Recent orders
The glowstar Solar Lantern in Africa, Kenya
Running head: Sale Forecasting
The glowstar Solar Lantern in Africa, Kenya
Name:
Course:
Tutor:
Date:
Marketing is a commercial process that involves the promotion, selling and the distribution of goods and services by making them available for the consumers. In this case, the glowstar solar lantern is the product to be in the market. While the process that involves the estimation of sales a business can be able to achieve in the future is referred to as sale forecasting. This is an integral part in managing a business (ward). When a business lacks a concrete idea about the future sales, it will be almost impossible for the business to manage the inventory, its cash flow and even have no a clear picture on the future plans for the growth of the business. Therefore the main objective of sale forecasting is the provision of information that will help the business to make a decision that is intelligent. An established business has a baseline for its sale forecasting compared to the unestablished business. The glowrstar solar lantern is a new product that has been launched and therefore its sale forecasting is problematic since it has no baseline for its past sales, and there is need for sales forecasting. This essay will look into the background of the glowstar solar lantern, its potential in the market and the methods of forecasting it and access its impact in Africa.
Any new product in the market is as a result of the challenges or the draw backs of the existing product. In Africa individual that live in the rural area have limited or no access to electricity and therefore most families do rely on kerosene lamps, candles for the provision of basic light in their homes. In Kenya, one of the countries in Africa, only 4% of the population can access electricity while 70% of the homes in Kenya spend their petty earned cash on dry cells batteries for torches. This monthly recurrent cost does eat up the earning that would rather be for valuable investment in children education and also for healthy family meals and the health as well (Ward, 2010).
The African country has a plenty supply of solar energy from the sun that is costless. This has stirred a growing interest in photo-voltaic (This is a device that is used to convert solar energy into electricity) and the solar systems. It is unfortunate that it is costly to have a modern solar system for most families in Africa. A low cost glowstar solar lantern has been designed by the sollatek company as an alternative for solar system. It has been designed with an intention to give most of the rural families in African an opportunity to climb an “energy ladder.”
The result from customer research was positive, since the lantern is ecologically friendly and it is potable but expensive to the target group. The current price is 10,500 Kenyan Shillings that is around $150 US. This is double the market price that was indicated by the glowstar research. The researcher indicates that the sensible and affordable price ranges between 3,000 to 5,000Ksh. There is a considerable market for the solar system with a price that ranges between 12,000 to 20,000Ksh that offers two or three lighting options. Sollatek should have there own price to avoid competition from other system and have a market segment of there own (White & Fearnon, pg.2)
It is problematic to forecast the glowstar solar lantern since it is a new product in the market and has no history of its sales. Sollatek Company therefore lacks a baseline for this product that can be used to determine its future sale. Therefore the need for the company to identify sale forecast process. This process does involve market research and analyzing of the target market. The company should also identify its trading area and the existing competitors and analyze the collected research with an objective to guesstimate the possible future sales. The forecasting becomes beneficial if the method is strategically planned. According to Elliot, it is indeed difficult to forecast new product due to the absence of sales history that can be give a guide. However, sales revenue can still be estimated by forecasting (Ward, 2010). For example the sollatk company was working with the World Bank for the purpose of finance back up, then sollatek as a company has to make multiple estimates with an objective to instill more confidence when they will be forecasting.
In the first place sollatek should identify its average sales per square foot, for the similar product and the location that of similar and in size as well. It being a new product in the continent perhaps in a year the approach may be general especially if the income is 2% from most households. The sale forecaster should now go to specific places, in Kenya for example and find out how many families require the lantern within a mile? How much will be the spent annual and what sollatek will earn after the glowstar has been bought as compared to the current competitors. The same can then be done within five miles as the forecasting figure is kept low and the distance should be sensible for the location that has been chosen (Ward, 2010). To have a productive forecasting, the company should estimate the revenue of each product that it sales and the service line as well; this will give an estimation of where the company will be in the next six months. With the estimate the gross profit can be calculated for a day, a month and annually with or without any sales of the glowstar.
The glowstar solar lantern has been useful to rural schools in the Rift Valley province around a town called Nakuru. Students in the region are grateful since they will have a chance to have an environment where they can easily study with no hindrance and are positive that they will improve in class performance. This lantern will also lower the chances of eye diseases that are sometimes caused through straining when reading in deem light. Kerosene expenses will also reduce and be channeled to other important expenses.
The glowstar has a high reputation in the market since it is ecologically friendly but it is unfortunate that it has limited penetration to the target group. The major reason for this is still not affordable. In spite of it focusing the rural areas, and thus give an eye opener for future consideration.
