The Process of Market segmentation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Process of Market segmentation - Essay Example This paper illustrates that the market consists of different types of consumers that have a variety of needs and various types of products. The market further divides itself into different types of consumers, further divided into subgroups and segments. The needs of these different types of consumers may vary due to a variety of factors. The concept of market segmentation, therefore, refers to the process of targeting different types of consumers with different marketing programmes and products, suitable to their needs. Market segmentation appears to be a simple theory; however, it remains one of the most widely researched marketing topics. The topic of market segmentation has been around in the world for nearly a decade. It has gained large importance these days, especially in the industrialized world. The needs of consumers are widely heterogenic; therefore, different products are made that target specific needs of consumers. The theory of market segmentation, given by Smith has ma intained its value, for he recognized the heterogeneity of the needs of the consumers, because of their differing preferences. The purpose of market segmentation covers maximizing sales and profits. In the modern world of today, the theory of market segmentation has undergone various changes and has gotten more complex. It remains extremely important for a marketer to have a detailed analysis of the needs and preferences of different types of consumers. Mass marketing does not take in to account all these different types of preferences. Therefore, the approach of market segmentation proves to be extremely beneficial. The marketing theory takes into account the different segments of the market. It also does not remain feasible to target the needs of each consumer. Consumer groups are divided according to their similar requirements and buying characteristics. The process of market segmentation begins this way. The factors that determine these segments include ‘geographic, demogr aphic, psychographic, and behavioral’ factors.

Going global means new frontiers Essay Example for Free

Going global means new frontiers Essay Introduction On the 19th Sep. 2014, the world’s largest initial public offering (IPO) was successfully completed in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), U.S., and the total IPO amount has reached up to $25 billion (Chen. Mac. Solomon. 2014). Alibaba, the miracle creator, used only 15-year’s development to take the seat in the Wall Street and build an e-commercial empire. The NYSE’s IPO is the signal to tell global investors and competitors that Alibaba is ready to join the global market competition. For Alibaba, going global means new frontier, however, the new frontier could be either a barren cliff or cornucopian grassland. In this essay, we will mainly discuss that why Alibaba want to expand global markets, and how Alibaba is going to make the global strategies to against global competitors in overseas market. by avoiding direct competition, targeting similar market as China and increasing firm size in the global market environment to step into a â€Å"grassland† market for persistent development. Alibaba the world’s largest online and mobile commerce company, was established in 1999 by the group of 18 people led by Jack Ma in Hangzhou, China. There are three main sites in Alibaba China, including T-mall, Taobao and Alibaba.com along with numbers of other companies to support Alibaba’s ecosystem development. Moreover, Alibaba also has Alibaba.com and AliExpress.com to provide worldwide online shopping services (Pressman 2014). Until 2013, Alibaba has more than 2 million merchants across more than 190 countries and regions. In 2013, there was amount of $248 billion transactions went through Alibaba’s online sites which is more than the total of eBay and Amazon. Furthermore, after the NYSE’s IPO, Alibaba’s market cap has reached up to 215 billion dollar, which only followed behind Microsoft, Google and Apple among the global tech firms (Lajoie Shearman. 2014). Global Market Expansion (convention path: from domestic to overseas) Why Alibaba want to expand global market?  Alibaba is a typical Multi-national corporation, since Alibaba set up the headquarter in the China and operate e-commerce businesses in other  countries. in As a typical multi-national corporation, going global to exploit new distant market, to merge into larger and more efficient units and to exploit better social capital is an irresistible process for Alibaba. As the dominator in the China’s online shopping market, Alibaba has already controlled 80% of the market share, thus Alibaba needs new distant markets for persistent development. Moreover, For Alibaba, both the internal capabilities and external environment allows Alibaba to make the global market expansion decision. For the internal capabilities, Alibaba is a mature Internet corporation, which has controlled 80% of the China’s online shopping market. China’s market profits could constantly provide enormous capital support for Alibaba’s long-term market expansion. Moreover, after the NYSE’s IPO, Alibaba has won the trust from global investors and acquired sufficient capital for early market expansion. However, the challenges always exist during the process of the market expansion, especially from the local e-commercial corporations. Despite of the competition, high cost for setting up facilities, cultural shock, and different government policies would also be main concerns before the decision was made. Thus, I have listed three main strategies below to demonstrate Alibaba’s global market expansion. Avoiding direct competition Instead of â€Å"face to face† competition with those locally dominant e-commercial corporations, Alibaba decided to operate their business around the market edges and move partial of e-commercial businesses to cross-country trade. In 2004, The America’s largest e-commercial corporationeBay entered the Chinese market by merger with a Chinese e-commercial corporation—EachNet. In order to against eBay, Alibaba decided to launch Taobao, one of the main sites under Alibaba for C2C (customer to customer) business model, compete with eBay. Because of Taobao’s preponderant business model and domestic advantages, eBay finally failed in China’s e-commercial market expansion (Wang, 2010). Right now, Alibaba faced the same challenge in the America’s market, but Alibaba will not make the same mistake as eBay did. In order to avoid direct competition with eBay and Amazon, Alibaba has launched AliExpress for cross-country trade wholesale by offering quality products at factory prices. As the advantages, Chinese  products have unbeatable prices to attract American customers; also Chinese customers have strong demands for American high quality products (like Cherry Farmers and Fisherman). Although it’s too earlier to claim the final result of Alibaba, to avoid direct competition is always a good way to enter a new market without too much pressure from local competitors. Finding similar market as China Alibaba’s global strategies are more likely targeting the large and potential e-commercial market as China’s market. For instance, Brazil, as one of the largest developing economy in the world, the economy status and e-commercial structure in Brazil is really similar as in China. ALthough, eBay and Amazon has already settled down in the Brazil’s market, it’s always not too late for Alibaba overtakes the dominance. In 2013, Alibaba set up a Portuguese e-commerce site to allow Brazil buyers directly purchase goods from Chinese wholesalers. Just in a year, Alibaba has became the third largest e-commercial website and took 20% of market share after Ebay and Amazon. In this July 12 millions of Brazilian customers visited the Alibaba.com, which is ten times than last year (Sciaudone, 2014). Moreover, in Brazil’s market, Alibaba wisely used the local sub-contractor to reduce investment and improve service quality, which subcontracted the online payment services to Boleto and delivery services to Brazil’s state-owned postal service (Pressman, 2014). To make it even better, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Chinese President Xi Jingping have signed the agreement to open the â€Å"Green Channel† to support Alibaba’s business between two countries (Chao, 2014). All in all, the success in the Brazil’s market indicated that to find the similar market is a feasible strategy for future development. Increasing the firm size As a typical multi-national corporation, Alibaba effectively applied the law of increasing firm size, ‘which have rapidly growth in the representative size of the firm, culminating in the MNC, and the parallel growth in organizational complexity’ (Hymer, 1970). E-commercial is the fundamental business for Alibaba’s long-term development, but not the only business Alibaba does or will do. As the range of investments show below, Alibaba  made plenty of investments in smart phone, video websites, telecommunication and so on. Some of them are complement businesses to support Alibaba’s e-commercial, like Juhuasuan, Alipay and Alibaba pictures; and some of them are potential businesses for long-term development, like Kabam, Peel, and Tango. Like Jack Ma has said in the Stanford Business School’s presentation, Alibaba would always follow the market’s path, where is the market, where is the Alibaba. Alibaba believed those investments are the future market and opportunities. On the global market expansion, Alibaba’s strategy is to pursue dynamic, diversified, sustaining development. Impacts on global market and host region With the development of Alibaba, the global e-commerce businesses will absolutely more competitive than before. There will be more and more cheaper and quality products flow into global market from China. Other e-commercial corporations, like eBay and Amazon, have to find the way out to against Alibaba’s expansion. On the other hand, Alibaba’s global market expansion will provide more opportunities and channels for China’s manufactories and factories to enter into a larger market. As Alibaba’s mission said, ‘to make it easy to do business anywhere.’ Alibaba help China’s merchants to do business much easier and more efficient. Conclusion It is indeed that Alibaba made a great success in 15-year development, but some concerns still exist from investors. Some investors even thought it’s possible that Alibaba is too big to be expropriated by Chinese government (Crovitz, 2014). However, It’s a totally misunderstanding, Chinese government always encourage and support China’s corporations to exploit overseas market and welcome foreign investment. Furthermore, investors also consider the instability to an Internet company. Unlike other industries, such as auto or manufacture industry, Internet Company is highly volatile. Internet Company could create billions of fortunes overnight, but also could lose everything instantly. In this case, it’s a significant mission for Alibaba to keep investors’ trust and faith. Up to now, Alibaba’s steady-state growth and expansion is the best response to investors’ trust and support. For 15-year development, Alibaba completely followed the conventional path from serve domestic market to operate businesses overseas. Eventually, Alibaba has successfully built an e-commercial businesses bridge between China and overseas market. Alibaba will continue to grow, and it will continue to change China and change the world. As William Kirby, and expert on Chinese business in Harvard’s business school, demonstrated that Alibaba is ‘a private company that has done more for China’s national economy than most state-owned enterprises (Economist, 2013).’ References Chen, Liyan; Mac, Ryan; Solomon Brian. Alibaba Claims Title For Largest Global IPO Ever With Extra Share Sales. Forbes. Web. Available from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2014/09/22/alibaba-claims-title-for-largest-global-ipo-ever-with-extra-share-sales/ [Accessed on: 14/11/2014] Crovit, Gordon L. 2014. Alibaba: Too Big to Expropriate? The Wall Street Journal. Web. Available from: http://online.wsj.com/articles/gordon-crovitz-alibaba-too-big-to-expropriate-1411339239 [Accessed on: 14/11/2014] Hymer, Stephen. 1970. Lecture notes distributed in Global Business Environment at The University of Birmingham U.K. on November 2014. INC. 2014. How Alibabas Jack Ma Conquered China. INC. Video. Web. Available from: http://www.inc.com/jack-ma/alibaba-jack-ma-reveals-his-global-strategy.html [Accessed on: 14/11/2014] Osawa, Juro. Alibaba Isn’t the Amazon of China. The Wall Street Journal. Web. Available from: http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/10/16/alibaba-isnt-the-amazon-of-china/ [Accessed on: 15/11/2014] Pressman, Aaron. Alibaba a threat to eBay, Amazon outside the U.S., not within. Yahoo Finance. Web. Available from: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/alibaba-aims-at-ebay-and-amazon-outside-of-the-united-states-173757037.html [Accessed on: 14/11/2014] Sciaudone, Christiana. 2014. Alibaba in Brazil Challenges EBay-Amazon Market Grip. Bloomberg. Web. Available from: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-05/alibaba-in-brazil-challenges-ebay-amazon-market-grip.html [Accessed on: 14/11/2014] Shearman, Nick; Lajoie, Marc. 2014. What is Alibaba?. The Wall Street Journal. Web. Available from: http://projects.wsj.com/alibaba/ [Accessed on: 14/11/2014] The Economist. 2013. The World’s greatest bazaar. The Economist. Web. Available from: http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21573980-alibaba-trailblazing-chinese-internet-giant-will-soon-go-public-worlds-greatest-bazaar [Accessed on: 20/11/2014] Wang, Helen H. 2010. How eBay Failed in China. Forbes. Web. Available from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/china/2010/09/12/how-ebay-failed-in-china/ [Accessed on: 20/11/2014] http://www.cnbc.com/id/102008330#.

