Master Level - Academic Marketing - Research, Theory and Practice in Essay

Master Level - Academic Marketing - Research, Theory and Practice in Marketing - Essay Example The strategy therefore, was viable in the given restrained parameters and yielded results that satisfied both the customers and the retailers of the time. On the contrary, today, the technological advancements have brought forth an explosion of information that is easily accessible to public through the internet and other media like television, radio, mobile phones etc. The internet has made it easy for the customers to become aware of the product details including its availability at competitive prices which has precipitated the need to develop a whole new perspective for a new marketing technique. Hence one needs to be more open when Shultz say that it is the end-users who now control the markets rather than the marketers. It is equally true that though, the technology in its wake has inundated the market with variety of products which has given the customer plenty of option, the seller is left with the cut throat competition that must be met urgently. It therefore becomes all the more important that the sellers need to introduce new techniques and brands that would, not only attract the customers but also retain them. The customer, while remaining the main point of any marketing techniques, no more commands the sole attention. The emerging technology has necessitated the incorporation of the whole system within which the product is marketed. Hence any successful marketing must address the system as a whole. Shultz has come up with the theory of ‘triad’ comprising of marketers, customers and the employees who must be considered as a unit for a market strategy to succeed. Shultz asserts that these three elements where employees also include the retailers, distributors, agents and the sales force, play a vital role in marketing of the product. Today the concept of market has changed so much so that instead of customer going to the ‘product’, the product ‘comes’

Moby Dick Essay Example for Free

Moby Dick Essay Melvilles Moby Dick is widely recognized as one of the most complex and brilliant allegorical novels in American literature. As an allegory, the events, places, people and conflicts depicted in the novel represent not only the obvious surface-level elements of the novel, but stand as indications of the novels philosophical and metaphysical themes. The allegory of Moby Dick involves an examination into the nature of reality and also into the nature of good and evil, as defined for Melville partially by Americas Puritan heritage. Melville wanted to portray the essence of evil in a symbol, which was the whale, Moby Dick. When Ahab says All visible objects, man, are but as pasteboard masks, (Melville) he is echoing the allegorical construction of the novel in which each thing, such as the whale, Moby Dick, is merely a pasteboard mask (Melville) which hides the true essence beneath, an unknown but still reasoning thing (Melville) which puts forth the mouldings of its features from behind the unreasoning mask (Melville). For Ahab, the white whale is the mask which disguises truth and the revelation of the nature of reality. In this sense, the white whale becomes a symbol for whatever it is that holds mankind back from the perception of absolute reality. Ahab emphatically reveals his Platonic beliefs when he says If man will strike, strike through the mask! How can the prisoner reach outside except by thrusting through the wall? To me, the white whale is that wall, shoved near to me. Sometimes I think there`s naught beyond. (Melville) In this sense, the whale represents oblivion, the naught beyond which in Ahabs mind is plainly associated with death. It is toward the heart of the nature of reality that Ahab strikes with his blood-sealed harpoon, not merely a fish in the ocean. For Ahab the white whale represented both ultimate reality and the wall which separates man from ultimate reality. Ahabs view of nature and reality is that the visible world and all of the events, people, and actions in it are indicators of deeper, more profound, metaphysical ideas and experiences: when he hunts the white whale which represents evil and oblivion, he is hunting the absolute nature of evil, not merely one of its beasts. The intense hate that Ahab feels for the white whale helps to distinguish Ahabs view of reality as presented in the novel form the vision of reality Melvile was trying to establish by way of the allegory of the novel. While Ahab believes the white whale to be the symbol of evil, Melvilles depiction of evil through the allegorical structure of Moby Dick is shown, ironically, through Ahab himself and not through the symbol of the whale. Instead, for Melville, the whale symbol indicated the cosmic universe and was exhaustively related through his use of cetological detail and science. In this way, Ahabs obsession and hate are shown to be a tragic flaw along the lines of some of Shakespeares heroes, after whom Ahabs dialogue explaining his motives for hunting Moby Dick are clearly derived. As Ishmael gains a closer, more intimate apprehension of whales, the development of his character and spiritual insight are correspondingly elevated. The more detailed are the cetological experiences and catalogues, the more wholly expressive and self-possessed and sure becomes Ishmael. Still deeper correspondences between the cetological material and Melville’s narrative form are established in Ishmael’s descriptions of the whales â€Å"blubber† and â€Å"skin† which he posits as being indistinguishable. This is reflected in the narrative structure of â€Å"Moby Dick† where it is equally as difficult to apprehend where the â€Å"skin† (overt theme and storyline) of the novel ends and the â€Å"blubber† (cetological and whaling discourses and catalogues) begin. Melville makes it perfectly clear that the â€Å"blubber† is an as indispensable part of his novel as it is for the whale’s body. â€Å"For the whale is indeed wrapt up in his blubber as in a real blanket or counterpane; or, still better, an Indian poncho slipt over his head;† (Melville) therefore, too, is the expository material, the â€Å"blubber† of the novel wrapped around its central, allegorical aspects. The detailed cetological aspects of â€Å"Moby Dick† may, indeed, prevent the reader from an easy, and immediate grasp of the novel’s â€Å"meaning† or even its astounding climax. Just as the whale’s hump is believed by Ishmael to conceal the whale’s â€Å"true brain† while the more easily accessed â€Å"brain† know to whalers is merely a know of nerves, the secret â€Å"core† of â€Å"Moby Dick† can only be pursued with patience and close, deep â€Å"cutting†due to the organic and harmonious nature of its narrative form. By keeping in mind the previously discussed aspects of the relationship between â€Å"Moby Dick’s† comprehensive cetological materials and their symbolic relationship to the novel itself, its form and themes, Ishmael, while discoursing on the desirability of whale meat as fit food for humans, offers an ironic gesture toward the novel’s probable audiences. â€Å"But what further depreciates the whale as a civilized dish, is his exceeding richness. He is the great prize ox of the sea, too fat to be delicately good† (Melville).

