Marketing Mix for Lush free essay sample

In this research two well-designed marketing mixes were made, aiming to improve an already existing organic products cosmetics brand named â€Å"LUSH ®Ã¢â‚¬  as well as accommodating its features to the demands of the target market. One of the marketing mixes being directed for physical shops and the other one for an E-Store. Two business people were interviewed to gain information about strategies and day-to-day goals in small brands as such. Elena Torre, cosmetician and owner of â€Å"Saint Germaine†, a Natural Cosmetics brand, was one of the interviewees, providing very factual and useful information for this research as well as Martha Hone, dermatologist and owner of â€Å"Martha Hone Clinic† based on natural cosmetics from all over the world, especially France, which she â€Å"hunts† for in her many travels. This last interviewee came in useful as she has a very vast knowledge, which she provided to the report on many natural and organic cosmetics brands from all over the world, with a variation of marketing/business techniques. We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing Mix for Lush or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Information was also extracted from the brand? s own website along as from The Body Shop ®Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s website [http://www. thebodyshop-usa. com/]. The final goal was to help â€Å"LUSH ®Ã¢â‚¬  improve in all possible ways and allow it to compete with other and bigger brands such as The Body Shop ®. The purpose of this research is to establish a new marketing mix for â€Å"LUSH ®Ã¢â‚¬ , to serve young costumers who aim for a healthier skin and body and elaborate a more accurate and efficient marketing strategy. The target market for â€Å"LUSH ®Ã¢â‚¬  is basically women and men from ages 13 and 40, mostly including vegans, in which skin and health care is essential and during this period of life it is at its peak. The key success factors for this brand, include promoting and emphasizing its homemade, natural and almost 100% organic characteristics and ingredients; for people to find their products as intriguing as they come and to allow them to know their effectiveness by exposing them. By changing the way to sell the products with less competition but rather showing originality the target market would appeal more to the brand. Introduction Throughout the past decade many cosmetics were tested with staggering numbers of harmful additives such as toxic chemicals, heavy metals, and also hormones, making their way into products that are used on a daily basis. Not only can these makeup and cosmeceutical products cause acne, rashes, and other skin problems such as cancer, they can get to be very hazardous for peoples’ health. The more unnatural and non organic the makeups, cleansers, moisturizers, sunscreens and over-the-counter antibiotic creams are, people become more afflicted with skin conditions. As the numbers grow, they manage to balance as the demand for natural and skin friendly cosmetics arouses, this makes many brands go â€Å"organic† but there is actually no proof and reliable sources that every brand that says their products are chemical free is accurate until it is proven by the USDA. Consumers can avoid toxic ingredients by using USDA certified organic cosmetics. The trouble is, while the USDA allows cosmetics to be certified organic, most people dont acknowledge it. This report is possible because the business chosen to create both marketing mixes, â€Å"LUSH ®Ã¢â‚¬ , is an USDA certified brand as well as its competitor. Throughout the research, the marketing mixes were created with the help of the 4 P’s (Product, Price, Place and Promotion) and a SWOT analysis of both brands. In prospective, the main goal is to allow â€Å"LUSH ®Ã¢â‚¬  to get more involved in the market in a successful and non-aggressive way, expand its franchises and increase its publicity. LUSH ®Ã¢â‚¬  is a brand selling only organic, fresh homemade cosmetics which originated in UK in 1994, when husband and wife Mark and Mo Constantine opened the first Lush store in Poole under the name â€Å"Cosmetic House Limited† There are now 830 stores in 51 countries. Lush produces and sells a variety of handmade natural products, including soaps, shower gel s, shampoos and hair conditioners, bath bombs, bubble bars, hand and body lotions and face-masks. The