Life Under the Taliban Essay -- Taliban Afghanistan Middle East Essay

Life Under the Taliban Afghanistan is one of the poorest and most troubled countries in the world. The land that occupies Afghanistan has a long history of domination by foreign conquerors and strife among internally warring factions. At the gateway between Asia and Europe, this land was conquered by Darius I of Babylonia circa 500 B.C., and Alexander the Great of Macedonia in 329 B.C., among others. In recent years, war and lawlessness had destroyed much of the country; millions of people went into exile and brought its economy to a standstill. This paper looks to explore the recent history of Afghanistan, how the Taliban came to power, and the impact their Islamic laws had on the Afghanistan society including their treatment of women. Brief History During the imperial days Afghanistan became a buffer zone when both Britain and Russia agreed that an incursion into Afghanistan would be considered a declaration of war against each other. Both respected this arrangement. After Britain's departure from the region, Russians increased their influence in Afghanistan with help and support from India, which wanted to keep Pakistan carved out of British India in 1947. Meanwhile, the Russians believed that the Americans, who replaced Britain as the new superpower, were too far away from this region to get physically involved. So in 1979, when the pro-soviet communist regime in Kabul showed signs of weakness, the Soviet Union sent its troops into Afghanistan. They faced no resistance and captured the entire country in a few days. However, the Soviets were mistaken about the United States response to their invasion. The Americans did not like the Soviet presence in Afghanistan as it could have allowed the Soviet Union to have undue influence in South Asia and the oil rich Middle East. In engaging the Russians in Afghanistan, the Americans also saw an opportunity to avenge their defeat in Vietnam. The Pakistanis were equally keen to prevent the Russians from strengthening their position in Afghanistan, particularly because of the theory, which was popular at the time, that Moscow wanted to reach the warm waters of the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. Many in Islamabad believed that after consolidating themselves in Afghanistan, the Russians would make a move to take over Pakistani city of Karachi, the nearest seaport for the former soviet Central Asia. Pakist... ...essed 08 February 10, 2004. ?A Job Half Done In Afghanistan?.The New York Times, May 15,2003, Baldauf, Scott. and Tohid, Owais.?Taliban Appears to be regrouped and well funded?. Christian Science Monitor, May 8,2003, Baldauf, Scott. and Tohid, Owais.? Where taliban go to find warm beds and results?. Christian Science Monitor, December 11,2003, Black, Andrew.?Talibans Rise Was Fueled By International Community?.The Press Association Limited, September 30, 2003 Goodson, P. Larry. Afghanistans endless war.United States of America:Univeristy of Washington Press, 2001. Hilton, Elizabeth.?Just Poppycock?.The Guardian, December 11, 2003 ?How The Taliban Erased History; One Year After Taliban Forces Savaged Afghanistan?s Two Celebrated Buddahs, The Story Of Their Destruction Has Emerged?. Washington Post.March 16,2002 Kramer, Martin.?The Camera and The Burqa?.Middle East Quarterly, March 1,2002 Nojumi, Neamatollah.The rise of the taliban in afghanistan.New York,NY:Palgrave, 2002. ?Taliban Comeback in Afghanistan?. Mideast Mirror October 10, 2003 Tompkins,Richard. ?Analysis:Afghanistan 2 years later.? United Press International, September 14, 2003,p8 Life Under the Taliban Essay -- Taliban Afghanistan Middle East Essay Life Under the Taliban Afghanistan is one of the poorest and most troubled countries in the world. The land that occupies Afghanistan has a long history of domination by foreign conquerors and strife among internally warring factions. At the gateway between Asia and Europe, this land was conquered by Darius I of Babylonia circa 500 B.C., and Alexander the Great of Macedonia in 329 B.C., among others. In recent years, war and lawlessness had destroyed much of the country; millions of people went into exile and brought its economy to a standstill. This paper looks to explore the recent history of Afghanistan, how the Taliban came to power, and the impact their Islamic laws had on the Afghanistan society including their treatment of women. Brief History During the imperial days Afghanistan became a buffer zone when both Britain and Russia agreed that an incursion into Afghanistan would be considered a declaration of war against each other. Both respected this arrangement. After Britain's departure from the region, Russians increased their influence in Afghanistan with help and support from India, which wanted to keep Pakistan carved out of British India in 1947. Meanwhile, the Russians believed that the Americans, who replaced Britain as the new superpower, were too far away from this region to get physically involved. So in 1979, when the pro-soviet communist regime in Kabul showed signs of weakness, the Soviet Union sent its troops into Afghanistan. They faced no resistance and captured the entire country in a few days. However, the Soviets were mistaken about the United States response to their invasion. The Americans did not like the Soviet presence in Afghanistan as it could have allowed the Soviet Union to have undue influence in South Asia and the oil rich Middle East. In engaging the Russians in Afghanistan, the Americans also saw an opportunity to avenge their defeat in Vietnam. The Pakistanis were equally keen to prevent the Russians from strengthening their position in Afghanistan, particularly because of the theory, which was popular at the time, that Moscow wanted to reach the warm waters of the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. Many in Islamabad believed that after consolidating themselves in Afghanistan, the Russians would make a move to take over Pakistani city of Karachi, the nearest seaport for the former soviet Central Asia. Pakist... ...essed 08 February 10, 2004. ?A Job Half Done In Afghanistan?.The New York Times, May 15,2003, Baldauf, Scott. and Tohid, Owais.?Taliban Appears to be regrouped and well funded?. Christian Science Monitor, May 8,2003, Baldauf, Scott. and Tohid, Owais.? Where taliban go to find warm beds and results?. Christian Science Monitor, December 11,2003, Black, Andrew.?Talibans Rise Was Fueled By International Community?.The Press Association Limited, September 30, 2003 Goodson, P. Larry. Afghanistans endless war.United States of America:Univeristy of Washington Press, 2001. Hilton, Elizabeth.?Just Poppycock?.The Guardian, December 11, 2003 ?How The Taliban Erased History; One Year After Taliban Forces Savaged Afghanistan?s Two Celebrated Buddahs, The Story Of Their Destruction Has Emerged?. Washington Post.March 16,2002 Kramer, Martin.?The Camera and The Burqa?.Middle East Quarterly, March 1,2002 Nojumi, Neamatollah.The rise of the taliban in afghanistan.New York,NY:Palgrave, 2002. ?Taliban Comeback in Afghanistan?. Mideast Mirror October 10, 2003 Tompkins,Richard. ?Analysis:Afghanistan 2 years later.? United Press International, September 14, 2003,p8

