Cindy Lew Once Said... free essay sample

Cindy Lew once said â€Å"remember that the greatest gift is not found in a store nor under the tree, but in the heart of a true friend.† Having a friend is similar to receiving a present from this life. Everyone receives one lifetime with a time limit. A friend is one who will go through my life even though I’m dealing with hardship or success. When I pick a person to be my friend, the only thing I care about is his/her personality. All of my friends are really reliable to me and until now, I still believe that I have made a right choice. If you find a friend who has a great sense of humor, when you in struggle in life, you will find out that all you need is a person who you will trust and will listen to you. A true friend is the one who will sit next to you when you get tired and want to rest in silence. We will write a custom essay sample on Cindy Lew Once Said or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Like everyone else, I had close friends at school and we studied together all school year. We loved to go to school together and study as a group. Then one summer, my family and I moved to the U.S. actually, at that time I was too young to care about leaving my friends and all of the beautiful memories. When I first I came here, I missed them so dearly that all I wanted was time to go back there for just one hour , only one hour so that I could stay with them. But when I couldn’t change anything in my life, I needed to change my attitude. Three years passed with my hard work at school. Since I needed to learn to handle a new life in the U.S., I became stronger. But I started losing my fun time and instead of hanging out with my friends, I studied and practiced English. Again, the summer came with joy, to hear my dad announce that I could go back to Vietnam . My friends hadnt changed much over a long time, as I met them again after three years. I told them about my life in the U.S. Then we told each other about our lives. One thing that surprised me a lot was that each of them still remembered exactly what we used to do, and especially our secret, the one only four of us knew. Coming back home, I found myself wanting to play hide – and – seek and eat breakfast with my friends. True friends will always be my true friends even though time had passed and there were so many things that I forgot to do with them. These three friends always will be right there waiting for me to come back and watch over me by their heart. Tears came out of our eyes on the day I left. As the airplane was flying, my heart was empty, as if our memories and this happy time would go as my foot stepped into the airport. After coming back to the U.S I realized one thing. It is a miracle that I found these three best friends. Sometimes, distance can not separate true friendship. In your lifetime, people will walk by you, but someone will stop at your heart and they may stay there to warm your heart. like winter in Alaska, and you will still feel warm because you are not alone. But if one d ay these friends leave you, and you have an empty heart, you will still feel warm because there will be a footprint on your heart. As a memory that will stay with you for the rest of your life. We will never say â€Å"good – bye† to each other because those beautiful memories are not in our head, but they live in our heart. Meeting a friend is a destiny. isn’t it?(Delete) Don’t let your chance run away, time wi ll let you see what a true friend is

The Crusible Essay Research Paper Social deterioration free essay sample

The Crusible Essay, Research Paper Social impairment in # 8220 ; The Crucible # 8221 ; The impairment of Salem # 8217 ; s societal construction precipitated themurders of many guiltless people. Arthur Miller # 8217 ; s word picture of theSalem enchantress tests, The Crucible, deals with a community thatstarts out looking like it is tightly knit and church loving. Itturns out that one time Tituba starts indicating her finger at thewitches, the community starts indicating their fingers at eachother. Hysteria and concealed dockets break down the societal structureand so everyone must protect themselves from the people thatthey thought were their friends. The church, legal system and thetogetherness of the community died so that kids could protecttheir households # 8217 ; societal position. Bing isolated from any other group of people with differentbeliefs created a church led Puritan society that was non able toaccept a batch of alteration. The church was against the Satan, at thesame clip it was against such things as dance and otherpremature Acts of the Apostless. We will write a custom essay sample on The Crusible Essay Research Paper Social deterioration or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The repute of the household was really of import tothe members of the community. When the misss were caught dancingin the forests, they lied to protect non merely themselves but thereputation of their households. They claimed that the Satan tookthem over and influenced them to dance. The misss besides said thatthey saw members of the town standing with the Satan. A communityliving in a puritan society like Salem could easy travel into achaotic province and have a hard clip covering with what theyconsider to be the largest signifier of immorality. Salem # 8217 ; s crazes made the community lose religion in the spiritualbeliefs that they were seeking to purely implement. The church lostmany of its parishioners because the involvement of the town was nowon Abigail because people wanted to cognize who was traveling to be namednext. When the church was seeking to unchurch John Proctor, there were non adequate people at church to make it. The people weregetting misled so far as to go for th a sticker stuck in the door oftheir curate # 8217 ; s house: Tonight, when I open my door to go forth myhouse_a sticker clattered to the land # 8230 ; There is danger forme. ( 128 ) were Parris # 8217 ; exact words. With the conveyor of Godfearing for his life there was no longer anyone but Abigail tolead the community. The justness system is designed to protect the people that itserves but during the tests the accused enchantress had two picks, decease or imprisonment. The penalty of decease was given to allpeople that pleaded non guilty ; the other penalty was to pleadguilty and travel to gaol. John Proctor gave his position of the justicesystem when he said I like non the odor of this `authority’ ( 29 ) .And do you cognize that near to four 100s are in the gaols fromMarblehead to Lynn, and upon my signature? ( 85 ) said Danforth, depicting the figure of people that were in gaol on charges ofwitchcraft. There were so