Many Faces of Oppression

Tsitsi Dangarembga address several issues concerning women in her novel, Nervous Conditions. Three main issues include coming-of-age, colonialism, and patriarchy. They are all encountered by the central character, Tambu as she grows up in colonial Rhodesia. While living on the homestead with her family, Tambu witness the examples of oppression prevalent in her environment. The women in her immediate family are domesticated and for the most part uneducated. When Tambu learns of her aunt Maiguru†s education and â€Å"success†, she tries to ignore the potential images of the women on the homestead by working hard to go to school. Once she is granted an education with the help of her uncle, Tambu finds out that her aunt Maiguru is oppressed too, only in a different setting. Therefore the struggles women face are similar regardless of their class,or level of education. Tambu learns early about the oppression of women in the traditional patriarchal way of life on her homestead. For example, Tambu can not continue to go to school because her family lack the funds for her to go. However, her brother Nhamo is granted the right to go and is expected to do well. Their father boasts about his son†s education and gives him certain rights and privileges. Tambu resents the fact that her brother is able to get an education and she is not. She is constantly in conflict with Nhamo because of Nhamo†s arrogance. He retorts, â€Å"Did you ever hear of a girl being taken away to school? With me it†s different. I was meant to be educated† (Dangarembga, 49). Speeches like this contributes to Tambu†s increasing drive and desire for education. Tambu, seeking to break away from her oppression through education, asks her parents for maize seeds to raise her own crop and sell them for tuition. Her own mother†s years of oppression seeped into discouraging Tambu. My mother said being black was a burden because it made you poor†¦ [and] being a woman was a burden because you had to bear children and look after them and the husband† (Dangarembga, 16). Discouragingly the parents give the seeds to her and she raises her crop. She notices that her crop is coming up missing and finds out her brother was stealing them to keep her from going to school. However through determination and a little assistance, Tambu raises the funds for school. Her father, in an act of dominance tries to take the money away from Tambu†s education but is unsuccessful. Tambu gains a small victory in her journey to reach her dream. The death of Nhamo is a turning point in Tambu†s life. Because Nhamo was the only son in the family, Tambu took his place. Tambu is granted the chance to be a part of colonized life and the advantages it has over the poverty she has lived. All the whileTambu goes through her schooling she sets her sights to becoming what her aunt Maiguru seems to be. â€Å"She was altogether a different kind of woman from my mother. I decided it was better to be like Maiguru, who was not poor and had not been crushed by the weight f womanhood† (Dangarembga, 16). One of the examples Tambu is shocked to know is the oppression Maiguru encounters by obtaining her Masters Degree. Tambu is accustomed to the hierarchical forms of address which place women and children lower than men. She is surprised to know a woman can go that far and wonders why no one acknowledged her aunt†s degree. Again another example of oppression in Tambu†s family, especially the women, is that they didn†t like Maiguru acquiring that amount of education and therefore did not acknowledge her level of education. They did however,celebrate Babamukuru†s Master Degree constantly and gave all praises to him, even the women joined in. Another example of the oppression in a middle class household is Maiguru†s salary. Even though she had the education and the career in teaching, Maiguru never saw a penny of her earnings. They went directly to her husband. Even Maiguru shows her acceptance to this oppression by saying, â€Å"†¦ no one even thinks about the things I gave up. But that†s how it goes†¦ and when you have a good man and lovely children, it makes it all worth while† (Dangarembga, 102). Even though Maiguru was educated, she was still expected to marry and raise children, so her education only provided another way of serving her family. This confession disappoints Tambu because it shatters her image of Maiguru being an independent role model. Now, with the influence of her cousin Nyasha,Tambu must find and become her own image of an independent, educated woman. The patriarchal way of life in Rhodesia had many levels of oppression. From the poverty-stricken homesteads to the colonialized middle-class setting, women were being oppressed from something. Author Tsitsi Dangarembga, cleverly reveals these levels of oppression in Nervous Conditions. Main character Tambu is able to see some of these levels with her opportunity to go from her homestead to her uncle†s home while she grows and goes through school. She think she has escaped the oppression when her brother dies and she has the opportunity to leave home where oppression is prevalent. Tambu fails to see that oppression exist even in a colonized setting until she learns from her aunt and idol, Maiguru. Even with a high level of education and ability to make money, there was still the opportunity for oppression to exist, in Maiguru†s example, by not acknowledging educated women or having their earnings controlled by men. Although this realization now occurs to Tambu, she tries to find some other way to resist the oppression (refusing to go to her parents† wedding). Nervous Conditions is a great example of how women struggle regardless of class or level of education and whether they accept the oppression or resist it.

Guns: Firearm and Gun

Gun related crimes kill thousands of people every day. We see it in the news and on the streets. When will it stop? What can we do to help? Already this year, the shootings in Chicago have broken records. Kids and bystanders are getting injured by guns. Guns are easily obtained and can Just as easily take someone's life. In order to get to the bottom of this issue, one need to take into consideration statistics, Obama's thoughts, the effects of enforcing guns in schools, new laws dealing with gun control, Homicides and accidental or suicidal deaths that is caused by a firearm.The statistics on gun related violence and homicides are showing a decrease through recent years. The data is based on gun related crimes and homicides that have occurred in the past years to the recent years. However, some communities in Chicago area and surrounding suburbs still see large amount of guns in their neighborhood illegal or legal. There are plenty more guns than shown in the media. According to Sta tmasters. com, Illinois firearms death equate to 9. 7% for every 100,000 deaths in America.This percentage is very low compared to District of Columbia who olds the number one ranking of gun related deaths by a whopping 31. 2 percent. Alaska has the second highest deaths by firearms at 20 percent. The lowest is Hawaii with 2. 8 percent and the second lowest is Massachusetts with 3. 1(Crime Statistics > Firearms Death Rate per 100,000 (most recent) by state. N. p. : StateMaster. com, 2002. Web. 10 Dec. 2012). While these numbers are from 2002 there hasn't been any changes in rankings much.What statistics show about gun violence is beneficial to everyone because it shows us what is really going on in the world? It allows people to e more aware of their surroundings and understand what is happening in their neighborhoods. When a leader expresses their opinions, I feel people would actually take this topic into consideration. The person we call our leader is President Obama. President O bama's thoughts on guns, is in order to prevent gun crimes, we should limit the people we give guns too.By doing background checks and/or psych evaluations, we will discover if they are mentally stable to possess a gun (Shen, Aviva. Obama: Gun Control ‘Should Be Common Sense'. N. p. : n. p. , n. d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012). Some people might think that this is conflicting with their constitutional right to bear arms; however they have not given thought to if the person's mental capacity is or isn't stable and if they are prone to violence or not. Ask yourself, would you rather have a stable person with a gun around you, or an unstable person with a gun?Did you know that there are schools that allow college students to bare arms on campus? Arizona College is trying to pass the law for guns to be allowed. They think knows that guns or provoking violence makes things so much worse. Arizona's three tate universities estimate that a bill that would allow guns on campus would cost million s of dollars in one-time and annual expenses. (Ryman, Anne. N. p. : n. p. , 2012. Web. 6 Dec. 2012) the legislation would result in an additional $13. 3million in one- time expenses and an additional $3. million in annual operating costs at Arizona State University, University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University. There are people who oppose that proposal, and won't accept it. But on the other hand, there are people who support this decision and feel it would keep them free from danger. There are people in this country who think having guns will solve all their solutions. Well through what data that is collected, it hasn't. There are laws in different states that say you should ‘stand your ground' and shoot first if threatened, that law got a kid named Traywon Martin killed.Traynv'on Martin was born February 5, 1995 and died February 26, 2012, by a man who was 28 year old man named, George Zimmerman. Mr. Zimmerman felt he was doing that law Justice by shooting the 17 yea r old boy in his chest, but all the boy was doing was walking around a neighborhood where he isited his father and his fianc ©s home only holding a bag of skittles (Traywon Martin Case (George Zimmerman). N. p. : The New York Times, 2012. Web. 10 Dec. 2012). By this law a man is not serving the appropriate time for murdering a child.The law needs to help prevent guns from getting into the wrong hands by having people who own guns actually have legal permits and the guns shops that are selling them need to have background check on the owners. The law also needs to ban the selling of firearms on the internet. I feel greater about the selling the firearms online, because of recent events. On July 20, of 2012, a man named James Eagan Holmes, Killed 12 and injured 58 People in Aurora, Colorado at a premiere of The Dark Knight Rise (Almasy, Steve.

MGMT 4500 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

MGMT 4500 - Essay Example Collaboration with other organizations such as Warner Bros contributes to the success of the organization. It enhances its stature in the market, and contributes to the acquisition of the market share. The ability of the organization to re-organize its negotiations with other entities contributes to the success of contracts. However, the organization needs to be keen with the intention of addressing emerging challenges. Executive bonus compensation plans target individuals with high ranks at the organization. This means that it becomes increasingly difficult to address the organizational needs as a whole. These bonuses may trickle down to the common worker though the percentage significantly reduces. Consequently, it is crucial to embrace corrective measures and harmonize such bonuses amidst the employees. It is equally crucial to reduce executive control on the financial processes especially bonuses because they affect the motivational levels of other employees. The executive bonus plans should focus on people, strategy, as well as operations within an organization. It should not focus on individuals or personalities rather than the goals of the entity (Katsioloudes

Analyzing essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Analyzing - Essay Example In this article, its author claims that grade inflation is a serious problem; despite this, it is not paid enough attention and almost is not discussed. Therefore, the author chooses to present the overview of both the consequences and causes of grade inflation with the aim to start the discussion of the issue. At first, the author deals with the consequences of grade inflation at different stages of education and presents them in the form of a list. Uva states that even within elementary and high school, the negative influence of this process is visible because putting incorrect marks results in improper placement of students in groups. Consequently, for many of them it is difficult to cope with pressure and they give up learning. If placed in a group they suit, they could achieve better results. In other words, the author’s point is that the roots of grade inflation should be looked for at schools where its negative influence is seen even at elementary level. Also, the author analyses the consequences of inflated grades for colleges, labour market as well as for students themselves. More specifically, Uva traces the progression of inflation as it starts at school and develops up to student’s graduation and job search. The author bases his argument on the statistical data fr om his region where almost a half of seniors graduate with excellent marks, and this makes the colleges increase heir quotas. As a result of exaggerating marks, more deserving students can be rejected. By this, Uva once again highlights the idea that the problem of grade inflation takes it rise from schools. The second main point of the article under consideration is the causes of grade inflation. In particular, Uva analyzes the influence of parents, schools as educational institutions, and teachers and professors as the major catalysts of the development of grade inflation in the country. The author claims

Personal portals for work and play Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Personal portals for work and play - Essay Example Following these pages, the advancement in personal portal represented navigation sites such as Yahoo, Infoseek, AOL, Excite, MSN, Lycos, and Netscape Netcenter. These sites offered users an entry platform to web surfing because of the structured navigable interface improving surfing experience. The main personal portals that were used in this era were Google and My Yahoo that offered users access to sports, news, and web searching platforms for free. google provide mechanisms for integration to personal pages of Gmail and Google News increasing their access to information while accessing their emails. The dot com but in the early 2000s saw the disappearance of personal portals with new software and applications. The changes to the personal portal are represented in the use of software and applications in mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and computers. Currently, a lot of personalized software and applications play the role of personal portals providing user’s access to a host of internet information and capabilities that were not available in the early personal portals. Some of this software and applications that have taken the space of early personal portals and revolutionized the mobile internet access market include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, MySpace, MSN, among others. Blogging has also grown over the years and provides users a platform to publish content that is personal, professional, academic, or otherwise to a large audience and receives feedback.

