Genetic Engineering Concepts and Applications

Genetic Engineering Concepts and Applications KIZITA BADU-POKU GENETIC ENGINEERING Genetic engineering has developed at a very dramatic rate. It was pioneered in 1973 by Stanley Chen and Herbert Boyer. They invented the technique of DNA cloning, which allowed genes to be transplanted between different biological species. Their discovery signalled the birth of genetic engineering. As a result Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen received half million dollars for their efforts in invention and innovation. They further founded Genentech,Inc where Herbert Boyer became the director. Dunne and Eisenbeis (1969). Genetic Engineering involves extracting DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) from one organism and combining it with that of another organism to produce new hereditary traits to the organism receiving the donor’s DNA. It has been used for so many different purposes such as manipulation of embryos and cloning, Dunne and Eisenbeis (1969). In the field of animal science, recombinant protein in the form of genetically engineered bacteria is being used to increase milk production in lactating cows. Eennaam(2008). Commercial companies are deriving therapeutic proteins, such as monoclonal antibodies, from the milk of transgenic cows, goats, rabbits, and mice, and using them to administer drugs in treatment protocols for rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, and other autoimmune disorders.Glenn(2013). For example, mice have been used in genetic engineering for biological and biomedical research and have generated a lot of vital information about human diseases.Alzheimers and eye diseases have been bio medically researched through transgenic animals including livestock species.It has also been extensively used to study animal diseases notably mad cow disease,Eennaam(2008). Genetically modified crops have used to produce vaccines and other medicines. For example, potatoes have been modified to produce edible vaccines against E. coli bacteria which causes diarrhoea.This allow cheap and easy distribution of the vaccine,Bioethics (2014). Crops can be genetically modified to contain additional nutrients that are lacking in the diets of many people, especially in developing countries. One of the examples is Golden rice, which has been modified to have high level of ÃŽ ²-carotene. Î’-carotene helps to prevent vitamin A deficiency. This disease causes child blindness and it affects 14 million children under the age of five according to Nuffield council on bioethics( ). A research says that half of the cotton grown in china in 2002 was genetically modified.This was done to kill the pests (bollworm) that devastates the cotton crops. Before then farmers used to apply toxins by spraying the cotton crops which caused a lot of health issues for the farmers who often applied the pesticides without any protective clothes on. The benefit of this modified cotton was: a reduction of pesticides use, increase in yields and profit and good health benefits for the farmers,Bioethics (2014). Furthermore, diseases, poor weather conditions could affect yields in crops. For example, during the winter, most crops cannot be grown in larger quantities due to poor weather conditions. Therefore genetically modified crops would be beneficial in this case. In addition to all these benefits, genetic engineering can be used to save endangered species such as the American Chestnut tree, which is currently being repopulated by Chinese-American chestnut hybrids- specifically engineered with a genetic resistance to the chestnut blight—the deadly fungus that nearly decimated native populations in the early 1900s,Glenn (2013). Researchers from Cornell University created a genetically modified human embryo which is believed to be the first modification of a human embryo. Through their research, the scientists said that modified embryos could be used to research human disease. If these embryos were allowed to developed, it can be used passed to prevent diseases. It might also be used for other reasons such as physical appearance, intellectual prowess and personality enhancements,Keim(2004). Below shows a diagram of the first genetically modified human embryo: Source: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/05/the-first-genet/ Also one of the areas where genetic engineering has been used is in cloning. It’s the process of producing similar population of genetically identical organisms. Cloning has been used in plants, animals and human cells and tissues. One benefit of cloning human tissue is that it can be used to grow vital organs, which can be used to replace ailing organs. One example is the heart disease, if the heart of a patient becomes dysfunctional, an exact replica can simply be grown to replace it through cloning. Department of science and technology (2014) In 1997, artificial cloning was used to clone dolly the sheep, it was the first cloned animal. Producing animals that are genetically engineered can provide human products such as insulin or organs for transplant. Cloning animals can also be used for research purposes and to pursue basic knowledge about cell differentiation, BBC (2014). Genetic engineering is a testament of advances that science has made in biotechnology. Although the benefits to genetic engineering cannot be ignored; it