many people executed that Hale commentedthere are orphans rolling from house to house ; abandoned cattlebellow on the trunk roads, the malodor of decomposing harvests hangseverywhere†¦ ( 130 ) Salem was turning into a shade town. WithAbigail commanding the community, the church no longer gettingthe whole town to prayer, and an unfair legal system, it isnatural that the people were in a province of entire pandemonium. The unexplained was caused by the Satan, so some members of Salemused the unexplained to their advantage. Mrs. Putnam told thetruth when she said, There are wheels within wheels in thisvillage, and fires within fires! ( 26 ) Mrs. Putnam did her portion ofspreading rumours after she heard that the misss were winging, soshe asked Parris How high did she ( Abigail ) fly, how high? ( 11 ) .These rumours happened because people did non desire any incrimination put onto themselves. This `passing the buck’ made people start fightingwith one another such as Corey bear downing Putnam of holding hisdaughter accuse a occupant of witchery in order to acquire Corey’sland. Abigail used her power of acquiring people to listen to her toher advantage when she charged Proctor’s partner with being a witchso Abigail could populate with John. This once more proves that Abigailhad control of the town and the unexplained turned neighboragainst neighbour. The societal dislocation in Salem was the major factor in the tragedythat took the lives of many guiltless people. There was more thanone cal amity in The Crucible. The first was the murdering of manyinnocent people, and the second was that a community that was oncevery close had been broken apart. It appeared that the people ofSalem were like a household but isolation really made them unableto adapt to a troublesome state of affairs. If the community could havehad a greater influence from another group of people so thesocial construction would hold been able to adaptTragedy: TheDeterioration of Salem During the Witch TrialsThe Crucible byArthur MillerJohn Hudson 31f

Blackfish Review Let them be wild Professor Ramos Blog

Blackfish Review Let them be wild James Butte 11/26/18 English 010 3:00 Ramos Blackfish â€Å"In November 2015, SeaWorld announced plans to end killer-whale shows at its theme park in San Diego. In March 2016, SeaWorld announced it would end its orca breeding program and begin to phase out all live performances using orcas.† Kay, Jennifer SeaWorld to Stop Breeding Orcas, Making Them Perform Tricks., ). Fais, ScottSeaWorld San Diego ending killer whale shows, Orlando park to expand The documentary â€Å"Blackfish† directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite shows the truth behind what SeaWorld is doing to the Orcas. This documentary will change the way you think of Orcas in captivity as well as other creatures. This film provides the audience with graphic scenes of these creatures being treated poorly. These Orcas were captured at a very early age, the scene of the baby orca being taken from its mother really makes you feel sad. Just knowing that these people are taking a family member away from their loved ones just for the display of an ocean creature. Just think about what they could be doing instead of being stuck in a tiny tank compared to the giant ocean. According to frontiersin.org, Blackfish is â€Å"Arguably one of the most impactful and successful documentary films, Blackfish fundamentally contributed to the elimination of SeaWorld’s breeding program in less than 3 years.† Certain artists have canceled their performances at SeaWorld because of Blackfish, the way this documentary was filmed was filmed perfectly to forward the information to the audience and caused protests for the animal’s rights outside SeaWorld. â€Å"Cowperthwaite interviews numerous ex-trainers who speak with deep affection about the whales they’ve worked with, yet also visible guilt and profound conviction about having helped exploit them for human entertainment.† (Chang) variety.com. Even though these trainers try to make the situation seem better, they are still guilty of what they had to do. SeaWorld most likely forced them to say what they wanted them to say with things like contracts, etc. activist Howard Garrett also advances his expert view of orcas as naturally friendly, highly emotional creatures that need the freedom of the open seas (tellingly, they’ve never been known to attack humans in the wild). This just adds to the fact that Orcas do not belong in a fish tank. â€Å"The film then builds a compelling psychological profile of Tilikum, who, after being captured in 1983, was held at a now-defunct Canadian theme park called Sealand of the Pacific. There, he was subjected to uniquely abusive training techniques and frequently â€Å"raked,† or attacked, by two older female whales in his tank (the grisly evidence of which is plain to see in the close up footage presented here). Tilikum’s first human victim was a young Sealand trainer, Keltie Byrne, who slipped into the tank, was attacked by the three whales, and eventually drowned.† (Chang) variety.com. Tilikum the Orca was sent away to this canadian theme park to be trained with techniques of abuse, starvation, and bullying of other Orcas. Just imagine being in Tilikum’s Point of view. This documentary shows graphic footage of blood, bullying of Tilikum, and the trainer is also killed by the three whales, this shows the anger, frustration of the creatures from how they ’re treated. How can you not be angry being held in a fish tank forced to perform for an audience or else be tortured your whole life? â€Å"In the wild, orcas swim upward of 100 miles per day. But at SeaWorld and other marine parks around the world, orcas are forced to swim in tiny circles to amuse tourists and spend the majority of their lives virtually motionless in concrete tanks that are the human equivalent of a bathtub. Their important matriarchal bonds are broken when babies are taken from their mothers and sold or transferred to other parks, and captive orcas live only a fraction of their average life span.