Monday, August 24, 2020

Causes of Plastic Surgery free essay sample

It is intriguing to know with regards to how individuals truly feel mentally about themselves. Confidence is a significant issue in plastic medical procedure. One way might be the manner in which an individual may look and feel about his or herself. Numerous individuals may state it is simply the person’s regard level, yet it could likewise be a mental issue. Low confidence could persuade that restorative medical procedure will fix this inclination until the end of time. Restorative medical procedure has its acclamations in making a person’s wants for excellence work out as expected as long as the individual has an inspirational mindset. The mental perspective can affect a person’s mindset level from numerous points of view. There are two sorts of causes that could lean an individual towards having plastic medical procedure. We will compose a custom paper test on Reasons for Plastic Surgery or on the other hand any comparative subject explicitly for you Don't WasteYour Time Recruit WRITER Just 13.90/page One reason could be intrinsic, implying that the distortion could have been brought about by birth, or it could have been genetic; this sort of individual could be appropriate for having plastic medical procedure. On a progressively mental perspective, a second reason that could lean an individual towards having plastic medical procedure is a procured cause. This could happen at some point after an individual is conceived or some time during the person’s life. Two instances of procured causes are awful wounds which may make the individual feel less attractive or something that happens to numerous ladies, which is the eventual outcome of pregnancy that prompts stretch stamps or free, hanging skin in the wake of conceiving an offspring. There are mental perspectives that persuade that they completely must have plastic medical procedure. One mental angle is called Body Dimorphic Disorder (BDD). BDD is a psychological issue where an individual is exorbitantly concerned and engrossed with an envisioned or minor imperfection in their appearance. This distraction causes them major mental trouble that hinders social parts of their lives. One trait of BDD is having an extraordinary measure of tension and worry about a defect on a specific piece of their body and investing an outrageous measure of energy concentrating on it; checking appearance in the mirror or attempting to shroud the blemish. Numerous individuals with BDD invest a considerable amount of energy contrasting appearance and others. An individual, regardless of whether male or female, may accept that plastic medical procedure can fix these sentiments. Plastic medical procedure is definitely ineffectual with people who have BDD. Another mental perspective is of a person’s impression of how that individual may accept that the person may look to other people. An individual creates thoughts that corrective methods work to delete ethnicity. Caucasian individuals are inclined to wrinkles brought about by sun harm, and as per the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, increasingly more are picking temple lifts and Botox infusions. No more does getting more seasoned imply that an individual needs to look old. Getting old can make numerous individuals become discouraged and accept that plastic medical procedure will consistently forestall this. Definitely plastic medical procedure can't forestall maturing. An individual can see the picture of the big name and the consideration of their magnificence and accept that the person in question must have plastic medical procedure to accomplish similar outcomes from their companions or social gathering. Consequently, plastic medical procedure is an alternative to feel great again about oneself. Numerous individuals wonder what their life would resemble in the event that they looked an alternate way or some way or another could arrive at flawlessness. Individuals think plastic medical procedure resembles an enchantment wand that can unexpectedly remove their alleged grotesqueness about themselves, and that everything else in their life will just out of nowhere become alright. What plastic medical procedure can't fix, notwithstanding, is the manner by which the individual really feels within.

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Arguement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Arguement - Essay Example In any case, how might it be utilized to guarantee that its utilization receive the full rewards later on endeavors and achieve an extraordinary advancement (Marc 1). That the utilization of computerized stage in the field of mankind has achieved change in the division is a point that nobody can deny. In the event that one decides to deny it, at that point she/he is doing as such out of reasons rather the realities that are obvious for anyone passing by to view. Take for instance the stage, for example, content-administration frameworks or GIS mapping. These have had a significant effect on the web the board tick (Marc 2). Another case of exactly how the advanced grant has gotten a distinction the training circle is in the examination segment in the humanities contemplates. Subjects that were described with low-tech courses, for example, undergrad reasoning or English besides has grasped innovation to the point that exploration techniques that were once regarded as the safeguard of the tip top researchers can be educated and given to college understudies in a brief period not at all like previously. This shows how the computerized grant has quite recently made a colossal commitment to the extent the computational methodology is utilized in humanities (Marc 3). Another evidence that advanced stage is a significant perspective in humanities is the sort of center universities has given to this field. Additionally, the point of view that has been taken by understudy that computerized humankind is reinforcing their possibilities in the activity showcase (Marc 4). It hence abandons saying that advanced stage as a region requires basic commitment since it addresses each part of our life. This kind of interest has left the humanities at the college with no decision yet to create ways that won't just increment the estimation of their endeavor yet additionally guarantee that there is wide grasp of the projects. Furthermore, they are ever dealing with approaches to get the assets to actualize this. Despite the fact that there has been a test of measuring the accomplishment made in this perspective as a result of the

Monday, July 20, 2020

How to Spot a Money Pit

How to Spot a Money Pit How to Spot a Money Pit How to Spot a Money PitBuying a house is expensive enough without having to sink thousands and thousands of dollars into additional repairs. When trying to avoid a money pit, start at the bottom and work your way up!Money is pretty goodâ€"or at least its good when you have it. Needing it but not having it is pretty not great. Pits, on the other hand, are more situational, but they tend to be pretty bad. And what could be worse than a pit that  swallows  all of your money?!Yes, thats right, a money pit is undeniably bad. It describes a house that you purchase, only to later realize that it will need a lot of money in repairs to actually make it liveable.Of course, realtors and sellers aren’t likely to be too forward about all the problems the house they’re trying to sell is suffering from. That’s why you need to train yourself to spot a money pit before you put your money down. That training starts now. A strong foundation.Much like Drake, you’ll want to start from the bottom. “There are a few things worth checking out before deciding to buy a property,” advised Bryan Stoddard, director of  Homewares Insider (@homewaresinside). “From bottom to top, the foundations, the flooring, the walls and windows, and the roofing.When it comes to foundations, look for a steel-reinforced concrete foundation, the best thing is to consult a professional. When looking at the floors of the property, notice any bumps or uneven surfaces as they could be a sign of a bad structural setting.”And he wasn’t the only one to emphasize the importance of the foundation.“There are a host of potential profit killers when dealing with a fixer-upper,” warned Jeannie of Real Ventures Inc. “The biggest and most obvious to house flippers like us is the foundation. Imagine buying a used car that needs a new engine the second week you own it. OUCH! And its a huge expense that doesnt add value, it makes it functional. Thats what unplanned foundation work is like.She included th e following signs that a buildings foundation is no good:Vertical cracks in drywall above windows and doorsLateral cracks in the foundation itselfSagging floors in one area of the house.Settling pretty much always occurs with a house (its not always a major issue though).Cracks in drywall .. if they are large or grow over time, youve got a big issue.Lateral cracks in the foundation indicate serious issues that must be addressed immediately, she added, because the soil is likely eroding from one area and the weight of the house is pressing into the void.”Moving on up.Even if the foundation is looking great, there’s still an entire house on top of it that can be filled with problems.“When assessing a ‘fixer-upper’ you really need to break down what projects the home needs into three categories,” explained John Bodrozic, co-founder of  HomeZada (@HomeZada). “The first category is the house’s major systems like the roof, exterior walls, HVAC systems, windows, etc.  Thes e tend to be very costly to replace.“The second category is major lifestyle renovations such as kitchen and bathroom remodels.  Maybe everything is out of date and you want to replace it. Another concept here is whether you are planning on changing the layout of the interior walls. These are discretionary projects but also ones that can be quite expensive depending on the details on the home and what you want to do with it.“The third category is smaller finish projects. Projects like replacing the flooring with new tile, wood, or carpets or painting rooms and new light fixtures are relatively smaller projects and thus each one is less costly.”Here’s Stoddard’s take on the rest of the house:“Check the conditions of doors and windows. Do they look maintained, and do you feel a draft coming from them? Try to open and close all the doors and windows, so that youre sure theyre functioning properly.As for roofing, check out if the previous owners have maintained the roof, and also try to look for moisture inside the property. Look for cracks and damage on the building as theyre a sure sign of neglect.“Also, if the property is older, make sure the pipes are not made out of steel since they have an inherent problem with draining water away. Concerning electricity, look for any exposed wirings as a warning sign not everything is ok.Also, flickering lights can be a sign of faulty wiring in the building. Consult an electrician to check it out.”Come prepared.Not every issue will be apparent just from inspecting the house. That’s why it’s important to do your research and due diligence before even considering a purchase.“Another tip is to do some planning upfront if you are considering a fixer-upper,” recommended Bodrozic. “This involves listing out all the projects you want, and determine a realistic budget by doing some research on products, brands and price points.In addition, plan out the timing of the projects because you probably can’t af ford them all at once, so you can prioritize which ones come first, and which ones you can still live in the house with for a few years before you can tackle them.”But that’s not all!“Another big issue is permitting,” Jeannie told us. “Has the house youre considering had an addition to increase the living space and was it permitted?If an addition was done without permits and youre doing work such as electrical rewiring or replumbing the house and in inspector comes out, they may find that the addition wasnt permitted. You might have to completely demo that illegal addition.Research before purchasing can be done online sometimes but not in all cases. Phone calls to the county or city permitting office may be enough but an in-person visit might be necessary.”Know who you’re working with.In addition to the details of the house, the details of who you’re working with can be as or even more important.“The most critical and sometimes not realized pitfall until its too la te, is having a reliable and good contractor,” urged Jeannie. “A bad contractor can literally destroy your budget and your dreams of the finished product.Imagine having to not only fix whats wrong but redoing the things youve already paid for. Weve gone through this in our business and it DOUBLED the budget.”And of course, as we mentioned earlier, it’s vital that the sellers you work with are trustworthy.“As for the final advice, if the seller is uncooperative and unwilling to help you make these checks, hes hiding something,” warned Stoddard. “So better make sure youre out of there before you buy and later regret it.”Take care of your money.On this blog, we frequently write about how people can improve their financial outlook by avoiding short-term no credit check loans like payday loans, cash advances, and title loans. But getting stuck in a money pit could  easily be far more costly than any of those predatory bad credit loans could ever hope to be!Buying a home w ill always be expensive and come with its own set of risks. But the more careful you are and the more research you do, the better your odds will be of avoiding a money pitâ€"and the better your financial outlook will be moving forward.To read more about saving money on home maintenance, check out these other posts and articles from OppLoans:6 Ways to Keep Your Home Warm for LessHow You Can DIY Your Way to Cheaper Home Maintenance9 Tips for Keeping Your Security Deposit12 Tips for Getting Rid of (and Selling) Your Extra ClutterDo you have a question about saving money? Let us know! You can find us  on  Facebook  and  Twitter.  |  InstagramContributorsJohn Bodrozic  is a co-founder of  HomeZada (@HomeZada), an online and mobile home management solution. HomeZada strives to educate and provide resources for homeowners in all areas of home management, including home inventory, home maintenance, home finances,  and home improvement projects.Jeannie is a married, stay at home mom in Atlan ta and is currently pregnant with her second child. She’s also a real estate investor. In her free time, she loves to travel, read, go for walks in nature and go to the movies.Bryan Stoddard runs a website called  Homewares Insider (@homewaresinside) that explores all things related to homes, interior design, furniture, and gardening. Im also a passionate home designer that loves to tinker with DIY and design schemes.