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

Liberty - Essay Example Liberty can be both unconstructive and helpful. Negative liberty is characterized by nonexistence of impediment or interferences; whereas, positive liberty is an act of taking charge of personal life and appreciating the basic reason of existence. Varying ideologies of liberty entail the association or connection between the society and individuals; these include relation to life under the social contract and the active exercise of freedom and rights as essential to liberty. Liberty and lack of restrictions work interchangeably. In this regard, liberty helps to instill individuality and to suppress individualism. Characteristics of being in a liberal state include; being free, ability to do as one pleases, power to choose think or act on oneself, freedom from subjective or dictatorial control, as well as the positive aspect of social, political and economic right and privileges. Liberty could be divided into three categories, political liberty, which entails the direct impact of justice in relation to personal freedoms or rights. There is also social liberty that alludes to someone’s right to socialization. Finally, economic liberty indicates either the availability or inadequacy of economic power or hindrance by other parties of the individual from the same (Judt, 2011). Liberal is a label that can be respectable and displays less than it conceals. According to Tonny Judit, a liberal is someone who is not in agreement with interference of others affairs, one who tolerates attitudes that may be considered dissenting and unacceptable behavior. Historically, liberals have always been am bassadors, championing for individuals freedom to live freely and as they choose. Liberty does not exist on its own, but it is rooted in inspiring principles, which are interdependent. These principles are collectively referred, as democratic values that are the basis of democracy. These principles include fairness, justice and rights (Friedman 2009). Equality refers to individuals having rights that are free from any biases, since it is based on the notion that people are conceived on equal ground. However, this principle at times is said to contain an assertion that individuals must achieve equal access to wealth or property to, completely, attain this equality. Compared to equality, a libertarian tends to regard liberty as of more significance. They believe one should have the freedom to exercise anything he or she wants unlike being equal to the other. For instance, libertarians believe in suppressing the governments’ influence on its citizens and strongly disagree with t he act of levying taxes to establish large-scale projects. Thomas Jefferson, a libertarian argues that liberty should be natural and is an unchallengeable right. Liberty and equality can coexist coherently in a constitutional government through formulation of a framework that checks the two principles. A right involves responsibility, duties or commitment on other parties

Healthcare in the U.S .Health Literacy, public health messaging Essay

Healthcare in the U.S .Health Literacy, public health messaging project in which you have been involved - Essay Example Communication then proves to be vital in disseminating information that help reduce the transmission of the deadly virus while as this information also helps in reducing social stigma. Messages in HIV/AIDS campaigns are; creating awareness to the public on overall effects of HIV/AIDS, telling on the advantages of voluntary testing and counseling. Other messages include  encouraging the use of condoms to help curb the spreading of HIV infections and STD’s. As well as informing the public on the improvements and developments made on treatment of HIV/AIDS. Messages on voluntary testing and counseling and those of encouraging the use of condoms have proved to yield many positive results. These  process yield results  because the use interpersonal means of communication is incorporated. In interpersonal communication, one can relay message to the recipient on an individual basis or targeting of small groups of people. It is deemed to be the most effective way of passing the message since sensitive matters that relate to sexual behaviors  are  highlighted (Ruggiero, 2007). In addition, when relaying the message there is an easier harmonization of the content of the message considering the application of the existing traditions, norms, and values? These words became active because time does not bind the use of interpersonal means of communication. People who need tests or counseling can visit the relevant centers at their convenient time. These messages have proved also to be effective since the number of people who engage in irresponsible sexual acts that may lead to spreading of the virus has greatly reduced. Also according to recent research, the number of people who use condoms as a form of protection has increased (Singhal, 2003). However, messages on creating an overall awareness on the effects of HIV/AIDS and the developments on treatment did not seem to have been affected too many people. It  is

For an organisation; product; service or brand of your choice you are Essay

For an organisation; product; service or brand of your choice you are required to answer the following three questions - Essay Example It actively supports candidates who draft public policies that are related to the brand and its products. The company has its own political action committee Kraftpac which makes valuable contributions to the US Federal and State political parties and candidates; however all corporate contributions are made as permitted by law (Kraft Foods Group, 2014). The economic downturn has also affected Kraft Food sales; however it quickly launched strategies which helped it to recover from this difficult situation. For instance, it came up with meal solutions through which consumers got make the most of their grocery dollars and get quality food at reasonable rates (Kraft Foods Inc., n.d. [a]). In 2013, the sales of its refrigerated meals, beverages, snack nuts and enhancers increased while the sale of its cheeses decreased slightly (Zacks Equity Research, 2014); however it did miss its target slightly. On social front, Kraft Food is quite active and gives priority to health, well-being and nutrition issues. It has earned a name for itself in fighting obesity on one hand and malnutrition and hunger on the other (Siegert, 2013). It has emerged as a strong oppose of negative lifestyles and also been vocal about food quality and safety. Health maintenance, water purification and unaffordable nutrition are other factors it has been working on. During the anti-obesity drive, the company launched a policy not to target children below 6 years with its advertisements (Siegert, 2013). Better-for-you-products are advertised to children aged between 6 to 11 years. In school advertising has been eliminated and in Europe, the nutrition content is also mentioned on the packages to help consumers adopt a healthy lifestyle (Kraft Foods Inc., n.d. [c]). Kraft Foods has also lowered salt content and fat content from some of its products (Kraft Foods Inc., n.d. [c]). Innovation has always been the hallmark of Kraft Foods. It uses technology to its advantage and has come with

Advertisement Essay- Disney Them Parks Essay Example for Free

Advertisement Essay- Disney Them Parks Essay The external environment of the theme park industry on the Gold Coast plays a significant role in determining if the industry is profitable. According to Hubbard, Rice and Beamish (2008), the external environment is the factors outside the organisation that influence strategy and is made up of two environments; the macro-environment and the industry environment. The macro-environment includes the general factors that affect growth of an industry, whereas an analysis of the industry environment determines the profitability of an industry. An analysis of the Gold Coast theme park industry environment will determine the industry’s profitability by analysing the strength of the following five forces; the threat of new entrants, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, power of substitutes, and the intensity of industry rivals (Hubbard, Rice Beamish 2008; Porter 1980). Due to the strength of these forces being quite low, the analysis of theme park industry on the Gold Coast indicates a profitable industry. The threat of new entrants into the Gold Coast theme park industry is determined by the strength of the barriers to entry as well as the expected retaliation. Such a barrier to entry is product differentiation which means that ‘established firms have brand identification and customer loyalties, which stem from past advertising, customer service, product differences, or simply being the first into an industry’ (Porter 1980, 9). Therefore, for a new firm wanting to enter the Gold Coast theme park industry would need to invest in building a brand name as a way of trying to overcome existing customer loyalties to the other theme parks. This would require large capital requirements for up-front advertising which would be unrecoverable and along with the unknown brand name would indicate a significant barrier to entry (Hubbard, Rice Beaming 2008). The low threat of new entrants is also strengthened by the fact that all the theme parks on the Gold Coast are owned by two companies. Dreamworld and White Water World are owned by Macquarie Leisure Trust Group and Village Roadshow owns Warner Brothers Movie World, Wet ‘n’ Wild Water World, Sea World, Australian Outback Spectacular, and Paradise Country (Roller-Coaster 2008B, Online). This effectively means that any potential new entrant would be competing against two companies who have the established resources which would enable them to try and drive the new entrant out of the industry through increased advertising or by lowering their prices (Porter 1980). The strength of the possible retaliation as well as product differentiation and large capital requirements determine that the barriers to entry into the Gold Coast theme park industry are quite substantial and therefore the threat of new entrants is quite low. The bargaining power of suppliers could also have an impact on the profitability of the theme park industry on the Gold Coast (Hubbard, Rice Beamish 2008; Porter 1980). One factor that influences the power of suppliers is the supplier concentration relative to industry concentration (Hubbard, Rice Beamish 2008). In other words if there are a small number of suppliers then the suppliers are going to have the power. In terms of theme parks, the main input that needs to be supplied is the rides. These are the inputs that theme parks market their parks around and what attracts visitors to these parks. The bargaining power these roller-coaster suppliers hold over the theme park industry on the Gold Coast is quite weak due mainly to the large number of roller-coaster manufacturers that are located all around the world. If a theme park requires a roller-coaster to be designed for their park, the firm are able to choose between over 40 manufacturers to design their ride so as a result the power of the supplier is quite weak (Coaster Gallery 2008, Online). Furthermore the bargaining power of suppliers in the theme park industry is weak due to theme parks being roller-coaster manufacturers only industry in which they can sell their product. Therefore for the roller-coaster manufacturers, the theme park industry is an important customer and their fortunes are ‘closely tied to the industry and they will want to protect it through reasonable pricing and assistance’ (Porter 1980, 27). For the theme park industry on the Gold Coast this low level of power held by the roller-coaster suppliers means that any of the theme parks will be able to discuss their needs with a number of manufacturers due to the large number available to choose from and due to the suppliers reliance on the theme park industry to sell their products, prices will be reasonable which will also be helped by the fact that there is large competition between the suppliers due to their numbers. The profitability of the theme park industry on the Gold Coast can also be impacted by the bargaining power of buyers (Hubbard, Rice Beamish 2008; Porter 1980). One factor where the bargaining power of buyers is low is the industry concentration relative to buyer concentration. The theme park industry on the Gold Coast is quite large with seven theme parks located within the region; however these seven parks are owned by only two companies; Macquarie Leisure Trust Group and Village Roadshow (Roller-Coaster 2008B, Online). Therefore due to there only being two companies within the region, the amount of competition between the parks isn’t as fierce as it would be if each park had a different owner. For this reason the buyer doesn’t have as much power against each park based on price. This being said, the buyer still has the power to choose one company over another which provides the buyer some degree of power but not as much as would have been attributed to them with more than two companies. In the Gold Coast theme park industry, the decision makers’ incentives do give buyers a degree of power (Hubbard, Rice Beamish 2008; Porter 1980). Such incentives are prevalent in the industry and are aimed at enticing customers to each company’s respective theme parks. Village Warner offers â€Å"3 Park Super-passes† which provide customers unlimited entry into Movie World, Sea World and Wet ‘n’ Wild for 14 days at a discounted rate. Also Macquarie Leisure Trust Group offers a â€Å"World Pass† which provides customer’s access to both Dreamworld and White Water World at a discount rate. These incentives offered within the Gold Coast theme park industry gives buyers power to choose between the companies based on the perceived benefits of which they are offering. Therefore if one of these offers isn’t perceived to be as valuable as the other offer then the buyer has the power to choose one over the other which can have an impact on the company’s profitability either positively or negatively. The power of substitute experiences can also have an impact on the profitability of the Gold Coast theme park industry (Hubbard, Rice Beamish 2008; Porter 1980). The intensity of this power depends on a number of factors which includes the relative price/performance of the substitutes (Hubbard, Rice Beamish 2008; Porter 1980). This involves comparing the relative performance of the industry to the available substitutes as well as comparing the relative prices, both of which can impact on whether the industry in question or its substitutes better meet the needs of the potential consumer. In relation to the Gold Coast theme park industry, the performance aspect expected of their experience could be to have â€Å"fun†. Therefore, the possible substitutes of going to the beach, movies or shopping most likely wouldn’t meet the performance desired in comparison to going to a theme park. However, if the performance desired by potential customers was â€Å"thrill-seeking†, sky-diving may be a strong substitute. Along with performance, price also needs to be taken into consideration. Therefore, the substitutes of going to the beach or movies are quite cheap, which makes their price performance quite strong. However, skydiving in comparison to theme parks is quite expensive so its price performance is quite weak in comparison to attending a theme park. Overall the power of the substitutes is quite strong especially with their price performance and can therefore have an impact on the Gold Coast theme parks industry’s profitability. The level of ease in which buyers can switch from the industry product to substitutes can also impact on the Gold Coast theme park industry’s profitability (Hubbard, Rice Beamish 2008). This factor provides a lot of power to substitutes because customers within the theme park industry can easily switch to substitutes such as the beach, movies or skydiving because they can simply just experience those products rather than go to a theme park, there is nothing holding people back from doing so. Due to this fact and the favourable outcome for substitutes based upon performance and price, the power of substitutes is quite strong. The final force which impacts on an industry’s profitability according to Porter (1980) is the level of industry rivalry. Industry growth rate is a factor that impacts on the level of rivalry because if the ‘industry is growing fast, the amount of industry rivalry will be relatively low, because there will be room for most or all organisations to prosper’ (Hubbard, Rice Beaming 2008). The theme park industry on the Gold Coast is still experiencing growth mainly due to the overall Gold Coast tourism industry growing with domestic visitors increasing 6% to 3. 7 million in the year ending June 2007, and international visitors increasing 3. 5% to 858,000 in year ending June 2007 (Tourism Queensland 2007, Online). As a result Sea World, Movie World, and Wet ‘n ‘ Wild increased attendances 17%, 4. 3% and 22% respectively, while Dreamworld’s attendances decreased slightly by 2% (Roller-Coaster 2007A, Online). Due to there still being strong growth in the Gold Coast theme park industry the rivalry isn’t as intense as it would with little to no growth and will therefore have little impact on profitability. Industry profitability can also be impacted if organisations within an industry have undifferentiated products (Hubbard, Rice Beaming 2008; Porter 1980). By having undifferentiated products rivalry would be extreme due to organisations targeting the same markets, whereas if products were differentiated the organisations within the industry would target different market segments. The theme park industry on the Gold Coast has traditionally been quite differentiated with a water park, movie-themed park, thrill-ride park and a marine-life themed park. As a result the different theme parks were able to target differing market segments which meant the rivalry between the parks was evident but not that strong. Today however the rivalry between Macquarie Leisure Group Trust and Village Roadshow has intensified due to Macquarie Leisure opening a water park called White Water World which is in direct competition with Village Roadshow’s Wet ‘n’ Wild. This has lead to strong advertising campaigns and discount offers by both organisations in an attempt to gain market share. Due to the opening of the new water park which has created two undifferentiated products in the industry, the overall industry profitability could be impacted because both Macquarie Leisure and Village Roadshow are going to be competing fiercely to try and persuade potential customers to come to their respective water park which could have been avoided if they have differentiated products with different target markets. By analysing the Gold Coast theme park industry using Porter’s (1980) five forces it is evident that the industry is profitable due to an overall low level of power attributed by most forces. The low threat of new entrants is evident due to the barriers to entry of established product differentiation and the expected retaliation of Macquarie Leisure and Village Roadshow. Also the power of suppliers is low due the large number of competing roller-coaster manufacturers and their reliance on the theme park industry, furthermore the power of buyers is low due to two companies owning all the theme parks on the Gold Coast which reduces the level of competition between the parks and limits potential savings for buyers and helps the industry’s profitability. However, profitability in the industry can be impacted by the considerable strength of substitutes based upon price and the ease of which customers can switch to these substitutes. Furthermore, profitability will be further impacted by the increasing competition between the two water parks in the industry as they fight for market share. Despite the presence of these forces on industry profitability, there strength is quite weak and the Gold Coast theme park industry will remain profitable due to the other forces outweighing any negative impact on industry profitability. Reference List. Coaster Gallery 2008, ‘Roller Coaster Manufacturers’, Roller Coaster Information (online), Available: http://www. coastergallery. com/Manu. html [Accessed 13 April 2008]. Hubbard, G. , Rice, J. Beamish, P. 2008, Strategic Management: Thinking, Analysis and Action, 3rd edn, Prentice-Hall, Frenchs Forest. Porter, M. 1980, Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors, The Free Press, New York. Roller-Coaster 2007A, ‘Attendance Up Across the Board’, Roller-Coaster Theme Park News (online), Available: http://www. roller-coaster. com. au/article.php? aid=143 [Accessed 14 April 2008]. Roller-Coaster 2007B, ‘Theme Park Performance Drives Village Profits’, Roller-Coaster Theme Park News (online), Available: http://www. roller-coaster. com. au/article. php? aid=142 [Accessed 14 April 2008]. Tourism Queensland 2007, ‘Business and Leisure Drives Gold Coast’s $2. 6 Billion Domestic Tourism Industry’, Tourism Queensland News (online), Available: http://www. tq. com. au/destinations/gold-coast/news/news_home. cfm? col2Includes=infopieces. dsp_story_fullobj_uuid=0195C856-CDFC-D308-72CF-6DC3FA3B4C62 [Accessed 13 April 2008].