Belonging

Belonging Essay The concept of belonging is essential in our lives as it brings about acceptance and connection to a person, group or place. Migrants often experience alienation and exclusion before experiencing acceptance and belonging into the new society. Peter skrzynecki portrays migration as a painful, soul searching experience, re forging a sense of personal and cultural identity which is evident in Migrant hostel. On the contrary Peter displays a perspective were the family feels stability and security at their address 10 Mary Street.The journey to belong often proves to be a great burden; the lack of social stability generates a sense of loss and insecurity leaving migrants struggling to adjust to their new cultural environment. This is established in the first stanza of Migrant hostel through the choice of words such as â€Å"sudden/wondering†, which illustrates uncertainty and doubtfulness of what is occurring around them, therefore living erratic and uncertain lives .The idea of not being in control of their lives is further emphasized in the first stanza with the use of the simile â€Å"we lived like birds of passage†, this creates a image of migratory birds and represents how the migrants are at a point of transaction in reality. Peter creates a picture of confinement and imprisonment via the symbol of a barrier â€Å"A barrier at the main gate†, represents obstacles to their dream of belonging and exclusion from mainstream Australia.The Migrants are shown as being powerless and their lives have been marked by disorientation, â€Å"unaware of the season/whose track we would follow†, highlights the whole migrant communities uncertainty as â€Å"we† is inclusive of all migrants and shows that all migrants experience similar hardship. The irony of the concluding lines â€Å"that had only begun or were dying†, accentuates the burden of uncertainty in their lives instead of surviving in their new homeland and exp erience a new sense of belonging their lives remain in limbo.However, people eventually experience belonging which is evident in 10 Mary Street as it is a stark contrast to Migrant hostel as there is insecurity while there is a feeling of security in 10 Mary Street due to the family’s long term connection to their home and Australia itself. The repetition of â€Å"nineteen years† reinforces how long term residency establishes a place of belonging. Peter also repeats ‘eight years† in St Patrick’s as Peter is pointing out how peoples sense of belonging is strengthened over a long period of time.Furthermore, the simile â€Å"like a well-oiled lock†, symbolizes security and highlights how the family is experiencing security at their family home. The poem also highlights how the family’s strong affinity with the garden represents settlement and permanency in Australia. The simile like â€Å"adopted children† emphasizes the parent†™s great care and love for their garden and symbolizes their belonging to their new homeland. The act of Peter ravaging the garden represents how the garden provides the family with food and sustenance.The garden is a representation of their new homeland as Australia also provides them with work, opportunity and a good life. The house is described as part of the family through the personification â€Å"the house stands† this portrays the house as another member of the family as it shows belonging and relation to the house. The metaphor â€Å"Inheritors of a key that’ll open no house†, highlights the poets appreciation of his family and their home, the experience is cherished however when the house is pulled down, he believes he will never be able to experience such warmth when he moves on in life.In conclusion, it is evident that a person will establish a connection with a place or person with time, however will go through hardships and feelings of unfamiliari ty before finding security and belonging to their new homeland. Migrant hostel emphasizes how life’s adversities can hamper peoples sense of belonging, while 10 Mary Street portrays how people adapt to their new homeland to become â€Å"citizens of the soil† and experience stability and security. Belonging Belonging can be a possible path to an individual’s self-actualisation. A sense of identity can be identified by belonging or not belonging to a particular group or place. A person can portray different values of belonging through different situations and settings, like in Shakespeare’s period and the period in ‘Fight Club’. Maslow’s Hierarchy of belonging suggests that belonging is one of the basic needs of human existence. All humans aspire to belong but only a few are able to transcend this basic human need and become self-actualised individuals who rise beyond their social expectations and go against the conventions that define them.This is portrayed through the characters in ‘As You like It’ that flee to the Forest of Arden but eventually return because that is where they truly belong. As well as ‘Tyler’ in Fight Club. Belonging is a possible path to one’s individual self-actualisation, which can be identified vi a various mediums as witnessed through David Fincher’s Fight Club and Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Maslow’s hierarchy extrapolates the basic fundamentals of belonging suggesting that belonging is ones fundamental need of human existence.This notion is illustrated through Tyler Durden in Fight Club as well as characters in â€Å"As You Like It† where individuals strive to transcend the basic human necessity of belonging and become self-actualised individuals who rise beyond their social expectations and defy conventions defining them. Fight club demonstrates the aspects of belonging through the relationship between the narrator and his alter ego, Tyler Durden. It is a commentary on our ‘lost’ generation. The relationship shows the changes the narrator undergoes throughout the film.The Fight Club has an appeal to the lost generation. The narrator with the help of Tyler Durden founded Fight Club as a way of venting aggression physically through fighting other men. It begins with him fighting Tyler (although he is actually fighting himself) but soon other men want to join and have fights of their own. The men of our generation have been raised to avoid fighting, but suddenly they realize along with the main character, â€Å"I just don’t want to die without a few scars. Fight Club is an expression of modern dysfunctionality of modern context that have so alienated the individuals into ‘nameless’ and ‘androgynous’ emasculated male figures. General society has adopted this aspect just the same as society has adopted the consumer identity. Tyler Durden says â€Å"We are byproducts of the lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don’t concern me. What concerns me is celebrity magazines, television with 500 channels, some guy’s name on my underwear, Rogain, Viagra, Olestra, Martha Stewart. Tyler describes a life style that is defined by things you don’t nee d. From here we run into the consumer identity. The consumer identity is the understanding that you are what you buy; you exist to express yourself in material possessions. The goal is to simply look impressive not be impressive, so you can appear to have more money than you really do. In a society that claims the consumer identity, the ultimate sacrifice would be to put your projected reputation on the line. In modern society, this is too risky for many people and that is the main reason why fights are avoided.However, by embracing the idea that you aren’t what you own, you are only what your hands are capable of, you can free yourself of everything you have tried to appear as with every punch you give or take. The fighting is a metaphor for feeling, not promoting physical combat. The narrator states â€Å"fight club isn’t about winning or losing. It was about words, when the fight was over, nothing was solved, but nothing mattered. Afterwards we all felt saved†. The concept of belonging not only deals with acceptance, but also rejection and alienation. This concept can influence our belonging to a place or group.This is explored through Shakespeare’s play â€Å"as you like it†. Throughout the novel, ‘as you like it’ explores the idea of belonging to place. The title itself gives the play to the audience, implying belongs to those viewing it. Throughout the novel, we can clearly detect the characters desires to belong as dictated by the social religious hierarchy of the renaissance drawn out by the church and king in the form of the chain of being. According to Shakespeare text and his context, everyone has their rightful place. If one place is altered or disturbed, there is chaos and anarchy.Hence, ‘As You like It’ is a reaffirmation of the chain of being where Duke seniors dukedom has been altered by his younger brother Frederick, and this causes the chaos that leads to many of the characters flee ing to the place they belong to into the forest. In As You like It, the traditions of society push characters to play certain roles. Rosalind, the protagonist, has no control over society and gender expectations presented to her. Even though she is the most interesting, intelligent and active character in the novel, she is confined into the expected female role.This suppresses her personality to be expected to fit into and belong at the court. Her attempts at conformity lead her to initially feel fear at seeking out the Forest of Arden because such a place would be dangerous for a woman. She overcomes this by transcending gender boundaries choosing to disguise herself as a man. While she is a man, she is able to explore her true personality and identity. Is she had not used the role of Ganymede in the forest; she may have been left in a similar role to Celia who is unable to shake her constraints of femininity.Ultimately, the different values of belonging in different situatuations is seen in both texts through Tyler in Fight Club where he creates a place for people who have the same daily routine to break free from this and to vent their anger by fighting. This fighting is a metaphor for freedom, Freedom from their daily lives and the idea of the consumer identity. This form of freedom and belonging is also seen in ‘As You Like it’ where Rosalind breaks the female stereotype of not being strong enough to protect herself in the forest of Arden, where she runs away to. Belonging Belonging Essay The concept of belonging is essential in our lives as it brings about acceptance and connection to a person, group or place. Migrants often experience alienation and exclusion before experiencing acceptance and belonging into the new society. Peter skrzynecki portrays migration as a painful, soul searching experience, re forging a sense of personal and cultural identity which is evident in Migrant hostel. On the contrary Peter displays a perspective were the family feels stability and security at their address 10 Mary Street.The journey to belong often proves to be a great burden; the lack of social stability generates a sense of loss and insecurity leaving migrants struggling to adjust to their new cultural environment. This is established in the first stanza of Migrant hostel through the choice of words such as â€Å"sudden/wondering†, which illustrates uncertainty and doubtfulness of what is occurring around them, therefore living erratic and uncertain lives .The idea of not being in control of their lives is further emphasized in the first stanza with the use of the simile â€Å"we lived like birds of passage†, this creates a image of migratory birds and represents how the migrants are at a point of transaction in reality. Peter creates a picture of confinement and imprisonment via the symbol of a barrier â€Å"A barrier at the main gate†, represents obstacles to their dream of belonging and exclusion from mainstream Australia.The Migrants are shown as being powerless and their lives have been marked by disorientation, â€Å"unaware of the season/whose track we would follow†, highlights the whole migrant communities uncertainty as â€Å"we† is inclusive of all migrants and shows that all migrants experience similar hardship. The irony of the concluding lines â€Å"that had only begun or were dying†, accentuates the burden of uncertainty in their lives instead of surviving in their new homeland and exp erience a new sense of belonging their lives remain in limbo.However, people eventually experience belonging which is evident in 10 Mary Street as it is a stark contrast to Migrant hostel as there is insecurity while there is a feeling of security in 10 Mary Street due to the family’s long term connection to their home and Australia itself. The repetition of â€Å"nineteen years† reinforces how long term residency establishes a place of belonging. Peter also repeats ‘eight years† in St Patrick’s as Peter is pointing out how peoples sense of belonging is strengthened over a long period of time.Furthermore, the simile â€Å"like a well-oiled lock†, symbolizes security and highlights how the family is experiencing security at their family home. The poem also highlights how the family’s strong affinity with the garden represents settlement and permanency in Australia. The simile like â€Å"adopted children† emphasizes the parent†™s great care and love for their garden and symbolizes their belonging to their new homeland. The act of Peter ravaging the garden represents how the garden provides the family with food and sustenance.The garden is a representation of their new homeland as Australia also provides them with work, opportunity and a good life. The house is described as part of the family through the personification â€Å"the house stands† this portrays the house as another member of the family as it shows belonging and relation to the house. The metaphor â€Å"Inheritors of a key that’ll open no house†, highlights the poets appreciation of his family and their home, the experience is cherished however when the house is pulled down, he believes he will never be able to experience such warmth when he moves on in life.In conclusion, it is evident that a person will establish a connection with a place or person with time, however will go through hardships and feelings of unfamiliari ty before finding security and belonging to their new homeland. Migrant hostel emphasizes how life’s adversities can hamper peoples sense of belonging, while 10 Mary Street portrays how people adapt to their new homeland to become â€Å"citizens of the soil† and experience stability and security.

