Costa Rica Essay Example

Costa Rica Essay The countrys official name is Republica de Costa Rica or Republic of Costa Rica.In Spanish Costa Rica means rich coast.You will find the country in Central America.Both water and land surround it.The Pacific Ocean is to the west and the Caribbean Sea is to the east.North of Costa Rica is Nicaragua and the country of Panama is south of it.There are 3 geographical regions in Costa Rica.One is the Pacific Coast, which includes 3 peninsulas, steep cliffs, and sandy beaches.Another region there is the Central Highlands.Here is where the capital and other populous cities remain.Because of its higher elevation there is more rainfall and humidity.The last region is the Caribbean Lowlands.Obviously this is made up of lowlands, but there are the occasional volcanoes and hills.White and black sand beaches are also found here. Two major Indian nations dominated Costa Rica when the Spaniards arrived.They are the Chorotega and the Chibcha.Christopher Columbus was thefirst European to go to Costa R ica.He found the Indians to be nice and seemed to have a lot of gold, so he reported this to the Spanish.This is how the name came about and why the Spaniards went because they believed the Indians would be easy to conquer. Little did they know that the Indians would put up a fight and were not all that easy to conquer.They did eventually conquer they in war and by diseases.Some Indians also left Costa Rica because of fear of being enslaved.The Spaniards also did not find Costa Rica rich with gold.Many years later, an American named William Walker tried to defeat all of Central America to make them slave states for the U.S.He eventually failed and a young drummer boy named, Juan Santamaria, is remembered as a national hero for setting fire to the building Walkers troops were in forcing them to leave the building.Costa Rica eventually won and as a country they becam

The Personality Traits of a Man Example

The Personality Traits of a Man Example The Personality Traits of a Man – Article Example ï » ¿The Personality Traits of a Man The personality traits of a man are important factors that have significant influence on the organizational behavior and consequently on the performance outcome of the collective goals of the organization. Indeed, the interaction amongst the workers is greatly impacted by their personality and becomes a decisive factor in the amicable resolution of workplace conflicts and motivation. It is also one of the key factors of competitive advantage because workforce is looked upon as resource that can be tapped to improve and improvise the performance of the organization in the fiercely competitive business setting. Hence, the big five framework of personality traits must become critical issues in the recruitment policy of the organizations. As a Finance and Administration Manager in a medical equipment company in Saudi Arabia, my job was closely linked to the workers’ welfare. I realized the utmost importance of credible personality traits that greatly facilitate better human interaction within the workplace and create conducive environment for sustainable development. Conscientiousness, openness to new experience and emotional adjustment are vital characteristics that not only help the persons to grow individually but also professionally. The other two traits: extroversion and agreeableness are also important as they help in the integration of the person with the system. These are the traits that make a person more flexible and adapt to the fast changing environment of business with ease. They, thus become the enabling factors for organizations to maintain its pace of growth. I have found that using personality assessment test during recruitment and promotion of employees hugely supports the organizational goals and objectives. These tests help us to get some ideas of the traits of the persons and whether those traits would help the persons to adapt to the organizational culture comfortably. We had also used ‘situational analysis’ where the candidates were given case studies and they were asked how they perceived the situation and what would be their reaction to the situation. We often hired or evaluated the person for promotion when their perception of the situation and the results of their personality assessment tests corroborated and were found to be constructive. This methodology greatly facilitated us to recruit and promote persons who were able to take up the challenges of the job and face adverse situation with optimism. While it is true that social scientists