Macbeth As A Tragic Character :: essays research papers

In all genres of literature, there are numerous character types one might encounter. Some bring humor or comic relief to a more serious plot, while others bring both pity and fear to the minds of the audience. A tragic character is one who shows characteristics above normality, while simultaneously giving evidence to the audience concerning his or her tragic flaw that causes the character’s life to end in an abnormal state of events. â€Å"A tragic situation exists precisely when virtue does not triumph but when it is still felt that man is nobler than the forces which destroy him.† (George Orwell, Columbia Dictionary of Quotations) In a tragedy the main character rises to greatness, then continues to fall down a shame spiral, which leads to his or her downfall. Throughout his regression from life as a decent and moral man, to becoming indifferent to what is fair and what is foul, Macbeth brought both an immense tragic fate onto himself as well as creating tragedy in th e lives of his peers. Macbeth regressed from being a decent, moral man, to someone closely resembling a devil, who could make no distinction between good and evil. Macbeth became so engrossed in himself as well as the prophecies that were laid upon him by the three witches, that he became indifferent to the thoughts and feelings of the people around him, who once considered themselves to be this demon’s friend. The process of this tragedy was slow to let the audience become comfortable with the power and happiness of the main character. Then, suddenly, signs appeared, foreshadowing an imminent climax as the main character headed toward his inexorable fate. As the play begins a battle ensues between King Duncan of Scotland and Macdonwald of Norway. Macbeth fights bravely on Scotland's side, killing Macdonwald himself. King Duncan hears of Macbeth's brave and noble qualities, crowning him the new Thane of Cawdor. The king states that the old Thane should not device, "... Our bosom interest: go pronounce his present death, And with his former title greet Macbeth." (I ii 63-65) Macbeth is hostile to accept the rank, because earlier three witches prophesied that the new hero would become Thane of Cawdor even though there was one at that time. Since Macbeth was crowned Thane of Cawdor, Banquo and Macbeth believe that the three weird sisters are able to correctly tell them their fate.

Sympathy for Nora in Henrik Ibsens A Dolls House Essay examples -- A

Sympathy for Nora in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House In "A Doll's House," Henrik Ibsen primarily addresses issues not only relating to women in Norway, but to women embarking on twentieth century life in general. To achieve his desired effect, he employs the use of contextual dialog and places Nora as the central character, which gives her a great edge. Because of her prominent role throughout the play, she becomes familiar, and what is familiar is favored. With the lone exception of the exchange between Mrs. Linde and Krogstad at the beginning of Act III, there is not a single scene that features a dialog that in some way does not include a prominent part from Nora. It soon becomes apparent that Nora emerges from the dramatis personae as the pià ¨ce de rà ©sistance Ibsen intends to win our sympathies. In Act I, scene I, the stage is set, bringing the meaning behind the plays' title into sharp focus. Here, Ibsen uses contextual dialog to demonstrate that Nora is indeed, as the title implies, little more than a doll in a toy house, a plaything that Torvald doesn't take seriously. For instance, Torvald asks: "Is that my little lark twittering out there? Is it my little squirrel bustling about?" (Ibsen, 500). A short pace later, he calls her "a poor little girl," and then adds "you needn't ruin your dear eyes and your pretty little hands" (502). Nora appears to willingly-if not a little naà ¯vely-play into this role: after clapping her hands she replies, "No, Torvald, I needn't any longer, need I! It's wonderfully lovely to hear you say so" (503). A second issue Ibsen presents for consideration in the first scene is a discussion of money, Nora appearing to play the role of the pampered child with a penchant for shiny coins clin... ...lly good reason for favoring Nora beyond our sense of familiarity with her: she lies, she cheats, she rationalizes, she walks out on her husband and children-she is not an innocent character. But is this tendency not the wont of human nature, to excuse that which is connected to us while failing to consider there is a whole other side to the issue? It would seem that by the prominence Ibsen affords Nora, he masterfully steers our sympathies in her direction like a crafty rhetorician employing the Greek concept of kairos. By what he chooses to reveal (and conceal), Ibsen has us feeding out of the palm of his hand, for in the end, it could be said that life is all a matter of perspective . . . almost. Works Cited: Ibsen, Henrik. "A Doll's House." Literature: The Human Experience. 8th ed. Ed. Richard Abcarian and Marvin Klotz. Boston: Bedford, 2002. 499-557.

Part One Friday

Barry Fairbrother's body had been moved to the undertaker's. The deep black cuts in the white scalp, like the grooves of skates on ice, were hidden by his forest of thick hair. Cold, waxen and empty, the body lay, re-dressed in Barry's anniversary dinner shirt and trousers, in a dimly lit viewing room where soft music played. Touches of discreet make-up had returned a life-like glow to his skin. It was almost as though he slept; but not quite. Barry's two brothers, his widow and his four children went to bid the body goodbye on the eve of the burial. Mary had been undecided, almost until the minute of departure, as to whether she should allow all of the children to see their father's remains. Declan was a sensitive boy, prone to nightmares. It was while she was still in a fever pitch of indecision on Friday afternoon that there was an upset. Colin ‘Cubby' Wall had decided that he wanted to go and say goodbye to Barry's body too. Mary, usually compliant and agreeable, had found this excessive. Her voice had grown shrill on the telephone to Tessa; then she had begun to cry again, and said that it was just that she had not planned a large procession past Barry, that this was really a family affair †¦ Dreadfully apologetic, Tessa said that she quite understood, and was then left to explain to Colin, who retreated into a mortified, wounded silence. He had simply wanted to stand alone beside Barry's body and pay silent homage to a man who had occupied a unique place in his life. Colin had poured truths and secrets he had confided to no other friend into Barry's ears, and Barry's small brown eyes, robin bright, had never ceased to regard him with warmth and kindness. Barry had been Colin's closest ever friend, giving him an experience of male comradeship he had never known before moving to Pagford, and was sure he would never have again. That he, Colin, who felt himself to be perpetually the outsider and the oddball, for whom life was a matter of daily struggle, had managed to forge a friendship with the cheerful, popular and eternally optimistic Barry, had always seemed a small miracle. Colin clutched what was left of his dignity to him, resolved never to hold this against Mary, and spent the rest of the day meditating on how surprised and hurt Barry would have been, surely, at his widow's attitude. Three miles outside Pagford, in an attractive cottage called the Smithy, Gavin Hughes was trying to fight off an intensifying gloom. Mary had called earlier. In a voice that trembled with the weight of tears, she had explained how the children had all contributed ideas for tomorrow's funeral service. Siobhan had grown a sunflower from seed, and was going to cut it and put it on top of the coffin. All four kids had written letters to put inside the casket with their father. Mary had composed one too, and was going to put it in Barry's shirt pocket, over his heart. Gavin put down the receiver, sickened. He did not want to know about the children's letters, nor about the long-nurtured sunflower, yet his mind kept returning to these things as he ate lasagne alone at his kitchen table. Though he would have done anything to avoid reading it, he kept trying to imagine what Mary had written in her letter. A black suit was hanging in dry-cleaner's polythene in his bedroom, like an unwelcome guest. His appreciation of the honour Mary had done him, in publicly acknowledging him as one of those closest to the popular Barry, had long since been overwhelmed by dread. By the time he was washing up his plate and cutlery at the sink, Gavin would have gladly missed the funeral altogether. As for the idea of viewing his dead friend's body, it had not, and would never have occurred to him. He and Kay had had a nasty row the previous evening, and had not spoken since. It had all been triggered by Kay asking Gavin if he would like her to go with him to the funeral. ‘Christ, no,' Gavin had said, before he could stop himself. He had seen her expression, and knew instantly that she had heard. Christ, no, people will think we're a couple. Christ, no, why would I want you? And although these were precisely his feelings, he had attempted to bluff his way through. ‘I mean, you didn't know him, did you? It'd be a bit weird, wouldn't it?' But Kay had let rip; tried to corner him, to make him tell her what he really felt, what he wanted, what future he envisioned for the two of them. He had fought back with every weapon in his arsenal, being alternately obtuse, evasive and pedantic, for it was wonderful how you could obscure an emotional issue by appearing to seek precision. At last she had told him to get out of her house; he had obeyed, but he knew that it was not over. That would be way too much to hope for. Gavin's reflection in the kitchen window was drawn and miserable; Barry's stolen future seemed to hang over his own life like a looming cliff; he felt inadequate and guilty, but he still wished that Kay would move back to London. Night drew in over Pagford, and in the Old Vicarage Parminder Jawanda perused her wardrobe, wondering what to wear to say goodbye to Barry. She had several dark dresses and suits, any one of which would be appropriate, and yet still she looked backwards and forwards along the rail of clothes, mired in indecision. Wear a sari. It'll upset Shirley Mollison. Go on, wear a sari. It was so stupid to think that – mad and wrong – and even worse to think it in Barry's voice. Barry was dead; she had endured nearly five days of deep grief for him, and tomorrow they would bury him in the earth. The prospect was unpleasant to Parminder. She had always hated the idea of interment, of a body lying whole under the ground, slowly rotting away, riddled with maggots and flies. The Sikh way was to cremate and to scatter the ashes in running water. She let her eyes wander up and down the hanging garments, but her saris, worn to family weddings