The Impact of Social Media in US Elections Research Paper

The Impact of Social Media in US Elections - Research Paper Example The 2012 US election is one of the areas of evaluation of the impact of media in the electoral process (Campaign tech panels 2012). The 2008 United States presidential campaign coincided with a period when social media were gaining fame globally. Barrack Obama extensively used Twitter and Facebook to reach voters. In 2008, President Barrack Obama’s campaign team successfully used the internet and social network solicit funds and effectively link up with campaign volunteers (Learmonth 16). Despite the fact that experts have no certainty on the extent to which social media impact the U.S election, they accept that opinion on across the social web sites influence election outcomes. The 2008 elections occurred at a time when social media was gaining fame in the society and becoming one of the most prominent aspects in communication and advertising (Metaxas & Mustafaraj, p.473). It offered a unique opportunity to evaluate the usefulness and the success of the different media platfo rms(Dylko, Beam, Landreville, & Geidner, 2012). However, for social media presence to be effective, it relies on access to the internet. According to American Life Project, the access to internet increased and by 2008 over 46% Americans were using the internet, email or text messaging to obtain news about the campaigns. Likewise, the same number shared their views and mobilized others. In specific reference to social networking, only 10% used the established social sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Compared to the 2002 elections, the 2008 elections registered an increase in social networking. While commenting on the increase, in social media use, Peter Daou, an internet advisor for Hilary Clinton states that virtually every platform including the social media was employed, in public dialogue. The social media, in both the 2008 and 2012 elections, was used to introduce stories into the public, which affected consciousness and had a direct impact on the news presented by the mass me dia organizations (Williams & Gulati, 2013 p. 64). The blogs and other social format helped set the agenda for the media and the discussion surrounding the elections. The findings of the day before elections indicate that the Obama campaign was more active in the social media than McCain. In fact on Facebook, Obama has over 2.3 million supporters against 620,359 followers for McCain. In addition, on twitter, Obama had over 100, 000 followers against a mere 4,603. Likewise, on You Tube, there were over 18 million views for Obama against two million for McCain (Gayo-Avello, 2011). The following on social media was reflected in the election results as Obama won the elections. Even on the traditional media platform, Obama enjoyed massive success with over 160,000 mentions against over 140,000 for McCain. The findings indicate that the Obama campaign used the media effectively in the 2008 elections which led to success in elections (Learmonth, 2009). The social media is useful both in fa cilitating and distributing the campaign message. It also offered a platform for engagement on the message presented. According to Learmonth (2009), the coverage of issues was similar regardless of the platform. In fact, the issues covered in the traditional media were reflected on the social media and vice versa. The finding indicates that information transfer between the traditional media and the social media

Effective team and performance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Effective team and performance - Essay Example Nondi’s payroll system also ensures that workers pay is commensurate to their tasks. Maslow’s theory is applied in this scenario given that the restaurant aims at satisfying the basic needs of its employees before satisfying their secondary wants of self-actualization. According to the Clark, scientific theory of management, theory x, stipulates that the workforce needs to be controlled and supervised in order to dispense their duties as required by the organization. This leadership criterion is achieved through the application of division of labor. This ensures that each worker is given apportion for tasks to perform. This leads to increased productivity and performance. Moreover, these results in the motivation of employees. The division of labor in Nando’s is manifest in the manner in which the workers serve the clientele. Some staffs just welcome clients while others serve the customers. The rest of the employees, monitor the preparation of the flame grilled chicken.

CSR for business managers, stakeholders and society Research Paper

CSR for business managers, stakeholders and society - Research Paper Example Therefore it is the duty of the companies to work in accordance with the interests of the community and environment. However, only few companies are strictly observing CSR in practice, even though most of the companies agree with CSR in principle. This paper analyses the reputation of Coca Cola in terms of corporate social responsibility. Description of the company Operating in more than 200 countries worldwide, the American company Coca cola is one among the largest soft drink manufacturers in the world at present. â€Å"In May, 1886, Coca Cola was invented by Doctor John Pemberton a pharmacist from Atlanta, Georgia. Today, products of the Coca Cola Company are consumed at the rate of more than one billion drinks per day† (Bellis). Even though PepsiCo is causing some serious challenges to Coca Cola in some part of the world, Coca Cola is able to maintain its superiority in most of the regions in the world. Issue Identification According to Jeff Seabright, The Coca-Cola Compan y's vice president of environment and water resources, â€Å"sustainability begins with the simple act of paying attention. You can't manage what you can't measure"(Making Sustainability the Real Thing). In other words, Coca Cola is well aware of the importance of concepts such as corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. However, the accusations against Coca Cola with respect to the violation of social responsibility are growing across the world. ... People from Kerala (India’s southernmost state) have recently conducted an agitation against the underwater exploitation by Coca Cola. Villagers near Plachimada, Kerala faced severe drinking water shortage because of Coca Cola’s uncontrolled underwater exploitation. Coca Cola forced to close down their plant at Plachimada because of the public agitation against them (EMJ). Significance of the Issue