8 Startling Truths About Multitasking And Productivity

8 Startling Truths About Multitasking And Productivity One of the more popular posts on this blog described how to save time writing blog posts. Perhaps I ought to have taken that to heart. Over the three days it took me to write this blog post, I found myself writing it: While watching TV. While babysitting three little kids. While periodically checking Twitter. With two side-by-side computer monitors, one running a news feed. That would explain why it took me three days to write one post. What destroys your blog? Irregular posting. Sloppy writing. Unanswered comments and conversation. No new ideas. Split focus  on everything but writing blog posts. Andmultitasking. Content marketers are a busy lot, especially if they are going it alone. They are planning editorial calendars and  content marketing strategies, managing social media, engaging and networking with others and, of course, writing blog posts.  Multitasking seems like the perfect solution: get more done in a limited amount of time. Time is like a pie isnt it, after all? You can slice it up into as many pieces as you want and still have a whole pie. Except that a pie sliced into lots of tiny pieces is a mushy mess. It isnt much of a pie at all. Content marketers are true multitaskers. And thats not a good thing. 8 Startling Truths About Multitasking And Productivity via @JulieNeidlinger1. Multitasking is damaging your brain. Let's start with the big one: your brain. Ever write your blog posts while watching TV? Sitting in on a conference call? Listening to the chatter in the open office? You're asking your brain to split its attention and it can't do that. Our brains are not capable of focusing on multiple tasks at once. They simply aren't. We think they are, but what's happening is your brain is jumping back and forth between the tasks, focusing briefly one at a time. And not only can our brains not make it happen, but they get damaged when we try to force them. Constant interruption (which is what multitasking is) brings on higher levels of stress. It's cognitive overload, and it dulls our brain and our reaction times.  According to a study at the University of Sussex, constant multitasking actually damages your brain. They found out that people who regularly multitasking have lower brain density in the region of their brain responsible for empathy, cognitive control and emotional control. The good news is that you can  fix that damage, the study found, if you take up activities that require concentration or make changes to the things distracting you. Work on one thing at a time, in a place where you can concentrate. So no. Don't multitask. Don't damage your brain. Because that's going to have an effect on your writing, obviously, as well as how you cope with the rest of the workload that content marketing requires. 2. Multitasking  makes you less productive. According to Dr. Susan Weinschenk, multitasking isn't even the right word. What really happens is task-switching, and it takes more time to switch tasks than stick with them until you finish. We think because we're good at switching from one task to another that that makes us good at multitasking. But having a great ability to lose focus isn't admirable. Studies have found that multitasking reduces your productivity by 40%. 40%! If you're convinced that multitasking makes you super-productive, you're super wrong. It just means you backtrack a lot, because every time you switch tasks, you have to repeat a bit to find out where you last left off. How many times have you had to re-read your blog post drafts because you can't remember what you wrote since your last attempt? Singular focus is how you get things done. Illustration by professional comic artist Brian Shearer. 3. Multitasking makes you dumb. That sounds pretty harsh, but repeated exposure to multitasking hurts your ability to continue learning, and can even cause you to lose ground. A University of London study found that multitasking, when attempting to do cognitive tasks (of which writing is definitely one), lowered IQ scores as much as if study participants had used marijuana or stayed up all night. All of that multitasking is reducing your intelligence. It  makes  you lose the ability to know what is important and what isn't. And it's blinding you to the fact that you're not good at all of your attempts to juggle multiple tasks. 4. Multitasking  makes you prone to cheat. Cheating (intentional or not) happens when you make sloppy mistakes you otherwise would not make. According to Weinschenk, you  "make more errors when you switch than if you do one task at a time.  If the tasks are complex then these time and error penalties increase." Multitasking itself won't make you dishonest and turn you into a content crook, but being pressed for time (which is what multitasking ultimately leads to) makes you cut corners. And that's when sloppy things happen that can get you into trouble. Sloppy things like using images you don't have permission to use, or plagiarizing or lifting content a little too heavily. 5. Multitasking hides tools that are working against you. Because we think multitasking is good or, at best, necessary, we use tools to help us be "productive" and get as much done as possible. Unfortunately, our tools aren't helping us. They are working against us. How? We don't realize how bad our tools are. The Faustian bargain we make innocently is one of exchanging work for busy-ness. Multitasking makes us feel very busy, and it often leaves us feeling like we've been productive and good workers, though strangely panicked at the sight of our to-do list with its scant completion rate. All of this fake work success hides the fact that our tools aren't very good. We pick them up and use them a bit and then pick up the next tool, and repeatbecause this is what multitasking is. We swear the tools we have work for us, that they do the job. That we couldn't do it without them. But if we stopped multitasking and stuck with one thing from start to finish, we'd realize how our tools hampered us. We choose tools not meant for the job. One of the joys of working with is that it is specifically meant for the task of creating great content for your WordPress blog and social media. It's meant for content marketing. It isn't a generic task management platform that you can wrangle into being about content marketing. Tools with a specific purpose can help keep you from multitasking and distractions. Specific tools mean you aren't jumping between browser tabs to use tools, and accidentally checking Facebook between opening new tabs. They are built to flow in the direction your work would flow. None of this hopping stuff. Ad hoc tools tend to lead to multitasking because they force you to start and stop and jump around. Illustration by professional comic artist Brian Shearer. 6. Multitasking lowers the quality of your work. When you multitask, your work suffers. Terribly. A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research revealed that multitasking reduces worker performance, makes projects last longer (remember, it took me three days to write this post!), and creates that panic-inducing backlog because your to-do list isn't getting done. Peter Bregman wrote about his experience with multitasking in the Harvard Business Review. While sitting in on a conference call, Bregman decided to not waste any time at all and use that time to email a client. He sent the email. He realized he had forgotten the attachment. He sent another email, with an apology and the proper attachment. And then he had to send a third email explaining why that attachment was the wrong one and apologized while offering the correct attachment. It was at this point he realized that the conference call attendees (specifically, the Chair of the Board) were waiting for him to answer a question. Think you're awesome at your work because you're doing two things at once? Nope. You just make yourself look bad in front of others. 