are skeptic of the validity of psycho-analytical tools to measure the traits, conscientiousness is still been found to be the major dimension of personality that has proved valid across job specifications. The psycho-analytical perspectives are important tools for understanding the hidden dynamics of human relationship, especially with regard to corporate culture, social defenses, leadership imperatives, motivation and other paradigms associated with organizational behavior. Different organizations use diverse ways to gauge the suitability of the job aspirants so that they are able to meet the challenges of contemporary times with creative input. In our case, the recruitment process has resulted in good retention rate of employees, even during the recessive economy. Hence, it can be concluded that personality assessment is intrinsic part of recruitment of right candidate. (511)

Don't really have one Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Don't really have one - Essay Example All of this also happened to a man who is known to history as Frederick Douglass, the first black man to appear on a presidential ticket. In his early narrative Frederick Douglass: Life of an American Slave, the author details his early life and education in such a way that he illustrates both the dehumanizing effects of slavery as well as those factors that operated to inspire him to ‘become a man’ rather than remaining in the role of a slave. Douglass’s narrative begins with his earliest knowledge about himself, which is far less than most people’s knowledge and highlights the degree to which black people were considered beasts of the field. Douglass sadly informs the reader that he is uncertain of his age or the day he was born and, although his mother died when he was seven years old, he was relatively unaffected by the news as he had been separated from her since infancy. â€Å"Never having enjoyed, to any considerable extent, her soothing presence, her tender and watchful care, I received the tidings of [my mother’s] death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger† (Ch. 1). In highlighting this unnatural separation of mother and child, Douglass also points out that he never knew who his father was although there had been some rumors that he was a white man. However, the important element of these early chapters is the way in which the slave is creat ed from birth, separated from his family to destroy any natural human feelings of attachment and support and cruelly treated to keep him always in fear. By the time he was seven, he had learned of the death of his mother, watched his aunt brutally whipped and had taken his own place at work in the fields. He describes the life of the slave, illustrating its bestial level of survival existence and the types of behaviors they were expected to exhibit when they were in the presence of their masters. A turning point in the book

Compare And Contrast Lions And Tigers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Compare And Contrast Lions And Tigers - Essay Example The paper discusses that both lions and tigers happen to be big cats that share many similarities and tend to differ in many aspects. Lions tend to be the largest members in the cat family that are found in Asia and Africa. Lions are mostly yellowish brown in color with no peculiar features on their skin. Lions are not good swimmers (Robinson 46). Lions usually live in families called feelings of pride, in which both the male and females participate in raising cubs (Robinson 47). When a new lion takes over a pride, he kills the cubs born of the previous male that led the pride (Robinson 48). Tigers are big cats mostly found in Asia (Robinson 131). Tigers have a striped hide and are mostly yellowish brown or white. Tigers are good swimmers. In contrast to lions, the tigers do not live in feelings of pride but tend to be alone, except during the mating season (Robinson 131). The caring of the cubs is mostly confined to the female. Tigers though being territorial do not kill the cubs born of other tigers while courting a female. Lions and tigers both belong to the cat family. Lions are mostly found in Asia and Africa while the tigers are confined to Asia only. Lions are single colored while the tigers have a striped hide. Lions and tigers both happen to be territorial. In mating season lions kill the cubs born of other males, while tigers do not do so. Tigers, unlike lions, are good swimmers. Lions and tigers both happen to be members of the cat family sharing many similarities and differences.

