Marketing plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words - 2

Marketing plan - Essay Example prehensive understanding of the wider market periphery surrounding the business environment of IKEA, the present market position of the company is recognized. The discussion also entails an assessment of the potential competitors of the company whom it has to override in order to place its product as a unique entity in the market. The plan further illustrates the mode of promotion and distribution that the company would implement in order to ensure high performance from the product. At the outset of the planning stage, a crucial factor which can be recognized is that the strong brand name of the company would certainly help it to establish its one of the invaluable offerings i.e. coffee tables in the market. Contextually, an action program with regard to the marketing plan has been substantiated in the paper which would enable to guide the various activities of the entire process. The present day market scenario is changing rapidly on a global basis. It has been noticed that the preferences and the choices of the customers have also been altering simultaneously. There are many companies which offer similar kinds of product. For this reason, the companies now-a-days are quite concerned about making their products or services distinct from their competitors. In this regard, the concept of marketing has become quite crucial. It is the process through which the value of the product would be communicated to the customers. In other words, it can also be regarded as the art of selling goods. In context of today’s business scenario, it is not enough for companies, just to make a good or better quality product. They should also market the product effectively and communicate the quality or the benefits of the products or the services to the customers. There are various aspects of marketing that companies need to follow. The company should understand that custome rs will only prefer a product that is widely available in the market at a cheaper cost. A product or service

BHS 414 Cross-Cultural Health Perspectives Mod 4 SLP Essay

BHS 414 Cross-Cultural Health Perspectives Mod 4 SLP - Essay Example In the third dimension of the PEN 3 Model Nurtures are defined as â€Å"supportive and/or discouraging influences of families and friends including eating tradition, community and events, spirituality and soul, values of friends, marriage rules, expectations etc†. (Airhihenbuwa, 2004). There are several governmental and other organizational programs to improve practice of breast feeding in western countries. These programs provide free counseling and support to mothers promoting breastfeeding. In many developing countries paid maternity leave up to 6 months are allowed for female employees in both private and public sector. But western countries lack that kind of legislations. Therefore working mothers naturally tend to feed their child with bottle milk (Zareai, 2007). Free health care services are available in many developing countries. But many western countries do not have sufficient free health care facilities to support breastfeeding mothers to teach and practice correct methods of breastfeeding and overcome their problems (Zareai, 2007). Due to cultural perception breastfeeding in public places may be annoying for the western mothers. Therefore they may choose bottle feeding. However in many Asian countries breastfeeding in public places is a common practice and they really get the help of others. Barnes, J., Stein, A., Smith, T. and Pollock, J. I. (1997). Extreme attitudes to body shape, social and psychological factors and a reluctance to breast feed. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 1997 October; 90(10): 551–559. Zareai, M.,   Maxine, L., OBrien,    Fallon, A.B. (2007). Creating a breastfeeding culture: a comparison of breastfeeding practises in Australia and Iran. Breastfeeding Review. FindArticles.com. retrieved from

