Thursday, October 31, 2019

Marketing Plan Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 3

Marketing Plan - Term Paper Example This market target is viable because the foods are purchased for consumption in offices, schools and sometimes at homes. This represents a real market audience. The NRO plays a fundamental role in meeting the demands of this market niche and expanding its market base of existing and new products. The NRO through its strong distribution channels intends to expand its market by advertising the Company’s products. The NRO’s employees in marketing and advertising section should embrace online marketing and ads to increase its customer base (Wood, 2003).2.2 Marketing strategy Online marketing should be facilitated by online marketing and advertising channels. Tools such as Google, twitter and other online platforms need to be used in a bid to expand awareness and accessibility of the General Mills products. The ads should include the types of products, prices and locations of retail outlets. Sustaining of the current international sales of $3 billion, the superiority of the company’s brands should be strategically put into both the new and existing market niches (Luther, 2001). Equally, the NRO should break down the current barriers to expansive market. For instance, the issue of retail placement fragmentation, for the case of single-serving pre-prepared meal group should be rectified, defined and facilitated. The placement channel is fundamental in sustaining the product market through flow of product information to the market audience in a consistent manner with the current GIS distribution channels (Luther, 2001).

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Sustainable Competitive Advantage Essay Example for Free

Sustainable Competitive Advantage Essay A sustainable competitive advantage occurs when an organization acquires or develops an attribute or combination of attributes that allows it to outperform its competitors. These attributes can include access to natural resources or access to highly trained and skilled personnel human resources. It is an advantage (over the competition), and must have some life; the competition must not be able to do it right away, or it is not sustainable. It is an advantage that is not easily copied and, thus, can be maintained over a long period of time. Competitive advantage is a key determinant of superior performance, and ensures survival and prominent placing in the market. Superior performance is the ultimate, desired goal of a firm; competitive advantage becomes the foundation. It gives firms the ability to stay ahead of present or potential competition and ensure market leadership. Resource-Based View of the firm. In 1991, Jay Barney established four criteria that determine a firms competitive capabilities in the marketplace. These four criteria for judging a firms resources are: 1. Are they valuable? (Do they enable a firm to devise strategies that improve efficiency or effectiveness?) 2. Are they rare? (If many other firms possess it, then it is not rare.) 3. Are they imperfectly imitable (because of unique historical conditions, causally ambiguous, and/or are socially complex)? 4. Are they non-substitutable? (If a ready substitute can be found, then this condition is not met?) When all four of these criteria are met, then a firm can be said to have a sustainable competitive advantage. In other words, the firm will have an advantage in the marketplace which will last until the criteria are no longer met completely. As a result, the firm will be able to earn higher profits than other firms with which it competes. Developing Sustainable Competitive Advantages 1. Customer Loyalty: Customers must be committed to buying merchandise and services from a particular retailer. This can be accomplished through retail branding, positioning, and loyalty programs. A loyalty program is like a Target card. Now, when the customer uses the card as a credit card, Target can track all of their transactions and store it in their data warehouse, which keeps track of the customer’s needs and wants outside of Target. This will entice Target to offer products that they do not have in stock. Target tracks all sales done on their cards. So, Target can track customers who use their card at other retailers and compete by providing that merchandise as well. 2. Location: Location is a critical factor in a consumers selection of a store. Starbucks coffee (shown here Figure 1) is an example. They will conquer one area of a city at a time and then expand in the region. They open stores close to one another to let the storefront promote the company; they do little media advertising due to their location strategy. 3. Distribution and Information Systems: Walmart has killed this part of the retailing strategy. Retailers try to have the most effective and efficient way to get their products at a cheap price and sell them for a reasonable price. Distributing is extremely expensive and timely. 4. Unique Merchandise: Private label brands are products developed and marketed by a retailer and available only from the retailer. For example, if you want Craftsman tools, you must go to Sears to purchase them. 5. Vendor Relations: Developing strong relations with vendors may gain exclusive rights to sell merchandise to a specific region and receive popular merchandise in short supply. 6. Customer Service: This takes time to establish but once its established, it will be hard for a competitor to a develop a comparable reputation. 7. Multiple Source Advantage: Having an advantage over multiple sources is important. For example, McDonalds is known for fast, clean, and hot food. They have cheap meals, nice facilities, and good customer service with a strong reputation for always providing fast, hot food

