Should People in the Public Eye Expect Their Privacy to Be Respected by the Media?

Journalism is a field of work that requires an individual to balance the ethical aspects of invading another person’s privacy with getting the information they need to cover a specific story. It is becoming increasingly common to find out what a certain celebrity has said or done yesterday in today’s newspaper and magazine tabloids. Our society has become so fixated in watching and reading about others, that sometimes we forget that celebrities should have some privacy of their own. Stories in the headlines can range from what a certain celebrity orders from a fast food restaurant to information concerning a divorce settlement between couples. Every solitary move a famous individual makes in his or her life is documented in a photograph, editorial, or headline on a TV show dedicated to exposing their life. If famous celebrities cannot receive any amount of privacy, why should individuals like ourselves be guaranteed that our personal lives are not exposed to the world? Should not all human beings be able to keep certain aspects of their life personal? Journalists and photographers should realize that celebrities are human beings that would like to keep certain parts of their lives to themselves, and not have their lives consumed with photographs and editorials devoted to exposing all details of their life good or bad. The definition of public eye is people in the one, which consist of politicians, athletes, celebrities and other individuals who are famous. For my presentation we will be concentrating on the public eye and whether they should expect their privacy to be respected by the media. Media comes in various forms, with the more common ones being newspapers, tabloids, radio, paparazzi, internet, social media and many more. With the amount of attention numerous celebrities receive from the media, invading their privacy is just another part of a journalist’s job description. Such actions as going through another individual’s trash can lead to the next big headline on tomorrow’s magazine. Some journalists will ultimately dedicate their life to exposing someone else’s in magazine editorials and articles. The media is certainly abusing the rights they are given by exposing details of famous individual’s lives. Anything from celebrity scandals and breakups to private matters like divorce are always shown on TV shows featured on E News, which show the latest and most up to date stories. These shows will provide viewers with hard evidence including paper documents and photographs that depict a certain story. Stories dealing with breakups, for instance, the popular divorce between Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston after seven years of marriage, are sold to specific magazines for a large amount of money. Public eye privacy being invaded – a question that has been discussed over and over again in the media itself, the debate intensifying after the latest tragic break-ups by famous ex-actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger was caught having an internal affairs with his maid is to believed his privacy being invaded. Sought by celebrities, anonymous informers as well as ordinary citizens, privacy should be respected by members of the press – too often do journalists use techniques that show disregard for others' distress in order to â€Å"get the story†. However, in other cases, it is due to the publication of â€Å"private† details that hidden agendas and acts of corruption are brought to light. It is the amount of public interest involved that is more important in determining whether or not the press is justified in overriding privacy. The press – all members of the printed media, including newspapers, magazines, and tabloids – plays the important role of informing the public of what they need to know. This freedom of speech in the media is central to our democracy, as it means that the public's main source of information is independent of any of the authorities, and is thus more likely to present information in an unbiased manner. As stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, â€Å"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. â€Å"It is the right to know, the publics right to access information, which allows us to keep a critical eye on our society and ensure the fair running of our country. However, another basic human right is the right to privacy â€Å"freedom from intrusion and public attention† as defined in the Oxford Dictionary. This includes privacy for the person, conversation, seclusion and personal information. That is, one should be able to lead a life without others following one all the time, eavesdropping on what one says, having one's every move under surveillance, and making public one's personal details. Such two basic human rights come into conflict when matters are to be reported in the media. What the press sees as information that ought to be made public may be considered private by the individual. 997 figures showed the privacy complaints made by both public personalities and private citizens, having tripled since 1994, stood at 9% of the total number of complaints lodged to the Press Council. Often when confronted with such accusations of intruding upon one's privacy, the journalist's defense is that it was in the â€Å"public interest†. This term, however, is rather vague. Many tend to define it as what the public is interested in – the kind of sensational news that increases circulation and sells papers. Yet this sacrifice of the individual's privacy for the entertainment of the general public is not â€Å"public interest†. In fact, it is the necessity of the public, as citizens, to have access to essential information. A great proportion of those mentioned in the media are ordinary citizens who, because of their experience of extraordinary circumstances, become significant. These people are most likely to be victims of crime or tragedy. In such cases, names, addresses, photographs and other details that would lead to the identification of the victim should not be published without consent. It is not imperative for the public to know the name of the victim because, after all, stories reported in the media are often far removed from the readers' daily lives that the name is of no more interest to them than a piece of trivia. Yet to the victim and his or her family and friends, publication of the name could mean embarrassment, harassment or even death threats from the criminal. In conclusion, the most basic form to freedom of expression and encourages the journalists to have public responsibilities as an honest and efficient journalist that respects the rights of others. The 8th code of ethics in MEAA is to ‘use fair, responsible and honest means to obtain material and never exploit a person’s vulnerability or ignorance of media practice’, meanwhile the 11th code of to ‘respect private grief and personal privacy. But again, it does actually depend on what situation that the public eyes are going through. Is it bad or good thing that journalism should report a story regarding on their private life or its just counted as an entertainment values as in the public interest that will do the rating of a certain story to put in the tabloids.

John the Baptist Rewrite Essay

Abstract John the Baptist practiced preaching and baptizing Jews in the river Jordan. He was the one who recognized Jesus as the messiah and baptized him. This baptism was the beginning of Jesus’ life as a teacher. But it is his death that is almost always how John the Baptist is remembered and studied. His teaching is the basis of Baptist today. His life is told in only the Gospels and not much is really known about the man who came before Jesus to preach the word of God and of Jesus’ coming. INTRODUCTION: John the Baptist practiced preaching and baptizing Jews in the river Jordan. He was the one who recognized Jesus as the messiah and baptized him. This baptism was the beginning of Jesus’ life as a teacher. But it is his death that is almost always how John the Baptist is remembered and studied. His teaching is the basis of Baptist today. The New Testament does not supply precise information about the dates of John’s or Jesus’ birth. Usually John the Baptist is associated with the Advent season. His Birth is celebrated on June 24th. In the third or fourth century the birthday of Jesus was assigned to Dec. 25th, around the time of the winter solstice, after what we call the shortest day of the year, when the time of daylight begins to increase. In John’s Gospel there is a saying from John the Baptist, referring to Jesus, that â€Å"he must increase; I must decrease† (3:30). And so the birth of John was assigned to June 24th, after the summer solstice, when the daylight begins to decrease, following the longest day of the year. The Scripture readings for the nativity of St. John the Baptist reflect the dynamics of Decrease and increase between John and Jesus. Today’s Old Testament reading is one of the servant songs from Second Isaiah. It was chosen for its reference to the servant having been named from his mother’s womb (Luke 1:60). But the passage also expresses important aspects of John’s career as a prophet to God’s people and a light to the nations. At the same time his status as servant makes him subordinate to Jesus. The selection from Paul’s speech in Acts 13 reminds us that John played a pivotal role in Salvation history and so won a place in the early Christian proclamation. Importance is given to John’s own recognition of his subordinate status with respect to Jesus, â€Å"I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet†. HIS HISTORY: John the Baptist was described as a man that walked among the Jews in animal’s hair that was not covered by his own skin and he was a savage. He came with a message that â€Å"God hath sent me to show you the way of the law, by which ye shall be freed from many tyrants. And no mortal shall rule over you, but only the highest who hath sent me. † He dipped them into the stream of the Jordan and let them go warning them that they should renounce evil deeds (Harrington, 2005, p. 25). In Luke’s early narrative there are many parallels and comparisons between John and Jesus, both in the announcements of their births and in the accounts of them. While John is great, Jesus is greater is the message given. The idea is not to critic John but rather to highlight Jesus’ greatness. The birth of John is presented by Luke as the fulfillment of God’s promises not only to his elderly parents but also to God’s people as a whole, Elizabeth and Zechariah, John’s parents, insists that the child be named John , a name whose Hebrew form, Yohana, celebrates God’s mercy and favor to his people . If there is any connections between Jesus ant the Dead Sea Scrolls, it is through John, who was â€Å"in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel† The child John grew up to become a herald of God’s coming kingdom, the messiah and the mentor of Jesus. The Gospel of Luke provides some of the chronological history of John the Baptist. According to Luke, John began to preach his baptism of repentance in the fifteenth year of Tiberius. Jesus was born sometime before the death of Herod the Great. This puts him at about thirty when he began to preach and died during the reign of Pontius Pilate, whose term was terminated shortly before the death of Tiberius in 37 c. e. Since in all three gospels Jesus’ ministry appears to last no more than about a year, the gospel of Luke places the death of Jesus between 25 C. E. and 29 C. E. with the latter being a range that would fit with Luke’s claim that John began preaching around 28 C. E. (Kraemer, 2006, p. 334). There is a period of John the Baptist life that is blank and because the gospels are the only mentioning of the man, speculation has given a possibility of where he was. They believed that John the Baptist was a recluse who spent a great amount of time with a group of people named the Essenes. These people lived in the desert awaiting the imminent arrival of the Messiah (Miller & Scelfo, 2007). The Essenes had turned its back on the Herodian temples and its worship to withdrawal to the Judean desert. Their communities were created using monastic style communities, but also to instill a religious life for families. These religious instructions included a literary center and used exclusive rituals such as baptism and prayer. This is probably where the basis of John’s beliefs was founded. In an article in Newsweek it discusses how close John the Baptist, Jesus and possibly his family were to the Essenes community. The actual ritual of Baptism, that was the Essenes belief, symbolizes â€Å"the leaving behind the sinful life one has led until now and to start out on the path to a new, changed life (Ratzinger, 2007). A Professor of religious studies wrote a book in 20006 that gave a little different look at the historical life of John the Baptist. According to this author, James Tolson, Jesus with his cousin John were in partnership and saw themselves as the founders not of a new religion but of a worldly royal dynasty that would be fulfilling ancient prophecies. The dynasty had come down from King David and was to restore Israel and guide it through an apocalyptic upheaval that was growing in the Kingdom of God on Earth. All of this was supposed to happen not in the distant or metaphoric future but then and now. True their message was one of a peaceful change, but Jesus knew he had aroused suspensions of Herodian rulers of Palestine as well as the Romans. So, according to Tolson, Jesus had to establish a provisional government with 12 tribal officials and named his brother James, not Paul as his successor. Later James became the leader of the early Christian movement (Tolson, 2006). HIS DEATH: History remembers Archelaus’s brother, Herod Antipas, because of his interactions with the prophet John the Baptist. John would loudly condemn Antipas immoral behavior of having stolen his brother’s wife, who was also his niece. Antipas arrested and kept John in chains, unable to kill him yet unable to put him out of his mind. According to the Book of Mark, â€Å"When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him† (Mark 6:20). Through a trick thought up by his wife and her daughter Salome, Antipas ended up executing John. Reports then filtered in of another prophet, and Antipas, perhaps plagued by remorse tried to see Jesus who avoided him, because of what he had done to his cousin. In both Mark and Mathew, the death of John the Baptizer is told in flashbacks. Jesus’ activities have attracted attention, and there have been speculation as to his identity, with some proposing that Jesus could be John the Baptist. Ross S. Kraemer of Brown University wrote an essay dealing with this subject. He also wrote that, â€Å"Herod Antipas too having heard the word of the prophet after John’s beheading, believes that Jesus is indeed John. Herodias, Herod’s wife, was the one who resents John and wishes to kill him but she was still prevented by Antipa’s fear of John’s righteousness and holiness. In Mark’s account at Antipas’s birthday meal was when an opportunity presented itself to Herodias. Antipas became entranced by his wife’s daughter dancing and offered this daughter anything she wished, even half of his kingdom. The daughter then goes and asks her mother what to request and her mother replies that she wants her to ask for the head of John the Baptizer on a platter. Antipas complies only in order to keep his oath and preserve his honor before his guests. In Matthew’s account there are some differences but still significant differences. Both agree that it is Antipas who orders John’s execution, but in Mark it is only because of Herodias that he does so, because Antipas has no desire to kill John. In Matthew Antipas himself desires to be rid of John, but has reservations because he fears the people who see John as a prophet. In Matthew’s account Antipas thought well of John and found his speeches pleasing. In Matthew, Herodias does not appear as a player until the end where like in Mark; Herodias capitalizes on Antipas’s offer. In Mark, Antipas has been totally manipulated by Herodias and her daughter, but in Matthew, he has merely been enabled to do what he had wished all along but was too weak to do. One more account from the book of Josephus tells that Herodias and her daughter played no role whatsoever. Josephus and Matthew actually concur in seeing Herod as always desiring John’s death, but with different motivations being that John was critical of Herodias for the way of flouting Jewish tradition by marrying Antipas and this was the motive for Herods ordering the beheading. But Josephus does cite that Antipa’s was fearful of John’s popularity and that could have started and uprising. HIS PROPHECIES: John the Baptizer was a prophet that preached with not so much words but with life. The words of the prophet ring true only because they carry with them the sweat, tears and blood of the prophet. According to Abraham Joshua Heschel, prophets are preachers whose lives are under siege, â€Å"The prophet is a man who feels fiercely. God has thrust a burden upon his soul and he is bowed and stunned at man’s fierce greed. Frightful is the agony of man; no human voice can convey its full terror. Prophecy is the voice that God has lent to the silent agony, a voice to the plundered poor, to the profaned riches of the world. It is a form of living a crossing point of God and man. God is raging in the prophet’s words†. (Dube, 2002, p. 42). The ministry of John the Baptizer was to challenge, provoke and call towards holiness. Because prophets are on the cutting edge of the call for repentance, their call is to shatter the comfort zones of sin and complacency. The conditions that call fourth prophets are conditions of idolatry, moral decadence and weak spirituality. This is why strict conditions are set up for any prophet who prophesies peace. The message of the prophet is one that calls for repentance, one that threatens us with its incarnated holiness, rages at us with God’s words as with John the Baptizers words of, â€Å"Repent, God’s rule is around the corner! † John’s whole life was directed towards one goal, one direction, to give witness to the transcendent reality of God, which now made near, our eyes can see it and our hands can handle it. In John’s own words, â€Å"I did not know Him, but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water† (Dube, 2002, p.43). What this means is that, ultimately, every prophet has to let go. John the Baptizer has to let that which he has given witness to take its own shape and form. Letting go seems easy, a holy thing to do, but in its aftermath it is a very hazardous moment for the prophet. What is hazardous for the prophet is thinking about what has really taken place. The result is that this final movement of the prophetic life is bound by some kind of crisis such as doubt or a trouble in the mind. The prophet discovers that he or she is not the sound from the trumpet but just a reed. This realization requires a re-centering. In John’s case, the crisis is his doubts about the Messiah. But after John sends two of his disciples to ask Jesus a question if he was the one or whether they should look for another his fears were relinquished (Yancey, 2007, p. 72). In Christian faith they believe that John the Baptist was ordained by God to preach and reveal the Messiah, they believe this to be Jesus. Prophecies that were foretold by John are in Luke 1:17, â€Å"And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest, for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways. † and also Luke 1:75. In the Book of Malachi John the Baptist is referred to as a prophet who is to prepare the way of the Lord, â€Å"Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me, and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in, behold, he shall come, saith the Lord. † (3:1). PROOF OF EXISTENCE: In recent times a cave was discovered not far from the traditional birthplace of John the Baptist, Ein Kerem, just west of Jerusalem on a Kibbutz. Where John the Baptist was born and also where churches and monasteries are built to commemorate his birth. The cave is of considerable size with genuinely puzzling feature such as a large amount of broken patter, some dating to the period when John was active, a pool used perhaps for ritual immersion, a stone with the imprint of a foot, apparently used for foot-anointing and pictures on the walls that could relate to John the Baptist that depicts an upraised arm with three crosses. But much speculation as to whether this is a representation of John or not is still up in the air (Scham, 2004). Caves have long been associated with John. In the bible, his mother, Elizabeth, flees with him to a cave to escape Herod’s massacre of male infants, and as an adult he frequently lives in caves, giving some weight to the cave findings mentioned earlier. After John’s beheadings cults formed around his memory and often held religious rituals in caves. The site was excavated by Shimon Gibson an Israeli archaeologist in 1999 and 2000. Around the perimeter he discovered the remains of walls with large dress stones which usually is a sign of an important place in the Near East. Although Gibson isn’t clear on their age, he still uses this to uphold his find. Another artifact is a unique water channeling system suggesting the presence of a reservoir from its earliest occupation, probably between 800 and 500 B. C. This, Gibson proposes, was used for baptism rituals. Along with these relics are thousands of pieces of pottery, dating from Hellenistic times. CONCLUSION: John the Baptist was a prophet of the coming of Jesus and as elusive in history as was Jesus. Not much information can be obtained about much of his life except for what is mentioned in the Gospel. The finding of the cave and if it is indeed where John the Baptist did work his miracles would be the first evidence to his existence. In all the information I found most focused on his death and the meaning of his sermons towards the end of his life. If the evidence at the excavations do prove to the existence of John than evidence on Jesus’ life will follow. I was most interested in the essay by Ross S. Kraemer that mentioned a possibility that John and Jesus could be the same. Whatever is true, it is easy to say that John the Baptist was a man that through his sermons changed the world and created a faith. Bibliography Bugge, J. (2006, April). Virginity and prophecy in the old English Daniel. English Studies. 87(2), 127-147. Dube, C. (2002). From ecstasy to ecstasies: A reflection on prophetic and Pentecostal ecstasy in the light of John the Baptizer. Journal of Pentecostal Theology, 11. 1 41-52 Gibson, S. (2004). The cave of john the Baptist. New York: Doubleday Harrington, D. (2007, June 18). Decrease and increase. America, 196(21), 38-39. Kraemer, R. S. (2006). Implicating herodias and her daughter in the death of john the Baptizer: A christian theological strategy? Journal of Biblical Literature, 125(2), 321-349. Miller, L. & Scelfo, J. (2007, May 21). A portrait of faith. Newsweek, 14(21), n. p. Ratzinger, J. (2007, May 21). The meaning of baptism. Newsweek, 149(21), n. p. Scham, S. (2004, November). St. john’s cave. Archaeology, 57(6), 52. Tolson, J. (2006, March 17). The kingdom of Christ. News & World Report, 140(14), n. p. Warrington, K. (2006, April). Acts and the healing narratives: Why? Journal of Pentecostal Theology. 14(2), 189-217. Yancey, P. (2007, January). A tale of five herods. Christianity Today, 72.