Drinking water shortage is one of the major problems facing by people all over the world. Because of injudicious farming activities and heavy industrialization, majority of the water resources such as rivers and streams were polluted in most parts of the world. As a result of that current generation is relying heavily on underwater resources for their drinking needs. Coca Cola like soft drink manufacturers is exploiting these resources and the people near the soft drink bottling plants are struggling to get enough drinking water from the nature. Stakeholder identification Som e of the major stakeholders of Coca Cola Company are; ordinary people, Coca Cola employees, shareholders in Coca Cola, government and local bodies. On one side, Coca Cola is trying to make profit and safeguard the interests of the company management and the shareholders. On the other side, ordinary people lose their drinking water resources and the government and local bodies struggle to take proper actions. It should be noted that as part of free trade agreements, it is the duty of the government of India to prepare enough facilities to Coca Cola like companies. Moreover, Indian government is currently trying to attract foreign direct investment at any cost to stimulate economic growth. The investments by Coca Cola would definitely help

Impact of Technology Essay Example for Free

Impact of Technology Essay Abstract The information technology investments have increased significantly with time and advancement in technology. In this study, an attempt is made to highlight how the information technology influences the organization productivity. The correlation between the information technology (IT) and productivity was very argumentative. Many studies were conducted to identify the impact of IT on productivity conclude different results. It is impossible to estimate the productivity growth due to the availability of so many advanced computer technologies, as it’s tough to consider all parameters involved while calculating productivity growth. Several researches and studies were documented stating positive effects of IT on productivity growth. But still there were few against this statement. Introduction The advancement in the information technology made both consumers and business enterprises to use it. Computers, laptops, wireless communications etc. are all part of IT and incorporated in every industry. Enterprises invest in these technologies because it was assumed technologies will enhance productivity. Companies aim to generate more business and high turnovers through less investment. In a race to gain more efficiency, the enterprises are adapting new technologies. Huge investments are made on new technologies to survive in industry. The major challenge is to produce high quality goods and services at low prices. Some enterprises understood the  value and importance of information technology and used it to deliver more products in less time and more reliable and convenient services at lower cost. This will also help to gain competitive advantage over rivals. It was illustrated in a study to generate high productivity growths from information technology; enterprises should cha nge the existing infrastructure as well as business practices (Brynjolfsson Brown, 2005). Many enterprises changed the organizational structure to exploit the full potential of information technology and its applications. Brynjolfsson and Hitt (1998) linked productivity with living standards to understand it better. They mentioned that value of productivity can be easily understood when related with our living standards. They highlighted the significance of productivity by comparing it with our living standards and mentioned that, â€Å"productivity growth determines our living standards and the wealth of nations.† This reflects the customers’ behavior to consume more in less money. They also point out that the concept of productivity is simple and vast but tough to measure with accuracy. Information Technology and Productivity Productivity was described as the amount of output generated for a certain amount of input (Brynjolfsson, 2003; Hitt Brynjolfsson, 1995). Productivity can also be defined as the measure of the quantity of outputs in goods and services per unit of input (Muriwai, 2006). Productivity can be measured either by keeping the output static or input. Productivity can be increased with increase in output keeping input constant or by decreasing the input keeping the output static. The term information technology was defined narrowly as the expenditures made on the computing hardware (Brynjolfsson, 2003 and Hitt Brynjolfsson, 2005). It was elaborated a little more as. All the computer software and hardware, tools and services used in the business processes and operations are a part of information technology. The investments in information technology were defined as the expenses on the computer hardware and software and all other devices related with IT (Morrison, 1997). The main purpose of these investments is developing a modern infrastructure within the organization to boost productivity of both organization and employees (Dehning, Dow, Stratopoulus, 2003). It was documented by Mahmood and Mann (2005) that  investment in IT was not sufficient enough to increase productivity. Strategic decisions had to be made whether investment in IT would help to accomplish objectives and goals set. A harmony must occur between IT investments and changes in business process to have high productivity growth, even greater than investment in information technology. Keller (2004) also stated that when IT is utilized appropriately at workplace that also helps a lot in productivity growth. Just investing in information technology is not sufficient to gain growth in productivity; but organization can visualize changes brought by information technology (Brynjolfsson Hitt, 1998; Dedrick, Gurbaxani Kraemer, 2003). A significant relation between IT investments per employee and overall productivity of company was found by Brynjolfsson (2003). The enterprises gained high productivity growth who invested huge sum in information technology effectively. But pattern of productivity growth across the enterprises varied no doubt the return from IT investment were positive (Brynjolfsson Hitt, 1998). It takes time to realize productivity gains from investments in information technology. It was supported by Mahmood and Mann (1988) that productivity growth and performance of the organization improves in time period of two or three years after investing in information technology. Dedrick et al. (2003) also believed that productivity