Colgate Marketing Plan analysis

Colgate Marketing Plan analysis Colgate has realised the significance of marketing plan in its 200 years of existence. This is essential towards understanding the business plans, aims, and communicating the companys horizon within the operational market. This report will focus on the marketing plan for the new Colgate toothbrush called 360 Actiflex, as part of Oral care and Health products which comprises of Tooth paste, Tooth brush, Mouth wash and dental floss. Oral care is important because research indicate that a clean mouth prevents gum disease and prevent heart disease. The plan will address the niche market of dental professional which will recommend the product to their clients and the product brand name will remain to be Colgate. Situation Analysis Colgate Palmolive has been in existence for over 200 hundred years and they operate in more than 70 countries such as Brazil, America, Latin America, Asian etc which will enable to penetrate the new market easily. This is as a result of their brand, experience, capacity in term of resources and existing structure. Product Classification The 360 Actiflex brush with flexible head for cheek and tongue cleaner is design to clean all direction, to remove bacteria from your teeth, cheek, gum and tongue for healthier mouth. Customers want toothbrush that can give them healthy clean teeth and breathe at a reasonable price. Market Summary Colgate Palmolive is aiming to increase its market share in toothbrush which is currently at 30% in 2009 by demonstrating proficiency and professionalism by serving new and existing customers. Through the RD, Colgate has been able to improve their existing products and introduce more products which meet the customers need in dental care. Market Needs According to research, customers only need two or three toothbrushes a year. 65% of customers have more than one toothbrush, 24% keep brush at work 54% have special toothbrush for travelling. Buying Behaviour Pattern Customers base their purchase of tooth brush on how comfortable it feels in their mouth, whether it is soft enough and suits their mouth size or flexible enough. Their purchase is also base on the ability of the toothbrush to remove food particles, plaque removal and gum stimulation. SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths Colgate maintains strong relationship with dental professional, wholesalers and retailers. Have a good communication with the consumers through media and other social resources Extensive industry knowledge and expertise Well designed training programme. Ability to convince customers to spend more though continual rebranding and growing company sales by releasing new twists on under established brands. Weaknesses Increase competition where other competitors produce the same products. The recent recession has impact on the reduction of planned expansion. Opportunities Oral care is a growing industry with the ever changing customers taste. Continuous innovation using the idea technology challenge. Threats Changes in exchange rates for foreign currencies, which may reduce the U.S. dollar value of revenue, receive from oversea market sales. Political or economic instability or changing macroeconomic conditions in our major markets, Lack of well-established or reliable legal systems in certain areas where the Company operates, Objective Setting Colgate by introducing the 360 Actiflex toothbrush is aiming to achieve the following objectives: To retain the 20% existing loyal customers To increase current awareness level of brand from 5% to 15% in 12 months through integrated campaign of advertising, sales promotion and sponsorship. To acquire more customers by targeting the luxury segments of the market. Strategy Development The objective of Colgate Palmolive is to position the company as continuous market leader of oral care and Heath care, serving domestic market as well as international market. To enter the market Colgate will start with our dental professionals whom we have collaboration with in our existing various areas of operation. The company will make small adaptation upon on this product which will permit to save cost. There will be a launch of the product in selected dental professionals where the demonstration of how the product is use will be provided. Tactics As part of tactic the large advertising campaigns will be launched through promotion activities which will include advertising by posters, television, outdoor adverts, online adverts. B: CRITICALLY EVALUATE THE MARKETING PLAN, IN PARTICULAR ITS MARKETING ENVIRONMENT. Marketing environment entails the players and powers outside the marketing that affect management steadiness to build and sustain effective relationships with target customers. Prosperous Companies mostly identify the vital importance of continuously observing and adapting to the ever-changing environment. The marketing environment of a company can be categorised into two areas this include macro environment and micro environment, the macro environment include the main actors of the company involved in producing, distributing, and promoting the offering. The marketing environment analysis can provide insight of online and offline competitive environments. Using Five Forces Model, Porter explains that in any industry there are five forces that influence what happens within the industry, these five forces combine to make up the business environment. By studying the structure of dynamics between these forces, the company can discover opportunities for improving the marketing strategies. When developing company marketing plan which include the marketing, this can not be completely ruled out strategies Colgate Palmolive can identify the forces as: The Threat of new entrants There has been n o major new entrant to the