What Is Mento Essay Example for Free

What Is Mento Essay Mento is a distinct style of Jamaican music that emerged in the early 1900s and is not to be confused with Jamaican calypso. Mento, much like other Caribbean folk music, is a blending of African rhythms, Latin rhythms, and Anglo folksongs. Mento draws its traditions from African slaves brought to Jamaica and some European folk culture. Slaves were sometimes made to play music, singing European folk songs which largely influenced the development of Mento. Inevitably, the slaves would infuse their own traditions with the music and it became common practice to sing Mento songs about social lives of the people. In Jamaica, Mento is sometimes referred to as country music, because of it light hearted and simplistic lyrics as well as the omitting of electric instruments. A Mento band typically consists of a banjo, an acoustic guitar, hand drums and rumba box and is characterized by a 3:3:2 rhythms with an emphasis on the fourth beat in each bar. Mento came to real prominence in the 1940s and 1950s before being displaced by ska, rock steady and reggae. It wasnt until the early 1950s that true Mento recordings first began to appear on 78 RPM discs. This decade was mento’s golden age, as a variety of artists recorded Mento songs in an assortment of rhythms and styles. It was the peak of mentos creativity and popularity in Jamaica and the birth of Jamaicas recording industry. These recordings reveal Mento to be a diverse musical genre, sometimes played with reckless abandon and other times with orderly precision. In addition to mentos African and European roots, by this time, it had also encompassed pan-Caribbean influences, as well as from American jazz. Although it was informed by a world of music, mento is clearly, uniquely Jamaican. And as Jamaicas original music, all other Jamaican music can trace its roots to mento . Mento is still listened to in Jamaica today, but mostly be heard in tourist destinations. Early recordings of traditional mento are difficult to find. Some early mento practioners were Slim and Slam, Count Lasher and Everard Williams.