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Educate People On Pusher Syndrome

Educate People On Pusher Syndrome The brain is a very complex organ. Everything we do or think takes place in a very confined, small space. Any injury that occurs in the brain can affect the whole body. Pusher syndrome is a disorder following right or left brain damage. Pusher syndrome occurs when the patient pushes away from the nonhemiparetic side.2 Pusher syndrome is observed in about 10 percent of acute stroke patients that has hemiparesis.10 Typically, pusher syndrome occurs in strokes, but may also occur in trauma, tumors, or other kinds of brain damage.11 Pusher syndrome usually occurs when the posterolateral portion of the thalamus, that is located deep within the cerebral hemispheres beneath the cortex and is the relay center for sensory and motor mechanisms and the suprathalamic white matter is involved.1,12,13 The damage is caused by higher pressure, swelling, and other secondary pathologies.10 Pusher syndrome is usually caused by a hemorrhagic stroke rather than a cerebral infarction.10 A posterior thalam ic hemorrhage causes bigger lesions than thalamic infarctions, which frequently leads to pusher syndrome.7 Stroke Since pusher syndrome is usually the result of a stroke, it is important to know some basic facts about strokes. One of the most common causes of death in the United States is due to a stroke.14 The long term cause of disability is also due to a stroke.15 Strokes can cause an increased dependence for many survivors.16 A stroke is one of the most expensive and life changing syndromes keeping people from fully participating in their lives.17 Stroke occurs when there is an interruption of blood flow to the brain and it causes sudden severe neurologic loss of function. Hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes are major risk factors for having a stroke.5 The age of people having strokes are starting to decrease.17 There are two different classifications of stroke, which are hemorrhage and ischemic strokes. Ischemic strokes are caused by thrombosis, embolism, or systemic hypoperfusion, while hemorrhage strokes are caused by intracerebral or subarachnoid hemorrhage. A thrombotic stroke is caused when a disease causes a thrombus and reduces blood flow distally. An embolic stroke is caused when debris breaks off and travels elsewhere to block arterial access to a particular region of the brain. Intracerebral hemorrhage stroke is usually from small arteries bleeding directly into the brain. This bleeding causes a localized hematoma that spreads along white matter pathways. The accumulation of blood can occur within minutes or hours. The hematoma grows until the pressure increases to its limit or until the hemorrhage decompresses by emptying into the ventricular system or into the cerebrospinal fluid on the surface of the brain. Subarachnoid hemorrhage stroke is usually caused by a rupture of arteri al aneurysms that are located at the base of the brain. Subarachnoid hemorrhage strokes can be also caused by bleeding from vascular formations that lie near the pial surface of the brain. Ischemic cerebral infarctions are responsible for 80 percent of strokes and brain hemorrhage is responsible for 20 percent of strokes.18 Strokes can cause many neurological deficits. Those deficits include deficits in motor control, abnormal synergistic patterns of movement, muscle weakness, sensory deficits, and a loss of range of motion.14 People having symptoms of a stroke should have a MRI or CT scan within 24 hours of onset.19 Symptoms of stroke include: sudden numbness or weakness in the arm, leg, or face on one side of body, sudden confusion or trouble speaking, sudden trouble seeing, sudden difficulty with walking, dizziness, loss of balance, and sudden headaches.5 Characteristics of Pusher Syndrome Pusher syndrome is characterized by pushing toward the hemiparetic side. A patient with pusher syndrome strongly resists the vertical upright position. They align their longitudinal axis of their bodies with what they perceive as vertical, which is toward their hemiparetic side.3 A patient with pusher syndrome usually tilts their body 20 degrees to their hemiparetic side.4 Pushing varies in severity and increases with postural challenges. In sitting, the patient leans toward the weaker side. In standing, the patient has a high risk for falls because they are unbalanced and the hemiparetic lower extremity cannot support the weight of their