Brands Deal With Fluctuating Markets at Las Vegas Trade Shows Article

Brands Deal With Fluctuating Markets at Las Vegas Trade Shows - Article Example One of the things that stand out from the article that is an indication that it will affect the overall fashion trend or the consumers behaviors is unemployment.2 According to the article, the unemployment rate dropped to 5.7% from 6.6%.3 It shows a strong indication that more people will have the money to spend on the apparel. As more people are employed and earn some cash, their spending also increases which is good for any business. The businesses will no longer rely on the entrepreneurs to buy the products as it will have an expanded consumer base including those who were not employed. In conclusion, consumer’s purchasing power is critical for business because it make them trap their spending. Increasing trend of employment among the consumers is a good predictor that sells of apparel will increase because many consumers have money to spend. Employment will also influence the consumer behaviors because they will be buying as per the

Critical Thinking Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Critical Thinking Development - Essay Example In our daily life we have a lot of decisions to make, important and ordinary both. One can use the techniques of critical thinking in solving the problems of daily life. As a citizen I can apply the techniques off critical thinking in my daily life. For example, in my daily life, how should I manage my priorities and my time, all these aspects are important factors of life that can be well managed by the principles of critical thinking. For example, my personal experience tells me that the moon is largest after it has risen over the eastern horizon or the time when it just sets on the western horizon. It is smallest when it is in the night sky above my head. It is clear to me that it is true; I have seen it several times with my own eyes. But what my personal experience tells me regarding this fact is false in a way. The apparent increase in the size of the moon when it is near the horizon is actually an optical illusion. In fact, the moon is neither closer to Earth nor does its actu al size increase when it is closer to the horizon than when it is directly above my head. For many of us, our personal experiences seem to be the most coercing kind of evidence on which to base our beliefs. But, as the example of the illusion of the moon shows us, compelling personal experiences may result us in believing which is not true. Here, critical thinking helps in searching for the right and correct conclusion which satisfies our mind. In case of teaching and learning, there can be several different strategies used in critical thinking like think/pair/share, jigsaw, one stay other stray, reciprocal teaching, mini-lecture, active lessoning and so on. Among these different strategies I have to select the appropriate method with regard to my subject, content and topic of instruction. Moreover, the main factors of the selection of strategy also depend upon the number of students, intellectual level of students, individual differences, geography of classroom etc. The education s ystem is the brain of society and is correctly called the backbone of any system. Similarly mathematics is called as the mirror of civilization and takes an important and considerable place in the curriculum of higher level of studies. These days, not only mathematics but also social sciences are becoming more and more mathematical. Therefore, teaching mathematics is very much important and essential in different aspects of learning. As a teacher, promoting critical thinking and problem solving in the subject of mathematics is crucial in the future development of successful students. Critical thinking and problem solving go hand in hand and in order to learn mathematics through problem solving, the students must know and learn how to think critically. In my belief, there are two values of teaching through critical thinking techniques. 1) Critical thinking focuses the students’ attention on ideas and sense making rather than cramming their course. 2) It develops the studentsâ €™ belief that they are capable of doing mathematics and that mathematics does make sense. The main objective is to help the students to become familiar of the fact that the problem solving is not a special area but instead it uses the same logical techniques to which they are already familiar with and use in their daily

What are the effects of violent video games?