carries with it some controversies and misgivings: about how the sick should be treated and how research should be conducted.Risks, safety and ethics has been at the forefront of these debates leading to a whole discipline of Bioethics,Bryant(2007). Ethical theories in genetic engineering involves recommending concepts of what is right and wrong and also basing it on moral diversity. In all what is right in one’s culture might be wrong in another and vice versa. There are different types of ethical theories: utilitarianism, situation ethics, discourse ethics and many others,Wikipedia (2014) Utilitarianism broadly supports the general well-being and not just the treatment and prevention of diseases. In the field of genetics, utilitarianism supports genetic testing, genetic selection of offspring that will lead to optimal benefits, gene therapy and genetic enhancement, Savulescu and Birks(2012). Savulescu and Birks (2012) outlined the following: according to utilitarianism, an action is right if, and only if it maximises well-being; utilitarianism entails that it is morally required to kill an innocent person if it promotes overall well-being; for a utilitarian, allowing a person to die or suffer when that could have been avoided is just as bad as directly inflicting suffering or killing the individual. Situation ethics is a moral decision based on love; which means desiring and acting to promote wellbeing of the individual or persons involved, Barn (2011).Moral judgments are decisions, not conclusions and decisions ought to be made situationally not prescriptively. In making these decisions the well-being of people, rather than love principles should suffice, BBC website archives. Discourse ethics is a communication centered framework where all the opinions of willing participants are equally important.Stasbury,(2009),outlined the following: in this ethics the principle of generalisation serves as a rule of argumentation which assumes that all participants involved in the discourse are rational, and able to reach the same reasonable judgment while accepting the consequences and side effects that may arise; for satisfaction of all affected individuals interests, only norms that are considered moral by all affected participants, and those involved in the discourse will be assumed valid. Churches and ethicists have various opposing views about what is right or not. Some churches like the Catholics, has publicly supported the adult and umbilical cord stem cell research and the church leaders were the first to applaud the discovery of the amniotic stem cells and to ask for further research. The church however opposes the embryonic stem cell because the preparation of the stem cells destroys the embryo which is against their beliefs and they view it as gravely immoral,(Peter Baron, march 2011). Consider the case of Euthanasia which involves the deliberate action to end or assist in ending the life of another person on compassionate grounds,Lavery et al,1997.Is Euthanasia morally right or wrong ?What will be the logical judgments of a utilitarian, a situation ethicist and a proponent of discourse ethics? A utilitarian will be a proponent of euthanasia as long as it will help relieve the patient of unbearable suffering or there is no hope medically for the terminally ill. In the case of situation ethics the conclusion of euthanasia can be twofold: the situation would be assessed on its merit, if there is a chance of prolonging life for a considerable length of time then a case may be made against euthanasia where as if there is no hope medically then a case could be made in favour of euthanasia. Proponents of discourse ethics may not reach any practical conclusion on euthanasia as there could be varying opinions on the case at hand.Pro-life participants in the group will object outright the idea of deliberate death. Because all opinions in a discourse ethics must be respected they may not be any consensual agreement on the decisions. All three ethical theories can lead to three contradicting views; however it can help provide a guiding framework for genetic engineering. Genetic Engineering has played a vital role in industrial biotechnology, agriculture and medicine but it also has its risks as well. In Agriculture, GM crops could compete or breed wild species which threatens biodiversity. Also some genes may escape and find their way into other members of the species or other species. Example is if herbicide-resistant genes found their way into weeds.Makula (2014). Also in medicine, drug testing on participants is still very crucial because lives are always at risk. As stated on US National library of medicine website, where an issue has generated a considerable debate since 1999, when an 18 year old Jesse Gelsinger died while he participated in a gene therapy trial at the University of Pennsylvania. It goes to show that with all the advances the world of science is making in genetic engineering it also carries with it a lot of risks. Conclusion It is obvious that genetic engineering presents both challenges and opportunities. In view of the various ethical issues involved in genetic engineering, there should be the need to understand beliefs and doctrines as this allows coexistence within and across societies, and prevents social conflict. A technology’s acceptance should not only be on technological soundness but