body. The patient shows no fear of pushing to the weak side.5 These patients actually show fear of falling toward their nonparetic side and that is why they push toward the hemiplegic side.20 Normally, a patient with a stroke increases their weight bearing on their stronger side, so this syndrome is opposite of the expected tendencyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s.5 Pusher syndrome is more prominent when patients are upright rather than lying down.21 Patients with pusher syndrome has paresis of the contralesional extremities more frequently and more severe than patients without pusher syndrome13 These patients also have an unstable gait because they continuously fall to their paretic side. The inability to bear weight on the paretic lower extremity also causes gait disturbances. Part of the underlining mechanism of pusher syndrome is the mismatch between the visual vertical and tilted orientation of the body.14 Diagnosing Pusher Syndrome To diagnose pusher syndrome, the Standardized Scale of Contraversive Pushing (SCP) is used on the same day of the MRI acquisition. The SCP analyzes three different areas. The first area to be assessed is symmetry of spontaneous body posture. The next is the use of the nonparetic arm or leg to increase pushing force by abduction and extension of extremities. Last is the resistance to passive correction of posture. These tests are determined when the patient is sitting with feet on the ground and standing. For a patient to be diagnosed with pusher syndrome, all three analyzed areas have to be present and with a score of at least one with respect to their spontaneous postures and at least a score of one with respect to the use of the nonparetic arm and leg to increase pushing force by abduction and extension. Also the patient has to show a resistance to the correction of the posture.6 The SCP is a simple and fast test but it is not suitable when symptoms are slight and only show up in d ynamic activities like walking. Another way to diagnose pusher syndrome is a four-point scale that assesses the presence of pusher syndrome by examining different postures. If a patient does not have pusher syndrome they will receive a score of zero. If pusher syndrome is only present in standing, the patient receives a score of one. If pusher syndrome is also present in sitting the patient receives a score of two. If pusher syndrome is also present while lying down the patient receives a score of three.7 Treatment of Pusher Syndrome Physical therapy is a very important part of recovery for a patient with pusher syndrome. Patients with hemiplegia and pusher syndrome will be admitted to inpatient rehabilitation more frequently than patients with less severe symptoms.7 Pusher syndrome causes impairments on postural balance.8 One of the first goals of physical therapy should be to demonstrate and align posture.2 Visual cues may be helpful for patients to try to align their body axis to the earth vertical.14 The therapist can sit next to their less involved side or have the patient sit against a wall with their less involved side and tell the patient to lean toward the therapist or against the wall. To help with sitting posture, physical therapy can include sitting on a therapy ball to promote symmetry and sitting. While the patient is on the ball, the weaker lower extremity should cross over the stronger lower extremity. To help get the weak lower extremity out of flexion, which is often the position of the weaker l ower extremity; the patient can wear an air splint or a leg splint. The therapists can actually tap directly over the quadriceps muscle to promote extension. A modified plantigrade position is a great position to begin early standing. In this position, the therapists can focus on using the weaker lower extremity to work on unilateral support. The weaker upper extremity may also be in a position of flexion, so an air splint can be used to promote extension of that upper extremity. A patient can stand in a corner or doorway to promote symmetrical standing. The therapist should block the stronger extremities from moving into abduction and extension and pushing. The therapist should provide constant feedback about body orientation and have the patient practice correcting orientation and weight shifting.5 When a patient begins gait training, the therapist can lower the height of the assistive device so the patient has to bear weight on the uninvolved side.22 If a patient requires transfe rring, they should be transferred to their weaker side. Transferring this way is much more convenient since the patient is already pushing in that direction. Also, since pusher syndrome is the result of a stroke, the treatment of a patient with a stroke should also be discussed. The level of the patient with a stroke must be part of consideration when a patient begins therapy. There are many tests to measure the independence in activities of daily living. These tests include the Functional Independence Measurement (FIM), Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS), modified Rankin Scale (mRS), and the Barthel Index (BI).23 A therapist will examine the patient