Group Business Project

Project Management for Small to Medium Enterprises

Project Management for Small to Medium Enterprises Work breakdown structure, critical path and costed time strategy The chart below illustrates the project’s work breakdown structure. This goal has been achieved by identifying the task, the duration, and the resource requirement in order to execute the task effectively and within the set time.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Project Management for Small to Medium Enterprises specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Chart 1: WBS Task name Duration [days] Start time Finish time Resource Analysing the green fashion market in Australia 12 4thOct. 2013 1 5thOct.2013 Marketing manager Selection of store location 12 4thOct. 2013 1 5thOct. 2013 Entrepreneur Developing the project business plan 15 4thOct. 2013 19thOct. 2013 Entrepreneur Compliance with legal and environmental 3 17thOct. 2013 19thOct. 2013 Entrepreneur Seeking sponsorship from charity organisations 18 4thOct. 2013 19thOct. 2013 Entrepreneur Furni shing and decorating the store 15 17thOct. 2013 31stOct. 2013 Project team Attracting consigner 12 20thOct. 2013 15thNov. 2013 Entrepreneur Finalising the shops self-owned system 26 15thNov. 2013 26thNov. 2013 Project team Implementing the green fashion concept will play a critical role in minimising the rate of environmental pollution. In a bid to establish the Green Fashion Store, effective time management is essential. Approximately, the store will take 70 days to be completed. It is projected that this duration is sufficient to complete the project. However, taking 70 days will lead to increase in the resource requirements, which are scarce. Thus, effective time scheduling is paramount. The project manager will reduce the project duration with 20%, which means that the project will take 56 days to be implemented. Crashing strategy will be used in order to arrive at the critical path as illustrated by chart 2 below. By crashing the time, the Green Fashion Store will be com pleted within 56 days and the likelihood of the entrepreneur conforming to the time constraint will increase. The areas shaded in black illustrate the critical path that will result in optimal resource utilisation. Chart 2: the critical path Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The Project Manager estimates that the project will require $19,200 in order to be successfully implemented. Budget and resource allocation In establishing the new business, the entrepreneur is focused towards ensuring that resources are effectively utilised. In this project, the resource that the Project Manager is mostly focused on relates to time. The green fashion project is time constrained. The Project Manager intends to complete the green fashion project in 56 days. Thus, the entrepreneur will ensure that time is effectively utilised. Levelling resource allocation technique will be used. This will aid in effective utilisation of slack time by delaying non-critical activities. Moreover, the levelling technique will aid in reduction resource demand, peak resource demand in addition to minimising the amount of resource fluctuation. Some activities will be undertaken concurrently in order to eliminate slack time. Chart 3: Estimated budget before crashing the amount of time by 20% Work package 1stOct.- 15thOct 17thOct-19thOct. 20thOct.-31stOct. 1stNov. -15thNov. 16thNov- 26thNov. Total by activity Market research $2,000 $2,000 Developing the store’s blue print. $500 $200 $700 legal and environmental analysis $1,000 $1,000 Seeking sponsorship $600 $400 $1,000 Furnishing the store $8,000 $4,000 $12,000 Attracting consigner 1,000 1,000 Finalising the self-owned store system 1,500 1,500 Cumulative 19,200 However, reducing the amount of time required to complete the project with 20% is expected to increase the amount of financial capital required. Thus, it is estimated that the project budget will increase by 20%. Thus, the green fashion project will require $ 23,040 in order to be completed. Quality management and control A number of elements quality management elements as illustrated the chart below will be taken into account in the green fashion store. The project will be implemented as a one-off expense hence eliminating the need to revisit the project upon its completion. The chart below illustrates the variables that will be taken into account in ensuring effective quality management. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Project Management for Small to Medium Enterprises specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Figure 1: quality control A comprehensive cost-benefit analysis will be undertaken in order to maintain the project within the desired quality. This will be achieved by controlling the prevention cost, external and internal fai lure, control, and appraisal cost. This will improve the quality of the project. The Project Manager will ensure that the green fashion store addresses the customer’s needs adequately. To achieve this, a substantial amount of appraisal cost will be incurred. The appraisal cost will entail product audits, product inspections, and reviews. Some of the elements that will be integrated in assessing the appraisal cost include evaluating whether the process of implementing the store takes into account the desired conditions. For example, an appealing store ambience will be ensured in order to develop unique customer experience. Moreover, the Project Manager will conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the green fashion products collected from the sponsors to ensure that they are aligned with the specified environmental requirements. One of the ways through which quality of the products collected will be ensured is by conducting an intensive training on the parties charged with the re sponsibility of collecting the second hand products. Moreover, the appraisal cost will also entail assessing whether the green fashion store is effectively designed. The Green Fashion Store entrepreneur is cognisant of the fact that the project may be affected by to lack of sufficient support from the sponsors. For example, customers might not adopt the concept of green fashion as expected. A comprehensive project quality plan will be developed to minimise the adverse effects of quality costs.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The quality plan will outline the standards that the project manager will be required to adhere to in order to satisfactorily fulfil the quality requirement. Regular meetings involving all the team members will be conducted to generate ideas on how to deal with contingencies that arise in the process of implementing the project. The above quality control chart will be used. Project team performance The entrepreneur is aware that the Green Fashion Store will depend on the input of all the team members. Consequently, it is imperative for the project manager to ensure that effective team performance is attained. Optimal team performance can be achieved by incorporating the principles of team management such as organising, leading, controlling, and planning. In a bid to attain optimal team performance, the project manager will take into account a number of issues as illustrated in the table below. Chart 4; project team performance Approach Strategy Significance to team performance Leadership Transformational leadership style will be adopted The style will provide team members an opportunity to share ideas on how to improve the project. -Transformational leadership will lead to development of a sense of inclusion amongst the team members. Communication Horizontal, vertical, upward, lateral diagonal and downward channels of communication will be adopted. Formulating an effective feedback mechanism Communication will ensure that the team members are adequately informed about the project and their roles. Establishment of an effective working relationship Optimal conflict resolution The feedback mechanism will lead to development of optimal understanding of the project. Decision making Inclusive team meetings Team meetings will give the manager insight on the team members’ perception and attitude regarding the project. Including employees in the decision, making process will provide the manager insight on how to minimise employee resistance. Including t he team members will lead to development of a sense of project ownership amongst team members. Developing a strong project team Effective selection of project team members and integration of volunteer part-time team members Effective volunteer management Formulation of an optimal volunteer training programme The manager is cognisant of the fact that unforeseen forces may affect completion of the project. For example, multitasking amongst the project team members may limit their effectiveness. In a bid to deal with this challenge, the Project Manager is focused towards attracting volunteer part-time team members. This goal will be achieved by designing an effective volunteering programme. Currently, individuals are embracing the concept of volunteering in different organisations in an effort to develop a wide range of knowledge and skills. Sufficient awareness on the contribution of the green fashion project to environmental conservation will be undertaken. The training wil l be aimed at ensuring that the volunteers are acquainted with the project objectives and goals. The Project Manager will educate the volunteers the contribution of the Green Fashion Store in minimising climate change. Reward management Comprehensive and continuous appraisal of the team members’ performance Recognising project team members with optimal performance The appraisal will aid in the determination of the team members effectiveness in executing the duties assigned Reward management will lead to increased level of motivation towards achievement of the set project milestones. By implementing the above strategies, the project manager will be able to improve the outcome of the project. Project team meetings In a bid to ensure that the project is successful defined, planned, and executed, a number of project team meetings will be conducted. A number of issues will be discussed during the project team meetings as illustrated by the figure below. Figure 2 Project team identity In a bid to ensure that the project team members are committed to the green fashion store, the project manager will ensure that adequate team identity is established. Developing team identity will contribute towards development of a high level of commitment amongst the team members. The team members will identify with the green fashion store. Thus, their efforts will be focused at achieving the project’s goals. The project manager intends to create team identity by conducting frequent meetings. The meetings will lead to improvement of the team members’ attitude and opinion towards the project. Consequently, the likelihood of developing team behaviour will be increased. Team identity will also be developed by nurturing a high degree of interaction and information sharing amongst the team members. This goal will be achieved by utilising the co-location technique. Virtual teams will not be used in the project. Thus, the project team members will have an opportun ity to interact with another thus developing a strong working relationship. The phrase ‘green fashion’ will be used as the project team name. This name will make the project team more tangible. Moreover, an appealing team logo will be designed. The logos will be designed on T-shirts and caps that will be worn by the project team members. As a result, the project team members will love being associated with the project. In addition to the above strategies, the project manager will ensure that effective team rituals are developed. The rituals will lead to establishment of strong and unique team identity. One of the rituals that will be developed entails giving the team members a T-shirt inscribed with the milestones achieved. Monitoring and evaluation This process improves the project outcome by identifying areas that require adjustments. Furthermore, monitoring and evaluation allows the project manager to evaluate the achievements that have been accomplished. The process of monitoring and evaluating the Green Store Project will take into account a number of issues, which include the project costs, resources, project sponsors, and the entire project management team. Participatory monitoring and evaluation strategy will be adopted and this strategy will entail taking into account all the project stakeholders. The project sponsors will be evaluated in order to determine whether they are providing the necessary project guidance. On the other hand, the project team members will be monitored in order to determine whether their actions are positively influencing the completion of the project. Monitoring and evaluating resources will play a critical role in ensuring that the project resources, which are scarce, are optimally being utilised. By integrating effective project monitoring and evaluation, the project manager will be in a position to promote the development of positive behaviours amongst the team members. The entrepreneur intends to complete the Green Fashion Store within 56 days. Consequently, optimal monitoring and evaluation with regard to how time is utilised in implementing the project will be undertaken. The project will monitor the project’s progress by tracking the Gantt chart by incorporating a baseline Gantt chart. The respective activities in the Gantt chart will be tracked. Periodic reports regarding the project process will be formulated by developing a control chart. Consequently, the project manager will be in a position to determine the project’s trend. For example, the project manager will assess whether the project progress is ahead or behind schedule, and hence report to the stakeholders more effectively. In addition to the above types of evaluation, the project manager will also evaluate the customers’ opinion regarding the green fashion store. One of the elements that will be taken into account entails assessing whether the target customers have integrated the concept of green fashi on in their consumption processes. Consequently, the project manager will be able to determine the likelihood of obtaining support from the customers. To evaluate the performance of project amongst potential customers, the entrepreneur will conduct a market survey through the green fashion website that will be established. Moreover, emerging social media platforms will also be used. Project closure Projects have a definite timeframe and must be completed within the set deadline and transferred to the owners. Consequently, it is imperative for project managers to ensure effective project closure. The project manager is of the opinion that the project will be successfully completed. Consequently, normal project closure technique will be undertaken. The closure will comprise a number of activities, which include, Conducting a post project audit to determine the degree of project success Undertaking wrap-up closure activities [which include paying out the bills and closing the project accounts] Conducting individual and team evaluation Preparing a final report that summarises the entire project. The final report will be comprised of a number of elements which include; Project performance review- This will be achieved by reviewing whether the project is in conformity with the set standards. Project analysis Lessons learnt and recommendations on how to improve future projects The project team members and the volunteers will be acknowledged and thanked for their effort. The acknowledgement will be undertaken by identifying each of the team members’ contribution to the establishment of the green fashion store. Potential obstacles The project life cycle will be comprised of three main stages, which include the start, project life, and finish. A number of activities, which include project definition, planning, execution, and project delivery, will be undertaken during the project life cycle. However, various obstacles might affect project implementation and s uccess adversely. Consequently, it is imperative for project managers to adopt effective preventive measures. Some of the risks potential obstacles that might be experienced in this project are discussed herein. Implementation challenges One of the major obstacles that might affect the project relates to lack of commitment amongst the team members. Such occurrences may limit the likelihood of the project being completed within the set timeframe. The project team members may lose momentum, hence drifting from the set project goals. Development delays- The entrepreneur intends to cut the amount of time required to complete the Green Fashion Store project with 20% and to achieve this goal, the project manager will adopt the crashing strategy. Considering that the Green Fashion Store is a new entity, the firm does not have adequate staff. Consequently, the likelihood of some project team members multitasking is high as some activities and assignments will have to be completed within the same time. Multitasking may limit the effectiveness with which the project team members undertake their duties. Moreover, excessive multitasking may lead to time loss hence affecting the project completion. Cost increment- Existence of resource bottlenecks is another major obstacle that might affect the project. Risk management Occurrence of risk might hinder the project implementation. Consequently, comprehensive risk management process will be adopted. Four main risk management aspects, which include risk identification, risk response control, risk assessment, and risk response development will be incorporated. The project manager will integrate the following risk management strategies. Assessment of the milestones- The project manager will evaluate whether the set milestones are achieved. Balancing project activities with personal activities, the project manager will integrate optimal time management strategies to prevent the team members’ infectiveness because of multit asking. Effective allocation and control of project resources; this will prevent deviation from the predetermined project budget. Summary and recommendations Implementing the above project plan will improve the likelihood of the Green Fashion Store succeeding. The feasibility of the project is enhanced as the project will contribute towards environmental protection and the project will promote consumption of ‘green fashion’, hence minimising environmental pollution and climate change. Moreover, the project feasibility is enhanced by the fact that customers are increasingly becoming conscious of the environment. Therefore, project sponsors will be committed in supporting the project. The success of the project will depend on the effectiveness with which the available project resources are managed. Time is one of the most important resources in the process of implementing the Green Fashion Store. By implementing the time crashing strategy, the project manager will minimi se the duration within which the project has to be implemented. As a result, the amount of resources required will go down. The project manager will be required to assess the work breakdown structure in order to determine the most effective way to crash the project time. Analysing the WBS will enable the project manager to define task durations effectively. In a bid to improve the project outcome, effective quality management, and control should be integrated, by formulating optimal quality standards. Through effective quality control, the project manager will eliminate non-conformities. Non-conformities underscore aspects that add no value to the project but they might be inevitable in a project management process if the project manager fails to observe effectiveness for optimal results. The success of the Green Fashion Store project will be determined by the commitment of all the team members, which underscores the importance of optimal project team management. The project manager can achieve this goal by integrating effective team formation and development strategies such as effective conflict management and communication, which will improve the effectiveness with which the project team members interact. The project manager should ensure that effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms are developed by integrating Gantt charts, which should be tracked continuously to improve the likelihood of identifying and adjusting deviations that occur. Upon its completion, the manager should ensure that effective project closure is undertaken by conducting an audit of the project in order to determine its success. The success of the project might be subject to various internal and external challenges. Consequently, it is imperative for the project manager to integrate effective risk management strategies by ensuring that risks are identified effectively in a bid to address any challenge that might arise during the project management process.

