Friday, October 25, 2019
Gateway Essay -- essays research papers
Gateway Inc. Issues:  ·Ã‚     The US personal computer market continued to struggle and Dell had just lowered its prices about 20%. As a result, its stock price rose 13% and it gained more market share.  ·Ã‚     How should Gateway respond to Dell and its recent price cuts? o     Lowering Gateway prices could jeopardize gross profit margins o     Conversely, unit sales were already down so there was the threat of additional sales loss  ·Ã‚     Resource Allocation: o     Should Gateway focus on US consumer sales more or US business sales?  §Ã‚     Keeping in mind that Gateway planned to discontinue company-owned operations outside North America at the end of 2001 o     How should Gateway run its sales and advertising operations? (Keeping in mind, the 2001 advertising budget is about $20 million less than in 1999 at $239.6 million)  §Ã‚     How much emphasis should be placed on PC’s and PC-related units v. â€Å"beyond-the-box†products and services?  §Ã‚     Where should Gateway’s marketing efforts be directing customers: telephone and its website or to its Country Stores?  ·Ã‚     Operating issues in regards to selling, general and administrative (s, g, a) expenses: o     Overall company s, g, a expenses would decline due to:  §Ã‚     Closing of North America manufacturing, sales and service operations  §Ã‚     Reduction in the number of Country Stores  §Ã‚     Less advertising fees and expenditures  §Ã‚     End of alliance with OfficeMax o     However, decisions about continued s, g, a expenses still needed to be made:  §Ã‚     Does the Gateway store concept need more thought pertaining to Gateway’s business model of operating as built-to-order?  ·Ã‚     Gateway’s gross margin and operating costs needed attention in order to once again be profitable o     The influential aspects among its customer sales mix, its product sales mix and its sales mix across its 3 distribution channels needed to be monitored a... ...f both and combat Dell’s lower prices. Ways in which this could potentially happen is by offering basic beyond-the-box products with the purchase of a PC and aggressively encourage upgrades and additional features customers can’t refuse. Another way to counter other PC manufactures is through differentiation. By Gateway focusing on operating its build-to-order method as efficiently as possible, exploiting its distinct third channel of stores and staying technologically as innovative as possible, it is able to differentiate itself apart from its competitors.      Lastly, in addition to its pursuit of the consumer market, I think Gateway could benefit from more assertively targeting the business segment that has been ruled by Dell. It’s a fact, that PC’s sold for business-use tend to be of a higher quality and therefore, more expensive with higher margins. In 2000, 65% of Dell’s PC sales went towards the business sector whereas Gateway’s main market was from consumer sales, which is often less profitable. If Gateway could go after the business market, without completely losing its consumer sales base, it would be able to better compete, especially with Dell.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Consumer Behavior – Chapter 1
Consumer behavior chapter 1 – introduction In our ever-increasing global market, attention needs to be paid to the global consumer in order to identify who they are. Marketers and consumer behaviour researchers are constantly attempting to determine the similarities and the differences of the multifaceted global consumer. Some general theory about the sociological and psychological influences on consumer behaviour may be common to all Western cultures, but there are still strong com/pricing-psychology-consumption/">regional consumption trends.Consumer behaviour as it pertains to the marketplace is concerned with the manner in which consumers purchase and use products and services, and how these goods are incorporated into their lives. Researchers use various techniques to determine the features of consumers. These techniques include categorisation by the use of descriptive characteristics, such as demographics and psychographics. Individual consumers are part of a larger socie ty with common cultural values and beliefs, which can be further segmented into smaller groups, or subcultures.There are regional differences between consumers from different European countries, despite their being part of the larger European community. Marketers use market segmentation strategies to adapt their communications to meet the varied needs of a diverse target market. Consumer behaviour is good business! Marketers who understand their customers' needs and wants do better than their competitors. The essential component is deciding who to target and how.Marketers do this by defining markets and then dividing these markets into smaller chunks, or segments. A segment is based upon the demographic and psychographic aspects of the targeted population. The consumer's response is the ultimate test of whether or not a marketing strategy will succeed. However, initial consumer testing is not an absolute science. Sometimes a product can fail its initial test marketing and stil l go on to be highly successful. Sony has responded to market and consumer changes with its latest MP3 player, a rival to the Apple iPod.In attempting to define accurate information about the traits, habits, likes and dislikes of consumers, effective market segmentation separates members of a population into smaller segments of consumers who