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 Essay Example for Free

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 Essay Today we will be discussing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 or HIPAA. As some or most of you may know HIPAA was enacted by the federal government in 1996 and by definition is a federal law that mandates insurance portability and sets up procedures for electronic data exchange (Austin Wetle, 2012). This law’s purpose is to protect patients privacy, none of a Patient’s Health Information (PHI) is to be used or released without the patient’s consent. HIPAA is superior to state laws, so that no matter where the patient lives they are protected. The only time HIPAA is not superior to state law is if the state law has a higher standard, as in keeping an account of disclosures for eight years rather than the six required by HIPAA law we would follow the state law in this case. Key factors that all health care employees should know about HIPAA are as follows. Who is covered by HIPPA? Health care providers, clearinghouses, and health plans that are compelled to protect PHI for oral, paper, and electronic communications (Harman, 2005) are all covered by HIPAA. Another key factor about HIPAA is, knowing what information is protected and what is ok to be disclosed. PHI is not to be disclosed unless the patient gives their consent, anything with personal identifiers is off limits, demographic data, past, present and future health conditions, provisions of care and past, present, or future payment information (U. S. Department of Health Human Services, n. d. ) are all protected. Information that can be disclosed is called de-identified health information, information without any identifying factors. The only required PHI disclosures are to the patient if they request it. If a facility fails to abide by the laws they will be fined. Any person who obtains or discloses identifiable PHI can face a criminal penalty of up to $50,000 and up to one year in prison (U. S. Department of Health Human Services, n. d. ) the person will likely be terminated from their position as well. These regulations effect the management of employees, patients, resources, and ealth care because everyone needs to be trained in HIPAA practices and know the laws and regulations. Patients need to understand and sign consent forms and be made aware of what their rights are through the policy. One could say HIPPA makes for more paperwork; however it is crucial to protect our patient’s privacy and the relationship with our outside resources. Once completely understood by all of the staff, and patients everyone will understand how valuable HIPAA really is.