Baderman Island Family Vacations Essay

Baderman Island Family Vacations: Advertising, Creative, and Media Strategies Advertising not only works but is often unmatched in its capacity to reach major audiences, build brand awareness and personality, as well as stimulate curiosity and desire. But, more than ever, companies today [in this very competitive environment] need the right creative messages and media choices in an effort to break through the â€Å"noise† in order to get noticed, and therefore, remembered. This paper will outline Baderman Island’s Family Vacations advertising plan, further expanding on creative decisions and effective media strategies in an effort to increase market share. Baderman Island – Family Vacations Analysis Family getaways are one of the top reasons that guests stay at Baderman Island, regardless of whether the stay is a seven day excursion or a weekend family reunion. With so many activities to choose from such as: boat rentals, water skiing, snorkeling, scuba diving, tennis, golf, five secluded beaches, Oasis Spa, and gallery touring there is truly something for everyone in the family to enjoy, not to mention all the activities on the island are appropriate for visitors of all ages. The many unique selling points of Baderman Island Family Vacations consist of the island being self contained, all-inclusive, hosting an array of restaurants, three different hotels, and unlimited activities to entertain and relax all guests. Currently, the marketing situation consists of a website that is an excellent tool for attracting guests and showing them all the perks of the island through pictures and blogs. The blog is a new advancement to the website, but should prove to attract positively more guests through the testimonials of previous visitors. Target Audience The target audience for Baderman Island is the typical â€Å"family vacationers† who are looking for a resort that offers a variety of activities without having to leave the premises. These families will consist of parents with at least one child. The target family will be the family who consists of two adults within the household with at â€Å"least† 2-3 children to help maximize profits. All races, ethnicities and cultures are welcome. The target market will be an adult who enjoy warm weather vacations with family, spending quality time with each other enjoying activities and who have a love for the beach and fine art. The target audience will also consist of consumers who fall within the lower to middle class and above demographics searching for a family destination that does not require leaving the United States (U.  S. ). Not all families can afford the cost of securing passports and expensive air travel to the Caribbean. Creative Strategies A creative strategy is important to the overall execution of an advertising campaign. Team C will use a â€Å"positioning† approach as its creative strategy. In this approach Baderman Island will be clearly defined as the number one â€Å"all inclusive† destination for family travel. Brand image approach will also be incorporated into the strategy. This will help consumers correlate the Baderman Island brand as a top notch, high quality destination. This approach will be accomplish by using an easy to remember slogan, such as â€Å"Baderman Island Family Vacations, the Finest Place to Reconnect,† as well as further using the ever popular slogan, â€Å"Relax, Enjoy, Indulge. † Increased emphasis will be placed on marketing the concept that Baderman Island is a unique destination specializing in family activities. This will enable Baderman Island to distinguish themselves from other competitive resorts in the marketplace. All creative advertisement associated with the resort will be colorful and eye catching; it will feature pictures that depict happy families vacationing and spending time together, further providing a visual of what family vacationing could be for the potential customer. On radio spots sound bites will be used of customer testimonials of how happy they were when they vacationed on the island. TV ads will also depict families enjoying themselves on the beach, playing golf, in the spa, visiting the museums and art galleries, and participating in the many sports activities offered on the island. The television ads will also highlight the many pricing plans and payment options where applicable. Positioning Statement Baderman Island’s positioning concept will explain that Baderman Island Family Vacations is for vacationers with families who are seeking a luxury resort â€Å"experience† to reenergize from their busy lives and reconnect with family and friends, and that Baderman Island Family Resorts is one of the most luxurious destinations in the world. The island offers four star accommodations that highlight a world-class spa featuring a full range of treatments designed around the resort’s natural springs, sophisticated purpose-designed meeting facilities, and an assortment of other amenities all delivered with a high level of personalized service (University of Phoenix, 2008). All of this is made available on this self-contained, all-inclusive resort island that is surrounded by the beautiful Kelsey River. Golfing, fishing, spa facilities, museum excursions and a beautiful beach are all available to vacationers of this island. Message Platform Baderman’s message platform is to develop Baderman’s brand and when potential guest see the logo, they will envision the beautiful crystal clear waters, which symbolizes peacefulness as well as relaxation. Presently, Baderman Island is expanding the brand on the 1,600 acres of land they own. 750 acres are operational. See map below. (University of Phoenix, 2008). In an effort to increase brand recognition Baderman Island will rely heavily on word-of-mouth marketing. The expectation will be that satisfied guest will continuously sell the brand for the resort while Baderman Island continues to make capital improvements. Once the Baderman Island’s guest vacation experience is over and they leave, the hope is that they will tell their friends about the wonderful experience during their stay. Word-of-mouth advertising is one of the most effective advertising vehicles when feedback is 100% positive. Baderman Island will strive to be the number one vacationing spot. Baderman Island will be well known for the following attributes: Owning an island, which exclusively promotes their brand, and having facilities that offer excellent customer service. Baderman Island makes a point of listening to guests who have enjoyed previous stays and will continue to develop innovative ideas that include customer feedback on how to improve future stays. Media Strategies and Objectives Print media is one of the most efficient ways to reach potential customers. For example, magazines are a medium that has a number of special-interest publications segments that can reach Baderman target audience (Wisconsin Department of Tourism, 2009). As a result, print ads, billboards, and brochures will be Baderman Island’s priority media vehicles of choice. Baderman Island will also use a number of advertising campaigns which will run a variation of television commercials, all emphasizing family fun. An additional strategy that Baderman will use in order to develop a relationship with potential guests is through the use of [developing] creative brochures which will assist with enticing guest towards booking a vacation on Baderman’s Island property. After all, they are inquiring about Baderman’s vacationing experience, so brochures will bring Baderman’s Island Vacations upfront and personal to future guest. Guests will be able to look at full color ads while reading a wealth of information regarding services, pricing plans, recreation packages, spa schedules and a host of activities used to keep children occupied during the day. The objective is to have future guest pick-up and carry brochures with them so they can view the material at their leisure and share it with family and friends. Baderman will capitalize on the idea that the brochure is portable which gives the upper hand rather then relying on guest to remember a 60 second commercial. Lastly, radio air time will also be explored as a media option. There are seven times as many radio stations as television stations in the U. S. (Wisconsin Department of Tourism, 2009) therefore; this is a medium that Baderman will seek to explore with the assistance of a limited-service agency. Strategy RationaleThe rationale behind the creative strategies and campaign message is to ensure that Baderman Island Vacations stands out over the competition. Creating the easy to remember message of â€Å"Baderman Island Family Vacations, the Finest Place to Reconnect,† will capture the image of Balderman Island at its fullest. In addition, using vibrant colors within ads and â€Å"real† people will not only be an eye catcher, but also illustrates the fun side of Balderman Island. Using photos of smiling and happy families doing fun activities together as part of advertisement features will say it all. Baderman Island will use similar stock photos in all advertisements. By placing the emphasis on â€Å"family† the brand image that Baderman Island will be known for will be something that both existing and potential customers will relate too. The resort will also seek to create a feeling of nostalgia where people who see the billboards, magazines, website, or hear radio advertisements will wish and want to experience what Baderman Island offers. An addition strategy will be to choose air time during busy traffic hours to advertise services. What better time to dream being somewhere else than when a person is stuck in a traffic jam. As a family resort, Baderman Island believes in getting and giving the best. As customers, Baderman personnel staff expects the best on both products and services from providers, and it is only right that the resort gives the same respect, treatment and consideration to their customers. Baderman Island stands on the priority objective of treating customers â€Å"just like family. †Supportive ResourcesAlthough many companies have opted towards using outside advertising agencies exclusively for assistance with creative ideas, Balderman Island prefers to do it themselves. Baderman Island’s in-house creative teams provide a range of services depending on the resorts needs and are familiar with the resorts rich history and many products and services. The in-house team is also better equipped to handle adhoc problems regarding advertisements within a timely manner. Keeping creative development in-house will provide the resort more control with lower risks of having proprietary confidential information leaking into the wrong hands, also keeping in mind that external agencies have other clients to assist. In addition to risk management, in-house creative resources for creative support make it easier to coordinate and have a more â€Å"personal† touch with the service versus an outside agency. In addition to in-house support Baderman Island will seek advice from limited-services agencies which specializes in one aspect of creative process; usually providing creative production work or the purchase of media space (Wisconsin Department of Tourism, 2008). A limited-services agency will be used in order to coordinate radio air time and in some instances magazine space. ConclusionAs stated earlier, Baderman Island Family Vacations is striving to continue to compete in a very competitive environment. With the consistent advertising message, â€Å"Baderman Island Family Vacations, the Finest Place to Reconnect,†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Baderman will further expand on that message by building upon a media strategy that emphasis family, fun, relationships, and value. Therefore, a media strategy that focuses on â€Å"awareness advertising,† where the attempts to build Baderman Island’s image and familiarity with the resort brand and excellent services will be their ticket towards marketing success. Baderman Island is confident that by using multi-media vehicles of print ads, billboards, brochures, television commercials, and radio spots their target audience will be effectively reached. Six months post campaign launch, Baderman will evaluate their advertising effectiveness through monitoring and post-evaluation tools and re-evaluate their marketing plan accordingly based on results.

Hi My Name Is Rachel Essays

Hi My Name Is Rachel Essays Hi My Name Is Rachel Essay Hi My Name Is Rachel Essay Evenly proportioned societies Within the melting pot of America, we have a divergent population represented by many cultures and heritages of its citizens. It is the goal of the government to treat all the citizens equally. As stated in the constitution, all men are created equal. However, is it realistic for a government to treat all of its citizens equally? In the novel, Animal Farm, written by George Orwell, it is made clear that in a society people will not be treated equally. Although people may strive for a perfect society where veryone is treated equally, it is clear to any observer that within any society the leaders, the majority, and the educated, usually treat themselves better than those beneath them. Animal Farms goal was to have a society in which every animal is treated equally. They shortly failed at their attempt to make a perfect society. The pigs on the farm started to take charge and think highly of themselves. As this began, the farm became a democracy with the pigs in charge. Whenever the animals were at war they had a military formation. Their military formation is an important aspect of attle on animal farm. The animals are ordered to March round the precincts of the farm in military formation, with pigs leading, then horses, cows, sheep, poultry (Orwell, 115) With the pigs leading the military formation it shows that they are the best out of all the animals. Next in line come the horses, representing that they are second best next to the pigs. Down at the bottom are the poultry, coming in last, because they are the least significant. Pigs are greater and it is a known fact, the animals know they are not treated equally but there is nothing they can do about it. Finkel 2 Martin Luther King Jr. s speech illustrates that blacks and whites are not treated the same way. Whites are treated exceptionally better than the blacks. The whites had more opportunities and freedom. There was no specific reason for this, Just because of the color of their skin they were automatically kicked around like dirt on the sidewalk. Astonished by the way humans were acting Martin Luther King Jr. decided it was time for someone to speak up. One day little black boys and black girls will be able to Join hands with litte white boys and white girls as sister and brothers. A dream like this was almost impossible to make a reality at that time. As time progressed In spite of all the hatred at the time, his dream came true and now the United States of America is free of segregation. Even though people are no longer judged by the color of their skin, blacks and whites are not treated equally. In the story, Harison Bergeron, future America is shown. It is said that everyone was equal and the truth is that no one was truly equal, everyone had the same place in society, everyone except tne government. I nls Is no longer called equality, tnls Is called ommunism. No one had rights anymore, no one had laws. They were also not treated equally because if you think about the only ones suffering are the handicapped ones. The so called normal ones dont have to go through the pain of having to hear loud noises or to wear a mask. Two, all the advanced and talented people had to be handicapped. This mearns that they had no freedom, rights and liberty. Trying to make everyone equal resulted in a miserable life for those who were handicapped and everyone not being equal due to the government. Finkel 3 Finkel 3 No matter how perfect a society may be it is shown that the leaders, the majority, and the educated, are more likely to succeed in their society than those who appear lower than them. In a society citizens are not treated equally. In animal farm the pigs are leading, whites are the majority according to Martin Luther King Jr. , and the government in Harrison Bergeron are the wise ones. In the world we live in today, there is no such thing as an equal society, though people want to think that there is there is not. Orwell, George. Animal farm;. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1954. Print.

