic Games were revived in 1896.A Frenchman, Pierre de Coubertin, is considered as the father of the modern Olympics and he founded the International Olympic Committee. The Olympic flag, and its five rings, was first flown at the 1920 games in Antwerp, Belgium. After that launch, the flag has been flown at every Olympic event, both summer and winter, ever since. This icon is one of the most widely recognized signs in the word today. The place to hold the first Olympic Games was Athens, Greece. The Games became truly international when for the first time in 1912, for the Games in Stockholm, Sweden, athletes representing five continents participated. World W ar I interrupted the Olympics in 1916. But in 1920, Games were held in Antwerp, Belgium. The significance of Olympic Rings The five rings signify the five continents that take part in the Olympic Games

Application of CRM in the life insurance Company in China and in a Dissertation

Application of CRM in the life insurance Company in China and in a company of Ping An Life Insurance of China - Dissertation Example Ping An Life Company understands customer behaviour, focus, and focus on the customers who can deliver long terms profits since they are of great benefit to the company. This company stresses much on customer retention as opposed new customer acquisition since the latter is very expensive. Studies show that retained customers generate over twice as much gross income than new customers in any business hence businesses should focus more on customer retention (Gouthier and Stefan, 2003). The considerable improvement in technology and innovation is making it possible to improve on the customer retention methods through improved customer relationship management. The first step in customer relationship management is to construct a customer database where transaction and customer contact information is accumulated to enable easier follow up on the customer behaviour with time. This task involves seeking historical customer data from operative internal sources such as accounting and customer relations, which since they already have the customer information (Ramashesham, Bejou, Subhash, Mason and Pancras, 2006). Since this company uses a web-based business, this transaction is relatively cheap when compared to other methods, which do not use web-based operations. The database collected from the customer includes the transactions, descriptive information among others. Winer 2001 argues that every satisfied customer brings at least three more while dissatisfied customers discourage at least ten more potential customers. They also assert that regular customers exhibit less price sensitivity than new customers thus customer orient companies can charge higher prices than their competitors without negatively feeling the heat of the competition. Customers expect the sales people to be accountable and continuously solve their problems. They also expect them to be accessible at all times and be creative in responding to their needs. The provision of customer relationship management offers a number of advantages and disadvantages to both the company, which carries the initiative, and the customers who enjoy the benefits, which come with the initiatives. CRM provides the company with the advantage of internal and external information flow thus enhancing the customer satisfaction with the company. Strategies of CRM used in Life Insurance Company This company is applying the new customer relationship approach, which combines advanced technology and sophisticated billing analytical identities, which secures payment before the customer reaches the collection gate. The first strategy used by this insurance company is to choose the right people for the job of customer relationship management. The people chosen for the task should be well trained so that they possess the individuals skills needed in handling the customers

Study 4 - Nonprofit Fundraising Ethics Coursework

Study 4 - Nonprofit Fundraising Ethics - Coursework Example This can only be done under special circumstances. Even if the organizations have to apply the code of conduct in their activities, they do not have a right to question the origin of the money. Therefore, the organization should accept the money. But if the money that he or she is giving to the organization has been established that he acquired illegally, the organization should not accept the money. It makes no difference even if the person has served the jail sentence. Though this would be a good prove that the person is free to use his money. The information about the prospect’s husband illness should not be communicated to the volunteer. This is a personal arrangement and the prospect may be does not want the information to be distributed publicly. The fund raiser should first confirm from the prospect whether she wants the information known to the volunteer and the donor. Even if she is being helped, her right of privacy should not be violated. The fund raiser should act according to the prospect. The details of the prospect should not be recorded in the database of the organization. This is because this was a private discussion and if the wife of the husband needed help, she should have gone to the organization officially. These are private matters unless the owner wants to be exposed (Worth 2009). It is not ethical to tell the donor about the impending appointment if the owner of the organization wants to be considered alone and be given the donor. The owner of the organization should compete with other organizations for the donation from the donor. The owner should not use ‘back doors’ in order to get the donation. As the manager or the owner of the organization, I would accept the second room and name it. The owner is not obliged to tell the first donor about the arrangements that they made. This is because, it is a private issue and he has the authority to do whatever he wants with his rooms.

Organizational Change At Qatar Olympic Committee Essay

Organizational Change At Qatar Olympic Committee - Essay Example The conference supported playing for a greener future. Moreover, the QOC entered in a partnership with the Look Company to promote innovative environmental awareness (â€Å"The LOOK Company† 1). Through this partnership, QOC derives the free will and ability to help in conserving the environment.The transition plan shall include the establishment of an environmental policy for QOC and a QOC 2030 Sustainability Plan. The QOC should also establish an environmental committee to implement the QOC environmental policy and the QOC 2030 Sustainability Plan. The organizational change will also include partnerships with sporting bodies like IOC, FIFA, and non-governmental organizations that promote environmental conservation like UNEP. The QOC should also convince the Qatar government to invest more money in environmental conservation. The QOC shall engage the youths and community-based organizations to create environmental awareness that seeks to enhance sustainable development. I wil l also encourage QOC to promote the recycling of branding elements made of fabric and recommend better ways of conserving energy and reducing gas emissions in the sporting manufacturing companies. These measures will define organizational change that will foster environmental conservation at the QOC.Nevertheless, I face a great personal challenge to achieve my objective due to my lack of persistence and poor persuasive skills. Indeed, I am prone to quick discouragements and I lack the capacity to persuade the QOC to adopt my proposal.

Why did Menocchio die (in The Cheese and the Worms) Essay

Why did Menocchio die (in The Cheese and the Worms) - Essay Example He also regarded himself as holding occupations as a â€Å"carpenter, sawyer, mason and other things.†1 What made this miller extraordinary were his unique ideas which a typical man, uneducated and of lowly status as he was, does not usually possess. He claimed that he has an â€Å"artful mind† that wanted to seek out higher things that he did not know.2 His extraordinary ideas were the fusion of the ideology derived from his great passion for reading books, especially those that were highly prohibited during his time. The wide circulation of different types of publications and the Roman Catholic Reformation had become catalysts in the formulation of Mennocchio’s belief. The invention of the printing press, which was a significant historical event in Mennocchio’s time had facilitated the publishing of new books and their distribution to the society. This in turn, led to the influx of books and other publications, which reached even the common man like Menocchio.3 The easy access to these sources of new information made knowledge readily available to the people in almost all social classes. Menocchio shared and loaned books with his friends in the village and gained a vast array of new knowledge, as he was always absorbed in reading.4 This new knowledge became a threat to Mennocchio’s life as his new ideology went beyond what the society could and was willing to accept, especially the religious authorities. His voracity for reading had established extremely radical religious philosophies, which were lifted from the books that were prohibited by the priests to be ingested by common individuals. He communicated his opposition to the village, which caused a stir and confusion among them. He was branded as a heretic and was brought to court for inquisition. The court found him guilty of heresy and was punished by lifetime imprisonment. However, he did not stay long in the prison. Three years after, he had convinced the authorities that he had changed. He was

Business communication writing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business communication writing - Assignment Example Therefore, issues affecting customer loyalty must be handled with all the sobriety and attention that it deserves. Having deliberated through all your views, I think that we should sell through the remaining conventional wipes and not order new ones. This is because clearing our shelves completely as we wait for the newly formulated baby wipes will not only cause of loss of revenue. Where will we take all the conventional baby wipes that we have? We cannot just remove them and stash them away somewhere. The damage is already done with our customers’ loyalty, so the best thing is to make things right by not losing more customers as well as revenue. Secondly, clearing our shelf space all at once may make us lose our shelf space. Our competitors are looking for any slight opportunity to take advantage of any slip-up that might befall us. Therefore, if they notice our shelves are clear, they may find a way of taking our shelf space and even some of our loyal customers. The stock of conventional wipes that we have currently can last for a short period of time leading to sixty to ninety days loss of shelf space. In order to prevent this long period of shelf loss, we will pump more funds to into the research to ensure that the formula is arrived at within the shortest time possible. I have already talked with Martin Wolf and he reassured me that he will work extra hard with his team to ensure that we have the formula within fifty days. We will hire additional staff on contract basis to help him work day and night to ensure that the formula is a success. I am optimistic that by the time our customers will start experiencing the pinch of our dry shelves, we will have natural baby wipes back on our shelves. The buck now lies with the marketing team since they have a hard task of reassuring our customers that we have not changed on the promise we made to them. The marketing team will roll out a campaign to market the new natural baby wipes

HUM310 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

HUM310 - Essay Example This statement can also be found in different sections of the book even more emphasizing how Dubois believes that the division of the society based on the skin color of the people has greatly impacted the interactions of people within the society, that is between dark-skinned and fair-skinned people. He creates the symbolism of a Veil that describes how African Americans, and other dark-skinned men at that, are separated from the world they are living in. Living in a predominantly white society, African Americans living in the American society face different kinds of unjust and unfair treatment. There is somehow a shield or a Veil that separates the two worlds though living in the same space. But even in this line of thought, Dubois himself was able to break free from that Veil, from the division, by being able to engage himself in the activities that the White men believe Blacks cannot. He became a university graduate. He was able to present his thoughts with great impact, especially through his work The Souls of Black Folks. He was also able to show, even within his work, how African Americans can integrate themselves within the society that is evidently has divisions. Dubois presented the concept of dual consciousness which allowed the readers to see how African Americans even within themselves are separated. African Americans are torn within themselves because of their culture and color and their citizenship. African Americans struggle everyday with segregation, discrimination and restrictions of their activities. They struggle everyday fighting for their human rights and beliefs that they, too, are part of the society they are living in. And while they are struggling for their own identity in a world which doesn’t readily accept that they, too, have the same rights as human beings, they also struggle within themselves seeing

