Saturday, August 31, 2019

Personality Psychology Essay

Everyday, we meet different kinds of people. It can be our friends, family or new acquaintances. Some of them we already know or even share a common trait. However, it is not always guaranteed that we understand them always. They may behave in this way today, but will be completely different tomorrow. Just as genes contribute to the uniqueness of each one of us, personality in every person is also distinct. Personality is defined as the entire mental organization of a human being at any stage of his development. It embraces every phase of human character: intellect, temperament, skill, morality, and every attitude that has been built up in the course of one’s life (Warren & Carmichael, 1930). With this concept in mind, we can say that personality is the essence of the human being. He reacts to any life circumstances with his own personality. Psychology regards this as an important factor in understanding people. Personality can work itself on what you are now and how will you be in the future. Research efforts have been expended through the years on how personality develops on one person. Studies on the different patterns of behavior, feelings and thoughts that make a person have been experimented. David and Larsen mentioned in their book that the fundamental components of personality are the following: (1) consistency, which means that people behave in a recognizable order; (2) psychological and physiological, aside from the works of the mind, personality is also governed by biological factors; (3) impact behaviors and actions, it does not only influence how a person respond, but also causes him to act in certain ways and; (4) multiple expressions, personality is embodied not only on one behavior. Given these complexities, it has become a basis of school of thoughts to theorize a person’s personality. Nevertheless, most researchers unite on the fact that personality lies on biological and social systems. Early psychology attributes personality as influence of biological factors. These are what to be known as Type Theories. It tells us that it depends on a person how he reacts on the external environment. One can be extroverted or introverted. Another type of personality theories are the Trait Theories. According to the American Psychiatric Association, traits are enduring patterns of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and oneself that are exhibited in a wide range of social and personal contexts. Traits can be considered also as a big player in defining one’s personality. Overtime, researches on personality has evolved. Earlier, it directs its focus on the person itself, but later on, psychologists acknowledge that the environment the person plays with also dictate his disposition. A person’s personality can change depending on what he sees on other people, not only what he believes in himself. Behavioral and social cognitive theories comprise the contemporary theories on personality. Together with the evolution of personality research, personality tests were also developed. These are very useful nowadays to educational and working environments where people are subjected to diverse kinds of people and experiences. Understanding a person’s personality is an important indicator to teachers and bosses, since this will aid them in handling other people. Personalities of people continue to be a mystery to most of us. However, with how psychology evolves, we can now, if not all, pinpoint the factors that will let us understand how people behave. True enough, it is still a very interesting topic to look on to, given the challenges of the ever changing society. Bibliography Buss, D. M. , & Larsen, R. J. (2006). Personality Psychology: Domains of Knowledge About Human Nature. New York City: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages. Robins. (2002). Overview of the proceedings of the 2002 meeting of the association for research in personality. Journal of Research in Personality, 36(6), 539-540. Warren, H. C. , & Carmichael, L. (1930). Elements of human psychology. Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Childhood Obesity: A Problem in Low Income Families Essay

There are multiple reasons why low income families have children on the verge of obesity. Children with two working parents or with a single parent have limited access to healthy home cooked meals. Parent’s working odd hours in low paying jobs and unable to find the time to cook home cooked meals means children in those low income families are either eating prepackaged meals or eating take out far too often which is unhealthy. The affordability and the accessibility of nutritional foods from grocery stores and unhealthy inexpensive foods from fast food restaurants is just a few examples of why child obesity in low income families is on a rise. Childhood obesity can lead to lifelong eating and health problems. There is also a problem with the lack of physical actives in low income neighborhoods as children often don’t have places to exercise. The epidemic that is childhood obesity in America but especially in low income neighborhoods are a fact that cannot be ignored and must be addressed before these children are effected form lifelong implications. Obesity in children is defined as a Body Mass Index at or above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex according to a chart put out by the Center of Disease Control and Prevention. The Center of Disease Control and Prevention (2011) calculates Body Mass Index using a child’s weight, height, and age. This is different than calculating a Body Mass Index for adults as age does not matter for adults, only the height and weight. There are many reasons and combinations of reasons why children become obese. Genetics can play a role but childhood obesity is generally caused by a lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating patterns resulting in excess energy intake, or a combination of the two. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Resource). Much of childhood obesity can be prevented and those who already suffer from obesity can make changes to lose weight and be healthy. It is important for at risk children and their parents to understand the severity of the topic of childhood obesity. There are great health risks for those children suffering from obesity.  Let’s Move is a government program launched by the first lady, Michelle Obama, as a part of the t ask force for childhood obesity President Obama had created as talked about on the Let’s Move website. On their site there is a list of health issues associated with childhood obesity. Research shows children who are obese can develop heart disease, type 2 diabetes, asthma, sleep apnea, plus joint problems and back pain from the strain on the body carrying extra weight. There is also mental health to consider for obese children. Depression and social issues are often found in children suffering from obesity (Let’s Move). With rising health care costs, the health issues that children can develop due to childhood obesity can hurt the financial position of the already low income and financially hurting families in America. With the invention of video games, computers, the internet, and television viewing on a rise, it’s no wonder why, President Obama stated on the White House website â€Å"Nearly one third of children in America are overweight or obese — a rate that has tripled in adolescents and more than doubled in younger children since 1980.† This is why c hildhood obesity is a serious issue that needs to be considered by parents, doctors and teachers. With children being left at home alone after school due to parents having to work multiple low paying jobs in low income neighborhoods, children are not told what not to eat and are not getting exercise. The internet being such an intergraded part of today’s life children are often spending much of their free time on the computer rather than playing outside with friends. The lack of exercise is a huge reason why children now are more obese than in previous generations. From data found in Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year Olds by Henry J. Kaiser Foundation (January 2010) It is said that children are spending approximately 7.5 hours using entertainment media, 4.5 hours watching TV, 1.5 hours on the computer, and over an hour playing video games daily. This is partly because older children are often home alone after school while their parents are working. The fact that many children are either left alone while parents work or are left in childcare makes it difficult for parents to regulate what a child is eating. â€Å"Sixty-nine percent of children under age 5 with low-income working mothers are cared for regularly by someone other a parent. Thirty-nine percent of these children are in care for at least 35 hours a week.† (The Urban Institute ). This means that children are not being monitored by parents  about what they eat and how much they ate during the day. The number of obese children in low income families in America is on a rise, 1 of 7 low-income, preschool-aged children is obese according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2011). According to the Clinton Foundation â€Å"nearly 25 million children are overweight or obese.† Also they report that in a study of 200 neighborhoods, there were three times as many supermarkets in wealthy neighborhoods as in poor neighborhoods leaving fast food restaurants as the most convenient meal options for low income families. Children from low income families are far more likely to suffer from childhood obesity due to the lack of supermarkets available, due to the affordability of nutritious foods, due to the lack of government funding for assistance programs, along with many other factors. Many organizations have done research on the subject of childhood obesity in low income families. Some sources have found connections between things like the number of grocery stores in comparison to convenient stores and fast food places in low income neighborhoods. For example the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2011) say that according to their research â€Å"Supermarket access is associated with a reduced risk for obesity.† Convenient store won’t offer variety and healthy fresh foods to those families that live in low income neighborhoods. It is easy to see how there can be a link between childhood obesity and the limited access to grocery stores. Fresh fruits and vegetables are crucial par t of eating healthy and losing weight. When low income families are unable to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables due to not having stores that would supply them, there is a risk of obesity due to the lack of options. â€Å"Those with annual household income less than $24,000 reported problems accessing affordable fresh fruits and vegetables 2.5 times as frequently than those with incomes between $60,000 and $89,999 (13.8 percent vs. 5.7 percent)† (Food Research and Action Center, 2010). The Journal of the American Medical Association says â€Å"Among older non-Hispanic white children, children in families with low income were significantly more likely to be overweight than children in families with high income.† as a result to one of their many studies on childhood obesity. Though obesity rates are often talked about in the news both on TV or online, not much is offered to assist the prevention of obesity or how to effectively live healthier to and lose weight in a healthy way. There are solutions out there  and many ways to get the information needed to prevent obesity. Many organizations created to get the information to the public by the internet but it is important for this information to be available to all as not everyone has the ability get the internet. This leaves people most at risk, low income families, without the information on how to live healthier lives. Educating parents on how to feed their families healthy food are one way to prevent childhood obesity and change the eating habits of children already suffering from obesity. Also, making sure children stay active, burning calories by playing sports or riding bicycles, or general exercise routines can lower a child’s risk of obesity. Low income families may not be able to afford to enroll their children in sports. The general public needs to get involved by donating money and volunteering time for after school programs that offer children an alternative from sitting at home in front of the television eating junk food. More free after school programs in poverty stricken areas in the United States would lower the number of obese children in this country. If the general public only knew how little of their time and money is need to fund and support these after school actives that make such a huge impact on children and how it would fight a health condition like childhood obesity more people would donate and volunteer. The biggest problem in ending childhood obesity is to get more information to families on how to live healthier and eat healthier. Organizations that already deal with low income families need to offer more information such an idea of what kind of physical activities are needed to be healthy and how often to do them. Also, sample menus with easy, low cost recipes so low income families now how to save money and while still eating right However, this assistance should not stop at helping low income families as childhood obesity is not only an issue for low income families. There needs to be organizations that get involved in schools systems to give all different level of income families the information needed to live healthy and feed their family good choices. The United States Department of Agriculture has created a site called Choose My Plate (2011) which provides sample menus, nutritional facts, ways to manage your weight including different trackers to track weight loss progress, and a whole section of physical activities. There is an abundance of information that parents can use to map out meals, plan activities, and help their children lose weight to prevent obesity and help  those children already suffering from obesity. As the site states to parents â€Å"You are your children’s most important role model. Your children pay attention to what you do more than what you say.† Parents are the most critical factor in childhood obesity. It is up to the parents to create healthy food for their children. Parents who don’t eat healthy themselves are setting bad examples to their children. Much of childhood obesity can end if parents change the way their whole family eats. For low income families that may not be able to always buy healthy foods, there needs to be government assistance to help those who are in need. Both federal and local governments need to implement more programs to low income families. â€Å"Only 5 percent of all low-income families with a full-time, full-year worker receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits.† (The Urban Institute). That needs to change as the cost of food has gone up which means those families that are low income but are trying to do better are those that are suffering the most. More of the government’s money must be put into programs that help feed low income families to prevent such health problems as childhood obesity. President Obama has created a task force on childhood obesity with the First Lady heading a public awareness program outlined on the White House’s website. On the White House’s website the President says â€Å"Such strategies include updating child nutrition policies in a way that addresses the best available scientific information, ensuring access to healthy, affordable food in schools and communities, as well as increasing physical activity and empowering parents and caregivers with the information and tools they need to make good choices for themselves and their families.† President Obama’s says on the website that his plan is â€Å"†¦ to solve the problem of childhood obesity within a generation so that children born today will reach adulthood at a healthy weight†. With the cooperation with local government the President’s plan could possibly be successful. There is also another way for the government to step in to end obesity. Some states have already developed laws where there are higher taxes on unhealthy foods. â€Å"Forty states already have small taxes on sugared beverages and snack foo ds, but in the past year, Maine and New York have proposed large taxes on sugared beverages, and similar discussions have begun in other states.† (Brownell, Frieden, 2009). This would be a good solution for those in higher income levels and if government assistance is helping the lower income  levels it prevents them falling into old habits of buying the unhealthy foods. With the combination of assistance for low income families and higher taxes on the unhealthy foods, the rate of childhood obesity might drop. With the findings through these government sites and organizations, the result is clear that children from low income families tend to suffer from childhood obesity more than those children from a high income house hold. This research proves the link between income level and obesity in children. Many families are unable to have home cooked meals either because of time limitations or the affordability and access to healthy food. Many families will eat off the dollar menu at McDonalds as it is cheaper than buying food at the grocery store. Fast food places offer meals with toys to attract children as well. Children in low income neighborhoods often don’t have access to healthy foods like fresh produce. There are also few places for recreation for children in low income neighborhoods. Those children can miss out on physical activities that would burn calories preventing obesity. People should be more aware of this issue that Americans, especially the children face. This means addressing the issue of cost of fast food, especially the more unhealthy choices at fast food restaurants, and the grams of fat in these foods. The facts show that children from low income families have fewer choices for healthy food due to the high cost of fresh food in comparison to the affordability of fast food which contributes to child obesity. References American Medical Association. (2001,October). Low Family Income and Food Insufficiency in Relation to Overweight in US Children. The Journal of the American Medical Association. Retrieved from http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?volume=155page=1161 Brownell K.D., Frieden T.R.(2009). Ounces of prevention—the public policy case for taxes on sugared beverages. New England Journal of Medicine. Retrieved from http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp0902392 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011, April). A Growing Problem. Overweight and Obesity. Retrived from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/problem.html Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011, April). Basics About Childhood Obesity. Overweight and Obesity. Retrived from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/basics.html Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011, April). Data and Statistics: Obesity rates among all children in the United States. Overweight and Obesity. Retrived from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/data.html Food Research and Action Center. (2010) Food Access & Affordability. Retrived from http://frac.org/reports-and-resources/food-hardship-access-to-fruits-and-vegetables/ Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. (2005, March 9). Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-olds – Report. Retrieved from http://www.kff.org/entmedia/7251.cfm Lets Move! (n.d.). Health Problems and Childhood Obesity. America’s Move to Raise a Healthier Generation of Kids. Retrieved from http://www.letsmove.gov/health-problems-andchildhood-obesity The Urban Institute. (2005, August). Low Income Working Families: Facts and Figures. Retrieved from http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/900832.pdf United St ates Department of Agriculture Choose My Plate. (2011). Dietary Guidelines Consumer Brochure. Retrieved from http://www.choosemyplate.gov/print-materials-ordering/dietary-guidelines.html U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources/Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. (n.d.).Childhood Obesity. Retrieved from http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/child_obesity/ William J. Clinton Foundation. (n.d.). Facts About Childhood Obesity. Fighting Childhood Obesity: Alliance For A Healthier Generation. Retrived from http://www.clintonfoundation.org/what-we-do/alliance-for-a-healthier-generation/why-childhood-obesity-/facts-about-childhood-obesity White House. (2010, February 09) Presidential Memorandum — Establishing a Task Force on Childhood Obesity. Retrieved from. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-pressoffice/presidential-memorandum-establishing-a-task-force-childhood-obesity