A Study On Corruption In Bangladesh Politics Essay

A Study On Corruption In Bangladesh Politics Essay Bangladesh, undoubtedly, is one of the worlds most populated countries, with minimal progress because of its relatively late independence in 1971, as well as its limited resources. Bangladesh’s struggle to become an independent and developed country has been difficult, thus making it one of the poorest countries in the world. It ranks 36th in the world for having the largest portion of the population below the poverty line. Since people do not have a sufficient amount of money, they start to look for options in which they can seek personal gain, while disregarding ethical questions. Corruption is a fester epidemic in Bangladeshi society, penetrating the very fabric of the people’s lives. This prevents rich countries from effectively administrating crucial aid to poverty-stricken Bangladesh because of concerns regarding the rampant poverty. Corruption not only cripples the economic development of a country, but it also damages capital accumulation, increases income ineq uality, poverty and reduces the effectiveness of development aid.[1] Due to its geographic location, Bangladesh is subjected to many natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes and tsunamis. Bangladesh’s vulnerability to natural disasters unquestionably leaves more than half the nation dependent on water, which is now their means of living. People in Bangladesh are unable to meet the basic necessities of life and consequently, this triggers poverty. More than 45% of Bangladesh’s population is below the poverty line as of 2004. Therefore, the process of poverty leads to many people going into depression. Like many other developing nations, Bangladesh faces immense challenges. It will never have a viable future because factors like corruption, vulnerability to natural disasters and poverty hinder the nation’s progress. Bangladesh is a country, where more than 40 percent of the population lives less than a dollar a day, and a factor like corruption is just keepin g its economy from improving. Global watchdog Transparency International rated Bangladesh the world’s most corrupt nation for five consecutive years since 2001.[2] It has been estimated that nearly 75% more than $35 billion dollars received since independence has been lost for corruption.[3] Many politicians in Bangladesh attain private gain secretly and are never held accountable or accused for it because of their high ranks. Even the highest officers of politics and judiciary have been tainted by the evil of corruption. Money is always used to fill up the pockets of corrupted representatives. The educated are elected through rigging, and once they have a huge say in the government, they misuse their power of authority. The increase in corruption is due to inappropriate and inadequate applications of law. There have been no effective steps or activities taken to protest crime. Evidently, it is not easy to take action against corrupt government officials hence this all encour ages them towards greater corruption.[4] Corruption is also evident because of Bangladesh’s failure to practice proper democracy. When money is infested into Bangladesh’s economy, it is never used to abolish its weaknesses and rather used unethically. Since independence, most of those who ruled the country were corrupt. In all, the absence of trustworthy and honest leadership to guide a nation is the major cause of the increase in corruption.[5]

Citation paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Citation paper - Essay Example Streets of South Bronx, New York in the 1970s. This is a time in the American history when racism was still a force to reckon with. It was initially popular with the African-American youth with whom it was identified. Evidently, the term hip hop was coined by Keith Cowboy, a popular figure associated with Furious Five and Grandmaster Flash. After its invention, hip hop music became so popular especially due to the throwing of block parties which had become a prominent phenomenon at the time. Later, it transformed from a mere music genre into a culture. This cultural movement was mainly popular with the black youth who were still relying on it for changing the societal political, linguistic and artistic thought. Today, it is not restricted to the African-Americans only. Instead, it has become an accommodative culture that cuts across the divide. In fact, it is used by people from diverse racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds to combat crime and advocate for harmony in their midst. The article stresses that hip hop is a very important culture in the society. It has a lot of contributions to make not only to the youth, but to the entire society. First, it has been used to empower the youth. As a commercial activity, hip hop has been used by the youth to help them to improve their communication skills and creativity. Meaning, it instills critical life skills into them. These include discipline and hard work. For instance, as artists, they need to come up with strategies to appeal to their fans and satisfy their diverse needs. Besides, hip hop culture has been of much benefit to the society since it used to fight the numerous challenges facing different people in the society. just like it was done during its earlier stages, hip hop has helped in advocating for change. Therefore, it has been used by the youth to fight for the availability of shelter, education, job

