How to Improve the Place Where You Work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

How to Improve the Place Where You Work - Essay Example The first step towards improving the workplace is to make sure that the employees have a way by which they can communicate with management pertaining to their workplace related issues. This can be done via unidentified surveys or comment forms dropped into boxes at strategic locations within the office. These pieces of data, information, or stories can then be collated in order to give management a better idea as to the status of the workplace. The problems within the workplace or workforce cannot often be seen on the physical level which is why it is of the utmost importance that employees have a way to release their work frustration by allowing their sentiments to reach the upper levels of management who can hopefully do something about it. Using the collated information, the workforce development team can now put on their thinking caps and mine the forms for plausible solutions from fellow employees. It is highly possible that the best solution to workplace problem can be found in the imaginative ideas of an employee just letting off steam in a survey form. These ideas can then be developed and integrated into an updated work dictum that will hopefully serve to enhance the culture in the workplace, thus, lowering stress levels all around. Remember that improving the workplace is not the responsibility of management alone. ... Scheduling regular dialogue sessions with department members and department heads will often provide the much needed input regarding work related problems that need to be solved. Project specific teams can then be created in order to focus on the narrowed down problem list and its potential solutions as specific action ideas. At this point, it would be a good idea for the company to sponsor quarterly meetings with the employees in order to let them know about the progress or succeeding stages of the workplace improvement efforts. The success of the problem specific teams will rely on upper level communication and representation. This communication and action conduit should be tasked with the responsibility of engaging the key organization leaders and managers in regular discussions meant to bring the plight of the workers to the attention of the business leaders. By enlightening the top brass about the lower level problems, they will be able to help formulate possible action plans me ant to help strengthen the organization. This is also a method by which management can show the rank and file employees that they are valued members of the corporation and as such, their workplace concerns are taken seriously by management since the solution to those problems affect the bottom line of the company profits. Finally, it is important to acknowledge that these team members are not merely secretaries who take notes during meetings and create action plans that never see the light of day. Rather, these workplace improvement team members should be allowed to instigate and experiment with their suggested problems and solutions in order to gauge the effectiveness of the proposed solutions on a department level at the very least. Such compartmentalized methods of

Vertical Marketing System

Vertical Marketing System 1. Describe the concept of a Distribution Channel and what is a VMS (Vertical Marketing System)? A marketing channel is a series of marketing organizations that leads a product from producer to final user. A distribution channel consists of firms that have combined for their common good. Each channel member depends on the others. Distribution channels move products and services from businesses to clients and to other businesses. Also known as marketing channels, channels of distribution consist of a set of interdependent organizations such as wholesalers, retailers, independent producers and sales agents involved in making a product or service available for use or consumption. For example, a Ford dealer depends on Ford to design cars that meet consumer needs. In turn, Ford depends on the dealer to attract consumers, persuade them to buy Ford cars, and service cars after the sale. Each seeks to maximize its own profits, and there is little control over the other members and no formal means for assigning roles and resolving conflict but if all of them cooperate with each other, they can more effectively serve and satisfy the target market.Marketing channels perform many key functions such as some help complete transactions by gathering and distributing information needed for planning and aiding exchange, by developing and spreading persuasive communication about an offer, and by entering into negotiation to reach an agreement on price and other terms so that ownership can be transferred. Vertical marketing systems (VMS) is a distribution channel that provides channel leadership and consists of producers, wholesalers, and retailers acting as a unified system and consist of Administered, contractual, and corporate marketing systems. One channel member owns the others, has contracts with them, or has so much power that they all cooperate. Corporate VMS integrates successive stages of production and distribution under single ownership.Contractual VMS consists of independent firms at different levels of production and distribution who join together through contracts to obtain more economies or sales impact that each could achieve alone. Administered VMS, the leadership is through the size and power of one or a few dominant channel members. 