Social Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Social Psychology - Essay Example This paper focuses on social psychology as a branch of psychology. As a branch of psychology, social psychology concerns itself with the understanding of individual’s mental behaviors, functions and processes within a social context (Vala and Costa-Lopes, 2012). Myers and his co-authors (2010) also define social psychology as the scientific field that aims at understanding the causes and nature of the behavior of an individual in social situations or contexts. Therefore, it looks at the behavior of an individual as influenced by the social context and other people around where this takes place. In other words, social psychology can be described as a discipline that employs scientific methods in understanding and explaining how the feeling, behavior, and thought of an individual are influenced by the implied, imagined, or actual presence of other people in a particular context, or different situations (Letitia, et al., 2005). While the discipline also relates with sociology by looking on group factors such as socio-economic class and race, it relates to psychology in the sense that it looks at these factors by focusing on an individual. The discipline focuses on a broad range of social topics such as social perception, non-verbal behavior, prejudice, conformity, leadership, aggression, and group behavior, among others (Funder and Krueger, 2004). Apart from looking at the social influences, this discipline also looks at the issues to do with social interaction and social perception, all of which are essential in understanding an individual’s behavior within a social context (Rogers, 2011). Like other disciplines, social psychology has developed over years to become an acceptable and scientific field of study and practice around the world. While the influences of social psychology can be traced to early centuries, it started to develop as a discipline in the wake of the twentieth century (Vala and Costa-Lopes, 2012). The earliest influences of this d iscipline came from such philosophers as Aristotle and Plato. Aristotle held the belief that human beings are naturally sociable creatures, a feature that allows them to live together. His view was considered as an individual-centered approach because it considers an individual essential in a social context. On his part, Plato believed that the state was critical in controlling individuals and encouraging social responsibility through social situations and contexts. Plato’s view came to be known as the socio-centered approach (Letitia et al, 2005). In the 1800s, there was the introduction of social psychology concepts such as social facilitation and social loafing. This discipline developed further at the dawn of the twentieth century when texts in the field started to emerge, the most notable text being â€Å"An Introduction to Social Psychology,† which McDougall wrote in 1908. The writing of texts in the field in subsequent years greatly contributed to the developmen t of this discipline (Myers, et al., 2010). The period after the Second World War is credited for the substantial development of social psychology and research in social psychology. The horrors of the war led several researchers to develop interest in researching various social psychology topics such as conformity and social influence (Vala and Costa-Lopes, 2012). Some of the research focused on how individual behaviors and attitudes are shaped by social context, how they are formed, and how they can be measured in order to ascertain if change

History of Database Essay Example for Free

History of Database Essay Storing data and files is an important aspect of business for various industries of the world. The storage of data in computers or database system is proven to be cost effective. Large or small database needs a system which will control the processes in the databases. Such applications are called database management systems (DBMS). From the time it was designed, the need for a good DBMS has increased because of the escalating number of data stored in the database. There are many available DBMS that private corporations use today. Indeed, database management systems have evolved due to the demand for the services that these systems provide. Database Management System A database management system is a collection of programs which enables the user or a network of users to mange files and data inside the database. The management includes storing, deleting, modifying, and extracting information from the database. It manages the request of the user and other programs installed in the computer or in the network. The DBMS ensures the integrity and reliability of the data. Some DBMS also provide security to the database (Tatum, 2003). There are many different forms of database management systems available in the market today because of the different private and public organizations or corporations which require different kinds of DBMS. However, there are four important elements that every DBMS have. These are the modeling language, data structures, data query language and mechanism that allows transactions (Tatum, 2003). The modeling language is the element that pertains to the approach used by the DBMS to communicate with the database. There are several approaches available today including hierarchical, relational, network and object-oriented (Christiansen, 2005). The hierarchical model makes use of pointers to navigate between stored data which is stored hierarchically in a downward tree. The structure is very inflexible in changing data and access requirements. The data is accessed by navigating from the root data to the data on the lower part of the hierarchy. In addition, the user should know the structure of the system before he or she can make an inquiry (Hsior, n. d. ). The network model is like the hierarchical model. It uses pointers to navigate through the data but it does not use a downward tree structure. It has limited flexibility in changing data and accessing requirements. Access to the data is accomplished by navigating through the structure and issuing specific statements to find specific data types in relation to the starting point of the structure (Hsior, n. d. ). In relational model, the data is stored in the two-dimensional tables. The data in the relational method is manipulated based on the relational theory of mathematics. The data types in this model are assigned with a symbolic primary key or foreign key construction. The referential integrity of the model is supported by the relational theory of mathematics. This model is very flexible to the data changes and access requirements. And the access to data types is based on relational algebra and relational calculus statements (Hsior, n. d. ). And lastly, the object-oriented model stores data as objects. This model is more direct than its predecessors since the design is very close to the real world model. The object-oriented model allows an easier way to maintain the database. The identification of objects is assigned by the system which protects the consistency of the data; while in the relational systems, it is assigned by the user. The database does not only store data but a whole application as well. Moreover, it can be executed inside the database. The concept of inheritance in this model makes code easily reusable. Furthermore, the object-oriented model is more practical and more economical (Hsior, n. d. ). The data structures are the elements that a DBMS manages inside the database. Different databases require different data structures which different DBMS manage. Data structures include individual records, files, fields and objects such as media files. DBMS need to define data structures to ensure the integrity of the data while it is being accessed. The data query language is the element which takes care of the security of the database. It monitors login data, assigns access rights and privileges, and defines the criteria for the add data function in the data base (Tatum, 2003). History The origin of database can be traced back to libraries, governments and other institutions that require storage of data. The DBMS was designed to ensure the integrity, security and accessibility of data. The design of the DBMS constantly evolves through time. It aims to create a design of which has better reliability and performance (Mann, 2003). In the 1800, Jose Marie Jacquard had created a machine, Jacquard Loom, which produced fabric from stored design from a punch card. The data of the design is stored in punch cards where holes represent the details in the design. In this way, the Jacquard Loom automatically designs the loom depending on the punch card in use (Tatum, 2003). Similar technology was used in the 1890 as Herman Hollerith created a mechanism that recorded information in a punch card which was coded numerically. The idea is that the data can punch in specific locations in the card, and then it can be counted and sorted automatically. This design was used by the US government to perform the census. Hollerith’s company solely produces the machine that records the data in the punch card and another machine that tabulates and sorts the cards. This company is renamed to IBM. The company prospered as it was able to produce machines that can record data for business and government institutions during 1910 towards 1960. The systems have records of every household and other data needed for the analysis of the society (Tatum, 2003). By 1955, many business and government institutions have floors dedicated for the storage of punched cards and floors for the machines. The machines work with punch-board which control accumulator registers that could reproduce punched cards or put data on paper. Some very large companies accumulate tons of data everyday that costs millions on storage. Thus, the need for a new technology has become very imminent (Tatum, 2003). In the 1960s, private organizations and corporations needed computers that have better storage capabilities and computers are proven to be cost effective against ordinary punch cards. In line with this, database administrators needed database management systems to cope with the increasing data storage capacity of computers and the increasing number of data being stored. The hierarchical and network model are the two main data models developed which were used in database management systems during the earlier years. They made use of pointers which was used to navigate through records. In these models, there were difficulties in adding another field in the higher level since it will require rewriting the scheme for access in the lower level data. In this system, the emphasis of the model was placed on the type of data to be processed and not the over all structure of the system. In addition, the user who will need access to the data should know the structure of the database before he can make a query for information (Vaughn, 2003). In the early 1970s, the Edgar F. Codd proposed a relational approach in manipulating data in the database. He published an article entitled A relational model of data for large shared data banks which became the foundation in the development of the relational database. The article showed a theory of how to store data in a rectangular or in two-dimensional tables and then use the theory of mathematical sets to operate on it. The relational databases represent the first implementation of the real database management system. Since then, the relation model had been the most popular or standard approach for database management systems (Vaughn, 2003). In the mid-70s, the theory of Codd on relational databases was put into research projects by several competing camps. During this time, the term Relational Database Management System or the RDBMS was coined. During these times, there are two main prototypes based on the relational were developed. These are the System R developed by the IBM and Ingres developed by the University of California at Berkeley. These two prototypes led to different kinds of DBMS. The two lines of DBMS created by the two prototypes used different query languages. IBM’s System R uses the Structured Query Language (SQL) and the UCB’s Ingres uses QUEL short for query language. Also in mid-1970s, Peter P. Chen proposed the Entity-Relationship Model for the database design which gave a new insight in the conceptual models of a database management system. This model gives the designer of the database management system a way to concentrate more on the use of data instead of its logical structure like other method does (Vaughn, 2003). In the early 1980s, the commercialization of the Relational Database Management System began to intensify due to the increasing demand of databases in corporations around the world. The higher demand was caused by the emerging business in the United States and other countries around the world. Another reason is that organizations and corporations had increasing number of data needed to be stored. Businesses rely on computers for their data storage thus a better database management system is needed to manage large databases that these businesses have. At the same time, many companies made some products which give individual users to maintain a small database in their own computer (Vaughn, 2003). In the rest of the 1980s, SQL had become the standard query language for many databases which was caused by the emergence of the local area network. The Oracle Corporation made the first commercial relational database. Moreover, the network and hierarchical models faded to the background. However, there are still others that use the network and hierarchical models (Vaughn, 2003). It was during the early 1990s when the industry of databases had a shakeout and there are only a few companies that survived for offering better products. The most important development on the computer industry was on application builders and programming languages. During these times, the prototype of the object-oriented database management system was introduced. The object-oriented DBMS is conceptualized to handle big and complex data that relational database management systems had a hard time to handle (Vaughn, 2003). In the mid-1990s, the influx of internet use revived the need for database industry. This demand came from internet servers in order to manipulate the large amounts of data which must be made accessible to internet users. Better security and reliability is also needed to protect the client-users and the information itself from corruption and tamper. As such, only a good database management system can provide this. In addition, the database industry during these times has reached the desktop computers in the users’ own homes. This provides desktop computer users to manage their own small database or access the large databases on the internet (Vaughn, 2003). In the late 1990s, the industry prospered in terms of internet sales and database tools. The e-commerce industry boomed since business transactions have been done online. The Online Transaction Processing and the Online Analytical Processing emerged (Vaughn, 2003). However, in the early 21st century, there has been a decline in the internet industry. Nonetheless, the database industry is still growing because the demand for a larger database and better DBMS is steadily growing. There are other interactive applications that emerged during these times. Three companies have dominated the database industry including Microsoft, Oracle and IBM (Vaughn, 2003). Nowadays, huge systems require a good way to manage and analyze data. These databases’ storage capacity for the data now reaches the terrabyte level. Such databases are science databases which hold genome projects, national security, and space exploration data. Shopping online is also one of the common practices today. Millions of buyers participate on this application, thus requiring a larger database and good handling abilities. There are researches today that is said to surpass the capabilities of the SQL. This development will ensure another significant growth in the database industry (Vaughn, 2003). Future Trends Mobile database is now emerging in various ways. This technology will secure a more remote access to database. Additionally, more and more people will access a single database at a time. As such, proper management is needed to ensure the continuous service and to prevent a system crush (Vaughn, 2003). Object-oriented database management system is predicted to dominate the database market as well as other computer markets. The emergence of the use of this model threatens to wipe other database models (Vaughn, 2003). As time goes by, there are certain issues that have risen alongside the creation of larger databases. Ethical issue is one of them; the larger the database is, the harder that people can efficiently manage it. Consequently, it is easier for perpetrators to subtly penetrate a system without being known by the administrators. In addition, some databases use automatic analyzing application which is sometimes unethical to use (Vaughn, 2003). Evidently, the database evolved from simple punched cards to huge mainframes. The advances in database technology have propelled the growing need for large data storage and management tools to access and analyze it. The database management system evolved as billions of information are generated by large business and government institutions everyday. The demand still grows as the internet community is still continuously growing. The future of database industry is very clear – it will continue to prosper and advance as the world continuously develops. References Christiansen, S. (2005). Database Management System. Retrieved April 10, 2009, from http://searchsqlserver. techtarget. com/sDefinition/0,,sid87_gci213669,00. html Hsior, J. (n. d. ). Evolution of Database Systems. Retrieved April 12, 2009, from http://w3. ocit. edu. tw/ben/foxpro6/article/english/ch01/page04. htm Mann, M. (2006). History and Comparison of Relational Database Management Systems. TechnoCircle HVB Information Services. Retrieved April 11, 2009, from http://www. guug. de/lokal/muenchen/2007-05-14/rdbmsc. pdf Tatum, M. (2003). What is DBMS? Retrieved April 10, 2009, from http://www. wisegeek. com/what-is-dbms. htm Vaughn, J. (2003). A short Database History. Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Retrieved April 12, 2009, from http://math. hws. edu/vaughn/cpsc/343/2003/history. html

