African Imperialism Essays

African Imperialism Essays African Imperialism Essay African Imperialism Essay Prior to 1880, European rule in the African continent had mostly been restricted to the coast, extending a short distance inland along major rivers due to their economic interests being primarily limited to the slave trade. The start of the 1880’s saw massive increase of European nations seeking territory in Africa. Europeans seeking rights to land, resources, and trading routes in Africa had to compete with other nations, corporations, and African natives. In order to gain these rights from the native people, Europeans would make unfair treaties and contracts with African tribes that took advantage of their, land, resources, and people. The title of the source, â€Å"Controlling Africa-The Standard Treaty† implies that this contract was used as a standard operating procedure by the Royal Niger Company to control the land, resources, and people of African tribes. The language and formality of the document is very biased towards the Royal Niger Company and it mentions that the Royal Niger Company will pay native land owners for the land they require, so I would conclude that the Royal Niger Company was operated by Europeans. In return for ceding the power to mine, farm, and build on their land tribes received protection, payment to landowners, and a set payment to the Chiefs. Tribe leaders were probably not educated well enough to understand exactly what they were signing away in this contract and therefore likely did not receive any of these promises from the Royal Niger Company or were possibly lied to about the terms and conditions of the contract. European Imperialism occurred for many reasons, one being the desire for territories. The more territory you controlled the more power and prestige your country had. Exploration was another reason for European Imperialism. Wealthy sponsors who wanted details of markets, goods, and resources renewed interest in exploration by funding expeditions whose purpose was to create and report records of said details. Control of trade routes fueled the scramble for Africa and competition among European countries. Africa was a direct route to India which made the Europeans countries want African territory even more because of India’s silks and spices. The Suez Canal on the eastern coast of Egypt is the fastest route to India. The Suez Canal was very important to Britain. After capturing the Suez Canal from the French, guarding the canal became a critical part of Britain’s foreign policy. The British needed to drive out the threat of other Europeans in Africa to maintain control of India, and they did so efficiently. They quickly gained control of both the major sea routes to India and then focused on the rest of the continent. Whether the British were trying to further public support or prevent another nation from becoming a threat, all British actions in Africa were directly or indirectly linked to India. The British were motivated by their desire to become powerful, and they skillfully combined enterprise and conquest to create an empire centered on the wealth of India. The struggle of difference between the white Europeans and the native Africans was a major factor in the impact of imperialism on Africa. The European explorers â€Å"seldom had men of their own race with them, and they often found their African hosts strange and unpredictable, and feared their hostility. † 1 The Europeans felt like they had to gain control over the African people in order to maintain power. This sometimes had positive effects such as the introduction of modern transportation such as railroads. They also shared their knowledge of nutrition and medicine which increased the health and life span of the Africans. According to Chamberlain’s book, â€Å"The Scramble for Africa†, imperialism was good for Africa because it brought the African natives’ lives up to the standards of western civilization. 2 This is true in some aspects however, I believe the social relationships of the natives and their cultural traditions were negatively altered causing them to change their way of life solely because the European’s ethnocentric way of thinking. Their controlling of the indigenous people had many other negative impacts on Africa because of how the Europeans treated the Africans as inferiors and sometimes even harshly with no ethnic or cultural respect. Railroad companies and miners used local populations as a source of labor for dangerous jobs where the indigenous people worked in harsh conditions, sometimes risking their lives, for little pay. The scramble for Africa started in 1870 and by 1890 most of Africa was under European rule with only Ethiopia and Liberia remaining independent. European Imperialism most likely caused the tribal warfare that occurred later in Africa. The Standard Treaty of Controlling Africa reflects the imperialistic rush that occurred in the late 19th century. Europe wanted African land for power, wealth, and control. The Royal Niger Company was significant in that it helped Britain gain control of many African countries. The competition between European countries drove this scramble for Africa and affected the world for generations to come.