Product life cycle and its concept

Product life cycle and its concept All products and services have certain life cycles. The life cycle of a product, also known as PLC, is a model that illustrates the six different stages that a product/service will go through. The PLC shows the life of a product from its conception to its final withdrawal and each phase has its own characteristics and varies in length depending on the product/service. When a company introduces a new product in the market is very important to identify the six stages of its products life cycle because it has to take specific marketing actions in each stage in order to have the more profits it can. The understanding of the PLC can help the businesses to find out the right timing to introduce or withdraw a product from the market and realize whether their products are successful or not. THE HISTORY OF THE PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE AND ITS CONCEPT The product life cycle concept was developed in the 1950s and became very popular during the next decade. Up until now, it represents a core element of marketing theory and it is widely accepted because of its extensive applications. The PLCs concept can be applied to other theories such as new product development, portfolio analysis etc. The concept of PLC involves that: All products and services have a limited life similar to the human life (or the life of any other living organism). The product sales range. They pass through several and unique stages which pose certain challenges, opportunities and problems. The profits of a product/service range also. During different stages the profits are bound to rise or fall accordingly. Finally, at each stage of PLC, the firms must alter their strategies and their marketing in order for their product to be as profitable as it can. The product life cycle and its stages refer to three production levels: As far as it concerns a specific product (brand) of a company (e.g. Samsung captivate Galaxy S cell phone). A specific company that produces similar and parallel products (e.g. Samsung cell phones). And the whole industry. The group of companies that produce competitive products (e.g. the whole cell phone industry). The brands usually have shorter product life cycles. The products on the other hand, follow standard PLC, while the product categories (industries) have the largest PLCs and stay in maturity phase for a long time, sometimes indefinitely. THE PLC STAGES The products life cycle consists of six phases: Development Introduction Growth Maturity Saturation Decline Fig.1 3821925.gif PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PHASE The development phase begins when a company generates and develops a new product idea. Its a process that demands the translation of different kinds of information (market and consumers trends, competitors products, environmental analysis etc.) which will have to be organized, combined and incorporated into the new product. This product must pass several test market and laboratory tests (Beta testing) in order for the company to see if it will be profitable and if the customers will benefit from it. Only those products that survive the tests can be introduced into the real market. Its obvious that during the development stage the company does not have any sales or profit. INTRODUCTION PHASE The introduction phase begins with the launch of the product in the market. The company tries to promote the new product, develop a market for it and spends a great deal of money in order to achieve this. During this phase the sales generally are low and the profits of the company even tend to be sometimes negative (low sales, high unit costs). The companies produce a small amount of products and their employees must be highly educated. Expertise is needed now. There is little or no competition and there may be high skim pricing for the company to recover the development costs. Finally, the distribution is very selective until the consumers start showing acceptance of the product and start buying it. Sadly, most of the times, the new products fail this stage and the company must withdraw them early from the market. GROWTH PHASE The products that managed to pass the first two stages with flying colors can now proceed to the growth stage. Thats the most profitable stage for the firms. The product takes-off in the market place and the sales increase rapidly. Costs decline on a per unit basis and we have scale economies in production. Thats the time that the company wants to increase the market share and find loyal customers (brand loyalty). However, the success of the product draws the competitors attention. The pricing, which would have be maintained with little competition, starts changing. The company must now become the leader, indicate all the products offerings and differentiate the brand from those of competitors. Basically, the companies during this phase try to find sources of competitive advantage and establish position in the market. The promotion continues as well, but not in the same extend that was needed in the second phase and is also aimed at a broader audience. Finally, distribution channels are added since the product is now successful and the demand continues to increase. MATURITY PHASE Its the stage where the sales have reached to their maximum point (peak) and now start decreasing. The strong growth in sales diminishes and the competition becomes harsher. Now there is a plethora of similar products in the market and the first basic product becomes less wanted. However, if the company managed to achieve its market share goal, now is the time to enjoy the most profitable period. The maturity stage is a period that the firms try to extend their products life as we will show further down. During this stage, pricing strategies change and usually