on how it is perceived to be socially, politically, economically and morally feasible from the viewpoint of the wider society. An understanding of ethics helps determine what information is needed by society and how to deal with different opinions, Pockect K.No18 (2006). †God has given humankind a mandate to care for the earth and its resources, utilising them wherever feasible for the good of others†, noted Bryant(2007).There is a case for the use of genetic engineering in our world, ethics can define the limits of what should be acceptable for the greater good for the wider society. References Dunne and Eisenbeis(1969).Genetic Engineering. Available from: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blgenetic.htm [Accessed: 28th, August,2014 Eenennam(2008).Genetically Engineered Animals: An Overview.  Available from:  http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/animalbiotech/Outreach/Genetically_engineered_animals_overview.pdf  [Acessed: 1st, September, 2014] Dunne and Eisenbeis(1969).Genetic Engineering. Available from: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blgenetic.htm [Accessed: 28th, August,2014] Eenennam(2008).Genetically Engineered Animals: An Overview.  Available from:  http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/animalbiotech/Outreach/Genetically_engineered_animals_overview.pdf  [Acessed: 1st, September, 2014] Glenn (2013). Action Bioscience. Available from: http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotechnology/glenn.html  [Accessed: 3rd, September, 2014] Eenennam(2008).Genetically Engineered Animals: An Overview.  Available from:  http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/animalbiotech/Outreach/Genetically_engineered_animals_overview.pdf  [Acessed: 1st, September, 2014] Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2014).Benefits of GM Crops. Available from: http://nuffieldbioethics.org/report/gm-crops-developing-countries-2/benefits-gm-crops-developing-countries/ [Accessed:28th, August, 2014] Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2014).Benefits of GM Crops. Available from: http://nuffieldbioethics.org/report/gm-crops-developing-countries-2/benefits-gm-crops-developing-countries/ [Accessed:28th, August, 2014] Glenn (2013). Action Bioscience. Available from: http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotechnology/glenn.html  [Accessed: 3rd, September, 2014] Keim (2008).First Genetically Modified Human Embryo. Available from: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/05/the-first-genet/ [Accessed:29th , August, 2014] Department of science and technology. Public understanding of Biotechnology. Available from: http://www.pub.ac.za/factfiles/cloning.php [Accessed:28th , August, 2014] BBC (2014). Cloning Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/add_ocr_gateway/living_growing/cloningrev2.shtml [Accessed:29th , August , 2014] Wikipedia (2014). Ethics. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics [Accessed: 29th, August 2014] Julian Savulescu and David Birks(2012). Bioethics: Utilitarianism  http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/.Published online: December 2012 Barn (2011). Christian Ethics. Available from: http://www.philosophicalinvestigations.co.uk/index.php?view=articlecatid=47%3Achristian-ethicsid=440%3Aapplying-christian-ethicsoption=com_contentItemid=54showall=1 [ Accessed:30th, September,2014] Peter baron published 18th march 2011 John Bryant(2007). Ethical issues in Genetic Modification.The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion Stansbury, J. (2009). Reasoned moral agreement: Applying discourse ethics within organizations.Business ethics quarterly,19(1), 33-56. Situation Ethics.BBC.Retrieved on 12th,September,2014 at 6pm.http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/situation_1.shtml Makula Center of Applied Ethics (2014). Available from: http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/focusareas/medical/conference/presentations/genetically-modified-foods.html#sthash.weSwFf3C.dpuf [Accessed:5th, October, 2014] John Bryant(2007), Ethical Issues in genetic modification. Faraday Institute of Science and Religion. James V. Lawery,Bernard Dickens, Joseph Boyle, Peter Singer(1997). Bioethics for Clinicians: Euthanasia and assisted suicide, Canadian medical Association Journal, May 15, 1997;156(10)

Pre-Columbian History of the Caribbean Indigenous People Essay

Both indigenous groups, Tainos and Siboneys migrated to the Caribbean region. The first indigenous group to migrate to the Caribbean was the Siboneys. Although their origin has been debated, the common perception is that they came from either the southern top of modern day Florida or Mexico. It is estimated that around 500 B. C. they settled in the Greater Antilles region of the Caribbean. This region includes the Bahamas, Cuba and Jamaica. The Taino migration occurred approximately around the same time as the Siboneys. Their migration started from the South American mainland, most notably the area between Venezuela and Colombia to the area known as the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean. This area included islands such as Trinidad and the Virgin Islands. The Taino utilized canoes to travel between each island during their migration. The canoes were made out of tree trunks and measured approximately 25 meters in length. Each