Lux Soap Marketing Project Essay

Executive Summary Unilever is a multinational consumer product manufacturing giant operating in over hundred countries all around the globe. Unilever Bangladesh is the Bangladesh chapter of Unilever, where the company holds 60.75% share whereas the Government of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh holds 39.25% share. UnileverÂ’s one of the most popular brand is LUX. They segments LUX.Â’s market according to geographical locations. It further differentiates these segments into Socio Economic Cluster (SEC) which takes into account the criteria of education and profession which ultimately measures the financial ability of consumers. The cluster is divided into five parts starting from A to E. Unilever targets the urban and sub urban upper middle class and middle class segment of the population, who falls under A to C of SEC. Tactical marketing tools, 4PÂ’s, are extensively used by the company to market LUX. Though LUX is produced in Bangladesh, Unilever Bangladesh maintains the same standard all around the globe. The product is available in six different fragrances under three different sizes. Since the demand for beauty soap market is to a great extent oligopolistic, variations in price lead to price war which can eventually break down the companyÂ’s market share. Thus Unilever cannot provide a better price than its competitors. But the price is affordable by most of the people. Unilever Bangladesh has outsourced its distribution channels to third party distributors which allow them to distribute LUX in massive bulks amounting to around ten million pieces. It undertakes the largest promotional activities in the beauty soap industry. The beauty soap industry has a few major producers of which Unilever holds market share of slightly less than 50%. Other competing brands like Tibbet, Aromatic and Keya have started to have a strong consumer base, but LUX.Â’s product features distribution and promotional activities have created high brand loyalty for which it is still the market leader. Unilever, with the aid of its heavy promotional activities, has been able to penetrate the market. But the other producers in the industry are posing a  threat towards UnileverÂ’s market share as they have moved towards the rural masses of the population. Therefore, Unilever Bangladesh should undertake further steps such as moving towards the rural and/or poorer segment; attract children (by making a special product for kids) and other innovative promotional activities to retain its command in the industry. Chapter 1Introduction1.1 Unilever at a Glance:Unilever is one of the worldÂ’s largest and leading multinational companies; Unilever commenced their business activities on a larger scale by setting up their first factory in Netherlands, in the year of 1872. Operating in Bangladesh for over the last four decades the company is trying to significantly contribute towards the augmentation of the standard of living by bringing world class high quality products at the door step of their customers. The usage of Unilever products by over 90% of the people in Bangladesh stands a testimony to their successful operation. . Their array of products show that they produce household care, fabric cleaning, skin cleansing, skin care, oral care, hair care, personal grooming, and tea based beverage products under worldwide famous brand names Wheel, LUX, Lifebuoy, Fair & Lovely, Pond’s, Close Up, Sunsilk, Lipton, Lipton Taaza, Pepsodent, All Clear, Vim, Surf Excel, and Rexona. 1.2 Objective of this report:This report is an outcome of an analysis of marketing strategies used by Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. The main purpose of the report is to find what strategies the company uses to market its world famous beauty soap, LUX, in Bangladesh; the positive and negative aspects of those strategies. The report further analyzes the position of Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. in the toiletry industry in comparison to its competitors. The report discusses the process of using market segmentation, target marketing, the product, pricing, promotional and distribution strategies and a competitive analysis. 1.3 Methodology of this report:For accessibility and availability of information we have chosen to work on the strategies of Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. As the company operates in the market with a huge number of products in different industries, we have decided to focus on one of their world wide  successful brands, LUX. Most of the information used in this report is from primary sources. The main source of information was the focus group discussion. In addition information was also collected from websites. Chapter 2Product Category, Market Segmentation, Target Marketing and PositioningThis chapter describes the category of the selected product. The chapter is organized into four sections. Section 1 states under which category the product falls. Section 2 describes how Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. differentiates the population and categorizes them into different segments. Section 3 analyzes which segment the company targets and why they target that specific segment. Finally section 4 describes the process through which the company tries to capture a place in the buyers mind i.e. the product positioning method. 2.1 Product Category:LUX falls under the category of toiletry product as a beauty soap. 2.2 Market Segmentation:The company claims that LUX is the highest selling beauty soap in Bangladesh. Moreover some survey reports also reveal the same result. Though LUX is the highest selling beauty soap in Bangladesh, it does not go for traditional mass marketing. Moreover as a beauty soap LUX does not even segment its market according to gender. The population of the country is segmented into three parts which are urban, sub urban and rural area consumers. The company further differentiate the geographical segments according to Socio Economic Cluster (SEC) i.e. education and Income. The SEC divides the population in five segments starting from A to E, where A categorizes the highly educated and high income earners holders, and sequentially in descending order E categorizes the opposite. 2.3 Target Market:urban and sub urban middle class, and rural poor people are the largest part of Bangladesh population. A research carried out by Unilever Bangladesh reveals that urban rich people are more likely to buy imported and expensive products. Moreover rural poor people tend to buy cheap products even without evaluating its quality. However urban and sub urban upper middle and middle class people tend to buy affordable and quality products. LUX is not a highly expensive but an affordable product. That is why the company targets urban and sub urban upper middle and middle class people who are the second highest population of segment of the country. From the segmentation of customer according to SEC they target category A, B and C, because they are assumed to be financially well-off and can afford to buy LUX. 2.4 Product Positioning:Unilever Bangladesh Ltd obtained a good position in the buyersÂ’ mind through better product attributes, price and quality, offering the product in a different way than the competitors do. The company offers improved quality of products in the industry at an affordable price with high branding, which ultimately helps to position the product in the buyersÂ’ mind as the best quality beauty soap. The market share of the company in the beauty soap industry is somewhere around 43%.Since in the beauty soap industry all products are of same price Unilever cannot provide its consumers with better price but it is in a great position in reference with its packaging, fragrances and product designing. A positioning map of the company is shown Figure 2.2 (P-10) to describe LUXÂ’s position in the consumers mind on two dimensions, price and quality. It states that though in comparison to its competitors the pricing of LUX is same but consumers rate it as the product which gives them the highest quality. This positioning created a strong customer loyalty for LUX, for which it the market leader in the industry. Chapter 3Using the Tactical Marketing ToolsThis chapter describes the way Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. use the tactical marketing tools for marketing LUX in Bangladesh. The chapter comprises of four sections. 3.1 Product:LUX is an internationally renowned beauty soap brand of Unilever. Though manufactured in Bangladesh for the local market by Unilever Bangladesh Ltd, as an international brand, it maintains an international quality for the product. Formula given by Research and Development departments in foreign countries, LUX is produced in Bangladesh from imported raw materials like sodium soap, glycerol and different extracts according to flavors, coming from Unilever plants situated abroad. LUX is offered in Bangladesh in six different flavors which are: LUX Energizing Honey, LUX Golden Glow, LUX Nature Pure, LUX Orchid Touch, LUX Almond Delight and LUX Aqua Sparkle. Taking into account the convenience of its customers, the company manufactures all flavors of LUX in three different sizes, 40gm, 80gm and 120gm. 3.2 Price:Though Unilever Bangladesh gives its LUX customers a lot in terms of the product itself, it cannot provide a better pricing. This is due to some constraints in the beauty soap industry. Beauty soap is a product with a vulnerable demand in Bangladesh. A change in price has a high risk of creating price war among the rivals which will eventually cause a loss of profit. Its prices are almost equal to its competitor. Company carries out research on competitorsÂ’ price and brand loyalty when it feels extreme necessaity of chaging price. The brand loyalty test is an exploratory research which is known as Brand Health Check-Up (BHCU). 3.3 Place:Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. has a huge distribution channel for LUX all over the country as its sales reach more than 10 million pieces a year. The company has six huge warehouses, one in each division of Bangladesh, where the product goes after they are manufactured at Kalurghat factory. The company does not use its own fleet of transport for distributing its product. However, it has outsourced its distribution process to various  third party distributors, exclusively dedicated to Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. These distributors then supply the product all over Bangladesh to a huge number of retailers. Even though LUX targets the urban and sub urban middle and upper middle class people they are distributing their products all over Bangladesh because of a recent increase in demand of its product to all segments of the population. 3.4 Promotion:Unilever Bangladesh undertakes huge promotional activities to promote LUX which has topped the beauty soap industry of Bangladesh. It spends almost 20% to 25% of its Net Proceeds from Sales (NPC) of LUX for promotional activities for LUX 1ItÂ’s certain annual promotional campaigns like LUX Channel i Superstar and LUX Channel i Annual Cinema Awards has made the product a part of the glamour world. Since the 1930s, over 400 of the worldÂ’s most stunning and sensuous women have been proudly associated with Lux advertisements. They do not only promote LUX in Bangladesh for the beauty conscious females, it also promotes the brand for males and the company proved that, by including world famous male celebrity Shahrukh Khan for their advertising campaign. Unilever Bangladesh Ltd spends a huge amount of money for promoting LUX through TV commercials, newspaper advertisements and billboards. Moreover it also undertakes small promotional campaigns at different schools, colleges, universities and recreational parks with winners of its Zonal Beauty Contests. Till now promotional activities of LUX has always been successful which has made it a household common name and helped it reach almost one billion taka sale value in the year 2004 2. Chapter 4Analyzing the Market for LUXFor better comprehension of Unilever Bangladesh, its marketing strategy, product quality, positioning and placement, we present here a comparative analysis of its competitors. This part of the report illustrates the market share of different companies in the beauty soap industry. 4.1 Market Share:The beauty soap industry in Bangladesh consists of only seven major producers. Unilever Bangladesh Ltd is operating in the industry  with its world famous brand LUX. Out of these giant companies Unilever Bangladesh Ltd is the market leader with a share of around 43%. market share of all the companies in the sector. Unilever Bangladesh Ltd is leading the market. The other competitors are very competitive among themselves but they cannot put a intense competition with Unilever Bangladesh Ltd, as they have market share much less than Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. Other companies in the industry are not as big as Unilever Bangladesh Ltd but they are posing threat to the company by a tendency of a gradual increase in their market share. Kohinoor Chemicals which is operating with the brand name Tibet is an extremely famous brand to the rural segment of the population and possess a significant share in that segment which is the largest population group in Bangladesh. Moreover Keya Cosmetics Ltd operating with the brand name Keya and Marks & Allys Ltd operating with the brand name Aromatic are also uprising brands to both the rural and sub urban segment of the population. Moreover a recent takeover of Aromatic by multinational consumer product giant MARICO who operates with famous brands in other industries like Parachute Coconut Oil is posing to be a threat to Unilever BangladeshÂ’s market share. Chapter 5ConclusionThe beauty soap industry of Bangladesh consists of a few producers in the industry. The demand for this product is very much vulnerable in terms of pricing. Unilever Bangladesh is providing LUX. at a price which is affordable to most of the people in the country. Beauty soap is an uprising product in Bangladesh as a greater portion of the population, both male and female, are now getting more beauty conscious. As a multinational company Unilever Bangladesh with heavy promotional activities, has been able to penetrate the market. With six different fragrances, three different sizes, international standard and high quality design, as a product, LUX has been highly successful over  the years. Its distribution process is highly efficient. Its promotional activities, like the beauty contest has been a milestone in attracting a huge number of customers. Overall with its marketing activities LUX has been a successful brand. The only place where rival companies are progressing is in giving customers redemption offers. Research revealed that Bangladeshi customers are highly attracted to this sort of offers. These offers are not sustainable in the long run but still it takes away a considerable part of LUXÂ’s sale in the short run. Chapter 6RecommendationIn this chapter the team would suggest some recommendations to Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. to adopt more successful operation in Bangladesh. Since a huge portion of the rural poor people is demanding LUX in recent days, Unilever Bangladesh Ltd should expand their target market also towards the rural people. They should also conduct different promotional activities in rural fairs and socially responsible promotional activities to attract rural consumers and social awareness . Because Lux has different skin type soap so now if they provide different types of beauty soaps for male and female soapunder the same brand name i.e. LUX it might increase their sales. Lastly, as Bangladeshi culture children have a huge say in shopping so they should also promote the product to children like their another brand “Dove”. These are the recommendations suggested by teem members to Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. to adopt for a more successful operation in Bangladesh with large market share. Bibliography 1.www.unilever.com•http://www.unileverea.com/ourbrands/personalcare/lux.asp•http://www.unilever.co.uk/ourbrands/personalcare/lux.asp2.www.unileverbd.com3.Report on “Competition Scenario in Bangladesh”, page 18, prepared by Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, July 2005.)4.http://www.gfk.be/ProductsAndServices/ConsumerDiagnosticTools/SpecialAnalyses/BrandHealthCheckUp5.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unilever6.http://ladytobaby.com/show.php?item=155