PG Scope Case Study Essay Example

PG Scope Case Study Essay Example PG Scope Case Study Paper PG Scope Case Study Paper Scribd Upload a Document Search Documents Explore Hazie Jamaluddin / 3 Download this Document for Free Procter Gamble Inc: Scope Scope was introduced in 1967 by Procter Gamble, is a green mint tasting mouthwash,and was positions as a great tasting mouth refreshing brand that provided bad breathprotection. Scope held 32% share of the Canadian market for 1990. In 1970 Scope becamethe market leader in Canada, with many competitors, such as Listerine mouthwash that waslaunched by Warner Lambert in 1977 and it was a direct competitor to Scope, it had nearlythe same characteristics as Scope with a 12% of the market share during that time. But themajor competitor for Scope was Plax, a brand by Pfizer Inc, which was launched in Canadain 1988 on a platform quite different from the traditional mouthwashes, and gained a 10%share since launched. Plax detergents were supposed to help loosen plaque to makebrushing effective. Before the entry of Plax, brands in the mouth wash market werepositioned around two major benefits that are fresh breath and killing germs, whereas Plaxwas positioned around a new benefit as a plaque fighter and claims Plax removes up tothree times more plaque than just brushing alone. In studying the current situation and preparing for a strategic plan, Gwen Hearst reviewedthe available information and surveys for the mouthwash market and Scope showed that75% of Canadian household use 1 or more mouthwash brands. The company’s marketresearch revealed that users could be segmented to â€Å"heavy† users that comprised 40% of all users and to â€Å"medium† users that comprised 45% of all users and to light users thatcomprise 15%. The company also made a research on why consumers use mouthwash,and the results were: consumer’s basic hygiene, it gets rid of bad breath, it kills germs andmany other reasons. Also surveys were conducted of mouthwash user’s image of the major brands based on several attributes such as, reducing bad breath, killing germs, removingplaque and others. Plax achieved a strong image on removing plaques and healthier teethand gums, whereas scope scored a weaker image on those attributes. In analyzing theCanadian mouthwash market share the data showed that Scope had the highest marketshare among all brands, but there was a big difference in the share held by Scope in foodstores 42%, versus drug stores 27%. Competitive data were also collected for advertisingexpenditures, and the results were that most of the advertising expenditures were of Scope,Listerine and Plax accounting for 90% of all advertising. As for the retail prices, bothListerine and Plax had the highest prices among other brands in food stores, whereasScope, Listerine and Listermint had the highest prices in drug stores. And in comparingScope market share between Canada and USA, the results showed that Scope in Canadatakes 33% of the market share, while USA Scope’s market share was 21. 6% that came after Listerine, where Listerine held 28% of the mouth wash market share in America. After the introduction of Plax by Pfizer Inc whereby PG were loosing market share, andafter studying the current situation and making several surveys and market researches,Hearst challenge was to the 1 st problem which is to develop strategy that ensures the ontinued profitability of Scope in face of competitive threats and especially by Plax thatgained 10% share of the product category. So her specific task was to prepare a marketingplan for PG mouthwash business for the next 3 years. The 2 nd problem is how will PGmaintain their profit and make sure that the Scope brand is always the first mouthwashproduct ranking among consumers? The mouthwash market is changing everyday with theemergence of new products and prod uct features. As a result, PG wants their Scopebrand to be the first choice among consumers. In the case of product development, PDD has demonstrated that Scope reduced plaquebetter than brushing alone because of the antibacterial ingredients in it. So the (ProductDevelopment) PDD has recently developed a new pre-brushing rinse product that performedas well as Plax but didn’t work any better than Plax in removing plaque. The key benefit of this recently launched product is that it tastes better than Plax. However, PDD’s preferencewas to not launch a new product, but instead to add plaque reduction claims to Scope. Since the basic argument was that it is better to protect the business that PG was alreadyin, than to launch a completely new entry. As for the case of sales, the sales people hadnoticed that Plax sales were increasing in the market place, and believed Scope shouldrespond quickly, so they suggested that a brand must be unique and different enough fromthe competitors in order to be listed in the store shelves, or otherwise the category salesvolume would spread over more units. Market researchers suggested that Hearst look at other benefits or alternatives beyond justa â€Å"plaque reassurance on scope† or a â€Å"a better tasting pre-brushing rinse† Whereas thepoint of view from finance, on one hand Plax had a high price so a new rinse might be aprofitable option, on the other hand they were concerned about the capital and marketingcosts which would increase. The purchasing manager estimated that the cost of the newingredients of a line extension would increase by $ 2. 55 and the packaging would cost$0. 30. As for the advertising agency it favoured a line extension, since adding any new claimfor scope is a huge strategic shift for the brand that would confuse the consumer anddecrease the market share, because relating 2 different ideas is very difficult (breathrefreshment good tasting) (removes plaque). Hearst and the business team have two options, on one hand a line extension or newproduct positioned against Plax could be introduced into the market and in the other handdoing nothing and just looking at claims other than â€Å"breath† instead of adding a new product. Launching a new product â€Å"new pre-brushing rinse† would cannibalize a part of Scopesales, also the delivery, marketing and capital costs of PG will increase if a new rinse waslaunched and the user of Scope would be confused since he/she saw in the old scope abreath refreshment, taking into consideration that the new rinse is not any better than Plax in reducing plaque, but at the same time it may increase the market share of PG andincrease its profit. Whereas adding a new claim for Scope ould not increase the volumeof sales, but it could prevent current users of Scope to switch and it would stabilize thebusiness, and even though the advertising agency thinks that it’s hard to relate two differentclaims, it should try to relate them in order to make an effective advertising that includesboth â€Å"breath† and â€Å"plaque† claims. Since adding plaque reduction to breathe refreshmentand good tasting is an additional benefit that the scope consumer can be nefit from and itmay attract the potential users that scope aim at. Also PG has to collect more informationto see what the consumer needs and improve it within the same product; especially that it isbased on a philosophy of satisfying the customer needs. Scope was positioned around twobenefits that are refreshing breath and good tasting, and it should stick to this position withother additional claims or benefits if it can, so it should not launch a new product thatconfuses the customers but stick to this position that it has in the market place and that isconsidered to be its competitive advantage. It’s better to protect the business that PG isalready in for many years and just add a plaque claim, than launching a completely newentry that is not secured. Questions: 1)How will PG develop a strategy that will ensure the continued profitability of Scopedespite competition? 2) Should PG take risk of introducing the completely new product for 3 years plan? Discuss the advantage and risk involved. 3)

Soc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Soc - Essay Example All members of the public have to be given a chance to take part, question, introduce assertions and express their attitude on a matter that touches their lives. Since the best decision is based on a wide number of contributions, the internet would be the best choice for what can be called an ideal speech, as it can reach any people than any other known system. The modern society has brought about quiet a lot of divisions along several lines. If not racially(black/white) inclined, then it is will be gender (male/female), religion (Muslims/Christians), Ethnic, and so many others. If used in the correct context, an ideal speech offers freedom from the such mentioned categories by awakening response in every human being. An ideal speech stirs into action a man's birthright of true freedom equal rights and dignity, hence will act reconcile the above mentioned divergent groups. According to Habermas, there are four different social formalities; The Traditional, the Primitive, the Capitalist and the Post-Capitalist. Out of these classes, the Post-Capitalism is more preferable as it depicts the principles of an ideal speech more than the others. It represents the modern society which is more discursive and allows for consensus unlike the other three which are quiet stringent in characteristics. The Post-Capitalistic society gives room for a pluralistic participation when it comes to decision making.