Reference:
Ward, S. (2010). Business Management. Sales forecasting. New York Time.Retrived on 26
November, 2010. http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/management/g/salesforecast.htmWhite, C & Fearnon, K. (2010). Developing next generation of glowstar solar lantern. Retrieved on 26
November, 2010.http://www.hedon.info/docs/EWB_ENERGY_Chris_White_and_Karen_Fearnon_Developing_the_Next_Generation_of_Glowstar_Solar_Lantern.pdf
Propaganda in ww1
Propaganda in ww1
Student Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Title
Professor’s Name
Date
The Role of Propaganda in World War I
In this paper I seek to show the role propaganda played in World War I. It is evident that World War I witnessed propaganda mobilization on an extraordinary scale, which goes on to form a significant portion of warfare till currently. The utilization of propaganda during war isn’t a current invention. The community have lived and utilized propaganda from the olden civilizations. For instance, at the start of the 4th century BC, Xenophon is recognized as capturing the earliest utilization of propaganda in wartime in his explanations of the Greek warfare with Persia. Hence Propaganda is the distribution of data in support of something. It is usually not significant whether the data is false or true or if the root is fair or not — it’s just propaganda. Usually utilized in a negative perspective, particularly by politicians who make false claims and rumor spreading (Barrón-Cedeno, 2019). This paper will look at the role of propaganda in WW1.
Throughout WW 1, propaganda was used on a worldwide scale by nations such as the United States, Germany, Britain and others. Different from previous warfare, WW1 was the first full war in which entire countries were put in mortal battle. So this and following modern warfare needed propaganda to gather hatred countering the enemy; to persuade the populace of the justness of the origin; to solicit the active cooperation and support of neutral nations; plus to reinforce the backing of associates.
Propaganda was greatly used in American during World War I. The greatest influential person behind the United States propaganda was President Woodrow Wilson. In his well-known January 1918 announcement, he put out the “fourteen Points”, which he uttered that the United States could battle to defend. It functioned as a scheme for world peace to be utilized for peace discussions after the warfare. Woodrow’s points motivated audiences around the globe and significantly reinforced the trust that France, America, and Britain were battling for noble objectives.
It is evident that there was also use of propaganda in British during World War I. In WW1, British propaganda utilized numerous methods, comprising of literature, film and pictures. Additionally, Britain employed significant importance on atrocity propaganda as a method of marshalling public view against the Central Powers and Germany for the duration of World War 1(Faucher, 2019). Atrocity Propaganda is basically exposing crime believed to be committed by the enemies. So during that time, uncovering stories of mutilation, rape, and malicious prisoners’ killings by the Germans occupied the Allied print media. The Austro-Hungarian and Germans militaries were portrayed as inhumane, and their brutality was stressed as a method to offer validation for the warfare.
The key foreign governments organized propaganda intended to reach the opinion of the public and elite view in other nations, particularly the nonaligned powers. For instance, the British government was particularly operative in turning American view against the Germans prior to 1917. Propaganda, therefore, turned out to be an integral portion of the WW1 diplomatic history and was intended to form back up for the cause or to destabilize the enemy support. Therefore, the absence of propaganda during the First World War could have some changes in the outcome. Since it was used to win neutral states, then the absence of propaganda would make it hard to win over these neutral states. The absence of propaganda would make it very hard to maintain allies during the warfare, and breaking enemy alliances would all be an uphill task. It would be a tricky affair for various governments to give justification for engaging in warfare to their population or citizens. Propaganda was commonly used and played a role during the World War I.
Reference
Barrón-Cedeno, A., Da San Martino, G., Jaradat, I., & Nakov, P. (2019, July). Proppy: A system to unmask propaganda in online news. In Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (Vol. 33, No. 01, pp. 9847-9848).
Faucher, C. (2019). Transnational Cultural Propaganda: French Cultural Policies in Britain during the Second World War. French Politics, Culture & Society, 37(1), 48-69.
The Global Water Crisis
Name
Institution
Course
Date
Water issues
Introduction
The Global Water Crisis refers to the insufficiency of available water resources that can be able to meet the demands for water use in the world. It is a situation whereby the available portable water which is not polluted in a particular place is less as compared to the demands in that particular area. It involves different concepts such as water shortage, water stress and water deficit. The supply of water continues to decrease as the demand goes up. About 1 billion people in the world today particularly in developing countries are not able to access water that is clean and safe for drinking. The global water crisis is a severe issue yet some people do not take it seriously. Some people take clean water for granted, and they waste it or even end up paying a lot of money just to drink it from small plastic bottles. Wherever people are they require water for survival; therefore, it forms the basis for life. However, there are still people today who spend so much time looking for clean water (Weber 216). People often can not access clean water because of they are unable to afford systems that they can use to convey and as well as treat water. These people often live in regions whereby there is a physical scarcity of water.