share unique characteristics that set them apart from the main population. Market segmentation can be described as ‘slicing up' the market into bit-sized chunks of information. It is essential that for effective segmentation the following criteria are met: Consumers within the identified segment share similar product needs that will be different to other consumers in other segments.Important differences between the segments can be clearly identified. The segment is large enough to be profitable. Consumers in the segment can be reached with an appropriate marketing mix. The consumers in the segment will respond in the desired way to the marketing mix. Two important segmentation tools are the use of demographics and psychographics to determine unique attributes of the targeted population. Demographic statistics measure the observable aspects of the population. Psychographics are far more subtle. They illustrate the differences in consumers' personalities and cannot be measured objectively.Demographic variables include: Age Different age groups have different needs and wants. Consumers in similar age groups often share similar values and cultural experiences. Gender The behaviours and tastes of men and women are constantly evolving. It is thought that gender segmentation is an unintended result of marketing strategy. Family structure Marital status and family are important demographic variables that often affect spending priorities. Social class and income People in the same social class often have similar occupations and may share values and interests.Income is a good determinant of buying power and market potential . Race and ethnicity Immigrants from Asia and Africa are the fastest growing ethnic groups in Europe. Increased multiculturalism creates new opportunities for marketers. Geography Cultural differences play an important role in consumption patterns. Within the European context, consumption is common across cultures, but it is also specific between different cultural groups. European segmentation factors include: Consumption traits that are common across different cultures. Consumption traits that are specific to cultural groups. Relationship Marketing: building bonds with consumers The more marketers understand their current and potential consumers, the more effective they will be. This concept has developed into the role of relationship marketing, in which marketers build long-term relationships between the company and the consumer. Relationship marketing is seen as the big trend for marketers. In conjunction with relationship marketing, a major growth area has been the need to g ather and manage accurate information about customers. This has culminated in the formation of sophisticated database marketing that tracks consumer buying habits.However, this ‘big brother is watching you' concept intimidates some consumers. Database marketing is required to comply with respondent confidentiality restrictions. As global consumers, we are influenced significantly by marketers through a number of mechanisms centred upon building relationships with customers. Advertisements illustrate how we should act and define roles, as well as informing about the use of products. As of 2006, the majority of people will live in urban centres and the number of ‘megacities' will increase to 26 in 2015.A controversial effect of the sophisticated marketing strategies used to communicate with these large potential markets is the emergence of global consumer culture, in which people are united by their common devotion to brand-name consumer products, film stars and m usic celebrities. 2 Virtual consumption and the power of crowds There is little doubt that the digital revolution is one of the most significant influences on consumer behaviour, and the impact of the Web will continue to expand as more and more people around the world log on. It is not all bout businesses selling to customers (B2C e-commerce).The cyberspace explosion has caused a revolution in consumer-to-consumer activity (C2C e-commerce): welcome to the new world of virtual brand communities. A close cousin of the global consumer is the Euro-consumer. Much research and marketing effort is focused upon determining the characteristics of this consumer. Findings indicate links between social class, culture and income, with consumers who expressed more positive attitudes towards cultural change being more likely to consume luxury goods, despite their demographics and social class. 2 Marketing EthicsThere is a constant battle between achievement of organisational profit goals an d the necessity to conduct business honestly and ethically. 1 Prescribing Ethical Standards of Conduct Organisations often devise codes of conduct for their employees, and marketing associations provide guidelines for conduct, such as the following: Disclosure of the substantial risks associated with a product or service. Identification of added features that will increase the cost. Avoidance of false or misleading advertising. Rejection of high-pressure selling. Prohibition of selling or fund-raising under the guise of market research. Socially Responsible Behaviour Some marketers continue to violate the bond of trust with the consumer with the use of ‘bait-and-switch' tactics and misleading claims. A critical barometer of ethical behaviour is the action taken by companies to rectify a problem with their advertising or products. Benetton discontinued their controversial advertisements that featured the depiction of an AIDS victim and which were deemed to be exploitative by co nsumers. Much criticism has been leveled at marketing techniques that influence consumers to purchase products that are not essential.Philosophers view this conundrum from the perspective of individuals exercising their free will and free action in coming to decisions. However, this clinical approach supports the argument so long as only informative advertising is used in the marketing communication. Any other type of advertising – such as ones with imagery and underlying motives – cannot be so clinically rationalized. The raging debate that marketing techniques manipulate customers continues. We explore this issue from three perspectives. 