2. What is a PUSH strategy as opposed to a PULL strategy in distribution channel management? A push strategy involves pushing the product through marketing channels to final consumers. The producer directs its marketing activities (primarily personal selling and trade promotion) toward channel members to induce them to carry the product and to promote it to final consumers. Personal selling and trade promotions are often the most helpful promotional tools for companies such as Nokia for example offering funds on the handsets to persuade retailers to sell higher volumes.In pull strategy, the producer directs its marketing activities (primarily advertising and consumer promotion) towards final consumers to induce them to buy the product. If the pull strategy is effective, consumers will then demand the product from channel members, who will in turn demand it from producers. Example Kraft products use heavy advertisement and consumer promotion to pull its products. 3. Define Retailing and Wholesaling. How do the two interact and describe the different types of wholesaling? Retailing includes all activities that are involved in selling goods or services directly to final consumers for their personal, non business use. It plays a very important role in most marketing channels. It is also undergoing so much change today due to factors like store size, price competition, and demographic shifts. Therefore retailers operate in a harsh and fast changing environment which offers threat as well as opportunities. Some of the trends in retailing include the rapid growth of nonstore retailing, retail coverage, the growing importance of retail technology etc. Department stores, like Burdines and Macys, discount stores like Wal-Mart and K-Mart, are all examples of retail stores. Wholesaling includes all the activities involved in selling goods or services to those who are buying for the purpose of resale or for business use. Wholesalers add value by performing functions such as transportation, Selling and promoting, Buying and assortment building and Warehousing etc. Like retailers, wholesalers should target carefully and position themselves strongly. Wholesalers continue to increase the services they provide to retailers like retail pricing, cooperative advertising, marketing and management information reports, online transactions etc. Wholesalers benefit from retailers because they serve as their advertisement. If a retailer is happy with his wholesaler, he/she has a high chance of telling his/her friends about it; thus, word-of-mouth advertising. Wholesalers then get to have more customers and more sales, earning them better reputation, quality and more profit. Without retailers, wholesalers would just have their stocks inside their warehouses, untouched. They would not be able to get back their expenses if they would not sell their merchandise to retailers, and hence would not get any profit. In the same way retailers benefit from wholesalers because they are the ones who give them material to sell. If a wholesaler is satisfied with the retailer, he/she might give them more concession and benefits, and give them better deals so they can both thrive in their own businesses. Different types of wholesalers are: * Merchant wholesalers are the largest single group of wholesalers, accounting for approximately fifty percent of all wholesaling. Merchant wholesalers take possession of the goods. They include full-service wholesaler (wholesale merchants and industrial distributor) where they provide a full line of services like carrying stock, maintaining a sales force and offering credit etc. and limited service wholesalers (cash-and carry wholesalers, truck wholesalers, drop shippers, rack jobbers, producers cooperatives, and mail order wholesalers) – these wholesalers offer fewer services to suppliers and customers. * Brokers and agents do not take title to goods and their main function is to facilitate buying and selling, for which they earn a commission on the selling price. A broker brings buyers and sellers together and assists in negotiation. Whereas agents represent buyers and sellers on a more permanent basis. * Manufacturers and retailers branches and offices are wholesaling operations conducted by sellers or buyers themselves rather than through independent wholesalers. Separate branches and offices are dedicated to either sales or purchasing. 