gains are realized after a long time period. It was highlighted in their research that information technology payoffs are high when firms’ effectively apply information technology in long run. It’s easy to measure productivity when tangible products and goods are produced as in the manufacturing sector. An input alteration in the manufacturing process can bring substantial changes in productivity. For instance, the use of automation technology and robotics produce outputs of good quality (Kao Liu, 2005). On the contrary, it’s tough to measure and improve productivity in service sector. It’s next to impossible to evaluate the productivity of an employee. A method was proposed by Tallon and Kraemer (2006) to measure precisely the impact of information technology on productivity. A method of perceptual measures was recommended by them. Perceptual measures would bring new scope to study impact of technology on productivity. They described it as â€Å"perceptual measures, if structured around information technology impacts at the process-level, can yield richer insights than objective criteria alone†. Authors’ Agree and Disagree: The research was done by many to study the impact of IT on productivity (Brynjolfsson Brown, 2005; Brynjolfsson Hitt, 1998; Melville, Kraemer Gurbaxani, 2004 and Kudyba, 2004). The expectation that productivity will certainly increase by utilizing the IT were not always true. But researches ended up with different conclusions, some stated positive impacts of IT on productivity and others negative. Information technology had negative impact on productivity. Mahmood and Mann (2005) mentioned in their study that there is no adequate evidence available in past researches showing the positive effects of IT on productivity. It was also supported by Dedrick et al. (2003) stating, â€Å"Studies have failed to identify a relationship between information technology investment and firm profitability.† The term productivity paradox was introduced by Robert Solow in 1987 explaining the inability of the information technology contributing towards firm productivity (Solow. 1987). He made a statement that growth in productivity was not accompanied by the information technology. He also discussed that the companies didn’t had expected results in productivity after investing in Information technology. He quoted, â€Å"You can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics†. In my opinion and during my research I realized that impact of IT on productivity had mixed reviews from different authors, researchers and economists. Researchers used new approach to reveal the hidden positive effects of IT on productivity. Brynjolfsson and Hitt (1998) illustrated that â€Å"Information technology has a positive and significant impact on firm output, contradicting the claims of a productivity paradox (p52).† This was also supported by Brynjolfsson (2003) and Dedrick et al. (2003) that productivity including the output per worker annually had increased significantly with use of information technology. It was mentioned by Kudyba (2004) that the output can be upraised with increased information technology skills. The new information technology and techniques effectively when used by the companies, those companies are productive than who don’t use it (Brynjolfsson Brown, 2005). When the technologies and techniques were used perfectly and timely, yield high level of productivity. The three ways were  discussed by Brynjolfsson (2003), Keller (2004) and Brynjolfsson Hitt (1998) to recognize productivity growth from IT: by decreasing the cost on Information technology and keeping the benefits from business stagnant; increase the benefits from business and keeping the investment in Information technology constant; or reduce the cost of information technology and benefits increase from business. The information technology is important and valuable for organization (Melville et al., 2004). They also stated that effective and efficient use of information technology can yield potential benefits, like cost reduction, improving quality and at last productivity. The companies, who used information technology effectively, had also observed an increase in price of their market share more than others. It had been reported by Mahmood and Mann (2005) that both IT labour and computer resources contribute towards return on investments. They also mentioned in their report that effective enterprises have developed and improved their infrastructures and investing highly in information technology. Information technology is a medium through which the information can be distributed easily within organizations. The highly advanced IT infrastructures create an atmosphere within organization that encourages decentralized process of decision making (Brynjolfsson Brown, 2005). When modification of the business processes is done within organizations, it becomes necessary to integrate information technologies. The productivity can be enhanced by integrating information technology investments with decentralize process of decision making (Melville et al., 2004). The integration of information technology investments and other investments within business also proves to be beneficial (Brynjolfsson Hitt, 1998). The operations and business processes within the organization must be evaluated and ensure that existing business environm ent can adapt the new technology, before future information technology investments made (Zhou Chen, 2003). The predictable and estimated outcomes can be realized from IT investments through integration of technologies and current business processes (Kudyba, 2004). It becomes important to restructure the business processes with the changing business environments when new information systems are set up (Zhou Chen, 2003). McNamara and Watson (2005) also reported that the integration of the existing technology systems with new technologies within organizations yields the expected productivity growth.  