Is Canada A Peacekeeping Country History Essay

Is Canada A Peacekeeping Country History Essay Canada is viewed as a nation that always attempts to keep and build peace. Humanity has seen Canada virtually invent the terms peacekeeping and peacebuilding. Peacekeeping is a vital component of Canadas foreign policy, and consists of a reputation that has been established from fifty years of experience. Canadian involvement has ranged from, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦providing emergency shelter, patrolling, mine clearance, and the maintenance of critical distribution routes for delivery of vital humanitarian aid shipments.  [1]   Over 120,000 men and women have served in close to 50 different United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions, but with a price of 108 Canadian casualties.  [2]  There are two perspectives for Canadas participation in peacekeeping. One side says that Canada was distant from the majority of the disputes, and therefore there was no reason for involvement. These individuals speculate on Canadas sacrifice, but do not realize the reward. However, these people are incor rect, and the necessity of Canadian involvement in peacekeeping was specifically seen in the Suez Crisis (1957), Congo (1960), and Cyprus (1964). It is commonly said that, Canada has saved the world from the brink of war.  [3]   The opportunity for Canada to develop a reputation of peacekeeping began in the Suez Crisis. The crisis began when the British and French decided not to finance Egypts construction of a dam, because of Egypts growing ties with communist Czechoslovakia and the  Soviet Union.  [4]  The Egyptian president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, reacted by taking control of the canal; gaining a strategic waterway, and the power to cut-off British and French shipments.  [5]  The British and French prepared a military force to seize the canal and found a ready ally in Israel. Eventually, fighting erupted with Egypt on one side, and Britain, France, and Israel on the other. As news spread about this dispute, The world braced for another deadly meeting of the worlds military powers.  [6]   This was when the Canadian external affairs minister, Lester B. Pearson, proposed to establish a UN peacekeeping force. His intentions were to create a multi-national force that could lower tensions, which woul d separate the combatants, and eventually bring lasting peace with negotiations.  [7]  The plan called for the British and French to withdraw, but a UN force would remain in the area, stabilizing the situation by patrolling the Egypt-Israel border.  [8]  The United Nations General Assembly accepted this proposal, and the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) was created. Canada sent the first peacekeepers to Egypt on November 24, 1956 and soon the canal was fully reopened to shipping.  [9]  Pearson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for the creation of the United Nations Emergency Force and he was now considered the father of peacekeeping. Therefore, if Canadas future prime minister did not propose his solution, the United Nations Emergency Force would never have been created, and war would have been a likely possibility. Furthermore, Canadians were needed in another UN peacekeeping mission in Congo. The problems in Congo began when they gained independence from Belgium, and this resulted in the native army and police revolting against its white officers. Belgium moved in troops to restore order and asked the UN to provide support. When the UN headquarters requested French-speaking bilingual Canadian forces, Canada was hesitant because French-speaking members in the Canadian Army were not common.  [10]  Some say that the reason the UN requested French-speaking bilingual forces was because the troops needed to be able to communicate with the Belgian forces, as well as the Congolese soldiers. A reason behind Canadas acceptance of this request was commonly seen due to people saying that Canada, the creator of peacekeeping, cannot decline a UN request. Although some say Canada accepted this mission to keep their reputation, Canadian involvement was much needed because it would have been very difficult to find French-speaking bilingual peacekeepers. Although the Canadian government was relieved when their peacekeepers eventually returned home, Canadian involvement was vital because the demand of the UN was very specific. Canada, being a multicultural country, was one of the only countries that had French-speaking bilingual forces at their disposal, and this was the key to the success of this mission. Lastly, Canada strengthened their already developed peacekeeping reputation on the island of Cyprus. This tedious mission was one of the longest, lasting 29 years. The conflict, leading to violence, began during the time of the islands independence. The island had been Greek in culture and population for a long time, but there was also a population of Turkish people. The thought of joining Greece had long been favoured by the Greek people; however, the Turkish people were concerned about this possibility. This was the origin of friction between the ethnic groups, and eventually led to violence in 1963.  [11]  In 1964, Cyprus asked the UN to establish a peacekeeping force. Once peacekeepers arrived, they discovered that the groups of people were mixed together. Small populations of Turkish groups lived among larger Greek populations and this made peacekeeping a great challenge.  [12]  Canadian soldiers used their skills of managing conflicts and disagreements, as well as tradi tional skills of soldiering. A unique remark erupted from Canadian actions that said, Peacekeeping is not a soldiers job, but only a soldier can do it.  [13]   Although all UN efforts were made to keep violence away from the island, Turkey invaded the northern part of Cyprus in 1974. As fighting erupted, peacekeepers were in the middle of a war zone, but after several weeks, an armistice was negotiated. The UN created a cease-fire line, and this separated the island between the Greeks and Turks.  [14]  Canadian peacekeepers continued to patrol this line until 1993, and this shows Canadas commitment and motivation, which has come from years of experience. The world would have been completely different if Lester B. Pearson, the father of peacekeeping, did not propose his solution. His proposal gave insight that created the fundamental goal of the UN. If the United Nations Emergency Force had not been established in the Suez Crisis, there would have been a large number of disputes and battles, and there would be no one attempting to solve them. Canada helped the world solve disputes with negotiations instead of war, and this reward is enough to claim the necessity of Canadian involvement. In the Suez, Canada created peacekeeping; in Congo, Canada provided bilingual peacekeepers; in Cyprus, Canadians showed commitment by patrolling the cease-fire line for 29 years. As a result, many soldiers have been saved by peacekeepers. Therefore, Lester B. Pearsons proposal has the world in his debt. Today, his reward can simply be the knowledge of saving the world from war, and giving Canada a reputation that can only be Canadian. Canada has built their reputation on the fact that they are a peacekeeping nation, and they have dealt with a large number of disputes, sometimes even preventing war. Canada will always be the creator of peacekeeping and they will always be needed to keep and build peace.