Intercultural communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Intercultural communication - Essay Example lates that: ‘The study of intercultural communication begins as a journey into another’s culture and ends as a journey into one’s own culture’. This last statement sensitized me on the extent that I detested my culture; that is the key reason why I decided to share Haiti’s cultural beliefs and background in relation to intercultural communication. Haitian culture comprises of African and French cultural aspects. African culture forms the most prevalent Haitian cultural setting, evidently from the high population of West Africans. Haitian culture, therefore, represents an integration of the language, artistry, and musical ideas from African and French cultures. Creole is the main language spoken by Haitians (Hall 149). Creole is an integration of French language and Haitian Creole. Considerable percentages of Haitians are religious and believe in Christianity, except for few who are Muslims. Haitians are outstanding artists specializing in woodcarving and painting. Their exceptional artistry emanates from the belief in conserving historical events through drawings. Moreover, Haitians remain conservative of their music culture through continued dance and music creativity. Haitians culture beliefs that their music has the potential of scaring off evil spirits and facilitating healing of specific diseases. Haitian traditional dance incorporates native drumming and rhythmic patterns inherently form African and French culture. When it comes to the two concepts of Universality and relativism, I tend to be more universalistic. For instance, I once watched on Facebook some Chinese preparing dog meat for supper and commercial purposes. The meat, to most people is not something that anybody should be eating, as it is a taboo in most cultures around the world. In another scenario, I watched some other Chinese roasting rats as a special meal for a birthday party. I felt disgusted not only by the idea of eating dogs or rats but also by the cruelty with which they

Free Economic Zones in Transition Economies and Its Impact of Economic Essay

Free Economic Zones in Transition Economies and Its Impact of Economic Development of a Country - Essay Example e areas of a certain national economy where the government has put up a special system of opportunities and benefits that are not available to other areas of the country.3 These zones are also referred to as â€Å"islands† or â€Å"windows† wherein foreign investments and technologies are presented to a country. They are an example of an â€Å"open door† policy.4 Another definition of FEZ presents it as a part of a country’s territory wherein goods are being looked at as something that does not fit the limits of national customs territory; thus, they are not under common customs control and taxation, according to the Kyoto Convention. Hence, products being entered through the FEZs are not subjected to any trade barriers. The Ministry of Finance and Economy of Korea also gave their own definition, stating that FEZs are self-sufficient areas that provide wide-ranging services.5 Consequently, the Free Economic Zone Law defined FEZ with Article 23 as â€Å"th e zone, which is developed with the aim of improving the business environment for foreign-invested enterprises and the living conditions for foreigners†. Thus, an FEZ is a special area where exceptional measures are practiced. Moreover, it is a specific area which offers an optimal business and living environment to foreign investors and enterprises in order to draw high-end foreign industries and global services.6 FEZs are similarly known as free zone (FZ), free port (FP), customs free zone (CFZ), EPZ, foreign trade zone, free production zone (FPZ), FTZ, industrial free zone, tax free zone, customs free airport and foreign access zone.7 FEZs are also areas characterized as a part of a national economic area rather than a geographic territory where preferential economic conditions are being imposed with respect to entrepreneurs.8 Thus, others regard FEZs as a means of selective reduction of the state’s power to interrupt with economic processes. FEZs are referred to as devices that are capable of