4. What are the four promotion mix elements and explain how each are utilized. What is the major difference between Advertising-Publicity-Sales Promotion. A companys total promotion mix also called its marketing communications mix consists of the specific blend of advertising, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotion Advertising is any paid form of nonpersonal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor. Advertising includes broadcast, print, internet, and outdoor etc. Sales promotion – is a short term incentive to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service. It helps to stimulate demand for a product. Sales promotion includes discounts, coupons, displays and demonstrations. Personal selling means personal presentation by the firms sales force for the purpose of making sales and building customer relations. Personal selling includes sales presentations, trade shows, and incentive programs. Public relations is building good relations with the companys various publics by obtaining favorable publicity , building up a good corporate image, and handling or heading off unfavorable rumors, stories and events. Public relations include press releases, sponsorships, special events and Web pages.Direct marketing involves making direct connections with carefully targeted individual consumers to both obtain an immediate response and cultivate lasting customer relationships through the use of direct mail, telephone, direct-response television, e-mail, and the Internet to communicate directly with specific consumers. Some of the major differences are as follows: Difference between Advertising and Sales Promotion * Advertising uses the media to inform and convince; whereas sales promotion is the offering of an enticement to tempt a customer into a purchase. * The time frame for advertising is long term where as for sales promotion the time frame is short term. * The primary objective of advertising is to create a stable brand image whereas for sales promotion the primary purpose is to get sales quickly. * In case of advertising requests are emotional or purposeful in nature where as in the case of sales promotion appeals are reasonable or logical. Difference between Advertising and Personal selling * According to personal selling it involves personal interaction between two or more people, so each person can observe the others needs and characteristics and make quick adjustments. Advertising is impersonal and cannot be as directly influential as can company sales person. * Advertising can carry on only a one way communication with the audience but according to personal selling both have to communicate in order for business to run. Difference between Advertising and Public Relation/Publicity * The public relation exposure received is only spread once. An editor wont publish the same press release two or three times in their magazine. Since one pays for the space, one can run the ads over and over for as long as one has the funds to pay for it. * Publicity is a kind of interaction, which is communicated through the mass media. The purpose of publicity is to demonstrate attention to a company and its products without having to pay the media for it but for advertising huge costs are incurred. 5. Describe the five international product and promotional strategies which are Straight Extension, Communication Adaptation, Product Adaptation, Dual Adaptation, and Product Invention. Five strategies for adapting product and marketing communication strategies to a global market Straight product extension means marketing a product to all countries without any change. For example Kellogg cereals and electronics like Black Decker tools and cameras are sold successfully in about the same form around the world. Straight extension is appealing because it involves no additional product development costs, manufacturing changes, or new promotion. Product adaptation involves changing the product to meet local conditions or wants in overseas markets. The adaptation of the product is carried out for reasons such as to meet the local regulations, to meet the customer needs and wants such as size; packaging preferences, quality; appearance and also to meet the beliefs of the consumer like McDonalds, for example, adjusts its menu for each foreign market, vegetarian hamburgers in India as many people dont eat non-vegetarian due to religious beliefs, mutton pot pies in Australia, and McSpaghetti in the Philippines. Burger King also has tried to adapt the market and satisfy their customers. Product invention consists of creating something new for a specific country market. It might also mean to maintain or reintroduce earlier products forms that happen to be well adapted to the needs of a given country. For example, Brewing companies have sold alcohol free beer in countries where sales of alcoholic beverages are prohibited. Communication adaptation is a global communication strategy of fully adapting advertising messages to local markets. Coca-Cola for example sells its low calorie beverage as Diet coke in North America, the United Kingdom, and the Middle and Far East but as Coke light elsewhere.Another example is Marlboro cigarettes; essentially use the same message in their international promotion programs. Dual adaptation involves altering both the product and the communications to reflect differences in both product function and use. Slim-Fast for instance get used to both product and promotion and abide by varying government policies around the world. 