3 Do Marketers Create Artificial Needs?Some conservative traditionalists believe that advertising can lead to the moral decay of societies by the pursuit of hedonistic pleasure, while some liberals believe that the misleading promises of material pleasure function to buy off people who would otherwise be revolutionaries working to ch ange the system. Through advertising, then, the system creates demands that only its products can satisfy. Numerous responses to this criticism abound, including the argument that needs are a basic biological motive and that a want represents one way that society has taught us that the need can be satisfied.The primary objective of advertising is to create awareness of needs, rather than to create the needs themselves. Needs are thus something that we are socialized to have. Marketers must be cognisant of the fact that they contribute heavily to the socializing influence of individuals in modern society and, thus, influence needs. Some commentators believe that purchasing decisions are manipulated by marketers using their understanding of psychology and the social sciences. They claim that marketers devise advertising techniques that manipulate a majority of individuals. A sense of social responsibility should underpin all advertising.There is little doubt that advertising creates a nd changes patterns of consumer behaviour. The central issue is whether the audience is discerning enough to see through the marketing hype and still make a deliberative judgement. Have a look at the PBS Frontline website on ‘The Persuaders', which explores the world of modern marketers and advertisers, and discusses the methods they use to decipher who we are and what we want. As powerful an influence as advertising is, in the majority of cases advertisers still do not know enough about their target audience to effectively manipulate them.This fact is supported by the high degree of product failures (40-80 per cent) that occur. 4 Interdisciplinary Influences on the Study of Consumer Behaviour Consumer behaviour is a multidisciplinary field that integrates a vast array of disciplines, from psychophysiology to sociology and anthropology. Each discipline views the subject from their own perspective, which results in a rich sociological interpretation of a fascinating and dyna mic topic. The figure below illustrates the integrated and interconnected approach to consumer behaviour from both a macro and micro perspective.The macro perspective represents the social focus and the micro perspective represents the individual focus. [pic] pyramid of comsumer behavior Consumer research has adopted two popular forms of research paradigms, or sets of beliefs: Positivism Believes that human reason is supreme and that objective truth is only revealed by science. Structured and ordered. Stresses functionality. Celebrates technology. Regards the world as an ordered, rational place with a clearly defined past, present and future. Emphasizes material well-being, and is based predominantly on the homogenous views of a predominantly Western and male culture.Interpretivism Believes the social and cultural world in which we live is complex. Dislikes too much emphasis on science and technology. Emphasizes the importance of symbolic and subjective experiences. Believes individ uals construct meanings based on unique, shared cultural experiences, therefore there are no right or wrong references. Consumption is interpreted as a set of diverse experiences. Many consumer behaviour experts believe that the existing predominant positivistic paradigm of consumer behaviour is undergoing a paradigm shift, due to challenge from the competing paradigm of interpretivism.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Pecan Tree Essay
1. Hi, my name is John Doe. I am here to inform you on the historical background of pecan trees. First I will explain the characteristics of pecan trees and then move into who founded the tree first and how the tree benefited them. Lastly, I will bring you up to date on how the tree has been domesticated and the benefits that it brings today. 2. The pecan tree starts off small and eventually gets bigger over time like pretty much everything else in the world. The best chance for this tree to survive is to plant it in alluvial or other words (riverbed) soil that is deep and well drained.However, pecan trees can grow on any soil that allows water penetration to a depth of four or five feet 3. The Pecan tree’s growth rate is roughly 2 feet per year. The trees will begin producing a few nuts three to four years after being planted significant production can be achieved in six to eight years. And good production will begin around the ninth or tenth year. 4. The pecan, Carya illinoi nensis, is a member of the plant family Juglandaceae. This family includes the walnuts and the hickories. The pecan is a large tree, often growing to 100 feet high or more and has a stately appearance.It has been proclaimed the state tree of Texas. 