Meeting Customer Needs

Content 1. 0 Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 2. 0 Identification and Analysis of the Problems†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 2 2. 1 The Problem of NBAstore-eu†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 2 2. 2 Marketing analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3 2. 2. 1 Products Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 4 2. 2. 2 Price & Promotion Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 2. 3 SWOT Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 9 3. 0 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 10 4. 0 Recommendations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 10 Reference†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 14 Appendix†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 15 1. 0 Introduction Today’s connected consumers have become far more dif? ult to please. A study by Gartner (2010), Inc, a technology research company, found that a majority of consumers rely to some extent on social networks to guide them in their purchase decisions. This ability to compare competing services and products and interact rapidly with other customers has intensi? ed competition in virtually every market. According to Peters (1987), marketing is about making sure that a business is providing the goods and services that customers want. It involves identifying and anticipating what consumers want today and will want in the future.The marketing department then plays an important role in taking these goods and services to market through all the channels the business sells through. Customer expectations are beliefs about service delivery that serve as standards or reference points against which performance is judge d. Because customers compare their perceptions of performance with these reference points when evaluating service quality, thorough knowledge about customer expectations is critical to services marketers. Knowing what the customer expects is the first and possibly most critical step in delivering good quality service.Being wrong about what customers want can mean losing a customer’s business when another company hits the target exactly. Being wrong can also mean expending money, time and other resources on things that do not count to the customer. Being wrong can even mean not surviving in a ? ercely competitive market (Woodruff, 1987). With the popularity of sports increasing rapidly among the youth of today, the businessmen have devised several different means of boosting their business with the help of the sports.One such way is the manufacturing and sale of sports merchandise, that includes articles like shoes, socks, bags and jerseys that are worn by the popular sportsme n. The game of basketball has also not remained untouched of such aspects. After years of having to search high and low for basketball gear, or pay extortionate shipping fees to get goods sent over from the US, the NBA has announced a new online store will be launched for international customers. NBAstore-eu has been launched in September, 2012, featuring a wide range of NBA-branded goods (NBAstore-eu, 2012).The site is available in English, French, Italian and Spanish with further languages to be developed. Fans will be able to make purchases in local currency and will benefit from a centralized European distribution point saving on transit time and shipping costs. Local language customer service will further enhance the e-commerce retail experience (NBAstore-eu, 2012). This report is to find out a discrepancy is there between what the customer would like and what the NBAstore-eu is providing. This report is from operations and marketing aspects to identify and analyse the problems which might cause the discrepancy.In the end, the report is going to give some recommendations to improve the match between expectation and delivery. 2. 0 Identification and Analysis of the Problems 2. 1 The Problems of NBAstore-eu NBAstore. eu is aiming to put an end to the days that fans only can buy official jerseys or team products from NBAstore in the USA and pay a lot of delivery fees (NBAstore-eu, 2012). On the other side, the fans of NBA in Europe are the target customers of NBAstore-eu, what the expectation of customers is to get the varieties of products from NBAstore-eu and pay less delivery fees to support their favourite team.Therefore, the current market/customer expectations of the NBAstore-eu and the purpose of catering service are coincident. However, the researcher discovers that there is a mismatch between what marketing has identified and operational activity actually delivers. Some fans state that (Appendix) the products that NBAstore-eu provide are much less t han NBAstore in USA and the price of products is even expensive than other NBAstore all over the world. Obviously, there is discrepancy between customers’ expectation and what NBAstore-eu has brought to them. 2. 2 Marketing AnalysisThere is no doubt that the National Basketball Association (NBA) is considered by many sports analysts as a top marketed professional sport (Salzberg, 1998). Nowadays, the fan base in Europe is growing rapidly because of superior performance of the European players in NBA. Such as Dirk Nowitzki, the best european player in NBA who is a German has carried his team Dallas Mavericks to win the 2011 NBA championship. Andrea Bargnani, who is Italian and plays for Toronto Raptors, was selected first overall in the 2006 NBA Draft. Luol Deng is Bristish who plays for Chicago Bulls, and selected for his NBA All-star game during the 2011-2012 season.Tony Parker is a french who plays for San Antonio Spurs, he has helped the team won three championships, selec ted as 2007 NBA Finals’ MVP and 4-time All-star. At last, Spain, provide a lot of greater players to NBA, and the spain national team nearly beat the USA dream team in 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. According to Ian Whittell’s (2007) report, Today, millions of basketball fans across Europe have a wide range of ways in which they can watch their heroes and favorite teams competing live at the business end of the season – even if there is always the curse of time difference to overcome.The nature of the league means overseas interest is also an ever-evolving and changing entity. Great Britain has never been considered a hoops hotbed, but generations of basketball fans who were attracted to the sport by Michael Jordan and his glory years with the Chicago Bulls have this week been able to watch two players who could star for the British team at the 2012 London Olympics – Luol Deng and Ben Gordon – dismantle the defending champion Miami Heat (Daisy, 2007) . Fans in Europe are watching a lot more basketball now and so they are better educated,† says Rich Sheubrooks (2007), who combines his duties as Nike global basketball consultant with those of global scouting director for the Memphis Grizzlies from his base in Barcelona. As there is millions of fans in Europe and the amount is growing, set up a NBAstore-eu is a wise move for NBA to expand the Europe marketing. But NBAstore-eu now haven’t reached the customers’ expectation due to the products and prices issues. 2. 2. 1 Products AnalysisNBA jerseys were once only for people who religiously followed a particular team whereas nowadays people may just be wearing a jerseys because they like the design. Basketball jerseys have also become a fashion statement and people who don’t even watch NBA can be seen wearing them, it has have the name and reputation of nike with michael jordan backing it up as well as the classic styling that will keep in fashion for a very long time too. To the fans, wearing nba jerseys also helps fans to feel like they belong to a group.It is one of the best ways to distinguish who supports which team and helps fellow fans gather together, NBA jerseys can provide good quality as well as dealing with a reputable. As the major items for sale on NBA stores, the number of jerseys in NBAstore-eu is far less than NBAstore. For some famous team, the number of jerseys on sale in NBAstore-eu is only one-seventh as the number of NBAstore. Figure1 shows the huge mismatch of five famous teams’ jerseys on sale between NBAstore-eu and NBAstore. | |NBAstore. eu |NBAstore. om | |Teams | | | |Stores | | | |Boston Celtics |13 |108 | |Miami Heat |12 |113 | |Los Angeles Lakers |21 |101 | |New Yorks Knicks |5 |85 | |Chicago Bulls |17 |84 | |Total |68 |491 | Figure 1: Comparison the numbers of five famous NBA teams’ jerseys on sale. (Sources from www. nbastore. eu and store. nba. com) There are two main types of NBA je rseys, one is called swingman jersey, and the other is called replica jersey. Replica jersey is cheaper and the numbers and names are ironed on, the swingman jerseys are the ones that the numbers and names are stitched on and they are a little more expensive, most people prefer swingman jerseys because the look a lot better. Jerseys in NBAstore-eu are major make up by replica jerseys, on the other hand, the jerseys in NBAstore are most make up by swingman jerseys.According to a basketball fan who live in England and he said that (Appendix), â€Å"I prefer swingman jerseys, because replica jerseys are for those people who don’t care about basketball and just like to wear it when they go to sleep, and a true baller or people that care about their swagger would never even wear a replica jersey. Also, even though the swingman is a little bit expensive than replica jersey, but the quality is much more better. † The varieties style of jerseys can be seen in NBA games. Normal ly the players are wearing home jerseys or away jerseys. Sometimes, the away team needs to wear secondary away jerseys owing to long time journey.Moreover, some special designed jerseys for holidays are awesome and attractive. For examples, NBA has present special jerseys every year for St. Patrick’s Day and Latin Nights, and for the 2012 Chrismas Day, several new style jerseys called big color jersey have been presented. Also NBAstore provide some fashion jersey, which can’t be seen in the games, but they all have unique nice-looking appearance. Customers can purchase all kinds of jersey on NBAstore, but in NBAstore-eu, there are just a few styles of jersey on sale, even through the advertisement of the big color jerseys for the Chrismas can be seen in each commercial channel of NBA, but there is still no stock of the jerseys in NBAstore-eu.Customize jerseys are the special offer for customers in NBA official stores, customers can buy each team’s jersey or t-sh irt what ever replica or swingman with their own name or number on it. It is an attractive deal for customers, but NBAstore-eu only provide customize jerseys of two teams, and no swingman option. As the target market of NBAstore-eu is the European market, the jerseys of European players must be an important part. Research has found that there is no Jersey of Luol Deng in NBAstore-eu (Appendix), Deng is the best British player in NBA and definitely became an all-star player last season. It is not prudent for NBAstore-eu to miss his jersey on sale.Compare the products on sale in the outlet of NBAstore-eu and NBAstore, the number of products on sale is 503 to 448. NBAstore-eu have more products in the outlet, it seems like NBAstore-eu have beaten the flagship store at this point, but the numbers occasionally can not state the truth. The products in the outlet of NBAstore-eu are most make up by headwears and souvenirs, there are 371 products in these two parts, these products are hard t o stimulate the customers’ desire to buy, and there are only 19 jerseys on sale. On the other hand, the products in the outlet of NBAstore are most make up by jerseys, t-shirts and shorts, there are 140 jerseys on sale, so that the quality of the outlet is easy to identify. 2. 2. Price & Promotion Analysis There is also a discrepancy between customers’ expectation and the price of products in NBAstore-eu. As the NBA is a league in USA, so the price in NBAstore can be the standard price. In NBAstore, the price of standard replica jersey is $59. 99, the price of standard swingman jersey is $89. 99, and the price of customize replica jersey is $54. 99. In NBAstore-eu, the price of standard replica jersey is ? 45. 00, the price of standard swingman jersey is ? 65. 00, and the price of customize replica jersey is ? 55. 00. Research has found that the price of NBA official store in China is also a valuable data to analysis.In China, the price of replica and swingman jersey i s ? 390 and ? 580 respectively. Figure2 shows the price comparison of three NBA official stores. |Type of Jersey |NBAstore. com |NBAstore. eu |NBAstore. cn | |Stores | | | | |Replica Jersey |$59. 99 37. 3 |? 45 |? 390 39 | |Swingman Jersey |$89. 99 56 |? 65 |? 580 8 | |Customize Jersey |$54. 99 34. 2 |? 