6. Describe the emergence of social media ( twitter, facebook, blogs ) and how marketers have adjusted and utilize it to connect with consumers. Social media is a term used to illustrate the type of media that is based on interaction between people online. Social media have been updated to reach consumers through the internet. In the early days of the internet, conventional forms of media (magazines, newspapers, and marketing brochures) were simply moved from print to online; interaction is still primarily one way. Forums and blogs began to change that, allowing prospective buyer to ask issues of dealer, and of each other. Now, Face book, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media tools have exploded this means. Conversations are less expensive than broadcasting from a media standpoint. This type of media has become appealing to big and small businesses. More and more people are using social media sites like Twitter and Face book to talk about companies and products with their friends and colleagues. The success of sites such as Face book and Twitter has confirmed that people feel the pull of social media globally. Social media is rapidly launching itself as a direct marketing channel and as such should be regarded as a valuable tool for any brand and marketing savvy company. Reliable brands are making the most of social media to reach customers and to build or retain the reputation. For example PepsiCo and even Starbucks look at social media as the best way to get direct dialog with their fans and for the company to hear from those fans without filters. As social media continue to grow, the ability to reach more consumers globally has also increased. Twitter, for example has expanded its global reach to many countries. This means that brands are now able to advertise in multiple languages and therefore reach a broader range of customers and clients. Social media can be used as a marketing tool but it requires concentration, supervision, practical knowledge and experience of the subject. One has to deliver materials in a customized way to suit the marketing needs of the clients. By using twitter, these brands through research and testing are learning and understanding more about social media and their customers. Marketers make links by adding value like putting some interesting resources or things that attract the consumers on their site and then they try and build trust and later build the relationship, so that the consumer feels comfortable and buys the product. Be it blogging, face booking or twittering, the same principal in understanding how to reach customers are similar. For example, HR Block reaches out to twitter members who have questions about taxes and need someone to support as customer service for those dissatisfied with their HR Block experience. The purpose for those who make contacts on Face book may vary. Some people are there to promote their businesses while others are there to become fashionable and get known like public figures, band, businesses and associations of all types who have created face book pages, where they often want to share a status update, a photo, a product or an event with many supporters. Famous personalities possibly will want to share special news or donations may want to put out calls for help to both their Face book fans and their Twitter followers, all at the same time. The main goal for using social media marketing is to increase buyer commitments, gather supporters to drive word-of-mouth and to increase brand loyalty.

Free Essays - Fatal Flaws in Hamlet -- Shakespeare Hamlet Essays

Fatal Flaws in Hamlet          In the ending to Shakespeare's Hamlet, each of the main characters fatal flaws leads them inevitably to their destruction.   The process of the play could not lead one anywhere else but to their ultimate fate.   Claudius is basically an opportunist whose blind ambition erases his moral sense.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gertrude, through the eyes of Hamlet, is to eager to remarry her husbands brother.   Hamlet himself, driven both by his need for vengeance and his inability to act was perhaps as guilty as anyone else in the play because his behavior indirectly resulted in the deaths of Ophelia, Rosencratz and Goldenstein.   In each of these characters, the lack of the firm moral structure leads them in only one direction which is toward their death.   In the ending of the play, then, is both inevitable and fitting given the evidence that precede it.    In the case of Claudius, his actions betray a moral feeling from the start.   Having first murdered his brother in cold blood, he then proceeded ... Free Essays - Fatal Flaws in Hamlet -- Shakespeare Hamlet Essays Fatal Flaws in Hamlet          In the ending to Shakespeare's Hamlet, each of the main characters fatal flaws leads them inevitably to their destruction.   The process of the play could not lead one anywhere else but to their ultimate fate.   Claudius is basically an opportunist whose blind ambition erases his moral sense.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gertrude, through the eyes of Hamlet, is to eager to remarry her husbands brother.   Hamlet himself, driven both by his need for vengeance and his inability to act was perhaps as guilty as anyone else in the play because his behavior indirectly resulted in the deaths of Ophelia, Rosencratz and Goldenstein.   In each of these characters, the lack of the firm moral structure leads them in only one direction which is toward their death.   In the ending of the play, then, is both inevitable and fitting given the evidence that precede it.    In the case of Claudius, his actions betray a moral feeling from the start.   Having first murdered his brother in cold blood, he then proceeded ...