and make a decision on the level that the patient is on in order to see which direction to begin therapy. Another scale that needs to be evaluated for a patient with a stroke is the Brunnstrom stages of recovery. This scale rates the patient in the progression of the typical characteristics of stroke behaviors. This scale goes through seven stages of recovery. The stages begin with stage one as the patient is flaccid, stage two as the patient begins to develop spasticity, stage three as spasticity i s at its greatest, stage four and five as the spasticity decreases, stage six as spasticity is completely gone and stage seven as the patient is back to normal function. The therapist should also be aware of synergy patterns and help the patient to work out of these patterns.22 The stages of motor control and the stages of developmental posture are very important aspects of therapy for stroke patients. A therapist should be aware of these sequences and follow them in the treatment of a stroke patient.5 After a patient suffers a stroke, balance ability can be improved by physical therapy interventions. After a stroke, early impaired balance is strongly associated with future function and recovery.15 The Bobath concept of Neuromuscular Developmental Treatment (NDT) is one of the many tools that therapist can use to deal with individual deficits and opportunities for stroke survivors. NDT is especially useful for those patients with a good prognosis for recovery. Bobath explained that a patient suffering from hemiplegia should be active while the therapist assists them in moving by using key points of control and reflex inhibiting reflexes.9 The key points of control are head, shoulders, hips, or distal extremities. The shoulder and pelvic girdle is the most important points to influence postural alignment. A therapist would apply manual contact to the shoulder and pelvis to influence muscle tone distribution and distal movements. The distal key points are the elbows, hands, knees, an d feet. The distal key points affect the movement of the trunk. Once a patientsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ tone is manageable, the therapist superimposes normal movements and posture. When a therapist superimposes normal movement and posture, it is done within the context of a functional activity. NDT is a great way to inhibit abnormal postural reflex activity and movements and facilitate normal patterns. Normal motor patterns include head and trunk control, upper extremity support, and balance reaction. NDT is also a good approach to align posture.22 Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) is reported as being the most effective protocol for achieving the greatest increase in range of motion.24 PNF is also used to increase strength, flexibility, and range of motion. By increasing these things and integrating these gains, the patient can establish head and trunk control, iniate and maintain movements, control shifts in the center of gravity, and control their pelvis and trunk while the extremities move. PNF is unique diagonal patterns of movement. Most movements do not occur only in the cardinal plane but also occur as triplanar. PNF patterns simulate the demands incurred during functional movements.22 Another good approach to physical therapy is to strengthen the weak muscles. Tone is another issue that must be addressed in physical therapy in a patient with a stroke and pusher syndrome. Patients can either have low tone (flaccid) or high tone (spastic). Low tone can be corrected by using facilitory techniques, and high tone can be corrected by using inhibitory techniques.5 Some facilitory techniques include quick stretching, tapping, vibration, approximation, and weight bearing. Some inhibitory techniques include slow, rhythmic rotation, weight bearing, prolonged icing, and static stretch.22 Occupational and Speech Therapy Occupational therapy is also required to expand rehabilitation to address participation in work, family, and community life.17 Upper extremity weakness also needs to be strengthened by the occupational therapist to perform activities of daily living.25 Although speech therapy may not be needed to treat pusher syndrome patients specifically, the injuries that result in this condition will require speech therapy, such as stroke or brain injury. Speech therapy may be needed to address aphasia, global or expressive. Prognosis of Pusher Syndrome Even though progress of a patient with pusher syndrome is based on a patient by patient case, they usually have good results. With effective training, the potential for minimizing the impact of pusher syndrome is good. Motor learning strategies are also very effective in reducing the effects of pusher syndrome and enhancing recovery.5 The functional recovery process may be very slow and require a longer stay in the hospital but usually a patient with pusher syndrome makes a full recovery. Recovery is usually completed by six months after the stroke.7 Conclusion Pusher syndrome can be a very devastating symptom after a hemorrhagic stroke. Ten percent of acute stroke patients suffer from pusher syndrome. A patient with