Sustainable tourism Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Sustainable tourism - Assignment Example Cost savings linked with tourism industry are management of resource, energy, waste and water. Resource management enables customer service and comfort. The benefit of recognition and cost savings is closely knitted with the concept of sustainable organization. In past few decades there has been increasing awareness regarding social or environmental impacts caused by hotel operation and development. Sustainability issues are greatly driven by wide array of factors like desire of operator or owner to decrease operational costs, alter attitude of investors towards environmental conditions and regulatory forces imposed on facility development. The sustainability aspect aims at balancing social, environmental and financial factors in order to undertake appropriate decision making process over an extended period of time. In this study tourism industry of Australia would be clearly portrayed. Sydney is regarded as the largest city of Australia. This location comprises of vibrant national p arks and pristine beaches. Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel based in Sydney is a preferred tourist destination. This hotel offers 26 luxurious suites along with 336 stylish rooms. Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel offers superior quality accommodation and award winning restaurants. There are other features which add value to this hotel operation. This study would outline this operation, its sustainability issues and recommended ways to eradicate such issues. Tourism industry can be sustainable only when it takes into account social, environmental and economic factors. The Australian hotel industry is one of the major economic drivers at national, local and state level. There are almost 30,000 individuals who are provided jobs by hotel industry of Australia. In economic context, Australian hotel industry generates $14 billion. The hotel industry can efficiently contribute towards national economic development. Long term strategy

RFID Tags Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

RFID Tags - Assignment Example The pivotal reasons behind the adoption are high operating costs and numerous stakeholders for the delivery of services. One way to overcome these challenges is the effective use of RFIDCovered cost-benefits of the RFID are labor cost savings, reduction of inventory, reduction of capital expense, increase patient management and reduce operating cost. RFID provides accurate inventory. The replacement cost of the lab supplies can be reduced by RFID. Unnecessary rush orders and lost equipment can hamper the cost-benefit of the healthcare. The cost of the RFID technology is higher. The stolen or misplaced equipment means lost data and time-consuming. The access of lost clinical and financial records can be expensive. The use of RFID applications in the healthcare makes the process of tracking equipment and inventory quite easier (McDonnell & Sheard, 2012). It helps to provide accurate information of each item that is being tracked. The tracking of medical instruments is much more secure and efficient. The possibility of human error is reduced by the use of RFID. It is an automated technology that can quickly capture multiple assets with a single pass. Some problem in hardware can lead to lost financial and clinical data. The use of RFID can be expensive for small enterprises. The use of RFID in the healthcare helps to provide better protection to the vulnerable patients. RFID wrist bands are provided to patents to track their movement in the facility. The privacy of the consumers is recorded in the RFID tags. The common problem of RFID is tag collision. All the information of the patients is stored in the RFID chip and can only be viewed through company scanners. Some of the RFID tags that are used in the healthcare can be readable approximately to 100 meters. This eventually raises the privacy concern. Sensitive information can be collected by any unwilling source. The use of RFID technology can be highly adaptable

Customer Loyalty In Indian Mobile Telecommunication Services Sector Marketing Essay

