How to use marketing mix buile Chiang Rai province as a destination Dissertation

How to use marketing mix buile Chiang Rai province as a destination during winter season - Dissertation Example This report highlights on the areas such as the marketing mix which can be adopted to make this place as a favorite tourist destination. The report also highlights the way by which a tourist spot such as Chiang Rai can be developed. Another important aspect of the research paper is that it will show how segmentation in tourism can be achieved. The key findings of the project are how marketing mix influences the decision of a tourist. The other important findings are the data which shows the number of visitors coming to Thailand in a calendar year and also the expected number of turnouts in the years to come. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Literature Review 5 Research Question 10 Research Methodology 13 Conclusion 15 Reference 16 Bibliography 18 Appendix 1 19 Appendix 2 21 Introduction Siam was the name during 1940 to what we today know as Thailand. The country of Thailand resides in the heart of South East Asia. The country comprises of brilliant arts, green isl ands, an exciting nightlife and a tradition of openness towards the visitors. The nation is known to many as the home of some delicious cuisines, wonderful silks and some of the magnificent temples. These factors portray the great culture of the country. It has never been occupied by the European powers, possibly the only country in south- East Asia to have escaped it. The structure and geography of the country is that it is divided into 4 natural regions: the mountains and forests of the north; the vast rice fields in the central plains; the farm lands of the northern plateau and Tropical Island in the southern peninsula. Politically Thailand is again divided in 77 provinces such as Ang Thong, Mae Hong Son and Lop Buri, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai among others. While the capital of Thailand namely Bangkok is not a provincial area but it is referred as a special administrative area (Central Intelligence Agency, n.d.). All the provinces are governed by a Governor who is appointed by th e ministry of external affairs. The only contrary factor is that the Governor of Bangkok is chosen by its people through voting (Unescap, n.d.). A number of countries in Asia believe that tourism plays an important role in the economic and social development of a country. It generates foreign exchange earnings, employment and also assists in other factors. Tourism plays a major part in the economy of Thailand, contributing around 7% of the total GDP. Every year Thailand is visited by around 14 million visitors. The visitors come from different parts of the world (The Irrawaddy, 2010). The reason for this massive tourism development of the country is mainly due to the stable political situation and the availability of air transportation in Bangkok which serves as the gateway to this international venue. Industries like hotel and retail gets immensely benefited by the tourism industry. The Tourism Authority of Thailand has launched various programs to promote the tourism sector in the ir country as well as internationally with their catchy slogans like â€Å"Unseen Thailand† and â€Å"Amazing Thailand†. According to them there were nearly 19.09 million tourists who visited Thailand in 2011 which also means 19.8% growth as compared to the previous year. The tourism revenue generated around $23.08 million, which was the highest ever tourism revenue in a same calendar year. The tourists were mainly from Malaysia which accounts 2.47 million followed by China (1.76

Strengths-Based Leadership Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Strengths-Based Leadership - Term Paper Example Additionally, this paper explicates strategies for applying my leadership strengths in a health care organization to improve quality and safety. My top five strengths include restorative, responsibility, empathy, relator, and belief. The healthcare profession is today faced with many problems that hinder the provision of quality and safe care. In laymans terms, restorative strength is the ability to solve problems. This strength enables me to decipher challenges that affect provision of safe and quality care and therefore formulate new strategies to address them. Laureate Education (2013) asserts that health care professionals are provide care for patients from different age groups, different educational levels, and different levels of understanding. In this regard, my responsibility strength enables me to handle patients presenting with divergent needs with the highest of quality. Being responsible means that I value my responsibilities in relation to provision of quality and safe care. Empathy as a strength also helps me in provision of quality and safe care to patients. In explication, empathy is compassion or kindness. B eing kind means being sensitive of the needs of the patients and therefore, this strength helps me align care with the safety and quality needs of the patients. Being a relator denotes my ability to create and foster good and healthy relationship with my colleagues. Good relationships enhances teamwork and collaboration and as a result leads to improved job satisfaction. This also contributes to the provision of quality and safe care as all stakeholders work as a team. In relation to my strength of belief, I consider my job of more importance than the financial benefits I get from it. This means that I focus much of my attention on the welfare of the patients and in so doing, I achieve the highest possible performance in terms of provision of

Effective Communication In Workplaces

Effective Communication In Workplaces Effective communication has its own benefits in the workplace. Effective communication from managers to employees will result in the employees doing their job well. A good management style together with a positive communication approach will be quite effective in the workplace and will lead to better understanding between the employee and manager. For an organization to be successful communication should happen both internally and externally. Internal communication: between management and employees. External communication: this takes place between staff and clients. Let us consider Vodafone as a case study to illustrate the effective communication skills[3] Internal Communication[2]: this takes place inside the organization between the employees and management. Here the employees act as stakeholders. This communication may take place in any of the forms listed below: Vertically: this the top down approach which happens from the senior employees to juniors associates. The ultimate goal here is to improve the performance of tasks and make the junior employees understand the companys priorities and requirements. Horizontally: this takes places between various teams and across departments. The goal here is to make sure roles are effectively carried out and tasks completed. Intranet with restricted access to people within the business is a great tool for promoting better communication. External communication[1] :this takes place with customers. Vodafone has laid a principle for communication as We will communicate openly and transparently with all of our stakeholders within the bounds of commercial confidentiality. Vodafone believes that this will reduce the barriers to communication. It makes sure that its messages are conveyed both verbally and non verbally. For verbal communication the company has set contact centers so that the staff can be in direct contact with the customers and further giving an opportunity for its staff to talk to the customers about the issues. Non verbal communication can take place through various methods such as advertisements in television, newspapers and other media, the Vodafone logo. This also acts as a method of determining the position of the brand. Further methods of non verbal communication include SMS to contact certain customers. Sales information can be reached out to customers through literature in the Vodafone shops. The many forms of communication through which Vodafone reaches out to its customers are as below: Promotion and sales material- Vodafone makes sure that the advertising material is correct and follows its Business principles. This also helps the information reaches out responsibly to its stakeholders together with promoting its products and services. Awareness and Information: Vodafone promoted the use of mobile phones responsibly in the cars. It took the complex material and translated the information in easy to understand form and made the public aware of the new law and appropriate use of phones in the car. Explanation and guidance: mobile phones have health effects on human beings. But the latest scientific research has something new and Vodafone needs to convey these findings clearly to the customers. Motivation to dedicate Employees A well motivated staff is a key to a productive and pleasant environment in a workplace. Motivating the employees must be one of the key responsibilities of a manager. An effective management and leadership reflect through effective motivation of employees in the workplace. Understanding the human nature is a key to effective employee motivation. The key to performance improvement in an organization is motivation. Motivation is very essential for any business to survive and excel. Motivation is a skill and must be learnt. Performance can be defined as a function of ability and motivation as below Job performance= function (ability)(motivation) Ability depends on education and training. Motivation has the following seven strategies through which it can be initiated: Fair treatment of people Positive and high expectations Discipline Satisfying the needs of the employees Setting goals at work To restructure the jobs Set rewards and recognition for performance Every organization has its own ways to motivate the employees to ensure that goals and targets are reached [4]. Obstacles to Effective Performance The main obstacles to effective performance in an organization are as follows: Culture Change Conflict Culture Culture is related to beliefs, values and customary ways of doing things. The main reason for employees leaving the company is cultural mismatch. According to the present culture employees are required to have a clear understanding of short term and long term goals. The employees are required to have a shared vision and values as well as being productive and motivated. The organizational culture is determined by the leadership style and practices in an organization and hence plays an important role especially during acquisitions and mergers. Every organization has a set of values and beliefs. When an employee is exposed to a new culture, the individual goes through a state known as culture shock. When the companies merge the employees from the non dominant company need to adapt themselves to the new culture of the dominant company. Let us consider Barclay Plc for instance. Barclay acquired Lehman Brothers and one of the major issues for Barclay after this acquisition is to take into consideration the two different cultures in these two companies. Most of the employees of Lehman Brothers have left Barclay and a few did not join Barclay. This makes it clear that the employees are not ready to adapt to the new values, leadership styles, beliefs and practices of the Barclay culture. One of the biggest challenges to the management at Barclay is to make employees accept the new culture. The change in culture ultimately has an effect on the motivation level of the employees, their commitment to the organization and their engagement in work. Another consequence of an acquisition is that the individuals from the non dominant organization will feel like loss of identity and the others will have a superior feeling. This will ultimately affect the company achieve its goals and objectives. Another major issue of culture when the two organizations were merged is it will divert the attention of the employees and make the less productive. The attention of employees will be diverted to issues such as job security , feeling of discomfort working with new employees. Job security is the main issue as there will be duplication of departments and to manage the staff, the organization can reduce the manpower. The job profiles may be redesigned which may have an impact on the performance of the employees. The employees motivation, attitude and performance are determined by the culture. Motivation and culture go hand in hand. More an employee is motivated; the culture will be healthier. The key factor to be dealt in any organization is motivation. If an employee is not motivated properly then the employee will have problem accepting the new culture which will impact the individuals ability to do the job effectively and efficiently. The company should have flexible culture if a decision of acquisition is taken. This will allow the new employees to adjust to the new culture. Culture reflects the style of management and leadership. A slight change in the values, leadership style and ideas will help the new employees adjust to the new environment. This is not easy task, but since Barclays has taken a decision of merger it should be ready to consider changes in its culture and leadership style. Change Except for change nothing is constant in this world. Every activity in an organization results in some change. It can have a positive or negative effect depending on the communication made through change. The acquisition of Barclay and Lehman Brothers bought together a huge change in both organizations. New strategies and policies, procedures and work environment were created for work in both organizations. Change should involve people and not be imposed on people. Preparing the employees of an organization for change is a very vital task and it is the responsibility of the management to do this. This can be done through various methods such as through oral communication, via training programs or through counseling. The major reason for the Lehman employees leaving Barclays when the two organizations were merged is that the change was not managed properly. The key principles needed when planning to manage change are as follows: Every person reacts to change differently. Each person is different and has its own perceptions and preferences. A few people always look forward to change and new things and it easy to handle them. But it is a very difficult to handle people who always like things the way they were. These kind of people will experience stress and dissatisfaction and negative attitude towards their counterparts preferences. Every person has his own needs and priorities A few people work just for money but a few for the self and social identification. Change can be managed effectively by designing jobs in a better way through job redesign, job rotation management etc. Managing expectations realistically The organization should make clear to its employees that it cannot make everyone happy at the same time and this should be communicated effectively and realistically. The relation between expectations and reality is very important. The management should do the tasks listed below in order to manage change effectively: The management should inspire people and set certain objectives, goals and values for the organization It should set up a communication network such as face to face interaction so that new ideas and policies can be easily communicated. If there are any obstacles in the way of communication then those should be removed as this will help people accept change. Change can be made inevitable by promotions, recruitments and rewards. Conflicts When Barclays merges with Lehman conflicts were natural to arise as people from two different cultures and two different companies were merging. Starting with small disputes, conflicts may reach to higher levels which will ultimately affect the organization. Since the culture of both organizations is different each will have its own ideas, strategies, perspectives and goals. The different types of conflict that may arise when people of two different cultures merge are as follows: Conflict with boss Since the manager has a more experience and bigger perspective it will not be good to encounter conflict with the boss. In order to avoid such a conflict it is better not to question his authority and any ideas and views should be presented in the form of suggestions. Conflict with colleagues Different point of view will lead to conflict between employees. This can be done resolved through proper communication. Conflicts with the subordinates Conflicts can be handles effectively by one of the following ways: Each person should be given freedom to express their views. Conflicts can be sorted to a greater level by identifying positive minded people. Not everyone may have a broad vision as ours. So communicating and discussing our vision will help keep conflicts away. Changing nature of Modern Work Organizations [9] There many factors that contribute to the changing nature of work at organization, but the two main factors are: Current market scenario requires organizations to be more competitive and customer focused, hence there is an increased pressure on the organization The breakthrough in IT and communication is another factor. For example mobile and internet have made work to be separated from time and space. Organizations have changed their focus and their main principles are: Defining vision and values from the consumers perspective Creating a value chain i.e., defining activities and process that add value to customers and link them Remove activities that add no value to the organization. Reducing inefficiencies in the tasks in an organization. These principles have added value to the organization enabling them to respond rapidly to customers needs and supporting change and encouraging innovation. Conclusion The base of any organization depends on the policy, the values, the vision, the philosophy and goals set by the management. These act as the driving force for the organizational culture. Culture in a workplace determines the leadership style, the type of communication and group dynamics within the organization. The employees in the organization perceive the culture as a quality essential at work which has an impact on the degree of the employees motivation. This ultimately affects the performance, personal growth and self development which ultimately affect the organization from achieving its goals. The above discussed concepts such as communication, motivation, culture etc, make up only a small part of the theories of organizational behavior and theory. The success of any organization is determined by the application of the concepts of organizational behavior in the organization. The best way to handle conflicts in a workplace is to address them through discussions and debates. Conflict can have a positive effect within the organization if it is addressed effectively. A successful manager is one who takes time to address and deal with the conflict. This in turn will lead to a healthy and diverse work environment.

The Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe Essay -- History Soviet Union

The Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe Many political beliefs exist. Everyone has the right to chose what to believe in, what ideas to have, what to seek and how to achieve his goals. Political science is not very defined and strict. Specific rules saying that if one believes in a certain idea he should join a certain party do not exist. Certain things match certain group of people and other things this group of people would not accept. The same principle can be applied for countries. Communism appears to be successful for China, but it failed for Eastern European countries. It is very important the proper way of government to be found and used by the government of a country. The failure of the government can lead to failure in economics, defense, and all other spheres that have importance for the existence of a nation. Russian political leaders governing at the time of communism did not think clearly and they underestimated the negative sides of their policy. They believed that communism was appropriate and successful be cause it worked effectively for several years but it failed after all. Three of the major reasons for the fall of communism were the suppression of religion, the poor quality of life provided by the government and the command economic system. What is communism? The political term communism can be found in the online glossary, published by Paul M. Johnson who is a professor in the Political Department in the Auburn University. The definition states that communism is any ideology that is based on communal ownership of all property and a classless social structure. There is an authoritarian government that directs economic production and distribution, and it embodies the interests of the country as a whole. ... ...est. Works Cited Boshnakov, Sevdalina. Personal Interview. 04 April 2004. Chamberlin, William H. What You Should Know about Communism and Why. New York: Aberdeen Book Co., 1965. Hutchinson Encyclopedia. Johnson, Paul M. Communism – Glossary of Political Economy Terms. Dept. of Political Science, Auburn University 7 April 2004 . Szostkievicz, Adam â€Å"Religion after Communism: Churches stumble in Eastern Europe† Commonweal. 24 Sept. 1999. 7 April 2004. . Wikipedia Articles. Workhistory.com Bringing History to Life .7 April 2004 .

Ptlls Level 3 Theory Assessment 1

UNIT 1 PTLLS LEVEL 3 THEORY ASSESSMENT (1) / JOHN A F BRADY @ MERCIA 2011 Describe what your role, responsibilities and boundaries would be as a teacher in terms of the teaching / training cycle. The role of the teacher is to facilitate the learning aims of the taught group on behalf of them and their service provider. Examples of overall learning aims include the passing of knowledge-based examinations, the demonstration of a skill or competency and, in some cases, a combination of all such elements. The teacher’s responsibilities are a set of specific actions grouped to achieve desired learning outcomes. These responsibilities cover two distinct areas, namely the pastoral and the pedagogic. The former includes student health & safety and behaviour management, the latter teaching methods and student engagement. In this context, the term ‘boundaries’ describes the social contract between the service provider, teacher and learner group. Boundaries are concerned, for example, with service limits and the establishment and policing of codes of conduct. The teaching/training cycle is comprised of five activities, namely:- (i) the identification of needs, (ii) lesson planning and design, (iii) teaching the lesson and the facilitation of learning, (iv) assessing learner achievements, and (v) evaluating the contribution made of the teaching methods used. Identifying needs combines data collected before student induction, e. g. returned application forms and observations made at induction, e. g. during ice-breaker activity. My specialism of teaching adults English as a foreign language needs to ascertain a student’s ability to listen, read, talk and write. My role here includes assessing whether a student’s subject ability is appropriate or would be better addressed in a ‘special needs’ context. My understanding of the material and institutional teaching environments will also inform how best to cater for students with mobility issues/learning difficulties. Design and planning concerns the pedagogic and the pastoral. For the former, a series of lesson plans need to be devised to enable students to learn the syllabus content required by the awarding authority. Pastoral activities include social and institutional induction, e. g. ice-breakers, site-tours, H&S and other professional/legal requirements. A lesson is taught by the teacher and learnt by the student. A teaching responsibility is to gain insight into student ways of learning and to adjustdelivery to further facilitate learning. Consideration of inclusivity, diversity, behaviour and student inter-action will also improve teaching/learning performance. Assessing adults learning English as a foreign language is a challenge. The teacher needs to use proceedures as laid down but remain flexible enough to guage nuances between those whose vocal skills may disguise poor written skills vice versa. Assessment must be systematic, collated and intelligible to others. Evaluation likewise should be systematic and collated with clearly defined outcomes. Student feedback, CPD and self assessment are critical for the improvement of teaching performance and learning outcomes. (Recommended 300 – 500, actual 429 words,excluding titles)