7. Multitasking reduces the ability to make connections. Multitasking reduces your ability to remember things, and that's dangerous for content marketers. A great content marketer needs to be able to recall and connect the blogs, books, and articles they've read in ordered to create valuable and on-point content for their audience. Study after study has shown that when you multitask, you lose the ability to remember what you were doing, you are unable to learn as much, and you have difficulty putting what you're learning into new contexts. Imagine putting in a few hours of research for a blog post only to have been so distracted that when it comes time to write another post, you are unable to remember or recontextualize that same information. Multitasking while reading and researching doesn't work. It leaves you without the ability to recycle previous content and research, i.e. takes more work and time. 8. Multitasking audiences require more work from you. There are some who say that this multitasking infection that has spread across the land is actually a good thing for content marketers. It means that the audience is multitasking, too, particularly with their mobile phones. People are digging and researching and consuming amounts of content that they might not have had they been more single-minded and focused with the task at hand. According to a 2012 Nielsen survey, 47% of tablet users over the age of 13 visit social networking sites while watching television. 27% look up information related to the advertising they see. 61% check their email while watching a program. Audiences are multitaskers, consuming multiple pieces of content at once.In other words, when it comes to media and content, audiences are usually  consuming at least two types of content at once. That is all wonderful, but only if you are meeting these readers where they are in all of the forms possible, and are able to grab their already split focus. That means being on email. Social. The usual suspects. And it also means content that a distracted reader can comprehend quickly, using: Headlines, headings, and subheadings that relay information at a glance. Clear graphics that aren't filler, but relay content. White space. Design that doesn't confuse with clutter. Choosing colors that help your message along and attract your audience. An audience that is multitasking means you have more opportunities, but it also means you are fighting to be noticed. People can only truly focus on one thing, and you want that to be your content. Don't grab them with the headline, with the first paragraph, with the graphics? They're clicking away  to another distraction.  It's a strange Catch-22, fighting against multitasking distraction by trying to be a distraction. What Should You Do About It? Much of the exhortation to blog and create content more regularly comes down to time management. That's why understanding the fallacy of multitasking is important to getting back on track. There are a few things you can do to combat the problem of multitasking: 1. Mix your activities  correctly.  Ã‚  If you must do two things at once, then go about it with the right mix of complexity and simplicity. They key is to match high cognitive activities (like writing or anything that involves complex thinking and judgment), with physical tasks your brain's autopilot (the cerebellum) can handle. Go for a walk and get your blog post outline organized in your head. Talk with a client while making a cup of tea. You get the idea.  Look at your list and match the auto-pilot tasks with the cognitive ones. Read while listening to music without lyrics (lyrics ignite the language center of your brain used for reading...not good.) Never pair multiple cognitive tasks together.

The Best Dinosaur Movies Taglines

The Best Dinosaur Movies Taglines Not all dinosaur movies are equal, as anyone whos seen both Jurassic Park and Tammy and the T. Rex can tell you. However, thats not to say that even a truly bad movie about dinosaurs or prehistoric animals (not to mention a pretty good one) cant have a truly memorable tag line that packs people into theaters or Netflix queues. Here (with thanks to the indispensable book The Dinosaur Filmography, by Mark F. Berry) are the most rousing dinosaur movie slogans in genre history. (See also The Five Best and Five Worst Dinosaur Movies and the 10 Most Famous Fictional Dinosaurs.) The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)They couldnt believe their eyes! They couldnt escape the terror! And neither will you! The Beast of Hollow Mountain (1956)One day after a million years it came out of hiding to kill! Kill!! KILL!!! Carnosaur (1993)Driven to extinction! Back for revenge! Carnosaur II (1994)Back for another bite! Carnosaur III (1996)Terror will never be extinct! Caveman (1981)Back when you had to beat it before you could eat it... The Crater Lake Nightmare (1977)A beast more frightening than your most terrifying nightmare! Dinosaurus! (1960)Alive! After 70 million years! Roaring! Walking! Destroying! The Giant Behemoth (1959)Invulnerable...untouchable...the biggest thing since creation! Gorgo (1961)Towering over the cities of the world, as millions flee in awesome terror! Journey to the Center of Time (1967)Run from the valley of monsters in the year one million B.C.! Jurassic Park (1993)An adventure 65 million years in the making! King Dinosaur (1955)Youll be SHOCKED! Youll be STUNNED! Youll be THRILLED! (Also: Terrifying! Fantastic! Startling!) Lost Continent (1951)Thrills of the atomic-powered future! Adventures of the prehistoric past! The Lost World (1960)Your mind wont believe what your eyes tell you! The Lost World (1992)On movie posters: They were looking for something fantastic...what they found was unbelievable! On video boxes: They were searching for the unknown...what they found was fantastic! The Mighty Gorga (1969)The greatest horror monster alive! A Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell (1990)The prehistoric and the prepubescent, together at last! One Million B.C. (1940)So amazing you wont believe your eyes! One Million Years B.C. (1966)A time when there was no law, and man, woman and beast roamed the earthuntamed! Planet of Dinosaurs (1978)Trapped in a nightmare world of prehistoric monsters! Prehysteria (1993)Theyre the worlds oldest party animals! Reptilicus (1962)Invincible! Indestructible! What was the beast born 50 million years out of time? Tammy and the T. Rex (1994)Hes the coolest pet in town! Teenage Caveman (1958)Prehistoric rebels against prehistoric monsters! Theodore Rex (1995)Hes a real blast from the pastand dont even think of calling him Barney! Trog (1970)From a million years back...horror explodes into today! Unknown Island (1948)See prehistoric denizens that defy the imagination! See mans puny attempt to defeat monstrous beasts! The Valley of Gwangi (1969)Cowboys battle monsters in the strangest roundup of all! When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1971)Enter an age of unknown terrors, pagan worship and virgin sacrifice!

