Case studies 1 & 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Case studies 1 & 2 - Essay Example However the company is faced with the ethical issue of being environment conscious and pro-green operations while having to dump the sewer waste in the Chavon River. This poses as a major issue for the company. Legally there exist no laws that the company would be breaking if it decides to continue on the suggestion provided by Teltec and dump its sewer waste in the Chavon River. However the increasing interest in environment protection including protecting Earth's water resources can lead to a law suit in the future by the Dominican Republic or the community living near the river against the company for dumping its waste in the Chavon River. Moreover consumer action groups can take action against the company for not upholding its social corporate responsibility by polluting its regions of operation in Dominican with the dumping of sewer waste in the Chavon River. In Economic terms the company would be better off dumping its waste in the river as the company would not have to deal with the extensive costs of setting up a treatment plant, and treating the waste before it gets dumped into the river. In the short term this is going to be economically feasible and profitable for the company. However with the passage of time the amount of pollution being driven into the river is going to increase while increasing the pollution levels and concentration as well. At this position it would not be economically suitable or viable for the company to continue dumping untreated sewage into the river as counter lawsuits and legal action can raise fines for the company that would have to be met and alternatives to dumping would have to be developed at additional costs. From the ethical perspective the issue that the Clean Power Company would be facing pertains to the ethical dilemma of not acting upon ones own vision and strategy for business. The company manufactures energy efficient products with the vision of increasing awareness amongst the consumers for environment sustainability while still earning profits form the sale of the energy regulators. However with the practice of dumping the sewerage and the waste directly into the river the company would be not acting on its own beliefs leading to tarnished image for the company. The company is also philanthropic in the manner it wants to develop the local region of operations in the Dominican Republic by building infrastructure to provide support to the local community while establishing programs for their education and development. However if the company takes to dumping sewerage and waste directly into the river, it would create a contradiction of ideology as the action would lead to the pollut ing of the regional environment that goes against the philanthropic viewpoint and perspective of the company. Question B: Stakeholder Management - Write a minimum of 2 pages in APA format addressing the questions below regarding the following stakeholders: the

Egyptian Style Essay Example for Free

Egyptian Style Essay â€Å"Egypt has long fascinated the west. † This couldn’t be more true. Egyptian art can be said to be one of the most significant periods in art history. Their modern advances in such a far time ago were made unknowingly and helped shape art to what it is today. By just looking at it, Egyptian art may not come off as amazing as it actually is. One must dig deeper. The artwork they were creating wasn’t always made to be art. Instead, it was mainly made for religious purposes. Anything they created was being made to be symbolic in a religious view. They decorated their temples with paintings and statues in the belief that doing this served the gods, showed devotion to the king, and maintained the order of the universe. There was much more involved in the artwork, or craftwork of the Ancient Egyptians. They created their own style that everyone followed, and it reoccured through many periods of Egyptian history. Styles can range from abstract to realism, expressionism to surrealism. But in order to understand these styles, one must need to know the true definition of style. When used in describing the history of art, style usually refers to a characteristic, or a number of characteristics that we can identify as constant, recurring, or distinct. In art, the sum of such characteristics can be associated with a particular artist, group, or culture, or with an artist’s work at a specific time. Ancient Egyptian art forms styles were just that. They are characterized by regularity or consistency and detailed depiction of human beings and the nature. Artists wanted to preserve everything of the present time as clearly and permanently as possible. Completeness took precedence over prettiness. These forms and art styles present an extraordinarily vivid representation of the time and the culture, as the ancient Egyptian life was lived thousand of years before. Egyptian art seemed to obey one law. The mode of representing man, nature and the environment remained almost the same for thousands of years at that time, and the most admired artists were those who replicated most admired styles of the past. A Shabti is a small human figure representing a person who would perform a given task for the deceased in the afterlife. Described as funerary figurines, these figures were costly items produced for the privileged people. The wealthy nobles and royalty did not plan on doing any work themselves, so they would take their symbolic servants with them. Shabties were made from various materials including; faience, wax, clay, wood, stone, metal and other minerals. The Shabties observed, were from the time of 1932-1759 BCE. Covering the period of the Middle Kingdom. They all seemed to be very similar by the way the were posed with their arms crossed and standing up. All their facial expressions seemed to have the same appearance as well. The painting or carving of the writing all looks similar but once looked at more closely to see the details, the the amount of time put into the pictures and writing can be seen. Many of patterns include lines drawn on the clothing. Also the figures were called upon to carry out the tasks in the after life. To do so the Shabti was supplied with miniature agricultural tools to fulfill these tasks. Which can be seen when looked at very closely. What makes them different from each other is the medium they were created in. The faience figures are a blueish to light green color with most of the writing carved into it. The wood Shabties are painted over to be any color, sometimes even with golden leaf. To call these figures a type of object is correct. They are all objects that can be seen and once were touched and made. They all are this same type of object because even though they were made at different times and in difference places in Egypt, they all still are seen today. If the Shabties were not grouped together, being able to recognize them separately would be just as easy. They are very distinct figures by their size, silhouette and detailed writing. Being able to be recognized Ancient Egyptian Shabties when separate and still look appropriate when together is one of the style characteristics Egyptians were able to create. The similarities in the each other figures, is the characteristic of being consistent. How each statue was placed in the glass case, they almost seemed to be grouped. Beginning with the alabaster, the two figures were both of medium size and couldn’t make out much of the writing on them. The next grouping was ones made of limestone. With these three figures grouped together, one could see how they were created by the same artist following the steps of the first. The largest of the bunch was the limestone, Coffin of Luy. This was different from most in the collection since it was an actual open figure, but still had a reoccurring pattern like he other figures. The next grouping, The Three Shabties of Setau, were made out of wood. These were the most colorful, since they were all painted. They seemed to still be like the older figures but made in a newer and more decorated way. The figures made of faience varied in size, some only a few inches. They were either carved in or has black paint writing on them. As seen, there is a large variety of Shabties, yet the sense of style kept between was able to pass along through hundreds of years. The one Shabti that stood out to me was the, Shabty of Sati. New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, Reign of Amenhotep III 1390-1352 BCE. It was made out of faience, but wasn’t the common green-blue color. It had the most different colors all painted on it. Including red, blue, yellow, and green. The whole figured wasnt painted so the faience material could be seen. What drew me to it at first was that it was in a case of its very own. It was in the same pose as the other figures but this one looked very well preserved, not smudged or chipped like many of the others, so it stood out. The combination of the paint and grey made it very unique to use both materials. The style of this figure very much goes with the rest of figures. As stated earlier, the most admired artists were those who replicated the most admired styles of the past. With this figure since it was a later on piece, it seemed to still associate with the same characteristics of the past Shabeti figures. Ancient Egyptian artwork was not meant to be artwork at first. Religious meanings and symbols were the priority. Everything was for the god’s and what would come in their life. But from these practices of art, they created a style of their own. Style in relation to art history, usually refers to a characteristic, or a number of characteristics that we can identify as constant, recurring, or distinct. In art, the sum of such characteristics can be associated with a particular artist, group, or culture, or with an artist’s work at a specific time. The culture of Egyptian art was to keep the process constant of the same kind of art. And as time passed, even if some characteristics changed, the main style recurred somehow. The Shabeti figures did that, and once studied upon more, most of Egyptian art will be styled in the same way, shape, and form.

