Inculturation In Contemporary Mission Theology Religion Essay

Inculturation In Contemporary Mission Theology Religion Essay This assignment will explore the place of inculturation in contemporary mission by defining mission in the present world and exploring how the various aspects of mission are affected by mission and the origins of the word inculturation. There will also be exploration into the ethics of inculturation in mission and an exploration of the biblical perspective of mission. The assignment will consider whether inculturation is part of the Missio Dei. This assignment will focus on inculturation in the western world as inculturation is most important when applied to a post-Christondom society as these are the lease likely to have a view on God. It is also more likely to be within the interest of the target audience for this essay. There is considerable controversy surrounding the meaning of the term inculturation. The relationship between gospel and cultures is recognised as  a crucial question for Christian mission.  [1]  Ã‚  The two main words used when relating culture with the Gospel and these are contextualisation and inculturation. These terms differ only by a matter of perspective contextualisation is to make the Gospel relevant to the culture and inculturation is the perspective of the Gospel represented within those situations. The Gospel is communicated in and through language, symbols, music, traditions, and customs. In other words, the Gospel is communicated through culture. This is where inculturation begins. Each of the four gospels was written for a specific culture. For example, the gospel of Matthew was written for Jewish communities. The Gospel message transforms the world and continues to be inculturated in different times and places (Matthew 5.1-16). Among the problems vexing modern missiology is the urgent need for adaptation, both due to declining congregations in the post-Christendom era and because of the constant need for adaptation to promote acceptance of faith. Mission partners are told to adjust themselves to the people whom they labour.  [2]  This is the product of inculturation. The making of disciples is a process that begins at the point of conversion, but continues long after it, for the entirety, one could argue, of a Christians life. The International Standard Dictionary Bible Dictionary defines disciples thus: after the death and ascension of Jesus, disciples are those who confess Him as the Messiah.  [3]  The process of becoming a disciple thus begins with a confession of faith, but must continue as part of the Body of Christ, and in the Church. The term winning souls implies in itself an eschatological view of salvation, and places a heavier emphasis on life in Christ after the resurrection of the dead than life in Christ in this world. In principle salvation is the effect on the soul of a conversion to Christianity. There is, however, a distinction to be made between saving and winning souls. Whilst the former has a firmly eschatological meaning, the latter is more ambiguous. It is therefore imperative that the motives of the church are clear; namely, from what are these souls being saved from? Butler describes American culture as something that people need to be saved from.  [4]   The practice of Paul laid out in 1 Corinthians 9:22 is that Christianity appeared to those on the outside of faith to adapt to the circumstances in which they find those to whom they are preaching. The word inculturation is of recent coinage and has rapidly been accepted within theological debate.  [5]  This would appear to imply that it meets a need identified recently and that there is general agreement on its significance within contemporary mission that it is a vital component to successful mission both when inculturation is naturally occurring and when it is formulated for the purpose. Academics agree that the message of the New Testament entails mission. Passages such as Matthew 28:18-20 and Mark 16:15-16 are usually referred to by scholars as the Great Commission.  [6]  Due to this the Church of Jesus has a mandate to take the salvific message of the Gospel to the ends of the earth and to make Disciples of Christ in every nation. There is some ambiguity regarding the understanding of mission.  [7]  Practicing ones faith in community is an important way of participating in mission.  [8]  Through baptism, Hebrews 10:25 withholds that Christians believe that they become sisters and brothers belonging together in Christ. The church is the  coming together  of the faithful and their  going forth  in peace and this is the mission God is said to require of his people and this is also known as the Missio Dei.  [9]  Bosch is one theologian strongly in favour of witnessing as a Christian, saying that Mission means serving, healing, and reconciling a divided, wounded humanity.  [10]  Sometimes to achieve these aims set out by Bosch it is required to adapt ones personal understanding in favour of a greater meaning which can put into motion these missiological acts. Bosch describes mission in general terms as the activity of proclaiming and embodying the gospel among those who have not yet embraced it.  [11]  The basic premise of mission is that all Christians should be involved in the Great Commission of Jesus as spoken in Matthew 28:19-20. The teaching of the contemporary missional church is that the church has a mission because Jesus had a mission.  [12]  Hirsch describes mission when he says missional church is a community of Gods people that defines itself, and organizes its life around, its real purpose of being an agent of Gods mission to the world.  [13]   Through inculturation, the Church provides an incarnational in cultures and at the same time introduces people along with their cultures, into the churches own community, providing that it is biblical.  [14]  People of faith transmits these Biblical ideologies into their own values, at the same time taking the elements which already exist within their cultures and adapting those that do not into a more applicable form.  [15]  Due to this action within the local churches, the universal Church has developed forms of expression and ethics in the various sectors of Christian life, such as evangelization, worship, theology and social justice.  [16]   A consequence of inculturation is that a given culture has an opportunity to be transformed by faith, and ideally the culture in question is introduced into the Church. Inculturation has this effect because humanity reflects God as they are created in His image (Genesis 1:27). God has planted His holy spirit, in every individual, and as such, every community. This is a normal consequence of humanitys creation in the image and likeness of God.  [17]  Ã‚  Christians believe, as described by Paul in his letter to the Corinthians that the Holy Spirit is active in all of humanity, regardless of whether they have faith in him. This is this reason that the Gospel message can be unchanging despite inculturation of the Gospel into cultures.  [18]  It is the duty of evangelism which is made possible due to inculturation, to reveal this presence and this activity, to discover and affirm holy spirit and to challenge everything in the culture, which impedes the full manifestation of Gods truth and love.  [19]  This provides a full circle of inculturation from applying the Gospel to the culture in question, to the culture being transformed by the Gospel message and to some extent un-inculturating themselves. There are various different ways of explaining transformation of culture by faith. One opinion, represented by Galder, is to situate the process in what is called the  Missio Dei, which basically means the Mission of God.  [20]  Ã‚  The Missio  Dei reaches its potential in the great commandment of love (oneanother as oneself) and its practical implementation in the life and sacrifice of Jesus described in John as God so loved the world that he gave his only Son (John 3: 16).  [21]  Another approach taken by theologians, represented by Wainwright Tucker, is to see inculturation as a consequence of the Incarnation.  [22]  By becoming human, God identified himself with human culture.  [23]  Culture was part of the human nature adopted by God the Son, Jesus.  [24]  Ã‚  This identification was completed in the death of Jesus on the cross.  [25]  Through his death and resurrection, Jesus transcended the limitations of an earthly life and has extended his saving power interculturally.  [26]  This process of the inculturation wheel involves the death and resurrection of each and every culture.  [27]  Ã‚  Christians believe, according to Wainright, that their faith is the perfection of every culture.  [28]  Both of these arguments represent valid points however, despite being seemingly distinctive in academic writings, they have no requirement to be mutually exclusive. For this reason, one may conclude that one could incorporate the incarnation with the Missio Dei for maximum beneficial results. Inculturation affects every aspect of the Christian life, particularly how that life of faith begins. Evangelism as Witness, a model put forward by Abraham, is the idea that a Christians everyday life should serve as a witness to their faith and that this should be a route to evangelism.  [29]  The basis for this idea is found in the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus tells his disciples, In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16). Abraham himself is ambivalent about this approach: while it is effective at making evangelism a natural part of a Christians daily life, there is a danger that it can [allow] us to pretend that the church has fulfilled its obligations in evangelism when in reality it has reduced evangelism to our acts of mercy and love.  [30]  Furthermore, by making evangelism an inherent part of the Christian lifestyle, but distinctive from secularisation, it becomes removed from the culture of a community and represents its own, faithful culture.  [31]  This would leave room for new converts to detach from an inculturated Gospel message and begin their faith from pure eyes.  [32]  Through the eyes of inculturisation evangelism as witness appears to be a shallow representation of the understanding of the role of inculturism in contemporary culture. However, one thing that may be said of evangelism by witness is that its motives are inherently pure. Because the Christian lifestyle is not a means to an evangelistic end but an end in itself, evangelism is not a purpose in itself; rather a Christ-like life is the purpose, and evangelism is merely a by-product. This is the danger that Abraham expresses in The Art: that witness as evangelism exaggerates what can be conveyed through acts of mercy and love alone.  [33]   One characteristic of Jesus Christ is his willingness to serve. He spent his human life serving the apostles and all those he came in contact with. Through the scriptures, his service has become much more far reaching, beyond the people he came in direct contact with. The stories that are told teach all of us why service is important. When Christ was teaching the multitudes of people and it was a meal time, the community of people got hungry. Jesus was compassionate to their needs and fed them. Not only did he perform a miracle to show that what He provided both in the meal and in his saving actions, that there was enough for everyone, but he also shared his time with His people. Jesus is taken as the ultimate idol in a time where people feel the need to be provided with an external locus of identity. His example surpasses culture, it is an intercultural need that supposes time and space, for that of food, nutritionally and spiritually. This could be argued to be evidence for a resol ution to some issues facing faith across cultures. Christianity is a religion that has surpassed centuries and inculturation is is entwined throughout the churchs history. As a result of this historical process there is a certain accumulation of cultural elements, which begin with those biblical influences where the culture is present whilst continually being affected and adapted by cultures.  [34]  The cultures of the Bible are necessary for the understanding of Scripture, which, in the Christian tradition, cannot be replaced by any other historical influence.  [35]   Within more traditional church practices there is the use of words, gestures and rites particularly those that belong to the liturgy of the sacraments. There are other traditions the church has help which Jesus himself did or has commanded his followers to participate in: Baptism and the bread and wine which Jesus substituted for the blessings of the Jewish Passover.  [36]  The Church feels unable to change these practices without being unfaithful to the historical Jesus.  [37]   The process of the inculturation into other cultures is costly in time. Tanye describes it as not a matter of purely external adaptation, for inculturation means the intimate transformation of authentic cultural values through their integration in Christianity and the insertion of Christianity in the various human cultures.  [38]  The process is thus a profound and all-embracing one, which involves the Christian message and also the Churchs reflection and practice. At the same time it is a difficult process, as the attraction to compromise the distinctiveness and integrity of the Christian faith is strong. The Church identifies with biblical culture, but this is ever further from its own living culture of today. The cultures of the first century AD are, in fact, cultures which are not naturally occurring in modern society. The reason for emphasis on biblical culture is because it belongs to the humanity and historicity of Jesus himself, who is the subject of evangelization/inculturation. People of every culture have to do this and it is part of the reality of inculturation itself, especially where these elements are essential   Ã‚  to Christian identity. Inculturation is a slow journey which accompanies the whole of missionary life. It involves those working in the Churchs mission and the Christian communities as they develop.. It is an integral component to evangelism. For this reason inculturation is essential to the current church in the west however is not ideal for a longer-term plan for the church.

