Gloablization Positive and Negative Impact

Advantages of Globalization Globalization means increasing the interdependence, connectivity and integration on a global level with respect to the social, cultural, political, technological, economic and ecological levels. Advantages * Goods and people are transported with ease and speed * the possibility of war between the developed countries decreases * free trade between countries increases * global mass media connects all the people in the world as the cultural barriers reduce, the global village dream becomes more realistic * there is a propagation of democratic ideals * the interdependence of the nation-states increases * as the liquidity of capital increases, developed countries can invest in developing ones * the flexibility of corporations to operate across borders increases * the communication between the individuals and corporations in the world increases * environmental protection in developed countries increases Effects of Globalization enhancement in the information flo w between geographically remote locations * the global common market has a freedom of exchange of goods and capital * there is a broad access to a range of goods for consumers and companies * worldwide production markets emerge * free circulation of people of different nations leads to social benefits * global environmental problems like cross-boundary pollution, over fishing on oceans, climate changes are solved by discussions * more trans-border data flow using communication satellites, the Internet, wireless telephones, etc. international criminal courts and international justice movements are launched * the standards applied globally like patents, copyright laws and world trade agreements increase * corporate, national and sub-national borrowers have a better access to external finance * worldwide financial markets emerge * multiculturalism spreads as there is individual access to cultural diversity. This diversity decreases due to hybridization or assimilation * international t ravel and tourism increases * worldwide sporting events like the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup are held * enhancement in worldwide fads and pop culture local consumer products are exported to other countries * immigration between countries increases * cross-cultural contacts grow and cultural diffusion takes place * there is an increase in the desire to use foreign ideas and products, adopt new practices and technologies and be a part of world culture * free trade zones are formed having less or no tariffs * due to development of containerization for ocean shipping, the transportation costs are reduced * subsidies for local businesses decrease * capital controls reduce or vanquish there is supranational recognition of intellectual property restrictions, i. e. patents authorized by one country are recognized in another Advantages in the Developing World It is claimed that globalization increases the economic prosperity and opportunity in the developing world. The civil liberti es are enhanced and there is a more efficient use of resources. All the countries involved in the free trade are at a profit. As a result, there are lower prices, more employment and a better standard of life in these developing nations.It is feared that some developing regions progress at the expense of other developed regions. However, such doubts are futile as globalization is a positive-sum chance in which the skills and technologies enable to increase the living standards throughout the world. Liberals look at globalization as an efficient tool to eliminate penury and allow the poor people a firm foothold in the global economy. In two decades from 1981 to 2001, the number of people surviving on $1 or less per day decreased from 1. 5 billion to 1. 1 billion.Simultaneously, the world population also increased. Thus, the percentage of such people decreased from 40% to 20% in such developing countries. Globalization means increasing the interdependence, connectivity and integration on a global level with respect to the social, cultural, political, technological, economic and ecological levels. Advantages * Goods and people are transported with ease and speed * the possibility of war between the developed countries decreases * free trade between countries increases * global mass media connects all the people in the world as the cultural barriers reduce, the global village dream becomes more realistic * there is a propagation of democratic ideals * the interdependence of the nation-states increases * as the liquidity of capital increases, developed countries can invest in developing ones * the flexibility of corporations to operate across borders increases * the communication between the individuals and corporations in the world increases * environmental protection in developed countries increases Effects of Globalization enhancement in the information flow between geographically remote locations * the global common market has a freedom of exchange of goods and capital * there is a broad access to a range of goods for consumers and companies * worldwide production markets emerge * free circulation of people of different nations leads to social benefits * global environmental problems like cross-boundary pollution, over fishing on oceans, climate changes are solved by discussions * more trans-border data flow using communication satellites, the Internet, wireless telephones, etc. international criminal courts and international justice movements are launched * the standards applied globally like patents, copyright laws and world trade agreements increase * corporate, national and sub-national borrowers have a better access to external finance * worldwide financial markets emerge * multiculturalism spreads as there is individual access to cultural diversity. This diversity decreases due to hybridization or assimilation * international travel and tourism increases * worldwide sporting events like the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup re he ld * enhancement in worldwide fads and pop culture * local consumer products are exported to other countries * immigration between countries increases * cross-cultural contacts grow and cultural diffusion takes place * there is an increase in the desire to use foreign ideas and products, adopt new practices and technologies and be a part of world culture * free trade zones are formed having less or no tariffs * due to development of containerization for ocean shipping, the transportation costs are reduced * subsidies for local businesses decrease capital controls reduce or vanquish * there is supranational recognition of intellectual property restrictions, i. e. patents authorized by one country are recognized in another Advantages in the Developing World It is claimed that globalization increases the economic prosperity and opportunity in the developing world. The civil liberties are enhanced and there is a more efficient use of resources. All the countries involved in the free tra de are at a profit. As a result, there are lower prices, more employment and a better standard of life in these developing nations.It is feared that some developing regions progress at the expense of other developed regions. However, such doubts are futile as globalization is a positive-sum chance in which the skills and technologies enable to increase the living standards throughout the world. Liberals look at globalization as an efficient tool to eliminate penury and allow the poor people a firm foothold in the global economy. In two decades from 1981 to 2001, the number of people surviving on $1 or less per day decreased from 1. 5 billion to 1. 1 billion. Simultaneously, the world population also increased.Thus, the percentage of such people decreased from 40% to 20% in such developing countries. The Negative Effects of Globalization globalization point out to its negative effects. Some of them are listed below. * Developed nations have outsourced manufacturing and white collar j obs. That means less jobs for their people. This has happened because manufacturing work is outsourced to developing nations like China where the cost of manufacturing goods and wages are lower. Programmers, editors, scientists and accountants have lost their jobs due to outsourcing to cheaper locations like India. Globalization has led to exploitation of labor. Prisoners and child workers are used to work in inhumane conditions. Safety standards are ignored to produce cheap goods. * Job insecurity. Earlier people had stable, permanent jobs. Now people live in constant dread of losing their jobs to competition. Increased job competition has led to reduction in wages and consequently lower standards of living. * Terrorists have access to sophisticated weapons enhancing their ability to inflict damage. Terrorists use the Internet for communicating among themselves. Companies have set up industries causing pollution in countries with poor regulation of pollution. * Fast food chains lik e McDonalds and KFC are spreading in the developing world. People are consuming more junk food from these joints which has an adverse impact on their health. * The benefits of globalization is not universal. The rich are getting richer and the poor are becoming poorer. * Bad apects of foreign cultures are affecting the local cultures through TV and the Internet. * Enemy nations can spread propaganda through the Internet. Deadly diseases like HIV/AIDS are being spread by travelers to the remotest corners of the globe. * Local industries are being taken over by foreign multinationals. * The increase in prices has reduced the government's ability to sustain social welfare schemes in developed countries. * There is increase in human trafficking. * Multinational Companies and corporations which were previously restricted to commercial activities are increasingly influencing political decisions. Disadvantages of Globalization So what's the harm if the entire world is coming together on a common platform?Why are we even discussing whether globalization is good or bad for the world? As we said earlier, everything has a good side and a bad side. The bad side of globalization predominantly revolves around the fact that the preferences differ from nation to nation, and coming to a consensus on any issue becomes more difficult when too many nods are required. When it comes to globalization, the difference between the rich and poor nation can be a major hindrance. Even though the richer nations will try to assimilate and help poor nations come up, they will not sacrifice on their national interests willingly.Economic Problems:Â  If the entire world becomes a global village, any sort of economic disruption in one nation will have a disastrous impact on various other nations which are closely related to it in terms of trade and commerce. It will be a domino-effect wherein disturbance in one economy would result in disturbance in another, and so on! Cultural Problems:Â  Cul ture and globalization also seem to be at the loggerheads. Critics of globalization are also of the opinion that it will hamper the age-old cultures which have been followed religiously all over the world.There are many countries in the world which would never agree to compromise when it comes to culture or religion. Migration will become even easier, and the influence of local cultures and traditions will slowly start to wear down. Incessant westernization of Southeast Asian nations has already put western cultural beliefs and traditions under the scanner in these countries. Unemployment:Â  One may feel that globalization is promoting employment, but the fact is exactly reverse of this is happening, especially in developed countries wherein people are losing jobs as a result of outsourcing.Several major companies from the United States and United Kingdom have outsourced their jobs to the developing nations in Asia, this has in turn resulted in unemployment in these countries. Spre ad of Diseases:Â  Increase in flow of people will also result in spread of diseases, and thus make people more vulnerable to health issues. We do have many examples in history wherein outbreak of a particular disease happened in some part of the world, and before we could realize it spread throughout the world.The critics of globalization and those involved in anti-globalization movement often argue that the implications of this phenomenon will be seen in economics, culture, health and employment, and most of the countries are not ready to take on these disadvantages head-on. Taking their seriousness into consideration, it is not at all possible to turn a blind eye towards these negative effects of globalization. The need of the hour, therefore, is to evaluate the pros and cons of this concept to find out which of the two have an edge over the other.

