Art Music of Caribbean Latin America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Art Music of Caribbean Latin America - Essay Example Folklore too was used as subject matter for the songs, by musicians like Juan Francisco Garcia, for instance. There were classical influences too, like that of Claude Debussy on Marchena’s music. Jose Dolores is famous for adding the bells and bass to band music in the army. Jazz was incorporated too, by Luis Alberti, and others. Rafael Ignacio is famous for popularizing dance music. Classical music was very influential in Cuba. Ernesto Lecuona, Amadeo Roldà ¡n and Julian Orbon are again three notable pioneers of this country. Musical forms like the Salsa, had their roots in the Son, which first began in the 1570s. The influx of African slaves as well as the Spanish colonization had lasting impact on the development of music. The Rumba, Danzon, Chachacha and other dance forms became very popular and influential also. In Puerto Rico, Felipe Gutià ©rrez Espinosa was one of the best-known 19th century composers of religious music and operas. Manuel Gregorio Tavarez became the nation’s first Romantic composer, while Juan Morel Campos is known for taking the danza form to its peak. Music in Latin America has progressed more or less similarly; although, comparatively, the Dominican Republic appears to have several more well-known exponents of music. Influence of the Spanish colonization and the immigration of African slaves were responsible for a lot of the music development. This vast and varied repertoire of music was influenced, to a great degree, by the Spanish colonization. The elementary instrument of the guitar itself was introduced by the Spanish, without which a lot of the later musical forms would not have been conceived. The coming of the African slaves too made a profound impact, as they brought their traditional music along with them. The high-pitched nasal quality of singing, for instance, was introduced in this way. The political state too had a role to play.

Obesity in children-long term effects Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Obesity in children-long term effects - Essay Example tioned earlier, the effects of obesity are dichotomized into â€Å"immediate† and â€Å"Long-term† effects therefore, the prime focus of this prose is to assess both the long-term and immediate effects of obesity that will be discussed one by one in the following text. Obesity exposes the child to higher risk of suffering from a cardiovascular disease and are also more susceptible to prediabetes; a condition characterized by high blood-glucose level that may develop into diabetes in later parts of their lives. (Kiess, et.al. 2004) Children suffering from obesity often experience chronic pain in their limbs, back and joints because of relatively high weight than their heights and age. Obesity also exposes the child to social and psychological repercussions that causes the child to feel socially stigmatized and have lower self-esteem. On the other hand, researches have also discovered that individuals who suffer from obesity in their childhood are likely to suffer from it in their adulthood. Therefore, the individuals are exposed to all the health risk factors outlined earlier and obesity is also associated with many types of cancer. (CDC, 2011) High fat level in the body exposes the individual to cancer of the breast, colon, cervix, gall bladder, kidney and thyroid. The stress on the joints and bones can cause significant amount of distress to the individual and it also leads to respiratory problems and sleep apnea the latter is associated with high blood pressure. The additional weight adds pressure on the chest wall and lungs that causes the child to have trouble breathing resulting in troubled sleep during the night and sleepiness during the day. Due to fatigue and joint pain the individual is unable to partake in physically challenging activities and may lead to even more fat deposition in the child. (CDC, 2011) It is evident that obesity affects every individual regardless of age however, in children the problems may be more pronounced because the child