† (Heather Murphy) Ocean Advocate seaworldofhurt.com Orcas are giant creatures that belong in the wide open ocean. Not a fish tank. Being in such a small tank they can’t even swim more than a couple hundred feet, when in the wild they should be swimming 100 or more miles per day. In the tank they would have to swim the circumference of the tank 1400 times to reach the equivalence of 100 miles. Cowperthwaite has a very dramatic way to show the effects on the Orcas being taken away from their families, cruel techniques of the trainers to force the Orcas to perform for an audience, and I don’t think anyone could have shown this information in such a powerful way. From growing up on an island I have learned that the Dolphin / Whale family is a very smart and kind species. They know how to trap their food and communicate with each other well. How can these giant animals that are captive in a fish tank accomplish these types of things? Some creatures aren’t meant to be held in aquariums and have their life be wasted away while they could be traveling the world with their giant families, especially a creature as smart and capable as an Orca. â€Å"Arguably one of the most impactful and successful documentary films, Blackfish fundamentally contributed to the elimination of SeaWorld’s breeding program in less than 3 years.† Frontiersin.org Caitlyn Burford* and Julie â€Å"Madrone† Kalil Schutten*. Communication, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA (12 January 2017)Burford C and Schutten JK (2017) Internatural Activists and the â€Å"Blackfish Effect†: Contemplating Captive Orcas’ Protest Rhetoric through a Coherence Frame. Front. Commun. 1:16. doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2016.00016 â€Å"Cowperthwaite interviews numerous ex-trainers who speak with deep affection about the whales they’ve worked with, yet also visible guilt and profound conviction about having helped exploit them for human entertainment.† (Chang et al.) variety.com. JANUARY 26, 2013 6:08PM PT. By: Justin Chang. With: John Hargrove, Samantha Berg, Jeffrey Ventre, John Jett, Mark Simmons, Dean Gomersall, Kim Ashdown, Carol Ray, Christopher Porter, Eric Walters, Steve Huxter, Ken Balcomb, Howard Garrett, Lori Marino, Dave Duffus, John Crowe, Suzanne Allee, Estefania Rodriguez, Mercedes Rodriguez. Google Scholar. â€Å"The film then builds a compelling psychological profile of Tilikum, who, after being captured in 1983, was held at a now-defunct Canadian theme park called Sealand of the Pacific. There, he was subjected to uniquely abusive training techniques and frequently â€Å"raked,† or attacked, by two older female whales in his tank (the grisly evidence of which is plain to see in the closeup footage presented here). Tilikum’s first human victim was a young Sealand trainer, Keltie Byrne, who slipped into the tank, was attacked by the three whales, and eventually drowned.†variety.com â€Å"In November 2015, SeaWorld announced plans to end killer-whale shows at its theme park in San Diego. Fais, Scott (November 10, 2015). SeaWorld San Diego ending killer whale shows, Orlando park to expand. St. Petersburg, Florida: Bay News 9. Archived from the original on November 16, 2015. Retrieved November 16. wikipedia.org â€Å"In March 2016, SeaWorld announced it would end its orca breeding program and begin to phase out all live performances using orcas.† Kay, Jennifer (March 17, 2016). SeaWorld to Stop Breeding Orcas, Making Them Perform Tricks. Bloomberg. Retrieved March 17, 2016. wikipedia.org â€Å"In the wild, orcas swim upward of 100 miles per day. But at SeaWorld and other marine parks around the world, orcas are forced to swim in tiny circles to amuse tourists and spend the majority of their lives virtually motionless in concrete tanks that are the human equivalent of a bathtub. Their important matriarchal bonds are broken when babies are taken from their mothers and sold or transferred to other parks, and captive orcas live only a fraction of their average life span.† (Heather Murphy) Ocean Advocate seaworldofhurt.com â€Å"Blackfish: The Documentary That Exposes SeaWorld†.

Facts about Leonard Peltier Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Facts about Leonard Peltier - Research Paper Example   In these cities, instead of the promised land they were pledged upon with, they suffered joblessness, poverty, and hopeless despair. Due to this torment, the American Indian Movement was born. The movement was born due to the issues that the people are facing every day, such as police brutality, high unemployment rates and the Federal Government’s policies concerning the American Indians. The group was composed of people who do not fear the government and are willing to lay their lives down for their fellow Indian people. AIM did not only become instrumental in shaping the American Indian’s path across the country but opened the eyes of the world through AIM protests, to the Siege at Wounded Knee. Some of the unforgettable leaders of the society were Dennis Banks, John Trudell, Russell Means, Eddie Benton-Banai and Clyde, and Vernon Bellecourt. They have been envisioned by Leonard Peltier as imperfect people; however, they have the bravery and compassion for their f ellow Native Americans. These people inspired Leonard Peltier, who was 14 years old then. At an early age, he experienced rank racism, political activism, and brutal poverty. He was inspired to attend meetings on the reservation with his father. With this action, he was convinced that we would want to live for the people of Pine Ridge Reservation and be a protector in their disposal. He realized that he can do something worthwhile of his life and for his people. One of his most successful conquests was the 1970 peaceful takeover of abandoned Fort Lawton, outside Seattle Washington, which is originally under the right of the Indian people. Because of this passion, he became the leader of AIM.  Ã‚  

The Importance of Critical Thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Importance of Critical Thinking - Essay Example University students should use critical thinking in their reading, research, and their writing. Critical reading forces the student to think about the author's intentions and the meaning hidden behind the words. University readings require more than simply repeating facts or plots. It requires the student to use critical thinking to "...not only understand what they have read or been shown but also to build upon that knowledge without incremental guidance" (Why Teach Critical Thinking n.d.). Critical thinking allows the reader to question the writer's thesis or examine their facts. The information gained will be built upon during a lifetime of learning. Critical thinking is mandatory when a university student is conducting research. Critical research demands that the student not only consider the source, but also the author's sources. Their own research must be viewed with a critical eye as to methodology and problematic areas. Glicken (2004, p. 43) argues that "One of the key elements of the scientific approach is a willingness to critically evaluate and test knowledge and theories". This will help eliminate errors and biases. Limitations and irregularities should be noted when reading research. Critical thinking will also help determine if the research is unbiased or if the author had an agenda.

