The growth of Starbucks Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The growth of Starbucks - Case Study Example (Marios Theodosiou). The rise of multinationals such as Starbucks came with the advent of globalization, where trade restrictions were eliminated. Doing businesses in most countries abroad became much easier than before. Government regulations are more relaxed and tariffs were reduced or totally eliminated. These developments have given chance to big companies in the developed countries to capture bigger markets including the Third World. This has given rise to the issue of how to standardize product internationally and at the same time adapt to the individual idiosyncrasies of each country. Multinational firms such as Starbucks face this type of dilemma. Product standardization is the introduction of domestic products internationally with a little or no modification (International Product Decision). Product standardization is done in commodities such as shoes. Multinational shoe firms such as Nike, Adidas and Reebok release shoes that are sold across different countries. The other way of marketing product is through adaptation. If the firm spouses this marketing strategy, it adapts domestic product to suit the foreign market. Product modifications are done. They can be specifically designed for foreign markets. It is believed that 'global marketing of standardized products can, however, lower operating costs, and with effective coordination exploit a company's best product and marketing ideas" (Powers). One of the benefits of standardization is it allows current technology to adapt products and services to the local needs and wants. "It is also possible to tailor standardized strategies for different worldwide segments that exist cross-nationally" (Powers). On the other hand, there are doubts on the standardizing domestic products. Some concerns raised against standardization are national prejudices (Powers). Buzzel posited that "it is a mistake to assume that product standardization is possible without careful consideration of the idiosyncrasies of each market, such as physical environment, the stage of economic development, cultural characteristics, the stage of product lifecycle, competition, distribution systems, advertising media, legal restrictions, and finding the right balance between local autonomy and central coordination" (Powers). There is a need for both. Both have advantages and disadvantages. At this point, we will specifically be analyzing how Starbucks was able to make a decision on choosing between product standardization strategy and product adaptation. The Starbucks' Case Starbucks is known for coffee. But people around the world know that it does not only offer coffee or food, it offers experience, tranquility, and class. This is something that the company has standardized. Covering three continents, the green and white emblem has dominated various countries. Starbucks management has decided to standardize the product all over the world. Its cozy interior, plus

Twenty-first Centry Images of Nurses and Nursing Essay

Twenty-first Centry Images of Nurses and Nursing - Essay Example Effective leaders in the nursing professional also ensure that the nursing education and practices are quality and safe. Effective nursing leadership advocates for an innovative, collaborative, and evidence-based working environment, which assists the nurses in the profession to have value and respect in their position. The nursing profession has evolved over the years, from the initial description of altering the environment to ensure that the patient is in the best condition possible for nature to act upon them. This was the initial description of nursing by Florence Nightingale in the mid 1800s. However, the world has had broad and milestone advances in technology and scientific facts over the past decades, thus the roles of nurses have evolved to those of promoting health, assisting patients to cope with their illnesses, and preventing diseases. The roles of a nurse including meeting some of the needs of a patient that cannot be met by any other member of the society (Summers and Jacobs, 2009). Currently, the nursing career is a helping profession, providing assistance services to the well being and health care of patients. Nonetheless, the nursing profession is expected to evolve even more as we venture into the second decade of the twenty-first century. The nursing stereotypes has also changed with the development of the nursing profession, evolving from a domestic art, a religious calling, a skilled discipline, a pool of expert managers, a pool of expert clinicians to today. The media representation of the nursing professional influences the societal view of nurses and nursing in general, portraying them as toxic to innocuous. Among the representations include the ministering angels taking care of wounded soldiers, the dumb nurses happy to be on the receiving end of patients’ coughs, the saucy nurses wearing their usual abbreviated skirts, pneumatic breasts and frilly hats, and the battleaxe, the queen of patient torture in ward routines. However, experienced and qualified nurses have come forth to present the real images of nursing and the profession, arguing that the media portrays the professionals as background fillers rather than highly skilled, university educated, and autonomous health care specialists responsible for the life and death of patients. These nurses oppose the commonly held notion that technology can replace nursing, presenting facts that back their stand. According to them, a device hooked up to a patient cannot detect some of the subtle changes that may be life threatening to the patient like demeanor, color, state of mind, or their speech (Summers and Jacobs, 2009). The image of nurses and nursing is improving over time, with more regards and appreciation over the importance of the profession. The education and practicing standards of nurses have improved immensely in the twenty-first century, with the curriculum incorporating high-level skills and techniques on health care. In today’s society, nursing is considered as an autonomous and professional, complete with its own theories and methodology. 