What is a Community? Essay -- Sociology

A community is established when more than two people share the same values and through time this personal connection evolves into a fellowship governed by rituals, traditions, and a particular form of communication that when taken together makes a group of individuals whether living in a specific geographical area or connected by ideals so distinct that their distinguishing marks allow them to stand out from among the crowd. They do not just believe in something like an organization but they need each other to survive and thrive. A good example is the Old Order Amish Mennonite community wherein the community serves as source of identity, strength and provides the reason why they should sustain the community’s way of life. It is important to understand that in order for a community to exist at least three conditions must be met: a) place; b) interest; and c) communion (Smith, p.1). There must be a territory or place where people can congregate or can be seen (Smith, p.1). The location also helps identify the community and differentiate its members from other groups. The common interests shared by the members create a tight-knit community. Some examples of interests found in communities are religion, occupation, ethnic origin and even hobbies. Aside from location and interest one of the most important components is communion. There must be a connection between the members of a particular community. Without this communion, the coming together, a profound sharing of ideas, resources etc., there can be no community but a group of individuals banded together simply because of proximity such as those living in a gated community in an upscale neighborhood but the residents do not know each other. A more technical definiti... ...rd the Amish Mennonite community exemplifies the meaning of community. The community is established and continues to develop because it is a source of identity, strength, and sustainability – the reason why they must exist and perpetuate their way of life until the end of time. Works Cited Cnaan, Ram & Carl Milofsky. Handbook of Community Movements and Local Organizations. New York: Springer Science, 2008. Schwieder, Elmer & Thomas Morain. A Peculiar People: Iowa’s Old Order Amish. Iowa: University of Iowa Press, 1975. Smith, Mark. â€Å"Community.† Accessed 21 October 2010. Available from http://www.infed.org/community/community.htm Bellah ET AL., Robert. "Community, Commitment, and Individuality." Literacies: Reading, Writing, Interpretation. By Terence Brunk. Second ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2000. 74. Print.