industry for the past few years leaving the giant manufacturer of consumer goods like Colgate and others to dominate the scene. However, no major changes appear to be existing barriers to entry such as the economies of scale already benefited by the Colgate as a player who have been in the business for long. As a result of difficult trading conditions in the environment, capital requirements and integration costs are high due to the downturn in the increase interest rates rises. Power of supplier Tighter credit markets may lead to business disruptions for certain of the suppliers, contract manufacturers or trade customers which could, in turn, adversely impact colgate business. Even though this look impossible as the supplier will not want to loss Colgate business because of its global presence worldwide, this cannot be totally ruled out. Competitive Rivalry Significant competition in the industry could affect the business, for instance the rigorous competition around the world, especially from the bigger multinational consumer product companies who have greater resources than Colgate. The ability to compete depends on the strength of our brands and on our ability to protect our patent, trademark and trade dress rights and to defend against related challenges brought by competitors. A failure to compete effectively could adversely affect the growth and profitability of the company Limitation of the Five forces method The limitation of this method is the interaction of the forces with each other especially in relation to the cosmetic life cycle which affect the competitive forces significantly. Media/IT Interference at Colgate Palm Olive In 200 years of existence, information technology and media has assisted to develop a vibrant organization at Colgate. As the trend in IT changes over the years, it has also been reflected in every operations the organization. Starting with the ancient IBM system units of early 1950s to the first consumer computers of 1977 (Apple I, II III), Colgate has grown alongside to compliment the transition with time. In the modern era, parts of the positive impacts can be seen in bulletin board services, computer conferencing, computer output on microfilm, communication network, decision support systems, Electronic mail (e-mail), Electronic spread sheet, Telex, video chat, teleconferencing and the likes has been a major contribution of IT and media to the industry. Not to mention the advanced electronic instrumentation for packaging and transportation that we could notice at every stage of production. Marketing to a layman can now be found on twitter, facebook, youtube, text messaging, google, eposters and the likes. On a negative side, insecurity of data and records has been a major setback of modern IT and media in marketing. The major fear here lies in the future of the system whether or not it still pose similar advantages or negative significance. All the aforementioned means of marketing in the modern era has lots of impacts both positively and negatively: Positive Impacts of Media/IT Marketing speed and Convenience Modern IT/media has posed lots of advantages on how fast information can be disseminated. A SATA system has a data transfer rate of 300Mb/s (Wisegeek 2011). It indicates that a huge data of the size of a disc could be communicated to a large set of audience in less than one second. Marketing is now possible 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Customers can now bridge the queuing problems at stores (Hollensen 2007). Cheaper dissemination routes Because of easy means of data flow, the cost of distribution has fallen considerably over time. It cots as low as 50 pence to fax a page whereas millions of pages will sent across the internet/media at almost a free distribution cost. Apart from the fact that the whole world receives the information at once and at the same quality, the impacts are the same with the impression expressed. Moreover, it is possible to search for the lowest price available for brands (Hollensen 2007). Online financial services are also possible through these means. Effective communication Media and IT has made it possible to decide on target audience, detailed information like product, availability, and pricing are provided for the people. Through the use of multimedia, the customers could have a better understanding of their needs by for example depicting the interior decorations or by showing the beauty of housing estates. Means of reducing workloads Marketing requires lots of workloads which have been reduced by adopting information technology. IT supports the full range of organizational functions and processes that delivers products and services to customers and other key stakeholders (Chaffey et al. 2000). Different functional parts of the organization can be corporately glued with the aid of this tool. Negative Impacts of Media/IT Despite the raging benefits enjoyed by the organizations using IT/Media, the following fears are yet to be addressed: Authentication Identity problem is still yet a major problem of modern marketing. The use of passwords as a safe key has been compounded by the hacking programmers. Loop holes have been created in lots of marketing links. This has posed a challenge to the future of e-marketing/media communication systems. Spam Disease Spam diseases in marketing involves filtering off of positive information from the direct sender by hackers or computer viruses Data Saturation Crashing marketing There is tendency for marketing crash of similar products from different manufacturers. Sometimes we found it difficult identifying the differences in the advertisement from similar companies. Insecurity channels Crackers often capture details rendering the marketing system unsafe for customers. Many fears have been expressed by customers on crackers capturing the credit/debit card details. This is still a threat to be investigated in future of information technology and media. References S Hollensen (2007) Global Marketing A decision-oriented approach, fourth edition pp. 499-506. Wisegeek (2011) A website on data transfer rate, [online], Available at www.wisegeek.com/what-is-data-transfer-rate.htm Assessed: 29 Mar. 11