Annual Per Capita Healthcare Costs By Age Essay

The United States has way higher healthcare costs than any other country in the OECD, mostly which is because of the extremely high expenses later in life. 17 cents of every US dollar is being spent on health care. At about age 60, healthcare expenses for US citizens skyrocket, averaging between $40,000 to $45,000 a year per person, which is way above Germany, who has the next highest with only about $10,000. Dr. Ficshbeck, an engineering professor who runs a website called deathriskrankings.com, says the high costs are not completely without some reward. He said when it comes to deaths caused by disease, men from the US have a survival advantage over men from western Europe starting around age 65 that steadily increases over time. American women have this same advantage starting around age 80. This means if Americans died from diseases at the same rate as people from the Netherlands, for example, there would be about 60,000 more male deaths and 14,000 more female deaths in the US, all after the age of 70. France is among the few exceptions because they have a lower death rate from disease, but for the most part, the United States has a lower rate of diseased-caused deaths than Western Europe. Dr. Ficshbeck’s research also shows evidence that Americans have a higher death rate during young adulthood and middle age mainly due to health. Obesity rates, which are one of the leading causes of type 2 diabetes, are 3 times higher in America than France, and more than twice as high as in Germany. This study could mean that American healthcare is not totally at fault for not producing better results, but the American people themselves should be to blame for not making better health choices earlier in there lives. Ficshbeck believes that the edge the United States is getting in the latter years are due to our superior screening and treatment of diseases, the most prominent one being cancer. Americans have an average 5 year survival rate for breast cancer. This is higher than any other country in the OECD. Although Americans have a small advantage when it comes to death rates caused by disease for people over the age of 70, it isn’t a big enough advantage to prove that all of the money we spend on older American’s healthcare is providing that much of a survival advantage. A Boston University economist by the name of Dr. Lawrence Kotlikoff believes that the problem with our healthcare overspending problem stems from Medicare. He says the system has no cost control, and that pretty much any services that hospitals or doctors provide, Medicare will pay for. He has a very interesting idea for an alternative system that will provide incentive for practicing healthy habits (which the lack of proves to be one of main reasons for our not-so-superior life expectancy rates) and also lower US healthcare spending. He advocates issuing everybody vouchers through health insurance companies that would vary in value depending on the receiver’s health status, kind of like how car i nsurance companies are run. This sounds like a great alternative in that it would give people a good reason to be healthy which, in turn, would lead to less money being spent on expensive tests and procedures.   Robert Martensen, director of the office history at the National Institutes of Health is skeptical of how much of the United States’ health care spending is actually going towards increasing lifespan. He says that 40 to 50 percent of Medicare is being spent on intensive care which may not necessarily increase their chances of survival. European countries spend a lot less after the age of 65 mainly due to the fact that they have a lot more general practitioners, fewer specialists, and more centralized control over the number of hospital beds. Another researcher, named Dr. Jonathan Skinner, believes that although the US may be spending too much on older people’s health care, Europeans may also be doing too little. Having a specialist for every organ in the body of a patient with a chronic illness is a big part of the reason Americans are overspending. A payment technique called â€Å"bundling† could be a solution to this problem. It suggests that doctors and hospitals be paid a set amount for each patient diagnosis, such as diabetes or heart failure, and then have the ability to be rewarded with additional payments for meeting certain standards for quality care. This will give the doctors more control on what they should be spending their money on, so if they deem it unnecessary, they won’t have to â€Å"waste† money on specialized care for a patient. The problem with bundling and the reason many physicians are against the idea, is that a doctor can’t always know ahead of time if they shouldn’t spend money on a patient. Although the US is spending way too much on Medicare, that’s not a decision any doctor wants to be in control of.

Advertising And Its Effect On Advertising Essay -- Advertising, Marketin

Thesis: Pollay’s statement about the negative consequences of advertising should be noted as it provides discussion whether or not advertising and its consequences are beneficial or detrimental. This essay will discuss Pollay’s statement through the limitations of advertising in relation to Lynx’s use of sex appeal within their advertisements and campaigns. However, I will go further to argue the benefits of advertising through the discussion of the consumer and their interpretation of advertisements and how advertising and branding can overcome the information mountain. Finally, I will discuss the benefits of advertising and how it forces creativity for product advertising and branding through the example of Lynx. Within this essay I will use Yeshin’s article, Sex in advertising perspectives on the erotic appeal (2003) as my primary source for discussion. Neg. Para 1: Within Yeshin’s article, Pollay suggests that one of the reasons to why advertising has profound consequences for consumers is its use of sex appeal. Take for example Lynx’s marketing campaign in 2006 (The Lynx Effect). The advert illustrates several thousand woman in bikinis running through a forest and swimming throug... ... middle of paper ... ...gative consequence can be true to a certain extent. Throughout the history of advertisement, the use of sex appeal and its ability to manipulate consumers to buy products still remains evident in today’s production of advertisement. However, to say that advertising has profound negative consequences such as being manipulative and persuasive through the use of sex appeal is just one side to the critical discussion of advertising. The use of branding within advertisement has beneficial consequences as it allows the viewer to overcome the information mountain. Furthermore, advertising forces creativity within the company’s brand and image, and possibly allows financial backing for non-profit organisations and causes such as ‘peace-one-day’. It seems that both the limitations and benefits of advertising lie with the consumer and their interpretation of the media text.