5. Pecan trees may live and bear edible nuts for more than 300 years. The crown of the pecan tree is roughly rounded or oval in shape, which can have a spread up to 75 feet wide. 6. For those of you who do not know what a pecan tree leaves looks like, they are green in color during the spring and summer, and when fall hits they start to turn a yellowish color. The leaves will eventually fall completely off the tree during winter season because these trees are considered to be deciduous trees, meaning they are seasonal, unlike evergreens which stay green all year long. . Here is a picture of the bark of a pecan tree. The bark of a pecan tree is grayish in color and has a rough appearance to it, which is relatively thin. The picture also sh ows the base of the tree which can reach up to six feet in diameter. 8. A pecan, like the fruit of all other members of the hickory genus, is not truly a nut, but is technically a drupe, a fruit with a single stone or pit, surrounded by a husk. The husks are produced from the exocarp tissue of the flower, while the part known as the nut develops from the endocarp and contains the seed 9. The outer husk is 3–4 mm (0. 2–0. 16 in) thick, starts out green and turns brown at maturity, which ranges from (1. 0–2. 4 in) long and (0. 59–1. 2 in) broad, and over time it will split off into four sections to release the thin-shelled nut. [2][4][5][ 10. Pecans come in a variety of sizes – mammoth, extra-large, large, medium, small and midget. They also come in several forms including whole pecans, pecan halves, pieces, granules and meal. There are over 1,000 varieties of pecans. Many are named for Native American Indian tribes, including Cheyenne, Mohawk, Sioux , Choctaw and Shawnee. 1. Pecans are native to a number of states in southern and Midwestern United States and to scattered locations in Mexico, but are most common in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. They have been growing over their present range in the U. S. for at least 8000 years and, based on archaeological and ethnohistoric data, were an important source of food for people who inhabited certain areas within this range in prehistoric and early historic times 12. Before European settlement, pecans were widely consumed and traded by Native Americans.As a food source, pecans are a natural choice for preagricultural society. They can provide two to five times more calories per unit weight than wild game, and require no preparation. 13. many years after the discovery of the pecan tree by the Native Americans the United States has become the world’s leader in pecan production. While exact numbers for world production are unknown, it is estimated that the U. S. produces 75 perc ent of the world’s pecans 14. Pecans are produced on about a million acres worldwide.Since the exact number for worldwide production is unknown there is a estimation of about 200 to 300 million pounds produced each year However, unlike most cultivated crops, the domestication of the pecan tree did not started until the late 1800’s 15. And since then there have been new inventions called harvesters that issues a burst of powerful high frequency vibrations that, for 10-15 seconds, it shakes all the pecans out of the entire tree creating a noisily intense crackling hail of pecan nuts, a dense shower, followed by an eerie silence that will leave any observer stunned 16.Also, the trees are planted in rows to make for an easier harvest. Also, before a shelled pecan is ready to be sold, it must first be cleaned, sized, sterilized, cracked and finally, shelled. 17. 6Unlike other horticultural crops, the native pecan is very important commercially. Most of these species are con centrated in the Northern Hemisphere of the New World, but can be found on every continent except for Antarctica 18. The Pecan Trees and the nuts have not changed a whole lot, since the Natives irst discovered them, but the way they are harvested has changed drastically. Unlike, the Native trees that were kept natural and could only produce what its genes allowed it too. Now there is grafting of trees to make the tree produce better 19. Not to mention the sprays that is used to keep disease down and the attack of bugs on the tree or the nuts themselves. I hope you know a little more about pecan trees and there origin and how much they have been domesticated to meet our needs. And to think all of this is being done to harvest a tiny pecan nut
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Civil Rights Movement Timeline From 1965 to 1969
Civil Rights Movement Timeline From 1965 to 1969 This civil rights movement timeline focuses on the struggles final years when some activists embraced black power, and leaders no longer appealed to the federal government to end segregation, thanks to the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Although the passage of such legislation was a major triumph for civil rights activists, Northern cities continued to suffer from de facto segregation, or segregation that was the result of economic inequality rather than discriminatory laws. De facto segregation was not as easily addressed as the legalized segregation that had existed in the South, and Martin Luther King Jr. spent the mid-to-late 1960s working on behalf of both black and white Americans living in poverty. African-Americans in Northern cities became increasingly frustrated with the slow pace of change, and a number of cities experienced riots. Some turned to the black power movement, feeling that it had a better chance of rectifying the sort of discrimination that existed in the North. By the end of the decade, white Americans had moved their attention away from the civil rights movement to the Vietnam War, and the heady days of change and victory experienced by civil rights activists in the early 1960s came to an end with Kings assassination in 1968. 