Design Thinking and Decision Analysis

Design Thinking and Decision Analysis Topic: How can decision analysis support the decision making process in design thinking in selecting the most promising properties during the transition fromdivergent toconvergent thinking phases? Executive Summary Table of Content Executive Summary List of Figures List of Tables Index of Abbreviations 1.Introduction 2.Overview of Design Thinking and Decision Analysis 2.1.A New Approach to Problem Solving 2.1.1.What is a Design Thinker? 2.1.2.The Iterative Steps of Design Thinking 2.2.Decision Analysis 2.2.1.Decision Analysis Process 2.2.2.Multi Attribute Decision Making 3.Application Based on a Case Study 3.1.The Design Challenge 3.2.The Static Model 3.2.1.The Alternatives 3.2.2.Objectives and Measures of Effectiveness 3.2.3.Multi Attribute Decision Making 3.2.4.Sensitivity Analysis of the SAW Method 3.3.The Case Study’s solution 4.Conclusion List of Literature Statutory Declaration Appendix List of Figures Figure 1: The IDEO process a five step method (Kelley and Littman, 2004: 6-7) Figure 2: Figure 3: The HPI process a six step model (Plattner et al., 2009) Figure 3: Fundamentals of Decision Analysis (Ralph L. Keeney, 1982) Figure 4: Schematic form of a decision tree (Keeney and Raiffa, 1993) Figure 5: A choice problem between two lotteries (Keeney and Raiffa, 1993) Figure 6: MADM Decision Matrix Figure 7: The tree main idea clusters Figure 8: Decision Making Matrix Figure 9: Decision Maker Matrix for the Design Challenge List of Tables Table 1: Different ways of describing design thinking (Lucy Kimbell, 2011) Table 2: Realization of attributes in alternatives scale Index of Abbreviations DADecision Analysis DCDesign Challenge DM Decision Maker DTDesign Thinking HPIHasso-Plattner-Institute HMWHow Might We IWITMI Wonder If That Means MADMMulti Attribute Decision Making MCDMMulti Criteria Decision Making SAWSimple Additive Weighting 1. Introduction Everyone is in the need to make decisions every day. Those decisions may be shaped by an outstanding problem which just needs to be solved or it may just be the question whether to buy a new pair of shoes or not. Moreover, the problem may easily be solvable by a simple equation or there might be the necessity to formulate the problem in the first place since the difficulty is too diffuse to be absorbed. Due to the huge variety of different problems our society faces every day and with all divergent needs for a solution process, there is a constant need to draft and identify methods that support everyone in making decision. Undoubtedly, there are many methodologies and approaches out there that support the decision making process for daily small decisions that need to be made to life changing decisions. Decision analysis (DA), which is one of the formal methods and design thinking (DT), which is one of the innovative methodologies out there, are two instances of problem solving method s. Both methods have been applied in similar fields, such as business, technology, and personal life but with divergent intentions. On the on hand, there is DT which is one of the more recent methodologies that helps to get from a problem to a solution with the support from a finite number of iterative steps that the design thinker will follow. Brown, who is the CEO of IDEO, describes DT as a method that is so powerful and implicit that can be used from teams broadly across the globe to create impactful innovative ideas that can be realized by the society or companies (Brown, 2010: 3). On the other hand, there is DA which is an approach that includes a variety of procedures that helps to find a formal solution to an identified problem and creates a more structured solution procedure. Howard was the person who shaped the term DA in 1964 and has been irreplaceable for the development of DA (Roebuck, 2011: 99). This paper will combine DA and DT to investigate whether DA can leverage the DT process in order to find the most viable solution to a problem. Moreover, this paper will find out whether or not those two approaches can profit from each other. Selected procedures of DA will be integrated in the DT process by reference to a case study. Over and above, the solution generated by the DA technique will be compared with the chosen alternative in the case study that followed the regular DT process. Comparing those two outcomes, this paper will work out whether or not DA can support the DT process. The second chapter is descriptive of the fundamentals of DA and DT. After the outline of the foundations, the third chapter will apply chosen DA procedures into the DT process on the basis of a case study. Moreover, the chosen alternative by the design thinking team in the case study will be analysed. In the final chapter, the major finding will be summarized and evaluated. 2. Overview of Design Thinking and Decision Analysis 2.1. A New Approach to Problem Solving Design Thinking is an iterative and innovative approach to solve problems of all kinds that the society is facing. Moreover, it is a human-centred and at the same time investigatory process that puts its emphasis on collaboration, prototyping, and field research (Lockwood, 2010: xi). It is a set of fundamentals than can be applied by different people and to a huge range of problems (Brown, 2010: 7). DT is not a linear, but an iterative process in which the designers are constantly learning from mistakes and improving their ideas. Designers hope to find a linear model that will help them to understand the logic behind a design process; therefore, it is a constant search for decision making protocols that would support the designers’ processes (Buchanan, 1992). In sum, DT is a user-centred approach to solve a variety of problems with the aim to integrate people from various fields; ranging from consumers and business people to designers. There are a variety of ways to describe DT, as illustrated in Table 1. According to Brown, DT is an organisational resource with the goal to create innovation. Cross describes the method as a cognitive style with the purpose of problem solving. Another famous definition concludes that â€Å"Design Thinking means thinking like a designer would† (Roger, 2009). However, the purpose and aim of DT is in its core identical, whether one is applying the processes modified by Cross or Brown (Plattner et al., 2009: 113). Table 1: Different ways of describing design thinking (Lucy Kimbell, 2011) Over the last five years, the term DT has become very present in our society. On top of that, DT is a new term in design and management circles, which shows the demand for creative and innovative methods across various sectors (Kimbell, 2011). Nevertheless, this method is still underdeveloped when it comes to applying design methods at the management level (Dunne and Roger, 2006). But why is the interest in design growing and the term has become ubiquitous? The society is facing a lot of challenges; from educational problems to global warming and economic crisis. Brown sees DT as a powerful approach that can be applied to a huge variety of problems and as a consequence creates impactful solutions to these challenges. On top of that he argues that design has become nothing short of a tactic of viability (Brown, 2010: 3). The method is not limited to the creation and design of a physical product, but it can also result in the conception of a process, tools to communicate, or a service (Brown, 2010: 7). Therefore, it is a method that helps to learn from mistakes and to find impactful and sustainable solutions. 