They also discussed how the existing technologies can be employed in various business operations, it equally productive as investing in new information technologies. Brynjolfsson and Hitt (1998) found that â€Å"The greatest benefits of computers appear to be realized when computer investment is coupled with other complementary investments; new strategies, new business processes and new organizations all appear to be important in realizing the maximum benefit of information technology† . The companies must integrate all daily activities, decentralize decision process, flow of information from high to low level, this will enhance productivity growth and all these attributes directly or indirectly contribute to information technology (Brynjolfsson, 2003). The organizations use various methods and measures like product quality, profitability, and value of market shares to measure productivity (Dedrick et al., 2003). There is a possibility that productivity can also be gained through effective management. It was observed that productivity can be increased by information technology and make worth for consumers (Hitt Brynjolfsson, 1995). Devaraj and Kohli (2003) proposed a method which requires elevation of the IT usage at the employees’ level individually and then finally investigating its effect on organizational performance. Employees’ of modern organization may call it push or pull of IT investments. This phenomenon of push or pull in IT investments may inspire employees’ for using new technologies and this may lead to productivity improvements. Kudyba (2004) mentioned that competitive advantage can be gained by hiring skilled and experienced employees. In my view, the employees must be trained to use new technologies or companies should hire skilled and experienced employees. It also depends how the new technologies are being utilized by the enterprises to enhance their productivity. Only those companies will maximize their productivity that will use the technology perfectly and timely. I have also learned during my research that productivity doesn’t depend on one factor, there are number of parameters that affect the overall productivity of the organizations. The accurate methods are required for calculating the productivity, to recognize the growth of productivity. Rather than focusing on productivity only, enterprises should develop new strategies to integrate t echnologies with new opportunities. The barriers to entry can be easily terminated by raising the firm’s efficiency and gaining competitive advantage. Benefit to Manager There is a big challenge ahead for all the mangers and decision makers how to consume the information technologies at best and have maximum benefits. It’s not compulsory that the companies will have same levels of productivity if provided with same information technology, it depends how the technology is utilized to have high growth in productivity (Brynjolfsson, 2003). To maintain competitive advantage in the industry, the managers had to find new ways in which they can exploit the full potential of technologies differently from their rivals. Melville et al. (2004) mentioned the competitive advantage gained through human resource and technical synergies cannot be maintained for long. A strategy or mechanism had to develop to gain competitive edge for long periods and which is not easy to imitate. The competitive advantage can be maintained until others don’t follow what you are doing, once others start following your techniques it’s tough to sustain competitive advantage (Brynjolfsson, 2003). I believe that managers should examine future values of all IT investments when productivity results were not up to the level of expectations. The organizational leaders are not ready to invest more on technologies, when results from previous IT investments are not beneficial enough (Devaraj Kohli, 2003). A big challenge for the leaders to justify future investments in technologies when there is no significant evidence of productivity improvement from previously investments in information technologies (Dehning, Dow, Stratopoulus, 2003). Managers should focus on other aspects of business process also rather than on productivity alone. Hitt and Brynjolfsson (1995) discussed that managers should concentrate more on how information technology can be used to improve product quality and customer service. Information technology has the potential to reduce the expenses on such services and change the mode of production and delivery of the goods and services so can’t be easily imitated by competitors (Hitt Brynjolfsson, 1995). The uniqueness in utilizing the information technologies in business operations and processes is the key to stay ahead of the competitors in the market. This not only provides competitive advantage but also increases the overall growth in productivity. Conclusion The conclusion can be drawn that investing in information technology doesn’t  have any positive impact on productivity growth until utilized properly and effectively. The impact of investing in technologies can be realized how organizations utilize technologies effectively depending on the current situations of organizations and derive expected productivity results. The invention of telecommunication, computer software and hardware had totally changed operations within the organizations. The use of these forms of technology was extensively popular and in-demand among the various industrial sectors. The enterprises had changed their existing infrastructures to adapt these new technologies. The meaning both consumption and productivity have changed with innovation of information technology. Organizations across the globe are implementing new technologies to enhance the daily business activities with the purpose to survive and compete in this new global world of information tec hnology. References Brynjolfsson, E. (2003). ROI valuation :The IT productivity gap. (21). Retrieved from http://ebusiness.mit.edu/erik/Optimize/pr_roi.html. Brynjolfsson, E., Brown, P. (2005). VII pillars of IT productivity. Optimize Manhasset.4(5), 26-35.Retrived from http://www.georgeschussel.com/wpcontent/uploads/articles/NY6420050502_erik.pdf. Brynjolfsson, E., Hitt, L. M. (1998). Beyond the productivity paradox. Communications Of The ACM, 41(8), 49 55. Retrived from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.195.1657rep=rep1type=pdf Dedrick, J., Gurbaxani, V., Kraemer K.L. (2003). Information Technology and Economic Performance: A Critical Review of the Empirical Evidence. ACM Computing Surveys ,35(1),1-28.Retrived from Business Source Complete. Dehning, B., Dow, K. E., Stratopoulos, T. C. 2003. The info-tech â€Å"Productivity Paradox†dissected and tested. Management Accounting Quarterly,5(1),31-39. Retrieved from Business Source Complete. Devaraj, S., Kohli, R.(2003). Performance impacts of information technology: Is actual usage the missing link?. Management Science, 49(3),273-289. Retrieved from Business Source Complete. Hitt, L. Brynjolfsson, E. (1995). Productivity, profit and consumer welfare: Three different measures of information technologys value. MIS Quarterly, 20(2), 121 -143. Keller, E. (2004). What Is Your IT Productivity. MSI 22(2), 33 34. Kudyba, S. (2004). The productivity pay-off from effective allocation of IT and non- IT labour.