and get-togethers back in Birmingham, seemed to call to her. What was this strange urge to don one? It felt uncharacteristically exhibitionist. She reached out to touch the folds of her favourite, dark blue and gold. She had last worn it to the Fairbrothers' New Year's party, when Barry had attempted to teach her to jive. It had been a most unsuccessful experiment, mainly because he did not know what he was doing himself; but she could remember laughing as she almost never laughed, uncontrollably, madly, the way she had seen drunk women laugh. The sari was elegant and feminine, forgiving of middle-aged spread: Parminder's mother, who was eighty-two, wore it daily. Parminder herself had no need of its camouflaging properties: she was as slim as she had been at twenty. Yet she pulled out the long, dark length of soft material and held it up against her dressing gown, letting it fall to caress her bare feet, looking down its length at its subtle embroidery. To wear it would feel like a private joke between herself and Barry, like the cow-faced house and all the funny things Barry had said about Howard, as they walked away from interminable, ill-humoured council meetings. There was a terrible weight on Parminder's chest, but did not the Guru Granth Sahib exhort friends and relatives of the dead not to show grief, but to celebrate their loved one's reunion with God? In an effort to keep traitorous tears at bay, Parminder silently intoned the night-time prayer, the kirtan sohila. My friend, I urge you that this is the opportune time to serve the saints. Earn divine profit in this world and live in peace and comfort in the next. Life is shortening day and night. O mind, meet the Guru and set right your affairs †¦ Lying on her bed in her dark room, Sukhvinder could hear what every member of her family was doing. There was the distant murmur of the television directly below her, punctuated by the muffled laughter of her brother and her father, who were watching a Friday-night comedy show. She could make out her elder sister's voice across the landing, talking on her mobile to one of her many friends. Nearest of all was her mother, clunking and scraping in the built-in wardrobe on the other side of the wall. Sukhvinder had drawn the curtains over her window and placed a draught excluder, shaped like a long sausage dog, along the bottom of her door. In the absence of a lock, the dog impeded the door's progress; it gave her warning. She was sure that nobody would come in, though. She was where she ought to be, doing what she ought to be doing. Or so they thought. She had just performed one of her dreadful daily rituals: the opening of her Facebook page, and the removal of another post from a sender she did not know. As often as she blocked the person bombarding her with these messages, they changed their profile and sent more. She never knew when one would appear. Today's had been a black and white image, a copy of a nineteenth-century circus poster. La Veritable Femme a Barbe, Miss Anne Jones Elliot. It showed the photograph of a woman in a lacy dress, with long dark hair and a luxuriant beard and moustache. She was convinced that it was Fats Wall who was sending them, although it might have been somebody else. Dane Tully and his friends, for instance, who made soft, grunting ape-like noises whenever she spoke in English. They would have done it to anybody of her colour; there were hardly any brown faces at Winterdown. It made her feel humiliated and stupid, especially as Mr Garry never told them off. He affected not to hear them, or else to hear only background chatter. Perhaps he, too, thought that Sukhvinder Kaur Jawanda was an ape, a hairy ape. Sukhvinder lay on her back on top of her covers and wished with all of her being that she was dead. If she could have achieved suicide, simply by willing it, she would have done it without hesitation. Death had come to Mr Fairbrother; why could it not happen to her? Better yet, why could they not swap places? Niamh and Siobhan could have their father back, and she, Sukhvinder, could simply slip into non-being: wiped out, wiped clean. Her self-disgust was like a nettle suit; every part of her prickled and burnt with it. She had to will herself, moment by moment, to endure, to remain stationary; not to rush to do the one and only thing that helped. The whole family had to be in bed before she acted. But it was agony to lie like this, listening to her own breathing, conscious of the useless weight of her own ugly and disgusting body on the bed. She liked to think of drowning, of sinking down into cool green water, and feeling herself slowly pressed into nothingness †¦ The great hermaphrodite sits quiet and still †¦ Shame ran down her body like a burning rash as she lay in the darkness. She had never heard the word before Fats Wall spoke it in maths on Wednesday. She would not have been able to look it up: she was dyslexic. But he had been kind enough to explain what it meant, so there was no need. The hairy man-woman †¦ He was worse than Dane Tully, whose taunts had no variety. Fats Wall's evil tongue fashioned a fresh, tailor-made torture every time he saw her, and she could not shut her ears. His every insult and jibe was branded on Sukhvinder's memory, sticking there as no useful fact had ever done. If she could have been examined on the things he had called her, she would have achieved the first A grade of her life. Tash ‘N' Tits. Hermaphrodite. The Bearded Dumb-bell. Hairy, heavy and stupid. Plain and clumsy. Lazy, according to her mother, whose criticism and exasperation rained down upon her daily. A bit slow, according to her father, who said it with an affection that did not mitigate his lack of interest. He could afford to be nice about her bad grades. He had Jaswant and Rajpal, both top of every class they took. ‘Poor old Jolly,' Vikram would say carelessly, after glancing through her report. But her father's indifference was preferable to her mother's anger. Parminder did not seem able to comprehend or accept that she had produced a child who was not gifted. If any of the subject teachers made the slightest hint that Sukhvinder might try harder, Parminder seized upon it in triumph. ‘†Sukhvinder is easily discouraged and needs to have more faith in her abilities.† There! You see? Your teacher is saying you don't try hard enough, Sukhvinder.' Of the only class in which Sukhvinder had reached the second set, computing – Fats Wall was not there, so she sometimes dared put up her hand to answer questions – Parminder said dismissively, ‘The amount of time you children spend on the internet, I'm surprised you're not in set one.' Never would it have occurred to Sukhvinder to tell either of her parents about the ape grunts or about Stuart Wall's endless stream of malice. It would mean confessing that people beyond the family also saw her as sub-standard and worthless. In any case, Parminder was friends with Stuart Wall's mother. Sukhvinder sometimes wondered why Stuart Wall did not worry about their mothers' connection, but concluded that he knew that she would not give him away. He saw through her. He saw her cowardice, as he knew her every worst thought about herself, and was able to articulate it for the amusement of Andrew Price. She had fancied Andrew Price once, before she realized that she was utterly unfit to fancy anyone; before she realized that she was laughable and strange. Sukhvinder heard her father's voice and Rajpal's, growing louder as they came up the stairs. Rajpal's laughter reached a crescendo right outside her door. ‘It's late,' she heard her mother call from her bedroom. ‘Vikram, he should be in bed.' Vikram's voice came through Sukhvinder's door, close by, loud and warm. ‘Are you asleep already, Jolly?' It was her childhood nickname, bestowed in irony. Jaswant had been Jazzy, and Sukhvinder, a grizzling, unhappy baby, rarely smiling, had become Jolly. ‘No,' Sukhvinder called back. ‘I've only just gone to bed.' ‘Well, it might interest you to know that your brother, here – ‘ But what Rajpal had done was lost in his shouting protests, his laughter; she heard Vikram moving away, still teasing Rajpal. Sukhvinder waited for the house to fall silent. She clung to the prospect of her only consolation, as she would have hugged a life-belt, waiting, waiting, for them all to go to bed †¦ (And as she waited, she remembered that evening not long ago, at the end of rowing training, when they had been walking through the darkness towards the car park by the canal. You were so tired after rowing. Your arms and your stomach muscles ached, but it was a good clean pain. She always slept properly after rowing. And then Krystal, bringing up the rear of the group with Sukhvinder, had called her a silly Paki bitch. It had come out of nowhere. They had all been messing around with Mr Fairbrother. Krystal thought she was being funny. She used ‘fucking' interchangeably with ‘very', and seemed to see no difference between them. Now she said ‘Paki' as she would have said ‘dozy' or ‘dim'. Sukhvinder was conscious of her face falling, and experienced the familiar sliding, scalding sensation in her stomach. ‘What did you say?' Mr Fairbrother had wheeled around to face Krystal. None of them had ever heard him properly angry before. ‘I di'n mean nuthin',' said Krystal, half taken aback, half defiant. ‘I was on'y jokin'. She knows I was jus' jokin'. Don' yeh?' she demanded of Sukhvinder, who muttered cravenly that she knew it was a joke. ‘I never want to hear you use that word again.' They all knew how much he liked Krystal. They all knew he had paid for her to go on a couple of their trips out of his own pocket. Nobody laughed louder than Mr Fairbrother at Krystal's jokes; she could be very funny. They walked on, and everybody was embarrassed. Sukhvinder was afraid to look at Krystal; she felt guilty, as she always did. They were approaching the people-carrier when Krystal said, so quietly that even Mr Fairbrother did not hear it: ‘I wuz jokin'.' And Sukhvinder said quickly, ‘I know.' ‘Yeah, well. S'ry.' It came out as a mangled monosyllable, and Sukhvinder thought it tactful not to acknowledge it. Nevertheless, it cleaned her out. It restored her dignity. On the way back to Pagford, she initiated, for the first time ever, the singing of the team's lucky song, asking Krystal to start with Jay-Z's rap.) Slowly, very slowly, her family seemed to be putting themselves to bed at last. Jaswant spent a long time in the bathroom, clinking and crashing around. Sukhvinder waited until Jaz had finished primping herself, until her parents had stopped talking in their room, for the house to fall silent. Then, at last, it was safe. She sat up and pulled the razor blade out from a hole in the ear of her old cuddly rabbit. She had stolen the blade from Vikram's store in the bathroom cabinet. She got off the bed and groped for the torch on her shelf, and a handful of tissues, then moved into the furthest part of her room, into the little round turret in the corner. Here, she knew, the