The Terror of War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Terror of War - Essay Example These arguments sound convincing and appear to be more dramatic. However, times have changed now. In this new century, we do not face an enemy who appears to have no face; nor cares of human, moral and ethical standards; nor is respecting any human social values. Such people use violence to force their hateful ideology. For them, violence, killing, terrorism are the only way to bring about their ideology. Al-Qaeda and its terrorist groups around the world have a dangerous and inhumane agenda. Al-Qaeda contributes insurgencies, rebellions and local brands of terrorism (Coolsaet, 2005; pp.100). Under this agenda, they subscribe to a particular doctrine. And, that doctrine dictates them to enforce the tenets of such doctrine around the world. For that, they can challenge any government policies and writ of the government anywhere in the world. They legitimize killing police, army and other law enforcing personals. Interestingly, they are not limited to one particular country rather they have spread in different countries. Al-Qaeda declared its war over the sovereign nations by attacking the United States of America in September 2001. In which more than 3,000 innocent ordinary American was killed (Curtis, 2010; pp. 628). They not only targeted the Pentagon but also hit the airplanes with the World Trade Centre. (Herbst, 2003; pp.138). Even if they had a military agenda to target military installations, they why did they choose to hit Twin Towers? That was not a military target. This proves that terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda and its associated groups do not care while launching their attacks. They do not differentiate between military and civilian target. In front of them, both-military and civilians- are deserved to be targeted. So, those who argue that war must not be taken and it must be avoided. They must give some serious thought over the latest inhumane form of terrorism. There are certain critics who criticize the U.S. government over its actions in Afgha nistan and other parts of the world. But, it is reminded to them, initially, the U.S. government and other governments did give some time and asked the Afghan government to hand over the Al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden. Instead of going directly into the war, the Government of the United States of America did try to avoid the war option.

Identify and assess ways in which globalisation affects the Essay

Identify and assess ways in which globalisation affects the international business environment - Essay Example As a result, businesses have to change according to change in the environment. This will ensure the businesses are making extensive improvement in serving the clients who need their products. To begin with, globalisation has led to provision of cheap labour in the business environment. In the previous decades, migrating from one place to another place was not an easy task. As such, there was minimal migration of people from one country to another. However, with developing globalisation, migration from one country to another has been made easy (Nederveen, 2009:13). As a result, people are migrating from one country to another with a variety of reasons. One of the ostensible reasons for migration is looking for employment. Many people feel that they have a greater chance, especially when comparing the remuneration when working in abroad countries. For example, there has been a recorded influx of immigrants in the United States. The ostensible reason for such immigrants is employment opportunities (French, 2008:9). This has increased the number of job seekers in the country. As such, the businesses and firms in the country have a variety of potential employees to delegate d uties. This leads to critical decision making, especially when employing workers. Many businesses rely on the immigrants, since they provide cheap labour. This is an approach by many businesses, since they save on costs (Sullivan and Kymlicka, 2007:9). This leads to enhanced profitability, as the businesses optimise the cheap labour. While this is positivity to immigrants, it elicits negative sentiments from the natives of the region. For example, many natives in a country may find it easy to get a well-paying job. This is due to the reliance on cheap labour from the immigrants, which has been instigated by globalisation (DiLuzio, 2008:7). Globalisation has led to optimisation and expansion of businesses across international borders (Bertho, Crawford and Fogarty, 2008:14).