Thursday, May 21, 2020

An Analysis of the Rule of Law - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1882 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Law Essay Type Analytical essay Tags: Act Essay Did you like this example? Rule of law in general terms is about equality before the law where everyone are protected under the same law of the land regardless of your status in society. In narrow context, it does not really matter whether the law upholds the concept of rule of law or not, but as long as the people ought to follow the law, then it is automatically considered as the rule of law[1]. According to John Rawl, rule of law is related to liberalism where regular and impartial administration of public rule is the essence of just legal system characterised by legitimate expectation of people and several requirements must be met whereby the rule of law must only command actions which are possible that those enact the law must do so in a good faith which for instance, cases must be heard fairly and treated alike and this indirectly complies with the rule of natural justice, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"nemo iudex in causa suaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "An Analysis of the Rule of Law" essay for you Create order On the other hand, rule of law can also be seen as the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"law and orderà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ model which emphasises on a peaceful settlement of disputes without violence. This implies that where a valid law exist, there is surely a obligation of that the citizens to obey those laws being imposed to them. As to that, law and order may lead to the restrain of freedom of the citizen to a certain point[2]. For instance, any action which involves protest will violate the legal rules as to whether it is the rule protested against or otherwise, either way it will still violate legal rules. In Malaysia, the Federal Constitution gives you the freedom to assembly under Article 10 (1)(b) where it is stated that the citizen have the right to assemble peacefully without arms. On the other hand, having street protest needs to go in hand with the procedures under Section 15 (1) and (2) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 that restricts your rights by imposing conditions to assemble and failu re to follow those conditions in the Act essentially gives way to the Officer in Charge of a Police District to disperse the assembly. As according to A.V Diceyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s first apostolate on rule of law, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"no man is punishable in body or goods except for a distinct breach of law established in the ordinary legal manner before the ordinary courts of the land[3]à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. Any power given to the one in authority should not be too discretionary. In other words, a person should not be punished except for conduct which is a clear breach of law. This contradicts with the case of Shaw v Director of Public Prosecution (1962) where the appellant published a booklet called à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Ladies Directoryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ listed on the contact details of prostitutes and nude pictures. He was convicted of conspiracy to corrupt public morals which is an offence under the Obscene Publications Act 1959. It was held that the courts were the guardians of public mora ls and that they ought to restrain and punish whatever that is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"contra bonos mores et decorumà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. Eventhough there was no particular law against immoral act as regards to the Common Law at that time, the courts still had the duty to lay down their own decision in the judgement. The appeal was rejected. This creates uncertainty as to what act amounts to an offence which is ought to be overruled when there is no law existing on that particular matter at the point that act was carried out[4]. Diceyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s first apostolate applied in Malaysia, to certain extend, the rule of law is not affirmed here and this can be seen in the case of Loh Kooi Chun v Government of Malaysia (1977) 2 MLJ 187. Loh was detained by Royal Malaysian Police under a warrant issued under the provision of Restricted Residence Enactment 1933. Federal Justice, Raja Azlan Shah delivered judgement brought about Article 5(4) of Federal Constitution specifying, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"a ny person arrested and not released he shall without unreasonable delay, and in any case within twenty-four hours be produced before the magistrate and shall not be further detained in custody without the magistrateà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s authority.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Thus, this guarantees the rights of habeas corpus. Loh was denied this right and sued the police for damages. Unfortunately, his claim was rejected on grounds that the police has acted in compliance with warrant issued competent authority. Loh appealed to the Federal Court which heard his case four years after the original case. But however, before the appeal made, Parliament amended Article 5(4) and added a provision stating, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Provided that this clause shall not apply to the arrest or detention of any person under the existing law relating to restricted residence, and all the provisions of this Clause shall be deemed to have been integral part of this Article as from Merdeka Day.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Essentially , the amendment had retrospective effect whereby it invalidates rights of habeas corpus. However, the judgement laid down by Federal Justice Raja Azlan Shah, although in Article 4(1) of the Federal Constitution states, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"any unconstitutional law passed after independence would be voidà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, but this does not apply to the Constitution itself as the Constitution could not be inconsistent to itself. In other words, the judgement states that the law made under ordinary legislative powers and amendments made to the Constitution were two different things altogether. Over here, it can be implied that Residence Enactment 1933 has supreme position over the Constitution as regards to arbitrary arrest and restriction of movement as Article 5(4) was not applied in the course of arresting and detaining a person Diceyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s second apostolate lays down, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"no one is above the law and everyone is equal before the law regardless of social, econom ic and political status and they are subjected to the same law of the land.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Malaysia tries to uphold the rule of law by virtue of Article 4 of the Federal Constitution stating the Federal Constitution is the supreme law of the land. In accordance with that, the Federal Constitution acknowledges equality by virtue of Article 8 stating, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"all person are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the lawà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. However, application of two courts system which are the Civil and Syariah court has gone against the concept of rule of law as citizens are not tried in the same court hierarchy. Prior to amendment of Article 121 of the Federal Constitution, Syariah court was considered to be subordinate court where there was encroachment by civil court on the jurisdiction of the Syariah court and upon amendment, the addition of clause (1A) to Article 121 essentially prevents Civil Courts from reviewing decision made by Syariah Court. A non- Muslims are not allowed to go to Syariah Court for relief and on the other hand, Civil Court has no jurisdiction upon personal law of Islam. Over here, there is no harmonization and even worst, rights of citizens to go to court to certain extend is denied with the existence of two courts system[5]. The doctrine of separation of powers defined by Aristotale in the book à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"The Politicsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ states the three branches of government needs to be arranged and only when those brunches are well arranged will the constitution be bound to be well arranged. Powers needs to be distributed among three branches according to membership and functions which is essentially why we do not find the same constitution in every country for the simple reason that it is drafted differently[6]. Montesquieu formulation did not receive total acceptance which indirectly implies that a rigid separation of powers among the three branches was felt not to be expedient and too much s eparation or restrictions imposed to check any abuse of powers will not only hamper the due exercise of these powers but will virtually bring the government a standstill[7]. In Malaysia, we adopt the view by Madison where there can be overlaps between three branches which comes along with check and balances. As observed in the case of Pengarah Tanah Galian Wilayah Persekutuan v. Sri Lempah (1979) 1 MLJ 135, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"every legal power must have legal limits, otherwise it leads to dictatorship. Every discretion cannot be free from legal restraint where it is wrongly exercised, it becomes the duty of the courts to intervene.[8]à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ It is fundamental as the Federal Constitution is the supreme law and constitutes the grundnorm that all laws are subjected to. It is the duty of judges to uphold justice in accordance with law and in the event where there is a written constitution, judges should administer the law to make sure laws passed by the legislative is inaccordanc e with the constitution and should be strike down to be ultra vires if the law is deemed to be unconstitutional. The function of legislative is to enact law. As in the United States, there is a clear dividing line between the legislative and executive as the President and his cabinet cannot be part from the Congress. This is a total contrast as pertaining to Malaysia whereby by virtue Article 43(2) of the Federal Constitution, the Prime Minister belongs to the Dewan Rakyat and other cabinet ministers belong to either House. When a bill is introduced into Parliament, it needs to go through four stages before enacted as a law. The two important stages among those four will be the second stage and committee stage and it is in the second stage that the debates on the principles takes place. In Malaysia, not all bills are sent to the Select Committee to be checked and only certain important bills, like the budget bill will be sent to be scrutinized. This appears as a clear breach to the doctrine of separation of powers but there is still a check and balance as the legislative indirectly checks on the executive policies contained in the bill. Amendments may be made after scrutinizing but at the end of the day, the Minister or any member of the House may propose a motion which requires a two-third vote of the majority. As Malaysia practices the First Past The Post, majority seats in Dewan Rakyat is being concurred by the ruling party which favours the Bill to get through easily. Even worst, it is more often than not that guillotine motion and kangaroo closure is used to cut short the time of debate. An example that can be drawn upon will be the Prevention of Crime (Amendment and Extension) Act 2013 which allows criminals to be detained for up to two years. The objective of the amendment on papers is to lower down crime rates but on the other hand, it essentially has restrictions being placed unto it pertaining to our fundamental liberties. This Act passed provides de tention without trial which obviously contradicts with the rule of Natural Justice, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"audi alteram partemà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ and in other words, this amended Act allows the court to review the detentions from a viewpoint on whether or not the procedure in making the order has been complied with or not? [1] Constitutional Administrative Law, 8th Edition, Hilaire Barnett, pg 52 [2] Public Law and Human Rights, 2nd Edition, Helen Fendwick, pg 81 [3] The Constitution of United Kingdom, Peter Leyland, pg 48 [4] Constitutional Administrative Law, 8th Edition, Michael Allen, pg 197 [5] Law, Government and the Constitution in Malaysia, Andrew Harding, pg 144 [6] Public Law and Human Rights, 2nd Edition, Helen Fendwick, pg 103 [7]Constitutional Law In Malaysia Singapore, 3rd Edition, Kevin YL Tan Thio Li-ann, pg 27 [8] Pengarah Tanah Galian Wilayah Persekutuan v. Sri Lempah (1979) 1 MLJ 135

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Caring for Children and Young People Unit 10 Level 3 Ext

Unit 10 Caring for children young people P1-There are many different reasons why children and young people may need to be looked after which are unforeseen, unexpected and planned situations. Common reasons could involve family related issues including: family breakdown, bereavement, loss of parent, illness or incapacity of a parent such as: hospitalisation, substance misuse or mental health needs, which means there is no one else to provide care. A Child or young person are suspected or actually being maltreated. Children and young person related: health issues, behavioural problems, disability, learning difficulties or rejection by parent as a result of a new partner or because of the child or young person’s behaviour. The child or†¦show more content†¦Therefore, the parent/s who abuse alcohol, solvents and/or prescription and/or recreational drugs wont have the ability to fully meet their child/childrens needs, so they will need to be taken from the situation and placed into care. Most children will be ab le to return to home if the parent/s are no longer users. Otherwise the child/children will stay in care. Maltreatment/abuse- Maltreatment and abuse are an act of cruel or inhumane treatment, within the family, outside of family, in a care setting or by a stranger. It is when a person puts someone in harms way or inflicts pain on someone: physically, emotionally, intellectually or sexually. Physically a child could be harmed by: beatings, burning, scalding, poisoning, starvation or any other physical way of hurting or injuring a child. A child could be neglected by not receiving their essential needs such as: food, water, shelter, warmth and protection. Emotionally a child could receive ill treatment by someone telling them unpleasant things such as: saying they are inadequate, worthless and unloved; humiliation and criticism can also emotionally harm a child; treating a child differently to other children; not interacting with a child etc. The child will need to be taken away from this situation and placed into care either permanently or temporarily until the parent/s are seen fit for care of the child. Intellectually aShow MoreRelatedCOM3708 Portfolio UNISA4997 Words   |  20 Pages 2 1.2.3 Research questions 3 1.2.4 Unit of analysis 3 1.2.5 Population(s) 4 1.2.6 Sampling procedures Read More2006 Arroyo Case Study31910 Words   |  128 PagesChallenges †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ xxi Category 1—Leadership 1.1 1.2 Senior Leadership †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Governance and Social Responsibilities†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 1 3 Category 2—Strategic Planning 2.1 2.2 Strategy Development †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Strategy Deployment †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 5 8 Category 3—Focus on Patients, Other Customers, and Markets 3.1 3.2 Patient, Other Customer, and Health Care Market Knowledge †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Patient and Other Customer Relationships andRead More2006 Arroyo Case Study31910 Words   |  128 PagesOrganizational Challenges †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ xxi Category 1—Leadership 1.1 1.2 Senior Leadership †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Governance and Social Responsibilities†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 1 3 Category 2—Strategic Planning 2.1 2.2 Strategy Development †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Strategy Deployment †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 5 8 Category 3—Focus on Patients, Other Customers, and Markets 3.1 3.2 Patient, Other Customer, and Health Care Market Knowledge †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Patient and Other Customer Relationships and SatisfactionRead MoreStrategic Marketing Management337596 Words   |  1351 Pagesmarketing/strategy interface Summary xi xiii 1 3 3 7 11 19 37 41 43 45 45 50 53 70 71 75 77 79 79 80 81 86 88 89 101 102 104 107 109 Stage One: Where are we now? Strategic and marketing analysis 2 Marketing auditing and the analysis of capability 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Learning objectives Introduction Reviewing marketing effectiveness The role of SWOT analysis Competitive advantage and the value chain Conducting effective audits Summary 3 Segmental, productivity and ratio analysis 3.1Read MoreThe Marketing Research of Brainquiry33782 Words   |  136 Pagesas mentioned before. If more contacts are needed they can be found by using the means stated in the sources part of the research. The excel file gives furthermore general information about private insurance companies and an overview of how many people do have which mental disorder in Germany. In the report the promotional part gives an overview of means to use regarding the target groups being looked at by Brainquiry. The final report of the Netherlands consist of following parts: excel files