Financing the Short Term Obligations Coursework

Financing the Short Term Obligations - Coursework Example Body Paragraphs Task 1 Short term financing is vital for any kind of business in order to meet its financial necessities in a short period of time. Consequently, there are various sources of attaining short term debts. However, the four primary sources of short term finance available to any business comprise of Trade Credit, Bank Credit, Customers’ Advances and Commercial Paper. Trade Credit implies the allowance of credit businesses by the providers of raw materials and other equipment. In this type of financing, though no cash is allotted to the business, but it is given the permission to holdup the payment for the goods up to the extinction of the credit. Bank Credit is another significant source of short term financing which allows businesses to draw credit at once or in phases. There are various sub-categories of Bank Credit such as Loans, Cash Credit, Overdraft and Discounting of Bill. The third short term financing source is Customers’ Advances in which businesse s ask customers to pay a part of their payment in advance. This is often the case when orders are large as it facilitates the company to overcome its short-term necessities (World Academy Online, 2011). The fourth source is Commercial Paper, which is a short term unsecured obligation set out by a large company to investors, with the purpose of financing its immediate needs of inventories and other materials. Maturities on such papers do not exceed 270 days and the interest rate is usually less than that offered in bank loans. Since it is not a secured instrument of debt, therefore it is only acceptable if issued by credible organizations (Kacperczyk, 2010) Task 2 1. McDonald as well as Burger King have financed their short term needs and requirements largely through Bank Credits and Trade Credits. Both the companies have been borrowing capital from banks to buy inventories and goods which are needed urgently. They have also utilized the facility of Trade Credit through their supplie rs. In case of Burger King, short term obligations form around half of the total liabilities, indicating significant dependence on short term financing (Burger King Holdings Inc, 2012). In contrast to Burger King, McDonald’s short term obligations form around 33% of its total liabilities (McDonald’s Corporation, 2012) 2. Burger King Liquidity Ratios 1. Current Ratio = Current Assets / Current Liabilities (2011) = 434,000,000 / 473,000,000 =0.91 x 2. Quick / Acid Test Ratio = (Current Assets – Inventory) / Current Liabilities (2011) = (434,000,000 – 15,400,000)/ 473,000,000 = 0.88 x Efficiency Ratios 3. Debtor Days = Account Receivables / (Sales/360) (2011) = 138,100,000 / (2,502,200,000/360) = 19.87 days 4. Creditor Days = Accounts Payable / (Sales/360) (2011) = (106,900,000) / (2,502,200,000/360) = 15.38 days 5. Stock Turnover Days = (Inventory x 360) / Cost of Goods Sold (2011) = (15,400,000 x 360) / 1,614,800,000 = 3.43 days McDonald Liquidity Ratios 6 . Current Ratio = Current Assets / Current Liabilities (2011) = 4,368,500,000 / 2,924,700,000 = 1.49 x 7. Quick / Acid Test Ratio = (Current Assets – Inventory) / Current Liabilities (2011) = (4,368,500,000 – 109,900,000) / 2,924,700,000 = 1.46 x Efficiency Ratios 8. Debtor Days = Account Receivables / (Sales/360) (2011) = 1,179,100,000 / (27,006,000,000/360) = 15.71 days 9. Creditor Days = Accounts Payable / (Sales/360) (2011) = (943,900,000)/ (27,006,000,000/

Migrant women Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Migrant women - Essay Example It is the movement of people from one place to another, either as an individual or in masses. People may either move over long or short distances to stay over long or short periods of time. This is because people tend to move to the industrialized areas that present employment opportunities as well as market created by a large number of people who seek employment in the established industries. Financial globalization has also encouraged globalization of labor leading to high levels of migration, especially from the less developed economies to the developed economies. Initially, men were predominant amongst the migrants. However, with recent empowerment of women in acquiring skills, their competitiveness in the labor market has improved. The need to satisfy financial needs has seen women actively participating in the labor market. With high dependence on agriculture in the less developed countries, population increase has led to reduced agricultural land and people have to look for al ternative ways of earning a livelihood. Migration of women is mainly triggered by the desire to feed their families. With modern transportation, migration has been made easy. People can move conveniently all over the world so long as they can afford to meet the cost. Most of the migrants from the less developed economies move to developed ones to offer cheap and unskilled labor. Women from Asia and Africa have been migrating to the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada to seek employment.

Failure of Financial Regulation in the UK Essay

Failure of Financial Regulation in the UK - Essay Example This essay evaluates the failures of financial policies in United Kingdom and the move made by policy makers to cushion the country from falling into financial crisis. Financial crisis witnessed towards end of this decade had similar effects to crisis witnessed in 1970s. Many people grappled in unemployment, devaluation of wealth and other related issues that come when economic depression occurs1. G 20 meeting realized that policy tools made to cushion the world from economic slump had failed to discharge their role. It was also apparent from that meeting that the banking policies of United Kingdom and related market players had stains to the crisis. Growth in a country or in the world depends on sound policies, which balances the financial market and enhances economic stability. Economists and analysts in the economic sector believe that fiscal tools, which guide the economic growth of the country, must meet a certain threshold if the country is to remain stable. Deliberation of the meeting indicated that credit securitization is a factor that policy makers in the financial sector ignored2. Many banks offered credit loans to investors without collaterals that could support financial stability. The banks could not raise the minimum threshold required to make them remain in businesses after the investors had defaulted. The result was as worst as the financial depression of 1970s. Critics have contributed to this situation by making different argument about the country should do to avoid similar misfortune. The argument has rested on the effects of policy, which influence banking system. Some critics noted that policies instituted to correct the dangers of economic depression failed because of poor implementation strategy, which aimed at making the country more economically sound. Many economists believe that policy tools adopted in the banking sector created a window, which led to the economic meltdown. Evidently, a weakness of a policy can create instability as observed during the financial crisis. The major question that the society is trying to answer is not what caused the depression but how it can avoid the depression in future. Analysts have settled on the fact that failure of UK financial system is the contributor of the economic crisis. Economists have stated three reasons, which support the argument that policy failure led to financial meltdown. First, the role of financial market is to regulate market economy3. This regulation occurs through relationship that exists between the financial system and the market players. Economists believe that financial relationships influence market structures by creating stability and instability in the market. This means that financial system is the key driver to propel market structures towards making balance payment in the market. A failure of the system spells doom to the society since it creates imperfect operation in the market. Evidently, a slight mess bin the market would contribute to a collapse of other systems in the financial sector. Financial analysts have sited burst and boom factors as factors that directly influence market stability. Financial system usually look at credit supply and credit pricing as factors that control speculation in the burst and boom factors. Studies indicate that internet burst and boom witnessed in 1998-2001 increased the liquidity index in the country4.

Questions police administartion and crime Coursework

Questions police administartion and crime - Coursework Example To rate the squad supervisors one should use the relative methods because this method draw comparisons between and among employees. The employees are ranked from the best to the worst on the accuracy of their judgments. This method makes it easier for the supervisors in making relative judgments (Miller, Blackler and Alexandra, 2005). The best squad is the squad that follows the due process of law and the constitutional guidelines. It is the squad that is pushing very hard is being too â€Å"hard-nosed. The best squad should provide quality police protection at a reasonable cost. It should meet the set objectives. Therefore, the best squad is one that has good terms of service, ensures that order is maintained and has good relations with the citizens. Today more focus has been drawn on the inputs and process of the police and less focus is put on the outcomes, results or the outputs (Miller et al, 2005). Having worked in an organization beset by the quantity versus quality dilemma I felt that the company was more concerned with the quantity of performance. The quantities were used as performance measurements making it difficult to determine the quality of the products. The productivity measures that were used to measure the quality of performance includes the number of increased sales more units produced and attracting employee job satisfaction (Cordner and Scarboroug, 2007). Kenney and McNamara (1999) argue that the best measure of police performance is the use of multiple measures such as subjective and objective measures. Subjective measures will help in measuring what is important to measure. This involves identifying various components of police performance as reflected from the diverse view points on the police functions. The target measurement will assist in valuing the accuracy of the operation hence making it easier to support evidence when asked to do so. Some issues of performance lend themselves to objective measures while others are best measured using the subjective measures. Measuring a good officer involves analyzing their professionalism. This means that the officer should be able to bring himself out of dangerous situations without using force. The officer should establish good relations with the citizens being policed and conduct themselves in a manner that shows their authority and control (Cordner and Scarboroug, 2007). They should also be responsible for their actions, dependable and meticulous, taking the right actions as the situations demand. They should be individuals who respect the rights of others and are aware of the laws, procedures and regulations governing them. Individual should also look at the number of commendation and awards or medal received or number of complaints raised against the officer (Matthew, 2008). Question 2 I’m in favor of aggressive patrol because it focuses on specific high crime areas and uses crime statistics and beat staffing. It also makes patrol rational and more informed h ence leading to better results. The police involved in aggressive patrols is adequately trained and provided with appropriate resources and hence this increases the chances of detection of crimes and prevention. Aggressive patrols have also led to reduced traffic violations hence reduced deaths as a result of accidents. They have made it possible to fish out criminals, drug

Summry of any book Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Summry of any book - Essay Example The reaping is a disillusioned period as it determines which boy and girl aged between 12 and 18 gets to serve the district’s tribute during the Hunger Games. The tributes are individuals who come from all of the 12 districts and they face each other in an arena where they must fight until there is only one remaining tribute. The victor ultimately receives a valued gift and in this context, it is food. A shocking turn of events turns up when Prim is the choice at the reaping. However, Katniss volunteers to take up her place as she is too young and she made a vow to protect her family at all costs. Another baffle comes in when a young boy, Peeta Mellark comes into the view of the reader as the other tribute. Katniss recalls that he had saved her by giving her bread and she felt obliged as she now owed him her life and in contrast she was contemplating killing him in the games. Katniss bids her family and friends goodbye and sets out on the train where they experience luxuries b eyond their wildest imagination. The novel ends with the two characters from District 12 going home as celebrated heroes. She knows that she pretended to love Peeta and this saved her from dying although her mind was instantly fixated on Gale. She is at a junction with her feelings as she is not certain who she truly loves, but must abide to the rules least Capitol take a large punishment on her for lying (Suzanne

Self_Appraisal_Report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Self_Appraisal_Report - Assignment Example The assessment has been made in accordance with theories provided by research scholars regarding the benefits of work based learning and the skills obtained from this process which will help an individual to secure a better job. The report also highlights the researcher’s future plans in terms of the developments that are yet to be made in order to enhance his/her skills. Following that suitable conclusions and recommendations have been made. Table of Contents Summary 2 Introduction 4 Self-Appraisal 4 Skills and Experience relevant to my career goals 6 Future Plans 7 Conclusions and Recommendations 7 Reference List 8 Introduction Over the past few decades, the field of education and occupational learning has witnessed a shift of regime. There has been a significant change in how students and policy makers perceive higher education and the role of universities. The idea of enrolling in a university to become intellectually enlightened has been replaced with the idea that the pr imary objective of higher education is to serve the industry (Huq and Gilbert, 2012). The fundamental of work based learning (WBL) is based upon the fact that individuals will thrive to understand the meaning of theory and thereafter attain wisdom through real life experience. This is also known as experiential learning. WBL is of utmost importance which helps an individual to be self directed, competent, self managing, constructive, reflective and autonomous who will be able to extract and articulate the meaning of learning from their everyday routine of work. As such this report will primarily involve a self assessment of the researcher on the basis of the internship that the researcher underwent and thereby highlighting the importance of internship and work based learning and the outcomes from them. In addition to that, the self assessment of the researcher will also describe personal skills and experience possessed by the researcher prior to the internship and how those implemen ted and what additional skills and experiences were earned. Based on the points explained, a suitable conclusion will be reached as to how important is work based learning/internship to the modern day education system and recommendations will also be made regarding the changes that are required, if any, in order to bring upon improvement in this system of education. Self-Appraisal As has been explained by Gault, Redington and Schlager (2010), work based education also referred to as experiential education, plays a crucial role in shaping lives of undergraduates thereby enhancing their preparation in order to achieve success in the entry level job market. It provides a means by which both students and faculties can bridge the gap between the career expectations developed during classroom tutorial and the reality of employment in the field of work. Similar conclusion has been presented by Gault, Leach and Duey (2010), who also highlighted the importance of experiential learning. They explained that, experiential education is of paramount importance at the initial stages of an individual’s career thereby uplifting the prospect of employment candidates in job market. Similar theories have been outlined by Bridgstock (2009). Having the same belief, as has been explained by the authors mentioned above; I also enrolled for an internship in order to undergo the experiential learning process while pursuing my degree education. My job title was that of a