the companies lower their prices because of the new competition. Price wars start. Discounts, coupons, BOGOF offers etc. give an advantage to those who are leaders, helping them to withstand the crisis caused by the low prices. Promotion changes and focuses in finding new buyers. Emphasis is given to the product differentiation especially in terms of quality, use, reliability and price. The distribution becomes more intensive and the use of multi distribution channels begins. The phase of the maturity is a period that drives many companies to stop the production and withdraw (shake-out) since they cannot handle the competition. Its a phase that lasts for a long time and includes the majority of products (mature products of mature industries). SATURATION PHASE This phase usually is excluded because it has many characteristics of the maturity phase. However, the saturation stage is even more extreme. During this stage, sales are impossible to increase and the profits decline sharply. The competition becomes more and more austere and relentless and the customers now search for the low cost substitutes. Meanwhile, the quality of the similar products gradually rises and the previously new product straggles to keep up and not fade away. DECLINE PHASE This is the final stage. In the decline phase sales decrease rapidly either because new products are launched in the market or the buyers behavior starts to change. Its the time that the companies start to withdraw their products, minimize the promotion and lessen the distribution channels. Sometimes, the firms continue to sell their products in a lower price to their loyal customers but that cannot continue for a long time since ultimately the costs will exceed the profits. At this phase the firm has several options such as: To maintain the product by adding new features or by finding new uses of it (extension strategies). Sell the product to another company which is willing to continue the production. This is called divestment and basically refers to companies that want to associate the dying product with their production line or sell it to a different market. Harvest the product. With this option, the companies reduce costs and offer the product until they run out of stock. Most of the times the product is sold to the loyal customers who already know the product and the places where they can acquire it. The group of these loyal customers is also called Niche segment. Withdraw the product. (Sometimes this becomes a 7th phase called the abandonment phase). Fig.2productLifeCycle.gif Fig.3product_life_cycle-2-797072.gif Fig.4 (a PLC compared to the companys profits) product_lifecycle.jpg In the table bellow there is a summary of the strategies that the companies must follow in each product life cycle phase. The table has been taken from the book Strategic Industrial Marketing Development Phase Introduction Phase Growth Phase Maturity Phase Decline Phase Strategic Goal Make your product known and establish a test period Acquire a strong market position Maintain your market position and build on Defend market position from competitors and improve your product Milk all remaining profits from product Competition Almost not there Early entry of aggressive competitors into the market Price and distribution channel pressure Establishment of competitive environment Some competitors are already withdrawing from market Product Limited number of variations Introduction of product variations and models Improvement upgrade of product Price decrease Variations and models that are not profitable are withdrawn Price Goal High sale to middle men Aggressive price policy (decrease) for sales increase Re-estimation of price policy Defensive price policy Maintain price level for small profit Promotion Goal Creation of public market product awareness Reinforcement of product awareness and preference Reinforcement of middle men Maintain loyal to middle men Gradual decrease Distribution Goal Exclusive and selective distribution trough certain distribution channels and creation of high profit margins for middle men General and reinforced distribution through all distribution channels available General and reinforced distribution with good supply to the middle men but with low margins of profit for them General and reinforced distribution with good supply to the middle men but with low margins of profit for them Withdrawal from most channels of distribution except those used in development phase Source: Avlonitis G. THE DIVERSITY OF PRODUCT LIFE CYCLES Beside the usual and common product life cycle that we have just analyzed, there are some special categories. They are usually called alternative Product Life Cycles and appear very different PLC patterns. As the majority of products go through the normal six stages of their PLC, there are many that do not or will not follow them. These special categories of PLC are mainly five: the style, the fashion, the fad, the low learning and the high learning. However other PLC patterns are also the instant bust, the aborted introduction, the market specialty, the growth stump -maturity pattern, the cycle recycle pattern, the scalloped pattern etc. STYLE Style is a basic and distinctive model of expression appearing in a field of human endeavor. Once a style is invented it can last for generations Examples of Style appear in clothes, home art etc. FASHION Fashion is a currently accepted and popular style in a given field. It passes through four stages. The stage of distinctiveness, where some buyers approve something new and innovative that will characterize them. The stage of emulation, where other buyers approve this fashion in order to imitate the fashion leaders. The stage of mass fashion, where fashion becomes very popular and companies start producing in large quantities (mass production). The stage of decline, where