Mongolia Essays - Communism In Mongolia, Inner Asia, Mongolia

Mongolia (Mongol Ard, Uls) Mongolia (Mongol Ard, Uls), landlocked nation in central Asia lying between China and the USSR. A vast plateau with extensive grasslands embraces the heartland of the country; part of the Gobi Desert occupies the S. An agricultural economy relies primarily on herd animals with more than 80% of the total land area devoted to pastureland. Herdsmen make up the majority of the labor force and have been organized into collectives. Crops are grown on large-scale state farms. More than 90% of the people are indigenous Mongolians; 75% Khalkha Mongols. The church was suppressed in the 1930s; at that time Tibetan Buddhist Lamaism was predominant. Only one active monastery remains. Governmental power is vested in the People's Great Khural of Deputies, elected every three years by universal suffrage. From this body is chosen a nine-member Presidium to exercise state affairs. Under Genghis Khan in the 13th century, Mongolia conquered most of Asia and much of Europe. In the 14th century the empire collapsed and came under Chinese rule. During the 1911 Chinese Revolution, Mongolia, with Russian backing, declared its independence; a republic was formed in 1924. Officially recognized by China in 1946, Mongolia became a member of the United Nations in 1961. In 1966 a Mongolian-Soviet assistance pact reinforced their anti-Chinese position. Since then Mongolia has developed closer ties with the USSR; relations with China have been strained, resulting in sporadic border incidents. Yumzhagiyen Tsedenbal was first secretary and chairman of the Presidium from 1974 until 1984, when he was replaced for reasons of ill health by Zhambyn Batmunkh. PROFILE Official name: Mongolian People's Republic Area: 604,247sq mi (1,565,000sq km) Population: 2,125,463 Density: 3.5per sq mi (1.4per sq km) Chief cities: Ulan Bator, capital; Darhan; Choybalsan Government: People's Republic Language: Khalkha Mongolian (official) Monetary unit: Tugrik Gross domestic product: $1,700,000,000 Per capita income: $880 Agriculture (major products): livestock Minerals (major): coal, tungsten, copper, gold, tin, molybdenum Trading partners (major): COMECON member countries

College Research Paper Topics

College Research Paper Topics College Research Paper Topics Choosing a college research paper topic can become a great challenge for any student being assigned that kind of project. Unlike with other written tasks the problem with research paper is entirely discovered from its notion. The topic of the research paper is totally dependent on the actual research you have to conduct. With this respect the choice turns to be very limited since students appear not to be fully facilitated to hold any research they might want, therefore they have to go along with what they can do instead of taking the topic they like. It is a quite unpleasant fact because to achieve good results and discover the knowledge a person writing a paper should be interested in the study and investigation. It brings us to the idea that college research paper topics should not only be interested to the reader or professor but also the student who is doing the research. Nevertheless, there exist positive sides of the case. For instance let us take a look at the notion of research itself. There are several types of research that can be applied to one and the same material to get the necessary result. All of them have their own specifications that can open you the space to compose a great research paper topic based on research aspects. Moreover, let us not forget that the study and investigation and you conduct can have a practical or purely theoretical aim which can deviate the topic depending on the outcome. However hard it can be for the students to generate that one idea that will give a great start for a college research paper they should always remember that it all comes with experience. The more you write the better your college research paper topics will be. is committed to provide students with qualitative custom college research papers on any topics and subjects.

Assessing Factors Of National Security

Assessing Factors Of National Security Disclaimer: This work has been submitted by a student. This is not an example of the work produced by our Law Essay Writing Service . You can view samples of our professional work here . Assessing Factors Of National Security National security is the necessity to maintain the endurance of the state through the use of political power, the exercise of diplomacy, economic and military. The idea developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II. Originally focusing on military might encompasses a broad range of facets all of which impose on the military or economic security of the nation and the values espoused by the national society. Therefore, in order to possess national security, a nation needs to possess environmental security, economic security and energy security etc. Security threats involve not only conventional foes such as other nation-states but also non-state actors such as violent non-state actors, narcotic cartels, multinational corporations and non-governmental organisations; some authorities include natural disasters and events causing severe environmental damage in this category. Measures taken to ensure national security include: us ing diplomacy to rally allies and isolate threats marshalling economic power to facilitate or compel cooperation maintaining effective armed forces implementing civil defense and emergency preparedness measures (including anti-terrorism legislation) ensuring the resilience and redundancy of critical infrastructure using intelligence services to detect and defeat or avoid threats and espionage, and to protect classified information using counterintelligence services or secret police to protect the nation from internal threats Slide 4 – Who defines national security? State/Government/group of elites determines the main objectives of security based on the nation’s sovereignty, integrity of the state and economic prosperity. As the source of political authority, the government defines security, and this definition generally encompasses the broader spectrum of values held dear by the majority. â€Å"Since the future racial peace in this country depends on how well the gove rnment handles the sensitive issues, it is suggested that the NSC shall be the body to look into the matter†. Slide 5 – Scope Slide 6 – Factors Of National Security Slide 7 – Economy Historically, conquest of nations have made conquerors rich through plunder, access to new resources and enlarged trade through controlling of the conquered nations’ economy. In today’s complex system of international trade, ‘ by multi-national agreements, mutual inter-dependence and availability of natural resources etc., the freedom to follow choice of policies to develop a nation’s economy in the manner desired, forms the essence of economic security. Economic security today forms, arguably, as important a part of national security as military security. Slide 8 – Military This is traditionally, the earliest recognised form of national security. Military security implies the capability of a nation to defend itself, and/or deter military aggr ession. Alternatively, military security implies the capability of a nation to enforce its policy choices by use of military force. The term â€Å"military security† is considered synonymous with â€Å"security† in much of its usage. One of the definitions of security given in the Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, may be considered a definition of â€Å"military securityâ€Å": A condition that results from the establishment and maintenance of protective measures that ensure a state of inviolability from hostile acts or influences. Slide 9 – Politic The political aspect of security has been offered by Barry Buzan, Ole Wà ¦ver, Jaap de Wilde as an important component of national security. Political security is about the stability of the social order. Closely allied to military security and societal security, other components proposed in a framework for national security in their book â€Å"Security: a new framework for analysis†, it specifica lly addresses threats to sovereignty. System referent objects are defined, such as nation-states, nations, transnational groups of political importance including tribes, minorities, some religious organisations, systems of states such as the European Union and the United Nations, besides others. Diplomacy, negotiation and other interactions form the means of interacion between the objects.