Discussion questions1-3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

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Strategic Sourcing and E-Procurement currently is at King Faisal Essay

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History of Pharmacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Social Anxiety Disorder Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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Discuss the Impact that the 911 Attacks had on US Law Enforcement Research Paper

Discuss the Impact that the 911 Attacks had on US Law Enforcement - Research Paper Example This prompted many changes in the country’s law enforcement, to prevent and prepare United States for such attacks in future. This paper discusses the impacts that the September 11 attacks had on the United States law enforcement. Immediately after the attack, George Bush, the then president of the United States declared war on all forms of terrorism. This resulted to drastic measures in the law enforcement to enhance their ability of responding to real and perceived threats from terrorism and other crimes. Currently, Peterson (2005, p61) notes that police in United States have greater surveillance powers than ever before in the history of the country. The era after September 11 attacks witnessed changes in federal laws, interpretation of privacy rules and expansion of technological applications in matters related to security and law enforcement. In addition, methods and circumstances used by police to investigate the public were expanded, a development that has raised concern s that the state violates individual rights for privacy (Kegley, 2003, p13). Proponents of the changes in the law enforcement argue that police should be equipped with all powers necessary to enhance their capacity of dealing with the modern international crime and terrorism. Coupled with increasing application of technology in crime, it is imperative for law enforcers to ensure public safety under highly unpredictable situations. One of the major impacts of September 11 terrorist attack is enhancement of surveillance operations in the United States. According to Kegley (2003, pp79-82) the legal and operational measures have been enhanced to apply greater inspection to minimize threats and apprehend international criminals before they commit crimes. Abrams (2005, p29) argues that the inability of law enforcers to keep in pace with technological developments of international criminals has necessitated the need for improving on their surveillance and intelligence gathering ability. In this respect, law enforcers are increasingly incorporating private and public enterprises to access personal details of people in the country. To enhance greater access to personal information, American lawmakers and legal institutions modified civil privacy protection in response to the attack and anticipated global terrorism threats. After the September 11 attacks in the United States, Abrams(2005, pp53-57) notes that the congress made several amendments on federal laws that gave police greater search and surveillance authority in addition to greater powers of accessing private information. These legal changes initially referred as the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act became the Patriot Act later (Abrams, 2005 p73). Kegley (2003, p50) notes that the Patriot Act modified fifteen laws that mainly dealt with counter-terrorism and gathering foreign intelligence. The provisions in the Patriot Act include broadening the police search powers, consolidating police powers, expansion of domestic intelligence authority among other provisions. Broadening the police search powers provision authorized law enforcers to use enhanced surveillance techniques, search and gathering intelligence. These included allowing sneak and peek search warrants, authority to use tracking and wire tapping devices, monitoring of financial transactions, legalizing the use of investigation gag orders and authority to allow law enforcers

The Sea Around Us’ by Rachel Carson Essay Example for Free

The Sea Around Us’ by Rachel Carson Essay I have read excerpts from two texts. An informational text titled ‘The Sea Around Us’ by Rachel Carson, and a literature text titled ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea’, by Jules Verne. In both excerpts there are many descriptions of the ocean. Many people debate whether details are described more vividly in informational text, or in literature. I feel the ocean was described more vividly in the excerpt from the literature text ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea’. I believe the ocean is described more vividly in the excerpt from the story Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea because when I read it I feel like I’m there. The imagery is very strong and everything is described in such great detail. For example, when M. Aronnax was describing the coral kingdom in the ocean and said â€Å"I was tempted to gather their fresh petals, ornamented with delicate tentacles, some just blown, the others budding, while small fish, swimming swiftly, touched them slightly like flights of birds.† He described perfectly what the petals of the corals in the ocean looked like. He stated that some were blown and others weren’t. He also did this when explaining the effect the light of the lamps had on the ocean. He said â€Å"The light from our lamps produced sometimes magical effects, following the rough outlines of the natural arches, and pendants disposed like lusters, that were tipped with points of fire.† He even went as far as to describe the outlines of the natural arches of the coral. The excerpt from the informational text The Sea Around Us focuses more on getting their information across to the readers rather than imagery. This is emphasized when the author was describing how ocean life grew more and more complex. He described how aggregations of specialized cells arose from simple one celled creatures. When describing this he stated â€Å"From simple, one celled creatures, others that were aggregations of specialized cells arose, and then creatures with organs for feeding, digesting, breathing, reproducing.† The author described more what the creatures organs were for, but gave no imagery. I felt this gave the readers more information, but not as much details left for our imagination. Overall I felt Jules Verne used a more vivid description when describing the ocean then Rachel Carson. When the author described all of the coral in the ocean he used amazing imagery. I feel the author describes many details people would overlook when viewing  coral. I also feel the author made very good comparisons when describing the ocean and the things in it. For example when M. Aronnax said â€Å"†¦while small fish, swimming swiftly, touched them slightly like flights of birds.† I felt he described very well what the small fish swimming by them looked like. I felt his comparison of the small fish swimming to a flight of birds really helped to emphasize how the fish looked while swimming. He also did this when describing how much coral was in the ocean. He said â€Å"Coral is sold for twenty pounds per ounce and in this place the water beds would make the fortunes of a company of coral divers.† He used the face that coral is sold for twenty pounds for ounce to emphasize how much coral was in the sea. I also liked the comparison he made between the tips of the coral and the â€Å"points of fire†. I feel the author used very good comparisons to enable the readers to visualize and get a clearer picture of his descriptions of underneath the ocean. In the excerpt from the informational text The Sea Around Us I felt the author didn’t use very good comparisons when describing the ocean. When describing the mysterious borderline forms the author said they were â€Å"not quite plans, not quite animals† I felt the author did very poor in describing this. The description was way too general. Some may feel that Rachel Carson described the ocean more in her text The Sea Around Us. When describing the sponges growing on the bottom of the ocean. She said â€Å"Sponges grew on the rocky bottom of the sea’s edge and coral animals built their habitations in warm, clear waters.† She did describe the temperature of the water but it was a very broad description. She only described the ocean as being warm and clear. I feel she could have used more detail when describing it. She also could have described the bottom of the sea as more than just rocky. She could have described the outlines and arches of it as Jules Verne did when describing the coral. Jules Verne placed more work in using visual details to describe the ocean than Rachel Carson did. I understand some people may feel many different ways about the way each author described the ocean in their texts. However, the comparisons, visual details, and imagery Jules Verne used to describe the ocean on her text help give readers a clearer visualization of the ocean than Rachel Carson. Yes, Rachel Carson got information across to her readers, but she did not do such a great job when getting the image of the ocean across to the readers. It is  evident that Jules Verne did a better job a describing the ocean in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea than Rachel Carson in The Sea Around Us.