the customers live behind the particular fashion and begin heading towards a new one. FAD Fads are fashions that rapidly appear to the consumers. They become accepted with great enthusiasm, peak early and decline very fast. Their acceptance cycle is very short and products that we will come across in this category are the tattoos or the body piercings. HIGH LEARNING PRODUCTS High learning products are products which have very long introductory phases. After their appearance in the market, they need time in order to become accepted either because they are complicated (require significant education of the customer) and expensive or simply because they are not compatible with the existing values of the society (e.g. Video phones, microwave ovens etc.). LOW LEARNING PRODUCTS Low learning products are the exact contrary of the high learning ones. Their introduction is very fast and some time it is difficult to separate the introductory and the growth stage. They peak rapidly because of their high relative advantage. The customer already knows how to use them and understands the benefits of having them. ALTERNATIVE PRODUCT LIFE CYCLES As we have already mentioned, there are also other product life cycles which do not exhibit a bell shaped PLC. Growth slump maturity pattern Its a pattern that usually comes up in new drugs. At the beginning, the products success leads to a high sale level but later slumps. After that point the sales fall to petrified level (other examples are the kitchen supplies like spoons, mixers, kitchen knives etc.). Cycle recycle pattern Cycle-recycle pattern often suits in the pharmaceutical industry. At start, the firm aggressively promotes the product. As a result sales grow producing the first cycle. After their peak, sales start declining and the firms give another promotion push in order to have other smaller growths which produce a second, third cycle and so on. The Scalloped pattern The scalloped pattern on the other hand, differs from the other two. Here sales go through a series of PLCs. This succession of life cycles is the result of good marketing. The company finds new uses of the product, discovers new future customers and sometimes the launches the product to new foreign markets. A great scalloped pattern example would be again a certain drug which company found new applications of it. Other Other alternative Product Life Cycles would be the Instant Bust, the Aborted Introduction, The Market Specialty and the Extended Life Cycle which is the most common type and we are going to analyze next. EXTENDING PLC EXTENSION STRATEGIES The life cycle of the products varies, as we have already mentioned, but sooner or later all products will eventually reach the maturity stage which will be followed by the decline stage. Since the most profitable period of the PLC is during the stages of growth and maturity, companies pay strong attention on the life cycle of their products and try hard to extend them especially as those life cycles near an end. This kind of extension can be achieved by operating certain strategies which usually are introduced during the maturity phase. The most usual and effective PLC extension strategies are the following: Re-Packaging Re-Branding Pricing Re-Designing Promotion New Markets RE-PACKAGING Re-packaging the product means basically that you alter the image of a mature product. The companies try to give a new image to their products in order to make them look more appealing to their existing customers and/or attract new customers. This slight alteration can be done by changing the materials, the size or the messaging on the package. Take for example a chocolate that a company has been selling for decades. Though the product was popular in the 1970s, the new generations will not buy it because is not as modern as they would like it to be. However, if the company changes it just a bit, then it can reach out to those people who will start buying it. RE-BRANDING Re-branding a product is a difficult extension strategy because the companies must change the packaging, the name and the total appearance of their product. This strategy is usually followed when the company wants to reach out to a different audience, target a different market. Take for instance a shampoo. The firm must consistently offer improved versions of this product to maintain the interest of its customers. Re-branding this product would mean giving it a fresh look and name and can involve developing comparative ads that explain how the product has changed and is now better than ever before. PRICING A widely used extension strategy is the re-designing of the products pricing strategy. This can be done by either reducing the products existing price, discounting, or by offering different pricing options. By using this technique, the companies reach out to target markets that couldnt afford the product, gain customers and sustain market share for the products that they offer. RE-DESIGNING Re-designing a mature product is actually the modification of the products features. This strategy is usually followed when the product must adapt to market changes or changes in buyers preferences (customers behavior). In order to do so, the companies, can change the color, the shape or the decoration of the product depending on what their target groups want. Additionally, the companies can add new features to a product providing alternative uses for it. These modifications must be noticeable to the buyer and satisfy his needs in a better way than before, or satisfy him in more ways. Finally, there are two types of value adding modifications: The retention type modification that increases the attractiveness of a product/service to the loyal customers of the company. The conquesting type modifications that allow a company to attract another companys loyal customers by