What are the effects of violent video games? Running Head: EXPOSURE TO VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES INCREASES AUTOMATIC AGGRESSIVENESS 1 INTRODUCTION Playing video games have become a hobby among people especially children and teenagers. Some video games are violent at the same time addictive and when they are played, there is an impact on the person playing the game. This has led some people to state that children become more aggressive after playing such games (Koop, 1982; Zimbardo, 1982). Parents nowadays have to sacrifice their time to monitor their children and to control the amount of time their children spend playing these video games. There are many types of new video games being introduced because of the popularity of these games and the number of players playing these games. Many researches have been conducted over the centuries about violent media and violent video games and the empirical evidence regarding the negative effects of violent video games and media is overwhelming. Violence has been a big issue in societies around the world for centuries and violence on the media causes violent behaviour among people. Findi ngs suggest that one way in which the violent media may influence behaviour is through the changes in a persons’ automatic self-concept. There were no researches on this done before. Therefore this research was carried out to find out the possibility. CONTENT This journal is about the effects of exposure to violent video games on automatic aggressiveness. A sample of 121 students were used in this research. Playing the violent video game Doom lead participants to associate themselves with aggressive traits and actions on the Implicit Association Test. In addition, self-reported prior exposure to violent video games predicted automatic aggressive self-concept, above and beyond self-reported aggression. Many researches have been conducted in the past regarding the effects of exposure to violent video games as well as violent television shows on aggressiveness and results show a positive correlation between the variables. According to a research, trait aggression as well as self-reported, peer reported and teacher reported aggressive behaviour correlates with exposure to violent television shows and video games (Anderson Dill, 2000; Singer Singer, 1983, 1986; Singer, Singer, Rapaczynski, 1984). Experimental studies as well as longitudinal studies have been carried out in the past. Experimental studies have shown that watching violent movie scenes on television and playing with violent video games increases aggressive behaviours such as delivering electric shocks and blasts of noise to another person (Anderson Dill, 2000; Anderson, &Murphy; Bartholow Anderson,2002; Bushman, 1998; Bushman Huesmann, 2001; Wood, Wong, Chachere, 1991), increases agressive expectations for others ( Bushman Anderson, 2002 ) and reduces prosocial behaviour ( Anderson Bushman, 2001 ). Longitudinal studies on the other hand have shown that watching violent television is one of the best predictors of future violent behaviours for example, criminal behaviour. (Huesmann, Eron, Lefkowitzb, Walder, 1973; Johnson, Cohen, Smailes, Kasen, Brook, 2002). What is not so clear and well understood is the mechanisms by which exposure to violent media increases aggressive behaviour. In addition to other influences, such as learning of aggressive values (Bandura, 1978; Bandura, Ross, Ross, 1963), current models (Huesmann, 1986; Berkowitz, 1990; Bushman, 1998; Anderson Bushman, 2002) assume that the mechanisms underlying the effects of violent media are often automatic in nature. According to Berkowitz (1990), violent media automatically causes aggressive thoughts and feelings. Anderson Dill (2002) pointed out that playing violent video games increases the automatic accessibility of aggressive traits and actions in one’s memory. When one is repeatedly being exposed to violent media, one’s aggressive thoughts and actions are easily accessible causing an increase in the likelihood that the person will behave aggressively especially when the person is being provoked or in a frustrated state. (Anderson Dill, 2000; Berkowitz, 1990; Bushman, 1998; Todorov Bargh, 2002). Besides, according to researches there will also be an influence on automatic relations with the self when one is exposed to violent media (Greenwald Banaji, 1995; Greenwald, McGhee, Schwartz, 1998; Todorov Bargh, 2002). Research involving the area of automatic social cognition on the other hand suggests that people’s cognitive associations with the self and other attitudes objects would mediate the relationship between their environment and their behaviours. (Bargh Chartrand, 1999; Greenwald Banaji, 1995; Todorov Bargh, 2002). Measures of these associations (Fazio, Jackson, Dunton, Williams,1995; Greenwald et al., 1998) are strong predictors of relevant judgments and behaviours, including the actions that discriminate members of social outgroups (Bessenoff Sherman, 2000; Dovidio, Kawakami, Johnson, Johnson, Howard, 1997; Fazio et al., 1995; Gawronski, Ehrenberg, Banse, Zukova, Klaur, 2003; McConnell Leibold, 2001; Rudman Glick, 2001) and psychological abuse of oneà ¢â‚¬â„¢s spouse (Zayas Shoda, 1999). According to this journal, exposure to violent media may exert an influence on one’s behaviour through changes in a person’s automatic self-concept. For example, the extent to which one associates the self with aggressive traits and actions. It is time this research is carried out because till date, there are no researches that have explored this possibility. This study investigated the relationship between exposure to violent media and the automatic self-concept on two levels. The first one was, can exposure to media, in this case the violent video game Doom in the laboratory temporarily change the extent to which people associate the self with aggression ? Second, does the extent to which a person plays with violent video games in their own life predict their automatic self-concept with regard to aggression, above and beyond self reported aggressiveness? Violent video games have the tendency to influence the player more and cause the player to learn aggressive scripts compared to violent television and movies (Anderson, 2002). In this study, 121 introductory psychology students took part in the experiment in return for course credit. 