brand uses fruit and vegetables, essential oils, synthetic ingredients, honey and beeswax in their products. In addition to not using animal fats in their products, they are also against animal testing and perform tests with volunteers instead. Methods In order to collect useful data, a research about the brand was made, including its place in the market in comparison to other brands. By this, identifying a competitor brand, analyzing it’s marketing mix and SWOT analysis in order to help develop the research’s own. This procedure was a guidance to find the identical ideas, strengths and differences between the two brands, allowing the brand in research’s marketing mix to improve and hopefully become dominant in the market. By preforming a research about the USDA and their certified brands and the whole organic/natural cosmetic products market, will be an approach to the marketing mix with a more stable and predetermined target. Throughout two interviews that were held, another portion of favorable information could be obtained, both interviews provided precise and factual details about two different cosmetics brands, as well as some advice on how to identify the features and other relevant business factors. One of the interviews being directed to the owner of â€Å"Saint Germaine†, a Natural Cosmetics brand who provided advices on business making and marketing techniques and the following interviewee, Martha Hone allowed the research to obtain a more lively experience on organic cosmetic products; as such business consists only in that type of merchandise. The Body Shop ® SWOT Analysis Strengths * Unique products, environmental friendly retailer * L’Oreal’s advertisements and marketing increase sale * Enhances its image in local society * Target market with ethical issue Weaknesses * Lack of product advertisement Expensive for a certain range of the market Opportunities * Take advantage of L’Oreal’s Research and Development department to create and improve their own products. Threats * Many new competing brands wanting to go â€Å"green†. * Chemical legislation * No environmental certification Findings The key competitor for â€Å"LUSH ®Ã¢â ‚¬  is the popular American brand The Body Shop ®, which is one of the brands to be soon passed through the USDA policy for its use of almost 100% organic and natural ingredients in their products (The Body Shop, 2013 online); but there has been some accusation attempts of chemical legislation.

The Moon is Down essays

The Moon is Down essays Set in contemporary time The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck portrays a story of the struggles of war. The book was published in 1942, which was the time when American was just rearming for World War II. Norway, Denmark, Holland, and France were all occupied. The country in this book that is under occupation is Norway. In this story the town is anonymous though peace loving and small such as Norway. A stronger country invades them, which is supposed to represent Germany. It takes place during the winter mainly at the Mayors palace. The storys setting in such a small place allows the reader to get an intimate look at the strategies and thoughts of the conquered and the conquerors during wartime. This book served as war propaganda and possession of the book resulted in death. This simple story gave those who were under the occupation of the Leader or Hitler, great hope of surviving. The purpose of The Moon is Down is to make a mockery of war and how pointless it is. Also Ste inbeck wanted to show that in the end the free individuals prevail because they are stronger in the long run than a totalitarian power. Throughout the book there are many metaphors for good and evil. The title comes from a scene in Macbeth when Banquo asks his son How goes the night boy? And Fleance replies The moon is down; I have not heard the clock. This line in the play represents evil descending on the kingdom. Though it is nighttime, there is no moon, meaning no light meaning only darkness, meaning evil with no hope of goodness. The townspeople in the story represent good and the invaders represent evil. Another symbol of evil is cold. Many times throughout the story Mayor Orden mentions the falling of snow. In this case snow represents cold weather, like the coldness of the German invaders controlling every aspect of the small towns lives. Doctor Winter says, there&...