2.1.1. What is a Design Thinker? Many individuals have their own personal picture of what a designer is and mostly, would not associate themselves with such a term. Nevertheless, the expression designer is not only limited to creative graphic designers that are working in agencies. There are many professionals who would fall under the term designer, from people that are working in corporations and are trying to implement a new innovative way of thinking to people who are creating a new customer experience (Porcini, 2009). Mauro Porcini puts a lot of emphasis on the fact that describing design is a huge challenge, since design can be anything from recognizing impactful solutions to the personal experience that the answers will originate (Porcini, 2009). According to Brown design thinkers have four characteristics in common (Brown, 2008): Empathy Design thinkers have the ability to walk in the shoes of someone else; they view situations from the perspective of other people. This talent allows them to see a lot of thing that others are not able to observe which leads to solutions that are especially tailor-made for the users. Integrative thinking Integrative thinking allows the design thinker to go beyond simple solutions by seeing and assembling all the noticeable coalitions to a solution. The ability to not confide on the processes that are characterized by an A or B choice, allows them to involve even antithetic solutions. Optimism and Experimentalism Design thinkers are individuals who are confident that to each existing solution there is another one which is more impactful and feasible for the corresponding stakeholders. By experimenting with new information and the existing circumstances and moreover, by asking the most powerful questions, design thinkers are able to ascertain long-lasting innovations. Collaboration Another key aspect of the design thinking process is the ability to collaborate with experts from a variety of fields. This talent allows to not only integrating the designers and producers, but also the end user. Moreover, a design thinker him/herself has experience in many different fields and is not only an expert in DT. 2.1.2. The Iterative Steps of Design Thinking As already mentioned above, there are many ways to describe DT. On top of that, the process may sometimes be described in three, five or six steps in literature. For example, at IDEO, which is one of the leading design consultancies in the world, the designers are working with a five step model (Kelley and Littman, 2004: 6-7). Figure 1: The IDEO process a five step method (Kelley and Littman, 2004: 6-7) However, at the Hasso-Plattner-Institute in Potsdam, the process consists of six steps. The two processes consisting of a different amount of steps only differ in their emphasis on the overall process and a different description but not in their principles (Plattner et al., 2009: 113). In order to describe the process which will later be applied to a case study, the thesis will focus on the six steps process described by Plattner et. al. (Plattner et al., 2009: 114). Figure 2: Figure 3: The HPI process a six step model (Plattner et al., 2009) Understand The iterative DT process starts with a phase called understanding, which includes defining the problem and explaining the scope. Defining the so called Design Challenge (DC) is crucial for the success of the method since the whole team working on the challenge needs to have the same understanding of the problem to be solved. Moreover, the target group needs to be identified by the team in order to be able to move to the next phase. In the first phase, the emphasis is put on obtaining the knowledge that is required to solve the formulated DC. Observe The aim of the second phase is to become an expert. The DT team observes all the existing solutions to the identified problem and challenges them; more specifically the team tries to improve their understanding why there has not been an adequate solution up to that point. The team tries to get a 360 ° degree view on the problem, integrating all participants and people affected. One of the main activities in this phase is the direct contact with the future users or clients of the product/service for the intended solution. It is crucial to involve the future users since those people are building the target group and know what their wishes, requirements, way of behaviour and needs are. In addition, the team needs to examine carefully the processes and ways of behaviour. In order to do so the team needs to walk in the shoes of the end users. In sum, the second phase emphasises the need to reproduce the end user’s ways of behaviour while being able to fully understand the end use r’s perspective. Point of View The third phase, called point of view, is the stage where all the findings from the previous phases are interpreted and evaluated. Since in most cases the team has branched out in the second phase, this phase brings everyone together in order to exchange findings. The team will segregate the relevant facts from the dispensable information. This separation helps to define the point of view more precisely which will lighten the fourth phase for the whole team. A method which is often used at this stage is the creation of a persona. A persona is a fictive and ideal-typical end user of the product or service. During this exercise the whole team deploys their findings from the second stage, the observing phase, with the aim to find the right viewing angle on the DC. For the purpose of finding the right perspective, it is important to question and realign the problem from a huge variety of different viewing angles. Recapitulatory, during the third phase the team assembles the key aspects f rom the end users in order to be able to start finding ideas in the next phase. Ideate The ideation phase is characterized by the reorientation of the team’s thinking process from divergent to convergent thinking. In the beginning of the phase, the team is still in a divergent thought process the group of people is generating as many ideas for a solution as possible. All these concepts should contain a potential solution to the DC and should not be debated by the team in the beginning. It is a phase during which the team experiments with a variety of ideas and invests in the creative thinking process by leaving as much room as possible for everyone to generate constructive ideas. In contrast to the first half of the ideation phase, the second half is shaped by the convergent method. During the convergent thought process, the team’s goal is to identify the one solution or the best solutions to the DC. This process consists of logical steps towards the exploration of solution/s. There are some creative techniques on how to narrow down the ideas in the ideation phase, for example (Center for Care Innovation, 2013-2014): Sticky note voting: Every team member gets three stickers and places those next to the ideas that are most viable and feasible to him/her. The ideas with the most stickers will be prototyped in the next phase. Idea morphing: Each idea will be presented in front of the whole team. After each presentation the team is looking out for synergies to merge some ideas or mixing some elements. In sum, during this phase the team generates ideas for the exploration of solutions with the help of the information gathered during the last three phases. Prototype This phase appears for many people to be really different to what they have been used to during solution oriented processes. The aim of this phase is to visualize the ideas for the users; thereby, the users are able to give feedback more easily and may also be able test the idea. The prototype should not be the perfect visible idea, but the preproduction model should be able to transfer the message, show the strengths and weaknesses of the idea, and moreover, it should help the team to improve the idea even further. It is a visualization of the idea with the use of, for example, modelling clay, paper, Lego figures, and any material that might be within reach. If the solution is a service function, the prototype might be a theatrical performance. Moreover, some teams create a virtual prototype if the idea that cannot be visualized in a real model. All in all, the intention of the phase is to make an idea come alive and visible to the users. Test During the testing phase the idea will be tried out with the user. The most important part of this step is that the idea will be tested with the end users and not only within the DT team itself. The testing phase is about identifying the idea’s strengths and weaknesses together with the end user. It is about identifying mistakes because only from these misconceptions the team can learn and further improve the idea, since it is all about the user who will be making use of the idea. Therefore, the team has to put a lot of emphasis on learning from that experience. 