Customer Loyalty In Indian Mobile Telecommunication Services Sector Marketing Essay INTRODUCTION Service organizations in India are facing tough competition in the global market because of liberalization and globalization of the Indian economy. Hence, it is helpful for service organizations to know the customer service quality perceptions in order to overcome the competitors and attract and retain the customers. Because of the globalization and liberalization of Indian economy, Indian service sector has been opened for Multinational companies. In order to overcome the competition and to retain the world class service standards, Indian companies have been forced to adopt quality management programs. Nerurkar (2000) analyzed the SERVQUAL dimensions in India and concluded that service quality should form the basis for all customer retention strategies. Services are defined as: the activities, which are involved in producing intangible products as education, entertainment, food and lodging, transportation, insurance, trade , government, financial, real estate, medical, consultancy, repair and maintenance like occupation. Quality has become a strategic tool for obtaining efficiency in operations and improved business performance (Babakus and Boller, 1992; Garvin, 1983; Phillips, Chang and Buzzell, 1983). This is true for the services sector too. Several authors have discussed the unique importance of quality to service firms and have demonstrated its positive relationship with profits, increased market share, return on investment, customer satisfaction, and future purchase intentions (Rust and Oliver, 1994). One obvious conclusion of these studies is that firms with superior quality products outperform those marketing inferior quality products. Service quality can be concisely defined as the personal experience of the customer with the service provider. Service quality is playing an increasingly important role in the present environment where there is no further scope for the companies to differentiate themselves other than the quality of the service provided by them. Delivering superior service quality than the competitors is the key for the success of any organization. But, the companies face difficulties in measuring the quality of services offered to the customers. Because unlike measuring the quality of goods, the measurement of the quality of services offered by the companies is difficult due to the three unique features of services viz. intangibility, heterogeneity, and inseparability. Hence the only way of measuring the quality of services offered by the service provider is the measurement of the customers perception of the quality of service they are experiencing from their service providers. Quality has been defined differently by various authors. Some prominent definitions include conformance to requirements (Crosby, 1990), fitness for use or one that satisfies the customer. According to production philosophy of Japan, quality has been defined as zero defects in the firms offerings. Though initial efforts in defining and measuring service quality emanated largely from the goods sector, a solid foundation for research work in the area was laid down in the mid-eighties by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1985). They were amongst the earliest researchers to emphatically point out that the concept of quality prevalent in the goods sector is not extendable to the services sector. Being inherently and essentially intangible, heterogeneous, perishable and entailing simultaneity and inseparability of production and consumption, services require a distinct framework for quality explication and measurement. As against the goods sector where tangible cues exist to enable consumers to evaluate product quality, quality in the service context is explicated in terms of parameters that largely come under the domain of experience and credence properties and are as such difficult to measure and evaluate (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1985). One major contribution of Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1988) was to provide a terse definition of service quality. According to these authors service quality means relating the superiority of the service with the global judgement of a person about it and explicated it as involving evaluations of the outcome (i.e., what the customer actually receives from service) and process of service act (i.e., the manner in which service is delivered). In line with the propositions put forward by Gronroos (1984) and Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1985, 1988) posited and operationalized service quality as a difference between consumer expectations of what they want and their perceptions of what they get. Based on this conceptualization and operationalization, they proposed a service quality measurement scale called SERVQUAL. Quality has become a strategic tool in obtaining efficiency in operations and improved performance in business. This is true for both the goods and services sectors. However, the problem with management of service quality in service firms is that quality is not easily identifiable and measurable due to inherent characteristics of services which make them different from goods. INDIAN TELECOM SECTOR In the year 1984, one of the members of parliament stood up and said to the erstwhile telecom minister about the pathetic state of affairs regarding the telecom services in our country. To the question posed, the minister replied that telephone is a luxury and not a necessity and if the honourable Member of Parliament is not happy with the service then he can return the connection as there were a lot of Members of Parliament waiting to get one. Getting a telephone connection was even more difficult than acquiring Maybach (one of the costliest cars in the world). The father of telecom revolution in our country was the erstwhile Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi, wherein he called Mr. Sam Pitroda who initiated the Digital telephony revolution in our country. Advances in technology coupled with reforms of 1991 and the fundamental, structural and institutional changes brought about in that period were instrumental in setting up the tone for future growth and development. Today, India is one of the fastest growing telecom markets in the world with current sub-scriber base nearing 490 mil-lion and looking positive to touch 500 million subscribers by 2010. India, the fastest growing telecom market in world, registered a CAGR of around 34% over the last decade and has left analysts around the world totally in awe. Among the various segments, cellular or mobile segment has been the key contributor and specially prepaid services, with its wide offerings of services, has been leading the growth wave. With the upcoming 3G allotment, the sector is likely to grow at a good rate riding on better and possibly a whole new range of services. OVERVIEW OF INDIAN TELECOM SECTOR 15 years back, no one had thought that India will become a country with more number of GSM subscribers than fixed line sub-scribers. With 490 million sub-scribers by 2009, teledensity has risen up to around 42%, and thus the other half is yet to be brought to the mainstream. Going by the current data, the subscriber base grew to around 494.07 million in August09, registering a growth of 42.67% over the last year. As per the estimates of Stock watch the expected mobile subscriber base will touch around 771 million by the year 2013. Telephony services i.e. (mobile and basic) and internet services dominate the Indian Tele-com services market. With a CAGR of 29% from 2002 to 2007 with revenues of $20 billion, it is expected to stabilize at 16% by 2010 with revenues in the range of $43 billion. Over the years, wire-less services has acquired almost 92% of the total telephony market, with State owned BSNL as the leader in the landline domain and Bharti Airtel being the leader in cellular s ervices with other players like Reliance, Idea Cellular and Vodafone giving it a tough competition. SERVICE PROVIDERS IN SECTOR The Indian mobile services market is more or less equally divided between GSM and CDMA customers with the former capturing around 53% of the sub-scriber base. Currently there are 11 players who are fighting tooth and nail to increase even one single percentage point in their market share. While Bharti Airtel dominates the GSM arena, Anil Ambani led ADAGs Reliance communications has been leading the CDMA services space in mobile telephony but the good sign for the sector is that revenues of all the incumbents have increased leading to an increase in their revenues. In GSM, Bharti Airtel is given a tough competition by Vodafone and Tata Teleservices which operates Tata Indicom and in CDMA; it is considerably behind Reliance communications in terms of market share. With Mobile number portability coming into the scene, the war will be fiercer in this space and there will be a huge swapping of subscribers among the existing players. SERVICE PROVIDER WISE MARKET SHARE AS ON 31-03-2010 Serial No. Name of Telecom Company Market Share 1 AIRCEL 6.06% 2 BHARTI AIRTEL 22.33% 3 BSNL 11.95% 4 HFCL 0.06% 5 IDEA 10.99% 6 LOOP 0.50% 7 MTNL 0.90% 8 RELIANCE 17.72% 9 SISTEMA 0.60% 10 STEL 0.09% 11 TATA 11.07% 12 UNINOR 0.47% 13 VODAFONE 17.27% SOURCE: TRAI GROWTH PROSPECTS: TELECOM IN INDIA Indian telecom industry has set an example by penetrating the market to an extent of around 43% in a span of 10 years when analysts and experts were extremely sceptical about India as a market. The growth has not been restricted only to the higher section of the society, now it is driven primarily by the rural market as well and the acceptance has been in-creasing considerably over the years. On an average approximately 8 million users are added per month to the kitty thereby making India the worlds fastest growing telecom market and thus happens to be the country offering highest Return On Investment for the telecom companies. To support the growing telecom market, the government is supporting telecom manufacturing by providing tax sops as well as setting up Special economic zones (SEZ) for the sector. TRENDS IN THE INDUSTRY 3G spectrum will be the next growth wave in the industry and also the source of additional revenues for the companies. Foreign players such as ATT and NTT DoCoMo have show great interest for the same. The spectrum allotment is a major investment opportunity and is estimated to attract an investment of around US$8-10 billion during 2008-11. The state owned incumbent BSNL has successfully launched its 3G service under the proposed India-Golden 50 scheme but could not create that much of buzz though for not being aggressive in marketing the same. WiMax on the other hand promises seamless connectivity with speed of more than 4 Mbps in tough terrains also. With the growing number of smart phones entering the market coupled with buzz created by the social networking websites, one can surely expect a substantial amount of people using their mobile phones for the internet. The telecom ministry is planning to auction few slots in WiMax in near future. Value Added Services on the other hand is the constant source of revenue and a means to en-gage subscribers. The expected revenue from Value Added Services will be around US$ 4.0 billion by 2015. The concurrent developments like M-Commerce, focus on localization, availability of content in vernacular languages, availability of mobile TV are few out of many growth drivers for the VAS industry. With the customer data at their disposal, telecom companies are generating knowledge and information by churning out this data to serve their customers better. The future for the Indian Telecom industry looks bright with fierce competition making way for consolidation. The growth will be majorly driven by rural sector which is currently attracting good investment not only from the players but also from the government. The biggest challenge will be to keep in touch with the rural customers as setting up customer touch points requires investment with not much tangible returns as the number of subscribers is still pretty low. As of now the penetration in rural areas is around 10% as opposed to around 30% in urban landscape. The industry currently is nicely poised with great new policy changes and new players entering the market to make it more fruitful for the consumers. THE REVIEW OF LITERATURE Several studies were conducted on the issue of service quality in various countries. Some studies were consulted for proper understanding of the concepts discussed in this study. Various models have been developed to determine measure and assess the determinants of service quality. SERVQUAL is based on the idea of a gap between expectations of the customers about service quality by service provider and their assessment of actual performance of service by service provider. Since Parsuraman et al. (1988) developed the SERVQUAL instrument many researchers have used and developed the 22-item scale to study service quality in different sectors of services industry. The following studies are consulted for the present study: A. Parsuraman, Leonard L. Berry, and Valarie A. Zeithaml, (1988) in their study described about development of 22-item instrument in the assessment of service quality perceptions of customers in service and retail firms, which was called as SERVQUAL. This study was revolutionary as it didnt depend on the earlier dimension of goods quality in the manufacturing sector. The initial study based on the focus groups yielded 10 dimensions of service quality that included access, competence, courtesy, credibility, security, tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, communication, and understanding the customer. In concluding remarks, authors proposed that SERVQUAL scale can help a vast range of service and retail firms to assess the customer expectations and perceptions of service quality as it had a variety of potential applications. Johnson, William. C, and Anuchit Sirikit (2002) conducted a study on the landline and mobile users of the Thai telecommunication industry using the SERVQUAL scale (reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles). The study was conducted with the objectives of finding whether service quality ratings predict a competitive advantage among Thai telecommunication firms as indicated by future customer intentions and whether SERVQUAL reliably assesses service quality perceptions/expectations among customers in the Thai telecommunication industry. G.S.Sureshchandar, Chandrasekharan Rajendran, and R.N.Anantharaman (2003) critically examined the service quality issues from the customers point of view. In their study conducted in a developing country, India, authors selected three groups of banks for their study viz. Public sector, Private sector, and foreign banks. Authors in their study found that in terms of the customer perceptions of service quality, the technological factors appear to contribute more in differentiating the three sectors and the people-oriented factors appear to contribute less in differentiation among three sectors. In terms of performance foreign banks topped among three groups, and performance of public sectors banks is even less than private sector banks. Ndubisi, Nelson Oly, and Chan Kok Wah (2005) conducted a study on the Malaysian banking sector. The study concluded by saying that banks can generate customer satisfaction by exhibiting trustworthy behaviour, commitment to service, communicating information to customers efficiently and accurately, delivering services in a competent manner, handling potential and manifest conflicts skilfully, and improving overall customer relationship quality. Najjar, Lotfollah, and Ram R. Bishus (2006) study on the US banking sector using a nondifference score of SERVQUAL scale focused on the importance of improving service quality in the banking sector. The study used statistical tools like ANOVA, Factor Analysis, and Regression to analyze the data. The final results of the service quality analysis showed that reliability and responsiveness were the two most critical dimensions of service quality and they are directly related to overall service quality. The findings of the study substantiated the findings of Berry et al. where reliability and responsiveness were shown to be important factors of service quality. Abdolreza Eshghi, Sanjit Kumar Roy, and Shirshendu Ganguly (2008) conducted an empirical study in Indian mobile telecommunication services sector and concluded that reputation is intertwined with the perceived service quality and customer satisfaction, and with the help of public relation campaigns and innovative communication strategies, positive corporate reputation can be build and maintained, which ultimately help to increase customer satisfaction. Study was conducted in Indian cities namely Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Hyderabad. 32 variables related to service quality were considered for the study, which were identified from the past literature. Exploratory factor analysis and multiple regression analysis were used to derive the conclusions. Based on values of beta coefficients hierarchy of factors was framed. In their analysis relational quality, competitiveness, reliability, reputation and transmission quality factors emerged as significant predictors of customer satisfaction. In hierarchy of factors competitiveness, relational quality, and reliability were more important than rest factors. RESEARCH GAP As per the literature reviewed for the present study in the Indian mobile telecommunication sector no integrated study about service quality attributes, customer value, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty in Indian context has been conducted. So as per the stiff competition in the market between these mobile telecommunication companies, it is important to find out whether any relationship exists among service quality attributes, customer value, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty. Also customers have different mindset towards these companies about services provided by them. The Indian mobile telecommunication sector is vast and there are big business opportunities for service providers. With almost all the public and private companies offering the same kind of services and network coverage, the quality of service offered to the customers became one of the important differentiators for all the service probiders to maintain their competitive advantage in the market. Ser vice quality refers to the perception of the customers of the organization regarding how well the organization is fulfilling their service needs. As said in the introduction, measuring the quality of services provided is possible only through the perception of the quality of service that the customers are experiencing from their service providers. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY Although research on the service quality of telecommunication services based on customer perceptions has been conducted widely, no recent studies have been conducted which examine the effect of the service quality dimensions on perceived value, satisfaction, and loyalty in an integrated model in Indian context. This research attempts to examine the effect of service dimensions/attributes on perceive service quality, value, satisfaction, and service loyalty based on the research objectives which presented as follows:   1. Using mobile telecommunication services setting in India, what are the specific attributes of service quality that influence customer value, and customer satisfaction.   2. Using mobile telecommunication services setting in India, what are the specific predictors (service quality attributes, customer value, or customer satisfaction) which influence customer loyalty. Will the proposed path model predict individual path relationships among service quality attributes, customer value, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty? Research Model Research model for the present will be developed based on the constructs namely service quality attributes, customer value, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty. It will include hypothesized relationships among above mentioned constructs, and statistically this model will be tested. Hypotheses of the study Hypotheses will be developed with support from past literature to test the relationships among the followings: Relationship between service quality attributes and customer value Relationship between service quality attributes and customer satisfaction. Relationships among service quality attributes, customer value, and customer satisfaction. Relationship between customer value and customer satisfaction. Relationships among attributes of service quality, customer value, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty. Justification of the Study   This research is designed to help both academicians and practitioners understand the extent to which service quality, customer value, and customer satisfaction relate to customer loyalty in a telecom environment. The assessment of the most important attributes in telecom services set up can provide important cues, which may be used to review characteristics of the sector as experienced by customers. These cues can be used to improve customer value and customer satisfaction, which will lead to improved customer loyalty.  Finally, this study contributes to the service marketing literature by applying concept of service quality, customer value, customer satisfaction, and loyalty in a telecommunication services setting in India, as one of developing country in Asia. RESEARCH DESIGN To create a research design for the study appropriate measures and model are considered as per requirement of the research work. The focus of present research work is investigation of relationships among attributes of service quality, customer  value, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty in Indian mobile telecommunication services sector. Since present research work will be based on primary data, which is to be collected from Indian mobile telecommunication services users with the help of structured questionnaire, a field based survey design will be used as data collection method. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Many researchers have conducted researches in the field of service quality and customer satisfaction such as Parasuraman et al. (1985, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994), Zeithaml et al. (1988, 1991, 1993, 1996), Cronin and Taylor (1992, 1994), Hartline and Jones (1996), Johnston (1997), Lassar, Chris Manolis, and Winsor (2000), cronin, Brady, and Hult (2000), Caruana (2002), and Abdolreza Eshghi, Sanjit Kumar Roy, and Shirshendu Ganguly (2008). In the year 1985, pioneer research was conducted in the field of service quality by Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry. In their research they came out with service quality dimensions, and succeed in developing five gaps of service quality model. Researchers defined service quality as gap between customers expectations and perceptions about quality of service offered by the service provider. With the help of this research they were able to develop service quality scale to measure the quality of service quantitatively, and scale was named as SERVQUAL. In 1988, Pararsuraman et al. conceptualized the dimensions of SERVQUAL scale namely Tangibility, Responsiveness, reliability, Assurance, and Empathy. For these five dimensions a total of 22 items were selected in the service quality instrument. After development of service quality instrument, many researches were conducted in different service set ups by using SERVQUAL. To examine the process of delivery of service quality, customer value and their impact on behavioural intentions of customers Hartline and Jones (1996) developed a model, which included same theories and concepts as earlier taken by Bolton and Drew (1991a), Boulding et al. (1993). In their research work, they came out with strong evidences that specific performance cues of employees have significant effect on overall quality and as a result this quality had significant impact on overall customer value. Effect of overall customer value was found relatively more on behavioural intensions as compared to overall quality. Whereas effect of specific performance cues was mediated by overall customer value and overall quality. In the year 2000, Cronin, Brady, and Hult conducted research in various service industries by taking into consideration service quality, customer value, customer satisfaction, and behavioural intentions. They found in their study that service quality, customer value, and customer satisfaction have direct impact on behavioural intentions, if all these three are taken collectively, whereas indirect effects of service quality and customer value increased their impact on behavioural intentions. Caruana in 2002 developed a model showing mediation role of customer satisfaction between service quality and customer loyalty. Results of the research provided evidences for the proposed model and confirmed the mediating role of customer satisfaction between service quality and customer loyalty. Many past studies have specified linkages among service quality, customer value, customer satisfaction, and behavioural intentions. However the results do not confirm which of these three variables or their combinations have direct impact on behaviour intention. In the past literature it has been found that bivariate relationship exists between behavioural intention and all three constructs. Zeithaml et al. (1996) found that service quality is an important determinant of behavioural intention, but the exact relationship was not discovered. Therefore this type of partial relationship determination may lead to omitted variable bias and hamper the results. To overcome this biasness, an integrative model is needed so that true relationship may be developed and can be tested in a model. Caruana (2002) suggested the role of customer value and reputation of an organization can be considered as new constructs to relate customer satisfaction with customer loyalty. The present research expands the previous researches conducted by various scholars and includes the model developed by Hesketts, Sasser, and Schlesinger (1997), popularly known as Service Profit Chain. Service Profit Chain model suggests that there is positive direct relationships among profit, growth, value of products offered to the customers, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, productivity, service quality attributes. With the use of customer friendly strategies satisfied employees deliver better quality of services and able to retain the customers for a long time for the betterment of organization. Service quality attributes and customer value directly influence customer satisfaction and customer satisfaction directly affects customer loyalty. Consequently loyalty of customers towards organization leads to phenomenal growth and finally adds to the profits of the organization. Therefore proposed research model for the present study is shown in figure below: Conceptual research model of service quality attributes, customer value, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty.

