Management of Change Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Management of Change - Assignment Example The company earned big profits in depression years and recently the earned profits were $ 22 million in 2006, $ 32 Million in 2007 and $ 45 Million in 2008. Due to technological revolutions of 21st century, the new CEO is interested in making the company a major player in communication arena. The company has changed focus from water-based civil projects due to dwindling revenue opportunities and is currently bidding the National Broadband Network. H&J lacks fundamental business systems unlike competitors like Foxtel and Telstra. Shareholders are unhappy and fear lack of strategic direction and loss in market share. The consultants have found that H & J failed to plan for the change. I believe the company should conduct a more orderly move in to communications. After assessing the scope of the change through identifying the change requirements such as the number of new staff required, the processes and technology, H & J can utilize John Kotter’s model of change management in moving to the communication arena. The following eight steps are critical in the change management process. This step will entail outlining the need for the change. The step entails developing a shared view of current business situation and ensuring a shared vision for the future. The management must be capable must outline the current scenario of declining opportunities in water-based projects and outline the opportunities that exist in the communication arena due to technological advancements. The management must examine the opportunities, threats and conduct honest discussion with stakeholders about the proposed change (Kotter 1996). The management must identify a team of influential people in the organization such as committed shareholders who can drive the change. This stage requires good leadership skills and emotional commitment of the leaders of the various stakeholders in the company.

Marketing Strategy of a new energy drinks Essay Example for Free

Marketing Strategy of a new energy drinks Essay All around the world drinking beverage is like an entertainment for everyone. Millions of people have beverages everyday for refreshment. Our report is about the Energy Drinks of Bangladesh. In this report we have explained and analyzed how some of the five top selling energy drink companies are operating in Bangladesh. Energy drinks are becoming a major part of the beverage industry due to the rapid increase of their market competition and consumer awareness. In Bangladesh, Tiger and Speed are the most famous amongst all other energy drinks. Most of the energy drink companies act and carry out their marketing strategies in similar ways. More innovative steps are required to improve their market share. The goal of this report is to find out about the present condition of energy drink market in Bangladesh, major competitors we are likely going to face and how we are going to overcome the challenges in the market when we will launch a new energy drink named ‘Spirit’. With the use of effective marketing mix and other strategies we are going to target the young people of Bangladesh to sell our product. We have done a clear competitive analysis to take advantage of the weaknesses of our competitors and opportunities of the market. We are likely going to invest hugely in the beginning of launching our product to inform our customers about our product. As a new product company we are promising our customers to offer a unique product which will give them energy along with the excitement to enjoy their lives. Section 1: Current Market Analysis 1. 1: Top 5 brands in the market (how we find it) –We have surveyed in some of the areas of Dhaka city, like – Farmgate, Motijheel,Uttara, Gulshan; to find out the names of five most top selling energy drinks. According to the survey we have seen – Tiger, Speed, Shark, Sting and Boost are most popular in the energy drink industry of Bangladesh. We went to different departmental stores as mystery shoppers and randomly asked about the drinks each shop offers and found out the names of the energy drinks customers tend to buy more. 1. 2:Product Analysis -Product Level – Product leveling is the first and most important step taken by product planners to add more customer value to their products. It includes 3 main levels: Core Customer Value, Actual Product and Augmented Product. Core Customer Value – The first thing that comes to everyone’s mind when they talk about energy drink is ‘source of power’. In Bangladesh, all of the energy drink companies basically have the same core customer value, which is mainly about replenishing the energy of their customers through providing them with their energy drinks. However, different brands use different mottos to establish their customer value. For example: Shark’s motto says, â€Å"Real Energy, Real Power†; in other case Speed’s motto says, â€Å"Heavy Energy†. This way each products motto varies from each other and creates a different view about the product in their customers mind. Actual Product – This level includes Brand name, Packaging and Product Attributes. Under Product Attribute comes: Product Features, Design and Quality of the product. i. Brand name: A brand name is an identity of a product, without it no product will even exist. Each brand name establishes their uniqueness with their different names, signs and logos. All of the energy drink companies have a brand name of their products, which differentiates each of them from their competitors. The names ‘Royal Tiger’, ‘Boost Energy Drink’, ‘Speed’, ‘Shark’ and ‘Sting’ – each of them stands as a brand name for their product, marketed by different producers. ii. Packaging: Packaging describes the way a product is protected using a container or wrapper and at the same time provides all the required information regarding a product. The energy drinks – Sting, Speed, Shark and Tiger are all available in both cans and bottles. Only Boost is available in steel can in the market. iii. Product Features and Designs: Features explain the tools which enable a particular energy drink to gain competitive advantage over other energy drinks. The tools include – design, smell, taste and color of each energy drink. The designs of Sting, Speed, Shark, Boost and Tiger energy drinks are more or less the same. They are mostly available in two forms and in two shapes, one in a round shaped plastic bottle (250 ml) and another in cylindrical steel can (250/270 ml). They all taste sweet, expect from Tiger and Boost; which tastes sour as well. iv. Quality: Speed, Tiger, Shark, Boost and Sting have been maintaining a good standard of quality by providing the adequate amount of energy to their customers and helping them to deal with strenuous activity. However, no matter what the quality level is; over consumption of energy drinks can always prove harmful for human beings (even though they might be alcohol free). Augmented Product– There is no after-sales service, delivery service or product support for these perishable products (like – energy drinks). Labeling– Labeling is the most important part of every energy drinks. It informs about the ingredients of the product, who made the product, safety issues regarding the product and the web address of the company. Speed, Tiger, Shark, Sting and Boost all maintain an informative and trendy labeling to help their customers to make the right choice. Their ingredients contain Carbonated Water, Carbonated Sugar, Vitamins, Preservatives, Colors, Antioxidant, Sodium Benzoate, Ca-D-Pentothenate, Citric acid, Tartrazine Yellow and many other things according to the standard or permissible level. They even mention on their labeling that, it can be harmful for children and pregnant women. However, they are manufactured by different companies. ‘Speed’ is manufactured by Food And Beverage Limited, ‘Shark’ is manufactured by Global Beverage Company Limited, ‘Sting’ is manufactured by Transcom Beverage Limited, ‘Tiger’ is manufactured by AST Beverage Limited and ‘Boost’ is manufactured by Boost Drinks Limited. Brand Positioning – One of the challenging things for the energy drink companies to do is, to create a permanent place in the customers mind about a particular brand. To do this, all of these energy drink companies need to locate their brands at 3 levels – i. Product attributes ii. Benefits iii. Beliefs and Values. i. Product Attributes: Even though Tiger, Speed, Shark, Boost and Sting all have the common color of the drink yellow; their smell is very different from each other. Boost tastes sour, Tiger tastes both sour and sweet, Sting tastes like strawberry and both the Shark and Speed taste sweet. ii. Benefits: The common benefit any consumer can gain from having an energy drink is, ‘spiritual force’ which will make them more active in their daily life. Still, every energy drink has it’s own way to inform about their benefits to their loyal customers. ‘Royal Tiger’ benefits their customers by recharging their energy physically, ‘Boost’ helps their customers with being more efficient, ‘Sting’ provides their customers with vitamins and other nutrients, ‘Shark’ strengthens the stamina of their customers and ‘Speed’ increases the concentration and performance level of the individuals who are consuming it. iii. Beliefs and Values: Satisfaction comes from the core belief that consumers hold in their minds about a certain product. Customers believe – ‘Sting’ and ‘Tiger’ will give them satisfaction with better taste, ‘Boost’ will boost their energy, ‘Shark’ will give them real power and ‘Speed’ will help them gain extra speed. This way customers share their different beliefs and value for each energy drinks differently. 