Global Ethical Position Of Bp Commerce Essay Free Essays

string(72) " activities are coordinated and integrated across geographical lodgers\." In a 2006 interview with ProPublica after the Prudhoe Bay spill, published in Fortune BPs main executive of American operations, Robert Malone, said â€Å" There is no uncertainty in my head, what happened may non hold broken the jurisprudence but it broke our values. Corporate societal duty is merely a responsibility of attention which an administration owes to its stakeholders and the environment in which it operates. Hodgetts et at ( 2006, p65 ) states that: â€Å" Corporate societal duty ( CSR ) can be defined as the actions of a house to profit society beyond the demands of the jurisprudence and the direct involvements of the house. We will write a custom essay sample on Global Ethical Position Of Bp Commerce Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now Pressure for greater attending to CSR has emanated from a scope of stakeholders, including civil society ( the wide societal involvements in a given part or state ) and from nongovernmental administrations ( NGOs ) . These groups have urged MNCs to be more antiphonal to the scope of societal demands in developing states, including turn toing concerns about working conditions in mills or service centres and go toing to the environmental impacts of their activities. † Harmonizing to Stewart Broome the Director of Business Ethical motives at BP, BP operate under planetary criterions through its usage of advanced engineering, safe working conditions and operational procedures, safer operational patterns for the protection of the environment in conformity with planetary ethical criterions. However, contrary to BP ‘s ethical place the undermentioned incidents have occurred within the last five old ages which resulted in the loss of lives, devastation of the environment, and marine life. Lustgarten ( 2010 ) reported that: A BP ‘s refinery explored in Texas, March 2005 this resulted in the decease of 15 workers and the hurt of 170 others. Probes determined that BP ignored its ain protocols in the operation of the tower and that the company ‘s warning system was besides disabled. BP accordingly pleaded guilty to federal felony charges and was fined more that $ 50 million by the US Environmental Protection Agency. One twelvemonth subsequently 4,800 barrels of oil leaked into the Alaskan snow through a hole in the company ‘s grapevine at Prudhoe Bay. It was reported by Fortune that BP failed to look into the grapevine in 2002 even though they had been cautioned to look into the grapevine in 2002, they failed to make so. As a consequence a $ 12 million mulct was imposed on BP for a misdemeanor misdemeanor of the federal Water Pollution Control Act. It was subsequently determined by a Congress commission, that BP had ignored chances to forestall the spill and that â€Å" Draconian † cost-saving steps had led to short cuts in its operational projects. BP ‘s most recent incident, on the 20 April 2010 what was confirmed sealed on 19 September 2010 resulted in the decease of 11 individuals. Though the company has investigated the possible causes of the oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico given its path record in the yesteryear there is a deficiency of warrant that such calamities would non go on once more. The households of the workers who died have filed cases impeaching BP of carelessness. Reviewing BP ‘s operations it appears that BP should revisit its planetary ethical place as it relates to the safety of its work force and the environment. It seems that the proper steps and strategic execution of procedures are non being adhered excessively. BP should take the necessary stairss to guarantee the proper care of rigs, regular wellness and safety preparation of staff, proper care of works and equipment to forestall incidents and accidents. The deductions of their trade name and selling The universe over the past 20 old ages or so hold become more environmentally painstaking and caring towards prolonging, continuing and keeping the environment. The BP trade name has been affiliated with saving of the environment. BP.Com stated: â€Å" The systems, criterions and engineerings we apply to minimise our environmental footmark. † In giving its operations to responsible planetary leading the company was able to better its repute and increase its bottom line. As a consequence, BP ‘s fiscal position has been sound as stated by Dailyfinance ( 2010 ) stated: â€Å" Due to higher oil monetary values, BP ‘s first one-fourth 2010 net incomes were $ 6.08 billion compared to $ 2.56 billion in the first one-fourth of 2009. † The BP trade name captured a big portion of the mark market this was a contemplation of the company ‘s success. For 16 back-to-back old ages BP individuality as Amoco was rated the best crude oil trade name by consumers and they besides enjoyed one of the three highest trade name trueness reputes for gasoline in the US this was comparable merely to Chevron and Shell. However, the BP trade name is now perceived as socially and environmentally uncommitted to the planetary environment in which they operate and as a consequence there will be â€Å" fall-out † from the BP trade name and its merchandises. John Kleine executive manager of the BP Amoco Marketers Association ( 2010 ) stated: â€Å" Some BP gas station proprietors in the United States want to drop the BP name and return to the Amoco trade name to retrieve concern hit by public choler over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill catastrophe. The worst seaward oil spill in U.S. history fouled beaches from Texas to Florida, lay waste toing the Gulf seashore fishing and touristry industries. Some environmental groups called for a boycott of BP gas Stationss. † Due the negative impact of that the company ‘s operations has on the environment they are traveling to be individual who would reject the BP trade name. Kleine ( 2010 ) stated: â€Å" The BP spill has had a psychological impact on distributers. He described it as a clip of crisis and triageaˆÂ ¦.That truly comes from being concerned about their concern, their support, their investing, seeing every twenty-four hours the intelligence that would be given to do you believe that the concern is traveling to worsen. † Johansson ( 2006, p11 ) stated that in planetary selling it is indispensable that selling activities are coordinated and integrated across geographical lodgers. You read "Global Ethical Position Of Bp Commerce Essay" in category "Essay examples" Merchandises are standardize, packaging of merchandises are uniformed with indistinguishable stigmatization in a figure of states. JOHANSSON ( 2006, p15 ) states that: â€Å" Global trade names are trade names that are available, good cognize, and extremely regarded throughout the universe ‘s market. Examples include Swatch, Mercedes, Nestle, Coca-Cola, Nike, Mc Donald ‘s, Sony and Honda. † BP can be compared to the instance of planetary company Nike and the allegations of child labor, insecure working conditions and inhumane conditions of work. Though Nike ne’er admitted straight to any incorrect making they did nevertheless, raise the minimal hiring age from 16 to 18 old ages, improved the conditions of work and the company even created a place of a frailty president for corporate and societal duty. The universe may mostly comprehend BP as an irresponsible company non presently taking caring for the environment, its workers and the planetary community at big. BP ‘s company image as it relates to the environment, Marine and wildlife is tainted due to the figure and badness of oil spills, particularly given the length of clip about five months ( September 2010 ) which it took for the well to be sealed. The public appears to hold lost trust and religion in BP ‘s ability to carry on its operations in a mode which is safe for their workers and the environment in which it operates. Non-governmental groups would clamor for stricter control and harsher punishments for companies through their operations. The fishing industry, mostly little concerns, along the seashore expressed concerns that they may be taken for â€Å" a drive † due to BP ‘s hold in covering with their claims for losingss, after what has been considered the worst natural catastrophe in recent times. There is the urgency for stricter statute law by authoritiess which would guarantee that companies that operate in their state follow wellness and safety policies harmonizing to the Occupational Health Safety Act. Failure by any company to implement safer working conditions and operations can merely weaken the company ‘s image and present a menace to the endurance of the company. Persons would seek alternate merchandises and services from other companies which in its production and fabrication phases are non harmful but safer to the environment. PERREAULT ( 2005, p256-257 ) stated that: â€Å" Brand rejection means that possible clients wo n’t purchase a trade name unless its image is changed. Rejection may propose a alteration in the merchandise or possibly merely a displacement to aim clients who have a better image of the trade name. Get the better ofing a negative image is hard and can be really expensive. † Global clients dissatisfied with trade name image can ensue in consumers globally rejecting the trade name which would finally impact BP ‘s net incomes. What planetary selling scheme should they follow now? In reappraisal BP has a â€Å" up- hill † conflict to reconstruct its bruised repute through its acceptance of an international civilization of safety for their workers and the environment. Fredrx, ( 2010 ) argues that: â€Å" BP may hold plugged the leak in the Gulf Oil spill, but the harm done to its trade name will take old ages to repair. A new selling industry study released Wednesday shows the British oil company has tumbled off a list of the universe ‘s top 100 trade names. † It is extremely recommended that BP strengthen its trade name unity through corporate societal duty and planetary ethical behaviour, which would pull clients one time once more to the BP trade name. By signaling to its stakeholders it is committed to run intoing its moral duties and outlooks beyond what they are required to make by statute law leting for the buy-in to the BP trade name. It is indispensable at this clip the BP re-strategize its operations to ‘regain ‘ its image of an environmentally friendly â€Å" green † crude oil company. Therefore, it would be prudent for BP to reconstitute the company and its direction construction. Freeman et at ( 2007, 6 ) stated that: ( painstaking trade names, †¦ intend trade names that see socially responsible behavior as an built-in portion of what they do, instead than as an attention deficit disorder on. †¦ .conscientious trade name proprietors are human-centric and transparent, focused on making positive alteration in the universe ( non merely on understating the negatives ) and cognizant of the demands of all stakeholders. † To retrieve rapidly it is of important importance that BP focuses its resources and attending on issues of safety. The assignment of Mr Robert Riley to the place of Head of Safety and Operational Risk, Competency and Capability Development was as a direct consequence of his 10 twelvemonth reign at the caput of BP Trinidad without incidents and accidents. The company wants to further a civilization on nothing accidents in their planetary operations. Paul, ( 2010 ) stated that: â€Å" In this new function Riley will describe to Bly and will take BP ‘s worldwide attempts to develop industry taking quality and rigour into BP ‘s operations, peculiarly as it relates to safety and operational hazard. aˆÂ ¦As a effect of the spill BP established a new Safety and Operation Risk unit to let functionaries to step in in all of BP ‘s proficient activities. † This move was necessary to cover with the concerns from the planetary environment sing the issues of safety in BP ‘s operations which resulted in the oil spill of April 2010. Their purpose is to standardize BP ‘s planetary safety and operational unity to a degree which would extinguish accidents and incidents go forthing negative impacts on the environment. Mr Riley was hence given this assignment to assist reconstruct the image and repute of BP as an environmentally caring company, since Mr Riley while he take BPTT had zero incidents. Johansson ( 2006, p537 ) stated: â€Å" Global public dealingss is a signifier of indirect publicity of merchandises and services that focuses on making good will towards the corporation as a whole. The corporate communications staff at central offices and its opposite number in the assorted host states serve as boosters of the corporation to assorted stakeholders interested in the company ‘s foreign enlargement † It is of import that rigorous policies on the Occupational Health and Safety Act are decently implemented and enforced. The Company ‘s image has to alter reflecting that they are an environmentally painstaking company. Therefore this is an effort by BP to reconstruct its trade name and image. Their image has to alter to one which is socially, ethically and environmentally witting. The spill of April 2010 has surely impacted negatively on BP ‘s image as a â€Å" green † company. It is of import that they return to the company ‘s vision and develop and implement schemes which would enable the company to cover with its image and trade name rebuilding. â€Å" The 1000000s of gallons of oil that have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico are more like an epidemic, one that we will be contending for months and even years.A But do no error: A We will contend this spill with everything we ‘ve got for every bit long as it takes.A We will do BP wage for the harm their company has caused.A And we will make whatever ‘s necessary to assist the Gulf Coast and its people recover from this calamity. † In the wake of the spill it would be advisable to BP to redrand its advancing the â€Å" new † company as a more human-centric and environmental painstaking company. BP would besides be advised to work with its stakeholders to guarantee such a catastrophe ne’er happens A Four possible ethical stance BP can follow Researching Corporate Strategy, Seventh Edition A © Pearson Education Ltd 2005 Word count: -2049 How to cite Global Ethical Position Of Bp Commerce Essay, Essay examples

Sunday, April 26, 2020

Sociology Family Essays - Family, Single Parent,

Sociology: Family Stable, healthy, two-parent families still appear to do the best job of raising kids. But when income and job status are taken into account, children raised by single mothers are nearly as likely to succeed in adulthood, and, interestingly enough, they are even more likely to succeed than children raised in homes headed by a stepfather or a single father. Kids from male-headed households, single dads, do worse socioeconomically than kids from mother-headed homes and also two-parent stepfamilies, said USC sociologist Timothy Biblarz, the study's lead author. The study analyzed a survey of 22,761 men ranging in age from 25 to 64. They had been asked to report the occupation of the head of the household in which they grew up and to list their own occupations. All occupations were ranked on a 100-point scale, with 100 requiring the most education and returning the most income. Men from traditional families averaged 42 on the scale, while men in mother-headed households averaged 40, no matter whether the mothers had been divorced, widowed or never married. Children from other types of nontraditional families ranked 35. Previous studies from the mid-'60s on have presumed that children did poorly in single-mother homes because the structure itself was pathological. Even researchers skeptical about the effects of family structure on children's development have pushed for policies to bring a man into a divorced home because of his paycheck. They assume if there's a divorce, you've got to have policies to encourage remarriage to get a man back into the household because of added income, Biblarz said. Our findings challenge that to some extent. Most negative effects were due to the greater likelihood that single mothers would be unemployed, Biblarz said. When you compare two-parent households where fathers were managerial / professional with kids whose single mothers were managerial / professional, there's not a lot of difference between the socioeconomic outcomes as they get into adulthood. The researchers suspected a stepparent's extra income may be offset by other issues and problems that can arise, such as a greater emotional distance or uncertainty and more conflict. Bringing a man into the home doesn't mean kids will get a high level of investment from that stepparent, Biblarz said. The analysis suggests that, if you want your kid to maintain the same status or class you're in, having Mom around and plugged into the family is more important than Dad, said Jeffery Evans, health science administrator for the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Until recently, however, much more was known about mothers than fathers and the evidence is far from clear yet about which gender parent is more important, and for what at which age, he said. The real question is, to what extent is father involvement good? It now appears that fathers contribute by helping kids develop street smarts and that they take on a more significant role in the later years of a child's development, he said. It is also clear that after a divorce, joint custody makes a difference in promoting father involvement--and it is as beneficial to the fathers as it is to the children. After a divorce, he said, You'd hate to see moms cut out, and you'd hate to see dads cut out. The net effect of these studies indicate there's a price to be paid for deleting one of the traditional pairs, and the old-fashioned notion that it's good to have a mom and a dad is still a pretty good idea. * Lynn Smith's column appears on Sundays. Readers may write to her at the Los Angeles Times, Life protected] Please include a telephone number. Copyright, The Times Mirror Company; Los Sociology Issues