Theories of Consumer Decision Making

Theories of Consumer Decision Making The concept of consumer buying behaviour is not new, it has been discovered ages ago .The current marketing strategies focuses on consumers buying behaviour. The marketing aim is to grow and make best use of their market share. Consumers decision making process is highly sensitive and is based on their learning and experience. The paper explains about the consumers psychological factor particularly learning and its effect on buying pattern. Learning has been explained with the help of theories, using black box and stimuli response theory. The black box explains the consumers decision making process and factors that affect buying decision. In addition this model also highlights the market stimuli, market environment, buyers stimuli and the buyers response. These internal and external factors aim to influence the purchasing pattern of every single consumer. Buyers are highly sensitive while making decisions and marketing stimuli provide necessary information and knowledge about the product or service. Consumers are also influenced by social and psychological elements like society, family, personal, motivation and learning. In practical consumer use personal thinking or experience to response repetitive buying. The self learning helps to reduce the buying options and narrow down the substitutes available in the market. Today modern companies have adopted the customized marketing techniques to understand the thinking and decision making standards. The cognitive learning helps the buyer to remember the previous purchase each time when similar arise buyer will use own experience to make decision. Satisfied consumer will not go for information search which comes after problem recognition and others steps in decision making. Marketers can influence post purchase decision by positive learning. Provided examples indicate the importance of buying behaviour and fortune 500 companies have used these elements to increase their retention rate. E.g; Dettol marketing explains the buyers response and trust which they have developed by using psychological marketing and positive cognitive learning. To enhance the learning process Marketer used education and awareness program to develop the learning of every single consumer. E.g. Toyota Lexus on other hand also focus experience as their marketing strategy. By understanding the need and market trust they introduced Lexus (Premium product) which leads the market from decades. Marketing techniques plus additional value added service enable them to enhance the customer experience. Toyota consumers were happy and satisfied with original band. By constructive experience Toyota succeeded to develop new market for luxury automobiles. While exploring consumer learning it was observed that customer retention has a direct relation with positive learning. It is also suggested that marketers must use buyer behaviour and need as the primary research of market study. Financial products and services require more understanding of consumers. It also needs to develop conceptual framework together with service marketing to deal with individual consumer. As explained its become more challenging for the marketers to understand, satisfy and influence the consumer to use financial services. By focusing customer experience, strong perception, service quality and trust marketers can influence the decision making and supplier choice. Parasuramans, A., Zeithaml, V.A. and Berry, L.L. (1985) says that its very difficult for a consumer to choose financial products and supplier because of the intangibility of product, and supplier reputation. Together with Ansoffs model and focus existing product and existing market marketers can increase buyer behaviour through target marketing. Outcome suggests that companies must emphasize on the elements that impinge on the buyers behaviour together with decision making. Learning can be deployed to evaluate individual response which has been proved by examples in the literature. Significantly, the end result suggests that learning can be use as communication and interaction tactic to view individual response especially financial products. Table of contents 1.0 Introduction Business success can be obtained through the appropriate study of consumer behavior. Consumer buying behavior is a multi step process, which involves buying, paying, using and reconsidering the same product over again. To understand the buying pattern or actions is very imperative as it directly influence the business success. As mentioned by Caslione, John A, (2009) the marketing strategies must meet consumer preferences in recession time in order to gain competitive edge. Most commonly buying activities reflects the strategy use by the companies for marketing and fulfilling the market needs. So consumers are considers to be the entry and exit to a successful business. To understand the consumers decision making it is important to understand the cognitive factors affecting their needs, choice, preference and final and post purchase experience or learning (5 Ws of marketing). Research done on buyer behavior helps to understand the deciding process in two ways i.e. collectively and individually. Both individual and collective buying process is affected by other factors like demographics, environment and perception. (Foxall, Gordon R, 1987) mentioned through the behavioral research companies can forecast the buying frequency and product preferences. Theory of Consumer behaviour and decision making The decision making theory was examined and modified by Nicholas Bernoulli and Oskar Morgenstern but it originate about 300 years ago. The theory was based on the expectation of decision outcomes which was a cognitive process. Later the theory was modified with the addition of value and satisfaction. In addition Allen Shocker explains the complexity and steps which involve in decision making. (Michael Richarme, 2005) Degree of involvement is another important factor while looking and making decision. Researchers also proved that the marketing activities have huge impact on consumers psychology which helps to take decision. Consumer behaviour is a psychological function which involves the customer to undergo the identification of their needs, searching methods to fulfill the needs and make purchase decisions accordingly. The process can also be described as collecting, interpreting, making plans and executing it for successfully buying the desired product (Lars Perner, 2008). The behavioral approach of the consumer is highly dominated by their psychology. The first model of consumer decision of making process was developed in 1963 by Howard and later edited in 1969 which has become the current theory of consumer behavior. The updated model provides an integration among the several psychological, social, and market pressure on the buyers choice and information (Howard and Sheth, 1969). Source: http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/10107/1/Consumer_Behaviour_Theory_ _Approaches_%26_Models.pdf) 1.2 Consumer Decision Making Process Consumers cannot make their decision alone, rather they need to interact and look up for the information from various sources like their own concept, reference groups, environment, other buyers and sellers etc. (Source: http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/10107/1/Consumer_Behaviour_Theory_ _Approaches_%26_Models.pdf) The consumer decision making process is interaction between the stimulus for the purchase, the characteristics or need of the consumer and their corresponding response. The stimuli can either be intra or inter personal from the consumer. This can further be explained by the BLACK BOX MODEL which emphasizes on the connection between the response and the stimulus of the buyer. (Cindy Dietrich, 2010) The companies plan and process their marketing stimuli, whereas on the other hand social factors like political, economic and cultural, impact the environmental stimuli. Fig# 5 the Black Box Model (Source:http://marketing5.net/Buying-behaviour-and-decision-making-criteria-of-Base-of-the download-w11405.pdf) The box encloses the characteristics of buyer and their decision making process which helps the buyer to decide and response. Internal and external factors have been represented in the model as buyer characteristics and environmental stimuli respectively. These factors together influence the decision process and buyer response as described in the figure above. From the identification of problem till the post evaluation of the decision each step is very critical for the buyer which directly affects the marketing strategies. Positive learning reduce the steps in decision making where consumer narrow down the choice, information search, alternative, here consumer behaviour to buy the specific product. All these process relate to buyer psychological factors, motivation, learning, personality etc. on the basis of information gathered the buyer tries to select the best available option while making the purchase. (A) How the selected factor affects the behaviour theoretically? Origination and influence of learning on buyers behaviour The cognitive method is the greater part of mental psychology which founded by early Marketers back (360 B.C). The memory or learning theory was developed by Aristotle who linked learning and knowledge as a mental process. In 1950 Hubb developed a model called Stimlus- organism- response which was dominated by behaviorism approach. (Hope J. Hartman,2001) Consumer decisions are influenced by individual uniqueness like age, life style, self concept, personality, occupation and economic condition. The purchase decision also influenced by individual learning and past experience. (Kotler, 2006) Learning refers to actions performed or information received. It arises from experience and interplay of wants, stimuli, response and reinforcement. Once the consumer has learned from their experience they try to discriminate and recognize the difference between similar buying stimuli and adjust their response to it consequently. Learning theories are also important to marketers in order to create the demand for a product using the buyers knowledge, motivating reasons for purchase and also backing them up with positive reinforcement (Frans Giele, 2009). Learning evolves over a period of time and helps the consumer to improve their knowledge. There is a continuous impact on the behavior of the consumer and their purchasing activities in future. The information gathered using different learning processes help the consumers to create a guide and mental framework for their purchasing pattern, behavior and decision. Learning is also closely to perception as it serves to be the raw input for the consumer knowledge which they have gained from previous buying occasions. (Mario Glowik, Slawomir Smyczek, 2011). Perception can better be explained as a process which the consumer uses to select, organize, receive and interpret their buying need and enrich their learning for a better purchase decision. (William j. Mcguire, 1976) said that perception is more important and has high influence than other stimulus. In this way the consumer evaluates the various brands and products which come to their mind. Often the compared aspect of the product relates largely to the psychological and functional benefits offered by the products or brands. (Thomas M. Aslin, Michael L. Rothschild, 1987) Marketers must understand the importance of learning/ experience as first impression is the last impression and it is important for the company to retain the existing customer as it is always cheaper and consecutively make new loyal customers. Other market factor like service quality and sellers eminence are also a part of human cognitive process which directly affects the buying pattern. (Kau, Daleen and Serene, 1995) New marketing strategies should focus to enrich customers experience by enhancing their learning/ experience and benchmarking those processes to increase market segment and share. Mental learning determines that for how long does particular information retains in human mind. This process involves different activities that a consumer relates while buying the particular product or service and then this information becomes the knowledge for future reference. Consumer retrieves the information from the memory if the same or similar product or service is observed. Effective marketing strategies and tools help to create a lasting impact on the cognitive learning of the consumers. (Mark D. Uncles, Grahame R. Dowling, Kathy Hammond and Angelo Manaresi, 1998) Marketers can use behavioral learning to enhance the consumers experience associated to their products as a large market segment loves to follow the current market trend and feel satisfied with their decision. Example 1: Dettol antiseptic has excellent advertisement which has made a lasting impact on consumers mind by using their marketing slogan of Be 100% sure. This advertisement has created a long and positive image on consumers mind since ages. Even after the launch of other brands of antiseptic liquids like Savlon by JJ, consumers still look for Dettol as their first choice while making a purchase decision as Dettol has made a strong brand image. Example 2: Allen bought Mercedes Benz S-class and told his boss and the boss admired the comfort, safety and power while driving, he will be happy to hear positive response and feel satisfied with the buying decision and feel proud to associate with the brand. Service products require more concentrated and customized service and experience. As they affect each customer in different manner and individually. Consumers level of involvement influences their buying behavior decisions which can be classified into three categories: Repetitive/routine buying, limited and extensive decision. Level of satisfactions/learning is also important to decide the nature of buying behaviour in future. Consumers keep their learning experiences as a catalogue and categories them as positive or negative which they use for future reference. Example 3: A Toyota customer will remain loyal to the brand if he has a good experience with his previous purchase of its models and associated services. So when the company introduces new car segment like Lexus which belongs to niche market, the customer will not hesitate to buy the product since his experience is affirmative. 2.0 B: Why is customer experience important to marketers in explaining buyer behaviour? Consumer behaviour and decision making process has been one of the favorite research topic for marketers since ages. Authors like Sheth (1974) recommended that consumer decision making is largely influenced by their family, awareness, knowledge and power of their attitude for the brands available in the market. Consumers use detailed information and their past experience to minimize brand ambiguity. Therefore managers must ensure that each purchase experience leads them to higher satisfaction and positive learning about their product and brand. Allen m. Weiss, Nicholas h. Lurie, and Deborah j. Macinnis, (2008) mentioned in their paper that Marketers can play with the psychology of the consumer as consumers compare each product in their mind. Companies need to identify about the consumers, what they want and which products make them happy. Fortune 500 companies have chosen marketing activities like advertisement, pricing, packaging and labeling to attract their customers. Modern marketing practices have moved on to CRM, service quality which leads to strong brand image and name. Service quality has emerged as an influencing characteristic in consumers learning, as a goods service quality leads to positive learning and rewarding experience for the consumer. Example 4: Dell is famous for their products and after sales services. In case of any technical assistance needed, the company sends their team to solve the problem at the customers residence. So the customer is highly motivated to trust and buy their product. Dell used customer experience and feedback to improve their product and service quality. 2.1 Explanatory examples (Marketing and Managerial Implications) 2.1.1 Dettol (Reckitt Benckiser) Strong marketing and brand image is behind the success of Dettol. Marketers have carried extensive research, advertisement and learning campaigns. The company has focused to educate and make every single consumer aware about personal hygiene and germ free environment. The marketing slogan of Be 100% sure has created a positive image and brand in consumers mind. The cognitive learning has helped the company to influence the buying behaviour and decision making of the consumers. Dettol has used several marketing strategies which were designed to influence the learning of consumers to ensure that whenever they think of antiseptic liquid they must think of the only brand i.e. Dettol. Through the use of learning and awareness programs, the company has successfully expanded their business and product categories from personal care to total care. E.g.: They first launched their antiseptic liquid followed by toilet soap, hand wash, shower gels and bars, shaving creams etc. Dettol has used mar keting knowledge and communication to develop the need of the product which was supported by various marketing and advertisement programs. Sayantani Kar, (2009) mentioned that Consumers are highly influenced with learning approach adopted by Reckitt Benckiser hence they are loyal to the brand. Dettol marketers have chosen psychographic and behavioral segment to target the selected consumer and then penetrate by the use of marketing channels. Competitive marketing and advertisement is the powerful USP (unique selling proposition) which helped them to grow and develop strong image which directly influenced the buyer behaviour. By using cognitive and behavioral learning factor company is rapidly engaged in research and development to extend its product line. (Prerna Raturi, 2006) Several business rivals like PG, Unilever have tried to focus on consumer learning and succeeded to break the market to some extent but being a pioneer and strong brand, Dettol remains as their first preference. 2.1.2 Lexus (Toyota Motor Corporation) Being an automobile market leader the company has transformed itself into quality conscious company. Toyota is well known for its durability, performance, luxury and features. Consumers have learned the superior quality and performance by experiencing Toyota cars. Company has a wide segment market which starts from middle income to high income groups. Toyota has transformed high end market with clever marketing and using consumer experience. (Bill Vlasic, 2012) Through encouraging experience they have entered in to niche market where traditional rivals like, BMW, Benz and Volvo dominate the market. By understanding the need of their existing customers they took innovative steps and broke the market share and successfully launched LEXUS. Lexus is a premium car and also one of the largest selling brands in the world. Carl Howe (2007) mentioned that Lexus used direct and target marketing by which they targeted loyal customers who were happy with Toyota models, while they carried massive marketing plans to focus and educate the consumers that Lexus belongs to Toyota but it is a more value added product. They used words like same family but different child concept to introduce Lexus. The new concept was high value leading to high price which influenced buyers to experience the new product. Consumers have responded greatly to the new model which resulted in greater sale for the company, since the cognitive learning was affirmative which insisted them to try the new model Lexus hence upgraded their behavioral learning. Alan Ohnsman and Makiko Kitamura (2011) stated that the after sales service was one of the key marketing features together with the product that enabled the marketers to develop lasting impact on consumer psychology and they succeeded to influence buyers behaviour. (C) Best product category and its implications. 3.0 Financial Services (Banks) Financial services are the most discussed topic in todays economy. By narrowing to financial products like, Personal banking and Investment banking particularly, service marketing has introduced many models to understand and deal with the problems. Consumer behaviour is one of the biggest issues which differentiate these two markets (product, service). Services are different from goods because of their heterogeneity, inseparability, intangibility, perishability and customization which make it difficult for marketers to identify and practice the service standards. Major Banks and financial institutions have realized the importance of consumer psychology toward financial products which influence the final decision. (McKechnie, Sally, 1992) To make a purchase decision for a financial product the consumers are not completely aware of the utility and consequences, the learning is developed simultaneously with the product use and Therefore its highly critical for the marketers to acquaint with personality, consumer thinking, relationship, service quality etc. which directly affect the buyer preference. The financial services are not a one- time purchase but there are several two- way transactions for long time. These services need the trust, confidence and mutual rapport of the consumer in the financial institutions. Lunt, Peter, (2005) explains that Marketers invests plenty of time to facilitates and establish a mutual relationship to print positive image in the consumers cognitive learning which they consider to assess the creditability of the institution repeatedly. It also benefits the institution in long term business with individual consumer. Trials are not available for these products and services, most of consumers use their experience to make decision every time. So customer experience, trust and brand image are the main wisdom drivers which influences the buyer to select from available financial facilitators. 4.0 Conclusion The object to study the consumer behaviour and decision making is to examine the role of determinates that influence the final decision of consumer. The justifications and explanation was based on available consumer decision making theories, buying behaviour model and deep study of selected determinant learning. While exploring the determinants it was observed that marketing stimuli, an external and internal factor plays a critical role in consumer psychology which influence individual response. These elements affect the final purchase of every single product or service. Therefore its highly critical for the marketers to identify and effort to narrow down the difference between consumer and supplier interest. Study also indicates the major difference between product and service and also suggests addressing them with more focused marketing. As a service based product buyers are more conscious about the cost and outcome of the specific product because of intangibility of the product it is difficult to communicate with the consumer. Learning encourages the buyer to understand and provide a clear feedback of any particular product. If the consumer is happy with the product or service the feedback will be highly positive which also influence the buyer to straight rebuy without considering other options. In financial products consumers are always scare with the outcome of the decision and highly depend on their previous learning. Marketers have used this element to understand the needs and want to optimize the satisfaction level, which is actually developing positive attitude to rebuy the same product. Marketers can use modern methods to reduce the level of negative out come by spending more on developing consumer learning and experience. The right use of service quality, customer relation and satisfaction helps to create long term business with every customer which also reduces the brand switching. It is also observed that companies and marketers cannot solely depend on learning determinant. While investigating the determinants it is seen that marketing stimuli also affect the buyer behaviour. The choice of marketing mix product, place, price, promotion) significantly changes the taste and choice of buyer. Marketers must design the strategies to reduce the flaws and ensure that the right message is conveyed to the consumers. The primary aim of marketing is to develop the need, attract, educate and influence consumers to buy the product. Therefore proper market study, product design, segmentation and targeting should be ensured by the marketer. 5.0 Learning from the assignment Consumers involve in buying and decision making process every day. The learning and decision making affects every time one use the product or service. Being continuous process its crucial for the buyer and the marketer to understand the process behind the decision process and what factors affect the buyer on each purchase. Being a marketing student the assignment helps to understand the available theories in details. Exploratory assignment determinants of buying behaviour helps to comprehend the practical implication of each determinant like Marketing stimuli, external and internal factors. By using exploratory research on chosen factor it was observed that it is very critical for the company and the marketer to understand the consumer need, preference, satisfaction and loyalty. Companies cannot rely on each determinant which influences buyer decision because consumer keeps changing their buying decisions. Strong marketing is also one of the key successes for every company which involves more focused, targeted and innovative communicative tools to address the need of the consumer with offered solution. Assignment also facilitates to analyze the practical illustration from the world renowned companies. While exploring their marketing strategies particularly which helps to learn from their practices. Critical analysis help to understand the pros and cons of every option which the marketers use address the problem. The assignment also encourages self learning, theories and their implications. Being a future manager it is quite helpful to discuss and address the problem in details. The positive outcome is to address the problems with solutions which help to groom the thinking and brainstorming process being a decision maker and manager. Strong marketing is the key of todays competitive business, it was an opportunity to learn and evaluate the possible solutions while understanding consumer decision making process which will help to take positive decisions in future time. 6.0 Appendix Fig#1 Theory of customer buying behavior (Source : http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/10107/1/Consumer_Behaviour_Theory_ _Approaches_%26_Models.pdf) Fig #2 Decision making through information search (Source: http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/cb_Decision_Making.html)