The global water crisis is caused by different factors such as population growth. A growth in population means that there is an increased demand for water and at the same time the water resources are deteriorating. Another cause of the global water crisis is climate change that could lead to longer periods of drought hence lack of enough water for people. Climate change has also led to a reduced flow of rivers and streams, receding glaciers and shrinking of lakes. Human migration also causes global water crisis because it will lead to increased competition between the water users and hence making the available water insufficient. There has also been over drafting and excessive use of ground water that has lead to the ground water resources getting depleted (Jackson and Steven 774). The overuse of water coupled with pollution of the water resources is also harming the biodiversity. Though the total water supply has not been used up completely, most of it is salted, polluted or unsuitable for industry, drinking and agriculture. It can lead to scarcity of water and hence compound the global water crisis. There have also been some regional conflicts and fights over the available water resources that have resulted to warfare (Barlow 138).
In most countries, water resources are often maintained and owned by public organizations like local governments. However, there are instances where there is the transfer of these public resources to private companies referred to as privatization. Water privatization can be loosely defined as the control or maintenance of water resources and water systems by private organizations. For instance, a company might work together with the local municipality in building and maintenance of the wastewater facility or a water treatment plant. A controversial example might be where a private company gets water from a public resource and bottle in with the aim of making a profit (Shiva 614). Water is an important public resource, and it has been under the maintenance of the public sector for a very long time. The concept of water privatization is bound to bring about a lot of controversies. Those who advocate water privatization argue that it results to an improvement in the efficiency of water and sanitation services. They also argue that it has brought about increased investment in the sector hence expanding water access. The critics of water privatization argue that it has led to an increase in tariff and has turned the water from a public good to a private good. Others also argue that water privatization is not in line with making sure that people enjoy the human right of water.
Thesis
The privatization of water might be immoral to some extent, but it also might be necessary so as to prevent human beings from causing any more natural disasters through the excessive water consumption. This paper will look at historical evidence of water overuse where people are given unlimited access to water. It will also give an economic explanation of how the privatization of water can assist in controlling human water consumption. It will also highlight water privatization and human rights. The pros and cons of water privatization will also be highlighted. Finally, it will look at reasons why water privatization occurs.
Humans overusing water and incurring natural disasters
People have always been given unlimited access to water over time. The way people have been using freshwater resources especially for agriculture leaves a lot to be desired. There are areas where these resources are overused such that the use of water exceeds their rate of renewable supply and hence cannot be continued indefinitely. There are also areas where the wasteful overuse has deprived the users in some areas hence leading to loss of jobs and fall in agricultural production. A conspicuous effect of water overuse is the drying up of large rivers such as the Shebelli, the Colorado and the HuagHe before they get to the sea. There are also some rivers that have dried up due to overuse.
Misuse of water takes place where clean water has been abstracted and taken to water systems in a state that is not stable. For instance, water that has been used for irrigation is often contaminated with pesticides, salts and herbicides. Urban centers and industries return water that is contaminated to the underground and surface sources.
Water privatization and control of human water consumption
Water privatization ensures that private companies streamline the water and sanitation services. It implies that the sector has become more efficient, and there is an improvement in quality. With the water supply in their control, they can be able to regulate how water is supplied to people. They will provide water ensuring that they are controlling the amount of water they are making available for people. It controls the human water consumption because the private companies will release enough water for people to use and hence avoid any waste. Therefore, water privatization helps in controlling of human water consumption because the private companies are in charge of the water that is released to people.
Water privatization and natural human rights to water
People have the right to water to satisfy their basic need for both personal and domestic use which is under the protection of the international human rights law. When the right is incorporated in the national legal frameworks, it can be articulated to the other water rights that are found in the wider water law body. The human right to water is acknowledged in the international law through different international documents which include international human rights treaties and declarations. The United Nations Committee on Economic, social and cultural rights clearly defined the Human right to water. The recognition of the right of humans to safe drinking water and sanitation in 2002 by the United Nations created awareness of the existing global water and sanitation crisis (Rodriguez 107).