Dual Core processors: A New and Better CPU Technology Essay

Most modern personal computers are based on a single-core processor – that is, a single processing unit in one integrated circuit. Never designs have integrated multi-core processors, which have more than one processing unit, integrated into a single chip. The most common design of commercial multi-core processor is a dual-core processor, which combines two processing units in one chip. These processors are used in most new Apple products, many Windows-based personal computers and many gaming systems. Major chip manufacturers AMD and Intel both offer dual core processors for use in consumer electronics. Other chip manufacturers such as Fujitsu and Pennsylvania Semiconductor have followed suit with their own dual core offerings. Manufacturers aren’t stopping at dual core offerings – they continue to increase the number of processing units in their multicore offerings, with four or even eight processing units available. Most dual core processors are RISC-based processors (Reduced instruction Set Computing), which offers faster processing than the standard single processor chip (Mears, 2005). Dual core processors have a number of advantages over the older single-core processors. They use less power, run cooler and are faster in some applications than the older chips, decreasing the possibility of overheating as well as reducing the device’s use of power (Lynch, 2005). Virtualization, or the abstraction of multiple resources into a single virtual resource or a single resource into multiple virtual resources, also is made possible by dual core chips (Lynch, 2005). This process greatly increases the efficiency of multitasking, or running multiple programs at the same time. Dual core processors were first introduced to the consumer market in mid-2005, with both AMD and Intel, the two largest chip manufacturers, bringing their products onto the market at about the same time (Lynch, 2005). They quickly became popular, particularly with graphic artists and gamers, who required the faster performance of the dual core processor. However, machines built with the processors had a steep price tag, slowing the consumer adoption of the processors. Dual core processors were at first only offered in high-end workstations intended for graphics-intensive gaming or graphics creation, and the machines often had price tags of $5,000 or more (Begun, 2005). Today, they are offered in most major computer lines, including Apple, IBM and others. Notebook computers also offer dual core processors. By the time dual core processors were introduced in 2005, single core processors had reached their speed limit due to limits on the size of chip components (Lynch, 2005) Dual core processors did not offer faster speeds for all programs at first. Because of the design of the chip, only programs that were able to run multithreaded (dividing the required calculations between two different processors) would see an increase of speed when used with a dual core processor. At the time the processors were introduced, this included operating systems such as Windows, some graphics programs like Adobe Photoshop and many graphics-intensive games, particularly multi-player Internet based games (Begun, 2005). Lynch (2005) noted that a popular consumer application of the dual core chip would be to download media such as television or movies while playing a game using the other core. More impressive than the efficiency games in high-calculation applications is the reduced power requirement and heat production. Wong’s analysis of the PA Semiconductor PA6T dual core chip demonstrates the gains made over single core chips in this area. The PA6T chip uses the 64 bit Power architecture, and uses a fine-grain clock gating approach to reduce the power usage even further (Wong, 2007). The chip uses only 13W of power for a 2-gHz chip, offering a significant advantage over a single-core processor. Lynch (2005) stated that while a single core AMD chip used 89 Watts, a dual core chip with twice the processing power used only 95. Lynch noted that the heat gains that were realized with the dual core architecture were especially important in reducing fan noise and emissions. Single core chips could not run faster than they did without producing significant, sometimes dangerous levels of heat, which required ever-larger processor fans to disperse. The dual core architecture, which ran far cooler than single core architecture, resolved this problem easily (Lynch, 2005). The ability to use virtualization is a major benefit of dual core processors. Virtualization originated as a distributed computing concept. Using virtualization, physical computing resources such as processing units, memory, and disk storage are overlaid with a virtual representation which reorganizes the physical resources into a virtual architecture, creating a single virtual resource out of more than one physical resource or partitioning a single physical resource into multiple virtual resources (Ernest & Fellenstein, 2004). Virtualization not only increases efficiency and reduces spending on physical computing resources; it can greatly reduce power usage (Information Week, 2006). This technique is used in Web services development, grid computing and a number of other areas of computer science. Application of virtualization to personal computers with dual core processors has been very successful in speeding applications and multitasking. VMWare, a popular implementation of virtualization for personal computers, began to support dual core processors shortly after their commercial introduction, offering their first dual core product in 2005 (Mears, 2005). Sun Microsystems is another major provider of virtualization software. In 2006, Sun announced plans to provide virtualization software that could run up to 32 processes on a single multicore processor, increasing to 64 processors the year after introduction (Information Week, 2006). Sun’s new systems immediately showed the benefits of the power-saving multicore processors. David Young, CEO of Joyent, a provider of e-mail and storage services, says he saw immediate benefits in moving to UltraSparc T1-based systems. With a customer base doubling each of the past two years, Joyent attempted to increase capacity at a co-location facility, but was told there was no available power. Joyent consolidated a number of older Intel-based Dell servers onto 20 Sun servers. Each Sun server saved the company more than $1,000 per year in power and cooling costs, and generated an additional $1,000 per year in rebates from the utility provider. â€Å"If I can save $4,000 a month, that’s someone I else I can hire to improve our service to our customers,† he says. (Information Week, 2006). Dual core processors have gained increasing acceptance in the consumer and business market. According to Lynch (2005), the majority of the consumer processor market was predicted to be dual core processors by 2007. However, there are even bigger and better things on the horizon. Multicore processors don’t stop at only two processing units – processors with up to 1,024 processing units have been designed in the laboratory, and commercial offerings now range up to 8 processing units. Apple has announced that their Mac Pro desktop machine can now be configured with two 3. 0 gHz quad-core Intel Xeon processors, for a total of eight processing units (eWeek, 2007). The machine, targeted to graphic designers, software developers and researchers, can support up to 8 displays, has 16MB total of L2 cache and a 1333 MHz front side bus. Although the Mac Pro is on the high end of consumer desktops, the Apple spokesperson stated â€Å"The eight-core Mac Pro gives pro software developers a platform to prepare new versions of their application for the future, when eight-core technology is more prevalent on the desktop (eWeek, 2007)†. If the enthusiastic consumer adoption of dual-core technology is an indication, the future Apple dreams of is not too far off. Dual core processors offer a wide margin of improvement over the older single-core processors in many areas. Increased speed for popular applications such as 3-d gaming and graphics programs make the processors attractive; decreased heat output and power requirements ease environmental and operations concerns. The benefit of virtualization has brought levels of computing previously only enjoyed by users of large-scale grid computing, multi-processor servers or other industrial or academic computing environments home to the desktop. Ever-widening horizons of multicore processing offer the promise of even greater and more powerful home computing. Dual core processors are only the start of the future of consumer computing. Works Cited Wong, William. â€Å"Judicious clocking subdues power-architecture cooling needs: this 2- GHz, dual-core processor uses thousands of gated clocks to cut power requirements by more than a factor of three. (LeapFrog). † Electronic Design 55. 9 (April 27, 2007): 34(2). Begun, Daniel, Rich Brown, and Matthew Elliott. â€Å"Maximum multitasking: dual-core CPUs double up for faster multithread processing. (Central processing units). † Computer Shopper 25. 7 (July 2005): 96(2). Joseph, J. , M. Ernest, and C. Fellenstein. â€Å"Evolution of grid computing architecture and grid adoption models. † IBM Systems Journal 43. 4 (Dec 2004): 624(22). Mears, Jennifer. â€Å"VMware virtually primed for dual core. † Network World (July 25, 2005): 25. â€Å"Sun Expands Virtualization Products, Services; Sun is introducing enhanced virtualization technology for its UltraSparc T1 CoolThreads servers that will let customers run up to 32 applications simultaneously on a single processor. (Sun Microsystems Inc. ). † InformationWeek (Oct 17, 2006): NA. â€Å"Analysis – Dual-core processors speed to market. More is most definately better that less when it comes to CPUs. With the ability to run numerous applications in tandem, the new product will dominate the PC market in no more than a couple of years says Martin Lynch. † Computer Reseller News (Oct 17, 2005): 27. â€Å"Apple Unveils Eight-Core Mac Pro. † eWeek (April 4, 2007): NA.