Outsourcing Information Technology and Security Essay Example for Free

Outsourcing Information Technology and Security Essay This can be defined as the employment done to another company by an organization for the service provision in information technology or security services rather than the use of the corporate workers in the performance of such a duty. With the growing intensity of commercial activities the concepts of strategic management has been of importance in formulating various structures and economies in the business activity. Managers have consistently understood the role played by external outsourcing. Such is done is the recognition of the economies of scale and economies in the cost factor which the organization would have been affected. The Elite Supercars can be voted in as one of the global organizations where outsourcing has never been compromised. However a deep concern into the principles of economies of cost factor have been put into consideration. Firstly, an importance is attached to the scale of adequacy in terms of levels of ability for the service provider. Since the provision of both the information technology and security services call for technical pursuits from the providers, the choice of service providers has been in recognition of their technical abilities and competencies. Either, the outsourcing activity has still been in evaluation of the cost parameters. Through this activity, the company was to get a relatively lower scale in its costs. However, a scrutiny and evaluation was done by the management in accordance with the cost factors in choosing various clients against their quality of services. The choice of the clients by the company was indeed a compliment of lower costing service sales above high quality service inputs. Above all other factors, the evaluation of the environmental factors in the activity was a factor. However the two choices were complimentarily environmental friendly within the organizational setup With Elite Supercars, outsourcing information technology and security has been important complements in its activities. This is a car manufacturing company with its roots at Singapore. However to it, outsourcing of the above two corporate factors draws a question of high concern. Firstly, with its increased manufacturing activity, the company had to outsource development of various software useful in the organization’s processes. In the 1st November 2006, the company’s CEO released a press release, where it had contracted the Northern Ferrari Hire for developing an outsourcing program through the web marketing. This was to involve various software on strategic marketing modalities. Perhaps, the impressive sales turn over embraced by the company can be credited to this fact. Through the program, the company is able to adequately provide an attractive package of marketing services to its customers. Through this method, customers have closer relationship with the company where it can adequately communicate with them through the Internet. Suchan, Charles, 2006) Some various examples show the implementation success of this activity. This activity by the organization’s implementation of the program has even driven it to its extended boundaries of its activities. The program was provisional and to a strategy in various accounting components. Firstly, it was a way of optimal costing. As an important tool in an organization, optimal costing implies efficiency in the activity performance. Optimal costing is also seen as the economical method in use of organizational resources. To the Elite Supercars, outsourcing of information technology is a complement of various efficiency-costing benefits. The information outsourcing therefore shows a big success in the company’s costing system where it has obtained various efficiencies related to the program. Through use of an external supply, the organization had various benefits ascribed to it in terms of the costs. Like an external contract, the activity itself was less costing than the use of its own staff. Either, this activity by its own required a high scale of technological know how about it. In regard to its inexperienced employees, outsourcing is still fundamental in the implementation success of the program. Elite Supercars was not strong and able enough to provide the set of competent staff allied to this facility. Either well, to the organization, the provision of a set of technical staff on information technology was not economical enough in relation to the cost factor of the broad organizational activity. However to the company, perhaps the greatest benefit from the project was the consequent development and growth of its sales turn over. Since the enactment of program, the company has continued to experience high sales volume. Above this, there have been various efficiencies in terms of the marketing factor. There has been a continued reduction in the cost of marketing through the various effecienciess and economies of scale borne out of the process. (Cantwell, Alfonso, Granstrand, 2004) Outsourcing, by the Elite Supercars on security has been fundamentally one its management activities. From the past experience in insecurity and theft of its cars at their manufacturing site, the company had to seek refuge of finding a storage facility for its cars. To the company, it chose to use the facility of storage that had been constructed by Dutch Authorities. With the same storage facility, the organization experiences lower cases of theft (if any) to its highly priced cars. Formerly, the increasing state of loss of cars had become a problem which threatened the company in being out of the industry. It had continued to get higher levels of losses through the theft of its cars. At one level therefore, the facility offered cost saving attributes through reduced scales of care theft. (Domberger, 1998) The move to use the storage facility provided by the Dutch Authorities was perhaps one of it strategic management goals. Construction of its own facility was a factor seen as increasing the level of its cost factor consequently. The construction of its own shortage facility was to involve a high level of cost factor compared to the level of its operational capacity. This is an attribute of success in the implementation of the program. Since prevention of car from theft was still a factor of consideration, the opportunity cost of not constructing its own facility was basically to be through the use of another facility. Otherwise, the loss that could accrue from the loss of the cars through theft was far beyond the cost outlay got from the payment to the external shortage. Therefore, the security outsourcing program was itself a factor of high attribute in the success of the company’s activities. To the current period, security problem is no longer an issue and the company continues to embrace the broad economies allied to these out sources. Broadly therefore, outsourcing activity by the company shows a strategic management tool towards the organization activity. The company embraces the long run benefits of these two programs.