1. 3: Price Analysis– Size of the Bottle Product Name 250 ml 270 ml 330ml Speed 25 BDT Shark 25 BDT Sting 25 BDT Boost Tiger 25 BDT Size of the Can Product name 250 ml 270 ml 330 ml Speed 30 BDT Shark 35 BDT Sting -Boost 170 BDT Tiger 30 BDT 1. 4: Promotion Analysis Promotion : Advertising is the most crucial part of a company’s marketing mix. It is the first step to inform and aware the general public or the target group of customers about a product a particular company is offering. The five energy drink companies – Speed, Tiger, Shark, Sting and Boost; all of them are between the introduction and growth stage of their product life cycle. At this stage they are only informing the customers about their product including their benefits. Basically all the companies are following the same way to promote their products and these are some of the most common media channels used by them for doing promotion – television, radio, newspapers, magazines and internet. Target Group: Energy drink companies mainly target the major districts of Bangladesh. The local companies, like – Speed, Tiger have distributed their products in rural areas as well to attract a huge number of customers. Energy drinks are mainly used by the people who are between the age group of 16-30, because they comparatively need more energy in every step of their lives. So all of the companies aim to target them and make the product according to their needs to deliver complete satisfaction through their energy drinks. Their product is priced quite cheaply, so that people of different classes can buy them. Most of the energy drinks are claimed to be halal while considering the religious and social issues of Bangladesh. Message and Effect of the advertisements: Message (Add Story) Each company make their advertisements differently even though their motive remains the same, which is to inform the customers about the product. Here are some of the advertisement stories of the five energy drink companies – 1. Speed In one of Speed’s advertisements, they have shown some guys were trying to get up on a bamboo for the whole day without getting tired. Their motto is ‘Heavy Energy’. In other words, they are using emotional appeal. In newspapers, they post a picture from the screen shot of their advertisements and use the same motto, so that people can get a clear brand knowledge. They do not have any brand ambassador for their product and they are constantly sending out the notion to their consumers how Speed can let them gain unlimited energy. 2. Shark There is an advertisement of Shark ‘20 takay Dhaka’, they showed a guy kicked another person from Chittagong and sent him to Dhaka after having Shark energy drink. They are using the motto ‘Real Energy, Real Power’. In their advertisements they use the rational appeal to attract customers. They have no brand ambassador, because they are not still going for intensive or aggressive promotion. 3. Sting -. In the television advertisement there was one young boy who went to a shooting spot with the hope of being a superstar. On that time one director was taking the shot of riding a motor cycle on that spot. Showing that the young boy moved forward to do that shot but the director did not allow him and insulted him that made the young boy very frustrated. After that the director was supposed to make that shot with the hero but unfortunately the hero failed to ride the motor cycle. Then the director asked the crowd who could do the shot. The first young boy showed up the courage and did that shot in a fantastic way. Everybody praised him a lot. They started celebrating the happiness together by dancing with sting energy drink. They were singing â€Å"Sting, Sting, Sting –Ullasher Shuru Ekhanei†. They are using rational appeal in their advertisements In the radio advertisement they play the same jingle. In newspaper the marketers use the picture of 250ml bottle of sting energy drink and write their jingle. They give the same ad in magazines too. In billboards and posters, the marketers add the picture in a big way that they use for newspaper and magazine. 4. Boost In one ad they have shown that a young guy, probably of age 20 was walking along the roadside, on the background rap music is going on (sign of young generation). The lyrics was talking about getting energy, confidence and success. The guy had his neck tattoed and wore a sunglass, showing the style of recent youth fashion. He went into a departmental store, went to the refrigerator, there were other drinks (e. g. red rooster and red bull); but he picked up BOOST, then he paid for it, got out, drank it and got himself recharged and the soundtrack was saying as if he could fly now. So this is one example of their rational advertisements. They have not used any brand ambassador yet for their product in Bangladesh, and these two advertisements are not even shown in Bangladeshi channels, they are only available in You tube. 5. Tiger The tiger energy drink has only one advertisement which is very popular. The brand ambassador Aiyub bachchu is the model for the advertisement. The advertisement showed that, when the popular singer Aiyub Bacchu attended a party, the audience requested him to sing a song. But at that time Aiyub Bacchu felt tired and bored. So he needed to recharge himself to get energy. So he took tiger and then sang a song with more power and energetic voice. In this way they try to attract customers by using the rational approach. They also do radio advertisement with the song of Aiyub Bacchu. In billboard advertisement they promote their motto ‘Recharge Yourself’. Effect – Different advertisements effect’s consumers differently. In general, all of these advertisements encourage people to buy their products. When people get satisfied with one product, they talk positive things about it, this way companies can enjoy the benefits of -word of mouth. Customers get to know through these advertisements how their everyday lives are going to be benefitted if they have these energy drinks. Personal selling: Personal selling is no longer considered as giving door to door service. It is a much wider concept nowadays. Companies not only their sell their product to the customers, they also build a loyal relationship with them. To keep on and for maintaining such a relation, companies must be ready to deal with different problems their customers have regarding their product. Unfortunately, none of these five energy drink companies do these in Bangladesh. They are more focused on advertising only. Sales promotion: In general, energy drink companies do not give any special discount on their product to boost their sales. Companies give incentives to their channel members to keep their product in the front line of their shelves, so that customers choose to have it by first looking at it. Sometimes they give energy drink on their own to the customers, because it make the customers feel the product is of high quality and that is why the salesman is offering it to them. Besides people generally do not look out for products those are kept behind the shelves, as it will be very time consuming. Advertisements do even contribute to generate the sales level sometimes. Though there are many other ways to promote sales, the energy drink companies mainly follow these two ways to carry out their sales promotion activity. Public Relation: To operate in this digital world it is very important for companies to maintain a good relation with both their