Very Large Telescope and NACO Instrumentation

Very Large Telescope and NACO Instrumentation This report describes the Very Large Telescope array in Chile, the VLT consists of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter and four movable Auxiliary Telescopes with main mirrors of 1.8m diameter. One of the Unit Telescopes, UT 4, is discussed in more detail, specifically its location, mounting, optics, the range and focus locations and the available instruments. The last part of the report is an example of an observation planning to image the Becklin-Neugebauer (BN) object with the NACO S13 camera and K band filter. Introduction The Very Large Telescope array (VLT) is at this moment the worlds most advanced optical instrument (1), the VLT is located on the Paranal Observatory, see Figure 1, in the Atacama desert Northern Chile (70 ° 24 11 West; 24 °3731 South). The Paranal mountain is probably the best site for astronomical observations in the southern hemisphere, with e.g a humidity of 5-20% and a maximum rainfall of about 100 mm per year. The observatory is divided into two areas, a telescope platform at the top of the mountain at an altitude of 2635 meters. and a base camp at the foot at an altitude of 2360 m. The observations take place at the telescope platform, the base camp contains staff quarters, maintenance facilities, including a visitorscentre for the public. Overview of the VLT The VLT consists of four identical Unit Telescopes (UT) with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter and four movable 1.8m diameter Auxiliary Telescopes, located on the telescope platform, see Figure 2 . The Unit Telescopes are Ritchey-Chrà ©tien telescopes, they can operate in Cassegrain, Nasmyth or Coudà © focus. The four Unit Telescope have an altitude-azimuth (alt-az) mounting (2). The Unit Telescopes have fixed locations, the Auxiliary Telescopes can be repositioned on 30 different stations, the UT and AT telescopes can be used in several different modes: independent telescope mode combined coherent mode or VLT interferometer (VLTI) combined incoherent mode In the independent telescope mode each UT is used separately, in the combined coherent mode the UT and AT telescopes work together, in groups of two or three, to form a giant interferometer giving an angular resolution equivalent to a telescope with a diameter of 200 meters and in the combined incoherent mode the four UTs are combined providing the total light collecting power of a 16-metre single telescope. For the four Unit Telescopes, names of objects in the sky in the Mapuche language were chosen and they are now known as Antu (UT1, The Sun ), Kuyen (UT2, The Moon ), Melipal (UT3, The Southern Cross ), and Yepun (UT4, Venus as evening star). Unit Telescope 4 (Yepun), see Figure 3 is discussed in more detail in the next section The VLT instruments includes large-field imagers, adaptive optics corrected cameras and spectrographs, high-resolution and multi-object spectrographs operating at wavelengths ranging from deep ultraviolet (0.3 nm) to mid-infrared (24  µm). With these instruments important data can be collected for a large range of research topics such as: formation and evolution of galaxies search for extra-solar planetary systems distances to galactic Cepheids circumstellar disks around young stellar objects active galactic nuclei stellar evolution fundamental parameters of the Universe Unit Telescope 4 Optical set-up Unit Telescope 4 can operate in four foci two Nasmyth, one Cassegrain and one Coudà © focus (2), for the optical lay-out, including the eight mirrors (M1 to M8) and the main dimensions see Figure 4. Light is collected by the primary mirror M1 and concentrated by the secondary mirror M2 either to the Cassegrain focus below the primary mirror or to one of the two Nasmyth foci, at the side of the telescope. In the Nasmyth configuration the optical layout is of the Ritchey-Chrà ©tien type, the Cassegrain focus however is not of the Ritchey-Chrà ©tien type, changing between the two foci means repositioning of the secondary mirror and changing the curvature of the primary mirror. By transferring one Nasmyth focus to another location in the telescope basement the Coudà © focus is obtained (mirror M4 to M8), from the Coudà © focus the light can be sent to the combination mode focus or to the interferometric focus. The Coudà © focus is located below the main telescope structure. The primary mirror (M1) The 8.2 m primary mirror of UT4 is made of Zerodur and is 175 mm thick the shape is actively controlled by means of 150 axial forces actuators, the mirror has a central hole of about 1.0 m. .Zerodur is a glass-ceramic made by Schott Glaswerke AG (Mainz, Germany). The secondary mirror (M2) The secondary mirror is a convex hyperbolic mirror made of Beryllium with an external diameter of 1.12 metres and a thickness of 50 mm. By changing the position and orientation of the mirror it is possible to correct some optical aberration of the telescope (defocus and decentring coma) and to change the pointing . The secondary mirror is supported by the M2 Unit at the top of the telescope and reflects the light from the M1 mirror towards the M3 plane mirror The optical quality depends on the mode of the mirror, if the mirror is in the active mode (active optics correction in operation) , the Central Intensity Ratio is larger than or equal to 0.98, with an atmospheric coherence length of 250 mm at a wavelength 500 nm. In the passive mode, active optics correction not in operation, the root mean square (RMS) slope error of the surface of the mirror is less than 0.7 arcsec. The tertiary mirror (M3) The tertiary mirror is flat and elliptically shaped (890x1260mm2), the mirror is made of Zerodur and produced by Schott Glaswerke AG. In Nasmyth configuration, see Figure 5, the M3 mirror deflects the light beams towards the scientific instruments located at one or the other Nasmyth focus. In Cassegrain configuration, Figure 5, the M3 mirror assembly is remotely flipped in towed position, parallel to the axis of M3 Tower. Mirror M4 to M8 ( the Coudà © train) The Coudà © Train is based on a combination of cylindrical and spherical mirrors, the light is sent to the Coudà © Train by mirror 4 (M4) a concave cylindrical mirror in front of the Nasmyth adapter. Relay optics provide an image of the sky at the Coudà © focus, the relay optics consists of the following mirrors: M5 a concave spherical mirror (R = 8975 mm) M6 a concave cylindrical mirror (R = 290,000 mm) , the cylinder direction is rotated by 90 ° with respect to M4 M7 a concave spherical mirror ( R = 5176.2mm) M8 a flat mirror. Technical description The telescope mounting of Unit Telescope 4 (3) is altitude-azimuth (alt-az), the telescope tube moves around a horizontal axis (the altitude axis ), the two bearings which support the telescope tube are mounted on a fork rotating around a vertical axis (the azimuth axis) The telescope tube is a steel structure, supporting at the bottom the primary mirror (M1) , and at the top the M2 Unit, with the secondary mirror, by metallic beams (spiders). Unit Telescope 4 is protected by an enclosure, this enclosure also provides access for operation and maintenance to certain areas of the telescope and a protection against the wind during observations. The telescope is mounted on a concrete foundation, the telescope pier. The geographical coordinates of UT4 are: latitude 24 ° 37 31.000 South and longitude 70  ° 24 08.000 West The structure of Unit Telescope 4 consists of a large number subassemblies and parts see Figure 6 , some of the main assemblies are: the tube structure with the M2 spiders which hold the M2 unit . the fork structure with two Nasmyth platforms that support the Nasmyth instyruments. the Coudà © tube that provides the interface to the Coudà © mirror units. azimuth tracks which support the fork structure. an azimuth platform which provides access for the Cassegrain instrument. Specifications Adaptive and active optics UT4 has adaptive optics (AO) correction both at Nasmyth and at Cassegrain foci, UT4 is also equipped with a sodium laser guide star facility for active optics. For the non-AO telescope operation the Central Intensity Ratio (CIR) quantifies the image quality. A high CIR implies high signal throughput, high contrast and small image size. The peak signal in the long-exposure point spread function is given by (4): Equation where is ta the transmissivity of the atmosphere, r0 the coherent wave-front size, tt the transmissivity of the telescope optics, D the diameter of the telescope and CIR the Central Intensity Ratio. The Central Intensity Ratio defined by : Equation where y0 is the Strehl ratio of the telescope. (Strehl ratio is the ratio of peak diffraction intensities of an aberrated wavefront versus a perfect wavefront). The optical quality specification is that the Central Intensity Ratio CIR = 0.82 with a coherent wave-front of size r0 = 500 mm (seeing angle 0.2 arcsec) at = 500 nm. Field of view The total field of view (FOV) for UT4 in the Cassegrain focus is 15 arcmin, in the Nasmyth focus 30 arcmin and in the Coudà © focus 1 arcmin. Atmospheric dispersion The atmospheric dispersion is corrected up to zenith angles of 50 ° for instruments requiring high image and spectrophotometric quality. Pointing and tracking UT4 is able to get any target to within 70 ° zenith distance in less than 3 minutes. Offset pointing of 45 ° and 60 ° in altitude and azimuth respectively is possible within 35 seconds, to within 0.1 arcsec accuracy. UT4 tracks better than 0.05 arcsec RMS over a period of 15 seconds without using guide-star position information, and over a one hour period when using guide-star tracking. Zenith distance The UT4 can operate at zenith distances ranging from 0.5 ° to 70 °, obstruction by adjacent enclosures is limited to zenith angles larger than 60 °. Instrumentation The instruments that are mounted on Unit Telescope 4 are shown in table 1. HAWK-I HAWK-I is a near-infrared (0,85 2.5 µm) wide-field imager installed at the Nasmyth A focus of UT4 , the operating temperature of the instrument is 120 K, operating temperature of the detectors is of 80 K (3). HAWK-I has 10 observing filters placed in two filter wheels: Y, J, H, Ks , 6 narrow-band filters Brg, CH4, H2 and three cosmological filters at 1.061, 1.187, and 2.090  µm. SINFONI SINFONI is a near-infrared (1-2.5  µm) integral field spectrograph installed at the Cassegrain focus of UT4. The spectrograph works with 4 gratings J, H, K, H+K with spectral resolutions of R is 2000, 3000 and 4000, corresponding to the J, H and K gratings respectively, and R is1500 with the H+K grating. The resolution power R of a spectrograph is given by : Equation where c is the velocity of light and dv the radial velocity . NACO (NAOS + CONICA) The Nasmyth Adaptive Optics System (NAOS) and the High Resolution Near IR Camera (CONICA) are installed at the Nasmyth B focus of UT4. NACO provides adaptive-optics corrected imaging, polarimetry, spectroscopy, and coronagraphy in the 1-5 ÃŽÂ ¼m range. The NACO instrumentation will be discussed in more detail in the next section. Laser Guide Star The Laser Guide Star is an artificial source, a 4W CW Sodium Laser (589 nm) will be used for this. The laser beam is focussed at an altitude of 90 km, at that height an atomic sodium layer is present which backscatters the spot image, producing an artificial star with a magnitude range from 11 mag. to 14 mag. NACO instrumentation Instrument characteristics NAOS NAOS is an adaptive optics (AO) system that has been designed to work with natural guide stars (NGS) and moderately extended sources , NAOS can also use the laser guide star facility (LGSF) and a natural tip-tilt source (TTS) to provide adaptive optics correction (3). NAOS gives a turbulence corrected f/15 beam and a 2 arcmin field of view to CONICA. Two off-axis parabolas re-image the telescope pupil on the deformable mirror and the Nasmyth focal plane on the entrance focal plane of CONICA. A dichroic-filter splits the light between CONICA and the wave front sensor, a field selector is placed after the wave front sensor input focus to select the reference object for wave front sensing, see Figure 7. NAOS has two wavefront sensors one visible light and one near-IR sensor , the two sensors are of the Shack-Hartmann type. It is possible to select an off-axis natural guide star within a 110 arcsec diameter field of view (FOV). NAOS allows wave front sensing with faint natural guide stars and extended objects, observations of very bright objects are possible with the visible wave front sensor using neutral density filters. CONICA CONICA is an infra-red (IR) (1 5 ÃŽÂ ¼m) imager and spectrograph which is fed by NAOS. CONICA is capable of imaging, long slit spectroscopy, simultaneous differential imaging (SDI), coronagraphy, polarimetry , with a large range of plate scales, filters and masks. The CONICA detector is a InSb Aladdin 3 array, the parameters of the array are: format 1026 ´1024 pixels pixel size 27 µm dark current 0.05-0.15 ADUs-1 pixel-1 wavelength range 0.8-5.5  µm Quantum efficiency 80-90 % The detector has three readout modes and four detector modes .The readout modes refer to the way the array is read out, the read our modes are : Uncorr The array is reset and then read once, used for situations when the background is high. The minimum detector integration time (DIT) is 0.1750 seconds. Double_RdRstRd The array is read, reset and read again, used for situations when the background is intermediate between high and low. The minimum DIT is 0.3454 seconds. FowlerNsamp The array is reset, read four times at the beginning of the integration ramp and four times again at the end of the integration ramp. Each time a pixel is addressed, it is read four times. This is used for situations when the background is low. The minimum DIT is 1.7927 seconds. The detector mode refers to the setting of the array bias voltage, four modes have been defined: HighSensitivity, HighDynamic, HighWellDepth and HighBackground. HighSensitivity has the fewest hot pixels, but it has the smallest well depth, this mode is used for long integrations in low background situations. HighBackground has the largest well depth but has many more hot pixels, this mode is used in high background situations . S13 camera CONICA is equipped with several cameras such as S13, S27, S54, the characteristics of camera S13 are; scale 13.221 ± 0.017 mas/pixel, field of view (FoV)14 ´14 arcsec and spectral range 1.0-2.5  µm. Available filters for the S13 camera are broad- and narrowband filters in the 1-2.5  µm region, Information on the broadband filters can be found in table 1. Unit Telescope 4 parameters Example observation planning The observation planning contains the next subjects (5): target scientific goal visibility period of target required observing conditions seeing atmospheric transparency lunar illumination required observing time list of required instruments, modes and configurations Target The chosen observation target is the Becklin-Neugebauer (BN) object located in the Orion Nebula Cluster, coordinates; right ascension (RA) 05h 35 m 14s.117 and declination (D) -05 ° 2222.90, epoch 2000.0, Scientific goal The Becklin-Neugebauer object was discovered as a bright 2 ÃŽÂ ¼m infra-red source (10) by Becklin and Neugebauer in 1967 (11), about 45 in projection from the Trapezium stars of the Orion Nebula Cluster, at a distance of ~ 450 pc. The Becklin-Neugebauer object together with the Kleinmann-Low nebula (KL) is part of the Orion Molecular Cloud 1 (OMC-1) region, a high-mass star formation region in the Orion constellation. In 2004 Shuping, Morris and Bally (8) discovered, at 12.5 µm, an arc of emission associated with the BN object, the so-called BN SW arc. The nature of this SW arc is still unknown, it may be externally heated gas or dust by UV radiation or is possibly a compressed shell created by an outflow or jet from BN. The BN SW arc is an interesting feature that needs further investigations both imaging and spectroscopy at other wavelengths to determine its true nature. Required observing conditions Seeing/airmass Seeing is defined as the image full width half maximum (FWHM )in arcsec ,the seeing values are 0.8and 1.2 at Zenith. Airmass quantifies the effects of all atmospheric processes, these atmospheric effects will be minimum when radiation travels vertically through the atmosphere, in this case z = 1. During the observation period the airmass ranges between z = 1.0 and z = 1.5 see table A, appendix 1, average airmass z = ~1,2. Atmospheric transparency During the observation period there should be no visible clouds and the transparency variations should be less than 2%. Lunar illumination Lunar illumination (FLI) is defined as the fraction of the lunar disk that is illuminated at local (Chile) civil midnight, where 1.0 is fully illuminated. Dark time corresponds to moon illumination less than 0.4, so the best time to observe the target is when the moon is new, see subsection 7.4. Visibility period of target To calculate the visibility of the target I have used the local sidereal time equation: Equation where LST = local sidereal, HA = hour angle and RA = right ascension. RA of BN-object = 05h 35 m 14s.117 = 5.587 hr. , on 21 March RA = 12hr is on the meridian at local midnight. RA = 5.587 hr will be on the meridian at local midnight about (5.587-12.0)ÃÆ'-30/2 = ~ 96 days =~ 3 months earlier . Thus the target will be well placed in November 2011 and December 2011. New Moon is on 25 November 2011 and 24 December 2011, so the best dates to observe the BN- object will be 22-27 November and 22-26 December 2011, see table B, appendix 2. The chosen observation period is the night of 24/25 December 2011, between 22hr and 2hr local time. Required observing time Angular resolution The theoretical angular limit of resolution is given by: Equation where l = wavelength, D = aperature diameter The wavelength of the K-filter is l = 2.18  µm, so the resolution is The resolution however is limited by atmospheric turbulence to where r0 is the Fried parameter. The Fried parameter is directly linked to the strength of the turbulence and it depends on the wavelength as: Equation for average observing conditions, r0 is about 0.6 m at 2.2 ÃŽÂ ¼m. Seeing disk The angular diameter of the seeing disk is Equation so for l = 2.18  µm and r0 = 0.6 m Area of seeing disk: Exposure time Exposure time Equation where: t = integration time r = signal to noise ratio f = flux transmitted by atmosphere fsky = sky background flux a = area of seeing disc A = effective area of telescope UT4 Q = quantum efficiency l = flux of the BN object l = wavelength = 5.510-7 m h = Plancks constant = 6.6310-34 J c = velocity of light = 3.0108 ms-1 The adopted signal to noise ratio S/N = r = 5. The flux transmitted by the atmosphere f = 1.0, see figure 3.2 NACO User Manual (3) The liming sky background magnitude is 13.0 mag (3), the sky background flux Equation Area of seeing disk a = 0.442 arcsec Effective area of UT4 Quantum efficiency Q = 0.85 The magnitude of the BN object corrected for extinction mv = 5.2 mag (11), the extinction in the V passband Av = ~18 mag. (8) so the apparent magnitude of the BN object m = 23.2 mag. Flux /magnitude conversion Equation The flux of the BN object is The exposure time for the BN object is: t = 639 sec. The exposure time calculated with ETC is 122,320 seconds !? , see appendix 4 table D. List of required instruments, modes and configurations The required telescope to observe the BN object is UT4 with the NACOS instrumentation. The NAOS with natural guide star, the CONICA imager with camera S13 and broadband filter K (2.18 mm). The chosen detector readout mode is FowlerNsamp and not Double_RdRstRd because the intergration time is larger than 60 seconds. Guide star id. 0477400932, RA 05hr 35m 16s.41, Dec -05 ° 23 23.0 magnitude 5.00 see table C, appendix 3, Conclusion The Very Large Telescope array is at this moment the most advanced optical instrument and the most productive individual ground-based observatory in the world. The instrumentation programme is the most ambitious programme for a single observatory and because of to the outstanding angular resolution and the use of adaptive optics VLT opens a new era of discoveries. Bibliography/References ESO http://www.eso.org/sci/facilities/paranal Giacconi R. The VLT White Book ESO http://www.eso.org/public/products/books/vlt_whitebook/ Girard J. et al. Very Large Telescope NACO Users Manual Do. No.: VLT-MAN-ESO-14200-2761 Date 12-02-2010 http://www.eso.org/sci/facilities/paranal/instruments/naco/doc/VLT-MAN-ESO-14200-2761_v86.0.pdf Dierickx P., et al The VLT primary mirrors: mirror production and measured performance http://www.eso.org/sci/facilities/paranal/telescopes/ut/m1unit.html de Zeeuw T. Call for Proposals ESO Period 87 30 August 2010 http://www.eso.org/sci/observing/proposals/CfP87.pdf Moorwood A. Astronomical News Report on the Conference Science with the VLT in the ELT Era Held in Garching, Germany 8-12 October 2007 Minchin N.R. et al Near-infrared imaging polarimetry of bipolar Nebulae-I. The BN-KL region of OMC-1 Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc.(1991) 248,715-729 Shuping R. Y., Morris M. and Bally J. A new mid-infra red map of the BN/KL  Region using the Keck telscope  The Astronomical Journal, 128:363-374, 2004 July Sansom A. UVOIR Astronomy AA2053  University of Central Lancashire , 2010 Tan J. The Becklin-Neugebauer Object as runaway B star  ejected 4000 years ago from the q1C system. The Astrophysical Journal Letters  11-12-2001  http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0401552v2 Robberto M. et al The Orion Nebula in the mid-infrared  The Astronomical Journal, 129:000-000  2005 March Becklin E.E., Neugebauer G. Observations of an infrared star in the Orion  Nebula  California Institute of Technology  Pasadena, California  September 12,1966 http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1967ApJ147..799B Testor G. et al VLT/NACO near-infrared imaging and  spectroscopy of N159-5 in the LMC HII complex N159  Astronomy Astrophysics  469, 459-469 (2007) Appendices Appendix 1 Hourly airmasses for 05 35 14.12 -05 22 22.90 Paranal Observatory (VLT) Sat, December 24, 2011 *** Hourly airmass for Target *** Epoch 2000.00: RA 5 35 14.1, dec -5 22 23 Epoch 2011.98: RA 5 35 49.5, dec -5 21 57 At midnight: UT date 2011 Dec 25, Moon 0.00 illum, 151 degr from obj Local UT LMST HA secz par.angl. SunAlt MoonAlt HelCorr 22 00 1 00 2 31 -3 05 1.502 -118.5 -4.27 22 30 1 30 3 01 -2 35 1.341 -121.5 -4.32 23 00 2 00 3 31 -2 04 1.229 -126.1 -4.38 23 30 2 30 4 01 -1 34 1.152 -132.8 -4.43 0 00 3 00 4 32 -1 04 1.101 -142.9 -4.50 0 30 3 30 5 02 -0 34 1.071 -157.8 -4.56 1 00 4 00 5 32 -0 04 1.059 -177.2 -4.62 1 30 4 30 6 02 0 26 1.066 162.7 -4.69 2 00 5 00 6 32 0 56 1.090 146.5 -4.75 Table A: Hourly airmasss during observation period. SkyCalc provided by courtesy of John Thorstensen, Dartmouth College. [emailprotected] http://www.eso.org/sci/observing/tools/calendar/observability.html Appendix 2 Observability for 05 35 14.117 -05 22 22.90 Paranal Observatory (VLT) RA dec: 5 35 14.1, -5 22 23, epoch 2000.0 Site longlat: +4 41 36.8 (h.m.s) West, -24 37 30 North. Shown: local eve. date, moon phase, hr ang and sec.z at (1) eve. twilight, (2) natural center of night, and (3) morning twilight; then comes number of nighttime hours during which object is at sec.z less than 3, 2, and 1.5. Night (and twilight) is defined by sun altitude Date (eve) moon eve cent morn night [emailprotected]: HA sec.z HA sec.z HA sec.z 2011 Oct 11 F -8 54 down -4 28 2.5 -0 02 1.1 4.7 3.9 3.0 2011 Oct 26 N -7 45 down -3 31 1.7 +0 42 1.1 5.4 4.6 3.8 2011 Nov 10 F -6 33 down -2 32 1.3 +1 29 1.1 6.2 5.4 4.5 2011 Nov 24 N -5 25 5.7 -1 34 1.2 +2 17 1.3 7.0 6.2 5.3 2011 Dec 9 F -4 13 2.2 -0 29 1.1 +3 15 1.6 7.4 7.2 6.1 2011 Dec 24 N -3 05 1.5 +0 37 1.1 +4 19 2.4 7.4 7.0 6.1 2012 Jan 8 F -2 02 1.2 +1 44 1.2 +5 30 6.3 6.8 6.0 5.1 Table B: Observability of Becklin-Neugebauer object SkyCalc provided by courtesy of John Thorstensen, Dartmouth College. [emailprotected] http://www.eso.org/sci/observing/tools/calendar/observability.html Appendix 3 ESO GSC Online Server Query Result Center: RA: 05:35:14.117 DEC: -05:22:22.90 Search radius: 20 arcminutes nr gsc_id ra (2000) dec mag mu d pa 1 0477400932 05 35 16.41 -05 23 23.0 5.00 F; 1.15 150 2 0477400931 05 35 16.47 -05 23 22.8 5.09 F; 1.16 150 3 0477400933 05 35 22.83 -05 24 57.8 5.09 F; 3.37 140 4 0477400871 05 35 17.10 -05 23 40.6 5.51 F; 1.49 150 5 0477400934 05 35 26.27 -05 24 58.2 6.40 F; 3.98 131 6 0477400930 05 35 17.16 -05 23 12.7 6.69 F; 1.12 138 7 0477801369 05 35 54.09 -05 37 43.2 7.09 T; 18.28 147 8 0477400906 05 35 31.37 -05 16 02.7 7.19 T; 7.65 34 9 0477400906 05 35 31.26 -05 16 02.0 7.58 T; 7.65 34 10 0477801369 05 35 53.99 -05 37 42.1 7.74 T; 18.25 147 11 0477400935 05 35 31.33 -05 25 14.1 8.18 F; 5.15 124 12 0477400915 05 35 06.10 -05 12 15.5 8.28 F; 10.32 349 13 0477400809 05 34 46.89 -05 34 14.3 8.30 F; 13.66 210 14 0477400849 05 35 09.73 -05 27 52.6 8.53 F; 5.60 191 15 0477400823 05 34 55.20 -05 30 21.7 9.04 F; 9.27 211 16 0477400867 05 35 58.44 -05 22 31.0 9.11 F; 11.03 91 17 0477400855 05 36 27.09 -05 24 31.0 9.28 F; 18.29 97 18 0477400792 05 34 42.19 -05 07 14.2 9.39 T; 17.10 332 19 0477400894 05 35 34.18 -05 06 20.9 9.45 F; 16.79 17 20 0477400830 05 35 18.12 -05 03 54.5 9.48 F; 18.50 3 21 0477400792 05 34 42.19 -05 07 14.3 9.55 T; 17.10 332 22 0477400890 05 35 31.28 -05 33 08.5 9.74 F; 11.58 158 23 0477400829 05 35 35.71 -05 12 20.5 9.78 F; 11.39 28 24 0477400877 05 35 21.17 -05 09 15.7 9.79 F; 13.24 8 25 0477400812 05 35 00.05 -05 25 15.7 9.85 F; 4.53 231 26 0477400878 05 34 52.14 -05 33 08.1 9.96 F; 12.06 207 27 0477400810 05 34 49.89 -05 18 44.4 9.96 F; 7.04 301 gsc 1.0 25/Sep/1995. ESO/ST-ECF Archive| ESO| ST-ECF| Help| Search Send comments to HYPERLINK http://archive.eso.org/comments/[emailprotected]/Page:/cgi-bin/gsc. Table C: Guide stars Becklin-Neugebauer object