Bottled Water Preferences Analysis

Bottled Water Preferences Analysis Preface â€Å"Leaders arent born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And thats the price well have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal† Vincent Lombardi All the knowledge learning and procedures are useless without observations and practical experience. The purpose of this research is to acquaint the business graduate with empirical business practices. As a requirement for Bachelors Degree in Business Administration, I opted to conduct my research on â€Å"Consumer Preferences of Bottled water†, to fulfill my degree requirement. The reason for choosing bottled water was to get practical knowledge about consumer behaviour, so as to provide myself an opportunity to cope with the real life situation. This research covers the aspect about consumers preferences regarding usage of a certain brand of bottled water. The research focuses on the fact that why a consumer uses a specific brand of bottled water. Is it taste, health consciousness, fashion or any other aesthetic factor that makes a consumers use a specific brand of bottled water. The main idea for this research came from the observation, that why a consumer is using only a specific brand of bottled water, regardless of the fact that all the bottled water brands are providing â€Å"pure and clean† water. I felt that the knowledge that I have gained through this experience is an excellent way to think analytically for finding solutions to problems of day-to-day life. The study of consumer behavior and their preferences itself is a massive study comprising of different factors involved. It is impossible to study each one in detail and include everything in the report. However, I studied the consumer behaviour from preferences point of view. I am thankful to all my colleagues and higher ups for their valuable guidance in preparing this report in a presentable fashion. I am also thankful to my parents, teachers and all my friends for their cooperation. â€Å"MEASURING CONSUMER PREFERENCES FOR BOTTLED DRINKING WATER† CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study: Bottled water consumption has been steadily growing in the world for the past 30 years. It is the most dynamic sector of all the food and beverage industry: bottled water consumption in the world increases by an average 7% each year, in spite of its excessively high price compared to tap water and although industrialized countries consumers have, in principle, access to cheap good quality tap water. Bottled water is often an alternative to tap water. Consumers often object to the taste of chemicals, particularly chlorine, used to purify tap water. In France, nearly half of them dont usually drink tap water because of its bad taste (IFEN, 2000), as opposed to only 7% in United States (Olson, 1999). Consumers also drink bottled water because they care for their health. In Europe, there is a long tradition, dating back to Roman times, of spas and of drinking mineral waters for medical purposes. In the 19th century, this activity developed with the fashion for upper classes to go to spas in order to improve their health. Spas owners werent long in understanding that they could increase the wellness of their customers and their own benefits â‚ ¬Ã‚  directly supplying them their water in bottles. Until the 1950s, mineral water was sold in drugstores as a health product. It has now become an everyday product. Natural mineral water, now sold in supermarket, doesnt carry along anymore this medical image. People now buy bottled water to feel well, responding to advertising campaigns based on well-being, energy, slimming, fitness etc. Bottled water is a healthy alternative to other beverages. It is calorie-free and attractive for people willing to lose weight: â€Å"one of the sparks that ignited the bottled water fire was the fitness craze that skyrocketed in the early 1980† (Sullivan, 1996). Increasing urbanization can also explain this trend for bottled water consumption. In Increasing standards of living and greater use of cars enabled people to buy water in supermarkets and to bring home higher number of bottled water, without difficulty. The use of plastic makes bottles lighter and easier to carry than when they were made of glass. The expansion of shopping centers, outside city-centers, provides consumers with a greater choice in bottled water brands. The explosion of bottled water consumption also reflects deep changes in working habits in industrialized countries, with the decline of the agriculture and industry sectors. In these countries, most people have office works and the bottle of water is now a common element on a desk, next to the computer and the telephone. Drinking expensive bottled water (compared to tap water) is a sign of a rise in the social scale. In addition, bottled water is the result of a huge marketing success. The bottled water market in Pakistan is witnessing annual growth rates nearing 40 percent. Bottled water in Pakistan is not considered a ‘beverage. Beverage processing includes carbonated soft drinks where Pakistan has the lowest per capita consumption in the world, fruit juices, syrups and juice flavoured drinks. Drinking water and also bottled water is not considered an important commodity either. The Government of Pakistan described the market for bottled water, with 33 million liters of consumption per annum in 1999, as small but growing. It furthermore estimated the consumption for 2003, as 70 million liters or 0.5 liters per capita. The bottled water market in Pakistan has witnessed annual growth rates of 40 percent, and after the introduction of Nestlà ©s ‘Pure Life, it had the fastest worldwide growth in bottled water in 2000, at 140%. Recent s estimate a yearly consumption of about 2 liters per person bottled water. Bottled water is not a solution to inadequate water supplies as it is simply not affordable for poor people who lack access to water. A bottled water culture which turns drinking water into a status symbol is not justifiable from the human rights perspective. The Pakistan government is obliged to adopt measures to provide access to safe and sufficient water supplies even if that means restraining corporations from turning water into a status symbol to make profits, or from polluting or extracting already depleting groundwater resources. 1.2 Purpose of the Study: This report/study is meant to: Understand what factors are influencing the consumer preferences to make them purchase different brands of bottled water. Identifying that what are the factors which affect the purchase of a specific bottled water brand. 1.3 Research Questions: 1. What do people expect from their water utility in the context of drinking water services? 2. What are consumers priorities? 3. What do customers consider acceptable in terms of the product and the service they receive? 4. What are they willing to accept for the current price they pay? 5. Why do people prefer to use a specific bottled water brand in terms of their priorities? 1.4 Scope of the Work: Scope of this report is limited to businessmen, professionals and students of Peshawar and Islamabad who are well users of bottled water. 1.5 Limitations of the Study: Expected limitations of this research can be: * Unavailability or Lack of data * Response from people * Limited time * Resource constraint 1.6 Research Methodology: The methodologies used for the research are as follows: 1.6.1.: Sample Unit: The respondents selected were belonging to different social backgrounds and different professions. 1.6.2: Sample Population: The study was conducted in Peshawar and Islamabad only. 1.6.3: Sample Size: A total sample size of 100 respondents was fixed for the research. 1.6.4: Sampling Procedure: Because of the limitations, convenient sampling has been selected, as the name implies, the sample is selected because they are convenient. This non probability method is often used during preliminary research efforts to get a gross estimate of the results, without incurring the cost or time required to select a random sample. The sampling was on the basis of Judgemental Sampling i.e. Non-Probability Sampling Method was used. 1.6.2: DATA COLLECTION: Both primary and secondary methods of data collection are used in the study. 1.6.2.1: Primary Data: The data-collecting tool for primary data was the questionnaire. The questionnaires were compromised of questions about personal preferences of the respondents along with questions on the subject of study. The questions used likert scale and category scale. This enabled the respondents to answer questions by marking most suitable answers. 1.6.2.2: Secondary Data: The most important source of secondary data for the study was articles from different websites and previous researches done on internet. Also different books and some related articles in different magazines and journal of marketing served as a source of secondary data. 1.7 Scheme of the Report: The report will comprise of following sections: Chapter 01: Introduction Chapter 02: Literature Review Chapter 03: Consumer Trust, Confidence and Customer Preferences for Drinking Water Chapter 04: Analysis and Findings Chapter 05: Conclusion and Recommendations CHAPTER 02: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction The global water shortage of affordable and safe drinking water is manifested in Pakistan with an estimated 44 percent of the population without access to safe drinking water. In rural areas, up to 90 percent of the population may lack such access. As one indication of the magnitude of the problem, it is estimated that 200,000 children in Pakistan die every year due to diarrhoeal diseases alone (UN Systems in Pakistan, 2003). Drinking bottled water reflects not just a certain way of life in the rich North but a necessity and the only option for safe water in the South. Beside official s, there should be no doubt that the majority of the Pakistans population is exposed to the hazard of drinking unsafe and polluted water. In an effort to improve this situation, many consumers in Pakistan have to turn to bottled water as a first alternative to drinking unfiltered tap water or contaminated water of other sources where no public drinking water service exists (GOP, Pakistan Environment Pro tection Agency, 2003). However, bottled water is a very expensive alternative and not always healthy because of infrequent testing for contaminants and sporadic inspection of processing plants. Bottled water should not be considered as a substitute to a sufficient service with drinkable tap water, but it is due to lack of access to water services or to bad quality of available resources (WHO, 2000). Bottled water consumption has been steadily growing in the world for the past 30 years. It is considered as one of the most dynamic sectors of all the food and beverage industry, where consumption in the world increases by an average 12% each year, in spite of its excessively high price compared to tap water (UNESCO, 2003). Bottled water consumption has been steadily growing in the world for the past 30 years. It is the most dynamic sector of all the food and beverage industry: bottled water consumption in the world increases by an average 7% each year, in spite of its excessively high price compared to tap water and although industrialized countries consumers have, in principle, access to cheap good quality tap water. This research report aims to provide background information on bottled water, the use of bottled water in order to understand the reasons of a trend that goes beyond a simple fashion and turns to be a real social phenomenon. It will first identify existing types of bottled water: although they seem very much alike, bottles of water dont contain the same product. The increase in bottled water consumption has boosted the bottled water industry and market trends show very promising perspectives for the future. This report will then identify the major reasons why consumers choose to buy speci fic expensive bottled water rather than drink tap water. It will finally analyze the impact this industry has on the environment. 2.2 Water Global Trends and Pakistans Struggle Water is essential for human beings to survive and develop. At the same time, water is a scarce good, and shortage sometimes results in crises. Both facts lead to the simple conclusion that lack of water hinders development and a dignified life. This can be assessed from global trends, as well as from Pakistans national and local struggles for better access for people to safe and sufficient drinking water. 