Analysis of Bacteria Strains: Phonotypical Tests

Analysis of Bacteria Strains: Phonotypical Tests Kunthavai Jeevananthan Bacterial Identification Aims: To analyse and identify 10 different strains of bacteria by conducting 19 different tests phonotypical tests. Bacteria also known as eubacteria are microorganisms that are invisible to the naked eye but exist in virtually all environments in the world. Bacteria are classified as part of the Monera kingdom which includes archaebacteria and cyanobacteria. Most bacteria are pathogenic or disease causing however not all bacteria are harmful as there are a number of bacteria that can be found in the human body that have positive benefit to their hosts such as help digest food, secrete hormones, chemicals and vitamins required in cell metabolism and even fight off other harmful bacteria. Bacteria exist in various rod, spiral and spherical shapes and are more numerous than any other living organisms. It is important to be able to identify microorganisms in medical clinic in order to help selection of antibodies. Some pharmaceutical products are also made using bacteria therefore many unknown and unidentified bacteria may be useful in the clinical industries. The taxonomy or a particular bacterial c haracteristic can be used to identify similarities that show relationships with disease related descriptions (Janda and Abbott, 2002). Various laboratory tests have been developed that are based on the type of nutrients a bacterium can grow on, the kind of toxins or waste products they produce or how much variation in growth temperature they can tolerate and their morphology can be used to distinguish closely related strains of bacteria. Rapid test kits have also been developed to identify bacteria in the Enterobacteriaceae genera and other gram negative bacteria. Phonotypical approaches of identifying bacteria does not always provide sufficient information to set taxonomic boundaries between different species the repetition of some phenotypic characteristics make it difficult to separate them. Genotyping is however is more precise when it comes to differentiating bacteria within species that lead to the development of DNA hybridisation. This is a technique used measure the similarities in sequences between the DNA of an isolate and a known bacteria. Before conducting a phonotypical bacterial identification it is important to have a pure culture of the bacteria that needs to be identified so that all components of the cells have grown from a single cell and they are clones of one another also known as Holy Grail (Barrow and Feltham, 1993). The bacterial colonies formed for different types of bacteria have different cultural characteristics on agar plates known as colony morphology these include pigments, size edge, pattern, opacity and shine t herefore macroscopically examining the colonies of bacterial cultures is one of the first important tests in bacterial identification. There may be drawbacks in this technique as the visual interpretation can differ from person to person therefore it might not produce reliable results and also mutations in the bacteria strains occur all the time that may provide slightly different characteristics than normal making difficult or incorrect identification. A number of staining methods can be used to examine the cultures under a microscope such as negative staining which stains the background and leaves the cells clear so that the shape of the bacterial cells, presence of glistening capsule and presence of a diffusive extracellular substance (EPS) around the cell and the arrangement of cells can be determined. Differential staining is a test that divides bacteria into two large groups either gram negative or gram positive. Pink- red staining indicates gram negative bacteria and a blue purple staining shows gram positive bacteria cells. Unevenly stained clear surfaces can be formed on the surface of the bacterial cells during gram staining due to the presence of endospores that can be confirmed using spore stain. Acid fast staining is also used if cells appear long, slender and intertwined in order to confirm the presence of acid fast cells which are bacteria in the genera Mycobacteria and Nocardia that are resistant to gram staining. Oxidase, catalase and the ability of the culture to grow in anaerobic conditions are three tests that are conducted during the first steps of identification. Catalase test is to dip an inoculating needle coated with culture into a droplet of hydrogen peroxide and if the bacteria possesses a catalase enzyme it will breakdown the hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen that effervesce to form foam. Catalase positive bacteria are usually aerobic while catalase negative bacteria are anaerobic. Cytochrome oxidase is another enzyme found normally in the electron transport chains of an aerobic bacteria and this is tested by adding an artificial substrate such as para amino dimethylaniline that will produce a dark red to black product when oxidised (Cullimore, 2000). Alongside these test the cultures can be tested on their abilities to grow under anaerobic conditions which can further divide them into 4 major groups; strictly aerobic, reduced concentrations of oxygen, both aerobic and anaero bic and strictly anaerobic bacteria. Urease synthesis, gelatin hydrolysis and citrate utilisation are tests that can be conducted to narrowly distinguish bacteria further to help identify their genera. Urease is produced the bacterial genera proteus, providentia and morgenella to break down urea into carbon dioxide and ammonia therefore it is a useful test to help distinguish these genera from other gram negative rods during identification. Urease test is carried out by incubating urea broth with samples of gram negative cultures. The presence of ammonia increases the pH hence turning the phenol red indicator to a pink-purple colour for a positive test (Harvey and Champe et al, 2001). The gelatin hydrolysis test identifies the ability of bacteria to produce gelatinases which can help identification of serratia and proteus. The citrate utilisation tests the ability of the bacteria to utilise citrate as its carbon and energy source used mostly to identify gram negative bacteria. Indole, methyl red- Voges- protease test and fermentation of glucose, sucrose and lactose are also test that are conducted to help assist with identification of bacteria. Indole test is preformed to test the ability of bacteria to breakdown amino acid tryptophan and produce indole that can be detected using Kovac’s reagent. This method is important in the identification of gram negative enterobacteria. Methyl red-Voges- Proskauer on the other hand are two tests that are conducted together as they both require the use of the same medium. The methyl red test identifies the ability of the bacteria to carry out mixed acid fermentations whereas the VP test determines whether the bacteria fermenting sugars via the butanediol pathway by testing for the by-product acetoin. These tests are also useful in