PepsiCo Buyer Behaviour Analysis

PepsiCo Buyer Behaviour Analysis Buyer Behavior for Consumer Market Introduction In the summer of 1898, In New Bern, North Carolina, a young pharmacist named Caleb Bradham began experimenting with combinations of spices, juices and syrup trying to create refreshing new drinks to serve his customers. He succeeded beyond expectations by inventing new beverages know as Pepsi-Cola. Nowadays, Pepsi is a well known soft drink in all over the world. From its humble beginnings over a century ago, Pepsi-Cola has grown to become one of the best-known, most-loved products throughout the world. And the company behind it PepsiCo has grown as well, standing today as the premier marketer of refreshment beverages, juices and snack foods. They have consumer in over 200 countries in the whole world. The company offers more than 500 beverages and snack that appeal to every age of consumer age group and demographic category. Today, PepsiCo is a $29 billion company, employing more than 150,000 people speaking more than 40 languages around the globe. The company is consistently recognized for its corporate citizenship, philanthropic efforts and diversity programs. It is the worlds fourth-largest food and beverage company and is staking its claim as the global leader in convenience foods and beverages. PepsiCo has a strong plan to continue to expand with an enormous lineup of convenience foods and drinks that provide great taste, nutrition and fun around the clock. Here is the list of Pepsi Co brands and products. Mirinda, 7UP (International), Pepsi Limà ³n, Kas, Teem, Pepsi Max, Pepsi Light, Starbucks Doubleshot (Partnership), Starbucks Doubleshot, Energy (Partnership) Starbucks Iced Coffee (Partnership), Tropicana Twister, and Mountain Dew. Model of Consumer Behavior Consumer makes many buying decision every day. Many large companies do some research about consumer buying decision in great detail to answer questions what will customer buy, where they buy, how much they, when they buy and why they will buy those product. According to Principles of Marketing, Kotler (2008) Consumer Buyer Behavior refers to the buying behavior of final consumer which are individuals and households who buy goods and services for personal consumptions. The entire final consumer combines to make a consumer market. Many big companies did a lot of marketing effort to attract the consumer to buy their product. For example, Pepsi Company. The company did a lot of marketing effort to attract the consumer such as advertising, survey, promotion and apply the 4 Ps to make the consumer aware about their product. The question here is, how did the consumer respond to the various marketing effort that Pepsi company use? Model of buyer behavior consist of Marketing and other stimuli, Buyers black box and Buyer Responses. Marketing and other stimuli will enter the consumers black box and produce certain responses. So marketers need to figure out what is in the buyers black box. Marketing stimuli consist of the Four Ps which are Product, Price, Place and Promotions. Other stimuli included major forces and events in the buyers environment such as economic, technological, political and cultural. All the inputs will enter the buyers black box, where they are turned into a set of observable buyer responses. Under buyer responses there are product choice, brand choice, dealer choice, purchase timing and purchase amount. Consumers do not make their decisions in a void. Their purchases are highly influenced by cultural social, personal, and psychological factors. Here some of that influence the behavior or the particular market: Cultural Factor Cultural factor divided into three sub factors Culture, Sub Culture, Social Class. Culture is the set of basic values perceptions, wants, and behaviors learned by a member of society from family and other important institutions. Culture is the most basic cause of a persons wants and behavior. Every group or society has a culture, and cultural influences on buying behavior may vary greatly from country to country. Based on the case study, we are doing a Pepsi brands in Malaysia. Malaysia has many races of people such as Malay, Chinese, Indian and many more. Now days many people choose to drink Pepsi because it is Halal and did not contain any alcohol. It is because most culture in Malaysia did not allowed them to drink alcohol. So for teenager of adult who cannot drink an alcohol drink, they can choose to drink Pepsi. Other than that, now day culture in Malaysia more shift towards greater concern about health and fitness. This had brought a lot of huge industry for health fitness services, more natural foods and variety of diets. So for Pepsi company which serve soft drinks, they had come with a new products known as Pepsi Max which has less sugar and gas to fulfill the new culture of Malaysian people. Sub Culture is a group of people with shared value systems based on common life experiences and situations. Each culture contains smaller sub cultures a group of people with shared value system based on common life experiences and situations. Sub culture includes nationalities, religions, racial group and geographic regions. Many sub culture make up important market segments and marketers often design products. For Pepsi company, sub culture is very important in influencing the consumer to buy their products. They need to target consumer based on their nationalities, religions, racial group and geographic regions. For nationalities, Pepsi must aware about any country that did not allowed their people to take soft drinks. For example, India. They had once ban Pepsi in their country because of the sugar contain in Pepsi. According to Marketing, Kotler (2008), Many subcultures make up important market segments, and marketers often design products and marketing programs tailored to their needs. Pepsi should not make an advertisement which can touch the sensitiveness of any religions, nationalities and others. Social Class Almost every society has some form of social structure, social classes are societys relatively permanent and ordered divisions whose members share similar values, interests and behavior. Social class did not determined by a single factors such as incomes, but it measured as a combination of occupation, income, education, wealth, and other variables. Marketers are interested in social class because people within given social class tend to exhibit similar buying behavior. Social Factors A consumers behavior also is influenced by social factors, such as the Groups, Family, Roles and status. Groups are two or more people who interact to accomplish individual or mutual goals. A persons behaviors are influenced by many small groups. Groups that have a direct influence and to which a person belongs are called membership groups. Some are primary groups includes family, friends, neighbours and coworkers. Some are secondary groups, which are more formal and have less regular interaction. These include organizations like religious groups, professional association and trade unions. For groups, it is much easier for Pepsi to attract them to buy their products. Because a single member of the groups can influences almost all the group member to follow them. For example, a leader in one group can influenced the members to buy Pepsi as part of the group activities. Family members can strongly