Colonialism and Imperialism - The White Mans Burden Essay example --

Imperialism: The White Man's Burden      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In one of his most famous poems, Rudyard Kipling said, "Take up the white man's burden!" (146). He was only one of many who believed in the virtues of imperialism in the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. During that period, imperialism was on the rise, and Africa was being swallowed up by competing European nations. The imperialists had many arguments supporting imperialism. They said it was beneficial and, in some cases, essential. Their arguments did not satisfy everyone, but that did not bother them. The justifications ranged from economics to social services, while touching on everything else in between (Hayes 222-3).   Ã‚     Kipling was one of the most talked about authors of his time. Born in India and the son of a military man, he learned the ways of British imperialism (Orel 333). He enjoyed the company of British soldiers and spent a lot of time talking with them (Hayes 228). Being friends with the soldiers, he probably sympathized with them when he heard their stories of the uncivilized people of Africa (Rhodes 178). This known, it is easier to understand why he viewed imperialism as the duty of the Europeans. Kipling argued that it was the European's responsibility to civilize the downcast natives of Africa. He also pointed out how they could stop the spread of disease and bring food to those who would have starved. Kipling spoke of the fact that there had been many wars in Africa and that he believed the white people could finally bring them to an end (Kipling 146-7).   Ã‚  Ã‚   Many Europeans agreed with Kipling on these points; however, they did not limit their reasons for imperialism to only these. One of the major driving forces of imperial... ...n." The Global Experience: Readings in World History Since 1500. Ed. Philip F. Riley, et al. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall,1992. 146-7. Lugard, F. D. The Rise of Our East African Empire. Vol. 1. London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1893. 379-82. Orel, Harold. "Kipling, Rudyard." World Book Encyclopedia. 1991 ed. Pearson, Karl. "Social Darwinism: Imperialism Justified by Nature." Sources of the Western Tradition. Ed. Marvin Perry, Joseph R. Peden, and Theodore H. Von Laue. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1987. 182-3. Rhodes, Cecil. "Confessions of Faith." Sources of the Western Tradition. Ed. Marvin Perry, Joseph R. Peden, and Theodore H. Von Laue. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1987. 178-9. Smith, Woodruff D. European Imperialism in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Chicago: Nelson-Hall Inc., 1982. 1-10.   