Analysis of ‘The Death of a Moth” Essay

Virginia Woolf is a British writer born in 1882 and she died a horrific death in 1941. She jumped unto River Ouse wearing an overcoat filled with rocks. She committed suicide as she was depressed and has a pessimistic feeling towards life due to a mental illness she has been cursed with. She wrote ‘The Death of the Moth’ in 1942. This essay contains a wide variety of rhetorical devices that makes it intriguing. Although the essay is short, she wrote a detailed story with an underlying metaphor. In this non-fictional essay, she effectively conveys her ideas through the use of figurative language. She uses an extended metaphor in which the moth symbolizes humans in the way it lives its life. The essay entraps the reader into the outgoing struggle of our own mortality. Throughout the essay, the reader becomes aware of the tragedy that all life has to offer and that is the inevitable death. The theme is not lucid in the beginning. But in the latter part of the essay, one can deduce that the moth actually symbolizes humans and life. In the essay, she illustrates the struggle between life and death. Her purpose in writing this passage is to depict how pathetic life is in the face of death, and to garner respect for the awesome power that death has over life. Throughout the essay, death is described from many different angles. The purpose of this is to remind us of the power that death has over life. She shows us the death is certain and unavoidable. She does not convey this message with logic, but with instead with emotions, feelings, and implicit ideas. She makes us feel the death of the moth to impart us a more complete understanding of the eternal power of death. She uses several different types of figurative and literary language. As mentioned earlier, the essay is an extended metaphor. She used simile several times. For example, â€Å"†¦ until it looked as if a vast net with thousands of black knots in it had been cast up into the air. † In this simile, she describes a gathering of crows in the trees outside her window. In addition, she uses parallelism, which occurs when she writes: â€Å"That was all he could do, in spite of the size of the downs, the width of the sky, the far-off smoke of houses, and the romantic voice, now and then, of a steamer out at sea. † A good example of hyperbole is present when the author describes: â€Å"One could only watch the extraordinary effort made by those tiny legs against an oncoming doom which could, had it chosen, have submerged an entire city, not merely a city, but masses of human beings†¦ † By using such a simple creature’s struggle against death as a metaphor, Woolf creates a beautiful essay on the fragility of life. Her simplicity and detail keeps her essay from becoming overcomplicated, overly dramatic, or depressing. It was a surprisingly light and meaningful essay on an event that most people would probably overlook.

European Union Environmental Business Law Essay

The Treaty of Rome which established the European Economic Community in 1958, did not originally included any provisions for the safeguard of the environment It was not until 1985 that the Single European Act inserted Title VII containing articles 130r to 130t in the Treaty of Rome that made environmental protection a lawful objective of the Commission and laid down the core principles upon which the environmental policy was based (Poostchi 83). The core principles as stated by Poostchi are â€Å"the principles that preventative action should be taken, that the polluter should pay and that environmental damage should be rectified at source. These legal principles as given by the Single European Act were further refined by The Maastricht Treaty which enhanced the scope of the environmental policy of the European Union. Today the European Union has over 200 directives (legal texts) with environmental policies under the broad classifications of Air, Biotechnology, Chemicals, Civil Protections and Environmental Accidents, Climate Change, Land Use, Noise, Ozone Layer Protection, Soil, Waste and Water as well as issues like public participation in environmental decision making and public access to environmental information. Development and Implementation of Environmental Law The EU has the option of adopting environmental legislation by way of three primary legal instruments: (i) directives, (ii) regulations, and (iii) decisions. Regulations and decisions are binding in their entirety and are directly applicable within Member States; directives, are binding as to the result to be achieved, but leave to the Member States the choice of form and method, which means that member states have the power to enact local legislation based on a directive to further the cause of initiating it in the first place (Goodrich). The branch of law dealing with the environment has the same system of development and enforcement as other laws developed by the commission. The primary responsibility of EU is to develop environmental laws, while the duty of implementation and enforcement rests in the hands of the 25 member states. Herein lays the strength and weakness of the system. The strength lays in the fact that member states have greater power of enforcement than a council of 25 states, but at the same time member states enjoy considerable flexibility in enforcement which often leads to delays or avoidance of implementation, thereby frustrating the purpose of the law itself. The Legislative Process The Commission is responsible for ensuring compliance with environmental laws. By undertaking its own assessments, through complaints by EU parliament and petitions by EU citizens, the commission monitors the degree of compliance. If after review there is evidence of a breach of law, the EU initiates the infringement proceedings against the violating state. There are three categories of breaches 1) Non-communication cases, in which a member state fails to, inform EU about the adoption of national legislation implementing a directive after the deadline for implementation has passed. 2) Non-conformity cases, in which a member state implements a directive incorrectly. 3) Bad-application cases, in which a member state has failing to correctly apply community law in a particular case. The infringement procedure contains several steps which are outlined in Article 226 of the Treaty. The Commission usually upon receiving a case, issues a formal notice to the government, after which it can issue a reasoned opinion. If the member state still refuses to comply the commission refers the case to the European Court of Justice, for a ruling. Non-compliance with a ruling can lead to the imposition of a fine or lump-sump penalty on the member state. In April 2004 environmental liability directive was issued by the EC with the aim of preventing and remedying environmental damage. According to the directive (which is to be adopted by member states over a period of 3 years) Environmental damage can be remedied in several ways depending on the type of damage: For damage affecting the land, the Directive requires that the land concerned be decontaminated until there is no longer any serious risk of negative impact on human health; For damage affecting water or protected species and natural habitats, the Directive is aimed at restoring the environment to how it was before it was damaged. Another development in the environmental law front is the possibility (proposal for a directive) of criminal action against serious negligence and intentional damage. According to a press release by the EC (Brussels, February 2007) the law would apply to both natural and legal persons. The proposal lays down the maximum penalty, and allows member states to impose more stringent measures. The motivation to introduce criminal action is because although EC Environmental law has existed for 30 years, there are still many cases of severe non- observance of Community environmental law. According the Seventh Annual Survey on the implementation and enforcement of Community environmental law 2005 (Commission Staff working paper Brussels, 2006) there has been a significant reduction in the number of open cases at the end of the year 2005 (798 cases) as opposed to 2004 (1220 cases). However the Environment sector, still accounts for one-fourth of all open cases concerning non-compliance with Community Law under investigation by the Commission. EU Environmental Law and International environmental law Over the past 30 years EU had made tremendous impact on environmental law legislation by enforcing very stringent environmental standards across its member nations. Environmental laws are discriminatory by nature, as they favor countries with developed infrastructures, wealthy industries and higher per capita incomes. For EU to expect all its trading partners (irrespective of their national income and stage of development) to comply with its strict Environmental laws, means that it will seek to eliminate any advantage that they might have in terms of lower prices. Environmental laws can serve as a form of non-tariff trade barrier. As in the case if Shrimp-Turtle case (USA banned the import of shrimp from countries which in the process of shrimp trawling accidentally caused the death of sea turtles. These countries were expected to install US made Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs), so that the shrimp trawling would become environmentally friendly again) (Schaffer et al. 628). The net effect was to increase the sales of a US industry (the industry making TEDs), and possibly raise the price of imported shrimp products. (Schaffer et al. 623) United States ran into trouble with the WTO on the ban on shrimp products, because it was declared uncompetitive and unfair. Subsequently USA had to redefine its guidelines, so that exporting countries which employed a programme similar to that of the USA for turtle protection were given a certification to export again. Impact on FDI and International Businesses EU’s has emerged as the leading incubator for environmental rules and regulations, and this has major implications for all businesses hoping to work with the European market. This includes businesses within and outside the European Union. This is mainly because of two reasons. Businesses must comply with EU regulations if they wish to continue supply and demand to the region. Secondly like all highest forms of legislation (and constructive action in general) the EU legislation set the benchmark for environmental regulation and there may come a time when they will be followed and implemented across the globe. Recently the Commission enacted 3 new laws, which will have a significant effect on businesses trading in EU. The three regulations are REACH (Registration, Evaluation, and Assessment of Chemical Hazards); RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances); and WEEE (the directive on Waste Electronic and Electric Equipment). All three are complex pieces of legislation that will affect a vast range of products, chiefly electronics that are made, sold, used, and disposed of across 25 EU member countries. (Elkington) The first legislation will make mandatory testing of over 30,000 chemical substances for human safety. This will put the fate of several chemical companies in jeopardy. RoHS seeks to ban six substances out of the E. U. economy: lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). This will make it nearly impossible to manufacture semiconductors for electronic items. The third legislation (WEEE) will affect manufacturers of products like TVs, refrigerators, or cars. This take-back legislation will force companies to take the responsibility of recycling packaging material of their product and also ensure recycling of discarded products (end of life accountability). This legislation takes root from the concept of recycling all waste material so that some of it can be re-absorbed (re-claimed) in the productive process, instead of going unutilized into landfills. These legislations will have a number of implications for local and foreign countries in Europe. Firstly they will have to invest in take-back and recycling infrastructure. It is generally observed that big companies adopt the law, in fear of retaliation from NGO’s, and because they refused to be driven out of markets because of these de-facto trade barriers. Korean and Japanese countries demonstrated this when they took a lead in adopting the ISO 14000 standards, so that they cannot be discriminated in the European Market. The rate of adoption of companies from these countries was faster than that of EU companies themselves. The possible impact of stringent environmental laws is felt on domestic companies as well. During a period of economic downturn and business slowdown, most businesses are reluctant to enforce environmental legislation. Also the cost of monitoring the legal environment for businesses increases. EU is actively taking notice of breach in compliance with environmental laws and the process of pursuing legislative action at the European court is a time wasting and expensive affair. According to the OECD report on FDI, the 2003 FDI inflows to European countries were 23 per cent lower than in 2002. But according to data available with UNCTAD, for the period 2004-2006 FDI picked up again and the EU countries recorded a growth of 30% . Thus it cannot be determined to a conclusive level whether the changes in FDI have resulted because of the enactment and enforcement of environmental laws. It may be noted that European Union’s proactive behavior in enacting environmental legislation could be because they had a smaller land mass and learned the importance of conservation before other bigger countries like US. Whatever the case maybe, it remains to be seen whether the extensive array of laws will improve the environment to any noticeable degree. Given the number of years it takes for degradation to become noticeable any fruits of improvement will take time to manifest themselves. Till then both foreign and domestic businesses will find themselves facing a host of challenges, ranging from legislative action, forced compliance, rising environmental compliance cost and the like. However it will also open opportunities for businesses to develop eco-friendly products, and maintain a positive image in the minds of consumers.