Pre Marital Sex And School Dropouts Sociology Essay

Pre Marital Sex And School Dropouts Sociology Essay This is the base line study conducted among adolescent students to correlate between the knowledge and the thoughts of students about pre-marital sex and school dropouts.  The present study is a cross sectional base line study conducted using an online survey which consisted of questions relating to the topic to test the understanding of the Indian youth on premarital sexual activity. Around 130 students attempted this survey based on their views on premarital sex and their perception regarding the present scenario of the society. The study shows that around 79% of the students think that premarital sex is nothing but a sexual intercourse before marriage, and not an adolescent or youthful sex. Moreover, students disagreed on the fact that premarital sex is responsible for school dropouts in India. INTRODUCTION Sex being a universal term one would expect a great deal to be known about it. But this is not the case, partly because all societies regulate sexual activities. The family institution is where sexual activities or intercourse takes place between two adult of opposite sex. Pre-marital sex is not confined to young people alone; a good number of people who are not married are also vulnerable to pre-marital sex. This is evidence by the large number of unintended pregnancies many of which get terminated in back street clinics which leads to the high rate of sexually transmitted infections among the 15-24 years old and an increasing number of girls dropping out of school due to unwanted pregnancies. Is premarital sex really a good enough reason for girls to drop their schools? Let us find out with the help of some reports and surveys conducted across the world. In a recent report released by CSA (Centre for The study of Adolescents), the age of sexual debut is now at all-time low, in between 8 and 12 years. This increases the chances of unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases as well as the chances of dropping out of school. Also, the consequences of pre-marital sex are sexually transmitted diseases, (as well as HIV) are higher for females. If a young girl becomes pregnant, she places herself and her unborn child at further risk because a young girls body would not have developed to the point being able to handle child birth safely. Even if a young mother escapes severe heath consequences, she must still face serious responsibilities of parenthood. This is aside the fact that she drops out of school and except in rare cases she may never go back to school again. Modern society is becoming freer in many different ways so that premarital sex is becoming more ordinary. Pre-marital sex seems to be causing many social disturbances su ch as disorderly household and more corruption of public morals. The absence of social and economic opportunities for girls and women and the demands placed on them, coupled with the gender inequities known to exist within the educational system, may result in unsatisfactory school experiences, poor academic performance and resignation to or preference for early childhood. Although pregnancy is often thought to disrupts the education of adolescent girls, teenage reproductive behaviour may be endogenous to school completion in that many of the same factors lead to drop out and early child bearing. In conjunction with the trend towards an increase in the age as marriage, the age at sexual initiation among young women has either remained the same or risen. At the same time, a shift has occurred in many countries towards an increase in the proportion initiating sex before marriages at ages when adolescent could still be enrolled to school. However, the issue of premarital sex in India remains a poorly explored topic. Not enough is known about the levels, trends and regional patterns in sexual activity before marriage in India. A review of the literature on adolescent sexuality showed that anywhere up to 10% of unmarried girls and women and 20-30% of unmarried boys and men have been sexually active. Given the conservative attitude towards non-marital sexuality, even this vague figure for premarital sex is revealing. Further, there are indicators that the numbers are likely to be higher than those reported by women, especially in poor and rural areas. Considering the present Indian generation, this topic is now becoming more and more open in comparison to the preceding generations, which is highly motivating to do a survey on a topic presumed to be a taboo in the society. In the popular media, there is now a sense that sex before marriage is on the rise with the social and economic changes brought about by globalisation. The increasing exposure of youth to western culture is thought to have effected a change in moral attitudes towards sex before marriage. REVIEWS AND FINDINGS The data used for this study are collected with the help of an online survey. This analysis includes all women and men, unmarried or married. While there appears to be a strong relationship between education and household wealth and the levels of premarital sex among women, these relationships are less clear for men. The percentage of women who report premarital sexual intercourse decreases with an increase in their level of education as well as with an increase in the wealth quintile their household is in, albeit marginally. The majority of women cannot enjoy sex outside of the bonds of marriage. The development of a fulfilling sex life needs the security and peace of the marriage bond. Premarital sex usually takes place sneaking around in hidden places dealing with the fear of being caught, the fear of pregnancy and feelings of guilt. All these (worrisome) factors undermine pleasure in premarital sex, most especially for women. But there is no discernible relationship between prema rital sex and mens level of education or wealth. In India, research attention on youth sexual behaviour has increased considerably in recent years. Several small and large scale studies, including the recent National Family Health Survey and the National Behavioural Surveillance Survey have explored pre-marital sexual behaviour of young people. Evidence from these studies indicates that