Essay on Jealousy in Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, and Winters Tale

Jealousy in Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, and Winter's Tale    The common thread of jealousy ties together the main plots in Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, and The Winter's Tale. In each of these plays, the main conflict is centered around some form of jealousy. While jealousy is the mutual, most prominent cause for turmoil in these plays, its effects on the characters, and ultimately the plots, is different in each case. This difference has much to do with the way in which the concept of jealousy is woven into each play, and what it is intended to accomplish. In Othello, the jealousy factor is deliberately introduced by Iago, with the precise intention of destroying those whom he feels have wronged him. Since it is intentionally used with malicious intent, it has catastrophic results. Iago himself is jealous of Cassio; he feels that he should have been appointed to Cassio's position by Othello, and since he wasn't he hates both Othello and Cassio. Iago channels the jealousy that Othello and Cassio have made him feel, and uses it against them in a hateful plan. Iago starts the process by planting the seeds of jealousy in Othello's mind, telling him Desdemona has been unfaithful. He then proceeds to cultivate the growing jealousy by feeding it with more lies, and twisting innocent events into situations which would serve his needs (his telling Othello that Cassio and Desdemona met in secret, and convincing him that Desdemona vied for Cassio's reinstatement as lieutenant because she loved him, for example). When the seeds had flourished, and Iago had succeeded in driving Othello mad with jealousy, Iago harvested his crop and convinced Othello to kill Desdemona. Othello's killing Desdemona would both rid Iago of Desde... ...l effects, and when the mistake of jealousy was revealed the problem was solved and every one could be happy. In each of these plays, jealousy is used as a means of producing a conflict and creating trouble in the lives of the characters. The jealousy in each play, although it is introduced in a different way, always involves a man being jealous of his wife (or fiancà ©e, in Hero's case) being unfaithful with another man. Whether he misinterpret something he sees, or believe slanderous lies, the man's jealousy builds until it forces him to do something to punish his unfaithful woman. At the end of each play, the man is made to realize his mistake, but sometimes the damage can not be undone. Jealousy is the main crisis in each type of play - tragedy, trage-comedy, and comedy - but its results lie strictly in the way it is introduced, and the intended severity.   

Definition Essay - Can Love be Defined? -- Expository Definition Essay

Can Love be Defined? The other day I was babysitting my three-year-old niece, a most conniving little angel. As she sat gawking at my girlfriend's brother, Matthew, who was eating potato chips, she told me that she loved me "so much." She had already devoured her potato chips, but she obviously wanted more. Many more expressions of love proceeded to drip from her lips. Finally, the question came; "Reg, can I have some more chips?" At first, I thought this little show of bribery was cute and funny, but then I started to think about the true meaning of love. What is true love? Poets, philosophers, religious leaders, and the American media all have different definitions for this word. Too often, love is conceived as doing whatever it takes to get your potato chips. However, true love involves much more than personal satisfaction. Our society uses the term "love" far too lightly. Having been guilty of this offense myself, I admit my guilt. I often say, "I love Mexican food," or, "I love my truck." Love, however, is not just a happy feeling we get when something nice pleases us. Love is a verb. Love is the action of giving yourself totally to one person without expecting anything in return. Love is being willing to put aside your own needs in order to meet the needs of others. Giving up your weekend trip to the beach in order to take care of your sick mother is one example of love. A destitute mother giving up her one piece of bread to feed her sick little boy is another example of love. The ultimate expression of love is being willing to lay down your own life in the place of another. Love is giving, not getting. Too often our love is conditional. We often hear, "I will love you if you meet my needs," or, "I will love you... ...n who did just that. Two thousand years ago, on a hill outside of Jerusalem, Jesus of Nazareth was nailed to a cross. Three nails brutally pierced his hands and feet. Being a Christian, I believe that Jesus died on that cross to save me from an eternity in Hell. Jesus laid down his life in my place. This is the greatest love anyone has ever shown me, and my definition of love comes straight from that historical death. Would I lay down my life for anyone? I would consider going to the gas chamber in the place of very few people; this would be the ultimate test of my love. However, there are smaller ways that love can be shown. Washing dishes for my girlfriend, babysitting my niece, or even taking my mom out to eat are three small ways of showing my love. The next time I tell someone that I love them, I will be sure to follow through with the actions to prove it.