America’s War on Terrorism Essay -- Terrorism Politics Foreign Policy

America’s War on Terrorism The world has been changed forever since the tragic attack on September 11, 2001. An observer described the atrocity by saying, "It just went 'bam,' like a bomb went off. It was like holy hell (CNN 1). " The new world will be different from what any American has known before. A new war has arisen, not against a foreign country or a major region of the world, but rather against a select group of people who have the capabilities to destroy the lives of so many. The war against terrorism which the United States is now forced to wage will not be an easily won battle. This war will not be fought solely on scattered battlefields in certain countries. It will instead permeate through every aspect of life as we know it. "The attack of September 11 will be the precipitating moment of a new kind of war that will define a new century. This war will be fought in shadows, and the adversary will continue to target the innocent and defenseless ("The Terrorism Research Center"). " The unconvent ional methods of terrorism make these terrorists the first formidable opponent the United States has faced in years, since the ending of the Cold War. Due to its victory in the Cold War, the United States is now the last remaining superpower in the world, and along with that supremacy comes an inherent responsibility. The responsibility of a superpower can be interpreted in two distinctly different ways. One of these is for a country to become semi-isolationist. The other is the opposite, in the sense that it deals with a country imposing its authority on other countries, thus not being in any way isolationist. Both of theses have their benefits while at the same time, their disadvantages. The first possible respon... ...undamentalist terrorists, mainly the Al'Qa'ida, have for America and all that America stands for. Now that the Islamic fundamentalists have openly attacked America, the war on terrorism has arrived upon the world. The atrocities that the world will soon face will not be like any experienced before and the world will be forever changed after this war is complete. September 11th has forced America to face the hatred it has created for itself throughout the world, especially in the Middle East, for its unethical foreign policy tactics. America is once again tested to prove its dominance in the world, but will it pass the test of terrorism? Only the future holds the answer. Works Cited CNN (1), World Trade Center Survivors Describe 'Holy Hell'. http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/09/11/new.york.scene/. "The Terrorism Research Center". http://www.terrorism.com/index.html