2.3 Water A Global but Scarce Good According to s published by the United Nations, subsidiary organizations and other international organizations, 1.1bn people are without a sufficient access to water, and 2.4bn people have to live without adequate sanitation. Under current trends, the prognosis is that about 3bn people of a population of 8.5bn will suffer from water shortage by 2025. 83% of them will live in developing countries, mostly in rural areas where even today sometimes only 20% of the population have access to a sufficient water supply (Guissà ©, El Hadji, 2004). This actual lack of water is opposed to the theoretical conclusion that there is enough ground water existing in all regions of the world to guarantee an adequate water supply for all people. According to international law, in the case of concurring water users, the socio-economic priorities have to rest on human development and social interests of the people (UN, 1997). However, only 6% of global freshwater is used by households, while 20% is util ized industry and another 70% by agriculture. The conclusion drawn from these framework conditions is that water shortage and the unequal distribution of water are global problems rather than regional problems that require international solutions. Insufficient supply of drinking water is the main cause of diseases in developing countries. Already in 1997, the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development concluded that 2.3bn people suffer from diseases rooted in insufficient water provision and quality (UN, 1997). More than five years later, it was estimated that 2.4bn people were suffering from water related diseases, and the World Health Organization reckons that 80% of all infections are traceable to poor water conditions. 5,483 people die daily of water caused diarrhoea 90 percent are children under five. Taking into account all water related diseases and deaths, international organizations estimated in 2001 that 2,213,000 people died because of inadequate water supply ten times more than the tsunami disaster caused in December 2004 (UNESCO, 2003). 2.4 Poverty and Access to Water in Pakistan It is acknowledged that lacking safe and sufficient drinking water as with other basic needs such as food, shelter and education is not a geographical but social problem. Being poor or rich is mainly decided by birth, and poverty perpetuates itself from generation to generation. Development strategies should be judged by their effort to break through this vicious cycle. Single indicators, such as literacy rates or households with access to water, are a litmus test for such an assessment. 2.4.1 Access to Water in Pakistan Pakistan is an Islamic Republic, whose aim is to enable its Muslim majority â€Å"to order their lives in the individual and collective spheres in accordance with the teachings and requirements of Islam as set out in the Holy Quran and Sunnah† (Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973). Water is recognized in Islamic teachings as a vital resource, of which everyone has the right to a fair share. Following the Hadith, it is reported that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: â€Å"Muslims have common share in three (things): grass, water and fire† (Abu-Dawood 3470). Furthermore, the Holy Quran warns human beings against unfair distribution of common goods and the majority of scholars agree that Islam forbids speculation, manipulation and unbalance profit with a common good such as water (Faruqui, Naser I, 2001). In 1995, UNDP counted Pakistan as country having among the highest water potential per person out of 130 countries that should dramatically improve its water situation to overcome the current crisis and prevent future ones (IRIN, 2001). Obviously, Pakistan failed to make any improvement. In 2003, the United Nations dropped Pakistans ranking, because its total renewable water resources per capita per year have been estimated as 114th out of 180 countries (UN, 2003). Only three percent of Pakistans sweet water resources are used for household purposes and drinking (GOP, Pakistan Ministry of Water and Power, 2002). Therefore the debate about access to water in Pakistan is dominated by irrigation disputes, mega-projects of dams and canals, and climate change. The focus is on water for agriculture rather than for people (UNDP, 2003). This production oriented perspective continues in the debate about groundwater use and extraction. It is estimated that surface water meets only 75-80 percent of crop water requirements. As a result, groundwater is merely seen as a reserve water source for irrigation and food production, as well as the maj or factor for the growth of agricultural production in the late 20th century (World Bank, 1996). With regard to the availability of safe and sufficient drinking water, Pakistan lacks reliable statistics. While data about the availability of water and field studies about water quality exist, there is no sufficient data that take both into account. Official data about the access to drinking water vary between 60 and 90 percent of households. In rural areas where a decline of households with access to water is documented s about availability differ between 10 and 53 percent. Differences in these statistics mainly emerge from the inclusion or exclusion of households that rely on privately owned wells and supply systems (Pakistan Mouza Report, 1998). In addition, having access to water in Pakistan is not similar with having access to safe and sufficient water supply. Pakistans water quality ranks as 80th out of 122 nations. Pipe water in Pakistan is contaminated either because of leakages with all sorts of bacteria or due to geological conditions and insufficient purification, with abnormally high levels of arsenic and elevated fluoride (IRIN, OCHA, 2004). Water, extracted by hand pumps the major water source in rural areas is mainly brackish water and not sufficient for drinking and cooking. The Pakistan Council of Research and Water Resources (PCRWR) estimate that almost 50 percent of urban water supply is insufficient for drinking and personal use (GOP, Pakistan Council of Research and Water Resources, 2004). According to a research which took data about availability and quality into relation and concluded that an average of 25.61 percent of Pakistans 159 million inhabitants has access to safe and sufficient drinking water ( Nils Rosemann, 2005). This calculation shows that in rural areas only 23.5 percent and in urban areas approximately 30 percent can use their source of water without jeopardizing their health. These findings come close to a conclusion by independent experts who predicted that already in 2001, with prevailing consumption rates and a population growth of 4 million people per year, one out of three people in Pakistan would face critical shortages of water, threatening their very survival. The Government of Pakistan estimated with regard to diarrhoea that this mainly water related disease accounts for 14 percent of illnesses for children under five and for seven percent of all disease in people age five and older (GOP, Pakistan Ministry of Economic Affairs and Statistics, 2004). The Pakistan Council of Research and Water Resources (PCRWR) assesses that 40 percent of all reported illnesses are water-related. It is estimated that 200,000 children in Pakistan die every year due to diarrhoea l diseases alone (UN Systems in Pakistan, 2003). Unsafe water affects mainly rural and urban poor, who suffer above the average from sickness and water related diseases. (GOP, Pakistan National Human Development Report, 2003). 2.5 About Bottled Water The term bottled water seems to tell that any bottle containing water, however there are important differences: all bottles dont contain the same product. There is very little in common between natural mineral water and purified water, as the chemical compositions or the treatments these waters can undergo respond to very different criteria that can change from one country to another. In some cases bottled water is merely bottled tap water. 2.5.1 Industry Definitions Several terms are commonly used to describe the products of the bottled water industry, including some of the following: * Artesian water bottled water from a well that taps a confined aquifer (a water-bearing underground layer of rock or sand) in which the water level stands at some height above the top of the aquifer. * Fluoridated Water often used as a health focused drink for growing children, it contains fluorine within permissible limits. * Ground water obtained from underground sources, pumped out using pressure that is equal to or more then atmospheric pressure. * Mineral water An extremely specific product that must meet certain criteria. Defined as water with at least 250 parts per million total dissolved solids. The source of water is either ground water or a spring. * Purified water or drinking water is water taken from rivers, lakes or underground springs that has undergone some form of treatment. It can be produced by â€Å"distillation, deionization, reverse osmosis or other suitable processes. It can be chemically treated in order to have some components disappear. It is basically de-mineralized water from public sources. Purified water is actually a manufactured product. * Sparkling water water injected with carbon dioxide * Spring water water obtained from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the earths surface. * Sterile water water that meets the requirements specified under government or other sterility tests. * Well water water from a hole bored, drilled or otherwise constructed in the ground which taps the water of an aquifer. (IBWA, 2000) If these waters contain the minimum required mineral content according to US standards, they can be called â€Å"mineral waters†. So many different categories of bottled water, changing from one country to another, are not easy for consumers to differentiate. 2.5.2 What is Distilled Water? Distillation is a process that leaves water free of minerals. Distilled water has been brought up to a boiling temperature. The steam is captured and is cooled, which condenses it back into a liquid form. When the water turns to steam, anything heavier than water (like minerals, or unwanted organic matter) is left behind. Thus, distilled water only contains water. Distilled water is good to use in appliances such as coffee makers because since it contains no minerals it does not leave behind lime scale. 2.5.3 Packaging Packaging used for water can have very different shapes and colours and are made of different materials. For a long time, bottled water was only available in glass, a very good but heavy material. At the end of the 1960s, bottlers started to use packaging made of PVC (vinyl polychlorure). In the 1980s, a new kind of plastic started being used: PET (polyethylene terephtalate). PET is progressively replacing PVC because of its numerous advantages. Plastic, either PVC or PET, is the most frequently used material to make bottles of water; about 70% of the bottles used for natural mineral water are made of plastic. Bottles usually contain 33cl, 50cl, 1 litre, 1.5 litre, 2 litres or 5 litres. The biggest packaging for bottled water is a 5-gallon carboy (about 20 litres). Packaging is an essential part of bottled water marketing strategies. â€Å"The packaging makes the brand. The brand makes the packaging. A product must have visibility to sell its presentation refers to notions such as service, security, hygiene† (Miquel, 1999). In some cases, such as Kinley, it is even possible to recognize the brand of the bottled water thanks to the shape and colour of its packaging. Some brands have reshaped their bottles in order to make them look like the marketing message they are supposed to carry. Many bottles, for instance, now high mountains not only on the labels but also on the plastic itself. The packaging is an important part of the bottled water marketing success. All types of bottles coexist and are regularly reshaped in order to better catch consumers attention. Marketing and advertising campaigns are essential to differentiate the product and attract consumers. Brands tend to associate with specific activities: sport, fitness, slimming, fashion, etc. For the last 50 years, Evian has been the water of babies, emphasizing that its low mineral concentration is suitable for them. The brands marketing strategy capitalizes on infants, from the pink colour of its labels to advertising campaigns. 