55 |- | Figure 2: Price comparison of three NBA main official stores. (Sources from www. nbastore. eu, store. nba. com and www. nbastore. cn) As the figure2 shows that NBAstore-eu is the most expensive store, the price of jersey in NBAstore-eu in far more expensive than the other two. Considering the tax fee for overseas products, but NBAstore-eu is still expensive than NBAstore-cn. One of the core ideas to launch NBAstore-eu is aiming to put an end to the days of giving money to friends who are visiting USA to bring back a ton of stuff.Nevertheless, the fact is that with NBAstore-eu has set up for more than three months, ask friends who are going to USA to bring some NBA stuffs back may still save money. Moreover, research has found that sometimes purchase a swingman jersey from NBAstore even cheaper than NBAstore-eu for people living in England. Normally, if customers are living in the UK, to buy a swingman jersey from NBAstore-eu cost ? 65 and ? 4. 95 for shipping fee, total ? 69. 95. Buy a swingman jersey from NBAstore cost total $134. 33 (including international shipping fee and tax), the price is approaching to ? 82. 6, so normally purchase from NBAstore-eu when customers are in Europe is cheaper. Nevertheless, sometimes, like for some holidays, sellers always make discount for promotion.Just like the Black Friday in 2012, NBAstore-eu provided 15% discount of every single product, so the charge of a swingman jersey is simply total ? 60. 2. Meanwhile, NBAstore presented 20% discount promotion code, and the big difference is that the discount is for entire order, so that means the charge of a swingman jersey is barely ? 66 for orders in the UK. Although pur chase a swingman jersey from NBAstore is still more expensive, but the variety of products there is much more than NBAstore-eu. Six pounds differential but considerably more options, and chances to get products that NBAstore-eu do not have. Obviously many customers will prefer to NBAstore, the promotion make NBAstore-eu in an embarrassing positon. [pic] Figure 3: Comparison of the intensity of promotion. Source from www. nbastore. eu and store. nba. com) 2. 3 SWOT Analysis NBAstore-eu have some strengths that the shipping time is shorter than buy goods from other official stores, and the products have guaranteed quality. Additionally, there is more accessories products than retailers. The weaknesses of NBAstore-eu as mentioned before are the products, prices and promotion. NBAstore-eu also have great opportunities to gain more profits because europe is a huge market, and it is merely explored a small part. Moreover, the fan base is growing rapidly. The retailers or similar online st ores in Europe are few, so that there are little competitors.The main threats of NBAstore-eu are the sellers on ebay. co. uk. Because some similar products on ebay are cheaper than the official website. Moreover, basketball is not the most famous sports in most European countries, so other sports will lead to customer segmentation, then the amount of customer will decrease. |Strengths |Weaknesses | |? Faster delivery for European fans |? Far more less products than flagship store | |? Guaranteed product quality |?Higher price than other official stores | |? More accessories than retailers |? Intensity of promotion is low | |Opportunities |Threats | |? Huge explorable market |? Sellers on ebay. co. uk | |? Few of competitors |? Better products from other official stores | |?Fan base growing rapidly |? Other sports led to customer segmentation | Figure 4: SWOT analysis for NBAstore-eu 3. 0 Conclusion The report has analysis the current problems for NBAstore-eu. The principal proble ms are products, prices and promotion. The intent and purpose of set up a NBAstore for European are great, but those problems make NBAstore-eu have a colossal mismatch to the expectation of customers. The types of products there are much fewer than expectation, many customers can’t get what they want from the NBAstore-eu. The prices there are not fair to the customers in Europe.The prices there are more expensive than other NBA stores. That means if the customers are going to buy something in NBAstore-eu, they need to pay more money and get fewer options. Moreover, the promotion intensity of NBAstore-eu is not as good as others. In general, these three big problems led a huge discrepancy to the expectation of customers. If those problems can’t be solved, there will be a giant mess for NBAstore-eu. The report has also used SWOT analysis, the results show that the NBAstore-eu not only have some drawbacks, but also have some strengths, opportunities and threats. The short er shipping time is the core strengths for NBAstore-eu for sure, and the products have guaranteed quality.As the Europe is a huge explorable market with an increasing number of fans, it is a big opportunity for NBAstore-eu to occupy the market. Besides, NBAstore-eu have some threats from the retails in europe, such as sellers on ebay, and other sports will segment the market, that’s also a threat. 4. 0 Recommendations As the intent and purpose of set up NBAstore-eu is providing excellent services and products for customers in Europe. In order to give European customers chance to buy products with minor time and the shipping fee. The expectation of customers is the same as the aiming of NBAstore-eu. As a matter of fact, the NBAstore-eu provide few products and more expensive prices than purpose. In order to solve the problem of products, NBAstore-eu need to import more products.As jerseys are the major commodities for NBA stores, first of all, NBAstore-eu should import more je rseys, specially the jerseys for European players, such as the missing one of Loul Deng. NBAstore-eu as a branch of NBAstore, the amount of products there are no need as much as the flagship, but the jerseys of famous players is still needed, just don’t miss the products for those all-star players though, that can reach the expectation of customers. Second, NBAstore-eu need to import products which are selling well in the NBAstore. Such as new style jerseys, and those hot swingman jerseys. The styles of jerseys in NBAstore-eu are fewer, so NBAstore-eu need some more styles of jerseys in order to create additional profit.NBAstore-eu need to import more swingman jerseys than replica jerseys, because swingman jerseys are more admired than replica jerseys. Third, NBAstore-eu need to offer more options for customers to customize their jerseys or t-shirts. For personal, some customers may want their own name and number on their favourite jerseys, customize products also can be a wi se choice as a special gift. Meanwhile, some sport teams may need the fashion jersey of NBA teams as their team jersey, so customize jersey may become their choice. Furthermore, some fans may like to have a NBA team t-shirt with their own name on it, that’s also opportunities for NBAstore-eu to gain more profits.The price issue is also a barrier for NBAstore-eu to reach the expectation of customers. As Figure2 shows, the prices in NBAstore-eu are extremely expensive than NBAstore. There is approximately ? 8 differential for a replica jersey, ? 9 differential for a swingman jersey and ? 21 differential for a customize replica jersey. Considering the international tax fee, for customers in the UK to buy one swingman jersey from NBAstore, the international handling fee is about $20 (See figure5), it is about 22% as the price of the products for retail. Despite the fact that the international handling fee is existing, but the price there is just 122% or more as the price of produ cts in NBAstore.It’s no doubt the international shipping fee is expensive, but one of the aiming of NBAstore-eu is to provide short shipping time and products with cheaper shipping fee. For customers in the UK to purchase some something from NBAstore-eu, they still need to pay ? 4. 95 for standard delivery or ? 6. 95 for express delivery. The conclusion is the price in NBAstore-eu is higher than customers’ expectation, the NBAstore-eu need to reduce the price. The international tax and shipping fee are two factors that can’t be ignored, but in China, the prices in NBAstore-cn are still cheaper than NBAstore-eu. The price in NBAstore-cn can be a worthwhile indicative price for NBAstore-eu to reach the expectation of customers. [pic]Figure 5: Price details for purchasing a swingman jersey from NBAstore for customers in UK. (Sources from: store. nba. com) NBAstore-eu has just set up for more than three months, it’s a quite new branch in Europe. Promotion is an essential element in the marketing mix. It's a tool used by businesses, both large and small, to inform, persuade and remind customers about the products and services they have to offer. Without business promotion, companies would be stagnant and lack substantial growth because their brands would have low visibility in the market (Miranda, 2012). Promotion can help an organization: ? Increases Awareness ? Increases Product Knowledge and Preference Increases Retailers ? Increases Sales As a new branch, NBAstore-eu need those benefits. Basing on the current situation, the promotion intensity of NBAstore-eu is low, so NBAstore-eu need make reinforce the intensity of promotion. For example, NBAstore-eu can deliver more advertisements through more media in order to increase awareness. Then, NBAstore-eu can provide discounts on festival days to attract more customers, make sure the intensity of discount is not lower than NBAstore. Good promotion also can help NBAstore-eu to get the opp ortunities, mentioned on SWOT analysis, occupy the European market. Reference List: Daisy Caton-Jones. (2007).NBA fans in a London sports bar watch the Bulls beat the Heat on Sunday. [Online]http://sports. espn. go. com/nba/playoffs2007/news/story? id=2854150 [Accessed 3rd Jan, 2013] Gartner, Inc. (2010). â€Å"Gartner Research†. [Online]http://www. gartner. com/technology/research. jsp [Accessed 5th Dec, 2010]. Ian Whittell. (2007). Fans in Europe tune in for NBA action [Online]http://sports. espn. go. com/nba/playoffs2007/news/story? id=2854150 [Accessed 3rd Jan, 2013] Miranda Brookins. (2012). Why Is Promotion Important for a Business? [online]http://www. ehow. com/about_7221403_promotion-important-business_. html [Accessed 3rd Jan, 2013] Peters, T. (1987).Thriving on Chaos: Handbook for a Management Revolution. London: Pan, p. 43. R. B. Woodruff, E. R. Cadotte and R. L. Jenkins. (1987). ‘Expectations and norms in models of consumer satisfaction’, Journal of M arketing Research 24, pp. 305–14. Salzberg, Charles. (1998). From Set Shot to Slam Dunk. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 203. ISBN 978-0-8032-9250-5. Appendix: (Interview of a basketball fan who always wearing NBA jerseys and plays basketball in Gloucester) Researcher: Do you know there is a new NBA store launched for European customers recently? Fan: Yes, but I haven’t bought anything from there yet. All the jerseys I got are brought from ebay or NBAstore.Researcher: Why don’t you try NBAstore-eu? That store are aiming to provide products for European customers. Fan: I have viewed the website several times, but I didn’t find something I’d like to buy. I’d like to buy a Luol Deng jersey recently, but I can’t find it on NBAstore-eu. I think the products there are scarce, and the styles of products there are out of fashion. There are not many options, maybe that store didn’t import new products very often. Researcher: If you buy jersey s from NBAstore, that will charge you a lot of shipping fee and tax fee, right? Fan: Yes, absolutely. Regardless of the fact that, I prefer to pay a little more to get what I really want.Researcher: Do you ever think about to buy something from NBAstore-eu? You can pay a little delivery fee and get the products in shorter time. Fan: No, the prices there are expensive. I don’t know why, much expensive than the standard price in US. I rather to buy something from ebay, that also will charge me a little delivery fee and shorter time. Researcher: But the products from sellers on ebay are having no assured quality, how about if you buy something that is fake? Fan: I don’t worry about that, the major items I’d like to buy are jerseys, and I have the experience, I know how to identify whether the jersey is authentic or not. Researcher: What kind of jersey do you prefer? Swingman or replica?Fan: I prefer swingman jerseys, because replica jerseys are for those people who don’t care about basketball and just like to wear it when they go to sleep, and a true baller or people that care about their swagger would never even wear a replica jersey. Also, even though the swingman is a little bit expensive than replica jersey, but the quality is much more better. Researcher: How do you think the promotion of NBAstore-eu? Fan: I don’t know. Probably it is a poor effort, I haven’t seen much advertisement of it. The way why I know NBAstore-eu is because I’m a member of NBAstore, and I received a e-mail from NBAstore to notice me that. Researcher: If NBAstore-eu can provide more refined products with smart