differentiating between members of the enterobacteria such as E. coli (Wong, 2005). The ability of bacteria to ferment carbohydrates is also a way to discriminate them during identific ation as fewer bacteria are able to use disaccharides like lactose and sucrose as a source of energy. This can be detected by checking for release of gaseous by products and metabolic chemicals that are released during the process of oxidation and fermentation of sugars. These tests described in the context above were carried out under standard conditions and results were recorded. Results Table 1: shows test results for Colony Morphology for 10 unknown bacterial cultures A to J. Table 2: shows test results for 18 different bacterial identification tests for unknown cultures A to J. Urease, indole, citrate, oxidase, methyl red and Voges-Proskauer test were only carried out for gram negative strains of bacteria and the endospores were only tested for gram positive bacteria. Microphotographs showing cell morphologies and gram (+/-) strains for cultures C, D and F are shown in the appendix. For culture C it can be seen that the cells are arranged in â€Å"grape like† structures whereas C is arranged in packets of four. It can also be seen that culture F it can be seen that the cells were single and in chains. Discussion Organism A and B are both gram positive rods that gave positive results for anaerobic, catalase and endospores test however they can both be differentiated as organism B is brown in colour and a glucose fermenter whereas organism A is orange in colour and a non-glucose fermenter. Organism B was in a cooked meat liquid broth which also indicates that the bacterium maybe part of the Clostridium species that have a few pathogenic bacteria that are responsible for food poisoning and tetanus. Organism A is therefore Bacillus Cereus some bacterium in this species are harmless whereas others are pathogenic that may cause foodborne illnesses such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. Organism C has the morphology of pale yellow cocci clusters arranged in packets of four. It is a gram positive bacterium that also shows positive results for glucose fermentation and the catalase test show characteristics of Staphylococcus species which include pathogenic bacteria that causes skin infections, pneum onia and food poisoning. Organism C appeared in clusters that were â€Å"grape like† and is also a gram positive cocci and has a positive result for catalase however it does not ferment carbohydrates but shows positive test results for their metabolic chemical produced and hereby conveying characteristics of Micrococcus species these bacteria are very rarely disease causing and if so some may cause chronic cutaneous infections (Breed and Murray, 1957). Organism E has a white flat mycelial morphology and it is a gram positive glucose fermenter therefore it is a part of the Streptomyces genera that are known to inhibit the soil and causes the common scab in root vegetables. Organism F is a clear gram negative rod bacterium that is glucose and lactose fermenter and produces metabolic chemicals for glucose, lactose. It also produced negative results for tests urease, gelatin, oxidase, Voges-Proskauer (VP) and indole however it showed positive results for catalase, citrate and methyl red and anaerobic tests as shown in figure 2. Analysing these results organism F can be identified as Escherichia coli that consist of many different strains some of which can cause urinary tract infections, diarrhoea, anaemia and even kidney failure. Organism G is a gram negative rod that produces metabolic chemicals for all three carbohydrates glucose, lactose and sucrose however bubbles were only present for lactose and sucrose. It also shows positive results for tests urease, indole anaerobic and VP but negative results for catalase, oxidase, gelatin and methyl red. Organism G showed similar results to organism F however unlike organism F it is urease positive therefore it can be a bacterium from the Proteus genera that also contain a few pathogenic bacteria that can cause urinary tract infections, kidney stones and cystitis. Organism H is only a glucose fermenter but does not produce any metabolic chemicals. It demonstrates positive test results for urease, gelatin, citrate, anaerobic catalase and oxidase but negative for both methyl red and VP as well as indole tests. It is possible that this bacterium maybe be a part of the Pseudomonas genera with different bacterial strains that may cause respiratory tract infections, dermatitis and bone and joint infections. Organism I is also a gram negative rod and had a clear pigmentation on an agar medium that is a glucose fermenter but however it produces metabolic chemicals for glucose, lactose and sucrose. It also produces positive results when being tested for citrate, anaerobic, catalase and methyl red but not for urease, gelatin, indole, oxidase and VP this indicates that organism I could be Salmonella typhimurium a pathogenic bacteria that causes gastroenteritis that leads to diarrhoea. Organism J is another gram negative bacterium that produces no bubbles for glucose, lactose or sucrose fermentation but produces metabolic chemicals for glucose and sucrose. It is also positive for gelatin, citrate, anaerobic, catalase and VP however it is negative for urease, indole, oxidase and methyl red tests. The red pigmentation of the bacterial culture and the other tests results indicates that organism J maybe Serratia marcescens that are associated with many different types of diseases some of which in clude bacteraemia, sepsis and meningitis. In order to conduct more specific identification of these bacteria further tests can be carried out that will help to distinguish each bacterium more accurately. Other tests that can be carried out include starch hydrolysis, lipid hydrolysis, motility (SIM) deeps, beta galactosidase, nitrate, coagulase, mannitol salt, osmotic pressure and haemolysis. References Barrow, G. I., Feltham, K. A. R. (1993). Crowan and Steel’s manual for the identification of medical bacteria: classification and nomenclature. 1-6. United Kingdom: Cambridge university press. Breed, R. S., Murray, G. D. E., Smith, N. R. (1957). Bergey’s manual of determinative bacteriology. 695- 800. United States of America: Baltimore Williams and Wilkins co. Cullimore, D. R. (2000). Practical atlas for bacterial identification: initial stages of the identification of the bacterial culture. 1-7. United States of America: CRC press LLC; Harvey, R. A., Champe, P.C., Fisher, B.D. (2001). Microbiology: identification of bacteria. 24-27. United Stated of America: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. Janda, J.M., Abbott, S. L. (2002). Bacterial identification for publication: when enough is enough? Journal of clinical microbiology. Vol. 40 no. 6, (1887-1891). Wong, T. (2005). Introduction to microbiology laboratory exercises for Allied Heath students: The IMViC tests. 48-50. United States of America: Author House. Appendix Culture C Culture D Culture F