Analysis Of Britannia Industries Limited Marketing Essay

Analysis Of Britannia Industries Limited Marketing Essay An Analysis On The External Factors Affecting The Company And The Role And Importance Of Stakeholders Britannia Industries Limited (BIL), formerly known as Britannia, was established in the year 1892. Britannias business was flourishing. In 1910, Britannia mechanized its operations, and in 1921, it became the first company east of the Suez Canal to use gas ovens. In 1979 it was renamed to Britannia Industries Limited, with an Indian shareholding of more than 60%. After few years, in 1997, Britannia made its debut in the dairy products market. Britannia is not only known for the quality of its products but also for the innovative approach towards them and the marketing. In 2002, Britannias New Business Division formed a joint venture with Fonterra, the worlds second largest Dairy Company, and Britannia New Zealand Foods Pvt. Ltd. was born. Britannia was rated One amongst the Top 200 Small Companies in the World (200 Companies for 2002 (2002) Forbes.com) and was awarded The Economic Times as The Second Most Indias Trusted Brands (Dettol is most trusted brand (2002) The Times of India ). Britannias market is not only limited to India but also extends to few countries in Middle East, Seychelles, Singapore, Ghana and USA. Today, the company is operations extend from manufacturing bakery products like biscuits and breads to the production of dairy products like cheese and butter. Aim of the Report To analyse the macro and micro external environment with the help of tools like PESTEL and Porters Five Forces respectively. To role of stakeholders and the importance of stakeholders in influencing the strategies with reference to Corporate Social Responsibilities. Macro External Environment Analysis Macro external environment here includes the factors such as issues related to politics, economical reforms and achievements, social behaviour, technological enhancements and inventions, environmental changes and environmental concerns and legislation and legislative changes. All these factors bear a significant effect on any industry and business. A business has take into consideration all such effects and then formulate its strategies and policies to work along with them and prosper. PESTEL analysis tool helps in determining the effect of all such factors on an industry and businesses. With the help of PESTEL analysis we will be seeing the affects of such factors on Indian Bakery and Dairy Industry. PESTEL analysis is a technique for identifying and listing the political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal factors in the general environment most relevant to an organisation. (Boddy, D (2005). Management An Intoduction. 3rd ed. UK: Pearson Education. 88.) Type of Factors Effecting Factors Political Economical Social Technological Environmental Exemption on Customs on Sugar Raw Material Import Shortage of Milk Need for Healthy Eating Habits Cloning of Livestock Change in the Climatic Conditions VAT on Biscuits Rise in Sugar Production and Duty Free Sugar Imports Problems with Cloned Livestock New Age Packaging Removal of Import Duty on Dairy Products Globalization Incentives to Build Cold Storage Facilities Requirement for Logistics Political Exemption on Customs Duty on Sugar Raw Material Import Due to the shortage in the production of sugar the deadline for the exemption on customs duty on raw sugar imports has been extended by the government to April 1, 2011 (Dey, A Jha, Dilip K (2010) Duty-free sugar imports extended till April 2011, Business Standard). Since sugar is a major input in the bakery, the price of sugar highly influences the price of inputs of the bakery industry. Exemption on customs duty will help in purchasing sugar at lower cost, which in turn will control the cost of production. VAT on Biscuits The VAT of 12.5% on Biscuits, being the only processed food item to attract such high VAT rates, will affect the pricing of the product (Bhushan, R (2009) Biscuit prices to rise by 10%, The Economic Times). Price of the biscuits might need to be increased due to the high VAT rates which may result in switch of brands due to the highly competitive market. Removal of Import Duty on Dairy Products The whole-sale price based inflation indicates that the milk prices have moved up by 14.73% over the last year. Worried about the rising prices government announced the removal of duty on Skimmed Milk Powder (SMP) and other dairy products (Govt removes import duty on dairy products (2010), Business Standard). The imports at cheaper rate would help in reduce the cost factor for dairy products. Incentives to Build Cold Storage Facilities Wastage of food items due to lack of cold storage facilities lead to a loss of Rs. 500 billion every year. The government announces schemes and incentives to attract investments in cold storage warehousing (Union Budget 2010: Cold-storage incentives to attract fresh funds (2010), The Economic Times). Increase in the number of cold storage facilities would help in preserving products better and reduce the wastage cost. Economical Shortage of Milk Even though the milk production has risen by 4.6% compound annual average growth rate, it still cannot match up with the increasing demand. The demand for milk has been growing at a faster rate than the growth rate of milk production resulting in the shortage of milk supply (Milk output would stagnate (2010) The Economic Times).   India cannot meet its expected demand if the demand and supply rise at the same rate. For the same the reason, the milk prices are on a constant rise. Price of milk increased by 12.6% to 13.6% (Goyal, K (2010) Indias Food-Price Inflation Holds Near 11-Year High- Business Week). This can cause an increase in the input cost for the dairy products and which in turn can lead to hike in price or lower profit margins. If the company increases the price of its products, it may affect the sales as it might lose on consumers. Rise in Sugar Production and Duty Free Sugar Imports The total sugar production in the first six months ending September 2010 is expected to be 22% more than the output in the unchanged phase last season, the total production expected is at 16.7 million (Press Trust India (PTI) (2010) Sugar output rises 22% in first half of 2009-10, Business Standard). Due to the shortage in the production of sugar the deadline for the exemption on customs duty on raw sugar imports has been extended by the government to April 1, 2011 (Dey, A Jha, Dilip K (2010) Duty-free sugar imports extended till April 2011, Business Standard). The increase in sugar production and the duty exemption on raw sugar can help in purchasing sugar at lower prices and this in turn can help in producing goods at lower prices. Globalization Globalization a universal phenomenon is affecting each and every industry. The world is coming closer, the communication gap is closing and the businesses are going global. This can serve as an opportunity to expand the business to a global level but on the other hand there is a threat of new entrants from international market. Requirements for Logistics Logistics in India suffer due to the poor infrastructure and other limitations. There is a high demand for sophisticated third party logistics so the domestic logistics service providers are trying to improve their service. International participation is also expected in the logistics industry (Pandey, S Basu, A (2010) Logistics cos ramp up supply chain to meet rising demand, The Economic Times). Sophiscticated logistics system will help in proper supply chain management and on time delivery of goods, which help in maintaining the shelf life of goods on meeting the demand on time. Social Need for Healthy Eating Habits Studies say that Indians are more prone to Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), which is the major independent risk factor causing Cardiovascular diseases, due to the smaller calibred arteries found in Indians (Isalkar, U (2009) Indians more prone to heart disease, The Times of India). This suggests that Indians should move towards more healthy food and diet. This could be a new area to explore for Britannia with its new health associated products like Nuti-Choice biscuits and Actimind flavoured milk. Problems with Cloned Livestock Cloned animals are supposed to be suffering from large-offspring syndrome. The mother cows face a problem in giving birth to the cloned animals as they are larger than normal. Also these cloned animals suffer from health issues (Gogoi, P (2007) The case against cloning, BusinessWeek). It is morally wrong to clone animals as they cause problems to the mother during the birth and moreover the cloned livestock suffer from health issues which might make unsafe to consume the produce from them. Technological Cloning of Livestock India, a late entrant in cloning research, is now moving with a great pace in cloning technology. Hand guided cloning technique, a technique very different from the conservative cloning practice has been a successful venture (Mahalakshmi, BV Chowdhary, S (2009) Cloning