Construction Safety Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Construction Safety - Coursework Example OSHA guidelines in many states act as mere guidelines and not the law as construction accidents increase as time goes by. This has caused many states e.g. Massachusetts and Connecticut to have in place stricter guidelines that highly follow OSHA rules or supersede them. Furthermore, these states ensure that the OSHA rules are followed to the letter e.g. the 10 hr-OSHA training (Ireland, 2006). As it has been seen trenching is an area that requires huge attention as fatalities and injuries are alarmingly high. Trenching has many regulations as to safety of the workers but they are hardly followed by construction firms. The case of Robert Harrell in Texas and Martin Samaniego in California are a clear proof of how neglected OSHA guidelines are. Investigations to these cases revealed that little had been done to protect these excavators from caving in or collapsing of the trenches they were working in. These are just but two fatality cases in two dozens reported yearly in the United States. Of importance to note is that more than 1000 cases of collapsed trenches are reported annually with non-fatal injuries (Ireland, 2006). The biggest issue that concerns safety in trench-related constructions is lack of enforcement of laid down regulations or guidelines. It is sad to note that in 2004 inspections in such sites by OSHA officials proved this fact. Around 90 percent of the inspected trench sites had no protective systems in place exposing the workers to immense danger of fatalities or injuries in case of cave-ins or collapse (Ireland, 2006). The remedial action that has been in force for quite a long time is the fining system. This shows that this system has faults or loopholes that are being taken advantage of by the contractors. For this reason some firms e.g. Morrilton and Koontz Electric Co. are known to disregard OSHA rules and enforce stiffer ones in their constructions (Ireland, 2006). Although sloping,

Mormonism in Tony Kushner's play Angels in America Research Paper

Mormonism in Tony Kushner's play Angels in America - Research Paper Example The relationships between Louis and Joe are in focus while talking on the contradiction between Judaism referring to Louis and Mormonism relevant to Joe. There is something more interesting in the play which designates the place of Mormon religion. Tony Kushner was accurate in choosing these two religions reflected on the reactions by two characters in the play. The question is that the religion of Jews is among the oldest on earth whereas Mormonism was created and established by Joseph Smith at the early ages of the American sovereignty. This is why it is a so-called controversy between the tradition and an isolated devotion toward something new. That is to say, homosexuality is opposed to the mainstream ideas. It is well illustrated on how Louis reacts on Joe’s confession in that he is a Mormon: â€Å"I cannot believe I have spent a month in bed with a Mormon† (Kushner 201). This is where the conflict starts and where it has all chances to progress in the future. A gr eat contribution by Kushner is that he once had realized the potential of the contemporary social issues and concerns. Then he incorporated them into the realistic and unique talk on the problem through the art of drama, as the â€Å"lines between gay and straight become very blurred† as of today (Meyer 1249). Thus, the way in which the play signifies the lives of two couples and how they interact is all about the realistic picture of people’s anxiety in their search for real identity. It is well supported by the idea of being gay among cruel individuals around. Back to Mormonism, it is necessary to note that it has less popularity among the privileged Catholic and Protestant churches in America. This is why there is a straight-forward connection to how the society perceives the idea of close relationships between two men especially when one of them abandons his wife for a new male-partner who, in turn, abandons his boyfriend for the sake of such union. Thus, in its se paration from the larger society, Mormon religion is symbolically set by Tony Kushner so as to lay emphasis on its American decent notwithstanding less popularity. It is the same for homosexuals. Along with their sexual prerogatives, homosexuals are not void of the rights and freedoms once proclaimed by the Founding Fathers which follow the genuine standards of a democratic society. Furthermore, Kushner masterly embodies the â€Å"national themes† with the idea of status, race, gender, sexuality, and political affiliation of the characters. Once again, Mormon religion is set to demonstrate why people become closeted or latent in their likes and priorities in life. Joe tried to find out a good moment to confess before Louis, but it was in vain, as the national stereotypes seem bigger in minds of individuals, even though they are of minor sexuality. The liberated gay movement got through the tremendous change due to the advent of AIDS and them to be automatically listed in the risk group (Longolius 3). It is another motive to speculate on why gay relationships suffer. Louis would never abandon Prior, if everything went great. Judging from Louis’s impulsive state of mind, religious preferences of Joe, as a

Political Elite Revised Essay Example for Free

Political Elite Revised Essay Do you want to belong to the elite? Or do you sometimes feel that, in a way, you belong to the elite? Without its political meaning, the elite simply refer to a group that possesses superior qualities than the rest. It is the â€Å"cream of the crop†. In one way or another, some of us may have already experienced belonging to the elite, such as when we became part of an important club in school or belonged to the top of the class. In the book Concept and Issues in Comparative Politics, Frank Wilson explained that when applied to politics, the term elite acquires a negative connotation to mean a â€Å"small group who conspire to monopolize power and use it for their benefit†. However, without this political meaning, term elite refers to those who are active in political processes. Thus, Wilson stresses that not only the politicians belong to the elite, but also the opinion leaders and influence wielders and the senior civil servants. While politicians seek and hold elective or appointed government positions, influential figures participate in the process by shaping the ideas and preferences of others. This makes the media and business group as parts of the political elite. Bureaucrats or senior civil servants are also one of the components of the elite because they are involved in the policy- and decision-making processes in the government. Can a person enter the circle of the elite by moving his or her way up in the bureaucracy? Yes, if the person’s career achievements merit him or her to be recruited into the elite. Basically Wilson suggests two ways of recruitment to the elite: by achievement and by ascription. Recruitment by achievement does not only refer to technical skills, but also pertains to interpersonal, leadership or money-making skills. This is in stark contrast with the ascriptive mode of recruitment wherein a person automatically becomes a member of the elite because he or she was â€Å"born with silver spoon in the mouth,† so to speak. Also, Wilson points out that recruitment by achievement is characteristic of developed political systems, while recruitment by ascription is more common in traditional societies. However, it is not uncommon to find elites by birth who also developed the necessary skills to lead by achievement. For example, George W. Bush did not become the US President simply because he is the son of George H. W. Bush; but his first-hand observation of his father’s former job, the Bush’s network of influence, and the name recall surely helped in his campaign. Wilson also classifies elites into open and closed elites. The US is considered as one of the most open political recruitment processes because of the system of primary elections. One does not have to be a dedicated party worker to get nominated and eventually elected. According to Wilson, it also explains why movie stars could become elected officials, as well. Most democratic societies have open elites hence outsiders have multiple opportunities to enter the elite circle; but there are also democratic societies which require aspiring politicians to serve apprenticeships in local or party politics. This is to prevent just anybody, especially those who are only famous, to get elected without any political experience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On the other hand, closed elites are characteristic of authoritarian regimes wherein membership to the elite is controlled. In practice, however, there are also democratic regimes which also have closed elites, in a sense that ruling elites may hinder other members of the society from obtaining enough political leverage to become one of the political elite. For instance, I want to get in the elite circle because I have sufficient background, knowledge and skills to become a leader, but the circle is controlled and very elitist (snobbish). Do I have other options if I do not get recruited through achievement? Yes, by ascription such as by marrying a member of the elite, as Wilson stresses, or stage a revolt or a coup d’etat to overthrow the ruling elite.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nevertheless, violent successions of the elites usually happen when there is no predictability or long-established rules in the change of leadership. In most advanced political systems, there are approved procedures in the transition and legitimation of leadership that would render the blood spill unnecessary. However, even if Wilson contends that unpredictable successions are common to authoritarian regimes and third world countries, he also cites examples to the contrary. He takes particular exception to the Party politics in China which has proven that orderly manner of succession is possible, even in an authoritarian system. To add to this example are a number of â€Å"illiberal democracies† in Asia wherein rulers could maintain their hold in power, yet such undemocratic rule were long accepted by the people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Wilson also adds that there are other ways to make the elite’s hold on power legitimate such as tradition, charismatic appeal, accepted rational processes, and more importantly, capability of the political elite to deliver its promises to the people. The capability to perform to improve the welfare of the people could be a more powerful factor for legitimacy than election, and thus could make people’s obedience possible even if the rule is considered undemocratic. However, whether in democratic or authoritarian regimes, any elite that would exercise coercive force to command obedience from the people is bound to fail – and that is when we observe violent or tense transitions of political power.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Still, there is always a certain elite or a small group that would be most directly involved in the political processes. Even erstwhile socialist regimes which claimed to promote equality among the people have been ruled by elites, and have in fact used their position to perpetuate themselves in power. The widely-held notion of democracy is that of a representative democracy. As such, it has been a nagging controversy in the studies of elite that even the most democratic systems are not truly democratic because political leadership is in the hands of a representative elite that would never mirror the general citizenry. Wilson has provided enough empirical evidence that those who usually get recruited into the elite are from the middle and upper classes, educated, from dominant societal groups, and male. Even if the elite would recruit from the ranks of the masses, those who would enter the elite would soon acquire the certain values and perspectives that are characteristic of the elite. Thus they get absorbed into the system – and could not possibly reform the system. As such radicals view that only by changing the system itself, say, by supplanting a genuinely socialist one, that political elitism would end. The above proposition is grounded on the assumption that elitism is bad, as Wilson has scrutinized effectively. Breaking down this assumption brings us to the sub-assumptions that firstly, political elites always rules in its own best interests; and that   secondly, the best political representation of a particular group is made by people who are from that group. Wilson debunks these assumptions for lack of sufficient empirical evidence. In the first instance, political elites ruling only on their interests can always be checked in democratic societies. In democratic systems wherein the succession of political power is determined by elections, the ruling elites would have to bend to the wishes of important portions of the population because they would ultimately need their support come election time. Of course, it is also possible that the political elite sincerely care for the people; that is why we now have welfare states and taxation systems that really hurt the rich and benefit the poor. The argument that one can best represent the interests the group where he or she comes from, at all times, may not always hold true since as Wilson explained in the text, new entrants to the elite may change their values by virtue of their position thus may render them useless in advancing his original group or class. A very concrete example would be the socialist Russian revolution which catapulted the working class into power, which in the long run only became a self-seeking and self-defensive class of its own.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thus Wilson argues that a pluralist democracy, wherein various interests are articulated and political competition prevents domination of political power of a single set of elites, holds the answer to the controversy that bedevils the political elite. As such, the rule of the elites, per se, is not bad – as long as it is in the context of a working pluralist democracy.