2.2. Decision Analysis Every human being constantly takes decisions throughout the day. On the one hand, there are many minor decisions from the preference of food each day, the question if one should stay in bed or not, to the colour of clothes someone wants to wear. On the other hand, people face situations where they have to choose whether to take a job or not or which car they would like to purchase. Some decisions have a larger and more significant impact than others; therefore, it is important to understand the consequences of the decisions that are being made (Gregory, 1988: 2). Decision Analysis is designed to help when dealing with difficult decisions by offering more structure and guidance (Clemen, 1996: 4). DA supports the decision making process: it helps to better and fully understand the obstacles that are connected with having to make a decision and, on top of that, helps to make better choices (Clemen, 1996: 3). Moreover, DA permits the operator to make any decisions in a more effective and consistent way (Clemen, 1996: 4). In consequence, DA is a framework as well as a tool kit for approaching various decisions. Nevertheless, the judgement of each DM differs from person to person. One DM may have a preference which manifests itself in the chosen attributes and alternatives. Another DM may not have a preference and, on top of that, the judgement skills may vary from DM to DM as well (Hwang and Yoon, 1981: 8). According to Keeney, the DA approach concentrates on five fundamental issues that are elementary for all decisions (Keeney, 1982): Figure 3: Fundamentals of Decision Analysis (Ralph L. Keeney, 1982) In order to be able to address multidisciplinary problems, the decision problem is divided into several parts which are analysed and integrated during the DA process (Keeney, 1982). Over the last years, various approaches have been identified, such as the shaped DA process by Keeney or the Multi Attribute Decision Making (MADM) method. The later one supports the decision making when a finite number of alternatives have been identified with various, mostly conflicting attributes. 2.2.1. Decision Analysis Process Over the last decades, many analysts have been working on modifying and improving the DA steps included in the process; therefore, there are many procedures out there with a common purpose: Choosing the best alternative. Keeney describes the DA process in five major steps (Keeney and Raiffa, 1993: 5-6): Preanalysis During the first phase the focus is on gathering the alternatives and clarifying the objectives. The decision maker (DM) faces a situation where there is indecisiveness about any steps that are relevant in order to solve the problem. At this stage the problem is already at hand. Structural analysis At this stage the DM is confronted with structuring the problem. There are several questions that the DM will need to answer; for example, what call can be made? What are the decisions that can be delayed? Is there specific information that supports the choices that could be made? Figure 4 shows a decision tree in which the abovementioned questions are systematically put into place. The decision nodes which are displayed as 1 and 3 (squared) are the nodes that are controlled by the DM and the chance nodes, shown as 2 and 4 (circled), are the nodes which are not fully controlled by the DM. Figure 4: Schematic form of a decision tree (Keeney and Raiffa, 1993) Uncertainty Analysis The third phase, called the Uncertainty Analysis, starts with assigning the probabilities to each path that is branching off from the chance nodes (in Figure 4, these are the paths left and right from points 2 and 4). The assignment of the probabilities to the branches of the decision tree is a subjective procedure (Keeney and Raiffa, 1993: 6; Gregory, 1988: 172). Nevertheless, the DM makes the assignments by using a variety of techniques based on experimental data. These assignments will be checked for conformity. Utility or Value Analysis The objective of the fourth step is the assignment of so called utility values to each path of the decision tree, whereas these represent the consequences connected to that path. The decision path that is shown in Figure 4 represents only one plausible path. In a real problem, many factors will be associated with the path; such as economical costs, psychological costs as well as benefits that the DM considers r

A Dream Shattered or Still a Big Potential Essay

A DREAM SHATTERED OR STILL A BIG POTENTIAL: A CASE STUDY OF TATA NANO Abstract Keeping the potential of Indian Automobile Industry in mind, a few years back, around 2006 Ratan Tata conceived the idea of a tiny car with even a tinier price tag for rapidly growing middle class segment. Tata Nano was seen as a triumph of home grown engineering ; as making a product which encapsulates the dreams of millions of Indians with all the elements of mix i.e. safety, engineering, design, efficiency, style at a price tag of one lakh was in itself a challenge. The intense media scrutiny about the few cases of Nano catching fire brought a remarkable dent in Nano sales and shattered the customers’ confidence in car. Since then Nano is struggling hard to regain its strong image in the eyes of its customers as still the huge potential of middle segment is unexplored. The discussion arises about the turnaround strategies of Nano keeping in view its initial launch success, a few quality failures and distorted perceptions in the minds of its customers. This discussion will further add to the design of strategies for future new products which are well strategized for success with clear and defined conceivable about the costs, and market segments but fail due to a few small but significant mistakes. Keywords: Product Development,, USP (unique selling preposition), Buzz marketing, Communication Complacency, Strategic Repositioning, Resurrection. *This case study is developed during the resurrection phase of Tata Nano in March 2012 for classroom discussion as a perfect illustration for analyzing various aspects in the launch of an innovative product,,its market acceptance , Changing people perceptions etc. National Conference on Emerging Challenges for Sustainable Business 2012 1087 A Dream Shattered or Still A Big Potential: A Case Study of Tata Nano Introduction Just a few months back, India overtook Brazil as the sixth largest passenger vehicle manufacturer in the world (Wikipedia Automobile industry). This proves the fact that the Indian Automobile Industry is moving at a fast pace. India is a growing market for Hatchbacks, Sedans, SUVs MUVs, Crossovers and MPVs. Among these small cars have emerged as a clear winner. In fact the country has become a leading centre in producing small cars. Keeping this potential of Indian Automobile Industry in mind , a few years back, around 2006 Ratan Tata conceived the idea of a tiny car with even a tinier price tag for rapidly growing middle class segment. Tata Nano achieved instant success when it was introduced as world’s cheapest car in the year 2009. Tata Nano was seen as a triumph