Glory, The Financial Express). New Age Packaging The new packaging systems help in protecting food from micro-organisms by creating shelter layer. It uses new technologies like oxygen scavenging function, atmosphere control, biodegrability etc. and is low cost (Han, J Packaging Innovations, Bakers Journal). The packaging technology helps in preserving food for longer by protecting them from micro-organisms with the help of new technologies, thus resulting in longer shelf life of the food. The advantage of low cost packing and longer shelf life could be very beneficial for the company in increasing its profit margin. Environmental Change in the Climatic Conditions Climate plays an important role in the agriculture process. The change in the rainfall pattern has been a matter of concern now in India. The agriculture sector in areas which are monsoon dependent suffered badly due to the change in the rainfall pattern. The sector suffered a huge loss in terms of total output (Bhosale, J (2009) Farmers worried over climate disturbances, The Economic Times). The loss in crop will affect the input supply and this might delay or cause problems in the production. So the industry might not be able to meet the demands resulting in the loss of customers. Legal Raising the Norms for the Probiotic Food There is a need for setting the standards for probiotic food. Clinical tests should be conducted on the probiotic foods before they could reach the market for sale. The Indian Council of Medical and Research has submitted the proposal for the same to the government (Das, S (2009) Probiotic food likely to come under clinical trial ambit, The Financial Express).  Strict norms will help in raising the quality standards but on the other hand the cost and time of production might subsequently increase. Micro External Environment Analysis Factors that influence the micro external environment are Competitor Rivalry, Threat of New Entrants, Threat of Substitutes, Buyers Power and Suppliers Power. These factors play a vital role in determining the current situation of the business and to plan strategies accordingly. With the help Porters Five Forces we will be analysing these factors and their immediate effect on the company. Five forces analysis is a technique for identifying and listing those aspects of the five forces most relevant to the profitability of an organisation at that time. (Boddy, D (2005). Management An Intoduction. 3rd ed. UK: Pearson Education. 83.) Competitor Rivalry: BIL has a market share of 38% and has been growing at 27%, compared to the industry growth rate of 20% (Saxena, R (2007) Battle-scarred Britannia on expansion spree, Business Standard) and has many competitors based on the nature of product. Parle and ITC (Sunfeast) pose a great competition to BIL (Biscuit Industry: India (2010), Market Research India). BIL earning major of its income from the biscuits (Britannia Annual Report 2007-08 (2008)), and Parle and ITC are the other major players in biscuit market. BIL is also into the production of dairy products, where the two major players in market are Amul and Nestle. Amul is the leader in the dairy industry. There is also a high level of competition from the unorganised baking sector. Overall rivalry is high. Threat of New Entrants: The entry on a small scale dairy industry and in the unorganised baking sector is easy. But on the other hand to enter the large scale dairy industry and organised baking sector a huge amount of investment is required in terms acquiring assets and to establish supply and distribution chains. Government regulations pertaining to food norms and others may also seem to be unattractive. Looking at the latest trends, the bakery industry is expected to earn huge revenues which might attract new entrants (Vijay, N (2008) Indian Bakery sector foresees high growth and increasing interest in product offering, FnBNews.com). So the threat of new entrants is moderate. Threat of Substitutes: Savoury snacks, crisps, cereals, fruits and other fast food can be substituted for biscuits. Dairy products are dubious to be replacing with other products as they key ingredients of majority of peoples diet. So the threat is a very moderate threat of substitutes. Buyers Power: The buyers of these products could be a retailer or the consumer. Both the dairy and bakery industry are price sensitive, so a little increase in price might lead the consumer to shift other brand or product. So the buyers power is calculated to be very strong. Suppliers Power: The major supplies for a bakery industry include wheat, sugar and other agriculture products. And the major supplies for dairy products are milk. Its difficult to bargain with the suppliers of the above mentioned inputs as the price of these inputs is majorly influenced by the production of these inputs. The prices tend to be high as the demand for these products is rising at much faster rate than supply. The secondary supplies include the packaging material. The secondary supplies can be easily substituted with the low-cost ones to save on cost. Overall the suppliers power is assessed to be moderate. Conclusion of Five Forces Analysis: There is an existence of major players in the market with a moderate level of threat of new entrants and substitutes. The suppliers power is moderate but the buyers power is measured to be strong. So the rivalry is suggested to be high. Stakeholders and Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) Freedman (1984) defines a stakeholder as any individual or group who can affect, or is affected by, the achievement of the organisations objectives. Further in addition to that, Clarkson (1995), stated that the government and the other communities that effect the working of the business and the market also form as a part of stakeholders. Stakeholders, except the employees, have a high power over the strategic change ideas (Hayes, J (2007). The Theory and Practice of Change Management. 2nd ed. UK: Palgrave Macmillan. 153). Internal Stakeholders The internal stakeholders are the ones associated with the company internally. For BIL its internal stakeholders would be: The Shareholders The Board of Directors, and The Employees Currently, nearly 51% of shares are held by Corporate Bodies and the rest 49% is held by the public (Statement showing shareholding pattern (2009), Britannia Industries Limited). The board consists of 11 members (Company Overview, Britannia Industries Limited) and employees nearly 2000 people (Britannia Industries Ltd. Overview, MarketLine). External Stakeholders The external stakeholders are the ones who are not immediately associated with company but influence the decision making of the company. To BIL the external stakeholders are as follows: Customers Suppliers Contractors Government Regulatory Agenices (like Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, etc.), and Society Britannia being the leader in the baker industry of India has a huge amount of customers to cater. Britannia has to keep up the tastes and quality preferences of its customers. The government plays an important in influencing the market by creating and changing the policies. BIL has to adhere to the rules and regulations formulated by the regulatory agencies. The suppliers and contractors form an important part of a business. Britannia completely relies on its suppliers and contractors for its raw materials. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) For years corporate entities followed the practice of providing goods and services and maximizing wealth. But the trends have changed over the period of years. The companies are now expected to be more socially responsible. The company now has to be responsible to the stakeholders, society and environment. They are expected to pay back to the environment and society for all the affects that are caused due to its operations (Idowu, S Filho, W (2009) Global Practices of Corporate Social Responsibility. Berlin: Springer. 1-2). BIL believes in working with the society and the culture. It gives a premier importance to the nation and its policies. It believes in being a good corporate citizen by not just adhering to the rules and regulations but also by helping the community to improve the quality of life. BIL involves itself in initiating and providing support to community health and family welfare, water management, vocational training, educating people and encouraging the application of modern techniques and technologies. BIL believes in ethical behaviour (Code of Conduct, Britannia Industries Limited). BIL is taking steps toward conserving the environment by employing new process and upgrading the technology. It is trying to reduce its carbon footprints by recycling the waste heat. It has now filed for carbon reduction benefits (Britannia Annual Report 2007-08 (2008)). BIL has taken steps towards helping the society by joining the nutrition program with Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and the Nandi Foundation. Along with these organisations BIL will is providing mid-day meals in schools and provide nutrition to the deprived (Britannia Annual Report 2007-08 (2008)).