canoe had a travel capacity of approximately 50 people. The main reason for the Taino migration was increased agitation and threats from the Carib indigenous people from the same region in South America. The Caribs were fierce in the their pursuit of the Taino and followed them up into the Lesser Antilles. Culturally, both the Taino and Siboney differed greatly. The Siboneys communed in small societies. Some would argue that they were culturally unsophisticated. They did not make any complex tools, just wood, stone and shells. The Siboney’s also settled by the riverside since they did not practice any form of agriculture. Their diet consisted of easily attainable animals such as fish and reptiles. They also ate wild fruits that were native to the islands. Conversely, the Taino were more advanced than their northern neighbor the Siboneys. The Taino had a complex society that consisted of settlements of as much as 500 inhabitants. They also contained a social structure for each settlement that consisted of a chief known as a cacique, a tier of elders who represented various families of each settlement, women and children. The Taino designated tasks to its members according to their position. Men cleared uninhabited areas of land and fished. Women were in charge of crop cultivation and child rearing. Unlike the Siboneys, the Taino mastered the art of farming. They farmed various crops such as yucca, guava and sweet potatoes. They also hunted various small game around the islands. The Taino also mastered clay pottery. Lastly, the Taino exercised their religious beliefs regularly. They believed in Gods that they called Zemis. The Caicique’s job was to carry out religious ceremonies by nasally ingesting a hallucinogenic mixture of tobacco and crushed sea shells through a long pipe called a cohoba. This snuff allowed the caciques to communicate with their Gods. Unlike the Siboneys, the Taino were a highly advanced society. They played a sophisticated team game called â€Å"Batey†. This game can be considered as the precursor to modern day soccer. Specially designed ball courts were created for Batey. In addition, The Taino also created jewelry and ornaments in which both men and women wore to Festivals and other celebratory events. In conclusion, the Taino and Siboney indigenous people both migrated to the Caribbean region. They both make up the genealogical and cultural starting point for all individuals who hail from the Caribbean region.

Case Nestle

NESTLE CASE STUDY Nestle is one of the oldest of all multinational businesses. The company was founded in Switzerland in 1866 by Heinrich Nestle, who established Nestle to distribute â€Å"milk food,† a type of infant food he had invented that was made from powdered milk, baked food, and sugar. From its very early days, the company looked to other countries for growth opportunities, establishing its first foreign offices in London in 1868. In 1905, the company merged with the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk, thereby broadening the company’s product line to include both condensed milk and infant formulas.Forced by Switzerland’s small size to look outside’ its borders for growth opportunities, Nestle established condensed milk and infant food processing plants in the United States and Britain in the late 19th century and in Australia, South America, Africa, and Asia in the first three decades of the 20th century. In 1929, Nestle moved into the chocolate business when it acquired a Swiss chocolate maker. This was followed in 1938 by the development of Nestle’s most revolutionary product, Nescafe, the world’s first soluble coffee drink.After World War 11, Nestle continued to expand into other areas of the food business, primarily through a series of acquisitions that included Maggi (1947), Cross & Blackwell (1960), Findus (1962), Libby’s (1970), Stouffer’s (1973), Carnation (1985), Rowntree (1988), and Perrier (1992). By the late 1990s, Nestle had 500 factories in 76 countries and sold its products in a staggering 193 nations-almost every country in the world. In 1998, the company generated sales of close to SWF 72 billion ($51 billion), only 1 percent of which occurred in its home country.Similarly, only 3 percent of its- 210,000 employees were located in Switzerland. Nestle was the world’s biggest maker of infant formula, powdered milk, chocolates, instant coffee, soups, and mineral waters. It was number t wo in ice cream, breakfast cereals, and pet food. Roughly 38 percent of its food sales were made in Europe, 32 percent in the Americas, and 20 percent in Africa and Asia. Management Structure Nestle is a decentralized organization. Responsibility for operating decisions is pushed down to local units, which typically enjoy a high degree f autonomy with regard to decisions involving pricing, distribution, marketing, human resources, and so on. At the same time, the company is organized into seven worldwide strategic business units (SBUs) that have responsibility for high-level strategic decisions and business development. For example, a strategic business unit focuses on coffee and beverages. Another one focuses on confectionery and ice cream. These SBUs engage in overall strategy development, including acquisitions and market entry strategy. In recent years, two-thirds of Nestle’s growth has come from acquisitions, so this is a critical function.Running