2. Describe three historical views that influence or have influenced the definition of contemporary nursing as a science, an art, and a practice? Many nurse researchers consider the contemporary nursing profession as a basic science. This is a result of the various nursing theories put forth. Contemporary nursing principles organize the nursing theories in a hierarchical order,

Unilever Secures Its Mobile Devices Computer Science Essay

Unilever Secures Its Mobile Devices Computer Science Essay As a student of John Byrnes tutorials, I am doing the case study entitled Unilever secures its mobile devices. The primary objective of this assignment is to assess and analyze the impact wireless devices such as the BlackBerry mobile handsets are having on the company and how they are increasing productivity and performance. Another objective includes analyzing security features that Blackberry provides for its users, and what effect a security breach could have on this multi-national company. Last but not least, my objective is to make my own evaluations and make my own recommendations on what else could be done to improve this situation and also what else could be done to improve the performance of the company. Unilever is a multi-national company stretching across all the continents in the world such as Asia, Africa, The Americas and Oceania. They are well known for manufacturing brands such as Dove, Lux and Vaseline as personal hygiene products. They are also globally known for their food brands including Flora, Lipton and Streets. (Unilever, 2011).As a worldwide company, performance must be at their optimum levels to ensure operational excellence in the company. In March 2004, Unilevers senior management ordered the companys thousand top executives to be equipped with mobile handheld devices to increase their productivity. The company selected BlackBerry 7100, 7290, and 8700 handhelds from Research in Motion because they were the leader in their category and they worked with hetero- geneous e-mail servers and multiple wireless network standards, including CDMA and Wi-Fi. These handsets have allowed the executives to basically work on the move, and monitor the companys performance such as sales figures. It has allowed them to check their emails, and reply to them on time. This handset also allowed the executives to talk more with the customers. As a result of the introduction of Blackberry handsets to the company; it has increased productivity and performance. This can be shown through the companys 2005 annual report/review. The companys turnover was $49,352,000,000 USD. This was an increase from their 2004 turnover by 1,608,000,000 USD. Another interesting statistic which was found in the 2005 charts was that their net profit margins increased by 2.4 % to 10% in 2005. The companys net profit also slightly increased from $3,641,000,000 USD in 2004 to $ 4,945,000,000 USD in 2005. These figures can be used to show the affect that mobile handsets have had on the companys performance. I have attached the 2005 Unilever charts for a further understanding of the changes in the net profit margins and the net profit. For the net profit graph, the green line is the indicator for the US dollars and the light brown line in the profit margins graph is used to show the net profit margin changes. I have also included the turnover graph and the green line shows the turnover in USD. A security breach at Unilever could cause severe damage to the company in the short term and long term. A security breach can be caused through many things, including through the hacking of the BlackBerry handsets and their company computers, or it can be caused of a simple error such as misplacing your phone or leaving it vulnerable to be stolen. The BlackBerry handsets and Unilever computers and laptops have sensitive data stored in them such as customer information and confidential company information. The loss of customer information may lead to the company to be sued by the customers. It is Unilevers responsibility to ensure the protection of this data. Another danger is unauthorized users who are able to access corporate networks. This may lead to the introduction of computer viruses and worms. If this was to happen, all the information which was stored may be corrupted and destroyed. Such an event can severely cripple the companys ability to perform, and may even force them ou t of business if they dont have a backup system in place. The loss of confidential company information such as sales figures and sales forecasting data can result in a loss of revenue and allow competitors to use this information to a full extent to gain an upper advantage in the market. Finally, security breaches also have the capability to tarnish a companies reputation and put the business under scrutiny. So far, Unilever has not been affected by a security breach. In 2004, the Unilever executives were equipped with BlackBerry handsets in a bid to