Free Essays on One Special Hour

A memorable hour in my lifetime It seemed like it would make her die, just speaking it. So I didn’t tell anyone, not even my best friends. At school I would slip into dreamland, nobody there knew that I should be troubled. I put on my best face and paraded around e-high’s halls with some sort of smile plastered on my face. At lunchtime I’d stare at my food thinking that my friends should know. I thought of a million different ways to tell them. Each time that I came close to telling them, I would think about their potential reactions. There would be the normal lunchtime banter going on, complaints about schedules, teachers and friends, and I then I blurted it out, Hey guys, my mom has breast cancer†¦.. Then I would stare at my food mentally kicking myself for having opened my mouth. I chose to say nothing. I remember very clearly the day that I went to go sit with her while she got her chemotherapy. I only did this once because it was too hard for me. I walked down an overly-lit sterile h allway trailing behind my dad. When we reached her room I wished that I could just keep walking, pretend I hadn’t seen her. I went in and sat down. Her shirt was partially unbuttoned so that the IV could be inserted into herr arm. She was hooked up to three different kinds of poisons, and one normal IV. There were some blue things spread across her lap and the ever present bag of lemon drops was faithfully at her side. Her head was laid back in the chair, she was tired. She and my dad tried to involve me in some nice chit-chat, I met and shook hands with the doctors and nurses, It’s nice to meet you Dr. Isal. Yeah right. They complimented her on what a beautiful son she had. I smiled politely then excused myself to the bathroom. I wiped away my forming tears and glanced at my watch it was 11:32 AM. I knew that my mom was going through alot as I just took the easy way out by hiding. She wasn’t hiding though she was facing the nightmari... Free Essays on One Special Hour Free Essays on One Special Hour A memorable hour in my lifetime It seemed like it would make her die, just speaking it. So I didn’t tell anyone, not even my best friends. At school I would slip into dreamland, nobody there knew that I should be troubled. I put on my best face and paraded around e-high’s halls with some sort of smile plastered on my face. At lunchtime I’d stare at my food thinking that my friends should know. I thought of a million different ways to tell them. Each time that I came close to telling them, I would think about their potential reactions. There would be the normal lunchtime banter going on, complaints about schedules, teachers and friends, and I then I blurted it out, Hey guys, my mom has breast cancer†¦.. Then I would stare at my food mentally kicking myself for having opened my mouth. I chose to say nothing. I remember very clearly the day that I went to go sit with her while she got her chemotherapy. I only did this once because it was too hard for me. I walked down an overly-lit sterile h allway trailing behind my dad. When we reached her room I wished that I could just keep walking, pretend I hadn’t seen her. I went in and sat down. Her shirt was partially unbuttoned so that the IV could be inserted into herr arm. She was hooked up to three different kinds of poisons, and one normal IV. There were some blue things spread across her lap and the ever present bag of lemon drops was faithfully at her side. Her head was laid back in the chair, she was tired. She and my dad tried to involve me in some nice chit-chat, I met and shook hands with the doctors and nurses, It’s nice to meet you Dr. Isal. Yeah right. They complimented her on what a beautiful son she had. I smiled politely then excused myself to the bathroom. I wiped away my forming tears and glanced at my watch it was 11:32 AM. I knew that my mom was going through alot as I just took the easy way out by hiding. She wasn’t hiding though she was facing the nightmari...

More Answers to Questions About Capitalization

More Answers to Questions About Capitalization More Answers to Questions About Capitalization More Answers to Questions About Capitalization By Mark Nichol Here are several questions that have come up recently from readers about capitalization, followed by my responses. 1. Are seasons proper nouns? Although people often capitalize the names of seasons especially in academic contexts, such as in â€Å"Fall Semester† and the like, or in reference to quarterly publications, such as in â€Å"the Summer 2013 issue† they are common nouns and should be lowercase, except as part of proper names (for example, â€Å"the Winter Olympics†) or in poetic personification (such as in â€Å"when Spring sheds her tears in April†). 2. I am about to write an article about self-publishing, and I am rephrasing my paragraphs to avoid starting the sentence â€Å"eBooks are . . . .† However, I am curious to know if a sentence can be started with a lowercase e. (I suppose the same thing could also be said of iPads, too.) Should I write E-books, eBooks, or Ebooks? The Chicago Manual of Style, the premiere style resource for US publishers, recognizes the ubiquity of such terms and recommends making an exception to the rule of always beginning a sentence with an uppercase letter: â€Å"iPads are . . . .† The Associated Press Stylebook, its equivalent for periodical publications, however, recommends changing a lowercase initial letter to uppercase when it begins a sentence: â€Å"IPads are . . . . I recast such a sentence if possible but agree with Chicago; the fact that an accommodation needs to be made is unfortunate, but AP’s style is ugly. In this case, though, the question is not a concern, because ebook (or e-book, if you prefer, but not the outdated E-book) is not a proper name; it is equivalent to email (or e-mail). At the beginning of a sentence, treat it like any other first word: â€Å"Ebooks are . . . .† 3. Botanical/horticultural names are italicized (because they are Latin) and consist of at least two parts: the genus (capitalized) followed by the species (not capitalized) - for example, Aloe vera. In writing about the genus more widely, then Aloe is often used alone as the family name and is italicized. But what does one do when the Latin botanical genus name is turned into a plural by adding an s? Then it is English, not Latin. So, presumably, the italics get dropped. But what happens to the capitalization? Is the English variant still capitalized? Good question. If one writes, for example, â€Å"The garden maintains one of the largest and finest collections of aloes outside of Africa,† rather than â€Å"The garden maintains one of the largest and finest collections of Aloe outside of Africa,† the English plural form, as indicated in the first variation, should be lowercase. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Inquire vs EnquireThe Four Sounds of the Spelling OUHonorary vs. Honourary

Fashion in Pop Culture Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fashion in Pop Culture - Assignment Example The women also wore hip huggers; these were jeans that sat inches below the normal waistline. The jeans were known as dungarees and were usually amazingly tight. The ladies who sported them were fervent to decorate them with studs or embroidery. Some owners even bleached them to vary the color. Skirts and dresses in the ‘60s and ‘70s were in 3 lengths: the mini dress which barely reached the knee; the midi which reached between the ankle and the knee; and the maxi that reached the floor. All teenage girls wanted a mini dress like the one of Marcia Brady (Wertz 17).Young men admired the gleaming white 3-piece Saturday Night Fever suit of John Travolta (Classic70s). It looked fashionable as portrayed in the media. How Media Influenced Fashion in Pop Culture in the ‘80s There is no other fashion decade that has been more influenced by the media, particular movies, and TV than the 1980s. This decade was the MTV generation. Together with the twenty-four hour television broadcasting of music videos, TV shows including Bill Cosby Comedy Show, Miami Vice and Dynasty, and movies such as Pretty in Pink and Flashdance set the tone of fashion. This decade was also a period of decadence, and the mantra â€Å"the bigger, the better† that influenced hairstyles on a grand scale was prominent (Dziemianowicz). In conjunction with the above-mentioned influencers of the 1980s fashion, former Princess Diana’s love of fashion brought in a blood-thirst for designer clothing – Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Perry Ellis and Nolan Miller became household names. Popular icons, such as Michael Jackson with his beaded glove, Madonna and Material Girl, were also major influencers. Image 7: Designer clothing such as Calvin Klein were well known in the ‘80s (Dziemianowicz). Image 8: Madonna and Princess Diana were major influencers of women and young girls globally in the ‘80s (Mazzulo). Glasses with plastic and large frames were very fashionable for both men and women during the decade. Image 9: Sylvester Stallone with ‘80s glasses that were in fashion (Hanckock) How Media Portrayed Fashion in Pop Culture in the ‘90s In the 1990s, fashion in pop culture started with a mix of preppie, grunge and hip hop. The media through the music industry, Hollywood, and television gr eatly influenced fashion in pop culture during this decade (Horton 23). The industry influences were so potent that ladies went for plastic surgeries for the Baywatch inspired boob job. Image 10: Trendy fashion in pop culture during the ‘90s (Wertz). Image 11: Mini dresses and skirts were popular among

Leadership and Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Leadership and Strategic Management - Essay Example Organized management and actions have existed for centauries. Management has undergone, in the past several years more so in the last centaury, methodical investigation, acceptance as a formal discipline of study and attained a common body of knowledge (Robbins & Coulter, 2005). Among the early contributors to contemporary management practices are Henry Fayol and Max Weber who are credited for developing general administrative theories. Their works centered on managers’ roles and what comprised good management practice (Robbins & Coulter, 2005). Current concepts about a managers’ role have evolved from Henry Fayol’s fourteen principals of management. Max Weber’s bureaucracy model was aimed at removing inefficiencies, patronage and ambiguity that characterized most businesses. Most components of his bureaucracy model are still inherent in big organizations to date. The universal point of ideas offered by Fayol, Weber and Taylor were majored on increased eff iciency. Thus the application of scientific management principles resulted in increased productivity of managers and the organizations as a whole (Jones & George, 2011). Leadership has been proven to have a direct cause and effect connection on organizations and their eventual success. Thus leaders have been tasked with shaping organizational strategies including its execution and efficiency (Northouse, 2007). Leaders therefore determine the culture, values, employee motivation and change tolerance within their institutions. With the on set of financial crisis, businesses have attracted keen analysis from shareholders and the general public. This has reinforced the concept of strategic management and a review of current leadership styles. Strategic management, popularized in the 1980s, is a term that covers business-wide strategy formulation, implementation and evaluation (Sadler, 2003). This usually is dependent on the leadership of an enterprise. The concept of strategic management has become important to the success or failure of enterprises, more so now that business environment require quick analysis, monitoring and precise interpretations of th eir surroundings. Though, it must be noted that not all enterprises that embrace this concept are safe from failures. One of the major reasons for failures in strategic management is poor direction from management and poor planning that strategic management is widely believed to have evolved from (Sadler, 2003). While implementing strategic management, leaders will usually be faced with the problem of change management. Change management is the planned approach to transitioning organizations from present state to a desired future state (Jones & George, 2011). Its aim is to help employees embrace and accept change in their present business environment. There are a number of beneficial reasons why an organization leadership will want to adopt change management. These include; increasing efficiency, increasing cohesiveness among employees so as to deliver objectives in a strong team, and also helps to gain a good understanding of what type of change is impending. This will usually help in smooth change transition more so touching on