increasing the appeal of its product/service to them. PROMOTION Promotion is used for every single product no matter the stage they are in. However when a product nears the end of its life cycle, the company tends to increase the advertising in order to increase awareness and remind customers the benefits of purchasing this product. The marketing departments can develop new advertising campaigns or stick to the old ones but increase the frequency of the ads. By using persuasive promotional techniques such as BOGOF (Buy One, Get One Free), companies try to stimulate demand. NEW MARKETS Companies can always expand abroad and launch in new markets. By expanding their products abroad, they can reach out to completely different customers (numerous cultural, social, political or geographical differences) and extend the PLC. This strategy can be very expensive since the market will be new and unknown, however, if its done properly, the product will be very profitable and wont fade away. To sum up, if the above product life extension strategies are done properly and be successful, then they can increase the profitable period of a product, generating additional profit from a mature or declining product. THE PROBLEMS OF PLC MODEL As mentioned above the standard PLC model is not followed by each and every product/service. In spite of the companies efforts, sometimes the poor marketing or the misunderstanding of the environments and the consumers messages can lead a product straight to the decline stage. Usually, the firms cannot predict the time that their product will need to go from one phase to another and sometimes they cannot even realize their products current stage. All these ultimately will lead the firm to take marketing actions too early or too late. Since every product is bound to spend different lengths of time in each stage there is no physical way of showing this on the PLC model. As Day (1981: 65) points out: The identification of the boundaries between phases will be affected by the variety of product life cycles patterns. The more variations of the PLC identified, the more difficult the positioning process becomes. Through the years, several scientists and authors have criticized the PLC model and have questioned its validity. In the table below we present some of those along with the problems that they found in this extraordinary model. Major criticisms and problems Authors The PLC concept has no practical use Levitt (1963: 93) It is still difficult to determine at which phase of the PLC a product or service is Levitt (1963: 93) Dhalla and Yuspeh (1976: 102-110) Grantham (1997: 9) The PLC concept has not yet been tested systematically Polli and Cook (1969: 385-400) The PLC led many companies to make costly mistakes and to neglect opportunities. It is often difficult to accurately determine in which phase of the PLC a product actually is. Shortcomings on the practical application of the PLC concept Dhalla and Yuspeh (1976: 102-110) There is still no evidence of the efficacy of the PLC as a tool to predict marketing strategy Dhalla and Yuspeh (1976: 102-110) Grantham (1997: 9) Most empirical studies testing the product life cycle concept have found that it lacks validity or usefulness for explaining sales growth Weber (1976: 125-132) The problem with the PLC concept is that sales are modeled primarily as a function of time and are expected to produce curves that display growth, leveling and decline Tellis and Crawford (1981: 125-132) In many markets the product or brand life cycle is longer than the actual planning life cycle or organizations Mercer (1993: 269-274) There is still serious doubt about the application of the product life cycle as a marketing tool Grantham (1997: 4) THE INVERTED PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE The inverted product life cycle was first invented by John A. Weber. Its a new framework that provides new aspects for viewing and understanding the possible growth opportunities for the organization. It is nothing more than the classic PLC concept. However, this inverse expands it into a detailed, inquisitive and intuitive tool for planning future growth. According to Weber the inverted product life cycle will help organizations to estimate the sales likely to result from taking advantage of available growth opportunities. The inverted PLC uses the industrys life cycle and not the products itself. It can be used in plenty ways such as to help the top management and the product line managers, assess alternative growth choices and international markets, separate the market segments etc. PRODUCT CANNIBALISM Product cannibalism is a phenomenon that appears when a company launches a new product, similar to other pre-existing ones, regardless of their market position. This is mostly due to the introduction of new technologies in the market, which makes cannibalism common among technologically advanced companies. When a firm decides to follow this strategy, it launches a new product to replace previews ones, which cannibalizes on the market share of its predecessors. The favorable case of cannibalism Product cannibalization has both a negative and a positive side. In a usual case of cannibalism, the improved product is introduced to the market when the older one reaches its peak sales. Prices for the new product are high, in order to sustain profit, as the previous version reaches the end of its life cycle. Sometimes, companies introduce a new product, before the existing one even reaches its maturity phase. It is important, for managers, to know exactly the right moment to introduce the new product, as mistimed actions can be catastrophic. The unfavorable case of cannibalism If cannibalism is implicated without caution, the results might be harmful for the company. These are: Smaller contribution to profit, as the new product