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Innocent LTD Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Innocent LTD - Essay Example According to Triandis (1990), individualistic cultures emphasise independence, achievement, freedom, high levels of competition, and pleasure; whereas collectivist cultures tend to embrace interdependence, family security, social hierarchies, co-operation; and low levels of competition. UK has an individualistic culture, which constitute the main factors of independence, achievement, freedom, high levels of competition, and pleasure. That's why the Innocent drinks give very much importance to taste. With the increasing awareness among the target population regarding the problems of obesity and other health diseases Innocent drink emphasises on the purity and the neutrality of the ingredients. These qualities correctly aiming at the demands of the customers make Innocent drinks the largest player of smoothies market in UK capturing 65% of the total market share. Advertising, as a form of social communication, is particularly reflective, and indicative of culture and its norms. To the extent that advertising does reflect cultural differences, and there exist clear differences between distinct cultural patterns, advertising appeals, which are specific approaches advertisers use to communicate how their products will satisfy customer needs (Arens & Bovee, 1994), should manifest such differences across these countries. "Taste remains the company's number one priority. ... ste test awards than its competitors, scooping Best UK Soft Drink in the Q Awards, the UK's principal food industry competition, every year since 2002." (Farr, 2006) "The Company sells 70,000 fresh, healthy drinks each day everywhere from Boots to Sainsbury's to a local deli. The company has the only range of 100% pure fruit smoothies that uses fresh, rather than concentrated juice." (Innocent drinks, 2004) SWOT Analysis of the Coca-Cola Company STRENGTHS Strong Brand name. Extended customer in more than 200 countries. Use of SAP R/3 Enterprise Resource planning software Low threat of new entrants. Continuous training programs for employees. High budgets of advertising and promotion. Good relations with media. Web based presence. WEAKNESSES Low ROE Subsidiaries create legal and territorial problems. Lack of funds for regional bottlers to continue expansion Old image still exists. Inconsistent marketing message. OPPORTUNITIES Expansion in shape of introduction of new and innovative products. Expanding market due to globalisation. THREATS Current economic climate. Over reliance on the bottlers. Results to be achieved in future can be less than projected "The Threats-Opportunities-Weaknesses-Strengths (TOWS) Matrix is an important matching tool that helps managers develop four types of strategies: So Strategies, WO strategies, ST Strategies, and WT Strategies. SO strategies use a firm's internal strengths to take advantage of external opportunities. WO Strategies aim at improving internal weaknesses by taking advantage of external opportunities. ST Strategies use a firm's strengths to avoid or reduce the impact of external threats. WT Strategies are defensive tactics directed at reducing internal weaknesses and avoiding environmental threats." (David,

