Patagonia Essays - Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard, Climbing Equipment

Patagonia Essays - Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard, Climbing Equipment Patagonia Abstract Patagonias mission statement is, To use business to inspire and implement solutions to environmental crisis. Patagonia is a clothing company thats focus is on selling environmentally safe outdoor apparel. This papers focus is on the history of Patagonia their environmental marketing strategies and their competition. There has also been some outside research done to see what the publics perception of Patagonia is. Introduction Patagonia's History In 1957 a young climber named Yvon Chouinard could not find pitons (a form of climbing protection) that he liked. So he began to make his own climbing gear. Chouinard was a self-educated blacksmith. He took his knowledge and began to build his own pitons. Of the pitons he made, Chouinard would keep what he needed and started selling the rest to his friends. Shortly after, Chouinard began building carabiners in addition to his production of the pitons. Up until this point, he had been working out of his parents' back yard and selling equipment out of his car. He moved his business in 1959 to an industrial yard in Burbank California and again in 1966 to a tin shed behind an abandoned slaughterhouse in Ventura California. In 1966, Tom Frost was recruited to help make the transition from handmade to machine made products. Chouinard and Frost founded Chouinard Equipment, Ltd. Everything about the operations focused on building the best quality climbing gear in the worldThe companies genui ne and relentless pursuit of quality was matched by its reputation for it (Defining Quality, 2). Chouinard and Frost remained partners until 1975. During this time the two managed to redesign, hence improve, almost every tool used on a climber's rack. Their production also tried to minimize the use of materials. By 1970 Chouinard Equipment was the largest supplier of climbing equipment in the United States. Although this seemed positive from a business standpoint, Chouinard and Frost realized that they were contributing to environmental deterioration. Pitons require repetitive hammering for placement and removal. Because rock climbing was becoming popular the amount of destruction increased. Chouinard and Frost took a stand and decided to discontinue their production of pitons. This decision initiated a blind devotion that ultimately led to Patagonia's Statement of Purpose: To use business to inspire and implement solutions to environmental crisis. An environmental safe alternative to pitons was found in aluminum chocks. As before Chouinard Equipment designed and produced their own version of the chocks. Sales were slow until their showing in the first Chouinard Equipment catalog in 1972. The first pages of the catalog featured A Word from the owners on the environmental hazards of pitons. The ethical stand taken by Chouinard Equipment dramatically effected the climbing community. Things began to change for the better. Within just a few months of the release of their first catalog, piton sales were severely stunted. In 1973 Patagonia the company was incorporated. Around this same time, Chouinard became interested in the profit potential of soft goods. He pursued his interest by introducing rugby shirts into their line. Frost and others opposed this decision and left the partnership in 1975. In the mid-seventies clothing was introduced under the name 'Patagonia'. Shortly after, in 1979, Patagonia Clothing Corporation was established. Patagonia was incorporated in 1984. Patagonia followed Chouinard's original intentions of developing goods that could easily be described as ridiculously overbuilt (Defining Quality, 5). Chouinard began technical product development in 1973, which continued and intensified under the Patagonia name. Patagonia continually improved on the amount of environmental impact as well as the quality of their materials. Pile lead to Bunting, which lead to Synchilla, which eventually changed the industry. Patagonia also introduced polypropylene underwear, which was replaced by Capilene in 1985. Although competition became fierce, Patagonia's attention to the details and construction of their products kept them ahead of the others. Throughout the years there has always been one constant in Patagonia's design and philosophy- a sense that there is in the products, or should be, more than meets the eye. Quality. Superb functionality. Environmental concern. A Killer warranty and service to match (Defining Quality, 9). Patagonia's Environmental History As you can see in the above text, Patagonias founder Yvon Chouinard has always put the environment first in his business plans. But Patagonia has done more for