Hacking :: Hackers Computers Technology Safety Essays

Hacking Contents ~~~~~~~~ This file will be divided into four parts: Part 1: What is Hacking, A Hacker's Code of Ethics, Basic Hacking Safety Part 2: Packet Switching Networks: Telenet- How it Works, How to Use it, Outdials, Network Servers, Private PADs Part 3: Identifying a Computer, How to Hack In, Operating System Defaults Part 4: Conclusion- Final Thoughts, Books to Read, Boards to Call, Acknowledgements Part One: The Basics ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As long as there have been computers, there have been hackers. In the 50's at the Massachusets Institute of Technology (MIT), students devoted much time and energy to ingenious exploration of the computers. Rules and the law were disregarded in their pursuit for the 'hack'. Just as they were enthralled with their pursuit of information, so are we. The thrill of the hack is not in breaking the law, it's in the pursuit and capture of knowledge. To this end, let me contribute my suggestions for guidelines to follow to ensure that not only you stay out of trouble, but you pursue your craft without damaging the computers you hack into or the companies who own them. I. Do not intentionally damage *any* system. II. Do not alter any system files other than ones needed to ensure your escape from detection and your future access (Trojan Horses, Altering Logs, and the like are all necessary to your survival for as long as possible.) III. Do not leave your (or anyone else's) real name, real handle, or real phone number on any system that you access illegally. They *can* and will track you down from your handle! IV. Be careful who you share information with. Feds are getting trickier. Generally, if you don't know their voice phone number, name, and occupation or haven't spoken with them voice on non-info trading conversations, be wary. V. Do not leave your real phone number to anyone you don't know. This includes logging on boards, no matter how k-rad they seem. If you don't know the sysop, leave a note telling some trustworthy people that will validate you. VI. Do not hack government computers. Yes, there are government systems that are safe to hack, but they are few and far between. And the government has inifitely more time and resources to track you down than a company who has to make a profit and justify expenses. VII. Don't use codes unless there is *NO* way around it (you don't have a local telenet or tymnet outdial and can't connect to anything 800...) You use codes long enough, you will get caught. Period. VIII. Don't be afraid to be paranoid. Remember, you *are* breaking the law.