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Aldi Supermarket chain

Aldi Supermarket chain Introduction Overview Aldi is a global supermarket chain based in Germany (Aldi, 2013). Aldi was founded by Karl and Theo albretch brothers in 1946. The two had inherited a convenient store from their mother and created a chain of discount food shops Aldi first went global by opening a branch in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Currently, the supermarket chain owns more than 400 stores in the UK alone.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Aldi Supermarket chain specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Aldi mainly deals in food and drinks, but also sells a range of health and cosmetic products and other low-cost domestic goods. The majority of the products sold by this supermarket chain are own-branded labelled plus a few non-branded products. This system enables Aldi to stock a variety of products similar to other general supermarkets but on a limited space (Aldi Group History, 2010; Fallon, 1987, p. 33; Mitchell, 1991, p. 5). Report Purpose The aim of this report is to carry out an in-depth analysis of Aldi supermarket chain using PESTEL framework and to explore the potential impact of each factor on Aldi, its policies and competitiveness in the UK market. Aldi’s Industrial Analysis: PESTEL framework Political Factors Aldi is a multinational corporation and therefore is greatly affected by the political and legal conditions of individual countries where it operates. The political state of affairs in the UK can be described as steady. The main focus of the current government is recovery from the global financial crisis (Hamilton Ryan, 2012). According to the UK legislation on employment, retail stores are encouraged to provide a wide range of employment opportunities (Balchin, 1994, p. 44). Aldi supermarket chain recognizes the impact of retail chains on social welfare. The company has employed a large number of people without discrimination. Its workforce encompasses people of all walks of life (Mitche ll, 1991, p. 5). Economic factors The economy of the UK is at the moment steady. However, the country has been grappling with relatively high unemployment and uncertainties in the economy. The economy grew by 0.23 % in 2012 and is expected to grow by 1 % this year (2013) (Hamilton Ryan, 2012; BCC, 2012, P. 10). The economic conditions in the UK are a major cause of concern for the retail chain. One of the major causes of concern is the anticipated increase in the unemployment rate. This will result in a decline in the effective demand for numerous products and therefore will affect the general demand of goods in the country (Elearn Training Co 2005). Since the economic factors are way beyond the company’s control, Aldi has started re-organizing its marketing mix with regard to future changes in the economy.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Socio-cultural fa ctors According to the recent census conducted in the UK, the population of the youth is shrinking while that of the elderly is growing. This will negatively affect the labour market, market demand, and increase in government expenditure services. Ultimately, the UK government will have to cut-down its budget and increase tax to provide these services. Increased expenses due to rising taxes have impelled UK consumers to change their consumption behaviour (Graiser Scott, p. 10). These changes have resulted into more focus on value addition (Graiser Scott, p. 10; Clarke, Bennison Pal, 1997, p. 60). Since consumers are a function of social habit and beliefs, UK consumers have become more enlightened on health matters and their mind-set towards foodstuff. Aldi is currently adjusting its products to take care of the rising demand for organic and healthy foodstuff (Graiser Scott, p. 13). Technological factors Consumers require more expedient technologies while buying goods. Technology plays a major role in improving consumer experience (Faucheux Nicolaà ¯, 1998, p. 243). The most recent technological innovations for retail stores include electronic advertising and electronic shelf labelling. Online marketing has also become more popular. For that reason, businesses have resorted to the use of online channels to attract customers (Faucheux Nicolaà ¯, 1998, p. 244). The developments of many Aldi goods have been influenced by technology. The current technology has benefited both the retail chain and the consumers at large. Aldi has enhanced consumer satisfaction through technology. The use of technology has enabled the supermarket chain to enhance accessibility of goods and services and personalization of shopping. Technology has also helped to improve efficiency of supply and stock operations (Aldi, 2013). Environmental factors Corporate social responsibility significantly contributes in building consumer trust and loyalty. Therefore, many companies have been experiencing a lot of pressure to recognize their obligation to the general public (Schwartz Carroll, 2003, p. 504; Worthington Brotton, 2009). One of the societal matter threatening retail chains dealing in foodstuff is environmental concerns which requires them to act in an environmentally friendly manner. Understanding these issues broadens moral stance. Aldi’s CSR is concerned with the manner through which the organization meets its responsibility to the shareholders via regulations and governance (Faucheux Nicolaà ¯, 1998, p. 246). Aldi has adapted its products with the current policies and regulations related to environmental sustainability (Aldi Group History, 2010). Legislative factors The British market is extremely regulated (Mintel Report, 2011, P. 2). In addition, the EU commission has set up mandatory nutritional regulations for the retail sector. These regulations help ensure that consumers access healthy foodstuff and more balanced diet. These policies and regulations have had a significant effect on Aldi’s performance. Its product meets both local and global standards (Mintel Report, 2011, P. 4).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Aldi Supermarket chain specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Conclusion Aldi is a global company but strongly depends on the UK market. Though the UK is economically stable, it is faced with various uncertainties. Aldi understands its role in the society and has been striving to meet the demand of both the consumer and the government. Aldi has been able to keep a good rapport with the UK government by implementing politically correct policies. The company has been keeping tab with current socioeconomic changes by adjusting its products and services in accordance with the prevailing trends. In addition, Aldi’s products are environmentally friendly and meet the established standards. References Aldi 2013, Welcome to Aldi. Web. Aldi Gro up History 2010, Company History. Web. Balchin, A 1994, ‘Part-time workers in the multiple retail sector: small change from employment protection legislation’, Employee Relations, vol. 16, no. 15, pp. 43-57. BCC 2012, Policy Marker: Quarterly Economic Survey Q1 2012, British Chamber of Commerce, London. Clarke, I, Bennison, D, Pal, J 1997, ‘Towards a contemporary perspective of retail location’, International Journal of Retail Distribution Management, vol. 25, no. 2, pp.59-69.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Elearn Training Co 2005, The Business Environment, Elsevier, London. Worthington, A, Brotton, C 2009, The Business Environment, FT/Prentice Hall, London. Fallon, J 1987, ‘Aldis European Stores Offer Price’. Supermarket News, 31 August, p. 33. Faucheux S, Nicolaà ¯ I 1998, Environmental technological change and governance in sustainable development policy, Ecological Economics, vol. 27, pp. 243-256. Graiser, A, Scott, T 2004, ‘Understanding the dynamics of the supermarket sector’, The Secured Lender, vol. 60, no. 6, pp.10-14. Hamilton, S, Ryan, J 2012, U.K. Economy Surges 1% as Britain Exits Recession. Web. Mintel Report 2011, UK Food Retailing. Web. Mitchell, A 1991, ‘Aldi and Gateway Seal Site Deal in Move that Puzzles Supermarkets’. Marketing, 12 December, p. 5. Schwartz, M S, Carroll, AB 2003, ‘Corporate Social Responsibility: A Three-Domain Approach’, Business Ethics Quarterly, vol. 13, no. 4, pp.503–530.

Monday, March 2, 2020

Allan Pinkerton and His Detective Agency

Allan Pinkerton and His Detective Agency Allan Pinkerton (1819-1884) never intended to be a spy. So how did he become the founder of one of the most respected detective agencies in America?   Immigrating to America Born in Scotland, August 25, 1819, Allan Pinkerton was a cooper, or barrel-maker.. He immigrated to the United States in 1842 and settled near Chicago, Illinois. He was an industrious man and quickly realized that working for himself would be a much better proposition for himself and family. After some searching, he moved to a town called Dundee that was in need of a cooper and quickly gained control of the market because of his superior quality barrels and low prices. His desire to continually improve his business actually led him down the path to being a detective. Catching Counterfeiters Allan Pinkerton realized that good quality raw materials for his barrels were easily obtained on a small deserted island close to town. He decided that instead of paying others to provide him with the materials, he would travel to the island and get it himself. However, once he got to the island, he saw signs of habitation. Knowing that there were some counterfeiters in the area, he surmised this could be the hideout that had long eluded officials. He teamed up with the local sheriff to stake out the camp. His detective work led to the arrest of the band. The local townspeople then turned to him for help in arresting the ringleader of the band. His natural abilities eventually allowed him to track down the culprit and bring the counterfeiters to justice. Founding His Own Detective Agency In 1850, Allan Pinkerton founded his detective agency based on his own incorruptible principles. His values became the cornerstone of a respected agency that still exists today. His reputation preceded him during the Civil War. He headed the organization responsible for spying on the confederacy. At wars end, he went back to running the Pinkerton Detective Agency until his death on July 1, 1884. At his death the agency continued to operate and would soon become a major force against the young labor movement developing in the United States of America. In fact, this effort against labor tarnished the image of the Pinkertons for years. They always maintained the high moral standards established by their founder, but many people began to view them as an arm of big business. They were involved in numerous activities against labor and during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Pullman Strike (1894)The Wild Bunch Gang (1896)Ludlow Massacre (1914) Many labor sympathizers accused the Pinkertons of inciting riots as a means of keeping employment or for other nefarious purposes. Their reputation was harmed by their protection of scabs and business property of the major industrialists including Andrew Carnegie. However, they managed to last through all of the controversy and still thrive today as SECURITAS.

Saturday, February 15, 2020

Coke and Pepsi in India Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Coke and Pepsi in India - Essay Example As the paper highlights Indian customers had a little choice of products or brands and sometimes they were forced to purchase products regardless of quality and reliability. In addition, Indian government mandated that the companies Pepsi and Coca Cola must be promoted in India under the names ‘Lehar Pepsi’ and ‘Coca-Cola India’. Boycotts of American goods and water contamination issues were some other aspects of Indian political spectrum, which influenced operations of both Pepsi and Coca-Cola in the country. The company management could have anticipated some of the Indian market issues particularly corruption within the Indian governmental settings. By forecasting this, the Coca-Cola could have avoided its hardships in the past. However, it was not possible for the company to anticipate the ongoing water contamination issues. In other words, each company could have handled the unexpected developments in Indian political arena better, if its management had been flexible enough to adapt to the developments emerged. From this paper it is clear that Pepsi entered the Indian market early in 1986. During that time, the Pepsi had not to compete with other multinational companies once it was the initial stage of Indian soft drink market. Therefore, the early entry assisted the company to attain a significant foothold in the market while it was still working with its product positioning operations. In addition, the Pepsi acquired 26% market share by 1993 as a result of its early market entry. At the same time, the early entry forced the company to change its name to Lehar Pepsi and additionally Pepsi had to struggle with other local issues. The Indian government restricted Pepsi’s soft drink sales to less than 25% of total sales. Likewise, the late entry of Coca-Cola in Indian market in 1993 aided it buying four bottling plants from the industry leader Parle.

Sunday, February 2, 2020

WADA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

WADA - Essay Example However, the likelihood of doping is reduced by the World Anti-Doping Agency. This body was established in the year 1999 with the aim making sure that athletes compete in a sporting environment that is free from doping. It has come up with policies, standards and rules, frameworks, for anti-doping programs in sports. The agency also has a list of substances that are banned and methods which are prohibited in sports. The agency spends millions annually to catch dopes, even though; this amount is believed to be far from enough. WADA has influenced the world sport by making sure that there is fairness in sports. It advocates for tests to be carried out randomly during races and severely punishes the athletes who are caught doping. These tests reduce unethical practices in sports. Many professional sports leagues including Olympics follow WADA guidelines which encourages fairness, equity, â€Å"playing true†, and which define the rules in sports (Pedersen, 2011). Some elite athletes continue to dope in sports for the purpose of achieving the victory, when anti-doping organizations only expends little to catch dopes and some sports leagues even do not have an active control of

Saturday, January 25, 2020

Should Ecstasy be legal? :: essays research papers

â€Å"Ecstasy†, a drug with many different opinions and views, is often viewed as a killer, which is a stretch of the truth. The drug is sometimes thought of as one of the worst things in the world, but also as the best. Health issues are a problem and there have been some deaths .The deaths though are no way near the number of alcohol or cigarette deaths. How could such a beautiful word be considered such a horrible thing . Ecstasy can kill, but you can die tomorrow by being hit by a car or getting shot, why not live your life to the fullest. Live everyday as if it were your last, but don’t be stupid about it. Ecstasy does not kill a person, that’s just the excuse they use for ruining their life or killing themselves.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Certain people including doctors and parents have set up and had conferences and meetings to inform other parents and children of the â€Å"hug drug.† A man named Jeff Milgram wrote a article on www.lindesmith.org he said, â€Å"usually when your children would ask you if they could attend a non-alcoholic dance, you would be more than happy to let them attend. But do you really know what they are getting into? Those â€Å"dances† are known as raves and are one of them ultimate and most popular place to drop ‘E’ †.Health hazards range from any where to raise in temperature and faintness to nausea and grinding of the teeth .But continued use can result in â€Å"holes† in the brain and even liver damage.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Yes ecstasy is used at â€Å"raves†, but not by everyone. Natural â€Å"ravers† (sober ravers), are given a bad rap because their title â€Å"raver† is automatically connected to ecstasy. Yes many people at raves drop ecstasy but just as many do not. Many people have been permanently effected by â€Å"ecstasy â€Å", but those people say that the drug â€Å"ruined their life† when in actuality â€Å"they ruined their own life.† A girl named Sarah who was interviewed by channel 6 â€Å"true life on ecstasy â€Å" had done ecstasy for 3 years. However, the mistake in her part was that she had done it almost EVERY day. When she had gotten her brain scanned, she had a brain of a 75-year-old woman who had multiple strokes. Sarah at the time was only 25, but take into consideration that she more than â€Å"abused † the drug.

Thursday, January 16, 2020

My Significant Other

Art is composed of many different elements. There are many different styles of art that can be taught. Art has been used for thousands of years. Art is a way of expressing life. My favorite kinds of art are expressed through drawings and paintings. In Expressionist Art the artist tries to show strong certain feelings about something important. This can be done through sculptures, paintings, drawings, etc.When I am drawing I tend to draw people and things that relate to a person or multiple people. My sketches are complete with shading. Shading is to show shadows and contrast. My paintings are always outdoors and have to do with animals, plants, and scenery. Painting the sky and ocean have a lot of patience to be dealt with because It takes a right mixture of colors to make It feel lively. Pop art Is the most common art. It has to do with very popular seen people, places, or things.My favorite pop artist is Andy Warhol. The way he deals with the colors and shapes are amazing. I really enjoy the piece he did with Marilyn Monroe and the Campbell soup piece too. Surrealism is a type of art enjoy doing. When I have a strange dream I will take the most particular thing about my dream and turn it into art. I make it very mysterious and lifelike so everyone can witness what I saw in my sleep. I like to leave wonders and thoughts in others minds. Abstract art is also a favorite of mine.I will get a whole munch of random objects and glue them together and make another random object out of all these other pieces. It is very fun and creative. I once went outside and collect things to make a birds nest. Leaves, sucks, and other outdoors objects were collected and my masterpiece was finished. I received an excellent grade. Art Is different for everyone. Some use music as an art form, others use dance as an art form. Any way art is used it is still expressed through the artist. Art has and will always be around.