Canadaian Studies Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Canadaian Studies - Assignment Example Although the nation has been doing fine without the law, some quotas have taken advantage of this laxity and have involved in murderous activities in praising the abortion. In the past 11 years of great experimentation without the law, it has been revealed that, although there is no law against abortion, doctors and women have exercised the right to abortion responsibly, without the need for any legal restrictions since their conscience do not allow them to do so (Marshall, 1988). Due to lack of the laws and regulation restricting abortion, Canadian citizens, especially doctors have had a share of difficulties in attempting to deliver accessible abortion services to women in part of the world that illegalizes abortion. Unfortunately, semi-skilled legislators who cannot support the improvement women’s access to safe and legal abortion currently govern some parts of Canada (Marshall, 1988). The access to medical and healthy abortion has also been hindered by bigger size of the country, least populated nation according to its size. This has made it difficult to the country to make available abortion services to Canadian women (Marshall, 1988). Furthermore, the government does not fund several abortions clinics thus forcing women to attend hospitals abortion services. Unfortunately, Canadian hospitals are not the easiest or most reassuring places to acquire an abortion (Marshall, 1988). A second problem resulting from the lack of anti-abortion law is anti-choice harassment and violence to Canadian women and doctors in other parts of the world. For example, three Canadian abortion specialists have been shot dead in the last 5 years, by American terrorist who is anti-abortion. Some of the Canadian citizens especially, women have been deported back to Canada for practicing abortion in cultures and nations that have strict laws limiting abortion. The country also had had poor

Marketing research about people motivation and behavior toward TOMS Paper

Marketing about people motivation and behavior toward TOMS shoes - Research Paper Example Hoboken, N.J: Wiley. 13 Mycoskie, B. (2012). Start something that matters. London: Virgin. 13 Russo, M. V. (2010). Companies on a mission: Entrepreneurial strategies for growing sustainably, responsibly, and profitably. Stanford, Calif: Stanford Business Books. 13 Tables 14 8. Figures 19 9. Appendix 24 1. Abstract People motivation and behavior are essential towards products. This marketing research paper attempts to analyze people behavior and motivation towards TOMS shoes. The main concentration of the study is about women perspectives towards TOMS shoes. This is a research that entails secondary and primary data collection methodologies. Where secondary data consists of literature review and primary data concerns survey and questionnaire findings. To analyze the attitude of women towards TOMS shoes, TOMS shoes marketing strategies is a factor that must be assessed (Russo, 2010). There is a stiff competition within shoe industry and motivation factors each corporation undertakes ei ther draw positive or negative perception from consumers. Customers who have an optimistic attitude about a superstar that promotes TOMS may in turn have an optimistic perception about TOMS, which will boost their motivation and actual behavior of buying their products. 2. Introduction TOMS is a brand that many people have supported due to their cause marketing strategies. ... In accordance to their website, TOMS has provided ten million pairs of shoes across over 60 nations (Russo, 2010). A motivational effect behind the TOMS product is their exhibition of corporate responsibility via their desire to assist others in need. Customer behavior can be impacted by issues such as motivation, perception and learning. Those factors are recognized as internal issues or personal issues. In addition, issues such as social norms, family responsibilities and cultural values constitute external or social factors. Those factor, in particular the external ones, can be impacted by the environment and trends. Just as domestic and exterior factors can be applied to endorse social transformation in the case of TOMS Shoes, they can be uniformly as successful in marketing strategies designed to prevent consumers from involving in some behaviors (Cakim, 2010). Researchers have been investigating customers’ behavior and motivation towards various products in various marke ts. Women motivation and behavior towards TOMS shoes is a research topic that has been reviewed by other researchers. The general outcome in the existing literature suggests that motivation and behavior of customer are influenced by the marketing (Russo, 2010). TOMS cause marketing strategy can be cited as the reason women are motivated towards TOMS shoes (Mycoskie, 2012). This marketing research seeks to study women motivation and behavior towards TOMS shoes. Women are great spenders on shoes and like to identify with great brands. This why it is necessary to understand their motivation and behavior factors in towards TOMS shoes. Women are extensively knowledgeable about shoes from different brands. This paper starts with literature

Government Intervention (Microeconomics) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Government Intervention (Microeconomics) - Essay Example Microeconomics, a division of economics deals with the decisions taken by individuals, firms and governments under constraints in order to maximize their goal. The individual or common man’s decision may be controlled by his income which is a constraint. Within his income limit he has to make his buying decisions to increase his happiness. A firm’s decision on its sales and selling price, hiring charges and production costs may be controlled by technology it uses and by the competition prevailing in the market, demand of the product etc. The decision taken should improve the total revenue of the firm. The Government’s decision will be based on the well-being of its people but is controlled by limited technology and resources it possesses. The government might impose tax, laws and quantity of production to protect the people. Thus, we can say that microeconomics, deals with various economic decisions taken by individuals, firms, Government, which affects the deman d and supply of goods and services, prices of commodities, quantity of output etc. Thus Microeconomics â€Å"looks at the smaller picture, and focuses more on basic theories of supply and demand and how individual businesses decide how much of some thing to produce and how much to charge for it† . Demand and Supply can be regarded as the basic principles of economics. Demand can be described as the want of people with the required ability to buy goods and services at a particular price. There prevails a variety of alternative prices for the goods at a particular time. Supply on the other hand is the amount of goods and services bid by sellers for sale at a particular time and at a particular price. The relationship between the demand and supply is the major force which controls the market economy. This force guides the market economy. In a free market or market economy, resources are allocated based on the demand of the product. The supply decisions are made

The role of family members in the prospects of female entrepreneurs Literature review

The role of family members in the prospects of female entrepreneurs - Literature review Example The paper tells that business as a profit-oriented initiative primarily entails risk. This is the tone of the works of authors such as Timmons and Spinelli and Ward and Aronoff who put forward conceptual definition of enterprise as a pursuit of opportunity that requires the investment of resources and the exercise of control. The definition involve the variables such the requirement of considerable investment that one cannot control and the role of people and their motivation towards the enterprise's cause and objective. For these prior works, family becomes an inevitable model - ready and stable - that could address the social, economic and psychological challenges involved in starting and managing businesses. Indeed, even the most liberal and sophisticated economies such as those in Europe and the United States, family-owned businesses constitute as much as 85 percent of the respective aggregate enterprises. There is no business landscape wherein family-owned or controlled business model thrives than in Asian countries such as China. The cultural and social contexts underscore tight familial relationship as ideal, which naturally extend to business pursuits because it provides mechanism of effective control and support. Zapalska and Edwards work tells us more about this in detail with their in-depth analysis of the Chinese Confucian thought and how and why it places great importance to the family. As has been the case in China, the culture emphasizes respect for the elders as well as high regard for authority and the hierarchy on social and organizational levels.

Role of magazines in the 21st century and how has their form changed Essay

Role of magazines in the 21st century and how has their form changed physically and has this involved a change in the content of perfect beauty - Essay Example American women responded well to the idea of readymade clothing. The ready to wear industry flourished with the help of fashion advertising. Evolution of the fashion saw the change of the concept of "perfect beauty" from the simple innocent look to the exposure of much skin. Other online fashion magazines like the Dwell and Martha Stewart were introduced whose concept of â€Å"ultimate beauty† was majored on body features, the slim and trim hipped-woman. As opposed to the audience in vogue and Haper’s bazar, who are mostly conservative in nature, theirs was a revolutionary woman who exposed most of her skin. Evolution of the fashion in America took many shapes as many designers resulted to designing different types of clothes. Givenchy dressed Audrey Hepburn; her fashion presented the feeling of taller, high, covering high top-knots, long legs, small, midriffs, pretty legs and exquisite clothes. This fashion sense revolutionized to Pierre cardin who exemplified fashion in the school girl look which depicted the perfect young girl look that was simple and portraying the feminine figure. Later, Courreges presented the futuristic ‘space-age ‘collection which had suits, dresses and trousers which were more sculpted as opposed to being sewn. This presented the sophisticated look of the mid-sixties. American designers started designed topless bathing suit which was known as the monobikini and the following year he designed lingerie and consequently seamless dresses. This fashion special influence was the exposure of much skin. The introduction of the internet and the Web 2.0 has enabled many people to share information faster and also share their photographs. This has made many photos of celebrities to be available for copying and enumeration. Such information is shared in different social media like twitter and Instagram. The fashion sense from 2003 and 2013 has changed very much with more

Criminal Profiling of Satanic Followers Research Paper - 1

Criminal Profiling of Satanic Followers - Research Paper Example   Ã‚   However, from the law enforcement perspective, it is not easy to classify a criminal activity as a satanic crime and, thus, reduce an investigation only to the suspects who claim to be Satanists (Lanning, 89). To start with, while there are several criteria that can help law enforcement officers to classify a crime as satanic, none of them is reliable enough to clearly define such a criminal activity. To start with, while some argue that the presence of certain symbols, such as inverted crosses, pentagrams, or 666 makes a crime satanic, from the law enforcement perspective â€Å" unless there is a legal-valid perspective for doing so, police have no authority to seize any satanic or occult paraphernalia they might see during the search (Lewis, 2001). The symbols or signs have no any significance for the investigation unless they prove a criminal activity. If a victim includes a Satanic symbol when describing the instruments or a location of the crime, then the symbol can se rve as an evidence. However, many cases reveal that despite the presence of certain symbols in the possession of the offender, the crime had no Satanic relation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Furthermore, signs, symbols, and rituals cannot always be interpreted clearly as their meaning may change over time, place, and circumstance (Lewis, 2001). As an example, a swastika can represent either prosperity and good fortune, or Nazism and anti-Semitism, or – currently – hate, paranoia, and adolescent defiance. Especially in cases involving dabblers, teenagers, and other self-styled Satanists, who give the symbols their own meaning, the analysis of symbols and signs may only have a limited application.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are also cases of offenders leaving satanic symbols on the crime scene deliberately in order to make the crime look â€Å"satanic† and, thus, confuse the investigators. Thus, when law enforcement officers investigate alleged satanic crimes, they need to be objective fact finders (Lanning, 89). While law enforcement officers need to be trained to recognize the possible investigative significance of satanic symbols, rituals, and paraphernalia, it is impossible for one person to know the meaning of all the symbols and rituals of every spiritual belief system. Therefore, symbols cannot be used to clearly classify a law enforcement problem as a satanic activity (Kennedy, 2006).