pusher syndrome can have greater challenges with function and mobility. They have difficulties with standing and sitting as they push to their hemiparetic side and resist correction of posture. The Standardized Scale of Contraversive pushing (SCP) and a four-point scale are two ways to diagnose a patient with pusher syndrome. The treatment of pusher syndrome is dependent on physical therapy. Initially, correcting posture is the main focus of therapy. Then balance, strengthening weak muscles, and correcting abnormal movements are the focus of therapy. Neuromuscular Developmental Treatment (NDT) and proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) are great tools that help with physical therapy. Patients with pusher syndrome may have a slower recovery and a longer hospital stay, but usually make a full recovery within six months.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Soccer history :: essays research papers

Games similar to soccer were played in China as early as 400 B.C. In 200 A.D. the Romans played a game in which 2 teams tried to score by advancing the ball across a line on a field, which means no soccer goals. They passed the ball to one another, but not by kicking it. Also in the 1100's, London children played a form of soccer (World Book Encyclopedia, S p.73).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the early 1800's, many English schools played a game that resembled soccer. Players added many rules that changed the game, and each school interpreted them differently. In 1848, a group of school representatives met at Trinity College in Cambridge and drew up the first set of soccer rules (Brooks Clark, 1993). In 1863, representatives of English soccer clubs founded the English football clubs found the English Football Association. Soccer began to spread throughout the world in the late 1800's. By 1900, associations had been established in Belgium, Chile, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. In 1904, the national associations founded the Federation Internationle de Futbol Association. Soccer was made an official Olympic sport in 1908. The Canadian Soccer Association was established in 1912, and the United States Soccer Federation was set up in 1913. The first World Cup was played, in 1913, in Montevideo, Uruguay. Since then, the World Cup has been held every four years, except during World War II (1929-1945), when the games were suspended.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Indoor soccer began in 1939, was formed by Major Indoor Soccer League, it started so people could play during the winter months. The North American Soccer League had its own indoor league from 1979-1984. Some of the differences from outdoor soccer are: there were only five players on the field and the goalkeeper, the goals are smaller, and the field is smaller. The field is like a hockey rink with astro-turf field surrounded with Plexiglas. The soccer goals are also built into the wall. This is a very fast paced game with four periods of 15 minutes each. In the United States, major league professional soccer has attracted little interest from the fans. Either indoor or outdoor proved to be successful, even with stars coming from Europe and Latin America. American Soccer League was the longest running professional league in the United States soccer history, going from 1921 to 1984. The North American Soccer League only existed until 1985. Some of the worlds' greatest players competed in this league, such as Michael Platani and Giorgio Chinaglia.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Book Review on Chinese Cinderella: the Secret Story of an Unwanted Daughter

1 Book review on Chinese Cinderella: The Secret Story of an Unwanted Daughter By Caren Shin In wealthy families, babies are born with a silver spoon in their mouths. Not quite for Adeline. In fact, the recount of Adeline Yen Mah’s childhood is a relatively sad one even though her father was a millionaire. She was seen as bad luck to the family as her mother died after giving birth to her. She is always frowned upon by her older and younger siblings, neglected by her father and scolded by her stepmother. She has to learn to depend on herself as there was often no one to help her. The story reveals the two sides of her family: on the surface it is friendly and caring, while inside one can realize how the children are really treated by their stepmother Niang. As the youngest of five children from her father’s first marriage, Adeline has to suffer many blows because every one looks down on her especially when she receives her father’s praise. Adeline’s main reason for her love of school was to be away from her stepmother so that she could become a different person that was admired by her peers as she topped her class regularly. Her whole personality changed when she was away from her Niang and with someone that knew her from the heart; her friend Wu Chung-Mei, her Ye Ye and Aunt Baba. At age eight, Adeline was given a duckling, the only one left after all her siblings had picked their choice. Although it was not the best duckling, she still loved it dearly and treasured every opportunity