internal and external publics, example – shareholders, customers. Some of the energy drink companies arranges concerts and sponsors television shows to interact closely with their customers. Example – last year Tiger organized one concert in Doha. Each of the five companies uses different and unique logos for their product. None of them are involved in doing conferences or giving press release. Buzz marketing is also a tool used by these companies to improve their relations with the general public and promote their product as well. Direct Marketing: Energy drink companies have their official websites, but their use is not very effective in Bangladesh. In huge shopping malls or in other areas, none of the energy drinks are available in vending machines. These products are not even sold by the companies directly over online or by using telephone. The only way they carry out direct marketing is through placing the advertisement videos in You Tube. The energy drink companies still lack good customer service, example – no service or facilities provided to give complaints or to share ideas about the product face to face with the customers. Promotion Mix Strategy: The demand for energy drink is not yet very high in Bangladesh. So all the manufacturers of these five energy drink companies use the push strategy. Manufacturers contract with wholesalers or retailers to pass down their products to their final consumers and also to encourage customers to buy the products. Sometimes manufacturers give incentives to the channel members to promote their product as well. Section 02: Marketing strategy for a new brand Figure: Spirit Energy Drink Figure: Logo of Spirit Energy Drink 2. 1: Introducing a new brand for energy drink After analyzing the present market condition of energy drinks in Bangladesh, we have come up with a new idea of introducing a new brand for energy drink. The name of our energy drink will be ‘SPIRIT Energy Drink’. This new energy drink will hopefully win the hearts of our target customers and please them with the new taste and value of our product that we going to offer. This energy drink will not only make people active physically, it will also motivate them spiritually to move ahead in their lives with confidence. The motto of our energy drink is ‘ignites you from inside’. With this motto we will give our customers the idea of how Spirit energy drink can add more liveliness in their lives. The name of our company is Spirit Beverage Limited and we are using ‘Spirit Energy Drink’ as our product’s logo. We have used picture of a guy inside the logo to show our customers what we are trying to say through the motto.roductinkurny is gy of Shark and make them more active. customers tend to buy more. 20202020202020202020202020202020. 2. 2: Design marketing strategy for the new brand i. Segmentation We will segment the market of Spirit energy drink on the basis of geography, demography, psychography and behavior. Geographic Segmentation: We are going to serve Spirit energy drink mainly for the people of Bangladesh. We will offer Spirit energy drink within the different territories of Bangladesh, like- Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Barisal, Sylhet, Rangpur and Comilla. We will be selecting these territories because these are the biggest district of Bangladesh and most of the people live in these places. We will offer our product throughout every individual district, starting from the departmental stores to the small local and street stalls. We are offering Spirit both in urban and rural areas as well. Demographic Segmentation: Our market will be divided into groups based on variables such as age, gender, family life cycle, occupation and education. We are going to offer our product to both male and female who are between the ages of 15 to 30. We are especially offering the product to the university going students, corporate persons and athletes too. Our product will be for the people of all religion as it will be product is 100% halal. Psychographic Segmentation: Spirit energy drink is for the classes of people who fall under upper lowers, working class, middle class and upper middles. We are going to use personality variables to segment market like the gregarious and ambitious people. Behavioral Segmentation: We will be segmenting the market of Spirit energy drink on the basis of occasions and benefits. In summer it remains very hot in the middle of the day and for that time we will give a special offer to the customers called â€Å"Make Your Mind Cool†. People will get the same energy drink at a lower price during this time. We will give people other benefits like- we are not using preservatives in our product and our product will be convenient for the customers. ii. Targeting We will target our market within the segmentation. We are mainly targeting Dhaka because, it is the capital city of Bangladesh and highly populated and urbanized. Within Dhaka, we are targeting mostly the teenagers and adults who are the university students. Female students are going to be a part of it too, because the size and growth rate of this segment is high. As there is going to be other substitute products and tough competitors of Spirit energy drink in the market, we will offer our product directly by setting some temporary stores of Spirit energy drink inside the campus of some big and renowned universities. This will help us gain competitive advantage over our rivals and make people aware of our product. We will explain about the benefits about our product and give other information’s regarding our product. Making people believe that our product is different will be our main target. We will offer the same product at the same price to all our segmented customers. iii. Positioning Our product’s motto is â€Å"Ignites you from inside†, by this motto we are trying to make people believe that, Spirit energy drink encourages people to move on no matter whatever situation they face in their lives. Our product will always remove the frustration from both their body and soul. Spirit is alcohol free and will be made and designed attractively to attract our customers. In this way we will differentiate and create a unique image of our product in our consumer’s mind. iv. Marketing Mix (4p) ? Design and description of the product Customer Value and Brand Name: The first thing that we are considering about our product before we place it in the market is, it’s core benefit or core values. Customers always seek out for the benefit and the reason behind buying a product. They always value the experience they get after using it. In order to enter the market and establishing our brand successfully, we are going to provide the most refreshing and unique energy drink; which will spread liveliness and create more excitement in our customers life. They will not only buy one Spirit energy drink, they will buy one reason to hold on to being strong and face everything with more spirit in their lives. The brand name of our product is–‘Spirit Energy Drink’. We have named our product Spirit because it is easy to remember and meaningful at the same time. It will help the customers to distinguish and compare our product from others. Product Features and Design: Our energy bottle will be made in the shape of a space shuttle, with a combination of red and black color to give the igniting image. We will design our can just like other energy drink cans, which is made up of steel body with a cylindrical shape. In the middle of both the can and bottle, the name of our product will be written horizontally. The whole bottle and can will be black in color and the name written in pearl white. The shining stars above the name will give it a glowing and sparkling image. The guy standing in the middle of the name will exhibit the idea that Spirit energy drink has the ability to bring back everyone from darkness and add new value to their lives. Like all other energy drink, Spirit’s taste will be sweet and sour and the color of the drink will be red wine color. Packaging and Labeling: We plan to do very careful and colorful packaging to attract our target customers. The products are going to be well packaged and covered so that it stays protected in every condition. All the necessary information’s will be written on the body of bottle and can. Packaging will be done in two ways: 1. Plastic bottle – 300ml (Normal Packaging) 2. Steel Can – 270ml (Prestigious Packaging). Necessary warnings will be provided, like –it might be harmful for pregnant women and children. Manufacturing and Expiring dates will be written on the covers to warn the consumers about the product’s validity. Most importantly, the ingredients we are going to use are Carbonated water, Refined sugar, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Benzoate, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B6, Touraine, Citric Acid, Preservatives, Antioxidant, Ca-D-Pentothenate, Tartrazine, Mixed Fruit Flavor, Food Grade Flavor, Food Colors. There will be a Nutrition Fact chart too, describing the nutritious contents. Energy80 cal. Proteino gm Saturated fato gm Total fat o gm Sodium 20mg Sugar20 gm Carbohydrate 20. 