2.6 Bottled water market trends and Planets Health The world bottled water market amounts to an annual volume of 89 billion litres, which represents an average 15 litres of bottled water drunk yearly per person (Danone, 2000). Western Europeans are the major consumers, drinking nearly half of all the world bottled water, with an average of 85 litres/person/year (Sollberger, 1994). In United States, 54% of Americans regularly drink bottled water (Olson, 1999). More than half (59%) of the bottled water drunk in the world is purified water, the remaining 41% being spring or mineral water (Belot, 2000). Bottled water is an extremely competitive market; hence companies need to develop diverse marketing strategies. But according to campaigners, the planets health may be suffering as a result. A new report warns that peoples thirst for bottled water is producing unnecessary garbage and consuming vast quantities of energy, even in areas where perfectly good drinking water is available on tap. The report, released by the Earth Policy Institute (EPI), says global consumption of bottled water doubled between 1999 and 2004, reaching 41 billion gallons (154 billion liters) annually. 2.7 Bottled Water Market in Pakistan Before focusing on Pakistan in particular, one should note that bottled water consumption has generally grown around the world in the past 30 years, despite its high price compared to tap water. Lured by the potential for huge profits, multinational companies have been trying to create an international market for bottled water. The bottled water market in Pakistan is witnessing annual growth rates nearing 40 percent. Bottled water in Pakistan is not considered a ‘beverage. Beverage processing includes carbonated soft drinks where Pakistan has the lowest per capita consumption in the world, fruit juices, syrups and juice flavoured drinks (Pakistan Investors Guide, 2004). Drinking water and also bottled water is not considered an important commodity either. Water supply and prices for drinking water and bottled water are not considered under the items in the Sensitive Price Indicator, Consumer Price Index or Wholesale Price Index. From this perspective; it is obvious that Pakistan has low consumption of bottled water. The Government of Pakistan described the market for bottled water, with 33 million litres of consumption per annum in 1999, as small but growing. It furthermore estimated the consumption for 2003, as 70 million litres or 0.5 litres per capita. The bottled water market in Pakistan has wi tnessed annual growth rates of 40 percent, and after the introduction of Nestlà ©s ‘Pure Life, it had the fastest worldwide growth in bottled water in 2000, at 140% (The Bottled Water Industry of Pakistan, 2004). Recent s estimate a yearly consumption of about 2 litres per person bottled water (Nils Rosemann, 2005). Compared with Thailands 43 litres and Philippines 15 litres per capita consumption, this seems relatively low. But taking Pakistans population into account, one has to estimate an annual consumption of 318 million litres. While, sufficient s are not available to prove this 964 percent consumption increase in five years, one is able to conclude that Pakistan is a highly dynamic and lucrative market. Market expectations are as high in the retail market of bottled water as in the household and operations sector for bulk water. Besides these market expectations, the production of bottled water is also considered quite profitable. It is estimated that a bottle of 1.5 litres has production costs of PKR 12.51 while it is sold for PKR 22 (Nils Rosemann, 2005). The profit is shared between producing corporations, with PKR 0.66-0.83, and middleman, with PKR 6.66-7.08. By this standard, the producing corporation makes a profit of 4-5 percent while the middleman makes a profit of 27-30.55 percent. In Pakistans water market, there are approximately 20 permanent players. Official s show an estimated number of 26 corporations, while in summer time, this number increases up to 70 (Nils Rosemann, 2005). But from the perspective of quality control, PCRWR is witnessing a fluctuation in the market of 50 percent, e.g. half of the brands disappear and are replaced by new brands yearly (PCRWR, 2003). In 2005, PSQCA admitted that 200 companies are selling bottled water in Pakistan, but only 27 are registered as maintaining standards stipulated for the product (Hoti, Ikram, 2005). Nestlà © itself estimates approximately 150 water brands, with only 15 registered under the PSQCA scheme (Hoti, Ikram, 2005). Regardless of this data, it is unquestioned that Nestlà © controls the majority of the market (over 50 percent) with its brands ‘Pure Life, AVA and Fontalia, while Danones subsidy 22 â€Å"Sparkletts† holds 12 percent and another local brand â€Å"BSW† has an estimated five percent market share (Nils Rosemann, 2005). Bottled water is not a solution to inadequate water supplies as it is simply not affordable for poor people who lack access to water. A bottled water culture which turns drinking water into a status symbol is not justifiable from the human rights perspective. The Pakistan government is obliged to adopt measures to provide access to safe and sufficient water supplies even if that means restraining corporations from turning water into a status symbol to make profits, or from polluting or extracting already depleting groundwater resources. 2.8 Bottled water consumption: a certain way of life Some consumers choose to only drink bottled water; we can identify several reasons for drinking bottled water. 2.8.1. Consumers care for their health and safety Bottled water is often an alternative to tap water. Consumers often object to the taste of chemicals, particularly chlorine, used to purify tap water. In France, nearly half of them dont usually drink tap water because of its bad taste (IFEN, 2000), as opposed to only 7% in United States (Olson, 1999). Consumers also look for security, in emerging as well as in industrialized countries. They often mistrust their tap water, because of previous bacterial contamination for instance, and perceive bottled water as being safer than tap water. In India, the suspicion of bad tap water quality, in addition to general and seasonal shortages of tap water, lead people to turn to bottled water. In Pakistan, only t Bottled Water Preferences Analysis Bottled Water Preferences Analysis Preface â€Å"Leaders arent born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And thats the price well have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal† Vincent Lombardi All the knowledge learning and procedures are useless without observations and practical experience. The purpose of this research is to acquaint the business graduate with empirical business practices. As a requirement for Bachelors Degree in Business Administration, I opted to conduct my research on â€Å"Consumer Preferences of Bottled water†, to fulfill my degree requirement. The reason for choosing bottled water was to get practical knowledge about consumer behaviour, so as to provide myself an opportunity to cope with the real life situation. This research covers the aspect about consumers preferences regarding usage of a certain brand of bottled water. The research focuses on the fact that why a consumer uses a specific brand of bottled water. Is it taste, health consciousness, fashion or any other aesthetic factor that makes a consumers use a specific brand of bottled water. The main idea for this research came from the observation, that why a consumer is using only a specific brand of bottled water, regardless of the fact that all the bottled water brands are providing â€Å"pure and clean† water. I felt that the knowledge that I have gained through this experience is an excellent way to think analytically for finding solutions to problems of day-to-day life. The study of consumer behavior and their preferences itself is a massive study comprising of different factors involved. It is impossible to study each one in detail and include everything in the report. However, I studied the consumer behaviour from preferences point of view. I am thankful to all my colleagues and higher ups for their valuable guidance in preparing this report in a presentable fashion. I am also thankful to my parents, teachers and all my friends for their cooperation. â€Å"MEASURING CONSUMER PREFERENCES FOR BOTTLED DRINKING WATER† CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study: Bottled water consumption has been steadily growing in the world for the past 30 years. It is the most dynamic sector of all the food and beverage industry: bottled water consumption in the world increases by an average 7% each year, in spite of its excessively high price compared to tap water and although industrialized countries consumers have, in principle, access to cheap good quality tap water. Bottled water is often an alternative to tap water. Consumers often object to the taste of chemicals, particularly chlorine, used to purify tap water. In France, nearly half of them dont usually drink tap water because of its bad taste (IFEN, 2000), as opposed to only 7% in United States (Olson, 1999). Consumers also drink bottled water because they care for their health. In Europe, there is a long tradition, dating back to Roman times, of spas and of drinking mineral waters for medical purposes. In the 19th century, this activity developed with the fashion for upper classes to go to spas in order to improve their health. Spas owners werent long in understanding that they could increase the wellness of their customers and their own benefits â‚ ¬Ã‚  directly supplying them their water in bottles. Until the 1950s, mineral water was sold in drugstores as a health product. It has now become an everyday product. Natural mineral water, now sold in supermarket, doesnt carry along anymore this medical image. People now buy bottled water to feel well, responding to advertising campaigns based on well-being, energy, slimming, fitness etc. Bottled water is a healthy alternative to other beverages. It is calorie-free and attractive for people willing to lose weight: â€Å"one of the sparks that ignited the bottled water fire was the fitness craze that skyrocketed in the early 1980† (Sullivan, 1996). Increasing urbanization can also explain this trend for bottled water consumption. In Increasing standards of living and greater use of cars enabled people to buy water in supermarkets and to bring home higher number of bottled water, without difficulty. The use of plastic makes bottles lighter and easier to carry than when they were made of glass. The expansion of shopping centers, outside city-centers, provides consumers with a greater choice in bottled water brands. The explosion of bottled water consumption also reflects deep changes in working habits in industrialized countries, with the decline of the agriculture and industry sectors. In these countries, most people have office works and the bottle of water is now a common element on a desk, next to the computer and the telephone. Drinking expensive bottled water (compared to tap water) is a sign of a rise in the social scale. In addition, bottled water is the result of a huge marketing success. The bottled water market in Pakistan is witnessing annual growth rates nearing 40 percent. Bottled water in Pakistan is not considered a ‘beverage. Beverage processing includes carbonated soft drinks where Pakistan has the lowest per capita consumption in the world, fruit juices, syrups and juice flavoured drinks. Drinking water and also bottled water is not considered an important commodity either. The Government of Pakistan described the market for bottled water, with 33 million liters of consumption per annum in 1999, as small but growing. It furthermore estimated the consumption for 2003, as 70 million liters or 0.5 liters per capita. The bottled water market in Pakistan has witnessed annual growth rates of 40 percent, and after the introduction of Nestlà ©s ‘Pure Life, it had the fastest worldwide growth in bottled water in 2000, at 140%. Recent s estimate a yearly consumption of about 2 liters per person bottled water. Bottled water is not a solution to inadequate water supplies as it is simply not affordable for poor people who lack access to water. A bottled water culture which turns drinking water into a status symbol is not justifiable from the human rights perspective. The Pakistan government is obliged to adopt measures to provide access to safe and sufficient water supplies even if that means restraining corporations from turning water into a status symbol to make profits, or from polluting or extracting already depleting groundwater resources. 