Research Methods unit 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Research Methods unit 7 - Essay Example The Mason case study is better known as Sybil based on the novel written based on it. Because of this study, psychologists became aware of MPD; before the book’s publication in 1973, there were only 75 reported cases with MPD symptoms, but thereafter there have been 40,000 diagnoses of MPD mostly in North America (Carroll, 2009). Case studies such as these are usually received with much controversy and scepticism by the scientific community. In the case of Mason’s MPD, psychologists were polarized on the issue of its validity, as many advocating the effectiveness of Wilbur’s methods as those who criticize it for being subjective and partial, creating rather than merely observing or treating the alleged disorder. Detractors believe that signs of MPD only appear after therapy has begun. The advantages of the case study method include the rich source of information provided by this method. Insights are provided by close observation of the subjects’ behaviour, which could provide leads for later controlled, experimental research. Case studies also provide opportunities to try out new therapeutic techniques, or innovative applications of techniques already in practice. Another advantage is that the case study is the best technique to study rare events, and to provide evidence to either challenge or support psychological theories (Zechmeister, Zechmeister & Shaughnessy, 2001:216). Disadvantages of case studies are that they are ambiguous and tentative, and are not capable of providing conclusive cause-and-effect findings. Case studies are prone to possible bias in interpreting results, because of observers’ predisposal to certain ideas, and biases introduced in the collection of data. Finally, there is limited external validity for case studies, as there are problems in arriving at generalizations from the data obtained from a single case (Zechmeister, Zechmeister &