Family Albums: A Practical Analysis Essay -- essays research papers

Since their inception in the 1860s, family albums have played an important role as the promoters of familial ideology and treasures of familial memory. ‘Most family photograph albums in containing a great variety of items, both identified and unidentified, from different periods and of varying quality,’ held together by their collective identity with the family (Schoeman, 1996: 8). The function of familial photography is to ‘fix perception and memory, represent a method of preserving memories, document important moments and confirm social relationships and fact of belonging’ (Tobiassen, 1990). When photographs are stored in albums the process ‘resembles the writing of family history’ (Tobiassen, 1990), and are thus a resource constituting an important mnemonic aid in the construction of a family narrative, although Tobiassen omits any thought that the photograph album is probably the closest that most families will ever approach to narrativisin g and transmitting their individual and collective familial experiences for later generations. Early portrait photographers stressed the importance of the photograph as a moral stabilizer for families and the social fabric, "†¦ family photographs sustained sentimental ties in a nation of migrants." (Alan Sekula, 1986) These sentimental ties, especially those produced by viewing photographs of deceased loved ones, enabled families to document their lives as they happened, and to remember those who had predeceased them, thus forming a seemingly cohesive "history" on which to build a nation. Therefore, family photographs can be considered cultural artifacts since they document the events that shape families' lives and so the recording of family history becomes an important endeavor. In many cases, photographs are the only biographical material people leave behind after they die (Boerdam, Martinius, 1980). However, the impact of family photo albums extends beyon d merely recording history. Interpretation of family structures, relationships and self is possible through viewing family photographs. Interpretation of meaning behind photographs assumes that they are a means of communication (Entin, 1979). Much like family storytelling, photographs indicate relationships within and among the family. The family photo album is indeed an easy way to initiate outsiders to family history (Boerdam, Martinius, 1980)... ...separations and sibling rivalries needs to be studied. Historical documents, such as family photographs, can provide essential background information as well as indicate important people and relationships within a story. References Alan Sekula, "The Body and the Archive," 3-64, October, 39, Winter, 1986, p. 8. Boerdam, Jaap and Warna Oosterbaan Martinius. (October, 1980). "Family Photographs - A Sociological Approach," The Netherlands Journal of Sociology, v16, n2, pp. 95-119. Halle, David. (Summer, 1991). "Displaying the Dream: The Visual Presentation of Family and Self in the Modern American Household," Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 22: pp. 217-229. Merz, Caroline. (August, 1988). "Smile, please," New Statesman & Society, v1, n10, p. 42. Tobiassen, Anna Helene (1990) ‘Private Photographic Collections as an Ethnological Source.’ Ethnologia Europaea 20.1. 81-94. Titus, Sandra L. (August, 1976). "Family Photographs and Transition to Parenthood," Journal of Marriage and the Family, 38: 525-530. Trend, David. (February, 1992). "Look who's talking: Narratives of Family Representations," Afterimage, v19, n7, p.8.