1.2 Purpose of the Study: This report/study is meant to: Understand what factors are influencing the consumer preferences to make them purchase different brands of bottled water. Identifying that what are the factors which affect the purchase of a specific bottled water brand. 1.3 Research Questions: 1. What do people expect from their water utility in the context of drinking water services? 2. What are consumers priorities? 3. What do customers consider acceptable in terms of the product and the service they receive? 4. What are they willing to accept for the current price they pay? 5. Why do people prefer to use a specific bottled water brand in terms of their priorities? 1.4 Scope of the Work: Scope of this report is limited to businessmen, professionals and students of Peshawar and Islamabad who are well users of bottled water. 1.5 Limitations of the Study: Expected limitations of this research can be: * Unavailability or Lack of data * Response from people * Limited time * Resource constraint 1.6 Research Methodology: The methodologies used for the research are as follows: 1.6.1.: Sample Unit: The respondents selected were belonging to different social backgrounds and different professions. 1.6.2: Sample Population: The study was conducted in Peshawar and Islamabad only. 1.6.3: Sample Size: A total sample size of 100 respondents was fixed for the research. 1.6.4: Sampling Procedure: Because of the limitations, convenient sampling has been selected, as the name implies, the sample is selected because they are convenient. This non probability method is often used during preliminary research efforts to get a gross estimate of the results, without incurring the cost or time required to select a random sample. The sampling was on the basis of Judgemental Sampling i.e. Non-Probability Sampling Method was used. 1.6.2: DATA COLLECTION: Both primary and secondary methods of data collection are used in the study. 1.6.2.1: Primary Data: The data-collecting tool for primary data was the questionnaire. The questionnaires were compromised of questions about personal preferences of the respondents along with questions on the subject of study. The questions used likert scale and category scale. This enabled the respondents to answer questions by marking most suitable answers. 1.6.2.2: Secondary Data: The most important source of secondary data for the study was articles from different websites and previous researches done on internet. Also different books and some related articles in different magazines and journal of marketing served as a source of secondary data. 1.7 Scheme of the Report: The report will comprise of following sections: Chapter 01: Introduction Chapter 02: Literature Review Chapter 03: Consumer Trust, Confidence and Customer Preferences for Drinking Water Chapter 04: Analysis and Findings Chapter 05: Conclusion and Recommendations CHAPTER 02: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction The global water shortage of affordable and safe drinking water is manifested in Pakistan with an estimated 44 percent of the population without access to safe drinking water. In rural areas, up to 90 percent of the population may lack such access. As one indication of the magnitude of the problem, it is estimated that 200,000 children in Pakistan die every year due to diarrhoeal diseases alone (UN Systems in Pakistan, 2003). Drinking bottled water reflects not just a certain way of life in the rich North but a necessity and the only option for safe water in the South. Beside official s, there should be no doubt that the majority of the Pakistans population is exposed to the hazard of drinking unsafe and polluted water. In an effort to improve this situation, many consumers in Pakistan have to turn to bottled water as a first alternative to drinking unfiltered tap water or contaminated water of other sources where no public drinking water service exists (GOP, Pakistan Environment Pro tection Agency, 2003). However, bottled water is a very expensive alternative and not always healthy because of infrequent testing for contaminants and sporadic inspection of processing plants. Bottled water should not be considered as a substitute to a sufficient service with drinkable tap water, but it is due to lack of access to water services or to bad quality of available resources (WHO, 2000). Bottled water consumption has been steadily growing in the world for the past 30 years. It is considered as one of the most dynamic sectors of all the food and beverage industry, where consumption in the world increases by an average 12% each year, in spite of its excessively high price compared to tap water (UNESCO, 2003). Bottled water consumption has been steadily growing in the world for the past 30 years. It is the most dynamic sector of all the food and beverage industry: bottled water consumption in the world increases by an average 7% each year, in spite of its excessively high price compared to tap water and although industrialized countries consumers have, in principle, access to cheap good quality tap water. This research report aims to provide background information on bottled water, the use of bottled water in order to understand the reasons of a trend that goes beyond a simple fashion and turns to be a real social phenomenon. It will first identify existing types of bottled water: although they seem very much alike, bottles of water dont contain the same product. The increase in bottled water consumption has boosted the bottled water industry and market trends show very promising perspectives for the future. This report will then identify the major reasons why consumers choose to buy speci fic expensive bottled water rather than drink tap water. It will finally analyze the impact this industry has on the environment. 2.2 Water Global Trends and Pakistans Struggle Water is essential for human beings to survive and develop. At the same time, water is a scarce good, and shortage sometimes results in crises. Both facts lead to the simple conclusion that lack of water hinders development and a dignified life. This can be assessed from global trends, as well as from Pakistans national and local struggles for better access for people to safe and sufficient drinking water. 2.3 Water A Global but Scarce Good According to s published by the United Nations, subsidiary organizations and other international organizations, 1.1bn people are without a sufficient access to water, and 2.4bn people have to live without adequate sanitation. Under current trends, the prognosis is that about 3bn people of a population of 8.5bn will suffer from water shortage by 2025. 83% of them will live in developing countries, mostly in rural areas where even today sometimes only 20% of the population have access to a sufficient water supply (Guissà ©, El Hadji, 2004). This actual lack of water is opposed to the theoretical conclusion that there is enough ground water existing in all regions of the world to guarantee an adequate water supply for all people. According to international law, in the case of concurring water users, the socio-economic priorities have to rest on human development and social interests of the people (UN, 1997). However, only 6% of global freshwater is used by households, while 20% is util ized industry and another 70% by agriculture. The conclusion drawn from these framework conditions is that water shortage and the unequal distribution of water are global problems rather than regional problems that require international solutions. Insufficient supply of drinking water is the main cause of diseases in developing countries. Already in 1997, the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development concluded that 2.3bn people suffer from diseases rooted in insufficient water provision and quality (UN, 1997). More than five years later, it was estimated that 2.4bn people were suffering from water related diseases, and the World Health Organization reckons that 80% of all infections are traceable to poor water conditions. 5,483 people die daily of water caused diarrhoea 90 percent are children under five. Taking into account all water related diseases and deaths, international organizations estimated in 2001 that 2,213,000 people died because of inadequate water supply ten times more than the tsunami disaster caused in December 2004 (UNESCO, 2003). 2.4 Poverty and Access to Water in Pakistan It is acknowledged that lacking safe and sufficient drinking water as with other basic needs such as food, shelter and education is not a geographical but social problem. Being poor or rich is mainly decided by birth, and poverty perpetuates itself from generation to generation. Development strategies should be judged by their effort to break through this vicious cycle. Single indicators, such as literacy rates or households with access to water, are a litmus test for such an assessment. 2.4.1 Access to Water in Pakistan Pakistan is an Islamic Republic, whose aim is to enable its Muslim majority â€Å"to order their lives in the individual and collective spheres in accordance with the teachings and requirements of Islam as set out in the Holy Quran and Sunnah† (Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973). Water is recognized in Islamic teachings as a vital resource, of which everyone has the right to a fair share. Following the Hadith, it is reported that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: â€Å"Muslims have common share in three (things): grass, water and fire† (Abu-Dawood 3470). Furthermore, the Holy Quran warns human beings against unfair distribution of common goods and the majority of scholars agree that Islam forbids speculation, manipulation and unbalance profit with a common good such as water (Faruqui, Naser I, 2001). In 1995, UNDP counted Pakistan as country having among the highest water potential per person out of 130 countries that should dramatically improve its water situation to overcome the current crisis and prevent future ones (IRIN, 2001). Obviously, Pakistan failed to make any improvement. In 2003, the United Nations dropped Pakistans ranking, because its total renewable water resources per capita per year have been estimated as 114th out of 180 countries (UN, 2003). Only three percent of Pakistans sweet water resources are used for household purposes and drinking (GOP, Pakistan Ministry of Water and Power, 2002). Therefore the debate about access to water in Pakistan is dominated by irrigation disputes, mega-projects of dams and canals, and climate change. The focus is on water for agriculture rather than for people (UNDP, 2003). This production oriented perspective continues in the debate about groundwater use and extraction. It is estimated that surface water meets only 75-80 percent of crop water requirements. As a result, groundwater is merely seen as a reserve water source for irrigation and food production, as well as the maj or factor for the growth of agricultural production in the late 20th century (World Bank, 1996). With regard to the availability of safe and sufficient drinking water, Pakistan lacks reliable statistics. While data about the availability of water and field studies about water quality exist, there is no sufficient data that take both into account. Official data about the access to drinking water vary between 60 and 90 percent of households. In rural areas where a decline of households with access to water is documented s about availability differ between 10 and 53 percent. Differences in these statistics mainly emerge from the inclusion or exclusion of households that rely on privately owned wells and supply systems (Pakistan Mouza Report, 1998). In addition, having access to water in Pakistan is not similar with having access to safe and sufficient water supply. Pakistans water quality ranks as 80th out of 122 nations. Pipe water in Pakistan is contaminated either because of leakages with all sorts of bacteria or due to geological conditions and insufficient purification, with abnormally high levels of arsenic and elevated fluoride (IRIN, OCHA, 2004). Water, extracted by hand pumps the major water source in rural areas is mainly brackish water and not sufficient for drinking and cooking. The Pakistan Council of Research and Water Resources (PCRWR) estimate that almost 50 percent of urban water supply is insufficient for drinking and personal use (GOP, Pakistan Council of Research and Water Resources, 2004). According to a research which took data about availability and quality into relation and concluded that an average of 25.61 percent of Pakistans 159 million inhabitants has access to safe and sufficient drinking water ( Nils Rosemann, 2005). This calculation shows that in rural areas only 23.5 percent and in urban areas approximately 30 percent can use their source of water without jeopardizing their health. These findings come close to a conclusion by independent experts who predicted that already in 2001, with prevailing consumption rates and a population growth of 4 million people per year, one out of three people in Pakistan would face critical shortages of water, threatening their very survival. The Government of Pakistan estimated with regard to diarrhoea that this mainly water related disease accounts for 14 percent of illnesses for children under five and for seven percent of all disease in people age five and older (GOP, Pakistan Ministry of Economic Affairs and Statistics, 2004). The Pakistan Council of Research and Water Resources (PCRWR) assesses that 40 percent of all reported illnesses are water-related. It is estimated that 200,000 children in Pakistan die every year due to diarrhoea l diseases alone (UN Systems in Pakistan, 2003). Unsafe water affects mainly rural and urban poor, who suffer above the average from sickness and water related diseases. (GOP, Pakistan National Human Development Report, 2003). 