Learning theories Essay Example for Free

Learning theories Essay Primary research consists of the collection of original primary data. It is often undertaken after the researcher has gained some insight into the issue by reviewing secondary research or by analyzing previously collected primary data. It can be accomplished through various methods, including questionnaires and telephone interviews in market research, or experiments and direct observations in the physical sciences, amongst others. Secondary Research: Secondary research (also known as desk research) involves the summary, collation and/or synthesis of existing research rather than primary research, where data is collected from, for example, research subjects or experiments. The term is widely used in medical research and in market research. The principal methodology in medical secondary research is the systematic review, commonly using meta-analytic statistical techniques, although other methods of synthesis, like realist reviews and meta-narrative[2] reviews, have been developed in recent years. Such secondary research uses the primary research of others typically in the form of research publications and reports. In a market research context, secondary research is taken to include the re-use by a second party of any data collected by a first party or parties. In archaeology and landscape history, desk research is contrasted with fieldwork. Primary Research Vs Secondary Research One of the major differences between the two is that primary research is conducted with the help of primary sources available where as secondary research is conducted on the basis of some data collected from someone who had got it from the sources. Primary research is expensive to conduct since it involves primary sources. But secondary research is not much expensive as primary. Another major difference between the two is that primary research is much more time consuming as compared to secondary research. As a matter of fact the results found by the primary research are usually to have better quality than those from the conduct of the secondary research. Primary research is also usually detailed and elaborated since it is supposed to be both qualitative as well as quantitative. On the other hand data pertaining to secondary research is usually not much detailed and elaborated since it involves indirect uses. Primary research is done with a lot of hard work and dedication. On the hand secondary research is usually presented with a number of data and records. These are usually taken from books, periodicals published by governmental organizations, statistical data, annual reports and case study ORGANIZATION BEHAVIOUR. Organizational behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups and structures have on behavior within an organization for the purpose of applying such knowledge towards improving an organizations effectiveness. It is an interdisciplinary field that includes sociology, psychology, communication, and management; and it complements the academic studies of organizational theory (which is focused on organizational and intra-organizational topics) and human resource studies (which is more applied and business-oriented). It may also be referred to as organizational studies or organizational science. The field has its roots in industrial and organizational psychology. 1 Organizational studies encompass the study of organizations from multiple viewpoints, methods, and levels of analysis. For instance, one textbook divides these multiple viewpoints into three perspectives: modern, symbolic, and postmodern. Another traditional distinction, present especially in  American academia, is between the study of micro organizational behaviour — which refers to individual and group dynamics in an organizational setting — and macro strategic management and organizational theory which studies whole organizations and industries, how they adapt, and the strategies, structures and contingencies that guide them. To this distinction, some scholars have added an interest in meso scale structures power, culture, and the networks of individuals and i. e. ronit units in organizations — and field level analysis which study how whole populations of organizations interact. Whenever people interact in organizations, many factors come into play. Modern organizational studies attempt to understand and model these factors. Like all modernist social sciences, organizational studies seek to control, predict, and explain. There is some controversy over the ethics of controlling workers behavior, as well as the manner in which workers are treated (see Taylors scientific management approach compared to the human relations movement of the 1940s). As such, organizational behaviour or OB (and its cousin, Industrial psychology) have at times been accused of being the scientific tool of the powerful. Those accusations notwithstanding, OB can play a major role in organizational development, enhancing organizational performance, as well as individual and group performance/satisfaction/commitment. One of the main goals of organizational theorists is, according to Simms (1994), to revitalize organizational theory and develop a better conceptualization of organizational life. † An organizational theorist should carefully consider levels assumptions being made in theory, and is concerned to help managers and administrators. 1. INTRODUCTION TO LEARNING. The process of learning has great value for enriching human life in all spheres of life. All activities and behaviors that make personal, social and economic life peaceful and pleasurable are learned. Learning definitely affects human behaviour in organizations. There is little organizational behaviour that is not either directly or indirectly affected by learning. For example, a workers skill, a managers attitude, a supervisors motivation and a secretarys mode of dress are all learned. Our ability to learn is also important to organizations preoccupied with controlled  performance. Employees have to know what they are to do, how they are to do it, how well they are expected to do it, and the consequences of achieving good or poor levels of performance. Thus, learning theories have influenced a range of organizational practices concerning: 1. The induction of new recruits 2. The design and delivery of job training 3. The design of payment systems- 4. How supervisors evaluate and provide feedback on employee performance 5. The design of forms of learning organization The concept of the learning organization became popular during the 1990s. The learning organization is a configuration of structures and policies which encourage individual learning, with individual and organizational benefits. The organization itself can also be regarded as an entity which is capable of learning independently of its members. Knowledge has thus become a more important asset for many organizations than materials and products. 1. 1 WHAT IS LEARNING Learning covers virtually all behaviors and is concerned with the acquisition of knowledge, attitudes and values, emotional responses (such as happiness and fear), and motor skills (such as operating a computer keyboard or riding a bicycle). We can learn incorrect facts or pick up bad habits in the same way that we learn correct facts and acquire good habits. It refers to a spectrum of changes that occur as a result of ones experience. Learning may be defined as any relatively permanent change in behaviour or behavioral potential produced by experience. It may be noted here that some behavioral changes take place due to the use of drugs, alcohol, or fatigue. Such changes are temporary. They are not considered learning. Therefore, changes are due to practice and experience, and relatively permanent, alone are illustrative of learning. In the definition given above, it is clear that the process of learning has certain distinctive characteristics. These are: First, learning always involves some kind of experience. These experiences may be derived from inside the body or they may be sensory, arising outside. The task of inferring whether or not learning has taken place may be an obvious one, but observable behaviour may not always reveal learning. It is important to distinguish between two types of learning. Procedural learning or knowing how, concerns your ability to carry out particular skilled actions such as riding a horse. Declarative learning or `knowing that, concerns your store of factual knowledge such as an understanding of the history of our use of the horse. Second, the behavioral changes that take place due to learning are relatively permanent. Behaviour can be changed temporarily by many other factors and in ways which we would not like to call learning. These other factors include growing up or maturation (in children), aging (in adults), drugs, alcohol and fatigue. For example, you must have noticed that whenever one takes a sedative or drug or alcohol, ones behaviour changes. Each one of these drugs affect physiological functions leading to certain changes in behaviour. Such changes are temporary in nature and disappear as the effect of drugs wears out. Third, learning cannot be observed directly. We can only observe a persons behaviour and draw the inference from it that learning has taken place. A distinction has to be made between learning and performance. Performance is evaluated by some quantitative and some qualitative measures of output. For example, the number of calls a sales representative makes to customers or the quality of a managers chairing of a committee meeting. But, learning acts as a constraint on the outcome. Normally, we cannot perform any better than we have learned, though there are occasions when the right motivational disposition and a supportive environment help to raise the level of performance. Researchers have found that increased motivation may improve our performance up to a point but, beyond this, increased motivation may cause a lowering of the level of performance. 2. PRECONDITIONS FOR LEARNING Two preconditions for learning will increase the success of those who are to participate in such programs: employee readiness and motivation. The condition known as employee readiness refers to both maturational and experiential factors in the employee’s background. Prospective employees should be screened to determine that they have the background knowledge or the skills necessary for learning what will be presented to them. Recognition of individual differences in readiness is as important in an organization as it is in any other learning situation. It is often desirable to group individuals according to their capacity to learn, as determined by scores from tests, or to provide a different or extended type of instruction for those who need it. The other precondition for learning is that the employee be properly motivated. That is, for optimum learning the employee must recognize the need for acquiring new information or for having new skills; and a desire to learn as learning progresses must be maintained. While people at work are motivated by certain common needs, they differ from one another in the relative importance of these needs at any given time. For example, new recruits often have an intense desire for advancement, and have established specific goals for career progression. Objectives that are clearly defined will produce increased motivation in the learning process when instructional objectives are related to individual needs. 3. SOME PREREQUISITES FOR LEARNING After employees have been placed in the learning situation, their readiness and motivation should be assessed further. In addition, facilitators should understand the basic learning issues discussed below. 3. 1 MEANINGFUL MATERIALS In accordance with adult learning theories, the material to be learned should be organized in as meaningful a manner as possible. It should be arranged so that each successive experience builds upon preceding ones so that the employee is able to integrate the experiences into a useable pattern of knowledge and skills. The material should have face validity. 3. 2 REINFORCEMENT Anything which strengthens the employee’s response is called reinforcement. It may be in the form of approval from the instructor or facilitator or the feeling of accomplishment that follows the performance; or it may simply be confirmation by a software program that the employee’s response was correct. It is generally most effective if it occurs immediately after a task has been performed. Behaviour modification, or a technique that operates on the principle that behaviour that is rewarded positively (reinforced) will be exhibited more frequently in the future, whereas behaviour that is penalized or unrewarded will decrease in frequency, is often used for such purposes 3. 3 TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE Unless what is learned in the development activity is applicable to what is required on the job, the effort will have been of little value. The ultimate effectiveness of learning, therefore, is to be found in the answer to the question: ‘To what extent does what is learned transfer to the job? ’ Helpful approaches include ensuring that conditions in the development program conform as closely as possible to those on the job, and coaching employees on the principles for applying to the job the behaviors which they have learned. Furthermore, once formal instruction has been completed, the supervisor must ensure that the work environment supports, reinforces and rewards the employee for applying the new skills or knowledge. 3. 4 KNOWLEDGE OF PROGRESS As an employee’s development progresses, motivation may be maintained and even increased by providing knowledge of progress. Progress, as determined by tests and other records, may be plotted on a chart, commonly referred to as a learning curve. Exhibit 8. 9 is an example of a learning curve that is common in the acquisition of many job skills. 4. PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING A. Distributed Learning: Another factor that determines the effectiveness of learning is the amount of time given to practice in one session. Should training or development be undertaken in five two-hour periods or in 10 one-hour periods? It has been found in most cases that spacing out the activities will result in more rapid learning and more permanent retention. This is the principle of distributed learning. Since the most efficient distribution will vary according to the type and complexity of the task to be learned, it is desirable to make reference to the rapidly growing body of research in this area when an answer is required for a specific learning situation. B. Whole v. Part Learning: Most jobs and tasks can be broken down into parts that lend themselves to further analysis. The analysis of the most effective manner for completing each part then provides a basis for giving specific instruction. Airline flight attendant jobs, for example, involve a combination of mechanistic (specific tasks that follow a prescribed routine), and organic (tasks that involve decision-making and individualized responses) duties, which are best learnt separately, and then combined to form the whole job responsibility. Thus, the prescribed takeoff and landing announcements, and formal safety procedures, are supplemented with separate learning activities about how to deal with difficult passengers or how to cope with food supply problems. In evaluating whole versus part learning, it is necessary to consider the nature of the task to be learned. If the task can be broken down successfully for part learning, it should probably be taught as a unit. C. Practice and Repetition: It is those things we do daily that become a part of our repertoire of skills. Employees need frequent opportunities to practice their job tasks in the manner in which they will ultimately be expected to perform them. The individual who is being taught to operate a machine should have an opportunity to practice on it. Similarly, the supervisor who is being taught how to train should have supervised practice in training D. Multiple Sense Learning: It has long been acknowledged that the use of multiple senses increases learning. Smith and Delahaye state that about 80 per cent of what a person perceives is obtained visually, 11 per cent by hearing and 9 per cent by the other senses combined. It follows that in order to maximize learning, multiple senses of the employees, particularly sight and hearing, should be engaged. Visual aids are therefore emphasized as being important to the learning and development activities. 