Marketing to Generation Y Essay

On May 12, 1999, Matt Diamond, James Johnson and Sam Gradess were visiting San Francisco for a last round of meetings with West Coast investment analysts. They were just days from the initial public offering (IPO) of shares in Alloy.com, the catalog and Internet merchant of teenoriented clothing that they had founded on Diamond’s graduation from Harvard Business School in 1996. Snarled in freeway gridlock, Diamond was on his cellphone discussing the IPO’s pricing with analysts back in New York City. An analyst urged Diamond to respond to an invitation by the world’s largest Website and portal, America Online (AOL), to make Alloy an anchor tenant on its teen shopping site. AOL wanted $2 million per year for the rights. â€Å"Matt, if you say yes, that will be big. If you announce tomorrow that AOL’s partner in the Generation Y market is Alloy, it will put Alloy on the map. It will definitely affect the IPO price.† Diamond sighed. A headline deal with AOL today could be worth perhaps 10% on the stock price. But AOL was asking rich terms. It was widely rumored that AOL preyed on startup companies in the weeks before they went public, tempting them with star billing on its portal at the very moment when the publicity was most valuable. He estimated that he’d be paying a $45 cpm (cost per thousand exposures) to anchor the AOL teen shopping site. Nobody paid more than $30 for Web eyeballs. In the three years that he had been running Alloy, Diamond had prided himself on doing deals that made sense. If he could not anticipate a profit to Alloy from a promotional deal, he reasoned that Wall Street would not anticipate a profit either. â€Å"It won’t pay out,† he told the analyst firmly. â€Å"We only do deals that produce value.† To his colleagues in the limousine, he wondered out loud, â€Å"Am I right?† Professor John Deighton and Visiting Scholar Gil McWilliams prepared this case as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. The contribution of Ann Leamon, Manager, Center for Case Development, is gratefully acknowledged. Certain sensitive information in this case has been disguised and should not be regarded as informative as to the prospects of the company. Copyright  © 2000 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of Harvard Business School. 1 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 500-048 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y The Generation Y Market Termed the â€Å"hottest demographic of the moment,† Generation Y came to the attention of marketers in the late 1990s. This â€Å"echo of the baby boom† was made up of children and teenagers born in the United States between 1975 and 1989 and therefore aged between 10 and 24. They were estimated to be a 56 million strong group of actual and potential consumers, some three times the size of their immediate predecessor, Generation X.1 The U.S. Census Bureau projected that the 10 to 24 age group would grow from 56.3 million to 63.1 million by 2010, growing faster than the general population. Although Generation Y matched its parent’s generation in size, in almost every other way it was very different. One in three was not Caucasian. One in four lived in a single-parent household. Three in four had working mothers.2 â€Å"Body glittered, tattooed, pierced, they’re a highly fragmented,  unpredictable group of teenagers who, while tottering around on five inch soles, voice conservative opinions about sexuality, government, the American dream and an end-of-century commitment to spirituality.† 3 They were computer literate: 81% of teens used the Internet, according to Chicagobased Teenage Research International (TRI), which also noted that over a 3 month period on AOL, they posted more than 2 million Leonardo Di Caprio related messages.4 According to Lester Rand, Director of the Rand Youth Poll, they had money to spend and an appetite for spending it. They have a higher incremental allowance from their parents, and with the growth in our service economy, they are able to secure jobs easily and at rising minimum wages. They’re exposed to so many different products on TV, in the mall and through their friends. It’s a generation who grew up with excess as a norm.5 In 1999 Jupiter reported that 67% of on-line teens and 37% of on-line kids said they made use of on-line shopping sites, either buying or gathering information about products. 6 Generation Y was expected to spend approximately $136 billion in 1999, before accounting for the group’s influence on purchases made by parents and other adults. (See Exhibits 1 and 2 for this and other estimates.) On-line Competition for Generation Y Spending Generation Y’s size and spending power had not gone unnoticed. Many conventional and on-line retailers courted them. Alloy viewed its most significant competitors as dELiAs and the online magalog mXg. The neighborhood mall was also a threat. 1 Neuborne, Ellen and Kathleen Kerwin. â€Å"Generation Y,† Business Week, February 15, 1999, Cover story. 2 Neuborne, Ellen and Kathleen Kerwin. â€Å"Generation Y,† Business Week, February 15, 1999, Cover story. 3 O’Leary, Noreen. â€Å"Marketing: The Boom Tube,† Adweek, Vol. 39, No. 20, May 18, 1999, pp. S44-S52. 4 Brown, Eryn. â€Å"Loving Leo Online,† Fortune, April 12, 1999, p. 152. 5 BAXExpress, July/August 1999, http:baxworld.com/baxexpress/0799/consumers.html. 6 Sacharow, Anya. â€Å"Shadow of On-line Commerce Falls on Postmodern Kids,† Jupiter Communications report, June 7, 1999. 2 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y 500-048 dELiAs Inc.7 The largest on-line and catalog merchant serving Generation Y was New York-based dELiAs, with 1998 sales of $158 million. Founded in 1995 by two 33-year-old former Yale rooommates, Stephen Kahn and Christopher Edgar, dELiAs sold through print catalogs mailed to more than 10 million recipients, of whom 6 million had bought within the past year. It managed its own order fulfillment from a warehouse complex, and operated twenty conventional retail stores. Most of dELiAs’ 1,500 employees were under 30. Its phone representatives were often high school and college students, and they frequently offered fashion advice as well as taking orders. In November 1998 dELiAs Inc. paid $4.75 million for the trademarks and mailing lists of bankrupt Fulcrum’s 5 catalogs (Zoe for teenage girls, Storybook Heirlooms, Playclothes, After the Stork, and Just for Kids), giving them 5 million names which nearly doubled their database. It also paid $2.4 million for merchandise from Zoe and Storybook. By 1999, dELiAs went to market with a complex set of brands and marketing methods: Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø The dELiAs brand marketed to teenage girls as a catalog through the mail and as dELiAs*cOm on the Web.  The gURL.com Website was an on-line magazine for girls and young women, carrying articles as well as free e-mail, free homepage hosting and publishing tools, and links to a network of third-party sites for girls and women. gURL was the only property that was not engaged in commerce. The droog brand marketed apparel to 12-to 20-year-old males through the mail and on-line. The TSI Soccer catalog sold soccer gear by mail and on-line. Storybook Heirlooms retailed apparel and accessories for girls under 13 by mail and Web catalog. Ø Dotdotdash sold apparel, footwear and accessories for girls aged 7 to 12 by mail and Web catalog. Ø Discountdomain.com was a subscription Website selling discounted close-out merchandise. Ø Contentsonline.com offered unusual home furnishings, light furniture and household articles to females aged 13-24. While predominantly a Web catalog, the property appeared intermittently as a print insert in dELiAs’ print catalog. In April 1999, dELiAs Inc. spun off its Internet properties in an IPO, selling shares in a company called iTurF which earned revenues from all of the above on-line elements. In terms of the deal, these on-line businesses could advertise in dELiAs’ print catalogs at a rate of $40 per 1,000  catalogs. The dELiAs catalog, 60 million of which were printed in 1998, had the largest domestic circulation of any publication directed at Generation Y. The on-line magazines also shared the parent company’s 354,000 square foot distribution center in Hanover, PA. Because iTurF did not take ownership of inventory until a customer’s order was placed, the risk of obsolescence and markdowns remained with the parent company. iTurF shared offices with the parent company, enjoying a submarket rent for New York metropolitan space. 