Conflict Resolution in Groups Essay -- Intergroup Relations Social Psy

Conflict Resolution in Groups Conflict resolution has been researched, analysed and discussed for many years; however, it is only until recently that psychologists have gotten involved on a wider scale. Up until then the study of relations has more or less been the preserve of political scientists, historians and professionals such as lawyers and diplomats. Much of the social science research has therefore been based on the previous; therefore the theories developed give a much deeper insight to the psychological aspects of conflict resolution. In order to discuss conflict resolution, conflict needs to be defined. Chambers (2003) defines conflict is as â€Å" a violent collision: a struggle or contest: a battle: a mental struggle â€Å"(pg. 272) This is a general and very broad definition of the word which has been differently interpreted by psychologists as well as sociologists and economists. Shaw claims that in conflict situations driving forces are involved, combined with restraining forces, own forces and various combinations of induced or impersonal forces. All these contribute to a conflict situation. He goes on to explain that driving forces produce conflicts when the person is located between two positive valences, two negative valences or the person themselves. He uses a diagram to represent this (Appendix 1). In his next diagram he shows an avoidance-avoidance conflict situation is shown. (Appendix 2). Shaw refers to this as a stable conflict situation whereby the conflict usually remains unresolved. The third and last diagram represents two goals which both represent positive and negative valences in the same direction. This he calls the approach-avoidance conflict situation in which conflict is also stable however, people in this situation psychologically think they are in the avoidance-avoidance situation. Conflicts which involve other forces such as driving forces or restraining forces, and these restrictions can’t be passed the person may respond with aggression, hostility, frustration, apathy or other negative feelings. Shaw believes that conflict can be caused by opposition of forces corresponding to the persons needs, or by induced forces. However, this theory makes little sense, as Shaw gives the example of an employer giving orders to an employee, may show signs of some kind of power of P ( a boss would have a certain hold/power over his/... ...oup," in Henri   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tajfel (ed.) Social Identity and Intergroup Relations. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Univ. Press: 15-40. Tzeng, O., & Jackson, J (1994) "Effects of Contact, Conflict, and Social Identity on   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Interethnic Group Hostilities," International Journal of Intercultural Relations   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (vol. 18, No.2): 259-276. Van Knippenberg, A. (1989) "Strategies of Identity Management," in J. P. van   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Oudenhoven & Tineke Willemsen (eds.) Ethnic Minorities: Social Psychological   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Perspectives. Amsterdam, NL: Swets & Zeitlinger: 59-76. Vayrynen, R. (1991) New Directions in Conflict Theory: Conflict Resolution and Conflict   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Transformation. London: Sage Publications Volkan, V. & Itzkowitz, N. (1994). Turks and Greeks: Neighbours in Conflict.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Huntingdon, England: Eothen Press. Volkan, V. (1988) The Need to Have Enemies and Allies: From Clinical Practice to   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  International Relationships. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson. Volkan, V. (1992) "Ethnonationalistic Rituals: An Introduction," Mind and Human   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Interaction, Vol. 4: 3-19. Woodhouse, T. & Rambotham, O. (2000) Peacekeeping & Conflict Resolution. Portland:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Frank Cass Publications

Jean Paul Sartres No Exit And Its Existentialist Themes Essays

Jean Paul Sartre's No Exit And Its Existentialist Themes I would like to take this opportunity to discuss Jean Paul Sartre's philosophy and it's integration into his play "No Exit". Embedded within the character interactions are many Sartrean philosophical themes. Personal attributes serve to demonstrate some of the more dominant ideas in Sartre's writings. Each of the three characters in the play show identifiable characteristics of sexual perversion, bad faith, and interactions of consciousness.This play takes an interesting setting, that of the afterlife. The plot centers around three main characters, Joseph Garcin, Estelle Rigault and Inez Serrano. Hell, as portrayed in this work, is no more than a room with three couches and Second Empire decorum. There are no mirrors, no windows, no books, generally no form of amusement. Some very human privileges that we take for granted have also been taken away: sleep, tears, and even momentary reprieves of blinking. Each of the three characters is introduced into the room by a surprisingly polite Valet. Initial confrontations are "uncomfortable", each person knowing that he/she is deceased, but they are not impolite. However, as the true reasons why each person has been sentenced to Hell are revealed, the true nature of the place takes shape. Rather than try to explain the chronological progression of the play, I would rather take each character and their opinions individually in an attempt to highlight what I believe are the important parts. The first person to appear in the play is Mr.Garcin. At first glance, he is a very polite, gentlemanly, and moral individual. However, the further into the play that we read, we find that he is none of these things. Instead, he represents some of the worst ails that afflict humankind (according to Sartre). He was graced with a wife that loved him unconditionally, and he loathed for no other reason. In fact, one the first memories that he has of her is how "she got on his nerves". There is one story that is obviously intended to shock the reader, and provide a good interpretation of Garcin's true character. He states:"Well here's something you can get your teeth into. I brought a half-caste girl to stay in our house. My wife slept upstairs; she must have heard - everything. She was an early riser and, as I and the girl stayed in bed late, she served us our... ...tolen away their ability to close their eyes. There is no way to turn off the sinks! Oaklander gives us a good description of the system, and how it applies to this situation:Rather it appears that the world has a kind of drain hole in the middle of its being and that it is perpetually flowing off through this hole. The universe, the flow, and the drain hole are all once again recovered, reapprehended, and fixed as an object. All this is there for me as a partial structure in the world, even though the total disintegration of the universe is involved. Moreover these disintegrations may often be contained within more narrow limits.. (Oaklander, pg. 284)In conclusion, Jean Paul Sartre takes less than fifty pages to materialize his existentialist ideas for the stage. He has given us interpretations of sexual desire, bad faith, and conscious interactions. As a note: I truly believe that this play could be analyzed on an even deeper level. Each comment could be dissected and applied to part of Sartre's theory. However, this scope was limited to stay within the bounds of this paper. Works Cited Sartre, Jean Paul. No Exit and Three Other Plays. 1944. NY: Vintage Books, 1989.