International Marketing Essay Example for Free

International Marketing Essay Introduction The last two decades, probably after World War II the economic growth have speeded up by multinational enterprise. In the 1990s foreign direct investment made by these firms grew as faster arte than both international trade and GDP (Cieslik Ryan, 2011). The foreign direct investment already created lots of fortune for world economy; however, it is not luck to each international firm. Some of them also faced huge risk, even failure. Throughout history, it seems like it is not easy for companies to entry foreign markets. Some of firms were very successful in the their home countries; however, they were failed in foreign markets. Those corporations adopted the same marketing strategies that they used in their home countries because they thought using the same methods would bring much profit in the foreign countries. However, the results were not they expected before. Why? The main reason is that the foreign market environment is not the same with their home countries. There are many different conditions in foreign, and those differences would make international companies rearrange strategies for new markets. Such as, culture, geography, religion, politics, etc. Among those differences, the most important is culture difference. Culture is a system of values and norms that are shared among a group of people and that when taken together constitute a design for livingwhere values are abstract ideas about what a group believes is good, right, and desirable, and norms are the social rules and guidelines that prescribe appropriate behavior in particular situations. Therefore, international firms cannot use the same marketing strategies that they used before to apply different foreign markets. In addition to strategy difference, in the past, standard products were popular by international enterprises since they can operate multinational supply chains by standard operations. However, recently, more firms design their product more localization, it is because international firms want to fit in deeply foreign markets. Sometime, the companies even need to adjust their products for foreign customers, like Starbucks and Coca-Cola adjusted their recipes for local markets. Facing the different markets, the corporations should use different strategies to fit in the different markets, and customized product for local customers. International enterprises need to restart to think many details about their customers, product, service, supply chains, etc. In addition, there are different modes for foreign firms to entry the different countries, such as exporting, contractual agreements, strategic alliances, and direct foreign investment. Each mode has its risk, and international companies should find out the best mode to for itself. Choice of entering foreign mode is always a good argument for literature. The primary option is foreign direct investment. It can bring lucrative benefit, but it has biggest risk. The direct selling and setting the branches are costly, and business organizations would face bigger risks by this directly foreign selling mode. Well know examples of such organization are using this mode to set up their value chain in foreign countries, such as Banyan Tree, UTC, and Volkswagen (Jonsson Foss, 2011). Other is separating ownership and control, likes contractual agreement. Although this mode could not bring the benefit directly, it is long-term investment and has low investment risk (Brown, Dev, Zhou, 2003). Other is strategic international alliance, it is based on some specific conditions that are controlling cost and arranging schedule, to generate this mode, such as, the air industry (Brown, Dev, Zhou, 2003). Whichever mode do the companies decide, and they still need to review their strategies for foreign markets. It is because the company would face changing quickly environment, the shopping behavior, units of employee, and political issues. Companies can predict some considerations and take the reactions, but firms should take the risk for some of issues that they do not have reaction (Raff, Ryan, Stahler). In this paper we would learn form it internationalization experience and strategies, and multinational corporations’ organization. Also, we would see conversions from the standardly operation to localize management and production. Then, we would discuss about other modes to entry foreign market (Chen Chang, 2010). Literature Review According to the survey of IMF, the foreign market entry has been a popular topic in international business research during the last couple of decades. Firms need new market to increase sales, to avoid competitor, and to cost down. Manufacturing industries become the initially parts of main interest in entry the foreign market studies because they want to acquire the advantage of resource efficiency, such as labor force, natural resources, policy of foreign investment, to make more profit. However, with the fast movement of technology and the growing of many potential markets like China, India, and Brazil, entering a foreign market becomes the critical issue for a company to reach more customers and earn more profit. To expanding the business to global market, the manufacture industries now have to put effort on both manufacturing and service. Today, there are more different ways for companies to enter foreign markets. Thanks for the Internet, it speeds up the globalization and connects the global information quicly. Not only business organizations can sell their product in different modes, but also they can gather more information than before. With the help of IT techonology, a corporation can track customers action and consuming habit. Although the Internet provides many variety ways for companies with diversity methods to sell a merchaindise, the risk of entering foreign markets are still very high. Before companies entering foreign market, they should do more research about new markets to avoid the risks that they can predict. There are some reasons that demostrate why research is so important. First, the capital is limited. Even though the big company as Walmart and eBay, they still cannot suffer huge amount of loss in a market. That is why they stayed back to the Asia market. In addition, doing local research can help companies know their customer better, so they can adjust their marketing st rategies efficiently and effectively. Furthermore, by researching the information of the competitors, the companies can decide which ways to enter foreign markets, to go with an agent or do with a joint venture, and what strategy can make the companies stand out in the market and segment with the competitor. Therefore, utilizing information is significant to knock out today’s multinational business. When it comes to brick-and-motor, targeting at developing countries with high disposable income seems to be easier to success (Polly Chan, 2009), because both of domestic demand and personal income are growing. Once a corporation focus on a high potential market, they should learn how to localization. Firms should not get locked into their glory in the original market and shoul make strategy flexible as they internationalize. They face different culture, government laws, consumer behavior, and business model of local partner, so the strategy should be localized. Moreover, the corporation must be sure that the brand image and core concept deliver precisely to the customers, then educating them to find the value in the business merchandise and service; therefore, it can outshining in the blue sea as what Apple did. Innovation also plays an important role of success as well; especially when innovation combined with brand value tightly, so do not be afraid of being different. Last, using resourse wisely and keeping good relationship with other corporation might be a competitive advantage in the future. However, cost down is not the only mesure to increase profit or secure a business. To pursue futher development, firm must avoid stocking with a particular mode due to they feel comfortable with it. In conclusion, gathering enough and critical information, the right and in-time decisions from management, market choosing, evaluating the local economy and culture are significant factors to success in foreign market entry, rather than the firm size or how many financial asset it has. To support our finding and theory, we are providing the case of three international businesses, UTC in technology industry, Banyan Tree in tourism industry, and Volkswagen in manufacture industry. Banyan Tree Introduction The first Banyan Tree resort opened in 1994, transforming an ecological wasteland into an environmentally sensitive resort – Banyan Tree Phuket (Banyan Tree, 2012). Banyan Tree’s philosophy is based on providing a place for renew of the body, mind and soul. Each Banyan Tree property is designed to fit into natural surroundings, using indigenous materials and reflecting the landscape and architecture of the destination. Banyan Tree group currently consists of 30 hotels and resorts, over 60 spas 80 retail galleries, and aggressive expansion plans for the future (Banyan Tree, 2012). Banyan Tree Hotels Resorts has grown into one of Asias most successful hospitality brands with numerous international awards and accolades from publications like the prestigious Conde Nast Traveler and others. Even during the SARS outbreak in Asia in 2003, the company still emerged profitable by achieving average occupancy rates of 65-67% (Roll, 2006). In 2011, the revenue is 270 million US do llars (Exhibit 1). Banyan SWOT Analysis Strengthens Eco-friendly Accommodation. Accommodation of Banyan Tree group emphasizes rejuvenation, eco-friendly, romance, and luxury. The corporation reminds customers that while you are enjoying the vacation, you can still do something for environmental protection. Therefore giving the customers an important message that Banyan Tree is not only a profit-oriented company, it still cares about of the global environment and commit itself in sustainable management. Fast Business Expansion. Banyan Tree expands the business global in a rapid speed. Both Banyan Tree and Angsana resorts are taking an ambitious movement in entering new traveling location, such as China, Greek, and India. With two brands on the way, the expansion rate is much faster than other competitors; hence, Banyan Tree group can acquire market share more rapidly in the new holiday paradise and enjoy the first mover advantage in those areas. Brand Extension. Angsana is a more affordable resort brand that helps Banyan Tree to attract lower level of customers. This differentiation not only helps Banyan Tree to gain more business but also creates a more vivid atmosphere to give customers a brand-new experience. Despite Angsana’s price is cheaper, it does not mean the service or the landscape are less impressive. Angsana still offers a high quality value as Banyan Tree does. SPA Specialty. Spa training school, which set in Phucket, might cost amount of fee; however, both the quality and service are be guaranteed. Moreover, the therapist has to go practical training as well. This is also why Banyan Tree and Angsana Spa won amount of awards in travel industry. Community Development. Banyan Tree group also delicates in community development, a part of profits is used to build school and childcare center, and help the local artist to develop their career. This is the kind of social responsibility that everyone eagers to s ee. The more profit one company earned, the more it should feedback to the resident and society. Weakness Politic Issue. Government law is different from one country to another; thus before entering a new market, Banyan Tree should exam the law carefully and has to think what the worse situation could happen. In some countries, Banyan Tree should go with joint venture, while in others countries they might welcome direct investment. Tax also plays a critical role in the profit. The instable political situation can greatly affect the business and profitability in a period. Taken Thailand as the example, in 2009, the protesters of red-shirt caused fears and panic in tourists, in the end, causing the slum in the whole hospitality industry. No matter what method, the company must prepare for the rainy days. Human Resource. Human force is another weakness of Banyan Tree business. As the expansion of the resorts, Banyan Tree must find more labor force that can communicate in English fluently. But, in nowadays, English might not be enough because of the rising of Chinese market. Furthermore, not every customer speaks neither in English nor Chinese, so looking for multi-language employees would be an urgent issue. Natural Disaster. Many Banyan Tree Resorts locate in the tropical area around by beautiful sea. Natural hazards, such as typhoon and earthquake, influence the rate of occupancy tremendously. For example, in 2004, the tsunami damaged the travel industry in Phuket and Maldives. The only thing Banyan Tree could do is to repair the resorts and to wait for tourism back. Opportunities Chinese Market. As Chinese economy continues growing, the amounts of wealthy Chinese people pay more attention to vacation and family activities, thus booming the international and national tourism market. Moreover, more and more people show interest in going to Asia and experiencing the culture of Asia. Because Banyan Tree started in Asia and is very active in establishing business in China, Banyan Tree and Angsana resorts would have a great advantage in the segment of luxury hotel. Besides China, there are still many new hot spot that Banyan Tree could enter, such as Europe, Mediterranean, and Caribbean. Member of Luxury Hotel Group. The Banyan Tree Resorts and Angsana Resorts are the members of The Leading Hotels Of The World (LHTW) (The Leading Hotels of the World, 2012) and Okura Hotels and Resorts (OHR) (Banyan Tree, 2012). Marketing alliance with LHTW and OHR also ensure the quality of the Banyan Tree. To be the member of LHTW, five stars is the basic requirement. A hotel must have additional conditions, such as delicate design, high-class service, amazing food, and breath-taking landscape. The marketing alliance is a magnificent method to increase Banyan Tree’s exposure and to enhance its business. Cooperate with Agent. Cooperate with agencies is another great opportunity to let people notice the brand and attract more customers. Many wealthy people do not do researches or plan a vacation by themselves; instead, they prefer to book a package tour or flight plus ticket plan when they plan a vacation. This type of people will recommend the hotels and the agency if they are satisfied with the trip. After all, by word-of-mouth marketing strategy is very powerful tool to increase the fame. Threaten Luxury Hotel Competitors. Maintaining a niche position as market matured was an ongoing issue for the company. New luxury hotels are building, such as Aman Resort in the vacation paradise and Marriot in the city. In order to be sustainable in the global market place, Banyan Tree can no longer just rely on competing with costs from manufacturing efficiencies or low cost production. Banyan Tree needs to reinforce on unique culture experience and convey the brand value to customers. Economic Recession. Many 5 stars hotels, maybe not as luxury as Banyan Tree, have begun the price war in recent years when the global economy went down. In economy recession, customer chose a cheaper hotel to stay and deducted the entertainment fee. From aviation industry to hotel industry, they all faced the decrease in revenues. This factor might cause Banyan Tree’s revenue dropped dramatically in 2009. UTC Introduction United Technologies Corporation (UTC) is the ranked number 150 on the Fortune 500 of 2011, and it is the ranked number 48 of the United States companies. Its revenue is 58,190.0 million and profit is 4,979.0 million in 2012 (Fortune Magazine, 2011). UTC is a diversified company that provides†¨a broad range of high-technology products, services to the global aerospace and building systems industries. The diversified manufacturer which owns Carrier air conditioning and heating company, Otis elevator company, and Sikorsky, a builder of commercial and military helicopters. In addition, UTC has a strategically balanced product portfolio that enables the company to tap diverse set off (United Technologies Corporation, 2012). In 2011, UTC announced a reorganization of our commercial and aerospace businesses. UTC commercial businesses are Otis elevators and escalators and the new UTC climate, controls security, which includes Carrier and UTC Fire security. UTC’s aerospace busin esses are Sikorsky aircraft and the†¨new UTC propulsion aerospace systems, which includes Pratt Whitney aircraft engines and Hamilton Sundstrand aerospace and industrial products (United Technologies Corporation, 2012). UTC SWOT Analysis Strength Strategically Balanced portfolio of Products and Revenue streams. UTC has diversified product. The company operates thought business segments to military area. Also, the company has a diversified revenue streams. Revenues from company’s subsidiaries were well balanced. The balanced products and revenue streams allow UTC to address a wide base that reduces the business ricks and enables the company catch opportunities in new existing markets (Datamonitor, 2011). Strong emphasis on Research and Development. UTC has a strong emphasis in research and development. The company conducts its research and development activities by United Technologies Research Center (United Technologies Corporation, 2012). The center is focused on developing new technologies and upgrading existing technics in UTC’s product areas. In addition to United States, UTC operates research in many countries, China, Cork, and Ireland. Besides, UTC invests lot of budget in the technology development and research. For example, during FY2011, UTC’s research and development expenditure was $2.1 billion or 3.5% of total sales (Marketline , 2012). Such focus on research and development helps UTC incorporating newer features to its existing range of products and also in bring out latest technologies in the varied areas. Thus, the company strong emphasis on research and development allows it to uphold the technological leadership in most of its product segments (Marketl ine , 2012). Industry Recognition. UTC has a strong recognition in the industry. Otis, is one of the world’s largest elevator and escalator systems, and Carrier, is the world’s largest manufacturer of heating, ventilating air conditioning and refrigeration systems (United Technologies Corporation, 2012). In addition to UTC, Pratt Whitney is also one of the world’s leading suppliers of aircraft engines for commercial and military. Moreover, Hamilton Sundstrand is one of the leading suppliers of technologically advanced aerospace and indusial product and aftermarket services for diversified industries worldwide. Also, Sikorsky, is a strong suppliers of helicopter (United Technologies Corporation, 2012). Strong recognition across varied categories ensures its status as one of the strongest players in industry, which further enhance the brand image of the company and gives it a competitive advantage (Marketline , 2012). Weakness Legal Proceedings. UTC has several pending lawsuits. For example, the company was sued by the Department of Justice(DOJ) in 1999 in the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, claiming that Pratt Whitney violated the civil False Claims Act and common law. In relation to this lawsuit, the trial court judge fund that Pratt Whitney violate the False Claims Act and is liable for a fine of up of $624 million. Moreover, there are others lawsuit and the fines are not cheap (Datamonitor, 2010). Although UTC maintains reserves to cover the costs for claims and lawsuits, those litigations would impact the company’s brand image and reputation. Significant Debt. UTC has outstanding debt and other financial obligations and significant unused borrowing capacity. In FY2011, the company had total significant debt of $10,260 million (United Technologies Corporation, 2012). The debt could force the company to allocate a considerable portion of cash flows from operations to debt service payments; limit the company’s ability to obtain additional financing; and lose advantage against its competitors who may have less debt. In other words, much debt would impact significantly companies’ performance (Marketline , 2012). Opportunities Surge in defense spending in China and India. UTC provides a wide range of technology products and services to global defense industry, including the fastest growing markets, China and India. The increasing global defense spending would provide the topline growth for the company in the short to medium term (United Technologies Corporation, 2012). Strategic acquisitions. UTC made significant acquisition in 2010 and 2011 from the company’s Fire Security segment. This acquisition will allow the company to expand its offerings of high quality gas and flame detection products (United Technologies Corporation, 2012). UTC uses to take the acquisition from other segment to develop other segments that UTC planned. Such strategic acquisitions would provide the company an opportunity to increase its global presence and revenue base (Datamonitor, 2011). Positive outlook for HVAC equipment market. The global HVAC equipment market has witnessed a strong growth since last few years. The global HVAC equipment market is forecasted to grow at a rate of approximately 6% annually, which is expected to drive the market to $93.2 billion by the end of 2014 (Marketline , 2012). UTC through its Carrier business segment provides products including residential, commercial and industrial heating, ventilating, air conditioning (HVAC) and refrigeration systems and equipment. The company is well positioned to capitalize on the growing HVAC equipment market (Datamonitor, 2011). Threats Intense Competition in Aerospace Business. The aerospace, global defense, space and aerospace industries businesses are subject to substantial competition from domestic manufacturers, foreign manufacturers and companies that obtain regulatory agency approval to manufacture spare parts. Customer selections of engines and components can also have a significant impact on later sales of parts and services. In addition, the US government’s and other government’s polices of purchasing part from suppliers other than the original equipment manufacturer affect military spare parts sales (Marketline , 2012). Government Contracting Risks. The US government contracts are subjected to termination by the government, either for the convenience of the government or for default as a result of UTC’s failure to perform under the applicable contract. Those U.S government contracts are not easy to make profit, but UTC has many kinds of this contracts with the U.S governments (Datamonitor, 2011). Foreign Currency Fluctuations. UTC conducts its business on a global basis. The company derived approximately 60% of its total FY2010 segment sales from international operations. Therefore, the currency risk is an extremely important factor for UTC’s earnings. Any changes in demand and refinancing conditions, fluctuations, in exchange rates have a significant impact on the company’s earnings (Marketline , 2012). Volkswagen Introduction Volkswagen has been the largest carmaker in Europe since the 1970s. It also has the largest assembly plant (Wolfsburg) and best-selling car (Golf) in Europe.   