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Environmental Issues Of Ocean Pollution - 1105 Words

Environmental issues such as ocean pollution is caused by the careless acts of humans. Ocean Pollution is a serious environmental issue that is slowly killing our largest water source and many innocent sea creatures. Some things we will be looking over is the causes and effects as well as the way it is severely killing and destroying not only marine life, but their homes. One of the biggest sources of pollution is called nonpoint source pollution, which occurs as a result of runoff. (What Is the Biggest Source of Pollution in the Ocean? From NOAA, 2016) These are from things like septic tanks, sewers, littering, or automobiles. When we think of pollution, we think of wrappers or plastic pieces that were carelessly thrown into the wild,†¦show more content†¦A big issue within all of the plastic in the ocean is the BPA inside. BPA is an organic pollutant and not healthy for our environment. BPA is found in a lot of plastic and kills marine life as it disintegrates in the waters. (Pyrek, C. (n.d.). Plastic Paradise (1st ed., Vol. 28). Retrieved November 9, 2017.) When it comes to ocean pollution, it doesnt only affect our beaches, but it also affects the sea animals. In Figure 1, you can see an innocent seahorse wrapping their tale around a q-tip. The seahorse in Hofman’s photo is just one example of how marine animals interact with plastic debris. (How a Photographer Snapped This Tragic Photo of a Seahorse Lugging a Q-Tip.† The Verge, The Verge, 15 Sept. 2017) This seahorse now does not know that the debris isn’t okay or out of the usual, but just adapted it as their everyday life because the plastic levels in the sea is increasing massively year by year. Human waste is taking over the sea and this photo proves just that. The garbage patch is full of trash that is from runoff or trash left by careless fisherman. In the documentary Plastic Paradise, Angela Sun discusses how fisherman leave fishing nets in the ocean. If they get trapped or dirty, typically the fisherman’s easy way out is to throw it into the ocean and forget about it. While floating around in the ocean, the nets eventually get picked up by ocean currents andShow MoreRelatedIssues Of Society : North American Environmental Pollution918 Words   |  4 Pages10, 2017 Issues in Society: North American Environmental Pollution Effects These days, there are up to 500 chemicals in an average human body that were not found in humans before 1920.1 Several forms of environmental pollution have the ability to intoxicate human bodies with unwanted chemicals. Pollution exists when the environment cannot break down or eliminate an object without creating negative effects. Intoxicating bodies is just one of the several harmful effects that pollution has, specificallyRead MoreAnalysis Of Silent Spring By Rachel Carlson1647 Words   |  7 Pagesmany to be ignorant to the environmental conditions that surrounds these actions which correlate to the health of our planet. Over time, this issue has been recognized and one extremely important resource that the world has to offer is the vast ocean, and this source of life must be protected for the better of the planet. The struggles of dealing with the pollution in the ocean is a constant problem for the Environmental Protection Agency in order to ensure a clean ocean to the public and wild lifeRead MoreThe Impact Of Plastic Shopping Bags And Environmental Impact859 Words   |  4 PagesPlastic Shopping Bags Environmental Impact Disposable bags may seem convenient but have proven to be a huge source of pollution. According to research conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency, somewhere between five hundred billion and one trillion disposable bags are used each year around the world. Plastic bags, while only used for an average of about twelve minutes, remain in landfills, oceans, and other places for thousands of years. Plastic bags are created using fossil fuels andRead MoreEnvironmental Problem: Ocean Dumping and Trash Pollution636 Words   |  3 PagesEnvironmental Problem – Ocean Dumping and Trash Pollution Ocean water takes up seventy percent of the entire Earth’s surface and ninety-six percent of water found is in the oceans. Ocean water is a wonderful resource for travel, recreational purposes and is the largest habitat for plants. Additionally, one in every six jobs held by a United States citizen is marine-related. Also, â€Å"biological productivity of the ocean plays a vital role in the global climate and carbon cycle and provides nearly 50Read MoreEnvironmental Crsis on Earth Essay1102 Words   |  5 PagesThe earth is facing an environmental crisis on a scale unprecedented in human history. This crisis is due to high levels of human pain and, if it continues, the human life on the planet disappears. People often say that the reason that the world is in its current state is because there are too many people or because of modern technology. Global pollution growth has led to increasing pressure on worldwide natural resources including air, water, land, and raw materials; and modern societies have generatedRead MoreA Brief Explanation On The Importance Of Clean Water1170 Words   |  5 Pagesillustrated. Proceeding with descriptions of water pollution and reasoning’s demonstrating why it is presently a common issue in the United States. Understanding how the quality of the environment becomes affected from poor water quality is imperative to know and is proven throughout the paper. The paper slightly touches on the growth of human population and technology advancement, which are two main factors that contribute to the increase of water pollution. Understanding the source of pollutants is theRead MoreThe Garbage Of Waste Management System1342 Words   |  6 Pageswhatsoever to the common individual; however, as the collected data supports, garbage poses a significant threat to the global environment, as pollution causes damaging consequences around the globe. I. Garbage Mountains: Throughout the world and especially in the United States man made piles and mountains of garbage are becoming a major environmental issue in our society. Upcoming solutions for these over piling â€Å"garbage mountains† are to transform this garbage into usable materials. The windingRead MoreThe Solution Of Ocean Pollution1400 Words   |  6 PagesOceans around the world are becoming more deadly as people fill them with nearly every type of man-made pollutant. They are turning into bathtubs; being filled with whatever the kids decide to toss in. Many refer to this issue as marine pollution or even ocean pollution. Ocean pollution is, â€Å"... the spreading of harmful substances such as oil, plastic, industrial and agricultural waste and chemical particles into the ocean† (qtd. from Rinkesh â€Å"Causes and Effects..† para. 1). No doubt, clean oceansRead MorePollution Is A Major Public Health Crisis1573 Words   |  7 Pageseither environmental or materialistic. Pollution is a major public health crisis in the world. (Friis, 2012). It is one of the conflicts that contribute to various aspects of an individual’s life, whether it is their health or environmental life. Methods Materials In order to collect appropriate materials for this review, I analyzed a computerized literature search of the PsycINFO and PsycArticles databases using the keywords â€Å"quality†, â€Å"pollution†, â€Å"contamination†, and â€Å"environmental healthRead MoreEnvironment Issues Are Destructive Effect From Human Activity On The Nature1288 Words   |  6 PagesEnvironment Issues and Pressures Environment issues are destructive effect from human activity on the nature. In the day ages, there are many types of environment issues in the Earth. Most countries focus on environment issues and there are more pressure when government solving these problems. Earth s environment is an important factor in the survival of mankind and environmental issues that affect human life. Therefore, Protecting the environment is human responsibility. And Equal protection of