Cognates of Cognition

Cognates of Cognition Cognates of Cognition Cognates of Cognition By Mark Nichol Cognition is the use of mental processes such as learning, remembering, thinking, and understanding. It stems from the Latin verb cognoscere, meaning â€Å"become acquainted with.† Not every word with the letter string â€Å"c-o-g† is related, but quite a few are. Details about cognition’s cognates follow. But first, a look at the construction of the words. The syllable cog isn’t the basis of terms related to knowing and thinking; cognoscere consists of co- and gnoscere; that word means â€Å"come to know.† Know itself is cognate with gnoscere and the Greek verb gignÃ… skein- the basis of gnome, best known as the name of a subterranean dwarflike creature in folklore but also a synonym for maxim, and gnosis, a word referring to spiritual knowledge that is also the root of prognosis (literally, â€Å"foreknowledge†) and diagnosis, meaning â€Å"identification† or â€Å"analysis.† Cognate itself is not cognate with cognition: It means â€Å"related,† and stems from the Latin word nasci, meaning â€Å"to be born,† and is cognate with nascent (and native). Nor is cognomen, which means â€Å"nickname† or â€Å"additional name† and derives from the Latin noun nomen, meaning â€Å"name.† Interestingly, cogent, meaning â€Å"necessary† or â€Å"urgent,† and especially its cognate cogitation, which means â€Å"intent thought,† are also unrelated to cognition; they derive respectively from the Latin verb agere, meaning â€Å"drive,† and its frequentative (repeated or recurrent) form agitare, which is also the origin of agitate. Another word with a distinct etymology is cog, referring to a tooth on a wheel in a gear mechanism and probably borrowed from a Scandinavian language. Words in the cognoscere family in English include recognition (literally, â€Å"knowing again†) and precognition (literally, â€Å"knowing before†); the latter was the unusual ability of the Precogs in Steven Spielberg’s film Minority Report and the Philip K. Dick short story on which it is (loosely) based. Two other words that are related- unexpectedly so- are reconnaissance (â€Å"military survey†) and that word’s verb form, reconnoiter, both adopted from French but ultimately stemming from recognoscere, the Latin origin of recognize. Other relatives are cognizance (â€Å"awareness,† â€Å"acknowledgment,† or â€Å"responsibility†) and recognizance, derived from an earlier sense of reconnaissance (â€Å"acknowledgment†) and used in legal contexts in phrases such as â€Å"released on his own recognizance† to indicate that someone recognizes his obligation to appear in court at a later date. Connoisseur (â€Å"expert†), from French, and its Italian cousin cognoscente (which in English developed a separate sense of â€Å"someone in the know†) are also related, as are incognito (â€Å"unknown,† from Italian and referring to being in disguise or anonymous or using a false name) and â€Å"terra incognita† (literally, â€Å"unknown land†), taken directly from Latin. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Types and Forms of Humor3 Types of Headings10 Terms for the Common People

Management of tricyclic antidepressant overdose Essay

Management of tricyclic antidepressant overdose - Essay Example The major use of the drugs belonging to this class has been of course as an antidepressant, but they have also found to be effective in controlling enuresis and attention deficit disorder in children and incontinence in the elderly. Other miscellaneous indications for use are Migraine, chronic pain, neuralgias, hiccups and irritable bowel syndrome. However the Therapeutic Index of these drugs has a narrow margin of safety i.e. the dose level between therapeutic and toxic level is very less. This accounts for several cases of adverse effects and acute toxicity with these compounds. The toxicity is due to the same manner and mechanism of action in which the drug exerts its therapeutic action. Although poorly understood, the TCAs are hypothesized to exert their therapeutic action by preventing the reuptake of norepinephrine and serotonin by the presynaptic neuron. This results in an increased supply of these neurotransmitters in the synapse, which continues to stimulate the effector cells and organs. It is this constant stimulation that is believed to be responsible for the clinical improvement in depression (Baldessarini, 1989). According to Richelson (1982) TCAs are also competitive antagonists of histamine H1 andH2 receptors. They also block muscarinic acetylcholine and alpha-one adrenergic receptors. The toxicity symptoms and presentations are manifested as central nervous system toxicity in the form of myoclonic seizures, cardiovascular complications like life threatening arrhythmias, asystole, ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation. The patient is usually presented with symptoms of orthostatic hypotension which is quite common with TCA use and is independent of the age factor and in some cases is followed by cardiac arrest. Treatment is aimed at reversing the effects of the TCAs by specific antagonists, promoting elimination of the drug and its metabolites from the body and reestablishing

Pharmacology Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Pharmacology - Case Study Example A study by Peng et al. (2004) on Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Imatinib in a Phase I Trial with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Patients, found confirmed the findings of Reckmann et al. (2002) that the drug is absorbed immediately it is administered orally. Further, when they compared imatinib with AUC0-24 hours at steady-state and on day 1, there was a 1.5- to 3-fold drug accumulation after the dose is repeated once a day. Killock (2014) has found that after administration of 350 mg of imatinib at a normal state, the mean plasma trough concentration records at 570 ng/mL and above (about 1 _mol/L). This plasma concentration is more than the 50% inhibitory concentration that successfully inhibits proliferation of BCR-Abl–positive leukemic cells gotten from CML patients (Mitzuta et al. 2013). With imatinib, the relationship between the white blood cells reduction and PK parameters at normal circumstances indicate that the initial imatinib’s hematologic response depend s highly on the dose administered to the CML patient and in this case, a dose higher than 400mg is needed in order to have an optimum effect on white blood cells reduction (Al Ali et al. 2002). From the above information, it is clear that the action of imatinib is therefore different and advanced as compared to the older therapies whose pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics are different and present chances of many side effects that in most cases lead to discontinuation of medication therapy.