Being a German company, Volkswagen group positions its brands at the premium part of the market Audi is mass premium, Volkswagen is semi-premium while Bentley, Lamborghini and Bugatti are prestige marques. Only the Spanish SEAT and Czech Skoda target at the lower end of the market, but they still share the high quality and engineering standard of the group because of extensive platform and component sharing.As the worlds leading car manufacturers, Volkswagen group is the typical transnational business template, Volkswagen historical analysis, it is clear to get a development model targeted analysis. Volkswagen SWOT Analysis Until the early 21st century, the worlds leading international automobile manufacturers have found that this â€Å"fertile land† which have not been fully reclaimed. However, in more than a decade of dominance, Volkswagen brand cannot shake the brand influence. Until today, VW brand identity is the identification of the most well-known automobile. Strength Brand Awareness. From Volkswagens own point of view, the most important point is that the layout of the product. Since Volkswagen was into China early, and thus its product line pulled very long, the vast Chinese market is a large hierarchy of needs and different techniques have competitive products on the price level, to ensure that the public give full play to their own advantages. Volkswagen’s popular products always have been durable, reliable performance and good reputation. Products Targeted. Finally, there is the introduction of the new Skoda, Volkswagens product family has been more fully into the Chinese from Audi, the high-end flagship Volkswagen in different market segments, each with good results and competitiveness. Room to grow. Volkswagen is now one-step ahead of the introduction of the latest addition to the vehicle platforms, engines and other key technology production, in order to ensure that they can have enough growth space. In addition, the development of new products based on the specific situation of the Chinese market in support of SAIC and FAW, Volkswagen began to actively exploring. Localization makes Volkswagen to be strengthened competitiveness in the Chinese automobile market, the future Volkswagen will become important weapon to compete in Chinas automobile market. Weakness Inappropriate Choice of Market Strategy. Volkswagen seems to have deviated from the direction of the public, and fully intends to make a difference in the luxury segment. Decline in market share. The data show that the Chinese auto market hotspots Global the major Automotive Group competition, the Volkswagen Groups market share in China hold the first place, but the share declined. To keep the advantage, Volkswagen has announced an additional investment of 1.6 billion euros for the construction of two new factories and other projects in China. Models look rich enough, a single product line. Conservative single shape is Volkswagens standard. Now everyone pursuit of individuality society shape is a good way to Volkswagen, however, how you can easily imagine the serious and cautious changes of German companys philosophy. Opportunity Growth of the private car market in China. With the rapid development of Chinas social productive forces, the sound and rapid development of economic construction has made each grade highway construction great achievements, people travel more convenient than before. The private car market gradually matured. The purchasing power for the entire auto market is improved. Development of new energy technologies. Volkswagen is now for electric vehicles to develop a clear product release schedule. Electric drive car with internal combustion engine-driven vehicles will coexist. Technologies in this field will be further strengthening. In order to reduce the fuel consumption and emissions significantly, these measures will allow Volkswagen to a leading position in the zero-emission car market. Improve public relations effect. In modern society, manufacturers and distributors, the service is an important means of marketing. Consumer satisfaction is their survival of the lifeline. By having a closer look on the sales figures, Volkswagen is very successful in selling their cars in China. It is also an effective way to explore and establish a good relationship with government, so that Volkswagen will once again return to the core area of ​​the Chinese people and market. Threat Japanese car competition. Strong competition from competitors, especially the Japanese auto strong competition for the Volkswagen from Germany is a big impact. As the oil belongs to the non-renewable resources, along with the gradual expansion of the use of inevitably less and less, plus the worlds largest oil-producing region of the Middle East political instability, oil prices fluctuated, the overall trend is gradually Shanghai Volkswagens fuel economy is relatively certain deficiencies. Shanghai Volkswagen has brought certain threat. Return risk. Volkswagen is committed to clean energy and energy-saving vehicles developed new energy is also the world in the development of R D, the threat is that the publics investment in can be rewarded. Developed a higher energy consumption of resources, and that Volkswagen will go to recover the huge investment. In addition, the Japanese small car in the energy and environmental protection more highlight the advantages of a smaller investment in environmental protection in transition. The public why the assurance that their input is value for money a significant threat to public investment cannot maintain a leading level will be for their own development. Service Competition. In order to progress automotive competition, Shanghai Volkswagen had make in the current situation. Must be able to advance with the times, and the development and use of its own suited to the development of the marketing strategy, market demand, and solve problems for customers, and strive to make customer satisfaction. Improve the pre. Sale, service, and strive to improve the scientific and technological content of products and services. Volkswagen is currently lagging behind in this regard in the Japanese and Korean car manufacturers. Analysis Doing business in home country is quite different in other country. In the class, we already know some essential conditions for multination corporations. Moreover, we will discuss that these multination enterprises have some similar characters to success in today’s environment. Also, we can understand what foreign challenges they are facing when they are entering global markets. Similarity Brand awareness. It is very critical for a company to keep leadership or earn profit in an industry. How to let customer embrace the idea of company is a significant issue for marketing strategy. Volkswagen is a wild-known Germany car brand with high quality and brand recognition. â€Å"Volkswagen – Das Auto†, the slogan of Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand combines the three core values: â€Å"innovative†, â€Å"providing enduring value† and â€Å"responsible† (Volkswagen, 2008). It launched many successful car models such as Volkswagen Golf and Beetle. Next, Banyan Tree Hotel Resort, the Asia based luxury hotels group, also has a strong brand awareness. A Sanctuary for the Senses is the philosophy behind the hotels, resorts, residences, spas, retail galleries and destination club is based on rejuvenation of the body, mind and soul (Banyan Tree, 2012), thus giving the customers the greatest experience and building its name. Otis, the brand belongs to UTC, is one of the world’s largest elevator and escalator systems, and Carrier, and is also the world’s largest manufacturer of heating, ventilating air conditioning and refrigeration systems (United Technologies Corporation, 2012). From this three brand, we saw that they are dedicating in creating brand awareness, because it is the key to expend to the future business. Expending market in China. China is the biggest market in the world. With high economic growth rate, in China more and more people have disposable income to enjoy the material life, and more and more enterprises are thriving, too; therefore, a huge amount of commodities are needed. From the manufacture industry (Volkswagen and UTC) to tourism industry (Banyan Tree), they are heading and accelerating their business in China. Not only the national market that enterprises focus, but also target at the international customers that come to do the business or travel in China. In the next three years, the Banyan Tree group, including Angsana, plans to open 20 resorts in China (Banyan Tree Hotels Resorts, 2012). UTC will try to have business relationship with Chinese government on the global defense spending in the short to medium term. Face on fierce competition. Even though each brand, Volkswagen, UTC, and Banyan Tree, is one of brand leader in its own industry; however, they still face tremendous competition. In the luxury high-end car model, Volkswagen faces the competition of Ferrari, Mercedes, and BMW. In the cheaper models, it has to compete with Japanese car such as Nissan and Toyota. In hotel industry, Banyan Tree group has encountered many luxury hotel groups in their business location, such as Four Season hotels in Macau and Bali, One and Only resorts in Maldives, and Aman resorts in Phuket. UTC also struggle with the competition in global defense, space, and aerospace industries businesses. Because these fields are subject to substantial competition from domestic manufacturers, foreign manufacturers and companies that obtain regulatory agency approval to manufacture spare parts. In addition, the US government’s and other government’s polices of purchasing part from suppliers other than the original equipment manufacturer affect military spare parts sales (Marketline , 2012). To stand out in the blue sea, these three companies have to build a strong marketing strategy to convey and create the value for their customers. Politic restriction. It is not the unusual issue for the foreign and global company. Every country has its own regulation. That is to say, the marketing strategy must to adjust country by country. Moreover, the politic is not so stable in some area, hence increasing the risk of investment, decreasing in sales and profits, or both. Doing deeper researches becomes more critical for a company before planning and implementing its market strategy in a country. Difference Product position. Since having different product positions in marketing, it makes them also have different marketing relationships, marketing strategies, and management systems. For example, Banyan Tree and serve and product are targeted at traveling and tourism, and it was classified into business to customer (B2C), as well as Volkswagen. Therefore, people are easy to see their advertisements. Moreover, Banyan Tree not only includes hotel industry but also traveling services. Thus, it is critical for Banyan to guarantee its services quality since it would has deep relationship with their traveling industry (Banyan Tree, 2012). In addition, Volkswagen focuses its product most. Every year, Volkswagen need to investigate new markets and focus different levels of customers before it publishes new car (Volkswagen, 2008). Although the serve is also important to Volkswagen, the new cars’ attraction is vital for Volkswagen expanding markets. UTC’s marketing relationship is business to business (B2B), it is different from other two cases. It would focus on its product technique and quality (United Technologies Corporation, 2012). Since UTC’s products are various, it includes many of business requirements, it is benefit fro UTC to maintain long-term relationship with their customers. Marketing impact. Nowadays, each company’s market is not always stable. The factors from marketing impact are also various. Some factors come from external, such as environment, economic recession, etc.; and some are belonged to corporation internal. For example, first, the frequent marketing impacts to Banyan Tree are natural disaster, such as typhoon and earthquake (Banyan Tree, 2012). The only thing Banyan Tree could do is to repair the resorts and to wait for tourism back. Second, UTC has significant debt, and it would limit the UTC’s ability to obtain additional financing; and lose advantage against its competitors who may have less debt. In other words, much debt would impact significantly UTC’s marketing performance (Datamonitor, 2010). Last, the decline in Volkswagen’s marketing share is a serious problem, especially in China market. Since more and more competitors share car marketing, Volkswagen has to find another way to increase its marketing share (Volkswagen, 2008). Marketing Strategy. Corporations should have new strategies for increasing market share since more and more competitors are also in unstable-fast markets. According to case reports, these three corporations also have new marketing strategy to attract new customer and maintain its original customers. For example, Banyan adopts marketing alliance, and it is a magnificent method to increase Banyan Tree’s exposure and to enhance its business. It would ensure the quality of Banyan Tree, such as delicate design, high-class service, amazing food, and breath-taking landscape (Banyan Tree, 2012). Second, UTC re-organized its company for utilizing its resource efficiently and creating new markets. UTC uses to take the acquisition from other segment to develop other segments that UTC planned. Such strategic acquisitions would provide the company an opportunity to increase its global presence and revenue base (Marketline , 2012). Also, Volkswagen tries to attract it new customers by developing new energy technique. Volkswagen believes this technique, that reduces the fuel consumption and emissions significantly, will allow Volkswagen to a leading position in the zero-emission car market (Volkswagen, 2008). Risk considerations. Having business in abroad should not only consider the market, but also economic risk and government risk. For example, Banyan would have a serious impact in economy recession since customer chose a cheaper hotel to stay and deducted the entertainment fee. From aviation industry to hotel industry, they all faced the decrease in revenues, such as in 2009 (Banyan Tree, 2012). UTC’s would have a significant impact on the company’s earnings, if there are any fluctuation in exchange rates. It is because UTC derived approximately 60% of its total FY2010 segment in abroad (United Technologies Corporation, 2012). However, according to Volkswagen case, the major risk of Volkswagen is competitors. Volkswagen should find other way to distinguish its competitors (Volkswagen, 2008). Conclusion These three cases all have good reputations in global industry, and their product and services are also predominant in their area. Banyan Tree provides good quality service and hotel in tourism industry, UTC has high technique in aero industry, transport area, and weather control system, and Volkswagen has large market share in car industry. In addition, they are not new multinational companies, and they have long history in their home markets and global markets. According to the report, we know that international business share some strength factors and also face same challenges. Although their product and service are different, they still have some similar conditions, such as owning brand recognition, having politic issue, jointing Chinese markets, and facing global competitors. In addition, we believe that those enterprises are capable to deal with different global challenges, including marketing their product into different countries, predicting any risk from external, and creating new marketing. Under turbulently changing environments, enterprises survive through dynamic reactions. Those reactions should not only depend on experience but also create new marketing strategies. Also, having sensitive recognition to global market and creating marketing method are vital to nowadays environment. It is not difficult to identify that Banyan Tree, UTC, and Volkswagen already own these characters. Because of their experience and creating marketing thinking, they can have outstanding performance distinguish from their competitors. Through this report, we understand that being multinational corporations would have similar successful characters to overcome foreign challenges. In this quick-changing era, it does not matter what product or service is, fixable and executable international marketing strategies are vital to global companies to conquer the global market. Reference Banyan Tree. (2012). Home Page. Retrieved from Banyan Tree Hotels Resorts: http://www.banyantree.com/en/ Roll, M. (2009). Banyan Tree Branded Paradise from Asia. Retrieved from Official Weblog for the book Asian Brand Strategy: http://www.asianbrandstrategy.com/2009/06/banyan-tree-branded-paradise-from-asia.asp United Technologies Corporation. (2012, February 24). United Technologies Corporations annual report. Retrieved November 2, 2012, from United Techonlogies: http://www.utc.com/About+UTC/Company+Reports United Technologies Corporation. (2012, May 1). About Us. Retrieved November 4, 2012, from United Technologies Corporation: http://www.utc.com/About+UTC Brown, J., Dev, C., Zhou, Z. (2003, May 8). Broadening the foreign makret entry mode decision: spearating ownership and control. Journal of International Business Studies . Cieslik, A., Ryan, M. (2011, April 28). Productivity differences and foreign Market Entry in an oligopolistitc Industry. Springer Science Business Media . Chen, M.-Y., Chang, J.-Y. (2010, Aug 11). The choice of foreign market entry mode: An analysis of the dynamic probit model . Economic Modelling . Datamonitor. (2010). Company Profile -United Technologies Corporation . New York: Datamonitor. Datamonitor. (2011). Company Profile -United Technologies Corporation . New York: Datamonitor. Fortune Magazine. (2011, July 25). Fortune500 Companies of 2011. Retrieved November 2, 2011, from Cnn Money: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2011/snapshots/421.html