Media and Football Essay Example

Media and Football Essay Example Relationship Between the Media and Football Essay Relationship Between the Media and Football Essay Cooperative games first became mandatory in Harrow school, but they were encouraged in other educational institutions too, mainly because they somehow allowed students organizing their leisure. As a result, in 1840-1870, football has become one of the elements of educating loyalty to the team, as well as willingness to sacrifice personal interests for the sake of the team. In general, it became such internal unity of the spirit, which schools in England were famous for (Turnbull, Raab, and Satterlee 76). How and why has the Relationship Between the Media and Football Changed Over Time? By the middle of the 19th century, the educated classes established a cult of physical exercise, where football and cricket was the subject of worship not only in private schools, but also in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The number of participants was not limited; there were always fights and brawls, while one could play using both arms and legs. If there were any rules, they were going the rounds rather orally than in any other way. Two years later, several graduates of private schools, who arrived in Cambridge, tried to develop a common set of football rules, known as Cambridge Rules (Turnbull, Raab, and Satterlee 79). Now we know that the game of football was not confined to the walls of private educational institutions, being beloved among a much wider population. Sports newspapers of that time were full of advertisements about calls for football competitions, and often the game was for money. It was the first mention of football in general, and in newspapers particularly (Turnbull, Raab, and Satterlee 81). According to John Turnbull, the First Division appliance between Arsenal and Sheffield United became the initial football match to be aired live on the radio. The given event took place at Highbury, on Saturday, January 22, 1927. The first football commentator in the history was Henry Wakelam, who became a sports reporter only three weeks after the BBC had received its Royal Charter, which allowed it to transmit coverage of major sporting competitions. In order to encourage the listener to track the play, the Radio Times printed an enumerated grid of the pitch with Wakelam announcing grid numbers in his commentary. Arsenal was also involved in the first radio broadcast of an FA Cup Final (Turnbull, Raab, and Satterlee 92). Ten years later, on September 16, 1937, Highbury again organized a famous first, namely the first live TV broadcast of a football game. It should be mentioned that it was the period when television broadcasting was very much in its infancy. The event was an all-Arsenal affair, and the match itself was scheduled to examine the highly advanced technology of that time. Yet, there were only a few thousand TVs in the whole country; thus, not many people were able to watch this broadcast at the time but, as they say, the rest is history. Football was originally designed more to become a form of leisure time, and not a professional occupation. Young people, who founded the English Football Association, did not seek to professionalization of the game, and did not wish their offspring such a fate. However, by the early 1880s, it became clear that a new sport had become something of a mania, especially for the population of industrial cities in central and northern England, as well as Glasgow and Central Scotland. Thousands of people were ready to pay for the opportunity to watch Cups competitions of the leading teams. In turn, local businessmen gladly spent money to maintain the football clubs of their cities. Leaving a home and a job, the Scots went to play in the English clubs; 55 Scots played for eleven Lancashire teams in 1884 (Goldblatt 42). High and medium skilled workers and even many middle-class clerks had the opportunity to play football or just go to games; they regularly received sufficiently high salary, and Saturday night was a public holiday when the games were held. Football Association tried to prevent players from getting money, facing players to suspension in some matches or even disqualifying them for a long time. The decisive moment came in the 1884-1885 season (Goldblatt 45). In early 1884, Preston North End took in its field Upton Park in the fourth round of the Cup of the Football Association. After the match ended in a draw, guests, gentlemen amateur team from London, filed a protest, claiming that the Preston North End were professionals. The Football Association conducted an investigation, and although the fact that the participation of professionals had not been confirmed, Preston North End was accused of illegally luring away players from other clubs. The team was removed from the tournament, but in response, several major clubs held a meeting, at which they discussed the possibility of theirs exit from the Football Association, as its headquarters were located in London. Representatives of 40 clubs met in Manchester, threatening the creation of alternative British Football Association. A certain social, regional, and emotional subtext was standing over this attempt to split, since the essential role in the outlined conflict was played by confrontation between North and South, as well as strong anti-London moods. However, it was obvious for some FA managers, and primarily for its Secretary, Charles Alcock, that if the association wanted to maintain its position, it was necessary to find a compromise with supporters of professional football. A compromise was found in 1885, and professionalism in football was legalized within the English Football Association. It was the start of commercialization (Goldblatt 50-51). Sponsorship and sponsors’ logos on the form of football clubs have long been a â€Å"non grata†, unless one considered drawings of the agencies and organizations logos on the official team T-shirts. However, only in the second half of the 20th century (in the 1970s, to be precise), it became possible to break the consciousness stereotypes of those, who did not want to see commercial trademarks next to their favorite teams’ logos. Therefore, the first football uniforms with the printed commercial names or signs of the sponsors, appeared in Europe in the 1970s (Fizel 61). The first club that placed its sponsor’s logo on the shirt was the West German club, Eintracht Braunschweig. The management of the team has signed a contract with the producers of the famous Jgermeister, and the famous antlers, which symbolize this particular drink, became the world’s first image of the sponsor placed on a football uniform (Young 132). A few years later, other major professional leagues have adopted the West German experience. For example, the first mention of such cooperation between a football club and a sponsor was applied in the UK, in 1976. With regard to Major League of the United Kingdom, today Liverpool players are considered to be the first, who started to wear commercial company logo on their shirts. Liverpool became the first British professional club, which placed the logo of their sponsor on the shirt, after they agreed to a deal with Hitachi in 1979. A long-liver among the title sponsors of the British teams is JVC. Its logo has appeared on the Arsenal shirts in 1981, and this partnership continued until the year 2000 (Young 134). Spanish Football Federation endorsed the idea of selling advertising spaces on the teams’ game forms in the 1981-82 season. At the same time, Manuel Meyer, then head of the Espanyol, strongly opposed the decision, calling it a â€Å"betrayal of the club colors and values†. The decision was made on October 9, 1981, with 82 votes â€Å"for† among 124 clubs taking part in the vote. By now, since Athletic Bilbao signed agreement with Petronor in 2008, and Barcelona yet agreed to host logo of Qatar Foundation on their game shirts, La Liga does not have a single club that has never had a title sponsor (Fizel 68). Big money came into football in the 90s, and after the â€Å"Bosman case†, football player did became a customary employee, who worked for the money and had all the privileges of the employee. The moment of football becoming a business could be clearly shown on the example of Manchester United. Back in 1990, when the present Manchester United was just reborn from the ashes under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson, the board decided to issue shares on the public sale of the club (that is the IPO), which made it clear that the club would be positioned as a mixture of a football club and the company’s business. The club had various owners until that day, and they were formally the owners of a company called MU. However, the simultaneousness of shares release to the exchange and the overall commercialization of football in the 90s, certainly clarified in what direction the club would go (Dobson 121). It meant the fact that there was a chance that any more or less billionaire, who naturally could not have any idea that Theatre of Dreams was not a theater at all, having enough money, could fully buy the club and take it under control, that is even now impossible to imagine in Germany and in several clubs in Spain (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic). Considering that incomes of the Premier League clubs in the late 90s began to spring up like mushrooms overnight, attempts at such capture (capture by businessmen, who try to make profit) were inevitable and were only a matter of time. Certainly, this time had come (Dobson 125). The first man, who tried to grab a piece of sweet cake called Manchester United that was growing by leaps and bounds, was Rupert Murdoch from the BSkyB Corporation, and it happened 8 years after the release of club’s shares to the exchange. Then, there appeared the Glazer family, which seeing a huge financial potential of the club, slowly began to buy the club shares, reaching about 30% in October 2004. Then, in summer 2005, the Glazers brought theirs block of shares to 98% that gave them absolute power over the club. Later, there was information that the family took a debt of 265 million pounds by putting in pledge MU, and 275 million pounds of other debts. In general, the debt increased to an astronomical 660 million pounds, by which the club was obliged to return 62 million pounds every year (Dobson 129). Today, the debt fell to 367 million pounds mark due to the stable service and the first output of shares to the exchange. Summing up all these figures and facts, it can be said that the majority of big clubs now turned into the company’s business due multimillion TV and sponsorship contracts. Such clubs put profits rather than athletic performance for the sake of all. Generally, management style of big clubs can be divided into three types: Private owner who seeks only benefit; Private owner, who loves football, and spend a lot of money; Joint ownership of the club fans or small investors. Each of the mentioned types has its pros and cons. However, the fact remains that Premier League clubs have turned to the company’s business and the price of transfers, TV and sponsorship contracts are growing very quickly. As in any economic sector, protracted period of growth will someday reach its peak, and the correction will begin, that is, the bubble will burst, bringing great upheavals in this sphere. Nonetheless, only preventive measures, such as Financial Fair Play from European football officials could save the situation. Undoubtedly, commerce is very useful to football, making it brighter, more interesting and more accessible, but it also brings some pitfalls that one needs to successfully circumvent right now, or it will be too late (Fizel 94). Nowadays, more money is spent on players. It is the new reality and paradox at the same time. The best players in the world get paid more than they have ever been paid, when they played a brutal, utilitarian football. Consequence of enrichment of players on such a scale is the degeneration and destruction of command ethics, connection between player and fan. If such a gap occurs, one cannot possibly save the very foundations of this beautiful game. For example, Cristiano Ronaldo severed all relations that bound him to Manchester United fans, not to mention the relationship with his teammates. Commercialization of football led to a basis of transfers. There is a gulf between football science and football practice, and no one cares about this gulf. The most important things are money and entertainment events, which are ensured by the innate abilities of players-legionnaires. National football schools, which demand is rapidly declining, more and more serve as props. If the club owners were worried about the national football, they would make some efforts to impose a veto on further transfers, and would be seriously engaged in development of football schools. At a minimum, they should reduce an annual legionaries’ quota. Currently, the world football moves on the road, sunk in the transfer fog. However, there is another way that is clear, and where money is not the top priority. This is the way of development of national football schools and establishment of coaching schools, alongside with their radical reformation.

Unfaithful Behavior Help Essays

Unfaithful Behavior Help Essays Unfaithful Behavior Help Essay Unfaithful Behavior Help Essay In the story The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, Margots unfaithful behavior helps Francis to find his courage. Margot couldnt stand Francis not paying attention to her, even though they dont love each other. When Francis talks about lion hunting with Wilson, Margot finds that she cant participate in that conversation. The fact that she cant participate makes Margot feel insecure, and she wants to change the subject to something else that she can join in. In addition, it seems that Margot also is disappointed by Francis, because he was timid during the actual lion hunting. Well, those emotions about Francis makes Margot cheats on him by having an affair with Robert Wilson, mainly to bring his attention back. However, the result doesnt come out as she expected. In fact, Margots affair with Wilson doesnt make Francis pay attention to her. Instead, it made Francis get mad, and that anger finally comes out as finding courage which he didnt have, and he wants to get. At least, Margots affair succeeds because Francis intimidates and gets jealous about it. However, Margots choice for partner, which is Wilson, seems not effective to get Francis attention back. Compare to Francis, Wilson is more masculine and brave, and in the field of hunting, those are only characteristics needed. So to say, Wilson is better in Africa, although he is hired by Francis and under Francis. Therefore, Margots affair with Wilson actually makes Francis feel being robbed something he owns by someone better than him. And, seeing his wife having an affair with the man better than him is enough to make Francis to be furious. Especially, their isolated situation, which accompanies simple relationships, may make Francis relatively feel more betrayed. However, the anger isnt expressed towards Margot, which should be happened. Instead, the affair between Margot and Wilson causes Francis hatred towards Wilson, not Margot. In fact, it is quite natural, because there is no feeling left between Margot and Francis. They are a couple who are just afraid of the possibility that either one of them could leave another. However, Wilson, who is better than Francis in the situation they are in, can be hated by Francis, since he takes away one thing he doesnt have and Francis has, and it makes him even better. Even though Francis expresses his disturbance towards Margot, it seems more reasonable to interpret those expressions as the jealousy caused by Wilson, and said to Margot. However, consequently, Francis anger and hatred helps him to forget his fear. By the time they find buffalos, Francis had no fear, only hatred of Wilson. Francis doesnt hesitate to shoot, and succeeds to hunt buffalos down almost without Wilsons help. Through this experience, Francis felt a definite elation of achievement, which he never felt before. And this feeling not just comes from hunting, but also finding courage he didnt have before and Wilson had. At this point, Francis stops to care about Margots unfaithful behavior, since he isnt inferior to Wilson anymore, and it doesnt matter Wilson take away something he doesnt have any feelings.