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Quality Consumers Goods - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 32 Words: 9480 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? In recent years, consumers are becoming increasingly conscious about the quality, safety, suitability and environmental impacts of the goods that they demand. However, in many cases, consumers would not aware of the quality of a goods or products even after consumptions. These products are known as the credence goods. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Quality Consumers Goods" essay for you Create order It is difficult to distinguish between two qualities of the same good, even after consumption. In such case, consumers are willing to pay a premium for the hidden attributes of the goods that they cannot observe. Such goods include natural versus genetically modified (GM) food, organic versus non-organic products, fair-trade products, suitable for vegetarians goods, Kosher, and more generally high-quality versus low-quality products. However, this paper is interested to study a special type of credence goods, that is Halal versus non-Halal products or goods. Halal is an Arabic word which means lawful or permissible. It follows the Islamic ruling known as the Syariah law. Halal covers every aspect of Muslims life especially dietary. Halal food simply means that the food products are free from any elements which Muslims prohibited from consuming. Extended discussion on Halal is presented in Chapter 2. With Islam as the second largest religion in the world and the fastest growing, the world Halal food trade is estimated to be around US$ 150 billion to US$ 500 billion in 2007 on which US$ 80 billion alone is generated from agri-food products (Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, 2007; Brunei Halal, 2007). These factors hasten the investment in Halal products, and in some cases, producers cheat for easy access to the market. Analysis of Halal in this paper, distinguishes itself from other studies on credence goods, as it involves different levels of consumers interactions. Any credence goods, including Halal products, comprise a special attribute or characteristic. This characteristic is not verifiable and revealed unless by experts or other professional services. Hahn (2004) suggested that real or complete credence goods would be difficult to find as consumers would have some judgement on products or services after the consumption. This is not entirely true as in case of Halal food product, especially Halal meat. It is very difficult to check if the meat is entirely Halal as claimed, as there is no existing way to check after consumption whether say the meat purchased is really slaughtered in Syariah methods, even though there is non-existence of other non-Halal ingredients. Therefore, in this sense, Halal meat is an example of a real credence good. In many cases, consumers concern for the special or credence attribute (eg. environmental, fair-trade, organic, Halal, etc.) is evidenced by their willingness to pay a premium for the high-quality products. The willingness to pay opens up an opportunity for low-quality producers (those which lack the special attribute) to take advantage by pretending to be that of high-quality, especially when only the producers know whether the desirable attribute exist in their products or not. Moreover, it is too expensive for individual consumer to directly monitor or verify these attributes. Therefore, consumers could only decide their purchasing choice on subjective belief regarding the products quality, which are based on all available information such as press report, word-of-mouth and labels when such adverse selection in credence goods market exist. Hence, producers cannot build reputation when production of low-quality imitating goods could not be detected and punished. Delayed detection of low-quality products allows its producers to imitate the strategy of their high-quality rivals, which hampered signalling use. Like other credence goods, Halal food products, through certified Halal brand/logo would improve the information asymmetry, but may carry the similar issues. These issues are discussed in Chapter 2. It is common for credence goods to feature a communication scheme such as labels or brands to help consumers in making purchasing decisions. Moreover, these labels or brands often require authentication by legislator or a third-party organisations that have the proficiency in each field of specific credence quality attributes, thus involving additional costs. In the Halal market, there also exist regulations by the government (eg. in Brunei, under the authority of Brunei Islamic Religious Council, Ministry of Religious Affairs) or third party organisation (eg. in United Kingdom, by Halal Monitoring Committee and Halal Food Authority, to name some). In which they certify a product through monitoring and indicating some guidelines for producers before granting a recognisable label on the products. Hence, this label helps consumers to make better decision choice. Moreover, a quality label that improves pre-purchasing information would increase welfare, and high-quality producers would always be willing to go through the necessary inspection as to reveal the products quality to the consumers, unless the cost for verification is extremely high. The welfare affect of introducing Halal labelling is briefly discussed in the analysis, especially where Halal labelling opens up an opportunity to access additional consumers, ie. Muslims, also referre d to the primary consumers. The analysis of Halal in this paper is aimed to study the interactions of the market forces or what commonly referred to in economics as invisible hand of the demand and supply in Halal market. At the same time, considering the effects on introduction of labelling upon the level of equilibrium, in addition to other factors such as the additional demand by Muslims of primary market. This is a unique or special aspect which might not be available in previous studies on credence goods. The following chapters are organised as follows. Halal concept is further discussed in the next Chapter 2. This chapter is intended as an expansion to the introduction (Chapter 1) in order to provide a deeper understanding on the concept of Halal, and to provide information regarding the current market for Halal food products and the issues pertaining in the Halal market on the use of Halal logo. The relevant literature reviews are discussed in Chapter 3, discussing the works by other authors on the area of credence goods which can be linked to Halal. Chapter 4 presents the economic analysis and application of Halal products as credence goods. Chapter 5 concludes this paper and provide a discussion on the policy implications generated by the study. CHAPTER 2 2.0. A Brief Concept of Halal Religion involves beliefs and the way of life, where group of individuals interprets and respond to what they feel is supernatural and holy (Johnstones, 1975, in Shafie and Othman, n.d.). Shafie and Othman underline that most religion prescribes or prohibits certain behaviour including that of consumption (n.d.). The concept of Halal is not new in the Islamic world, but only in recent years that its potentials have been realised by corporations and organisations around the world, which normally perform under the conventional economics. The word Halal comes from Arabic which means permissible or lawful. It is ruled by the Islamic law known as Syariah law which is based on the Quran and Hadith (records of the life, actions and teachings of Prophet Muhammad). By not fully understanding the concept of Halal, one (non-Muslim especially in Muslim-minority country such as United Kingdom) may think that Halal only refers to meat or something to do with kebabs. Halal actually governs every aspect of life of Muslims, however, this paper only view Halal perspective on consumption of food. What is not Halal is called Haram or non-permissible. Any product which comes from swine and/or dog is strictly Haram. A special cleansing ritual must be done if a Muslim directly touched (although accidentally) these animals and/or the sources (eg. skin). Such products that contain strictly Haram ingredients or derivatives are termed as non-transformable in the analysis in Chapter 4. Amongst other strictly Haram animal products include blood, birds of prey, and/or carrion (dead animals without slaughtering). Alcohol is also Haram, but in some strict case it could become or change into Halal, this is discussed later on in Section 2.3 of this paper. Un-slaughtered animals such as beef and chicken are also become non-Halal, unless slaughtered by a Muslim according to Syariah practice. Such products are termed as transformable in the analysis of this paper. What lies between Halal and Haram is called Mashbooh meaning that the goods appear to be suspicious, questionable and According to Bonne and Verbeke (2007), as product attribute, Halal refers to the nature, origin and the processing methods of the food products, which entails similarity with organic foods and those taking animal welfare or sustainability into account. Strict procedure must be followed to obtain highest standard of Halal, and that Halal products must not contact with non-Halal products; as similar to vegetarian food should not be in contact with any meat. Halal concept covers both food and non-food product category, but as mentioned earlier, this paper would only focus on the first one. Studies show that about 70 to 75 percent of Muslim strictly follows the Halal standard for their dietary (Hussaini 1993a in Bonne and Verbeke, 2007; Minkus-McKenna, 2007). The next section provides an overview of Halal food market. 2.1. Halal Food Market The Halal market is considered as the fastest growing market globally as reported by the Borneo Bulletin (2008). The world Halal industry is estimated to worth between US$ 500 million to around US$ 2 trillion (Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, 2007; Borneo Bulletin, 2008; Brunei Halal, 2007). The market is growing around US$ 500 billion annually due to the rising Muslim population worldwide (Borneo Bulletin, 2008; Brunei Halal, 2007). It is reported that the Muslim population is known to be the fastest growing religion in the world (Bonne and Verbeke, 2007) and in Europe (BBC News, 2005). The global Halal food trade itself in 2007 is estimated to be between US$ 150 billion (Brunei Halal, 2007) and US$500 billion with 12 percent of this or US$ 80 billion generated from agri-food products (Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, 2007). In addition, Islam is the second largest religion in the world (Riaz and Chaudry, 2004) with nearly 1.5 billion people (ibid.; Bonne and Verbeke, 2007; Din, 2006). The National Statistics Census carried out by the British Government, shows that Islam is also the second largest religion in the United Kingdom, approximately 1.6 million Muslims (2001). The statistics also revealed that Muslims are the largest household in the United Kingdom. These factors would justify that the demand for Halal food products in the United Kingdom is expanding. The market for Halal can be divided into two namely, primary and secondary. Primary market arises from the demand by Muslims, whereas, secondary market refers to the demand by non-Muslims. These terms are used in the analysis of this paper. Agriculture and Agri-food Canada (2007) suggested that Halal is often referred to safety and of high quality by both markets. Besides these, factors for increasing Halal demand includes: increasing incomes in primary market, rising population of Muslim, and rising demand for variety in primary market (ibid.). For Muslims, consuming Halal food products are their religious obligation, however it is known that Halal food are also consumed by non-Muslims. The later often perceived as specially selected and processed to achieve highest standards of quality (Riaz and Chaudry, 2004, p. 14). Manufacturers or producers that sells Halal products would create significant advantage compared to those that do not (Shafie and Othman, n.d.). Riaz and Chaudry (2004, p. 16) suggested that the increasing demand for Halal products as well as expanding number of Muslim population can be an inducement for producers to provide Halal products. Nonetheless, it is safe to say that these views mostly look at Muslim-majority economies such as those in Asian region. Hence, this paper provides a study in relation to Muslim-minority economy such as the United Kingdom. However, like any other food labels, Halal labelling also have some issues. 2.2. Halal Logo and Its Issues The use of Halal logo in food products indicates that the products are Islamic or Syariah compliant. Similar to other food related logos such as suitable for vegetarian V-logo, Halal logo intends to communicate with the consumers of this product that it is fit for their consumption. Initial finding shows that some companies may use this logo even though its products might violate some rules of the Syariah law. Such situation was reported in which, some meat and other processed products from Brazil imported into the country, were being inspected by Halal Monitoring Committee, to be found a violation (2007). Another comparable situation is reported by The Tribune (2008) that the biggest meat producer in Scotland is under investigation over the supply of so-called fake Halal meat in the country. There are some issues to which cause the problem arises. Fischer claims that the lack of a state body that is capable of inspecting the unregulated market [in the United Kingdom] has left this market open to fraud, corruption and without any kind of standards, uniform certification and standard (n.d.). Study by Fischer also shows that many British Muslims and organisations call upon the state to help recognise and standardised Halal. However for the ease of this papers analysis, this situation is relaxed, meaning producers behave honestly when claiming their products as Halal. Having Halal logo does not mean the products automatically accepted to be purchased by consumers especially that of primary market. Research undertaken by a university in the United Kingdom, shows that consumers prefer small shops when buying Halal meat, rather than buying from supermarkets, due to factors mentioned earlier and others including lack of marketing of Halal food (Anonymous, 2006). Like any other goods, the credence of Halal food products has to be clearly communicated such as indication on pack or on-label (Bonne and Verbeke, 2007), in addition to conventional marketing strategies, for example advertising. Moreover, this would add some utility value to the consumer and useful in the purchasing decision (ibid.). Nonetheless, to make the analysis of this paper simple, having Halal labelling is enough to induce greater demand and consumptions. 2.3. Issues of Alcohol Alcohol is clearly not permissible, however it is essential for certain industry processes and religious scholars are aware of this some of them suggested that some use of alcohol may be acceptable as long as it is evaporated and not exist in the final products (Riaz and Chaudry, 2004). However, if there is an alternative to alcohol for such process, it would be preferred, as majority of Muslims would avoid products that use alcohol at any stage. It is generally known by Muslims that wine (a Haram state product) which turns naturally into vinegar thus the vinegar is considered as Halal. This situation is called Istihala or change of state or properties. A reverse situation as such that, if wine is added to Halal food, as in common cooking practise in the Western, hence the food becomes Haram. However, this issue is not represented in the analysis, for simplicity argument. It is clear that Halal can be perceived as a credence attribute, although there are numerous literatures on cred ence goods, only few actually discussed in relation to Halal products. Next chapter will discuss the literatures on credence products. CHAPTER 3 3.0. Literature Review This chapter is divided into five interrelated parts or sections. The first section provides a (general) glance on the studies or literatures on credence goods, which is applicable in the study of the market for Halal products. This is followed by the second section, of discussions on the demand for such goods. Market failure arises due to the nature of credence goods, which is discussed in the third section of this chapter. In the fourth section, a review on the solution of the market failure problem is examined. The final section deals with the issue pertaining to some of these solutions. 3.1. Credence Goods at a Glance There are growing numbers of literatures on credence goods attribute since it was first mentioned by Darby and Karni in 1973. These literatures involve different assumptions which produce diverse outcomes. However, it is difficult to find economic literature that deals directly with Halal subject as a credence good. Nonetheless, studies on some of the credence goods can be applied to Halal concept. Most literatures on credence goods assume that consumers are homogeneous. Hahn (2004) showed the contrast to this, in which the author grouped the consumers into two namely those who have some expertise or informed and those who do not or uninformed; This paper is slightly differs from that of Hahn (2004), where the consumers in this paper are also divided into two, namely Muslims (those who only consume Halal goods, or primary consumers) and non-Muslims. The latter is further grouped into two, ie. conventional consumerswho only consume non-Halal; and secondary consumerswho prefer to consume Halal products. Some economists (such as McCluskey, 2000; Cho and Hooker, 2002) used game theory models on credence attribute to assess the interplays of stakeholders. These include whether producers decide to claim their products as those of high quality, then they have to decide whether to produce according to the claims or not. However, the use of game theory is out of the scope of this papers analysis. Nonetheless, producers are assumed to produce what they intended to, without dishonesty. Economists divide consumers perception of food quality into a three attributes, namely: search, experience (which were pioneered by Nelson in 1970) and credence attribute (in Darby and Karni, 1973; Innes et. al., 2007; Umberger et. al., 2008). Search attributes can be determined from pre-consumption and at point of purchase such as colour, shape, brand and freshness. Experience attributes, arise from taste, juiciness, and food safety which could only be determined during or after consumption. Lastly, credence attributes refer to the process and production aspects, which the author claims that it cannot be determined before, during or after consumption of that particular food product (Umberger et. al., 2008). These food products, especially Halal as credence goods emphasise and maintain a strict quality attributes, and failure to maintain this would result a loss in its credibility, hence would brings disutility to the consumers or reduction of welfare. Some economists such as Caswell and Mojduszka (1996, in Cho and Hooker, 2002) argued that by providing information as policy tool, credence attributes could be transformed into search attributes. However, this would require a strict environment where system of information provided is perfect and fraud could not taken place these are less likely to be a (current) scenario of the real world. Nonetheless, this concept is used in the analysis of this paper, for simplicity reason. On the other hand, Cho and Hooker (2002) mentioned that credence goods could act like a (lagged) experience goods if they involve time duration for detection of risk (relatively quickly), eg. infected food, vice versa. Like any production or supply of consumer goods, it depends on the demand for such goods, for an equilibrium to exist in the market. The following section discusses the determinants of demand for credence goods. 