Adam Smith and Political Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Adam Smith and Political Economy - Essay Example The quality of life and individual prosperity is determined by social and economic progress of individuals and the community at large (Bowie, Michaels and Solomon, 243). People should engage in activities that promotes fairness and unity in the society for common interest of the society. Therefore, individuals must show concern for others in the society, in order to achieve harmonious and significant living. The individual’s liberty in fulfilling social obligation is one of the driving forces of a nation development. People make their own choices without interference from others to maximize their personal gain. The choice to be made must satisfy a certain need in the society (Bowie, Michaels and Solomon, 264). Adam Smith perceived rivalry as an important element in an advancement of the nation. Exercising this personal liberty sets persons mind free to engage in activities which brings benefit to both individuals and to the community. This liberty has made people to choose the ir own activities to engage in. However, individual liberty should not obstruct the rights of other people in the society. No one is coerced to undertake any activity whatsoever. This is imperative for advancement of a nation because, people maximize their input in activities of their own choice (Bowie, Michaels and Solomon, 271). People have chance to select and competitively participate in economic activities of their own interest. If people work live without interfering with others affairs, this will promote peace and understanding in the society. Fairness should be the guiding principle in making decision to fulfill communal obligations. The communal regulations are set to guide individuals in choosing their own activities for economic progress (Bowie, Michaels and Solomon, 274). It is always essential to take into consideration the needs of the public before engaging in any activity. People should carry out those activities which will result to individuals benefit and serve the needs of the entire community. Therefore, it is fair to engage in activities of the society as an individual and try to avoid doing things which are likely to cause damage to other people. This means there is an extent to which a person can do things and going beyond the set principles will be unjust to the society. For example in business, traders should sell legal goods otherwise this will be unfair to the consumers. They should also sell those commodities at a fair price and avoid overexploiting the consumers. Fairness should guide them in deciding what to sell and the price at which they will sell those commodities to the public. Fairness will also ensure equality in the nation and people will have a sense of life. On the other hand, injustice limits achievement of individual goals and achievement of their obligations to the society. For example, if some students were allowed to cheat in an exam, this would be unfair to the society and negligence in fulfillment of their obligat ions (Bowie, Michaels and Solomon, 286). Therefore, fairness will determine the individuals’ performance towards their social obligations. Living a moral life is a triumph against evil. The author has emphasized on the importance of living a good life on earth. People should ensure uprightness in all their dealings

Grow and development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Grow and development - Essay Example The relationship between a parent and child is essential during this period because as an individual shifts from the role of dependent to assume the role of an adult, the dynamics of the family changes. Therefore, parents should accept the status of their child as an adult. Another important feature of this period is that young adults normally develop the feeling of self-definition and lost-identity (Arnett, 2006). Due to this, majority of young adult tend to obtain their self-identity and worth via external success. Emerging adulthood is characterized by age of many possibilities in that they have a conviction that they have good opportunities to live good lives than their parents did. Emerging adulthood is different from adolescent stage in the sense that during adolescence phase, teenagers need to develop personal identity. In this phase, success will always lead to the capability to stay true to oneself while failure is feared because it is linked with lack of self-identity and role confusion. Contrary, emerging adults have a strong sense of self-identity in that they need to establish loving and intimate relationships with those people around them. Further, success in their careers leads to feeling of hope of bright future while failure is associated with isolation and loneliness (Arnett, 2006). During physical development, young and emerging adults face shift in the shape of their bodies and brain structure that is responsible for roles such as planning, self-control, and judgment. Physical changes that take place affect major changes in cognitive and social attainment. The main tasks during the physical developmental stage are how to manage the changes that occur and their influence on subsequent social relationships and behaviors (Arnett, 2006). Cognitive development helps young adults to develop into responsible people in managing their lives. For instance, they are in a position to manage their problems and education

Macroeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 2

Macroeconomics - Essay Example The organization of petroleum exporting countries decides by them the cost per barrel of petroleum. The present price of petroleum in the world market has skyrocketed in the last few years because the OPEC members have agreed to limit the output per country. Since the agreed output has been reduced, the prices of petroleum per barrel have skyrocketed for the past few years. A study of the non – OPEC member nations, government and other academic researchers have shown that the non OPEC member nations may have equal sales with the OPEC member states in 2010. The worst case scenario is predicted by some scientists showing the world’s population will squander the limited petroleum oil supply. When the petroleum will dry up, then the world’s population will have a feeling that we are approaching the end of the world. Exxon has warned OPEC countries that the oil supply will not last forever. In some countries, solar energy research have been successful replacements for petroleum. Oil production can be subdividied between the OPEC member countries and the non OPEC. Countries have started looking for non-petroleum product replacements. An example is the electric power batteries. The solar powered homes and calculators are big successes. The introduction of the substitutes will help lower the the increasing barrel cost of petroleum (fossil) fuel. In fact, â€Å"Many large-scale projects, such as shale processing and synfuels (e.g., coal to liquids), were begun in the early 1980s, but these were abandoned when the price of oil fell drastically in 1986. However, research has continued at a steady pace since that time. Even producing oil from tar sands is now a alternative major industry in Canada. Plants to produce liquids from natural gas are operational, and much larger plants are under construction. Ethanol production from sugar cane and corn is now done on an industrial scale. Thus,

Workplace Issues or Disaster Management (PLEASE CHOOSE ONE TOPIC) Essay

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Macroeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 2

Macroeconomics - Essay Example The organization of petroleum exporting countries decides by them the cost per barrel of petroleum. The present price of petroleum in the world market has skyrocketed in the last few years because the OPEC members have agreed to limit the output per country. Since the agreed output has been reduced, the prices of petroleum per barrel have skyrocketed for the past few years. A study of the non – OPEC member nations, government and other academic researchers have shown that the non OPEC member nations may have equal sales with the OPEC member states in 2010. The worst case scenario is predicted by some scientists showing the world’s population will squander the limited petroleum oil supply. When the petroleum will dry up, then the world’s population will have a feeling that we are approaching the end of the world. Exxon has warned OPEC countries that the oil supply will not last forever. In some countries, solar energy research have been successful replacements for petroleum. Oil production can be subdividied between the OPEC member countries and the non OPEC. Countries have started looking for non-petroleum product replacements. An example is the electric power batteries. The solar powered homes and calculators are big successes. The introduction of the substitutes will help lower the the increasing barrel cost of petroleum (fossil) fuel. In fact, â€Å"Many large-scale projects, such as shale processing and synfuels (e.g., coal to liquids), were begun in the early 1980s, but these were abandoned when the price of oil fell drastically in 1986. However, research has continued at a steady pace since that time. Even producing oil from tar sands is now a alternative major industry in Canada. Plants to produce liquids from natural gas are operational, and much larger plants are under construction. Ethanol production from sugar cane and corn is now done on an industrial scale. Thus,

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Stand your ground law - Research Paper Example Controversies surrounding the SYG law have off late attracted the nations debate. From 2005, eighteen states have enacted the law extending the self-defense right without retreating to any place an individual has the right to be, and other several additional States are looking forward to passing the same law. With all these implications, of the threat to public safety, less has been done to research on the effect of the law on people’s security. There is some recorded data at the statistical agencies in U.S. to study the prevalence of homicides. The data from these agencies indicate that the increasing number of homicides is attributed to the SYG law (Yu 119). There is no evidence given by any agency as to why there is an increase in homicides in blacks. The statutes referred to as Stand Your Ground (SYG) allows one to use force, even lethal one in self-defense, in an event of reasonable threat with no duty to first retreat. The right to defend individuals home from any intruder with no obligation to retreat is apparently protected by Castle Doctrine. The difference with the new laws is that they exceed the Castle Doctrine to the places like the workplace, vehicle or anywhere else; this limits the duty to retreat (Skiba 21). Since the time Florida passed the law in 2005, other seventeen states have introduced the SYG law with proportions allowing immunity from criminal prosecution when one uses deadly defense force in areas beyond their homes. With significant help from the National Association of Riffles, the users of SYG law say that they cannot support crime on the same. They also say that citizens who abide by the law should be able to protect themselves from attackers or intruders without the worry of being prosecuted. It is al so postulated that the great increase in concerns about public safety came after the 2001 terrorist attacks and Katrina of 2005, which led to

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Lab Results Fermenter Essay To determine the amount of anti-microbial peptide production by Staphylococcus warneri under various conditions when 2L and 10L Fermented. To Test the effects of one uncontrolled parameters sush as pH, Temperature or dissolved Oxygen and compare findings. To produce anti-microbial activity from Staphylococcus warneri.Staphylococcus warneri is a member of bacterial genus Staphylococcus, consisting of Gram-positive bacteria with spherical cells appearing in clusters. Colonies of S. warneri are usually tan, yellow and about 2-4mm in diameter after 48 hours incubation at 35Â °C. It is commonly found as part of the skin flora on humans and animals. S. warneri rarely causes disease, but may occasionally cause infection in patients whose immune system is compromised. S. warneri is known to produce antimicrobial peptide activity in the form of Nisin. The optimum conditions for this to occur are pH 7. Nisin is a polycylic antibacterial peptide with 34 amino acid residues used as a food preservative. It is produced by bacterium and which contains antimicrobial activity and which is known as a bacteriocin. Nisin has been found to have properties that can control spoilage caused by lactic acid bacteria.