General Haig

Did General Haig Deserve To Be The Butcher of the Somme In June 1914 a Serb assassinated Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of the Austrian Empire. Austria decided to take revenge against Serbia and invaded. However, Serbia had an alliance with Russia, and Russia with France. Germany came to the aid of Austria. One by one, the powers of Europe were pulled into war by their alliances. This source is taken from a book called â€Å"Investing History a World Study By 1916†. The French were fighting at Verdun for 2 years in trench warfare and no one was winning.The French were on the brink of defeat so they asked the British could they attack on the Somme Valley to give the French some breathing space. The British bombarded the German trenches for 7 days non-stop. Over 3 million shells hit the German trenches. However the Germans built underground bunkers made out of concrete. On July 1st 1916 the first waves of the British soldiers went over the top and were ordered to walk t o the German trenches at walking pace thinking that all of the Germans were dead when the bombardment stoped however then the Germans came out of the bunkers and shot the British down with machine guns.On the first day of the battle 20,000 British soldiers were killed and 30,000 soldiers were injured or wounded. Sir General Haig was in charge of the British at the time. People think that Haig should be remembered as the â€Å"butcher of the Somme† because he sent thousands of British soldiers to their deaths. Some people thought that Haig was a donkey leading lions. Over 1 million men volunteered to fight in 1914 thinking it would be over by Christmas but the battle of the Somme kept going until November 1916 the battle lasted five months. By the time the battle ended 420,000 British soldiers were dead.It was the biggest British military disaster in British history, based on British and German first hand accounts on the battle. The other interpretation of Haig is that he was just doing his job because he was just sending men as he was ordered to do. Source 1A is a valid source to find out the truth about General Haig because a private Fred Pearson on the Western Front, was commented On Haig in a local newspaper in 1966 and he said â€Å"The biggest murderer in the Somme of the lot was Haig I’m very bitter; always have been and always will be and everybody else that knew him.He lived 50 kilometres behind the line and that’s about as near as he got. I don’t think he knew what a trench life was like and they made him an earl and gave him ? 100,000. I know what I’d given him. I think this is reliable because the person who wrote this source is that he was there on the western front and he experienced what the war was like and what Haig was doing. Source 1B and source 2 is good to find out the fact that General Haig was a butcher of the Somme. P. Smith, a private in the 1st border regiment fighting on the Somme, writing in his di ary July 1916.Said, â€Å"It was pure bloody murder. Douglas Haig should have been hung drawn and quartered for what he did on the Somme. What this means is that Haig sent Millions of the young generation to their deaths and no one had really to replace them in their villages or towns. The cream of British manhood was shattered in less than six hours. This is reliable and useful because Private P. Smith was actually there at the battle of the Somme and he saw thousands of friends, family, killed and he foresaw Haig’s doing. Haig was a second-rate commander in a unparalleled and unforeseen circumstances. He was not endowed with any of the elements of imagination and vision and he certainly had none of that personal magnetism which has enabled great leaders of men to inspire multitudes with courage, faith and a spirit of sacrifice he was incapable of planning vast campaigns on the scale demanded on so immense a battle†. This was written by David Lloyd George, British Pri me Minster during the First World War, writing in his War Memoirs (1935). This is reliable becauseSource 6 is valid information about finding the truth about Haig because it’s a cartoon and in it the major general is addressing the men before an attack behind the lines. â€Å" I want you to understand that there is a difference between a rehearsal and the real thing. There are three essential differences: first, the absence of the enemy. Now turning to the Regimental Sergeant- Major what is the second difference? † Sergeant Major. † The absence of the General, Sir. † This source was written in a cartoon to make fun out of the generals as seen in the cartoon. It was written in (February 1917) a cartoon from the British satirical magazine punch.Source 7 is a good evidence to find out the truth about Haig because in this source Blackadder is trying to change General Haig’s mind about going over the top but Haig doesn’t change his mind. [This is t aken from the BBC TV comedy series, Blackadder, which continually portrayed Haig and the generals as fools and murders. In this scene Blackadder is trying to persuade Haig to get him sent home while Haig plays games with toy British soldiers. The series was broadcast in the 1990s. ] I’ am now going to look at source 8 in this source John Laffin writing in his history book