History of Mathematics Essay

If D is between A and B, then AD + DB = AB (Segment Addition Postulate). And segment AB has exactly one midpoint which is D (Midpoint Postulate). The midsegment of a triangle is a segment that connects the midpoints of two sides of a triangle. Midsegment Theorem states that the segment that joins the midpoints of two sides of a triangle is parallel to the third side and has a length equal to half the length of the third side. In the figure show above (and below), DE will always be equal to half of BC. Given ? ABC with point D the midpoint of AB and point E the midpoint of AC and point F is the midpoint of BC, the following can be concluded: Since the tangent of circle is perpendicular to the radius drawn to the tangency point, both radii of the two orthogonal circles A and B drawn to the point of intersection and the line segment connecting the centres form a right triangle. If and are the equations of the two circles A and B, then by Pythagorean theorem, is the condition of the orthogonality of the circles. A Saccheri quadrilateral is a quadrilateral that has one set of opposite sides called the legs that are congruent, the other set of opposite sides called the bases that are disjointly parallel, and, at one of the bases, both angles are right angles. It is named after Giovanni Gerolamo Saccheri, an Italian Jesuit priest and mathematician, who attempted to prove Euclid’s Fifth Postulate from the other axioms by the use of a reductio ad absurdum argument by assuming the negation of the Fifth Postulate. In hyperbolic geometry, since the angle sum of a triangle is strictly less than radians, then the angle sum of a quadrilateral in hyperbolic geometry is strictly less than radians. Thus, in any Saccheri quadrilateral, the angles that are not right angles must be acute. Some examples of Saccheri quadrilaterals in various models are shown below. In each example, the Saccheri quadrilateral is labelled as ABCD, and the common perpendicular line to the bases is drawn in blue. For hundreds of years mathematicians tried without success to prove the postulate as a theorem, that is, to deduce it from Euclid’s other four postulates. It was not until the last century or two that four mathematicians, Bolyai, Gauss, Lobachevsky, and Riemann, working independently, discovered that Euclid’s parallel postulate could not be proven from his other postulates. Their discovery paved the way for the development of other kinds of geometry, called non-Euclidean geometries. Non-Euclidean geometries differ from Euclidean geometry only in their rejection of the parallel postulate but this single alteration at the axiomatic foundation of the geometry has profound effects in its logical consequences. The Lobachevsky geometry is therefore consists of these statements: ? There are lines that are parallel which are everywhere equidistant. ? In any triangle the sum of the three angles is two right angles which is 180 degrees. ? Straight lines parallel to the same line are parallel to each other. ? There exist geometric figures similar with same shape but of different size to other geometric figures. ? Given three points, there is a circle that passes through all three. ? If three angles of a quadrilateral are right angles, then the fourth angle is a right angle. ? There is no triangle in which all three angles are as small as we please. ? There exist squares or equilateral quadrilaterals with four right angles.