Act 3, Scene 4 (The Banquet Scene) Essay

Act 3, Scene 4 is a very important and effective scene and is a turning point for the rest of the play. Immediately before the scene was the murder of Banquo, one of Macbeths closest Conrad. And because of this relationship the two had, it makes it an evil and horrible murder as it was Macbeth who demanded it happened. It’s a new type of evil and Macbeths second and deepest step to evil yet. This scene is a build up to the one that follows, and creates dramatic tension as the audience asks will Macbeth find it hard to concede guilt and will there be any concience to the evil being that sometime we feel sorry for, Macbeth. The Banquet scene is a total contrast to the one before. Good order in the kingdom will be shown if the banquet goes well, Macbeths fait will also be crystal clear by the end and what his future will be, if any at all. This scene â€Å"symbolises the last supper† in which Jesus was betrayed by one of his disciples, â€Å"Judas.† It’s as if we now what’s about to happen. It’s the last time Macbeth will ever sit down with his allies and friends to share food in perfect harmony. Some questions are also brought up in this scene. How will the lords react to Macbeth as the unnatural king of Scotland? And will Macbeth be able to cope with his stained guilt. In the versions that I have seen on screen the banquet scene always seems to start with a sombre atmosphere and this atmosphere is tainted right from the start by the entrance of the murderers. â€Å"I am cabined, cribbed, confined, bound is To saucy doubts and fears†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Macbeth says. Even at the banquet that he has arranged he is surrounded by his evil sins. His guilt has become even harder to conceal. One of the murderers even has blood on his face. It’s ironic though because as the murderers entered Macbeth was trying to present himself as a leader in control. And even when Macbeth seems to have order established again something else happens, he can’t control the banquet so how can he control a country. Macbeth has become trapped and he is not sorry, in fact he’s self-pitying, â€Å"I had else been perfect† Macbeth’s fear is conveyed by the powerful rhythm of the poetry on lines 21 to 25. It very strong with one constant beat after another. To me it represents the beating of a heart, which is strong but dies with But Banquo’s safe† The Banquet must go on thought, Macbeth must attempt to create order, which he has already lost at his banquet and asks â€Å"Sit down in order of ranks† Tension is increases even more by Lady Macbeth calling Macbeth back to the banquet table. She’s trying to hide Macbeth’s strange behaviour but instead attracts more. â€Å"My royal lord, You do not give the cheer;† Not only is lady Macbeth breaking into his thoughts she also tries to bring him back to reality, reminding him of his public duties. Is a man who has private fear able to carry out public duties? The fears I talk about are those that were created from the very beginning with the witched prophecies. â€Å"All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Glamis† â€Å"All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor† â€Å"All hail Macbeth, that shalt be King here after† After this Macbeth’s world is turned up side down, as he will do anything to achieve the title, which were predicted. Some were given to him others he murdered for. Including his very first, Duncan, the authorisation of the murder of Banquo and later on the authorisation of the murder of Macduffs family. All these murders relate to the Banquet scene because all of his dangerous deeds especially the murder of his conrad Banquo, cause his later to hallucinate the ghost of Banquo. These hallucinations make the hole of Scotland believe he is insane and unable to rule the hole of the land. Shakespeare creates a cue for the first appearance of Banquo’s ghost, this cue is when Macbeths lies and pretends he doesn’t now of the murder of Banquo. â€Å"Were the graced person of Banquo present Who may I rather challenge for unkindness Than pity for mischance† He’s summoning in a way for Banquo’s ghost to appear as he tries to hide the guilt of what he’s done. When the ghost does appear the dramatic device of an â€Å"empty† chair could be used. Every time the play is produced, the director has to decide weather to leave the chair â€Å"empty† or fill it with the deceased Banquo. Both have their advantages. An â€Å"empty† chair would of made Macbeth seem just as or even more insane than Shakespeare would of intended. It would also give the audience the same feeling as those at the banquet not quite knowing what he’s doing. The imaginations of the audience would be used a lot more if the chair were left â€Å"empty† which could be a good or a bad thing. Where as if the character were shown it would become very clear what was happening and exactly as the director feels it should be. It may become a slight farce though. In my opinion an empty chair give the best effect as it creates tension and if Macbeth is played well then portrays his madness in the way I believe Shakespeare intended it to be. When Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo his behaviour changes, he starts act differently and seems to start behaving as if he was going insane. Lady Macbeth though only shows scorn towards her husband manner. â€Å"This is the very painting of your fear; This is the air drawn dagger which you said Led you to Duncan, O, These flaws and starts† She is looking down on him and reflects an important these in the play of how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are being slowly torn apart and is slowly driving Lady Macbeth insane as well. It’s ironic because Macbeth goes from being manipulates by Lady Macbeth, an example being where he murders Duncan, â€Å"But screw your courage to the sticking place And we’ll not fail.† To where he is driving her mad with his behaviour. Another theme which, is echoed here is when Lady Macbeth questions Macbeth, â€Å"Are you a man† Throughout the play there is the theme of what it takes to be a man. â€Å"When you durst do it, then you were a man† is another example of it. This is in Act 1 scene 7 in which Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth is he murder’s Duncan then he will be a man. Here again she is controlling Macbeth. So why is Macbeth the only person to see the ghost of Banquo? I believe it’s because Macbeths the only one with lots of guilt and a dirty concience. I think that Macbeth is hallucinating. In Shakespearean times though many people would have believed in the existence of creatures such as ghosts, many more than those who do today. Those who do believe would possibly say that because Macbeth was the one who was behind the crime then Banquo came back to haunt him and no one else. Another theme in the play is unnatural disturbances in nature, this scene resurrects this theme. In Macbeth’s speech lines seventy-five to eighty-three he talks about how the raising of the dead is even stranger than a murder, how can an unnatural act of nature be even stranger than an unnatural act of a human being? From the very beginning we hear of these unnatural acts from the witches speeches. â€Å"If fair is foul then foul is fair† This quote is also very relevant when we think about how once Macbeth became a hero in Scotland due to him being a good warrior and his victorious killings. But now he’s killing not in battle but in cold blood. It’s cold-blooded murder. Back to the banquet though it’s essential we consider why every time Macbeth tries to pretend that there is nothing unnatural in his behaviour and tries to act like the true rightful king, the ghost appears. An example of this is, â€Å"I have a strange infirmity which is nothing To those that know me, come, love and health to all, Then I’ll sit down, give me some wine; fill full† Then the ghost of Banquo appears or is it Macbeth’s conscience, has his guilt and owns mind made him imagine the ghost. I believe that because Banquo was Macbeths closest Conrad, when he pretends nothings happened Banquo who is very angry and upset with Macbeth appears and makes his thoughts known. Also as he tries to act as the true and rightful king he becomes more nervous and his behaviour start to drop below the normal. That’s exactly it â€Å"he’s acting like the true and rightful king†, he isn’t, he killed to get to the throne and now he’s there he can’t live with himself. Shakespeare uses lots of devises to make the audience â€Å"see† what Macbeth is seeing. He uses metaphor paradoxes and outrageous descriptions. â€Å"Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear, The arm’d rhinoceros, or the Hyrcan tiger;† And, â€Å"The baby of a girl. Hence, horrible shadow! Unreal mockery, hence!† Are both fantastic examples of this. It draws the audience into the scene and makes them want to see what Macbeth is seeing, it makes the audience’s imaginations work and by Shakespeare using all of these wild metaphors its creates atmosphere and creates great imagery. It creates imagery of the ghost and also of Macbeth’s terror. There’s lots of strong angry metaphors and everything he says in this speech brings images to our minds. The theme of disturbances in nature is also mentioned as shown in my quotes above. When the Banquet is brought to the end it is brought to an end with great significance. Lady Macbeth gives in realising Macbeth has failed in trying to show order in the Kingdom. She says, â€Å"I pray you, speak not; he grows worse and worse; Question enrages him. At once, good night:† The banquet also ends in a total opposite way as it started, at the beginning Macbeths ask, â€Å"You know your own degrees; sit down: at first And last the hearty welcome.† Where as when asking everyone to leave Lady Macbeth demands, â€Å"Question enrages him. At once, good night: Stand not upon the order of your going, But go at once.† The end of the banquet and the chaos during shows us many things, one being that those who are deemed strong for doing something such as killing in battle are very week when running a country which they do not deserve. Another being that Regicide creates disorder in a kingdom. As soon as law and order is demolished havoc is created. A modern day example of this is in Iraq, where after the fall of their leader, however right or wrong it was people started looting, murdering and started kidnapping hostages. Macbeths speech line 122 to 126 bring out one of the themes of the play. â€Å"It will have blood; they say, blood will have blood:† This is a very important quote, it’s a paradox and is very similar to those of the witches at the beginning of the play. â€Å"When the battle’s lost and won† To put this into context it could be saying that Macbeth won the battle against the Norwegians and he won it for the King but as soon as he murdered he lost. Nature is once again brought up as it is through out not only this scene but the whole play. Macbeths asks, â€Å"By magot-pies and choughs and rooks brought forth The secret’st man of blood. What is the night?† A moral which could be taken away from this scene could be If you do an evil deed you will pay in extraordinary ways, in this case through starting to go crazy and see ghosts. A very important thing that we must pay attention to is how Macbeth couldn’t hide his conscience, and how can you? It’s some that with you all the time and that can’t escape you, it’s like a plague as the only thing you can do to demolish it is it correct it. There are also a lot of references to time, â€Å"The secret’st man of blood. What is the night?† â€Å"Almost at odds with morning, which is which.† It’s as if they’re both saying what does it matter, they’ve become so detached from the real world there even getting confused with times. To Macbeth time is an ordeal as his conscience plays on him. Life is long and painful. There is also lots of time referenced in act 5 scene 5, â€Å"There would have been a time for such a word. To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time, And all our yesterdays have lighted fools† Time means nothing to Macbeth. Macbeth’s final speech in this scene dramatises the change that has been taking place in his character since the murder of Duncan. Right from the witches’ prophecies he starts to change into the evil Macbeth we see nearer the end of the play. He goes from being a soldier loved by all to a dictator who keeps spies in all his nobleman’s homes. â€Å"There’s not a one of them but in his house I keep a servant feed† Is how we now this. This tells us he doesn’t trust anyone, he’s suspicious and is showing a sign of weakness. It’s like soviet Russia of the 1980’s or Nazi Germany from the 1940’s. He also says â€Å"†¦ I am in blood stepped in so far that should wade no more† This tells us that he’s got in so much trouble he can’t escape from what he has done, there’s no turning back and he can’t turn back the hand of time. Macbeth isn’t going to feel any pity, as he hasn’t changed from what he’s become. â€Å"We are yet but young in deed†. He feels that he has started his reign of terror and that he has a long time left. He hasn’t learnt a thing. This is a very dramatic line and one of the most important in this scene. Macbeth doesn’t see why he should make things better when he is already in very deep trouble with how he’s feeling and how his country is running. This is also a line where he concedes what he has done and has become and tells he has no control over him self. This realisation plays on Lady Macbeth and is a key factor in driving her insane. The whole scene drives her insane and during Act 5 Scene 1 she says, â€Å"†¦ I tell you yet again, Banquo’s buried; he cannot come out† She’s referring back to Act 3 Scene 4 and how much Macbeth’s behaviour and actions have affected her. Act 3 Scene 4 is a vital scene in the whole of the play. If it wasn’t for this scene, how would we start to see this play as a tragedy. With out this scene many things would not happen. Lady Macbeth would not of gone insane, yet another tragedy would not of happened. But most importantly Macbeth would have carried on behaving how he was. As an evil man not caring about how his people are being treated but only for his greed. The appearance of Banquo’s ghost at the banquet created sympathy for Macbeth as he gave in and realised what he had become.   