Book Review: Train to Pakistan Essay

Khushwant Singh opens his novel Train to Pakistan in a seemingly peaceful village on the countryside of Punjabi. Although the small village is fictional, it is important to note the historical significance this village, its people, and the time period represent in the novel. Revered as a one of the finest and best-known renditions of the Indian tragedy of partition, Train to Pakistan embodies more than a fictitious community. The following literary analysis will depict the consequence of human calamity by analyzing the political history of India, the social and cultural struggle of the people, and the moral message and character development. It is evident that Singh did not want to make this novel a political recount because he shies away from describing the political role of the British and the Indian people in much detail. However, to understand the novel’s progression, it is essential to examine the historical background. Singh bases his relatively short novel in the year 1947 in India; in other words, in the midst of the India Independence Act of 1947 which resulted in the dissolution of the British Indian Empire. Unfortunately, the British withdrawal did not lead to a unified, free India, but instead divided into two, struggling, newly instituted states of India and Pakistan. At midnight of August 15 of 1947, the two governments of India and Pakistan simultaneously declared independence, officially trying to separate Muslims from Sikhs. This violent divide between the two governments lead to the displacement of approximately 12.5 million men, women, and children and a death toll between several hundred thousand to one million. The violent nature of partition created an atmosphere of mutual hostility and suspicion that still hangs in the air between the two sides today. Singh, who was thirty at the time of partition, published one of the few first-hand accounts of this human tragedy that is now fading into history. Nevertheless, he captivates his audience in the retelling of a major human dispute. This leads into the social and cultural struggle determined by the setting of Train to Pakistan. In the brief novel, we, as the reader, get the chance to know many of characters in great detail. Examination of these varied groups of people not only increases cultural and social understanding of that time and place, but also shows that the blame could not be placed on any one group; everyone was responsible. In fact, in the opening sentences of the book Singh writes, â€Å"Muslims said the Hindus had planned and started the killing. According to the Hindus, the Muslims were to blame. The fact is, both sides killed. Both shot and stabbed and speared and clubbed. Both tortured. Both raped† (1). From a reader’s stand point, it is important to note this passage’s significance. Singh wanted to make it clear that blame must be shared for these inhumane acts. As I stated before, Singh opens his novel by recreating a tiny village in the Punjabi countryside called Mano Maj ra. Set next to a railway line that crosses the rising Sutlej River, the lives of the inhabitants of Mano Majra would fatefully change one summer season. The fictional village on the border of Pakistan and India is predominantly made up of Sikh farmers and Muslim tenants. Singh depicts how the residents of Mano Majra lived in an almost ignorant seclusion, surrounded by mobs of Muslims who hate Sikhs and mobs of Sikhs who hate Muslims; however, in the village the people had always lived harmoniously. Villagers were unaware about the happenings of larger scope than the village outskirts, which Singh depicts in the mystery of the trains full of murdered people. This obliviousness made them especially vulnerable to outside views. In fact, the most heart-rending passage in the book comes out of the people’s cluelessness when the government makes the decision to transport all the Muslim families from Mano Majra to Pakistan. One Muslim said, â€Å"What have we to do with Pakistan? We were born here. So were our ancestors. We have lived amongst [Sikhs] as brothers† (126). The dumbstruck villagers are overtaken by events as a small joint army convoy, containing one unit of Sikh soldiers and one of Baluch and Pathans, arrives in the village and orders the Muslims to board within ten minutes. They do so with the barest minimum of their meager belongings. The Muslim officer politely shakes hands with his Sikh colleague, and sets off with his caravan to Pakistan, leaving the non-Muslim families without a chance to say goodbye. After the Muslims flee to a refugee camp from where they will eventually go to Pakistan, a cluster of religious agitators come to Mano Majra and instill in the local Sikhs a hatred for Muslims and convinces a local gang to attempt mass murder as the Muslims leave on their train to Pakistan. This entire scene takes place after we are familiar with the characters, and it is painful at many levels: the poverty in which these people live; the terrible uncertainty they are suddenly cast into; and at least temporarily, the eclipse of people’s humanity. To continue, if these groups of people (i.e. government workers and ordinary citizens) are scrutinized on a closer level than their religious affections, a more detailed social structure emerges. First, government officials were corrupt and manipulative of villagers. They could arrest anyone they chose for any reason, more often than not for their own benefit. They did just enough in terms of dealing with the dispute so that nobody could say that they did not do anything, as I will point out later with Iqbal and Juggut. The law enforcement was completely at the whim of the local government, meaning that in practice, there was no law. Also, small amounts of educated people trickled in and out of villages, trying to instill in people democratic, communist, or other western ideologies, though the common people were turned off and confused by their dissent. An example of this is when a villager explain, â€Å"Freedom is for the educated people who fought for it. We were slaves of the English, now we will be slaves of the educated Indians—or the Pakistanis† (48). More than midway through the novel, Singh depicts a scene in which the villagers learn that the government was planning to transport Muslims from Mano Majra to Pakistan the next day for their safety. To better understand the situation surrounding the Partition of India, Singh provides information about both religions involved. The book sheds light on the various religious practices of both Sikhs and Muslims in rural India, including daily life for individuals from both practices. For example, the practice of prayer for Muslims is described in the novel: â€Å"The mullah at the mosque knows that it is time for the Morning Prayer. He has a quick wash, stands facing west towards Mecca and with his fingers in his ears cries in long sonorous notes, Allah-o-Akbar† (4). Singh points out practices of Sikhs as well, â€Å"The priest at the Sikh temple lies in bed till the mullah has called. Then he too gets up, draws a bucket of water from the well in the temple courtyard, pours it over himself, and intones his prayer in monotonous singsong to the sound of splashing water (5)†. These daily routines are not necessarily provided to exemplify the differences between the two religions, but more so how they rely and have a friendly tolerance for one another and the unfortunate changes the compatibility would undergo. In addition to giving an understanding of human actions and pointing out that everyone was responsible, Khushwant Singh sketches his characters with a sure and steady hand, and we come to know quite a cast. Foremost, Hukum Chand is the regional magistrate, and the most influential character in the story for many symbolic purposes. It becomes noticeable that he is a morally conflicted man who has probably used his power over the years with much corruption. He is often described with a dirty physical appearance which is important emblematically because it is as if he is overwhelmed with unclean actions and sins and is trying to wash himself of them. Hukum Chand’s ethical issues are also shown in one of repeated encounters he has with two geckos. Allegorically, we can likely infer that these geckos represent Muslims and Hindus in conflict and on the verge of fighting one another. When the geckos start fighting, they fall right next to him, and he panics. The guilt he gets from not helping when he has more than enough power to do so literally jumps onto him: â€Å"Hukum Chand felt as if he had touched the lizards and they had made his hands dirty. He rubbed his hands on the hem of his shirt. It was not the sort of dirt which could be wiped off or washed clean† (24). Alcoholism is another tool Hukum Chand uses in attempt to clean his conscience. He feels the guilt of his actions by day but is able to justify them with alcohol and visits from the teenage prostitute Haseena, a girl that is the same age as his deceased daughter. In all his conflictions, Hukum Chand is able to acknowledge that what he is doing is bad, but is still unable to promote good possibly inferring to the weakness of the human will or at least of those in power. The two other main characters featured in the novel are Iqbal Singh and Juggut Singh, and they are likely meant to be contrasted. Iqbal is described as a slightly effeminate, well-educated and atheist (which is symbolic as his ambiguous name makes his family religion unidentifiable) social worker from Britain who thinks politically and cynically. Iqbal can easily represent modernity as he has purposely forgotten his traditional Sikh heritage and culturally adapted to the Western life style by cutting his hair and going through circumcision. Juggut, conversely, is a towering, muscular, and uneducated villager who places action over thought and is known for frequent arrests and gang problems. When the Hindu money-lender is murdered, it is as if the novel is warming Iqbal and Juggut up for comparison, as they were both arrested for the same murder they did not commit and were placed in adjacent cells. In that time, a train pulls up full of dead corpses, obviously symbolic and representative of the violence and torment the two sides, Muslim and Sikh, placed upon one