torch's light would be confined, and would not show around the edges of the door. She sat down with her back against the wall, pushed up the sleeve of her nightshirt and examined by torchlight the marks left by her last session, still visible, criss-crossed and dark on her arm, but healing. With a slight shiver of fear that was a blessed relief in its narrow, immediate focus, she placed the blade halfway up her forearm and sliced into her own flesh. Sharp, hot pain and the blood came at once; when she had cut herself right up to her elbow she pressed the wad of tissues onto the long wound, making sure nothing leaked onto her nightshirt or the carpet. After a minute or two, she cut again, horizontally, across the first incision, making a ladder, pausing to press and to mop as she went. The blade drew the pain away from her screaming thoughts and transmuted it into animal burning of nerves and skin: relief and release in every cut. At last she wiped the blade clean and surveyed the mess she had made; the wounds intersecting, bleeding, hurting so much that tears were rolling down her face. She might sleep if the pain did not keep her awake; but she must wait for ten or twenty minutes, until the fresh cuts had clotted over. She sat with her knees drawn up, closed her wet eyes, and leaned against the wall beneath the window. Some of her self-hatred had oozed out with the blood. Her mind drifted away to Gaia Bawden, the new girl, who had taken such an unaccountable fancy to her. Gaia could have hung out with anyone, with her looks and that London accent, yet she kept seeking out Sukhvinder at lunchtimes and on the bus. Sukhvinder did not understand it. She almost wanted to ask Gaia what she thought she was playing at; day by day she expected the new girl to realize that she, Sukhvinder, was hairy and ape-like, slow and stupid, someone to be despised and grunted at and insulted. No doubt she would recognize her mistake soon, and Sukhvinder would be left, as usual, to the bored pity of her oldest friends, the Fairbrother twins.

Marketing Opportunities

Company Profile BBQfun is one of Queensland's specialty retailers. The BBQfun brand is synonymous with barbeque retailing and is built on the strong foundation of selling barbeques and outdoor lifestyle itmes to Queensland consumers since 2009. BBQfun’s product range is primarily focussed on barbeques and outdoor lifestyle products, incorporating both local and important goods. BBQfun operates two store in Queensland, one in Brisbane and one at the Gold Coast. BBQfun provides to customer great value products, excellent customer service, continuously improvement and innovation and is trusted by more than 10,000 customers in Queensland.Situation analysis The retail market changed over the last few years, it became more competitive than ever before. Therefore consumer buying patters changed as well. BBQfun increased they market share until 2010 steadily to $10m. Since 2010, sales dropped dramatically because of changes in the retail market, technology and changed consumer behavio r. BBQfun has moderate pricing, extensive and high-quality product range, excellent customer service and offer three year product guarantees as only one in the market.BBQfun has identify the basic market need is for quality, fashionable and unique outdoor lifestyle items. Market characteristics Queensland has a population growth of 5% (2. 5% in 2012 ABS) annual. New homes buyer and renovated houses growing steadily from a base of 50,000 per year. Unfortunately the low unemployment rate of 4,7% grow to 5. 4% in 2012 in Queensland. Therefore Queensland has now the second highest rate in Australia. BBQfun is targeting the geographic area of Brisbane with a total population of 2m people and also the direct area with a radius of 30km around the store.The aimed total targeted population is estimated at 450,000 people. Typical customer are males and females, age between 20 and 50 years. Amongst them is a high number of young professionals who working in the CBD of Brisbane and having compl eted under-graduated or post-graduated studies. The average disposable income is over $70k. Market needs BBQfun has identify the basic market need is for quality, fashionable and unique outdoor lifestlye items. Customer requirements Consumers like to have a wide range of different products and options.The store should be easily access-able with a minimal inconvenience for the customer. BBQfun has a great reputation for customer service which is always valued by consumers within this market. Consumer asking for price transparency to compare with competitors and payment plans. Products with warranty increasing consumer popularity. Market trends The trends in the market leads to quality, uniqueness and wider selection. Consumers who are in search for high quality items learn to appreciate value over price. Consumers like to have a vast selection or high diversity of products with varying price ranges.They are also looking for specialistic products which stand-out from the mass-producti ve crowd. Market Growth In 2009 the national outdoor lifestyle market reached 3 million dollars with an estimated growth of at least 6% over the next few years. Research demonstrates that consumers will be having a greater disposable income within the mere future with the assumption that on average two persons will be living under the same household. The economic forecast also states that interest rates will stay steady and will have no effect on disposable income. There is also an increasing popularity of T.V lifestyle programs which provides free-marketing to BBQfun. The market trend also shows that consumers are interested in high quality imports that remain affordable. Market Competition There are three major existing national competitors: The Yard, BBQ’s R Us and Outdoorz. The Yard is only become a threat to BBQfun if the business decision to enter the e-commerce market. Advantageously, The Yard does not trade in Queensland and currently has no marketing promotional acti ons. All of their products are good quality, Australian-made but highly priced.BBQ’s R Us is definitely a threat competitor who has a broad range of outdoor lifestyle products. Their main focus is on cheap imports and on already established markets. They have a strong replacement segment which is highly valued by consumers. However, their trading is mainly based in Adelaide and Melbourne which assist our market-share in Brisbane. BBQ’s R US are considering on entering the e-commerce market. Outdoorz has Australian-made outdoor lifestyle product with good value prices making them highly competitive to BBQfun.They have a few stores situated in every major city and the quality of their products range from low to medium. Alike BBQ’s R Us, Outdoorz has a strong focus on their replacement segment. They are gaining market strength in Brisbane and have a large advertising budget. If Outdoorz considers e-commerce marketing strategies, they will become a major threat out of the three. BBQfun’s local competition are mainly independent retailers. Our local competitors have products ranges that varied according to the owner’s preferences. They mostly sell Australian manufactured goods with an average item sale of $250/piece.All these independent retailers have a market share of 48% and a growing rate of 8% per year. Situation analysis summary BBQfun trades on a highly competitive growing market. Competitors fighting hard for every single market share. BBQfun is in a fortune situation to enter a niche market with only a few competitors and has also great potential to expand national wide. BBQfun has created an outdoor lifestyle range which is differentiated and superior to competitors. They offering a high quality range of products which costumer can see and test in stores.BBQfun offered to customer some great deals such as flexible payment plans, three year guarantee which is unique in the market, broadest range of products in the market, expert and friendly customer service and the most remarkable services that are better than anybody else. The marketing strategy will show how BBQfun can take advantage of this situation and increase significant they market share. Marketing strategy The advertising budget is $180k for the year 2012. The marketing campaign will mainly focus on print advertising such as magazines, direct mails and local newspaper.It is also consider a radio advertisement. Previous years showing a high increase of sales after publishing articles in the BrisNews magazine. That will be consider as the most successful strategy. The aim of the marketing strategy is to increase the loyalty customer from 10,000 to 16,000 and to establish a brand recognising in Queensland so that two out three people recognise BBQfun. BBQfun like to increase they growth rate at at least 10% within the next year and continuously growing the gross profit margin. Target marketThe target market is divided in three segments: new b uilds, renovations and replacements. A customer survey shows that BBQfun most loyal costumers are new builds. These group present 30% out of all costumers. All three segments groups are willing to buy online and pay for delivery. New builds are service, quality and price focus as well as loving to buy Australian made. They are loyal reader of the BrisNews magazine. Renovator usually living in other parts of the country and for them is service and quality the more important than price.Those consumer are loyal to print and online version of the Aspire Outdoor magazine. Replacement costumer are different. they love to support australian jobs and looking for good quality as well. Costumer service is not so important than price. These group are reader from BrisNews magazine as well. Marketing mix BBQfun pricing strategy is comparable prices for comparable quality. The value and quality are more important than the price but this will be backed up with a three year guarantee. BBQfun has tw o stores in Queensland which can be easily access and has large car parking arrangements.The most successful campaign will be ads and insert in the BrisNews, this along will reach 40% of loyal costumer, as well as informal articles and reviews. In-store promotion will take place and competitions with prizes to exotic destinations. BBQfun philosophy is ‘customer is king’ whatever needs to be done to make the customer happy must occur. This creates a loyal costumer base and those costumer are happy to recommend BBQfun to friends. Marketing strategy summary The aim is to build such a good reputation and brand awareness that BBQfun will be position as the premier outdoor lifestyle store in Queensland within five years.The marketing strategy to reach that aim is to first create customer awareness regarding their services offered, develop that customer base and building costumer loyalty and referrals. The message BBQfun will communicate is that BBQfun offers the widest, most exotic, easy access outdoor lifestyle products in Brisbane. Marketing methods: direct mail, ads and inserts in