Business overview of British American Tobacco

Business overview of British American Tobacco British American Tobacco (BAT) is the world’s second largest tobacco group by global market share. BAT produces cigarettes demanded by one-eighth of the world’s one billion adult smokers and this particular company is holding robust market position in each of their regions. Besides that, BAT has leadership in more than 50 markets. Based on last year’s performances (2009), BAT’s subsidiaries enabled the worldwide government to gather more than  £26 billion a year in taxes, including excise duty on their products which total up to almost nine times the Group’s profit after tax. BAT, which was founded in 1902, has existed as a significant global presence for over 100 years. By 1912, the company had become one of the world’s top dozen companies by market capitalization. This company works with thousands of tobacco farmers worldwide, producing some 724 billion cigarettes through 50 cigarette factories over 41 countries. The company employs more than 600,000 people worldwide. BAT’s workforce is of multi-cultural and they have devolved structure, with each local company having wide freedom of action and responsibility for their own operations. Within a framework of principles, standards, policies, strategies and delegated authorities, decisions are made as close as possible to the local stakeholders of each business. BAT operates according to responsibility seeing that their products pose risks to health. The business stresses on managed responsibility as it is integral to their strategy and through dialogue with their stakeholders, they are working towards commercial objectives in ways consistent with changing expectations of a modern tobacco business. This international tobacco group is the only group with a significant interest in tobacco leaf growing. Their companies run leaf programmes providing direct agronomy support to farmers, covering all aspects of crop production and environmental best practice. In 2009, the group purchased about 400,000 tonnes of tobacco leaves, grown by more than 250,000 farmers. BAT ensures the employees’ welfare. The company has specially carried out a global employee opinion survey also known as â€Å"Your Voice† to give them a secure and confidential way to voice their opinion about working at British American Tobacco. BAT’s business starts with their consumers and brands. The company focuses more on meeting preferences of adults who have chosen to consume tobacco and differentiating their brands from their competitors rather than encouraging people to start smoking or to smoke more. The business’ portfolio of more than 250 brands is based on distinct ‘must-win’ consumer segments which are: international, premium, lights and adult smokers aged below 30. ‘Dunhill’, ‘Kent’, ‘Lucky Strike’ and ‘Pall Mall’ are the four Global Drive Brands which cover the premium and value for money price segments. They grew by 4 per cent in 2009 (8 billion more cigarettes). The business is also increasing the profile of Vogue in the super premium segment and Viceroy, a leading low price international brand besides developing their Global Drive Brands. The growth of their brands is driven by innovation ranging from filters to flavours and packaging to cigarette formats. The business provides a mix of brand balanced between premium, mid-price and low-price. Besides that, the business applies the four managerial functions in its organization management; planning, organizing, leading and controlling. We have also interviewed a manager of British American Tobacco Singapore for further understanding.