J.C. Penney’s “Fair and Square” Pricing Strategy Essay

Retailing is hard, and that’s what Steve [Jobs] said to me when we started stores at Apple. — Ron Johnson, CEO, J.C. Penney1 It was August 2012 and the release of second quarter earnings was looming for Ron Johnson, the chief executive officer of J.C. Penney, one of America’s first department stores. Johnson, HBS ’84, had intimated to Wall Street that the retailer’s second quarter results were likely to miss expectations again, following dismal first quarter results that had sent the company’s stock price careening to less than half of its February 2012 value of $43 a share. The Q1 news released in May was grim: a $163 million loss, same store revenue down 19%, and the number of customers shopping in J.C. Penney stores down 10%. These results were particularly disheartening given the company’s radical repositioning of its business model and its brand in February 2012. The centerpiece of the repositioning initiative was a switch from J.C. Penney’s existing high-low pricing strategy, in which the retailer ran frequent sales to offer customers deep discounts off of it s higher list prices, to a new strategy the company dubbed â€Å"Fair and Square† pricing. â€Å"Fair and Square† pricing was meant to simplify J.C. Penney’s pricing structure and make it more straightforward for customers to shop. It offered great prices every day, with less frequent price promotions. The company touted its new pricing strategy as offering â€Å"no games, no gimmicks† and invited consumers to â€Å"do the math† to see how it offered them cheaper prices on a regular basis with less hassle. Moving away from high-low pricing was a massive shift for J.C. Penney. In 2011, the retailer spent $1.2 billion to execute 590 different sales events and promotions2 and generated 72% of its $17.3 billion in annual revenue from products sold at steep discounts of more than 50% off of the initial list price.3 Wall Street was initially  supportive of the company’s plans for change. Investors, who sent J.C. Penney’s stock soaring up 24% following the announcement of the new pricing plan, viewed it as a way for J.C. Penney to escape the ruthless downward spiral of escalating price promotions that gripped America’s retailers struggling to survive the economic recession. But by mid-summer 2012, customers and shareholders appeared to be voting with their feet, leaving the retailer in droves. Was Johnson’s new pricing strategy misguided or was it just a matter of time before customers fully embraced it? Johnson was under enormous pressure to turn things around quickly as the all-important back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons were imminent. Many voices were calling on him to consider changing the pricing strategy again. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ HBS Professor Elie Ofek and Professor Jill Avery (Simmons School of Management) prepared this case. This case was developed from published sources. HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management. Copyright  © 2012, 2013 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-5457685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators. This publication may not be digitized, photocopied, or otherwise reproduced, posted, or transmitted, without the permission of Harvard Business School. This document is authorized for use only by Jack Cherewatti in MKTG MGMT taught by S. Adam Brasel Boston College from November 2014 to May 2015. For the exclusive use of J. Cherewatti 513-036 J.C. Penney’s â€Å"Fair and Square† Pricing Strategy Company Background Johnson was at the helm of what at one time was considered America’s most  venerated department store. Once the largest department store chain in the country with over 2,000 stores, as of 2012, the 110 year old retailer operated 1,100 stores, claiming to serve more than half of America’s households with 41 million square feet of retail space. Founded by James Cash Penney in 1902, the company’s first outlet was opened in a Wyoming mining town under the name â€Å"The Golden Rule,† that signified its philosophy of treating customers the way Penney himself wished to be treated. Johnson believed that his â€Å"Fair and Square† pricing plan corresponded to the founder’s beliefs, â€Å"Now if you go back to the founding of this company, James Cash Penney believed in everyday fair prices. He said, ‘We don’t mark goods up just to mark them down. We don’t believe in sales.’†4 The company enjoyed years of rapid growt h and expansion. By its 50th anniversary, annual sales exceeded $1 billion. It initially offered consumers one stop shopping as a mass merchandiser, selling soft goods, such as clothing, as well as hard goods, such as appliances, hardware, electronics, and sporting goods. Its retail business was joined by a mail order catalog in 1963 and an ecommerce website in 1998. However, following tough times in the 1980’s, the company reorganized, phasing out its hard goods lines and refocusing on its soft goods to become a fashion oriented department store. But by its 100th anniversary, the company appeared to be running out of steam. Price-oriented mass merchandisers, such as Walmart and Target, had garnered the lower end of the market, while higher end department stores, such as Macy’s and Nordstrom’s, were catering to the upwardly mobile middle class. Although the economic recession of 2008 was difficult for all retailers due to consumers’ increasing frugality, middle market retailers, like J.C. Penney and Sears, were hit the hardest. By 2011, J.C. Penney’s stores were old, often disorganized, and faded, and the brand and its merchandise were starting to feel dated. About 400 of its stores were located in small towns, such as Alpena, Michigan with a population of a little over 10,000. In such towns, there were often only few, if any, other department stores. The remaining 700 or so stores were located in major metropolitan areas, often in suburban malls, such as the Northshore Mall in Peabody, Massachusetts (15 miles north of Boston). Following years of store closings, sales malaise, declining market share,  slumping earnings, and weak stock market performance, activist investor and hedge fund manager, William Ackman (HBS ’92) obtained an 18% majority shareholder position in the company in 2010–2011. He was determined to turn J.C Penney around and extract its value, much of which was locked up in its vast real estate holdings that were estimated to be worth $11 billion.5 J.C. Penney owned 400 of its retail stores and paid low rents (an average of less than $5 per square foot) for the remainder. Specialty stores like Gap paid much higher rents (around $40 per square foot) for their retail space.6 Looking to shake up the company, Ackman was instrumental in luring Johnson to take the CEO position. Johnson was a big catch. In the 1990s, he was vice president of merchandising at Target where he helped transform the mass merchandiser into a hot retail brand selling stylish yet affordable products. During his time there, Johnson negotiated a contract with designer Michael Graves, beginning Target’s profitable partnerships with high end designers, which enhanced its brand image as a chic, fashion-forward retailer. Starting in 2000, he worked with Steve Jobs to develop the wildly successful Apple retail stores. Johnson was the brainchild behind the â€Å"Genius Bars† concept, a free technical help and support area staffed by knowledgeable customer service representatives, widely touted as one of the most innovative retail concepts of the last decade. Johnson was regarded by many as creative and determined; according to a friend, â€Å"What people loved more about him than his talent was his persistence. He was just relentless.†7 Johnson’s deep retail experience combined with his wholesome charisma and boyish enthusiasm made him the perfect change agent. The media dubbed him the â€Å"Steve Jobs of the retail industry† and on the day his appointment was announced J.C. Penney’s stock jumped 18%. An Industry under Pressure J.C. Penney’s 2011 sales were lower than they were in the 1990s and the retail landscape was getting more competitive. Department stores, in particular, were under increased pressure. New retail formats, such as big box retailers like Walmart that operated free standing supercenters selling mass merchandise and small specialty stores like Gap and J. Crew that were located in shopping malls and offered specialized merchandise, were squeezing department stores out of the market (see Exhibit 2). An emerging challenge came from large international clothing retailers, such as H&M and ZARA, that were aggressively entering the U.S. market. These retailers relied on shorter product life cycles and partnerships with top designers to offer fast-fashion merchandise at relatively low prices. Johnson explained the challenge as he stepped into his new role: Over the past 30 years the department store has become a less relevant part of the retail infrastructure, largely because of decisions the stores have made. As America exploded with big box and specialty stores and new shopping formats, department stores abdicated their unique role instead of engaging the competition. They retreated from categories and assortments that made them distinctive. Department stores were once the most popular places for Americans to shop, offering distinctive merchandise in elegant settings that provided special services, such as tearooms, salons, and on-site tailoring, and served as social hubs. Johnson reminisced, â€Å"In the golden age of department stores, America’s families came for more than just to shop. They were able to have fun experiences and were offered a range of useful services. . . . If we want to transform the department store, we have to understand what happened. These stores were a pillar of the community.†9 Johnson, unlike others, believed that department stores could be revived. â€Å"There’s no reason department stores can’t flourish. They can be people’s favorite place to shop. They’ve got all these strategic advantages—the lowest cost of real estate, exceptional access to merchandise, scale to create enormous marketing power, colocation with specialty stores. And people like stores  with huge assortments and one-stop shopping.†10 J.C. Penney’s performance had been lackluster for quite some time, and the retailer was losing market share even within the shrinking department store channel (see Exhibits 3 and 4). Competitors Macy’s and Kohl’s were nipping at J.C. Penney’s business from both the high and low end. The average J.C. Penney customer only visited a store four times per year and sales per square foot ($156) were low compared to those of its competitors and the specialty stores Johnson hoped to emulate (Gap $30011, Apple $5,626 in sales per square foot). 12 Department stores and big box stores had increased their promotional budgets since the outbreak of the Great Recession in 2007 and most used blockbuster sales, coupons, and frequent price promotion to drive purchases. According to consulting firm A.T. Kearney, more than 40% of the items Americans bought in 2011 were bought on sale, up from 10% in 1990.13 Many retailers were eager to wean shoppers off of the big discounts that had become commonplace. Competition was also increasing from online retailing. Yet Johnson believed brick and mortar stores were still relevant, â€Å"Physical stores are still the primary way people acquire merchandise and I think that will be true 50 years from now. . . . A store has got to be much more than a place to acquire merchandise. It’s got to help people enrich their lives. If the store just fulfills a specific product need, it’s not creating new types of value for the consumer. It’s transacting. Any website can do that.†14 Many of J.C. Penney’s largest competitors, such as Macy’s, seemed to have a different  view and were investing heavily in their e-commerce operations and in catering to what they called the â€Å"omnichannel† consumer, who accessed the retailer through the web, on mobile devices or in physical stores (often as part of the same purchase decision). Although it had been a pioneer in multi-channel commerce, with 2001 combined cata log and web sales of nearly $3.4 billion, J.C. Penney’s ecommerce sales had stagnated over the last three years while those of Macy’s and Kohl’s had grown substantially during the same time frame.15 (See Exhibit 5 for E-commerce sales growth). J.C. Penney’s Radical Makeover Following his appointment in November 2011, Johnson determined that nothing short of a complete overhaul would solve J.C. Penney’s problems. Just two months after taking the helm, Johnson and his newly recruited leadership team, culled largely from Apple and Target, announced a radical repositioning of the J.C. Penney business model and brand. Following the announcement, Forbes magazine dubbed J.C. Penney the most interesting retail story of the year, proclaiming, â€Å"This week, Johnson took a sledgehammer to the J.C. Penney way of doing business. It’s the most exciting thing I’ve seen in retail since Apple opened stores, again with Johnson at the helm.†16 The turnaround plan evoked J.C. Penney’s founding spirit, and Johnson declared it a reclamation of the company’s heritage. J.C. Penney’s website announced, â€Å"Over 100 years ago, James Cash Penney founded his company on the principle of treating customers the way he wanted to b e treated himself: fair and square. Today, rooted in its rich heritage, J.C. Penney Company, Inc. is re-imagining every aspect of its business in order to reclaim its birthright and become America’s favorite store. . . . At every visit, customers will discover straightforward Fair and Square Pricing.†17 The four-year plan involved several distinct, yet integrated elements that touched every part of the business and were designed to recreate a golden age department store that appealed to all Americans, across age, income, and geographic demographics. As Johnson explained, â€Å"We are going to rethink every aspect of our business, boldly pursue change, and create long-term shareholder value, as we become America’s favorite store. Every initiative we pursue will be guided by our core value to treat customers as we would like to be treated—fair and square.†18 New Logo J.C. Penney had been tinkering with its brand logo, changing it three times in three years. In 2011, the company asked the public for help in redesigning the logo in a crowd-sourcing experiment. The winning design was submitted by a University of Cincinnati student and was unveiled with much fanfare via social media. In 2012, Johnson scrapped this design and hired an agency to redesign the logo once again. The new logo evoked the American flag with red, white, and blue colors and the letters â€Å"jcp† in lower case font within a square that represented the new â€Å"Fair and Square† mantra. J.C. Penney, which many affectionately called â€Å"Penney’s† would now be known as â€Å"jcp.† (See Exhibit 6 for the new logo.) New Brand Spokesperson One of the most exciting and controversial developments of the plan was the announcement of comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres as the new brand spokesperson. DeGeneres, who once worked at a J.C. Penney store as a teenager in Louisiana, appeared in television advertising, developed J.C. Penney themed skits for her popular talk show, and tweeted about the company on Twitter. Johnson proclaimed DeGeneres to be â€Å"one of the most fun and vibrant people in entertainment today, with great warmth and a down-to-earth attitude. . . . Importantly, we share the same fundamental values as Ellen.†19 Shortly after DeGeneres’ advertising debut, the conservative Christian group One Million Moms took offense, citing DeGeneres’ homosexuality as  problematic for the brand’s image and its traditional family shopper demographic. The group asked its members to boycott J.C. Penney and to call their local store manager to ask for DeGeneres’ removal as spokesperson. DeGeneres went on the offensive to defend her personal values and to reassert her relationship with her fans and with J.C. Penney, producing a witty, yet heartfelt response delivered on her talk show that quickly went viral on the social web. A firestorm erupted and played out on J.C. Penney’s Facebook page, where both pro- and anti-gay posters pledged their support for and/or rejection of the retailer. J.C. Penney survived the controversy by standing firmly behind its choice of spokesperson. The protest event generated significant positive press for the company and Facebook feedback was more positive than negative. Riding the wave of publicity, J.C. Penney went on to feature two gay dads in a widely touted Father’s Day advertising campaign. New Store Design While the new logo and spokesperson were short-term fixes that could be executed quickly, Johnson knew from his experience at Apple that, to really make a difference, he had to make significant changes to the product offering, a longer term proposition. He embarked on a multi-year plan to re-energize and redesign J.C. Penney’s product offering and its merchandising at retail. He began by forging new supplier relationships with top brands like Martha Stewart and hot designers like Nanette Lepore to create J.C. Penney-specific merchandise lines, a strategy reminiscent of Target. He then went to work to improve the quality of J.C. Penney’s sagging and dated private label brands, Worthington, St. John’s Bay, The Original Arizona Jeans Co, and Stafford, to reinvigorate them and restore their brand integrity. These efforts could also build on J.C. Penney’s recent purchase of the Liz Claiborne brands (which, among others, included Liz Claiborne branded apparel, L ucky Jeans, Kate Spade and Juicy Couture) and the ongoing opening of about 300 Sephora locations inside J.C. Penney stores, which offered a select set of Sephora beauty care products. 20 He envisioned the in-store retail environment as a series of interactive specialty â€Å"Shops,† along a visually engaging and vibrant â€Å"Street,† with a central â€Å"Square† that would serve as the social hub of the store. J.C. Penney’s vast array of  merchandise, currently hung on crowded racks and shelves, would be regrouped and merchandised in 80-100 â€Å"stores-within-a-store,† each meant to simulate the buying experience of a specialty shop. The first shop to appear was devoted to jeans and featured a denim bar, trained fit specialists, and Levi’s innovative Curve ID program that helped women find the right jeans for their body type (see Exhibit 7). Plans for future shops included Joe Fresh and Mango. The company planned to install two to three new shops each month, beginning in August 2012, over a four year period. Many of the shops were designed to pull in younger shoppers, a deficit in J.C. Penney’s current customer base. The â€Å"Street† would consist of wider aisles with a fresh, clean look, more streamlined with less signage and bold, colorful, upscale graphics featuring the square from the new logo (see Exhibit 8). Each month would have its own unique personality and color-coded signage that changed the look of the store to freshen its appeal. Ten thousand square feet at the center of the store would be designated for the â€Å"Town Square.† In this area, J.C. Penney planned to offer complimentary services, such as gift wrapping, and special promotional events to create fun and excitement. During the summer of 2012, the company offered free hot dogs and ice cream, free â€Å"Go USA† Olympic t-shirts during the Summer Olympics, and free back-to-school haircuts for school children. Johnson summarized his vision for the new environment, â€Å"We are going to make the store a place people love to come-just to come. We’ll transform the buying experience not unlike what we did at Apple.†21 New Sales Structure To support the new retail environment, Johnson needed to re-energize J.C. Penney’s sales force. His goal was to create a team of specialists who were product experts, much like Apple’s Geniuses. J.C. Penney sales clerks had always been paid commissions based on how much they sold. This system encouraged sales clerks to sell aggressively to customers. Johnson felt that this aggressive sales culture did not fit with the new â€Å"Fair and Square† positioning and set out to change it by eliminating all sales commissions. It was a controversial decision, especially among the sales employees, many of whom had just been through a wave of layoffs and were nervous about keeping their jobs. Johnson explained his rationale for the change, â€Å"A lot of great retailers don’t use commissions. We never used them at Apple. . . . And I think it’s a better thing to do to pay people in advance for what you want them to do and let them look in the customers’ hearts and try to help them. . . . We think we’ve got a great way to do business for the middle class, where we really put a big bear hug around the middle class and help them look better and live better every day.† 22 But some employees expressed dissatisfaction, â€Å"I must take offense at Ron Johnson’s reason for eliminating commission. Ron Johnson should remember that J.C. Penney is not Target, we are better. When people come into our store they expect to be greeted, they expect someone to be available to help, they expect good service,† said a sales associate. Another associate claimed, â€Å"I lost about $250 per pay period and Mr. Johnson thinks this is FAIR and SQUARE. From all of J.C. Penney’s little workers, this stinks.