Factors affecting change

Factors affecting change Explain briefly what kind of change has taken place in both the organization, and discuss the reasons of this change, identify whether it is a result of internal environmental factors or external environmental factors in both organizations you selected. Comparison of Chosen organizations I have chosen two organizations names, Tandoori Restaurant and Tata Motors, so Tandoori Restaurant is a small and private owned business as compare with other business because Tata Motors is an international and large brand so it is well known everywhere but both businesses are based in India. Overview of Tandoori Restaurant I have been with Tandoori Restaurant since two years as a waiter or serving staff. I analyze the changes in management when a senior casher Mr. Sangit Singh got position of manager so he brought several changes in management and system. Specifically he brought internal changes in the efficiency and performance of employees. Major Changes Business Hours; he change the business hours and maintain the new roster for employees, they spend more potential hours on work especially breakfast means early morning and dinner times to late night. Customer services focus; he put the certain ways and rules to employees for customer orientation like that deal politely and take order carefully etc. He trained the waiters how they take correct order and they should know the recipes of all dishes because some time customer asked about the ingredients before recording order. He has given the new bright vision to all employees about culture differences and diversities because some time customers belong to different cultures and religions. He builds up proper communication between chef and waiters about the food, ingredients and customer orders and if customer changed his order so waiter conveniently replace the order. Chef performance; leader improves the chef performance because he believes that chef should be active, professional and expert in all areas of cooking. In busy hours chef should be quick and cook several recepies at a time. He strictly check the quantity of cooked food and he stop the wastage of cooked food, in this way daily they cooked estimated numbers of people food and they saved their raw food items. Internal Reasons for Change Tandoori Restaurant is a small and private business so in the end of fiscal year they found the bit loss and their business is not growing so than they brought Mr.Singht Singh as a restaurant manager. He modifies the management system and he took initiative for the business growth. He brought some internal and external changes like that; Customer focus; he improve the quality of customer services and he gave the trial and training of dealing the several culture customers. they were in full competition so they need to provide best customer services and more working hours with the variety of food and may be time to time they need to do promotion offers as well. They have to improve the culture gap between employees of restaurant. Chef performance; he improves the kitchen management and chef performance during busy working hours. Meanwhile he reduces the wastage of cooked food and save the raw food and money. Overview of Tata Motors Tata Motors was highly successfully, well diversified and globally ambitious automobile giant represents one of Indias most remarkable corporate successful. Tata Motors has a 5 billion loss when suddenly his trucks demand collapsed so thats why by the end of fiscal year of March 2001they had a biggest lost in the history of company. Major Changes Less Cyclical Product; they focus on less cyclical products like that light commercial vehicles, buses, spare parts and passenger cars and they put their resources and effort on these products. Domestic Market Share; Today Tata Motors transformed in to worlds fifth-largest manufacturer of medium and heavy trucks .Now it has got 61 percent domestic market share in this sector. It is in number-two position for sales of passenger vehicles in the Indian market. Overseas Market; It has also built a significant global presence and establish the sales efforts in overseas markets because they want to improve and maintain their sales level. Tata is one of the large Company doing e-sourcing in India and it is one of the world wide leading automobile industry. Joint Venture; Tata Motors has formed a joint venture with Marcopolo, the Brazilian bus manufacturer, these are the international brands. Tata Motors will flourish their business with them. Tata Motors has embarked on a wide-ranging global partnership with the Italian group-an arrangement that both sides expect to flourish. External Reasons for change: Less Demand; Tata Motors faced a problem of less demand for its core product, so their main product was trucks and they face the loss sale in the present market so they invested on other products like that spare parts, passengers cars etc. Competition threat; they have a threat from overseas automobile companies because market is full with the competition of model, price and quality. There was a threat from overseas competitors Government Encouragement; There was an opportunity from encouraging social and economic trends like new mobility of young Indians, the governments large road-building program, and generally floating GDP growth. Internal Reasons for Change Loss in Profit; They had a loss of 5 billion rupees in annual fiscal year of March 2001. They had fewer sales so thats why that loss was a significant for business. Expansion of Business; they have desired to expand business in entire their own country and other countries as well. Desire of expand business. Question 2 Use your research and analytical ability and explain what was the role of the leaders in both organizations throughout the change. Also explain how various leaders applied their ideas and concepts in the process of change management. Answer; Role of Tandoori Restaurant He is a best leader because he brought the new way to do things right and flourish the business. He has several leadership qualities like that Brain Storming; he was the leader who has good brain storming skills because he cheered a meeting and discussions with employees before giving them change plan. Motivate; he motivated the employees to do hard work and learn new market skills for the improvement of existing business and he announce the bonus cash at the end of fiscal year for the most hardworking, regular and efficient employee. Team work; he gave the spirit of team work in the environment of restaurant and he realized to employees that business will go with team work, emphasis on the co-operation of chef, waiters and manager with each other and all the employees should work for the business growth. Customer Focus; he concentrate on customer services and dealing, basically this is the core area of business where they taught employees who they can focus on customers. Role of Tata Motor Leader; At the time of transformation, they had a problem of 40 % reduction in the commercial-vehicle market in India. They had loss of 5 billion rupee in March 2001 and it was happened first time in the companys history. But Ravi Kant along with his team understood the situation and tried to know what had gone wrong and to create a best path for the future, so that they never face such situation in future again. Cost Reduction; after big loss in business they planned to reduce the cost of product because they were facing the reduction in sales so all the Costs had to be reduced in a bigger way, and that was challenge for him as a companys point of view. Company Position; he maintain the standard of product and he retained the companys position in business market of India. He planned for expansion companys operations internationally. They being a unit Improved quality of a product. Employees Focus; he arranged the meetings and discussions for employees to know customer problems, demands and suggestions. Staff Training; He facilitated proper training programme for different staff and workers. Unity and Encouragement; he set and specify the certain ways to create unity among all staff and workers. He encourages the workers about their performance and coming challenges. Broad Vision; he has a broad business vision about national and international market. He knows the demand and opportunities of different products as well he knows the more potential international market. Optimistic; he was fully confident and optimistic about future of his business and he convert the both skills to employees. Question 3 Compare and evaluate the application of leadership in change management in both the organizations and discuss the similarities and differences in implementation of leadership ideas in both organizations. Answer; Comparisons; Tandori Restaurant has incremental change in management and Tata motors has transformational changes in their set up. Tata Motors is a big international known brand and Tandoori Restaurant is a local Indian based business and it is a small business. Similarities; Both organizations are customer focused and profit oriented because their main focus to gain more customers and earn significant profit. As well they have focus to maintain the good repute of their companies in local market. Both has a staff training programmes and counseling and staff problem solvers because their leaders believe if staff and employees are happy so they must show the best results in their performance. In this regard they listen their employees and consider their constructive suggestions. Both companies focused on team work and create cooperative and constructive environment for the employees and they vanish the communication gap and cultural difference between staff and employees of companies. Outcome of Changes in Tandoori Restaurant He was an intelligent and broad vision leader because Manager Singet Singh knew that their internal demand, which is quite high, will help as an important instrument for reactivating the economy of restaurant. Manager of restaurant knows the challenge and competition of restaurant in local market so thats why he brought professional business changes. Being a Manager Singet Singh took initiative in these incremental changes in restaurant management. However his recommendations are acceptable by the owner and employees of restaurant. The leader of Restaurant played a key role in the management of company and he realized that the decision-making process was a reflection of how he used to manage the company. Leader was fully committed with his given tasks and confident about his steps that what he is doing, is the right way to go. Leader has to be committed for what he is going to do. If he is trust on himself then people will follow him. Tandoori Restaurant manager encouraged and appreciate the hard working and consistent staff, in this regard he announce the cash bounce in the end of fiscal year. Restaurant manager acknowledge the value and objective of the company and he has taken steps in the interest of company. Outcome of Tata Motors Tata Motors leader is intellectual and broad exposure about business market so he took the initiative to manage and regain the financial stability of Tata Motors. At the time of diversification, TATA Motors had a problem of 40 % shrunk in the commercial-vehicle market in India. There was a loss of 5 billion rupee in 2001 and it was happened first time in the companys history. So leader was still optimistic and struggling to retain the position and revenue of the company. But still they understood the situation, tried to know what had gone wrong and to create a path for the future. So they never face such situation in future. TATA Motors had unity among their staff member thats why Ravi Kant says that if they would have had tried to go only through the top, they might not have succeeded as well, and the transformation might have taken much longer. TATA Motors facilitated breakfast meetings to boost staff, asking them for their frank views. Understanding they were suffocated and they wanted change. So they started picking out some them to face challenges and grow in company. Leader has to be patient, persistent, and brave at the same time. Meanwhile leader Ravi Kant considered the intrinsic values of employees as well and he took some tough people decisions. With those who are very closed to you because the company comes first; and leader is here to do what is best for the company.   Leaders should be patience and confident as we see Ravi Kant being a chairman, he has enough patience and confidence throughout entire management. He was the leader who has persistent attitude towards company growth and maintenance. Differences in both Companies Tandoori Restaurant is a small and private owned business and leader is bit autocratic with employees. Restaurant has the incremental internal changes because leader reorganizes the system of restaurant. Tata Motors is a big business but leader of this company is democratic because he invites the employees to discuss the issues and suggestion of customers. Tata Motors is a transformational internal and external change in his setup and management.

Essay --

The opposite trade binary options strategy covers both trade which resulted in profit and trades which resulted in loss. For this reason, it gives you either the opportunity to earn double profits, or the ability to recover from a loss. The correct setup and timing for execution are everything with this strategy. Master the correct use of when to use opposite trades and you'll have one more tool to utilize for building your profits. The foundation for the opposite trade strategy is to be able to note times when the purchase of a binary options contract which is the direct opposite of one you just purchased is likely to be profitable. Once you've mastered the use of this strategy, you're likely to discover plenty of applications for it as you go about your trading. Although the premise is simple, what you'll really need to pay attention to is how to identify such opportunities. The following are just a few examples that you can be on the lookout for on a regular basis. The best example may be times when a binary options trade has finished with the asset price being close to either i...