Differnce between IBO Religion and Christianity Essay

After reading, Things Fall Apart, we might ask what are the differences between the religions that the Ibo Clan practice, compared to a highly practiced religion, Christianity. Some of the differences are how the Ibo religion practice polytheism, belief in more then one God, and the Christians practice monotheism, belief in only one God, the creator of Heaven and Earth, his name is God. Others are, how they believe in animated Gods, which are alive and there Gods can be seen, and Christianity believes in inanimate gods, which their God is eternal. There is a huge difference between the Ibo Clan religion and Christianity, it will be shown. When Mr. Brown, the missionary, comes to the village of Umuofia to spread the word of God to the Ibo Clan, he met Akunna. Mr. Brown and Akunna has a conversation about their differences in religion, Akunna telling Mr. Brown that the Ibo Clan believes in one supreme God but had others that they worship, the name of their God is Chucku, because â€Å"he made all the world and not other Gods.† Akunna also mentions to Mr. Brown that they also worship carved wood, â€Å"they tree from which it came was made by Chukwu, as indeed other minor God were† Akunna tells Mr. Brown that the Ibo religion â€Å"make sacrifices to the little gods, but when all else fails there is no one to turn to they go to Chuckw.† (180) Another God, besides the carved wood, that the Ibo worship, is the Oracle of the Hills and Caves. The Ibo believe that they must do whatever the Oracle of the Hills says, if the don’t the people of the village will be punished. An example of this is when the Oracle of the Hills pronounces that Ikemefuma, the boy living with Okonkwo, need to be killed. Since the Oracle of the Hills and Caves says that it must be done, â€Å"the men of Umuofia took the boy outside the village and killed him† (57). The Ibo religion is very different from Christianity. Since Christianity only believes in one God, they don’t have all of these other Gods as the people of Umuofia believed in, such as the carved wood, and the Oracle of the Hills and Caves. Sometimes thinking that the Ibo religion would only have one or two gods, but they didn’t. Included with the other Gods that they worship, there was  another which was the snake known as the sacred python. When the Christian missionaries come to the village, the son of the snake priest says that he â€Å"ate and killed the sacred python† (185). The son of the snake priest was named Enoch, he did eat the sacred python, when he decided to convert to Christianity. This is one huge difference between the Ibo Clan and Christianity, of how and what they worship. However there are some differences between Ibo and Christianity is the belief in animate Gods, and inanimate Gods. Christians have an inanimate God, which means that He cannot be seen, and Christians also believe that God is eternal. Unlike Christianity, the Ibo believe in animated Gods, which are alive and their Gods can be seen, such as the spirits. When the Ibo Clan would talk to their spirits, as when the egwugwu had emerged once again from their underground home, they saluted on another and then reappeared on the ilo (92). The Ibo Clan Gods’ emerged from underground, and that they speak to them just as humans would. Comparing that to the Christians way, is different. Christians don’t believe of having spirits rise from the dead, or from the underground to come and solve problems. Christians just believe that God is number one, and that they pray to God for helping them solve problems, but not face to face as the Ibo Clan claims to do with their Gods. Another contrast between the two religions is the practice of polygamy compared to monogamy. Polygamy is what the Ibo Clan practice, which is having many wives at one time. In Umuofia, the more wives a man had, the better, just like Okonkwo, he had three wives, and â€Å"another man in the village was a wealthy man who had three barns and nine wives with thirty children† (18). But this is all common practice for the men in Umuofia to have more then one wife. Each wife and her children would live in different huts, and the man lives by himself in his obi. In contrast, Christians practice monogamy and that’s being married to one wife at a time, Christians believe that when a man and women become united in Christ, they become one. In conclusion, Things Fall Apart portrays, social, culture, and religious aspects of Africa. Christianity and Ibo are both types of religions, but they are practiced in very different ways. A difference was the practice of  polytheism, which would be the believe in more then one God and monotheism, belief in one God which is practiced by the Christians. The second difference was the Ibo worship animate Gods, unlike the Christians who worship inanimate God. In addition is that the Christians practice monogamy, being married to only one wife, and the Ibo practice polygamy, more then one wife. Here were two very different religions and practices but each had the choice of which one they wanted to follow, some stayed with the Ibo Clan religion, but others converted to Christianity, it’s their choice.