Role Of Fathers In Lives Of Children

Role Of Fathers In Lives Of Children Parents serve an important role in the socialization of children by modeling important values, principles, ideals, attitudes, actions and behaviors that influence the physical, emotional and social development of the child. Fathers and mothers have unique differences that cause them to have different parenting roles, that when combined, provide the most comprehensive model to help the child develop successfully. For this reason, children need both parents to help them develop the skills to help them build successful social relations, engage in responsible behavior, develop the confidence and skills to be successful in school and to become well-rounded emotionally, physically and psychologically. Over the last two decades, researchers have begun to pay more attention to the idea that fathers make important contributions to child development (Parke, 2004; Davis Perkins, 1996). Evan (1995) indicates, however, that while fathers have now become the subject of studies and review, this is a relatively new area of study. Given the potential role involved fathers have on the development of their children, it is important to understand how fathers perceive their fathering role and its impact on children. The goal of this paper is to examine the role of fathers in the lives of their children in the literature and to identify a gap in the literature in order to come up with a research question for a future study. Review of the Literature Schock and Gavazzi (2005) observe that despite the expansion of fatherhood literature over the last several decades, not much is understood about the role of fathers in their relationship with problematic adolescents. This has prompted researchers to examine fathers parental skills. For example, Nicholson, Howard and Borkowski (2008) investigated whether fathers were able to display metaparenting skills during the first two years of their childrens lives. Metaparenting refers to a mental plan that parents use when caring for their children across five domains: responding, preventing, monitoring, mentoring, and modeling. To determine how fathers think about and conceive of their parenting strategies, the researchers looked at the two main factors contributing to paternal identity: father absence and the availability of positive parenting role models. The participants included 87 fathers. Fathers were also evaluated for their metaparenting beliefs and behaviors, and assessed for parent ing stress, parenting style, knowledge of child development and child abuse potential. The study revealed that positive parenting role models and intelligence were associated with working models of parenting based on the five components of metaparenting. Furthermore, authoritative parenting and a decrease in abuse potential were related to higher levels of metaparenting. In a previous study, Schock and Gavazzi (2005) used a modified grounded theory approach (i.e., one based on the participants meaningful experiences) to examine the intra-psychic and interpersonal difficulties that fathers had with adolescent daughters who are involved in the court system. Fourteen fathers (mean age=46.6 yrs.) and their daughters (mean age=15.6 yrs) who participated in a family-based diversion program for their at-risk adolescent daughters took part in the study. The goal of the program was to help each family identify and support the developmental needs of their adolescents so that they can successfully move into adulthood. The fathers completed face-to-face semi-structured interviews with the questions addressing topics such as the fathers perception of their relationship with their adolescents, fathers unique skills to cope with the adolescents problematic behavior, and barriers/facilitators for participating in the program. The results indicate that fathers of fem ale adolescents had feelings of uncertainty about their role as parents in four areas: poor understanding of their daughters female issues (e.g., dating, menstruation, etc.), communication barriers related to conversation topics and style of communication, limited involvement due to the absence of shared interests, and indecision about how to address their daughters problematic behavior. Based on the findings by Schock and Gavazzi (2005), it is possible that fathers have communication problems with their teenage daughters because they did not form secure attachments with their daughters during the first two years of their lives. Later studies found similar connection between childrens attachment with their fathers and father involvement. McDonald and Almeida (2004) used an ecological perspective to examine the differential impact of work experiences on fathering experiences at home in 290 fathers (mean age=40). The participants first completed a 30 to 40 minute telephone interview about their daily experiences after which they were mailed a written survey, which asked them questions about how their time was spent in the past 24 hours (e.g., cutbacks at work, and their daily work/family stressors. The authors found that fathers tend to report a greater likelihood of providing emotional support to their children on those days when they experience overloads on the job as well as on days when they cut back their workload. The amount of time that fathers spent with their children was found to be moderated by how much control or latitude they have at work. The authors conclude, however, quantity of time alone may not impact the quality of the fathering experience. This conclusion is supported by Newland, Coyl and Freeman (2008), who investigated the relationships between preschoolers attachment security, fathers involvement and fathering context in 102 culturally diverse U.S. fathers of preschoolers