5 gm Cholesterol0 gm Dietary Fibero gm Product Quality: Providing our customers with the best quality of energy drink is our prime purpose. We have made sure that our energy drink does not contain any harmful substances. It is alcohol free and free from every possible harmful effects. With the amazing taste and other attributes, we assure that our customers will be satisfied and buy Spirit more frequently. Design of pricing policy. Spirit is at the introduction stage of it’s product life cycle and we know the competition of energy drink companies is rising day by day in Bangladesh. We will use cost-plus pricing for Spirit energy drink, considering the present market and demand for energy drink. Though the demand of energy drink in our country is increasing with time, our product is still under pure competition, as there are already some other energy drinks in our local market. We will also consider competitors strategies and prices, how they set their prices and how much they charge from the intermediaries and consumers. We will focus on our target customers willingness and ability to pay for an energy drink. After considering the above issues we are charging 35tk for 270ml can and 30tk for 300ml bottle from our customers. For the 270ml can, our production is 30tk and after setting a standard markup to the cost we will be charging 32tk from our wholesalers, wholesalers will charge 33. 5tk to the retailers and finally the retailers are sell the drink at 35tk o the customers. For 300ml bottle, our production cost per bottle is 25tk and after setting a standard markup to the cost the wholesalers will buy each bottle at 27tk from the us. Wholesalers will charge 28. 5tk to the retailers and finally the retailers will sell it at 30tk each bottle to the customers. In short, we are charging the price for our product moderately to attract huge number of customers to buy it. It will help us to maintain a minimum level of profits for operating and keep running our business. Design of promotional activities – Advertising: For creating awareness and informing the consumers about our product we are going to advertise in more than one media. Our target is to do mass promotion to cover the maximum number of people in Bangladesh. Some of the major media channels through which we will be advertising are –television, radio, newspapers, online media and billboards. Television and internet are the most fastest and effective media channels to promote product, as most of the people spend their time on these. Newspapers though have high believability, do not last for a long period of time. Starting from the poor uneducated people of our society to the educated ones, everyone listens to radio. Therefore radio is also a very effective way to reach a huge number of customers at the same time. Add story While broadcasting on television, we will show a random university student is sitting on a chair and lost deep inside at the sheer thoughts of failing in exam. Then suddenly one of his friends will come to him and give him a Spirit energy drink. After having the energy drink the boy will jump off and scream energetically that he is not going to give up. He will get motivated and feel more energized while doing his studies. He will realize that he can study longer and give more concentration in his studies after drinking the Spirit energy drink. Then finally when the results come out, he will do the top result in his university. He will then become extremely happy and appreciate how Spirit energy drink has helped him to achieve this success in life. This way we will draw conclusion to the add. In newspapers and billboards we will use the same boy, who will be smiling and holding a Spirit energy drink; conveying the same message about our product’s motto. In radio channels we use the same jingle which we will show in television. As we are launching a new product in the market, we want to deliver the same message to our target customers. It will help them to get a clear and specific idea of our brand and what we intend to provide. Our advertisement is designed in both emotional and rational way. Emotionally we are showing the customer, they can move on in their lives with the help of Spirit and rationally we are giving them the idea that Spirit energy drink is good for their health, as it increases concentration and strength. Sales Promotion: Sales promotion is another major step we will carry out to encourage our customers to purchase our product more frequently. Sales promotion can be done in many ways – giving discounts, giving lotteries, pop-up adds, etc. We will give incentives to the people of our channels to keep our energy drink in front of the shelves in all the stores we are going to supply. Consumers buys the product that are kept in front side, because people have an idea that good quality things are always kept at the front and they will not want to search for other product as that would be time consuming. In times of special occasions like Eid, we will announce special discounts or extra offers. We will sell our products in front of colleges, universities and major shopping malls. Therefore we will be exposing our product more to the public and will gain higher chances of selling our product, thus making more profits. Besides, none of our competitors are doing these things, so we can gain competitive advantage over them as well. Personal selling: Energy drink is a convenience product, and it is quite impossible to reach the mass people by employing thousands of employees for selling our product. This process is very slow and expensive. So we will not be selling our products personally. We will employ experts in offices, who will deal with customer’s view’s and problems. This way we will personally provide/sell our service them beside selling our product. Public relations: At the very first stage we will arrange a press conference to inform everyone about our product. Press media is very crucial, as interacting with them positively will encourage them to promote our product more creatively and positively to our customers. This way we can also have competitive advantage over our competitors. We will organize different concerts and sponsor television shows, this will give us an open platform to interact more closely with our customers and build a strong relation with them. Direct marketing: We are planning to open a Facebook page along with our official website where we will encourage people to share their views about our product. This will help us to keep track of our customers reaction towards our product. None of the other energy drink companies are doing much of these activities, so it is an easier way to grab a huge number of customers and market share this way. Online marketing is therefore more efficient and fast way of direct marketing in terms of receiving our customers reactions, complaints and comments and adapting to those changes to keep surviving and growing. Promotion Mix strategy: We will use push strategy for Spirit energy drink. Contracting with different wholesalers and retailers will help us to provide adequate supplies in every convenient and targeted locations. We will give them incentives to promote and supply our product more frequently to the customers. Design of distribution activities- We will go for intensive distribution for Spirit energy drink, because we want to provide stock our product in as many outlets as possible. We want to ensure that our products must be available where and when consumers want them. As our product is new in the market, we will directly offer our product to the target customers. We will be offering our Spirit energy drink to the customers through wholesalers and retailers. Within our limited resources we cannot afford to have our own distribution facilities, like warehouses and showrooms and to hire sales people and support stuffs. We would rather contract with the wholesalers, so that they will take those extra costs and risks. Our target customers are the young university students, that is why we are contracting with retailers.