Medical Terminology Paper

Medical Terminology Paper #1 A Friend of mine went to a girls basketball game with his daughter one night a couple of weeks ago. While they were there, his daughter Nia was complaining of CRAMPING in her right GASTROCNEMIUS, it got so bad at one time her Dad (Scott) told her to point her toes upward to try and stop the CRAMPING. When she did, she had temporary PARALYSIS in her legs and fainted. He then took her home where she seemed to be fine for a while.After a while had passed she then went to get up to do something and fainted again. He then called the rescue squad who came and took VITAL SIGNS and with their DIAGNOSIS brought her to the Glens Falls Hospital Emergency Department to be assessed in the TRIAGE room. After several blood samples and ANGIOGRAPHY there PROGNOSIS was she was full of THROMPLIC OCCLUSIONS from her ABDOMIN CAVITY to her TOES.At that time the PHYSICIAN decided to send her by helicopter immediately to Albany Medical Center where they have a NEUROLOGY SPECIALT Y GROUP. Once she was assessed in TRIAGE there they immediately ran a PHLEBOGRAPHY along with a DUPLEX ULTRASOUND, and lots of bloods samples that checked ERYTHROCYTES, HEMOGLOBIN, LUEKOCYTES, THROBOCYTES, LYMPHOCYTES MONOCYTES, NEUTROPHILS, among many other things.The SURUM is very important in a blood sample of this sort because it is used to find FRIBRINOGEN AND PROTHROMBIN which is CLOTTING PROTEINS. After the test where done they started her on an ANTICOACULANT to prevent any more clotting, and a DEEP VEIN THROMBOSIS TREATMENT to break up the clots she had. After a few days the THROMBUS were gone and she was able to come home. She is still seeing SPECIALIST because they have not found out why this has happened. All they know is that it is a Factor #5 defect.

Queen Victorias Golden Jubilee Celebrations

Queen Victorias Golden Jubilee Celebrations Queen Victoria reigned for 63 years and was honored by two great public commemorations of her longevity as ruler of the British Empire. Her Golden Jubilee, to mark the 50th anniversary of her reign, was observed in June 1887. European heads of state, as well as delegations of officials from throughout the empire, attended lavish events in Britain. The Golden Jubilee festivities were widely seen not only as a celebration of Queen Victoria but as an affirmation of Britains place as a global power. Soldiers from throughout the British Empire marched in processions in London. And in the distant outposts of the empire celebrations were also held. Not everyone was inclined to celebrate the longevity of Queen Victoria or the supremacy of Britain. In Ireland, there were public expressions of protest against British rule. And Irish Americans held their own public gatherings to denounce British oppression in their homeland. Ten years later, Victorias Diamond Jubilee celebrations were held to mark Victorias 60th anniversary on the throne. The 1897 events were distinctive as they seemed to mark the end of an era, as they were the last great assemblage of European royalty. Preparations for Queen Victorias Golden Jubilee As the 50th anniversary of Queen Victorias reign approached, the British government felt that a monumental celebration was in order. She had become queen in 1837, at the age of 18, when the monarchy itself had seemed to be coming to an end. She had successfully restored the monarchy to where it occupied a preeminent place in British society. And by any accounting, her reign had been successful. Britain, by the 1880s, stood astride much of the world. And despite small-scale conflicts in Afghanistan and Africa, Britain had essentially been at peace since the Crimean War three decades earlier. There was also a feeling that Victoria deserved a great celebration as she had never celebrated her 25th anniversary on the throne. Her husband, Prince Albert, had died young, in December 1861. And the celebrations which likely would have occurred in 1862, which would have been her Silver Jubilee, were simply out of the question. Indeed, Victoria became fairly reclusive after Alberts death, and when she did appear in public, she would be dressed in widows black. In early 1887 the British government began making preparations for the Golden Jubilee. Many Events Preceded Jubilee Day in 1887 The date of large public events was to be June 21, 1887, which would be the first day of the 51st year of her reign. But a number of associated events began in early May. Delegates from British colonies, including Canada and Australia, gathered and met with Queen Victoria on May 5, 1887, at Windsor Castle. For the next six weeks, the queen participated in a number of public events, including helping to lay the cornerstone for a new hospital. At one point in early May, she expressed curiosity about an American show then touring England, Buffalo Bills Wild West Show. She attended a performance, enjoyed it, and later met cast members. The queen traveled to one of her favorite residences, Balmoral Castle in Scotland, to celebrate her birthday on May 24, but planned to return for London for the major events which would take place close to the anniversary of her accession, June 20. The Golden Jubilee Celebrations The actual anniversary of Victorias accession to the throne, June 20, 1887, began with a private commemoration. Queen Victoria, with her family, had breakfast at Frogmore, near the mausoleum of Prince Albert. She returned to Buckingham Palace, where an enormous banquet was held. Members of various European royal families attended, as did diplomatic representatives. The following day, June 21, 1887, was marked with lavish public spectacle. The queen traveled by a procession through the streets of London to Westminster Abbey. According to a book published the following year, the queens carriage was accompanied by a bodyguard of seventeen princes in military uniform, superbly mounted and wearing their jewels and orders. The princes were from Russia, Britain, Prussia, and other European nations. The role of India in the British Empire was emphasized by having a troop of Indian cavalry in the procession close to the queens carriage. Ancient Westminster Abbey had been prepared, as galleries of seats had been built to accommodate 10,000 invited guests. The service of thanksgiving was marked by prayers and music performed by the abbeys choir. That night, illuminations lit the skies of England. According to one account, On rugged cliffs and beacon hills, on mountain peaks and lofty heaths and commons, great bonfires blazed. The next day a celebration for 27,000 children was held in Londons Hyde Park. Queen Victoria paid a visit to the Childrens Jubilee. All the children attending were given a Jubilee Mug designed by the Doulton company. Some Protested the Celebrations of Queen Victorias Reign Not everyone was favorably impressed by the lavish celebrations honoring Queen Victoria. The New York Times reported that a large gathering of Irish men and women in Boston had protested the plan to hold a celebration of Queen Victorias Golden Jubilee at Faneuil Hall. The celebration at Faneuil Hall in Boston was held on June 21, 1887, despite pleas to the city government to block it. And celebrations were also held in New York City and other American cities and towns. In New York, the Irish community held its own large meeting at Cooper Institute on June 21, 1887. A detailed account in the New York Times was headlined: Irelands Sad Jubilee: Celebrating in Mourning and Bitter Memories. The New York Times story described how the capacity crowd of 2,500, in a hall decorated with black crepe, listened attentively to speeches denouncing British rule in Ireland and the actions of the British government during the Great Famine of the 1840s. Queen Victoria was criticized by one speaker as Irelands tyrant.