sold at a lower price, does not yield as much profit as the previous one and does not expand the companys market share. Switching to a new product causes smaller combined profits from both products, compared to not cannibalizing. Changes in the manufacturing process may be too expensive to handle and cause a decrease in profit. A new product with higher risk may cause an unexpected rise in production cost and a decrease in profit margin. Offensive and Defensive Cannibalism strategies Product cannibalism can be used in order to hit the market leader, or repel competitive companies from stealing market share. Offensive cannibalism is useful when a company wishes to establish itself in a new market or expand its market share. For the market leader it is advisable not to cannibalize, until it is necessary. Companies should wait for the right moment, when they have developed or acquired technology allowing them to develop an innovative product. When competitors arise, they will be ready to quickly launch their new product, not only sustaining their market share, but increasing it as well as gaining larger profit. This is not always the case, as delays give competitors the opportunity to attack market share, before the leader is able to react. Defensive cannibalism strategies include: Cannibalizing before competitors, using proper timing. Early use of this strategy causes profits to drop, while late use causes a loss in market share. Using product cannibalism as a way to maintain a technological advantage over competitors. The market leader adjusts the length of the products life cycle this way. This is the case with Intel corp. cannibalizing its older processors in favor of new ones. Adjusting the cannibalization rate to pricing. The price of a new product determines the mix in sales between new and old. Giving the new product at a lower price causes cannibalization to be slow. In the opposite case, cannibalization becomes fast, as the new product is considered to be superior to the previous one. Minimizing cannibalization with the introduction of a new product to specific market segments. This strategy helps the company to maintain a balance between gain and loss in the market. Cannibalism and e-commerce Cannibalism is also common among companies that operate on the internet. Their strategy is to offer products at a lower price on the internet, compared to retail prices. Since buyers are affected by prices they choose to buy online, causing a reduction in volume for retail sales. Large companies such as Toys R Us (United States of America), have launched online ventures in order to achieve this result. THE PLC AND PRODUCT PORTFOLIO THE BCG MODEL Bruce Henderson of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has developed a matrix called BCG matrix. The BCG matrix is a portfolio planning model which is used to identify products, current and future market position, profitability, capital requirements and development opportunity. The BCG matrix is based on the theory of product life cycle and it is a well-known portfolio management tool. The BCG matrix is often used to know which products in company gets more funding and attention. Each product has its product life cycle and each phase in the product life cycle represents a different profile of risk and return. A company should retain a balanced portfolio of products that includes both high growth and low growth products. The high growth product is a new product that has to get to the market and it takes a lot of effort to get it there. The high growth products are those which are expected to bring the most profit in the future. A low growth product is already established and known by th e market. In other words these products are the milking cows that brings a constant cash flow. It is important for the companies to know what phase their products are in and in order to find this out they can use the BCG matrix. The model has four categories in a portfolio of a company. These four phases are: Star. If a product is placed in the category of stars it has a high growth and a high market share. The products are also those which are the leaders in the business but still they need to retain the market share with a lot of marketing and promotions. If the company manages to keep the market share the stars will grow into cash cows. The most important thing for a star product is to maintain the strong market position to later develop into a cash cow and try to avoid moving to a dog. Cash cow. When a product has reached a high market share in a mature market it becomes a cash cow. It is characterized by a low growth but a high market share. Due to the high market share there is no reason to invest on the product. A cash cow generates a lot of cash flow because of the high profit margins. This phase of the product life cycle is what every business strives for. Question mark. This phase of the products life cycle exists when the product enters the market and is waiting for the buyers to discover it. The strategy is to get the customer use the products. It is about a high growth and a low market share therefore question marks have high demands and low returns due to the low market share. If the managers do not manage to increase their market share these products will become dogs. When a product reaches this phase the company has to decide if they want to invest in it or to sell it. Dog. When a product has reached the low growth limit and when it has a low market share it is time for the company to remove the product from the market because expensive turn around plans do not help. One possibility the company has is to focus on a defensible niche. Generally, dogs should be avoided and minimized. These four steps of the BCG model can be compared to the model of the product life cycle. When the product life cycle is compared to the product portfolio concept, the marketing manager can take strategic decisions with greater certainty. We can compare the question mark phase to the introduction phase. When the product has evolved to become a star it has reached out to the market and also managed to get a strong market position. This can be compared to the phase of growth. After the period as a star the product turns to a cash cow which is also the maturity stage. Finally a declining product can also be called a dog. CONCLUSION The product life cycle model has been a central and crucial element of marketing theory for four decades. It has been helpful to marketers in their attempt to understand, conceive and analyze their products success and profitability and has proved itself to be an important research tool. Despite the criticism that it has received and the g