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

History Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

History Assignment - Essay Example During this period all racial groups including whites, blacks, Indians, Mexicans and others were affected. Between the country’s Civil War and World War II, the US underwent profound racial reorganization with officially recognized group categories expanding and contracting, socially acknowledged boundaries between groups becoming blurred and shifting, and with both citizen and public actors passionately debating on who belonged to which group. The country’s basic components on racial order were revised, revisited and generally altered; however, whites never lost their position at the top of status hierarchy. Q.1 Between 1870 and 1910, USA witnessed the greatest influx of immigrants with more than 20 million immigrants entering the nation in this period partly as a result of the country’s gains in industrial revolution. Initially, new immigrants from northern and western Europe with industrial skills were welcomed; however, other immigrants coming from south and Eastern Europe were unwelcomed by resident Americans. These immigrants lacking skills came at a time when huge arrival of untrained labor caused the Native Americans feel that their lifestyle was under threat by arrival of fresh immigrants having various values and ideas. Some immigrants had an extra burden of the easily noticeable characteristics that made them prone to attacks by anyone seeking justification to carry out such attacks. The onset of hard financial times in 1870s saw immigrants and European-Americans struggle for jobs usually set aside for the Chinese. The hard economic times resulted in dislike and even racial suspicion and hatred, which resulted in anti-Chinese riots in California for exclusion of Chinese immigrants in the USA. Hatred and intolerance toward immigrants resulted in endorsement of immigration laws that greatly hampered immigration. In 1875, the USA passed the page law that prohibited entry of Chinese women and the Chinese exclusion act of 1882 refused entry of all Chinese laborers without making explicit mention of Chinese women; hence, page law continued to regulate their entry. The law prohibited the entry of all Chinese women since immigration officials assumed most of women were prostitutes. Nevertheless, Chinese merchant class was exempt since the law hindered male Chinese laborers from bringing their family to the US, hence limiting their permanent settlement in USA. Later, Japanese immigrants who came three decades later after passage of the page law experienced less harsh policies (Lee 249). Since the exclusion of Chinese from gold mines in California in 1850s, segments of California society consistently opposed the employment of Chinese and the pressure to exclude Chinese increased. The slowdown of 1870s meant the notion that Chinese men and white women were able to share became unpalatable and difficult to maintain. The depression indicated to white women that the Chinese had not only usurped jobs from them but also fo rced the reduction of wages of women who had jobs (Brown and Peter, 64). Convergence toward exclusion relied on the logical racial workings construction and attachment of mediocre status and meaning to immigrant groups via discourse, formal and informal categorization. The convergence relied on racial claims that Japanese were inassimilable and racially undesirable in the same way as the Chinese; hence, early racial claims offered an effective framework for meaningful construction and ultimate exclusion. Gender and race mattered in this period with their meaning constructively interconnected; hence, race was not an objective truth for exclusionists to discover but rather the claims that they had to make to express. Through discursive and symbolic

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Those who pray and those who fight Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Those who pray and those who fight - Essay Example Those who work comprised mainly the peasants in the society; the slaves and the serfs. The serfs comprised the peasants who were owned by a lord. Their duty was to work for the lord, in the field of the lords, in consideration of being allowed to use a piece of land by the lord for their use and that of their families. In addition, the lords had the duty to protect the serfs and to administer justice to them. Serfs would work for their lords for about 3 days a week, or more, during the harvest period, while they would employ the rest of their time to work in their own field set for them by their lords. Most of the serfs were illiterate and poor but religious. Their lives were limited on their fields and their village church. To add, the serfs were not allowed to leave the manor of their lords. In essence, most of them ended up spending their entire lives on one estate. Those that pray included powerful popes, clergy, bishops and priest. They had diverse religious roles, for instance, the village priests had the task to satisfy the serfs’ spiritual needs. This group also consisted of the monks who lived in the monasteries, and consisted mostly of educated monks and who were responsible for producing most of the books made during that period. The last order consisted of those who fought. During the medieval periods, wars were prevalent and were mostly fought by knights. Wars were expensive and since peasants could not afford arsenals of war such as horses, swords or a suit of armor, this group, therefore, consisted of people from the wealthiest order, that is, the nobles. They were mainly the land owners, living in manors, and owned all the people that lived in that Manor. They had military obligations, for instance, to the higher nobles, and were in turn owed military obligations by the lower nobles called the vassals. The nobility never worked, but were supposed to be fierce and warlike and they spent their time in military training and attending fight t ournament with other nobles. Each of the three orders contributed in a way to the aggressiveness of Christian kingdoms during the Crusades (1096-1204). The peasants worked on the lands of their lords, and though they were not allowed to leave, they contributed to the financial might of their respective lords, who in turn contributed military might to the crusaders. To add, they contributed directly in the crusades, for instance in 1095, Pope Urban II urged both the nobles and peasants to join him in the war against Muslims, with the mission of reclaiming the Holy land of Jerusalem. The Pope promised them a lot of things from salvation to wealth, and they, therefore, joined him because of these assurances. Those who pray were mainly the religious leaders, and who wielded a lot of powers. The pope for instance, commissioned and blessed the crusaders before they waged war against people the church had declared to be heretics, including a Christian King (Hunt 2010, 354). This order enco uraged their followers to wage crusades against the non believers. Most of them were sanctioned by the pope. For instance in 1198, pope innocent III declared a crusade against the Livs, and four years later, the Pope declared the fourth crusade to the holy land. The religious leaders exploited their monopoly over salvation, wealth and charity, and confession to promote crusades. For instance, during the Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229), innocent suspended the crusaders monetary debts and promised that their

Monday, August 26, 2019

DELL Case Study Analysis (Marketing) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

DELL Case Study Analysis (Marketing) - Essay Example At times a key success factor can also be the key vulnerability of a company. In Dells case, it is their over dependency on short term just in time delivery system. All other success factors hinge on this. For example, the low cost, fast delivery, and customer service are all dependent upon the efficiency and smooth functioning of the JIT system. While JIT can be a excellent platform to build competitive advantage, it is dependent upon a host of other business partners involved within the supply chain. Even If one or two suppliers are affected the whole operation of Dell is vulnerable. As only 4 days inventory is held, this risk is further heightened. Another vulnerability of Dell lies in its dependency on its unique business model of reaching customers directly while eliminating the middle links in its distribution chain. While most companies today look in to innovative distribution structures termed as Vertical Marketing Systems which integrate the activities of each link in the distribution chain (Armstrong & Kotler 2000), Dell had chosen to do away completely with the distribution chain. Dell unlike other IT hardware and accessory manufacturers does not depend upon retailers and distributors in taking their product to the customers. With its innovative approach to distribution, the company allows the consumers to log on to the Dell Web site and place orders after they configure their PC’s as per their own specifications. While this unique business model cuts costs and allows for customer responsiveness and interactive marketing communications with the customers, it will be a less effective channel as Dell enters in to unsophisticated markets, which holds future growth potentials. As Dells major US and European markets saturate, the company as other competitors in the industry needs to tap on to emerging markets such as China, India and other developing nations to support its growth. However these markets may still not be very sophisticated

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Critique - Essay Example Perhaps it continued to exist in other places on the globe, but only in isolated pockets and less so with every passing year. In fact, slavery has continued with vigor since, only it has lost its former veneer of legitimacy and gone underground, where it has thrived. Mark Lagon’s article in the Washington Times, â€Å"Modern-day Slavery,† effectively makes that very point: slavery still exists; it involves children and women, can include horrific sexual violations and violence, and is a phenomenon which ought to be of great concern to the United States because it too is a country where it has reared its ugly head. Lagon’s strategy for making his case involves several references to real-life human cases so as to provide to the reading public an idea of what victims of human-trafficking face. He mentions the case of â€Å"two Indonesian women who were beaten, starved and never allowed out of the mansion where they worked as domestic servants† (Lagon 2008). This sort of picture is quite effective. The image of women being wronged and held against their will is sure to garner sympathy with the public. After mentioning some of the efforts of the United States government against human trafficking, he points to a case where those same efforts have been met with some success. He writes of an Indian couple, â€Å"Manesh and Jaya,† who were â€Å"forced to work in a brick kiln in India, treated as less than human because they were born into the lowest caste of their society. They were freed from bonded labor and received restitution with help from International Justice Mission â⠂¬â€œ which my office funds as a partner† (Lagon 2008). This provides a contrast with the other â€Å"human† reference because it shows how American efforts have helped those in need. Lagon also makes use of references to well-known governmental/political figures and leaders so as to give his piece a sense of

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Marketing Plan Development Blog Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Marketing Plan Development Blog - Assignment Example The installation of efficient telecommunication system at the companys offices ensures that even at night, the machine generated reply is sent to the consumer. It assures him/ her that the responsible personnel will attend to the inquiry when they report to work. The company also has its own suppliers and has leased out quarries for obtaining its raw materials. This ensures all times the supply be less than the demand. As a result of a pre-arranged deal with the suppliers, the production costs are low for the company translating to a pocket friendly cost of the same to the consumers (Valentin, 2004). With low prices, the company can be competitive in the market. Due to the businesss young age, it becomes difficult to acquire loans and other financial assistance from financial institutions(Valentin, 2004). The requirement by these facilities requiring a certain cash flow for a company to be eligible for such services has hindered the growth of the company. It has resulted in the company losing out on big tenders requiring large capital to facilitate the consumer needs. The increase in mortgage offers and good financial times in the country has resulted in a boom, in the real estate sector. Thus with enough resources and efficient services it will be easier to acquire new markets for the products being offered by the company such as sand and gravel plus the offer on transportation of the same to the construction site. The external factors that threaten the success and future of the company among others include political and legal interference by third parties(Valentin, 2004). The government has set up environmental agencies that have become critical of open quarries being left after mining. Thus, it has been gazette that such sites be filled after the quarrying seizes subjecting the company to additional operation costs. Another threat is the emergence of other construction trucking companies which have flooded

Friday, August 23, 2019

Tourism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Tourism - Essay Example Therefore, while evaluating tourism as a whole it is imperative to consider its dark and the bright side. Tourism just for the sake of leisure or fun may leave detrimental effects, thus educating tourists about their limits and rights is very important, to provide tourism a healthy form. In the following text some of the pros and cons are discussed with respect to their socio-economic implications. Tourism is involved directly as well as indirectly in economic activity of a place or a country, this is due to demands for services and goods that are needed to be produced and provided (Tribe, 2011). The direct effect of tourism on economics of a place is termed as tourism’s ‘economic contribution’ and it is determined by tourism satellite account or TSA. Meanwhile, the indirect economic impacts of tourism are determined through various models, and this type of modelling helps in determining the overall direct and indirect effects of tourism on the economy of a place. While considering the economic contribution of tourism it is imperative to understand the concept of tourism industries. Tourism industries are activities that typically produce tourism characteristic products. The criteria to characterize tourism product is that the production or availability of a product or service is sufficiently proportional to the extent of tourism, consequently the demand of these services or products develop a direct link with the presence of tourists. Some of the key characteristic tourism products include accommodation services, transport services, recreational services and area specific tourist services. Accommodation services refer to availability and management of hotel, motels and rest houses (Goeldner & Ritchie, 2009). Transport services include air, rail and road transport. Recreational services are usually specific from place to place, but some