Component of Marketing Plan Essay Example for Free

Component of Marketing Plan Essay INTRODUCTION Marketing plan is the central instrument for directing and coordinating the marketing effort. The marketing plan operates at two levels: strategic and tactical. The strategic marketing plan lays out the target markets and the value proposition that will be offered, based on an analysis of the best market opportunities. The tactical marketing plan specifies the marketing tactics, including product features, promotion, merchandising, pricing, sales channels, and service. Marketing plan is a written document that summarizes what the marketer has learned about the market place and indicates how the firm plans to reach its marketing objectives. It contains tactical guidelines for the marketing programs and financial allocation over the planning period. It is one of the most important outputs of the marketing process. Marketing plans are becoming more customer and competitor oriented and better reasoned and more realistic than in the past. Marketing planning is becoming a continuous process to respond to rapidly changing market conditions. What is a Marketing Plan? A marketing plan provides direction for your marketing activities. Marketing plans need not be long or cost a lot to put together. Think of it as a road map, with detailed directions on how to get to your destination. Sure there may be a few bumps in the road, perhaps a diversion or two, but if the marketing plan is carefully researched, thoughtfully considered and evaluated, it will help the organization achieve its goals. The marketing plan details what you want to accomplish with your marketing strategy and helps you meet your objectives. The marketing plan: †¢ Allows the organization to look internally in order to fully understand the impact and results of past marketing decisions. †¢ Allows the organization to look externally in order to fully understand the market in which it chooses to compete. †¢ Sets future goals and provides direction for future marketing efforts that everyone in the organization should †¢Understand and support. †¢ Is a key component in obtaining funding to pursue new initiatives? Components of a Marketing Plan A marketing plan consists of following components: 1. Executive Summary 2. Situation Analysis 3. SWOT Analysis 4. Marketing Goals and Objectives 5. Marketing Strategies 6. Budget 7. Marketing audit 8. Evaluation and Control Executive Summary The executive summary is the first part of the marketing plan, but should be written after all other parts are completed. It is a brief overview of the entire plan and covers only the main points. It is useful to people you approach with your plan, such as investors, who may want to read a synthesized version to determine if they are interested in it before taking the time to read it in depth. The executive summary is also useful internally, as it helps to remind you and your employees of the organizations desired marketing goals and how to achieve them. Situation Analysis The situation analysis helps you to determine where your organization presently stands. It should examine whats going on outside of the organization, whats happening with consumers, and how the business is functioning internally. External Analysis What changes are taking place in your city, county, state, country and around the world that could potentially impact your business? Some things to investigate are: †¢ Changes in political positions and legislation at the local, state, and national level. †¢ Changes in technology †¢ Trends in societys values and habits †¢ Identify competitors and list their characteristics †¢ Economic conditions Customer Analysis Before developing a marketing plan its important to find out what consumers want and how they make purchase decisions. This may require some marketing research. Think about these factors: †¢ Current and potential customers †¢ Trends in consumer buying habits †¢ Why do consumers purchase this product or service? †¢ Why do others not purchase this product or service? Internal Analysis Knowing the state of the organization and its resources helps to determine where it is strong and what areas need attention. Include the following in the marketing plan: †¢ Current state of financial and human resources †¢ Anticipated state of financial and human resources †¢ Your businesss performance in relation to competitors The 5 Cs of Marketing can be summarized as: Company The product time line, experience in the market, etc. Collaborators (or Partners) Distributors, suppliers, and alliances. These are any companies that you work with on a day to day basis to help your company run. Customers This is your market. Ask yourself what benefits they are looking for. What motivates them in the purchase process? Where the customer does actually purchases your product? How the product is purchased (impulse buys, internet, etc)? Understand the quantity a customer will purchase and even trends in consumer tastes. Competitors Both your actual and potential competitors and those that directly or indirectly compete with you. Understand their products, positioning, market shares, strengths and weaknesses. Climate (or Environment) These are governmental policies and regulations that affect the market. It is also the economic environment around your company; which is the business cycle, inflation rate, interest rates, and other macroeconomic issues. Societys trends and fashions are found in the climate. The technological environment is creating new ways of satisfying needs (i.e. using technology to enhance the demand for existing products). SWOT Analysis Conducting a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis is essential in assessing the companys position and serves as a guide to developing marketing plans. Benefits of a SWOT Analysis A SWOT analysis provides a fairly simple, low-cost way of assessing the company’s position. It presents information that is important in developing business and marketing plans, as well as setting organizational goals and objectives. It tells you where the company currently sits, and where it needs to go in the future. [pic] When conducting your SWOT analysis, you should: †¢ Examine your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats from a customers’ perspective. If you’re having trouble viewing issues that way, ask customers what they think or conduct surveys. †¢ Separate internal issues from external issues. The company’s strengths and weaknesses are internal; opportunities and threats are external. The key test to differentiate the two environments is to ask, â€Å"Would this issue exist if the firm did not exist?