of home grown engineering ; as making a product which encapsulates the dreams of millions of Indians with all the elements of mix i.e. safety, engineering, design, efficiency, style at a price tag of one lakh was in itself a challenge. And Tata’s seemed to fulfill all the promises to its customers by offering Nano. Majority of Indian population belong to middle class, when it comes to purchasing cars they look for the affordable vehicles. Few studies related to consumer buying behavior show that if an individual belonging to middle class wants to own a car then he can easily shell out `1 lac to `1.5 lakh. Thus, while buying a car, price tag becomes a prime factor. Though pricing is the prime factor, performance, style and durability also matter. So, Nano essentially being a dream project for Tatas, satisfied very competently all the criteria’s of a successful launch ,that is, tiny price tag, performance, design, style, brand, welcoming customers, mileage, space, interiors, looks, elegance and so on. But the irony started when the safest acclaimed car of Tata’s caught in flames while its way back from showroom to home. The intense media scrutiny about the few cases of Nano catching fire brought a remarkable dent in Nano sales and shattered the customers’ confidence in car. Since then Nano is struggling hard to regain its strong image in the eyes of its customers as still the huge potential of middle segment is unexplored. National Conference on Emerging Challenges for Sustainable Business 2012 1088 A Dream Shattered or Still A Big Potential: A Case Study of Tata Nano The discussion arises about the turnaround strategies of Nano keeping in view its initial launch success, a few quality failures and distorted perceptions in the minds of its customers. This discussion will further add to the design of strategies for future new products which are well strategized for success with clear and defined conceival about the costs, and market segments but fail due to a few small but significant mistakes. This discussion can further continue for strategic repositioning and turnaround of products accepted well in their initial stages of ‘PLC’ but matured very shortly due to certain significant marketing mistakes. Conceiving of the Idea The idea conceived about Nano was a dare dream of Tatas’ not because of its unbelievably affordable price but also because of the promise it held for providing safe personal mobility to a huge section of the Indian two wheeler riding population. It was an entirely new product Source: Statistics by Society of Indian Autommobile Manufacturers segment with a whole different dimension of its need to contain costs within a preset target of `1 lakh. The Nano price was the only certainty at the time idea was conceived . And then starting from a clean sheet of paper , the car was designed and developed keeping manufacturing costs, material costs and production costs at lowest possible level along with maintaining its character, style, adorable looks and finished quality. National Conference on Emerging Challenges for Sustainable Business 2012 1089 A Dream Shattered or Still A Big Potential: A Case Study of Tata Nano Problems in the Product Development Phase Ride for Tatas in the production of Nano had been anything but smooth. Tata built a Nano plant in West Bengal but was forced out in Oct., 2008 due to violent protest from farmers .This event resulted in the temporary delay in the production along with causing a huge loss of infrastructure costs of a plant almost ready for car production. Another plant was built at Sanand in Gujrat where the production finally started. These initial bottlenecks in the production somewhere affected the enthusiasm about the project and resulted in limited early availability which caused pre-bookings and lottery deliveries. This priced out many buyers negatively snatching out the momentum from the market. Almost from the start the project was plagued by problems and were magnified by intense media involvement. Most Awaited launch When India’s Tata Motors launched Nano in 2009, the concept of the world’s cheapest car in one of the fast growing vehicles markets seems pre-destined for success. At its launch , car buying dynamics seemed to be undergoing a subtle change. Tata dealers were flooded with queries from prospective buyers. People mainly middle class were anxiously waiting for it. Being the world’s cheapest car, Tata Nano had an edge over its competitors in terms of its pricing , which helped Tata to register decent sales figures initially. While choosing between Maruti Suzuki 800 and Tata Nano, people gave letter more weightage in terms of price and design. Its biggest USP (unique selling preposition ) was its attractive looks at lowest price. In March 2009, when Tata was launched it got advance bookings upto 2,00,000 cars but it went through lottery route to give the first 1,00,000 nanos to its lucky customers. Nano became the most coveted thing for two wheeler riders and Tata was so confident about its product that it did’nt go into any marketing plan for Nano. Its intense hype was itself doing its buzz marketing1. So, Tata got busy in producing Nanos to fulfill its intense demand but at the same time being very complacent about the market and customers perceptions of the car. 1. Buzz marketing is word of mouth recommendations by its existing users National Conference on Emerging Challenges for Sustainable Business 2012 1090 A Dream Shattered or Still A Big Potential: A Case Study of Tata Nano Sudden No-No for Nano Among all this hype when the new emerged middle segment of car owners were enjoying their ride in their sparkling stylish Nanos , first case of Nano catching fire was reported in March, 2010 while its trip from showroom to customer’s house. Another incident quoted the car went on flames soon after the driver reported a spark from the rear side of the car. The assurance of Tata’s cheapest car being safest proved ironical and the media which was giving intense scrutiny to the project did its job well during the bad times also. The security failure of the car completely broke the trust of the customers in Nano. A drastic decrease in sales was noticed in November 2010 (from 9000 units to 509 units per month) when company called its existing customers to install the safety devices in the car. So with in a year the brainchild of Tatas started seeming like a failure as its sales went nearly half within a year. Sales were far off the target of 25000 cars a month and the Nano plant with an annual capacity of 250000 cars kept producing only 8000 units a month till March 2011. Table 1: Sales Excerpts (From July 2009 to March 2012) Month and year Nano units sold July 2009 2475 Dec 2009 4001 March 2010 4710 April 2010 3525 July 2010 9000 Nov 2010 509 Dec 2010 5784 Source: various websites of Tata motors Month and year Jan 2011 April 2011 July 2011 Dec 2011 Jan 2012 Feb 2012 Mar 2012 Nano units sold 6703 10012 3260 7466 7723 9217 10475 National Conference on Emerging Challenges for Sustainable Business 2012 1091 A Dream Shattered or Still A Big Potential: A Case Study of Tata Nano Tata Nano Performance vs Automobile Industry Production (Passenger Vehicles) Industrial Scanning and analysis showed that the passenger vehicles production in the country was growing tremendously ( Fig. 3), but Nano sales showed a mixed trend till the mid of 2011 (Fig 2). The company took to replace the starter motors in the older models and launched a new model in 2012 but replacing of the parts could also affect the further sales of new model as well said , ‘Indian customers do not forgive easily’. So, there was a great challenge for Tata to retain its brand image. Inappropriate Market Positioning: Cheaper vs Affordable After the several months of disappointing sales of Nano, it became clear by the end of 2011that its cheapest tag has