3.2. Consumer Demand for Credence Attribute Individuals would consume goods or services that yields highest utility or satisfaction level and presumed to make rational choice. However, this is subject to physical (ie. how much they can consume) and economic (ie. budget) constraint that limits the consumers choices (Mas-Colell et. al., 1995). Moreover, the preference-based approach to consumer demand is of critical importance for welfare analysis in which, without it, evaluating the consumers level of well-being would have no meaning (ibid.). Dulleck and Kerschbamer (2001) identified credence characteristics in terms of utility, in which although consumers can observe the utility derived from consumption of such goods ex post, they are not sure if the utility they get is the ex ante needed one. However, in the analysis of this paper, the utility is considered in terms of welfare level obtained from consumers and producers surplus. In addition to the conventional determinants for demand such as income, taste and preference, consumer characteristics and quality attribute become increasingly important factors nowadays. According to Antle (1999, in Senauer, 2001, p. 4), the new economics is more concerned with the markets for quality-differentiated products in which the author presented a stylised demand function which include quality factors (non-price attribute): X = D (P, I, N, C, Q) Where X depends on price and other goods (P), income (I), number of population (N), characteristics of the population/consumer (C), and non-price attribute of the product (Q). It shows that any product attribute which includes nutrition content, safety, production process and even inputs, would creates utility or disutility. The analysis in Chapter 4 directly deals with the two of these factors namely, consumer characteristics (ie. preferences, and religious needs) and product attribute (ie. Halal credence). Hoehn and Deaton (2004) provided a model where consumers choose either purchasing credence (high-quality) good or conventional (low-quality) goods by comparing the consumer surplus differences. If the gain from consumer surplus from credence goods is large, compared to the opportunity cost of surplus given up from not purchasing conventional goods, the former good would be purchased. Their studies are used as a foundation for the analysis in Chapter 4 of this paper. Most literature reflects credence goods as vertically differentiated products due to quality differences. Nonetheless, Bester (n.d., in Roe and Sheldon, 2001) provided a concept of unobserved quality into a horizontal differentiation model and suggested that unobserved vertical quality would reduce producers incentives for horizontal differentiation via relaxing price competition amongst producers, in a way which prices act as a signal and consist of a quality premium. This is related to the second part of this papers analysis (Section 4.2. of Chapter 4) involving a franchise market. Consumers demand and preferences for credence goods often perceived from their willingness to pay. 3.2.1. Willingness to Pay There are other factors why consumers might be willing to pay a premium besides the quality attribute, such that they perceive credence goods as fashionable, trendy, or it could be that the purchase the alternative to credence goods would offend other people (McCluskey, 2000). The later is pertinent to Halal goods, especially in a situation where the consumer lives with Muslims housemates, or in a Muslim-dominated country. Consumers would also prefer for the high-quality products, even not for the sake of quality itself but other factors. For instance, when consumers care about other quality or criterion such as animal welfare, environmental, ethical, and religious reasons, to what Antle (1999, in Carlsson et. al., 2004) referred as extrinsic quality. If the distinctions in quality were signalled efficiently, consumers would be willing to pay a higher price or premium for products of high quality, hence compensating the higher production costs, as suggested by Kola and Latvala (2003). In their research on the effects of information on the demand for beef products credence characteristics in Finland, 59 percent of the respondents showed their willingness to pay a higher price for additional information. Whereas, 41 percent of respondents had zero willingness to pay, in which 35 percent of them are satisfied with the existing information, and 17 percent considered the information is not enough or they did not trust the information. As credence quality of a product cannot be observed directly at a reasonable cost or without invasive testing, consumers would rely heavily on claims or information made by the producers via brands, labels or advertisements (Cho and Hooker, 2002). This papers analysis however, only considers that consumers fully trust producers. The next section provides discussion if the information provided is insufficient or inaccurate, resulting a market failure. 3.3. Market Failure It can be said that the credence market are prone to the problems of market failure. There are different ways for a credence market to result in inefficiency. It is mainly due to information asymmetry between producers and consumers. 3.3.1. Information Asymmetry In credence goods, consumers cannot directly observe the quality of the goods that they consume where only the producers know the exact quality, thus resulting information asymmetry. Common intuition indicates that the solution for an information asymmetry is by providing more information. Information, as conferred by Weiss (1995, in Cho and Hooker, 2002) is the central tenet of food safety economics. Brands, logos and labels most importantly serve as a signal to inform and communicate to the consumers about products attributes, hence alleviating information asymmetry between producers and consumers. According to Verbeke (2005), information is likely to be effective only when it addresses specific information needs of its target audience. It requires identification and detailed understanding of these needs, and proper management on the provision of the information in order to optimally address the needs (ibid.). Information regarding food quality and safety can be categorised as risk information and aims at reducing uncertainty faced by the consumers in making purchasing decisions. Hence, success would come from better understanding regarding consumers attitude, behaviour, motives, and their perceptions (Frewer et. al., 2004, in Verbeke, 2005). There exist welfare effects to consumers for providing (Marette et. al., 1999, in ibid.) or withholding (Mazzocchi et. al., 2004b, in ibid.) food quality information. The work done by Umberger (et. al., 2008), can be used as a foundation on the argument for the importance of Halal logo or labelling on food products in particular. The authors claimed that potential market failure would occur if consumers face limited choice and if the access to innovative products is not available, or information regarding product attributes, for example the production methods, is not transparent (ibid.). With this regards, Halal products would be seen as innovative products and carry some product attributes that must be fulfilled, otherwise there might exist market failure for Halal products. Halal logo especially from organisation for Halal certification, could be used to indicate these attributes. Consequently, lack of information becomes the key factor for the inefficiency of credence market. The followings are resulted from insufficient information. 3.3.1A. Failure due to Fraud In their studies, Dulleck and Kerschbamer (2001) divided credence attribute problems into two fold: inefficiency treatment, and overcharging. The first fold refers to the quality level (or service) of credence goods provided by producers, and inefficiency treatment can be either under- or over-treatment. On the other hand, the second fold refers to the pricing of credence goods, particularly as self-described, overcharging. When the signal is unavailable, especially in the case where labelling is not mandatory, sellers may have the incentive to fraud by supplying products of low-quality but claiming these products as high quality. Akerlof (1970) explains this situation with automobiles market as an example, in which with asymmetric information high-quality goods (peach) would be driven out by the low-quality goods (lemons) hence resulting market failure. Moreover, as argued by Liebie (2002), when producers of low-quality products claim to be of high-quality, this would raise doubt in consumers mind and would not be willing to pay a premium for the high-quality goods. This in turns, would lower the profits of high-quality producer hence reducing their incentive to invest in high-quality products, in which would create further doubt to consumer. The cycle goes on until only low-quality products would be sold, even though consumers prefer high-quality products, resulting market failure. Darby and Karni (1973) suggested that the amount of fraud depends on reputation, market conditions, and technological factors. Profit-maximising producers would have the incentive to fraud by claiming their products are of high quality if the probability of not being caught is high enough (McCluskey, 2000) or conversely if the probability of being caught is low. Such fraud issues bring uncertainty to consumers. 3.3.1B. Problems of Uncertainty Bonroy and Constantos (2008) concluded that uncertainty by consumers on the identity of producers which produce the high-quality products put the high-quality producers in disadvantage resulting from higher cost. They argued that this disadvantage would remain even when the consumption of high-quality products benefits are well worth the cost difference and all beliefs regarding the high-quality producers are in the right direction (ibid.). Their model explains the difficulty faced by high-quality credence products to acquire the dominant market share they should have obtained from efficiency perspective (ibid.). This is however beyond the concept of this paper, as to avoid complication in the model, it is assumed that producers behave honestly in producing the products and consumers fully aware the qualities. 3.3.1C. Non-Rational Behaviour Unavailability of credible food quality labelling, consumers would face uncertainty and would incur search cost on specific information (Hobbs, 2004, in Verbeke 2005). As a result some consumers would not behave rationally, being ignorant, or make decisions which are not maximising their expected utility. Such behaviour explained as a concept of bounded and limited rationality or rationally ignorant consumer hypothesis (as found in Kahneman and Tversky, 1973; Simon 1979a,b; Camerer and Loewenstein, 2004; in Verbeke 2005), is however beyond the concept of the study in this paper. Verbeke (2005) concluded that without quality verification, traceability was of little value to consumers, whereas quality assurances were much more valuable to them. The solutions to the problems of market failure are presented in the next section. 3.4. Solutions to the Problems This section examines some of the solutions to the problems mentioned previously which are mainly caused by lack of information. The most common solution this, as stated earlier, is providing more information through labelling or signalling. But this must be accompanied with efficient monitoring. 3.4.1. The Use of Labelling as a Signal It is generally known that labelling of credence attribute could be used as a way to certify the provision of valued attributes, hence to avoid market failure. Moreover, Caswell and Padberg (1992) claimed that information in the form of labels, word-of-mouth, advertising, and education would contribute to the completeness and accuracy of assessment by consumer concerning these attributes. Spence (1973, in McCluskey 2000) provided an analysis on the use of signalling, where workers use education expenditure to indicate their type. Labelling schemes are reasonably specific because of their potential direct impact on consumers purchase decisions, which have a function as a cue that can be integrated by consumers in their assessment of alternative products (Verbeke, 2005). Hence, looking at the use of Halal labelling/logo, it serves as additional information on alternative goods (Halal products) from the non-Halal or conventional goods, especially for consumers in the primary market. Innes (et. al., 2007) distinguished between labels and brands, in which the former identifies a specific product characteristics pertaining only and precisely to the product itself, for example origin or composition. On the other hand, the author claims that brands is a broader concept which captures the product characteristics, reputation, and the accumulated consumer experience with that brand name or symbol that is viewed at the point of purchase. For the purpose of this research, the use of terms brand and label are integrated, unless otherwise told. Reo and Sheldon (2001) split labelling of credence goods into two forms namely: continuous and binary labelling. Continuous labelling referred to those credence attribute exist in consumer durable goods, for example refrigerator or air-conditioner that meet the energy efficiency, environmental friendly and using non-CFC gas. While binary labelling refers to non-durable consumer goods such as organic food, free-trade goods, free-range products, etc. This paper only uses the term labelling which refers to the binary labelling in this sense, as this paper study the area of Halal food products. Their studies also show that consumer welfare could improve through credence goods labelling as long as the administrative cost is not excessively high. A perfect substitute for credence goods would be the conventional goods without the credence attribute in terms of consumers direct experience (Hoehn and Deaton, 2004). Moreover, without the labelling, the two types of goods appeared to be indistinguishable (ibid.). However, this is not fully the case for Halal products especially for the consumers in the primary market (Muslims) as these consumers cannot substitute Halal products with non-Halal (conventional). Nonetheless, this is applicable for secondary market for Halal products. Hoehn and Deaton (2004) provided an analysis and illustrations on the affects of labelling of credence good on price, quantity, and welfare, by examining with pooled and separating equilibria concepts. They referred pooled equilibrium when the market has mixed goods of high-quality (green) and low-quality (conventional) products; whereas, separating equilibrium exist when credence labelling is introduced, the market becomes two different markets. Thus, economic consequences of labelling high-quality goods are high in value to consumers and low in value for conventional goods, which the later is even lower compared to when the goods are in the market of pooled equilibrium. Moreover, they suggested that labelling provides the high-quality goods producers a routine incentive to realise gains as the expense of low-quality producers. However, this is not entirely the case in the Halal market, where introduction of Halal labelling can be perceived not to compete for the existing consumers of conventional non-Halal goods; but to serve mainly for Muslim consumers whose would never consume the conventional goods. Their analysis is expanded in Chapter 4. Sedjo and Swallow (2002) also produced a graphical illustration in their analysis on the market implication of labelling consumer products (eco-labelled wood). Their analysis indicated that with some reasonable circumstances, some portion of consumers are willing to pay a price premium, yet a price differential may not arise. In addition, the authors claimed that, price premium would not arise although there exist substantial willingness to pay a premium (in voluntary labelling system), if demand of the high-quality is small compared to overall demand, certification costs are insignificant, and the additional demand is modest. This situation is also used in the second part of this paper (in Section 4.2), with slightly different settings. While labelling the whole product lines create benefit from consumers positive experience and may spread to other products bearing the same label, the reverse could also occur when consumers had negative experience of a product, affecting the other products of same line (Liebie, 2002). In relation to Halal logo/labelling, this situation is partly true especially under self-labelling. But if the producer uses certified third-party Halal labelling and cheats by not meeting the standard, it is most likely that only particular products under the producers brand is doubted and not other producers bearing the same third-party Halal logo. Again, this complication is avoided in the analysis as producers are assumed to be honest and information is perfect. 3.4.2. Solutions to the Problem of Fraud Dulleck and Kerschbamer (2001) provided an analysis to what they called a unified framework on the majority of specific models of credence goods, in which the market institution could eliminate without cost, the problem of fraud by producers if there exist three factors. First, if the consumers are homogeneous; second, if the economies of scope between diagnosis and treatment are large; and third, if the treatment is verifiable. Sufficient penalty could be used to minimise incentives for producers to fake their products quality, in addition to greater level of monitoring to increase the probability of dishonest producers to be penalised. Additionally in the real world, such fraud activity is a serious offence specifically with reference to Halal market especially of Muslim-majority economies. In most cases when producers were found faking by selling non-Halal goods, their business licences would be revoked, their business reputations are damaged, and bankruptcies are usually the common end result. This is because, once the producer is not trusted, Muslim consumers would not purchase the products from that producer (ie. boycott) and this could also be expected to create a ripple effect on the other (non-Muslim) consumers, similar to the cycle described by Liebie (2002) in Sub-Section 3.3.1A. Halal certificate would also be withdrawn if the production premise is not up to the certification standard, such as safety and cleanliness which would affect the products quality. This indicates that the level of monitoring must be adequate. 3.4.3. Monitoring of Labelling For a credence good (organic) market to be efficient, McCluskey (2000) suggest that it is necessary for a third-party agency to monitor the claims made by the producers. Moreover, there is a need for standardisation on the meaning and the term organic as this would reduce the cost of monitoring and enforcement (McCluskey, 2000). This is true in the sense of the term Halal, as there are many different criteria of Halal with different organisations which granted Halal certifications. Study by Fischer (n.d.) also shows that many British Muslims and organisations call upon the state to help recognise and standardised Halal. Nonetheless, for simplicity of the analysis of this paper (in Chapter 4), producers are assumed to be honest by introducing labels of true quality, eliminating the need for monitoring. In relation to organic foods as a credence good, McCluskey (2000) suggested producers may signal by allowing consumers to visit their premises to inspect production process. On the other hand, producers may obtain labels from a credible third-party agency, hence the labels act as a guarantee (McCluskey, 2000). The use of third-party labelling agency can be considered as costly compared to self-labelling by producers themselves, nonetheless, the later is considered as cheap talk (Baksi and Bose, 2007; Farrell, 1993, in McCluskey 2000), as no third-party to monitor their activities. Nonetheless, self-labelling is sufficient presumably where producers are honest in their actions, which is the case in the analysis of this paper. Furthermore, McCluskey (2000) claimed that if there is no monitoring for credence good, there would be no premium for claiming organic or high-quality products. However in practice, consumers are willing to pay a premium for these products even if there is no monitoring (especially if they are self-labelled) as consumers have some degree of trusting the producers, until legitimately proven wrong. The following final section discusses the limitations of the solutions to market failure of credence goods. 3.5. Limitations of the Solutions There are a number of limitations emerge around the solutions of inefficiency in credence goods market themselves. The solutions which are supposed to reduce inefficiency could become a double-edged sword if not treated well. The following sub-section briefly discussed some of them. 3.5.1. Inefficient Monitoring A study suggests that it could be economically effective in reducing search time and correcting asymmetric information that may exist between consumers and suppliers through labelling of credence attributes (Umberger et. al, 2008, pp. 5-6). However, the integrity of this labelling must be maintained otherwise, market failure would result. For instance, if private benefits from labelling exist (in such a way the products carry a Halal logo brings a premium in the market) but the cost of producing these attributes (maintaining Halal quality) are high, there could be incentives for producers to cheat by selling goods that are not up to Halal standards. These factors must also be considered by producers if they want to transform their production into Halal, as describe at the end of Chapter 4. Monitoring can only eliminate cheating if it is fully effective. Anania and Nistic (2003) provided a theoretical study on credence goods in which the incentive of low-quality producers to cheat depend on the level of effectiveness and credibility of public regulation in the provision of information to the consumers. Random inspections of high-quality would always reveal the true quality. Hence, if a producer of low-quality goods is caught faking the goods as of high-quality, hence a fine is imposed. Furthermore, in their model, the producers who had cheated would not be allowed to sell in the high-quality market, but the producers can still sell in the low-quality market where their products should belong. Since producers, in the analysis in Chapter 4, are assumed to be honest, the need for monitoring is eliminated. 