influence buyer behavior. The family is the most important consumer buying organization society and it has been researched extensively. Marketers are interested in the roles, and influence of the husband, wife and children on the purchase of different products and services. In this social class, Pepsi need to target the children because they are the people who will consume more Pepsi. But of cause they will ask their parents to buy the products. So Parents is the customer and Children is the consumer. Roles and Status is a person belongs to many groups, family, clubs, organizations. The persons position in each group can be defined in terms of both role and status. For example, Mdm Airis plays the role of Mother, in her family she plays the role of wife, and in her company, she plays the role of manager. A Role consists of the activities people are expected to perform according to the persons around them. Personal Factors Personal factors consists of Age and life cycle stage, Occupation, Economic situation, Life Style, and Personality and self concept. Age and Life cycle Stage is People changes the goods and services they buy over their lifetimes. Tastes in food, clothes, furniture, and recreation are often age related. Buying is also shaped by the stage of the family life cycle. Here Pepsi cannot target the all age of people to buy their products. They should target consumer from children, to teenagers and finally the adults. Because nowdays many people concern about their health. So they will try to avoid any soft drinks that have a lot of sugar and gas. This will affect their health. Occupation is a persons occupation affects the goods and services bought. Blue collar workers tend to buy more rugged work clothes, whereas white-collar workers buy more business suits. A Company can even specialize in making products needed by a given occupational group. Thus, computer software companies will design different products for brand managers, accountants, engineers, lawyers, and doctors. From here we can conclude that only working people can purchase Pepsi products. But not every one of them will purchase Pepsi. So Pepsi need to find a thing or a person to influence them. For example, advertisement is the best tools to influence them or for parents, children are their best factors to influence them to buy Pepsi products. Economic situation is a persons economic situation will affect product choice. Life Style is a persons Pattern of living, understanding these forces involves measuring consumers major AIO dimensions. For example, activities such as Work, hobbies, shopping, support. Other than that interest, Food, fashion, family recreation and opinions about themselves, Business, Products Personality and Self concept each persons distinct personality influence his or her buying behavior. Personality refers to the unique psychological characteristics that lead to relatively consistent and lasting responses to ones own environment. Psychological Factors Psychological factors consist of Motivation, Perception, Learning, Beliefs and attitudes Motivation. Motive drives a need that is sufficiently pressing to direct the person to seek satisfaction of the need. Perception, The process by which people select, Organize, and interpret information to form a meaningful picture of the world. Learning is Changes in an individuals behavior arising from experience. Beliefs and attitudes. Belief is a descriptive thought that a person holds about something Attitude, a Persons consistently favorable or unfavorable evaluations, feelings, and tendencies towards an object or idea. Marketing Research Technique INTRODUCTION According to Malhotra (1996), Market Research can be defined as a key element within the total field of marketing information. Its links the consumer, customer and public to the market through information which is to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems generate, refine and evaluate marketing actions while improved the understanding of marketing as a process and of the ways in which specific marketing activities can be made more effective. This is for the reason that its always incorporates some form of the data collection whether it is secondary research (often referred to as desk research) or primary research which is collected direct from a respondent. While based on the case study we know that Pepsi Co is one of the most famous company that produce soft drink and some other product. Subsequently to get the information about Pepsi Co we need to do the market research so that we will know how far the customer or consumer is satisfied with the Pepsi product as well. This is because without the market research they might be tough for Pepsi Co to know about the level of satisfaction of their customer towards their product that has been produce by them. Consequently to get the work become more efficient we will follow the step on market research which is the first step is we will apply the web site method to get the first condition and perception about the Pepsi Co. This is because through the web site method we will get extra information such as the impression, background, financial and so on about the Pepsi Co. Next we will make some preparation on preparing the questionnaire about Pepsi Co which is in the questionnaire include some of the question about how society get know about the Pepsi Co and how much they spend to buy Pepsi product. On top of that the 20 sheet of questionnaire has been distributed towards the people around the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center (KLCC) which is the trendiest place that all people knew bout it. The data analysis will analyze by 20 people around there with the different age and occupation. Finally the data that has been collected will be prepared and presented in the best way. Primary data collection can be considered as one of the extra sources because is needed when a researcher cannot find the data needed in secondary sources. Market researchers are interested in primary data about demographic, socioeconomic, characteristics, attitudes or opinions or interests, awareness or knowledge, intentions, motivation, and behavior. Three basic means of obtain by primary data are observation, surveys, and experiments. The choice will be influenced by the nature of the problem and by the availability of time and money. SURVEY According to Business Dictionary.com (2009), Survey can be defined as the collection of data from a given population for the reason of analysis of a particular issue. Data that frequently collected from a sample of a population, knows as a sample of survey. As we already informed surveys is one of the ways that are used widely in research, especially in market research to find some information or any feedback from others towards some product. Besides that there have 4 types of survey which is include personal interview, self-administrated surveys, telephone interviews and direct observation. In order to collect the information of Pepsi Co we were applying 2 types of survey which is personal interview and self administrated surveys which are made by us as well. Personal Interview According to Business Dictionary.com (2009), Personal Interview can be defined as a market research technique for gathering information through face-to-face while contact with individuals. Personal interviews take place in a variety of place like