Definition and Examples of Taboo Language

Definition and Examples of Taboo Language The term taboo language refers to words and phrases that are generally considered inappropriate in certain contexts. Social anthropologist Edmund Leach identified three major categories of taboo words and phrases in English: 1. Dirty words that are concerned with sex and excretion, such as bugger, shit.2. Words that have to do with the Christian religion, such as Christ and Jesus.3. Words which are used in animal abuse (calling a person by the name of an animal), such as bitch, cow. (Brà ³na Murphy, Corpus and Sociolinguistics: Investigating Age and Gender in Female Talk, 2010) The use of taboo language is apparently as old as language itself.  You taught me language, Caliban says in the first act of Shakespeares The Tempest, and my profit ont /  Is, I know how to curse. Etymology The word taboo  was first introduced into European languages by Captain Cook in his description of his third voyage around the world, when he visited Polynesia. Here, he witnessed the ways in which  the word taboo  was used for certain avoidance customs ranging across widely different things...(The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Ritual and Religion, 2011) Examples and Observations People constantly censor the language they use (we differentiate this from the institutionalized imposition of censorship)... In contemporary western society, taboo and euphemism are closely entwined with the concepts of politeness and face (basically, a persons self-image). Generally, social interaction is oriented toward behaviour that is courteous and respectful, or at least inoffensive. Participants have to consider whether what they are saying will maintain, enhance, or damage their own face, as well as to be considerate of, and care for, the face needs of others. (Keith Allan and Kate Burridge, Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of Language. Cambridge University Press, 2006) Tips on Using Four-Letter Words in Writing [S]omeone in my position has had to devise some rough rules governing the use of [four-letter words]. My own set of rules I now put in writing for the first time. In what follows, they and them stand for what were once obscenities. (Kingsley Amis, The Kings English: A Guide to Modern Usage. HarperCollins, 1997) Use them sparingly and, as classicists used to say, for special effect only.Even in low farce, never use any of them in its original or basic meaning unless perhaps to indicate that a character is some kind of pompous buffoon or other undesirable. Even straightforward excretory ones are tricky.They may be used in dialogue, though remember rule 1. An attempt at humor will often justify their appearance...If in doubt, strike it out, taking it here as one of them. Linguists on Taboo Language in Cultural Contexts Discussion of verbal insults invariably raises the question of obscenity, profanity, cuss words, and other forms of taboo language. Taboo words are those that are to be avoided entirely, or at least avoided in mixed company or polite company. Typical examples involve common swear words such as Damn! or Shit! The latter is heard more and more in polite company, and both men and women use both words openly. Many, however, feel that the latter word is absolutely inappropriate in polite or formal contexts. In place of these words, certain euphemismsthat is polite substitutes for taboo wordscan be used... What counts as taboo language is something defined by culture, and not by anything inherent in the language. (Adrian Akmajian, Richard Demers, Ann Farmer, and Robert Harnish, Linguistics: An Introduction to Language and Communication. MIT Press, 2001) Linguists have taken a neutral and descriptive stance on taboo words. The role of linguistic studies has been to document which words are avoided in what situations... Words themselves are not taboo, dirty, or profane. Many of the words currently considered inappropriate in public settings were the neutral, normal term for an object or action in earlier forms of English. The word shit was not always deemed inappropriate or impolite. In a similar way, many languages of the world still treat bodily functions in a less euphemistic manner. (Peter J. Silzer, Taboo.  Encyclopedia of Linguistics, ed. by  Philipp Strazny. Taylor Francis, 2005) ​The Lighter Side of Taboo Language Shifting Standards in South Park Ms. Choksondik: All right children,...Im supposed to clarify the schools position on the word shit.Stan: Wow! We can say shit in school now?Kyle: This is ridiculous. Just because they say it on TV, its all right?Ms. Choksondik: Yes, but only in the figurative noun form or the adjective form.Cartman: Huh?Ms. Choksondik: You can only use it in the nonliteral sense. For instance, Thats a shitty picture of me is now fine. However, the literal noun form of [writes on the board] This is a picture of shit is still naughty.Cartman: I dont get it.Stan: Me neither.Ms. Choksondik: The adjective form is now also acceptable. For example, The weather outside is shitty. However, the literal adjective is not appropriate. For example, My bad diarrhea made the inside of the toilet all shitty, and I had to clean it with a rag, which then also became shitty. Thats right out!Timmy: Sssh...shit!Ms. Choksondik: Very good, Timmy.Butters: Ms. Choksondik, can we say the expletive, like Oh shit! or Shit on a s hingle? Ms. Choksondik: Yes, thats now fine.Cartman: Wow! This is gonna be great! A whole new word! (It Hits the Fan. South Park, 2001 Taboo Language in Monty Pythons Flying Circus Voice Over: The BBC would like to apologize for the poor quality of the writing in that sketch. It is not BBC policy to get easy laughs with words like bum, knickers, botty or wee-wees. (Off-camera laughter) Sh!(Cut to a man standing by a screen with a clicker.) BBC Man: These are the words that are not to be used again on this program.(He clicks the clicker. The following slides appear on screen: B*MB*TTYP*XKN*CKERSW**-W**SEMPRINI (A woman comes into the shot.) Woman: Semprini? BBC Man: (pointing) Out! (Cut back to the chemists shop.) Chemist: Right, whos got a boil on his semprini, then? (A policeman appears and bundles him off.) (Eric Idle, Michael Palin, and John Cleese in The Chemist Sketch. Monty Pythons Flying Circus, Oct. 20, 1970)

Teen Anti-Smoking Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Teen Anti-Smoking Research - Essay Example This paper outlines a proposal to study stop-smoking efforts among junior high school students at two institutions in California's Central Valley (note to student: you may want to change the location to one that is more relevant to where you are-but the rest of the paper should not have to be changed). The percentage of teens who call themselves frequent smokers has declined to about 14% (2001) from 17% (1999) (Society, American Cancer, 2002). Despite this encouraging drop, the number of teens who say that they have tried smoking still rests at 64%, although down from over 70% in the 1990's (Society, American Cancer, 2002). The hypothesis of this proposed study is that the greatest leverage on smoking will come from cessation and peer-pressure efforts in junior high school, at which point teens may be likely to be making their decision to become smokers on a regular basis. This hypothesis is supported by NEA data: According to the 1999 National Youth Tobacco Survey conducted jointly by the American Legacy Foundation and the CDC Foundation, cigarette use among middle school students was 9.2 percent, and more than a quarter of high school students were smokers (NEAToday, 2006). This study proposes to study the motivations behind teen's starting smoking in middle school, and what makes them decide to continue once they have tried smo... The reason for this split is the suggestion from previous research that African American students are less likely to start smoking than their White or Latin American peers (Kelder SH, 2003). There is a suggestion that White and Hispanic students' rates of smoking by the eighth grade is 2 to 4 times greater than that for African American students of the same age, although the rate of trial in the sixth grade is roughly equal for all three groups (Kelder SH, 2003). This study therefore seeks to understand the motivations behind (1) trying smoking, and (2) becoming addicted to smoking. Given that the rate of trial to addiction in high school is roughly 17/64, or 26%, the rate of trial to addiction in middle school may be the same or similar to this group's older counterparts. The study will therefore encompass three areas of study in order to understand the phenomenon in a better way: 1. Comparing the motivators behind trying smoking amongst the three ethnic groups. The primary tool for social research will be interviews of a meaningful number of students (n=60), with about 20 students per group. 2.Establishing through a search of the literature what programs are tried in the area in order to help stop teen trial and addiction to smoking. 3.Present the advertisements to the three groups in order to determine their reaction to the messages contained. In addition to the anti-smoking ads, the author intends to show pro-smoking advertisements for adults, and advertisements not related to smoking to teens, in order to judge their reactions and normalize their reactions to all advertising. In conclusion, this author believes that, although smoking is declining somewhat, it would be important to understand the

THE PRACTICE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Research Paper

THE PRACTICE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION - Research Paper Example Ferris proved to be an abundant source of ideas and could draft reports for Turner in a breeze and could deal with awkward customers effectively. Ferris influence on Turner grew to the point that he could make decisions in Turners behalf. Other managers particularly Blackham became resentful of this alleging that Turner abdicated his leadership to Ferris because it seemed that it is Ferris who is running his office. Soon, Ferris demanded to be promoted as Deputy Sales Manager which Turner agreed. Upon asking the Director of Sales for the position to be created, he was asked why so when his department is small to warrant a deputy. Turner was forced to disclose that he had been depending on Ferris to get things done that much of the responsibilities in his department is already headed by Ferris. The Sales Director was dismayed and is now considering whether or not he should intervene and impose changes. II. Appraisal of the situation Charles Turner dependency towards Jim Ferris finally took its toll when Ferris demanded to be his Deputy that made the Sales Director consider whether or not he should intervene and impose changes. ... Ferris also begun building his â€Å"own empire† in the department placing his own people in key positions while he taking over the majority posts. Ferris growing dominance in the department will of course not go unnoticed. Other managers are beginning to notice it and Turner is slowly beginning to lose respect from them as he â€Å"abdicated† his responsibilities to Ferris. The delegation turned into dependency that also created friction in the organization. Obviously, Turner had lapses g from the beginning he assumed office because he was not able to gain confidence in leading and managing his department since he was promoted. The managerial lapses or lack of managerial capability of Turner is best summed up in the lecture prepared Dr. Abdul M Baksh that while â€Å"consulting subordinates is often regarded as delegation of authority, and the manager may receive a decision rather than advice . . . the manager must bear in mind that such advice may also have the undes irable effect of not only putting pressure on him but also expose him to conflicting alignments of forces within his own ranks†. This was exactly what happened to Turner’s over dependency towards Ferris or in Blackham’s terms, abdicated his function to Ferris. Now, other managers are also becoming jealous of Ferris and are also demanding greater responsibility and are now being resentment of Turner’s seeming favoritism towards Ferris. Ferris now has huge bargaining leverage towards Turner because he knows that Turner depends on him and so he asked to be his deputy even if the position does not yet exist and that there are other more senior manager than him in the department. The Sales Director is dismayed knowing this because