The human right to water gives the government the responsibility of ensuring that people enjoy water that is safe, sufficient, accessible and affordable without any form of discrimination whatsoever. Governments are also supposed to take appropriate steps to make sure that there is no contamination in the water supply. They should also strive to ensure that there is no distinction in terms of accessing water amongst the citizens.
Human rights are an obligation between the state and individuals, but the state responsibility for offering water and sanitation services do not necessarily mean that the services have to be offered by the state. Water privatization has been taken to be against the human right to water and sanitation. It is taken as that because it usually coincides with an increase in prices that highlights the issue of water affordability.
Morality and immorality of water privatization
Water privatization can be seen as something both moral and immoral. The morality of water privatization revolves around the fact that with privatization water and sanitation services will be provided efficiently to everyone. The immorality of water privatization involves the motives of private companies. Private companies are concerned with profit making hence water and sanitation services might end up being more costly (Rodriguez 108).
Pros and cons of water privatization
The impact of water privatization is varied with opponents and proponents of water privatization each trying to defend their stand. The advantages of water privatization include its impact on access of water. The privatization of water supply can lead to the expansion of these services especially in low-income areas. Privatization will lead to water reaching more people and in a more efficient way. Water privatization is also efficient when it comes to operation. Private companies make a strong contribution to the financing of water and sanitation services through improvement in efficiency. It enables the utilities to finance investments internally instead of depending on debts. Water privatization also creates competition in the water and sanitation service industry. The competition ensures that the services are improved because there is no monopoly in the industry. Water privatization is also a good way of developing strong water resources in a quick way. Private companies have the capacity of increasing efficiency, improving quality and sustaining operations over a long period (Klotter 210).
The disadvantages of water privatization include the fact that private companies are only concerned in making profits and hence they end up ignoring the environmental as well as the long-term costs that come with private water practices. They concentrate too much on making money hence neglect the potential for efficiency in water use and improvement in conservation. It also reduces public accountability and can adversely affect the equity and quality of the service. Private companies are also mainly concerned with the bottom line and hence they just focus on short-term benefits. Water is considered to be an essential ingredient in life and hence allowing private companies to control water would be a disaster (Louli 14).
Government and private owners
There are various reasons as to why government hand-over water resources to private owners. A government might hand over water resources to private companies in order to increase the efficiency and also improve the quality of the service. It can also be done in order to reduce the fiscal burden of controlling water and sanitation services from the government. It is also done in order to expand access of water and sanitation services to areas where the government might fail to reach due to financial constraints (Rodriguez 115).
Governments are more reliable and trustworthy as compared to private owners. Private owners operate with the motive of making profits. On the other hand, government provides services to the public without the aim of making any profit. They carry out their operations and services with the public good in mind and hence are reliable. They can also be trusted since they care for the public and hence anything they do is centered in ensuring that the public is comfortable.
Conclusion
Water privatization may to some extent be immoral, but it may be necessary so as to prevent humans from causing any further disasters through excessive water consumption. With water privatization, there is control, and hence human water consumption is easily controlled through privatization. Those who lack access to clean water care less on who delivers it but whether they have access to water or not. The availability of water is an important thing and not who provides the water. Water privatization will ensure that the use of water is controlled and hence making water available for consumption.
Works cited
Weber, Karl. Last Call at the Oasis: The Global Water Crisis and Where We Go from Here. New York: Public Affairs, 2012. Print.
Arrojo, Pedro, Gerarda Walsh, and Spain Barcelona. Global Water Crisis: Values and Rights at Stake. Barcelona: Cristianisme I Justícia Booklets, 2010. Print.
Barlow, Maude. Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water. New York: New :, 2008. Print.
Shiva, Vandana. Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution and Profit. Cambridge, MA: South End, 2002. Print.
Spulber, Nicolas, and Asghar Sabbaghi. Economics of Water Resources: From Regulation to Privatization. Boston: Kluwer Academic, 1994. Print.
Louli, Catherine. “Water at Risk of Privatization.” Canadian Dimension 1 May 2000. Print.
Klotter, Jule. “Water Privatization. (Shorts).” Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients 1 Jan. 2003. Print.
Rodriguez, Raul. “The Debate on Privatization of Water Utilities: A Commentary.” International Journal of Water Resources Development (2009): 107-12. Print.
Draper, Stephen E. “Limits To Water Privatization.” Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management (2010): 493. Print.
Oelkers, E. H., J. G. Hering, and C. Zhu. “Water: Is There a Global Crisis?” Elements (2007): 157-62. Print.
Jackson, Steven J. “Writing the Global Water Crisis.” Technology and Culture (2009): 773-78. Print.