increase the companys performance. If the security measures are too harsh, then executives will not be able to use the device efficiently, which means that this will have a negative impact on the businesses ability to conduct business thoroughly. Using this example, a management factor that must be taken into consideration is that to make sure that the security policies and procedures dont interfere with the companys ability to do business. Both of these issues must be kept balanced. In this workplace, some executives know that they have a device which is linked with the companys information and database and know what the impacts can be if the device gets into some unauthorized persons hands. On the other hand, there are executives who are not aware of the consequences this can have. Therefore, an organization factor that must be considered is the lack of knowledge. Many steps can be taken to ensure t his doesnt happen. Some steps may include offering a training program to the executives regarding the proper use of the BlackBerry handset and so forth. A technological factor that needs to be addressed is determining the specifications of the wireless handheld device required. These specifications must strike a balance between its security features, how user friendly the device is as well as its cost. Unilever determined that couple of BlackBerry models best suited their needs. Each company will have different needs and priorities. Management, organization and technological factors that need to be taken into consideration will be based on those needs and priorities. BlackBerry Enterprise Solutions allows you to mobilize your workplace, your workers can make timely decisions based on the best information available, increasing their productivity and boosting your business performance. The BlackBerry Enterprise Solution allows mobile users to access communications and information wirelessly, including email and text messaging, corporate data and the organizer. It has provided Unilever with many benefits that include flexibility and lowest total cost of operation of mobile enterprise solutions. For flexibility, this solution supports all leading enterprise email platforms, back-end systems and applications from a wide range of vendors. It also allows you to manage multiple wireless network technologies, devices, messaging servers and enterprise systems with a single BlackBerry Enterprise Server. The BlackBerry Enterprise Solution allows organizations to keep their employees connected to the information and people that matter, while still benefiting from a low overall total cost of operation.This solution offers very good wireless data security and stored data security. For wireless data security, end to end encryption and rsa secur-id two factor authentications are used. In end to end encryption, the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution offers two transport encryption options, advanced encryption standard (aes) and triple data encryption standard (triple des), for all data transmitted between BlackBerry Enterprise Server and BlackBerry smartphones. Private encryption keys are generated in a secure, two-way authenticated environment and are assigned to each BlackBerry smartphone user. Each secret key is stored only in the users secure enterprise account such as Microsoft Exchange and on their BlackBerry smartphone and can be regenerated wirelessly by the user. (Research In Motion, 2011), Data sent to the BlackBerry smartphone is encrypted by BlackBerry Enterprise Server using the private key retrieved from the users mailbox. The encrypted information travels securely across the network to the device where it is decrypted with the key stored there. Data remains encrypted in transit and is never decrypted outside of the corporate firewall. Rsa secur-id two factor authentications provides organizations with additional authorization when users access application data or corporate intranets on their BlackBerry smartphones. BlackBerry mds Services (mobile data system) utilize rsa ace/agent authorization api 5.0 to interface to rsa ace servers. Users are prompted for their username and token passcode when navigating to a site or application requiring authorization. Other security features include https secure data access and code signing and digital certificates. (Research In Motion, 2011) BlackBerry mds services act as a secure gateway between the wireless network and corporate intranets and the internet. They leverage the BlackBerry aes or Triple des encryption transport and also enable https connections to application servers. BlackBerry smartphones support https communication in one of two modes, depending on corporate security requirements: Proxy Mode: An ssl/tls connection is created between BlackBerry Enterprise Server and the application server on behalf of BlackBerry smartphones. Data from the application server is then aes or Triple des encrypted and sent over the wireless network to BlackBerry smartphones. End-to-End Mode: Data is encrypted over ssl/tls for the entire connection between BlackBerry smartphones and the application server, making end-to-end mode connections most appropriate for applications where only the transaction end-points are trusted. BlackBerry smartphones applications created using the BlackBerry java development environment (jde), whic h have certain functionality such as the ability to execute on startup or to access potentially sensitive BlackBerry smartphone application data, require developers to sign and register their applications with Research In Motion.This adds protection by providing a greater degree of control and predictability to the loading and behavior of applications on BlackBerry smartphones. Additionally, the BlackBerry signing authority tool can help protect access to the functionality and data of third party applications by enabling corporate developers or administrators to manage access to specific sensitive Application Programming Interfaces and data stores through the use of server-side software and public and private signature keys.  