Colleges With the Lowest SAT Scores, Ranked

Colleges With the Lowest SAT Scores, Ranked SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Applying to college is a nerve-wracking process, but have no fear, if you want to go to college even with a low SAT score, there is most likely a school for you! In this article, I'll list the colleges with the lowest 25th percentile SAT scores for their admitted students. The 25th percentile SAT score means that 25% of admitted students to that university scored at or below that number; the 75th percentile SAT score means that 75% of admitted students scored at or below that score (25% scored higher).I'll also explainwhy their low SAT criterion doesn’t necessarily mean the university is bad. Schools Listed in Ascending Order of 25th/75th Percentile with Admission Rate I compiled this comprehensive list through online research. I chose to list it in ascending order by 25th percentile score (rather than the 75th percentile score) so that you could see the lowest scores allowed for admission to these universities. These scores are from data for the current version of the SAT, which is out of 1600. School Name 25th Percentile SAT Score 75th Percentile SAT Score Admission Rate Wiley College 600 1020 40% Jarvis Christian 720 890 54% Shaw University 730 900 60% Rust College 740 870 16% Livingstone College 750 930 72% Central State University 760 900 39% Edward Waters College 760 920 23% Voorhees 770 (average) 50% Paine College 770 950 44% Huston-Tillotson University 770 960 46% Chowan University 780 940 62% CUNY-Medgar Evers 780 960 91% Pine Manor College 780 970 69% Cheyney University of Pennsylvania 780 1020 85% Virginia Union 800 920 83% Bethune-Cookman 800 960 54% Gallaudet University 800 990 62% College of St Elizabeth 800 1000 63% Trinity Baptist College 800 1090 Unknown Texas Southern University 810 980 51% Kentucky State University 810 1000 38% Wesley College 810 1030 63% Clark Atlanta University 820 1010 52% Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College 820 1030 45% Sul Ross State University 830 1010 80% Paul Quinn College 830 1020 89% Alabama State University 840 1030 48% SUNY Cobleskill 840 1070 89% Calumet College of St Joseph 850 00 35% Virginia State University 850 1020 77% University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff 860 1070 46% Post University 860 10 47% Trinity College of Florida 870 1050 74% Northern State University 870 80 83% Texas AM - Kingsville 910 10 82% Kentucky Christian University 910 40 48% Albertus Magnus 950 1050 67% North Park University 1020 1220 52% Marietta College 1030 1270 72% University of Louisiana at Monroe 1030 1310 94% Why Do These Colleges Have Low SAT Scores for Admits? Is It a Bad Thing? There are many reasons these schools may have lower SAT score requirements.Many of the schools on this list are specialty schools,such as religious or art schools. These specialty schools often prioritize other admission criteria, such as artistic talent or religious faith, over the SAT. For example, Trinity College Florida says, "We seek applications from students who are personally committed to Jesus Christ and express a desire to study in a Christian college environment. Prospective students should show potential for academic success and evidence of outstanding Christian character." In a particularly unique example, Gallaudet University prioritizes the education of deaf and hard-of-hearing students, although select hearing students who know ASL may be admitted. You may notice that a lot of these schools have a large gap between the 25th to 75th percentile (some nearly as wide as 400 points).Students with scores near the 25th percentile may be admitted for special reasons such as being the child of a significant donor, a legacy, an athlete, or an exceptional talent (such as a world-class pianist). Another possible explanation for the wide range of scores isthat since most of these schools have such high admissions rate, they need to accept a wider range of students to fill up their classes. Some of these schools take almost every student who applies and, thus, have wider ranges of scores. It's not necessarily a bad thing that these schools have lower SAT requirements.It may simply mean that the school is prioritizing other admissions criteria or that the school is opening their school to a wider range of students. A lot of other colleges, including prestigious schools like Bryn Mawr, Wake Forest, and George Washington University, are no longer requiring the SAT for admission.This decision doesn't mean that these aren't excellent colleges; they just no longer think the SAT is the best criteria for admission to their university. However, some of the schools on the list above are not veryacademically rigorous. If you're looking for an intellectually challenging school, you may want to look elsewhere. Even worse, there are schools out there that simply exist to make money, and innocent students end up stuck with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. While for-profit schools are usually the worst offenders, some non-profits also have lower education quality and leave students with few job prospects after graduation. Be wary and do your research when considering where to apply to college. When selecting colleges to apply to, you should instead consider whether the college is your best fit, asking questions such as: Does it have the major you want to pursue? Have students in your major ended up with careers in their chosen field? Is it in a big or small town? What is the student body size? What percentage of students are working or attending graduate school after graduation? How many are unemployed? To figure out what schoolis right for you, check out our guide to choosing a college. What’s Next? Trying to raise your SAT score? Check outour ultimate study guide. Not sure where you want to go to college? Check out our guide to finding your target school. Thinking about getting a job while in high school? Check out our guide to the 8 best jobs for teensand learn how to find yours! Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: Have friends who also need help with test prep? Share this article! Tweet Dora Seigel About the Author As an SAT/ACT tutor, Dora has guided many students to test prep success. She loves watching students succeed and is committed to helping you get there. Dora received a full-tuition merit based scholarship to University of Southern California. She graduated magna cum laude and scored in the 99th percentile on the ACT. She is also passionate about acting, writing, and photography. Get Free Guides to Boost Your SAT/ACT Get FREE EXCLUSIVE insider tips on how to ACE THE SAT/ACT. 100% Privacy. No spam ever. hbspt.forms.create({ portalId: '360031', formId: '2167ba30-e68e-4777-b88d-8bf3c84579af', formInstanceId: '2', submitButtonClass: 'btn-red-light btn', target: '#hubspot-container2', redirectUrl: 'http://ww2.prepscholar.com/blog-subscribe-thank-you', css: '.post-bottom .hs-form.stacked label {display:none;} .post-bottom .hs-form.stacked .field div.input {padding-top: 55px; padding-left: 300px;} .post-bottom .hs-input {width: 220px} .post-bottom .btn-primary, .hs-button.primary {margin-top:0px; padding-left:350px} .post-bottom .hs-form-field {margin-bottom:5px}' }); $(function(){ $(".exclusive-tip-form #hubspot-container2 label").hide(); }); function replace_tag(a, b){ $(a).each(function(index) { var thisTD = this; var newElement = $(""); $.each(this.attributes, function(index) { $(newElement).attr(thisTD.attributes[index].name, thisTD.attributes[index].value); }); $(this).after(newElement).remove(); }); } $(function(){ replace_tag($(".posts-by-topic h3"), "h2"); }) Ask a Question BelowHave any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply! Search the Blog Search jQuery(function(){ var $ = jQuery; var url = 'http://google.com/search?q=site:' + location.protocol + '//' + location.hostname + ' '; var $searchModule = $('.hs-search-module.6732ae69-375c-4370-b1d5-5bfdccbecb2a'); var $input = $searchModule.find('input'); var $button = $searchModule.find('.hs-button.primary'); if (false) { $input.val(decodeURIComponent(location.pathname.split('/').join(' ').split('.').join(' ').split('-').join(' ').split('_').join(''))); } $button.click(function(){ var newUrl = url + $input.val(); var win = window.open(newUrl, '_blank'); if (win) { //Browser has allowed it to be opened win.focus(); } else { //Browser has blocked it location.href = newUrl; } }); $input.keypress(function(e){ if (e.keyCode !== 13) return; e.preventDefault(); $button.click(); }); }); Improve With Our Famous Guides SATPrep ACTPrep For All Students The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer Series: How to Get 800 on Each SAT Section: Score 800 on SAT Math Score 800 on SAT Reading Score 800 on SAT Writing Series: How to Get to 600 on Each SAT Section: Score 600 on SAT Math Score 600 on SAT Reading Score 600 on SAT Writing Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For? 15 Strategies to Improve Your SAT Essay The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer Series: How to Get 36 on Each ACT Section: 36 on ACT English 36 on ACT Math 36 on ACT Reading 36 on ACT Science Series: How to Get to 24 on Each ACT Section: 24 on ACT English 24 on ACT Math 24 on ACT Reading 24 on ACT Science What ACT target score should you be aiming for? ACT Vocabulary You Must Know ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA How to Write an Amazing College Essay What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For? Is the ACT easier than the SAT? A Comprehensive Guide Should you retake your SAT or ACT? When should you take the SAT or ACT? Michael improved by 370 POINTS! Find Out How Stay Informed Get the latest articles and test prep tips! Looking for Graduate School Test Prep? Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here: GRE Online Prep Blog GMAT Online Prep Blog TOEFL Online Prep Blog