Transactionalism Analysis of Political Processes

Transactionalism Analysis of Political Processes Political Swat Barth Assess Barths Theory of Transactionalism In this book, such a paradigm of political experience not only tells us something important about the traditional political situation in Swat, it is also the basis of a trenchant criticism of views prevailing at the time when Barth wroteIt reveals that a quest for personal advantage could flourish in a traditional setting.† (Meeker 1980 : 684) It is important to distinguish, when discussing Political Leadership among Swat Pathans (1959), between its effectiveness as an ethnographic account, and its role as a work of theory. Barth’s later works were written when he had further developed his method with the support of the ‘Bergen school’, which included other Scandinavian ethnologists and continental authors such as Robert Paine. F. G. Bailey, in 1960, affirmed in his review for Man (p. 188), that â€Å"Barth’s book is a monograph and not a work of theory†. However, Barth’s 1959 article Segmentary Opposition and the Theory of Games: A Study of Pathan Organisation forms a â€Å"case study of unilineal descent and political organisation among Yusufzai Pathans [which] exemplifies a pattern, not previously described in the literature, of deriving corporate political groups from a ramifying unilineal descent charter.† (p. 19) Barth’s transactionalism, as a form of methodological individualism, developed in a general movement away from the dominant Durkheimian models of Radcliffe-Brown and Fortes. In a return to more Malinowskian traditions, authors including Bailey, Barth and Paine explored the ways in which cultural actors manipulate social rules so as to maximise their own profit. In addition, there was a growing need for anthropologists to account for change in societies which were increasingly exposed to a strongly Western, global political social model, rather than remaining static, as some theories would have had them. In his 1959 ethnography, Barth shows that the strategic choices of individuals significantly determine the political hierarchy, the latter which recognises the contractual right of individuals and thus demands that leaders consistently prove their status-worthiness. â€Å"In this respect the political life of Swat resembles that of Western societies† (Barth 1959a : 2). In moving away from the structural functionalist model, Barth took a decisive step in his proposition that the bases of the society were united by a solidarity based on â€Å"individual strategic choices†, rather than by the mechanical solidarity elaborated by Evans-Pritchard and Fortes in Africa. The authority systemis built up and maintained through the exercise of a continual series of individual choices. (Barth 1959a : 2) Criticism It is a saddening, but no doubt common, experience to see one’s analyses made banal and one’s points of view reduced to simple stereotypes. It is perhaps even more distressing to be attributed a web of trivial and fundamental errors and omissions which one has not committed. (Barth, correspondence in Dupree 1977 : 516) While much praised, Barth has had his fair share of able critics. In 1972, Talal Asad delivered a class-oriented polemic of Barth’s Pathans, insisting that the landlords exploited their tenants consistently, and that the author suffered from the â€Å"illusion of consent† in attributing free contractuality to their exchanges. Four years later, Akbar S. Ahmed wrote Millennium and Charisma among Pathans, arguing that Barth suffered from a â€Å"khan’s-eye view†, again proclaiming that the reality of Swat society involved far less ‘free choice’ than Barth would have us believe, people’s lives instead being shaped strongly by â€Å"a matrix of interacting and largely fixed social patterns† (cited in Dupree 1977 : 514). As did Asad, Dupree praises Barth as an â€Å"indefatigable fieldworker and imaginative theorist† (1977: 514); but Ahmed, he points out, was well qualified to document Barth’s ‘Norwegian entrepreneur bias’, not least since his wife is the grand daughter of the late Wali of Swat. â€Å"What Barth observes from the outside, Ahmed explores from the inside† (Charpenter, C. J. correspondence in ibid: 516). Louis Dupree’s 1976 article was republished in Current Anthropology in 1977, appended by correspondences from Barth and others interested in the debate. They address the issues raised by Dupree, especially that â€Å"there is a great distance between Barth’s model and the Swati ethnography as he (Ahmed) saw it in 1974† (Pettigrew J., correspondence in Dupree 1977). Pettigrew goes on to make an engaging point, to counter this, that â€Å"the issue is instead whether the models we use yield adequate information about societal processes† (ibid.). Somewhat later, in a review of Barth’s Selected Essays (1981), Ian Prattis is keen to point out Barth’s inability adequately to account for social change, and is of the belief that Barth is â€Å"opposed to grand conceptual schemes in general and to the direction taken by 1950s social anthropology in particular† (Prattis 1983: 103). Barthing Up the Wrong Tree shows that â€Å"Barth missed out crucial variables (power, intrinsic value) and claimed too much for the power of transactions to integrate social systems† (ibid. : 108). However, Prattis was concerned with the author’s output of two decades, while I am interested more specifically with his initial formulation of transactionalism, especially as exemplified in Political Leadership among Swat Pathans of 1959.