Titanic :: essays research papers fc

Titanic I have always been intrigued by the Titanic, but my interest boomed with the recent development in how the side of the ship was damaged. I was amazed that instead of causing a gaping wound, as was previously believed, the iceberg that Titanic hit merely caused a series of small rips in the side of the ship. Sonar was used to determine that the side of the ship had six small slits that were no bigger than a single hand (http://www.titanic.cc/sonar.htm). This research amazed me because of the amount of water that passed through the small slits in the hull. I was always interested in ships, but the mystery that surrounded the Titanic sinking caused me to choose it for my senior project. At our first meeting (May 29, 1997), Mrs. Ferguson mentioned that I should try to incorporate my creative writing abilities into the project. Together, we came up with writing fictional diary entries for real passengers. My intent was to bring the people of the doomed liner to life through their thoughts throughout the trip. I chose which passengers’ diaries I would write and then heavily researched each of these individuals. The craze from the movie Titanic made getting information difficult but I was able to gather the facts I needed from the Internet as well as books and documents from the library. After researching the people, I adapted their personas and attempted to write a close facsimile to what I believe their diaries would have resembled. RMS Titanic was the last grand dream of the Gilded Age. It was designed to be the greatest achievement of an era of prosperity, confidence, and propriety. The old presumptions about class, morals, and gender-roles were about to be shattered. If the concept of Titanic was the climax of the age, then perhaps its sinking was the curtain that marked the end of the old drama and the start of a new one. The intensely competitive transatlantic steamship business had seen recent major advances in ship design, size and speed. White Star Li ne, one of the leaders, was determined to focus on size and elegance rather than pure speed. In 1907, White Star Line's managing director, J. Bruce Ismay, and Lord James Pirrie, a partner in Harland & Wolff, conceived of a vision of three magnificent steam ships which would set a new standard for comfort, elegance, and safety.

Tariffs and the War on Terrorism :: Terrorists Terror September 11 Essays

Tariffs and the War on Terrorism In March 2002, the Administration of the President of the United States under George W. Bush placed a rigorous tariff on imported steel. The United States uses the protective tariffs important for two reasons, according to a press release by the Administration1. One reason is to expand the domestic economy that has, according to some experts been in a â€Å"slump† or â€Å"retraction† since spring 2001. (It was even more â€Å"aggravated† by the events of September 11) Second, to protect important-Union based steelworker jobs in the United States. The steelworker jobs are key to the â€Å"National Security of the United States†2, according to the Bush Administration. Despite Federal Reserve Chairman of the Board, Alan Greenspan, stating later in the month that the US economy was â€Å"well under way into expansion†3, the Bush Administration saw an absolute need to put into action the tariffs. The steel tariffs are going to largely affe ct many nations that are supporting the US in the â€Å"War against Terrorism†, as well as the US relations in these nations. By taking into account historical occurrences, expert analysis based on economics, and scholarly study it can be concluded that these tariffs have the potential to encompass diverse effects on the US and the alliance it has in the â€Å"War against Terrorism†. History has witnessed tariffs to have varied affects on the events that are associated with conflicts and wars. Tariffs are designed to â€Å"protect domestically made products and for the state that uses them to collect specific commodities† 4. M.J Daunton, in a The English Historical Review article5, points to the conflict amongst the European alliances and the reasons for the First World War being indirectly based on tariffs. The pre-First World War alliances were based on both security and industrial purposes. When the alliance that was set up amongst the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, it was largely because of the resources of production and the agreements that were arranged between corporations and industries in the countries. Germany, for example, had a highly advanced steel industry and used many resources that came from the Austrian-Hungarian Empire as well as the Asian-Mediterranean Ottoman Empire. Rivaled by the Britis h and the France to their west, these countries saw â€Å"open-trade† with these competing countries as being harmful to their domestic economies and industries.

Jo Goodwin Parker. What Is Poverty? Essay

Jo Goodwin Parker’s essay, â€Å"What is Poverty? † is about Parker who has personally experienced rural poverty. She explains her story from childhood to adulthood. Parker’s struggles are overwhelming; look at any sentence, the evidence of her daily struggle is there. From her underwear to living arrangements, and everything in between, Parker resides in poverty. In her essay, she says to listen to the story of what poverty is. Then she talks about the different aspects of poverty. Parker talks about the lack of health conditions she and her three children suffer from. She decides to be a mother even though she has no ability to provide for them. She talks about the government only giving her a small amount of money per month. That is why she cannot afford nutritional foods and soap to clean her kids. She thinks that the outside world will not help and even criticize her for not doing something. After reading Jo Goodwin Parker’s essay, I did not feel pity but instead I felt respect. She was in an unfortunate situation that forced her into a life not easy to live or deal with. But, with three children to care for, plus herself, she continued on with her life no matter what obstacles kept jumping in her path. I had an idea of what poverty was but after reading Parker’s essay, the ideas I had are shattered into a new realization of the true meaning of poverty. Her definition provides vivid images of what poverty truly means. Parker uses an angry tone, imagery, and repetition to inform readers the dehumanizing effects of poverty. She explains poverty in an angry tone so readers can understand the true meaning of being poor. Parker is capable of causing the reader to feel many emotions, mainly guilt. She makes the reader feel guilty for the possessions we may have. â€Å"You say in your clean clothes coming from your clean house, anybody can be clean† (Parker 168). This causes the reader to feel guilty for having the opportunity to be clean when we know that she does not have the same. Parker then goes on talking about how she has no hot water for herself and her kids. â€Å"Hot water is a luxury. I do not have luxuries† (168). Here again, she makes the reader feel guilty that having hot water is a luxury. I agree with her writing about middle class people having things she does not have because it makes the reader appreciate the things they have in life. People do not think about hot water being a luxury, but Parker explains that having things like soap and hot water are something extravagant. Even though Parker makes the readers feel guilty of her situation, I actually appreciate the things I have now. Parker uses imagery in her essay to make the readers actually see what she is going through. She explains what her living situation is like. â€Å"This is a smell of urine, sour milk, and spoiling food sometimes joined with the strong smell of long-cooked onions† (167). The smell of her home is overpowering and the reason is because she cannot wash the mattresses or bathe herself and her kids with soap. Her and her three kids live like this, it sounds miserable and unhealthy. It is just downright disgusting. I could not imagine living a life like hers, but she went through every moment taking care of herself and her children. She had no help, no husband, and no friends. Parker puts all this in the readers mind; she makes you see the physical and mental effects of her life. Physically she looks older than she looks, her back is bent from washing clothes, and she has chronic anemia because of her poor diet. Mentally she is just tired of being poor. She is tired of having no capability to provide for herself and her children. She is always scared that something bad will happen. The use of imagery she uses in her essay shows the dehumanizing effects of poverty. The technique Parker uses in her essay is repetition. She constantly restates what is poverty. â€Å"Poverty is getting up every morning from a dirt- and illness-stained mattress. † â€Å"Poverty is living in a smell that never leaves† (167). Parker uses repetition to hammer an idea, image, or relationship so the reader can pay attention. In this case, she wants the reader to pay attention to the odor and the dirtiness of her living. â€Å"Poverty is staying up all night on cold nights to watch the fire, knowing one spark on the newspaper covering the walls means your sleeping children die in flames. † â€Å"Poverty is hoping it never rains because diapers won’t dry when it rains and soon you are using newspapers† (168). Here, Parker is explaining how she is scared that her children will be hurt if she does not keep one eye open and the inconvenience of rain that troubles her children. All of these phrases create a different image of poverty and each one is successful in evoking sympathy from the reader. Her technique is to force the reader to imagine poverty in a new way. Parker makes us realize how bleak poverty is and she shows us that there is no hope for the poor without understanding. Parker gives outsiders a glimpse into what she goes through on a daily basis. Being a single mother and seeing your children sick and dirty is devastating. I cannot image having to go through this. I think the purpose in writing this is not to give them pity but to understand and help people who need it. I think Parker wrote this essay so we can open our eyes and see the truth. This is happening in our towns and most times people do not choose that type of lifestyle. This essay is devastating and is hard to read. I defiantly have a more clear understanding of what poverty truly means.

