The following story is about a historical event that happened in ancient Rome many centuries ago. The city was captured by the Gauls and destroyed utterly, so Romans lost their houses and all the buildings were in ruins except for several temples that survived the attack. The most famous general back in that era was Camillus, who had a tough faith and suffered through multiple challenges throughout his life. At some point, he was captured due to the false accusations and removed from duty, but when the attack of the Gauls happened, he was asked to help bring back the city, and due to his attempts, the Gauls left the city.
In 390 B.C.E., the Gauls headed to the gates of Rome to conquer the city to occupy it and make the citizens surrender by challenging them with famine. They arrived to find the city mostly abandoned and with very few people capable of fighting to resist the attack. All the civilians who had stayed gathered in the Citadel, hoping it would strategically help protect themselves. At the same time, priests took relics and escaped as well as some marginals who managed to take the edible supplies along the way (Dyck). Once the Gauls realized they could take Rome effortless, they began to kill citizens and rob them, leaving everything in ruins.
Nevertheless, when the enemies attempted to attack the Citadel, they were exposed in the open space and were entirely defeated by the Romans. This is why they chose to starve them until they surrendered, but the Gauls did not consider that they burned most of the crops and supplies during the occupation and had a shortage of food themselves. At the same time, Camillus organized the citizens of Ardea into an improvised army to resist the attack of the Gauls. He managed to unexpectedly assault the troop of the enemies and kill them all.
Continuing the attack on Rome, the Gauls tried to invade the Citadel. They almost succeeded and even managed to pass the guarding dogs without waking them up when the honk of the sacred geese by Juno’s temple notified the Romans that the enemies were coming (Dyck). The general fought two soldiers, and the rest of the army joined him. They pushed the enemies from the wall and resisted their attack of that night that could drastically change the faith of the Romans.
The Gauls were holding the Romans inside the Citadel for seven long months. However, it all came to an end when the supplies of both sides finished, and everyone started to suffer from terrible hunger. In addition, the Gauls had malaria that caused the death of many warriors and significantly reduced the number of the army for the required win. Despite the opportunities to beat the enemies, Romans were too exhausted and weak from the famine and blockade that lasted for months.
Eventually, they agreed to surrender and pay a decent amount of gold to the opponents so they would leave them peacefully. However, there are several theories on what happened next, and different sources suggest multiple ideas. Living, for example, claims that when the Gauls refused to leave the city by the Camillus command, they started to fight. Since the enemies were strengthless, they were easily defeated by the general (Dyck). Consequently, all those events made Romans realize the weakness in their defense and the military forces that led to that scenario, so they worked on the improvement of the protection.
Work Cited
Dyck, Ludwig H. The Sack of Rome by the Gauls, 390 BCE. World History Encyclopedia, 2018. Web.
A US Diapers Firm’s Entry Into The Brazilian Market
Introduction
The proposed initiative, the Brazilian market entry of a U.S. manufacturer of disposable diapers, requires particular attention due to the differences in conditions of the two locations. The conflicting views regarding the use of an original advertising message and the responsibility for pricing decisions alongside the trends of the marketplace development might adversely affect the outcome of the project. Therefore, it is vital to clarify the circumstances of the matter to ensure the success of the company.
Advertising Message
The suggestion to keep the advertising message, which has been effective in the United States, unchanged does not seem feasible from the perspectives of cultural and other important factors. The population of Brazil is generally younger; they are characterized by a significant gap in incomes, the tendency to save as much as possible when shopping, and loyalty to their favorite brands (“Advertising and marketing in Brazil,” 2020). They also appreciate the quality of goods, accompanying services, and customer support and demonstrate trust in social media when searching for information before purchasing (“Advertising and marketing in Brazil,” 2020). From this point of view, the advertising should be modified with regard to the identified specificities, and they primarily include the need for a strong online presence and increasing the attractiveness of the product. The latter can be done by demonstrating the best value for money. Hence, the message should be realigned in accordance with their characteristics, and the failure to do so might lead to a lack of interest in the product in the future.
Pricing Decisions
The pricing decisions in Brazil will also be influenced by the considerations provided above and, therefore, should not be delegated to the local managers. The principal obstacle, in this case, will be related to their desire to readjust the initial price of the product with the market’s needs. In other words, they will attempt to make it as attractive as possible. Taking into account the low purchasing power of Brazilian customers, the most optimal solution will be the reduction of the price. However, there are no data attesting to the possibility of a shift in people’s incomes, and this fact defines the probability of failure to raise it in the future. In this situation, the suggested market entry will be unprofitable.
Prospective Development of the Market
The emergence of enormous global markets for standardized customer products within twenty years is likely to happen, but this reason is not sufficient for ensuring the firm’s growth in Brazil. This event will increase the profits, but the presence of stronger players in the market will not contribute to a rapid rise in sales. For example, at present, Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, and Unicharm producing diapers are the leaders, and the competition in this field is already intense (“Baby diapers,” 2017). Therefore, the current rates of annual growth of the market by 4.90% might not be beneficial for the firm but, on the contrary, enhance the development of large enterprises instead of small companies (“Baby diapers,” 2017). Thus, the probability of this outcome does not allow relying on it.
Conclusion
To summarize, the proposed market entry in Brazil will be profitable but only if the required conditions are met. They include the reorientation on local customers in advertising and the refusal from the involvement of local managers who are likely to establish low prices. In this way, the success will be moderate since the potential emergence of global markets realises standardized products will be advantageous mostly for big corporations.
References
Advertising and marketing in Brazil. (2020). Nordea Trade. Web.
Baby diapers. (2017). Statista.