in parallel to this str ucture is a regional organization that divides the world into five major geographical zones, such as Europe, North America and Asia. The regional organizations assist in the overall strategy development process and are responsible for developing regional strategies (an example would be Nestle’s strategy in the Middle East, which was discussed earlier). Neither the SBU nor regional managers, however, get involved in local operating or strategic decisions on anything other than an exceptional basis.Although Nestle makes intensive use of local managers to knit its diverse worldwide operations together, the company relies on its â€Å"expatriate army. †Ã‚   This consists of about 700 managers who spend the bulk of their careers on foreign assignments, moving from one country to the next. Selected primarily on the basis of their ability, drive and willingness to live a quasi-nomadic lifestyle, these individuals often work in half-a-dozen natiosn during their careers. Nestle also uses management development programs as a strategic tool for creating an  esprit de corps  among managers.At Rive-Reine, the company’s international training center in Switzerland, the company brings together, managers from around the world, at different stages in their careers, for specially targetted development programs of two to three weeks’ duration. The objective of these programs is to give the managers a better understanding of Nestle’s culture and strategy, and to give them access to the company’s top management. The research and development operation has a special place within Nestle, which is not surprising for a company that was established to commercialize innovative foodstuffs.The R&D function comprises 18 different groups that operate in 11 countries throughout the world. Nestle spends approximately 1 percent of its annual sales revenue on R&D and has 3,100 employees dedicated to the function. Around 70 percent of the R&D budget i s spent on development initiatives. These initiatives focus on developing products and processes that fulfill market needs, as identified by the SBUs, in concert with regional and local managers. For example, Nestle instant noodle products were originally developed by the R&D group in response to the perceived needs of local operating companies through the Asian region.The company also has longer-term development projects that focus on developing new technological platforms, such as non-animal protein sources or agricultural biotechnology products. A Growth Strategy for the 21st  Century Despite its undisputed success, Nestle realized by the early 1990s, that it faced significant challenges in maintaining its growth rate. The large Western European and North American markets were mature. In several countries, population growth had stagnated and in some, there had been a small decline in food consumption.The retail environment in many Western nations had become increasingly challen ging and the balance of power was shifting away from the large-scale manufacturers of branded foods and beverages, and toward nationwide supermarket and discount chains. Increasingly, retailers found themselves in the unfamiliar position of playing off against each other – manufacturers of branded foods, thus bargaining down prices. Particularly in Europe, this trend was enhanced by the successful introduction of private-label brands by several of Europe’s leading supermarket chains.The results included increased price competition in several key segments of the food and beverage market, such as cereals, coffee and soft drinks. At Nestle, one response has been to look toward emerging markets in Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America for growth possibilities. The logic is simple and obvious – a combination of economic and population growth, when coupled with the widespread adoption of market-oriented economic policies by the governments of many developing nations, makes for attractive business opportunities.Many of these countries are still relatively poor, but their economies are growing rapidly. For example, if current economic growth forecasts occur, by 2010, there will be 700 million people in China and India that have income levels approaching those of Spain in the mid-1990s. As income levels rise, it is increasingly likely that consumers in these nations will start to substitute branded food products for basic foodstuffs, creating a large market opportunity for companies such as Nestle.In general, the company’s strategy had been to enter emerging markets early – before competitors – and build a substantial position by selling basic food items that appeal to the local population base, such as infant formula, condensed milk, noodles and tofu. By narrowing its initial market focus to just a handful of strategic brands, Nestle claims it can simplify life, reduce risk, and concentrate its marketing resources and manager ial effort on a limited number of key niches. The goal is to build a commanding market position in each of these niches.By pursuing such a strategy, Nestle has taken as much as 85 percent of the market for instant coffee in Mexico, 66 percent of the market for powdered milk in the Philippines, and 70 percent of the markets for soups in Chile. As income levels rise, the company progressively moves out from these niches, introducing more upscale items, such as