The social and political context of the 1950?s is crucial to any unders

The social and political context of the 1950’s is crucial to any understanding of the birth of rock n roll. â€Å"Rock was formed out of the social, economic and political context of post-war America†. The social context was on the bases of the post war baby boom, which counted for the birth of 77 million babies between the years 1946-1964. By the year 1964 forty percent of America’s population was under twenty years of age. For the first time both middle and working class youths were acquiring an affluent lifestyle. Disposable income came from part-time work and pocket money, which gave youths some form of spending power, which gave them a sense of independence. This mind you were what Wicke’s point out was due to America’s economic growth and capitalism, which was reinstated in the country. The American governments distrust in politicians as well as other members in different institutions led to the investigation of numerous people and the need for government employees to sign loyalty oaths. America became obsessed with the need to conform in social behaviour, so much so that youths were placed under immense pressure to understand the important value of the American way of life, which was to do well at school. This message was deployed through the bombardment of propaganda campaigns. It was this notion of importance on school that sociologist Coleman describes as being the reason for the segregation of youths from the rest of society by forming a new culture ‘teenagers’ a gr...

Xerox and IT Management :: essays research papers

Xerox is one of the largest companies in the document processing products and services industry. Xerox held a virtual monopoly in the plain-paper copier market until the Federal Trade Commission intervened. In 1975 Xerox was forced to forfeit patent protection and had to license to competitors. Xerox’s markets share dipped from 80% in 1976 to 13% in 1982. In order to become more competitive, Xerox began to use benchmarking, Leadership through Quality and employee involvement initiatives. These initiatives helped grow Xerox’s market share back to 18% in the low end copier business and 35% in the mid-to-high end. Despite the improvements in market share the financial performance of the company declined. Therefore in 1992 a major reorganization was planned, Xerox would change from a geographic organization to a market segment organization. Xerox corporate information management (CIM) unit was established in the early 1970s. In 1987, CIM was moved to the General Services Division and was given the task to â€Å"Provide the overall information technology leadership to the company.† The leader of the CIM group quickly realized the task was not possible without significant organizational change. After bringing in consultants to review the Information Management at Xerox, the director of CIM realized the Xerox IM infrastructure could not support the company’s strategic direction. To address the IM problems, CIM started a new initiative, â€Å"IM 2000†. The goal of IM 2000 was to move Xerox to a new information systems infrastructure. The problems found with Information Management at Xerox †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Aging application portfolio built on proprietary technologies †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Large cost associated with keeping legacy system running †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Duplicate work caused by corporate culture – autonomy The IM 2000 design team recommended the following four strategies 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Reduce/Redirect   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Reduce overall costs by reining in the expense of legacy system. Use savings to fund new applications and infrastructure. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Infrastructure Management   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Move to a industry standard infrastructure that would be managed centrally – a client server environment. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Leverage worldwide IM resources   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Create library of shareable core modules. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Business process-driven solutions   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The current legacy system was to be replaced by solutions supporting new Xerox business process. Xerox’s earlier quality initiatives had created a corporate culture used to having a partner relationship with suppliers. Because of this, management suggested IM should look at outsourcing as an alternative. Typical Reasons for Outsourcing †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Concerns about Cost and Quality o  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Vendors save money by   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Running much leaner overhead structures than their customers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  More aggressive use of low cost labor pools (India)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Staff must keep up to date on newest IT practices   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Purchasing Power   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  More efficient use of capacity