despite socio-cultural taboos, youth in India do engage in pre-marital sex and that for many young people, pre-marital sexual experiences are characterised by multiple partnerships, lack of contraception or condom use and for young women, by coercion as well. Studies that shed light on the correlates of pre-marital sexual experiences among young people are, however, few in India. Although studies on pre-marital sexual behaviour of young people have increased considerably in India in recent years, these studies differ substantively and methodologically. Just a couple of studies were nationally representative, a few were representative of districts in which they were conducted and almost all others were small-scale studies. Some focused on community-based samples of unmarried and married youth, while others focused on institution-based samples of special groups such as college students or young men seeking treatment for sexually transmitted infections. Hence, findings from most of these studies were not intended to be generalised to the country as a whole. Numerous scientific studies show that the children of single mothers suffer psychologically and are less successful socially and academically than children from intact families. Above all, children need both their father and their mother. It is wrong to risk having children who will never have their fathers l ove, protection and care. The following are the results of the online survey which included around 130 people. This online survey is taken by approx. 130 people of which 82% are male and remaining 18% are female. Out of these 130 people, 42% belong to the age group of greater than or equal to 20. Remaining 58% have their age less than 20 years. 71% of the Indian Population thinks that pre-marital sex is justified and correct, even morally. The increasing exposure of youth to western culture is thought to have effected a change in moral attitudes towards sex before marriage. In general, Indian men and women are not expected to have sex before marriage. But still, 22% of the people who attempted the survey said that if a boy and a girl are prior to marrying each other, their sexual activity is morally correct. Otherwise, it is wrong. In the popular media, there is now a sense that sex before marriage is on the rise with the social and economic changes brought about by globalisation. Culture also plays an important role when it comes to the decisions which are bold and would be unacceptable in the society. Especially in Indian culture, where ethics and values are followed to the core, such activities may create a thunderstorm in the society. 79% of the people think that Indian culture has a great influence on the perception regarding Pre-marital sex. Considering the above diagrams, it can be easily understood that pre-marital sex is a taboo in Indian society. As a result, there are several ramifications for the event. School Dropouts, being the most common and the most severe one, can be observed as a prime effect of pre-marital sex, in case of unwanted situations like pregnancies. When the youth was asked about the school dropouts, 74% disagreed for the fact that increase in school dropouts is not due to pre-marital sexual activities. Also, when asked about the future aspects of the event, 72% of the people said that they have no problem engaging in a pre-marital sexual activity. CONCLUSION At the national level, reported premarital sex is still fairly low among women (1.8%) and somewhat higher among men (12%). The data show that ever married women are more likely to report premarital sex compared to currently unmarried women. A comparison of the age at intercourse and the age at marriage for married women reveals that the majority of women who had premarital sex report the start of sexual activity to have taken place in the year before marriage suggesting that it is likely that takes place during the transition to marriage. Among unmarried women and men who report premarital sexual activity, the distributions vary in accordance with their level of education and household income. It is notable that gender equitable attitudes in men are associated with higher levels of premarital sexual activity, while the opposite is true for women. If the awareness of the consequences of risky sexual behaviour is combined with the better ability to determine safe and healthy outcomes a mong both women and men, then this is one avenue for public policy to ensure better sexual health in the population. Sexual activity for young people arrests their psychological, social and academic development. Studies show that when young people engage in premarital sex, their academic performance declines and their social relationships with family and friends deteriorate. This is because adolescents are too immature to deal with the explosive sex drive and it tends to dominate their life. Sex is a powerful force that can destroy if not used properly. Like atomic power, sex is the most powerful creative force given to man. When atomic power is used correctly it can create boundless energy; when it is used in the wrong way it destroys life. Sex is the same kind of powerful force. Sex is a gift from God to give us the greatest pleasure, to help in creating a deep companionship with ones spouse and for procreation of the next generation. But if you play with this powerful force outside the bounds of marriage, it destroys you and those close to you. As mentioned above, it may ruin the entire career of the person by dropping his/her academics. Our study makes several new and important contributions to understanding the correlates of age at initiation of pre-marital sex among both young women and men about which information is scant in India. Programmatically, findings underscore the need for sexual and reproductive health interventions to target not only young people but also their peers and the influential adults in their life, including parents. Methodologically, the study emphasises the need to continue the search for appropriate methodologies to measure sensitive behaviours among youth as well as the need for prospective or panel study designs that capture the ways in which the situation and experiences in adolescence influence their life courses at later ages.