Obama's Views on War and Terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Obama's Views on War and Terrorism - Essay Example President Obama’s agendas have proved to be stronger and more viable over time. President Obama is a law graduate. President Obama’s years of public services has seen immense achievements. He mentioned numerous pointers, or tasks to be completed, in his Inaugural Speech on 20th January 2009. These included reviving the economy by creating jobs for people, developing renewable energy resources, increasing the educational standards, economic and infrastructure development, scientific research and lowering the healthcare costs, and to make federal budget spending transparent in front of masses. Most of these objectives the president has already achieved and continues to improve on. The inaugural speech also contained a specific emphasis on war on terrorism and how the worldwide contempt and hatred is to be tackled. This is the world’s biggest concern so far and, as United States of America is the most powerful country in the world, it also shoulders a certain respon sibility regarding maintaining peace in the world. President Obama’s Inaugural speech received worldwide viewership and interest for his views and interests on the subject of war and terrorism. President Obama’s Inaugural speech contained specific references to the war-zones of that time. â€Å"We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we’ll work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet† (Obama). It is evident in these words that President Obama, at the time of gaining office, aimed to establish worldwide peace. He intended to retrieve the United States’ army from Iraq which had been deployed during former president Bush’s reign following the 9/11 chaotic incident. Obama’s priorities also included establishing peace in Afghanistan which had also deteriorated into a war zone in search of Al-Qaeda le ader Osama bin Laden and in search of nuclear weapons which were sadly never discovered. President Obama stressed that he would go to any lengths to establish peace in the region by communicating beneficially with both friends and enemies. As a super power of the world, President Obama specifically felt the responsibility of peace and hence placed extra emphasis on it. President Obama’s other notions have been successfully completed or are in the process. 2.6 million Jobs were added to aid the recession-stricken nation of America and for the country’s economic growth. This would also influence the education sector positively as more people would be able to acquire education if personal financial conditions were satisfactory. President Obama’s efforts do not end here as he furthers his cause and plan till the completion of his tenure. President Obama seems to be carrying a huge impact of his law schooling. He is a strict disciplinary regarding corruption and its legal implications. Not only has he applied his legal educational background to federal budget spending by placing it online in plain view of all United States citizens, but the same is also reflected in his foreign policies and his course of action against terrorism. When talking about President Obama’s views on wars, it is imminent that his views before his presidency were hardly any different. â€Å"I am not opposed to all wars. I am opposed to dumb wars† (Obama). It is clear from his 2002 speech against the Iraq