7 Information drawn from company website: www.dELiAs.com 3 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 500-048 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y In May 1999, iTurF announced record quarterly sales of $2.6 million (up from $0.69 million in the first quarter of 1998). Gross profit was $1.3 million, or 49.1% of revenues, up from $0.34 million or 49.3% of revenues 1998 (see Exhibit 3). However, dELiAs reported that it expected its iTurF unit to report a loss for the fiscal year. By April 1999, the number of people who had ever bought at the iTurF Websites was 66,000 (up from 35,000 at the end of December 1998), and the number of unique visitors was 731,000 in April 1999 alone. Analysts estimated that each customer cost $26 to acquire.8 Private label merchandise accounted for 40% of iTurF’s sales, in line with dELiA’s ratio. iTurf entered into agreements with RocketCash Corp and DoughNET, companies that had been established to let parents control the on-line spending of their children. For example, RocketCash let parents establish a credit card account and set each child’s access to specific merchant sites, times of operation, and the option to set up an auto-allowance to periodically replenish the account. DoughNet was a virtual  debit card that parents could set up for their children. Parents could customize DoughNET’s site to guide teens through all aspects of managing their money. In April 1999, dELiAs’ decision to spin off iTurF seemed shrewd. The market capitalization of dELiAs Inc. was $90 million, on sales of $200 million annually. ITurF was capitalized at $200 million on a sales run rate of $12 million annually. mXg Media Inc.9 Hunter Heaney and Stuart MacFarlane graduated from the Harvard Business School in 1996. MacFarlane joined Bain & Co. and Heaney joined BancBoston Robertson Stephens. Heaney told how he got the idea for mXg while Christmas shopping at Nordstrom’s for his then girlfriend. A saleswoman had told him that the â€Å"Y† necklace featured on the â€Å"Friends† sitcom was in style. â€Å"I knew there had to be a more direct way to find out about fashion trends influenced by entertainment,† Heaney said.10 In 1997, Heaney and MacFarlane quit their jobs and moved to Manhattan Beach, CA, to be close to Hollywood and surfers and skaters. Using the pay phone while staying at a local motel they raised $250,000 in increments of $5,000, and launched mXg, styling it a â€Å"magalog,† a hybrid of catalog and magazine, aimed at teenage girls. Unlike a conventional magazine, mXg reported exactly where to go to buy the fashion items that it featured on its pages. MacFarlane recalled their early lean times: â€Å"Typically, retailers order inventory in sixes (one small, two medium, two large, one extra large). But instead of saying ‘We’ll take 2,000 sixes’ we said ‘We’ll take six’ – literally one of each.† They could fund a circulation of only 20,000 for the magazine’s launch in the fall of 1997, but it did well. Some 5% of the recipients bought from it. The numbers were good enough to induce Urban Outfitters, a retail fashion chain, to invest $5 million for 40% of the company, incorporated as mXg Media, Inc. Merchandise doubling each issue. each, refunded with B Dalton Booksellers. accounted for most of mXg Media’s revenues, but advertising revenue was The company used newsstand distribution (150,000 issues per quarter at $2.95 a purchase), as well as distribution in bookstores like Barnes & Noble, and The magazine had a pass-along rate of almost six readers per copy. Sensitive to the tastes of their target audience of female teenagers, they hired teens, paying them $7 per hour to work after school answering letters, doing interviews, and writing copy to make 8 CIBC World Markets, Equity Research, June 2, 1999. 9 Information drawn from company website: www.mXgonline.com 10 Waxler, Caroline. â€Å"Guys with moxie,† Forbes, May 31, 1999, pp. 130-131. 4 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y 500-048 it sound authentic. â€Å"No printed word goes out without a teen girl checking it †¦ being uncool is the kiss of death in this business.†11 At the start of each fashion season mXg recruited 30 â€Å"Moxie girls† to spend a hypothetical $150 each. Their virtual purchases determined which items appeared in the next issue. The magazine paid staffers to model clothes and invited would-be teen celebrities to pose free to gain recognition. A Website, mXgonline.com, was established in the summer of 1997. It comprised a magazine, chat rooms, and community sites, and sold clothes and accessories. mXg Media pursued other access points for their on-line magalog, featuring it in on-line fashion malls such as fashionwindow.com. In 1999, mXg sponsored concerts featuring acts like Gus Gus which were favored  by Generation Y. Yahoo produced a series of Webcasts of the concerts for teens. The company described its mission as cross-media publishing, targeted exclusively at teen girls. It planned to add mXgtv, an Internet video site, to its media portfolio later in the year. A Crowded Marketplace? Other companies vied for the attention of Generation Y. Bolt.com was a content-based magazine-type site skewed towards a market slightly older than that of the Generation Y market, but into which the older end of the Y market might eventually fall. Bolt.com included sections titled jobs, money, movie reviews, music, news and issues, sex and dating, and sports. It had a chat room and free e-mail, and sold branded merchandise. It boasted that 5,000 people joined it every day. The magazine Seventeen had an on-line version, offering chat rooms and message boards, as well as its regular articles, quizzes and features. Indeed many magazines were now launching online versions of their magazines, and new print publications like Twist and Jump had appeared to compete for generation Y advertising revenues. Broader on-line retailers served this market, such as bluefly.com selling discounted brands on-line. Strong competition came from mall-based stores such as The Buckle, Gadzooks, Abercrombie & Fitch, The Gap, American Eagle Outfitters, and Guess, all of whom sold merchandise on- and off-line. Apparel and sportswear manufacturers were developing on-line sales sites. Nike and Tommy Hilfiger planned to launch e-commerce sites with broad product offerings. Alloy.com As a Harvard MBA student in 1996, Matt Diamond wrote a business plan proposing the idea of marketing ‘extreme sports’ clothing by catalog to young people in Japan. The premise was that the popularity of this style of clothing among American youth might generate demand abroad, and that catalogs would be able to tap that demand faster than would store distribution. On graduation, Diamond implemented the plan. He and a friend, Jim Johnson, used seed money from friends and family to design and print a Japanese-language catalog, which they branded Durango Expedition. They  mailed it in January 1997, and at the same time they went live with Japanese and English Websites, as alternative channels. The venture flopped. The mailing generated no significant sales. However, they discovered to their surprise that they were receiving hits on the English Website from American youths. Within a month they had reconceptualized the business to serve American teen girls through catalog and online channels, under the name Alloy. Diamond and Johnson each contributed $60,000 in cash and 11 Waxler, Caroline. â€Å"Guys with moxie,† Forbes, May 31, 1999, pp. 130-131. 5 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 500-048 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y another friend, Sam Gradess added $150,000 in cash when he joined six months later from Goldman Sachs. In November 1997, the first issue of the Alloy catalog, 48 pages in length, was mailed to a purchased mailing list of 150,000 teen names. At the same time Alloy’s Website became active. The intention at that time was to reduce the number of catalogs mailed as on-line sales grew. Organization Diamond became president and CEO of the fledgling company. Johnson took the title of chief operating officer. Gradess was chief financial officer. Neil Vogel joined from Ladenburg Thalman & Co., a consumer and Internet investment banking group to be the chief corporate development officer. Fellow Harvard sectionmate, Andrew Roberts left PricewaterhouseCoopers to join Alloy in January 1999 as VP of business development. Another Harvard  MBA, Joan Rosenstock was hired as marketing director, having held positions in marketing at the National Basketball Association as well as in advertising account management. Erstwhile, music editor of teenage magazine Seventeen, Susan Kaplow, became executive editor and Karen Ngo, who had been a feature editor and fashion stylist at Seventeen, was hired as creative director. Alloy outsourced as many of its operations as it could. Working with mostly domestic vendors who could produce and ship within a 2-8 week timeframe, Alloy purchased only 50% of its featured products and relied on a quick order and re-order ability so as to control inventory levels. Telephone orders and order-processing were outsourced to Harrison Fulfillment Services, based in Chattanooga, TN. OneSoft Corp., based in Virginia, handled on-line ordering and fed its orders to Chattanooga for fulfillment. Alloy personnel concentrated on marketing and merchandising issues. Target Market Unlike dELiAs, Alloy opted for a single-brand strategy targeted at both genders. â€Å"Rather than dividing our marketing resources across multiple brands and Websites, we seek to maximize the impact of our marketing efforts by promoting a single brand. We believe this allows us to attract visitors to our Website and build customer loyalty rapidly and efficiently.