5. THEORIES OF LEARNING OR APPROCHES TO LEARNING 1. BEHAVIORLIST APPROACH Behaviorism, as a learning theory, can be traced back to Aristotle, whose essay â€Å"Memory† focused on association being made between events such as lightning and thunder. Other philosophers that followed Aristotle’s thoughts are Hobbs (1650), Hume (1740), Brown (1820), Bain (1855) and Ebbinghause (1885) (Black, 1995). Pavlov, Watson, Thorndike and Skinner later developed the theory in more detail. Watson is the theorist credited with coining the term behaviorism. The school of adult learning theory that adopted these principles has become known as the school of behaviorism, which saw learning as a straightforward process of response to stimuli. The provision of a reward or reinforcement is believed to strengthen the response and therefore result in changes in behavior – the test, according to this school of thought, is as to whether learning had occurred. Spillane (2002) states, â€Å"the behaviorist perspective, associated with B. F. Skinner, holds that the mind at work cannot be observed, tested, or understood; thus, behaviorists are concerned with actions (behavior) as the sites of knowing, teaching, and learning†. The hypothesis behind behaviorlist learning theories is that all learning occurs when behavior is influenced and changed by external factors. Behavioralism disregards any notion that there may be an internal component to man’s learning. Grippin and Peters (1984) emphasize in regard to an individual’s subjugation to external stimulus as a determinant of response (i. e. , behavior). Contiguity is understood as the timing of events that is necessary to bring about behavioral change, while reinforcement refers to the probability that repeated positive or negative events will produce an anticipated change in behavior. 1. (A) Classical Conditioning (Pavlov) Classical conditioning is a reflexive or automatic type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus. Originators and Key Contributors: First described by Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), Russian physiologist, in 1903, and studied in infants by John B. Watson (1878-1958). Several types of learning exist. The most basic form is associative learning, i. e. , making a new association between events in the environment. There are two forms of associative learning: classical conditioning (made famous by Ivan Pavlov’s experiments with dogs) and operant conditioning. Pavlov’s Dogs In the early twentieth century, Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov did Nobel prize-winning work on digestion. While studying the role of saliva in dogs’ digestive processes, he stumbled upon a phenomenon he labeled â€Å"psychic reflexes. † While an accidental discovery, he had the foresight to see the importance of it. Pavlov’s dogs, restrained in an experimental chamber, were presented with meat powder and they had their saliva collected via a surgically implanted tube in their saliva glands. Over time, he noticed that his dogs who begin salivation before the meat powder was even presented, whether it was by the presence of the handler or merely by a clicking noise produced by the device that distributed the meat powder. Fascinated by this finding, Pavlov paired the meat powder with various stimuli such as the ringing of a bell. After the meat powder and bell (auditory stimulus) were presented together several times, the bell was used alone. Pavlov’s dogs, as predicted, responded by salivating to the sound of the bell (without the food). The bell began as a neutral stimulus (i. e. the bell itself did not produce the dogs’ salivation). However, by pairing the bell with the stimulus that did produce the salivation response, the bell was able to acquire the ability to trigger the salivation response. Pavlov therefore demonstrated how stimulus-response bonds (which some consider as the basic building blocks of learning) are formed. He dedicated much of the rest of his career further exploring this finding. In technical terms, the meat powder is considered an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and the dog’s salivation is the unconditioned response (UCR). The bell is a neutral stimulus until the dog learns to associate the bell with food. Then the bell becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) which produces the conditioned response (CR) of salivation after repeated pairings between the bell and food. John B. Watson: Early Classical Conditioning with Humans John B. Watson further extended Pavlov’s work and applied it to human beings. In 1921, Watson studied Albert, an 11 month old infant child. The goal of the study was to condition Albert to become afraid of a white rat by pairing the white rat with a very loud, jarring noise (UCS). At first, Albert showed no sign of fear when he was presented with rats, but once the rat was repeatedly paired with the loud noise (UCS), Albert developed a fear of rats. It could be said that the loud noise (UCS) induced fear (UCR). The implications of Watson’s experiment suggested that classical conditioning could cause some phobias in humans. 1. (B) GOMS Model (Card, Moran, Newell) The GOMS Model is a human information processing model that predicts what skilled users will do in seemingly unpredictable situations. Originators and proponents: Card, Moran and Newell in 1983; Bonnie John et al. This model is the general term for a family of human information processing techniques that attempt to model and predict user behavior. Typically used by software designers, a person’s behavior is analyzed in terms of four components: Goals – something that the person wants to accomplish. Can be high level to low level. Operators – basic perceptual, cognitive, or motor actions used to accomplish goals, or actions that the software allows user to make. Methods – procedures (sequences) of sub-goals and operators that can accomplish a goal Selection rules – personal rules users follow in deciding what method to use in a circumstance 1. (C) Operant Conditioning (Skinner) A behaviorist theory based on the fundamental idea that behaviors that are reinforced will tend to continue, while behaviors that are punished will eventually end. Originators and Key Contributors: B. F. Skinner, built upon Ivan Pavlov’s theories of classical conditioning. Operant conditioning can be described as a process that attempts to modify behavior through the use of positive and negative reinforcement. Through operant conditioning, an individual makes an association between a particular behavior and a consequence. Example 1: Parents rewarding a child’s excellent grades with candy or some other prize. Example 2: A schoolteacher awards points to those students who are the most calm and well-behaved. Students eventually realize that when they voluntarily become quieter and better behaved, that they earn more points. Example 3: A form of reinforcement (such as food) is given to an animal every time the animal (for example, a hungry lion) presses a lever. The term â€Å"operant conditioning† originated by the behaviorist B. F. Skinner, who believed that one should focus on the external, observable causes of behavior (rather than try to unpack the internal thoughts and motivations) Reinforcement comes in two forms: positive and negative. Positive and negative reinforces Positive reinforces are favorable events or outcomes that are given to the individual after the desired behavior. This may come in the form of praise, rewards, etc. Negative reinforces typically are characterized by the removal of an undesired or unpleasant outcome after the desired behavior. A response is strengthened as something considered negative is removed. The goal in both of these cases of reinforcement is for the behavior to increase. Positive and negative punishment Punishment, in contrast, is when the increase of something undesirable attempts to cause a decrease in the behavior that follows. Positive punishment is when unfavorable events or outcomes are given in order to weaken the response that follows. Negative punishment is characterized by when a favorable event or outcome is removed after a undesired behavior occurs. The goal in both of these cases of punishment is for a behavior to decrease. What is the difference between operant conditioning and classical conditioning? In operant conditioning, a voluntary response is then followed by a reinforcing stimulus. In this way, the voluntary response (e. g. studying for an exam) is more likely to be done by the individual. In contrast, classical conditioning is when a stimulus automatically triggers an involuntary response. 1. (D) Socialist Learning Theory (Bandura). Bandura’s Social Learning Theory posits that people learn from one another, via observation, imitation, and modeling. The theory has often been called a bridge between behaviorist and cognitive learning theories because it encompasses attention, memory, and motivation. Originator: Albert Bandura People learn through observing others’ behavior, attitudes, and outcomes of those behaviors. â€Å"Most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others, one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action. † (Bandura). Social learning theory explains human behavior in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioral, and environmental influences. Necessary conditions for effective modeling: 1. Attention — various factors increase or decrease the amount of attention paid. Includes distinctiveness, affective valence, prevalence, complexity, functional value. One’s characteristics (e. g. sensory capacities, arousal level, perceptual set, past reinforcement) affect attention. 2. Retention — remembering what you paid attention to. Includes symbolic coding, mental images, cognitive organization, symbolic rehearsal, motor rehearsal 3. Reproduction — reproducing the image. Including physical capabilities, and self-observation of reproduction. 4. Motivation — having a good reason to imitate. Includes motives such asA past (i. e. traditional behaviorism), promised (imagined incentives) and vicarious (seeing and recalling the reinforced model) Bandura believed in â€Å"reciprocal determinism†, that is, the world and a person’s behavior cause each other, while behaviorism essentially states that one’s environment causes one’s behavior, Bandura,who was studying adolescent aggression, found this too simplistic, and so in addition he suggested that behavior causes environment as well. Later, Bandura soon considered personality as an interaction between three components: the environment, behavior, and one’s psychological processes (one’s ability to entertain images in minds and language). 2. CONSTURCTIVIST Constructivism is a synthesis of multiple theories diffused into one form. It is the assimilation of both behaviorialist and cognitive ideals. The â€Å"constructivist stance maintains that learning is a process of constructing meaning; it is how people make sense of their experience†. This is a combination effect of using a person’s cognitive abilities and insight to understand their environment. This coincides especially well with current adult learning theory. This concept is easily translated into a self-directed learning style, where the individual has the ability to take in all the information and the environment of a problem and learn. Constructivism as a paradigm or worldview posits that learning is an active, constructive process. The learner is an information constructor. People actively construct or create their own subjective representations of objective reality. New information is linked to prior knowledge, thus mental representations are subjective. Originators and important contributors: Vygotsky, Piaget, Dewey, Vico, Rorty, Bruner Constructivism A reaction to didactic approaches such as behaviorism and programmed instruction, constructivism states that learning is an active, contextualized process of constructing knowledge rather than acquiring it. Knowledge is constructed based on personal experiences and hypotheses of the environment. Learners continuously test these hypotheses through social negotiation. Each person has a different interpretation and construction of knowledge process. The learner is not a blank slate (tabula rasa) but brings past experiences and cultural factors to a situation. Vygotsky’s theory is one of the foundations of constructivism. It asserts three major themes: Major themes: 1. Social interaction plays a fundamental role in the process of cognitive development. In contrast to Jean Piaget’s understanding of child development (in which development necessarily precedes learning), Vygotsky felt social learning precedes development. He states: â€Å"Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (inter-psychological) and then inside the child (intra-psychological). † 2. The More Knowledgeable Other (MKO). The MKO refers to anyone who has a better understanding or a higher ability level than the learner, with respect to a particular task, process, or concept. The MKO is normally thought of as being a teacher, coach, or older adult, but the MKO could also be peers, a younger person, or even computers. 3. The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). The ZPD is the distance between a student’s ability to perform a task under adult guidance and/or with peer collaboration and the student’s ability solving the problem independently. According to Vygotsky, learning occurred in this zone. Vygotsky focused on the connections between people and the sociocultural context in which they act and interact in shared experiences (Crawford, 1996). According to Vygotsky, humans use tools that develop from a culture, such as speech and writing, to mediate their social environments. Initially children develop these tools to serve solely as social functions, ways to communicate needs. Vygotsky believed that the internalization of these tools led to higher thinking skills. 3. COGNITIVISM The cognitivist paradigm essentially argues that the â€Å"black box† of the mind should be opened and understood. The learner is viewed as an information processor (like a computer). Originators and important contributors: Merrill -Component Display Theory (CDT), Reigeluth (Elaboration Theory), Gagne, Briggs, Wager, Bruner (moving toward cognitive constructivism), Schank (scripts), Scandura (structural learning) The cognitivist revolution replaced behaviorism in 1960s as the dominant paradigm. Cognitivism focuses on the inner mental activities – opening the â€Å"black box† of the human mind is valuable and necessary for understanding how people learn. Mental processes such as thinking, memory, knowing, and problem-solving need to be explored. Knowledge can be seen as schema or symbolic mental constructions. Learning is defined as change in a learner’s schemata. A response to behaviorism, people are not â€Å"programmed animals† that merely respond to environmental stimuli; people are rational beings that require active participation in order to learn, and whose actions are a consequence of thinking. Changes in behavior are observed, but only as an indication of what is occurring in the learner’s head. Cognitivism uses the metaphor of the mind as computer: information comes in, is being processed, and leads to certain outcomes. 3. 1 GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY Gestalt psychology or gestaltism (German: Gestalt – essence or shape of an entitys complete form) is a theory of mind and brain of the Berlin School; the operational principle of gestalt psychology is that the brain is holistic, parallel, and analog, with self-organizing tendencies.