mineral water, chocolate, cookies, and prepared foodstuffs. Although the company is known worldwide for several key brands, such as Nescafe, it uses local brands in many markets.The company owns 8,500 brands, but only 750 of them are registered in more than one country, and only 80 are registered in more than 10 countries. While the company will use the same â€Å"global brands† in multiple developed markets, in the developing world it focuses on trying to optimize ingredients and processing technology to local conditions and then using a brand name that resonates locally. Customization rather than globalization is the key to the company’s strategy in emerging markets. Executing the StrategySuccessful execution of the strategy for developing markets requires a degree of flexibility, an ability to adapt in often unforeseen ways to local conditions, and a long-term perspective that puts building a sustainable business before short-term profitability. In Nigeria, for example, a crumbling road system, aging trucks, and the danger of violence forced the company to re-think its traditional distribution methods. Instead of operating a central warehouse, as is its preference in most nations, the country.For safety reasons, trucks carrying Nestle goods are allowed to travel only during the day and frequently under-armed guard. Marketing also poses challenges in Nigeria. With little opportunity for typical Western-style advertising on television of billboards, the company hired local singers to go to t owns and villages offering a mix of entertainment and product demonstrations. China provides another interesting example of local adaptation and long-term focus. After 13 years of talks, Nestle was formally invited into China in 1987, by the Government of Heilongjiang province.Nestle opened a plant to produce powdered milk and infant formula there in 1990, but quickly realized that the local rail and road infrastructure was inadequate and inhibited the collection of milk and delivery of finished products. Rather than make do with the local infrastructure, Nestle embarked on an ambitious plan to establish its own distribution network, known as milk roads, between 27 villages in the region and factory collection points, called chilling centres.Farmers brought their milk – often on bicycles or carts – to the centres where it was weighed and analysed. Unlike the government, Nestle paid the farmers promptly. Suddenly the farmers had an incentive to produce milk and many bou ght a second cow, increasing the cow population in the district by 3,000 to 9,000 in 18 months. Area managers then organized a delivery system that used dedicated vans to deliver the milk to Nestle’s factory. Although at first glance this might seem to be a very costly solution, Nestle calculated that the long-term benefits would be substantial.Nestle’s strategy is similar to that undertaken by many European and American companies during the first waves of industrialization in those countries. Companies often had to invest in infrastructure that we now take for granted to get production off the ground. Once the infrastructure was in place, in China, Nestle’s production took off. In 1990, 316 tons of powdered milk and infant formula were produced. By 1994, output exceeded 10,000 tons and the company decided to triple capacity.Based on this experience, Nestle decided to build another two powdered milk factories in China and was aiming to generate sales of $700 mil lion by 2000. Nestle is pursuing a similar long-term bet in the Middle East, an area in which most multinational food companies have little presence. Collectively, the Middle East accounts for only about 2 percent of Nestle’s worldwide sales and the individual markets are very small. However, Nestle’s long-term strategy is based on the assumption that regional conflicts will subside and intra-regional trade ill expand as trade barriers between countries in the region come down. Once that happens, Nestle’s factories in the Middle East should be able to sell throughout the region, thereby realizing scale economies. In anticipation of this development, Nestle has established a network of factories in five countries, in the hope that each will, someday, supply the entire region with different products. The company, currently makes ice-cream in Dubai, soups and cereals in Saudi Arabia, yogurt and bouillon in Egypt, chocolate in Turkey, and ketchup and instant noodles in Syria.For the present, Nestle can survive in these markets by using local materials and focusing on local demand. The Syrian factory, for example, relies on products that use tomatoes, a major local agricultural product. Syria also produces wheat, which is the main ingredient in instant noodles. Even if trade barriers don’t come down soon, Nestle has indicated it will remain committed to the region. By using local inputs and focussing on local consumer needs, it has earned a good rate of return in the region, even though the individual markets are small.Despite its successes in places such as China and parts of the Middle East, not all of Nestle’s moves have worked out so well. Like several other Western companies, Nestle has had its problems in Japan, where a failure to adapt its coffee brand to local conditions meant the loss of a significant market opportunity to another Western company, Coca Cola. For years, Nestle’s instant coffee brand