2.5 About Bottled Water The term bottled water seems to tell that any bottle containing water, however there are important differences: all bottles dont contain the same product. There is very little in common between natural mineral water and purified water, as the chemical compositions or the treatments these waters can undergo respond to very different criteria that can change from one country to another. In some cases bottled water is merely bottled tap water. 2.5.1 Industry Definitions Several terms are commonly used to describe the products of the bottled water industry, including some of the following: * Artesian water bottled water from a well that taps a confined aquifer (a water-bearing underground layer of rock or sand) in which the water level stands at some height above the top of the aquifer. * Fluoridated Water often used as a health focused drink for growing children, it contains fluorine within permissible limits. * Ground water obtained from underground sources, pumped out using pressure that is equal to or more then atmospheric pressure. * Mineral water An extremely specific product that must meet certain criteria. Defined as water with at least 250 parts per million total dissolved solids. The source of water is either ground water or a spring. * Purified water or drinking water is water taken from rivers, lakes or underground springs that has undergone some form of treatment. It can be produced by â€Å"distillation, deionization, reverse osmosis or other suitable processes. It can be chemically treated in order to have some components disappear. It is basically de-mineralized water from public sources. Purified water is actually a manufactured product. * Sparkling water water injected with carbon dioxide * Spring water water obtained from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the earths surface. * Sterile water water that meets the requirements specified under government or other sterility tests. * Well water water from a hole bored, drilled or otherwise constructed in the ground which taps the water of an aquifer. (IBWA, 2000) If these waters contain the minimum required mineral content according to US standards, they can be called â€Å"mineral waters†. So many different categories of bottled water, changing from one country to another, are not easy for consumers to differentiate. 2.5.2 What is Distilled Water? Distillation is a process that leaves water free of minerals. Distilled water has been brought up to a boiling temperature. The steam is captured and is cooled, which condenses it back into a liquid form. When the water turns to steam, anything heavier than water (like minerals, or unwanted organic matter) is left behind. Thus, distilled water only contains water. Distilled water is good to use in appliances such as coffee makers because since it contains no minerals it does not leave behind lime scale. 2.5.3 Packaging Packaging used for water can have very different shapes and colours and are made of different materials. For a long time, bottled water was only available in glass, a very good but heavy material. At the end of the 1960s, bottlers started to use packaging made of PVC (vinyl polychlorure). In the 1980s, a new kind of plastic started being used: PET (polyethylene terephtalate). PET is progressively replacing PVC because of its numerous advantages. Plastic, either PVC or PET, is the most frequently used material to make bottles of water; about 70% of the bottles used for natural mineral water are made of plastic. Bottles usually contain 33cl, 50cl, 1 litre, 1.5 litre, 2 litres or 5 litres. The biggest packaging for bottled water is a 5-gallon carboy (about 20 litres). Packaging is an essential part of bottled water marketing strategies. â€Å"The packaging makes the brand. The brand makes the packaging. A product must have visibility to sell its presentation refers to notions such as service, security, hygiene† (Miquel, 1999). In some cases, such as Kinley, it is even possible to recognize the brand of the bottled water thanks to the shape and colour of its packaging. Some brands have reshaped their bottles in order to make them look like the marketing message they are supposed to carry. Many bottles, for instance, now high mountains not only on the labels but also on the plastic itself. The packaging is an important part of the bottled water marketing success. All types of bottles coexist and are regularly reshaped in order to better catch consumers attention. Marketing and advertising campaigns are essential to differentiate the product and attract consumers. Brands tend to associate with specific activities: sport, fitness, slimming, fashion, etc. For the last 50 years, Evian has been the water of babies, emphasizing that its low mineral concentration is suitable for them. The brands marketing strategy capitalizes on infants, from the pink colour of its labels to advertising campaigns. 2.6 Bottled water market trends and Planets Health The world bottled water market amounts to an annual volume of 89 billion litres, which represents an average 15 litres of bottled water drunk yearly per person (Danone, 2000). Western Europeans are the major consumers, drinking nearly half of all the world bottled water, with an average of 85 litres/person/year (Sollberger, 1994). In United States, 54% of Americans regularly drink bottled water (Olson, 1999). More than half (59%) of the bottled water drunk in the world is purified water, the remaining 41% being spring or mineral water (Belot, 2000). Bottled water is an extremely competitive market; hence companies need to develop diverse marketing strategies. But according to campaigners, the planets health may be suffering as a result. A new report warns that peoples thirst for bottled water is producing unnecessary garbage and consuming vast quantities of energy, even in areas where perfectly good drinking water is available on tap. The report, released by the Earth Policy Institute (EPI), says global consumption of bottled water doubled between 1999 and 2004, reaching 41 billion gallons (154 billion liters) annually. 2.7 Bottled Water Market in Pakistan Before focusing on Pakistan in particular, one should note that bottled water consumption has generally grown around the world in the past 30 years, despite its high price compared to tap water. Lured by the potential for huge profits, multinational companies have been trying to create an international market for bottled water. The bottled water market in Pakistan is witnessing annual growth rates nearing 40 percent. Bottled water in Pakistan is not considered a ‘beverage. Beverage processing includes carbonated soft drinks where Pakistan has the lowest per capita consumption in the world, fruit juices, syrups and juice flavoured drinks (Pakistan Investors Guide, 2004). Drinking water and also bottled water is not considered an important commodity either. Water supply and prices for drinking water and bottled water are not considered under the items in the Sensitive Price Indicator, Consumer Price Index or Wholesale Price Index. From this perspective; it is obvious that Pakistan has low consumption of bottled water. The Government of Pakistan described the market for bottled water, with 33 million litres of consumption per annum in 1999, as small but growing. It furthermore estimated the consumption for 2003, as 70 million litres or 0.5 litres per capita. The bottled water market in Pakistan has wi tnessed annual growth rates of 40 percent, and after the introduction of Nestlà ©s ‘Pure Life, it had the fastest worldwide growth in bottled water in 2000, at 140% (The Bottled Water Industry of Pakistan, 2004). Recent s estimate a yearly consumption of about 2 litres per person bottled water (Nils Rosemann, 2005). Compared with Thailands 43 litres and Philippines 15 litres per capita consumption, this seems relatively low. But taking Pakistans population into account, one has to estimate an annual consumption of 318 million litres. While, sufficient s are not available to prove this 964 percent consumption increase in five years, one is able to conclude that Pakistan is a highly dynamic and lucrative market. Market expectations are as high in the retail market of bottled water as in the household and operations sector for bulk water. Besides these market expectations, the production of bottled water is also considered quite profitable. It is estimated that a bottle of 1.5 litres has production costs of PKR 12.51 while it is sold for PKR 22 (Nils Rosemann, 2005). The profit is shared between producing corporations, with PKR 0.66-0.83, and middleman, with PKR 6.66-7.08. By this standard, the producing corporation makes a profit of 4-5 percent while the middleman makes a profit of 27-30.55 percent. In Pakistans water market, there are approximately 20 permanent players. Official s show an estimated number of 26 corporations, while in summer time, this number increases up to 70 (Nils Rosemann, 2005). But from the perspective of quality control, PCRWR is witnessing a fluctuation in the market of 50 percent, e.g. half of the brands disappear and are replaced by new brands yearly (PCRWR, 2003). In 2005, PSQCA admitted that 200 companies are selling bottled water in Pakistan, but only 27 are registered as maintaining standards stipulated for the product (Hoti, Ikram, 2005). Nestlà © itself estimates approximately 150 water brands, with only 15 registered under the PSQCA scheme (Hoti, Ikram, 2005). Regardless of this data, it is unquestioned that Nestlà © controls the majority of the market (over 50 percent) with its brands ‘Pure Life, AVA and Fontalia, while Danones subsidy 22 â€Å"Sparkletts† holds 12 percent and another local brand â€Å"BSW† has an estimated five percent market share (Nils Rosemann, 2005). Bottled water is not a solution to inadequate water supplies as it is simply not affordable for poor people who lack access to water. A bottled water culture which turns drinking water into a status symbol is not justifiable from the human rights perspective. The Pakistan government is obliged to adopt measures to provide access to safe and sufficient water supplies even if that means restraining corporations from turning water into a status symbol to make profits, or from polluting or extracting already depleting groundwater resources. 2.8 Bottled water consumption: a certain way of life Some consumers choose to only drink bottled water; we can identify several reasons for drinking bottled water. 2.8.1. Consumers care for their health and safety Bottled water is often an alternative to tap water. Consumers often object to the taste of chemicals, particularly chlorine, used to purify tap water. In France, nearly half of them dont usually drink tap water because of its bad taste (IFEN, 2000), as opposed to only 7% in United States (Olson, 1999). Consumers also look for security, in emerging as well as in industrialized countries. They often mistrust their tap water, because of previous bacterial contamination for instance, and perceive bottled water as being safer than tap water. In India, the suspicion of bad tap water quality, in addition to general and seasonal shortages of tap water, lead people to turn to bottled water. In Pakistan, only t