1965 On Feb. 21, Malcolm X is assassinated in Harlem at the Audubon Ballroom apparently by Nation of Islam operatives, although other theories abound.On March 7, 600 civil rights activists, including Hosea Williams of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and John Lewis of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), leave Selma, Ala., traveling eastward on Route 80 toward Montgomery, Ala. They are marching to protest the killing of Jimmy Lee Jackson, an unarmed demonstrator slain during a march the prior month by an Alabama state trooper. State troopers and local police stop the marchers at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, beating them with clubs as well as spraying them with water hoses and tear gas.On March 9, King leads a march to the Pettus bridge, turning the marchers around at the bridge.On March 21, 3,000 marchers leave Selma for Montgomery, completing the march without opposition.On March 25, around 25,000 people join the Selma marchers at the Montgomery city l imits. On Aug. 6, President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act into law, which bans discriminatory voting requirements, like requiring people to complete literacy tests before they registered to vote. White Southerners had used this technique to disenfranchise blacks.On Aug. 11, a riot breaks out in Watts, a section of Los Angeles, after a fight erupts between a white traffic officer and a black man accused of drinking and driving. The officer arrests the man and some of his family members who had arrived at the scene. Rumors of police brutality, however, result in six days of rioting in Watts. Thirty-four people, mostly African Americans, die during the riot. 1966 On Jan. 6, SNCC announces its opposition to the Vietnam War. SNCC members would feel increasing sympathy for the Vietnamese, comparing the indiscriminate bombing of Vietnam to racial violence in the United States.On Jan. 26, King moves into an apartment in a Chicago slum, announcing his intention to start a campaign against discrimination there. This in response to the increasing unrest in Northern cities over prejudice and de facto segregation. His efforts there are ultimately deemed unsuccessful.On June 6, James Meredith embarks on a March Against Fear from Memphis, Tenn., to Jackson, Miss., to encourage black Mississippians to register to vote. Near Hernando, Miss., Meredith is shot. Others take up the march, joined on occasion by King.On June 26, the marchers reach Jackson. During the last days of the march, Stokely Carmichael and other SNCC members clash with King after they encourage the frustrated marchers to embrace the slogan of black power.On Oct. 15, Huey P. Newton and Bob by Seale found the Black Panther Party in Oakland, Calif. They want to create a new political organization to better the conditions of African Americans. Their goals include better employment and educational opportunities as well as improved housing. 1967 On April 4, King makes a speech against the Vietnam War at Riverside Church in New York.On June 12, the Supreme Court hands down a decision in Loving v. Virginia, overturning laws against interracial marriage as unconstitutional.In July, riots break out in Northern cities, including Buffalo, N.Y., Detroit, Mich. and Newark, N.J.On Sept. 1, Thurgood Marshall becomes the first African American appointed to the Supreme Court.On Nov. 7, Cal Stokes is elected mayor of Cleveland, making him the first African American to serve as mayor of a major American city.In November, King announces the Poor Peoples Campaign, a movement to unite the poor and disenfranchised of America, regardless of race or religion. 1968 On April 11, President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (or the Fair Housing Act) into law, which prohibits discrimination by sellers or renters of property.Exactly a week earlier, Martin Luther King, Jr., is assassinated as he stands on the balcony outside his motel room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn. King visited the city to support African American sanitation workers there whod started a strike on Feb. 11.Between February and May, African American students protest at major universities, including Columbia University and Howard University, demanding changes in faculty, living arrangements, and curriculum.Between May 14 and June 24, over 2500 impoverished Americans set up a camp called Resurrection City in Washington, D.C., under the leadership of the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, who is trying to carry out Kings vision. The protest ends in riots and arrests without the strong leadership of King. 1969 Between April and May, African American students hold protests at universities, including Cornell University and North Carolina A T University in Greensboro, asking for changes such as a Black Studies program and the hiring of African American faculty.On Dec. 4, Fred Hampton, chairman of the Illinois Black Panther party, is shot and killed by police during a raid. A federal grand jury refutes the polices assertion that they fired upon Hampton only in self-defense, but no one is ever indicted for Hamptons killing.