Wars are Not Good for the Economy Essay -- Economics War

One of the more enduring myths in Western society is that wars are somehow good for the economy. Many people see a great deal of evidence to support this myth, after all World War II came directly after the Great Depression. This faulty belief stems from a misunderstanding of the economic way of thinking. The standard "a war gives the economy a boost" argument goes as follows: Let's suppose that the economy is in the low end of the business cycle, so we're in a recession or just a period of low economic growth. The unemployment rate is high, people may be making less purchases than they were a year or two ago, and overall output is flat. But then the country decides to prepare for war! The government needs to equip its soldiers with the extra gear and munitions needed in order to win the war. Corporations win contracts to supply boots, and bombs and vehicles to the army. Many of these companies will have to hire extra workers in order to meet this increased production. If the preparations for war are large enough, large numbers of workers will be hired reducing the unemployment rate. Other workers may need to be hired to cover reservists in private sector jobs who get sent overseas. With the unemployment rate down we have more people spending again and people who had jobs before will be less worried about losing their job in the future so they'll spend more than they did. This extra spending will help the retail sector, who will need to hire extra employees causing unemployment to drop even further. A spiral of positive economic activity is created by the government preparing for war, if you believe the story. The flawed logic of the story is an example of something economists call The Broken Window Fallacy. The Broken ... ... a factor of production which will certainly help economic growth. 2. Stability and Economic Growth in the Middle East If peace can somehow be established in the Middle East, the U.S. government might not have to spend as much money on the military as they do now. If the economies of the countries in the middle east become more stable and experience growth, this will give them more opportunities to trade with the United States, improving both the economies of those countries and the U.S. Personally I do not see those factors outweighing the short term costs of the war in Iraq, but you can make a case for them. In the short term, however, the economy will decline due to the war as shown by the Broken Window Fallacy. Next time you hear someone discuss the economic benefits of the war, please tell them a little story about a window breaker and a shopkeeper.

Consumerism: Want and New Pair Shoes Essay

In today’s society consumerism has taken a big role in everyone’s lives because people seem to buy materialistic objects that they don’t need, but buy for pleasure. People don’t see that this is becoming an issue in our society because they are to focused on wanting more for their satisfaction than they need. I seen all these advertisements on TV that show Nemours athletes wearing the new so called â€Å"gear,’ making every one want what they see such as shoes, Jordan’s, Nike, and Vans. I myself I like shoes, but not to the extent were I have boxes and boxes piled up in my closet like some people. For example, I have friends who buy $300 dollar shoes or camp the night at foot locker just to get the latest Jordan’s, I find this shocking to believe what people are willing to do just to get a new pair of shoes. Some of my friends have a collection of Jordan’s stacked up against their wall of a value roughly around 3 to 4,000 dollars shocking I know. I sit back and laugh at my friends for wasting so much money on so many pairs of shoes that’s they don’t need and only wear them like once. Advertisements’ takes a big role in shoes by making athletes wear certain footwear that magically makes them better at what they do weather it has to do with running faster or jumping higher, tricking young minds into thinking they can be the same if they go out and buy the product. â€Å"What image does the athlete project about the product† (Levine.302). These types of advertisements focus more on younger minds because they don’t know better and are willing to spend an outrages amount of money. Statistics show that every woman in the United States own at least 17 pairs of shoes or more. More and more people are consuming more than they need either to fit in with today’s society or want the latest shoe brand. Shoes have become a world-wide thing were people don’t know what’s enough or how much it too much. For instants’, Jordan’s are nice and comfortable but to pricey, were you have a pair of And 1 also a pair of basketball shoes were they cost about $50 dollars’. What people are doing is basically buying the brand not  the shoe. Horning states† We are institutionally trapped in the prison- house of design† (Horning.316). Some people feel guilty when they go out the so called â€Å"Mall† and feel the need to buy new shoes all the time. This is where consumerism comes in and plays a big role; society is blinded to see that their wants have gone up drastically and dramatically. â€Å"That’s what we like and that’s what we buy† (Horning.316). Anything people see they buy without thinking twice and knowing that they already have brand new pair shoes they have not worn because there to focused on buying and buying till they see they no longer have space in their closet to put new shoes in. In Conclusion, Today’s society has a big problem when it comes to consumerism because our younger generation doesn’t know when to stop or what’s too much. Many people should take into consideration that buying to many things doesn’t make you fit in or make you any better than the next person who only has 3 pairs of shoes, society should take a little bit of more responsibility and take into count that our wants are not as important as our needs. Work cited Horning, Robert. â€Å"The Design Imperative.†Dialogues: An Argument Rhetoric and Reader 7th ed. Ed. Gary Goshgarian and Kathleen Krueger. Boston: Longman, 2011. 314-18. Print. Levine, Michael. â€Å"Branded World.† Dialogues: An Argument Rhetoric and Reader 7th ed. Ed. Gary Goshgarian and Kathleen Krueger. Boston: Longman, 2011. 302-05. Print.