BrisNew magazine and flyers in the letterbox. The marketing mix will send messages to consumers about the excellent high quality products with a three year guaranty which is unique.It’s necessary to let consumer know the stores are easily accessible and there are lots of car parking available. This will happen through ads, inserts and article in BrisNews magazine, following the BBQfun philosophy ‘customer is king’. Potential new markets Export markets One of the first questions is to ask which country or countries do BBQfun export to first? Should BBQfun start with the USA, being the largest of the English speaking, common law based countries? Or perhaps the UK, because BBQfun is familiar with the culture and the customer?Or maybe BBQfun should capitalise on the Chinese opportunity, because it’s the highest growth market? The selection of BBQfunâ €™s first export market needs to be based on a well crafted pre-export plan and a carefully developed set of criteria. It needs to include a delicate balance surveying multiple initial market opportunities against BBQfun current level of resources, experience, and desired short and long-term business goals. Only then can BBQfun commence the culling process that enhance the business into the handful of optimal markets BBQfun can consider initially exporting to.No company can expected to ace their first attempt in exporting to a new market. Consequences of  failing in a market can be damaging both short-term and long-term. Short-term consequences are better known, such as the waste of resources and time, opportunity cost, and cash-flow. In particular, is the flow-on damage these consequences can cause to your domestic business in the form of distraction and cash drain, and the general apathy that can then develop towards establishing new export markets going forward.But it is th e long-term consequences that are lesser known and under appreciated, in particular for companies who are trying to build a sustainable and valuable brand or reputation, with the view to selling their brand or company down the line. One is the penalty in valuation BBQfun may incur when the time comes to  sell your brand or services. Large acquirers, in particular multinationals who have a presence in several of your target export markets, may not pay BBQfun the same value for an unsuccessful export market that they may pay you for your booming domestic one.The following are just some of the benefits of exporting: depending upon BBQfun export strategy BBQfun may have access to overseas capital to fund your business growth in addition to the benefits of greater volume exporting to the ‘other’ hemisphere can greatly assist to smooth out the normal peaks and troughs of supplying the domestic market there maybe ‘residual markets’ overseas for products and serv ices that are in decline in the domestic market The mere process of overcoming the numerous hurdles of exporting can sharpen BBQfun’s commercial acumen and improve your business sustainability.Maximise exporting benefits BBQfun domestic business operations can also derive significant benefit from developing overseas markets as follow: Exposing BBQfun products/services to overseas competition forces BBQfun to compare they product offering and in so doing BBQfun may enhance they product or service to be more competitive. This can assist BBQfun competitive edge in their domestic market by either increasing market-share or improving margin—or in preventing overseas competitors competing in their market.As BBQfun’s product may need to be enhanced to market overseas—so may they marketing message and materials. Different markets require information presented in different ways (in addition to using new languages). The information gained this way can provide a rea ch stream of innovative introductions into BBQfun’s domestic market. To successfully access export markets may require changes to internal systems and processes—all of which can/should be used to enhance service delivery in the domestic market.Typically expanding into export markets requires bringing additional skills into the business and this can be achieved through training, hiring qualifies staff or outsourcing support. Is BBQfun export ready? Notwithstanding the above developing overseas markets is not for the fainthearted—penetrating new markets with different languages, cultures and currencies requires time, skills, concerted effort and cash (working capital). If done incorrectly chasing export markets can potentially negatively impact the domestic business.The first step is to evaluate your readiness for export. To address this question you must answer the questions: Does BBQfun has or can get access to appropriate skills? Does BBQfun has the capacity no w (product or service delivery) to service export markets? Is that capacity scalable, what are the limitations? Will developing export markets draw resources, skills, money and capacity? Typically export markets involve a longer payment cycle and a reduced margin plus volumes can be significant.Can BBQfun fund this additional working capital or can it source the appropriate funds? Has BBQfun researched target markets in depth and been able to identify how the value proposition of they product or service differs from local and other international competition? BBQfun has great potential to expand to foreign markets. Marketing opportunities Business development strategies seek to match marketing opportunities to the organisation's resources (what it can do) and its objectives (what management wants to do).It is useful to have a framework for thinking about the broad kinds of marketing opportunities we seek to find. The Ansoff’s model is one of the best tools for organisations to develop market and product expansion strategies. [pic] All organisations must find new attractive marketing opportunities to grow. But the challenge lies in determining which marketing opportunity offers the most long-term success. Marketing mix Product New products have been introduced and some discontinued. BBQfun offered australian made and imported products with the focus of australian made.This is a positive balances on current demands of customer. This means customers getting a wider range of different products and they can decide on quality and price. Price Price is an important part of a retail marketing mix. If BBQfun’s customers cannot afford the products, they are unlikely to frequent your store. Most of the products in BBQfun’s store should be in a comfortable range for their target audience base. To get this information, BBQfun will need to perform an audience analysis to get an idea of median income and spending power.To create a sense of desire and to g ive an option for a splurge, BBQfun can also sell some itmes that are priced just out of your target customer’s normal price range. Place In retail, the design of the store and the way BBQfun present their products is an important part of the marketing mix. The display should fit BBQfun image so that customers encounter a cohesive experience. In a high-end retailer, products are often placed father apart to create a sense of scarcity and exclusivity; in a computer store, display models are set at waist height to allow testing.Placement can help bring certain products to attention and promote itmes BBQfun want to sell more of. Promotion Promotion is the most recognisable part of the marketing mix. It involves all of the marketing activities BBQfun does to let their customers know about the products they offer. For a retail outlet, BBQfun might advertise in newspapers and on the radio, start a social marketing campaign, use marketing emails, hand out flyers or plan grand-openin g events. BBQfun promotional campaigns should be targeted to they customer base.Choose publications that they read, stations they listen to or watch, and copy or graphic design that will resonate with them. ecommerce Australia’s bricks and mortar retailers have been doing it tough of late. But then, it is getting hard to remember a time when they weren't. But while news reports are filled with stories of companies such as Borders, Blockbuster and Premier Retail closing stores, many of Australia's online retailers are going from strength to strength. But with competitors just a click away, they also know that staying ahead of the game in online retail is a never-ending race.Different research showed that three quarters of Australia's online retailers planned to increase their investment in technology in the following year, spending more on core systems, mobile solutions, back office integration, and multi-channel retail strategies. Which ultimately should benefit consumers in terms of range and service. Business-to-Business marketing B2B marketing is about meeting the needs of other businesses, though ultimately the demand for the products made by these businesses is likely to be driven by consumers in their homes.Put very simply, business-to-business marketing is the marketing of goods and services to businesses in order to keep those companies operating. The biggest differences between business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing are the types of goods and services being marketed and the types of entities the goods and services are being to marketed to. B2B marketers promote goods and services that will help other companies run. Some of the things businesses produce for other businesses include equipment, components, raw material, processing services and supplies.In addition, because B2B marketers target only other companies, they have a significantly more targeted market than business-to-consumer marketers. Even when marketing very specific products for a fairly small subset of individuals, the latter type of marketer has a far larger audience than the former. Many B2B marketing is driven by costumer demand. If there are no consumer to purchase a product, there is no reason for a business to exist in order to make it. If that business does not exist, it will obviously not need the products and services offered by another business.Also, the goals of businesses and consumers are often the same. When choosing a company for goods and services, most consumers and businesses will make a decision based upon price, quality, delivery time and their history with the business. Other considerations might be the availability of the product or service and the quality of customer service if something goes wrong. B2B marketing is currently one of the fastest-growing areas of marketing. As technology brings more businesses together, companies are beginning to court each other far more aggressively.And as technology makes the world a s maller place, it becomes more important for marketing and sales professionals to understand and implement the principles of B2B marketing. Direct marketing Direct marketing is a channel-agnostic form of advertising that allows businesses to communicate straight to the customer, with advertising techniques that can include text messaging, email, interactive consumer websites, online