age 2-5. The results indicate that fathers secure attachments with other adults and their use of social support were related to parenting and co-parenting behaviors. These in turn, predict child attachment security. The use of rough housing play was considered the most important predicator of child attachment security, more important than fathers sensitivity and consistency. According to the authors, the findings suggest that fathers play an important role in their childrens attachment security, and that shared father-child activities, parenting consistency and co-parenting behaviors should be emphasized among fathers. An important finding in the literature is that fathering strategies are related to paternal role identity. Maurer (2007) assessed caregiving identities, perceptions of partners expectations and the perceived caregiving behavior in 73 fathers (mean age 33.7 yrs). The researcher found that the perceived behaviors of other fathers were significant predictors of fathers behaviors toward their own children. Bronte-Tinkew, Carrano and Guzman (2006) argue that it is important to determine how fathers identify themselves as parents by examining their perceptions of themselves as fathers. As a result, they investigated the perceptions of resident fathers (i.e., fathers who live with their children) regarding their roles in the lives of their children and how this affect their involvement with infants in five areas: caregiving activities, paternal warmth, nurturing activities, physical care, and providing their child with cognitively stimulating activities. Most of the resident fathers believe d that their role as fathers play an important part in their childrens development. The results further indicate that while most fathers were highly involved in providing physical care to their babies, they were not highly involved in cognitively stimulating activities such as reading with their children. The fathers sociodemographic characteristics (race, marital status, education, and socioeconomic status) impact their perceptions of fathering (e.g., Hispanics and other race fathers had significantly lower positive perceptions of their roles compared to other participants). Married fathers and fathers living above the poverty line had higher scores that unmarried fathers and fathers living below the poverty line. Fathers with infant sons had stronger belief in the importance of their roles and more paternal involvement than those with daughters. The latter finding is supported by Schock and Gavazzi (2005) who found that fathers of adolescent daughters face challenges when communic ating with their adolescent daughters, which is a factor in their indecision about how to deal with the problematic behavior of their daughters. A later study by Wilson, Dalberth and Koo (2010) support and expand the findings of Schock and Gavazzi (2005) and Bronte-Tinkew, Carrano and Guzman (2006) in terms of fathers involvement in their lives. The perspectives of 131 fathers on their role in protecting their pre-teenage children from sexual risk was investigated. The results indicated that while fathers take a strong role in keeping their children safe and successful, some did not talk openly and frequently with their children about sex. Though almost all the fathers agreed that fathers perspectives on the issue of sex are important for children to hear, the gender of their child determined how comfortable they were discussing sexual matters. Fathers felt that they were better suited to discuss topics such as male puberty than female topics such as menstruation. Race also played a factor, with Hispanic fathers reporting that they were more protective of their daughters than their sons. According to Gonzalez-Lopez (2004), Hi spanic fathers believe that delaying sex and using protection are important for protecting their daughters from becoming pregnant and for increasing their opportunities to attend and graduate from college. Gaps in the Literature One area that is has not been fully explored in the literature is the relationship between paternal role identity and fathering outcomes. In other words, none of the studies identified looked at the relationship between how fathers perceive their roles (i.e. how they identify themselves as fathers) and how children actually percieve their relationship with their fathers (i.e., outcome of fathers involvement). Maurer (2007) suggests that fathers perception of societal fathering roles is a good predictor of fathers behaviors. Newland, Coyle and Freeman (2008) found that parenting and co-parenting behaviors in fathers were predictors of child attachment security. Schock and Gavazzi (2005) suggest that a lack of secure attachment between fathers and their daughters lead to communication barriers and indecision about how to address problematic behaviors in their teenage daughters. Bronte-Tinkew, Carrano and Guzman (2006) found that higher positive perception of fathering roles were associ ated with high father involvement in mentally stimulating activities with their children such as reading. These findings suggest that fathers who believe that they have an important place in their children development are more likely to achieve better fathering outcomes such as providing their children with caregiving activities, paternal warmth, nurturing activities and cognitively stimulating activities. Research Question The following research question can be used to address the gap in the literature regarding father role perception and fathering outcomes: What is the relationship between paternal role identity and fathering outcomes? The independent variables related to father involvement were cognitively stimulating activities, physical care, paternal warmth, nurturing activities, caregiving activities.