54 were males, 65 females and another 2 did not give an answer. All the participants were 18 years old and above. The materials used in this study were violent games,non-violent video game, implicit association test, feeling thermometers, semantic differentials, Buss and Perry aggression questionnaire and previous game exposure questionnaire. A popular 3d game, Doom was selected as the violent video game. The non-violent video games used was â€Å" Mahjongg : Clicks†, a puzzle game. The Implicit- Association Test ( IAT ) was used to measure the automatic aggressive self-concept. This test was developed by Greenwald (1998). The participants completed two feeling thermometer measures whereby they rated themselves on a scale from 0( not aggressive ) to 100 ( extremely aggressive ) and on the other one they rated â€Å"other people† on the same scale. They also rate d themselves and other people on three semantic differential scales and also completed the Buss and Perry (1992) Aggression Questionnaire to measure trait aggression. Besides, participants were also asked on their previous game exposure. All the participants were asked to play Doom or Mahjong for 10 minutes. They were then assessed using the IAT, feeling thermometers, semantic differentials, Buss and Perry Questionnaire and the previous game exposure questionnaire in a fixed order. This was the procedure conducted. Various results were found soon after that. Overall, participants associated themselves more with â€Å"Peaceful† than with â€Å"Aggressive† on the IAT. The more positive a person’s IAT score, the greater their association of Aggression with Self. A 2 (game condition : violent vs non violent ) Ãâ€" 2 ( gender ) ANOVA on participant’s IAT scores. Participants in the Doom game condition were more likely to automatically associate themselves with aggression than participants in the Mahjongg game condition and there seem to be no interaction between the participants’ gender and game condition. As hypothesised, playing violent video games did increase automatic aggressiveness and it applies to both males and females. However on the feeling thermometers, semantic differential measures and Buss and Perry measure, participants reported a low level of aggressiveness. The same was done whereby a 2 (game condition : violent vs non violent ) Ãâ€" 2 ( gender ) ANOVA on participants’ scores on the 3-self reported aggressiveness measures. The results gained from this was that there were no significant effects of game condition on the feeling thermometer measure, semantic differential measure and Buss and Perry scale. There were no gender effects on both feeling thermometer and differential measures but on the Buss and Perry scale, there was a significant gender difference whereby the score for aggressiveness for men were higher than for women. Overall, the results suggested that exposure to violent video games did not significantly influence the self-reported aggressiveness of both males and females. For the prior game exposure questionnaire, the results showed that more men played video games and spent more time playing violent video games compared to women. However, both these genders did not differ in their exposure to non violent video games. Both the IAT and the Buss and Perry scale were positively correlated with self-reported prior exposure to violent video games and neither correlated with prior exposure to non violent video games. The relationship between the measures and prior exposure to violent video games remained significant after controlling for game condition. Therefore, long term exposure to violent video games makes largely independent contributions to automatic and self-reported aggressiveness. The author came up with a good discussion about this research and several conclusions were drawn. Most people have the belief that exposure to violent media has no effect on them personally but they do believe that it has an effect on other people (Innes Zeitz, 1988). As a conclusion, in this study participants that played the violent video game, Doom for 10 minutes associated the self more with aggressive traits on the IAT. However, they did not associate self with aggressive traits on the other self-report measures. Thus, the findings suggest that the short term effects of game exposure on the self-concept in this study were strongest at an automatic level. It is easy to imagine how playing a violent video game could temporarily increase the accessibility of aggressive concepts, feelings, and thoughts through priming or spreading activation (Anderson Dill, 2000; Berkowitz, 1990; Bushman, 1998). There have been many correlation, experimental as well as longitudinal studies over the decades that suggest that exposure to violent media is a cause of aggressive behaviour (Bushman Anderson, 2001; Singer Singer, 1983). From the results of this study, it is found that violent media may also exert their effects through changes in automatic associations with the self. There will be several strengths as well as limitations when it comes to research. First, the critique will be on the strengths of this research. There are a few strengths that must be highlighted. The hypothesis and purpose of study of this research is clear and understandable. This is one plus point of this whole research because without a clear and proper purpose of study, the readers would not understand the whole research and what it is all about. Therefore, having a proper purpose of study in all researches is important. The purpose of study for this research was to examine the relationship between exposure to violent media, in this case the violent video game and the automatic self concept on two different levels as mentioned previously. This research is different from other research because this research focuses more on the self concept. Another strength of this research is that it provides cognitive awareness through its clear explanations