Lab Researching Networking Standards Essay

Part 1: Research Networking Standards Organizations Gather information about the major networking standards organizations by going on a web surfing treasure hunt. Identify important characteristics of some of the organizations. Part 2: Reflect on Internet and Computer Networking Experiences Reflect on how the various networking standards organizations enhance our experience of the Internet and computer networking. Background / Scenario Using web search engines like Google, research the non-profit organizations that are responsible for establishing international standards for the Internet and the development of Internet technologies. Required Resources Device with Internet access Part 1: Research Networking Standards Organizations In Part 1, you will identify some of the major standards organizations and important characteristics, such as the number of years in existence, the size of their membership, the important historical figures, some of the responsibilities and duties, organizational oversight role, and the location of the organization’s headquarters. Use a web browser or websites for various organizations to research information about the following organizations and the people who have been instrumental in maintaining them. You can find answers to the questions below by searching the following organizational acronyms and terms: ISO, ITU, ICANN, IANA, IEEE, EIA, TIA, ISOC, IAB, IETF, W3C, RFC, and Wi-Fi Alliance. 1. Who is Jonathan B. Postel and what is he known for?

Prison System in Crisis?

The term crisis refers to an intense time of difficulty, trouble or danger, or a time when difficult decisions must be made. However, in the context of the prison system, it has to be looked at differently. This can be seen throughout the essay in how there have been times of danger, and difficult policy decisions made. In looking at whether these problems are important to the prison system, it has to be looked at whether it is hindering the purposes and objectives of prison. It is also worth noting that the prison system has been regarded in being in crisis for many years by the media and academics (Cavadino & Dignan, 2007). Thus it would appear the `crisis’ hasn’t been at one specific time its been gradually building year after year. The purpose of prison in today’s society is to treat prisoners in a secure and safe facility, where they will be treated humanely, decently, and lawfully. This is as well as protecting the public, ensuring the prisoner is punished for the crimes committed, as well as also helping them rehabilitate themselves. These aims are issued by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). The way in which NOMS are able to do this is by their close relationship with the probation service, gathering of statistics and also the setting of key performance indicators. Key performance indicators can be targets such as reoffending rate going down by 10% from the previous year, no category A escapes, drug misuse rates and percentage of prisoners in overcrowded accommodation (Leech, 2009). The gathering of all this information means that officials can now monitor the performance of prisons and see if they are fulfilling their functions. If they are not then it is reasonable to suggest that the prison is in crisis and needs to address the issues, which are causing the problems. In identifying whether there is a crisis in the prison system, different thoughts of criminology offer different explanations. One account that explains the crisis is the Orthodox. This account suggests that the crisis consists of many different components which all intertwine to combine to a crisis (Tredwell, 2006). It also suggests that the crisis itself is not one of the whole penal system but one just within the prison system itself (Cavadino & Dignan, 2007). The first factor that orthodox criminologists address is the effect the population of prisons have on the system. Through out the history of the prison system in particular the twentieth century it can be seen that the prison population has been steadily rising. For example in 1960 the average prison population was 26,198, in 1990 43,378, compare this to 2011 which was 81,763(Berman, 2012:18). As this evidence shows, through out the twentieth and twenty first century the prison population has been rising. This increases the demand on prisons and prison staff to be able to deal with the higher numbers. This is a major problem for the prison system if the trend is not altered, it will keep on increasing year by year as the evidence suggests. This problem directly leads on to fact that prisons are overcrowded. Overcrowding in prisons according to orthodox account makes it much harder for prisons to be able to meet their purpose of rehabilitating offenders. Overcrowding takes place ‘when the number of prisoners held exceeds the establishments Certified Normal Accommodation (CNA)’ (Berman 2012:11). CNA ‘represents the good, decent standard of accommodation the service aspires to provide all prisoners. Any places above the CNA are referred to as overcrowding places’ (Jewkes & Bennett, 2008:38). In England and Wales in 2012 over sixty two per cent of the prison estate was overcrowded according to CNA statistics (Berman, 2012: 