display ads, fliers, catalog distribution, promotional letters, and outdoor advertising. Direct marketing messages emphasize a focus on the customer, data, and accountability.Characteristics that distinguish direct marketing are: Marketing messages are addressed directly to the customer. Direct marketing relies on being able to address the members of a target market. Addressability comes in a variety of forms including email addresses, mobile phone numbers, Web browser cookies, fax numbers and postal addresses. Direct marketing seeks to drive a specific â€Å"call to action. † For example, an adver tisement may ask the prospect to call a free phone number or click on a link to a website. Direct marketing emphasizes trackable, measurable responses from customers — regardless of medium.Direct marketing is practiced by businesses of all sizes. A well-executed direct advertising campaign can prove a positive return on investment by showing how many potential customers responded to a clear call-to-action. General advertising eschews calls-for-action in favor of messages that try to build prospects’ emotional awareness or engagement with a brand. Even well-designed general advertisements rarely can prove their impact on the organisation’s bottom line. Direct marketing is attractive to many marketers because its positive results can be measured directly.For example, if a marketer sends out 1,000 solicitations by mail and 100 respond to the promotion, the marketer can say with confidence that campaign led directly to 10% direct responses. This metric is known as t he ‘response rate’ and it is one of many clearly quantifiable success metrics employed by direct marketers. In contrast, general advertising uses indirect measurements, such as awareness or engagement, since there is no direct response from a customer. Marketing opportunities summary and recommendations Direct marketing campaignBecause of a limited marketing budget it is recommended to continue the already successful direct marketing campaign. BBQfun can prove a dramatic increase of sales immediately after articles in BrisNews were published. BBQfun might think about to do the same for the Gold Coast store surrounding area. It is also important to continue with targeting the locals living around the stores with direct mail, flyers and local advertising. The advantages for BBQfun using direct marketing are clear: Direct measurement of success: sending 1000 mails, response is 200 = 20% direct response, sending emails, BBQfun can monitor open rates and click rates.BBQfun c an use this through offering specials to consumer. Measuring results by product line, use historical data. If BBQfun usually sell 1,000 units of a particular product a month, and during the campaign response period they sell 1,050, BBQfun has an indication of effectiveness. (When using historical data, be sure to take seasonal variations in sales activity into consideration. ) Specific targeting: directly sending information to individuals, BBQfun can specifically target the demographic they wish to reach. This can enhance response rates as the information is relevant to BBQfun.This also gives BBQfun the opportunity to personalise each interaction, such as addressing emails with the name of the customer or individual. Cheap and quick production: depending on which form of direct marketing you select to use, it is generally cheap and quick to produce. Email campaigns, for example, have little cost, do not take much time to create and are delivered to people’s inboxes instantan eously. Potential to build list of potential or existing customers: if BBQfun regularly engage with potential or existing customers, they can build a database of contacts for future use.This makes targeting even easier for future marketing campaigns, giving BBQfun a pool of prospects to market to. The Internet has made it easier for marketing managers to measure the results of a campaign. This is often achieved by using a specific website landing page directly relating to the promotional material. A call to action will ask the customer to visit the landing page, and the effectiveness of the campaign can be measured by taking the number of promotional messages distributed (e. g. , 1,000) and dividing it by the number of responses (people visiting the unique website page).Another way to measure the results is to compare the projected sales or generated leads for a given term with the actual sales or leads after a direct advertising campaign. e-commerce campaign We are living in the In formation age. Internet has changed our lives and these changes are irreversible. The more people get on to internet and search for information, the more opportunities begin to develop for e commerce. There is no choice for BBQfun but to get on to the e-commerce way. Advantages of e-commerce: Internet being a world wide web, opens up the world as a market to the businesses.Businesses can reach out to millions of customers in an instant which is not possible in any conventional mode of marketing. One of the most significant advantages that e- commerce offers is the cost. The cost of marketing online across the globe is minuscule when compared to the actual cost of marketing in the conventional ways. The cost per transaction works out to be very cheap. E-commerce promotes paperless offices and processes thus contributing to savings in terms of resources too. And also looking at e-commerce from a marketing perspective brings the product or the service closer to the customer.It enables the customer to view, read, download and experience the product. The other significant difference from conventional marketing is that the online marketing enables the marketing company to customise its sales pitch or product offering to the customer. As against the conventional modes which target consumers and markets at large, with internet marketing and E Commerce it is possible to target every single individual making it more personalised and customised offer. Ways BBQfun can measure the success of they e-commerce site:Number of orders processed through the site: this is an simple metric to measure on a weekly or monthly basis. Plot the results on a graph and it is easy to see how orders flow through the site and how quickly they e-commerce presence is growing. Number of customers using the site: measuring how many people have registered to use or are using an e-commerce site demonstrates adoption of the channel and the credibility and usability of a site. This metric is a critic al e-commerce measure for a brand new site or for a company expanding into the world of e-commerce for the first time.Average cart total: analyzing the average cart totals and whether the totals are trending up or down will help BBQfun qualify the success of their site merchandising and promotional efforts. When average cart totals spike, BBQfun can figure out why so that you can repeat a successful promotion in the future. Cart abandonment rate: the number of carts that are abandoned on the site is a clear indicator of how the site is performing. Taking a closer look at exactly when customers bail out will tell BBQfun where the problem is and keeping tabs on abandonment rate will help BBQfun fix issues before they become major problems.Percentage of total revenue: when looking at the total revenue, what percentage is attributed to e-commerce? Measuring this percentage periodically will give BBQfun a sense of they overall adoption rate and the success of the site. These and many mor e advantages make obvious BBQfun sense for to market their products and services online. Both marketing strategies will increase the sales figures and the market share, grow the business, strength the reputation of BBQfun and give BBQfun the opportunity to expand to national and international markets as well and everything with a low budget.Sales prediction Least squares method Year |Sales (y) |Coded time (x) |XY |X2 | |2012 |11,000,000 |1 |11,000,000 |1 | |2013 |12,000,000 |2 |24,000,000 |4 | |2014 |15,000,000 |3 |45,000,000 |9 | |2015 | | | | | |Total ? |38,000,000 |6 |80,000,000 |14 | |Mean xy |12,666,667 |3 | |4. 67 | | b = 80,000,000 – ( 3 x 3 x 12,666,667 ) = ( 80,000,000 – 114,000,003 ) 14 – ( 3 x 4. 67 ) = (14 – 14. 01 ) b = – 34,000,003 – 0. 01 b = 3,400,000,300 a = 12,666,667 – ( 3,400,000,300 x 3 ) = 12,666,667 – 10,200,000,900 = – 10,187,334,233 y = a + bx Sales prediction for 2015 is $ Apply marketing opport unities to BBQfun E-commerce marketing Entering the e-commerce market is essential because of the change with technological advancements where most organisations and businesses are deciding to follow the trend. E-commerce marketing will help expand BBQfun to sell products internationally and nationally and make new markets and target audiences discoverable. This will result in financial growth with new sales and consumers.BBQfun already has existing storage places therefore are logistically prepared to enter the e-commerce market. BBQfun stock regulations could be managed in the future in respect to sales and marketing research. E-commerce strategies will help with discovering new markets and new target audiences. There are no real costs involved where delivery can be paid for and managed by the company. However, website design, management and IT solutions will have some cost. The website design will need to incorporate yellow colours or bright summer-time themes.Yellow itself is a neutral colour that will appeal to both our male and female consumers. The website needs to be written concisely and in easy terms. After successfully applying e-commerce marketing strategies the next step is to cover B2B marketing in order to achieve brand recognition and increase sales. B2B and e-commerce marketing strategies both align with BBQfun’s business strategies and therefore assist the company in reaching aims. Direct marketing BBQfun already has implemented a direct market strategies through direct mail and local adversing in the BrisNews magazine.Most successful campaign was getting articles written in the BrisNews magazine where BBQfun experienced immediate sales after the articles were published. BBQfun should build on this strategy further by trying to get more publications with popular outdoor lifestyle related magazines in printed and online formats. Where these publications need to be highly tailored to the target audience. Expansion in the direct mailing p rogram to a national level will expand the business further and increase customer loyalty and reputation.There is low cost involvement in expanding the direct marketing segment where distribution, flyer/advertisement design and article placements will increase subtly. All flyers, mail and online material will need to aligned with the corporate design. The corporate design apparent in direct mailing will present a young, refreshing, exotic lifestyle to appeals to our target audience. All suggested strategies applied to BBQfun will lead the company to be a strong/healthy growing business and national and international recognized.