The Street Lawyer

RUNNING HEAD: THE STREET LAWYER The Street Lawyer Social Work 3040-01I Apr. 30, 2008 SUMMARY John Grisham’s The Street Lawyer tells the story of Michael Brock a married wealthy attorney who has it all. Michael, a graduate of Yale University, works at Drake & Sweeny, one of the top and well respected firms in Washington D. C. While there he is making the money and rushing relentlessly to the top of Drake & Sweeny. He is only one step away from an early partnership. Until one rainy winter afternoon at Drake & Sweeny. An angry homeless man who only wants to be called â€Å"Mister† holds Michael and eight other lawyers hostage in an office at Drake & Sweeny. â€Å"Mister† demands the tax records be brought to him. After the tax records arrive he orders Michael to tell him what each lawyer including Michael has made in earnings for the year and how much of their money is donated to charities and the homeless. After several hours the hostage stand off is over leaving one man dead and another reborn. Mister† is shot in the head by a sniper policeman as he opens the office door to receive the soup he wants delivered from a local shelter. â€Å"Mister’s† blood and bodily fluids cover Michael’s entire face since he is standing directly behind him. The police escort Michael to a small gym in the building where doctors examine him and he is able to shower. After his shower Michael returns home. The next morning he returns to work at Drake & Sweeny. After reading an article in the Post he learns more about â€Å"Mister† whose real name is DeVon Hardy. After paying a visit to Mordecia Green the director of the 14th Street Legal Clinic, where â€Å"Mister† was a client, Michael begins to rethink his career as an anti-trust lawyer for Drake & Sweeny and his life as well. Leaving Drake & Sweeny to become a street lawyer would have profound affect on his home life and marriage as well. After telling his wife he will take a job with less money and no benefits the couple separate and eventually file for divorce. Michael moves to a smaller apartment on the rough side of Washington D. C. nd begins working at the 14th Street Legal Law Clinic with Mordeci Green. While working there Michael is harboring a dark secret: a confidential file. A confidential file from the law offices of Drake & Sweeny which contains information about the illegal eviction of â€Å"Misterâ€Å" and the other homeless people. Now Drake & Sweeny know their file is missing and want it returned immediately no matter what. Even if it means Michael losing his lic ense to practice law. His former partners have become his enemies and Michael is now the most dangerous man on the streets of Washington D. C. EXAMINATION Populations-at risk are the homeless in John Grisham’s The Street Lawyer and the environment that which they live in are considered the social environment. Populations-at risk are defined as populations or groups of people who share some identifiable characteristics that places them at greater risk of social and economic deprivation and oppression than the general mainstream of society. The social environment involves the conditions, circumstances, and human interactions that encompasses human beings. People are dependent upon effective interactions with their environment in order to survive and thrive. The social environment includes the actual physical setting that society provides. This involves the type of home a person lives in, the type of work that is done, the amount of money available, and the laws and social rules by which people live. â€Å"Mister† and the other homeless who were illegal evicted from their makeshift apartments are to considered members of a social environment. In reference to the social environment the actual physical setting that society provided to the homeless were homeless shelters. But once the homeless shelters do not begin to taken in borders because they are over crowded the homeless are forced into the streets in hopes of finding a safe and warm place to stay for the night. Sleeping on park benches and makeshift warehouses are the only means of shelter available to them. Even if they are working at a job the wages are usually not enough to provide adequate shelter. Society tends to blame the homeless for their choice of life and for being homeless. But at times it not the fault of the homeless but the fault of the government. For example a working middle class family loses their home to foreclosure because of lay-offs and budget cuts at their jobs. With being laid off both lose their pension and benefits that came along with their jobs. Even if both parents would find another job paying minimum wage it would not be enough to pay the $1000. 