Wanting to Do all, Able to Do All Essay Example for Free

Wanting to Do all, Able to Do All Essay HEROISM is a common matter of concern for many people today. Unknowingly, most of us could not deny wanting to be someone who would be able to make a difference in the community that we live in. Yes, everybody wants change, and who would not want to have the power to imply that change in the current systems of things to be able to gain a better life? It is certainly a fantasy for everyone else to have a special cause of living that does not only affect one’s own life but that of the others to turn the systems of things for a better cause of living. For the author of this paper, being a superhero certainly fulfills this dream. I acquired my powers when I wished on a falling star. I never thought it would come true, and I never imagined it would happen this way. But as I said it, I wished on a falling star that I would be able to save people during emergencies or accidents in any place they may need help. I actually meant shift shaping to be able to transport in different areas where people would likely need my help. I knew what I asked for would be an impossible thing to happen, and yet, as I began living my life after that day, I felt something changing every time I am urged to help someone. It all started when I saw an old lady being robbed by three men in a narrow street. I felt that my feet became stronger like as if I am a horse and I am able to run so fast that even though there were three of them, I was able to overcome their strength and was able to get the old lady her things back. I shaped shift at once as I handed to her her purse and her other bag. Stunned as she was, I was still not able to believe what I just did. I never thought I could do anything like that in any way at all. After that day, I was walking by the seashore and saw a ship sailing by. Minutes later, I realized that the some I was seeing from it from afar was not coming from the machine towers of the ship but from a burnt area of the said vessel. Again, I felt the urge to move towards the vessel and do something. It seemed like within just a minute, there I was pushing the ship towards the seashore while swimming in a really fast speed. While everything was still a mystery to me, the next day came. I went to camp outside with my friends in a nearby mountain top. I realized that a plane was hovering over our camp area and was giving signs of crashing down. It was a passenger plane as I observed, as my friends just kept staying, I felt my feet flying off from the ground and there I was carrying the plane itself safely down to landing. Certainly, these experiences during the first three days of my heroism were such startling events in my life. Little did I know that what I wished on the falling star actually came true. Every time I see somebody or some people about to meet an accident or simply needing my help, my body responds to the needed change of physique that I need to be able to save the supposed victims of the said events. What was much startling to me is that, why don’t the people react as I shift shape right in front of their eyes. Of course, there should be some surprising facial expressions from them when they see me taking fast changes right before their eyes. I then found out that every time I shift my physique to the kind of creature that I need to be as I am about to save the victims, I become invisible as well. This makes the people actually wonder where I came from when I go back to my normal physique and give them back what they lost from robbers or save them from any possible vehicle accident that almost killed them. They do not actually know who I am and they have no idea where I came from. I appear like an ordinary person who appeared from nowhere right in front of them. At first, this made me feel unhappy about the super powers that have been given me. However, as I thought things through, I knew the lesson that there is indeed no need to be recognized by others if what you do for them really came from the heart, because the satisfaction does not come from the recognition that they are going to give you but from the fact that you know that you have done something good for your fellowman.