Strict Liability in Business Law

The American common law adopted the concept of strict liability in early 1960’s. They began to adopt the view that the sellers should bear the cost of injuries or defects in their products as they are in the best position to distinguish the risks associated with their products. The courts of modern times also provide the sellers the indisputable liability for their defective products without the negligence or fault on the part of the seller. The American law institutes call for the various state law departments to recapitulate the developments in strict liability in Section 402A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts in 1977.In 1997 ALI approved the Restatement (Third) of Torts products liability, which expands the general language of Section 402A into over 20 different sections addressing specific applications of the strict liability ground for recovery. In 1999, the ALI approved Restatement the apportionment of Liability, completely succeeding and expanding upon comparable pro visions of Restatement (Second) of Torts. This Restatement gives paramount importance to the principles of law governing apportionment as liability in cases where there are multiple actors who may have differing degrees of liability.(1)The application of strict liability is important in various segments of business law. Here we shall discuss the scope of strict liability, its essentials and exceptions etc. Moreover we shall try to explore the relationship and contrast of the strict liability with other dimensions in the business law like Rule in Rylands Vs Fletcher, mens rea, negligence, product liability and contract. ———————————————————————————————————— 1. Restatement (Third) of Torts products liability, 1999 Strict Liability 2 Intro ductionâ€Å"He can excuse himself by showing that the escape was owing to plaintiff’s default; but as nothing of this sort exists here, it si unnecessary to inquire to what excuse would be sufficient. – Blackburn J Sec. 402A of Restatement (Second) of Torts, 1977 enunciates that seller of any defective product which is unreasonably dangerous to the user or consumer is subject to liability for physical harm thereby caused to the ultimate user or consumer, or to his property, if the product is expected to and does reach the user or consumer without substantial change in the condition in which it is sold.It does not matter that the seller has exercised all possible care in the preparation and sale of his product; and the user or consumer has not bought the product from or entered into any contractual relation with the seller. Moreover the claim under rule of strict liability can be made against Property damage, Compensation for wrongful death, Physical and mental pain a nd suffering Loss of consortium for loss of love and affection, Past, present and future medical bills and Lost past and future wages, DefinitionStrict liability is a legal doctrine that makes some persons responsible for damages their actions or products cause, regardless of any â€Å"fault† on their part. There are situations when a person may liable for some harm even though he is not negligent in causing the same or there is no intention to cause the harm or sometimes he may even have made some positive efforts to avert the same. In other words the law recognizes such type Strict Liability 3 of â€Å"no fault â€Å"liability. (Salmond,1996)(2)The liability arises when a person or company sells a defective product which is unreasonable and dangerous to the user.The defect may in the products design or manufacturing, in the instructions or warning necessary for the product’s safety or in the container or packaging. The main feature of this aspect is, here the injur ed is excluded from proving the negligence of seller. Scope Generally our legal system typically imposes liability for money damages only upon a showing that a person was negligent (i. e. , failed to use due care) or somehow intended to bring about an injury or damage to another. There are cases, however, where a defaulter can be held responsible for an injury even where no negligence or evil intent can be shown .The doctrine of strict liability imposes legal responsibility for injuries sustained by or as a result of an actor's conduct, whether or not the actor used reasonable care and regardless of the actor's state of mind. Strict liability cases are limited to certain narrowly-defined areas of the law, including products liability, ultrahazardous activities, care of animals and certain statutory offenses. ( Faegre & Benson, 2003) (3) The rule of strict liability is mainly attributed to rule in Rylands Vs Fletcher (4) in which the House of Lords well founded the principle of as st rict liability.In this case, the ———————————————————————————————————— 2. Salmond , Heuston (1996) , Law of Torts, , publisher: Sweet & Maxwell; 21Rev Ed edition , ISBN-13: 978-0421533509 3. Faegre & Benson, (Nov. 2003) UK Trade and Investment, US product liability law 4. Rylands Vs Fletcher (1868) L. R 3 H. L 330 Strict Liability 4 defendant got a reservoir constructed through independent contractors, over his land for providing water to his mill.There were old disused shafts under the site of the reservoir, which the contractors failed to observe and so did not block them. When the water was filled in the reservoir, it burst through the shafts and the plaintiff’s cold mines on the adjoining land. The defendants did not know the shafts and had not been negligent although the independent contractors had been. In this case the court found that even if the defendant was not negligent or rather, even if the defendant did not intentionally cause the harm or he was careful, he could still be made liable under the rule.The defendant may excuse himself by showing that the occurrence was owing to the plaintiff’s default or that was the consequence of vis major or the act of good. But in this case the court firmly asserts that it is unnecessary to inquire what excuse would be sufficient. Normally in these cases, the liability arises not because there was ant fault or negligence on the part of persons, but because he kept such defective products and the same was caused some sort of personal damage to another. In Smedleys Vs Breed, (5)a large manufacturing company of tinned peas was convicted as there found the carcass of a caterpillar.On dismissing the appeal of company the court held it was offence of strict liability, therefore it was not sufficient show that the company had taken all reasonable care to avoid the event. ———————————————————————————————————— 5. Smedleys Vs Breed,(1974) Strict Liability 5 The same view was taken in the famous case Donogue Vs Stevenson (6) in this case A purchased a bottle of ginger beer from a retailer for the appellant.While pouring to the tumbler the appellant found a decomposed body of a snail floated out with her ginger beer. The appellant alleged that she seriously suffered in her health in consequence of having drunk the beer which contains the contaminated contents. On her claim for damages, the court declared that a person who is for gain engages in the business of manufacturing articles of food and drink intended for consumption by members of the public in the form he issues them, is under a duty to take care in the manufacture of these articles.That duty must be to whom he intends to consume his products. The fact is that he manufacturers his commodities for human consumption. Due to this informal nexus he places himself in a relationship with all the potential consumers of his commodities, and that relationship which he assumes and desires for his own ends impose upon him a duty to take care to avoid injuring them. † Hence the manufacturer owed her a duty to take care that the bottle did not contain any noxious matter and that he would be liable for the breach of the duty.Moreover the law looks into the scope of strict liability while it is arising out of indeed consumer’s case. In Berrier v. Simplicity Manufacturing, Inc (7), the leg of four years old was amputated as the result of injuries sustained when her grand father unintentionally backed over her foot wh ile shearing the lawn with ———————————————————————————————————— 6. Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 (HL) (Sc) 7. Berrier v. Simplicity Manufacturing, Inc. , (3d Cir. Jan. 17, 2008) Strict Liability 6 a riding mower.Her parents moved a case against the manufacturer of the riding mower on the basis of strict liability and negligence based on design defect and inadequate warning theories. But the court followed the decision of Phillips v. Cricket Lighters, (8)and held that since the intended user or consumer is limiting the wide application of rule of strict liability the issue still remains that the child is neither user nor intended user or consumer of the mower. Strict liability and mens rea So the offences of strict liability, we ca n say, are those crimes which do not require mens rea with regard to at least one or more elements of the actus reus.In R Vs Storkwain (9) the defendant supplied drugs for which a prescription was required, after being handed a forged prescription. There was no evidence of any negligence or wrong doing on the part of the pharmacist.. On appeal against conviction, it was held that the statute created an offence of strict liability; therefore no proof of mens rea was required. In Gammon (Hong Kong) Ltd vs Attorney-General for Hong Kong (10) following points has been laid down to determine the circumstances to which strict liability to be imposed.