00 monthly mortgage and other expenses. Therefore, those individuals cannot be held at fault for becoming homeless the fault lies with the budget cuts made by the federal government to their jobs. At other times the fault lies with the individual themselves for becoming homeless. For example a woman works as a nurse in a hospital becomes addicted to prescription drugs and is later fired from her job because of stealing the prescription drugs to which is addicted to. Since the prescription drugs are no longer available to her she becomes addicted to crack/cocaine because it is accessible to her. She files for unemployment until she can find another job but her unemployment checks are going to support her habit instead of paying her monthly rent. She is evicted and thrown into the streets where and begins prostitution to support her habit. Receiving a â€Å"fix† has become her main priority in life. In that particular situation the individual is the blame for their choice to become homeless. ELUDICATION John Grisham’s characters Michael Brock and Mordecia Green worked not only as attorneys for the homeless but also as social workers too. Throughout The Street Lawyer Michael and Mordecia counseled each individual to gain a knowledge of what their lives were before they became homeless and why they have become homeless. Most lawyers would not take the time find out if whether or not their client had a place to sleep or food to eat the night before. Many lawyers would not offer their services free of charge. Michael and Mordecia worked as lawyers as well as social workers. Each day Michael and Mordecia traveled to a local homeless shelter to interview potential clients and help them with whatever they needed. Most of their clients were generally homeless people or individuals who were laid off from their job recently. The two helped these individuals fill out government forms, obtain job applications, and sometimes a rehab center for those who were addicted to drugs and alcohol. At times some clients could not be helped but Michael and Mordecia provided their counseling service as a means of help. Some individuals only needed some to talk to about what was going on in their life at that time. He wants his readers to see the similarities between social workers and attorneys. His examples with Michael and Mordecia with their clients express key elements in the career of a social worker. EVALUATION/CONCLUSION The Street Lawyer by John Grisham conveys its readers to the unknown world of homelessness and the cause. He wants his readers to see the cruel dark side of humanity and how society views homelessness. By having the story take place in Washington D. C. , the capitol of the United States, a place where many would not believe crack houses are a block away from the White House. Homeless women, men, and children are forced to seek shelter anywhere when all the shelters in the city are full. These same people are usually victims of layoffs and budget cuts by Congress. Grisham wants his readers to see the reality of homelessness and that it can happen to anyone. One’s whole perspective on their life can change in an instance because of one individual or many. He gives thorough examples throughout his book about the day and life of a homeless person and their family. The struggles they face day to day not knowing if he or she will have something to eat or a place to sleep by night fall. He contributes to the study of social work by having his main characters act as counselors to the homeless, employment agencies and location of rehabs for those who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. The Street Lawyer is a learning tool in the world of social work for those who want to gain a better understanding of what a social worker does on a daily bases. One who enjoys helping others and making a difference in someone else’s life will definitely enjoy reading this book. After reading this book I now have a better understanding of homelessness and I will eventually use this book as learning tool while furthering my education in the study of social work. â€Å"