History And Overview Of Frances Beauty Industry Economics Essay

History And Overview Of Frances Beauty Industry Economics Essay France is ranked 16th in the Global Competitive Report up two places from last year and demonstrating a number of competitive strengths, such as an infrastructure that is ranked second in the world, a healthy workforce, a high quality of education, a sophisticated business culture and leadership in the area of technological innovation. On the other hand, as indicated in the Global Competitive Report, France suffers from high non wage labour costs and strict rules on hiring and firing and poor labour employer relations. There is also a govern GDP Per Capita, (US$), 2007..$41,511.2 GDP: (US$ billions), 20072,560.3 GDP (PPP) as share (%) of world total, 2007à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.3.17 Total Population: (millions), 200760.9 Median Age: 39 Land Area: Largest land area of all EU members Unemployment: 7% 2008 Current President Nicolas Sarkozy ment budget deficit which is above the EU threshold of 60% and national savings rates are low. (Global Competitive Report, 2008/09 p.19) Although France is currently in a good position in 16th place, the global economy is changing and new competitors are closing in. This paper will examine the challenges that France and their beauty industry are facing. France key facts: source: The Global Competitive Report 2008-09 Exhibit A Economic PerformanceFrances Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has aligned with the European average somewhat, although, as the graph below illustrates, France has fared better than the EU within the last year. Exhibit B This chart created on the Eurostat website, compares Frances Real GDP with the European Union (EU) average. Real gross domestic product (GDP) is a macroeconomic measure of the size of an economy adjusted for price changes (that is, adjusted for changes in the value of money: inflation or deflation.) source: Real gross domestic product. Web. ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_gross_domestic_product>. Legend:Blue = FranceGreen = EU (27 countries)source:http//epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/graph.do?tab=graphinit=1toolbox=typelanguage=enpcode=tsieb010plugin=0http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/graph.do Frances Gross Domestic Product per capita (PPP US$)The Human Development report and the Global Competitive Report demonstrate that Frances purchasing power parity (PPP) has declined since 1993 to 33,000 plus/minus. Human Development Report 2009 Exhibit C Human development index 2007 and its components GDP per capita (PPP US$) HDI Rank Country 2007 1 Norway 53,433 1 2 Australia 34,923 3 Iceland 35,742 4 Canada 35,812 5 Ireland 44,613 1 6 Netherlands 38,694 7 Sweden 36,712 8 France 33,674 9 Switzerland 40,658 10 Japan 33,632 11 Luxembourg 79,485 source: http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/indicators/91.html accessed March 29 2010 source: Global Competitive Report 2008/09Exhibit D Innovation MeasuresThe Global Competitive Report says Although less-advanced countries can still improve their productivity by adopting existing technologies or making incremental improvements in other areas, for countries that have reached the innovation stage of development, this is no longer sufficient to increase productivity. Firms in these countries must design and develop cutting-edge products and processes to maintain a competitive edge. (Global Competitive Report, 2008/2009, page 6) Exhibit D shows France in blue is ahead in the percentage of GDP for RD. This hides the fact that Germany one of Frances competitors which we will discuss later in the Cosmetic industry analysis, spends a considerable amount more than France. Although France in blue is ahead in the percentage of GDP they spend on RD another important aspect of innovation is patents. Exhibit E shows that Germany has double the amount of patents. Gross Domestic Expenditure on RDExhibit D France = Blue EU = Green Germany has double the amount of patents than France Exhibit E Analysing the date from the Global Competitiveness Report it is clear that France is suffering in the ranking for innovation and sophisticatio n as illustrated below. Exhibit F France is losing behind Germany who is winning currently in 4th place Exhibit F: Innovation and sophistication factors According to Porter, a nations competitiveness depends on the capacity of its industry to innovate and upgrade. Companies gain advantage against the worlds best competitors because of pressure and challenge. (Porter, On Competition, p.171, 2008) In Exhibit F France is holding steady in 14th position an explanation for their lack of improvement is shown in Exhibit G state of cluster development, where France is low and their rate of patent development is low compared to its competitors, for example, Germany, Japan and the U.S.A. source: Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009Exhibit G France P E S T Analysis POLITICAL LANDSCAPE Overview French political system can be described as semi-presidential form of democratic republic. France has improved considering the rule of law and accountability. France ranks in the 91.3 percentile on voice and accountability as of 2007, which is an improvement from 2002, when it was ranked in the 84.1 percentile. (Datamonitor (2009). France: Country Analysis Report. London: British Library. Page 3) However, France is still considered as a highly centralized country and the elite group is significantly involved in the state and corporate sectors. Moreover, corruption seems to be one of the main issues in French politics. Strengths Political stability can be considered one of Frances strengths. Elections are fair and transparent. Although initially the socialist parties were more popular and therefore winning the elections, lately the majority of the society has voted for pro-reform parties. Before the elections president Sarkozy made following promises: a reduction of unemployment, flexible labour laws, pension reform and tax changes. Frances approach to preventing terrorism is considered to be one of the most effective in Europe. However, it did not come free and the price was limiting civil liberties. (Datamonitor (2009). France: Country Analysis Report. London: British Library. P. 14) Weaknesses Although the current French government is definitely pro-reform, the rest of French society seems to be opposed to the changes. For example, the government wants to simplify public administration and bureaucracy, promote the competition in the market as well as make minimum wages flexible. (www.lemonde.fr)(EWA I sort of know what you mean but can you include a couple of the changes that the government want to bring in. I understand that the citizens would be unwilling to accept any change that would lower wages but does the French government want to lower wages that would also go against what Porter says is the point of being competitive. The population is unwilling to adopt any measures that cause a decrease in wages. One of the reasons would be the decline in purchasing power of the French population. As already mentioned in exhibit B above France is already showing a decline in GDP (PPP US$) per capita. Improving the pension system and modernizing the labour market has been delay ed because of the unwillingness of French citizen to accept change. In general, the reforms are being delayed. Moreover, the liberalization process is also not as dynamic as hoped for, in effect, president Sarkozy is losing his popularity. In regional elections on 21st March the Socialist Party gained 54 % while UMP 35 % only. (Web. . Accessed March 15 2010). Opportunities Improving French foreign policy has been one of president Sarkozys main goals. So far he has been successful. France has returned to NATOs military command. It has helped US in isolating Iran because of its nuclear power. In general, France has been lately very active in international relationships. With no doubt improved foreign relations will help the economic relations with these countries. French National Assembly composition Source: Datamonitor (2009). France: Country Analysis Report. London: British Library. P. 39. President Sarkozys administration has also finally improved French bureaucracy which now should be more transparent and efficient. Threats In France, the government has continued to play a prominent role in business compared to many other EU countries. (Datamonitor (2009). France: Country Analysis Report. London: British Library. Page 16) A concentration of elite citizens in power helps corruption practices and also help to influence government policies which in effect can block development. (Political Science: An Introduction, Michael G. Roskin, June 2005, P. 79) Moreover, since the government becomes more unpopular while trying to implement the reforms (can we get a list of the reforms then I can weave that into this paragraph pension system reform, health care system reform, public administration reform, reform of work conditions regulations un contrat unique, reform of public finances, tax system reform, corporation tax reform) there is a risk that it will become populist to gain power back. There have been a number of protests against reform measures. ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE Overview The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has stated that France faced a 3 % fall in growth in 2009. The decrease of income and wages combined with rising unemployment will affect domestic consumption. Because of the opposition implementing Sarkozys reforms is not going smoothly. Frances credit rating might be affected. That will increase the cost of funding for future governments and business enterprises.(Datamonitor (2009). France: Country Analysis Report. London: British Library. P. 14) Strengths President Sarkozys pro-reform approach affected in general review of public policy. This caused the improvement in public services and therefore reducing the public costs. French infrastructure is one of the best in Europe. There are over 10,000 km of well-maintained highways in France. That is better result than in Germany or UK. French railway network is also very well established. France is seen as global air transport hub with 27 airports. The world-class infrastructure network enables France to offer international investors excellent conditions for doing business and also drive the overall economic engine of the nation. ((Datamonitor (2009). France: Country Analysis Report. London: British Library. P. 18) Weaknesses French external debt is above the EU limit of 60% and most probably will stay this way. Moreover, the share in exports in the Eurozone has fallen by 16% during 1999-2007. (Datamonitor (2009). France: Country Analysis Report. London: British Library. P. 18) As the reasons for this situation can be named low level of industry specialization and poor price competitiveness of French industries. Moreover, Frances effective corporate tax burden is higher than EU average. Opportunities The privatization of telecommunications, electricity, gas, postal services, rail freights as well as the services sector has been in place for a while. The government has also introduced stimulus plan. The hope is that increased investment spending will stimulate domestic consumption. Threats The financial system in France is still significantly being regulated and administrated. What has helped French economy now to recover from global crisis, might create a problem in the future. Structural reforms in public enterprises, pensions and the constitution need to be completed now; otherwise France will lose the competition with countries with more liberalized systems like UK or Germany. SOCIAL LANDSCAPE Overview While social structure considered an aging population and relatively high unemployment rate seem to be main issues. As well as deficient educational system; (Global competitive report, Porter and Schwab, p.19) describes the education system as a whole is high/strength but the flexibility of the labour force is the problem as well as poor labour relations) this partly can be blamed for high unemployment rate. Unemployment rate was 10 % in January 2010. Web. Accessed March 15 2010. Monthly unemployment rates August 2008 January 2010: Strengths Taking into consideration social parameters in general France has been rather successful. For example, life expectancy at birth is in France 80 years; in terms of gender equality there is a positive social climate for women. France has one of the highest birth rate in Europe. Unlike in many other European countries although the rate is decreasing, France is still doing well. Frances birth rate of about 1.8 children per woman in 2006 makes it the only European country with the possibility of maintaining its current population. (Datamonitor (2009). France: Country Analysis Report. London: British Library. p. 22) Weaknesses An aging population and early retirement are serious issues on French social landscape. These issues have not been given enough attention by policy makers which now may cause big problem of additional government expenditure. Low labour participation is another issue as well as the fact that French workers work relatively low hours yearly. Source: Web. Accessed: March 15 2010 Another challenge is educational system which has not kept with changing industrial order. Opportunities New scheme Active Solidarity Revenue (RSA) has been introduced by French government. The aim is to prevent unemployment and poverty. The programme will persuade people to look for a job rather than living off social benefits. Threats Frances wage hikes have not seen an equal increase in productivity or increase in output. Thus, wage increases have become unrealistic. (Datamonitor (2009). France: Country Analysis Report. London: British Library. P. 22) By continuing this policy while the wages are increased but the productivity is not increasing is a serious threat for economic growth. Moreover, France is losing competition on global market where products from emerging Asian countries are present. French government has passed new rules regarding immigrants who want to live in the country or acquiring French nationality. On one side it will help to stop illegal immigrants, however on the other side it will also put off well educated foreigners to work in France. TECHNOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE Overview RD situation in France is satisfying, although far from perfect. The level of public investment in RD is around 2 % of GDP while EUs aim is 3 %. Moreover, private sector funding is still not pleasing. Public involvement is declining and private sector funding still not increasing. This situation might cause problems in future. To improve this condition the Agency for Industrial Innovation has been established. Its main task is to support innovation in large companies. Web. Accessed March 15 2010 Strengths What can be considered as main strength is relatively large number of patents received by France. France ranks fourth in the world in terms of number of patents granted for its