A Marketing Plan For The Company Apple

A Marketing Plan For The Company Apple Apple Inc has been very successful especially when it revolutionized its business and customer-focus by providing an operating system which was specifically designed with graphical user interface, even when it has been experiencing rigorous competition in both software and hardware marketing. Out of Apples major visions are its marketing strategies such as differentiation, unique design, own-store retailing, complete solution and brand loyalty that in turn have helped the company achieve sustainable competitive advantage and create its very own market with long-term profitability. Apple has been amazingly impacting the technology, society and the world at large and it continues to innovate to the date. Computer and digital music machines have long been presumed to be high-tech devices reserved for scientists, mathematician, intellectuals and professional musicians, but Apple, with its technology and innovation, has turned them into an essential tool of everyones daily lives. Framing of the Research Issue The main issue being discussed in this paper is the retail store marketing strategy adopted by Apple Inc and its impact on Apples overall business. This piece of research work is an attempt to explore and answer what is Apples retail-marketing and why Apple Inc has chosen this strategy? The paper will interpret the advantages of implementing the own store retailing strategy to Apple Inc and analyze how this has contributed to its business success. Apple Inc is one of the large multinational companies of today and its marketing strategies, that have helped it achieve this success, have gained increased popularity and attracted attention of academic and business experts. Companies use different strategies at different times. Some of them may turn to be highly useful while others may not be so. Due to a number of factors like globalization, fierce competition between firms, technological advances and changing consumer behaviour, business contexts have become increasingly complex (Grover and Kettinger 1995, p. 58 ) and companies therefore require adopting effective strategies to survive these challenges and complexities. Apples retailing strategy has been thus an effective ideology it used to survive competition and other marketing challenges. As Pearce and Robinson (2004, p. 6) stressed, strategic issues usually have multi-functional and multi-business consequences. Decisions regarding strategies like customer mix, competitive emphasis, organizational structure and customer focus necessarily involve a number of firms strategic business units, divisions and programs. These strategies will yield positive outcome when they are well structured and effectively managed. When it comes to Apple Inc, a number of marketing strategies it adopted has been found to be extremely beneficial to the companys success. This research paper relates to one of its strategies- own store retailing. Research Contexts, Scope and Limitations No area of marketing and economic development has perhaps been more popular than retailing. Retailing has long been a critical pillar of a strong economy (Findlay, Paddison and Dawson 1990, p. 21). Similarly, retailing has been found to be a powerful marketing element that contributes much to the economic and financial well-being of a company as well. Many large multinationals operate retail stores, may be as part of its Supply Chain strategy or to promote direct marketing of their goods or services to the customers, with an aim to seize enormous opportunities of retailing. Large scale retailers like Wal-Mart, Sainsbury, TESCO and others have been studied extensively to assess their effectiveness and find the secrets behind their success. Their marketing techniques and how their retailing helps them maintain long-term profitability have been studied by a number of researchers. But, the significance of retailing as a strategy being implemented by a particular large-scale company is seldom explored, except that some of the researchers have indentified retailing or own store retailing only as a strategy with no extensive research on its importance and contributions to the company. Rather than generally talking about the importance and benefits of retailing strategy adopted by Apple Inc, this paper aims to explore literatures regarding the same and articulate specific factors that explain why it is important to adopt retailing strategy to a company like Apple Inc and what are the major benefits of it. The researcher would like to learn different aspects of using retail marketing to a large-scale business, Apple Inc, and for this purpose, researcher would review and evaluate the literatures and examine how customers respond to this marketing facility, what consequences of such retail marketing can have on the reputation and customer satisfaction of the business. The researcher will review literatures to find relations between retail marketing of Apple Inc with a number of marketing variables like customer satisfaction, brand building, brand loyalty, customer relationship, value proposition etc. By reviewing the literature about Apples Retail-marketing, the researcher would establish the importance of using retail-marketing as a marketing strategy to enhance greater long-term profitability and gain sustainable competitive advantages. This research is merely about Apples retail-marketing and therefore the findings and conclusions of this research may not be directly applicable or closely comparable with other businesses or manufacturing firms. Statement of Research aims and objectives This research paper aims to illustrate the benefits of retail-marketing to Apple Inc and find out how retail-marketing has contributed to Apples unique success stories in recent years. The main objectives of the study are: To define and explain retail-marketing with relation to its implementation by Apple Inc. To study and interpret the literature review of the importance and benefits of using retail-marketing as a business strategy, To ascertain what literatures talk about Apples retail-marketing strategy and how this has helped the company achieve its organizational goals like gaining sustainable competitive advantages, To examine how retail-marketing is closely related with various other marketing variables like customer focus, customer satisfaction, better servicing, direct marketing, brand loyalty, brand equity and customer relationship marketing etc, To suggest some successful measures and techniques that can be used along with retail-marketing strategy in order to help the company achieve its business goals. To establish what results can bring a retail-marketing on the competitive advantages of a firm, from the case of how Apple has successfully used it. Structure of the dissertation The introductory chapter provides a brief overview of the structure of the research paper and an introduction in to the main issue being discussed in this paper- retail marketing of Apple Inc. The framing of the research issue, the scope and limitations of researching retail-marketing in relation to Apple inc, and statement of objectives of the research are detailed in the introduction. In order the research to be clearer, it is highly important to have an outlook into Apples business and its various marketing strategies. Second chapter will briefly examine Apples business overview, market-share, market strategies, competition rivalry and value propositions it delivers to its customers. The researcher considers various literatures to be reviewed in chapter 3 and discusses previous works and studies in retail marketing of Apple Inc. Chapter 4 provides an overview in to the theoretical framework and methodology that this research uses for studying retail marketing of Apple Inc. The findings and results of literature review will be discussed in chapter 5. The researcher will summarize and list out major findings, results, suggestions and recommendations, based on the research in the conclusion chapter. Chapter 2 APPLE INC: MARKET OVERVIEW In todays highly rigorous competitive market landscape, Apples hot selling of iPod, iPhone, 3G phone, and digital music players, directly or through its own-store retailing, promises to revolutionize the market opportunities of digital entertainments as well as to meet varying customer needs for advanced technology. Brand loyalty, unique hardware and software design, differentiation and own store retailing have been some of its strategies that helped the company gain greater competitive advantages. Porter (1998a, p. 29) emphasized that an effective marketing strategy take either an offensive or a defensive action in order to create a defendable position against major competitive forces. Apples marketing strategies, especially its retail-marketing and unique hardware design were more or less capable of establishing strong defense against major competitive forces like Acer, Dell, Fujitsu, Microsoft etc. Walker (2003, p. 4) found that Apples management has guided the company to create a focal point for effective decision making which in turn has been extremely useful for the company in certain ambiguous and uncertain situations. Basically, a strong marketing vision, with support of certain effective strategies has helped Apple Inc maintain a very strong profitability and ever-increasing sales figures, as accounted to be $42,905 million in financial year ending of 2009 (Datamonitor 2010). Company Profile Apple Inc is a multinational company, headquartered in Cupertino, California, that is engaged in designing, developing and marketing of personal computers, severs, communication devices, network solutions, portable music digital players and relate accessories (Datamonitor 2010). It delivers its hardware and software products and services through its own-retail stores, online stores, sales force and third party sellers (Sander and Slatter 2009, p. 81). Apple Inc has always been prospering on innovation. It has ignited the personal computer revolution in early 1990s with the development of Apple-II, reinvented the personal computer within the next decade by the development of Macintosh and gained a very successful and deeply routed brand loyalty with its iMac by 1990s (Kerin, et al, 2005, p. 395). Finally, it identified vast opportunities for very new technologies that the market until then was less aware of them and developed new markets with iPod, Apple i-phone, and 3G i-Phone in very recent years. Apple Inc, through out its plants, offices and retail stores, employs 34,300 employees around the world and offers a wide range of products and services including iPods line of portable digital music and video players, iPhone handsets, iPad portable multimedia and computer machines and software like Mac OS, iLife, iTune, iWork, and internet applications such as Safari, Quick time etc (Datamonitor, 2010). The companys inexorable efforts on ease of use, utility, customer value, simplicity, efficiency and fun have helped Apple Inc make iPhone, 3G iPhone, and other products seem to be a very different species from that of the competitors. These newer products have recently turned to be more approachable and ultimately very desirable that many or almost all brands in the market (Newsweek, 2007). Apples major competitors are Acer, Dell, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard company, IBM, Lenovo group limited, Microsoft Corp, Motorola Corp, Nokia Corp, Oracle Corp, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba (Datamonitor, 2010). Apple designed a number of marketing strategies to compete with these large companies and grab a better slice of the highly competitive market pie. Market-Share Analysis Latest reports show that Apples share in the worldwide PC market is constantly surging, as more and more customers have continuously been preferring Mac PCs even when there were rumors of iPad and iPhone that have grabbed news-headlines. According to Gartners report, Apple has become the fifth largest PC seller in the US market for the first three months quarter in 2010. Around 1.398 million Mac computers were shipped by Apple inc and thus it stands just behind HP, Dell, Acer and Toshiba (Tilmann, 2010). Apple sold 1.4 million Macs in the first quarter of 2010 which remains to be highly impressive and has been recorded to be a very healthy 34% year on year growth. With 8% market share, Apple stays to be fifth largest in worldwide PC market (Kahney, 2010). The company has recorded a total revenue of 42,905 million US Dollars during the financial year ended in September 2009, showing an increase of 14.4 % over 2008 figures. The increase in sales has been mainly due to the growth in sales of iPhones handsets and third party digital contents and other utilities, through its online as well as own-stores. iTune stores too played an important role in its increased revenues in 2009. The operating profit of the company during 2009 has been accounted as $11,740 million, showing an increase of 41% over the same of 2008. The net profit also has been recorded to be $8,235 million, with an increase of 34.6% over 2008 figures (Datamonitor, 2010). Gartners (2010) research reported that Apple is the third largest Smartphone marketer in the world just after Symbian and Research in motion. In worldwide cell-phone marketing, Apple holds 2.7 % market share, being the seventh largest worldwide cell-phone marketer. It is observed that Apples share in worldwide cell-phone market has been growing with a 112.2% increase in mobile device sales. iPhone OS release and Apples focus for the new communication service providers in UK markets increase its opportunities and to gain greater competency in its markets (Gartner, 2010). Chapter- 3 LITERATURE REVIEW Company-Owned retail marketing Large-scale companies implement a number of different marketing strategies like its-own retailing, franchising, merger and acquisition and so on. Company-owned retailing is not a new marketing strategy, but has first been used by IBM in early 1980s. Mohr, Sengupta and Slater (2009, p. 326) found that IBM opened its first product centre and own-store retailing for the personal computer in New York City in April 1982. By 1986, the number of IBMs own stores had grown to 84. Gateway expanded aggressively in to its own stores retailing during the PC industry boom, but it had to shut all 188 stores in 2004. Sony also launched its own-stores retailing in United States to showcase its products to the customers and expanded them in 1996, and reached 57 stores by June 2008 (Mohr, Sengupta and Slater 2009, p. 326). Manufacturers own retailing thus has long been considered to be a strategically powerful tool to enhance better marketing. Many of firms adopted own-store retailing has found success where as many other failed to continue retail-operation. Gateway and IBM failed and others like Apple Inc succeeded with this direct retail channel strategy. Companies found it successful were able to cut middlemen costs and middle men profits and thus to make its products quite cheaper to the customers, to establish closer relationship with customers, to deliver quality services directly to the customers and create brand loyalty to enhance long-term profitability. Marketing mix and Companys own retailing Company-owned retail marketing strategy is closely related to the place element of the Marketing-mix concepts. Out of the four Marketing-mix Ps, namely product, price, place and promotion, place or distribution is a very critical element that determines the extent of businesss success. The channels a marketer chooses for marketing its products always largely influences its marketing effectiveness. The above depiction illustrates how theoretically and strategically Apple designed its