Value of Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Value of Music - Essay Example Music listening is such an involvement that facilitates a healing environment. Music allows people to relate their emotions with themselves and gives them a feeling of self-awareness which leads to a better life overall. Music is a safe, cheap and easily used tool for helping people to manage pain, confusion, and other such issues that are wrongly interfering in their lives. Music sure can lead to an emotional response and arouse certain emotions in a person; however, it can also form emotional habits in a person and when he listens to a certain kind of music his emotions do not need another stimulus to arise. Aristotle wrote about this phenomenon in these words â€Å"by music a man becomes accustomed to feeling the right emotions† (Marshall, 1953, p. 229). If music is used in healing environments it would prove to be helpful and would assist in the promotion of mental as well as physical health. It is said that music is a universal language that allows understanding among dif ferent cultures; similarly, music is also a universal language within the body and it leads to better living (Gardner, 1990). Several genres of music exist all around the world. One such is hip hop which reflects the feel that women are objects to be used and disposed of; they do not have any value. It is assumed that anyone who would listen to such music would get against the female population since music does affect the emotions and habits of the listener. Powell has argued that such sexism exists in hip hop in order to â€Å"silence feminist critiques of the culture† (McLune). However, what about the fact that the females grow up in such an environment as well yet their character is not questioned like that of black men? If we look at Powell’s argument it would be very apparent that it is perfectly okay for sexism to exist if there is the phenomenon of poverty. This, however, makes no sense because whites can also do what black men do, there being no difference betw een them besides the colour of their skin. If there is no such difference where does the difference occur in sexism in music? And then there is the fact that female rappers also exist. How can a person go against his own kind like these women who talk shit about the rest of the female population? Of course, they mean it for the actual bitchy women, and not everyone. But is this excuse even valid? Music has a psychological aspect to it and it can affect an individual very positively or negatively, depending on the kind of music being listened to. It can improve a person’s mental health, calm and relax him and prove to be intellectually stimulating. Such is the case with adults, teens and children alike. Music has an effect on our emotions and affects the way we think. Through music we can successfully communicate and discuss concepts. Music is a way of life. It even unites people and bridges gaps among those who may not have anything else in common. It soothes us and conveys a message of brotherhood. Music is something which awakens from the extreme depth of a person’s soul, his emotion and thus it is an important aspect to be studied in emotion psychology. Every kind of music has its own way and thus a distinct interpretation. It all depends on the composer that is how he chooses to convey his message, whether it is in sadness, loyalty, anger or any other emotion. In fact, music has proven to be a very emotional communication tool. The kind of music we listen to can have a great effect on the kind of person we are and the type of personality we adopt. The intensity and frequency of music can surely affect our mental health, whether it is positively or negatively since that depends on what kind we are listening to. However, an argument presented by (Jones) says that violent media is good for kids. We just talked about the different genres of music affecting people in different ways, with the violent, negative and strong music disturbing individual s and negatively affecting their habits and

Communicating Effectively with Someone Who is Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing Essay

Communicating Effectively with Someone Who is Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing - Essay Example Barnett (2002) states that effective communication is essential and will undoubtedly lead to good outcomes in assisting patients. Effective communication will lead to better management in healthcare. There are important skills that could significantly facilitate communicating with patients who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, and these skills will be discussed in this essay. B. Skills that contribute to effective hearing According to Power and Power (2004, p. 350), acquisition of communication skills enables students to work effectively as healthcare providers. Skills required to deal with particular patients depend on the individual and will vary with age. Steinberg et al. (2006, p. 262) add that the majority of those with hearing issues are elderly. They report poor health as compared to general population, an issue which is attributed to communication. Effective communication helps the deaf and those hard-of-hearing to give their medical history and have appropriate intervention. The health care provider is required to assess the deaf or hard-of-hearing person’s background, language knowledge and level of education to select the best skills to use in communication (Samady et al., 2008, p. 480). Barnett (2002) notes that the deaf or hard-of-hearing use sign language, especially if they grew up with the challenge from childhood. Some learn to use visual language such as reading of lips. Those who become deaf or hard-of-hearing in adulthood experience hardships in mastering communication skills. However, they have the advantage of having been able to speak; therefore, it becomes easier to communicate in the same language. Power and Power (2004, p. 350) reveal that a combination of verbal and non-verbal skills is required for effective communication with deaf or hard-of-hearing patients. These skills include speech reading or lip reading; writing; listening to speech; mastering a system of visual language; and visual aids or using an interpreter. For effectiv e communication, a combination of one, two or more of the skills may be necessary. Speech reading is common with people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. They learn as they grow, depending on the common language used. The major challenge with speech reading is that not all speech sounds are represented on the lips during speech. For speech reading to be successful, there should be a distance and enough light to see the lips of the speaker. The conversation should not be done in a hurry. Avoid sounds that may cause discomfort (Meador & Zazove, 2005, p. 219). Lezzoni et al. (2010, p. 356) claim that visual aids have been successfully used and can be used in the healthcare context. Healthcare providers can use diagrams, pictures or charts to make clarifications and show medical terminology. Those who can only hear will listen and only give gestures as a reply. They may nod, smile, shake hands and use other gestures to communicate. The gestures will vary depending on the community where they live. O’Hearn (2006) adds that visual aids should be clear and correctly labeled. When they are used, they should be placed close to the speaker so that eye contact is maintained. Visual language is