†12 Indeed Diamond considered that Alloy’s key differentiator lay in being gender neutral, believing that a successful Generation Y community depended on dynamic boy-girl interaction. He thought of their community site as an MTV-like interactive distribution channel. â€Å"It’s an opportunity for girls to talk to boys, boys to talk to girls, to deliver music, to deliver fashion, to deliver lifestyle.† Diamond conceded that the majority of the visitors to its Website were girls, and the print catalog was even more skewed towards girls. However, it was the intention to attract boys to the Website by other means. There was some evidence that this strategy was working, as the percentage of female Website visitors declined from 70% in early 199913 towards a desired 60/40 ratio. Boys tended to be drawn by music, extreme sports and games, while girls appeared to be more responsive to chat and browsing. Diamond felt, however, that just as both teen boys and girls hang out in shopping malls, watching each other as well as chatting, the on-line  presence of both boys and girls was important. Alloy’s target was teens making buying decisions with parents â€Å"somewhere in the background.† The target group ranged from 12-20, but the median age was 15. Alloy was careful not to aim too young, partly for regulatory reasons, but also because they felt that by targeting 15-yearolds they reached a group at an important buying point in their lives. About 35-40% of teenage purchasing was on apparel and accessories, and Alloy monitored what else this group bought. As 12 IPO Offer Document May 1999. 13 Chervitz, Darren. â€Å"IPO First Words: Alloy Online CEO Matt Diamond.† Interview at CBS MarketWatch.com, June 14, 1999. http://cbs.marketwatch.com/archive/19990614/news/current/ipo_word.htx?source=htx/http2_mw&dist=na 6 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y 500-048 owners of a â€Å"piece of real estate† they did not see themselves as limited to selling apparel and accessories, and had moved into soft furnishings. The Offering It was standard practice among catalog retailers, such as Lands End and LL Bean, to sell products under the catalog’s brand. Even at dELiAs, private-label sales accounted for about 40% of the mix. Alloy, however, emphasized recognized teen brands such as Vans, Diesel, and O’Neill, both to attract buyers and to offer reassurance of quality. Only 20-25% of Alloy’s sales came from labels that were exclusive to Alloy, such as Stationwagon and Local 212. Diamond was philosophical about the pros and cons of private label, â€Å"There’s no denying you get better margins on own-label goods. But  running with your own labels leaves you vulnerable to ending up as a skateboard brand.† The Alloy site aimed to build what Diamond termed the 3 Cs of on-line retailing to this generation: Community, Content, and Commerce. He noted that constant communication was key to understanding this generation. They had a strong need to chat about movies, television, music and what was happening at school, and to seek advice from one another, sound off about pet hates, and occasionally shop. A small team of in-house editors created editorial content on the site, supplemented by syndicated content. The audience also contributed content, receiving in exchange a sense of community, in chat-rooms and message boards, and by submitting their own letters, poems, drawings and articles. Poems and drawings would be voted upon interactively. Chat rooms in particular were popular and frequently full (in contrast to some of the chat rooms of competitors). The chat rooms were moderated from end of school-time until midnight on a daily basis, with software employed to spot offensive or obscene language. Advice columns were a dependable magnet. (See Exhibit 7 for a sample of user-generated content.) Andrew Roberts remembered vividly the moment when he knew that Alloy was really â€Å"onto something.† In the aftermath of the Columbine High School shooting tragedy, one of the editors knew that Alloy had to respond and fast. She worked all night creating the appropriate spaces in chatrooms, and editorial content. By 8:30 a.m. the day after, 15 hours after news of the tragedy broke, Alloy had received 7,311 postings related to the events at Columbine. Roberts explained that it wasn’t so much the number that impressed him, but the content of the postings. â€Å"These kids were really anxious. We had kids who followed the goth fashion who were really scared about how others would treat them. Other kids were reassuring them and saying â€Å"Don’t worry, we know it wasn’t you or the goths who made these guys do what they did.† They just had a desperate need to talk with each other, and be reassured by each other.† Building the Brand Alloy built its brand, and with it traffic to the Alloy site, in several ways. It undertook traditional advertising in print media (Seventeen Magazine, YM, Rolling Stone, and Snowboarder). It used hot-links from sites  such as seventeen.com to advertise promotional deals. It had special copromotional deals with, for example, MGM Entertainment, Sony Music, Burton Snowboards, MCI and EarthLink/Sprint, who provided free products and services that were used as special promotions for the Alloy community (such as private movie screenings, exclusive music give-aways, and celebrity on-line chats). Finally, it bought banner advertising on gateway sites such as Yahoo Shopping, Fashionmall.com, CatalogCity.com and CatalogLink.com. 7 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 500-048 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y The Business Model There were two revenue streams: merchandise sales, and advertising and sponsorship. An agent had been retained to sell advertising on the Website, and the longer-term intention was to build an in-house sales force to sell sponsorships, banner-ads, targeted advertising (segmented by Website area, time of day, user location, or age), and combination print and Website advertising. To this end, Samantha Skey, who had been responsible for commerce, advertising and sponsorship for Disney Online and Family.com and had worked for Buena Vista Internet group, was hired in 1999 as VP of ecommerce and sponsorships. In 1999, about 10% of revenues were generated by sponsorship and advertising deals, and the proportion was expected to rise to 20% in year 2000. Alloy was aware that it would never meet all of its customers’ requirements. It was happy to offer links to other sites that could be seen as competitive, such as Gap’s on-line site. â€Å"Look, we figure they’re going to go there anyway,† noted Roberts. â€Å"If they go via us, we at least get something for it. We’re happy to have such complementary deals. Probably not with dELiAs, though,† he grinned. Exhibits 4 and 5 report annual fiscal year performance 1996-1998, and quarterly performance between last quarter 1997 and first quarter 1999. To hear Diamond describe it, running Alloy was, at least day-to-day, like running a production plant. â€Å"We know what it costs to get a customer, and we know what a customer will spend. We just have to keep the two numbers in balance. We could make a profit today, but in this investment climate there’s no reward for beating your loss numbers.