The First Female Prime Minister of Canada :: essays research papers

Kim Campbell, Canada's first female Prime Minister, rose quickly in her political standings reaching, what she would find to be the height of her career only seven years after entering politics. It appeared like the loss of the 1993 election and the all around destruction of the Progressive Conservative party was completely Kim Campbell’s fault however actually was a joint effort by Brian Mulroney and Kim Campbell. Kim Campbell rose so quickly in her political status that she did not have the experience that most of the others MPs had at her level. The Tories were finishing their second term in power and the people of Canada were displeased with Brain Mulroney by the time of his resignation. Kim Campbell was voted in as Prime Minister by her party and was not elected by the people of Canada. During the 1993 election Kim Campbell had an American company make a commercial that mocked Liberal party leader Jean Chrà ©tien’s physical disability. Kim Campbell’s first entered politics in 1986. She first won a provincial seat in Vancouver and in 1988 she won her bid for the House of Commons. She had many good ideas, one of them being the USA-Canada Free Trade Agreement. This part of her campaign was recognized by Brian Mulroney who was the current Prime Minister. In 1989 Mulroney appointed Kim Campbell to the position of Minister of State for Indian and Northern Affairs. Later, in 1990 she was appointed Minister of Justice and a year later became the Minister of Defence. Just two years after becoming Minister of Defence and 7 years after entering politics, she ran for leader of the Progressive Conservative party and became Brian Mulroney's successor. Kim Campbell inexperience in the world of politics gave her a huge disadvantage when things started to go wrong. Brain Mulroney and the Tories had been in power for two terms, a total of 9 years. The Canadians had become tired of Brian Mulroney and his Progressive Conservative government, so when it w as announced that he would resign most Canadians were happy to see him go. However his resignation did mean the end of the Progressive Conservatives power in Canada. Canadians unhappy with what the Progressive Conservatives had done chose to elect an other party. When Brain Mulroney resigned there was, in place of a federal election, a leadership convention. The Tories just had to elect a new leader who would then become the Prime Minister.

The Mass-marketing of Working Class Culture :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

The Mass-marketing of Working Class Culture The fads of the father are visited on the son: we've all seen how adult fads are given down to children. We've seen how cargo pants have trickled down, thanks to the Gap, Baby Gap, and Old Navy (all corporations owned by The Limited, Inc.). Cargo pants have always been a mystery to me. The attractive thing about them is storage (which I'll get to later), blandness and personal appearance. I only considered wearing cargo pants because they'd hide how chunky my thighs are. And they're beige and boring--they thus go with anything. I also don't understand this fascination with looking working-class (In a recent copy of Vogue, there were ritzy, high-priced versions of lumberjack clothing). There's absolutely nothing wrong with that and I don't want to sound like an elitist, because I'm by no means not working-class. I just wonder why this a trend, why white collar workers want to look like they work with their hands. But this fascination with storage, with having so many products presents a problem. Cargo pants were designed so workers could essentially wear their toolbox. Today's kids wearing cargo pants don't need that space for hammers and nails. To avoid acknowledging that cargo pants are a silly trend, wearers unconsciously seek to fill their pockets. As Lacan might say, empty pockets remind us of our lacks. Cargo pants only encourage the reckless. The Gap, like any other capitalist corporation, wants consumers to spend oodles of money. Providing more storage space in a pair of pants allows for children and teens to spend even more money filling them. What the Gap has done is transformed the meaning of cargo pants. It is a redefinition: today's cargo pants wearers aren't laborers, they're spenders. Isn't that a glorious thing, the Gap may ask us. It's a way of showing how the upper class has always stepped all over the lower class, taking what aspects of its culture it likes and discarding the individuals involved. We've seen this over and over, but it usually has been a race's culture that has been used while the individuals are considered meaningless by the ruling classes. This is happening again today with Latin culture. White culture takes what few things it likes (namely Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin, maybe a salsa beat, and some Tex-Mex food), and celebrates it as all Latin culture has to offer, ignoring debates about the "Latinness" of such aspects anyway.