settings-in homes, at shopping malls, in a business office and so forth. One of the personal interviews is face-to face interviews which is this interview are conducted between a market researcher and a respondent. Then the data is collected on a survey. Some surveys are very rigid or structured and use closed questions. So that the data is easy to compared with others. Further about face-to-face interviews is more in strength, and depend upon more open forms of questioning. The research will investigate and develop points of interest. While based on the case study, we were takes place in KLCC to do the research up about the Pepsi Co which is the trendiest area in the Kuala Lumpur. We chose this place because on a daily basis there is more people visit that place and most of them are from people around the Malaysia. Consequently we use the face to face interview because easy to get feedback from them and we can get the information on the spot. On top of that Pepsi Co can get directly more explanation from them because they can through out what they felt about the product that has been produced by Pepsi Co. Self-Administrated Surveys A self-administrated survey is one in which the respondent completes the survey on his or her. While as we know Questionnaires are usually printed on paper, but they might be in other ways like programmed into computer and places on the internet and ask for the respond. However, Self-administrated questionnaires present a challenge to the marketing researcher because they really on the efficiency of the written word rather than the skills of the interviewer. Self-administrated surveys are attractive because they are low in cost, and they avoid interviewer evaluation apprehension or worry. While based on the case study, when we do the survey about Pepsi Co we would just used pen and a paper to make the survey complete. Instead of that the people that has been ask for complete the survey questionnaire will directly respond on the questionnaire. Consequently we can get the result of the information directly of the questionnaire which is has been complete by the respondent. Telephone Interviews Telephone interviews also can be consider as one of the techniques that can be done to make our survey complete which is telephone interviews is also one of the key under the survey method. Telephone interview can be defined as an interview that gathers information through telephone contact with individuals. This means that the interviewers will call their respondent to get the feedback or respond from their customers. As a result the information that gathers would help us as well to make changes towards our product that has been survey. Direct Mail While surveys also can be made by using the direct mail which is the interviewers will send the questionnaire through the email so that the respondent can give the feedback form there using the mail responded .Example like company A which is the interviewer and in order to evaluate their performance towards society they will try to make and Direct mail interview which is they will send some question that will be in questionnaire and may be might ask about their company services that has been provided to society and they will sent the questionnaire to Company B which the interviewee. On this cases the company will receive the questionnaire form in direct mail from the Company B. So as the respondent Company B will return the answer also in mail form which is they will send back to Company A Through this method its give lots of pros towards the company which is can save cost in order to prepared the questionnaire because through the direct mail its the company can save cost OBSERVATION The market research technique is not just only based on the survey method, this is because Observation also one of the method that can be used to collect the information on the level of satisfaction towards Pepsi product. Observation can be easily defined as the systematic process of recording the behavioral patterns of people, object and occurrences without questioning or otherwise communicating with them. Observations can be divide into two types which is having as human observation and mechanical observation. As a Marketing Research officer for Pepsi Co we were use both types of observation to know what behavior of people or society towards the Pepsi Product. Observation as a methodical process of recording the behavioral patterns of people, objects and event without questioning or else communicating with them. Observation can be divides into two types which are as the chart show above two types of observation is Human observation and Mechanical observation which is can be implementing by Pepsi Co in order to observe their customers. Human Observation Human observation can be defined as self explanatory, using human observers to collect data in the study. We can do the observation by human observation. It means that we use human as the observers which is we can just look and interpret what they do, what feeling are they, or else from their body languages. We can know what their feel now such as happy, enjoy, bored and so forth towards the product of Pepsi. Other than that through the human observation the best technique that can be implement by the Pepsi Co to evaluate their customer feelings is through facial reaction of the customer which is can be in their smiles, raised eyebrows an head nods as well. As a result we can automatically analyze how the customer sense towards the product of the Pepsi. Besides that Pepsi Co also can used the direct observation in order to observe the customer of their product. Which is they can straightly observe the customer behavior towards the Pepsi product Mechanical Observation Mechanical observation involves using various types of machines in order to gather the information, data, which is then interpreted by researchers. On a daily basis we are already know that with the continuing improvements in technology, there are lots of mechanical ways that can be used in order to capturing data in observation studies however, these new gadgets tend to be extremely expensive. The most commonly used and least expensive means of mechanically gathering data in an observation study is a video camera. A video camera offers a much more precise means of collecting data than what can simply be recorded by a human observer. Based on the case study we know that in order to observe the customer we can implement the other ways which is like Mechanical Observation as a Marketing Research Officer we try to look forward on the ways of implementing the mechanical observation this is because they will make our work become more easily with the observation for employees or customers of the Pepsi Co. Otherwise Pepsi Co can used the CCTV which is to get the information without knowing by other people. Example that can be stated at here is like Pepsi Company in order to observe their employees in all departments like marketing department, chemical department which is this entire department were play and important role while producing and made the product Pepsi. Consequently we can see the action that shows by them is humble, lazy, and friendly and so forth. Indirectly, Pepsi Co can manage or take an action towards the employee which is not performing effective and efficient towards their work. Other than that we also can used the Video in order to