Free Essays on Multicultural Education In America

Multicultural Education in America America has long been called "The Melting Pot" due to the fact that it is made up of a varied mix of races, cultures, and ethnicities. As more and more immigrants come to America searching for a better life, the population naturally becomes more diverse. This has, in turn, spun a great debate over multiculturalism. Some of the issues under fire are who is benefiting from the education, and how to present the material in a way so as to offend the least amount of people. There are many variations on these themes as will be discussed later in this paper. In the 1930's several educators called for programs of cultural diversity that encouraged ethnic and minority students to study their respective heritages. This is not a simple feat due to the fact that there is much diversity within individual cultures. A look at a 1990 census shows that the American population has changed more noticeably in the last ten years than in any other time in the twentieth century, with one out of every four Americans identifying themselves as black, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander, or American Indian (Gould 198). The number of foreign born residents also reached an all time high of twenty million, easily passing the 1980 record of fourteen million. Most people, from educators to philosophers, agree that an important first step in successfully joining multiple cultures is to develop an underezding of each others background. However, the similarities stop there. One problem is in defining the term "multiculturalism". When it is looked at simply as meaning the existence of a culturally integrated society, many people have no problems. However, when you go beyond that and try to suggest a different way of arriving at that culturally integrated society, Everyone seems to have a different opinion on what will work. Since education is at the root o... Free Essays on Multicultural Education In America Free Essays on Multicultural Education In America Multicultural Education in America America has long been called "The Melting Pot" due to the fact that it is made up of a varied mix of races, cultures, and ethnicities. As more and more immigrants come to America searching for a better life, the population naturally becomes more diverse. This has, in turn, spun a great debate over multiculturalism. Some of the issues under fire are who is benefiting from the education, and how to present the material in a way so as to offend the least amount of people. There are many variations on these themes as will be discussed later in this paper. In the 1930's several educators called for programs of cultural diversity that encouraged ethnic and minority students to study their respective heritages. This is not a simple feat due to the fact that there is much diversity within individual cultures. A look at a 1990 census shows that the American population has changed more noticeably in the last ten years than in any other time in the twentieth century, with one out of every four Americans identifying themselves as black, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander, or American Indian (Gould 198). The number of foreign born residents also reached an all time high of twenty million, easily passing the 1980 record of fourteen million. Most people, from educators to philosophers, agree that an important first step in successfully joining multiple cultures is to develop an underezding of each others background. However, the similarities stop there. One problem is in defining the term "multiculturalism". When it is looked at simply as meaning the existence of a culturally integrated society, many people have no problems. However, when you go beyond that and try to suggest a different way of arriving at that culturally integrated society, Everyone seems to have a different opinion on what will work. Since education is at the root o... Free Essays on Multicultural Education In America Multicultural Education in America America has long been called "The Melting Pot" due to the fact that it is made up of a varied mix of races, cultures, and ethnicities. As more and more immigrants come to America searching for a better life, the population naturally becomes more diverse. This has, in turn, spun a great debate over multiculturalism. Some of the issues under fire are who is benefiting from the education, and how to present the material in a way so as to offend the least amount of people. There are many variations on these themes as will be discussed later in this paper. In the 1930's several educators called for programs of cultural diversity that encouraged ethnic and minority students to study their respective heritages. This is not a simple feat due to the fact that there is much diversity within individual cultures. A look at a 1990 census shows that the American population has changed more noticeably in the last ten years than in any other time in the twentieth century, with one out of every four Americans identifying themselves as black, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander, or American Indian (Gould 198). The number of foreign born residents also reached an all time high of twenty million, easily passing the 1980 record of fourteen million. Most people, from educators to philosophers, agree that an important first step in successfully joining multiple cultures is to develop an understanding of each others background. However, the similarities stop there. One problem is in defining the term "multiculturalism". When it is looked at simply as meaning the existence of a culturally integrated society, many people have no problems. However, when you go beyond that and try to suggest a different way of arriving at that culturally integrated society, Everyone seems to have a different opinion on what will work. Since education is at the roo...