† Another lamented, â€Å"We long-term employees are heartbroken at what we see around us. Ron Johnson may have a grand plan, and it may work, but we feel like he is destroying ‘us’ in the process of implementation. It has become an awful place to work, short-staffed to the point that we struggle to properly service what customers we do have.†23 But without a doubt, the cornerstone of the change program was a new pricing scheme that many believed to be the riskiest part of the strategy. The New Pricing Strategy Looking at the numbers, Johnson believed that he needed to address the existing high-low pricing structure that had gotten out of control. J.C.  Penney’s customers had become hooked on the deals; over the past ten years, the average discount to get customers to buy went from 38% to 60%24. â€Å"At some point you, as a brand, just look desperate. J.C. Penney spent over $1 billion [on price promotion], and the customer didn’t even pay attention,† he agonized.25 In his first report to shareholders, he spoke about the detrimental long term effects of excessive price promotions, â€Å"Plagued by the ‘games’ of the industry over the last several decades, retailers-including J.C. Penneybarraged customers with a constant stream of promotions that proved to be ineffective. Each time we participated in this pricing war, we were discounting our brand and eroding the trust and loyalty of our customers.† The company announced its â€Å"Fair and Square† pricing plan in January 2012. The plan had three pricing tiers. First, the company reduced prices by an average of 40% to offer consumers an â€Å"Every Day Fair and Square† price. Second, every month the company ran a â€Å"Month Long Values Event† with special pricing on seasonal items, marked down an additional 20-29%, meant to coincide with events such as Back-to-School and Father’s Day. Third, every first and third Friday of each month (paydays for many working Americans) were designated â€Å"Best Price Fridays,† where J.C. Penney would offer special deals on items it was looking to liquidate, about 20% of the store’s stock, at deals of about 1/3 off of the every day price. Each price point was supported by unique signage at retail, (see Exhibit 9). J.C. Penney eliminated its famous â€Å"Doorbuster† sales, such as those that it traditionally held on Black Friday, the day after Tha nksgiving and the busiest shopping day of the year, that featured outrageously low prices on  over 500 items from 4:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Exhibit 10 shows an example of the different price tiers. Importantly, J.C. Penney avoided using the words â€Å"sale† and â€Å"clearance† in its messaging of the new program to consumers. Said Johnson, â€Å"Sale is not in our vocabulary. . . . Every item in the store is priced to be its best price every day.†27 The â€Å"Fair and Square† price was the only price listed on the price tag, moving J.C. Penney away from the practice of listing the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) and the sale price, which was intended to show customers how much they were saving relative to somewhat fictitious list price. In the highly competitive world of retailing, nearly no one priced goods at the MSRP. Breaking with another retailing best-practice, J.C. Penney ended all of its â€Å"Fair and Square† prices with .00 instead of .99, rounding up to the nearest dollar. Johnson also instituted a no restrictions â€Å"Happy Returns† return policy, designed to take the hassle out of returning items, eve n without a receipt. In effect, the new plan combined elements of two traditional pricing strategies. The â€Å"Every Day Fair and Square† prices represented an everyday-low-price (EDLP) strategy, while the â€Å"Month Long Values† and â€Å"Best Price Fridays† maintained some emphasis on high-low pricing. High-low pricing strategies are intended to allow retailers to use price discrimination to maximize the average price paid by customers who differ in their willingness to pay. Customers who are highly price sensitive wait for sale days to purchase, use coupons and rebates, scour the crowded clearance racks to find a bargain, and take advantage of retailer’s door buster specials on big shopping days like Black Friday. Customers who are less price sensitive buy when it is convenient for them, tend not to use coupons and rebates due to the time it takes to clip and organize them, and rarely join in on door buster specials or clearance sales. Thus, the retailer reaps higher non-sale prices from many of their purchases. However, given the predominance of high-low pricing strategies across retailers in today’s marketplace, even less price-sensitive consumers had become savvy about waiting for sales to buy or comparing across retailers to find the store offering the best prices that week. Instantaneous price comparisons were  getting easier, given the rise of mobile applications that allowed a consumer to scan a bar code on a product and find the lowest price for it at online retailers and nearby stores. Kohl’s was an aggressive high-low retailer, featuring small electronic signs on shelves throughout the store that displayed original prices and discounted prices. These signs allowed Kohl’s the flexibility to change prices instantly, to facilitate frequent, short-term sales. Marketing consultant Jonathan Salem Baskin offered his thoughts on the high-low practice retailers engage in, â€Å"When no price is ‘the’ price for an item, it means that instead retailers engage customers in a constant cat-andmouse game in pursuit of the truth. No individual store can own sale pricing; each simply participates in a round-robin of discounted offers that its competitors have and/or will again match.†28 Johnson felt that today’s retail customer was savvy, â€Å"The customer knows the right price. To think you can fool a customer is kind of crazy.†2 EDLP pricing strategies, such as that offered by Walmart, promise consumers that they will pay the same, low price every day. This frees customers from waiting for sale periods to purchase, and eliminates the need for retailers to offer coupons to drive purchase or to engage in constant advertising of price promotions via weekly newspaper circulars. EDLP is designed to make customers feel comfortable purchasing at the retailer without worrying that they could be getting a better deal somewhere else or at another time. In general, most department store retailers used high/low pricing strategies. Macy’s and Sears had flirted with EDLP pricing in the past; but both had largely abandoned it once they realized how addicted department store customers were to sales, coupons, and other discount programs. Although  Macy’s still offered a limited set of items at an â€Å"everyday value† price, it heavily supplemented this practice with aggressive coupons and frequent sales events for the majority of the goods it carried. Macy’s customer Marietta Landon summarized the promotion addicted retail climate, â€Å"Especially Macy’s—they make every weekend a sale with saving passes and advertising galore.†30 The new pricing strategy was a big shift for J.C. Penney, a company known and loved for its JCP Cash coupons distributed to customers via direct mail and email, its RedZone Clearance aisles, and its weekly circulars advertising that week’s price specials. The â€Å"Fair and Square† pricing program would eliminate all coupons and weekly circulars; instead the company would distribute a high quality, editorial content-heavy glossy magazine each month to highlight its Monthly Values. The 96page magazine was as much a branding vehicle as it was a promotional one. $80 million in promotional funding would support each Monthly Value event. J.C. Penney now promised its customers that they would not have to â€Å"jump through hoops to get a good price†. Johnson hailed the strategy for its simplicity and transparency and the way it respected customers, â€Å"People are disgusted with the lack of integrity on pricing,†31 adding that â€Å"We want shoppers to shop on their terms, not ours.† Johnson intimated that â€Å"By setting our store monthly and maintaining our best prices for an entire month, we feel confident that customers will love shopping when it is convenient for them, rather than when it is expedient for us.†32 Michael Francis, J.C. Penney’s new president, was excited about the new pricing moves, â€Å"We are redefining the J.C. Penney brand so we become a store for all Americans, by offering an experience they cannot get anywhere else. This will start by freeing consumers from the barrage of promotions and undifferentiated shopping experiences they have become used to and replacing it with something entirely fresh and new that is evident in every aspect of our store.†33 He added, â€Å"It will be a breath of much-needed fresh air and give [customers] reasons to visit J.C. Penney more often than ever before. Our objective is to make our customers love to shop again.†34 Francis was recruited by Johnson from Target and offered a signing bonus of $12 million  and a total compensation package worth $44.7 million. He was charged with managing the marketing and merchandising efforts. Reactions to â€Å"Fair and Square† Pricing  Industry observers could not contain their strong opinions on the new pricing strategy. Some called the move â€Å"refreshing, daring and probably exactly what the retailer needs,† noting that â€Å"it’s a shocking move for any retailer, let alone a department store where high-low pricing and promotions have long been the norm.†35 But others were far more skeptical. Pricing consultant Rafi Mohammed proclaimed, â€Å"J.C. Penney lacks the differentiation to make this pricing strategy successful. . . . When selling a relatively undifferentiated product, the only lever to generate higher sales is discounts. Even worse, if competitors drop prices on comparable products, J.C. Penney’s hands are tied-it is a sitting duck that can’t respond.†36 Mohammed also noted, â€Å"J.C. Penney’s Every Day prices will not be as low as the biggest discounts that it once offered. Instead, its pitch to customers is why play the â€Å"wait for the rock-bottom price† game when Penney offers â€Å"pretty good† prices every day?†37 Ignoring the skeptics, Johnson was committed to his new pricing plan, rolling it out across all stores on February 1st, after deciding not to conduct market research to test its appeal with customers, â€Å"We debated whether there was a way to test. . . . We would have needed everyone to run the old business model and would have had to add new people to run a test in 10 percent of our stores. . . . We knew the customer would love the new strategy. We decided to get on with our future.†38 Based on his experience at Apple, Johnson also believed that  customers didn’t always know what they wanted; it was up to companies to lead the way, â€Å"You can’t follow the customer. You’ve got to lead your customers—anticipate their needs and meet those needs, even before they know what they want.†39 A lot was riding on the decision. COO Mike Kramer explained, â€Å"We are fundamentally reimagining every aspect of our business and we fully expect the bold and strategic changes we are making to our operations will result in improved profitability. This should enable us to fund the transformation of J.C. Penney’s store experience, while at the same time returning value to shareholders with steady earnings growth.†40 Communicating â€Å"Fair and Square† DeGeneres was featured in a new advertising campaign to usher in the new â€Å"Fair and Square† positioning. Bearing the tagline â€Å"Enough. Is. Enough,† the campaign encouraged consumers to revolt against complex pricing structures, never-ending sales, an overabundance of direct mail circulars and coupons cluttering their mailboxes, and the hassles of returning unwanted products without a receipt. In the ads, DeGeneres travels back in time to ancient Rome, Edwardian England, and the Wild West to learn if today’s confusing price environment was always the norm. She encourages customers to reject the crazy price environment. The creative campaign was witty and contemporary; many found it reminiscent of Target’s award-winning advertising. It was quite a departure from J.C. Penney’s previous campaigns that were more typical of department store messaging. Launched during the Academy Awards broadcast, the ads appeared to be a hit with consumers. Ace Metrix reported that the ads scored well above average on persuasion and watchability metrics and achieved a personal best score for J.C. Penney.41 Initial Results In the first three months following the launch, 67% of products sold at J.C. Penney were purchased at the â€Å"Fair and Square† price, the highest price the retailer listed. Johnson could not hold back his satisfaction, â€Å"This is profound. People are now buying at the first price, [the] right price. That’s the dream of every retailer.†42 However, trouble was looming on the horizon. Through mid-March, mothers, a critically important target market for most department stores, steadily scored J.C. Penney lower on valueperception scores. These women, suddenly not receiving coupons and not seeing the weekly price promotions in the circulars, were downgrading their opinion of whether J.C. Penney offered good value for the money.43 This was despite the fact that J.C. Penney’s prices during the time period were actually quite competitive. A Deutsche Bank analyst report showed that for a random basket of 50 identical items, J.C. Penney was 9% cheaper than Macy’s, and 26% cheaper than Kohl’s. Consumer research firm BIGInsight reported negativity among adults 18+ for whether J.C. Penney’s advertising campaign was â€Å"Hot or Not?† and showed Macy’s gaining ground on J.C. Penney in women’s apparel shopping trips following the launch (See Exhibit 11). Morgan Stanley’s Michelle Clark reported consumer survey results revealing that â€Å"Shoppers think that the J.C. Penney of old actually offered better value than the â€Å"fair and square† model introduced a few months ago. Of the consumers who had been inside a J.C. Penney store since February, more cited higher prices (rather than lower) at the department store. In fact, only 16% of shoppers associated â€Å"Best Prices† with JCP. Furthermore, customers cited that bargains were harder to find and fewer aisles with deals were evident (see Exhibit 12).45 Loyal J.C. Penney customers were moving away from the retailer. One shopper, Wendy Ruud, complained that she was no longer receiving coupons from J.C. Penney and was shopping more frequently at Target and Walmart, â€Å"The closest J.C. Penney is about a half hour away from me. If I don’t get a special  discount, it’s not worth the trip,† she said.46 Another shopper e-mailed the Huffington Post saying, â€Å"They are catering to the younger shopper, and it isn’t the younger shopper that kept them afloat.†47 A third who considered herself â€Å"frumpy and proud,† commented, â€Å"He’s working hard to ‘de-frump’ the store without considering that many if not most of its customers might have shopped there precisely because they like the more conservative frumpy look.† 48 These early indicators played out in J.C. Penney’s first earnings report following the launch of the new plan. Johnson had to announce a significant earnings loss ($163 million) based on plummeting sales revenues (-19% overall, with e-commerce sales dropping 28%), gross margin compression (from 40.5% to 37.6%), and decreasing customer conversion. Johnson asked investors to be patient, calling the first quarter sales drop â€Å"the price we’re paying to get integrity back.†49 He held fast to his convictions, â€Å"We had to make the bold step. It’s one big year we have to go through. It’s really hard but we’ll get through it.†50 Investors showed no patience, sending the company’s stock down 20%, the biggest single day drop in over four decades.51 The critics did not waste time to pile on Johnson. Time columnist Brad Tuttle wrote, JC Penney’s message seems to be one that some shoppers don’t want to hear. They like playing games and hunting for deals, and the markdown from the original price is how they keep score. By eliminating coupons and most â€Å"sales,† JC Penney has been saying it doesn’t want to play games anymore. That sounds wonderful, but among certain shoppers, it’s the equivalent of grabbing the ball and taking it home. No more games, no more fun-and not much reason to visit JC Penney on a regular basis anymore. If, for the most part, a store’s prices are going to remain the same tomorrow, and next week, and the month after that, there’s not much incentive to browse the aisles for special deals today.52 A Forbes columnist concurred, â€Å"By taking away the weekly sales customers loved, Johnson abandoned his core JCP shopping enthusiasts. In effect, signaling to the core JCP enthusiastsshoppers who have sustained J.C. Penney through its years of retail muddling, that they no longer mattered. He confused them, and he pissed them off.†53 The Motley Fool sarcastically  quipped, â€Å"The silver lining in J.C. Penney’s awful report is that Sears [struggling with its own dismal results] has someone it can laugh at now.†54 Macy’s CFO Karen Hoguet was crowing that her company was benefiting from J.C. Penney’s missteps, reporting that sales in Macy’s stores that shared a mall with J.C. Penney were up significantly since the changes.55 And J.C. Penney’s apparel suppliers were becoming anxious, as their sales dropped precipitously, some as much as 70% over the prior year. One prominent supplier indicated that he was increasing his business with Kohl’s to make up for the shortfalls at J.C. Penney.56 These developments were sobering for Johnson yet he remained unfazed, â€Å"It’s been tougher than we anticipated†¦You know, we expected to be down. We are down a little more than we thought, but not enough to change the strategy†¦We’re treating this company as a startup†¦We’re inventing a whole new model to do business†¦It is a one year transition that’s part of a multi-year transformation. But once we get to one year of de-promoting or repurchasing our integrity, I fully expect us to grow. And so we’ve just got to get through that year. And we’ll get through it.†57 Speaking at Fortune magazine’s Brainstorm Tech conference in July, Johnson reiterated his support for the new pricing strategy, claiming that his board was â€Å"totally supportive†. When asked if he had a contingency plan whereby the company would revert back to high/low pricing, Johnson swore it was not in the cards, â€Å"It won’t happen while I’m here because I know it’s not the right thing to do. And I know this is what connects completely with our own unique heritage. And every longstanding company has a DNA in its core that  typically goes back to its founder. And when you reconnect with that, that’s when good things happen. That’s what Wal-Mart has had to do. And it’s really led to great success. That’s what Apple had to do when Steve came back. That’s what we’re going to do.†58 Making Some Adjustments As J.C. Penney management tried to decipher the disappointing results, much of the blame was put on the marketing execution and on customers’ stubborn reliance on price promotions. Mike Kramer, J.C. Penney’s new chief operating officer expressed his frustration, â€Å"Coupons, that drug. We did not realize how deep some of our customers were into this. . . . We have got to wean them off this and educate our consumers.†59 Johnson blamed the marketing execution, claiming that it failed to clearly communicate the new pricing strategy, â€Å"Our execution wasn’t what we needed. Our pricing is kind of confusing. Our marketing kind of overreached [Now] the most important thing is to educate consumers on the price changes and make sure the core customer understands J.C. Penney still has products they love, at exceptional value, every day.†60 Francis took the fall for the poor earnings, abruptly leaving the company a mere eight months after he started as pr esident. Following Francis’ departure, Johnson took responsibility for marketing and merchandising, believing that customers just didn’t understand the story behind â€Å"Fair and Square.† He tweaked the marketing plan, adding five additional â€Å"Best Price Fridays† to the calendar, including the important Fridays anchoring Memorial Day Weekend and Black Friday. The advertising creative was changed to incorporate a harder-hitting â€Å"Do the Math† positioning (See Exhibit 13 for an example). In June, J.C. Penney reintroduced the â€Å"S† word â€Å"sale† into its advertising to help clarify that its Best Price Friday deals actually extended through the weekend until all inventory was sold. Under pressure, Johnson speculated what his old mentor, Steve Jobs, who passed away in October 2011, would have advised, â€Å"I think Steve’s advice would be don’t worry about what others say. Trust your instincts. Do the right thing†¦Stay the course. But he would also say the essence is in the simplicity. And so he would have liked where we are going on pricing, but he would have said ‘You’ve got to clean it up. You’ve got to be more direct’.†61 Johnson buckled down, â€Å"What you can’t do is chicken out.  If you had looked at the data on the Genius Bar after a year and a half, we should have taken it out of the store. But it was something I believed in with every bone in my body.†62 He continued, â€Å"The world moves by innovators and innovators have to have the courage to imagine something that hasn’t been done before and the conviction to see it through†¦It is really hard. It takes a lot of courage. You’ve got to be able to have a few arrows shot in your back.