Comment The Five Minds of a Manager Essay Example for Free

Comment The Five Minds of a Manager Essay The Five Minds of a Manager the five aspects of the managerial mind—has proved not only powerful in the classroom but insightful in practice, as we hope to demonstrate in this article. We’ll first explain how we came up with the five managerial mind-sets, then we’ll discuss each in some depth before concluding with the case for interweaving the five. The Five Managerial Mind-Sets Jonathan Gosling is the director of the Centre for Leadership Studies at the University of Exeter in Exeter, England. Henry Mintzberg is the Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies at McGill University in Montreal and the author of the forthcoming book Managers Not MBAs from Berrett-Koehler. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, headquartered in Geneva, has a management development concern. It worries that it may be drifting too far toward a fast-action culture. It knows that it must act quickly in responding to disasters everywhere—earthquakes and wars, floods and famines—but it also sees the need to engage in the slower, more delicate task of building a capacity for action that is careful, thoughtful, and tailored to local conditions and needs. Many business organizations face a similar problem—they know how to execute, but they are not so adept at stepping back to reflect on their situations. Others face the opposite predicament: They get so mired in thinking about their problems that they can’t get things done fast enough. We all know bureaucracies that are great at planning and organizing but slow to respond to market forces, just as we’re all acquainted with the nimble companies that react to every stimulus, but sloppily, and have to be constantly fixing things. And then, of course, there are those that suffer from both afflictions—for example, firms whose marketing departments are absorbed with grand positioning statements while their sales forces chase every possible deal. Those two aspects establish the bounds of management: Everything that every effective manager does is sandwiched between action on the ground and reflection in the abstract. Action without reflection is thoughtless; reflection without action is passive. Every manager has to find a way to combine these two mindsets—to function at the point where reflective thinking meets practical doing. But action and reflection about what? One obvious answer is: about collaboration, about getting things done cooperatively with other people—in negotiations, for example, where a manager cannot act alone. Another answer is that action, reflection, and collaboration have to be rooted in a deep appreciation of reality harvard business review †¢ november 2003 in all its facets. We call this mind-set worldly, which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as â€Å"experienced in life, sophisticated, practical. † Finally, action, reflection, and collaboration, as well as worldliness, must subscribe to a certain rationality or logic; they rely on an analytic mind-set, too. So we have five sets of the managerial mind, five ways in which managers interpret and deal with the world around them. Each has a dominant subject, or target, of its own. For reflection, the subject is the self; there can be no insight without self-knowledge. Collaboration takes the subject beyond the self, into the manager’s network of relationships. Analysis goes a step beyond that, to the organization; organizations depend on the systematic decomposition of activities, and that’s what analysis is all about. Beyond the organization lies what we consider the subject of the worldly mind-set, namely context—the worlds around the organization. Finally, the action mind-set pulls everything together through the process of change—in self, relationships, organization, and context. The practice of managing, then, involves five perspectives, which correspond to the five modules of our program: †¢ Managing self: the reflective mind-set †¢ Managing organizations: the analytic mind-set †¢ Managing context: the worldly mind-set †¢ Managing relationships: the collaborative mind-set †¢ Managing change: the action mind-set If you are a manager, this is your world! Let us make clear several characteristics of this set of sets. First, we make no claim that our framework is either scientific or comprehensive. It simply has proved useful in our work with managers, including in our master’s program. (For more on the program, see the sidebar â€Å"Mind-Sets for Management Development. †) Second, we ask you to consider each of these managerial mind-sets as an attitude, a frame of mind that opens new vistas. Unless you get into a reflective frame of mind, for example, you cannot open yourself to new ideas. You might not even notice such ideas in the first place without a worldly frame of mind. And, of course, you cannot appreciate the buzz, the vistas, and the opportunities of actions unless you engage in them. Third, a word on our word â€Å"mind-sets. † We page 2 The Five Minds of a Manager do not use it to set any manager’s mind. All of us have had more than enough of that. Rather, we use the word in the spirit of a fortune one of us happened to pull out of a Chinese cookie recently: â€Å"Get your mind set. Confidence will lead you on. † We ask you to get your mind set around five key ideas. Then, not just confidence but coherence can lead you on. Think, too, of these mind-sets as mind-sights—perspectives. But be aware that, improperly used, they can also be mine sites. Too much of any of them—obsessive analyzing or compulsive collaborating, for instance—and the mind-set can blow up in your face. Managing Self: The Reflective Mind-Set Managers who are sent off to development courses these days often find themselves being welcomed to â€Å"boot camp. † This is no country club, they are warned; you’ll have to work hard. But this is wrongheaded. While managers certainly don’t need a country club atmosphere for development, neither do they need boot camp. Most managers we know already live boot camp every day. Besides, in real boot camps, soldiers learn to march and obey, not to stop and think. These days, what managers desperately need is to stop and think, to step back and reflect thoughtfully on their experiences. Indeed, in his book Rules for Radicals, Saul Alinsky makes the interesting point that events, or â€Å"happenings,† become experience only after they have been reflected upon thoughtfully: â€Å"Most people do not accumulate a body of experience. Most people go through life undergoing a series of happenings, which pass through their systems undigested. Happenings become experiences when they are digested, when they are reflected on, related to general patterns, and synthesized. † Unless the meaning is understood, managing is mindless. Hence we take reflection to be that space suspended between experience and explanation, where the mind makes the connections. Imagine yourself in a meeting when someone suddenly erupts with a personal rant. You’re tempted to ignore or dismiss the outburst—you’ve heard, after all, that the person is having problems at home. But why not use it to reflect on your own reaction—whether em- Mind-Sets for Management Development In 1996, when we founded the International Masters Program in Practicing Management with colleagues from around the world, we developed the managerial mind-sets as a new way to structure management education and development. Managers are sent to the IMPM by their companies, preferably in groups of four or five. They stay on the job, coming into our classrooms for five modules of two weeks each, one for each of the mindsets, over a period of 16 months. We open with a module on the reflective mind-set. The module is located at Lancaster University in the reflective atmosphere of northern England—the nearby hills and lakes inspire reflection on the purpose of life and work. Then it is on to McGill University in Montreal, where the grid-like regularity of the city reflects the energy and order of the analytic mind-set. The worldly mind-set on context comes alive at the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore, where new technologies jostle ancient traditions on the crowded streets. Then comes the collabora- harvard business review †¢ november 2003 tive mind-set, hosted by faculty in Japan, where collaboration has been the key to managerial innovations, and Korea, where alliances and partnerships have become the basis for business growth. Last is the action mind-set module, located at Insead in France, where emerging trends from around the world convert into lessons for managerial action. So our locations not only teach the mindsets but also encourage the participating managers to live them. And so have we, in the very conception of the program. Our approach to management development is fundamentally reflective. We believe managers need to step back from the pressures of their jobs and reflect thoughtfully on their experiences. We as faculty members bring concepts; the participants bring experience. Learning occurs where these meet—in individual heads, small groups, and all together. Our 50-50 rule says that half the classroom time should be turned over to the participants, on their agendas. The program is fully collaborative all around. There is no lead school; much of the organizational responsibility is distributed. Likewise, the faculty’s relationship with the participants is collaborative. And faculty members work closely with the participating companies, which over the past eight years have included Alcan, BT, EDF Group and Gaz de France, Fujitsu, the International Red Cross Federation, LG, Lufthansa, Matsushita, Motorola, Royal Bank of Canada, and Zeneca. We think of our setting as being especially worldly, because the participating managers and faculty host their colleagues at home, in their own cultures, and are guests abroad. We also believe that the program’s reflective orientation allows us to probe into analysis more deeply than in regular education and work. Finally, our own purpose is action: We seek fundamental change in management education worldwide—to help change business schools into true schools of management. page 3 The Five Minds of a Manager These days, what managers desperately need is to stop and think—to step back and reflect thoughtfully on their experiences. barrassment, anger, or frustration—and so recognize some comparable feelings in yourself? Your own reaction now becomes a learning experience for you: You have opened a space for imagination, between your experience and your explanation. It can make all the difference. Organizations may not need â€Å"mirror people,† who see in everything only reflections of their own behavior. But neither do they need â€Å"window people,† who cannot see beyond the images in front of them. They need managers who see both ways—in a sense, ones who look out the window at dawn, to see through their own reflections to the awakening world outside. â€Å"Reflect† in Latin means to refold, which suggests that attention turns inward so that it can be turned outward. This means going beyond introspection. It means looking in so that you can better see out in order to perceive a familiar thing in a different way—a product as a service, maybe, or a customer as a partner. Does that not describe the thinking of the really successful managers, the Andy Groves of the world? Compare such people with the Messiers and Lays, who dazzle with great mergers and grand strategies before burning out their companies. Likewise, reflective managers are able to see behind in order to look ahead. Successful â€Å"visions† are not immaculately conceived; they are painted, stroke by stroke, out of the experiences of the past. Reflective managers, in other words, have a healthy respect for history—not just the grand history of deals and disasters but also the everyday history of all the little actions that make organizations work. Consider in this regard Kofi Annan’s deep personal understanding of the United Nations, a comprehension that has been the source of his ability to help move that complex body to a different and better place. You must appreciate the past if you wish to use the present to get to a better future.