11). Looking at this, in relation to the aims of having humane conditions for prisoners to live in, the prison system is not meeting its targets. Prisons shouldn’t be overcrowded, but the majority are meaning that more prisoners are sharing cells then what is intended. In relation to rehabilitation it is clear to see the higher number in prison the less resources will be available for prisoners. The less resources available to prisoners will mean less time spent on individual cases limiting the chances of success in reformation. High Prison population and Overcrowding also lead on to the fact that there will be problems within the prison concerning staff. One of the problems in terms of staff will be the numbers available. With the increasing numbers, and the reductions in the prison budget, means the staff to prisoner ratio will continue to worsen. With this means that the supervision of prisoners will be less available which will reduce time out of cells and time in classes working towards rehabilitation. This also leads on to another problem within staff in prisons, in terms of their relation with the home office. The more prisoners coming into prisons increases the workload for the staff, this is without the relief of additional staff being employed. Staff unrest can lead to industrial action, which will lead to the breakdown of the prison service. The final factors that need considering in this account is the effect all of the above has on the security in prisons. Prisoners breaking out of prison are seen as causing massive problems. This is relatively non-existent in prisons today, since 1995/1996 there has been no escape from prisons (NOMS annual report 2011: 5). This means that in terms of protecting the public with the high prison population and no escapes the prison system is operating very efficiently. Another aspect that has to be looked at here is the fact of security inside prison. Riots are still present, as seen last year in the Ford open prison riots. This would suggest that in some instances prisons are not actually capable of controlling their prisoners. Riots are seen clear evidence of a crisis in prison but riots are very rare in the prison system. From all of this stated above it is clear that the orthodox account, is still very relevant in todays prison society. In particular is the issue of high prison population leading to increased overcrowding levels. Which in 2012 are at an all time high. However one development to this theory comes from Lord Woolf who agreed with orthodox accounts of security and control being crucial to a stable prison system, put also placed importance on justice. Justice refers to the obligation of the Prison Service to treat prisoners with humanity and fairness and to prepare them for their return to the community in a way which makes it less likely that they will reoffend’ (Woolf 1991: para 9. 20). This quote coming from Woolf’s report in 1992 can be seen still to be extremely relevant today, when looked at the prison systems aims and purposes, as mentioned earlier in the essay. This make s Woolf’s recommendation crucial to looking at what the state of the prison system is in today. In terms of conditions there are said to be three elements, which influence the quality of life for prisoners. The first being the wretchedness of the physical accommodation, the second being the regime the prisoners are subject to on a daily basis. The final one being the difficulty prisoners face in maintaining relationships with family and friends whilst inside (Cavadino & Dignan: 2007). In looking at the physical accommodation of prisoners in today’s society the view is that prison is much like a ‘holiday camp’ for prisoners. He said he would make sure jails – dubbed ‘holiday camps’ by critics – are no longer seen as places which convicts ‘enjoy’ (Gayling, cited in The Mail, 2012). This quote supports the view that contrast to back in 1992 prisons are now at a state where they could be said to be to nice for prisoners. This results in the fact that prisoners become to comfortable with prison life that once they leave, go ing back to prison seems very attractive to them. This would suggest that the prison system is failing to do one of its more traditional roles of deterring prisoners from crime. Therefore it is failing in another one of its purposes adding to the evidence that the prison system is not working. The second component of justice in prison is preparing the prisoner for life back in the community. This is tackling what put them in there for the first place through rehabilitation. This is done through various programmes such as, offender behaviour programmes, drug addiction programmes, alcohol, work experience and educational programmes. In addressing this essay question, one of the fundamental goals in prison today is rehabilitation of offenders. If rehabilitation was working then the rates of re-offending should be low. In 2010 around 170,000 offenders committed a proven re-offence within a year, providing a re-offending rate of 26. 