† If the answer is yes, the issue should be classified as external. Some things to consider about your company when determining your strengths and weaknesses are: †¢ Size and financial resources †¢ Scale and cost economies †¢ Customer Perceptions You will probably have to do some research on your competitors, your industry, and the environment in order to complete the opportunities and threats portion of your SWOT analysis. Here are some topics to consider: †¢ Trends in the competitive environment †¢ Trends in the technological environment †¢ Trends in the sociocultural environment Once you’ve finished a SWOT analysis for your company, include the resulting strategy in your business and marketing plans. Some key actions to take include: Transform strengths into capabilities by matching them with opportunities in the environment. Example Strength: The company has a very efficient order fulfillment and distribution process Opportunity: There is an unfulfilled need for the companys product in other countries Capability: The company is capable of distributing its products worldwide †¢ Convert weaknesses into strengths by investing strategically in key areas. Example Weakness: Employees are not familiar with the latest technology in the companys industry Investment: The employer sends employees to classes, workshops, and conferences Strength: Employees now have inside information on cutting edge technology relevant to the industry †¢ Weaknesses that cannot be converted into strengths become limitations. Example Weakness: A start-up company that has a tight distribution budget and no connections in the industry may have difficulty getting shelf space in stores Meaning to consumers: Consumers may not be able to find the companys products Minimization: Allow consumers to purchase products through other channels, such as a web site or mail order catalog. Marketing Goals and Objectives After determining your companys strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, youll have a better idea of what marketing goals and objectives should be set. Goals are the overall accomplishments that youd like to make and objectives are benchmarks to meeting those goals. You might say that goals are more qualitative and objectives are more quantitative. For example: Marketing Goal: Increase awareness of Product X Corresponding Objectives: Increase last years direct mail distribution by 20% this year; develop a web site for Product X by June 1st; participate in five trade shows by the end of the year. Goals must be realistic and consistent with the firms mission. Objectives must be measurable and time-specific. You may also want to include the person responsible and the budget required for each objective. Marketing Strategies In this section, youll define your primary, secondary, and tertiary target markets and their purchasing characteristics. Next, discuss the marketing mix elements (product, price, distribution, and promotion) as they relate to your product or service. Some questions you may want to answer for each target market include: Product †¢ What are the features and benefits of your product? †¢ What is your competitive advantage? †¢ How will you position and differentiate your product? †¢ What complementary products are available? †¢ What customer services are available? Price †¢ What are the costs associated with the product or service? †¢ What will your pricing strategy be? †¢ Will you give discounts? Distribution †¢ Who are your suppliers and intermediaries? †¢ How will you make the product or service conveniently available to consumers? †¢ What partnerships can be developed to distribute the product? Promotion †¢ Where will you advertise? †¢ What public relations activities will be involved? †¢ If you will be involved in personal selling, what is your sales strategy? †¢ What types of promotions will you run? †¢ What sponsorship opportunities are available? Setting the Promotion Mix When deciding how to properly utilize the marketing communications mix to meet your marketing objectives, it is important to consider the relative strengths and weaknesses of each component of the mix. Further, you must always define your total budget first (generally defined in the Marketing and/or Business Plan) and then decide upon the best way to leverage the different elements of the mix to maximize the return on your investment. You will balance the various parts of the mix to not only create an integrated approach to your marketing communications but you must also devote enough resources for each component to be successful. Here are some things to keep in mind: [pic]Reaches large, geographically dispersed audiences, often with high frequency; Low cost per exposure, though overall costs are high; Consumers perceive advertised goods as more legitimate; Dramatizes company/brand; Builds brand image; may stimulate short-term sales; Impersonal, one-way communication; Expensive [pic]Most effective tool for building buyers’ preferences, convictions, and actions; Personal interaction allows for feedback and adjustments; Relationship-oriented; Buyers are more attentive; Sales force represents a long-term commitment; Most expensive of the promotional tools [pic]May be targeted at the trade or ultimate consumer; Makes use of a variety of formats: premiums, coupons, contests, etc.; Attracts attention, offers strong purchase incentives, dramatizes offers, boosts sagging sales; Stimulates quick response; Short-lived; Not effective at building long-term brand preferences [pic]Highly credible; Very believable; Many forms: news stories, news features, events and sponsorships, etc.; Reaches many prospects missed via other forms of promotion; Dramatizes company or product; Often the most under used element in the promotional mix; Relatively inexpensive (certainly not free as many people thinkthere are costs involved) [pic]Many forms: Telephone marketing, direct mail, online marketing, etc.; Four distinctive characteristics: Nonpublic, Immediate, Customized, Interactive; Well-suited to highly-targeted marketing efforts Budget: †¢ The goal of your marketing budget is to control your expenses and project your revenues. †¢ It also assists in the