in the discussion section of the research. According to social cognitive models, the self is a knowledge structure, organized as a network of associations (Greenwald et al., 2002). It provides a clear knowledge on how priming can increase the automatic accessibility of a possible self. There are other studies, Wheeler Petty, 2001 ; Blair Ma Lenton, 2001 that explains more on how priming increases the automatic accessibility of a possible self. Participants will gain more knowledge in the sense that they know and have an idea on what is actually going on and why they react in such ways. Therefore this research in other words will create awareness among people. Every research will have strengths as well as several limitations. The limitations of a research need to be pointed out so that future researchers would take the weaknesses into consideration when conducting their research. The first limitation identified in this research is that the researcher did not really get the expected results from the participants. There were no significant effects of game condition on the feeling thermometer measure, semantic differential measure and Buss and Perry scale. Therefore the first limitation of the study would be the self report measures. Several other studies for example Rushbrook (1986) have measured the aggression using self reports. The problem with the research is that the correlational evidence is not so convincing and sometimes the observed positive correlations may not only be due to aggressive individuals having a greater desire for video games. It can be due to other factors such as low educational level or low socioeconomic status. Vid eo games studies with better methods typically yield greater effects, suggesting that heightened concern about harmful effects of exposure to violent video game is warranted. Another limitation would be health issues of the participants were not taken into consideration during the experiment. For example, when one plays violent video games, some biological processes occur inside the person’s body. This could be dangerous. A study carried out by Lynch (1994) proposed that playing video games with violent content would produce greater cardiovascular responses. Besides, exposing one to violent video game is not good even if it was for an experiment purpose. Researchers in the British Journal Nature (1998) reported that the brain releases a hormone called dopamine when one is playing video games. Dopamine is a pleasure chemical hormone. Those exposed to these video games then tend to get addicted to it. It can be addictive even if exposed once. New brain research (Bartholow, Bushman Sestir, 2006) stated that violent video game players are showing less healthy development, brain tend to be more response to real-life violence such as gun attacks and th at those with these less empathic brain responses were more likely behave aggressively in the laboratory. Future researches should take this seriously before conducting any kind of experiments. It would be better if surveys on consumption of violent video games are used rather than carrying out experiments. CONCLUSION Although previously there have been many researches on violent video games from many aspects, this research showed something new. According to this research, there is a relationship between exposure to violent video games and the automatic self-concept. Therefore, it is proven that exposure to violent video games increases one’s automatic aggressiveness. Video games are not always bad. It depends on what video game one is playing. There are video games that are quite beneficial that can be used as training aids in classrooms and therapeutic settings. Violent video games on the other hand definitely have negative effects and causes aggression among children and teenagers. There are many different types of violent video games that which probably have different effects. Therefore researchers should carry out more studies to find out all the different effects caused by playing violent video games. Future studies perhaps could use more surveys instead of experiments because experi ments sometimes could be quite harmful if certain measures and precautions are not taken into consideration. This journal is quite useful in the sense that it gives a lot of information to readers about this new aspect of violent video games that never have been studied before. Studies such as this would create awareness among people and hopefully would have an impact on them as well. Such researches are carried out with the aim that somehow or the other the information and results that the researchers have found could help people for example reduce the amount of consumption of violent video games in the future. REFERENCES Uhlmann, E, Swanson, J. (2003). Exposure to violent video games increases automatic Aggressiveness. Journal of Adolescence. Retrieved from, http://www.lionlamb.org/research_articles/study 3.pdf Carnagey, N.L ., Anderson, C.A ., Bushman, B.J. ( 2007 ). The effect of video game violence on physiological desensitization to real-life violence. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Retrieved from, http://www.psychology.iastate.edu/faculty/caa/abstracts/2005-2009/07CAB.pdf Griffiths, M.(1998). Violent video games and aggression : A review of the literature. Retrieved from, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359178997000554 Hasan, Y. , Begue, L. , Scharkow, M., Bushman, B.J. (2013) The more you play, the more aggressive you become: A long-term experimental study of cumulative violent video game effects on hostile expectations and aggressive behaviour. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.Retrieved from, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103112002259

Bronchitis :: essays research papers fc