that she could get with it. She named it Precious Little Duckling (PLT). I think this illustrates her love for her pet and that she was pleased that her siblings had left her one. It also gives a comparison of how each sibling is treated by their parents. Since she was the youngest and the least likely to make a fuss, her big brother took her duckling when her father ordered him to test the obedience training of his dog Jackie. Adeline immediately sensed her duckling’s fate; she knew that PLT was going to die. When Jackie’s demonstration of obedience was over, PLT was bleeding and passed away next morning. Adeline and her third brother buried PLT under a magnolia tree. Adeline was saddened by the above incidence and recalled every time when she sensed the presence of a magnolia, she would remember PLT. I feel this demonstrates the love she felt for PLT and how heartbreaking the experience as. Throughout this passage of the story, I envision there are many emotions often shown as colours that were being pressed into Adeline’s mind: white, yellow, black and brown. I have chosen these colours because white represents the magnolias, yellow symbolizes the feathers of PLT, black for the grim horror that happened, and br own for the eyes of PLT and the earth on top of PLT’s grave. When Adeline became a sixth former at Sheng Xin (Sacred Heart) Primary School, a democratic election was held in their class to see who would be their class president and head girl of the whole school. She teamed up with her friend Wu Chun-Mei who won the election for her. On her triumphant day, many of her supporters went to her house to give her presents. Her father and Niang were very upset and annoyed at the fact that Adeline’s friends were at their house, disturbing them. When she was called to her father’s room for the cause for all her friends to be there, Adeline did not know. Niang did not believe her and slapped her making her nose bleed. In front of all her friends (with blood still dripping down her face) she told them to go away because her father was sleeping. Then she was told to open all her presents in front of her parents and throw them all in the rubbish bin. I experience the sadness she has felt when she was 2 humiliated by her stepmother. Adeline must have had a determination not to show her weakness by crying. After this incident, Niang ordered her to pack all her things as Adeline, Niang and her father were going to Tianjin on an airplane. As she was on the plane, they had to fill out landing cards. Adeline’s father forgot Adeline’s Chinese name and her date of birth. Since her father had forgotten her Chinese name, Adeline felt deeply hurt as her father confused her name with her little sister’s. This meant that her father had forgotten all about her and had only remembered her little sister, even though she was his real daughter. I feel dreadful at the thought that her father could forget her name. Her date of birth became her father’s; November 30 because her date of birth was unknown. In this story of Adeline Yen Mah’s childhood life, I felt many ups and downs and how she might have felt. It was surprising to see a girl like Adeline being humiliated in front of her friends who wanted to support her. If I were in her shoes, I would feel scared and frightened because the supporters might not support me anymore because they had known of the family ugliness. I think that this family ugliness was hidden from other people seeing it by Niang and Adeline’s father. To prove this point, when Niang met other people, she wanted them to know that the family only had her two children. She kept the five children from her husband’s first marriage in the dark, thus swerving Adeline’s father into forgetting his former wife’s younger children including Adeline. Her father and Niang went with Adeline to Tianjin and left her as a border in St Joseph’s School. At first, there were many people attending the school but soon Adeline was the only student left in the whole school. All of them fled from the communist army. I feel how she must have felt in these circumstances as no one was bothered to look after her while she was the only student. She would feel bewildered and frightened at the same time as she was being punished from negligence by her father and stepmother. During this story I feel Adeline’s sadness, despair and happy moments. I feel very grateful that I am in a different family and that I did not have to go through what Adeline had to undergo. The story of her childhood is a very sad one, but I hope that other children do not have to suffer the same case as she did. Her life had many hopeful and downhearted moments she had and only determination helped her live through this dark period. Encouragement from her Aunt Baba and her Ye Ye was the only source to give her the strength to be a good scholar and prove her Niang wrong. In this story, Adeline has a message to neglected and unloved children of the world – within every one there is something precious and unique. Her childhood experience brings out the importance of perseverance in life. One must persist to do one’s best when one is hopeless, to have the faith when one’s spirit is down, and to change fears into courage and strength. Everyone of us can be Cinderella and successful as Adeline if we hold her belief that â€Å"one single positive dream is more important than a thousand negative realities. † END