Bang Olufson Marketing Analysis

Bang Olufson Marketing Analysis The aim of this report is to critically assess the marketing strategies of Bang Olufsen considering their business in United Kingdom. It comments on the B2B and B2C products in brief. The report comments on the following: The macro business environment Organisations Marketing Mix Organisations segmentation, targeting and positioning strategies. Based on the findings and observations, some recommendations are put forth at the end of the report. Company Background Bang Olufsen manufactures a highly distinctive and exclusive range of televisions, music systems, loudspeakers, telephones, and multimedia products that combine technological excellence with emotional appeal. Founded in 1925, by Peter Bang  and  Svend Olufsen in Struer, Denmark, Bang Olufsen a/s is world renowned for its distinctive range of quality audio, video and multimedia products that represent their vision: Courage to constantly question the ordinary in search of surprising, long-lasting experiences. Bang Olufsen employs over 2,550 staff members and had a turnover of DKK 4,092 million (EUR 5486 million) in the 2007/2008 financial year. (Bang Olufsen) The Macro Business Environment Most of the BO products are manufactured in Denmark. Considering the business in UK, it has to understand the political, economic, socio-cultural and technological environment in UK. Since Denmark and UK are the members of European Union (EU), there are some advantages for the organisation. Political The European Union (EU) allows the free movement of goods and services between almost 500 million consumers in 27 EU member states. Due to this, import duty is not payable on goods sourced from Denmark, being one of the EU member states. (Business Link UK) There could be changes in the VAT and service taxation policies with the formation of new government. Economic The economic crisis and recession had affected the business of BO as people and businesses are more likely to hold on to their cash and not to spend it on high priced consumer goods. Due to the fall in share prices and real estate markets, the consumers of the high end products, like BO, will be less likely to spend as earlier. Another economic factor faced by the BO is currency exchange rates. As large part of the products produced in Denmark and with the Danish Krone (DKK) pegged to Euro, devaluation of GBP to the Euro has affected sales in UK which is one of the largest markets of the company. Socio-cultural BO has adopted the philosophy of Danish Design, which is renowned for its high class design and quality. The products of this class are considered as status symbols and products of pride. Technological Competitors like Bose, Loewe who are also known for their design, quality with the high prices are coming up with new products with the same functionalities as BO with equal or slightly lower prices. Due to the advancements in the technology, components are getting cheaper which may help companies like Sony, Samsung etc. with range of products in various qualities, targeting customers spanning across price conscious segments to quality focused segments. Legal The company has to ensure the protection of the trademarks of the brand. The logos and other trademarks should be registered in UK. The company should ensure that there are no patent infringements. Environmental Develop and produce products under circumstances that comply with the demands of the standards ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Bang Olufsen as an environmentally responsible company desires to create sustainable products. The considerations involved in the operation, design, and longevity of the products must be in mutual balance with the environmental impact of production. (Environment, Bang Olufsen) The Marketing Mix The marketing mix is a combination of the Four Ps Product, Price, Place and Promotion all used to together to meet the customer needs. To create the right marketing mix, businesses have to meet the following conditions: The product has to have the right features for example, it must look good and work well. The price must be right. Consumer will need to buy in large numbers to produce a healthy profit. The goods must be in the right place at the right time. Making sure that the goods arrive when and where they are wanted is an important operation. The target group needs to be made aware of the existence and availability of the product through promotion. Successful promotion helps a firm to spread costs over a larger output (The Times 100). Product Bang Olufsen manufactures a highly distinctive and exclusive range of televisions, music systems, loudspeakers, telephones, and multimedia products that combine technological excellence with emotional appeal. Classification of Product Speciality products have unique characteristics that are important to buyers at any price. BO products are classified speciality product. BO products are made to fit in at a place where people feel at home. BO products are designed with the philosophy that they should provide: Unique experiences Relaxation Comfort and stability Uncomplicated solutions make life easy Tranquillity and longevity Consumers are ready to pay premium prices for all the above characteristics. Product Mixes, Lines and Items BO product mix comprises of several product lines such as audio, video etc. The company has a diverse product portfolio. The product range today consists of acoustic, audio, video, plasma, telecom, gift items/accessories, as well as the business areas Automotive and Enterprise. The portfolio has more than 50 individual products, many of which are designed and manufactured as per the customer desires. (The Beoworld) Product Line BO has various products in each line, e.g. their audio product line has offerings as BeoSound 8, BeoSound 5, BeoSound 9000, BeoSound 3200 etc. They all belong to the same product class high-end audio systems. (Audio, Bang Olufsen) Four Dimensions of Product Mix: The four dimensions of BOs product mix are as follows: Width: various product lines such as acoustic, audio, video, plasma, telecom etc. Depth: on an average, in each product line 6-8 items are offered Length: video line of the BO offers various dimensions of TV (e.g. BeoVision 7 comes in 3 different dimension viz., 50, 40 and 32) Consistency: all the products lines closely related in end use as all the products fall under similar set of products (i.e. high-end consumer appliances) (Adopted from Bang Olufsen) New Product Development The four product-mix dimensions permit the company to expand its business in four ways. It can add new product lines, thus widening its product mix. It can lengthen each product line. It can add more product variants to each product and deepen its product mix. Finally, a company can pursue more product-line consistency. (Kotler, 381) Line Stretching and Filling The company usually adds the items in the current product lines stretching it both-ways to some extent by adding lower as well as higher price products. It also fills the lines by releasing the products in same line with different versions e.g. a new 50 TV was launched in the video line. BO markets its products in a manner that opens up more than one product from the product portfolio. E.g. the home integration line which consists of remote controls designed to control all of the other lines in just one remote control. In addition all products carry the same type of design and thus fit together aesthetically. Product management Great design, mixed with robust technology, allows it to charge obscene sums to well-heeled consumers who want to buy originality and quality from an exclusive brand. Competing on price and product variety would be a dangerous game. The company is a pipsqueak in a consumer-electronics world dominated by giants such as Sony, Samsung, and Royal Philips Electronics. Like Apple, it brings out very few products a year. In fiscal 2007 it released just 10 new models. But unlike Apple, BO keeps its handful of products on the market for up to a decade or longer without abandoning them for new models or cutting their prices. (Jay Greene, 2007) Product Features/benefits BO products are made to fit in at a place where people feel at home. Products are also designed to be serviced and are expected to have a long life span. BO will actively support products for 10 years following its discontinuation and often longer. The design itself carries a price tag as does the exclusive image. Branding BO regards itself as the only company currently bridging the gap between design and consumer electronics. (Hansen and Nielsen, 2008) The philosophy is: creating audio concepts that combine brilliantly authentic sound quality, simple yet surprising design and a touch of magic. So that living with it becomes a special pleasure. (Bang Olufsen Design Philosophy, Beoworld, 2010) The gear should look smart, but technical performance should be outstanding. Designers and technicians work together in close collaboration from the very start of a new product. (Bang Olufsen Design Philosophy, Beoworld, 2010) After sales service Every Bang Olufsen customer is offered customised installation of products and link systems on delivery. Bang Olufsen provides the guidance and advice needed to ensure that the customer gets the full benefit of the new products from day one. (Installation, Bang Olufsen, 2010) The BO products offer performance and pleasure beyond expectations, so does the BOs International Guarantee. The Bang Olufsen product is guaranteed against all defects in workmanship and materials for three years. (International Guarantee, Bang Olufsen, 2010) Price Bang Olufsen: for those who discuss design and quality before price. (Who are Bang Olufsen customers?, Beoworld, 2010). BO follows the Image Enhancement Pricing objective because BO products are seen as lifestyle products. BO products are always highly priced as the company delivers the quality, elegance, design, status quo equivalent of the price. (Solomon et. al., 2009) (Hansen and Nielsen, 2008) Quality Bang Olufsen products are designed to be not only aesthetically pleasing but also essentially functional and easy to use. The expectations raised by a strikingly individual appearance must be completely fulfilled in terms of high quality performance in all areas when the system is switched on. Therefore, excellence in providing the consumer with the highest pleasure in both ownership and use rests on high quality as the common denominator of all activities and competence areas. (Competences, Bang Olufsen, 2010) Place Bang Olufsen products are sold by over 1.200 dealers in more than 100 countries in an extensive network of retail stores. Approximately 65% of these stores are B1-stores, which exclusively sell Bang Olufsen products. The B1 stores account for 81% of the total turnover. (About us, Bang Olufsen, 2010) (Bang Olufsen (2010) Annual Report 2009-10, p24) Bang Olufsen products sold with the premium and luxury cars such as Aston Martin, Mercedes AMG and Audi A8 to name a few. Considering the huge costs involved in the luxury yacht market, it is amazing how little customers spend on their on-board entertainment systems, and how little consideration they give to the total entertainment experience, often buying a pre-defined package; says Torben Ballegaard Sà ¸rensen, CEO, Bang Olufsen. (Ecoustics, 2005) Along with premium cars, BO also offers entertainment systems in the luxury yacht market. Promotion Pull Promotion In order to promote their products and utilize their existing distribution channels (exclusive BO stores), BO needs to address their product turnover life cycles and provide newer and improved products to their stores. In attempt to meet the customers demand for high quality, unusual design and up-to-date technology, BO needs to approach innovation and creation uniquely. This is where Idealab enters into the picture. It is BOs hope that this new, innovative approach to product design, development, production and sales will be their keys to answer this dilemma. Marketing Strategy: Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning Segmentation Demographic This segmentation categorises market based on age, gender, family structure, income and social class, race and ethnicity and geography. BO customers can be divided into four categories. First category is of people who are young and well qualified, who have very few commitments, have large disposable income and are eager to fulfil their dreams. The next category is of younger people who have just started a family, money is tighter and hence purchases are made only after careful consideration. The third category is of the ones who have it all, children are grown-up, despite of some possible financial obligations, the family still has surplus income and are looking for luxuries as second homes, exotic holidays or may be BO equipment. As per Jan Dalskov from Market Intelligence, most BO customers fall into this category. The last category, Grey gold, whose children have left home, have money to burn and can think of buying BO products for the sake of change or due to the external influences. (Who are Bang Olufsen customers?, Beoworld, 2007) Psychographic Unlike other mass producers of electronics, BO makes a few select products for the clearly defined few. Its therefore: broad appeal versus individual needs! (Who are Bang Olufsen customers?, Beoworld, 2007). Behavioural This segmentation slices consumers on the basis of how they act towards, feel about or use a product (Solomon, Marshall, Stuart, Barnes, Mitchell, 220-21). BO products are often seen as Life-Style products. As the slogan says, BO products are for those who discuss design and quality before price. (The history, Bang Olufsen, 2010) Targeting Differentiated Targeting BO uses a differentiated targeting strategy. It focuses on design and quality over price. As a result of this they charge premium prices to customers to recover the higher designing and production costs. Differentiation is about justifying premium prices to prefer the product over other, less differentiated products. Due to this BO products are positioned as High Price = High Quality. Positioning BO products are very elegant in design to justify the higher price. Price Design BO Sony Samsung BO products deliver best quality as compared other mass production electronics giants. As they describe It will never skip a beat. (BeoSound 2, Bang Olufsen, 2010) Price Quality BO Sony Samsung BO products are available in many of the luxurious 5-star hotels, high-end cars such as Aston Martin, Mercedes SLS AMG S-Class. As Carsten Sander (Senior Director Scandinavia and Baltic) says that people normally have to decide between taking a vacation to some exotic place abroad, renovating their homes, upgrading their car etc. or buying one or more BO products. (Hansen and Nielsen, 2008) Price Status Symbol BO Sony Samsung Discussion and Conclusion The company, BO, looks very strong at their brand position and recognition. Higher prices, elegant designs, supreme quality and collaborations with the luxury brands have placed company products in a niche market. Consumers are buying experience when buying BO products. Ownership of BO products creates a feeling of belonging to certain social class. Company is successful in keeping their brand image intact by delivering cutting-edge technology, high performing products. The company has strong and wide product mix, good length and depth of the product lines. Currently company has a generally tendency to launch 2-3 products in a year. The company can work on stretching the product line in both ways by keeping the brand image intact. Stretching the product line downwards i.e. offering the products of lower costs may affect consumers perception of High price = High quality. Entering into the lower price market will result in increase in competition from electronic giants such as Sony, Samsung etc. If company can concentrate on filling the product line i.e. more variations in existing product lines then it will give the consumer to choose the best suitable and feasible product to their needs. While working on the product designing and manufacturing, company can also invest in promotions. Focussing on top executives of the corporate firms may help the company to approach the potential customers. They can promote some free demonstrations, introductory offers to these executives who are willing to burn out some cash in order to maintain their social status. Exploring and expanding in this new segment of the market will give company the chance to reach to the potential customers. While exploring new B2C segments, company can also enter into B2B solutions by providing Audio Video solutions for the renowned conferences like Apples WWDC, Microsofts PDC etc. Similar to luxury yachts and cars, they can also reach Charter Jet manufacturers for collaboration, widening the product mix.