Bronchitis is an INFLAMMATION of the membrane that lines the air passages, or, bronchial tubes, of the LUNGS and results in the narrowing of these air passages. This disorder may be of either an acute or chronic type. Irritation of mucus-producing glands within the membrane results in the production of excess bronchial secretions. The main symptoms of bronchitis are cough and increased expectoration of sputum, with or without associated wheezing and shortness of breath. Acute bronchitis is usually caused by infection by one of the many viruses that cause the common COLD or INFLUENZA and is frequently associated with MEASLES. The patient may suffer from additional symptoms, such as chest discomfort, fever, and aching, that are characteristic of these diseases. WHOOPING COUGH is a form of severe bronchitis caused by the bacterium Hemophilus pertussis. Treatment of a pure viral infection is directed toward the relief of symptoms, but frequently secondary infections by bacteria complicate the condition. In such a case the patient's sputum may turn from white to yellow (purulent, or pus containing), and treatment with various antibiotics is recommended. Acute chemical bronchitis may be caused by the inhalation of irritating fumes, such as smoke, chlorine, ammonia, and ozone. Chronic bronchitis results from prolonged irritation of the bronchial membrane, causing cough and the excessive secretion of mucus for extended periods. By far the most common cause of chronic bronchitis is cigarette SMOKING, but air pollution and industrial fume and dust inhalation are also important irritants. Patients with chronic bronchitis are subject to recurrent infections with H. influenzae and pneumococci. Pulmonary EMPHYSEMA often coexists, and over a long period of time the patient may suffer from

Literary Analysis in the Scarlet Letter

Raven 1 In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book, The Scarlet Letter, the phrase â€Å"Opposites Attract† does not always ring true. Such is the case between a young beauty and an aging scholar. Through Hawthorne’s use of figurative language and imagery, he creates a winter-spring relationship between the two characters Roger Chillingworth and Hester Prynne, which ultimately leads to Hester’s downfall. The character Hester Prynne’s unparalleled youthful beauty and passionate nature makes her the perfect embodiment of spring.Early on in the text, Hawthorne says â€Å"She had dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam, and a face which, besides being beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion, . . . †(50) This picturesque description of Hester is used to not only to show her beauty, but also how her beauty is so fresh and vibrant. Her hair being described as â€Å"glossy and abundant† alludes to her spring-like qualities because in spring, all plants and creatures are new and plentiful in number. Hester’s position as being a new mother also makes her symbolic of spring, because both represent fertility and new life.Hawthorne even goes as far as saying â€Å"†¦with the infant at her bosom, an object to remind him of the image if Divine Maternity†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (53) Hawthorne using this comparison portrays Hester as being a perfect representation of fertility, almost to a god-like degree. It is Raven 2 unquestionable that spring is the most benign and gentle season. Hawthorne almost directly states that Hester is spring when he says, â€Å"†¦Hester’s nature showed itself warm and rich; a well-spring of human tenderness, un-failing to every real demand, and inexhaustible by the largest. (146) This is why Hester’s demeanor and character also contributes to her embodying spring. Even by saying that her nature was warm, Hawthorne adds to Hesterà ¢â‚¬â„¢s symbolism, because spring is the first season where warmth is introduced; the warm quality it possesses is also why spring is considered â€Å"friendly†, because it is the savior after a cold, hard winter. Roger Chillingworth represents winter in every possible aspect. His demeanor and appearance both are strong evidence of how he symbolizes the season of cold.When he is examining Hester’s health in the jail, he had â€Å"†¦a gaze that made her heart shrink and shudder, †¦and yet so strange and so cold,.. † (67) His cold demeanor directly relates to how winter is the coldest of all the seasons. Even something as simple as his gaze made Hester’s heart, which is the warmth of spring, shudder and get smaller. This parallels how a winter frost can kill off the warmth and vibrancy of spring. Chillingworth’s appearance also contributes to him symbolizing winter.He is described as a â€Å"†¦man well-stricken in years, a pale, thin , scholar-like visage† (55) Winter is the season where things get old, barren, and start decaying. So Hawthorne purposely describes Chillingworth as old, pale, and thin to make the most obvious statement of how the man and season are so closely related. Chillingworth is anything but a thriving individual: being thin and pale, he possesses the attributes that a sickly, perhaps dying, would have. Chillingworth’s insatiable appetite for revenge against Dimmesdale also lends to him being seen as a representation of winter.Winter, by itself, is a symbol for wrath and revenge. So when Hawthorne says that â€Å"This unhappy man had made the very principle of his life to†¦revenge. †(232), he is showing the uncanny similarities between Chillingworth and winter. Raven 3 Finally, Chillingworth’s own name alludes to how he embodies winter. The first eight letters of his name spell out â€Å"chilling†, which can only be associated with the cold temperatures in winter. The vast difference between the two characters Hester Prynne and Roger Chillingworth leads to the rapid decline and incompatibility of their relationship and to Hester’s downfall.Chillingworth is quick to admit how unrealistic his expectations of their relationship are when he says â€Å"I, †¦- a man already in decay,†¦ what had I to do with youth and beauty like thine own! †(69) Chillingworth, describing himself as â€Å"a man already in decay† re-instills how he represents winter, which is the season where all things decay and die. He also says that â€Å"Mine was the first wrong, when I betrayed thy budding youth into a false and unnatural relation with my decay. (70) Hawthorne’s use of figurative language is ingenious when he describes Hester’s age as a â€Å"budding youth†. Flowers begin to bud at the beginning of spring, so by describing