Gender Differences in Advertising Language

Gender Differences in Advertising Language In this modern life, advertisements appear widely not only in shops and stores, in leaflets and brochures, on newspapers and magazines but also on high-tech media like radios, televisions and the Internet. They appear in different forms: texts, images, audio files or an integrated form of all: video/animated files. However different they are, they are designed with only one intention. That is to make more profit by bringing the products to groups of potential customers. To fulfill that intention effectively, they characterize the potential customers of each product or service and design personalized advertisements (2008 Choicestream Personalization Survey) that target to certain potential groups of customers. Thus, in the advertising market, some products have more than one advertisement which target at different groups: one may target at the old while another may target at the young; or one may target at the rich while another may target at the working class. Clear Shampoo is one obvious example in Vietnam. The product has seven advertisements on television and the Internet. They seem to target at different viewers of different genders and have several other aspects such as models, images, languages and advertising techniques. This essay focuses on one of those aspects, the language, and aims to find the answers for two following questions: Is the language used by male models/voiceovers different from that used by female models/voiceovers? Is the language used by models/voiceovers of different genders strongly associated with the target viewers? 2. Theoretical background 2.1. Advertising Nowadays, businesses and manufacturers are actually aware of the great importance of advertising their products or services since a successful advertisement can bring them great profits whereas an unfortunate commercial can lead them to bankruptcy (Sadek-Endrawes, 2008). According to adcracker.com, a website for tips, tools and techniques to create world-class advertising ideas, businesses and manufactures try their best to find ways to design the best advertisements for their products and services to attract attention, engage minds, trigger emotions and change what people think. Among techniques used are special metaphors (a symbolic representation for the product), promises of benefit or problem solving, offers of free samples, features of human-like and life-like, features of eye candy, etc. Writers from adcracker.com also believe that it might be useful to choose or create their own characters who are put in some special situations, for example conflicts, which can be exaggerated . But the most and foremost important techniques that all advertisement designers need to know are the techniques of choosing the target viewers and language wisely and correspondingly. That is the reason why there are sometimes more than one advertisements designed for only one single product. 2.1.1. Language use as a powerful advertising technique Language plays a vital role in the society in general and in everyones life in particular. We use language of all kinds every day, if it is not to say, every moment to communicate with other people, to get ourselves and our own opinions expressed and vice versa to get the same things from others (Gyllgard, 2006). Mastering that communicative power of language, sensible advertisers try to utilize language as a powerful tool to influence the viewers. More specifically, they often try to use language distinctively in order to catch viewers attention (adcracker.com). For example, they sometimes play with words, use them out of context, and create new ones in order to help viewers remember a certain brand. Sometimes, those words become the slogan for the brand like Moving Forward for Toyota cars or Malaysia Truly Asia for Tourism in Malaysia. The designers of advertisements also pay attention to speech accommodation (Giles Coupland, 1991) and adjust the speech styles of models and voiceovers in order to fulfill their advertising intentions, especially the intention of attracting the attention of specific groups of viewers. A study of a group of students from Mount Holyoke College (Alfaro et al.) finds that the advertisement is much more effective when the gender of models/ voiceovers and the targeted gender are matched. Language in advertisements is also internationalized (Sadek-Endrawes, 2008), which is expected to be beneficial in order to create the same response from viewers of different countries in case the product comes into the global market. 2.1.2. Focus on target viewers Most advertisers know that advertising techniques have persuasive energy and that the strength of such persuasive energy is measured in several ways, but most importantly in relation to a target audience (adkracker.com). It is explained by adcracker.com that different target audience have different lifestyles, different attitudes, different feelings and emotions, which consequently results in different behaviors. Thus, successful advertisers often attempt to build adverts that can get people to take action or plant a belief in the minds of their prospective buyers by closely associating their adverts with the targeted viewers. This is also supported by the 2008 Personalization Survey of Choicestream, an independent research firm providing recommendation service for the worlds largest retailers and entertainment brands including Yahoo!, ATT, Tesco, Overstock.com, etc. In the survey, they noted that those who spend the most money and shop most frequently are more likely to click on per sonalized ads than non-personalized ads. In fact, 39% of them are more willing to click on a personalized advertisement. 2.2. Gender difference Men and women are different in various aspects which can mainly be categorized into biological and social factors. Consequently, different terms are coined to show such differences, for example sex and gender. Sex is defined by Eckert and McConnell-Ginnet (2003:10) as a biological categorization which is based primarily on reproductive potential and gender is the social elaboration of biological sex. This means that sex is something fixed by birth (Thomas, 2004) and gender is something that the social life shapes on us continuously in every pace of our life (Graddol and Swann, 1994:8). It is believed that gender has a major influence on language use through the process of socialization (Tannen 1993:84). As afore-mentioned, language is an important part of an individuals life which helps to form his/ her social identity (Gyllgard, 2006:1) by their different linguistic habits which reflect different individual biographies and experiences (Graddol and Swann, 1994:5). Coates (1993:144) also claims that when children adopt linguistic behavior considered appropriate to their gender they perpetuate the social order which creates gender distinctions This means that language is among the most significant factors, bedsides social roles and social positions, that make distinctions between men and women. Actually, it is observed that men and women use language differently in a gender-appropriate manner (Tannen, 1993:85) since they are small. In the following part of the paper, the use of language by different genders will be discussed in three main aspects: (1) topic choices, (2) word choices and (3) manner of speaking. Topic choices In terms of topic choices, men are believed to talk more about sports or other physical activities when they are small (Poynton, 1989) and about current concerns, about their strength and their dominance (Coulmas, 2005) when they grow up. Meanwhile, women are believed to spend time talking more about home activities, romance and fantasy worlds. Later in their life, they are considered to choose to talk about nonsense and unimportant personal topics (Gyllgard, 2006). Consequently, mens language is often considered as serious and important while womens is seen as trivial and easy to ignore (Coates, 1993). Word choices It is believed that women seem to be more careful about choosing words than men. It is explained that this results from the different roles of the two genders in the society. Women are considered to have their first and foremost roles as caring the families and bringing up children. Consequently, they need to be careful with the words they use or otherwise they may set bad examples for their children. Also regarding word choices, in their works, Poyton (1989) and Eckert McConnell-Ginet (2003) find that women use more intensifies (such as so and very), words of approximation (such as about and around), or inessential qualifiers (like really or so) than men. Women are also claimed to use more adjectives (including empty adjectives like cute and evaluative adjectives like wonderful) and adverbs. Furthermore, hedges and tag questions are found more in womens language than in mens in order to require confirmation or signal uncertainty respectively (Lakoff, 1989). Manner of speaking With the same reasons of different social roles, in terms of manner of speaking, women are found more polite in speaking and men are found to create and use more taboo language like slang or swear words (Poyton, 1989). Lakoff (1989) also agrees with this by giving an example that women choose to use weaker expletives like oh dear or goodness instead of words like shit or damn. Meanwhile, Coates (1993) believes that the language used by women is collaboration-oriented with supportive comments to create and maintain relationship of closeness and equality while that used by men is competition-oriented in order to assert their positions of dominance. 3. Methodology and Data This study focuses on the difference between the languages used by male and female models in different advertisements for the same product, namely Clear Shampoo, one kind of shampoo used in Vietnam. It will test whether the difference in language used by male and female models and voiceovers is associated with the difference in genders of the target viewers and how they are associated. First of all, English versions of seven Clear Shampoo advertisements are selected to be the data for analyzing. Those advertisements are chosen for several reasons. Firstly, shampoo is now an essential cosmetic product that people, regardless of their age, their social or financial status and certainly their gender, have to use in their daily life. Thus, it is worthwhile to investigate the advertisements of such product. Secondly, it is found that there are several different advertisements of Clear Shampoo on television as well as on Youtube at the same time and it is presumed by the author that it may result from the advertisers purpose of targeting viewers of different genders. Consequently, with the help of Google search and Youtube website, seven advertisements of Clear Shampoo are collected and transcribed in the appendices of this essay for being analyzed to answer the first research question. Differences among those advertisements will then be figured out by checking the above -mentioned theory and later used to group the seven advertisements into 3 groups: for men, for women and for both men and women. The second question is answered by analyzing the interviews with 20 viewers of both genders who are non-native speakers of English but gain sufficient proficiency to understand the advertisements. Actually, they are Vietnamese teachers of English who are now teaching English at College of Technology and students of some M.A. programs for English Linguistics or English Teaching Methodology. The procedure includes two small sections. Firstly, the viewers are given the transcriptions of the advertisements and asked two following questions: Who does each advertisement target, men or women? How do you know who the advertisement target at? After that, they are asked to watch the seven advertisements and answer the two questions again. 4. Data analysis and results 4.1 Advertisement analysis and results Based on the theoretical background and seven advertisements of Clear Shampoo, the following results on gender differences in language use are obtained and grouped in three major aspects: (1) choice of topic, (2) choice of word and (3) manner of speaking. 4.1.1. Choice of topic It is revealed by the advertisement analysis that male models talk about their confidence and show their strength as well as their dominance to others by facing the problems: Black is confident. Confidence means no dandruff. (Appendix 1) Face it. Cover it. I deal with dandruff like man. (Appendix 4) or Rage. Rage against her breath of fear. (Appendix 5) Meanwhile, female models talk about beauty as in: some beauty shampoos (Appendix 3) about their daily activities such as combing in appendix 3 or about their emotion and their perception as in: I love my hair. Im convinced. (Appendix 2) Convinced. I am. (Appendix 3) They also mention one fact that they often try to avoid the troubles they encounter: Hide itCover itI keep it secret as any woman should. (Appendix 4) 4.1.2. Choice of words Verb choice As male models choose to talk about their confidence, their strength as well as their dominance, they use words that help to express perfectly what they mean. Actually, they use strong verbs as breath, move and sweat in Appendix 1 or face, solve, and deal with in appendix 4 or verbs that show their activeness as in I trust Clear. (Appendix 1) The verbs spoken by male voiceovers also have the same feature: remove and prevent the dandruff (appendix 5), or make the dandruff go away and stay away (appendix 7) so that its all settled (appendix 4). All those verbs bring to the audience the active position of the speakers, and thus, reveal their dominant positions. On the other hand, the verbs used by female models are quite different since they seem to display the defensive positions of the women Im convinced. (Appendix 2) Convinced. I am. (Appendix 3) or their solutions of avoiding dandruff by hiding it, covering it or keeping it secret (appendix 4). Adjective choice As their concerns are different, female and male models choose different adjectives when they speak about their hair. For example, most male models and voiceovers use black to talk about their hair or the hair they want to have: I like black. Black is confident. Black looks good. (Appendix 1) From black into darkness and into the dark, the icy blackness follows. (Appendix 5) the seduction of black, the temptation of black. Its the closeness of black that you can only have (Appendix 6) At the same time, female models talk about the features of soft, clean and beautiful which are just suitable to describe female hair. Clear makes my hair soft and beautiful. Just soft hair. (Appendix 2) Can your shampoo leave your hair soft and clean Clear takes it soft. Just soft hair. (Appendix 3) 4.1.3. Manner of speaking As can be seen from the seven advertisements, female models talk with a collaborative orientation. They talk as if they want to share their experience with the audience whereas male models and voiceovers try to assert their positions of dominance by a competitive orientation. They talk about their dealing with dandruff (appendix 4), the collision of sparks and dandruff (appendix 5), their black seduction and temptation when they are dandruff free (appendix 6). The tendency of dominance is also expressed by their short imperative sentences which can be found more frequently in male models or voiceovers speech: Face it Solve it (Appendix 4) Rage, rage against her breath of fear. (Appendix 5) Make the season more seductive. Make it a Clear Black Valentines. Be board. Be Black. Move closer anytime. Have Clear Black Valentines. (Appendix 6) The first advertisement in Appendix 1 with the male model also offers another feature of male speech. That is the logic in thinking and speaking: Black is confident. Black looks good. Looking good means no dandruff. Confidence means no dandruff. Clear means no dandruff. With his logical speech, the male model tries to convince the audience the close relationship among Clear, black, confident and looking good. 4.2 Interview analysis and results The results of the interviews reveal that it is not language but mainly the models, the images in the advertisements that inform the interviewees about the target viewers of the advertisements. In fact, after looking at the transcription of the seven advertisements, most of them (16 out of 20) hardly say who the advertisements target at. The other four guess the target viewers based on the name of the models (Rain in Appendix 1 or Nicole in Appendix 2) or the name of the products (Clear Men in Appendix 4 or Clear Black Valentines in Appendix 6). However, they can easily answer the two questions after watching the video files and confirm that the language does not get much of their attention but the rhythm of the speech does have some effects on their viewing. This might lead to a conclusion that language does not play an important role in revealing the target viewers of advertisements. 5. Conclusion The results of two analyses reveal the answers for both research questions. Firstly, the analysis of the advertisements answers the first question about the relationship between the language and the gender of speakers. In fact, it confirms the theory of gender language. According to the analysis, the language used models/voiceovers of different gender are not the same even though they are not the language that they say in the real life but what they are told to say by the advertisement designers or directors. The differences mainly lie in the choice of topics, choice of words and the manner of speaking. Secondly, the analysis of the interviews with 20 non-native English speakers answers the second question about the relationship between the language and the target viewers of the advertisements. The result reveals that language does not have a strong link with the target viewers since most of the interviewees cannot say exactly the target viewers of the advertisements if they only look at the transcriptions of the ads. Although the research has found answers for both research questions, there are still many drawbacks that should be improved. First of all, it is realized that just one or two typical advertisements should be selected in stead of seven so that the analysis could be more thorough and focused. Secondly, the interviews should be recorded by means of multi-media in stead of just recorded by note-taking since it can provide much more information and can be referred back easily. References 2008 Choicestream Personalization Survey. Choicestream. 29 October 2009 Advertising techniques Dos and Donts and Simple Tips from Years of Learning. Buzz Marketing. 29 October 2009. Alfaro, M.W. et al. The effect of voice-over gender and targeted gender of product on television commercial effectiveness. 12 December 2009 Creative and Effective Advertising Techniques. AdCracker. 29 October 2009 Coates, J. 1993. Women, Men and Language. London: Longman. Coulmas, F. 2005. Gendered speech: Sex as a factor of linguistic choice. Sociolinguistics. Cambridge. Eckert, P. McConnell-Ginnet, S. 2003. Language and Gender. Cambridge: CUP Giles, H. Coupland, N. 1991. Language: Contexts and Consequences. Open University Press Graddol, D and Swann, J. 1994. Gender Voices. Oxford: Blackwell. Gyllgard, L. 2006. Gender differences in Swedish students written English and students identification of female and male language features. 29 Oct, 2009 Lakoff, R. 1989. Language and Womans Place. New York: Harper and Row. Newman, M.L. et al. 2008. Gender Differences in Language Use: An analysis of 14,000 Text Samples. Discourse Processes. 45: 211-236 Poynton, C. 1989. Language and Gender: Making the difference. Oxford: OUP Sadek-Endrawes. 2008. Culture Advertising. 29 Oct, 2009. Sunderland, J. 2008. Language and Gender. Routledge. Tannen, D. 1993. Gender and Conversation Interaction. New York: OUP. The Targeted Advertising Dictionary and Business Index. The Interactive TV Dictionary and Business Index. 25 Nov, 2009. Thomas, L. et al. 2004. Language, Society and Power. Routledge. Trudgill, P. 2000. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society. London: Penguin APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: Clear Commercial found on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLb6o0QV9jo I breath. I move. I sweat. With the world watching. My hair. My clothes. I like black. Black is confident. Black looks good. Looking good means no dandruff. Confidence means no dandruff. Clear means no dandruff. I trust Clear. Dandruff never comes back. My name is Rain. Clear. No Dandruff. APPENDIX 2 Clear Commercial found on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGzm2dIjO3I I lived to perform. My song, my dance, my hair. Theres no room for dandruff. Clear makes my hair soft and beautiful. I love my hair. Clear. It works. Im convinced. My name is Nicole. Clear. No Dandruff. Just soft hair. APPENDIX 3 Clear Commercial found on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TYOSixnZWwfeature=related Can your shampoo leave your hair soft and clean. That is how combing sounds like with some beauty shampoos. And that is how it sounds like after Clear takes it soft. Convinced. I am. Clear. No Dandruff. Just soft hair. APPENDIX 4: Clear Commercial found on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd_LQMSvXJ4 Face it. Hide it. Solve it. Cover it. I deal with dandruff like a man. I keep it secret as any woman should. But either way, we know the answer is clear. I use clear. Clear men for me. It has zinc vitanol, clinically proven effective to remove dandruff and prevent it from coming back. Its all settled then. For us, its only one choice. New clear. No dandruff. APPENDIX 5 Clear Commercial found on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6WlPhqIyrs From black into darkness, shadows see follicles bent and broke and slivers of sparks as dark and dandruff collide. Rage, rage against her breath of fear! Now frozen, silence marks the danse macabre. And into the dark, the icy blackness follows. APPENDIX 6 Clear Commercial found on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9tx1JR34lc You never know when youd get stuck by the seduction of black, the temptation of black. Its the closeness of black that you can only have when you are dandruff free. With Clear. Make the season more seductive. Make it a Clear Black Valentines. Be board. Be black. Move closer anytime. Have Clear Black Valentines. With clear. No dandruff.