Organization behavior

Organization behavior Introduction Marketers all over the world rely upon their understanding of the consumer decision-making process to be successful in their day-to-day practices. Consumer behaviour captures all the activities of consumers that range from searching of the suitable products or services, their utility, all the way to the disposal of such products or services. Different scholars have developed models, strategies and theories that seek to clarify the consumer decision-making process.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Organization behavior Consumer decision-making is a process specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Marketers rely upon the knowledge of this process in their identification of the most effective points of entry to influence the choices and decisions made by the various consumers to their advantage (Bettman et al. 1998, p.195). Since it is common knowledge that the consumer decision-making is a series of steps that con stitute the whole process, the knowledge of what comprises each of the steps, as presented by the different models, is vital for any marketer seeking to be successful in marketing either products or services. The marketer takes the responsibility of a guide to the consumer. Therefore, he/ she should be able to provide a good share of information about the effect of the decision that the consumer makes (Bilkey 2010, p. 20). Successful dissemination of correct information about the important attributes of a given product, as well as its advantages in comparison to those offered by the competitors, is important in making sales and maintaining a clientele base. This paper aims at analysing the consumer decision-making process determining why it is necessary for marketers to understand the process in details to secure sales and maintain a satisfied client base. The consumer decision-making process There are a number of models put in place by marketers to explain the consumers’ dec ision-making process. The most common model is an adaption of the scientific method, which comprises of five basic steps. For the purposes of marketing, research, as well as understanding the buying patterns of different consumer segments, it is important for marketers to understand what each of the steps contain, which leads into each other (Doney, Cannon 2008, p.35). The claim holds because each of the steps corresponds to an internal psychological process that should be understood by every marketer whose aim is to lead the pack when it comes to securing product and services sales. The consumer decision-making process and the corresponding internal psychological processes are as follows:Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Need recognition – Motivation The need recognition is the initial step in the consumer decision-making process. This usually takes place w hen a given consumer realises the existence of a given need. As a result, he/she is motivated to venture into the decision-making process to see that the need is resolved (Bettman 1999, p.45). It is important for any marketer to have a deep understanding of what the consumer undergoes in this particular level in the decision-making process, as well as the specific needs that they seek to satisfy to translate them into the purchase criteria. The information that marketers get at this point of the process is critical in that it allows them to portray the most-felt need of the consumer in the promotional messages (Arzen 2005, p.209). Need recognition might be a simple process in the consumer decision-making process. However, the manner in which the consumer perceives any purchase situation and is subsequently motivated to resolve it becomes very influential to the remaining steps in the decision-making process. To understand deeply the reasons behind a given consumer’s purchases , marketers should devote a lot of their time in understanding the motives – the factor that compel the consumer to opt for a particular option. Need recognition might take place because of a change in the current or desired consumer’s state. Both internal and external factors might be responsible for these causes. For a marketer to align himself/herself with the most-felt need of the consumer, he or she must invest a great deal of effort to understand the factors that result to the consumer’s need recognition. These factors include, but not limited to the following: a. Out of stock When consumers exhaust their existing supplies, need recognition often occurs, as there is the need to replenish their stock (Ajzen, Fishbein 1980, p.5). The understanding of this factor ensures that a given marketer keeps the consumer constantly supplied with the brands that they are familiar with or those to which they feel loyal.Advertising We will write a custom essay sa mple on Organization behavior Consumer decision-making is a process specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More b. Dissatisfaction When a product, service, or a current situation does not satisfy a consumer, need recognition is created. For instance, the consumer might feel that a given product that they are used to is not comfortable anymore. Therefore, he/she sets out to get a more comfortable option that will ensure that they feel comfortable and satisfied. Through advertising, marketers can ensure that consumers are able to recognise when they are dissatisfied and when they need to make a purchase. c. New needs/ wants The lifestyles of people keep on changing drastically. With them, new needs or wants are created. A change in the day-to-day operations of a given person might result in the creation of new needs or wants. These become even more important than the previously existing ones. Through a constant market research, marketers are capable of recognising whenever new needs or wants are created by consumers to know exactly when to get involved in the process (Ajzen, Fishbein 1980, p.16). Information search- perception Once consumers are sure that their need can be satisfied through making a purchase, they embark on a journey to search for useful information that will enable them make the right decisions. The search usually begins with a scan of the consumer’s memory to recall whether there is any useful information from their experiences. According to Doney and Cannon (2008, p.41), this is termed as an internal search. If there is not any relevant or useful information, the consumer goes to the extent of conducting an external search (Bilkey 2010, p. 23). The knowledge of how the consumer gets and utilises information especially from the external sources is very important to the marketers. This is what is regarded as perception. External sources include but are not limited to a. Personal sourcesAdvertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More These include friends, relatives, and coworkers and so on. A consumer usually opts to get help in making the right purchase decision first from the people that are around him/ her. At this point, it is hard for the marketer to recognise and seize the opportunity unless they fortunately fall under that category. b. Marketer controlled sources These include information from advertisements, salespeople, displays or even the internet. It is through conducting effective market research that marketers are able to provide the information before their competitors and secure a chance to make a sale. c. Public sources Public sources that include information from media channels such as televisions, radios, print media such as magazine articles and newspapers provide information to consumers when preparing to make a purchase. Marketers often target the media to provide the information that influences the consumers’ purchase decision-making process. Alternative evaluation – Attitud e After acquiring the relevant and helpful information that will enable them to make the right purchase decision, the consumers move on to the alternative evaluation stage. It is in this particular stage that the consumers make a comparison of the various product brands that they have previously identified to ensure that they settled only for what ensures their needs or wants are catered for. The ultimate goal of most advertisement projects is to ensure that their product is involved in what is termed as the â€Å"evoked set†, which is a subset of brands that the consumer chooses as purchase options (Kohli 2009, p.61). Through effective advertisement, marketers create a â€Å"top –of –mind awareness† (Bettman 1999, p.23) to consumers to ensure that their products are not left out. While marketers tend to think of their products as â€Å"bundles of attributes†, the consumers view them as â€Å"bundles of benefits† according to their consequen ces. In the discipline of consumer behavior, attitude is one of the concepts that is heavily studied (Bettman 1999, p.23). Recent perspectives by scholars view attitudes as â€Å"a summary construct that represents an individual’s overall feelings towards or the evaluation of a product† (Kohli 2009, p. 63). Consumers express attitudes, which are of key importance to the marketers since, though them, they summarize their evaluation of a given item (brand or company) and make a representation of the positive or negative behavior tendencies (Ajzen, Fishbein 1980, p. 12). The various attitudes are related to the purchasing choices. That is why they are of great benefit to any marketer. Purchase decision- Integration In the process, when the consumers feel satisfied with the options that they have taken, they end up making a purchase decision. Under the inspiration of the alternative evaluation stage, the consumer may end up developing a purchase intention (Moorman et al. 2003, p.90). This is the predisposition to purchase a given brand. All the other personal sub-processes such as motivation and attitude formation influence the formation of the purchase intention and so on. However, one should note that the purchase decision is completely different from the actual purchase. This provides the chance for those marketers whose brands have not been chosen by the consumer for one reason or the other to attempt influencing the actual purchase, which is the most important part (Williamson 2000, p.466). Key to this stage is the manner in which consumers combine the information that they have about the characteristics of the brands that they had sampled in the evaluation stage (Lerner, Tiedens 2006, p.126). Through the analysis of this process, marketers become aware of the different decision rules or strategies that a number of consumers apply while making their ultimate decision. At this point, marketers should seek to know exactly which attributes appeal more to consumers to provide them with the relevant information, which works to their advantage. Post purchase evaluation- satisfaction The final stage of the consumer decision-making process is not the purchase but the post-purchase evaluation. After a consumer consumes a given product, he or she goes ahead to assess the utility or the performance of the product according to how it satisfactorily suits their needs. This stage is useful to marketers considering that the feedback gathered at this stage will definitely influence the consumers’ purchase decisions in the future (Williamson 2000, p. 472). When consumers are not satisfied with a given brand that they have purchased, they end up forming negative attitudes towards it. This can even make them influence other people in their purchase decisions. When the consumer’s goal is achieved, this means, the expectations have been met or have been exceeded by the consumption of the given brand (Kohli 2009, p. 64). This me ans that the consumer will not hesitate in the future to purchase the same brand for a similar need or a related one. When a given brand satisfies a consumer, it does not mean that the marketer should feel aware, as the competitors are constantly devising ways to secure future sales. Conclusion Knowledge of the consumer decision-making process is very important to marketers in that, in every stage of the process, as described in the basic model, the marketers should be constantly involved to ensure that they influence the decisions made by the consumer. All the way from the need recognition stage of the process, the marketer should understand the dilemmas faced by the consumer in the effort of making the right decision. This knowledge provides them with the relevant knowledge on the entry points that will have the biggest impact when it comes to securing the sales (Williamson 2000, p.484). Effective understanding of the entire process not only ensures that sales are secured, but als o that the consumers remain loyal to their brands. References Ajzen, I Fishbein, M 1980, Understanding Attitude and Predicting Social Behaviour. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Arzen, E 2005, ‘The theory of planned behaviour’, Organisational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, vol. 50 no. 1, pp. 179-211. Bettman, J 1999, An information processing theory of consumer choice. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA. Bettman, J, Luce, M, Payne, J 1998, ‘Constructive consumer choice processes’, The  Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 25 no. 1, pp. 187–217. Bilkey, W.J., 2010. A psychological approach to consumer behavior analysis. Journal of  Marketing, 18, pp.18-25. Doney, P Cannon, J 2008, ‘An examination of the nature of trust in buyer-seller Relationships’, Journal of Marketing, vol. 61 no. 2, pp. 35-51. Kohli, A 2009, ‘Determinants of influence in organisational buying: a contingency approach’, Journal of Marketing , vol. 53 no. 1, pp. 50-65. Lerner, J Tiedens, L 2006, ‘Portrait of the angry decision maker: How appraisal tendencies shape angers influence on cognition’, Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, vol. 19 no. 1, pp. 115–137. Moorman, C, Deshpande, R, Zaltman, G 2003, ‘Factors affecting trust in market research relationships’, Journal of Marketing, vol. 57 no.1, pp. 81-101. Williamson, O 2000, ‘Calculativeness, trust, and economic organisation’, Journal of Law and Economics, vol. 36 no. 1, pp. 453-486.