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Course reflection Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Course reflection - Assignment Example While studying this course, ‘International Food and Beverages’ team work has been so helpful to me. Two heads are better than one. Working in a team always makes work easier. It’s a bond which promotes unity, reliability and support. Team work means a sense of unity, of enthusiasm for common interests and obligations, as developed among a group of people closely associated in a task. The oxford dictionary defines teamwork as the joint action of a group of people, especially when successful and efficient (Annet 2000). Team work has supported my more empowered way of working, it has removed limitations which might have prevented me from doing my job properly, it has Encouraged multi-disciplinary work where teams cut across organizational divides, enhances flexibility and awareness, especially the ability to respond to change and also Promoted the sense of attainment, equity and camaraderie. When managed properly, team work is a better way to work (Weyn, 2002). Despite the benefits of working in a team, it has not been easy. I have encountered different challenges. At times, Members could not feel mutually accountable to one another for the team’s objectives. There was a lack of commitment and effort, conflict between team goals and members’ personal goals, or poor collaboration. Secondly, decision making have been difficult. Team members would be rigidly adhering to their positions during decision making or making repeated arguments rather than introducing new information. Thirdly, poor communication has been another problem. Team members would interrupt or talk over one another. There would be consistent silence from some members during meetings, allusions to problems but failure to formally address them, or false consensus (Jone 2005). From my team work experience, team work can be effectively managed through; first, building trust among team members. If trust is lacking it must

Ukrainian Immigrant Experience in Canada Essay Example for Free

Ukrainian Immigrant Experience in Canada Essay Soviet Union was suffering dissolution after an abortive coup in Moscow when Ukraine, formerly a European Soviet, emerged as an independent nation on August 24, 1991. Right after coming into existence, the new born nation undertook a strenuous and all-embracing economic, constitutional and political reform. Canada was the first western country to acknowledge Ukraine’s independent status on December 2, 1991. (Luciuk and Bohdan p. 12) Thenceforward Canada has constantly been helping out Ukraine sustain as an independent sovereign nation giving an impetus to close and healthy relations between the two countries. However this close association finds its origins in the past hundred years of Ukranian migration to Canada. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: Ukrainian immigration to Canada started about a century ago, when on September 7, 1891, two peasants Ivan Pylypiw and Vasyl Eleniak, arrived at the Canadian metropolis Montreal from their home village Nebyliw in Eastern Galicia. The peasants’ landing was a precursor to an influx of Ukrainian immigrants to Canadian mainland marking the beginning of a step to progress. (Gerus and Rea p. 46) Several crucial factors impelled the Ukrainians to migrate to Canada, the major ones being the national inequalities and social prejudices, malnutrition, and illiteracy. The financial plight of the Ukrainian citizens promised them nothing but a dismal and bleak future. While on the other hand, 19th century Canada, a land of bright horizons offered large scale immigration opportunities. The much needed manpower to build railways in the country, to boost its urban and industrial infrastructure and manage its mines and forests, opened up the panels for Ukrainian peasants. (Luciuk and Bohdan pp. 121-129) The untapped potential of the Canadian land was enough to lure the dismayed and impoverished immigrants. In the hope of better future prospects for their poverty-stricken families, they left behind their home soil and the loved ones to take up precarious load abroad. Most of the peasants brought along few tools and material for them including money in order to start their rehabilitation themselves. However most importantly, they brought along persistent determination to achieve their aims, a sheer devotion to their traditional and cultural values, which thrive even to date. The initial Ukrainian immigrations were largely agrarian because the majority of the Ukrainians were farmers. They established their communities in different Prairie Provinces such as Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Since the early Ukrainians were from Galicia and Bukovyna, which were wooded areas located in the Carpathian Mountains as compared to the Canadian Prairie Provinces, they settled in the wooded aspen parklands of Alberta. (Luciuk p. 1) THE IMMIGRANT MOVEMENTS: The arrival of the Ukrainian immigrants to Canada can be generally dissevered into three waves each different from the other in several ways depending on the reasons of migration and conditions which prevailed. The earliest group of immigrants belonged to Halychyna or Galicia. They found the northern Parkland area favorable for their settlement, as it ensured three indispensable natural resources. (a) Wood which would serve as a construction material as well as a source of fuel. (b) Water, to provide for animal and human consumption, (c) Arable land for agriculture. The dawn of World War I marked the end of this earliest wave of settlement in which around 125000 Ukrainians established their livelihood in Canada. (Gerus and Rea pp. 52-64) After World War II, the second wave of immigrants arrived between the years 1924 and 1929. This lot of immigrants differed from the previous one in a way that it constituted mostly farm laborers, political expatriates and Ukrainian soldiers who had fought against Poland and Russian communists. This wave comprised almost 225000 Ukrainians. (Lupul p. 75) During 1947 to 1952, arrived the third badge of Ukrainian immigrants including most of those who had been forcefully subjected to slavery in Germany. They had no desire to return to now Soviet-powered Ukraine after the end of war. This group of immigrants was the most skilled of all as it comprised of professionals, musicians and scientists who came probably from the more privileged section of the society. These skilled professionals tended to adjust quickly as they had a better chance of availing the educational and extensive training opportunities as compared to the previous deprived immigrants. (Gerus and Rea p. 69) Finally the most recent surge of Ukrainians to Canada occurred after its declaration of independence in 1991. Relatively smaller in size, this group of immigrants principally chose to populate the urban centres, which sets them apart from their predecessors who tended to inhabit both urban and rural areas. WORLD WAR I: The outbreak of World War I left the Ukrainian immigrants and Bishop Budka (first Ukrainian Bishop in Canada) aghast. As the world-wide international matters took a sharp turn, the Ukrainians also like the other Eastern Europeans confronted great upheavals in the form of increased discrimination. (Kaye p. 83) Not only the immigration suffered a hitch but it also imposed restrictions on the already living Ukrainians in Canada. Since Ukrainian immigrants to Canada mostly came from Galicia, which fell partly under the control of Austrian Empire, they tended to hold Austrian citizenship. For that matter the Ukrainian immigrants were suspected by the Canadian authorities. It was a sheer misfortune that when the heir to the Austrian throne was killed by a Bosnian Serb on June 28, 1914, Bishop Budka issued a letter just a day back exhorting all Ukrainians to abide by the Austrian cause. The following day, Austria raged war on Russia as Serbia was her ally. When Great Britain raged war against Germany, Bishop Budka had to retract his stand and therefore he issued another letter, this time siding for the British stance. But the damage could not be recompensed. The Canadian government translated its suspicions into official policy and declared on August 15, that all foreign enemies residing in Canada were liable to imprisonment, disenfranchisement and deportation. (Kaye p. 186) INTERNMENT CAMPS: The World War 1 changed the local attitudes towards Ukrainian immigrants to a great extent. They had to endure a long struggle through harsh policies of the government and atrocities of the war. The implementation of the War Measures Act (1914) further aggravated the situation, disenfranchising all those settlers who entered Canada after 1902. Those who failed to follow the new orders were sent to internment camps. (Lupul p. 121) Already, the immigrants from Eastern Europe had not been able to immediately blend with the Anglo-Canadian community; much fuel to the fire was added by the World War 1. The anti-foreign sentiment borne out by the war drove an English-speaking delegation to petition the officials for the detainment and exile of all Ukrainians from the province. Consequently a large number of Ukrainians lost their jobs in Canada and were placed in internment camps behind fences. Those Ukrainians who tried to serve in the Canadian forces were regarded as untrustworthy and thus rejected. The Ukrainian internees were subsequently used by the Canadian government to help develop their infrastructure. Through forceful means they were subjected to back-breaking labor for the growth of mining, logging, transportation and agriculture in the country. Grand projects like Banff National Park, logging industry in Northern Ontario and Quebec, steel mills in Central Canada, the mines in Western Canada, Ontario and Nova Scotia were only a few fruitions of the Ukrainian drudgery. Canadian officials found these poor corvees to such an extent that the internment prolonged to two years even after the end of World War I. The horrid situation of the despondent Ukrainian Canadians was finally noticed by the Prime Minister Paul Martin in August, 2005, who referred to internment as a â€Å"dark chapter† in the history of Canada. A pledge of $2. 5 million was declared to recompense for the immigrants. However, to much dismay of the hapless citizenry, neither the promised funds, nor a legal settlement came true by June 2007. (Luciuk and Kordan p. 52) EDUCATIONAL REFORM: After a bleak period of war and subjectivity, the enlightened Ukrainians paved the way to enormous educational activity. There was an upswing of journalistic trend among the contemporary Ukrainians. An Increasing number of teachers and University students took up journalism as the only medium, to inform, direct and guide the befuddled fellow masses. They realized that education was their only weapon to bring about a change and they propagated this notion widely. Manitoba was the first Canadian province to witness a transition. Educational institutes opened in Ukrainian settlements. However the Ukrainian people apprehended that the aims of these academies could be to drive Ukrainian children away from their culture and traditions. They desired their children to be taught by the Ukrainian-speaking teachers rather than English-speaking instructors because of the widely-accepted belief that the English teacher did not always have much reverence for other cultures. Predictably enough, all other languages except English were banned in public schools in Manitoba. Since 1916 to date, ardent Ukrainian Bilingual teachers of Happy Thought School have managed to keep their cultural heritage alive. The more promising growth could be witnessed on the University level at Canadian universities. The fervent efforts of the two non-Ukrainian professors George Simpson of the University of Saskatchewan and Watson Kirkconnell of Acadia University introduced Ukrainian scholarships in the academic convention. (Kaye pp. 92-101) The Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta, the Centre for Ukrainian Canadians Studies ( St. Andrews College) at the University of Manitoba and the Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Toronto are the most highlighted educational centers. This long-deprived citizenry of immigrants not only recognized the power of education, but also evolved print media as a major source of cultural dissemination. The Ukrainian Canadians produced prolific publications offering a thorough range of genres including popular literature as well as critically acclaimed academic journals in their native language. RACIAL HOSTILITIES: Apart from the social inequalities, the Ukrainian immigrants also had to suffer at the hands of racial discrimination by the Anglo-Canadian denizens. The distinct nature of Ukrainian ways of dressing up, their habits and traditions, language and religion provoked much resentment among the Canadian citizenry. They ridiculed the immigrants largely because they had their own ways prominently different from the British ways and practices.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