marketing-distribution strategy through its own-store retailing. As Hill, OSullivan and OSullivan (2003, p. 243) emphasized, distribution addresses the issue of how to establish an appropriate and more profitable relationship with the maximum number of relevant customers at the minimum cost to the organization. A well-designed and developed distribution strategy can lead to coverage of a wider audience, accessing more numbers of customers and enabling existing customers to have a more satisfactory expedience. When it comes to Apples case of retail-marketing, there are three factors to be highlighted, a) profitable relationship, b) with maximum number of potential customers and c) at the least costs being possible by eliminating all middle-men involvement. It thus not only attracts wider audience but also delivers all those that can increase satisfaction of the existing customers. For a manufacturer, choosing own-stores for retailing is generally justified on the ground that it eliminates middle-men costs, reduces risks of handling inventories, enables closer relationship with consumers and delivers maximum satisfaction to them. But, Raysman (2002, 4- 4) argued that the most effective form of retail distribution is likely to be through third party distributors who are well-established in the market place and have a strong distribution infrastructure, though it is possible for technology product producers to sell directly to their own retail outlets. He justified his argument that selling through third party established firms can help the producer relieve from significant logistical concerns, and third party distributor will give the producer easy access to markets which may otherwise have been time-consuming and helps reduce the producers overhead expenses (Raysman 2002, 4- 4). Apple has virtually been integrating different distribution channels. It not only used third parties for sale, but also online stores and its own retailing stores in order to grab the maximum potential opportunities from the existing market. Third part sellers helped Apple spread of its valuable information over regions and countries, its won store retailing helped it maintain closer relationship with customers and deliver direct services to them. Retail marketing / Own-store marketing strategy of Apple Inc Apple Inc used a number of different distribution channels including own store retailing or retail marketing, online store, sales force and third party sellers. Among these channels, retail marketing remains to be a very specific and unique marketing strategy that helped the company overcome difficulties associated with big-box sellers and their staffers who are ill-informed of Apples products. More over, this marketing strategy helped the company establish stronger relationship marketing in order to create customer loyalty and customer satisfaction. Apple opened its first own-store retail-marketing in McLean, Virginia in 2001. By June 2008, with phenomenal records of greater success throughout its stores, Apple operated 215 retail stores in six countries, they are USA, Australia, UK, Japan, Canada and Italy. By 2008, these 215 stores were able to contribute nearly 20 % or more as growing of Apples total revenues (Mohr, Sengupta and Slater 2009, p. 326). Kerin, Hartley and Berkowitz (2005, p. 395) found that Apple has been thriving on innovation from Apple- II to Macintosh, to Apples PCs and iMac, but its step forward to starting its own store retailing in 2001 was merely a better promise to revolutionize its market landscape. As Kerin, Hartley and Berkowitz (2005, p. 395) noted, beginning with one or two stores in 2001, Apple Inc has been able to launch more than 25 stores per year. By 2004, about half of the US population were residing within 15 miles of an Apple store. These stores created an atmosphere where consumers were able to experience the thrill of owning and using Apples complete line of Macintosh computers, wide range of entertainment equipments and utilities like digital cameras, camcorders, and the entire iPod family devices. Apples retail-stores were selling its products and services exclusively, targeting tech-savvy customers within its store-products presentation and workshop. These stores facilitated displaying of a full lines of its products, software and accessories and Genius Bar staffed by an Apple specialist (Kotler and Keller 2006, p. 485). These stores were friendly places where all of its customers, especially Mac and PC users are freely allowed to play with and explore Apples technology-lines and get software or useful utilities (insidecrm.com, 2011). Rationale Lamb, Hair and McDaniel (2009, p. 339) found that Apples management has been dissatisfied with how third part distributors were selling the computers and others products of the company and this has been the main reason behind Apples thought of starting own-store retailing. Apple observed that some third party distributors buried Macintosh displays inside major retail stores, surrounded by PCs running the more popular Windows operating system by Microsoft. This brought their attention to hire a retail executive to develop a retail strategy. Mainly due to the disappointment regarding Apples resellers, the company announced that it would begin opening and operating its own Apple stores. Steve Jobs conveyed his major concern that most resellers had been unsuccessful in making the products of Apple stylish and more appealing at customers level (Gitman and McDaniel 2008, p. 345). Most of the literatures, apart from the two mentioned above, stressed that Apples thought to start retail marketing has been mainly driven by its findings that third party resellers didnt deal with its customers in a way Apple expected how it should be. The retail stores not only must be able to sell the products to the final customers, but also, these stores must be able to deliver quality services, valuable information and facilitate customers entertainment etc. Apples stores were designed by considering all such important factors. What was predicted about Apple-stores? When Apple Inc first opened its retail-store in May 19, 2001, there were rumors and many experts and media predicted the failure of its specialty stores. They argued that Apples users already knew where to buy Apples products and therefore Apples investment in establishing retail-stores would bring nothing more that higher fixed costs (Gitman and McDaniel 2008, p. 345). Such specialty stores might increase Apples expenses and its products will be more expensive to the customers, as Apple might like to cover its costs by increasing the prices and this ultimately cause less-appeal to the mass consumer. Knowing Apples attempt to launch of retail stores in 2001, Business Week wrote Sorry Steve, Here is Why Apple Stores Wont Work. The street.com opined Its desperation time in Cupertino, Calif. Well known retail-consultant David Goldstein predicted I give (Apple) two years before theyre turning out the lights on a very painful and expensive mistake (Jerry, 2007). A number of business experts and media were looking Apples retail stores quite surprisingly as an attempt for no use. They found nothing more than just add costs to the company and to the customers. But, the story was surprising to them that its design, outlook, services offered in-store and amenities being provided to the customers were extremely appealing to them and it finally added greater share of its total revenue. Those who predicted failure of Apples store might have generalized what was known about CompuAdd, IBM, Gateway and Microsoft. Dvorak (2010) stated that the retail-marketing has been tried by a few computer companies before Apple tried it out and they all except Apple failed for obvious reasons. CompuAdd, once a head-on-head competitor with Dell and IBM, rolled out a number of stores which in turn bankrupted the company. IBM opened few stores, even before CompuAdds stores. IBM aimed at more professional market and therefore had to shutter them all at once. Gateway opened many stores called Country Stores, but stores themselves were boring and ominous and they too created almost same story. Microsofts stores opened in 1999 were not up to the mark due to that there were no buzz or energy in the place. Apples experience of unique success with Retail-marketing Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak didnt realize that they were establishing one of the most multibillion-dollar PC industry of all times when they invented the Apple-I in a garage on April 1976 (Kerin, Hartley and Berkowitz, 2005, p. 247). The same story repeated for its retail-marketing as well. Apples retail-marketing, despite predictions of experts and media about it to be failure, has become one of its greater achievements to be unparalleled as a wise move. These stores achieved $1 billion revenues faster than any retail business in history, just taking three years to reach that success-point. Around 40 % of the people purchasing items from Apple stores are new customers (Kerin, Hartley and Berkowitz, 2005, p. 395). Gitman and McDaniel (2008, p. 345) found that Apple Inc, just three years after opening its retail stores, was attaining around one-seventh of its total revenues from its stores alone. More interestingly, customers attracted to these stores were not just current Mac or other Apples products users, but rather, half-of the Mac sold in these stores were to first time Mac buyers. Though Apples launch of a line of new retail stores in 2001 was met with major skepticism around the US, Apple has been able to turn its retail-stores to be one of the crowning achievements of the resurgence (OGrady 2008, p. 14) that many other large retailers failed to achieve. When Gateway announced closure of its line of retail-outlets in April 2004, Apple reached its retail-market growth by opening its 53rd store. OGrady (2008, p. 14) identified that this great success has been the result of effective strategic planning. Apple built a prototype store in one of its warehouse near the Apple campus to test the concept and possibilities and it arranged a combination of photos, videos, music and kids. By October 2007, it announced completion of 200 retail-stores throughout USA and other five countries. The Fifth Avenue location in New York was able to attract more than 50,000 customers per week. Apples store sales has become the top in the industry, with an average earning of $4032 per its square foot (OGrady 2008, p. 14). Twice (October, 2008, p. 28) reported that, TWICE was awarding Apples retail-stores the Award of Excellence in Retailing in the Best Vendor Retailer category in 2008. It opined that Apples retail stores, from just one in 2001 to reach 200 by 2008 is an excellent and rather a very unique success in retailing history itself. Twice (2008) found that Apple has been providing consumers a hands-on way to experience its products which are displayed in a variety of specific-categorized areas that encouraged customers to test and play with Apples products. These stores have also carried third-partys accessories and software titles that are compatible with Apple products. Twices (2008) observations about Apples stores designs, customer attraction, revenue-generating capacity and customer feedback have led it decide to give its award to Apples stores. As Twice (2008) observed, The Genius bar facilitated in Apples retail stores and moreover its sales growth of 40.5% in 2007 from the sales of 200 6 have been some other very significant factors that are highly impressive about Apples stores. Most amazingly, Apple stores have won Twices Excellence in Retailing Award four times from 2006 to 2010. Olenick (2010, p. 30) reported that Apple continued to pipe up TWICE retail awards as Apple took home the Best Vendor Retailer trophy, which was the fourth time it gained since 2006. As Olenick (2010) opined, Apple was able to take this award home due to its ongoing ability to operate unique destination stores and because of its merchandising excellence, store designs, customer service and retail innovation etc (p. 30). Apples retail-store design Apple always thrived on innovation. When it comes to its products, unique design created the brand Apple. When it comes to its retail-stores, design played pivotal roles in its success, even when many large-manufacturers own retail stores created failure-stories. For no doubt, Apples innovative store design has been one of the very powerful tool it strategically used to make its retail-stores winning. As Davis (2009a, p. 340) evaluated, Apple-owned retail stores have been designed and facilitated in a way that it has become a cultural phenomenon, with their bright lighting, clean layout, easy access to products and almost museum-like zeal for captivating its products-displays. Customers are automatically encouraged to play with its products and all of its stores have arranged an in-store Genius Bar which offers customers a place to ask questions and get answers for their doubts and troubleshoots. Jones, Comfort and Clarke-Hill (2009, p. 243) found that Apples stores, for instance one of its store opened in 2004 on Londons Regent Street, offer a variety of programs for customers. the 24,000 square feet store offers free basic getting started workshops, including showing customers how to set up a new Mac, connecting to the internet, sending e-mails, downloading or uploading photos and transferring music and television shows to an iPod etc. Apple stores have facilitated a Personal Shopping program which the company claims as new way to shop which is intended to give customers attention and allow them to take all the time they need to test drive the products they are interested in. As Danziger (2006, p. 12) noted, Apples retail-stores are clearly revolutionary in todays increasingly cluttered retailing environment and its very specific layout is the key to a unique shopping experience. the sparkling contemporary design showcases each computer and piece of peripheral devices, with minimum of products on displays. Customers are always welcome to get hands-on with computer machines, check their e-mail, use networking, and make test drive of the computer machines. This very different store design and layout is intended to guide the intellectual and emotional experience of the customers through the store (Danziger 2006, p. 12). Apple consistently listens to its network and customers at large. One of the very significant point in its store is Genius Bar, a tech-support station, which answers customers questions and deal with their troubleshooting and thus serves as Apples commitment to superior customer service. Superior customer service comes to life in the form of problem solving and helping build bigger loyalists out of Apples customer base (Davis, 2009b, p. 98). There are many strategic elements that the company planed carefully about the effectiveness of its retail store in any new location and carefully considered how each floor space can be converted in to long-term profitability. Floor (2006, p. 206) stressed that Apple opened its stores only when it expected them to be profitable within a short period of time itself. As Apple believed, using a computer is as simple as buying one would be. The store layout was so simple and logical and its design and fixtures are kept as simple as possible. Apples stores were white box with a lot of lighting, being equipped with materials like stone, metal, glass, transparent synthetic and beech-wood. Large pictures and glasses are used to differentiate departments within its stores. As the image above illustrates, Apple has designed its store in a way it can maximize net profit per square foot of the available space. Customers enter or exit the store from cashwrap area and all varieties of Mac and iPods are located in the