Organising people to achieve objectives Essay

Organising people to achieve objectives Within our company of facilities management, most of the day to day running is based around organising and delegating tasks to our supply chain. This takes a lot of different considerations as to who we send the tasks to. All of our suppliers are vetted thoroughly through our system before any works can be issued to them. Not only do they have to have the necessary legal information available i.e. insurances etc. but we also have to vet their engineers. We have to ensure they are all CRB check. (Criminal Records Bureau) However, there is also other elements of information we require from them to assist us within day to day running. Suppliers have to identify within their initial registration what disciplines they are able to cover showing that they have engineers with the associated skill sets, qualifications etc. They also have to identify which regions within the country they have coverage for. Once the suppliers have completed their registration form (Please see example attached in appendix) it is sent to a director for approval. Once approved, the supplier will be set up on our system. We as a company then have to ensure that all of the helpdesk staff know exactly what suppliers are on our books, what disciplines they cover and what areas in the country they cover. A client will send a task through  to the helpdesk. This can be via phone, email or portal. A helpdesk member of staff is then expected to ascertain what discipline the task should be logged under and also decide what priority the job should go on. Once this is complete, they then have to send the task to a supplier. This is where the information from the supplier’s registration shows its importance. The helpdesk member would have identified, when logging the task, what the discipline is and what region the site is in. They can then filter through the suppliers to see which is most capable of completing the work satisfactory. Therefore it is extremely important that we make effective and efficient use of the registrations, to ensure we get the task complete effectively through organising and delegating to the suppliers. One technique used to schedule and allocate work to suppliers is our PPM planner. (Planned preventative maintenance programme) This planner is set up for every client to ensure that any assets within the buildings that we look after are registered and maintained on a schedule. This includes compliance items. (Please see example attached in the appendix) When planning these works, we have to identify which supplier is appropriate to be assigned to carry out the works. For example: if we are planning in an annual fire extinguisher test, we need to ensure we use a su pplier who has demonstrated that they have engineers qualified to complete this test providing a compliance certificate where appropriate. This will apply across all disciplines within the planner. Human resources play a very important role within the company. They assure output and quality. They ensure that our any staffs put forward to be a potential candidate appears capable for the position following their curriculum Vitae. They will then identify training and development needs with the staff in the company. Later they will help to conduct appraisals and reviews. Human resources are able to work with KPI implementation within the staff. However, our HR will offer incentives too. Hr will ensure that we have key staff members capable of doing the positions above them. The reason this is important is if a staff member left who was highly dependable upon, we need someone who is capable of slipping in there to cover and so not to leave us exposed. At the same time, this shows that member of staff good promotion aspirations. Human resources are also responsible for protecting the company legally. Ensure that we are all up to date with compliance and legislation. However, it is important to remember  that HR are there to support the employe es as well as the company. Delegating to achieve objectives After supplying the training, recently I delegated the responsibility of a particular task to one of the helpdesk members. I emailed through the lift insurance reports for a client’s estate of 127 buildings. I asked the staff member to take the responsibility of thoroughly reading through the entire reports identifying any defects that have been highlighted. I then instructed the staff member to upload these documents to the assigned buildings. I then instructed them to extract the defects from the report and log them on the system assigning them to the lift supplier. At this time, I also attempted to empower this member of staff by explaining that this will be their responsibility from now on. I went on to explain that by reading these reports, she would learn to understand a bit about lifts and therefore would be able to assist account managers on lift project works. There are sometimes barriers to delegating within my organisation. One of the most common barriers I personally face is a self-imposed obstacle of â€Å"it is quicker and easier to do things myself† this obviously can also be deemed as â€Å"I do not completely trust my employees to get the job done to the expectation†. However, we do have many mechanisms to support delegation within our workplace. Our suppliers are required to sign a contract and SLA (Service level agreement) during the stage of registration. This supports our delegation, expectation to suppliers. To monitor the outcome of this, we conduct contractor/supplier reviews quarterly. We will discuss their SLA’s and KPI’s (Key performance indicator) at this meeting and if necessary, provide support to achieve their best. We also use a similar method for our staff members in the office. They are obviously presented with a contract which includes their job role expectations before the commencement of work. We conduct 6 monthly appraisals with staff to monitor their work. Feedback, recognition and reward techniques are all extremely effective within our workplace. When receiving feedback, normally it is generally very helpful and supported. We will always use good feedback and attempt to elaborate on it and action. Negative feedback can always be very useful also as it gives us areas to improve. We always try to give recognition to our employees where necessary as we have a good history of proving that this is a very  good motivational technique. Obviously by motivating the staff, we are more likely to get their best performance. This motivation also is apparent when using reward techniques. Reward techniques can be a variety of things for example: promotion, new responsibilities, financial rewards etc. All of these prove very effective within the workplace.