Hester’s youth as budding, Hawthorne gives Hester spring-like qualiti es. The combination of the two previous quotes explains why a relationship between winter and spring could never exist in harmony. Chillingworth and Hester are two completely different individuals; Chillingworth’s cold frost halted any hope of the seedling of love to grow within Hester’s heart.Chillingworth acknowledges this fact when he says â€Å"My heart was a habitation large enough for many guests, but lonely and chill, and without a household fire. †(69) In the end, a relationship between this pair could never work. Hester’s lack of love for Chillingworth led her to commit the sin of adultery, her ultimate downfall. When Chillingworth says â€Å"†¦ from the moment when we came down the old church steps together, a married pair, I might have beheld the bale-fire of that scarlet letter blazing at the end of our path! (69) it’s as if he knew that Hester would cheat on him all along. Hester’s downfall was inevitable because Chillingw orth could not make her love him due to them coming from two entirely different places: winter and spring. Raven 4 The character Hester Prynne experiences a downfall due to the winter-spring relationship established between her and Roger Chillingworth, which Hawthorne illustrates by using the literary devices of figurative language and imagery.By using the characters as symbols for seasons, the meaning of why a relationship between the two characters cannot work is intensified and given depth. Through this particular analysis of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, readers can perhaps see that when two people are so completely different from one another, a happy relationship cannot exist: love is never going to grow in spring when it is halted by a winter frost. Raven 5 Works Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. 1850. New York: Bantam Dell, 2003. Print.

Business And Environment Interaction Essay

Introduction Dealing with factors in the external environment is a crucial part of corporate survival, stability and growth.   This is especially recognized when a firm is operating internationally where barriers to entry and liability of foreignness serve as aggravation to the challenging task of responding to external forces.   The organization can remain indifferent despite environmental changes and still accumulate revenues. But as soon as its mediocrity and irresponsibility achieved their tolerance limits, the previous competitive position of the organization will likely be unreachable and eventually will drown into demise.   This issue is most alarming to Coca-Cola who is the current leader in carbonated drinks and one of the well-known brands in the soft drink industry.   Even with its current position, external forces are skilled protagonists continuously testing its current strategy and asking, â€Å"Are you capable of retaining your position?† Identification of External Forces The European market is recently observed changes in taste and preference for drinks.   The trend is less consumption of carbonated products and increasing demand for non-carbonated and still drinks.   This is happening since 1998 and a handful of research institutions confirmed this phenomenon including Mintel and Canadean.   Financial results of Coca-Cola also remained flat for its sugary product line while company report is expecting future based on the focusing expansion in its still drink. The market becomes more health-conscious and concern towards tasty but unhealthy drinks is in progress.   In addition to sugar, artificial additives and flavors are blacklisted characteristics of soft drinks for today’s consumers.   The complexity of customers especially in developed countries is a key concern for Coca-Cola as this market is less sensitive to price and are willing to pay more for healthier products.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Environmental factors have a close relation to the shift in social attitudes against carbonated drinks.   With longer hot weather lasting throughout the year as what happening in UK and other neighbouring countries, the shift to still and non-carbonated drinks will be minimal.   This is because physiological issues are stronger than self-expression and more people are willing to risks adverse effect to long-term health in return of enjoying carbonated drinks. Increased awareness of the effects of non-biodegradable products to global warming and pollution also affects the extent of the shift in preference.   Ozone-friendly packaging is an additional feature that drink products must possess to lure the market such as the use of biodegradable plastics.   With regards to bottled water manufacturers, their health advocacy and positive reception of the market is adverse affected by its adjustment to regulation of continuously decreasing of quality water in the UK.   This means that they may not be able to supply the widening market demand for healthy drinks due to scarcity of resources.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With pressures from social and environmental factors, soft drink manufacturers find new ways to maintain and increase their market share.   This caused motivation within the industry to conduct research and development to create soft drink products that possess hybrid features that addresses health, environmental and taste needs of the market.   Hampered by the fact that the plant and facilities of manufacturers are fixed, the importance of serving the shift in market preference is concretized as they are willing to change the current design despite increase in costs and induce change. In its website, Coca-Cola advertised its products as complete which means that drink aspects such as style, taste, innovation and health are realized.   This can be obtained by introducing new products such as vegetable drinks, drinks that have anti-oxidant properties and exotic drinks.   Innovative packaging is also an important source of product competence such as the use of biodegradable plastics for juices and dairy drinks while tetra-type of packaging has supply chain benefits with longer shelf life and efficient storage compatibility.