Why does group polarisation occur Essays

Why does group polarisation occur Essays Why does group polarisation occur Essay Why does group polarisation occur Essay Essay Topic: Sociology Group polarisation refers to the tendency for groups to make more extreme decisions or judgements after discussion when compared to the initial views of group members. This phenomenon has interested psychologists since 1961, when Stoner discovered the risky shift, and is central to understanding social influence in groups; therefore the major theories of social influence have been invoked to explain it, so far with little conclusive success. This essay will cover the origins of group polarisation and examples of it in everyday life, and will then proceed to discuss a number of theories proposed to explain it. It will then be attempted to ascertain which of these best explains group polarisation and why. Until the 1960s it was generally accepted that a groups attitudes were the mean or average of its comprising individuals attitudes. In 1961 Stoner asked some business students to make judgements on a choice dilemma questionnaire, this was done individually and then in groups. Group decisions were found to be, on average, more risky than average pre-discussion, individual decisions. This was known as the shift to risk, and was quickly replicated by Wallach et al. (1962). Wallach et al. evised twelve hypothetical choice dilemmas, and asked participants to rate the lowest level of risk that they found acceptable for somebody to take a risky course of action. They found that 92% of group decisions were riskier than the average individual decision; and importantly, that it resulted in permanent cognitive change, with 39% taking riskier actions after the group decisions (Wallach and Kogan, 1965). Early explanations for this shift were based around the idea that groups have a diffusion of responsibility; with no-one individually held responsible, they can afford to take risks. However, the shift to risk was soon found to be a shift to extremity, with several experiments finding that groups are not always risky. Stoner (1968) found reliable shifts to caution on issues of well being and safety; e. g. prisoner to attempt escape, if the prisoner escapes he lives, but if not he will die. It was concluded that groups polarise, they shift to extremities, the more extreme a group is to begin with, the more extreme it seems to become (Brown, 2000, p. 199). This was a very important discovery which challenged the classic conformity theory experiments which typically showed convergence on the group norms. Sherifs 1935 auto kinetic experiment showed groups converging on a range of judgements close to the mean or median of preliminary individual judgements. Aschs line experiments produced similar results (1952, 1955 1956). The risky shift experiments show simultaneous convergence and shift to a more extreme group norm be it negative or positive. Polarisation doesnt just occur in theoretical choice dilemmas, it is a general phenomenon that may be observed in everyday life. Kalven and Ziesel (1966) studied jury decisions in America and found that the initial majority were predictive of 90% of decisions. Blacovich et al. (1975) found that groups bet more than individuals in Blackjack; while McCauley et al. found groups to be more cautious than individuals when betting on horses. Moscovici and Zavalloni (1969) asked French students their attitudes towards President de Gaulle and the USA, the students then formed groups and gave group attitude responses. These group responses were more extreme than their individual responses with de Gaulle being seen more positively and the USA more negatively than previously. However, almost all the studies conducted into group polarisation have been within laboratories using ad-hoc groups and with no realistic outcome for the participants. Therefore it could be argued that these results cannot be generalised Of the experiments that have been conducted with real-experiment groups, the results have been less reliable (e. g. Semin and Glendon, 1973) though it is a phenomenon that is occurring regularly. The first theory that tried to account for group polarisation was by Wallach and Kogan (1965); based on diffusion of responsibility, they held that discussion reduced any anxiety felt about the negative consequences of making a choice, because the responsibility is shared. This didnt explain why shifts to caution or shifts on decisions which resulted in no consequences occurred. The group decision schemes theory (Davis, 1979), was one of the first influential theories in the field; Davis held that groups have implicit rules for combining individual positions on decisions; the most common rule being majority rule. This means the group decision will be more extreme or skewed whenever the majority is biased towards a particular extreme. There were many criticisms levelled at the theory which didnt adequately resolve why polarisation actually occurred. It was rejected, as skewness does not account for shifts in dyads where no majority can exist; it doesnt explain why there are shifts in the group median as well as the mean and the shift may also runs counter to the initial majority. Also it didnt justify why the group shift was internalised and even affected non-participating observers (Lamm, 1967). Lastly, as Graesser (1975) points out, the theory is not falsifiable because group decision schemes theory is based upon infinite maths calculations and therefore it is always possible to claim that the correct scheme has yet to be discovered. A number of other theories were proposed, including familiarisation theory (Bateson, 1965) and various leadership theories, none proved to be watertight and were dismissed. Only two theories have survived and both have tended to rework one of the two dual processes recognised by the social dependency paradigm: normative and informational influence. First we shall consider normative influence and social comparison theory; an extension of Festingers (1954) social comparison theory, Sanders and Baron (1977) have modified it to explain polarisation. Normative influence is being liked; fulfilling and conforming to the groups expectations so as to boost positive feeling about oneself. Sanders and Baron tried to prove that people often value more extreme values than they actually hold; however they are generally scared of being too extremist. However when in a group it is actually found that they hold only moderate views, and so shift them further in the group direction to be seen more positively. The key factor in this social comparison explanation is peoples knowledge of other group members positions relative to the dominant social values in question (Brown, 2000, p. 202). Therefore, as Teger and Pruitt (1967) found, there is no need for any discussion, as long as group members positions can be inferred, their will be no need for a verbal exchanging of views. As the values become more explicit so people polarise more extremely; Baron and Roper (1976) adapted Sherifs (1936) auto kinetic effect paradigm by effectively informing participants that light distance was correlated with high intelligence. This inevitably led to participants estimating higher distances depending upon the claim made by the participant beforehand. However Burnstein and Vinokur (1977) claim that by associating light movement with intelligence, they have provided the participants with a persuasive argument to estimate larger distances (Burnstein and Vinokur, 1977, p. 27). Burnstein and Vinokur have taken a totally opposing stance towards solving the polarisation phenomenon. They hold that it is a result of informational influence, of persuasive arguments which cause people to accept information as the truth. Vinokur and Burnsteins persuasive arguments theory (1974) holds that a culturally given pool of arguments exist for and against the decision in question, which participants can delve into and exchange during discussion. For a shift to occur it depends upon the persuasiveness of the new arguments generated in discussions. However, availability, direction and persuasiveness of these arguments vary, which may allow for experiments whereabouts the arguments do not result in group polarisation. A persuasive argument is defined as a statement judged to have a certain cogency (Burnstein and Vinokur, 1977, p. 326), but the arguments impact can only be effective within certain social contexts; for otherwise it wouldnt be possible to determine its impact. Sanders and Baron have conceded that a persuasive argument also has an effect on group polarisation, and that the two theories work in conjunction with one another. This was rejected on the grounds that it was too complicated and that persuasive arguments can explain polarisation and convergence. There is a huge wealth of evidence lending credence to the persuasive arguments theory; including polarisation when exposed to arguments without exposure to others positions and polarisation when just thinking about an issue. Burnstein and Vinokur found that (i) if an individual could argue but not compare, then polarisation occurred (1973), (ii) if he could compare but not argue, polarisation vanishes or is greatly reduced (1973, 1975). Burnstein et al. conceded that social comparison may play an indirect role in influencing polarisation as information about others may guide the person in generating arguments (Burnstein and Vinokur, 1977, p. 318). Myers and Lamm also disagree with the persuasive arguments theory, they concluded that (although) the evidence for (informational theories such as persuasive arguments) is compelling it also appears that group polarisation is not fully explained by a passive process of cognitive learning. More dynamic processes of cognitive rehearsal and verbal commitment are also likely contributors (Myers and Lamm, 1976 cited in Burnstein and Vinokur, 1977, p. 316). Burnstein and Vinokur argue that this is invalid because persuasive arguments involves a dynamic process whereabouts the persons brain acts like a central processing unit. Another criticism of the persuasive arguments theory is that their research generally involves the use of choice dilemma questionnaires introduced by Kogan and Wallach (1964); as these only measure shifts involving a risk-caution dimension they cant really be used to generalise to choice shifts in general. Many debates have taken place between exponents of the social comparison theory and the persuasive arguments theory ultimately leading to an inconclusive end. An alternative to Turners (1987) self categorisation theory, formulated by Wetherell (1987), proposes that for convergence to lead to polarization rather than just conformity; arguments have to be persuasive and extreme positions desirable only to the degree that they represent the norms of a group with which the person is psychologically identified. What group members converge upon is not the ingroup average, but the ingroup norm. This idea was tested on students by Mackie and Cooper (1984) who confirmed that participants attitudes were significantly more affected when they knew the arguments were coming from an ingroup rather than an outgroup. Sanders and Baron admit that there are probably several processes responsible for group induced choice shifts (Sanders Baron, 1977, p. 303). Burnstein and Vinokur still remain convinced that persuasive arguments can adequately explain group polarisation; but in conclusion (and as Lamm and Myers (1978) deduce) in a naturalistic setting there is no neat dichotomy. There is no clear cut separation between the two main theories, they operate unconsciously within each other and therefore both are necessary in daily life, probably along with several other factors, in order to produce the phenomenon known as group polarisation.