To help protect BlackBerry mds Studio applications from tampering, corporate developers can sign an application bundle with a digital certificate. (Research In Motion, 2011) They can use either a trusted certificate authority or a generated certificate. BlackBerry mds studio generates and signs applications with certificates that are in line with the public key infrastructure (X.509) standard. For stored data security, The BlackBerry Enterprise Solution extends corporate security to the wireless device and provides administrators with tools to manage this security. To secure information stored on BlackBerry smartphones, password authentication can be made mandatory through the customizable IT policies of the BlackBerry Enterprise Server. By default, password authentication is limited to ten attempts after which the devices memory is erased. Local encryption of all data (messages, address book entries, calendar entries, memos and tasks) can also be enforced via IT policy. And with the Password Keeper, advanced encryption standard (aes) encryption technology allows password entries to be stored securely on the device. Additionally, system administrators can create and send wireless commands to remotely change BlackBerry smartphone passwords and lock or delete information from lost or stolen BlackBerry smartphones. The BlackBerry Enterprise Server Security also is a form of security. BlackBerry Enterprise Server does not store any email or data. To increase protection from unauthorized parties, there is no staging area between the server and the BlackBerry smartphone where data is decrypted. Security is further enhanced by allowing only authenticated, outbound-initiated connections through port 3101 of the firewall. No inbound traffic is permitted from sources other than the BlackBerry smartphone or the email server, meaning unauthorized commands cannot be executed on the system. Only communications that can be decrypted with a valid encryption key are permitted between the server and the wireless network. (Research In Motion, 2011) The three pictures I have attached give a further insight as to how the security works. ( BlackBerry security,2011) Flow diagram for end-to-end encryption (BlackBerry security,2011). http://uk.blackberry.com/ataglance/security/secure_data_access.gif (BlackBerry security,2011) http://us.blackberry.com/ataglance/security/bes-diag_large.jpg BlackBerry tools provide effective anti-virus protections for a BlackBerry deployment. They use containment methods that are designed to prevent malware that might gain access to the BlackBerry smartphone from causing damage to the BlackBerry smartphone, its applications and its data, and also to the corporate network. BlackBerry smartphone applications include inherent virus protection and spyware protection that is designed to contain and prevent the spread of viruses and spyware to other applications. Application controls are available on BlackBerry smartphones that are running on a BlackBerry Enterprise Server or on the BlackBerry Internet Service. BlackBerry smartphone users can use the application controls on their BlackBerry smartphones to prevent the installation of specific third-party applications and to limit the permissions of third-party applications. See the BlackBerry Internet Service Security Feature Overview for more information on using BlackBerry smartphone applica tion controls to protect a BlackBerry smartphone running on the BlackBerry Internet Service against malware. (Research In Motion, 2011) The BlackBerry Enterprise Solution is designed to provide anti-virus protection through its malware protection. The BlackBerry Enterprise Solution includes tools that provide against all malware. Administrators can use IT policy and application control policies on the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, and BlackBerry smartphone users can use application controls on BlackBerry smartphones to contain malware by controlling third-party Java application access to BlackBerry smartphone resources and applications. (Research In Motion, 2011) Finally, Unilever uses various mobile services in their current business operations. In 2010, Vodafone was selected as Unilevers provider of all mobile communication needs. Various mobile services that are being used are mobile e-mail, sms texting (short message service) and mms (multi-media service), and also the basic phone call. Other mobile services include voicemail and just using integrated content such as calendars applications. All of these services are play crucial role in creating an agile and cost competitive organization that operates in a sustainable way. Unilever, using Vodafones information on trends in mobility, will slightly give them an upper edge and allow Unilever to develop innovative ways to stay closely connected with our consumers and customers. (Flash, 2011) I personally think that the mobile handsets have had an effect on the companys performance in a positive way. It has allowed more interaction with the customers and has allowed e-commerce to be done efficiently on the go. WORDS : 2,282.