Rotten dot Com :: essays research papers

I have to say rotten dot com is not my type of website, but it did catch my attention. Even if you are disturbed or not attracted to something, you should give it a chance. You never know what to expect especially when you see, "Rotten dot com collects images and information from many sources to present the viewer with a truly unpleasant experience" on the main page. The content of the site is different than any other website that I have seen, but the form and layout is very common among websites. Rotten dot com actually reminds of a newspaper's layout. On the main page there are several links, some on the left side, and some going down the bottom of the page. These links can be related to the subtitles of newspapers which lead you to the inside story. Being that the website is easily viewed and understandable, rotten dot com is a very well designed website. All the links show what topics can be viewed. Then after clicking on the specific link you want, a header page is opened. For example, if you click on the link "Celebrity Morgue", you will see a page with two skeletons on it, and the title overlapping them. Below the title and skeletons is a list of people who you can view dead bodies of. Under the photos of the bodies, there are brief descriptions of how each individual person died. Another one of these links is called "famous." The famous link takes you to a page similar to the Celebrity Morgue page, where there are several sub links on the page. With these links you can view rare photographs. Some of these photos contain Richard Nixon meeting Elvis Presley, and a picture of David Duchonovy almost nude, which appeared on the cover of a European magazine. Another picture is of Nancy Reagan sitting on Mr. T's lap, as he is dressed like Santa Claus. As I previously stated, the form of this website is extremely basic. It contains a lot of links to other pages, which consist of a few odd and disturbing photos. Each page contains a few cartoon pictures, which describe and are related to that specific title of the page. A nice link to click is the "mug shots" link. You can view and take a look at famous actors', criminals', and professional athletes' mug shots. Some mug shots that I think are good are Pee Wee Herman because he got arrested for masturbating, Charles Barkley because he broke a man's nose in a bar fight, and Al Pacino as young hoodlum growing up in Brooklyn.

Ready to Eat Cereal Case Study Essay

The value chain, Appendix B, in the RTE cereal industry consists of branded manufactures and private labels that receive their raw materials from suppliers and then distribute their product to food stores, drug stores, and mass merchandisers where the end consumer can eventually purchase the cereal product. Private labels rely on wholesalers and third-party distributors to get their product on the store shelves where the end consumer can purchase these items. In the RTE cereal industry, there were three large manufacturers, General Mills, Kellogg and Philip Morris that had a strong presence in the market. They were extremely profitable with pricing power and dominated the whole market with great market share; all this made it unattractive for potential new companies entering the RTE cereal industry. According to Appendix 2, Kellogg was one of the Big Three companies in the RTE cereal industry with an average market share of 40.25 from 1950 to 1993 in the whole industry. The industry was concentrated and the market structure for the industry was an oligopoly. The production of RTE cereal requires dough as the raw materials. Due to the fact that dough is a very common material, the power of the suppliers is low. Buyer’s switching costs were low because customers can freely choose different brands and products. Companies, in order to increase their customer’s brand loyalty to certain products, are offering coupons and promotions, which subsequently increase the buyers’ switching cost and weaken buyer’s bargaining power. There is high competition existing among RTE cereal companies; the Big Three companies had strong position and market share in the industry and are continuously introducing new brands and products causing increased competition in the industry. The high entry barrier in the RTE cereal industry was another factor that contributed to its high profitability and made the industry even more concentrated over time. The cost to manufacture RTE cereal was high to achieve a minimum efficient scale. The high cost for building a cereal plant and labor requirement made the capital requirements enormous for a new entry, contributing to our argument that the entry barriers are high. Existing Big Three companies were believed to restrain competition and new entry among themselves. They owned strong distribution channels and focused on the proper stocking, display, and promotion with supermarket chains and food stores, leaving little room for new companies to enter the industry. They emphasized the prime shelf space location in supermarket chains and food stores because the wide brand selection for customers can decrease their companies’ competitive advantage with no name brands. By guaranteeing their products maintain at the most valued center-aisle positions, providing discounts and cash payments to retailers, major companies made new entry to the industry unprofitable. In addition, existing major companies promoted coupons and in-pack premiums such as free toys and gifts to increase product sales and build brand loyalty. They also offered discounts to retailers for special treatment and promotions. This combined effort increased major companies’ dominance in the market share and the whole industry. Existing major companies also introduced a majority of new products and brands, making potential companies unable to enter the industry. At this point it looks as if the Big Three’s dominance over the RTE Cereal Industry will be everlasting; however it is hard to guarantee that a company will have sustainable competitive advantage over the industry. The industry crisis began when consumers started buying natural cereals. The Big Three did not prepare for this consumer demand, allowing other competitors to gain part of the market share. The threat of a substitute product, natural cereals, was increasing rivalry among competing firms in the RTE Cereal Industry. Although it was hard to imitate the Big Three, competitors found a way around this and found substitutes that consumers were interested in. Once private label competitors entered the market they were able to be successful in the industry by averaging only $1.90 per pound, which is significantly less expensive than the Big Three, who were charging $3.20 per pound. Private