Annotated bibliography for a study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

For a study - Annotated Bibliography Example The participants for the study included hearing-impaired students attending junior high or high school. Besides that, their mothers were also qualified to participate in the research project. The student and mother required to make use of any quantity of American Sign Language so as to be able to be involved in the study (page # 177, Lines #12-24). Correlations were conducted to establish whether a relationship exists between skill level of the mothers and the English literacy of the children according to the STAR test (page # 174, Lines # 5-7). A total of seven children and six mothers were involved in the study (page # 178, Lines # 1). Results indicated that there was no significant relationship between skill levels of the mothers and the students’ English literary as measured by the TGSL-R. It was also found out that from 2010, students with higher A’ scores from TGJASL-R also seemed to possess higher scores on the CMA or ELA CST. There is a significant relationship between the ASL ability of a student and skills in English literary. These findings were supported by Strong and Prinz (1997). The amount of years a mother utilized ASL influenced her A’ scores on the TGJASL-R. Finally, there was a significant difference in performance between those who are native users of ASL and those who are non-native users of ASL (page # 185-186, Lines # 4-20; Lines # 2-16). Buchholtz, S., Lachs, L., & Boudreault, P. (2011). The effect of mothers ASL skill level on the English Literacy of their Children. Journal of the American Deafness & Rehabilitation Association , 45 (1),