buy custom Corporate Social Responsibility essay

buy custom Corporate Social Responsibility essay For a long time, there have been endless debates on whether businesses should give back to the society, especially the communities in the vicinity of businesses. It can be argued that any person who establishes a business does it with the purpose of gaining profits and furthering personal interests. However, civil society and other advocacy organizations have been pressurizing business entities to give back to the community as a way of paying them back for allowing them to operate in their environment (Hughes 2008). Due to this, most corporations have felt obligated to give charitable services to the society, such as promoting health and education by building institutions to offer such services. Corporations also give back to the society though employing local personnel as well as improving infrastructural facilities, such as roads, building play grounds and places of worship. However, most corporations feel that by being socially responsible, their ultimate goal of making profits is compromised. The argument for this case is that, when a company focuses on making profits, in the end it will be socially responsible as all stakeholders will benefit from it. Therefore, corporations fulfill their social duties by pursuing profits and should not be pushed to forego this goal since by doing so the benefits that come with it will be lost. Do Businesses Have Social Responsibilities? Classical View As mentioned above, the social responsibility of corporations is to make profits since it is in such a pursuit that everyone benefits; shareholders gain profits from their investment whereas other stakeholders, such as customers get high quality products. For example, in the pursuit of profits, a company that deals with the processing of foods can focus on producing foods that are low fat and healthier so as to attract more customers. This will benefit the company in that more people will buy such foods hence increasing the company sales. On the other hand, customers will be healthy and avoid eating related diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, and blood pressure. According to McWilliams (2008), corporations end up improving social welfare by focusing on making profits. A theory of corporate social responsibility by Friedman concurs with Adam Smiths view that, when companies pursue the goal of making profits, the whole society benefits (Hood 1998). Friedman, in his classical view of social responsibility, argues that since the ultimate goal of any business corporation is to make profits, managers should never at any time use shareholders money to pursue social interests. Therefore, any money spent in any activity should proof to be worth it. Further, Friedman argues that businesses do not have any responsibilities and hence can not be held to be socially responsible, only their owners. As quoted in Hood (1998), Friedman holds the strong view that any business has only one social duty of making use of its resources and being involved in activities aimed at increasing its profits as long as it operates under the set rules. Moreover, in the pursuit of maximizing profits, companies end up delivering unique social benefits. In support of Friedmans views, Hood (1998), states that any private business fulfills its social responsibility only when it tries to make profits. Additionally, an argument by Visser (2007) is in support of Friedmans view that companies should be left to pursue the goal of making profits. In this argument, Karnani holds the view that by forcing corporations to be socially responsible through doing some acts of charity, shareholders in turn lose their profits. Therefore, any manager who would not focus on making profits for the corporation is going against the stakeholders aim of maximizing profits. These stakeholders include the customers, shareholders, government, generl public among others (Branco Rodrigues, 2007). In some cases, such managers can face dismissal. As a result of the pressure to give back to the society, some companies claim to be socially responsible only though talking, but no action accompanies such words (Haynes 2010). Therefore, companies according to Kalind (2001) should be left free to maximize their profits since at the end social benefits will be realized. Branco Rodrigues (2007) maintains that businesses do not owe anything to the society as long as they conform to the set rules and regulations. However, Janda Pitts` (2009) view differs with that of Friedmans in that, it supports some degree of dishonesty when undertaking any business activity. Janda Pitts (2009), in support of his pure profit-making view argues that dishonesty is part of the strategy for success in business since business people have lower moral standards as compare to the rest of the society. Moreover, Janda Pitts (2009) holds the opinion that as long as a business operates under the legally set of laws, it has no moral obligation towards the society. On the other hand, Friedmans view supports honesty in business, which according to Branco Rodrigues (2007), can be referred to as the constrained profit-making view. Another argument against corporate social responsibility is by the chief economist, David Henderson (Branco Rodrigues 2007). In his 2005 publication, Henderson argues that corporate social responsibility affects a companys resource allocation procedure (Branco Rodrigues 2007). His argument is that, when companies engage in CSR activities, they lose focus of their ultimate goal of profit making. This will in turn end up misappropriating company finances which will lead to losses. The losses will then increase poverty, since it will make the shareholders poorer (Sun 2010). Moreover, Henderson holds the opinion that CSR regulations or laws that are formulated to support CSR lead to decreased business operations, which will translate into ineffective markets, reduced wealth generation and increased social inequity and poverty (Branco Rodrigues 2007). Hendersons views in general support that businesses have the ultimate goal of profit making and wealth creation and, therefore, are not obl igated to serve the community in any other capacity. Branco Rodrigues (2007) is in support of the view that a businesss sole purpose is profit maximization. These authors argue that managers find it difficult to carry out their duties as well as to make decisions in cases, where the company has multiple objectives. Therefore, it is vital that businesses hold the shareholders interests of profit maximization close at heart so as to create wealth, which in the end will lead to more benefits to the society at large. Stakeholder View This is a theory that supports the involvement of companies in CSR activities. The theory holds the view that apart from shareholders, there are other groups that are interested in the actions of any business. These groups are generally referred to as stakeholders and are in one way or another affected by the actions of a business entity. Stakeholders range from customers, employees, suppliers as well as the communities around the business entity. This theory holds the view that a company should not only focus on profit maximization and wealth generation but should also strive to improve the welfare of its stakeholders (Roper 2007). Therefore, despite businesses being established solely as profit making entities, they have some responsibilities to the general public (McWilliams 2008). Other strong supporters of the stakeholder view are Janda Pitts (2009), who argue that, corporations are owned by interrelated groups of people who are affected by the actions of the corporations in diifferent ways, either positively or negatively (Branco Rodrigues 2007). Corporations should, therefore, embrace CSR so as to be sustainable and to brig forth benefits for all stakeholders. According to Cohen (2005), businesses should embrace moral values, since economics is deeply infused with ethics. Any business activity being undertaken should always strive to protect the interests of all stakeholders. For example, a cement manufacturing company has the responsibility of ensuring that all its employees always wear protective gear so as to protect them from work related disease, injuries among other dangers that may arise in the work place. This company also has the responsibility of ensuring that proper pollution control measures are put in place so as to ensure that the communities around them are not affected negatively. In addition, such a company has a responsibility to protect the environment from pollution as well as to ensure that it harvests natural resources in a sustainable way. This example shows that the shareholders will achieve their interests of profit making, whereas the community and the environment who are stakeholders will be protected from harm (Hart 2011). Another supporter of the stakeholder view is Sacconi (2004), who, in his three- dimensional conceptual model argues that, any company has several social responsibilities. This model describes CSR as having four categories that include legal, social, ethical, and philanthropic (Friedman 1970). Economically, any company is expected to produce high quality products that are good for customers, whereas legally it has the responsibility of conforming to the set rules and regulations. On the other hand, ethical responsibilities of a company include undertaking of business activities in a way that respect societal values, norms, and standards. The philanthropic category entails a companys responsibility to voluntarily support the society with the intention of improving its welfare. For example, an automobile manufacture industry has the economic responsibility of manufacturing vehicles that meet the consumers needs, while at the same time conforming to the governments regulations. Such a co mpany can also build an engineering institution for the community around so as to support science and technology in that community. In summary, the stakeholder view holds that corporations should undertake their activities with the aim of fulfilling the interests of all stakeholders. A strong argument in this theory is that, a corporation should establish good relations with all stakeholders so as to grow and be successful. Any business should not only focus on wealth creation and profit making, but also on improving social interests (McWilliams 2008). Businesses have been for a long time been pressurized to be socially responsible to enhance their short and long-term sustainability. However, this has been met by opposition from various economists who argue that the sole purpose of any business is profit maximization and wealth creation. Therefore, any deviation from this objective will lead to great losses for shareholders. The classical view has been supported by such authors like Friedman and Carr who argue that businesses should strive to make profits, while conforming to the set rules and regulations. This view holds that businesses are obligated to serve the shareholders interests only and hence are not obligated to serve the interests of the society. On the other hand, the stakeholder view supported by authors, such as Freeman and Carroll, calls organizations to be socially responsible. Generally, companies are urged to embrace CSR at all levels of their operations. By doing this, they are able to attract and retain customer s, investors among other key stakeholders, who ensure short and long-term growth of the business. In addition, the companies are required to fulfill ethical, economic, philanthropic, as well as legal obligations so as to be successful (McWilliams 2008). Buy custom Corporate Social Responsibility essay buy custom Corporate Social Responsibility essay Introduction Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a form of policy where a business organization employs a self regulating mechanism that will provide the business with appropriate information. These policies ensure that the company complies with the set laws, ethical and international standards of there business activities (Grace, 2005). The main objective of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is to encourage the companys actions and also support a constructive impact through its activities with the aim of conserving the environment and also maintaining a good relationship between the company and its employees, customers, shareholders, community and all the other members of the public (Garriga Mel 2008).. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a way in which the organizations incorporates the views and interests of the public in the decision making process of the organization as a strategy used by an organization to maintain the close relationship with the public (Ismail, 2009). It also encourages public interests into the organization by eliminating practices that will harm the great coexistence between the community and the organization; while promoting the growth and development of the community and customers of the organization. It should be noted that this is also a strategy that is being used by the organization to generate extra financial gains and also increase its customers outreach (Lantos, 1998). Incase the organization doesnt record any increase in the sales and customer improvement the organization has no reasons of continuing with its activities as it is a waste of time and resources. Therefore it has to stop undertaking the Corporate Social responsibly role and thus i ndulge in other activities that will increase its sales and productivity (Smith et al, 2006). 1. Marks and Spencer is a leading British retailer company that specializes in the selling of clothing and extravagant food products. The store headquarters is located in the city of Westminster, London with more that 700 stores in England and more than 300 more stores spread allover the world (Murray, 2009). The company had introduced a new Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy commonly known as "Plan A" (Marks Spencer Inc, 2010). The plan was launched as an initiative by Marks and Spencer MS January 2007; and will last for the next 5 years. It was intended to be used by the organization to ensure that it would be in a position of providing its customers with efficient environmental and ethical operations that will benefit the customers well being in the society (Garriga Mel 2008). Some of these measures that the company employed included the uses of Fair-trade products, use of environment friendly dyes on its clothes and sustainable fishing (Murray, 2009). As these aspects were seen as some important ways in which the organization can be able to conducts it business fairly and at the same time improve the relationshp that exists between the organization and its customers. The plan A that was initiated with the organization back in the year 1997 had vowed to undertake more than 100 commitments that were seen as the key factors that were seen as the greater challenges. These challenges were both in the organization and the entire universe some of these challenges they included the health, fair-trade (Partnership), climate change, waste products, and raw materials sustainability. With all these plans the companies was aiming at tackling these challenges and at the same time improve the livelihood of the communities in the world and at the same time benefiting from the social welfare of the customers and the community that is around the organization (Grace, 2005). The company will be in a position of making it as one of the major retailer store in the world by 2012; this is because it has been able to achieve and fulfill the key possible strategies that will be more responsive in ensuring that the organization relationship with its customers is improved. Thus the plane will ensure that the customers, employees and the surrounding community is in a position of becoming one of the most successful retail store organization in the world (Marks Spencer Inc, 2010). The first target that is set by the organization is to ensure that the organization is environmental friendly; this is by Becoming a carbon neutral organization. This is seen as the most pressing issue in the world today and this will add some credits on the organization as this will be seen as a good initiative used by the organization in conserving the world today. This is by reducing the rates of carbon gas emissions into the atmosphere; thus making it the friendliest organization as it is concerned with the environment of where it conducts its activities (Lantos, 1998). The organization will also be the most sorted after Retail Store Company this is when the organization implements its Corporate Social Responsibility that will help improve the lives of the people in the supply chain (Visser, et al 2008). This is well categorized when the organization will tend to strengthen the relationship that exists between the organization and its competitors. This is when the organization will negotiate with its competitors and thus come to a point of selling its products at a slight lower price that will be of great benefit for the customers of the retail store. With the implementation of this will definitely result to an increase in customers who will be purchasing their products from the stores; this is as a result of the store selling its products at reasonable and affordable prices (Smith et al, 2006). 2. The 2010 Mark and Spencers CSR report that was released by the organization ensured that the organization was in a position of achieving its 100 commitments that are supposed to be of greateer benefit the customers, employees, suppliers and the environment in general (Pitts, et al. 2009). This will subsequently make it easy for the organization to be able to supply and be of great benefit to the organization that is more beneficial to both the organization and the community around the organization. Plan A also known as the How we Do business ensured that the company was in a position of succeeding in the retail industry by ensuring that its 5 main objectives of the Plan A are successfully completed without interfering with the ways in which the organization performs its activities (Marks Spencer Inc, 2010). The organizations main way or Corporate Social Responsibility was aimed at ensuring that the organization fulfill the social, environmental and ethical performances this will efficiently ensure that the organization is in the point of facilitating the recommended plan that will oversee the success of the organization Plan A. It is noted that all these recommended commitments that were established and initiated in 1997 with the aims of ensuring that the customers, employees and the other stakeholders are incorporated in the decision making of the organization (Visser, et al 2008). In matters that pertain to the environment conservation the company has bee able to monitor its contributions in the emission of carbon in the atmosphere. This eventually made it easy for the organization to reduce and regulate the rates in which the environment is destroyed. This reduced the rate of emission of carbon into the organization by 8% (Marks Spencer Inc, 2010). The organization has also managed to reduce the rate of waste matters it disposes to the world by approximately 33% of the previously recorded cases. This has been as a result of sensitization that has been constantly been conducted by the organization on the importance of the waste disposal management (Ismail, 2009). In social welfare the organization has achieved in the improvement of the lives of the people who are less privileged in the society; this is from the initiative that the organization had implemented of buying green palm certificates. These would be used by the organization to raise money by employees and the customers in order to ensure the organization funds all projects. Such projects were directed and stated in the third world nations as a way of raising the social status of the of the people living in these critical situations. The organization has also achieved in its health plan; this is in both the employees and the customers. This is by introducing them into healthy eating habits that will help reduce the cases of obesity and heart failure conditions (Marks Spencer Inc, 2010). Thus the organization stated the selling of cakes and bread that contains marginally reduced calories; in view of the fact that they will pose no health risks on the people eating them and this is when its sells these products to the entire store it has worldwide. Buy custom Corporate Social Responsibility essay