labels also had a better relationship with the grocers because of the better margins they offered to them. This was a bargaining tool Private Labels used to their advantage. Now their product was being placed in more strategically placed locations throughout the grocery store, which increased their sales and decreased the Big Three’s sales. In addition to allowing competitors into the industry, the Big Three hurt themselves by spending millions of dollars on coupons and advertising. There was little to no results that proved these methods were effective in gaining market share. For example, the RTE cereal industry spent $800 million in advertisements and trade promotions, but did not see much reward other than non-loyal consumers switching their products based on current trade promotions. Another factor of the industry crisis was due to the fact that the Big Three stopped their united front of raising prices together. The Big Three no longer made strategic moves together and in return made it easier for others to enter the industry. At the start of the RTE Cereal Industry the Big Three offered value to their customers, however over time their capabilities were possessed by many competitors, not making their organizations rare. This hurt their competitive advantage among the market. In the end the Big Three were not able to compete on cost and the willingness to pay from the consumer was declining as more substitutes came into play. Private labels faced relatively few entry barriers to become a potential threat to the branded manufacturers within the industry. The lack of product differentiation between the products of branded cereal manufacturers and private labels and the ability of private labels to offer their product at a cheaper price contributed to much of their success, Private labels success can also be attributed to the declining brand loyalty of popular branded manufacturers. Branded manufacturers relied heavily upon the distribution of promotional coupons to their consumer base, but as a result this tactic forced many customers to become price switching and brand switching sensitive that ultimately worked to the private labels favor. Furthermore, private labels success really was impacted by the higher margins their products offered to retailers, which were higher by 3% in comparison to branded manufacturers. The cost structures of private labels and branded cereal manufacturers have distinct differences, which has given private labels a strong competitive advantage in the industry. Private labels’ advertising and R&D expenses were less than branded manufacturers, which allowed the private labels to offer their product at a cheaper price. A typical cost breakdown per pound of cereal product for the Big Three cereal firms shows that 23.43% of the retail price accounted towards their advertising expenses which is about 40% less than what private labels contributed towards advertising expenditures. Ralston’s advertising expenses, the firm that dominated the private label cereal market, totaled to $0.15 per pound which about half of what other is branded cereal manufacturers contributed towards advertising. Private labels also relied on third-party distributors to deliver their product to stores. This assisted in cutting expenses by not requiring capital to create an independent distribution channel. Many private labels reduced packaging costs by packaging their cereal product in large plastic bags that proved to be a more cost-effected solution than using cardboard boxes. There are a number of things that General Mills may have been trying to accomplish when they decided to reduce prices and trade promotions in 1994, with the main reason being to improve the overall profit performance of their cereal division, Big G. Big G was the most profitable division of General Mills representing 30% of the company’s total profit. By cutting $175 million out of trade promotions and reducing the prices of their biggest brands by an average of 11%, General Mills hoped to become a more efficient firm. General Mill’s president Stephan Sanger backed up his plan for trade promotions by claiming â€Å"the 50 cents that the consumer saves by clipping a coupon can cost manufacturers as much as 75 cents.† When General Mills announced this plan to cut pricing and promotion, they believed they would be the industry leader with all other firms following suit. However, Kellogg decided to stick with their price up and spend back line. The industry was split between the two marketing strategies and bound to follow whichever approach generated more profit. By cutting $175 million from their promotion and couponing budget and reducing the prices of their biggest brands by 11%, General Mills was taking incredible risk. Cutting the promotion and couponing budget is the greatest source of the risk. The most obvious aspect of that is the loss of visibility. Customers find out about products through promotions or coupons and if those promotions and coupons are not as readily available as those of the competitor, it is hard for General Mills’ product to be as visible. Competition within breakfast cereal brands is high. Several people, often times referred to as â€Å"savers†, shop primarily based on coupons available. If coupons for General Mills’ brands are no available, these people will purchase cereal brands where coupons are available. The benefit of this decision, however, is that coupons in this industry are actually costing the company money. That being said, it is also difficult to put a price on the visibility that the coupon provides. General Mills’ decision to reduce the price of their major brands comes at a risk as well. This could be perceived by competitors as price-cutting and could start a price battle, which would end up poor for both General Mills and their competitors. As a competitor of General Mills, our expectation would be for them to have an almost wait and see strategy. We would not rush into any decision. Instead, we would see how this works for General Mills and then make a decision. By cutting promotions and coupons, General Mills is losing visibility but by cutting their prices, they are more attractive to the consumer who is already in the store. It is difficult to judge the benefit of that trade off so waiting to see what happens with General Mills is the strategy that is most appropriate for competitors. On the other hand, as General Mills, this decision has been made and they should stick to it. It boils down to the tradeoff discussed above. This seems to be a risky business decision for several reasons however this strategy should be monitored closely and reevaluated after a several months to determine the effectiveness and a plan to move forward from there.