Henrik Isbens A Dolls House :: A Dolls House Essays

Translation Trouble In the play "A Doll House" the main character, Nora, is in a situation where she is caused to act, emotionally and physically, as a doll to please her husband. Nora has to be very sneaky and conniving in order to be perfect and talked down to by her husband. The translation of this play from Norwegian was a little difficult. The title can either be translated as "A Doll House" or as "A Doll's House". Many people believe either title fits the theme of the play. I believe that the title "A Doll's House" may fit because it is Nora being a doll in order to please her husband Torvald. Torvald sees her as his toy, not as a human equal to himself. Torvald gives his wife pet names such as "spend thrift" and "squander bird". This shows just how controlling he really is. Nora just plays along, keeping secrets from Torvald in order to please him at any expense. This was a very common situation during the era whom this play was produced. Nora is smart and capable of a lot more but she lets herself be held back in order to be the perfect wife for Torvald. The title "A Doll House" would not fit the play because this states that everyone in the house is a doll. However, Nora is the only character truly pretending to be what they are not. This title would work if everyone was trying to give off an image that wasn't true, such as Nora did. If Nora is a doll then all the other characters would be the humans playing with her, causing her to do extra ordinary tasks such as forgery and lying. The best title is definitely "A Doll's House" because Nora is the only character acting in a different manner in order to please her power hungry husband, Torvald. Even if she was conniving it was all in good intentions. It takes a very loving wife to go out of her way in order to make sure that her husband isn't burdened down with the expenses of a trip that saved his life. However, Torvald doesn't really see his Nora as his wife emotionally but as his little sex pet. This is what Nora finally realizes at the end of the play when Torvald is only worried about himself and what everyone else thinks about him.

Anabel Family problems Essay

One year later. After implementing the ethnography students’ achievement plan, the students have developed well. Although not all were able to meet all the goals I set to them at the beginning of the school year, each one of them was able to excel this year. Since all of them have difficulties in reading, writing, spelling, and Mathematics, teaching was basically the same. However, for each one’s special needs, the approaches were different. Some of them were found to be very good in peer to peer tutoring while others were good in one on one tutoring. Aside from academic struggles, problems on behavior, anger and frustration management and lack of confidence were common among them. Dukes and co-authors (2007) argues that problem behavior is causes risk in the effective teaching and learning strategies and also with the safety and convenience of both the students and the teachers. Thus, while honing their academic skills, I also had to be concerned about each other’ behavior problem. Different strategies like joining what they would not want to do and what they want to do in one activity was found effective to encourage the child to do what he needed to do. Letting them feel that they were good in some skills encouraged them to learn even more. Although a lot of strategies regarding behavior problems exist, not all are found to be effective. Some teachers would prefer to do punishments with problem students but this would not frequently change the students’ behavior. Some researchers would suggest the functional behavior assessment (FBA) technique (Dukes et al, 2007). Functional behavior assessment (FBA) is â€Å"the process of identifying the events that reliably predict and maintain problem behaviors before an intervention is determined† (Scott, Nelson, & Zabala, 2003). Such process requires a school-wide or perhaps district-wide training so that FBA will be properly implemented. Moreover, the parents were also counseled so that childrens’ learning could continue at home. A careful guidance of both parents and teachers was still found to be the most effective among all processes of handling a child with special needs. It may also be noted that teaching self management requires follow up procedures especially from the teacher. Some may expect that effective self management would require independence from the teachers and parents, children with disabilities need continuous follow up and monitoring (Sears, 2006). On a more personal note, the students were not just the only learners in the sessions. I also gathered more learning and insights for this school year. Although the students were not aware, the teacher was able to observe them personally. The students have taught me to have more patience, more kindness, and even the technical aspects of teaching special children. Indeed, special education must be put into a higher respect, love, and passion for teaching. More than a profession, teaching was more of motherhood to these children who have special needs that are needed to be given in a special way. Three among my five students were able to fulfill the goals of the course while the other two need more time. Anabel, Mark and Henry fulfilled most of the goals I set for them at the beginning of the school year while Jessica was not able to improve a lot. Lastly, Juan dropped out due to financial problems and problems about his health. The highest among the five is Mark who was able to achieve all the goals. His determination and parents’ support was present throughout the school year. If this would continue, he can excel to class even more in the next grade level. His parents were very thankful because he was able to make them proud whereas Mark was sure inspired by them. They would continue to support them and promised that they would always cooperate with the teacher for Mark’s continuous learning. Second was Anabel who almost achieved all the goals too. This lovely young girl had shown her potential and allowed the teacher to help her develop these. Her behavior was never been a problem towards the end of the school year. She was very willing to learn and wanted to learn even more. Also, her lack of self confidence improved. She was more interactive and participates more in and out of class. The least was Henry. This was duly because of his problem attitude. He refused to participate and failed to show willingness to learn. He was not able to improve a lot because he did not want to practice and follow my instructions to him. He was not able to behave well in class. Thus, I plan to handle with this problem behavior first before really forcing him to study, which is never convenient for him and for me. Jessica is still young. Like Henry, her behavior had hindered her development. Thus, she must undergo behavior management procedures. Also, her parents are also advised not to let her do what she wants to do just to make everything be fine. She needs to be treated in a way that she will learn how to follow authorities and when to do what she does not like to do. This lovely girl has the potential. She only needs to become more responsible so that she can focus more on her tasks. Her great sociable characteristics should be honed so that she will continue to learn more things to more people. Lastly, for Juan, he needs more constant medication with his doctor. I still talk to his parents so that Juan could continue to go to school because he sure has potential. Case Study I: Anabel Family problems often hindered Anabel to come to class. Since her family is not financially stable, some of her needs like school supplies and others stuffs needed to school were not duly given to her. Moreover, she was greatly affected by the fights of her parents and refused to come to class at times. Sometimes, while her mother was out to work, she was left to attend to her younger brother. Family problem is perhaps the greatest dilemma for the young mind of Anabel. It hinders her self development and only adds up to her hang ups. Thus, I advised her parents to undergo marriage counseling not only for their children but also for their family life as a whole.