Essay --

The All American Dog has a long history that’s been forgotten by America today. The American Pitbull Terriers use to be a World War I, â€Å"Mascots of neutrality and bravery.† Today they are seen almost like a convict in public waiting to commit a crime and keep their distance from them. The breed is one of the smartest breeds out there in the world today proven by the Canine Temperament tests, American Pitbull Terriers score above average higher than any other dogs. Pit Bull Terriers are part of American history due to their powerful physical characteristics and strong bonds of loyalty, however, recent media focus have tarnished changed this breed’s image unfairly. The American Pitbull Terrier originated from Europe, Scotland, and Ireland in the eighteenth century. The American Pitbull Terrier came from mixing terriers with bulldogs a, â€Å"Breed historians believe originally served as a gripping dog for hunters of large game.† They use to let about four Pitbulls at once and attack a bull for entertainment. They later saw it as a sport, â€Å"These dogs were used in the blood sport of bull and bear baiting.† As they fought against bears, bulls, and other large animals. The American Pitbull Terriers, â€Å"maintained their grip until the animal became exhausted from fighting and loss of blood.† soon after they banned the inhumane sport in the 1835. Soon, dog fighting became very popular, exciting and entertaining to see as the wining dog was, â€Å"Celebrated and held up as heroes for their courage and fortitude during battle.† Selective breeding started that way their dog would be easily handled and obey owners. The y received the name for being trained to fight in pits with other dogs mostly of their own breed; after baiting was banned they got the b... ...sible, abusive, forgets, and reckless towards the dog, â€Å"A bad stereotype that has come because a lot of times they are raised wrong.† The breed was a very important breed to America that was looked up to, as of now some states ban owning an American Pitbull Terrier. The breed is part of the nations upcoming and history that many are terrified of to even pet the exploring, loving, and friendly All American Dog they are. The fighting dogs were also known to change their habits with new responsible owners and created a very loving bond as if they never fought before. Today, American Pitbull Terriers aren’t allowed to enter most dog contests due to the false myths the media has created and irresponsible owners. The now infamous American Pitbull Terrier has developed a bad reputation since the eighties that some people are slowly changing back to our All American Dog.