France †Change over Time Essay (French Revolution) Essay

*As the title indicates, this is a change/continuity AP essay written for World History class. Vaguely, the essay question was: Describe change and continuity in France from the mid-1700s to the mid-1800s.*Like many other European nations in the 1700’s, France experienced a dramatic shift of sentiments against the monarchy, nobility, and Catholic Church as the people, fired by rousing new Enlightenment ideals, began to question authority and emphasize the need for equality, liberty, and democracy. The social and political changes in France were best characterized by three different periods – the weak monarchy of King Louis XVI and the subsequent period of confusion after his removal from power, the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte and his downfall, and the new order brought about by the Congress of Vienna; central to these changes were Enlightenment influence, nationalism, and France’s relations with other countries. However, despite the great social upheavals of this time period, gender roles remained more or less unchanged and although women had begun to rouse the idea of women’s rights, little changed in the way that society viewed women because men still held economic power. France was the most advanced country of Europe in the 1700’s, home to many leading philosophers such as Voltaire and Montesquieu. Despite its prominence, it was experiencing domestic instability and civil unrest. The aloof King Louis XVI paid little attention to what was happening outside his opulent court and was unable to control the rebellions when they started cropping up. Goaded by Enlightenment ideas, the lower classes began to demand equality and liberty. When their demands were not met, they stormed the French prison Bastille on July 14, 1789 and the revolution was truly underway. The National Assembly became the dominant political power, taking away the feudal privileges of the First and Second Estates and establishing control over church lands. It created a limited constitutional monarchy, giving Legislative power to the Assembly. Wary of rebellions within their own borders, Austria and Prussia attempted to preserve absolute monarchy in Europe by quelling the French revolution. The Legislative Assembly responded by setting aside the Constitution of 1791, deposing the king, and creating a new governing body. A consequent Reign of Terror ensued during which the Jacobins, and later on Robespierre, gained power and instituted a period of  wide spread executions and radical policies. It was during this period that use of the guillotine became popular. Eventually, the Reign of Terror was overthrown and a moderate government under the Directory was installed. This period saw France change from an absolute monarchy to a period of radical rule then finally to a more moderate form of government. Throughout this, women played a key role in facilitating the spread of ideas by opening their salons to Enlightenment thinkers, creating an environment for new philosophies to form and proliferate. However, they had little direct power and were still seen as inferior to man, albeit new Enlightenment ideals of equality. The Directory chose talented military leader, Napoleon Bonaparte, to become general of the French army; he later moved on to become one of three counsels holding executive power. However, Napoleon’s coup d’etat would put all of France under his control and return France to an absolute monarchy. Napoleon’s reign achieved many Enlightenment ideals despite his Hobbes-like policies; he equalized taxation, repaired the corrupt government, struck a balance between state and church power, and created the Napoleonic Code. He managed to quell the Austrian threat although he did not succeed in Egypt. Napoleon turned away from the New World and sought, instead, to create French dominance in Europe, conquering many neighboring countries and establishing control over Spain and Portugal. Unfortunately, his three mistakes – the Continental System, the Peninsular War, and the invasion of Russia – eventually caused his downfall. The Fourth Coalition, comprised of Britain, Russia, Prussia, Sweden, and Austria, defeated Napoleon and exiled him to the island of Elba. Despite a brief attempt to regain control of France, called the Hundred Days, Napoleon would never again dominate France. During Napoleon’s reign, France saw the return of the absolute ruler. However, growing nationalism brought about Napoleon’s removal from power. This period is also marked by the continuity of woman’s role in France. Despite the tumultuous events of the time, women saw little change in their rights and status. Philosophers like Mary Wollstonecraft found little support for her ideas and France politics and society continued to be a male dominated arena. After Napoleon’s removal from power, the Congress of Vienna, comprised of Prussia, Russia, Austria, Britain, and France, met to forge peace. Using conservative polices, the map of Europe was redrawn to ensure the balance of power and monarchs were restored, created peace in Europe until 1853. However, the French revolution had flamed a support for nationalism as more conquered nations demanded autonomy; the majority of the rebellions were unsuccessful. France had a final revolution had removed the monarchy for good and established a democratic republic. France had finally made the transition from absolute monarchy to democracy. With this change came many social changes such as the end of serfdom in Western Europe and the decreased power of the nobility and the increased importance of wealth in determining power. Women continued to work for women’s rights, including suffrage, but were met with unenthusiastic responses. In fact, despite the radical political changes France had undergone, gender roles hardly changed at all, demonstrating the continuity of women’s status from the time of Louis XVI to after the Congress of Vienna. On a global scale, the basic trends of the French Revolution were very similar to those of the American Revolution. Both were flamed by Enlightenment thinkers advocating equality and liberty and democracy over monarchy and Church control. Both would encourage other rebellions later on – the American Revolutionary ideas would spread to Latin America while French Revolution sentiments would bring about revolts in Germany, Hungary, and other parts of Europe. Woman’s rights also remained rather static in both areas of the world; it would be several more years before women’s rights were considered seriously. The main difference, however, lay in the fact that while the US simply separated itself from Britain authority, France underwent the whole transformation, from absolute monarchy to democracy, despite the periods of unrest in between. The 1700’s was a period of great change in Europe, and France’s progression from absolute monarchy to democracy illustrates the movements of Enlightenment thinkers and the growth of nationalism and the new importance of domestic stability and a satisfied lower class. Three distinct time periods – Louis XVI’s rule and the Reign of Terror, Napoleon’s reign, and  Europe following the Congress of Vienna – illustrated this profound political change. Throughout the political change, however, was continuity in women’s rights and status. Gender roles remained largely the same. There were many parallels between the French Revolution and the American Revolution, depicting an international trend – the growing power of democratic governments. Bibliography All information from AP World History textbookWorld Civilizations: The Global Experience, Third Edition, AP* Edition