Causes of Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties

Causes of Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties Understanding the cause of an individuals social, emotional and behavioural difficulties is essential before you can make a successful intervention. Critically assess this assertion in the light of an activity you have undertaken as part of this module. Introduction Delinquents, moral imbeciles and maladjusted children are just some of the labels historically attributed to individuals presenting the difficulties later termed as emotional and behavioural difficulties (Ministry of Education 1995). In this essay the importance of understanding the causes of an individuals social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) is explored in relation to whether this understanding is critical for the implementation of successful interventions. This essay primarily considers individuals within the UK educational system which covers children/young people between the ages of 4 and 16. In the study and education of individuals with SEBD there seems to be a lack of uniformity in how the label is interpreted and applied; the descriptors and definitions of SEBD will therefore be considered along with current trends in the number of school age individuals diagnosed as SEBD in order to give context to this area of discussion. Another key area of disparity is the theoretical perspective adopted when assessing and treating an individual with SEBD. The theoretical perspectives each present a different approach to aetiology and interventions, these will be considered in relation to importance of cause in the basis of each and how they lead to interventions. The key argument will then focus on the importance of understanding cause and examine evidence from published literature, research and policies to support this followed by discussion of why understanding cause may not be essential in order to implement successful interventions. The overall aim is to ascertain whether interventions are mainly based on consideration of the aetiology of behaviour and whether there is evidence to indicate their success. Indeed Harden (2003) concluded that there was insufficient evidence for strategy effectiveness in behavioural difficulties. The subject of cause and interventions was discussed with fellow professionals in a web based discussion (Vygotsky, Skinner and Montessori discussion group October 2010 November 2010) and reference will be made to the two fictional case studies which formed the basis of these virtual discussions. In the first a boy, Ronnie, no information was given on his background so the focus was on the observed disruptive behaviour in school and the teacher believing he has SEBD. In the second an 11 year old girl, Vicki, far more detail was given including her recent transfer to secondary school; above average reading skills, parents separated and with new partners, the possibility of epilepsy, refusal to do homework and getting into trouble at school. These discussions elicited a range of views on aetiology, the need for information possibly relating to cause and the nature of assessment and interventions. In general the contributing professionals showed a desire to have more information about each child and to interpret the impact of background factors on the difficulties being observed although there was little acknowledgement of why this information was needed (Farrugia, 2010). What is understood by social, emotional and behaviour difficulties (SEBD)? One of the overriding issues in the field of SEBD is the ambiguity in understanding and identification of individuals who may have social, emotional and behavioural difficulties with those who have less severe discipline problems (Evan, Harden, Thomas 2004). This introduces the first difficulty as the decision to classify an individual as having SEBD is with the person who identifies some aspect of behaviour as problematic and is reliant on that persons constructs. Government publications have provided several descriptions of which two are considered in this essay. In Circular 9/94 (DfE 1994) Emotional and Behavioural Difficulty (EBD) is described as being between: behaviour which challenges the teacher but is within normal, albeit unacceptable, bounds and that which is indicative of serious mental illness. The distinction between normal but stressed behaviour, emotional and behavioural difficulties arising from mental illness is important because each needs to be treated differently. (p.4) The definition focuses on the behavioural aspect rather than emotional and indicates it is a problem for the teachers thereby restricting the difficulties to educational settings. Interpretation of what may be considered unacceptable is therefore likely to result in inconsistent identification of the types of children teachers identify as having EBD (Soles, Bloom, Heath, Karagiannakis 2008). In The Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice (2001), the definition was amended to incorporate social difficulties and so expanded to social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD), the code defines those with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) as: Children and young people who demonstrate features of emotional and behavioural difficulties, who are withdrawn or isolated, disruptive and disturbing, hyperactive and lack concentration; those with immature social skills; and those presenting challenging behaviours arising from other complex special needs ( Paragraph 7:60) This description describes a range of characteristics associated with this disorder and recognises that such behaviours can evolve from other special educational needs. This presents a broader spectrum of behaviours linked with emotional and social difficulties and remains open to the personal interpretation of those interacting with such children. The lack of clarity of the descriptors could be linked to the increasing number of children diagnosed as having SEBD being recorded in English schools. In 2008 149,040 children had a need of EBD on school action plus or statemented at primary, secondary and special state funded schools, this was an increase of 6.98% year on year (DCSF 2008), EBD represented the second highest need after moderate learning difficulties. This could be due to an actual increase in the number of children experiencing difficulties or to the wider interpretation of the definition leading to more children being recorded with this difficulty who might otherwise hav e remained at a school action stage. Whichever the reason, it is apparent that increasing number of children within the UK education system are being identified as having a need of SEBD and this in turn has led to increasing focus on interventions in particular for behavioural difficulties as seen in the recent white paper (DfE 2010). The descriptions given in Circular 9/94 (DfE 1994) and the SEN Code of Practice (2001) make no direct reference to aetiology or the necessity to acknowledge this although The SEN Code of Practise (2001) recognises that SEBD may have co-morbidity with other biological or medical conditions (7.52, 7.53, 7.58) and links with mental health (10.27) yet guidance for specific assessment and interventions is not detailed. This could be seen as indicative of the lack of unity on the understanding of causes and interventions for those with SEBD. Which theoretical perspective of cause of SEBD? In 1829 a 20 year poet wrote these lines: From childhoods hour I have not been As others were-I have not seen As others saw-I could not bring My passions from a common spring- From the same source I have not taken My sorrow-I could not awaken My heart to joy at the same tone- And all I lovd-I lovd alone (from Alone by Edgar Allen Poe 1829) The poet was Edgar Allen Poe. Poe was taken into foster care at the age of 3 following the death of his parents and at the age of 6 his foster family moved to London. Poe was said to be talented academically yet a difficult character (Poe Museum n.d.); the poem Alone suggests a troubled child who considers himself to be different. In todays educational climate he may well have been identified as a child with SEBD. Would an understanding of his early life have been important in development of successful interventions? From a behavioural perspective it could be suggested that only his observable difficult behaviour was of importance and thus treatable. The causes could not be speculated upon as they could not be scientifically measured. Bowlby, from a psychodynamic approach might have disagreed; Poes early childhood experiences, most notably the death of his parents and being taken into foster care, may have suppressed his inner desires and drives leading to internal conflicts. Bowlby might have been interested in the repression of Poes feelings following the death of his parents (Bowlby 1988). An ecosystemic perspective may have considered the effects of the changes of the family systems and the move to a different society in England as impacting on his interactions with the systems around him. In a same vein, the web based discussions of Ronnie and Vicki (Vygotsky, Skinner and Montessori discussion group October 2010 November 2010) led to similar questions. In the case of Vicki, fellow professionals mostly concurred on the adoption of an ecosystemic perspective for assessment based on