coordination of your marketing activities within your organization. †¢ A realistic budget establishes a standard of performance for your actions, and communicates those standards to others responsible for implementing your marketing strategy. †¢ A well-designed budget is also a tool to keep you on target and indicate when there is needed modification of your marketing plan, especially if something goes really right or very wrong. Budgeting Approaches Where do you get budget numbers? How do you set a budget and organize it? What are some standard ways to measure your budget? There are several approaches you can take to create your budget. Examples of these approaches may include basing your budget on: †¢ Percent of projected gross sales. †¢ Percent of past gross sales. †¢ Per unit sales. †¢ Seasonal allocation. †¢ Projected cash flow. Select a budget methodology that will work best for your business. You may want to make this choice based on how you track your sales and revenues, or based on industry standards. Marketing Audit The Marketing Audit is committed to improving strategic decision making when companies are faced with specific business challenges. Our market research studies provide clarity and insight, often on the most important questions faced by top executives, corporate managers, and strategy professionals. Here are 10 of 25 key dimensions a marketing audit should assess: 1. Key factors that impacted the business for good or for bad during the past year. Including an evaluation of marketing surprises—the unanticipated competitive actions or changes in the marketing climate that affected the performance of the marketing programs. 2. The extent to which each decision in the marketing plan—e.g. targeting, positioning, pricing, advertising, etc.—was made after evaluating many alternatives in terms of profit-related criteria. 3. Marketing knowledge, attitudes, and satisfaction of all executives involved in the marketing function. 4. The extent to which the marketing program was marketed internally and bought into by top management and non-marketing executives. 5. Customer, distributor, vendor, and intermediary satisfaction based on research among key target groups. 6. The performance of advertising, promotion, sales force, and marketing research programs in terms of ROI. 7. The performance of non-traditional programs, particularly digital offerings, in terms of ROI. 8. Whether the marketing plan achieved its stated financial and non-financial goals and objectives. 9. Which aspects of the plan that failed to meet objectives with specific recommendations for improving next years performance. 10. The current value of brand and customer equity for each brand in the product portfolio. Evaluation and Control Many business owners forget the importance of evaluating their marketing plan. This is extremely important, because it serves as a guideline for what to do or not to do in the next marketing planning period. It is also ensures that the plan will be implemented properly. Some questions to be answered include: How will employees be evaluated and compensated for their work? †¢ How can communication between employees be improved? †¢ Do the employees share the firms values? †¢ Is management committed to the implementation of the marketing plan? †¢ What can be done if the product or service does not meet performance standards? †¢ What corrections can be made if the pricing, distribution, and promotion strategies do not accomplish the marketing goals and objectives? †¢ How will marketing activities be evaluated?

Vietnam Country and Culture

Vietnam Country and Culture Vietnam Essay Vietnam has a huge population and it measures to be around 95,414,640. That is way more than californias population only being 37,253,956 as of now. The capital of vietnam is called Hanoi, Hanoi is known for its architecture and a rich culture with Southeast Asian, Chinese and French impact. Vietnams four largest cities are Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, and Haiphong. If the population of these cities were to merge, the population would be 6,253,789. Also the money/currency that they use is called Vietnamese dong. One u.s dollar is equivalent to 22642.50 Vietnamese Dong. Some good attractions in Vietnam are Hoan Kiem Lake, Thien Mu Pagoda and Halong Bay. Hoan Kiem Lake is located in Hanoi which is the capital of vietnam. Thien Mu Pagoda is located in Hue and it is a city in central Vietnam.Then, Halong Bay is in northeast Vietnam and it is known for its emerald waters and thousands of limestone islands topped by rainforests. The top accommodation in Vietnam is called Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi by popularity. Vietnam has reached great results in literacy reaching to be 90% in just primary education. For adults and youth together, they would make the percentage go up to be 94%. For languages in vietnam, the percentage of people who speak vietnamese is 90 to 85% and the remaining 10% to 15% come from other backgrounds. Children must at least complete their secondary education to move farther. Students are not free to choose what they study. They have to complete all their courses that need to be completed. Agricultural products accounted to be around 30% of exports in vietnam.The agricultural products vary to be rice, cotton, peanuts, rubber, sugarcane and tea. Gross national product in vietnam increased to 3977610.00 VND billion. The per capita income in vietnam is 5,070 PPP dollars. In cambodia the per capita is only 2,890 PPP dollars. Vietnams per capita income is way more than cambodias income. Vietnam people in the urban areas, live like any other country, except only about 30% of the population of vietnam lives in urban area, they usually live in cramped apartments, some cities such as Ho Chi Minh, or Hanoi is mainly a urban area. People lives in villages in rural area, which is about 70% of the vietnamese populations, 60% of Vietnamese Workforce is farmers, where they grows food for their families, and hoping to make some money by moving to the cities and selling them at farmers markets. Vietnams customs follow Buddhism, and Confucianism, focuses on five different subjects, such as Ruler and Subject, Husband and Wife, Parents and Children, Brothers and Sisters, Friend and Friend, it stress duty, loyalty, honor, respect for age and seniority. Buddhism believe in a spiritual path, led by Buddha Shakyamuni in ancient