3.5.2. Information Overload Another limitation is the level of information itself. As mentioned earlier, provision of more information will alleviate inefficiency caused by asymmetric information. Nonetheless, too much information would hinder the improvement of informational asymmetry especially for food products with credence attribute. According to Caswell and Padberg (1992), producers perceive limited regulation on labelling as desirable for maximum flexibility, nonetheless, excessive freedom would be detrimental, which undermine the credibility of producers communication, if it allows false claims. Selaun and Flores (2001, in Verbeke, 2005) pointed out that increasing amount of information on the label could overload the package, thus resulting consumers with limited time or ability to process such information to ignore the products resulting excess cost. Labelling in the analysis of this paper, is assumed to provides sufficient information and does not lead to information overload. The following Chapter 4 provides the economic analysis. CHAPTER 4 4.0. Economic Analysis The major assumptions in this analysis are as follows. Producer chooses either Halal (high-quality) or conventional (non-Halal or low-quality) products, and none of any combinations of the two types. For simplicity of analysis, the producers act honestly, ie. do not cheat by introducing fake labelling. The term labelling here also reflect the additional cost that would have been undergone by producers in producing or transforming into Halal production. Consumers on the other hand, perceive and trust the quality or types of goods exactly as informed by producers. In other words, information is perfect. Furthermore, it is assumed here that producers produce homogenous products and that some or all of the conventional products are transformable into Halal products (by following the Syariah compliant methods hence obtaining Halal logo as discussed in previous chapters). The welfare effects from introducing labelling, indicated by the consumers and producers surpluses, are briefly concluded at the end of this chapter. It is necessary to point out that the combinations of consumer types are different in each of the analysis. These types of consumers (interactions) can be illustrated as the following Diagram 2 below. The next Section 4.1. provides a basic foundation for the analysis. Subsequently, sub-section (4.1.1) only considers the left-side and the overlapped oval areas of the diagram below. An analysis with the inclusion of the right-side of the diagram is provided in sub-section (4.1.2). On the other hand, Section 4.2. only deals with the right-side and also the overlapped oval areas of Diagram 2. 4.1. Basic Model Studies by Hoehn and Deaton (2004) provided a foundation that can be applied into modelling of Halal (credence) products. Here, it can be assumed that all of the products are transformable. Following their analysis, the demand for conventional (non-Halal) products at a given price and at the absence of Halal logo is, (1) where is the demand for conventional products, is the demand intercept, is the slope of demand absolute value, is the price of conventional good. Hence, implies as the conventional product quantity demanded is a function of the price of conventional product. Here, equation (1) is referred as unconditional demand for conventional product. The reservation price schedule for conventional product is the inverse of Equation (1), thus, (2) where and corresponds to the reservation price as a function of quantity of unconditional conventional product. On the other hand, the unconditional demand for Halal product is therefore, (3) where is the willingness to pay (hereafter, WTP) by consumer for the (Halal) credence attribute per unit of the Halal product, which varies from zero to other positive value depending on consumer perception (eg. studies by Kola and Latvala, 2003). For simplicity of the analysis, is a real positive value and larger than zero, ie.. It can be considered that as the level of WTP for the marginal consumer, whose reservation price is just equal to the marginal cost of Halal producers. According to Hoehn and Deaton (2004), in some cases the share of consumers with positive WTP is small compared to the quantity supplied of credence good. Their model consider this as a special case of market saturation in which at the point of price determination for credence good involves WTP equalling zero, ie. , when quantity supplied is more than threshold quantity , specifically for . Hence these provide a basis of which is better suited for the Halal market in the economy of Muslim-minority economies, such as in the United Kingdom and other European countries. Equivalent to Equation (2) in obtaining reservation price schedule for conventional product, the aggregate reservation price schedule for Halal product is, (4) where for , and for . Equation (4) is different from that of Equation (2) as in the former, as there exists a fixed intercept shifter between reservation price loci. This is the WTP a premium for the Halal product. Producers production functions are constant return to scale, but when output increases, input costs rise indicating the supplies for both conventional and Halal product are inelastic. The relationship between marginal cost and quantity supplied by the former products industry is therefore, (5) where is the intercept, is the slope of marginal costs of conventional products industry in terms of the industry output. Hence, the above equation is the supply function for conventional product. On the other hand, the marginal cost and quantity supplied relationship of Halal industry is, (6) where is the intercept, indicates the slope of marginal cost in market share, represents a fixed unit labelling cost. 4.1.1. Equilibrium with certified Halal logo It is obvious that when a producer has a certified (high-quality) logo or labelling, it separate itself from the conventional products which do not have a quality related logo. This is also the case of having certified Halal logo. Again, following model by Hoehn and Deaton (2004) of separating equilibrium, that demand of conventional product market is conditional on the availability of the (relative) Halal products. In other words, conventional market losses the x unit when consumer purchases x unit of Halal goods. Hence, conventional products demand is a conditional, residual demand. In practise, this reflects the demand by secondary (non-Muslim) consumers, as they can consumer either Halal or conventional products but prefer the sooner, in this sense. From the above conditions, the conventional product residual demand is the conventional product demand (from Equation (1)) less consumer demand reallocated to the credence market (first line, second term of Equation (4)). Mathematically this is shown as, (7) where is the prevailing price of Halal product with certified logo. Equivalently, the residual reservation price schedule for conventional products market is the reservation price which is reduced by the amount of conventional good which consumers reallocate to the Halal market, ie. . Hence, the residual price for conventional product is, (8) The second line in the above equation (8) is obtained by adding and subtracting to the first line followed by substituting the reservation price for the marginal Halal consumer. In other words, the intercept for reservation price of conventional aggregate is the marginal reservation price of Halal product adjusted downward by the incremental WTP of for the Halal product. The last line of equation (8) shows that the residual price of conventional product depends on the quantity demanded for its product give or conditional to the shift in quantity demanded for Halal good. A consumer chooses a product that yields the largest relative gain in individual welfare measured by money metric consumer surplus, given by market prices for both types of products (Hoehn and Deaton, 2004). Consumer surplus is the reservation price minus market price of that type of product. It is known that primary (Muslim) consumers will only consume Halal products. On the other hand, the secondary consumers may choose either Halal or conventional products. In doing so, secondary consumers compare the consumer surplus obtained from purchasing Halal product with the opportunity cost of consumer surplus loss by foregoing the purchase of conventional product. If the gain is larger than the opportunity cost, secondary consumer hence purchases Halal products. In other words, Halal product is purchased whenever the difference between surplus gain and opportunity cost is positive, vice versa. Therefore, (9) where, the first line of the above Equation (9) is the net surplus condition. This ensures consumer surplus is maximised by the consumers from their purchases. The second line shows that at a price where the marginal product earns zero rent, Halal market clears. The last two lines indicate the prices and quantities for conventional markets to clear, requiring price to equal marginal costs. The Diagram 3 below (adapted from Hoehn and Deaton, 2004), shows the existence of (separating) market equilibrium for Halal and conventional markets as a result of the introduction of Halal labels. An introduction of primary consumers into the above analysis will distinguish this paper from the works of these authors. The following sub-section provides an analysis that takes into account of non-overlapped consumers. It takes into account of additional demand of the primary consumers (specifically Muslims) whose only be willing to consume Halal products (or nothing if the products are those of conventional non-Halal). 4.1.2. Primary Consumers Demand In reflecting the effect of labelling on primary consumers, another WTP for a premium by Muslim consumers is added to Equation 4. Hence, the aggregate reservation price schedule for Halal product for both primary and secondary consumers becomes, (10) where the superscript B refers to both primary and secondary consumers, and is the additional WTP a premium by primary consumers. Demand by primary consumers does not affect the conventional market as Muslims only consume Halal products. Following from Equation 3, the additional demand by primary market result, (11) where is the WTP by consumer for the Halal credence attribute per unit of the Halal product. In this case, is the WTP by the additional primary market. A shift in supply is expected to cope with the additional primary consumers demand. With the rest of the equations remain the same, as the demand for conventional products are the residue of demand by secondary consumers. These changes are graphically illustrated in the following Diagram 4. 4.2. Producers Motivation for Transformation This section provides an analysis looking at the motivation for producer to transform production of conventional products into that of Halal. From the previous sub-section (4.1.1.), it is clear that due to the existence of willingness to pay (WTP) for Halal product, its market price is greater than that of conventional product price, ie. . Differences in the prices may induce producer to transform their production, however prices alone cannot determine profitability. It is assumed that production of Halal products involve additional costs. The following section provides an analysis in which prices between the two types of products are the same, rather than one having a premium. Furthermore, it is assumed here that only some of the products are transformable. 4.2.1. Homogenous in Pricing The following analysis attempts to model producer incentive to transform production of conventional products into Halal products, particularly in a market where the market prices denoted as , cannot be different between the two types. This requires the prices to be equal, ie. . In this case, one of the assumptions is relaxed, precisely some of the conventional products are transformable into Halal. This model is more likely to suit the producers under franchise market, for example KFC, McDonalds, Subway, etc. This may seem as unprofitable for producers to produce Halal product as production of such goods involve additional labelling cost as mentioned in previous section, while keeping prices unchanged. Hence, the quantity demanded in the market for conventional (non-Halal) franchise products before transformation is, (12) where is the portion of products which can transformed into that of Halal, and is corresponding portion of non-transformable product which cannot be sold in the Halal market, whereas is the quantity demanded for the conventional products in the franchise market. Consequently, the quantity demanded that would have been in the market for Halal products is, (13) where is the perceived quantity demanded of Halal product. The first line of Equation 13 shows that for the producer to transform production into producing only Halal products, the non-transformable portion is removed from the production. Hence, the second line shows that the transformable portion of non-Halal products is transformed into Halal, denoted by. For this reason, producers might not want to transform production into Halal as, as shown in Diagram 5. In this case, producers only consider secondary market for Halal, without looking at primary market potentials. Nonetheless, by introducing Halal products, the producers would gain an additional demand as now, not only secondary consumers (non-Muslims who would consume the products) but also the additional consumptions by primary (Muslim) consumers. Therefore, the real quantity demanded for Halal products of that franchise is, (14) where is the additional WTP for Halal credence by primary consumers. Combining both Equation (3) and Equation (14) give, (15) If the WTP by both secondary and primary consumers are absence, ie., then the above Equation (15) indicate that the quantity demanded (hence supplied) in the franchise market would be the same as those franchises with all conventional products. Nonetheless, in this case is expected as the WTP by secondary and primary consumers are positive, and that the WTP by primary consumers are greater than the former as Muslims are presumed to have higher preferences for consuming Halal products. Hence, , indicating that the quantity demanded in Halal franchise is greater than the quantity demanded in conventional franchise including the opportunity cost of the quantity demanded that would have been gained from producing conventional products, through transformation into Halal franchise. However, in this model, an important assumption must be made, that is the portion of transformable products is sufficiently larger than non-transformable portion, ie. . This is a sufficient reason for producers to gain from production transformation into that of Halal in such franchise market. Similar to Equation 10, the price of Halal franchise is, (16) where and are the WTP a premium for Halal products by secondary and primary consumers respectively. However as the prices of products in the franchise are assumed to be fixed, hence, these WTP would be equal to zero, ie. . Following this, the marginal cost and quantity supplied relationship of Halal industry is the same as that of in Equation (6), (17) where is the intercept, indicates the slope of marginal cost in market share, represents a fixed unit Halal labelling cost or other additional costs incurred in attaining Halal attribute, in other sense. With additional cost, the marginal cost for Halal production franchises are greater that those of conventional franchises, ie.. Nonetheless, this provides a second reason for producers to be willing to transform into Halal production if the weight of additional quantity demanded is greater than the additional labelling cost. This can be seen from the additional producer surplus gain from transformation. Diagram 5 shows a simple illustration for the above analysis, in which the dotted lines are the expected demand and supply after transformation. 4.3. Discussion on Welfare Effects It can be seen that by introducing Halal labelling, it is likely to increase the consumption of such products. In a market where price is not controlled (in Section 4.1.), the introduction of Halal labelling will create a price premium, at the same time, generate greater overall quantity demanded for Halal products. This brings a greater welfare to producers and consumer shown by the producer and consumer surplus respectively. For a market in which introduction of Halal logo does not produces a price premium (in Section 4.2.), such as a franchise, these surpluses are also greater compared to the conventional products, as long as the portion of transformable products dominate non-transformable, otherwise larger opportunity cost incurred from transformation. Hence, welfare in both environments (normal market and franchise) are greater from introduction of Halal products compared those when only conventional products are produced. CHAPTER 5 5.0. Final Annotations This final chapter is divided into two sections. The first section concludes the analysis of this paper where results are briefly discussed. This is followed by a section which covers the policy implications of the analysis, which gives a view of the models if it can be used practically and for future developments. 5.1. Conclusions Credence goods are those which the quality cannot be observed by consumers even after consumption. Among many credence goods, Halal product can be seen as a special type of credence good. Production of Halal products opens up an additional market, which is referred in this paper as primary market of Muslims consumers as they only consume Halal products. Primary market exists with the secondary market of Halal which the later is the result of consumers demand which reallocate from consuming conventional non-Halal products to those of Halal. The analysis is better fit for Muslim-minority economies, such as the United Kingdom. Producer may take the opportunity to produce Halal products based on the higher producer welfare that would be generated from a price premium. This is the situation when the market becomes separated, with price of conventional goods being relatively lower. Adapting to the study of Halal market in similar environment also produces the same outcomes, but with interaction from the effect of primary consumers give clear distinctions that resulted in greater welfare effects In another analysis, different configuration involving the absent of premium pricing from Halal labelling is presented. In this case, initially producers may hesitate to produce or transform production into that of Halal due to the lower expected demand with same price. Nonetheless, this view does not look into additional primary consumers demand. Considering this additional factor, producers would have the incentives to transform their production from conventional to Halal products, but depending on the level or portion of transformable products, as this affects their opportunity costs for transformation. 5.2. Policy Implications The analysis in this paper provides a new window of opportunity for development on the studies of credence goods. The models presented are simple yet have potentials as it describes the current situation with regards to the accelerating growth of Halal food production. The analysis also helps to explain the situation for Halal demand in an economy which is dominated by conventional demand and production. The core of the study can be applied in practise if a producer decides on whether to transform the production into Halal, in order to obtain larger positive gains. However, these models only take into account of honest labelling by producers. Like other credence goods, labelling brings some issues to any credence goods including those of Halal products. These issues can be incorporated for future studies on Halal products as credence goods.