7 per cent (Ministry of Justice, 2012). This statistic shows that in society right now a significant amount of the prison population do re-offend. Relating this to purpose of prison today it is clear that it is failing in rehabilitating offenders. Strengthening the belief that the prison system is in crisis. This essay has addressed the purposes of prison today and how they match up to accounts of what a crisis is by criminologists. It is clear using the orthodox account and Lord Woolf that the prison is in crisis. The prison population is at a record high, as are overcrowding levels as well as re-offending rates. This all suggests that the prison system is unable to match their purposes, and fulfil their aims in modern prisons systems, so it is in a state of crisis. However, to just say it is the prison system that is a in a state of crisis would be a very narrow approach to the issue. One crucial aspect to look at when examining the prison system is penal policy, and most importantly would be sentencing policy. Sentencing can be seen as a fundamental component of the prisons system. The sentences given out by judges in the courts will influence the prison population as well as determining how long the prisoner will be in there. One of the major problems through sentencing, is the fact that the sentences are unjust or to short. In terms of duration of sentences the average custodial sentence as of 2012, is 14. 8 months (Ministry of Justice, 2012). This statistic shows that the average prisoner will only spend a relatively short period of time, which leaves the question as to whether this enough time for rehabilitation to take place. It concluded that 60% of short-sentenced prisoners commit another crime within a year of getting out’ (Cooney, 2010. ). This quote is evidence that for short-term offenders the majority will reoffend. Therefor this leads to the conclusion that prison does not work for them, thus meaning the resources spent on them would be better for long-term prisoners. T he fact that the prison population is increasing through this policy means that already scarce resources for rehabilitation are becoming even scarcer. This is having a huge impact on the prison system in being able to rehabilitate offenders, to reducing reoffending rates. ‘A recent report from the National Audit Office (NAO) confirms what many people knew already – short sentences just do not work’ (ibid). This sums up the point that the sentencing policy is not working and needs to be changed, which could result with the problems in the prison system being reduced. However this doesn’t appear to be likely to be changing in the future with the new secretary of state for justice Chris Gayling. Am I planning to reduce the number of prison places? No I'm not. I do not want to set a target to reduce the prison population. ’ (Gayling, cited in Telegraph, 2012. ) This quote shows that future policy will only strengthen to increase the prison population not reduce it. In conclusion to this essay it is clear from the evidence gathered in this essay that the prison system is in state where there are huge pr oblems within. The high prison population, overcrowding levels and lack of rehabilitation highlights this the most. However since looking at the data gathered it is clear that these are issues that have not just affected the prison system in today’s society. This could suggest that if its always been plagued by problems that, in reality its not in crisis its just ‘business like usual’. Despite this, relating back to the definition previously mentioned it is clear that the system is in crisis because of the intense difficulties it is facing. All of this could be argued that it is down to penal policy rather than the prison system, which as mentioned is contributing significantly to the difficulties.References Used * Berman, G. (2012) `Prison population statistics’. Library: House of Commons. * Cavadino, M. and Dignan, J. 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(2009) The Prisons Handbook 2009 11th edition, Manchester: Prisons.Org.Uk Ltd. * Ministry of Justice (2012) `Criminal justice statistics’ (Internet) Available at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/criminal-justice/criminal-justice-statistics, Accessed: 28/11/12. * Ministry of Justice (2012) `National Offender Management Service Annual Report 2010/2011: Management Information Ammendum.’ Available at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/statistics/prison-probation/prison-probation-performance-stats/noms-annual-report-2010-11-addendum.pdf, Accessed: 20/11/12 * Ministry of Justice (2012) `Proven re-offending’ (Internet) Available at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/reoffending/proven-re-offending, Accessed: 27/11/12. * Slack, J. and Chapman, J. Mail Online (2012) ‘I’ll stop our jails being like holiday camps, says new minister of justice.’ (Internet) Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2205824/Ill-stop-jails-like-holiday-camps-says-new-minister-justice.html?ITO=1490, Accesed:30/11/12 * The Telegraph. (2012) `Prisons should be tougher for criminals, justice secretary Chris Gayling warns.’ Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9554533/Prison-should-be-tougher-for-criminals-Justice-Secretary-Chris-Grayling-warns.html, Accessed: 30/11/12. * Treadwell, J. (2006) Criminology, London: SAGE Publications Ltd. * Woolf, H. and Tumin, S. (1991) Prison Disturbances April 1990, Cm 1456. London: HMSO. Note: Received a 2:1 for this work