Marketing Plan for BlackBerry

Marketing Plan for BlackBerry Executive Summary The BlackBerry is Smartphone manufactured by RIM. It has been having a large market share, especially in the North American market. However, it is currently facing stiff competition from other products such as the Apple iPhone and Nokia Smartphone among others.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Marketing Plan for BlackBerry specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The main target for the BlackBerry has been the business users and it has not been able to effectively attract the mainstream consumers. Such Company as Apple has been able to produce products that have been attractive to the majority consumers. However, RIM can still take appropriate measures to avoid losing its market share by coming up with a new series BlackBerry Smartphone to add it to its product line with an intention of increasing its market share in North America as well as in the foreign markets such as China, parts of Africa and Euro pe. The company will have to capitalize on the available opportunities and its strengths and to make the necessary efforts to overcome its weaknesses and threats in order to win the competition. In this marketing plan, the situation of the BlackBerry product has been assessed and analyzed; the available literature concerning the problem of stiff competition and losing the market share by BlackBerry has also been looked at. In addition, a marketing strategy to be employed in introducing the new BlackBerry product to the market has been given and the financial projections and implementation plan has also been given in this marketing plan. Situation Assessment and Analysis According to Gowda, Szabo, Choi, Hauk Salt (2009), â€Å"Research In Motion – RIM, pioneered the development of the Smartphone market in 1998 with the BlackBerry, positioned in government and enterprise target markets† (Gowda, Szabo, Choi, Hauk Salt, 2009, p.3).Advertising Looking for term pap er on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The BlackBerry has gained a competitive edge following its recognition as being an â€Å"all-in-one portable wireless communication device† (Gowda, et al, 2009, p.3). It has a broad portfolio of Smartphone products which include; BlackBerry Tour, Bold, Pearl and Curve series (Gowda, et al, 2009). On the was of this product getting more popularity, it goes without saying that it would be meaningless if the RIM Company depends on the sales of the present existing enterprise in order of ensuring the retaining of the products in the market. Following this realization, a move to introduce the BlackBerry Storm series was taken in 2008 and the main aim for this was to accommodate the majority consumer segments. However, this new series brought about â€Å"low customer satisfaction rates†. Another move was taken in 2009 to bring improvement to this series in wh ich there was launching of the Storm2 series. However, the consumer expectations are ever changing and the competitors are always on the lookout to satisfy the consumer needs. Therefore, it is essential that RIM develops a new BlackBerry series product to add it to its product line in order to win the competition since the competitors in the Smartphone market such as Apple and Nokia are becoming more and more innovative. Research In Motion is a company that became very popular all over the world getting its popularity each day with a high speed. There are more than 14 million people who preferred the Blackberry production and, in total, the users come from different places of the world. Between the year 2005 and 2009, its revenue approached over $11,000 million. Out of this revenue, 92 percent came from outside North America. In 2009 financial year, the revenue increased by 84 percent over the financial year 2008 (Datamonitor, 2009). The company has realized growth â€Å"by expandi ng in to foreign markets where it held 18.7 percent of the global Smartphone market share in 2009† (Datamonitor, 2009, p. 1). Strong financials bring in investors and enable RIM to realize growth with coming up with new products as well as new solutions. However, this company encounters a danger to its global share and revenue as a number of its competitors enter the industry and come up with new products.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Marketing Plan for BlackBerry specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The forecasts that were made gave an indication that the Smartphone market would increase by 19 percent all through from the year 2009 to 2011. Even if there was a decrease in the sales of mobile phones by 9 percent at the start of 2009,†the Smartphone movement increased by 13 percent despite the economic crisis† (Datamonitor, 2009, p.3). The consumers of the Smartphone have given an indication tha t they have attached value on the multi-media applications and entertainment in their mobile devices. This tendency offers an opportunity for RIM to expand its product lines by putting much of its focus on the needs of the mainstream consumers. Competition RIM takes up the 20% of the global Smartphone market share. Even if this share is remarkable, the company is facing threats from its competitors and it is constantly fighting to remain on top of the competition. Its competitors in this market include â€Å"High Tech Computer (HTC), Apple, Nokia, Google’s Android, Samsung and Palm† (Gowda, et al, 2009, p. 4). Considering the Apple Company, in the financial year that ended in September 2008, its net sales amounted to $11.8 billion. Basing on the research that was conducted, it was established that the Apple Company was able to take up 13.3 percent of the global market share â€Å"as their 3 GB iPhone is growing in popularity selling for $199 with a service contractâ⠂¬  (Datamonitor, 2009, p.4). In addition, the iPhone offers a competitive advantage, â€Å"as the device is able to run upwards of 85,000 applications providing higher utility for customers† (Datamonitor, 2009, p.5). In a similar manner, Nokia dominates the Smartphone global market share at 40 percent, posing a threat to North America market shares (Abkowitz, 2009). SWOT Analysis Strengths One of the strengths of the BlackBerry product is the brand image. This product has one of the best images for the mobile phones in the current mobile phone market. The diverse business it has possesses various products for its greater range of consumers. The other strength is that it is an innovative product. The software of the BlackBerry is designed very well. This phone is greatly secure it combines well with other platforms. It operates well with various other carriers which make it possible for it to be utilized all over the world. This device is quite easy to manage. It’s ba ttery life is longer than the standard one.Advertising Looking for term paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The third strength is the product features. This product has â€Å"a small form-factor with an easy-to-use-keyboard† (Randhawa et al, 2009, p.2). RIM has the patents for the â€Å"thumbwheel and QWERTY keyboard found on the device† (Randhawa, et al, 2009, p.2). In addition, the device has a â€Å"speedy mobile e-mail provider† and it has coverage in a large number of major nations. The Blackberry Smartphone is very comfortable to use when monitoring the e-mail messages. It is a very convient and portable way of being connected to the Internet as well. The global utilization of this product is one of â€Å"its best known assets† (Randhawa, et al, 2009, p.2). Weaknesses One of the main weaknesses of the Blackberry is ‘Global Coverage Dependence†. The company’s business model which involves entirely selling through operators implies that it relies on its â€Å"operators when it comes to launch Blackberry’s services† (Randhawa , et al, 2009, p.2). This consumes much time and the expense of launching this â€Å"can be high for small time operators† (Randhawa, et al, 2009, p.2). The other weakness of the Blackberry is the cost of ownership. This product has a high ownership cost. According to Randhawa, et al (2009), â€Å"Blackberry is known as a high-end product that is very costly for enterprises that want to provide e-mail across large organizations† (Randhawa, et al, 2009, p.2). The other companies competing with RIM have brought to the market products that are less costly as compared to the Blackberry. The third weakness of the Blackberry is in relation to its features. When it comes to setting up critical applications, the Blackberry does not find it easy but struggles. It does not have â€Å"a very large storage of third-party software†¦.when it comes to most people, its main feature is the e-mail utility† (Randhawa, et al, 2009, p.2). Opportunities One of the available oppo rtunities is the wide range of offerings for mobile workers. The increasing number of consumers will, in the future, need to be satisfied and the Blackberry will be at their service to ensure the consumers’ needs as are satisfactorily met. RIM will seek to ensure the enlarge of e-mail all across the world towards a market which is divergent and popular at the international level. Consumers have the knowledge about this value but they do not have the willingness of paying a premium. The other opportunity is that RIM â€Å"extends the range of third-party Blackberry devices† (Randhawa, et al, 2009, p.3). At a time Blackberry engages in licensing its software via â€Å"Blackberry connect and Blackberry programs† it is in a position to increase control against other users who have preference for the platforms of the Blackberry and â€Å"It is easily addressable in global markets and features certain products in markets worldwide† (Randhawa, et al, 2009, p.3). Threats The biggest threat that the Blackberry faces is the competition. The Blackberry is currently experiencing stiff competition from other products such as the Apple’s iPhone than it has ever experienced. There are various suppliers all over the world which give competition to Blackberry on each and every coming day. Blackberry competes as well with its operators; a large number of them have ensured launching of their own â€Å"branded e-mail service† (Randhawa, et al, 2009, p.3). There is a great competition in gaining popularity at the level of economic marketing within the mobile industry that bases on the competing of Blackberry with the products that are eager to imitate or to overcome this mobile product. Marketing Research (Literature Review) According to Tsirulnik (2010), even though the BlackBerry is the largely used Smartphone in the U.S, with about 43 percent of the market share, there seems that its application strategy has not been a success. In compa ring RIM with the Apple Company, the RIM’s BlackBerry App World is remarkably â€Å"less crowed than Apple’s App store† (Tsirulnik, 2010, para. 2). By the beginning of the year 2010, there were about one hundred and fifty thousand applications in iTunes while the â€Å"BlackBerry App World† did not have more than fifteen thousand applications. Moreover, it is reported that Android was a little higher but in a similar ballpark. â€Å"There is no too much going on in terms of branded BlackBerry applications and it is rather ironical considering its market share† (Tsirulnik, 2010, para 2). It has also been reported that the iPhone/Android platform do have touch functionality that is superior as well as navigation from App store to application to a larger number of the BlackBerry devices (Tsirulnik, 2010). In addition, the Androids and iPhones are preloaded with their app stores but on the other hand, a person using a BlackBerry has to download App Wor ld in case he or she wants to use it (Tsirulnik, 2010, para 22). However, it is pointed out that â€Å"BlackBerry has a great opportunity to win over the enterprise and B2B market, as companies are far more likely to incorporate companywide BlackBerry solutions over the iPhone, which constitutes a significant barrier to entry for the iPhone† (Tsirulnik, 2010, para 22). Tsirulnik poses a question that; â€Å"will BlackBerry App World measure up to the iPhone† (Tsirulnik, 2010, para 10). The iPhone has a large â€Å"installed base of seventy five million iPhone and iPod devices and counting, all feeding on billions of downloads of 150,00-pluc applications† (Tsirulnik, 2010, para 11). The success of the â€Å"iPhone App Store† is attributed to its marketing support which include; â€Å"existing infrastructure of application review sites, blogs and YouTube review sites† (Tsirulnik, 2010, para 12). Research in Motion is supposed to obtain more developer s as well as brands which have interest in the creation of the entertaining and fun applications for the company’s platform ((Tsirulnik, 2010). According to Arthur (2011), RIM has been gradually losing its market share in the course of the last two years to phones that make use of the Google’s Android OS