Community Policing Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Community Policing - Research Paper Example COP creates unity between communities and officers but is not practical in lower economies where citizens focus on working to attain sustainability. POP focuses on problems that may recur and has the limitation of requiring technical knowledge for proper implementation. Crimes such as home burglaries, substance abuse and prostitution have been eradicated using both POP and COP. POP and COP entail officers working with the community to prevent evil. However, POP focuses on problems and how they can be solved after careful scanning, analysis, and assessments. Everyone in the community is involved in problem solving when COP is under implementation. Police departments encounter such challenges as inadequate resources, conservatism and lack of technical knowledge in implementing POP and COP. Definition, description, strengths and weaknesses of COP According to Palmiotto (2011), community-oriented policing is a philosophy that combines traditional aspects of law enforcement with deterrenc e measures, problem resolution, community engagement and partnerships. It seeks to unite the police and the public thus facilitates the identification of criminal issues and solutions. In this arrangement, police officers discover determinants of crime and disorder consequently solving problems in their communities. The strengths are evident when officers design a network of personal contacts by foot, bike, or horse patrol in and out of their departments. This supports the crime prevention efforts and teaches residents how to help themselves by reporting crime in the neighborhood. Citizens engage in regular patrols and awareness programs to achieve the goals of prevention. Community-oriented policing has the following weaknesses. Indeed, low-income communities are not able to achieve because adults work multiple jobs at odd hours. It is also challenging neighbors to know and care about each other comfortably (Palmiotto, 2011). Definition, description, strengths and weaknesses of POP According to Goldstein (2011), POP is a policing strategy that includes classification and scrutiny of precise crime and disorder activities to design effective response strategies accompanied by ongoing assessment. Emphasis is on research to prevent the re-occurring of crimes and involvement of public and private groups that are qualified to solve problems. POP Scanning-identification of problems, Analysis-asking questions to understand the problem, Response-after careful analysis; designing a suitable response, Assessment evaluating the problem and establish a suitable solution. The strengths of POP incorporate gaining popularity among police administrators and city officials because it is practical, winning public favor which results to job securities for administrators and elected officials. There is also increased communication with the public who influence police activities. POP enables officers to link with public and private agencies to help communities. Weaknesses of POP a re conflicts that arise when officers feel subordinated and get afraid of losing their jobs since they feel that other professionals involved in policing might replace them in service delivery. Furthermore, controversies between priorities of the community and what officers feel is important to them. This is because people feel that it is not their duty to prevent crime. There is also lack of expert knowledge to employ technical mechanisms involved in

A View from the Bridge by Cherokee McDonald & Two Ways of Seeing a Essay

A View from the Bridge by Cherokee McDonald & Two Ways of Seeing a River by Mark Twain - Essay Example 2. Comparative Analysis Although the two essays deal with two different subject matters and themes yet there are some similarities in the thematic concerns and symbolism incorporated by the two authors. However the technique or the style of narration utilized and the depiction of the theme and symbols highlight their individualistic writing styles. 2.1. Narration Technique Mark Twain in his treatise uses the technique of third person narration which provides the readers with a chance to draw their personal conclusions as he acts as a mediator between the reader and the text. On the other hand McDonald employs the first person narration technique. Although generally it is assumed that first person narration limits a text’s interpretations for the readers since it is a first hand account of a writer’s explication of a situation. Yet the incorporation of the dialogues can be inferred as a technique employed in order to establish a close connection between the action of tak ing place in the essay and the readers. The use of dialogues also camouflages the presence of the writer or the narrator in the text. However a major similarity that is observed in the depiction of writing style is that both authors illustrate detailed descriptions. As observed that McDonald says, â€Å"He was a lumpy little guy with baggy shorts, and a faded T-shirt and heavy sweat socks falling down over old sneakers† (). Similarly Twain states, â€Å"A broad expanse of the river was turned to blood; in the middle distance the red hue brightened into gold†¦ in another the surface was broken by boiling, tumbling rings, that were as many-tinted as an opal; where the ruddy flush was faintest, was a smooth spot that was covered with graceful circles...high above the forest wall a clean-stemmed dead tree waved a single leafy bough that glowed like a flame in the unobstructed splendor that was flowing from the sun† (). Hence both the writers pay special attention to t he minute details. 2.2. Thematic Concern A major common theme that both the authors deal with in their respective pieces of work is the theme of innocence although the manner in which they project it is different. It is stated in Two Ways of Seeing a River that, â€Å"Now when I had mastered the language of this water and had come to know every trifling feature that bordered the great river as familiarly as I knew the letters of the alphabet, I had made a valuable acquisition†¦ All the grace, the beauty, the poetry had gone out of the majestic river† (). This line can be interpretted as, that the writer believes it is better to retain an aura of mystery or innocence and all the secrets should not be revealed so that it can stimulate human curiosity and interest. Since when all the mysteries are unveiled as is the case with the river than it becomes monotonous and even stifling because the newness fades away. Moreover in terms of human beings and their behavior it can be perceived that Overanalyzing of people or even ones self can result in the loss of beauty (however bittersweet) of humanity. A similar theme is used by McDonald in his essay. He emphasizes the importance of innocence through the actions of the blind child i.e. since his lack of sight hinders his quest for knowledge the

Cigarettes in Fashion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Cigarettes in Fashion - Essay Example The essay "Cigarettes in Fashion" discovers the symbol of cigarettes in the fashion images. The Hazlitt observation’s of fashion as race of appearances, mode of symbolic expression which has been widely agreed by different sects of the society. Images of models smoking cigar featuring in fashion magazines, movies, posters, etc. have been the main cause for increased level of smoking among the youngsters as well as women which is well supported by Gilly Andrews (2005:47) as smoking is the UK’s largest cause for preventable death and disability, responsible for over 120,000 deaths a year which comprises of 30,000 women costing â‚ ¤1.7 billion each year. M.A.H. Russell et al (1974) mentioned Tomkins psychological theory, wherein smoking was classified into four groups viz; positive effect smoking that produces or increases pleasant feeling, negative effect smoking that reduces unpleasant feelings, anger or fear, shame, etc., habitual smokers who smoke without affect and addictive smokers who smoke continuously without which he gets restless. The present study makes an attempt to collect necessary and appropriate study and findings from the previous studies in order to analyze how images of smoking used by fashion magazines and other editorials impact the people and especially women and will try to answer whether the cigarettes in fashion images increase the women’s sexual appeal or is it just an fashion element to sell the products. Gilman and Zhou (2004) mention that smoking prevailed in the past.... The Mayans, Aztecs, Caribs and many others used to smoke one form or other tobacco. Smoke which was initially taken for curing later became a passion and a source of pleasure for most of the smokers. With tobacco having such a long history, from late 18th century, cigarette smoking was viewed as part of modernity according to Penny Tinkler (2006:5), but the process of modernity had already begun in 1880 in the western societies as it was believed as a quality of social experience and practical negotiation of one's life and identity within the complex and fast changing world. Fred C. Pampel (2001) states that there has been considerable increase in women smokers due to the fact they were having limited access or treated unequally in the past, and thereafter because of narrowing sex differences in times of gender equality and strengthening values of female independence has lead to newfound freedom and higher status of women creating a desire in the women to do things all good and bad, due to increased level of income, power and equal social status comparatively to men. Thus the fact that woman were denied certain luxuries and equalities in the past; has lead to increased level of smoking due to high income, equality and increased level of social status in the present which in turn provided stimulus to tobacco companies to market their product keeping specifically for women. Penny Tinkler (2001) further mentions that in 1996/97, 28% of British women were smokers of manufactured and hand rolled cigarettes as compared to 31% men and it is suggested that cigarettes was more used as fashion accessory for affluent, upwardly mobile city living women. There has been considerable increase in

Your pick of this week's news (Responses) Assignment

Your pick of this week's news (Responses) - Assignment Example Only then could the information be considered comprehensive and objective. The ability of the author to present a balanced discourse was aptly acknowledged. One affirms that the presentation of facts; in conjunction with provision of support from the reliable details enabled the contents to be duly validated. As such, readers get to appreciate the comprehensiveness of the report. It is articles like this that make journalism earn its professional stance. cellphones while on flight. Since it was clear that the opinion of Saunders were predominant, readers were aptly warned that it could be skewed towards this contention. Therefore, it was already appreciated that the supposed compromise solution was provided. However, one significantly affirms that there are more valid and credible reasons from banning the use of cellular phones in the plane during flight. The information from credible sources, based on previous studies or research could have been provided to increase the reliability and validity of the

Cigarettes in Fashion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Cigarettes in Fashion - Essay Example The essay "Cigarettes in Fashion" discovers the symbol of cigarettes in the fashion images. The Hazlitt observation’s of fashion as race of appearances, mode of symbolic expression which has been widely agreed by different sects of the society. Images of models smoking cigar featuring in fashion magazines, movies, posters, etc. have been the main cause for increased level of smoking among the youngsters as well as women which is well supported by Gilly Andrews (2005:47) as smoking is the UK’s largest cause for preventable death and disability, responsible for over 120,000 deaths a year which comprises of 30,000 women costing â‚ ¤1.7 billion each year. M.A.H. Russell et al (1974) mentioned Tomkins psychological theory, wherein smoking was classified into four groups viz; positive effect smoking that produces or increases pleasant feeling, negative effect smoking that reduces unpleasant feelings, anger or fear, shame, etc., habitual smokers who smoke without affect and addictive smokers who smoke continuously without which he gets restless. The present study makes an attempt to collect necessary and appropriate study and findings from the previous studies in order to analyze how images of smoking used by fashion magazines and other editorials impact the people and especially women and will try to answer whether the cigarettes in fashion images increase the women’s sexual appeal or is it just an fashion element to sell the products. Gilman and Zhou (2004) mention that smoking prevailed in the past.... The Mayans, Aztecs, Caribs and many others used to smoke one form or other tobacco. Smoke which was initially taken for curing later became a passion and a source of pleasure for most of the smokers. With tobacco having such a long history, from late 18th century, cigarette smoking was viewed as part of modernity according to Penny Tinkler (2006:5), but the process of modernity had already begun in 1880 in the western societies as it was believed as a quality of social experience and practical negotiation of one's life and identity within the complex and fast changing world. Fred C. Pampel (2001) states that there has been considerable increase in women smokers due to the fact they were having limited access or treated unequally in the past, and thereafter because of narrowing sex differences in times of gender equality and strengthening values of female independence has lead to newfound freedom and higher status of women creating a desire in the women to do things all good and bad, due to increased level of income, power and equal social status comparatively to men. Thus the fact that woman were denied certain luxuries and equalities in the past; has lead to increased level of smoking due to high income, equality and increased level of social status in the present which in turn provided stimulus to tobacco companies to market their product keeping specifically for women. Penny Tinkler (2001) further mentions that in 1996/97, 28% of British women were smokers of manufactured and hand rolled cigarettes as compared to 31% men and it is suggested that cigarettes was more used as fashion accessory for affluent, upwardly mobile city living women. There has been considerable increase in