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With all the efforts and financial loss shouldered by manufacturers to provide appropriate products in terms of demand, government regulation aggravates the difficulty manufacturers are facing.   Strategic opportunities such as business combinations with local companies are filled with restrictive features while merging with larger companies are confronted with antitrust law.   The contracting sales in carbonated products may force Coca-Cola to merge with competitors to save cost through elimination of repetitive processes and assets.   The need to innovate newer products may also induce others to acquire local companies that have the knowledge of market characteristics. These strategies are not easily available especially when the firm operates internationally.   Stricter quality standards can protect market leaders such as Coca-Cola from the threat of new entrants.   However, this depends on the structure and nature of political system in the host country.   For example, unethical marketing conducted by some companies labelling their cola products as â€Å"less sugar† even if the laboratory tests showed that there is substantial amount of sugar in the product.   With sound legal and political framework, market leaders such as Coca-Cola can survive the reduction in demand for carbonated products. Assessment of Implications Increased sophistication of customers will results in high product differentiation within the industry.   Traditional benefits of economies of scale achieved in the production of carbonated drinks reached its zenith due to the shift in preference.   With the lifestyle of people and technology going forward, it is unlikely that mass production of carbonated drinks will re-emerge as the industry’s business model.   Technological advancement enabled manufacturers to compete based on innovation. In contrast, only few are willing to invest heavily in research because of high risks associated with a new product in both corporate and market response.   This triggers the lucrative strategy of buying companies that offer the facilities and technical know-how.   Government regulation, on the other hand, will apply delays through litigation if not disapproval to business combinations that can impose strategic bottleneck in a company’s first mover aspiration and future profitability.   Even if allowed, merger and acquisition has a historical proof that confirms problems in pre-, during and post-merger/ acquisition phases.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To further understand the implications of external forces on soft drink companies, it is necessary to study the industry’s strategic space and profit pool.   Since 2006, Europe is receiving the bulk of product introduction to address the sophisticated demands of the region in terms of nutrition and lifestyle.   A number of these products showed innovation by creating exotic and atypical flavours while packaging is made convenient for kids.   The search of value by manufacturers is present in all parts of the value chain, that is, from formulation of the drink up to the distribution of the finished good. Therefore, the usual cost-savings derived from volume-based strategy of carbonated drinks will be ineffective in present scenario.   Marketing campaigns concerning the impact of soft drinks on the heart is the current consideration of manufacturers which concretize that issue of out-of-the-manufacturing activities to derive value from the products.   As much as manufacturers want to excel in all the areas of the value chain, there are financial and structural constraints.   For example, the bottler’s margin is adversely affected whenever a client-manufacturer introduced new drinks that require new bottle design. As observed in Figure 1, innovation in the soft drink industry can maintain and attract market which is the basis of revenues.   However, the manufacturing processes and forward/ backward suppliers are the areas where the bottom-line is dictated.   Without innovation, the current structure of the industry can survive the impact of the change in consumer references.   This is especially true for carbonated drink manufacturers like Coca-Cola. Replacing the manufacturing process to introduce innovation such as non-carbonated or still drinks would require replacing also the machineries and perhaps the entire plant.   Packaging would require less acid resistance, delivery schedule would change depending on package design or expiration date and distribution networks may hesitate to carry the product awaiting positive reception.   As a result, a major source of margin of the company will be undermined due to high costs of manufacturing change.   On the other hand, if Coca-Cola remains to focus on carbonated drink, it will confront a vulnerable future earnings and market share. Differentiation strategy and innovation has a more long-run positive impact to Coca-Cola.   It is also suited for a leader in carbonated drinks and perhaps one of the most reputable beverage brands in the world.   The profit pool reveals that the carbonated products remain the highest margin and revenue contributor in the soft drink industry.   However, forecasts threatens this position with the healthy/ sugar-free products pulling substantial value followed by the same impact from non-carbonated products such as sports-energy, juice, dillutable and bottled drinks. In the long-run, those who will choose to retain a cost leadership strategy and keep large stocks of carbonated drink will face declining sales.   On the contrary, there are also disadvantages in differentiation strategy and innovation that present in regulation, challenge to marketing and transformation of traditional plant.   In an operating environment with ambiguous customer response, intense competition and restricted action, every action counts and one mistake can mean millions of investment lost.   Therefore, consideration of important issues such as creation of sustainable value including financial matters is top priorities. Consideration of Responses Vertical integration is the recent solution of Coca-Cola to address changes of external factors.   