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Essay on The Connection between Fashion, Beauty, Appearance and IdentityEssay Writing Service

Essay on The Connection between Fashion, Beauty, Appearance and IdentityEssay Writing Service Essay on The Connection between Fashion, Beauty, Appearance and Identity Essay on The Connection between Fashion, Beauty, Appearance and IdentityHow significant is appearance to identity? This issue has been widely discussed in scientific literature and the mass media sources. Researchers have found that the significance of appearance and identity is reflected in social interaction. Appearance is considered to be the most salient symbol of social interaction. According to Kathleen J. Fitzgerald (2007), â€Å"appearance plays a significant role in identity construction simply because it presents our identity to others in social interaction†(p. 157). Scholars state that people perceive the appearance of others, placing emphasis on skin color, hair, eyes, weight, height, clothes, etc. As a result, appearance can be interpreted as the source of identity because through appearance, â€Å"the self presents an identity† (qtd. in Fitzgerald, 2007, p. 157). Finkelstein (1991) believes that physical appearance can be viewed as a means for claiming cer tain degree in representing social status. Physical appearance has direct relation to human character because some details of personal affectations tell much about one’s identity.In addition, it is necessary to explain the meaning of the term â€Å"fashion† in order to find the connection between fashion and individual self-expression.   Fashion can be understood as both a system and a form of individual self-expression. There are several factors that influence the functioning of fashion as a system. First, fashion is a system because it has been developed into industry, which serves society. Second, fashion is a system that uses different signs to change appearance. Besides, fashion is a form of individual self-expression because it reflects individual culture, expressing one’s own individuality and personality. Fashion is conceptualized as the way to communicate identity through self-expression (Finkelstein, 1991).In fact, appearance is important for a numbe r of reasons. Appearance has the ability to impress others. According to Finkelstein (1991), people have always paid due attention to appearance, the body and clothing, in order to â€Å"enhance the human frame† and use fashion to highlight one’s identity. At the same time, beauty cannot function by denying its social construction because beauty is a social construction, based on research findings of social scientists (Kawamura, 2010).   It is possible to make everything look beautiful and aesthetic, depending on the context.   Due to cosmetic surgery, it is possible to improve the parameters of appearance, especially the appearance of women. The increase in the development of cosmetic surgery industry points out to the fact that it is possible to reshape the structures of body in order to improve both appearance and self-esteem (Northrop, 2010). Individuals today invest so much time, energy and money in appearance because they want to succeed in social interaction .   Fashion and display are implicated in the fabrication of the self. As a result, cosmetic surgery is focused on the promotion of certain appearance norms that have been evolved in human society as effective tools of social interaction (Northrop, 2010).The surface tells us something much deeper about our self-identity.   We have not fallen prey to, in Laschs phrase, â€Å"a culture of narcissism†. Actually, social development effects the constitution and deployment of the self. For example, the politics of sexual identity, the role of the mass media and celebrity, social media and the Internet play an important role in the constitution and deployment of the self. It is impossible to fall prey to the â€Å"culture of narcissism† because many people have no opportunity to use cosmetic surgery. Their self-esteem is improved by the ability to demonstrate empathy.Thus, it is necessary to conclude that there is the connection between fashion, beauty, appearance and ide ntity. One’s own personality and individuality reflect the functioning of physical appearance. The popularity of such practice as cosmetic surgery helps to transform body and appearance, making it look perfect, based on the established social norms and standards. Cosmetic surgery helps to promote self-image contributing to social interaction. As a result, physical appearance has an enormous power over the successful practices of social interaction. Today many people are ready to invest much time, energy and money in their appearance in order to succeed in social interaction.   Fashion is conceptualized as an effective tool aimed at communicating one’s own identity through self-expression.