Policies Government can use to close Deflationary Gap Essay

Policies Government can use to close Deflationary Gap - Essay Example Beyond this point deflation sets in; national output exceeds the expenditures on consumption, investment and that of government as well as ability to finance export. The difference between the national output given by Y and that of expenditure E is termed deflationary gap. Any gap that exists before the equilibrium level is called the inflationary gap. The existence of this disequilibrium means an excess saving over investment or more withdrawals than injections because economic participants actually spend less than the amount of income they earned hence, accumulation of inventories. This unwanted accumulation of inventories implies that firms will cut back on production, lay off workers, and income falls. Because income and consumption fall, and firms cut production whereby the actual inventories will be equal to planned inventories and planned spending equal to income at Equi. level"3 Basically, there are two main policies that can be used to close deflationary gap. They are monetary policy and fiscal policy. Monetary policy is used to influence interest rates, inflation and credit availability through changes money supply in the economy. There are three tools through which this policy can be implemented: reserve requirement, open market operations and discount rate.4 On the other hand, fiscal policy involves the use of government expenditure and taxation to influence national output and expenditure. In this section, discussion will be centered on deflationary gap experience of Japan and United States, and Ethiopia. In the late 1990s, Japanese economy underwent a severe deflation resulting in weak demand, high unemployment rate, and steady reduction in the general price level. The country experienced steady reduction in both nominal and real GDP growth in fiscal 1923 after the Great Kanto Earthquake and in fiscal 1998, after the year in which Yamaichi Securities and Hokkaido Takushoku Bank collapsed.5 There is a belief that shifts from profit maximization to strengthening balance sheet which disrupts normal working of the economy perhaps the corporate sector stop borrowing the funds the household saved even with very low interest6. (Nakahara) says that the application of monetary policy brought about considerable improvement in the economy. Bank of Japan adopted the Zero Interest Rate Policy from February 1999 to August 2000 when the industrial sector grew considerably well; corporate profits were recovering, business fixed investment and private consumption were on the rise7. In addition, the B ank of Japan introduced open market operations with overall objective of tackling reducing interest rate. The bank planned more liquidity to be made available in the money market by maintaining the outstanding balance of current accounts at the bank at over 6 trillion yen and targeting interest rate below 0.01 percent. In the diagram below, the effect of changes in interest rate is employed by Bank of Japan in order to tackle deflation. At point E the economy is at equilibrium national product which is less than full employment. Point B represents the national output the economy produces where equilibrium exists at point E intersection of initial aggregate demand AD1 and national product NP while point F is the anticipated full employment output the

The Sin Tax bill Reaction Essay Example for Free

The Sin Tax bill Reaction Essay The Sin Tax bill (House Bill 5727 and Senate Bill 3249) is a bill which aims to restructure the existing taxes imposed on alcohol and tobacco goods. On December 20, 2012, President Benigno Aquino III signed the Republic Act 10351 or the sin tax reform 2012. The Sin Tax Bill is a sensationalized issue in the Philippines and it gets several mixed reactions from different stakeholders in the country or Filipinos at large. Filipinos are expected to reduce their vices like alcoholism and smoking as a target result of this Bill. Aquino said the new law aims to favor both the government and the Filipino people since revenues to be generated from the measure will be used to fund health insurance programs for the poor, and build and renovate hospitals in the country. Most families of Filipinos especially those who are not residing in urban areas are farmers. The source of their livelihood is farming tobacco products and harvesting fermented liquors, in our dialect â€Å"tuba†. They are now the immediate concern that the government should consider upon the approval of this Bill. Higher taxes on tobacco products mean lesser income for these farmers. Especially, that they are not the owner of the lands they’re farming, they also pay lease for the lands. Unemployment is one of the possible outcomes of the Sin Tax Bill, especially on our farmers. If they become jobless, they likely can resort to different illegal activities just to provide for their family. The aim of the Sin tax Bill is to discourage smokers and alcoholics. But the problem here is that, especially on Filipinos who claim that these vices are addiction to them, they would still continue smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages, to the point that they would sacrifice some of the immediate needs of their families just to sustain their wants. Filipinos are very steadfast on every endeavor they undertake. But they have this mindset that the Programs of the Government are not reaching the true and deserving beneficiaries, like farmers. They may not benefit from these health programs because in the first place they are not living in the cities where standard and quality health responses are located. Maybe these projects may be beneficial to the Filipinos but what of the immediate impact on these increases of taxes? Different Tobacco and Alcoholic Beverages companies might also decrease the salaries of their workers or lay-off employees because its production will become more expensive. It will really affect factory workers and even small-scale business owners. On the other hand, I think this Sin Tax Bill has its positive goals especially to the youth of the nations. Most consumers of these â€Å"sin goods† are youth. With the presence of this bill, there will be higher prices on different cigarettes and alcoholic drinks and since they cannot afford it, they will be discouraged to smoke and drink alcohols. Let’s just cross our fingers that the youth will not resort to illegal means just to continue their vices, especially the out-of-school-children-and-youths. Since they do not have a proper education, we should take it into account that OSCYs are more vulnerable to these vices and if they are not guided properly, this Sin Tax Bill will make sins bigger.