This is observed of its development of a bottling subsidiary to remain cost-effective and flexible.   This is a major step for the firm not only as traditional set-up only allows efficient bottling operations by third party suppliers but also it will avoid hindering the innovation feats of Coca-Cola such as demand of new packaging.   The fact-paced environment vulnerable to new innovation from competitors and suppliers, thus, is mitigated by this strategy.   Further, government standards such as carbon dioxide emission can be addressed through a more integrated plan. Formally, Coca-Cola has to put preference to bottling companies that are not only cheap and quality producer but also has an environmental compliance for manufacturing wastes.   With the creation of its own bottling segment, it also solves the problem of increasing government intervention in social and environmental responsibility of manufacturing firms.   Coca-Cola can spend less on environment-related and supplier search costs which impact can extend up to environmental-conscious customers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Vertical integration is not only noticed in the manufacturing processes of the firm but also in management structure.   Committees for marketing, strategy and innovation are considered one functioning body where the action of one has influence or can be influenced to/ by the results of other committees.   The new structure would allow a cost-efficient and integrated recognition of problem and opportunities in the environment.   Recently, the efforts of the consolidated committee are focused on the project of customer-retention to maintain leadership particularly in carbonated drinks as well as increase market share in non-carbonated drinks.    With their close collaboration, they easily identify that the issues of inactivity and obesity, low level of quality and quantity of water, change in market preference and intense rivalry have adverse effect to financial performance of the firm.   Instead of spending glamorous but baseless advertisements, the valuable budget is invested on market research which rationalized the actions of each department.   The difference in today’s environment for Coca-Cola is that its leadership is threatened and careful strategy is a must to optimize its resources amid innovation, expansion and research costs demanded by the unpredictability in the environment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In its global operations, there are regions that exemplified performance growth but only a few to mention such as the Middle East and Latin American countries.   For the European market, however, the reverse is true.   This induced the firm to acquire a bottling company in Germany to provide the same cost-savings of vertical integration from its major manufacturing plants.   The strategy is a smart tactic because the decrease in revenues can be mitigated by efficiency in production and distribution.   Acquisition in foreign countries also indicated the intention of Coca-Cola to expand its product line in an international scale. The German experience, however, incidentally indicated that the cost of doing business will rise because labour and technology in the country is relatively expensive.   The good side is that quality of production and potential innovation necessary to compete in the current industry structure can magnify. As early as 2004, Coca-Cola is in a mission to integrate host country facilities for better coordination, synergy in resources and manufacturing flexibility.   In Japan, it developed a centralized value chain design to restructure the operations based on the business management and relationship traditions of companies.   In this country, where linking for long-term partnership, it is easier to conduct business when the company is implementing a strategy as a whole and based on the request of its partners.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A decade from now, the soft drink industry will be dictated with high product differentiation and the company who can find valuable competency in its innovation would be the leader.   This is a path that Coca-Cola is undertaking.   Its financial depth and reputation enabled it to acquire important parts of the value chain to protect its carbonated products from significant decline and also to satisfy the innovative demand of non-carbonated and new-age drinks. It used its historical leadership position to protect its market share even tough it partially lagged innovation feats for still drinks.   Its biggest challenge, however, is to acquire a useful innovative product that can compete with new-age drinks.   Its carbonated drink surely found complacency to have at least a constant growth by vertical integration but improving on non-carbonated drink demands more work.   It is expected that in the future it is able to acquire a non-carbonated firm without intervention from government regulation.   Otherwise, it would be force to develop innovation internally which is less clear. Conclusion Coca-Cola is on the right track when it comes in attacking the external forces head-to-head.     It is diversifying its operations, integrating its resources and adopting to local needs in its quest in finding sustainable value.   There are odds such as government regulation apparent in the hardship of acquiring a vendor-made innovation in the non-carbonated product that can pump-up the stagnant financial performance of the carbonated drink. So far, however, the company is doing its share in solving the unpredictability and spontaneity of the external environment.   It is able to decode that the external forces are sometimes like domino in relation to each other.   That is, the change in one (e.g. climate change) can lead to another (e.g. change in consumer preference).   As a result, it is one step away from assuring itself that its leadership position is out of threat. Bibliography   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Baird, S. & Deal, W. (2003). 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