actually shunned its sales . The status conscious customer didn’t want to get associated with its ‘cheap’ tag and rather opted for slightly pricier rivals . Nobody wanted to be caught with a tag of ‘poor man’s car. So rather being a functional step above a motorcycle it became known as a cut-price car. Crucially car has struggled to find a core market. The overwhelming interest in the car brought all the mixed segments of the customers in the market. So, a distinctive strategy was missing to give a correct positioning and segmentation to the extremely distinctive product. Communication complacency Tatas relied heavily on the publicity rather than a definitely designed communication strategy. There was huge involvement from media, industry and public at large . Rather than leveraging this publicity Tata became complacent about the communication. It became the first car to be launched at zero cost of advertising with a huge success. The publicity generated was far greater than what could be generated through any conventional campaign. Tatas plea was that problem was not of the complacency. Because the Nano plant had to move from West Bengal to Gujarat, production timelines were difficult to maintain. With not enough cars being made, the company felt it didn’t have to advertise or even set up efficient distribution channels. But the hype about the car died down, and the stories about the fires gained prominence. National Conference on Emerging Challenges for Sustainable Business 2012 1093 A Dream Shattered or Still A Big Potential: A Case Study of Tata Nano On the hindsight, apart from being delayed, the first ads were not the most appropriate .They showcased couples ensconced in Nanos , While those on two wheelers stared at them balefully. It seemed to be just for people who have to stretch themselves to buy a car; rather it could have been for housewife or a youngster who had just turned 18. But the advertising focused at parity level. Tata seemed to ratify the media story about it being a Garibrath rather than a cool car. Another ad in the early 2011 also projected the same image featuring a girl in a decidedly rustic setting awaiting the family Nano. Initial ads of Tata Nano: Khushion ki Chabi Such mistakes by Tatas actually fuelled the perception of a poor man’s car. The car is too much of an emotional purchase . It’s the second biggest achievement after a house and the cheapest tag proved disastrous for Nano. Resurrection by Tatas Nano is the dream of Tatas and seeing the market flooded with so many small cars Tatas still see a huge potential in Nano and is seeming to undo its mistakes in the past. As quoted by Ratan Tata on the eve of Auto expo 2012 , ‘Nano is not a flop. We have lost an early opportunity due to mistakes in positioning and marketing the product.’ The new marketing campaign by Tata is all set to change the perception from a Garib rath to a cool car as it allows young to be so whimsical with the cool car that they can drive the several kilometers for a cup of perfect tea! Road to Lal Tippa National Conference on Emerging Challenges for Sustainable Business 2012 1094 A Dream Shattered or Still A Big Potential: A Case Study of Tata Nano Tata is going to launch Tata Nano CNG by the end of 2012. The company has given the car a new makeover by additional features like new interiors, a powerful gasoline engine, better fuel efficiency and attractive colors like champagne gold and papaya orange. Another initiative is offering Tata Nano happiness guarantee which more than doubles the car’s warranty from 18 months to four years insisting on its reliability. Offering fast track financing for buyers with loan approvals in 48 hours and reducing down payments to just `15000 is another measure. Tata is planning to enter new global market such as Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia and Bangladesh with Nano. The 2012 version of Nano was unveiled by the Tata in the end of 2011 and now as the fiscal year ended in March, the new efforts to promote the 2012 Nano in the Indian market have started paying off. After July 2011 till March 2012 Tata Nano has registered an increase in sales and crossed the 10000 mark at the end of the fiscal year 2011-12 (March 2012, 10475 units, Table1). The lovely Nano is a big beneficial car in small package and its value is being recognized gradually by the customers. Hence, with the conviction in mind that the potential of Nano market remains as vast as it was originally predicted; Tata is moving with some strong steps in the market as it is also planning to launch a diesel variant of Nano in near future which will prove a value preposition for its customers. Long way ahead Nano has to go a long way in realizing its dream of 20,000 plus units per month that would get its plant in the western state of Gujarat running full throttle which is presently moving at the level of around 10000 units per month. Hailed as a showpiece of innovation spawned from and targeted at the emerging upper middle class ; Nano is working hard to undo its mistakes in the past. As small car segment is having very strong potential, there is a flood of small car brands in the Indian market. It has to face strong competition from its near rivals such as Bajaj’s RE 60 , Maruti Suzuki Cervo ( approx. ` 1.5 lakh) , Maruti Alto and slightly pricier options Hyundai Santro, newly launched Hyundai Eon etc. Nano faces rising competition from used car segment National Conference on Emerging Challenges for Sustainable Business 2012 1095 A Dream Shattered or Still A Big Potential: A Case Study of Tata Nano also. Apart from the strong competitors, high inflation and slow economic growth also put another challenges for Tata Nano. Tata is doing hard to resurrect the product segment by intensive reliability engineering, advertising innovations for repositioning and strong distribution and service facilities to recollect the trust of its customers. Let’s see how Nano makes its makers proud amidst conflicting perceptions of customers, the immense competition and rising inflation by maintaining expected performance at its tiniest tag!!! Questions 1. What do you think were the reasons due to which Nano was such a welcome launch more than any other car launch in the industry previously? 2. As Cheapest car being its USP (Unique selling Preposition), how it went against the sales performance of Nano subsequently. Give key reasons. 3. â€Å"Intense Media attention about the product went for and against it also.† Elaborate . 4. How the changed perceptions about the car impacted its sales? Also give other key reasons for such a vast variation in its sales performance. 5. Despite the various resurrection efforts by Tata what potential do you see of Nano in rapidly growing small car segment in coming years in the view of rising competition in the segment? References: ‘Auto Expo 2012: Tata Nano is not a flop, just an opportunity wasted: Ratan Tata’, Economic Times, Jan 6, 2012. ‘No Takers: Is the Tata Nano Running Out of Gas?’, India Knowledge@Wharton, January 27, 2011 Buddiraja S. , ‘ Case Analysis in Marketing Management’, Tata Mcgraw hills, New Delhi. Dhingra Mayank, ‘Marketing Case Study: Tata Nano — Document Transcript’,( Aug 2009), Slideshare. India Today/ Business/Story New Delhi ,Jan 6 2012. Kotlar Phillip , ‘Marketing Management: a South Asian Perspective’ 13th Edition , Pearson Education,New Delhi. Statistics by Society of Indian Mobile Manufacturers ,http://www.siamindia.com/scripts/market-share.aspx Economic Times ,’World’s cheapest car’ tag backfires’, ,24 Jan, 2012 Web Sources: www.tatamotors.com/media/press-releases.php?id=732 www.zigwheels.com/tata-nano/ www.iol.co.za/business/business-news/home-sales-of-world-s-cheapest-car-backfire -1.1219524 Various websites of Tata Motors National Conference on Emerging Challenges for Sustainable Business 2012 1096