Bisexuality Politicised Essay

This paper asks the question how can bisexuality be or become a danger to the dominant sexual script which I problematise as produced racism, sexism, homophobia, and monosexism. That this brand of heterosexuality occupies 99% of our cultural space in entertainment, education, history and public expression and is considered inevitable and unchallengable for 90% of peoples relationships is, I will argue, the victory of white patriarchal science. I intend to show the nature of this victory and imagine what counter struggle and victories might emerge from the site of my bisexuality. The Historical role of Biphopia- Policing the Treaty. Underpinning this paper is the belief in that many if not all heterosexual identifying people can be bisexual and that the majority are to some extent not privately monosexual. The majority status of bisexuality does not make it normal nor ideal however I mention it because it is important to realise that the invisibility of bisexuality requires extraordinary effort to maintain and it’s repression occurs against all people not just a few â€Å"natural† bisexuals. To understand the historical role that biphobia has played and the historical position of bisexuality it is necessary to recognise homosexuality as a creation of western patriarchal and homophobic medical science. Women have always loved women and men have always loved men but the classification of these experiences as a sexuality with little or no element of choice and a biological or individual psychological basis was given currency in the 19th century by a professional class that feared same sex desire. Their construction of homosexuality shaped and informs Western cultural understanding of sexuality â€Å"not in the first place because of its meaningfulness to those whom it defines but because of its indispensableness to those who define themselves against it. † (Segal, L. p145) for it was and is needed â€Å"not only for the persecutory regulation of a nascent minority of distinctly homosexual men (and women) but also for the regulation of the male (and female) homosocial bonds that structure all culture – at any rate all public or heterosexual culture. † (Eve Sedgewick in Segal, L. pp194-5) Early psychoanalytic texts were quite explicit that the project was to police all male and female relationships warning â€Å"teachers and parents not to take too lightly friendships among girls which become passionate† and society to â€Å"be more concerned with the degree of heterosexuality or homosexuality in an individual than they are with the question of whether he has ever had an experience of either sort†. â€Å"The real danger from homosexuality† was seen to lie â€Å"not in actual sex association but in homosexual attitudes towards life† such as the negative attitudes of â€Å"thousands of women †¦ toward men, marriage and family life† influenced by â€Å"latent homosexuality† for â€Å"neurotic attitudes about love and marriage can prove contagious. † (Caprio, F. pp 6 -11) Generally, prior to this the western world had relied on Christianity to dictate the terms of sexuality. Whether sexual attraction was â€Å"natural† was no defence under a regime which tended to view â€Å"natural† sexual desires as needing control from a religious authority. The medical establishment faced the dilemma of replacing religious authorities without having any utilitarian basis for the repression of same sex desire. The construction of homosexuality as a distinct condition was to define normality as exclusive heterosexuality. In fact heterosexuality was simply the condition of being human. Sexual behaviour became a product of a persons condition; the â€Å"human condition† producing normal heterosexual behaviour. There was now no need for a religious justification for preferencing the heterosexual over the homosexual because behaviour was not a matter of choice but a matter of whether or not you were ill; Well or sane people simply didn’t want to have sex with people of their own gender. This was presented as a more humane response to homosexuality than religious condemnation or incarceration. Psychiatrists often called themselves compassionate as they argued for an adoption of â€Å"scientific† curative responses to homosexuality. (Caprio, F, p. xi) The majority gay and lesbian movement accepted the shifting of sexuality into an area for science and have embraced the notion of a biological basis or early psychological basis for sexuality. Their fight has largely been for homosexuality to be treated as incurable and it follows natural and equally valid alternative to heterosexuality, jettisoning any agenda to argue that is better. Only a minority have argued that homosexuality is a political choice and an option for everyone. With both sides ceasing hostilities1, when homosexuality was delisted as a mental illness in 1973 (Altman,D. ,p5), institutionalised heterosexuality and gays and lesbians overt interests have moved to coincide. Victories to normalise homosexuality also normalise heterosexuality’s dominance by depoliticising sexuality in general. In 1993 when a homosexuality gene was â€Å"discovered† a genetic basis for the majority status of heterosexuality was created though not declared. Anyone who would argue that the commonality of heterosexuality might have something to do with social programming and institutional support can now be said to be messing with nature. The proud bisexual threatens this peaceful coexistence of the heterosexual majority and homosexual minority. Recognition of our bisexuality requires a validation of our sexual relationships with people of our own gender based on choice rather than the agreed legitimate biological basis. Such choice may be personal or circumstantial but also political or moral. Normalising bisexuality with a biological cause won’t defuse it’s threat though it could contain it if it relegates us to a fixed minority status. Society still has to reckon with why we choose to validate relationships with people of our own gender by identifying as bisexual. We reopen old debates that many who have found safety in a biological basis for their monosexual identity want to keep closed. (I will revisit this fear in the last section, Bisexuality and the Future when I discuss Bi supremacy. ) A bisexual identity simply has to be defined as confused or an exception to the rule. Individuals have to be pressured to fit themselves into one or the other category. In a secular society without moral taboos people can’t be allowed to entertain the idea that their partners gender is political. Also, understandably gays and lesbians know those moral taboos still hold significant power so many still see their best option as policing the treaty based on the attribution of their sexuality to a biological or psychological cause. Bisexuality and identification – Withdrawing our support for the status quo. The bisexual identifying person is not predominantly someone who feels attraction equally to both genders or without any reference to gender2 and in terms of actual sexual or emotional experience the majority could be classified as predominantly homosexual or heterosexual. â€Å"Why then, don’t you call yourself gay or straight? † is the inevitable response to this confession. And confession it feels like because to indicate a â€Å"leaning† puts at risk the validity given to a bisexual identity within contemporary discourse. Sexual expression is usually presented as representative of something innate rather than a mediation between a person and their world. Consequently the woman who says she usually finds women easier to make emotional connections with is seen to be describing her â€Å"innate† difficulty emotionally connecting with men rather than her experience of men and their culture. Asserting a bisexual identity in the face of this invalidation is about contextualising sexual responses rather than finding invisible internal reasons for them. A bisexual identity in the above circumstance keeps open the possibility that a preference for emotional relationships with women could change if men and male culture changed. Alternatively a preference for sex with men might be attributable to homophobia. (Weinberg, M. S. , p221) The reasons for choices are not always positive ones but the possibility for counter argument exists. Holding onto a bisexual identification based on potentiality, rejects the conservatism of describing reality by the status quo. However a bisexual identity is also partially an attempt to accurately relate personal history as well and this too has a radical power. Most monosexual identifications represent people only by concealing some bisexuality. By identifying as bisexual a person accepts and celebrates those aspects of their life that are inconsistent with a monosexual identity. The power of metanarratives within modernism, including descriptions of sexuality, relies on such inconsistencies being deemed insignificant. Hence a public bisexual identity is a confrontation of generalist theories with lived experience. If people promote such a solidarity with their experiences and the people who compose them that is greater than any to a proposed theory then expounders of metanarratives (including myself) will lose power. Our authority to dictate â€Å"from above† will be replaced by a decentralised authority based on being â€Å"up close† to our own reality. Bisexuality and other oppressions. Sexuality forms alliances across genders, ethnicities, and classes so any bisexual movement which fails to take gender, race or class issues into account poses a real danger of obscuring differences and concealing oppression. (This is also true for a multiplicity of issues such as disability or mental illness). My discussion of bisexuality and other basis for oppression are not intended to present bisexual identification as the panacea of the worlds ills. Social change must be inspired by a diversity of experience and informed by a range of critiques. Given the above it is presumptious for me as a half-wog male to seek to resolve ongoing debates about a bisexual political agenda among feminist women or debates among black women and men on how to connect bi pride with anti-racism. To do so would be to pretend that I can speak from only my bisexuality and abandon any white, male perspctive. As a long term unemployed person I believe I can speak on class issues from the inside to some extent but also still acknowledge the privelage of my university education. This is not to say that I think that sexism is a womens issue or that the responsibility for opposing racism is solely non-whites. Nor am I comfortable being accountable to lesbian or straight feminists on the issue of bisexual profeminism or placing beyond reproach the homophobia of some black liberationist theorists like Eldrige Cleaver. What to speak on and when in