India, as purified the mind, into a peaceful state of mind, removing any negative affects. You can have face, or lose faces in vietnam, you have to compliment people, or business, to receive faces. Some of vietnam most populars dish, is Pho, which people usually eat with bo, which is beef, and I see it like the equivalent of ramen or italian pasta. Other foods such as Banh Cuon, or Rolled Rice Pancake, which is a soft like roll that contained diced up meats, veggies, and includes condiments such as hot nuoc mam (fish sauce), vegetable side condiment plate where it has several vietnamese vegetables such as mints. We have a vietnam war memorial, located in Hanoi which is our capital. Vietnam is one of the least religious country, however some still have beliefs, and some of the major religion is Buddhism, Caodaism and Confucianism. Many of these religions respect, and have standards for family, which is why etiquette is so valuable. Vietnam believe in Confucianism, and Buddhism, which Buddhism is created by Shakyamuni Buddha, who was a monk that came to vietnam in early time, he believed in meditations, and a spiritual path, which many vietnamese monks started meditating and practicing his teachings. Confucianism doesnt always have to be perceived as a religion, they could be a ideology or a philosophy, who he wanted to understand everything, using old teachings back then, to understand the roots of cultural ceremonies. Both religion dont usually believe it ultimate goal, the ultimate entity is god, even though they worship creators of that religions, both religion main purpose is to achieve a more positive, or ethical way of life. Forms of Vietnamese music include hat cheo (traditional folk opera), hat tuong (classical drama), hat cai luong (modern theater), quan ho (folk songs, with dialogues sung between women and women), and more variations of regional folks songs. The first Vietnamese Television was aired around 1966, when the American setup a American channel and a Vietnamese Channel to send out announcements. VTV is the main channels for vietnamese television, and contains many version of popular Vietnamese-versions of US shows  shows, such as, Vietnam Idol, Vietnams Got Talent, or The Voice of Vietnam. Nobody had really known the origin of Vietnam, however in mythology, Huong Vuong was rumored to be the first ruler of Vietnam, during 111 B.C. and China ruled 111 B.C. until the 15th century, which was 1000 years of control of Vietnam, during the age of exploration, independent kingdoms unified which begins the start the independence of Vietnam. The Size and area of Vietnam is 128,455mi2. The continent that Vietnam is located in is Asia. The climate of Vietnam has a temperate region meaning it lies between the polar and tropic regions of the Earth. The changes between winter and summer are moderate. It has a high rate of rainfall, high humidity, and a considerable amount of sun.These are the political features of the country Vietnam. The population of people in Vietnam is 89.71 million and the capital of Vietnam is Hanoi. Hanoi is known for their old architecture that are centuries old in Vietnam. Some large cities in Vietnam are Ho Chi Minh city, Hanoi, Da Nang, and Haiphong. The unit of money currency in Vietnam that is used in daily life is Dong, these are the political features of Vietnam. The President or the head of the state in Vietnam is Tran Dai Quang. Some army forces is the ministry of Vietnam, the peoples army of Vietnam, and the Vietnam border defence force. The crime rate of corruption and bribery in Vietnam is high and the crime rate of property crimes such as vandalism and theft is moderate. The safety issues is pick pocketing, guns are illegal so they are thieves are usually unarmed except for a knife and such, trafficking illegal drugs come with a severe punishment if caught. Some courts of Vietnam are the Judicial system, supreme court, and the Justice system. The current type of government in Vietnam is led by a one party system which is also led by the communist party of Vietnam.

The Childrens Thoughts of Mrs. Kay in Our Day Out :: Our Day Out Willy Russell Essays

The Children's Thoughts of Mrs. Kay in Our Day Out In the introduction I am going to use a paragraph to describe what the children think about Mrs Kay and Les's quote about Mr Briggs. In the story, Reilly describes Miss Kay as 'ace'. When Les stops Mr Briggs at the crossing his says to a child 'I got him that time. 'Arrogant get that one is. I think this means that Les has tried to stop him in the mornings before but has failed'. Firstly I am going to describe Mrs Kay's and Mr Brigg's relationship with the pupils. Mrs Kay seams friendly with the pupils and plays football with them, but Briggs is more formal with and shouts. Mrs Kay sees the difficulties in the pupils and is sympathetic. A quote for this is 'we cant come al the way to the seaside and not go down to the beach. Briggs doesn't see the problems that the children have and treats like them like any other children. When they are at the castle Briggs says 'What does perpendicular mean?' A pupil answers him and he is laughed at. Mrs Kay doesn't enforce any rules on the children and lets them do as they please. Mrs Kay told the driver of the bus that the lead terrible lives so he felt sorry for them. She said to another member of staff the 'She lied like hell'. Mrs Kay lied for the children so I think that the children may lie as well thinking that it is the right thing to do. While Mr Briggs thinks that all children should be treated the same with problems or not. Therefore he acts hard on the children and is strict, for example 'Reilly. Dickson. Sit down! Mrs Kay messes around with the pupils. 'A game of football is in progress. Mrs Kay is in goal.' At this stage in the story Mr Briggs sees that it is a farce and refuse to cooperate for the rest of the trip. Secondly, I intend to explore both teachers' opinions about discipline. Mrs Kay lets them run free in the shop, steeling money and food, taking from the zoo and running a mockery inside of the castle. In the zoo, Briggs trusts the children to go around the zoo sensibly, while he has a cup of coffee with Mrs Kay. Some evidence for this is 'All right Mrs Kay. We'll trust them to act responsibly. When they get back on the bus later, all the children are quite, which is a bit unusual. Then the zookeepers come on board and take away the animals.