(1) There is a presumption of law that mens rea is required before a person can be held guilty of a criminal offence; ————————————————————————————â⠂¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€ 8. Phillips v. Cricket Lighters, 841 A. 2d 1000 (Pa. 2003) 9. R Vs Storkwain (1986) 10. Gammon (Hong Kong) Ltd v Attorney-General for Hong Kong [1984] 2 All ER 503 Strict Liability 7 (2) The presumption is particularly strong where the offence is â€Å"truly criminal† in character;(3) The presumption applies to statutory offences, and can be displaced only if this is clearly or by necessary implication the effect of the statute; (4) The only situation in which the presumption can be displaced is where the statute is concerned with an issue of social concern; (5) Even where a statute is concerned with such an issue, the presumption of mens rea stands unless it can be shown that the creation of strict liability will be effective to promote the objects of the statute by encouraging greater vigilance to prevent the commission of the prohibited act.Essentials of strict liability For the application of this rule the foll owing three essentials should be there: 1) Injury by a defective product: In order to succeed the strict liability under the law the plaintiff must show that the injury must be caused by a defective product whose defect existed at the time of injury and the product should be plaintiff’s control. In the recent case of Ceiba-Geigy (Pty) Ltd v Lushof Farms (Pty) Ltd en ‘n Ander (11) it was held that the liability arising from the defective products not only related to the personal injury but financial loss also.It was further confirmed that when a manufacture undertakes or market the production without any prior tests and ———————————————————————————————- 11. Ceiba-Geigy (Pty) Ltd v Lushof Farms (Pty) Ltd en ‘n Ander, 2002 (2) SA 447 (SCA) Strict Liabilit y 8 consequently it turns hazardous to the consumer such negligent activities expose a liability to the consumer. Here a contractual nexus between the manufacturer and the consumer is not required. (Weir, Tony 2006), (12)2) The goods must be dangerous or defective in nature: Here the plaintiff must show that due to the dangerous nature, such goods can not be used for the ordinary purpose or for some other reasonably foreseeable purpose. Thus, a manufacturer owes a duty to supply a product fit for the ordinary purposes and it is to be used and safe notwithstanding a reasonably foreseeable misuse that could cause injury. The decisions in famous cases like Batcheller Vs Tunbrige Wells Gas co. ,(13) National Telephone Co. Vs Baker (14)and West Vs Bristol Tramways Co.(15)manifests that the defective products are whatever in form ,whether it is gas, electricity noxious fumes ,the rule of strict liability can be applied. 3) The goods should leave the manufacturer: It is essential that the thing caused injury to the plaintiff must leave from the possession and control of eth defendant. So those defective goods are still with the manufacture is safe from the claim of compensation. In Read Vs Lyons (16) (text) the plaintiff was the employee in the defendant’s munitions factory. While performing her duty a shell was exploded and she was injured . Even———————————————————————————————————– 12. Weir,Tony,( 2006),an introduction to Tort law,2nd edn. , Oxford University Press 13. Batcheller Vs Tunbrige Wells Gas co. 84 L. T 765 14. National Telephone Co. Vs Baker (1893) 2 ch 186 15. West Vs Bristol Tramways Co. (1908) 2 K. B 14 16. Read Vs Lyons (1947) A. C 156, 161 Strict Liability 9 though the shell exploded was dangerou s in nature it was held that defendants were not liable as the shell was not left from outside the defendant’s premises and the rule of strict liability could not be applied in this case.4) Breach of warranty: Generally, the law imposes certain warranties (or guaranties) on the sale of products. Such warranties include that the goods are in proper condition for use and free of defects and that they are fit for a particular purpose. Since the court doesn’t disregard the liability of the waivers against the policy and the warranties are limited, the manufacturers and retailers are always held responsible for injuries from the defective and dangerous products. The aspect of breach of warrenty enables the plaintiff to act against the defendant with his complete freedom.Here he need not assert that the defendant is fault. Usually the product claims under the breach of warranty are in quasi contractual nature. Any factual statement or promise about the product ,a description of the product made ,any sample or model provided constitutes the warranty upon which the buyer rely to purchase the goods. ( Faegre & Benson,. 2003)(17) Exceptions/limitations The following are the exceptions to the rule of strict liability. 1) Plaintiff’s own default: Damage caused due to the plaintiff’s own default was considered to be good defense in rule of strict liability.If the plaintiff suffers damages by ———————————————————————————————————— 17. ibid 3 Strict Liability 10 his own intrusion into the defendant’s property he can not complain for the damage so caused. When the damage to the plaintiff’s products/property is caused not so much by the escape of eth thing s collected by the defendants as b y the unusual sensitiveness of plaintiff’s property itself, the plaintiff cannot recover anything. In Eastern and South African Telegraph C. Ltd. Vs Capetown Tramways Co.(18) the plaintiff submarine cable transmissions were disturbed by escape of electric current from the defendant’s tramways . It was found that the damage was due to the unusual sensitiveness of the plaintiff’s apparatus and such damage will not occur to person carrying on the ordinary business and the defendant held not liable for the such occurrence. 2) Act of god: Act of god or Vis Major was also considered to be a good defense to an action under the rule of strict liability. If the defect is unforeseen and it is without any human intervention the defense of cat of good can be pleaded.In Tennent Vs Earl of Glasgow (19) the court has framed a well maintained definition for the act of god as the circumstances which no human foresight can provide against and of which human prudence is not bound to recognize the possibility. 3) Consent of plaintiff: In cases of volunti non fit injuria i. e where the plaintiff has consented to the accumulation of the dangerous /defective product in defendant’s possession, then such liability does not arise. But such consent must arise for the common ———————————————————————————————————— 18.Eastern and South African Telegraph C. Ltd Vs Capetown Tramways Co. (1936) A. C 381 19. Tennent Vs Earl of Glasgow (1864) 2M (H. L) 22, 26-27 Strict Liability 11 benefit of both plaintiff and defendant. For eg: when two persons are living on the different floors of eth same building each of them is deemed to have consented to the installation of things of common benefit such as the water system, gas pip es or electric wiring . When water has been collected for the common benefit of the plaintiff and the defendant will not be liable for any defects happened to such system unless there is negligence on his part.In North Western Utilities Vs London Guarantee,etc Co. Ltd (20) ,the concept of consent for the common benefit had been formulated as there is no such common benefit between a gas or other public utility undertaking and its consumer’s . 4) Act of third party: If the harm has been caused due to the act of a stranger who is neither defendant’s servant nor the defendant has any control over him, the defendant will not be liable under this rule. But if the act of the stranger is or can be foreseen by the defendant and the damage can be prevented, the defendant must by due care prevent the damage.If not so, the defendant may be held liable for his act. This principle is laid down in Richards Vs Lothian (21). In this case, some strangers blocked the waste pipes of a wa sh basin, which was otherwise in the control of the defendants, when opened the tap, and the overflowing water damaged the plaintiff’s goods. The defendants were held not liable. 5) Statutory authority: Generally an act done under the authority of a statute is defense ———————————————————————————————————— 20. North Western Utilities Vs London Guarantee,etc Co. Ltd (1936) A.C 108 21. Richards Vs Lothian (1913) A. C 263 Strict Liability 12 to an action for tort. But it cannot be pleaded as a defense when there is negligence. In Green Vs Chelsea Waterworks Co. (22) the defendant co. had a statutory duty to maintain continuous supply of water. A man belonging to the company burst without any negligence on its part, as a consequence o f which plaintiff’s premises were flooded with water. It was held that the company was not liable as the company was engaged in performing a statutory duty. ( Salmond,1996)(23) In practice, the defendant may argue the defenses adopting the following claims.1) The defendant may forward an argument on the basis of misuse of the product sold. But it is to be remembered that the misuse of products can not be forceeble or there is a chance of rebut this argument by the plaintiff that there should have some kind of anticipation on the part of the manufacturer and prevented such misuse by its product design or in its warning. 2)Secondly the defendant can claim that the product has been altered and modified . In order to prove this he has to take adequate measures to provide warnings in connection with the alteration of the products.3) If there is any complaint by the buyer about the defective design, then the defendant may rebut his claim by demonstrating that the product was at sta te of art at the time of manufacture. 4) A manufacturer might be allowed to adduce the evidence on the basis of industry ———————————————————————————————————- 22. Green Vs Chelsea Waterworks Co. (1864) 70 L. T 547 23. ibid 2 Strict Liability 13 custom and standards and government standards related to the manufacture and design. ( Faegre & Benson, 2003)(24)Before the buyers of tacky products were not allowed to sue a manufacturer of or seller of a harmful product in commerce. The decision owes to the principle of â€Å"caveat emptor† â€Å"let the Buyer beware†. Now the burden to prove a products sticks on the other claims of product defect, inadequate instructions, or warnings. Here the plaintiff must prove that that the product caused him harm when it was used for its intended purpose as well. More he has to prove that the manufacturer knew or should have known the product would be used in such a way that would cause harm. Strict liability and NegligenceNegligence is an important element to determine the strict liability of a defendant. Negligence is considered to be the oldest theory of product liability as well as the strict liability. As a general rule it is for the plaintiff to prove that the defendant was negligent. The initial burden of making out at least prima facie case of negligence as against the defendant lies heavily on the plaintiff, but once this onus is discharged, it will be for the defendant to prove that the incident was the result of inevitable accident or contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiff.(Jones,2007)(25) There are some elements should be proved by the plaintiff in order to make claim against the defendants under the rule of strict liability. ——— ————————————————————————————————— 24. ibid 3 25. Jones, A . Micheal (2007), A text book on Tort, Ch. 2, 9th ed. , publ. by Oxford University Press Strict Liability 14 Duty of care: The plaintiff must prove that a duty of care was owed by the defendant to the plaintiff. Mere carelessness on the part of defendant doesn’t entitle the plaintiff to sue him.He has to establish that the defendant owed to him a specific legal duty to take care of which he has made a breach. In this connection, in famous case of Donogue Vs Stevenson it was held that a manufacturer of the products which he sells in such a form as to show that he intends them to reach the ultimate consumer in the form in which they left him with no reasonable possibility of intermediate examin ation and with the knowledge that the absence of reasonable care in the preparation of putting up of the products will result in an injury to consumer’s life or property, owes a duty to the consumer to take that reasonable care.