Netflix Business Risks Essay

For a low monthly price Netflix allows their customers not only to streamline videos on their mobile devices and computers but also choose from a wide variety of DVD’s. This allows for the consumer to watch as much which is beneficial for someone that has a busy schedule and would like to go back and catch up where they left off. As with every business there are risks associated with the everyday operations and I will go into detail as to what the risks are that Netflix has encountered. Business Risk I was a Netflix customer back in 2010 and I was pleased with the low monthly rate associated with a Netflix membership. This option was wonderful with a houseful of children that had different likes in what they watched everyone was pleased. As I carefully monitored my monthly bank statements the low price was at a constant rate up until the middle of July 2011. My monthly fee of $8.50 went up to $16.00 which nearly doubled. More than doubled. I made the honest mistake of not taking into consideration the economic downturn and what risks were associated with such a good deal. As the saying goes, if it is too good to be true it must be. With a household of 7 I had to outweigh the pros and cons of paying an additional $8.00 a month. While comparing the previous membership price along with the new membership price there was no return on the company’s part. I was still able to view movies via streaming online as well as DVD’s in the mail. So why did the the price jump? Pogue (2011) states, â€Å"This, as you can imagine, is not a popular decision. This isn’t a cost-of-living increase. This isn’t inflation. It’s a 60 percent overnight price increase — that gives you nothing new in return.† Not only was I the only irate customer. Netflix felt this chain of reaction across the globe, the consequence of a 60% price increased caused Netflix to lose 800,000 customers in their third quarter. Operational Risks Netflix’s Chief Executive Office Reed Hastings made the decision in splitting Netflix into two separate companies. One of the companies will be specifically for streaming movies on demand and the other company will be called Qwikster specifically for the DVD business. Blodget (2011) states, â€Å"And we can also certainly understand why, from the company’s perspective, it makes sense to split the DVD and streaming businesses into two separate companies: They’re different businesses, with different cost structures and different delivery, marketing, licensing, and management challenges, and they will be easier to run better if they’re managed separately.† Split in Two. It only makes sense to create two companies that would help them focus on their main objective. Since Qwikster will be for the dvd section library they have to take into consideration the costs of shipping out a dvd, the quantity of inventory in the warehouse as well as inventory turnov er. Online streaming does not the same costs associated since the consumer is just a click away from watching at their convenience. Consumers are sometimes forced in choosing the DVD’s because as I have experienced myself some of the older and newer versions of movies are not available to stream online. For example, Willow was an all-time favorite of mine during my childhood, while checking the streaming library I came across the movie but once I had clicked on the title it showed it was only available via DVD. I have a very bad habit in returning the Netflix dvd given there are no additional shipping costs associated with the dvd, but the downfall for Netflix is that there is one less dvd out in the world and the inventory won’t be replenished until I return this movie. Financial Risk Netflix domestic online streaming has a committed amount of customers while domestic dvd are hit the worst. Netflix membership plans include $8.00 a month for unlimited streaming, for an additional $8.00 more a month customers can add unlimited DVD’s, and if the consumer is interested in Blu-ray disks then they would add an additional $2.00 on top of dvd price bringing it up to $10.00 for Blu-ray’s. Hurley (2012) states, â€Å"Nevertheless, gross, operating, and net income margins have been sliding steadily and substantially for several years. Moreover, Netflix continues to rely on subscriptions to its DVD’s-by-mail service to prop up net income. Although management officially altered corporate strategy to place emphasis  on streaming services rather than DVD-by-mail services and there are more than twice as many streaming subscriptions as by-mail subscriptions.† Strong Force. In December 2012 it was announced that both Disney (DIS) and Netflix (NFLX) announced a deal that would allow Disney shows and movies to be available to only Netflix’s subscribers. The result of this announcement resulted in Netflix stock rise to 15%. This is great news for consumers like me who is a Disney fanatic, now I will have a reason to stay with Netflix so that I can watch Disney movies with an unlimited amount of time. Conclusion When the price increase occurred back in 2011, I did cancel my membership because I was still feeling the economic downturn in my household. I would rather use that $18.00 towards filling up my gas tank rather than watch TV, in my eyes needs are more important than wants in my household. In mid-2012 I had a career change that resulted in a higher income. I now had a little extra play money to apply to a want that I once had and since Netflix allowed my children to be satisfied and allowed for some quiet time on my end, I went ahead and renewed my subscription. Being on Netflix for a few months I can say that I was extremely stoked when the announcement of Disney and Netflix working together. References Blodget, H. (2011). With all respect to Reed Hastings, the Netflix-Qwikster split bad for customers. Retrieved from http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/respect-reed-hastings-netflix-qwikster-split-bad-customers-160148340.html Hurley, D. (2012). Could Netflix bounce in 2013? Retrieved from http://www.wealthlift.com/blog/netflix-bounce-2013/ Pogue, D. (2011). Why Netflix raised its prices. Retrieved from http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/14/why-netflix-raised-its-prices/