Indian Automobile Industry Essay Example for Free

Indian Automobile Industry Essay These include passenger cars which are divided into following 6 categories depending upon length: 1. Mini – Car length upto 3400 mm – Maruti 800 and REVA 2. Compact – Length between 3401 and 4000 mm – Maruti Alto, Tata Indica, Hyundai Santro 3. Midsize – Length between 4001 and 4500 mm – Maruti Esteem, Tata Indigo, Hyundai Accent 4. Executive – Length between 4501 and 4700 mm – Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic 5. Premium – Length between 4701 and 5000 mm – Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonata 6. Luxury – Length above 5000 mm – Mercedes S-class 2. Utility Vehicles: Tata Sumo and Safari, Toyota Qualis. 3. Multi Utility Vehicles: Maruti Omni and Versa 4. Commercial Vehicles These are divided into 2 categories according to the loads they can carry: 4. 1. Light Commercial Vehicles – Gross vehicle weight limit is 7. 5 tonnes – Cargo, Tempo, Mini Buses, and Mini Trucks etc. Major players are Tata Motors Ltd. , Swaraj Mazda Ltd. , Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. 2. Medium Heavy Commercial Vehicles – Gross vehicle weight limit is above 7. 5 tonnes – Cargo, Trucks, Buses, Trailers. Tata Motors Ltd. and Ashok Leyland Ltd are major players. Scope of Study and Methodology. We begin with an overview of the automobile industry followed by a competitive analysis of the â€Å"Passenger Cars† part of the industry on the following criteria: †¢ Product †¢ Brand †¢ Pricing †¢ Distribution †¢ Marketing Communication In each of these contexts, we try to compare the strategies used by players in different segments: from entry level A segment, to most-competitive B-segment to niche SUVs. We cite examples from cars that have been really successful in any parameter as well as the debacles. Finally, we segment the consumer based on our primary research and discuss their distinctive characteristics. On the basis of our study, we infer the critical factors for success in market and derive insights out of the study. To carry out the above study, we carried out: Secondary research: We scoured the internet including industry data from SIAM and IBEF. We referred to old newspaper and magazine articles as required. This was primarily our basis for competitive analysis. Primary Research: To understand the consumer mindset, we carried out a survey. This survey was conducted online as well as in 14-sector market, Gurgaon. The survey had 94 respondents as below: [pic] We supplemented the survey with interviews Customer Relations Manager at Orion Hyundai and Apra-Motors Maruti showroom. Overview of Indian Passenger Vehicles Industry Indian economy has grown at an average rate of above 8% in the last 5 years and services followed by industrial production have made excellent contributions to this growth. Auto industry has contributed to the GDP to the tune of 5%. The Passenger Vehicles (PV) market grew 14% YoY to 1. 76 million units as against 1. 54 million units sold in last financial year(FY 06-07). It is mainly on account of the impressive growth in the passenger car segment which contributed 80% to the total Passenger Vehicle sales in financial year 2007-08. It (PV) was backed by healthy growth in its domestic sales and exports. Domestic sales grew 12% YoY to 1. 54 million units in financial year 2007-08, whereas the exports increased by 9. 4% YoY to 2. 1 lakhs units in the same time. Over the last five years total PV production has increased at a CAGR of 19. 5%, from 7. 2 lakhs units in 2002-03 to 1. 76 million units in 2007-08. The growth was mainly made possible due to 2 major factors: 1. The continuous improvement in the living standards of the middle class, and subsequent increase in their disposable incomes. 2. the liberalization steps taken by the Indian Government such as relaxation of the foreign exchange and equity regulations, reduction of import tariffs, and refining the banking policies have played an equally important role in bringing the Indian Automobile industry to present level. Add to this the easy availability of components and competence; the global auto companies are looking at India as the manufacturing hub for the next generation models. India is poised to become small car hub, not only in terms of production but also product development. Global car majors like Nissan, Hyundai, General Motors, Mercedes Benz and Renault have made huge investments owing to the positive sentiment in the market. Major Manufacturers in Passenger Cars Industry in India are: †¢ Maruti Udyog Ltd. (45% market share) †¢ Hyundai Motor India Ltd. (16%) †¢ Honda Motors †¢ Tata Motors Ltd. (14%) Overall, there is still just 1 car per 100 people in India as against 74 cars per 100 in US. Thus, Indian market has a huge potential in future. Competitive Analysis Product level Analysis. Here, we study the product strategy of automobile industry from a marketing point of view. We begin with a study of customer-value hierarchy, of which the marketer needs to address each of the five levels while planning product offering. Then in product differentiation we study different factors on which car is differentiated. Customer-Value Hierarchy (Product levels): |Core benefit |It is the service or benefit the customer is really buying. In case of automobiles those benefits are | | |convenience, transportation, speed. | |Basic product |At second level the core benefit is turned into basic product. In the case the product is car. It | | |typically includes an IC engine, mechanism to provide motion and steering, chassis. | |Expected product |At the third level, an expected product is prepared which includes a set of attributes and conditions | | |buyers normally expect when they purchase a product. All car buyers expect comfort, safety and | | |functional characteristics (fuel economy, handling, repair frequency etc). Other expectations differ | | |from one segment of buyers to other. For a middle class buyer value for money is important for e. g. | | | Maruti 800 but for an upper class buyer where money is not an issue, prestige is the criteria for e.g. | | |Hyundai Tucson, Jaguar etc. Other expectations include good sound system, leather upholstery, more | | |seating capacity, more power etc. | |Augmented product |It is a product that exceeds consumer expectations. It is created by inclusion of additional features, | | |benefits, attributes or related services that serve to differentiate the product from its competitors. | | |For automobile industry these features include insurance service, test drive, attractive offers, after | | |sales service, availability of service centres, easy financing options such as EMIs, wide dealer | | |network etc. | |Potential product |It encompasses all the possible augmentations and transformations the product or offering might undergo| | |in the future. These include latest technology, design changes etc for e. g. Design of Maruti 800 has | | |changed consistently over the years. | Product Differentiation: |Features |Cars are often offered with varying features that supplement their basic function. For e. g. Hyundai i10| | |(a compact car) boasts of features similar to a sedan. | |Performance quality |Performance is becoming an increasingly important dimension for differentiation. Car companies invest | | |hugely on RD to come up with new improved engines so that performance can be improved. For e. g. Santro| | |Xing considers its eRLX engine as a differentiator. | |Reliability |It is a measure of the probability that a product will not malfunction or fail within a specified time | | |period. Maruti Omni is one such car; it is differentiated as a ‘faithful workhorse’. | |Style |It describes the product’s look and feel to the buyer. It is very important because even before | | |performance people judge a car by its look. Swift DZire from Maruti stable claims itself as ‘the heart | | |car’ with striking looks. | |Design |Apart from look and feel, this factor takes into account the function of the product as well. Maruti | | |SX4 claims of revolutionary European design. | Brand Maruti 800, the entry level car in the Indian market, has long been positioned as the family car. While it competes against bigger B-segment cars, its sales have been cannibalized recently by Alto whose basic model is priced jus Rs. 30,000 above the basic M800. Through the Alto, Maruti is trying to move the consumer up the value chain. M800 has also been targeting the semi-urban and rural areas where it is positioned as an alternative to two-wheeler. To see how to manage an automobile brand through its product life cycle, we look at Santro Xing and Tata Indica. Both were launched around 10 years ago, and have evolved and repositioned themselves successfully. Santro was launched in 1998 as an upgrade for the entry-level car and positioned as a family car targeted at 35-40 year olds. In 2003, the product was refreshed as Santro Xing. The brand now aimed to appeal to the first time car buyers rather than be an upgrade. To catch the young buyers in 25-30 year age group, the brand was positioned as the â€Å"Sunshine car. † Sunshine was communicating two intangibles: Freshness and youthful attitude. The brand moved to a Change your life positioning. Today, Santro is facing declining phase in maturity stage in its PLC. The sales have stagnated and price war from Maruti and a slew of new launches in compact car segment have hurt the sales of Santro. Santro is banking on price cuts and sales promotions to stay afloat. Hyundai has recently launched a new brand i10 to take the place of Santro. Similarly, Tata Motors recently launched the new generation Indica Vista. This is an update on Indica V2’s seven variants. Over the years, Tata has invested heavily in product and brand development, yet the sales of Indica have recently declined. This is because the product has reached the declining maturity stage. And to counter this, Tata’s have gone in for strategy of product modification. Indica Vista is Tatas entry into the luxury hatchback segment which is dominated by Maruti Swift and has new entrants like Hyundai i10. The original Indica has also been retained in the product line. These two product lines together offer a wide choice to the customers from price points of Rs 2. 