(26) Breach of duty: Breach of duty means non observance of due care which is required in a particular situation. But here the defendant acted like a reasonable prudent man there is no negligence. In Blyth Vs Birmingham waterworks Co(27). it was clearly explained that negligence is the omission to do something which a reasonable man ,guided upon those considerations which ordinarily regulate the conduct of human affairs, would do or doing something which a prudent and reasonable man would not do.) Proximate cause: The plaintiff should prove that the breach of duty proximately caused the plaintiff’s injuries. Finally there should be lawful and sufficient injury happened to the plaintiff due to the defective /dangerous product. ——â⠂¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€ 26. ibid 6 27. Blyth Vs Birmingham waterworks Co (1856) 11Ex. 281Strict Liability15 The manufacturers always have the duty to exercise reasonable care in manufacturing the products.Poor assembling the products, difference in use of component parts and its design specifications, failure to inspect the finished products, component parts and failure in correction in any defective products are some examples to lead the plaintiff to claim under the rule of strict liability. ( Faegre & Benson, 2003) (28) In R Vs Lemon (29)the publisher of a gay news were charged with blasphemous libel against Christ through a poem which was considered as an slur to Christianity.The court held that it is the pure case of blaspheme as they ha d intention to publish so they are responsible for their act. Moreover in Alpha cell Vs Woodward,(30) the company was accused of causing polluted water to enter river by using equipment to prevent any overflow in to the river. But due to the collapse of the machine, the polluted things leaked out to the water. There was no evidence that the defendant is negligent but the court held that the defendant had caused the pollution in the water and they held liable. Strict liability in product liabilityThe â€Å"product liability† defined as the liability of manufacturer, during the chain of distribution, for personal injury, economic loss or property damage caused by sale or use of the product. Here the term ‘product’ denotes the finished goods as well as those items which may have some impact on the consumer expectations, product safety etc. In order to brought the action under strict liability the plaintiff must prove that injury occurred by ———à ¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€ 28. ibid 3, 24 29. R Vs Lemon (1979)30. Alphacell Vs Woodward, (1972) Strict Liability16 a defective product whose defect existed at the time of injury and at the time which the product left the control of manufactures control. Such product liability is the legal responsibility of the manufacturer to the buyers. It can be occurred at time of the transaction. Generally there are three defects in the product make defendants liable for their act. 1) Manufacturing: even though a few products turns in to the fault during the process of a manufacturing the plaintiff may held liable under rule of strict liability.2) Marketing: In the case of lack of product warning or instructions, the plaintiff can bring an action against the def endant under such liability. 3) Design: A fault in design from previously mentioned might enable the plaintiff to claim for damages against the defendants. ( Miller, Goldberg 2004)(31) Usually the defective and unreasonably dangerous product denotes the desirability or usefulness of the product, the availability of safer goods in same need, likelihood of injury and its possible seriousness and danger.In such cases entitles the plaintiff to recover from the defendants for the injury caused by the product. Here he need not prove any misconduct on the part of the defendant. The law framed such a provision to make the manufacturer vigilant about their production in safe manner. It is the duty of the manufacturer to produce the goods which will not create an unreasonable risk of injury to the consumer at any cost. Such claim can be made against the—————————————————â€⠀Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€ 31. Miller C. J, Goldberg R. S (September 30, 2004) Product liability 2 edition Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; ISBN-13: 978-0198256786 Strict Liability17 manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor, retailer and the maker of component parts. (Restatemet,1999)(32) In recent case of Escola v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co. ,(33) 24 Cal. 2d 453 (1944) (Traynor, J., concurring) it was clearly stated that on the demand of public policy the responsibility should be fixed even though there is no element of negligence under the circumstances of hazardous and dangerous to life and health due to the defective products. In cost of the cases the injured would be such persons who are not aware and unprepared to meet the consequences. It is to the public interest to discourage the marketing of defective products that are a menace to the public. It is to th e public interest to place the responsibility for whatever injury they may cause upon the manufacturer, who, even if he is not negligent in the man

Tax and Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Tax and Ethics - Essay Example Companies are required to keep absolute and precise records of their accounting and other business transactions details that may be required in court as evidence against tax case. Businesses are required to obtain adequate information and competent advice concerning the tax assessment. Companies’ are then required to file their tax returns properly on the specific dates to ensure tax compliancy to avoid heavy penalties and interests because of non-compliance. Companies must ensure that they enroll for corporation tax online services and choose suitable software to use. Both resident and nonresident companies liable for corporation tax must ensure filing an online company tax return. Companies must ensure that all the deductions are deducted from their taxable amounts before submitting their returns and that all the tax reliefs, losses and allowances are accounted for. In addition, companies must ensure that all the statutory deductions such as PAYE are accounted for before sub mitting their returns. All the penalties and interests have to be incorporated in the tax returns’ computation by the companies. Companies may as well challenge tax assessments in court or tribunals. The companies may assign a tax specialist to deal with their tax matters. Companies should contact corporation tax office in case there is any legal reason for not filling the corporation tax returns such as winding up order. A company must authorize in writing to use an accountant on their behalf. The role of professionals in the tax system is very important in the tax system since companies and businesses depend on them for advice. Tax experts may advice the company on the information concerning corporation tax compliance and VAT, tax efficiency and mitigation. The tax professionals, having been employed by the companies, are required to register their companies on the corporation tax online services whether the companies are residents or non-residents. Tax experts compute all the taxable amounts of the corporation on behalf of the business. The tax experts will compute individual accounts for the subsidiary companies and consolidated accounts for the parent companies that do business in UK. Moreover, the experts may compute their client’s oversees companies that were incorporated in UK. Tax experts, while computing their client’s taxable income, must ensure that all the allowances, deductions, and reliefs are accounted for. Tax professionals may also advice the companies on the important documents to be kept by the companies for tax purposes. A tax expert may be liable if their clients fail to file their returns on time or under calculated taxable income based on the expert’s advice. The government pays extremely pivotal role in addressing the tax issues. The tax authority gathers tax from the corporations and persons. The government must ensure that it taxes all the taxable individuals and companies without bias. Government forms po licies with the intention of ensuring unbiased sharing of the tax weight. The administration must make certain implementation of all the policies made. Government should put heavy penalties and interests to companies that break the tax laws by setting examples to other businesses hence discouraging tax evasion. In addition, the government shall set reliefs and allowable items hence minimizing tax burden among the companies. The government must ensure very high level of tax compliancy by the companies and

Benefits Package at the Apple Inc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 14

Benefits Package at the Apple Inc - Essay Example Apple is known as one of the best companies to work for because of its great employee benefits packages. I think that the website could have shown a little more about it. The Apple website lists many policies and work/life programs, such as health and life insurance, employee stock purchase plan, tuition assistance, paid vacations and holidays, and product discounts. I think having this wide range of employee benefits is good because there is a diverse workforce and so there is something appealing for everyone. Just the other day the company announced that its corporate matching program will be implemented in every country. Some of this program includes match employees for the time they spend on philanthropic endeavors and full stock benefits if an employee dies so that the family members can be supported. This shows that Apple does care about its employees and will do anything to make working for the company very attractive. This is a company that I would want to work for because it would help me with career advancement also. The experience that I could gain from working in such an environment will help me to grow both personally and professionally. I like that there are many employee benefits packages and so I can choose the one that suits my life best at that moment. If I stayed with the company for a few years, then I might want to change my employee benefits package to reflect the stage of life that I am in. I also like the parental leave policy, which is offered for both men and women. It is great to see that if I had a newborn child I would be able to take some time off work to spend with my young family. It is reassuring to know that I could go back to work a few weeks later and my job would not be in jeopardy at all.