The Analysis Of Pz Cussons Website Marketing Essay

The Analysis Of Pz Cussons Website Marketing Essay E-commerce has the capacity to improve existing businesses and also expand operational efficiency. However, in the wake of fierce competition, businesses are forced to be at their best as competitors are just a click away. (Xia Yang et al 2003) The limitless potentials of the internet in todays world have revolutionized the way business is done all over the globe thus making the world a global village. The thrust of this paper critically overviews the web site of PZ Cussons as a communication medium; in line with e-business management theory, the paper discusses issues bordering on advertising and branding. PZ was founded in 1879 by George Paterson and George Zochonis in which they set up a trading post in Sierra Leone. By 1899, they opened their first branch office in Nigeria (http://www.pzcussons.com/pzc/about/ourhistory/). The company has recorded remarkable achievements since then. The company majors on manufacturing leading brands of household items from soaps to milk. With the emergence of the World Wide Web, PZ Cussons is poised to take its business to the next level by taking advantage of technology. Needless to say that with the advent of e-business PZ Cussons should do even better. In todays world, it would be difficult to extricate a companys success from its website as this can either attract customers or repel them depending on customer relationship techniques employed by the web designer. The consistent growth in technological advancement and inventive initiatives has made tremendous impact and also made e-advertising interactive, exciting, and affordable to businesses. This paper analyses the website of PZ Cussons in relation to its competitors and highlights how PZ Cussons can benefit from vast potentials of the internet in advertising and promotion as well as building a better brand. Advertising Research has shown that much of what is expected from a website is largely dependent on the consumer. Lu and Yeung 1998 suggests that human to computer interface design factors are applicable to commercial web applications. However, the nature of the business and the way the business is done has to be taken into consideration when developing a web site. Putting together and responding to consumer feedbacks are an important part of communication activities when attempting to convert a first time buyer to a potential customer, as such fostering an online relationship. (Berthon et al 1996) In a bid to explore empirical studies and dimensions created basically for research on advertising, past works have attempted to forecast consumers behaviour towards internet advertising. It has been observed that culture or beliefs play a more pivotal role in consumers purchase intention rather than other factors like creativity, market size or internet usage. (Yang 2003). With the advent of e-commerce, PZ Cussons have taken up the initiative to advertise its company on the web, however, a lot of issues regarding the website would be discussed in the course of this paper. The process of ensuring that a site visitor becomes a customer and is retained is actually a proactive approach that can be stimulated by interactive features on the site (Geissler 2001). For most businesses, the home page in itself is an advertisement (Singh and Dalal 1999). The appearance of a home page can either engage a customer to go further or make the customer go elsewhere. It is imperative for the company or web designer to make the site as interactive as possible to enable businesses gain higher customer retention. Even as advert placement on web sites has become a normal occurrence in e-business world, it is noteworthy to comprehend internet advertising and understand consumer reactions or behaviours to advert placement on the internet. It is a well known fact that those who are optimistic about advertising are likely to be convinced by advertising (Mehta 2000). If a web site is very effective, it would always encourage first time visitors to the site to make a future purc hase of goods or services offered for sale. Since its origin in early 1990s, the structure of internet advertising has progressed from banner ads, spam emails, interstitials, superstitials, site sponsorships, and involuntary browser relocations (Yang 2003). Adverts online have consistently come under criticism (Bulik 2000b) and have been often considered as unnecessary and imprecise (Hwang and Kranhold, 2000). It has been argued that there is no inter-relation between advertising and corresponding results such as sales or profits (OConnell, 2001). Some Benefits of Online Advertising The power of the internet cannot be overemphasised as its reach is global at a fast pace. Online advertising has identified new means of passing personalized messages to be conveyed to specific customers. Most people these days would rather spend more time online than read a conventional newspaper. As such, businesses are more likely to create a greater awareness from online advertisement. It has the capacity to properly segment customer base as well as measure the impact or effectiveness of an advert. Online advert gives the customer the opportunity of choice based on their knowledge of a companys product or services. Website Effectiveness Although a lot of work has been done in the overall area of e-business (Hoffman Novak, 2000; Kauffman Walden, 2001) however, to further drive down the issues with PZ Cussons web site, we would take a look at Nathan Heinz and Quing Hus web site measurement effectiveness technique to help analyse their internet advertising application. They classified web site measurement effectiveness technique into three categories which are; the interactivity metrics, the information metrics and the service metrics. (Heinz and Hu 2006) Interactivity involves a platform in which customer feedback is encouraged for optimum performance. It also includes the availability of search engines on the web site as well as live chat or blogs in order to get the customers candid opinion on products or services. It also maintains a data base for registered customers. Zhu and Kraemer (2002). Information involves true and precise information on the web site at a particular time. This refers to continuously updating clients with reliable information on goods or services offered for sale. For example the cost of product or services and updating photos of new stock etc. It also encompasses the concept of simplicity of information passed across and gives detailed analysis of product uniqueness and relevance. This, if communicated effectively would go a long way in retaining first time customers. Kim et al (2002); Barnes and Vidgen (2003). Service involves maintaining good customer care operations as well as responding to customer query or issues. It also involves timely processing of online orders and security of online transactions on a web site. It also involves intermediating with social networking sites like face book to maintain an online community for excellent customer service. Barnes and Vidgen (2003); Rust and Lemon (2001). Analysis Based on Theory When we closely observe the PZ Cussons web site based on these three classes of efficiency measurement, we can see that interactivity level is very low. Site navigation and interactivity are significant factors of system quality for web buyer satisfaction (McKinney et al 2002). There is the absence of chat rooms to encourage customer interactions of feedback on brands. Though there is a search engine in place it is however limited to the site instead of expanding search capability to other search engines such as goggle. On the information metrics, it has been observed that PZ Cussons does not update its web site quite often to notify customers of changes made to products or upcoming events. Liu and Arnett (2000) highlight information provision as a major factor in the success of e-business web sites. PZ Cussons produces a wide variety of brands and with competitors such as Proctor and Gamble and Nestle, a lot needs to be done in terms of quality of information and timeliness of delivery. The service metrics on PZ Cussons web site shows very customer biased attributes as the is the absence of an online register, no avenue for customer registration online so no opportunity for feedback on customer queries on brands, there is also no opportunity for placing online orders so the issue of timeliness of orders does not even arise. Quite clearly, PZ Cussons has been able to develop their brand name over the years but are yet to tap into the vast potentials of the web for a greater market share. Branding A brand has been viewed as a promise made by a company to its customers and not a name or statement (Sterne 1999). Given the emergence of the World Wide Web and the revolution in the way business is being done across the globe, it would be expected that the perception of brands would come under a new dimension (Rowley 2004). Also, Ward and Lee (2000) suggest that an effective online presence is pivotal to a brands online success. A brands website has the capacity to create an impression on the consumer (Muller and Chandon 2003). From the graphics and pictures to texts on a web page can either attract or put off potential buyers. Chiang, I-Ping (2008) also suggests that brand awareness can be used together with specific consumer requirements and consumer behaviours to better position online brands. Most small and large businesses across the globe today can boast of an online presence. However, creating an online presence is hardly enough as Porter (2001) suggest that creating an online presence at a point in time was a competitive advantage but today a web site requires more competitive and distinctive features in order to achieve competitive advantage. The elements of a web site can be classified in different contexts depending on the products or services being marketed on the web site. For instance a car manufacturers website cannot be designed in the same pattern as a fast food website. World brands seek to identify with values that are common to many communities such as safety, style and status and service, which can be classified in different ways in diverse national contexts (Rowley 2004). However, for the purpose of the analysis of PZ Cussons website we would analyse the following elements: Logo, Graphics, Colour, Texts, Currency and news (Rowley 2004). Logo A logo presents a graphic language and discipline for the clear, consistent reflection of a companys visual identity (Henrion and Parkin 1967). Although the PZ Cussons brand name has built a reputation for itself in Africa, Asia and Europe over the years, it has done very little to project its logo. Its red, blue and white logo remains in it simplest form. Some of its leading brands like Venus have become more popular than PZ Cussons as a result of its inconspicuous logo. The logo represents a companys corporate visual identity through official corporate symbol (Balmer 1995). It is believed that a company corporate identity transcends mere symbols and signs but relates more to issues like corporate culture. Graphics This refers to visual logos, pictures and other images that may depict a brands values on a website (Rowley 2004). There are not too many graphics on the PZ Cussons web site, the pictures are not holistic and does not reflect the charisma of the company. Also, the Web Content Accessibility Guideline reveals that the PZ Cussons website is using (WCAG WAI) 1.0 (1999) which is an outdated version. Colour The PZ Cussons website makes use of a white background with red and blue colours. This is a very common colour combination as millions of websites use this same colour combination. This does not give any uniqueness to the company web page. Text Text addresses the tone of voice, and determines whether a message is intellectual, understandable and necessary (Rowley 2004). Text typifies the brands individuality; it is the brands vocal cords. The words that are written carry the brands message and the font determines the approach of communication. The PZ Cussons website uses the Calibri body font, and a text size 11. This is considered to be quite small and depicts timidity. The words on the home page are too much and should have been more of pictures and less words. News This refers to allowing visitors to the site access to current news and information relating to products and happenings in the industry. The PZ Cussons web site however, is not being constantly updated. On the PZ Cussons front page, there is a column for latest news, but the news in question are actually stale. A lot needs to be done in that regard. Recommendation PZ Cussons has come a long way since its inception without doubt, with its acquisition of major companies and continued expansion but yet to tap into the vast prospect ability of the World Wide Web. A web advert can be for both infotainment and promotional activities (Diaz et al. 1996); however, PZ Cussons seem to only have tapped from using the web as an informative medium thus relegating the latter. PZ Cussons in a bid to further expand the global reach of its company can take advantage of the web and promote its leading household brand to continents like America and Australia, this must however be done with some of the following recommendations. PZ Cussons must realise that its website is its corporate identity to the world and a representation of its corporate image as such should take advantage of that medium to make it web site more interactive with site visitors. It can incorporate the use of live chats and blogs to gather customer feedback on its brands. It can also adopt the concept of an online register to enable it maintain a database of customers online. PZ Cussons must come to terms with the realities of digitization and begin to open up marketing and sale of its brands online. With the emergence of e-market places, grocery shopping can be done by the click of the mouse. There must also be consistent updates on product offers, special sales and product information and ensure maximum customer satisfaction. With the advent of social networking sites like face book and twitter, PZ Cussons must build an online community for its customers who can share brand experiences with friends and further expand their network. It is often difficult to distinguish between online and offline branding. However, online branding comes with a lot pros and cons as such it will be reminiscent to highlight the plausibility of online branding and its effect on businesses with an online presence. PZ Cussons operates as a promoter for leading other brands which are distributed through an organised distributive channel. The online presence merely transmits brand messages and houses information. PZ Cussons would need to take advantage of their online presence build a dynamic approach to marketing its brands online. Conclusion PZ Cussons has to come to terms with the cutting edge of technology. It must parallel its real world brand dominance with that of its online branding experience and as well deliver its promise to customers. PZ Cussons must use their online presence to create awareness for its brands and encourage customer rapport. There is a huge difference between businesses that do not use online channel in marketing their goods and service and those that use the online channel. PZ Cussons must take advantage of both online and offline channels to expand their reach. Given the publicity the internet generates, PZ Cussons can benefit from cost savings spent on television and print media adverts by channelling funds to a single and cheaper advertising channel.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Theodore Roosevelts domestic policy