Monday, October 21, 2019
Affirmative Action misc5 essays
Affirmative Action misc5 essays Affirmative action has been the subject of increasing debate and tension in American society. Affirmative action is the nations most ambitious attempt to redress the issues of racial and sexual discrimination. According to the University of Rhode Island, Affirmative action is defined as, the specific actions in recruitment, hiring, upgrading and other areas designed and taken for the purpose of eliminating the present effects of past discrimination, or present discrimination (www.riuniversity.edu , 8). This allows minorities and women to be given special consideration in education and many other areas. The need for affirmative action is essential to college admissions credentials. Institutions with affirmative action policies generally set goals for increased diversity and equal opportunity among minority students. Our society is not one of equality, but affirmative action provides a way that problems with inequality can be address to the public. Minorities such as African-Americans, Asians, and Hispanics live mostly in urban areas that have large populations. Therefore, many minorities normally attend lower quality schools. Colleges usually do not take into account that students come from different backgrounds and different quality schools. The students that have better intermediate and secondary schools have an advantage in college admissions, which exclude many minorities. Affirmative action helps students who come from a lower quality secondary school to have a chance to prove themselves in accredited college. Another advantage of affirmative action is that it provides an environment of diversity. Diversity is essential to colleges and students. As part of higher education, students learn from face-to-face interaction with faculty member and other students to work productively inside and outside the classroom. Racial diversity can enhance college atmosphere by improving communications. It can also deve...
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Biko
A review of the biographical novel, Biko by Donald Woods. The paper reviews the book as a biography of both Steve Biko and Donald Woods. It illustrates how Donald Woods was able to combine his own story with that of Steve Biko in the novel. It begins with a background on Steve Biko and Donald Woods, goes on to state the main struggle of the book and gives a synopsis of the plot. The focus of this paper is on the way the events affected Woods.Biko tells the story of Donald Woods and his relationship with black consciousness leader Steve Biko. The author Donald Woods is a journalist and was a close friend of Steve Bikos. Biko is a biography of Donald Woods as well as a biography of Steve Biko as Woods sees him. Firstly, I will briefly detail who Steve Biko is so the events of the book can be seen in perspective. Steve Biko was a black South African who led the black consciousness movement in South Africa. He struggled for liberation from the apartheid regime. He was a political activist and believed that black liberation started with black psychological self-reliance. This idea was the basis for the black consciousness movement that Biko led. Biko believed that by doing this you could get to the base of the problem and change the way society operated. Biko was killed by South African security forces while in detention, aged thirty.
Friday, October 18, 2019
Stages Leading to Fire setting in Children Essay
Stages Leading to Fire setting in Children - Essay Example The researcher states that psychologists have expressed considerable interests towards the child fire setters by coming up with the stages leading to the fire setting. According to Bartol and Bartol, the developmental stages are in three categories comprising of fire interest, fire play and fire setting. This implies that children like to experiment with fire due to fascination as they develop. The first step is the fire interest that arises due to fascination in the early years of development. The child would try to set fires at homes every day, making this a habit as they discover new tricks. It is evident that fire fascination starts at age three with almost one in every five children setting fires. In this regard, parents need to be cautious of the harmful situations that might cause damage or harm to the child and the nearby environment. The other phrase is the experimentation that occurs when the child gets older, normally between the ages of five and nine. In this level, the c hild investigates on how a fire starts and how it burns. However, the chances of the child being burnt or injured are common because of their vulnerability to the risks of fire. This is because of their inexperience to use or extinguish fire if it flares out of control. The age of ten years exposes children to the dangers of fire and they now understand its consequences. The fire setting stage is determined if a child continues to experiment upon passing the age of ten years.
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