A Project Report On Marketing Fundamentals Tesla

Market research is one of the vital components adopted by companies to understand the needs, beliefs and desires of the customers. Primary and secondary are the major types of research that includes market information, market segmentation, market trends, SWOT analysis and other tools that help to gain an insight of the market conditions (Elliott, Thiele and Waller, 2014). Tesla is an American based automobile company that has very well positioned itself through its planned and extensive market research (Tesla, 2017). The company performed a strategic market research by using different tools such as PESTEL analysis, surveys and questionnaires and other methods to gather information from the market. Tesla used PESTEL analysis to assess the political, economic, social, legal, environmental and technological factors of the market to construe that the governments are promoting the production of environmental cars because of rising prices of fuel. The customers, on the other hand, have also begun to prefer the cars that protect the environment and do not pollute it due to which there was a demand for electric cars in the market (Forbes, 2016). Further, Tesla also conducted interviews with groups of moms and women of different ages to take their opinion about electric cars (Forbes, 2016). Thus, from the research, the company developed its marketing strategies and launched the product Model X especially for women (Forbes, 2016). The model was designed by considering the core selling points including safety, large space for kids and a third row. The engineers of the company incorporated all of this into the car design and manufacturing process. Another feature that was inferred from the research was that the female generally prefer to have a beautiful car along with ease for their children (Forbes, 2016). Thus, the company strategically used market research data to develop an effective product for the female.    Competition in a market arises when there are several players offering similar product or services to a large number of consumers. The players compete with each other in order to acquire a larger market share of the market and increase their sales revenue (Economics Online, 2017). The players could compete on the basis of prices, marketing, strategies and attributes of products to attract a greater share of target audience (Lin, 2016). Coca Cola is one of the largest producers of cold drinks with its huge network of sales and distribution around the world. The company has established its unique brand identity through its quality products and strong global recognition. Coca cola has its huge fan following that is a result of its customer loyalty (Lin, 2016). The main competitor of Coca Cola is Pepsi that is a thorn in the flesh for the company. Coca cola would have become the leading soft drink company around the world without Pepsi. The presence of Pepsi has brought significant changes in the marketing strategies of Coca Cola company. When Pepsi reduced its prices in the market of Australia, Coca cola also reduced the prices in order to maintain its position in the supermarket’s shelf. Coca cola has to incur a huge loss in order to carry out this campaign and retain its market position (Lin, 2016). The advertisements launched by Pepsi also influence the marketing strategies of Coca cola (Lin, 2016). Coca cola responds with complete maturity to the ads of the Pepsi in order to retain its position in the minds of the consumers. Thus, Coca Cola has to invest a huge amount of money to compete with Pepsi through huge advertising and marketing strategies. Coca cola has increased its advertising budget amount in order to stay in competition with the Pepsi (Lin, 2016). PESTEL analysis helps to determine the political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal aspects of a country that would facilitate the growth of the product and the company. Samsung introduced its latest product Galaxy S8 after an extensive PESTEL analysis of the market in order to acquire maximum returns from the market. The political factors include stable political conditions, country relations and the support of government. Overall Samsung has received favorable response from the market of US, Australia, Europe and developing nations of Asia (Walters, 2017). The company faced some issues due to volatility of Latin American countries that affect the operations of the company. Samsung Galaxy S8 has captured the market in a short span of time in the developing nations but faced some issues in developed nations due to low purchasing power of the customers. Korea’s strong currency also affected the revenue of the product. The market has witnessed rising popularity of electronic and mobile devices among the consumers because of changing and emerging technology. The main challenge that the company faces is the frequent changes in the demands of the consumers. Samsung has very well tailored its product to suit the needs of almost every consumer around the world (Walters, 2017). Samsung is one of the most innovative companies that stays ahead of its competitors and makes optimum use of technology to offer the latest products to the customers. Samsung has produced amazing software and applications by effectively blending the market demand and technology in a single product Galaxy S8 (Walters, 2017). Samsung has to face numerous issues regarding Copyrights and patents. The company also faced challenges regarding wireless communication regulations and had to adhere to the laws and regulations pertaining to electronic device safety around the globe. Samsung has always considered the laws and regulations of the environment and has deployed processes that do not pollute the environment. SWOT analysis is used by the companies to determine their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to develop a marketing plan (Lamb, Hair and McDaniel, 2008). Woolworths is one of the Australian retail based firm that consistently enhance its strategies in order to retain its market position. Woolworths occupies the largest market share of Australia and is the pioneer firm to introduce the concept of retail chain (Greenblat, 2017). The retail chain has established its brand name and unique identity through its quality products and services. Woolworths is one of the oldest retail companies but does not have a global presence when compared to its competitors. The retail chain also has not been successfully able to develop a sustainable unique selling proposition that questions its credibility and market positioning (Berry, 2016). The company delayed to enter online market due to which it has to face tough competition. Woolworths could expand its business by exploring new markets and establish its global presence. It could deploy franchise model and joint venture strategy in the beginning in order to penetrate deeper in the market. The cost of food material and other products has witnessed an increase that could affect the profitability of the firm. The ongoing recession has also influenced the activities of the organization. There is an intense pressure in the market from Aldi and Coles that is again affecting the market share of the company (Berry, 2016).    From the SWOT analysis, the company has explored its opportunities by entering the international market of UK through marketing mix element. Product: Woolworths introduced its quality services that ensure freshness of food and high product quality (The Conversation, 2017). Price: Woolworths has deployed economical pricing strategy in order to capture the market (The Conversation, 2017). Promotion: Woolworths offered discount offers to attract large number of audience. Place: Woolworths opened its stores in the main market area in order to attract the audience. Segmentation is the process of dividing the entire market into smaller segments to determine segment for the company (Lamb, Hair and McDaniel, 2008). Segmentation could be done on the basis of demographics, geography, lifestyle and psychology of the customers.   The different segments could include youngsters, executives, professionals, adults, female, housewives, unemployed and college students (Elliott, Thiele and Waller, 2014). After segmenting, a particular group of people called target market is targeted by the industry through strategic marketing and advertising. Positioning is influencing the minds of consumers through effective marketing strategies (Elliott, Thiele and Waller, 2014). Retail industry is one of the largest industries of Australia that targets a large group of segment. Around 70%-90% of the consumers prefer to shop their groceries and other household material from the retail chains because of the availability of a wide range of products (Greenblat, 2017). The target customers of retail industry include housewives, females, adults and middle aged people. The customers are attracted towards the retail chains because of low priced products and quality services (Greenblat, 2017). Thus, the retail industry has very well identified its target group from which it can increase its sales revenue and profitability. Further, the strategic positioning involves offering low priced product along with quality services, discounts and special offers during festive season also excite the customers to shop from retail stores. The customers are also promised fresh food products and customized services such as home delivery, app based shopping and other unique services (Greenblat, 2017). The consumers feel elated and experience a unique shopping experience with the retail stores that compels them to shop for next time and become a loyal customer. Thus, the industry has strategically positioned itself as a low cost brand that offers quality services along with a unique experience to its consumers. Brand management is one of the most crucial elements of marketing that has occupied the top most concern for the leaders of the companies. A brand has to consistently evolve itself in order maintain its sustainability by meeting the customer demands. Apple is one of the examples of successful brand management around the world. The brand has very well utilized and internalized the concept of perceived value due to which the consumers always assess the benefits of its products of much higher value as compared to their prices. The brand has built itself by connecting with the consumers through their emotions that they experience while using the Apple’s products (Bajarin, 2016). The customers never forget a brand with which they have had a great experience and Apple has very well internalize this process through its highly innovative and technologically advanced products. Another major reason for Apple’s success is its risk taking ability and targeting the emerging market through which it became a pioneer and leader in the electronics market (Scheidies, 2017). Nokia is a Finnish multinational corporation that demonstrates the example of failed brand. Nokia might have evolved as successful brand but failed miserably because of its ineffective marketing strategies. The major reason for Nokia’a failure was Nokia did not deploy appropriate marketing strategies and projected itself more like an engineering company in the market (Huy, 2016). The company could not touch the chord of the consumers through its products and services. The company was rather more focused to build hardware devices instead of satisfying the needs of the consumers. Nokia always underestimated the significance of software in a mobile set due to which it was unable to adapt itself with the transitioning business environment (Surowiecki, 2016). Nokia never adapted the latest operating system and insisted on its hardware design. Another blunder of Nokia was its inability to analyze its competition that it faced from Apple and Samsung. Elliott, G., Thiele, S.R., and Waller, D. (2014). Marketing. Australia: John Wiley & Sons. Forbes. (2016). Tesla's Unique Position In The Car Market Is One Of Its Biggest Strengths. Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2015/07/02/teslas-unique-position-in-the-car-market-is-one-of-its-biggest-strengths/#427a537e3ad7 [Accessed Online 4 May 2017]. Huy, Q. (2016). Who Killed Nokia? Nokia Did. Insead Knowledge. Available at: https://knowledge.insead.edu/strategy/who-killed-nokia-nokia-did-4268 [Accessed Online 4 May 2017]. Lamb, C.W., Hair, J.F., and McDaniel, C. (2008). Essential of Marketing. Cengage Learning. Surowiecki, J. (2016). Where Nokia Went Wrong. New Yorker. Available at: https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/where-nokia-went-wrong [Accessed Online 4 May 2017].