John F. Kennedy Essay -- essays research papers

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born May 29, 1917, in Brookline, Massachusetts, into one of the wealthiest families in the United States. Universally called "JFK," he became a millionaire at the age of 21 when his father gave him one million dollars, but politics and sports were of much more importance to him. He loved touch football, tennis, golf, sailing, and swimming. JFK attended Princeton University and Harvard, graduating from there cum laude. He attended Stanford University business school before serving in the U.S. Navy. He was a naval hero during World War 11 when his PT boat was cut in half and he helped to save the lives of his crew. Returning after the war, he was elected to Congress in 1946 and to the Senate in 1948 and was popular, well-liked, and handsome. He had a fine sense of humor and was a good orator. On September 12, l953, JFK married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier. They had three children, but one, Patrick, born during Kennedy's term of office, died in infancy. JFK gained national prominence when he gave the keynote address at the 1956 Democratic National Convention. In 1960, when the Democrats nominated JFK over Lyndon Baines Johnson, Kennedy asked Johnson to be his Vice President. Kennedy and his opponent, incumbent Vice President Richard M. Nixon, ushered in a new era with a series of four televised Presidential debates. In November 1960, JFK became the youngest man ever elected President. (Theodore Roosevelt was 42 when he took over after McKinley's ...

Bassano’s Last Judgment

The Last Judgment, by Leandro Bassano 16th century Venetian Artist, religious painting of Christ Finished in 1596, currently residing in the National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, Japan (Ueno). Visited on 11/2/09 from 10:15-11:30 Bassano’s The Last Judgment Painted by Leandro Bassano, a 16th century Venetian artist, The Last Judgment is a stunning work of scared art that takes one’s breath away upon first sight. Finished in 1596, the oil painting stands 73 x 51 cm tall and currently resides in the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo, Japan. Visiting this piece on a Monday, I had the pleasure of seeing it mostly to myself. Most people walking by stopped to take a brief look at the well lit painting and I couldn’t help but wonder if they were Christian or not and whether or not the piece would have had a bigger impact if they were. At first glance it was pretty easy for me to see this piece’s relationship to Christianity and the event that it depicts. The painting, to me, appears in 3 sections: the central and most eye drawing section on top, the middle section, and the bottom section. The top section depicts Jesus of Nazareth basked in a glowing light holding a white flag of salvation while a man, most likely his father God, floats above him. He is surrounded by angels and pure followers of Christ at, what the title suggests, is the last judgment. This section is the brightest and most eye catching part of the painting due to the well played contrasting colors surrounding it. All other parts following this are duller and darker in color and really help to create a glowing light in the darkness effect for this top portion. The middle section, duller in tone to its predecessor, appears in two parts. The left side portrays people of the church while the right side shows commoners. I felt this section depicted those who were neither tainted nor completely pure; those who were almost in reach of salvation but who could yet still fall. I thought this section, although smallest in portrayal, represented the largest portion of the Christian community as we are often on the path to salvation but can still easily sway. This middle section was what I believed to be the middle way. As it appears, the top portion of the painting conveys salvation and Christ, while the middle section depicts the church and the people, so all that remains are those in redemption and those who are already damned. This is the bottom and darkest part of the piece. On the left side sits those who can still be saved; the image of angels helping men stand up covey great feelings of regret and redemption. The right side of the section, the darkest and grimmest part of the painting, depicts devils and demons carrying and torturing the tainted and damned. When I first saw The Last Judgment I was curious as to why the brightest piece was on top and not dead center as it was what drew my eye first and foremost; however a quick look at the other sections of the painting quickly draws one to the conclusion of an order with heaven on top, earth in the middle, and hell down below. The colors and style of the painting resemble that of other renaissance pieces surrounding it and really does well in drawing one back in time; giving the viewer a wonderful feel of the Christian religion. Overall this was an amazing piece depicting a holy and scared event in the Christian religion. The Last Judgment, by Leandro Bassano 16th century Venetian Artist, religious painting of Christ Finished in 1596, currently residing in the National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, Japan (Ueno). Visited on 11/2/09 from 10:15-11:30