observe the behavioral of the customer while the purchase the Pepsi product and we can see how they felt either satisfy or not which the number of purchase. Conclusion While based on my point of view the conclusion that can be made at here is survey is a type of research which is comparatively costly, because it requires a staff of interviewers, but it provides the best opportunity to obtain information through probing for clearer explanations. Consequently, we can know what people in KLCC feel about the Pepsi product. This is because the respondent can tell us what they feel. Ultimately, we can know either they satisfy or not about the performance of the Pepsi product or not. Besides that the personal style (tone of voice, rewording of a question) and biases of each interviewer can affect how the participants respond and how the responses are recorded. As a result, we can get information from our recorded such as from video recorded. While from mechanical observation, we must spend more time to get the information. At the same times, we cannot observe the feeling of people in this campus because we cannot ask then but just take their photo or vide o. On the whole, for us, survey is the best technique to use early on in the research process when the researcher is not yet sure which questions need to be asked, because new and better questions can come out of the dialogue. SWOT ANANLYSIS Introduction According to Businessdictionary.com (2009), secondary data is an existing primary data that was collected by someone else or for a purpose other that the current one. It depending on whether the data come from inside and outside the organization needing to research. In secondary data, it divided into two parts of sources such as internal and external secondary data. Internal secondary data are data that have been collected and exits inside the business firm or other organization. External secondary data is data from outside that firm. According to Business Dictionary.com (2009) SWOT is a tool that identifies the strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of an organization. Specifically, SWOT is a basic, straightforward model that assesses what an organization can and cannot do as well as its potential opportunities and threats. The method of SWOT analysis is to take the information from an environmental analysis and separate in into internal such as strengths and weaknesses and external issues such as opportunities and threats. Once this is completed, SWOT analysis determines what may assist the firm in accomplishing its objectives, and what obstacles must be overcome or minimized to achieve desire result. Based on case study, to be comes a strong business strategy, Pepsi Co can used SWOT analysis that helped it become stronger competitor in other way Pepsi Co must identify which is their strength, weakness, opportunity and threat? SWOT Analysis of PEPSI Co The Pepsi Company is a leading manufacture, distributor and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, in the world. Pepsi has a strong brand name and brand portfolio. Business-week and Interbrain, a branding consultancy, recognize Pepsi as one the leading brand in their top 100 global brand ranking in 2006. The business week-interbrain value Pepsi $67,000 million in 2006. Pepsi ranks well ahead of its close competitor Coco-Cola which has a ranking of 22 having brand value $12,690 million the companys strong brand value facilitates customer recall and allows Pepsi to penetrate markets. On the other hand, the company is threatened by intense competition which could have an adverse impact on the company market share. Strengths Strong brands allow the company to introduce brand extension such as Pepsi max, Pepsi Cola, Pepsi Twist, Pepsi Diet, Pepsi Light over the year; the company has made large investments in brand promotion. Consequently, Pepsi is one of the best recognized global brands. The companys strong brand value facilitates customer recall and allows Pepsi to penetrate new market and consolidate existing ones. Pepsi has been a complex part of world culture for a very long time and they take a good qualities control of their product by take important on qualities processes n also procedures to maintain their customer satisfaction. They have a unique product image and the products image is loaded with over-romanticizing and this is an image many people have taken deeply to heart. The Pepsi image is displayed on T-shirts, hats and collectible memorabilia and many more. This extremely recognizable branding is one of Pepsis greatest strengths. It allows them to conduct business on a global scale while at the same time maintain a local approach. The bottling companies are locally owned and operated by independent business people who are authorized to sell product of the Pepsi Company. Because Cola does not have outright ownership of its bottling network, its main source of revenue is the sale of concentrate to its bottlers. Weaknesses Weaknesses for any business need to be both minimized and monitored in order to effectively achieve productive and efficiency in their business activities, Pepsi have no exception. Even though domestic business as well as many international market are thriving volumes in Latin America were up 12%, Pepsi has recently reported some decliners in unit case volumes in Indonesia and Thailand due to reduce consumer purchasing power. According to an article in Fortune magazine, in Japan, unit case sales fell 3% in the second quarter of 1998. Consequently we can determine the Pepsi Weakness which is can be improve and can be make sure that in future they will never happened again. Besides that, Pepsi on the other side has effects on the teeth which is an issue for health care. It also has got sugar by which continuous drinking of Pepsi may cause health problem. Being addicted to Pepsi also is a health problem, because drinking of Pepsi daily has an effect on your body after few years. Because its contain chemicals which could cause cancer, damage the nervous and reproductive system and reduce bone mineral density. Such negative publicity could adversely impact the companys brand image and the demand for Pepsi product. This could also have an adverse impact on the companys growth prospects in the international market Negative publicity The company received negative publicity during September 2006.The Company was accused by the Center for Science and Environment (CSE) of selling products containing pesticide residues that contained a hazardous pesticide residue. These pesticides included chemicals which could cause cancers, damage the nervous and reproductive systems and reduce bone mineral density. Such negative publicity could adversely impact the companys brand image and the demand for Pepsi products. This could also have an adverse impact on the companys growth prospects in the international markets. Opportunities Brand recognition is the significant factor affecting Pepsis competitive position. Pepsis brand name is known well throughout 94% of the world today. Its mean that the primary concern over the past few years has been to get this name brand to be even better known. Packaging changes have also affected sale and industry positioning, but in general, the public has tended not to be affected by new products. Pepsi bottling system also allows the company to take advantage of infinite growth opportunities