regard to a radical bisexualitys’ impact on patriarchal, white supremist and class oppresion is best defined as problematic. As a simple way out I hope to show how I see a politicised bisexuality contributes to my pro-feminism, anti-racism and support for class struggles. It is my hope that this will have relevance for a wider audience. Radical Bisexuality and Pro-feminism. Judith Butler states that â€Å"the heterosexualisation of desire requires and institutes the production of discrete and assymetrical oppositions between â€Å"feminine† and â€Å"masculine† identities. † (Segal, L. p190) Monique Wittig goes further to argue that a woman’s place in heterosexuality is a class of oppression and that the lesbian escapes her class position. (Wittig, M, p. 47) I agree that â€Å"hetero†-sexuality (literally a sexuality based on opposites) reproduces and supports womens oppression in other spheres by creating a binary gender system. Men need to realise that their love for women is problematic when it is that â€Å"love† of the â€Å"feminine identity† that belongs to this sytem. This is the attraction for the other and requires women’s difference to be exaggerated and emphasised. These exaggerations shape women as not-men while we men shape ourselves and are shaped into embodiments of the ideal. The seeming irony of male heterosexuality where women are objects of love being consistent with misoginy where women are objects of hate makes perfect sense through the operation of oppositional heterosexuality precisely because the love requires women to be less than men. A love that does not require partners to be different than ourselves is not possible within exclusive heterosexuality because it fails to provide the argument to repress same sex desire. It is necessary for heterosexual men to confront their homophobia which demands they repress or invalidate their same sex desire before they can love their female partners as their â€Å"own kind† and not another species. An additional benifit to patriarchy of discrete gender identities that is liable to be lost when men reject oppositional heterosexuality is the regulation of male social interaction. The arguments to exclude gay men from the military reveal the mindset deemed necessary to produce a war machine; â€Å"We are asking men in combat to do an essentially irrational thing – put themselves in a position where they are likely to get killed †¦ One of the few ways to persuade men to do that is to appeal to their masculinity †¦ You cannot have an adrogynous military †¦ The idea that fighting is a masculine trait runs deep. As a cultural trait it predates any written history. It may even be a genitic trait †¦ Just think what it would mean to demasculinize combat. The effect on combat effectiveness might be catastrophic. † – Charles Moskos, Military Socioligist quoted in Colonel R. D. Ray, Military Necessity and Homosexuality (Gays:In or Out, p63) It is regrettable that non-heterosexual men and many women are proving they too can make excellent soldiers. 3 However the above quote exaggerates a fact that male â€Å"buddy† relationships are relied on by the military and that this requires a repression of same sex desire. This is because same sex desire is preferential – it is not a love of all men equally – but of a few and potentially for a time. The same-sex loyalty that is demanded by patriarchy including it’s military needs the stability of exclusive heterosexuality; â€Å".. the recognition of homosexuality is a threat to that peculiar combination of male camaraderie and hierachy on which most organisations depend; sexual desire is too anarchic, too disrespectful of established boundaries to be trusted. † (Altman, D. p63) Unravelling their heterosexuality is not the most important thing men must do to support feminism however it is a legitimate part of this support for â€Å"it is the repressed recognition of this fact (that everyone can be homosexual) that does much to fuel homophobia, but equally acts so as to promote male bonding and certain crucial authority structures. † (Altman D. ,p XI) Radical Bisexuality and Racism. The construction of homosexuality as a â€Å"natural† difference from the heterosexual norm shares and competes for the same conceptual space as constructions of race as biological differences from the white norm. This is particularly true because the hetrosexual ideal is represented as white with the sexuality of non-whites traditionally seen as untamed, violent, promiscuous or otherwise deviant even if heterosexual. Non-whites are considered only ever partly heterosexual while white queers are considered not proper whites. The competition for the limited conceptual space has led to historical difficulites in linking white supremacy with heterosexism (exacerbated by white queer activists own racial interests) and in fact has unwittingly linked Gay Power with white power. â€Å"Homosexuality as a race† has developed into a gay and lesbian ethnicity. For whites under racism where their whiteness is considered the norm and thus unnamed, this ethnicity is their only ethnicity, the lesbian/gay â€Å"language† their only language, and lesbian/gay history their only history, to the point that it is not seen as a difference within whiteness but a difference from whiteness. (Blasingame, p52) While we (white queers) are unconscious of our whiteness queer cultural politics consequently becomes a way of colonising non-white cultures with a new white culture, white leaders and white history in a particularly insidious way. While not as powerful as heterosexual institutions for people wanting to be publicly non-heterosexual we have considerable power; in the framing of beauty along racist lines, in the support of white non-heterosexual bourgeoius or political leaders and in the very conceptualisation of sexuality. As one example Brenda Marie Blasingame in Bisexuality and Feminism speaks of a history of sexuality in U. S. black communities which did not include placing people in particular â€Å"boxes† and accepted the practice of bisexuality. A part of moving into the white gay and lesbian movement for her was the requirement to come out as a specific sexuality and accept the marginalisation of bisexuals. For many people who are not white taking up a gay or lesbian and to a different extent bisexual identity requires an abandonment of their own ethnic politcal identity or view. (Blasingame, pp. 51 – 53) The common conceptual space of non-heterosexual and non-white however can and should however produce queer anti-racism provided white queers realise that this conception of their sexuality is wrong. There is a shared interest in anti-racism and anti-heterosexism in critiqing normalcy and naturalness. As only one example the construction of beauty posits that naturally â€Å"Gentlemen prefer Blondes†. Not only is this sexist for reducing women to a hair colour (and the Blonde is meant to be read as a woman) but it is heterosexist and clearly as racist as â€Å"Gentlemen prefer whites† when Blonde is only a white persons natural hair colour. When we politicise our sexuality we can open up not only the arguments against heterosexual dominance but the arguments against the sexual sterotypes of non-whites including the framing of Asian men as â€Å"young girls† represented in this regrettable quote from the 70’s magazine Gay Power; â€Å"I dig beautiful oriental men. Asking me to shoot at them is the same thing as asking heterosexual soldiers to shoot at beautiful young girls that they would like to fuck. † (Teal, D. p99) Radical Bisexuality and Class. It is worth noting that capitalism which I understand as the continual oppression of the poor that patriarchy is for women is no longer wedded to heterosexuality in Western affluent nations as it has been in the past. This is because Western nations are primarily consumer societies of fairly easily produced goods (easily because their production is either located in the Third World or in the Quattro Monde – the world of the Western underclass or because their production is automated). Western capitalism can therefore relax the â€Å"restraint and repression† which was necessary to both control factory floors and ensure a ready supply of human capital through reproduction. (Altman D, p90) Part of this is also due to unemployment and global capital mobility being sufficient to obtain cheap labour and another contributing factor has been Western women raising their education so they are more useful in employment than at home. Also marriage was the institution by which women were given the role of providing a whole range of services capitalism wouldn’t such as aged care and child raising as well as supporting adult men. Now many of these services are provided by profitable private institutions so traditional marriages are actually in competition with capitalism. Of course the worlds poor can’t afford these services and Thirld World countries remain supportive of compulsory heterosexuality (Altman, D, p90) but in the Western consumer-capitalism there is a an interest to increase consumption through the market of previous services fulfilled by women’s unpaid labour. In order to perpetuate consumption growth capitalism must also locate new disatisfactions like teenage angst, at an alarming rate while also offering at a price their answer. In this context gay, lesbian and even bisexual identities as well as transgenderism, S+M and fetish celebrations are eagerly embraced by many industries as the basis for new markets. Our anxiety for recognition, meaning, ceremony and a positive celebration of our sexuality are easily exploitable. â€Å"†¦ one of the possible negative side-effects of the popularity of ‘lesbian chic’ was that it codes lesbianism as merely a kind of fashion statement, something that requires certain consumer goods to mark the individual as lesbian. † (Newitz & Sandell) Bisexuals have to be mindful that while we seek recognition, capitalism is looking for new markets and while these interests coincide this will only be true for those of us who can afford it and it will be on the backs of the world’s poor involved in the production of our new consumerables and bearing the greatest brunt of the waste from our new consumption. One positive way to resist becoming merely another market is by applying the awareness of the political nature of sexual desire to the desire for consumer goods and services. Both desires are constructed to serve particular interests and not fundamentally our own. Through working to ensure that all of our desire works for liberation we will resist commodification as we achieve recognition. Bisexuality and the Future To outline what I see as the goal of Radical Bisexuality I will illustrate two scenarios depicting false victories and one which I believe genuinely opens up the greatest possibility for liberation. Scenario 1. Recognition of