† By April 1999, Alloy had a database of 2.6 million names and addresses, comprising 1.7 million previous buyers and 900,000 visitors to the Website who had registered their names and addresses. It was mailing monthly to the most responsive of the names on this list, supplemented by purchases of new names, and it hoped to mail 20 million catalogs over the course of 1999. Alloy’s catalogs cost $450 per thousand to design, print and mail. If Alloy mailed catalogs to names from the database who had bought from it before, it received an order from about 3% of the names each time it mailed. If Alloy bought a list of new names, for example a list of American girls who owned personal computers, at a cost that was typically $100 per thousand names, the response rate on the new names14 was about 1.5%. Alloy would often exchange some of the names of its customers for the names of customers of similar firms, if it could count on a response rate on the swapped names of close to its own 3%. By blending names from these three sources, Alloy could choose whether a particular mailing would yield a high rate of orders or expand its customer base. Over the year, Alloy’s mailings comprised 10% swapped names, 70% past customers and 20% new names. Diamond found that some people in the private investment community were not well informed on the ease with which response rates could be manipulated. â€Å"Analysts ask me, why is your response rate down last month? I say ‘you want a 10% response rate, I’ll give you one. I’ll just mail to my very best customers.† Most orders were received by telephone, and orders from all lists ranged from $65 per customer in spring to $85 in winter. The gross margin on an order was about 50%. Alloy paid its fulfillment company $6.00 to handle each telephone order. Customers paid the shipping charges. Traffic to the Website, as measured by Media Metrix in the quarter ending March 1999, comprised 263,000 unique visitors15 per month. While about half of the  visitors eventually registered 14 List brokers typically sold names on a ‘deduplicated’ basis, meaning that the buyer had the right to delete and not pay for any names that it already owned. 15 Many of the visitors to a site came more than once a month. Media Metrix used the term â€Å"unique visitors† to emphasize that they were counting visitors, not visits. 8 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y 500-048 themselves with the site by entering a name, address and e-mail information, the proportion of unique visitors in a month who registered in that month was about 8%. In addition to catalogs and Web visits, Alloy interacted with Generation Y by means of a weekly broadcast e-mail, Alloy E-Zine, sent to 850,000 site visitors who had asked to receive it. When a visitor to the Alloy Website registered, the name was added to the print catalog mailing list. Names gathered in this way, although they had not previously bought from Alloy, tended to respond to the catalog at a rate close to the past-buyer rate of 3%. Calculating the cost of attracting someone to become a registered visitor was difficult, because Web traffic resulted from many actions: banner advertising, listings on search engines, and Alloy’s print advertising in media like Seventeen Magazine. The catalog was a significant driver of traffic to the Web. On the day that the catalog reached its audience, traffic to the site would jump 40%. It would continue to rise to about 180% of pre-mailing levels for a week, and slowly fall back. Possessing a copy of the latest Alloy catalog conferred significant prestige in a junior high school lunchroom. And then there was wordof-mouth. Many visitors to the Website, and many who decided to register, came at no cost to Alloy because a friend had mentioned the site, had e-mailed a chat room story, or had asked for an opinion on an item of clothing shown on the site. Less than 5% of Alloy’s revenues came from orders placed on the Website. When an order was submitted on-line instead of by phone, Alloy paid its fulfillment company $3.00 instead of $6.00 to reflect the saving of telephone handling charges. Alloy’s e-mailed catalog, termed Alloy E-Zine, was another small element of the business. Because Alloy had no way of knowing whether a recipient’s e-mail system was able to view graphic displays or color, it used only text in the E-Zine. Only 25% of those who indicated willingness to receive it ever opened it, and of those 1% placed an order in the course of a year. These orders were fulfilled at $3.00 each if they were placed by return email. Sponsorships and banner advertising were a small but rapidly growing source of revenue. As Alloy’s base of registered visitors and catalog recipients grew, both became assets that interested advertisers. The AOL Deal Diamond reflected on the AOL deal. It was not a question of finding $2 million. If the IPO went ahead at the planned price of $15, it would generate $55.5 million and Alloy would be awash in cash. Diamond tried not to be annoyed at the idea that AOL would offer this deal on the eve of his IPO. â€Å"I’ve been talking to AOL for a year about opening a teen shopping area, showing them what a big revenue opportunity it could be. Now suddenly they get it, and they think it’s worth $2 million.† He thought to himself, â€Å"What else can I do with $2 million? That’s over 4 million catalogs, which means more sales, more site visits, more registrations, and more E-Zine registrations. Alternatively, it could buy us exposure on television, and that would build a stronger brand.† Alloy’s budget for 1999 included a line item of $2.5 million for production of two television spots and $2.5 million for air time. Yet AOL was Alloy’s most important source of traffic to the Website. More than a third of visitors to the Alloy site used AOL as their Internet service provider. Would a competitor on the AOL site be able to intercept them? Would the announcement of a competitor’s deal with AOL on the eve of the IPO be as bad for Alloy’s share price as an Alloy deal would be good? The cellphone rang again. It was his partner, Neil Vogel. â€Å"Matt, Wall Street would like it if you would do that deal. They don’t want iTurF to pick it up. This is valuable real estate on a really important teen property.† 9 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 500-048 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y Exhibit 1 Total Teen Spending in 1996 $ billions % Apparel 36.7 34 Entertainment 23.4 22 Food 16.7 15 Personal Care 9.2 9 Sporting Goods 6.7 6 Other 15.3 14 Total 108.0 100 Source: Packaged Facts via InterRep Research, in MSDW Equity Research: †Fashions of the Third Millennium,† June 1999. Exhibit 2 Estimates of Teen Spending Rand Youth (Adweek May 18, 1998) 1996 1997 Morgan Stanley Dean Witter’s report â€Å"Fashions of the Third Millennium,† June 1999 $108 billion $91.5 billion 1998 1999 Teen Research Unlimited (quoted in Alloy press handout) $141 billion $136 billion 10 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y 500-048 Exhibit 3 Consolidated iTurf Income (in $ thousands) st st Net revenues 1 quarter ending 1 May 1999 2615 Cost of goods 1332 35 Gross profit 1283 34 Selling, general and admin. 1753 109 Interest income (expense) (112) 11 Loss before tax (358) (86) Income tax (benefit) (161) (33) Net loss (197) (53) Apr 99 = 731,000 Feb 99 = 635,000 50 million 4 million No. of unique visitors No. of page views in April Size of mailing database 1 quarter ending 30 April 1998 69 11 million names Source: IPO Filing Exhibit 4 Alloy Online Annual Fiscal Performance Fiscal year 1996 1997 1998 (thousands) Net merchandise revenues $25 $1,800 $10,100 Of which on-line order placement accounted for: – $40 $710 Sponsorship and other revenue – Gross profit % Selling & Marketing expenses Web pages views (Month of March) $125 32.5% 41.7% 46.3% $98 $2,000 $9,200 1,500 25,000 Weekly e-zine registrations 480 Source: Company records 11 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 500-048 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y Exhibit 5 Alloy Online Quarterly Performance 1997 1998 1998 1998 1998 1999 1999 31 Oct Jan 31 Apr 30 Jul 31 Oct 31 Jan 31 Apr 30 ($’000) Net merchandise revenues 401 1396 1353 2082 3215 3436 2391 Sponsorship, etc. – – 1 5 46 73 163 Total revenues 401 1396 1354 2087 3261 3509 2544 COGS 263 783 906 1200 1665 1715 1249 Gross profit 138 613 448 887 1596 1794 1305 34% 44% 33 42.5% 49% 51% 51% 903 1437 1782 2992 3396 2679 3529 (749) (806) (1312) (2165) (1901) (985) (2302) 400,000 800,000 Gross profit % of revenue Operating expenses Net loss Number of registered users Source: Company records 12 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y 500-048 Exhibit 6 Circulation of Leading Teen Magazines Publication Publisher Circulation as of 1998/99 Seventeen (monthly) Primedia Consumer Magazine Group 2,400,000 Teen (monthly) EMAP 2,400,000 YM (10 x year) Gruner & Jahr 2,200,000 Teen People (monthly) Time Inc. 1,300,000 Jump (10 x year) Weider Publications 350,000 Twist (monthly) Bauer Publishing 265,650 Girl Lewitt & LaWinter/Freedom 250,000 Source: Various 13 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 500-048 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y Exhibit 7 Examples of consumer-generated content on Alloy Website Source: Alloy Website 14 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003