80 lakhs to Rs 5 Lakhs. The Indica Vista has a new tagline of â€Å"Changes Everything† is used to communicate that the brand has changed. The ads are also more tuned to attract the new generation. However, the core strength of the brand remains its value proposition. In the C and D segment, the cars are positioned on distinct personalities rather than benefits or attributes. For example, when GM launched Optra against heavy-weights such as Honda City and Sonata, it aimed at an emotional positioning platform. The brand, which was targeted at executives in age 30-45, tried to communicate Love, Care and Warmth as its core values. To convey this, Optra used an apt tagline, â€Å"For a special journey called life. † Niche cars use their own unique appeals e. g. SUVs such as Scorpio position on their size and sense of adventure. Thus, we have seen that while brands manage to differentiate from each other through a unique proposition, there is some commonality in how cars are positioned within each segment. Pricing Pricing decisions are management decisions about what to charge for the products and services that the companies deliver. In car industry, the pricing decisions vary from segment to segment. In entry level cars, the companies price the cars low and give all basic features a car would offer. This segment had a monopoly in India with Maruti 800 being the sole player. Maruti has traditionally been employing promotional schemes to increase the sales of Maruti 800 rather than decreasing its price. In compact car segment, the cars cater to the affluent middle-class people who wish to graduate to cars which provide extra glamour compared to entry level cars. Due to fierce competition in this segment price emerges as an important factor affecting the purchasing decision of consumers. Hence the pricing decision is not only dependent on the perceived value of the customer but also dependent on the competitor’s pricing strategies. Maruti’s aggressive price reduction of Alto has displaced Hyundai’s Santro from No. 1 spot in 2004. In Mid-size segment, as the customers’ aspirations are more inclined towards design, advanced features and luxury the car offers, pricing doesn’t play as big a role as it does in compact segment. In fact, there is a tag of premiumness attached to the price in this segment. As an example, Hyundai Elantra’s sales dropped when its price had been reduced from Rs. 10lakh to Rs. 8 lakh. Distribution This section is explained through the study the supply chain at Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL). Logistics goes beyond mere distribution management. It is improving the quality of the supply chain itself to achieve a cost-effective distribution mechanism. This is the philosophy which drives Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL), the countrys biggest passenger car manufacturer. Dependent on over 300 suppliers for some 7,000 components that go into its 9 major models and their 200 variants, the company keeps control over costs at every stage to remain competitive. This is achieved only through close coordination with the vendors. The streamlined state of supply chain at Maruti is achieved through following measures: †¢ It implements innovative material handling solutions which reduces wastage. †¢ It collaborates with its vendors to localize components supply. This not only increases productivity but also removes uncertainties in supply. †¢ The schedule for indenting components is precisely planned so that inventory holding process is optimized. The schedules issued every fortnight are further fine tuned by an online system for replenishment of inventory on an electronic card system. This avoids inventory build up or unanticipated deliveries by vendors as supplies are made only after receipt of the indent card from MUL. This brings inventory management down to the doorsteps of the vendors, who produce only what is indented †¢ The delivery instruction are revised daily and location wise to exactly meet the assembly line requirements. This strategy is adopted to tackle the fluctuating market demand, accentuated by the intense competition in the automobile business now. †¢ Various steps are taken to improve the productivity of operator and machine and reducing and recycling waste. Marketing Communication Hyundai, a Korean car company launched its first car, SANTRO in 1998. They had many challenges as Maruti had a strong hold over the car market, and people were not willing to accept the tall boy car. Moreover the customers were skeptical regarding after sales-service support and spares availability and had limited belief in the Korean car company. Hyundai came up with advertisements which focused on car quality. They had Shahrukh Khan as their brand ambassador. They started with teaser ads but later promoted it as the ‘Sunshine Car indicating freshness and youthful attitude Maruti, on the other hand, concentrated on its wide service network and spare parts availability, Hyundai gave a lot of stress on car features in its advertisement for e. g. Hyundai came up with Zip drive. In 2003 a new trend was seen where in advertisements of Mahindra Bolero, Mahindra Scorpio and Hyundai Santro, women were seen driving the car. Thus targeting the fast growing working women segment. Hyundai has come up with special schemes for working women. They are also offering loans to women at 0. 75% lower rate of interest than the market rate. MSIL and GM India have introduced special financing schemes to attract customers from semi urban and rural areas. In 2007 when Maruti launched SX4, they positioned it as a ‘manly car’ through their ads. Xeta introduced by Tata was aimed at rendering better fuel efficiency at a competitive price and the ads highlighted it. They aimed to create a unique brand identity in petrol segment and promoted it through ads, print media ads, internet and test drive. In 2002 Hyundai topped TV advertising in 2002 but from 2003 Maruti picked up and came to number one slot. About 50% of the advertisement is done during feature films and news bulletin. For the newly launched i10 Hyundai has aggressively advertised it by posters of i10 throughout the showroom and hanging banners. (see examples of print ads of cars in various segments in Annexure 2) Consumer Segments and their Distinctive Characteristics. Instead of developing segment profiles based on secondary research, we categorised consumers based on our interviews with car dealers and the survey we conducted across various consumer categories. Through this primary data, we identified three broad kind of customers based on their distinctive buying behaviours. †¢ Analytical customer: One who buy car after researching internet and other sources. These customers are aware of the various options available in the market and know what car they need to buy even before their first visit to the dealer. This is usually a middle-class price conscious consumer looking to obtain value for his money. †¢ Confused customer: The biggest category of consumers; those who don’t know which car to buy because they have been the target of a lot of promotions and heard Word-of-Mouth from friends, family and other influencers. These customers have a fair amount of idea of the price and other attributes of the car they want to buy but can’t decide on the actual model. These customers buy the car after a proper need analysis has been done at the car dealer’s showroom. †¢ Copy-cat Customer: The last is the category of the customers who buy a car after seeing a similar car with their friends or neighbours. These people want some exact colour and model and cannot be classified as rational consumers. This category is constituted of those customers who do impulse buying. Further, we look at the consumer for each segment. We observe that in the B-segment a customer usually goes for value-for-money proposition. 67% respondents gave a rating of 4 or 5 to price as a critical factors while buying a car while 74. 4% respondents gave mileage same importance. Most of these people preferred cars priced around 4-6 lakhs. The C and D segment cars sell because their various attributes communicate a certain image. Here, the customer looks for attributes like power, newest technology and exclusivity. Out of the 32 people who rated technology as 5 and 19 people who rated power as 5, majority of them considered buying a car in the price range of 6 lakhs and above. Resale value of the car and the number of service stations is crucial deal-maker. Most of the consumers and the company people also say that the ad campaigns and the endorsements don’t play a major role in deciding which car to buy apart from creating awareness about the launch and availability of the new model. Only 6% of people rated endorsements as 5 as a deciding criteria. SUVs are normally the second or third car in the family. These consumers do not buy on the value proposition but rather on the image proposition. Seating capacity, premium image, innovative features and a need to portray an adventurous image are some of the benefits that a customer seeks from the SUV that he is buying. The survey results also depict that consumers are more inclined towards new models launched in the market including new variants of old cars. Maruti SX4, Hyundai i10 and Maruti Swift are the cars that appeal to most of the respondents. Factors Critical for Success. Selling a car is part delivering product and part providing service. So the car manufacturer has to ensure both quality of the product and the experience of using it. However, we must understand that the typical customer for a B-segment car differs significantly from that of an SUV. His lifestyle, his car usage, and his expectations from his vehicle change. In the B segment, there are three factors critical for success: †¢ Value for Money- This is a price-conscious consumer. For a car, price constitutes one time purchase price, as well as the petrol costs reflected in the mileage. In our survey as well as our talk we the Hyundai dealer †¢ After sales service network- When we asked the Hyundai dealer, what was the one thing a new player needed to provide to compete with them or Maruti, we met one word response: service. In fact, the dealer provided the example of Ford saying, while their cars had great engine and quality, they couldnt compete nationally because of poor after sales service network. Ford has now made a tie-up with Tatas to rectify the same. †¢ Product Quality- Since, the car market works essentially through Word-of-Mouth, it is crucial that you product meets the consumer expectation. Else, you run the risk of losing the customer not only from this car, but your company altogether, and taking additional potential customers with him. As we move into C-segment, value for money becomes lower in priority for the customer. He is looking for a status symbol now. These critical factors come in †¢ Prestige- There must be a buzz around your brand and the brand should have a premium image. †¢ Power The cars in this category have more power giving a better pick-up and smoother drive. †¢ Latest technology- The sedans are known for newest innovative technology and the customers are seen to prefer product innovations. †¢ Safety Safety features have often been neglected in the Indian markets. But typically sedans come fitted with the state of the art safety features. Insights derived out of Study †¢ Buying a car is a family decision- this held true across the board in our survey, with majority of respondents owning one family-per-car. However, the women are not much of an influencer while buying a car- in fact, most hesitated to respond to the survey, pushing their accompanying male ahead. †¢ Hyundais strength is technology and product quality, while people look to Maruti for good after sales service and high resale value. †¢ Dealer-manufacturer relationship is crucial- car companies depend on the dealers to tap the nerve of the local consumers. So the relationship between the company and the dealer needs to be good. In most cases the companies allow the dealers to run local promotional schemes and take other such initiatives. †¢ Endorsements and advertisements have minimal influence on customer decision (the B-segment). From the survey, we infer that when a middle class customer is shelling Rs 4-6 Lakhs from his pocket, he normally does considerable research before buying a car. †¢ Safety provisions- Indian car manufacturers do not provide ABS and airbags as standard safety features in entry level and B segment cars, while they do so in models they export. The consumer is also not demanding these yet. †¢ Cars are still a prestige issue in the semi urban and rural areas. Many consumers in these areas buy those cars which their neighbours have bought. †¢ Car awards and launch of a new model boost up the sales overtime. But the real sales happen only because of the quality of the product and not because of promotion.