another. Upon the prisoners’ release, they learned that a gang was planning to attack the train taking Mano Majra’s Muslim population to Pakistan. They each had the potential to save the train, though it was recognized that this would cost their lives. Although Singh leaves us questioning who the heroic figure of the novel is, it is easy to place Juggut in the role of martyr. He acts on instinct after he found out about the fiasco that was going on, and then sacrifices his life to save the train. Iqbal, on the other hand, spends pages wondering to himself whether he should do something, revealing a moral irony: â€Å"The bullet is neutral. It hits the good and the bad, the important and the insignificant, without distinction. If there were people to see the act of self-immolation†¦the sacrifice might be worth while: a moral lesson might be conveyed†¦the point of sacrifice†¦is the purpose. For the purpose, it is not enough that a thing is intrinsically good: it must be known to be good. It is not enough to know within one’s self that one is in the right† (170). The questions of right versus wrong which Singh poses throughout the book are numerous, including those of what one should do when one has the opportunity to prevent something bad, when an act of goodwill is truly worthwhile, and how much importance is the consciousness of the bad. Train to Pakistan represents what one calls an â€Å"eye-opener.† Many times people block out or remain ambivalent to difficult circumstances surrounding them, but Singh writes, with multiple gruesome and explicit accounts of death, torture, and rape for the public to read, to make the case that people need to know about those improbable dangers.

Main Features of French Rule in Indochina

Main Features of French Rule in Indochina By 1893 France had colonised all of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and renamed it the French Indochinese Union. The French were oppressive and self-interested. They ran Indochina as a profit making venture and tried to ensure it paid for its own administration. Colonial governor Paul Doumer made the people pay for the cost of their own rule by increasing customs duties and direct taxes. He created official monopoly on salt, alcohol, and opium.Doumer concentrated on building railways and lighthouses while denying the people development and education. Before French rule 80 per cent of Vietnamese were literate in Chinese but by the end of 1940 only 20 per cent of boys were at school and a much smaller per cent of girls. The French exploited Vietnamese resources and labour. They paid the people minimal wages and forced them to work in horrific conditions. Vietnamese land was turned over to the production of rice, rubber, opium, spices and other commo dities to export for French profit.The French altered traditional land ownership and the Vietnamese peasants had to take out loans with the interest rate of up to 70 per cent to pay the rent of there land and homes. The French also introduced a currency system which was poorly understood and not trusted by the peasants who had always used bartering. With the change in land ownership came a massive change in Indochinese social structure. This destroyed village life which was the main Indochinese social unit. The village was the centre of their religious, cultural and economic lives and was the most important administrative unit in Vietnam.This destruction of the social system along with land ownership changes resulted in a small elite group of Vietnamese land owners who collaborated with the French and left the 90% of the population of the peasants oppressed and in poverty. The French ruled Indochina with force and used repressive methods to end any rebellion. They divided Vietnam in to three administrative divisions of Tonkin, Annam, and Cochinchina. A number of Vietnamese groups tried to rebel and were executed by the French. The majority of Vietnamese were Buddhist and the French tried to convert everyone to Catholicism.Anybody who rebelled against the French priests was imprisoned or executed. With the outbreak of World War Two France surrendered to Germany and allowed Japan to administer Indochina. This resulted in the destruction of culture and widespread famine. Towards the end of WW2 Japanese soldiers seized the bulk of the Vietnamese rice crop and French officials with held the remaining supplies from the peasants. This resulted in a major famine where 2 million people died. After WW2 the French tried to reclaim Indochina supported by the United States and Britain.Relations between the French and the Vietnamese deteriorated as key independence leaders Ho Chi Minh and General Giap began to fight for the rights of the Vietnamese. When the French broke the August agreement and bombed Haiphong killing six thousand civilians the first Indochinese war began. This war of attrition saw the Vietnamese develop skilled guerrilla tactics in the face of superior French fire power. By 1954 this conflict ended in the battle of Dien Bien Phu with a decisive Vietnamese victory. The Geneva conference that began the day after battle ended resulted in the end of French rule in Indochina.