as well as to the Apple’s iPhone, and especially in the U.S market which was once the company’s biggest market. However, this company has been able to gain the market share in other countries in Africa, Europe and Asia, and especially in China. It is reported that the company has been able to gain a bigger market share than that that has been held by the former market leader Nokia for Smartphone sales in parts of Africa and China (Arthur, 2011). However, although the profits of RIM increased in the most recent quarter of the financial year 2011, there was sequential fall in the handset sales, giving an indication that the customers were not renewing contr acts but they were instead purchasing touch-based phones for RIM’s competitors such as Apple, Samsung and HTC (Arthur, 2010). According to Arthur (2011), â€Å"RIM’s customers split roughly 50 -50 between business users and consumers, where the general Smartphone market is split 30-70† (Arthur, 2011, para 11). The consumer market is bigger and following this, problems have been created for RIM in its attempts to expand the customer base â€Å"as the iPhone and Android phones have so far proved more popular with the first wave of consumer Smartphone buyers† (Arthur, 2011, para 11). According to Siebes (2010), following the industry wide competition, there has been increased spending in research and development at RIM and this has in turn led to a decrease in profit margins to a considerable level between the year 2007 and 2010. Moreover, there has been an eight percent increase in the cost of sales during the same period and at the same time, there has bee n a decrease in the average selling price per unit to $311 in 2010 from $371 in 2009 (Peers, 2010). To a great extend, the rise in the cost of sales is attributed to increased level of spending on research and development and at the same time, the decreasing unit selling cost is a result of end-consumer expectations â€Å"in a market where RIM’s BlackBerry is no longer one of just a few alternatives† (Siebes, 2010, para. 4). It is pointed out that the company is not just about to make a loss but it is imperative that to the company’s stakeholders for it to maintain high profit levels (Siebes, 2010). As on one hand it is not realistic to have expectations of the company’s profit margins going back to the previous highest levels any time in the near future, some actions are supposed to be taken to ensure that there is slowing down of the rate at which the profit margins are decreasing in the short time, and to ensure that there is an increase in the profit margins in the long run. Marketing Strategy Marketing Mix Product To this point, RIM has transformed â€Å"mobile phone communication devices with the BlackBerry smartphone† (Gowda, et al, 2009, p.5). The best idea would be to add to the product depth by bringing in a new BlackBerry to the product line by coming up with a multi-media device to meet the consumers’ needs in a better way. Price The setting of the price point will be done by the pricing strategies of the competitors. For the clients who long to have the satellite service, there will be predetermining of the extra charge. Place There will be distribution of the new BlackBerry product through the North American service carriers as well as the Global carriers, retail outlets and also through the â€Å"Black Berry promotional website† (Grewal, 2009, p.9). Promotion The company will engage in communicating the advantages of the new BlackBerry product to the consumers and it will do this through tailored advertisement campaigns, †internet marketing, viral marketing, social media channels and exclusive offers to current and new customers† (Grewal, 2009, p.9). Financial Projections and Analysis It is projected that within the next one year, there will be a gradual increase in the BlackBerry market share and the company’s profits are projected to increase at a rate of 10 percent per year. However, in the long run, after between three and five years, it is expected that the profits will increase by about thirty percent. Target Market The present BlackBerry target market is formed by a population consisting of middle to upper class consumers who fall in the age range between 30 to 55 years in the â€Å"professional, executive, and industrial segments† (Gowda, et al, 2009, p.4). The main target for getting new clients is the mainstream consumer market where the RIM Company will enter this segment by putting the changes in the consume expectations in to considerat ion. The company can bring the Smartphone products in to the market with more multimedia components to go with the interactive lifestyle of the consumers. In order to go on with the long-term growth, â€Å"RIM will target the next generational cohort. Tweets’, who are adept to technology, social media and have considerable influence on their parent’s consumer behavior† (Grewal, 2009, p.20). Strategies, Implementation and Controls The RIM to be able to satisfy the needs of the next generation of consumers and expand its global presence and increase its Smartphone market share, it has to increase its product depth. It has to add a new series to the BlackBerry Smartphone product line. In order to realize this, it needs to take various measures. One of the measures that need to be taken is product development. The current capabilities of the BlackBerry devices will not be sufficient in meeting the ever changing expectations of the consumers in the long run. The comp any can expand its market share both in North America and globally by ensuring addition of a BlackBerry series to the product depth under the mobile communication devices breadth. The new BlackBerry series that the company will have to come up with will have to feature increased multimedia and application capabilities, â€Å"non-scratch recycled metal, a full LED touch screen in combination with Qwerty keypad on the reverse side of the device, and a satellite service option for all customers† (Gowda, et al, p.5). The â€Å"satellite service will give out a higher value and greater utility for consumers who have a desire to use their phone at any place in the world. The advantage of this new BlackBerry product line will generate and give value by ensuring that the ever changing needs of the existing and new consumers are satisfied within the targeted market segments. The new alternative would facilitate sustenance of growth because a new product creates motivation for clients to go on buying BlackBerry products and offer greater utility with the features that have been added. Having a complete product line, this will enable the BlackBerry products to resist the external threats that are posed by the competitors. The new BlackBerry product will stimulate a sales increase as new products bring in a big proportion of revenues and dominate over other products. However, some disadvantage may be brought in case RIM does not succeed in satisfying the changing needs of the expectations of the consumers because this will bring about revenue loss and a reduction in the profits. If there is no demand for the new product, this may in turn reduce the value of the BlackBerry brand; thus discouraging the existing as well as the new customers from purchasing any BlackBerry brand . In addition, the competitors may decide to improve on the concept on which BlackBerry may base on when developing this new product line and bring to the market an improved model to capture th e market share in case this new product does not succeed. But RIM should foresee this and take appropriate measures to avoid such risks. Adequate research should be carried out to ensure the new product does not fail and serve to satisfy the ever changing consumer needs. Precaution should be taken to ensure the product has not weaknesses on which the competitors can capitalize on it and for them to bring in to the market an even more improved product. Another move that needs to be taken by RIM after developing a new product is market penetration. In order for this company to increase the Smartphone market share is the business as well as consumer segments, it can ensure that the brand awareness is increased. It can do this by communicating the superior benefits of the new BlackBerry brand. In order to bring up the level of the brand awareness, and to ensure intensification of the distribution efforts, the company can open BlackBerry stores having specialized BlackBerry service, situ ated in the business centers as well as suburban regions across the globe, and mostly in Asia, Europe and North America regions. One of the Benefits that will accrue from this is that, by bringing improvement in the marketing mix and open the BlackBerry stores in the existing markets, the company will be able to penetrate its markets and increase its market share. Adding to the â€Å"place of market distribution, this will serve as an additional vehicle that will be used to strengthened its communication of its BlackBerry products through customer service quality. Moreover, the company’s BlackBerry â€Å"specialty stores† offer added value to the products, through providing convenience and product knowledge to both the current as well as new customers in the targeted markets. However, there are some disadvantages that the company may encounter following taking this move. For instance, there will be no compensating of the additional marketing costs in case the addition al promotion and distribution places turns out to be fruitless. In such a situation, the company will loose its market shares to its competitors who may offer innovative products with higher perceived value. If RIM does not move fast and delay in launching the new specialty stores, the customers may not be motivated to purchase from the BlackBerry product line. But the most important thing is the company to consider these shortcomings and ensure they are avoided as much as possible. The other move that can be taken by RIM to gain a larger market share and improve its sales and profitability is to develop the market. The company should seek to further penetrate the global markets by collaborating with mobile carrier service sin nations having emerging markets to increase the market share for its Smartphone. An advantage of this is that, in a large number of developing economies, there is an increasing percent of middle-class household who starting to purchase technological devices. T his offers an opportunity for the company to capture market share and bring up the level of the revenue. Going on to collaborate with co-brand with the global mobile service carriers promotes a number of consumer perceptions of the quality of the product and ensures value addition to the BlackBerry products. One of the drawbacks that may be associated with this is that the potential that go on co-branding with the global mobile service carriers may fail on the side of RIM because, it is pointed out, â€Å"global carrier brands are suited to respective geographic regions and demographics in the different cultures, resulting in different customer profiles† (Gowda, et al, 2009, p.8). The global carrier companies may swift the priorities they have making the co-branded products not to be continued. Consequently, customer loyalty as well as customer relationships which are brought about by the co-branded products would actually be lost. Another drawback may be that venturing in to the foreign markets may be obstructed by the regulations put in place by governments in thee countries. References Abkowitz, A. (2009). How BlackBerry Does It. Fortune, 160, (4), pp.92-100.. Arthur, C. (2011). RIM launches three new BlackBerry devices with BB7 OS. The Guardian. Retrieved from, guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/aug/03/rim-blackberry-launch Datamonitor: (July 2009). Research In Motion Limited SWOT Analysis, Research In Motion Limited. 3 (1) pp1-10. Gowda, N., Szabo, C.. Choi, Y., Hauk, C. Salt, G. (2009). Blackberry’s rise in brand power.London: Macmillan and Company. Grewal, D. (200(9). Marketing,. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Peers, M. (April, 2010) RIMs Not-So-Smart BlackBerry Strategy. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052702303960604575157951920376486.htm Randhawa, et al. (2009). Blackberry’s rise in brand power: The dueling marketing strategies of RIM versus Apple. Marketing Case Study. Retrieved from , http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ExMFR-llgx0J:zenportfolios.com/lavreet-randhawa/files/2009/11/Marketing-Case-Study-RIM-vs-Apple.pdf+Blackberry+marketing+strategyhl=engl=ke Siebes, D. (2010). The future of RIM/BlackBerry. MGMT 647. Retrieved from, http://knol.google.com/k/dan-siebes/the-future-of-rim-blackberry/3hp472l8bqpdu/8#_Toc262033563 Tsirulnik, G. (2010). Has RIM’s BlackBerry app strategy failed? Mobile Marketer. Retrieved from, mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/manufacturers/5647.html