Peer pressure at school

The school playground is often a mine field of potential social challenges for many children. While some children thrive in the playground, few are immune to at least some difficulties with their peers. This article highlights seven common peer problems your children may face at school. Teasing and bullying Teasing and bullying are unfortunately still common in the school yard. These issues will often not occur until after age seven or eight, and research indicates that at least three out of five sixth grade students experienced or participated in bullying in schools in New South Wales. See links below for more information. Loneliness Making friends is more challenging for some students than for others. Some parents become concerned if their children do not have a large number of friends. However, research indicates that the number of friends your child has is less important than the depth of the friendships. Better to have a narrow but deep pool of friends than a wide and shallow friendship circle. Good friendships take time, attention, and more time to develop. Get your children together with other kids regularly to solidify their relationships. Ostracism Some children will be intentionally left out of activities. There may or may not be teasing and bullying involved. This is a particular challenge, not just in the schoolyard, but also when birthday party invites are being distributed. Missing out can make a child feel awful. If your child is being ostracised, provide support, encourage alternative friendships, or consider involving your child’s teacher. Gender Issues Boys and girls are beginning to learn about one another throughout primary school. Most of the time boys and girls will choose to play separately. But by around age nine, some children are beginning to have an increasing awareness of the opposite sex and may even start to claim boyfriend and girlfriend status. While this can often be harmless, in many instances having a boy or girlfriend can create significant social challenge. Teasing can occur. Children can be unceremoniously dumped when friends uncover the ‘relationship’ and spread rumours about it. Most teachers and parents will typically agree that boyfriend and girlfriend relationships should be discouraged in primary school years. Many parents would prefer to discourage them until at least age 16! ) Being Cool†¦ or Not By around the age of nine, many children have a keen sense of what is cool and what is not. Much of this is controlled by what they are exposed to via the media (through the Internet, television, and movies). If your child has not got the latest media gadget (e. g. ipod or mobile phone), seen the latest movie, or does not know the words t o the hottest song in the country, they may feel excluded and could be teased or ostracised. This does not mean that children should be indulged or that your personal standards should be altered, but sensitive parents will likely take care to discuss such issues with their children and seek mutually agreeable solutions. Poor performance Children who perform poorly in academic (or other pursuits such as sport) may be excluded or find distance between themselves and their peers. This is a challenge that can be overcome using strategies outlined. Marginalising Minorities Children who present obvious differences to the majority of students, such as race, religion, or even socio-economic status, can often suffer socially because of the perceptions that they are not like everyone else. These issues can be particularly salient for girls once they reach age ten to twelve, although both genders can be affected. Skin colour or ethnicity, like religious habits, cannot and should not be changed to accommodate the majority. Instead, tolerance can be promoted by parents and schools to aid in peer relationships. Peer pressure â€Å"He who saves one life it is as though he saves the world†. You make the call, you have control over what you want to do or not do. Do you really want to do it, or are you too scared to stand up for yourself and just say no? You must stand up for yourself, and be confident with your decision. What if you say yes? What if you decide not to stand up for yourself? What if you are not