Examining Moral Philosophies’ Functions in Business Essay -- values, e

The Moral Philosophies’ Functions in Business Usually the conversation about philosophy in society is centered on the universal structure of values as part of their lives. Conversely moral philosophy relates to certain ideologies or statutes which are used by societies in determining right or wrong. It is imperative to comprehend there is a difference between â€Å"moral philosophies† and â€Å"business ethics†. The â€Å"moral philosophies† pertain to individual’s values, whereas â€Å"business ethics† is centered on groups’ decisions or relate to meeting a business objective. As espoused by Ferrell, et.al, (2013) the moral philosophy is what a person hold as their ethics and beliefs. However, when viewing ethics in the framework of business, ethics are based on what the group considers to be the best or worse approach for the business operation and its objectives. Therefore, it is the responsibility of a company or its managers to create, and instruct, employees on the conformity of ethical in business practices within their organizations. Managers also should understand that their personal moral philosophies can be influential as a guide to other employee. Moreover, it should be understood that moral philosophies offer standards for controlling how conflicts are settled in reference to people life’s concerns. Additionally moral philosophies influence how corporation devise business strategies and resolve specific ethical issues (Ferrell, et al., 2013, p. 153). With that said it should be noted that not one specific moral philosophy is accepted universally. This fact is proven by viewing how moral philosophies is used to are used to endorse certain economic system and the conduct of people in those systems. For the purpose of this paper... ...., Fraedrich, J. & Ferrell, L. (2013), Business ethics & social responsibility. [OMM640 Custom edition] Mason, OH: Cengage Learning Forsyth, D. R. (1992). Judging the morality of business practices: The influence of personal moral philosophies. Journal of Business Ethics, 11(5), 461. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/198100721?accountid=32521 Robertson, C. J., & Crittenden, W. F. (2003).Mapping moral philosophies: Strategic implications for multinational firms. Strategic Management Journal, 24(4), 385-392. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/225010000?accountid=32521 Singh, J., Vitell, S., Al-Khatib, J., & Clark, I. (2007). The Role of Moral Intensity and Personal Moral Philosophies in the Ethical Decision Making of Marketers: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of China and the United States. Journal of International Marketing, 15(2), 86-112.

Computer College †Fairview Campus Essay

1.0 Proposed Thesis Title: â€Å"Easy Login System for Computers in AMA Fairview using ID Barcode Scanner† 2.0 Area of Investigation: This study focuses on having a good monitoring system for easy login on the computers in the AMA Fairview computer laboratories in terms of students or professors using computers as well as monitoring the time and problems about each specific computer. 3.0 Reason for choosing this Topic: To secure the laboratory equipments, the professors must ensure that students will handle them properly. The proponents chose this study to give ease on monitoring of student’s usage in each individual computer and also monitor the student’s attendance. 4.0 Importance of the Study: The study will help to improve the services of the AMA Fairview in teaching on their computer subjects. It also helps the users to easily log in on the computers. Computer College – Fairview Campus Asia ’s 1st and Largest IT University Lot 9 Blk 129 Regalado Ave., Fairview, Pasong Putik, Quezon City 5.0 Target Users/Beneficiaries: The target users or beneficiaries of this study will be the students and professors using computers with ease of monitoring the computer’s condition to lessen the student’s misusage. 6.0 Similarity with Previous Study/Project: This proposed study is similar to â€Å"Celt Login Authentication System(CLAS) in University of Santo Thomas † by Michael Anthony G. Goco and Edgardo Antonio O. Gayos.