was the dominant coffee product in Japan. In the 1960s, cold canned coffee (which can be purchased from soda vending machines) started to gain a following in Japan.Nestle dismissed the product as just a coffee-flavoured drink rather than the real thing and declined to enter the market. Nestle’s local partner at the time, Kirin Beer, was so incensed at Nestle’s refusal to enter the canned coffee market that it broke off its relationship with the company. In contrast, Coca Cola entered the market with Georgia, a product developed specifically for this segment of the Japanese market. By leveraging its existing distribution channel, Coca Cola captured a 40 percent share of the $4 billion a year, market for canned coffee in Japan.Nestle, which failed to enter the market until the 1980s, has only a 4 percent share. While Nestle has built businesses from the ground up, in many emerging markets, such as Nigeria and China, in others it will purchase local companies if suitable candidates can b e found. The company pursued such a strategy in Poland, which it entered in 1994, by purchasing Goplana, the country’s second largest chocolate manufacturer. With the collapse of communism and the opening of the Polish market, income levels in Poland have started to rise and so has chocolate consumption.Once a scarce item, the market grew by 8 percent a year, throughout the 1990s. To take advantage of this opportunity, Nestle has pursued a strategy of evolution, rather than revolution. It has kept the top management of the company staffed with locals – as it does in most of its operations around the world – and carefully adjusted Goplana’s product line to better match local opportunities. At the same time, it has pumped money into Goplana’s marketing, which has enabled the unit to gain share from several other chocolate makers in the country. Still, competition in the market is intense.Eight companies, including several foreign-owned enterprises, s uch as the market leader, Wedel, which is owned by PepsiCo, are vying for market share, and this has depressed prices and profit margins, despite the healthy volume growth. Discussions: 1. Does it make sense for Nestle to focus its growth efforts on emerging markets? Why? 2. What is the company’s strategy with regard to business development in emerging markets? Does this strategy make sense? From an organizational perspective, what is required for this strategy to work effectively? 3. Through your own research on NESTLE, identify appropriate performance indicators.Once you have gathered relevant data on these, undertake a performance analysis of the company over the last five years. What does the analysis tell you about the success or otherwise of the strategy adopted by the company? 4. How would you describe Nestle’s strategic posture at the corporate level; is it pursuing a global strategy, a multidomestic strategy an international strategy or a transnational strateg y? 5. Does this overall strategic posture make sense given the markets and countries that Nestle participates in? Why? 6. Is Nestle’s management structure and philosophy aligned with its overall strategic posture?

Truman Capote Hard Times Make Good Stories - 1780 Words

Truman Capote: Hard Times Make Good Stories Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor (BrainyQuote.) The great deal of hardships in my life led me to be successful. I dealt with abandonment for much of my life. I failed at many thing in my life but writing was not one of them. I became famous after I failed many times. I am one of the most famous and controversial figures in contemporary American literature (DIScovering authors.) My non-fiction books, journals, and characters were greatly influenced by my lack of love as a child. I was born September 30th 1934, in New Orleans, Louisiana. My full name wad Truman Streckfus Persons. My mother was Lillie Mae, she was a small town girl. She fell in love with my father, and†¦show more content†¦One of us would make up the story while the other one typed. We formed a life long friendship. (Biography.com Editors.) My teenage years you could say were a little bit better. My parents got divorced, and they fought over cust ody of me. This is the only time they seemed to care about me. My mother won me. She remarried Joe Capote, and he became my new dad. My name was now Truman Capote. My mother still seemed to hate me, she blamed me for not being a normal boy. How could I fail at something so easy as being a boy? Some days she loved me and others she hated me. I was going to a private school for boys in Manhattan. I made some friends. I enjoyed telling them stories and making everyone laugh. My mother forced me to go to a military school to be more manly. That turned out poorly and I returned home. I make some close friends at my new school, we liked to hang out and party. This was the best part of my life. I felt like I was a part of something for once. I was finally excepted into a group of people. This was my lifestyle, I continued to party into adulthood. (Biography.com Editors.) My writing career started with Harper in the treehouse (Biography.com Editors.) I became a copy boy for the New Yorker m agazine (Biography.com Editors.) I tried to write things for it, but it was never good enough for them. So I quit, and started my first book Summer Crossing (Biography.com Editors.) I wrote many other books