confident? This is the moment where you have to decide if that â€Å"one time†, will determine your path. But you really have to stop and think for a moment. Is what you are doing a complete and true definition of you? Whose life are you really leading? There are two kinds of peer pressure. The Positive kind, and the Negative kind. The positive kind of peer pressure is, being pressured or convinced to do a certain task that you may not have had the confidence to complete or to do yourself. Another kind of positive peer pressure is when friends convince you not to do something that may not have been in your best interest. Negative peer pressure is just what it sounds like—It is when Peers try to make you think that they know what is best for you. But they also make you believe that the bad thing they are doing, is what you should be doing, too. They try to direct you down a path, which is not the correct one. They push for you to have JUST ONE drink. To smoke JUST ONE cigarette†¦. But, the thing that you can do to save yourself is not always the easiest thing to do– saying NO. But just saying no may or may not be the end of the problem. What it means is that you have to be certain and confident with your choice, and have the inner strength to know that you are doing the right thing. Being accepted by people who want you to be a follower, and to go down what may be the wrong path, is being accepted or thinking that you will be accepted by people who are not really your friends. Many people forget what the true definition of friend is. Peer pressure, is something that is commonly used on teens. Peer pressure is used, both in positive and negative ways, unfortunately it's used more often in negative ways. Because of this, I feel that peer pressure is more harmful than beneficial. Peer pressure can be a very powerful tool against teens. It can be used to onvince peers to drink, smoke, steal and many other things. Too many times teenagers end up in jail, pregnant, or in some other kind of trouble because of something they were pressured into doing. They do things they have never done before like; lying to their parents, drinking alcohol, smoking, and sometimes illegal things. They do all these risky things because they have been pressured into doing what is â€Å"co ol†. It can be very hard to stand up for yourself, as a teen trying to fit in, especially when your being ganged up on by your peers to do something you wouldn't normally do. Peer pressure can also be used by teens to convince other teens to go to church, not party, or hang with the wrong crowd. Although this kinda of peer pressure is rarely used, it's very beneficial. Sometimes when one teen see's another going down the wrong path and making bad decisions, they try to pressure them into doing the right thing. Teens often tell each other to â€Å"be safe† when their; having parties, drinking, or putting themselves into any situation that they could get into trouble. Although this is positive peer pressure, it's normally not as powerful or convincing as negative peer pressure because it implies that what that teen is doing, is okay or safe. Peer pressure is a very diverse tool, that can be used for good and bad, but overall it's a more powerful tool when used in a negative way. Because of this and the fact that negative peer pressure is used more often, I believe that peer pressure can be, but is not, more beneficial than harmful. Peer pressure is the influence of a peer group to an individual, causing them to change their attitudes, values and behaviour. It refers to any individual who is being persuaded in doing something that is against their judgment but does not have the courage to stand their ground and do the right thing. It weakens the sense of an individual because of the saying â€Å"everybody is going to do it† which makes them think that such thing is correct. It causes the youth to strive for social acceptance which makes and individual do something he/she is not comfortable of doing. Peer pressure is most commonly associated with the youth, especially the students, because they spend most of their day in school with their friends and classmates. Although peer pressure does not necessarily have to be negative, it also has some positive sides. It can make a student strive for academic success because of their peers or it can improve the study habits of students. The study habits of students are highly affected by peer pressure. Study habits are the approach on how school works are done and how students budget their time in doing tasks. It is crucial to the performance of students but also easily affected by peer pressure. It may cause some positive or negative effects. Peers may influence their classmates to study or not. Students also study together.