The management report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The management report - Essay Example They must have the greatest leverage on both time and costs and for the case study; the report explores the manner in which Zara appreciates both of these to their success. The report explores the ways in which Zara utilizes these three pillars of its operations to a resounding success; (Tolga 2010, p.63, Peters 2011, p.8) posit that short lead time, lower quantities and a greater variety. The short lead time philosophy adopted by the company has aided the firm to churn out more fashionable clothes. Lower quantities of production often leads to more supply while greater variety of styles leads to more choice and more frequency of determining customer needs. The report will finally consider company A, an apparels company which does not manufacture, but operating in the high end of the city’s prime located district. The report will offer the management of the store a variety of recommendations which are in tandem with the reports results from the analysis of Zara Company. Zaraâ €™s Critical Success factors According to Barnes and Lea-greenwood (2006) flexibility in both design and production ultimately determines the success of a company especially in the fast paced fashion world. This report has identified and explored critical success factors relating to the organizational, technological and managerial impetus that have contributed to the effectiveness and success of the firm within the confines of the case study given. The company employed a number of strategies that catapulted it to success, enabling it to overtake other firms to be the leading apparels maker in the world, although under the banner of the parent company. Organizational Factors Zara operates on strategic organization; the company has enhanced communication flow from production to retail. The designers receive feedback from those operating the stores regarding customer tastes and preferences regarding clothes, the colors and etc. Zara focuses in its internal market having control in nearly every stages of the product flow, management theorist refer to such behaviour as internalization theory. When they expanded into foreign market, Zara still maintain its internal aspect and does not follow the typical trend of other competitors. Zara’s in-house business model enables overcoming the market imperfection better (Vrijhoef 2011, p.196).   Zara protects all know-how within the firm from design to ready item since it keeps all production in-house. From the case study one can gather that the business structure adopted by Zara tends to be more closely controlled, and that the firm pays keen attention by having the various business elements in close proximity to each other, around its head quarters in La Coruna, Spain. Unlike the competitors, Zara does not outsource for production from overseas countries that offer cheap labor, where majority of its competitors have pitched camp to take advantage of the low costs. The company closely controls most of its operat ions from the head office in Spain, including production and retail. For example, Zara procures most of its dyes from one of the subsidiaries of the parent company. This is a vertically integrated business s structure; through town his structure, the company has been able to offer their customers products at affordable prices and control

Managing Equality and Diversity- Case Study Jakob Roan Essay

Managing Equality and Diversity- Case Study Jakob Roan - Essay Example In 1999, the UK government introduced the Public Sector Duties in order to protect not only the women but also the men on work equality. The Equality Act 2006 was introduced to promote equality and diversity in relation to the importance of human rights. Because of some amendments necessary to strengthen the equality law in the United Kingdom, Equality Act 2010 was created and now in force in order to redefine the most recent employment-related claims at the Employment Tribunal office. Against who and Potential Legal Claims that Jakob Roan can bring to an Employment Tribunal Lucas and Tom Sexual harassment at work is not limited to the act of physically forcing an employee to have sex with an immediate boss or vice versa. Particularly in the case of Jakob Roan, verbal harassment like a constant regime of homophobic behaviour has been evident when Lucas and Tom were making funny faces while calling Jakob with the use of some offending names and remarks like: â€Å"a prude†, â€Å"a blooming gay boy†, suggesting that â€Å"he should be more macho†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , and spreading rumours to other employees that they should avoid working with Jakob alone in the office because they can get AIDS by being too close to him. This increases Jakob’s chances of winning a tribunal case . Regardless of whether it was intentional or unintentional, Jakob was able to witness Lucas spreading homophobic remarks about him where the company’s customers could hear.... Furthermore, forcing Jakob to join Lucas and Tom go through the pornographic magazine was already a violation of Jakob’s human right to avoid staring at some pornographic materials. Under Part 2 section 26(1)(b)(i)(ii) of the Equality Act 2010, it was clearly stated that â€Å"A person (A) harasses another (B) if the conduct has the purpose or effect of violating B’s dignity and creating intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for B†. It means that harassment within the workplace may occur when the dignity of another person is being violated and degraded as a result of unwanted work-related practices that are sexual by nature5. As an individual, Jakob has negative perception with regards to the use of pornographic materials. The fact that Lucas and Tom was forcing Jakob to join them as they browse the magazine was already a violation of Jakob’s dignity and human rights to refuse to participate. Based on the guidelines stated under Equality Act 2010, it is clear that Jakob has the option and privileges to file a tribunal case against Lucas and Tom for harassment on the grounds of sexual orientation. Specifically the case of Jakob Roan who emotionally, mentally, and psychologically suffered from the adverse consequences associated with sexual harassment on the grounds of sexual orientation is very much similar to the case of Morse v Future Reality Ltd [1996]6 wherein Ms. Morse felt sexually harassed when a group of her male co-workers started downloading â€Å"sexually explicit images from the Internet† even though the boys were not directly pointing at her. Dave Under Part 2 section 13(1) of the Equality Act 2010, direct discrimination

Annotated Biblography Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Biblography - Annotated Bibliography Example Haseena Lockhat try to disassociate the practice with the Islamic religion, it is believed by many at the village level to be a religious requirement with even scholars divided on hadith interpretation concerning it (Von der Osten-Sacken, and Uwer) When F.G.M has been attributed to North Africa or sub – Saharan Africa, it is a common practice in the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula and the Fertile Crescent which are Islamic with information lacking only due to the curtailing of freedom for feminists and free civil society in these state (Von der Osten-Sacken, and Uwer). Differences the west and the Middle Eastern societies on sexual matters is also a problem since it is easy to lean about them concerning the west but they are very secret in the latter culture with Islamic laws being restrictive on these matters which is also complicated by the lack of sex education in the institutions of learning of the latter culture. Differences in interpretation of Hadith make the proponents to argue that Prophet Mohammed did not ban it and thus it is admissible in Islam, making it a big problem. This article will be used on the proposed research to address the problem of FGM in Muslims as it is a serious problem in Islam which requires serious attention, so that the walls of secrecy can be broken in Islamic areas where it practiced, and victims educated on their human rights and dangers involved. The process of FGM involves the removal of all or part of the female genitalia to fulfill cultural or any other non therapeutic reasons. Study by Baasher (1982) indicates that F.G.M was practiced in ancient Egypt and related it to the belief in the bisexual nature of gods. The report by Ballal (2000) and Sanderson details the existence of the practice in Europe and the U.S.A in the second half of the nineteenth century (Afolayan & Oguntoye, 76). The report also details that in Africa the practice exists in nations like Egypt, Northern Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya and

Investments in Information Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Investments in Information Technology - Essay Example Heinrich and Simchi-Levi (2005) answer the question whether IT investments really pay off: "The answer is yes-only if solid business processes are in place." Thus, the success of any IT strategy is highly dependent on the integration of business processes within the organization and its various supply chain factors. Information technology strategies are directly linked to the company's supply chain. As the supply chain is composed of stakeholders who are directly related to the operations of the company, the installation of IT software and tool will have an impact on them. In return, the organization bottom line will also benefit or be harmed by any IT strategy in place. Investments in IT generate a lot of advantages in a company's supply chain. However, this is only true with the premise that the appropriate level of business process is in place. As the study of Heinrich and Simchi-Levi proves, information technology goes hand in hand business process maturity in increasing the efficiency and profitability of business organization. Investment in IT without integrating the supply chain by sharing the data in internal and external stakeholders will render useless.