Plavix Case Study

Patent Games: Plavix Case Study Columbia Southern University Abstract This case study illustrates the conflict between patent protection and preserving a pure competitive market. Pharmaceutical companies are granted patent rights to newly developed drugs for a limited amount of time. Through legal means they are able to form monopolies and maximize their profits. a parent company can move to delay the release of its generic comparison through legal and illegal measures. In the following case Bristol-Myers Squibb fell victim to their own anti-competitive practices. Why did Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis seek a settlement?Apotex had was near the conclusion of the government mandated 30 month stay brought on by Bristol-Myers Squibb to delay them from releasing their generic form of Plavix(Chen, 2011). Bristol-Myers Squibb chose to settle rather than litigate for fear of likely losing any patent litigation. Buying out Apotex which was the only other producer of the drug would pr eserve their monopoly and profit margin. Bristol-Myers Squibb had already had a long history of manipulative practices and had delayed other drugs from entering the market in a similar manner, excessive 30 month stays (FTC, 2003).They had been taking advantage of a loophole in the Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations system known as the Orange Book (FTC, 2003). Litigation would bring further attention to the practices within the pharmaceutical industry and encourage government intervention. Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis prevents Apotex from launching generic drug. Pharmaceutical companies are well within their rights to push for extensions on their patents (Baron, 2010). Bristol-Myers Squibb however did not take a legal approach to this.They should not have attempted to pay Apotex 40-60 million dollars to prevent them from launching their generic drug. The Federal Trade Commission must approve of any such agreement to ensure that it does not violate anti-trust laws. Their a ttempted agreement was collusion. Their attempt to limit the production of Apotex was illegal and therefore rejected by governing bodies. Sherman’s strategy Bristol-Myers Squibb’s deceptive practices were likely to catch up to them. This occurred when they crossed paths with Sherman who led Apotex at the time.After everything settled Sherman acknowledged in an interview that he knew the FTC would reject the proposed agreements made by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi. He also recognized that their spokesman didn’t realize his offer would cause adverse action against Bristol-Myers Squibb (Baron, 2010). He played to their ignorance and entered the agreement. There is no direct answer to the ethics of Sherman’s strategy. He did not actively participate or even condone Brisol-Myers Squibb’s collusion; in fact he knew the agreement would be rejected.There is no way of truly knowing whether Sherman acted with malice when implementing his strategy. Should the FTC and the state attorneys general have rejected the agreements? The FTC and state attorney was right in rejecting Brisol-Myers Squibb’s proposed agreements on the grounds that it is an anti-competitive practice. The second agreement would have been rejected as well provided Bristol-Myers Squibb was completely honest with the FTC. Upon submission of the second agreement to the department of justice they affirmed under oath that all agreements were as listed on the document with no side arrangements (Chen, 2011).After the initiation of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations Bristol-Myers Squibb plead guilty to two counts of fraud. Did Bristol-Myers Squibb likely violate the deferred prosecution agreement? Bristol-Myers Squib’s board of directors were not going to allow their organization to violate the deferred prosecution agreement. A corporation in its position must remain clean and ethical to rebuild especially while under the supervi sion of government assigned federal monitor Frederick Lacy. The firing of CEO Peter Dolan was a sign that Bristol-Myers Squibb was trying to recover.References Baron, D. P. (2010). Business and its environment (6th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Chen, Q. (2011). Destroying A Pharmaceutical Patent for Saving Lives: A Case Study of Sanofi- Synthelabo V. Apotex, Inc. Albany Law Journal. Retrieved from http://www. albanylawjournal. org/articles/chen_3. pdf Federal Trade Commission. (2003). FTC Charges Bristol-Myers Squibb with Pattern of Abusing Government Processes to Stifle Generic Drug Competition. Retrieved from http://www. ftc. gov/opa/2003/03/bms. shtm