innovation. (Datamonitor (2009). France: Country Analysis Report. London: British Library. P. 24) This situation is caused by the approach of successive French government to RD. Research and higher education are priorities of the current government. Large amount from yearly budget is dedicated to support these domains. Political commitment to RD is therefore high in France. Weaknesses Although RD is considered as an important issue by politicians Frances expenditure is at 2 % of GDP only. For comparison it is 2.68% in US and 3.18 % of GDP in Japan. Moreover, the spending on RD as a percentage of GDP by French government is declining. In addition, the input from private sector is still not rewarding. This situation will without any doubts influence future technological development of the country. Opportunities French national research and innovation policy aims to promote innovation, increase the participation of private sector, and improve the cooperation between public and private sector. The goal is to increase the spending on RD to 3 % of GDP and one third of this amount should come from private sector. Threats France lacks the coordination and one clear policy regarding RD sector. There are many research and knowledge institutes which objectives are overlapping each other. One united strategy is needed. Furthermore, there is lack of efficient communication between research institutes and private companies, therefore resources are not being used fully. Moreover, the lack of the connection between the producers and consumers of the technology can be observed. Public RD centres very often do help in application of new technology in industry. In effect, efforts and costs will be duplicated. Beauty products in France cluster analysis 1/ Description of the cluster, cluster size and performance The cosmetics and toiletries (CT) industry in France is estimated at 8 billion EUR in sales and can be divided into the following categories:       * Skincare, colour cosmetics:    37%       * Hair products :    23 %       * Perfumes :    20 %       * Toiletries:    19 %       * Other :    1 % Although in total export value, the CT industry in France shows growth of 6.5% between 1999 and 2005, in terms of global market share, France has declined from 31,6% to 28,5% during the same period. Despite this, France is still a dominant market leader with its export value sales double the amount of the second and third largest exporters Germany and USA with export value of just below 4 billion EUR respectively.Rossi, Prlic, Hoffman; November 2007, Global Insight Report, p.14 Frances beauty care industry has two specialised regional sub-clusters the PASS cluster (Parfum, Arà ´mes, Senteurs et Saveurs perfume, aromas, scents and flavours) in the Provence-Alpes-Cà ´tes dAzur region, and the Cosmetic Valley cluster (Sciences de la Beautà © et du bien à ªtre Science of beauty and well-being) based in the Centre and Normandy region.ClickPress, July 2008 [http://www.clickpress.com/releases/Detailed/82987005cp.shtml] The beauty products cluster consists of just few large corporations and over 400 Small medium enterprises (SMEs) with 25 250 employees. There has been an estimation of 855 companies in the CT industry with less than 10 employees. Rossi, Prlic, Hoffman; November 2007, Global Insight Report, p.4 Major companies include LOreal which is the global market leader with annual sales of US $ 17.7 billion, followed by Japanese owned Shiseido (US $ 5.4 billion), LVMH (US $ 2.7 billion) and Yves Rocher (US $ 1.8 billion). Smaller companies include Chanel, Clarins, Pierre Fabre Dermo Cosmetique and Yves Saint Laurent. Beauty packaging, October/November 2005 [http://www.beautypackaging.com/articles/2005/10/top-20-global-beauty-companies.php] International groups in the cosmetics sector such Beiersdorf, Henkel, Coty Inc, Puig Group and Pacific Europe have a strong presence in France and benefit from a vibrant business environment that also serves as a test market. France also offers expertise in associated industries, such as bottle manufacturing and the production of aromas and scents. Invest in France agency press release at ClickPress [http://www.clickpress.com/releases/Detailed/82987005cp.shtml] Institutions for collaboration The Cosmetic Valley and PASS regional sub-clusters support active cooperation between companies, research organisations, training institutions, laboratories, universities and suppliers. International investment into the industry is promoted and facilitated by the Invest in France Agency (IFA). ClickPress, July 2008 [http://www.clickpress.com/releases/Detailed/82987005cp.shtml] Cluster Map 2/ History The reason behind the perception of France as the cradle of beauty and luxury goes back to the 16th century when it became the center of cosmetic industry starting with the manufacturing of parfumes. Although historically the first European parfume makers originated in Venice, the trade with parfumes developed strongly during the 17th century in France which is today recognised as the dominant parfume manufacturer. This is the result of the attention and support given to the industry by the King Louis XIV whose policies stimulated luxury trade. The use of parfumes spread among the aristocrats and the trade flourished with first parfume guild being established in 1729 in the Provence region. By the 18th century, the original parfume makers started selling other beauty products such as hair dyes, powders, rouges, soaps and white face paints. The industry started being commercialised after the French revolution in 1789 as manufacturers seeked ways to avoid the association with aristocracy. The guild system was abolished in 1791 and first cosmetic shops were opened in Paris, exports to neighbouring countries also started during this time. In the 19th century, French manufacturers developed chemical processes of replacing aromas obtained by natural means with beauty products based on scientific research. This has led to inventions of completely new scents that were not just à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡copying existing natural scents. Separate male and female fragrances were also introduced during this period. Increased demand led to need for larger production facilities. First parfume factory was built in 1840 in Parisian suburb La Villette by an entrepreneour L.T. Piver. Distribution channels were developed as prices of cosmetics became more accessible to the common man and manufacturers were by now producing branded products as well as private labels for department stores. During the late 19th century, an entrepreneur Francois Coty made a major impact on the cosmetic business. His achievements include setting up own salesforce (unheard of in the cosmetics business until than) and using designer bottles for parfumes (until than parfumes were sold in pharmacy-like simple bottles) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡ to attract the eye as much as the nose. His aim was to keep the perception of cosmetic s  as a luxury that more people can afford and he succeeded in bringing cosmetics and parfumes to the masses. By the end of 19th century three quarters of French parfumes and beauty products were sold abroad thanks to the developed infractracture which made it easy to export products to Europe and the US. Typically sales were managed through local import agents. Some bigger manufactuterers such as Coty or Piver later established their own shops in other countries (Pivor in London, Coty in New York). In 1907 Eugene Schueller started new company Socià ©tà © Franà §aise de Teintures Inoffensives pour Cheveux selling hair dyes for hairdressers. The vision of the company was to doà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡research and innovation in the interest of beauty. Later renamed as LOreal, the company had by 1950s over 100 researchers. Today LOreal is a leader in the beauty products industry. Geoffrey Jones, 2007, Imagining Beauty: The History of the Global Beauty Business, p.16 38 3/ Competition and trends According to the Global Insight Inc, the world cosmetics market grew between 2000 and 2006 in Europe and China but declined slightly in US and Japan (Exhibit 2). EU15 United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Luxemburg, Belgium, Austria, Ireland, Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Italy EU 12 Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Cyprus EU 27 = sum of the above Exhibit 2 The forecasts show expected further growth especially in developing regions such as China and central eastern Europe (EU12). (Exhibit 3) Exhibit 3 France has kept its dominant position as the leading exporter of beauty products over many years selling double the amount than its closest competitors Germany and US. The growth in value is 6.5% between 1999 and 2005. This however is lower compared to EU average (8.3% growth) as well as compared with the rest of the major beauty exporters in world USA, China and Japan (8.1% growth). This means that on the global scale, France is losing market shares. (Exhibit 3) Exhibit 3 Revealed comparative advantage Global Insight Inc measured the Revealed comparative advantage of nations exporting beauty products and in its findings we see that France is positioned in the upper right quadrant (Cosmetic Industry RCA Analysis, Exhibit 4) the threatened industries. The graph shows us that France is by far the largest exporter, is well positioned but its position is weakening due to lesser growth compared to other countries. On the other hand, the only countries showing intensive growth are developing nations that started at a much weaker base. The market for French products has matured in the developed regions of western Europe and the US which have been traditionally the largest export countries for French products. As a conclusion, France will now have to be more aggressive in creating a strong position in the developing markets of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) countries + central and eastern Europe to regain its growth. This assumption is supported by the data from French customs which point to fast growing cosmetics sales to the emerging markets, while the EU plays a less important role in French exports (50% against 64%). Between 1998 and 2008, sales growth in emerging countries was two times faster than it is for all exports of cosmetics. The share of emerging countries in total sales of cosmetics rose from 14.9% in 1998 to 24.6% in 2008, with particularly strong sales in China and Russia. A trend confirmed by Jean-Paul Agon, the Managing Director of the LOreal Group, in an interview to the French newspaper Le Monde, dated November 6: In the ten coming years, our customers will mostly be Chinese, Indian, Brazilian or Indonesian. While the group LOreal already achieves 60% of its business outside Europe, this proportion is expected to rapidly rise to 90%, according to Jean-Paul Agon Sooner or later sales catch up on demography, he claims. Exhibit 4 Frances second largest competitor in Europe Germany shows a better performance in terms of growth and is slightly gaining market shares from 13% in 1999 to 14% in 2005. Although this might seem only a slight improvement, in terms of growth in absolute numbers, Germany has grown faster than European average and almost twice as fast as France (10.9% growth for Germany versus 6.5% for France). Compared to other three top exporters of cosmetics (France, US and UK), Germany is the only country growing in market shares. In 2007, German exports rose by 14.4% compared to previous year and summed up to EUR 964 million in the first half of 2007, with highest demand from France, the United Kingdom and Russia. Gentry Earlene, German-Arab Industry of Commerce, December 2008 [http://aegypten.ahk.de/index.php?id=1093L=15] The growth of German exports is driven by local SMEs which are strategically managed by IKW the German Cosmetic, Toiletry, Perfumery and Detergent Association (Industrieverband Kà ¶rperpflege- und Waschmittel e. V.) whose mission is to help German SMEs to enter and conquer foreign markets. Gentry Earlene, German-Arab Industry of Commerce, December 2008 [http://aegypten.ahk.de/index.php?id=1093L=15] As a result of its strategic focus and investment, German SMEs have developed quality cosmetics for almost all segments. Etre Belle Cosmetic Vertrieb GmbH is an interesting illustration of those successful German SMEs. The company is now present in more than 35 countries. The brand has developed complete fragrance and skincare ranges segmented by skin types. German companies are also world leaders in some specific niches, such as organic and natural cosmetics which shows the most dynamic growth in western Europe and USA. (German-Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce, [http://aegypten.ahk.de/index.php?id=1093L=15 ]) Udo Frenzel, director of economic affairs at IKW, the German Cosmetics, Toiletry, Perfumery and Detergent Association, sums up the success behind Germany growth: The exports of the German cosmetics, toiletry and perfumery industry in the last ten years are a story of success based on the quality image of Made in Germany. There is nearly no country on the entire globe where not at least one German brand is available on the market. At present German exports of our industry are 68% higher than imports to Germany. Gentry Earlene, German-Arab Industry of Commerce, December 2008 [http://aegypten.ahk.de/index.php?id=1093L=15] Research and Development French companies sustain their comparative advantage by investing heavily into research and development which is a key requirement to stay competitive in the cosmetics industry. As the following table shows, Frances RD expenditure in 2001 was 2.5x higher than that of the second largest competitor Germany in 2004. (Exhibit 5) Data for other leading countries are unfortunately not available but the assumption is that France is a leading investor into RD worldwide. This is also supported by the fact that the French government actively supports research and has introduced a competitive RD tax-credit system, which reimburses 50% of RD costs in the first year. This provides incentives to non-French companies to set up research facilities in France. Companies that have done this include Pacific Chemical Corp. (South Korea), Takasago (Japan) or Hutchison Whampoa (Hong Kong).Invest in France agency press release at ClickPress [http://www.clickpress.com/releases/Detailed/82987005cp.shtml Exhibit 5 Productivity The most significant threat to the ongoing competitiveness of the industry in most EU countries but mostly relevant to France and Germany, is relatively low productivity combined with high unit labour costs which shows a wide gap between EU companies and the U.S. and Japan. Rossi, Prlic, Hoffman; November 2007, Global Insight Report, p.4 Although only average EU15 (refers to the first EU countries before entry of post-communist nations) data for productivity in the beauty products industry are available, given the size of the French market, the weighted average is likely to be similar to the actual data for France. Referring to the source above, the rest is an assumption, therefor