the information given concerning the breakdown of the systems in her life; some believed that a psychodynamic approach to establish her unconscious processes and a biological perspective to examine the possible epilepsy should also be considered. However, the intervention strategies proposed were based on a humanistic approach rather than linked to the diagnostic perspectives. As noted earlier for the Ronnie discussion there appears little acknowledgement of why the information was needed and how information may link to interventions. In the case of Ronnie, discussions indicated that more information on areas such as his family background, his learning difficulties, incidences of observed be haviour at school and the relationships within his family would be valuable in order to make a more informed recommendation for intervention strategies. This desire for more information showed an amalgamation of perspectives including social learning, psychodynamic and behavioural. Most interesting is that fellow professionals adopted a behavioural approach to interventions in the absence of further information about Ronnie. It could be that this was within the realms of their experience of available strategies in education. The question of which theoretical understanding of cause is the correct one cannot be fully answered. Professionals in the field of educational research tend to support a particular perspective; there are differences of opinion between psychological, medical and sociological perspectives, this is further compounded by newer perspectives such as eco-systemic and humanist which have evolved from earlier theories. As Visser (2000) notes most do acknowledge that it is a mixture of perspectives which can provide insights into understanding and explaining that behaviour. (p.33). The trend for which cause can be seen in the changing descriptors given for SEBD as noted previously (DfE 1994 SEN Code of Practice 2001) and also in approaches to behavioural difficulties adopted by schools. The trend towards a behavioural psychology approach of operant conditioning and behaviour modification as a strategy for treating children with SEBD has been seen since 1975 (Cooper 1999). Children are seen a s making a choice not to behave and through use of behavioural approaches such as consequence and reward they can be taught to want to behave so a new behaviour is learnt (Greene 2008). From this perspective, aetiology is not a considered factor and emphasis is on implementing a system of rewards and consequences which aim to reduce unacceptable behaviour and encourage a re-learning of acceptable behaviour. The blanket approach of many behavioural policies, in part dictated to schools through government directives, suggest that policy makers and educationalists do not consider there is a need to understand causes of SEBD. Behaviour is assumed to be within the control of the child and the school is assumed to be able to influence and change the behaviour. Recent years have seen a change in approach with prominence given to systemic approaches taking into account the interaction of systems and environments surrounding the child as key factors impacting on their social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (Evans, Harden and Thomas 2004). From this perspective there is a need to understand cause in terms of the environments of the individual. This was evident in the web based discussion on Vicki (Vygotsky, Skinner and Montessori November 2010) where contributors were mostly united in adoption of an ecosystemic approach and attributed the cause of the difficulties to disruption in Vickis home and school life. Understanding the cause of the SEBD is essential before making a successful intervention. In the previous section a number of theoretical approaches to identifying cause were examined and it is concluded that there are difficulties in finding consensus on one approach and one understanding of cause. Despite the difference of opinions of the likely origins of the SEBD, there is widespread support of the need for understanding the cause. Visser (2005) is opposed to a prescriptive approach to dealing with behavioural difficulties and thus supports the case for recognising that each child with SEBD may have a different cause of SEBD although he previously acknowledged that there are still gaps in understanding of both causes and of approaches used in children with EBD (Visser 2002). Others in this field also advocate the benefits to teachers having understanding of pupils with SEBD; Cole, Visser and Daniels (1999) in a paper examining effective EBD practices in mainstream schools promote the need for school staff to understand the complex causation and the varied aetiology of EBD in order to be able to match apposite interventions. Another way of considering cause is to examine underlying difficulties which may be causing SEBD, not from a theoretical perspective but from a possible medical or other difficulty so the behaviour is not directly linked to a psychological or systemic root but rather from some other difficulty which leads to the behaviour emerging as a symptom. Cross (2004) believes that a relationship exists between communication difficulties and emotional and behavioural difficulties. Communication difficulties may arise from biological causes such as Pervasive Development Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or from environmental factors such as child abuse and neglect, or from learning difficulties. Cross maintains that whatever the origin, it is the communication difficulty which must be addressed as a priority as weak communication skills can have a negative impact on a childs ability to interact and socialise, this can aggravate emotional and behavioural difficulties. In this sen se the observed behavioural difficulties could be masking underlying communication difficulties which, if not treated, will not improve the behaviour. In the web discussion on Ronnie (Vygotsky, Skinner and Montessori discussion group October 2010) fellow professionals concurred that a link was likely between his possible learning difficulties and his behavioural difficulties and that this should form a key part of any interventions. In his book, Lost At School, Greene (2008) maintains that teachers cannot know what to do with challenging behaviour unless the reasons for it are understood, referring to these reasons as lagging skills; those skills which are lacking irrespective of diagnosis. Staff need to identify and understand the skill lacking as this is pivotal to implementing a successful intervention. Greene (2008) lists many lagging skills, including difficulties with maintaining focus, considering likely outcomes, managing emotional responses, which professionals may attribute to a range of disorders such as learning difficulties, autistic spectrum disorder, cognitive difficulties, or anxiety. It is identification of the specific lagging skills which are of more importance than the actual diagnosis as the diagnostic label does not in itself indicate which skills are lacking. Emphasis should therefore be on identifying the specific aspects which are lacking; the lack of a skill alongside an environment whi ch demands these skills is the trigger to there being a problem (Greene 2008). This is in line with an ecological perspective as the behaviour is an outcome of the lagging skill conflicting with the environment. Support for the importance of understanding aetiology is also found in educational guidance; the School Discipline and Pupil Behaviour Policies (DCSF 2010) advises that it is essential to ensure correct assessment of possible reasons for children not behaving appropriately and acknowledges that behavioural difficulties may be caused by learning difficulties, environmental factors or other cognitive, social or emotional difficulties (paras 3.9.29 -3.9.33); yet a subsequent subheading is Pupils who can behave but choose not to (p.58). This takes the school back to the descriptors of SEBD and places interpretation back in a subjective framework where the school has to distinguish between the former and the latter. In much the same way as seen in the SEN Code of Practice (2001) there is a lack of clarity in how cause should be identified and how this knowledge should guide interventions. A recent report entitled Not Present and Not Correct (Evans, 2010) examined the efficacy of fixed term exclusions in curing behavioural problems. The report concluded this was not an effective strategy based on the number of fixed term exclusions having increased by 5.4% since 2003-4. Persistent disruptive behaviour was the reason for the majority of fixed term exclusions (23.3%) and permanent exclusions (29.6%) in 2008-9. These numbers have not shown significant change year on year indicating that current interventions are not effective. The report recommends that a trigger is needed to prompt a needs assessment where fixed-term exclusions are used continually. Yet, in the SEN Code of Practice (2001) this trigger should be happening for pupils who do not respond to standard behaviour management strategies or individualised behaviour management programme moving them to a School Action Plus stage. This could suggest that either appropriate referrals are not taking place or, if they ar e, the resulting interventions are not successful. If the latter is the case then it may