Policy Formulation and Implementation by International Public Research Paper

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Evalution essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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The drug-crime relationship - Essay Example The act aimed at curtailing terrorism is also charged with stopping drug smugglers before they cross the borders. On January 9, 2005, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced the creation of new Border Enforcement and Security Task Forces, to increase control at the border. The groups will be nationally integrated teams with federal, state, and local representation specifically directed at cross-border criminal activity (DHS, 2005 http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic). Chertoff said: "These new task forces will take a comprehensive approach to dismantling criminal organizations that exploit our border. The task forces will be charged with sharing information, developing priority targets, and carrying out coordinated law enforcement operations that will enhance border security." ((DHS, 2005 http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic). However, prior to this recent development, The Homeland Security Act had already begun working to protect Americans. In the days following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, Americans began questioning the security of our borders and the legislation in place aimed at keeping our country safe. In 20002, Congress passed the Homeland Security Act, a multi-layered approach to protecting Americans. The act did several things, but most importantly, it created a Department of Homeland Security with a mission â€Å"preventing terrorist attacks within the United States, reducing the vulnerability of the United States to terrorism at home, and minimizing the damage and assisting in the recovery from any attacks that may occur† (http://www.whitehouse.gov/deptofhomeland/analysis/title1.html#101, paragraph 1). The Department of Homeland Security was given five primary responsabilities: information analysis and infrastructure protection; chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and related countermeasures; border and transportation security; emergency preparedness and response; and coordination with other parts of the federal government (http://www.whitehouse.gov/deptofhomeland/analysis/title1.html#101, paragraph 1). It is under its border transportation and security mission that the act has impacted the drug-crime relationship. The Homeland Security Act consolidated many governmental departments under one Homeland Security Department heading. Among the departments effected were U.S. Customs and U.S. Border Patrol, two agencies charged with stemming the flow of drugs at the border. Although the two agencies had similar missions, they reported to different departments, and U.S. Border Patrol was an arm of the U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration. Following the passage of the Homeland Security Act, the two departments were merged together under a new heading: U.S. Custom and Border Protection. From that, two new arms of the department were created, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Protection. The new department was given a new mission; "keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the United States - places CBP on the frontline of the war on terrorism. As the nation's unified border agency, CBP is strategically positioned at and between our ports of entry to prevent further terr orist attacks on our nation. This includes carrying out our traditional border-related

Effective Mentoring and Coaching Reflection Essay

Effective Mentoring and Coaching Reflection - Essay Example Integrity, honesty, and ethics are important in any coaching and mentoring process. Upholding these virtues help to create confidence, and trust between the mentors and the mentee and this promotes mutual relationships that allow the process to be successful. It allows the mentors to express their weakness as well as strengths without any coercion and this enables the mentoring process to fair on well. Many of the participants further expressed the need for the mentor to be of high integrity to help boost on the mentorship relationship. Many of the teachers indicated that passion was very crucial in the process of mentorship. Passion enables mentors to be committed in the entire process of mentoring and therefore, inculcates the same virtue to the mentee that will often associate this with the already developed qualities. However, a group of teachers was the idea that passion should be sparingly expressed while other seemed to think that it was imperative that the passion is totally expressed. To ensure effective mentoring, the passions of the mentors or coaches is salient and therefore, it is important that this is illustrated in the mentoring process in order to trigger positive change in behavior and stimulate or ensure full engagement and improvement in achievement.There was a conflicting opinion on the question on whether the mentor or coach is supposed to learn from the mentoring process. Mixed reactions were elicited with one teacher who held to the opinion that, a mentor.... Mixed reactions were elicited with one teacher who held to the opinion that, a mentor or a coach should learn from outside sources before mentoring others. This is a way to ensure that the learners are confident in the process. The mentor should also be well informed on what to mentor to ensure that the process is successful. The mentee expects the mentor to teach new things and therefore, the mentor needs to be abreast with facts. On the other hand, other teachers were of the contrary opinion and argued that, the open process of mentoring was the best approach because it allowed the mentor to learn from the process. This is because, there are different circumstances and situations and therefore, such situations help the mentor to gain more skills and knowledge. Furthermore, they contend that, research materials on mentorship was only a guide that mentors use and therefore they are just mere guidelines to direct the mentor on the best practices during mentorship. For development of a ppropriate mentorship skills, it is appropriate for understanding of the mentee and the environment in which the process of mentoring is taking place. Furthermore, the mentor should show commitment on any assigned role that many arise from the process. This facilitated acquisition of same characteristics in the mentored parties and promoted effectiveness of the mentoring and coaching process. A mentor is required to focus on problem solving and empowering other people by assigning duties. They were of the opinion that transformation needs to be adopted to ensure that skills are transferred appropriately. However, to achieve this, understanding of both reformation and transformational processes is

Scanning the Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Scanning the Environment - Essay Example ote focuses on demographics and socio-cultural trends, advertising, strategy and image for the previously mentioned retailers and the strategy that a competitor should adopt. Retailing of grocery items has been a competitive business for some time because a number of large retail chains, online stores and retail shops compete within the market. This means that it is important to try to position the retail brand right so that a maximum attraction for the grocery retail segments within the consumers is possible (Reynolds, 2004, Pp. 12 – 18). Brands tell a lot about price and this means that positioning brands to attract a certain type of customer to maximize profit is important in grocery retailing. Demographic trends for the US consumer suggests that the average consumer is more health and money conscious as a result of the prevailing economic uncertainty and they are only willing to pay a little extra for better fresh fruits and vegetables, food brands (Cook, 2008, Slides 1 – 25). However, quality and price are the most important considerations in selection of grocery items, but pesticide free items are only second in preference to fresh gr ocery items. Thus, organic products are second only to fresh quality products. In addition, the proportion of non – Hispanic Whites as a proportion of the total consumer is declining compared to an increase in the Hispanics and the Asians. Thus, retailers must consider the previously mentioned trends in efforts to position their retail brands. Aldi, the global grocery retailer has tried to benefit from the willingness of the consumer to pay a little more for quality in positioning its brand (Aldi, 2009, â€Å"Grocery Selections†). However, Amazon Grocery appears to have tried to lure the customer by offering established middle-of-the range brands with an emphasis on saving for quality and a concern for the Asian and Hispanic consumers. However, both of the previously mentioned chains emphasize value for money. Although

Effective Mentoring and Coaching Reflection Essay

Effective Mentoring and Coaching Reflection - Essay Example Integrity, honesty, and ethics are important in any coaching and mentoring process. Upholding these virtues help to create confidence, and trust between the mentors and the mentee and this promotes mutual relationships that allow the process to be successful. It allows the mentors to express their weakness as well as strengths without any coercion and this enables the mentoring process to fair on well. Many of the participants further expressed the need for the mentor to be of high integrity to help boost on the mentorship relationship. Many of the teachers indicated that passion was very crucial in the process of mentorship. Passion enables mentors to be committed in the entire process of mentoring and therefore, inculcates the same virtue to the mentee that will often associate this with the already developed qualities. However, a group of teachers was the idea that passion should be sparingly expressed while other seemed to think that it was imperative that the passion is totally expressed. To ensure effective mentoring, the passions of the mentors or coaches is salient and therefore, it is important that this is illustrated in the mentoring process in order to trigger positive change in behavior and stimulate or ensure full engagement and improvement in achievement.There was a conflicting opinion on the question on whether the mentor or coach is supposed to learn from the mentoring process. Mixed reactions were elicited with one teacher who held to the opinion that, a mentor.... Mixed reactions were elicited with one teacher who held to the opinion that, a mentor or a coach should learn from outside sources before mentoring others. This is a way to ensure that the learners are confident in the process. The mentor should also be well informed on what to mentor to ensure that the process is successful. The mentee expects the mentor to teach new things and therefore, the mentor needs to be abreast with facts. On the other hand, other teachers were of the contrary opinion and argued that, the open process of mentoring was the best approach because it allowed the mentor to learn from the process. This is because, there are different circumstances and situations and therefore, such situations help the mentor to gain more skills and knowledge. Furthermore, they contend that, research materials on mentorship was only a guide that mentors use and therefore they are just mere guidelines to direct the mentor on the best practices during mentorship. For development of a ppropriate mentorship skills, it is appropriate for understanding of the mentee and the environment in which the process of mentoring is taking place. Furthermore, the mentor should show commitment on any assigned role that many arise from the process. This facilitated acquisition of same characteristics in the mentored parties and promoted effectiveness of the mentoring and coaching process. A mentor is required to focus on problem solving and empowering other people by assigning duties. They were of the opinion that transformation needs to be adopted to ensure that skills are transferred appropriately. However, to achieve this, understanding of both reformation and transformational processes is