Malicious Software, Unknown Threats & Potential Solutions Research Paper

Malicious Software, Unknown Threats & Potential Solutions - Research Paper Example Malicious intentions result into destruction of system hardware, information, and software whereby, disclosure of confidential information results, through unauthorized users having access to the system and information. Unauthorized usage also results in modification and interruption of the information system. Interception occurs when information that resides in a computer system is copied by unauthorized user (Abdullah, 2010, p.3). Other threats include malware, which is constituted by viruses, computer worms and Trojan horses that are generally common in the computer networks and websites. The possibility of making money through malware distribution and solution has propagated the online distribution, which is a major threat. This is the case since the popularity of viruses, computer worms and Trojan horses consequently increases popularity of similar antivirus that is traded for commercial purposes (Ryuya, 2011, p.514). Defects with respect to homogeneous binary files are an indic ation of presence of unknown threats and malicious software. Indications of threats may include infections such as viruses, Trojan horse programs and even original file format alterations (Weber, et al., 2002, p. 2). Motivation Malicious software and unknown threats have time and again presented new threats that call for new ways of detection and prevention within the information technology environment. Unknown threats and malware software call for modern malware detection solutions such as proactive malware detection system that enables prevention of future attacks and those that were previously unknown. Modern detection system also reduces the rate of false alarms, since successful detection of attacks is made (Volynkin, State University of New York at Binghamton: Electrical Engineering. 2007, p.47). Dynamics of malicious software are characterized by strains such as code red-2, which is a fast spreading worm that can be solved using a complex mathematical model that is based on a pproach of compartmentalization. The solution is made possible through predicting the state of the system for the purpose of converting unaffected targeted nodes into noninfectious and infectious nodes (Hemraj and Dinesh, 2007, p. 491). Hackers have gone ahead to exploit zero day threats, since these threats have no characteristic signature that can be detected. The exploitation takes advantage of polymorphing code of the unknown threat that varies with every page loaded. However, technological firms have competitively undertaken to advance models for detecting malicious and unknown threats for their customers. Through intensive marketing and competition, new knowledge regarding malicious software attacks has been created by software firms. Although software firms seek to gain profitability in software applications, solutions for complex and dynamic malicious software attacks are gaining a positive insight (Michael and Mikhael, 2010, p.597). Invisible malicious codes on the web exec ute when the browser loads web pages containing the software. Malicious codes use cross-site scripting to retrieve codes that are more dangerous from third party sites, which plants the malware, steals data and takes control of the system through leveraging operating system and web browser vulnerability.

Current and Future trends in Microelectromechnical Systems Case Study

Current and Future trends in Microelectromechnical Systems - Case Study Example cessing, and data acquisition features."[2] The term MEMS refer to the devices that are on a millimetre scale with micro-resolution. It is the integration of mechanical elements, sensors, actuators and electronics on common silicon substrate through the utilization of microfabrication technology [8]. There are several broad categories of MEMS fabrication technologies. They are Bulk micromachining, Surface micromachining, LIGA, Deep reactive ion etching and the integrated MEMS technologies. The brief [9] of each of the technologies is given below Bulk micromachining is a fabrication technique which builds mechanical elements by starting with a silicon wafer, and then etching away unwanted parts, and being left with useful mechanical devices [9].'The advantages are less cost high reliability, manufacturability, and good repeatability [9]. Surface Micromachining builds devices up from the wafer layer-by-layer [9]. Surface Micromachining requires more fabrication steps than Bulk Micromachining, and hence is more expensive.' It is able to create much more complicated devices, capable of sophisticated functionality. LIGA is a technology which creates small, but relatively high aspect ratio devices using x-ray lithography [9]. Unlike traditional Bulk Micromachining, which uses a wet chemical etch, Deep Reactive Ion Etching micromachining uses'a plasma etch to create features allowing greater flexibility in the etch profiles, enabling a wider array of mechanical elements [9]. Since MEMS devices are created with the same tools used to create integrated circuits, in some cases it is also possible to fabricate Micro-machines and Microelectronics on the same piece of silicon [9].' LITERATURE REVIEW MEMS has a very wide range of applications, particularly of its sensors which are used many of the automotive, medical and other consumer products. The technology development is immense and there are several in the literature to quote from in evidence of this fact. The MEMS related technology and literature work is very huge and hence effort has been made only to cover the key developments from random authors. One technique developed in the United States at the University of Wisconsin uses thin film polysilicon for the sensor diaphragm [3]. The polysilicon devices are correspondingly smaller and hence they cost less. Another technique, result in much smaller sensor dies than standard bulk micromachining techniques NovaSensor in the United States, employs high temperature fusion bonding of silicon wafers to form inward tapering cavities under single crystal silicon diaphragms [4]. These devices are used in medical catheters. An improvement in low pressure measurement has also been suggested as by using advanced MEMS micromachining

Investments in Information Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Investments in Information Technology - Essay Example Heinrich and Simchi-Levi (2005) answer the question whether IT investments really pay off: "The answer is yes-only if solid business processes are in place." Thus, the success of any IT strategy is highly dependent on the integration of business processes within the organization and its various supply chain factors. Information technology strategies are directly linked to the company's supply chain. As the supply chain is composed of stakeholders who are directly related to the operations of the company, the installation of IT software and tool will have an impact on them. In return, the organization bottom line will also benefit or be harmed by any IT strategy in place. Investments in IT generate a lot of advantages in a company's supply chain. However, this is only true with the premise that the appropriate level of business process is in place. As the study of Heinrich and Simchi-Levi proves, information technology goes hand in hand business process maturity in increasing the efficiency and profitability of business organization. Investment in IT without integrating the supply chain by sharing the data in internal and external stakeholders will render useless.

Current and Future trends in Microelectromechnical Systems Case Study

Current and Future trends in Microelectromechnical Systems - Case Study Example cessing, and data acquisition features."[2] The term MEMS refer to the devices that are on a millimetre scale with micro-resolution. It is the integration of mechanical elements, sensors, actuators and electronics on common silicon substrate through the utilization of microfabrication technology [8]. There are several broad categories of MEMS fabrication technologies. They are Bulk micromachining, Surface micromachining, LIGA, Deep reactive ion etching and the integrated MEMS technologies. The brief [9] of each of the technologies is given below Bulk micromachining is a fabrication technique which builds mechanical elements by starting with a silicon wafer, and then etching away unwanted parts, and being left with useful mechanical devices [9].'The advantages are less cost high reliability, manufacturability, and good repeatability [9]. Surface Micromachining builds devices up from the wafer layer-by-layer [9]. Surface Micromachining requires more fabrication steps than Bulk Micromachining, and hence is more expensive.' It is able to create much more complicated devices, capable of sophisticated functionality. LIGA is a technology which creates small, but relatively high aspect ratio devices using x-ray lithography [9]. Unlike traditional Bulk Micromachining, which uses a wet chemical etch, Deep Reactive Ion Etching micromachining uses'a plasma etch to create features allowing greater flexibility in the etch profiles, enabling a wider array of mechanical elements [9]. Since MEMS devices are created with the same tools used to create integrated circuits, in some cases it is also possible to fabricate Micro-machines and Microelectronics on the same piece of silicon [9].' LITERATURE REVIEW MEMS has a very wide range of applications, particularly of its sensors which are used many of the automotive, medical and other consumer products. The technology development is immense and there are several in the literature to quote from in evidence of this fact. The MEMS related technology and literature work is very huge and hence effort has been made only to cover the key developments from random authors. One technique developed in the United States at the University of Wisconsin uses thin film polysilicon for the sensor diaphragm [3]. The polysilicon devices are correspondingly smaller and hence they cost less. Another technique, result in much smaller sensor dies than standard bulk micromachining techniques NovaSensor in the United States, employs high temperature fusion bonding of silicon wafers to form inward tapering cavities under single crystal silicon diaphragms [4]. These devices are used in medical catheters. An improvement in low pressure measurement has also been suggested as by using advanced MEMS micromachining