Theodore Roosevelts domestic policy Introduction Theodore Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858 in New York City. He entered history books as the youngest person to serve as the president of the United States of America. Roosevelt has been known by many as a champion of a strenuous life. As a young man, Theodore or Teddy as he was known was haunted by chronic asthma attacks. However, despite all these he voraciously fought his condition and devoted most of his early life to study. Theodore Roosevelt displayed authority, combined with an enigmatic personality. He revolutionized and modernized the American presidency by championing justice. His profound popularity gave him political mileage that perfectly complimented his Get action, do things, attitude in all the endeavors (The Presidents para.1). Many people had perceived Theodore Roosevelt as an unlikely candidate for what we may term as a reform president. He had been born into a wealthy family and this gave him the privilege of enjoying his youth at a level that was beyond of most of his peers. He was able to tour most parts of the world, was taught by private tutors, and spent most of his life in a mansion in New York. Roosevelt had obtained his education from Harvard. His social circle contained the upper crust. On contrary however, Roosevelts interests were vested in working class Americans rather than the affluent corporates. This was a riot against the very society that had brought him up (The Presidents para.2). The square deal It was in 1901 when Roosevelt entered the White House, he had inherited a federal government sided the big business against the working Americans. During this time, Wall Street was experiencing a financial shake-up. Being wise enough he momentarily restrained his progressivism. In early 1902, Roosevelt embarked on his square deal plan to launch an offensive against the powerful corporate trusts. Ideally, President Roosevelt was one of the most audacious Progressive luminaries of his time (The Presidents para.1). In most cases; his domestic policies capitalized on fighting corruption and injustice in major industries all this in the name of helping the common man. The Square Deal was meant to improve living standards of the American people and to exert more regulation over large corporations or trusts. In response to these actions, most businesses termed Roosevelt as a socialist and a demagogue. In his defense the president adamantly brushed off these accusations. As a matter of fact, Roosevelt had regard for big business, and was aware of the trusts contribution in increasing the standards living of the American people. The presidents dislike arose from the fact that the common American had very little control of these corporations. As a balancing act, Roosevelt feared surrendering too much power to labor (Spark notes para.2). Sherman Anti-Trust Act Roosevelts approach ran into a major huddle in 1902. This includes the 1902 Coal Strike when 140,000 miners went on strike in eastern Pennsylvania t. there was great panic in the whole nation since coal was a major source of energy in America in that era. The coal miners union demanded higher wages coupled with improved working conditions. The owners of the mine, failed to agree with the miners. Mitchell-a representative of the miners proposed to the president that an independent arbitration council would work (Spark notes para.2) However, both the miners and the company rejected arbitration. Pressure was mounting; Roosevelt therefore devised a plan to replace the miners with ten thousand army men, as an emergency plan to step in if consensus was not reached. Fortunate enough, the disaster was averted through independent arbitration. This was after the Secretary of War; Elihu Root worked with banker J.P. Morgan to convince the parties involved to accept independent arbitration. This was victory for Roosevelt in the eyes of the American people. In the year 1902, financiers on Wall Street received a screamer. This was when President Roosevelt decided to approve the governments lawsuit against Northern Securities,-a large and newly merged western railroad company, for violating the so called Sherman Anti-Trust Act. The financer of the project, J.P. Morgan, who had arranged the merger and even invested in Northern Securities, suffered the consequences (Spark notes para.2) The company together with its sympathizers cried foul and accused the president of witch hunting. On the other hand, the American people admired their presidents brevity and boldness in handling the tenacious trusts. To seal this victory, Roosevelt went ahead to nominate Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., to take the place of Justice Horace Gray on the Supreme Court. Holmes in his tenure as Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court had been strongly against industry and railroads in similar suits. The governments victory translated into the disintegration of Northern Securities into smaller companies. It has been documented that during his tenure, President Roosevelt brought about forty-three lawsuits trusts. (Spark notes para.3) The 1902 Reclamation Act We also look at this Act as a major component of Roosevelts domestic policy. Roosevelt had great passion for the environmental conservation. His idea of conservation was revolutionary and unconventional at the time. The idea was to save the land for posterity as opposed to mere preservation. This resulted in the purchase of about 150 acres of land that was to be conserved. This Act also resulted into consortiums with very knowledgeable environmentalists of that time including the likes of Gifford Pinchot and John Muir. The byproduct of this relationship was the establishment of various wildlife preservation parks and reserves. (Spark notes para.6) In fact, the order and organization in forest reserve services was attributed to this policy. The National Forest Service was streamlined, adding to it were National Parks which were created for purposes of recreation and conservation. The enactment of these acts was not without opposition. Most of those against the Act including members of Congress had vested interests in the land that was being preserved. However, the grievances of some antagonists (white Settlers) were soothed when the 1902 Reclamation Act was enacted thus allowing dry, unlivable land to be irrigated, converting it into productive land. (Spark notes para.6) The Hepburn Bill In the year 1906, the Hepburn Bill was drafted and passed. This bill was to bring reforms in the way rate evaluations were calculated and further cut on excessive rebates that were designed to eliminate competition by firms. The bill also encouraged interstate commerce which was regulated by the Feds. The bill was a major blow to several companies that previously engaged in excessive rebate-issuing such as the railroads. (Spark notes para.3) The Meat Inspection Bill and Food and Drug Administration. In 1906, a distinguished author by the name Upton Sinclairs in his novel The Jungle explicitly painted the picture of the state of affairs of Chicago stockyards and meatpacking industry. This brought to light the dilapidated working conditions of these industries prompting Roosevelt to take action. What disgusted the head of state was the description by Sinclair about a worker who was operating the meat grinder and apparently fell into the meat grinder, was crashed and canned for sales to the public. The president immediately ordered an investigation into the matter and not only packinghouses in Chicago but also in the entire nation. The detailed report from the inquiry confirmed Sinclairs sentiments. This led to the drafting of the Meat Inspection Bill and later the formation of an organ known as creation of the Food and Drug Administration (Spark notes para.4) The 1907 financial crisis In 1907, the United States experienced financial tremors. This was initiated by the collapse the Knickerbockers Trust Company in New York. The effect also spread to many other banks. Accusing fingers were pointed at Roosevelt for the economic downturn. President Roosevelt in his defense cited plutocracy (the governing of the society by the wealthy class) as the source the troubles. At this juncture it was not really clear who to blame, but it was letter established that the problem was global. Major firms including the large brokerage of Moore and Schley were at the verge of going under. However, the federal government intervened and bailed them out of the financial stalemate. Government intervention brought about stability thus averting crashing of the stock market. Working with corporates such as Morgan, the president managed to evade the global economic depression during his era (Spark notes para.3) Conclusion President Theodore Roosevelt model of leadership is unique and noteworthy. Putting aside the challenges he faced, this frail man rose to be one of the worlds greatest leaders. His style of leadership is worth emulating. Theodore Roosevelt once said, No man who is corrupt, no man who condones corruption in others can possibly do his duty by the community (Montalvà ¡n 54). References The presidents (2003), Theodore Roosevelt. Retrieved April 06 from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/26_t_roosevelt/printable.html Spark notes (2010) ,Theodore Roosevelt,1901-1909: Domestic Policies. Retrieved April 06 from http://www.sparknotes.com/biography/troosevelt/section10.rhtml Montalvà ¡n C (2008), Military review 2009. Retrieved April 06 from http://usacac.army.mil/CAC2/MilitaryReview/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20090228_art008.pdf