Affirmative Action As A Solution To The Race Issue
The issue of race has always been a source of concern within the American community. Due to years of oppression and the legacy of slavery, which affects the relationships between African Americans and white Americans to this day, the necessity to reconsider the current approach toward the provision of equal opportunities and the distribution of social befits becomes obvious. Since social well-being and the chances to avoid poverty are often predicated on the extent of social capital allotted to an individual, and since African American people often become the target for social insecurity and the threat of poverty due to the presence of prejudices and discrimination within the American community, it is central to create an affirmative action that will serve as the leverage for offering extra support to the specified demographic as highly vulnerable.
The inclusion of affirmative action into the context of modern American society will help to focus not only on obvious economic inequalities but also on the underlying social issues that prevent people from perceiving African American people as complete and independent members of society. Specifically, with the use of the affirmative action model as a template for managing the relationships between African American people and the rest of the U.S. community, the possibility of the gradual deviation from the current framework for seeing the accomplishments or problems of African American people being tethered to their race may eventually disappear (Warikoo & Allen, 2020). Specifically, as Williams (2015) rightfully mentions, both the successes and failures of Black people are typically connected to their race and ethnic background, with the emphasis on the observed success being an extraordinary phenomenon: “When a middle-class black person becomes a gymnastics medalist, people won’t say it’s because of that extra African muscle she is rumored to have in her buttocks; instead she’ll be lifted up as a role model of focus, aplomb and very hard work” (Williams, 2015, para. 3). In turn, the introduction of the affirmative action as the means of controlling and addressing the instances of social injustice must be seen as a crucial change that will gradually allow managing the problem of racism and social injustice in American society.
Even though Williams (2015) specifies that the wealth gap is not the only marker of the current presence of inequality within the U.S. community, it is still essential to consider the manner in which financial well-being and the threat of being subjected to racism are correlated. Indeed, despite the fact that overcoming the financial gap is possible for a range of African Americans, a substantial part of the target population is still affected by the socioeconomic issues caused primarily by racist attitudes, namely, the inability to get the opportunity of proper education, the lack of chances for a lucrative career, and similar concerns, as the critical theory of race suggests (Christian et al., 2019). Therefore, the economic factor as the foundational core of concerns should still be seen as the most evident sign of the need to implement affirmative action and create extra opportunities for the African American community to succeed.
However, reverting back to Williams’ argument, it is worth noting that the wealth gap is by far not the only factor that determines the extent of discrimination experienced by African American people. Indeed, the fact that in areas such as sport, the specified population is still subjected to racism, which shapes the audiences’ expectations and the perception of African American people’s success, subsequently diminishing it, proves that affirmative action is, indeed, needed. One could argue that the introduction of affirmative action will not erase the presence of prejudices and, specifically, racism within the American community. Indeed, as a legal measure rather than the social one, it only introduces the opportunity for African American people to gain extra opportunities in certain areas (Salter et al., 2018). However, once firmly integrated into the setting of the American community, affirmative action can also be viewed as the precursor to a stupendous social change. Namely, as soon as the principles of Affirmative action are enacted and a new system of distributing social capital is launched, a change in the attitudes toward African American people is likely to occur.
When it comes to analyzing the factors that will make the application of affirmative action particularly necessary and enhance the effect of change that it will produce, one should mention the idea of colorblindness that has been nearly perpetuated within the U.S. community. Although being seemingly well-intended, the refusal to acknowledge the presence of differences between African American people and white Americans may lead to the erasure of the very fact that the latter demographic still suffers serve discrimination. Moreover, the promotion of colorblindness will imply the neglect of the legacy of African American history, which includes the history of racial discrimination. As a result, the promotion of equity and equality will become impossible in the context where race is regarded as insignificant (Moore, 2018). For this reason, affirmative action must become a part of state policy.
Overall, the integration of affirmative action into American society must be seen as an indispensable step in managing the extent of racism that African American people face. With the introduction of affirmative action as the critical step in managing the problem of racial inequality and the resulting presence of social injustice toward African American people, chances for the target population to be perceived as people first and be judged on the merit of their accomplishments and not their race. At the same time, it is important to secure the legacy of African American history and culture so that the challenges faced by the target population could be acknowledged and that the rights and freedoms of African American people could be well respected.
Due to the continuous discrimination to which African American people are subjected as a result of racism has become deeply ingrained into the core of American society, creating affirmative action as the means of leveraging the chances for African American people to succeed is vital. Despite the presence of examples of African American people being successful not only on the merit of their unique qualities but also from the perspective of their wealth and income, the specified demographic still has to face a devastating amount of racism and prejudices. Therefore, building a platform that will allow not only equality but also equity for the African American population is essential. Thus, Williams (2015) is entirely correct in her assertion that an affirmative action is an indispensable tool in addressing the problem of racial inequality, particularly, the discrimination of African American people, within American society. Once the basis for equal treatment of African American people and the rest of the U.S. community is provided, the chance to address the massive injustice observed currently within the U.S. setting will be possible.
References
Christian, M., Seamster, L., & Ray, V. (2019). New directions in critical race theory and sociology: Racism, white supremacy, and resistance. American Behavioral Scientist, 63(13), 1731-1740. Web.
Moore, W. L. (2018). Maintaining supremacy by blocking affirmative action. Contexts, 17(1), 54-59. Web.
Salter, P. S., Adams, G., & Perez, M. J. (2018). Racism in the structure of everyday worlds: A cultural-psychological perspective. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(3), 150-155. Web.
Warikoo, N., & Allen, U. (2020). A solution to multiple problems: the origins of affirmative action in higher education around the world. Studies in Higher Education, 45(12), 2398-2412. Web.
Williams, P. J. (2015). We need race-based affirmative action. The New York Times. Web.