indicate that either causes are not being considered or, if considered, are not leading to successful interventions. The American based Assertive Discipline approach to managing behaviour in schools is rooted in a behavioural perspective. A study by Jones and Smith (2004) concluded that the this approach was effective in improving minor mis-behaviour and led to overall benefits for teaching and learning in the school at the centre of the study; yet, a small but significant group did not benefit from the approach. This group may therefore have required further personalised assessment of the cause of their SEBD with individual strategies being put in place. This lends support to the necessity of understanding cause in those specific situations where the standard strategies employed in mainstream schools are not resolving social, emotional or behavioural difficulties. It also suggests that the importance of cause is not essential at initial stages of identification of behavioural difficulties, but may need to be understood if current intervention strategies are not achieving the desired outcome. A key factor in identifying the cause of the SEBD lies in the choice of the perspective adopted. As seen in the web based discussions for Vicki (Vygotsky, Skinner and Montessori November 2010) causes could be attributed to several aspects of the individuals life. Depending on the approach taken, the diagnosis and intervention will vary which means that successful intervention cannot be guaranteed. Overall, whilst there is much debate and research on causality and at the same time growing emphasis on the rise in behavioural difficulties in the classroom, classroom based research for children with SEBD tends not to link theory to identification, policy and effective interventions (Maras and Kutnick 1999). Understanding the cause of the SEBD is not essential before making a successful intervention. All perspectives consider cause to some extent although a behavioural approach is founded mainly on observed behaviour. There is little research advocating that identifying cause is not essential or important in terms of implementing interventions. The argument against the value of understanding cause is mainly one of whether knowing the cause can actually lead to a specific and effective intervention. Whilst Visser (2002) advocates the importance of understanding cause, it has proved difficult to find evidence which gives clear guidance for a link between cause and effective intervention strategies. In discussing the Individual, Medical or Deficit Model (IMD), Macleod and Munn (2004) suggest that the implication of causation should be rejected which is the reverse of the consideration of disabilities with a bio-medical root. This view is based on the belief that the biggest difficulty in identifying cause is the lack of agreement in what SEBD actually is, as seen in the earlier disc ussion on the interpretations of definitions. It could be argued that focus should be on strategies and not on cause as interpretations of the cause are too subjective. The web based discussions on Ronnie and Vicki, despite consisting of differing views for diagnosis and cause, saw a commonality in the recommendations for a multi agency approach. This is also seen in Diagram 8 model (Cole, Visser and Daniels1999) in which consultation with the Local Education Authority (LEA) and relevant agencies, such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), is seen as an important factor in schools which are successful in the inclusion of children with SEBD. Whilst Visser (2005) has been cited earlier as an advocate of the need to understand aetiology, in a talk based on a term he encountered in his professional work, eternal verities, he looked at factors which may be universal in implementation of successful interventions for SEBD (Visser, 2002). Understanding cause of the SEBD was not a factor given which lends support to the view that, whilst understanding cause may be desirable and informative, there are more important factors necessary for suc cessful intervention. Only a third of secondary schools were deemed as effective in meeting the needs of pupils with SEBD (Ofsted 2004), which suggests that focus should be on identifying effective strategies. Research carried out by Evans, Harden, Thomas (2004) concluded that there was a limited evidence base of recommended strategies which were effective for children with EBD and they recommended a focus for more strategic commissioning of future primary research (p.8). In the case of Ronnie (Vygotsky, Skinner and Montessori discussion group October 2010), there was a quest to know more from those assessing the situation. Was it not enough that his behaviour was disruptive and so class room based behavioural strategies should be put in place to make Ronnie learn appropriate behaviour? The answer in this case seems to lie in the understanding of cause. If Ronnie had a learning difficulty, there was support for this being addressed first/or in conjunction with the behaviour interventions. If it then emerged that Ronnie was having problems at home, such as parental conflict or neglect, this may have required another form of intervention. In the case of Vicki (Vygotsky, Skinner and Montessori discussion group November 2010) there was more information on her background situation; this meant some probable causes could be explored which could then lead to a range of possible interventions. Having more information still led to a discussion on which perspect ive may be more applicable and in fact the interventions proposed were mostly similar to those for Ronnie. Although the participants suggestions for interventions for Ronnie tended to be school based whereas those discussed for Vicki were both within school and outside with a wider multi agency approach. Professionals such as teachers, educational psychologists, CAHMS practitioners and behaviour support specialists will all bring their own approaches to the SEBD table. It could be that attempts to understand the cause through a multi-agency strategy may lead to disjointed and confusing interventions at worst and a prolonged period of assessments and treatments at best, neither of which presents an ideal situation for a child (Rayner 1999). The range of interpretations, social constructs and perspectives makes a case for a scientific approach to developing interventions for children with SEBD. The aetiology is acknowledged but it is the present symptomatic patterns which are the key to successful interventions. Conclusion Is it essential to understand the cause of an individuals social, emotional and behavioural difficulties making a successful intervention? In seeking an answer to this question, much of the published research advocates the need to establish the cause of SEBD before implementing intervention thereby assuming the intervention will be more successful. The difficulty in this belief is twofold; firstly the definition of what constitutes social, emotional and behaviour difficulties and in particular at what point the severity requires specific interventions and secondly, which perspectives should be adopted to correctly identify the cause(s) and thus which interventions are most suitable. With the definition of SEBD including a wide range of characteristics, it seems most likely that there is also a wide range of causes and thus a wide range of interventions. Most evidence supports the desire to investigate and define the cause; this is also reflected in government and SEN policy and guidelines. Yet evidence to support the importance of this in securing successful intervention is sparse. Overall, whilst the need to understand the cause seems to be supported in research and advocated in government guidelines, the interventions put in place within educational settings are predominantly based on a behavioural approach where it is the observable behaviour which is addressed, measured and evaluated; this is where an anomaly exists. Over time, more responsibility and accountability has been awarded to schools and local authorities for children with SEN including SEBD. This in itself appears to have reduced the focus on understanding cause as schools have to manage this responsibility alongside government directives for improving behaviour in schools. With increasing emphasis on schools primary accountability being for student achievement in academic terms and the move to reduce the number of statements, there is likely to be less emphasis on aetiology in favour of interventions based on controlling children with SEBD certainly in mainstream education. The current governments support of academies may also magnify this as the removal of local authority involvement means that schools can decide whether there is economic value in seeking input from agencies that may have more concern with aetiology. It may be that there are other factors necessary in implementing successful strategies aside from understanding cause such as the necessity for a positive ethos within the school itself (Cole, Visser, Daniels 1999). It is concluded that understanding the cause of an individuals SEBD is part of the equation for successful intervention but unless the adults responsible acknowledge the cause and seek to promote appropriate and differentiated solutions which can be proven to be successful, then understanding on its own is not sufficient.