Breakfast At Tiffanys Essay -- essays research papers

Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote is about the thought that friendship can make a person take drastic measures in helping a friend. The setting is New York City. The point of view is first person limited. Seen through the eyes of the narrator, called â€Å"Fred† ( the main character ), who is a starting writer. I enjoyed the story because it was very interesting to learn and experience life in old New York.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The story starts out, probably in the present time, when â€Å"Fred†, who had now been living in New York for a great deal of time, goes into his friend Joe Bell’s bar for a drink. There he learns the his long time friend, Holly Golightly, is still alive by the use of a photograph from an explorer which shows a wood carving made by a tribesman which bears the uncanny resemblance to Holly. After this encounter, â€Å"Fred† begins to reminisce about his past with Holly and all of their wild adventures.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Fred’s† first meeting with Holly was through his apartment window. Holly Golightly is a nineteen year-old self-sufficient woman. Some of her personality traits are admirable, affectionate, while cold hearted. She is motivated in life by striving for her purpose in life, which is to be rich and famous while keeping her ego. She believes that love is not sexual. Holly, trying to escape a horrible date, decides to visit her new downstairs neighbor. There she practically tells â€Å"Fred† everything about her life. Fred was a na...

Brand Obsolesce

Brand is a valuable intangible asset of an entity. It takes a large span of time to build up a brand. Reliability and permanence of a brand depends directly upon goodwill and performance of an entity. There may be slight variations in its value in monetary terms but marketing tools such as advertisements and word-of-mouth publicity can help in regaining its status. There is no particular reason for a brand to be obsolete once it’s built up in its entirety. A brand can only be successful if its owner company possesses some goodwill in the market.A company’s goodwill depends upon factors like its past performance, integrity, objectivity and ethical values. These factors are mostly regulated by frameworks which possess legitimate power and it becomes a responsibility of a company to respond to the requirements of such frameworks. If a company succeeds in complying with the standards and other regulations, its goodwill becomes stable. Once a company’s goodwill is est ablished, it keeps growing with the passage of time. A quite familiar example might be of a very successful brand, Coca Cola.This brand has been around since 1944 and it’s getting more and more successful by the minute. There have been slight variations in its value, but such variations did not hamper its growth. A brand needs to be acclimatized with the changing behavioral patterns of the market. The brand stewards are accomplished detectives, constantly searching for what works, and what works against, the cause (Lynn B. Upshaw, p. 42). One factor which may pose threat to the existence of a brand is its competitor.In case of Coca Cola, Pepsi has been its rival since inception. This scenario leads to ‘Brand War’ which should be handled sensitively while constructing long-run policies of a company. Advertisement is the most effective tool for faming or defaming a brand, this tool should be used to handle such situations. A company should adjust its marketing poli cies in a proactive way. Pro-active policies help a company prepare for any expected or unexpected attack on its brand, before it actually happens.Everyone agreed brands were a good thing, but no one thought much about measuring the value of a brand as a stand-alone asset (Hill & Lederer, p. 61). Brands should be quantified and valued on a regular basis. This assessment highlights any impairment in its value or any change in market trends. Continuous assessment of the value of a brand helps a company decide whether any modifications are needed in its marketing policies and what steps should be taken to regain the value of a brand, in case it has been impaired.Organizations need to develop internal alignment with their brand amongst internal stakeholders and resources, and build strong external alignment with external stakeholders, consumers and partners (Thomas, 2010). Managing brands has always been a challenge for a company. Either it is a newly created brand or it has been in exi stence for ages, it needs regular acclimatization based on feedback from the external as well as internal environment of a company.If a brand is evaluated on a regular basis and proactive steps are taken to save its value, there is no reason left for a brand to be obsolete. References Hill, S. and Lederer, C. (2001). The infinite asset: managing brands to build new value. First Edition. Harvard Business Press. Thomas, G. M. (2010). Managing brand performance: Aligning positioning, execution and experience. Journal of Brand Management, 17, 465-471. Accessed on August 19, 2010 from Upshaw, L. (1995). Building Brand Identity, John Wiley and Sons.