Disraelian Conservatism essays

Disraelian Conservatism essays "The objective of establishing the Conservative Party as a party of government explains most the actions of Disraeli in passing the 1867 Reform Act" [Robert Blake' an academic historian specialist in the history of the conservative party, The History of the Conservative Party from Peel to Thatcher (1985)] How valid is this interpretation of Disraelian Conservatism? Robert Blake is stating that the desire to make the conservative party the majority party in the House of Commons was the main reason that Disraeli passed the 1867 Reform Act. I do not agree with Blake that the passing of the 1867 Reform Bill by Disraeli was an attempt to secure a majority vote for the conservative party. Benjamin Disraeli did not propose the 1867 Reform Act to simply earn a few votes and secure the majority in the House of Commons. He proposed it due to his own personal convictions and morals. Disraeli was a progressive Tory and advocated triennial parliaments and the secret ballot. Previously to the 1867 reform act proposal, Disraeli was sympathetic to the demands of the Chartists who wanted further reform to the Political system, and in one speech argued that the "rights of labour were as sacred as the rights of property". In 1842 Disraeli helped to form the Young England group. Disraeli and members of his group argued that the middle class now had too much political power and advocated an alliance between the aristocracy and the working class. Disraeli suggested that the aristocracy should use their power to help protect the poor. This political philosophy was expressed in Disraeli's novels, Coningsby (1844), Sybil (1845) and Tancred (1847). In these books the leading characters show concern about poverty and the injustice of the parliamentary system. Disraeli was appointed as Chancellor of the Exchequer. He also became leader of the House of Commons and was responsible for the introduction of measures to refo ...

Critical Thinking Application Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Critical Thinking Application Paper - Essay Example Kirby and Goodpaster (2007) averred that thinking is â€Å"the activity of the brain that can potentially be communicated† (6). The role of expressing thoughts through communication, either through verbal or nonverbal means, is crucial in either speaking or writing. In this regard, the essay aims to proffer issues pertinent to describe critical thinking by using various sources. The discourse would likewise provide an example from personal experience in applying critical thinking to a work related decision, and the importance and benefits of critical thinking in the decision-making processes. Definitions of Critical Thinking The study conducted by Paton (2006) initially presented diverse definitions of critical thinking, to wit: â€Å"reasonable reflective thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do† â€Å"Ennis (1987) â€Å"purposeful, self regulatory judgment which results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference, as well as explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, and contextual considerations upon which that judgment is based. . .† (Facione 1990). ... etting, various opportunities for decision making require the application of critical thinking skills to ensure that judgments are made only after all alternative courses of actions have been exhausted. One envisions being a manager of an organization’s human resources division whose main responsibilities encompass the functions of acquisition, development and maintenance of human resources. Through all tasks require exemplary qualifications and competencies to exude leadership skills, one of the most challenging decisions are to retrench employees as a way of saving the organization. The critical thinking process that needs to be exercised in this scenario is the identification of employees to be retrenched based on factors such as performance, length of stay in the organization, leadership potentials, and demographic background. Further, senior management would expect a benefit versus cost analysis of possibly retaining a number, retrenching all identified personnel, or even closing or liquidating the assets of the organization at the extreme level. Through different analytical approaches (cost – benefit, employee performance appraisal results, financial conditions of performance) one is given the tools to use and apply to outline the courses of action, the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative, and the overall effect would be gauged in terms of costs, image, corporate responsibility and adherence to ethical standards. A manager whose critical thinking skills are not effectively and sufficiently honed to use analytical tools could make abrupt and harsh judgments and recommendations that could compromise the image and future survival of the organization. Wrong actions taken regarding firing employees, for example, could expose the organization to legal

An increasing number of women in Europe are putting greater emphasis Essay

An increasing number of women in Europe are putting greater emphasis on their careers than on having children. Do you think that this is desirable - Essay Example (17) This seemed to be one of the strongest factors why today, the perception is that having children is an obstacle for women who want to have careers. It is like if the woman wants to get ahead for success or in the corporate ladder, she should not get married and have kids. Also, some women are getting practical especially in the context of how expensive it is to raise children. For instance, the Family Circle magazine stated in a survey that parents in the UK would have spent about â‚ ¤43,000 by the time their kid reaches the age of 18, inclusive of food, education and other necessities. (Curtis 2006) The case would have been alright since the rise in the number of women in the labor force is seen as a positive development in terms of equality in the workplace. However, things become disturbing when a huge percentage of women today are willing to forego having children in favor of working. According to the British National Statistics Office, roughly 20% of women reaching the end of their fertility are childless and that the majority of both men and women believe that enjoyment is more important than having children. (Gillan 2006) This is underscored by a study undertaken by the Economic and Social Research Council which explored the changing gender-role attitudes of today’s generation. It reported that public opinion in Europe has increasingly leaned in favor of women working and that if the woman is married she is expected to contribute to the household income. (2006) If the trend continues to hold, with women preferring work over family, then it would contribute to the decline of the traditional family values. This is essentially not a positive development since as what the Richard Eden (2000) has argued, â€Å"there are fewer people marrying and more divorcing, more step-families, more cohabitation, more single