Christopher Columbus Biography :: Christopher Columbus Essays

Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy on August 25th 1451, and he died in Valladolid Spain on May 20th 1506. His life is filled with mystery and controversy. Even though there has been contevercy about his birth date and this birthplace, the historians have narrowed it down to this date and place. His childhood is another mystery. It is said that Columbus was the oldest of five children to poor â€Å"wool weavers†. His son has stated that Columbus had attended the University of Pavia, Columbus was a good observer and very well read. In 1476 Columbus traveled to Lisbon, Portugal were there he an established Genoese population, including Bartolome, he was a noted to be a mapmaker. After a couple of years Columbus sailed with the Portuguese through the Mediterranen and the Atlantic as far south as La Mina (Present day Elmaina , Ghana) and as far north as England. Columbus also made a voyage to Iceland in 1477. In 1479 Columbus married the Portuguese noblewomen Dona Felipa e Perestrello e Moriz and established land in Porto Santo were his son Diego was born in 1480. When his wife died somewhere between 1481 to 1485, Columbus returned to Lisbon. As early as 1484 Columbus got a plan to sail west from the Canary Islands to the Indies (now East Indies) and the island kingdom of Cipangu (modern day Japan). When King John II declined Columbus’s â€Å"Enterprises to the Indies† he decided to go to the Spanish monarch. Columbus traveled to Cordoba, in 1488 he and his mistress had another son. Columbus presented his plan to King Ferdinan and Queen Isabella two different times but both times a counsel of experts rejected his project. Columbus’s ideas were made fun of by many in the court. However he received support from other powerful people, for example â€Å"Luis de Santagel†, â€Å"chancellor of the royal household of Aragon and prior Juan Prez (the Queen’s con fessor). As a result of this Queen Isabella approved to Columbus’s project. Columbus’s first was to find a short voyage to the Indies by sailing west, and the second goal was to convert any foreign inhabitance to Christianity. There were three ships the first was the Santa Maria, which can hold up to forty sailors, The second ship is the Pinta, which held up to twenty-six sailors, and the Nina, which held twenty-four sailors. On October 12 1482 a seaman on the Pinta claimed â€Å"he spotted land†, his name was Rodrigo de Triana.

Object recognition and visual perception Essay

What role does experience play in object recognition and visual perception? Be sure to  Ã‚   include a specific example from your experience? Experience plays vital role in object recognition, when we recognize object by sense organs, the whole data of product saved in the mind as the shadow of object, it will again come in the mind when we will see the object again by visual perception and at that time theres no need to use all sense again to recognize the object. So every time we don’t need to use all sense to recognize the object because we judge that from last experience. According to experience will give response. Like when a child touch a harmful or painful thing then shock of the thing will become experience and he will recognize product from the painful experience and will not touch that thing again, (fire). In this way experience play a role in object recognition and visual perception. How does sensation and perception affect the five senses? Sensation and perception affect the five senses as we predetermined perception for objects. Perception is totally depended upon experience because experience made perception. When we made a negative thinking about a thing, things resemble to that are also came under the same circle. Our thinking about resembled things also changed. We start hating with those things also which affect the senses, because senses may be positive toward that thing but we will not select that thing. What are the neurological foundations of taste, touch, and smell? For taste there are gustatory cell present in the taste bud as receptor and taste area is parietal lobe of each hemisphere. For touch sense the neurological foundation are receptors present in the skin like Free nerve ending which are sensitive to pain, Root hair   Plexus which respond to touch, Meissner’s   corpusles which also respond to touch, Merkel’s discs which are responsible for touch and Pascinian corpuscles which respond to strong pressure. For smell there are olfactory cell present in olfactory epithelium and olfactory hair or nerves which is connected to temporal lobe of each hemisphere where the impulse are interpreted. How is the human motor system organized? How is the human motor system organized?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Human motor system contain motors nerve (Efferent) and mixed nerve which  carries impulse from nervous system to the efferent organ. For every action the nervous system show reaction through this motor system.

Conformity Essay

A nonconformist is a person whose behavior or views do not conform to prevailing ideas or practices of the society. In the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury the main character Guy Montag was a nonconformist to his society, and in the movie Cool Hand Luke directed by Stuart Rosenberg, Luke Jackson was the nonconformist. Guy Montag was considered a nonconformist because in his society you weren’t allowed to read books, and he did. In Luke’s society he was considered a nonconformist because he went against the jail and ran away repeatedly. Luke is more of a nonconformist compared to Guy Montag because Luke was a man who refused to be nailed down or conform to the rules and regulations of a society. Luke from the movie Cool Hand Luke was sent to jail after he cut the heads off of parking meters. He was sent to prison where he later didn’t conform to the rules. Luke is a nonconformist for opposite reasons than Montag. Luke wasn’t liked by the people in the prison at first, and kept to himself. After later having a boxing match with one of his inmates Dragline, and was repeatedly knocked down but kept getting up was respected by the inmates. Luke never cared about what people thought of him, and never had anyone influence his actions or opinions. Luke did what he wanted to, when he wanted to. Luke wasn’t scared to go against the law several times after he already knew the consequences, and received them before. Guy Montag from the book Fahrenheit 451 was a local firefighter for his town and was suppose to burn books but instead he read them, and had to be fugitive and flee his town. Montag is different than Luke by many reasons. Montag was always respected by society for his job until he was caught reading books and was labeled dangerous by the news when he was on the run. Montag fought with the society as a whole and the government, where as Luke fought with individuals. Montag was influenced by one of his neighbors, a little girl named Clarisse. She opened his mind and made him think about things. For example she asked Montag if he was simply happy, and then Montag was left puzzled thinking â€Å"Of course I’m happy. What does she think? I’m not?† (pg10). Montag also blames other for his actions. For example when he blamed his hand for taking the book and putting it into his coat, â€Å"Montag had done nothing. His hand had done it all, his hand†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg 37) . Luke and Guy Montag are both similar because they both impacted their societies, Luke’s being in the prison and Montag’s being the town. Both had societies with an ultimate tool of conformity, the box and the mechanical hound. Both characters fought for what they believed was right. Montag wanted to rebuild the society after it was bombed, and Luke wanted to prove that he did know wrong from right before he was put in the box. Both Montag and Luke took major risks and both knew the consequences before they made their actions making them nonconformists. Montag used a little ear piece called the green bullet that allowed him to talk to Faber for his great escape. Luke was severely beaten multiple times by the prison warden, and he still ran away. Luke is more of a nonconformist than Guy Montag. Luke went against the most important thing in a conformist society, the law. Luke became the leader after people followed him, and wanted him to be the leader. Luke had a less of a need to be affiliated with anyone, like when he first got to the prison and just ignored what Dragline had to say about him or any other inmates. Most importantly Luke was more of a nonconformist because he went against the conformist’s rules and values, having to go in the box accepting the punishment and not running away.