Plavix Case Study Patent Games: Plavix Case Study Columbia Southern University Abstract This case study illustrates the conflict between patent protection and preserving a pure competitive market. Pharmaceutical companies are granted patent rights to newly developed drugs for a limited amount of time. Through legal means they are able to form monopolies and maximize their profits. a parent company can move to delay the release of its generic comparison through legal and illegal measures. In the following case Bristol-Myers Squibb fell victim to their own anti-competitive practices. Why did Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis seek a settlement?Apotex had was near the conclusion of the government mandated 30 month stay brought on by Bristol-Myers Squibb to delay them from releasing their generic form of Plavix(Chen, 2011). Bristol-Myers Squibb chose to settle rather than litigate for fear of likely losing any patent litigation. Buying out Apotex which was the only other producer of the drug would pr eserve their monopoly and profit margin. Bristol-Myers Squibb had already had a long history of manipulative practices and had delayed other drugs from entering the market in a similar manner, excessive 30 month stays (FTC, 2003).They had been taking advantage of a loophole in the Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations system known as the Orange Book (FTC, 2003). Litigation would bring further attention to the practices within the pharmaceutical industry and encourage government intervention. Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis prevents Apotex from launching generic drug. Pharmaceutical companies are well within their rights to push for extensions on their patents (Baron, 2010). Bristol-Myers Squibb however did not take a legal approach to this.They should not have attempted to pay Apotex 40-60 million dollars to prevent them from launching their generic drug. The Federal Trade Commission must approve of any such agreement to ensure that it does not violate anti-trust laws. Their a ttempted agreement was collusion. Their attempt to limit the production of Apotex was illegal and therefore rejected by governing bodies. Sherman’s strategy Bristol-Myers Squibb’s deceptive practices were likely to catch up to them. This occurred when they crossed paths with Sherman who led Apotex at the time.After everything settled Sherman acknowledged in an interview that he knew the FTC would reject the proposed agreements made by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi. He also recognized that their spokesman didn’t realize his offer would cause adverse action against Bristol-Myers Squibb (Baron, 2010). He played to their ignorance and entered the agreement. There is no direct answer to the ethics of Sherman’s strategy. He did not actively participate or even condone Brisol-Myers Squibb’s collusion; in fact he knew the agreement would be rejected.There is no way of truly knowing whether Sherman acted with malice when implementing his strategy. Should the FTC and the state attorneys general have rejected the agreements? The FTC and state attorney was right in rejecting Brisol-Myers Squibb’s proposed agreements on the grounds that it is an anti-competitive practice. The second agreement would have been rejected as well provided Bristol-Myers Squibb was completely honest with the FTC. Upon submission of the second agreement to the department of justice they affirmed under oath that all agreements were as listed on the document with no side arrangements (Chen, 2011).After the initiation of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations Bristol-Myers Squibb plead guilty to two counts of fraud. Did Bristol-Myers Squibb likely violate the deferred prosecution agreement? Bristol-Myers Squib’s board of directors were not going to allow their organization to violate the deferred prosecution agreement. A corporation in its position must remain clean and ethical to rebuild especially while under the supervi sion of government assigned federal monitor Frederick Lacy. The firing of CEO Peter Dolan was a sign that Bristol-Myers Squibb was trying to recover.References Baron, D. P. (2010). Business and its environment (6th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Chen, Q. (2011). Destroying A Pharmaceutical Patent for Saving Lives: A Case Study of Sanofi- Synthelabo V. Apotex, Inc. Albany Law Journal. Retrieved from http://www. albanylawjournal. org/articles/chen_3. pdf Federal Trade Commission. (2003). FTC Charges Bristol-Myers Squibb with Pattern of Abusing Government Processes to Stifle Generic Drug Competition. Retrieved from http://www. ftc. gov/opa/2003/03/bms. shtm