around the world. This strategy gives Pepsi the opportunity to service a large geographic, diverse area. Pepsi is such an experienced powerful global company, which has a basic of a great fund. So it has the ability to place an idle sum of money to the promotion. We can see that the advertisement of Pepsi-Cola is so attractive. It also invited the top famous people to advertise for it. The advertisement is so elaborate and attractive so that Pepsi gained the special prize of the advertisement Granny. Threats Currently the threat of new viable competitors in the carbonated soft drink industry is not very substantial. The threat of substitutes however is a very real threat. The soft drink industry is very strong, but consumers are not necessarily married to it. Possible substitutes that continuously put pressure on both Pepsi and Coke include tea, coffee, juices, milk, and hot chocolate, even thought Coco-Cola and Pepsi control nearly 40% of the entire beverage market, the changing health-consciousness of the market could have a serious affect. Of course, both Coke and Pepsi have already diversified into these markets, allowing them to have further significant market shares and offset any losses incurred due to fluctuations in the market. Consumer buying power also represents a key threat in the industry. The rivalry between Pepsi and Coke has produce a very slow moving industry in which management must continuously respond to the changing attitudes and demands of their consumer or face losing market share to the competition. In addition, consumer can easily switch to other beverages with little cost or consequence. Intense competition Pepsi competes in the nonalcoholic beverages segmen

Finance Report ASOS ESSAY

With a rate much higher than the sis free rate of return (4%) investors are likely to invest in the company (risk Free Rate Of Return Definition I Investigated', 2003). Return on sales Return on sales (ROSS) stands at 8. 59% in 2008 and stays fairly consistent through to 2009. In 201 0 it increases marginally by 0. 68% to 9. 11%, however falls to 6. 30% by 2012. The target Return on sales is often around 10% dependent on the type of industry, so SASS falls below the target. However SASS have a high sales volume, which does not necessarily mean a low ROCK (France, 2013).The year preceding August 2013 they received 19,372 orders; a 43% increase on the previous year. (Sass ply. Results & reports, 2013) Gross Margin % The gross profit margin in 2008 showed a pleasing 46%; however between 2008-2011 there is a continuous downfall, with a decrease of 7. 23% over the 3 years. Although this increased by 12. 4% in 201 2, the 7. 23% fall in gross profit could potentially be catastrophic for a c ompany with low ROSS. However this could be due to a change in the price of raw materials or selling prices. (France, 201 3) Liquidity and gearing Sass' current ratio is always between 1. 5-1. 56:1. However they have not borrowed any money over the 5 year period, so carry a low risk to investors. Therefore even though they are not at the ideal ratio of , they have not borrowed any money; indicating they have good short-term financial strength (LetsLearnFinanceFinance in Simple Terms, 2011) Activity Debtor turnover began at 8 days in 2008, however made a vast improvement in 2009 falling to 2 days and then from 2010-2012 remained at 1 day. Creditor turnover days began at 68 days in 2012 which is fairly high, however this creased to 42 days in 2012.This suggests that SASS have good credit control and a low risk of bad debts as their debtor turnover is always at least 40 days less than their creditor days. (France, 201 3) Stock turnover has increased from 98 days to 121 days from 2008-2 012 and remains fairly consistent throughout. However due to the seasonal nature of the industry with fashions changing regularly, they should try to decrease their stock turnover days. Employee Ratios Sales per employee started at a commendable IEEE,477 and despite falling y EYE,801 between 2008-2012, increased to IEEE,835 by 2012.This totals El 27,358 increase in sales per employee over the 5 year period. Profit per employee remains consistent throughout, ranging between EYE,058-EYE,557; an exception being 2011 where it drops drastically to EYE,212. This correlates with the low profit margins and return on sales for the year. Growth ratios From 2008-2009 sales increased by 104% as they entered the market, most likely due to promotion. However the following year it dropped 69% and then increased a steady 1 1 % over the next two years.The operating profit was 100% after the first year and dropped dramatically to -22% in 2011 resulting in a loss. However this was recovered by 2012 wi th a 96% growth. To remain sustainable they must try and keep their growth rates consistent. Conclusion The company appears stable due to their good cash flow. They have a low risk to investors, with high potential returns. SASS have no gearing, which gives them the potential to expand in the future to remain competitive in such a tough industry. If they were to borrow this would also improve the company's current ratio.

Deforestation A Worldwide Epidemic - 1049 Words

Deforestation: A Worldwide Epidemic Raekwon J. Filmore Department of Biology Spring 2016 Photosynthesis is a key contributor to the survival of humans. Earth is an open system requiring the input energy to drive life processes. Photosynthesis uses light energy to produce chemical energy which is glucose. Photosynthesis deals with plant growth as well as being a source of energy and food. The four things needed for plant growth: energy in the form of solar radiation, carbon in the form of carbon dioxide, mineral nutrients and water (Kirk, 1994). In order for plants to be able to conduct photosynthesis plants need chloroplasts. Chloroplasts, green colored cells depending on the plant, are a plastid that contains chlorophyll and†¦show more content†¦Glycolysis breaks down the glucose that is going to be used into pyruvate. Pyruvate produced during glycolysis is transported from the cytosol to the mitochondria. The second stage of respiration is pyruvate processing which is catalyzed by the enzyme pyruvate dehydrogenase in the mitochondrial matrix. In pyruvate proce ssing, pyruvate is oxidized to form Acetyl CoA. The Acetyl CoA produced from the pyruvate processing enters the Kreps Cycle. In the Kreps Cycle, the Acetyl CoA is oxidized to form CO2. The final stage of respiration is The Electron Transport Chain. The byproducts that were produced from stages one three are oxidized and thus respiration occurs. The importance of photosynthesis and respiration go hand in hand. Photosynthesis is indeed critical for the survival of humans and plants, but the oxygen needed to start photosynthesis is depleting. This paper will elaborate on a major cause of the depletion of oxygen in the atmosphere and affecting people worldwide. Homo sapiens has a huge impact on photosynthesis and plants. Humans are continuing to develop and it is making it more difficult to compensate for everyone’s needs. The population is exponentially increasing and they need shelter. The only way to make room for more people is to cut down forests and use the wood and lumber to create shelter. The cutting down of trees is known as deforestation. Trees are not only cut down for shelter, but for also businesses. Areas that were once