bisexuality as a third alternative way that people unchangably are. To some extent as I have said earlier this can’t overcome the capacity of bisexuals to fit in as straight and thus can’t conceal the choice to embrace the homosexuality within the heterosexual that they represent. However there are arguments that could be presented that bisexuals have to express their same sex desire or become depressed (â€Å"go mad†). These arguments could form the basis of depoliticising and medicalising bisexuality as has been done with homosexuality. This may make bisexual lives easier to defend and add to the options for young people but relegates bisexuals to the same minority status as is currently given to gays and lesbians. Most people who admit to loving their own gender in straight society would face the same oppression bisexuals now face as â€Å"heterosexual experimenters† and recruitment of the majority would be difficult as they would remain â€Å"true† heterosexuals as unable to change as â€Å"true† bisexuals or gays and lesbians. Further it could also trade the oppression that is invisibility for bisexuals with the oppression that is hyper-visibility for straight men and women, and increasingly gays and lesbians. Having recognised sexuality’s repression but not it’s production we will be easily exploitable by capitalism and our liberation may mean as being as marketed to and ritutalised as heterosexuality. Scenario 2. Bisexuality is considered the only natural sexuality which equates it with the only right sexuality. Heterosexuality would be patholigised along with homosexuality as both are considered to have unnatural â€Å"blocks† to loving one or the other gender. This is Bisexual Supremacy which I acknowledge as a justification for gays and lesbians to distrust bisexuals. While it is unlikely to be widely accepted it is possible that it could dominate queer spaces as a pocket of resistance to heterosexual dominance in the same way as celebrations of gay and lesbian purity have. It is certainly more likely to be targetted at lesbians and gays than straights and while this is the fault of heterosexism’s power, not my own, it must be refuted. This is not to say that politicising sexuality will not require some gay men in particular to reassess their rhetoric. Mysoginistic comments which denegrate women’s bodies deserve political criticism and can’t be assured the right to be accepted. However the wider charge of institutionalising the sexual oppression of women and supporting male social bonding can’t be levelled at male homosexuality and certainly not at lesbianism. Indeed at certain points in the struggle against institutionalised oppression different sexual identifications and choices will be appropriate. Because bisexuality is as deliberate a sexuality choice as any other and not a submission to some biological imperative (and even if it were I reject the claim that naturalness equals rightness) we can’t claim an non-contextual ideal status. Its political usefulness is only that of any tactic relative both to the circumstances and to the person, meaning that for some and at some times other sexual choices and identifications are more appropriate. Bisexual supremacy also prioritises the effort to be bisexual over other efforts to unravel heterosexist, patriarchal and racist programming. I have already stressed the need for a variety of critiques of power to inform social change which Bisexual supremacy ignores. In particular men in relationships with women need to realise that doing their share of the housework is far more meaningful than maintaining or developing their capacity to love other men. Scenario 3. The Dream. Realising our sexualities are scripted will hopefully prompt redrafts along feminist, anti-racist and anti-capitalist lines. No-one should be the sole author of this project even with their own sexuality as we all need to listen to the perspectives our privelages rob us off. Certainly a part of this will be a dialogue between political lesbians, bisexuals and straight women which already has a history and whose future I don’t want to conclude. Consequently my dream is vague. What I don’t see in this future is the fetishisation of wealth, whiteness or gendered difference. Women in relationships with men will recieve support and encouragement as full humans. Advertisers will be incapable of capturing our consumption with snake oil as we demand economic production satisfy new needs that we create, for justice and community. Pleasure including sexual pleasure will mean enjoying our values not forgetting them. Bisexuality like other sexualities will have to argue it’s political legitimacy but not it’s existance. Sexual identifications such as â€Å"Confused† may replace bisexual for many if it is recognises more of their personal truth and political terms like Anti-racist may be key elements of sexual identification. Radical bisexuality wont end all struggles but the raw energy of sexuality will be accountable to and in the employ of the great project of improving the world . Bibliography Altman, Dennis, The Homosexualisation of America, The Americanization of the Homosexual, St. Martins Press, New York, 1982 Sedgewick, E. K. , â€Å"How to Bring Your Kids Up Gay†, pp. 69 – 81, Fear of a Queer Planet : Queer Politics and Social Theory, Warner,M. (Editor), University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1993 Segal, Lynne, Straight Sex: Rethinking the Politics of Pleasure, University of California Press, U. S. A. , 1994. Foucalt, Michel, The History of Sexuality, Volume 1:An Introduction, Allen Lane, London, 1978 Newitz, A. and J. Sandell,â€Å"Bisexuality And How To Use It: Toward a Coalitional Identity Politics†, Bad Subjects, Issue # 16, October 1994 Caprio, F. S. M. D. Female Homosexuality:A Psychodynamic study of Lesbianism, The Citadel Press, New York, 1954 Weinberg,M. S. , C. J. Williams, D. W. Pryor, Dual Attraction: Understanding Bisexuality, Oxford University Press, Inc. , New York, 1994 Blasingame, B. M. , â€Å"The Roots of Biphobia: Internalised Racism and Internalised Heterosexism† in Closer to Home: Bisexuality and Feminism, Edited by E. R. Wise, Seal Press, U. S. A. , 1992 Colonel R. D. Ray, Military Necessity and Homosexuality , reprinted in Gays:In or Out: The U. S. Military & Homosexuals – A Source book, Brassey’s, March 1993. Teal D. , The Gay Militants, Stein and Day Publishers, New York, 1971. Wittig, M. , The Straight Mind and Other Essays, Beacon Press. Boston, 1992 Descriptors for Sexual Minorities †¢ Front Page †¢ What is h2g2? †¢ Who’s Online †¢ Write an Entry †¢ Browse †¢ Announcements †¢ Feedback †¢ h2g2 Help †¢ RSS Feeds Contact Us Like this page? Send it to a friend! Descriptors for Sexual Minorities | Asexuality | Homosexuality Heterosexuality | Bisexuality | Polyamory | The Kinsey Scale | The Gender Pronoun Game | Coming Out Embarrassing Questions About Sexual Orientation | Going Back In – Sexuality U-turns Modern culture has developed a number of terms and symbols to set apart its sexual minorities. Some of these originated within the different communities themselves. Others evolved from scientists, psychologists, legislators, and newspaper reporters trying to describe their gay, bisexual, transsexual, and polyamorous subjects. Many include obscure references to history that go largely unrecognized. Words Lesbian The word lesbian comes from the Greek island Lesbos, where the poet Sappho lived in 600 BC. Sappho wrote numerous poems about her female love, most of which were destroyed by religious fanatics during the Middle Ages. While the first usage of the word lesbian is unknown, it was used in several academic books as early as 1880. The word became more popular during the 20th Century, especially during the feminist era. The term ‘lesbian separatist’ was commonly used to distinguish feminists who wished to avoid the company of men altogether. Fag, Faggot, Fag Hag ‘Fag’ and ‘faggot’ are American insults for gay men. The term ‘faggot’ first started being used in this way in around 1914, but it is not clear where the word came from. A faggot is a bundle of sticks, used for firewood and tied up for carrying around. In the 16th century it was used as an insulting term for a useless old woman as something that weighs you down, in the same way that ‘baggage’ is sometimes used nowadays. But it’s quite a jump from 1592 to 1914 with nothing recorded in between. Gay men in the latter half of the 20th Century began using the term ‘fag hag’ to refer to straight women who frequently gather at gay establishments, partly as an insult and partly because of the rhyme. Dyke Contrary to popular belief, the origin of the insult ‘dyke’1, in reference to lesbians, has nothing to do with waterways or canals. The word first appeared in 1710 in British newspaper stories about presumed homosexuals Anne Bonny and Mary Reed. The two women captained a very successful pirate venture and completed several lucrative raids of the British Empire before agreeing to be interviewed. Reporters often noted their predilection for wearing men’s clothing, and one editorial avoided the unpleasant connotations of cross dressing by using a French word which refers to men’s clothing, dike. Over the years, this term was corrupted to the modern form ‘dyke’. Since then, general misunderstanding about the term’s origins have inspired many stand-up comedy routines and bad puns. Polyamory, Polygamy, Monogamy The prefix ‘poly-‘ means many, while ‘mono’ means one. The suffix ‘gamy’ was originally from the French word for marriage, but has since been misunderstood as referring to sex. These terms refer to the number of consensual romantic partners taken by each adult in a family. Of course, the suffix ‘amory’ refers to love. Polyamory is a relatively new term coined by modern practitioners, and is greatly preferred by them. Polygamy and the now defunct term bigamy were coined as early as 1800, as the practice of multiple marriages was outlawed in most Western nations. The state of Utah in the USA applied for Statehood three times before finally accepting an injunction against the polygamy practised at that time by the Mormon church. Polygamy is commonly understood as referring to heterosexual relationships where the man has multiple partners. However, with modern polyamory any combination of genders and orientations fulfills the definition. It is not necessary for all parties in a polyamorous relationship to be involved each with the other. Gay During the 1800s and early 1900s, ‘gay’ was simply a state of jubilant happiness. However, during the late 1800s gay was sometimes used to describe prostitutes in much the same way that the phrase ‘happy hookers’ is used today. One theory is that gay came into use to describe homosexual men because of the rise in numbers of male prostitutes during the 1900s. Another theory is that ‘gay’ was