La Vita E Bella

lAira G. ManaloAugust 31, 2012 COM31Mr. Edgar Garnace Life is Beautiful (La Vita e Bella) I believe that being free is a matter of choice. We are free because we want to be defined not by other people but ourselves. We make choices together with the thought of making a choice for the good of everyone. We exist not for other people to tie strings on our hands and feet and do the manipulation. I don’t exactly know what to feel about this film. It was a good laugh and a painful thing for me at the same time.Guido (Roberto Benigni) is such an optimistic human being, a positive father to his son Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini) and a loving husband to his wife Dora (Nicoletta Braschi), who he treated like a princess if I may have to mention. As for me, being a person who freaks out when things don’t go right, I have perfectly seen how Guido made life beautiful for his son and wife. It hurts me to see him hiding the truth from his son by reinventing the things that happens inside t he concentration camp.In the midst of that threatening situation, Guido manipulated his world and made life beautiful for him and his family. I think that is the very essence of the film, making life perfect for you, even if it really isn’t for the entire world. It is important that we find beauty even in the darkest and cruelest of places. Dora amazed me too. I will not forget how she willingly set foot into that train containing all Jewish people. I can see how strong her love is for her husband and son that she can give up her life just to be with them.I have seen her change from a spoiled girl who fell into Guido’s arms and turned out into someone braver and stronger, someone who thinks not much of her own sake anymore. This is where I would now start relating it to Existentialism. The very core of this philosophy is that â€Å"Existence precedes Essence†. It emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent uni verse and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one’s own doings. It is just so ironic for me that a person like Guido is living in a world where freedom is the rarest of all terms.The Nazis have defined what living should mean for them, which I also think is very contradicting to the center value of Existentialism, which is freedom. A person defines himself and what he wants to make of himself. No one could ever define him as a person but only what he wants him to be. The Jews in this movie let the Nazis define the world for them, though I know they are left with no other choice but to keep responding to what these people want them to do, because if not, they will cease to exist.This is what Sartre called â€Å"Quietism. † The poor Jews let the Nazis decide for them because they are afraid to die, to get hurt, even if being shot to death while fighting for freedom would be a better death than be degraded by people of other race, in my o pinion. I have seen an authentic person in Guido. In his quiet ways he defined the world for himself. He fought for what he thinks is right and there he exercised his freedom.He tried to fight his way out of the hellish camp if not for himself but for his family, and this he thinks is right not for himself but also for those other people with him. Life is beautiful. It will be if you want it to be. When things are not going right for me, I know ranting won’t make them all right. I know that I always have the choice. I would always remember Guido who has found beauty in the ugliest of places. Because the man who can accept all the barriers and restrictions in life and is not afraid of them is free.

saliva cortisol essays

saliva cortisol essays An increased amount of cortisol is released in response to a stressor which lasts longer than a few minutes this is released through a system called the hypothalomic-pituatry-adrenal axis (HPA axis). HPA axis is the combined system of corticopin-releasing hormone (CRH) adrenocorticotropohic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol release. Cortisol release is controlled by the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) which is positioned in the hypothalamus it is here that CRH is released when the person is put under stress this in turn causes the release of ACTH by acting on the pituitary gland this ACTH then causes the adrenal cortex to release cortisol. Cortisol is usually released in approximately fifteen minute bursts this occurs as CRH and ACTH are only released in pulses not a prolonged release over time this results in the level of cortisol dips between these pulses. Cortisol itself has roughly a half life of 100 minutes in blood. A prolonged burst of ACTH can cause the adrenal cortex to increase in size so that it can cope with the extra production of cortisol where as the opposite occurs if there is a decrease in the long term production of ACTH. The level of cortisol in the body is kept at safe levels by a process of negative and positive feedback throughout the brain. A certain amount of cortisol is always found in the bloodstream. Much like other things cortisol also has a circadian rhythm controlled by the suprachiasmatic nucleus the bodys internal clock. Cortisol peaks are found in the morning at approximately eight to ten oclock with the lowest amounts of cortisol being found in the evening before bedtime. This is due to the suprachiasmatic nucleus sending messages to the paraventricular nucleus approximately every hour causing CRH to be released resulting in the release of cortisol as described earlier. Abnormal circadian rhythms have been found in people with illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, se...

Immigration Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Immigration Law - Essay Example (thomson 5) The first type is that of the skilled workers who come to UK under the official work permit scheme. These migrants make up about a third of the business and information services sector and a quarter of the healthcare sector. The second category of immigrants is composed of the relatives of British citizens coming to join them. These are frequently not economic migrants and do not contribute to the country with work. The third category is made of asylum seekers. Lastly, the fourth type is made up of illegal immigrants. The British Government has formulated policies that welcome the first type into its fold. But its policies regarding the other three are getting more and more stringent. As we will find out later in this paper that non-EEA immigrants who are not skilled are increasingly finding themselves excluded from the job market in the UK. (a) Non- EEA workers usually work under the work permit scheme. This scheme was formalized in 1980. In this scheme, the employer has to apply on behalf of a particular employee for a specific job. He has to show that there are no other resident workers available for the same job and with the requisite skills and experience. Work permits are then granted for work up to five years, and workers are then eligible to apply for 'indefinite leave to remain.' The employer has to support the application for it to be granted. (b) Under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme farmers and growers and students in full time education can take up work for a period of not exceeding three months. The government has increased the quota of workers under this scheme recently. (c) Another scheme is the Working Holidaymaker Scheme, which provides the young Commonwaealth citizens to holiday for 2 years in the UK and work alongside full-time for 50% of the time or work part-time for more than 50% of their stay. This provides a good avenue for work for migrants from non-EEA countries. (d) There is also a Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, under which highly talented and accomplished individuals are taken in as workers in UK. In this scheme, the application comes directly from the individuals, not the employers. They are assessed on a point system which covers qualifications, experience, to some extent age, etc. (e) Under the Innovators Scheme those individuals are allowed entry into the UK who have business ideas which will bring economic benefit to the UK but they are not qualified under any other scheme. (f) The last group of workers is Asylum seekers and refugees. The asylum seekers are normally not allowed to work while their applications are under consideration. However, if a decision has not come after six months, they can apply for permission to work. After they are granted refugee status, they can freely work and do not need to be granted permission from the Home Office to do so. 2. Policies governing Immigrants and Asylum seekers 2.1 The British Government has passed, over many years, several acts governing the issues related with immigrants and asylum seekers. These are: Immigration Act 1971, Immigration Act 1988, Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993, Asylum and Immig

Internet and Electronic Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Internet and Electronic Marketing - Essay Example In addition, a lot of corporations now understand that the internet is a very helpful tool for better serving customers and reaching into the international markets. As the production of a company increases the need for the distribution of these products to their target customers also increases. In this scenario, the internet marketing is the most excellent way that offers higher potency and access to international markets for the marketing of products. On the other hand, traditional marketing and its techniques have turned out to be less efficient to defeat the need for more targeted and wide marketing. But, with the use of internet, the techniques of marketing have changed and improved, and now corporations are more proficient in telling their stories and carrying out their marketing communications out there (Summers et al., 2003, p.67; Watson et al., 2000; Rao et al., 1998). This report presents a detailed analysis of the GAP enterprise and its marketing activities over the web. Th e main aim of this research is to discuss the GAP web business model, its customers, products delivery, services, 4P elements and target market. â€Å"Marketing is the method of planning and implementing the ideas; pricing promotion and distribution of ideas, products, goods, and services to make exchanges that fulfill individual as well as company’s goals† (Summers et al., 2003, p.7). Kotler & Armstrong (2001) describe marketing as â€Å"a common and administrative method by which individuals and groups acquire what they need and desire by creating, offering, and exchanging products of value with others†. However, the emergence of the internet has made the process of marketing very simple. Since, the internet is offering an innovative universal technology structure to build all kinds of new products, services, policies, and organizations. It is reforming the techniques information is being used in business and daily life. Furthermore, by