Assessing the Role of Motivation on Employees Essay

In this light the study sets to identify the most ranked factors among the ten motivational factors. The analysis from the empirical findings showed that Job satisfaction† was the most ranked factor for both sub groups that made up the sample survey. However a study from previous researches used in this study showed that different results could be obtained from different groups of already working employees. This study therefore can be seen as an introduction to a more detailed study to be carried by future researchers on the field of employee’s motivation. Background When looking at factors that affect job satisfaction, I find that Agency theory might be helpful as it explains the extent to which organizations need to think of their human resource responsible in producing the output needed by organizations to meet shareholders value. Agency theory is concerned with issues related to the ownership of the firm when that ownership is separated from the day-to-day running of the organization. It assumes that in all but owner- managed organizations the owner or owners (known in agency theory as the â€Å"principal†) of an organization must vest authority to an â€Å"agent†-corporate management- to act on their behalf. The principal recognizes the risk, here and act on the assumption that any agent will look to serve its own as well as the principal interests as it ulfils it contract with that principal. However, this is not the situation in real life situation. As all agents are perceived to be Opportunistic. These approaches are to examine the problems of human exchange derived from the field of finance and economics but they are often applied to the study of shareholders Risk Management (SHRM). Agency theory is therefore used to analyze this conflict in interest between the principal (shareholders of o rganizations) and their agents (leaders of these organizations). Whereby the â€Å"Agents† in keeping with the interest of the shareholders and organizational goals turn to use financial motivational aspects like bonuses, higher payrolls, pensions, sick allowances, risk payments, perks to reward and retained their employees and enhance their performance. There is a strong lobby propounding the view that human resources and their management are the source of competitive advantage for the business, rather than, say, access to capital or use of technology. It is therefore logical to suggest that, attention needs to be paid to the nature of this resource and its management as this will impact on human resource behavior and performance and consequently the performance of the organization. Indeed Boxall and Steeneveld (1999) argue that there is no need to prove the relationship between firm critical influence on performance and labour management as it is self evident that the quality of human resource management is a critical influence on the performance of the firm. Concern for strategic integration, commitment flexibility and quality, has called for attention for employees motivation and retention. Given this perception, the principal in an organization feels unable to predict an agent’s behavior in any given situation and so brings into play various measures to do with incentives in other to tie employee’s needs to those of their organization. Thus getting employee’s identification with respect to the organization, and thus increasing their commitment level. As an approach to mediate the employment contract, elements of human resource strategy (especially those to do with rewards and retention) can offer a way of ensuring an efficient transaction process that enables both parties to get committed towards the fulfillment of each other needs. The fundamental problem, dealt with is what drives or induces people to exploit their potential resources in the way they do in organizations? The issue of motivation and performance are they positively related? By focusing on the financial aspect of motivation problem like bonus system, allowances perks, salaries, etc. By paying attention to the financial aspect of motivation, I intend to probe in to the role this aspect has on enhancing employee’s performance. I believe, financial motivation has become the most concern in today’s organization, and tying to Mallow’s basic needs, non-financial aspect only comes in when financial motivation has failed. Though in some situation, it is being operated side by side. But as a research topic for my thesis I will employ the financial aspects of motivation used by the agents of organization in enhancing their employee’s performance and the extent to which non-financial aspects of motivation turn to enhance employee’s performance. To evaluate the methods of performance motivation in organization in organizing some motivational factors like satisfies and dissatisfies will be used to evaluate how employees motivation is enhanced other than financial aspects of motivation. Problem Statements As a research question, the research seeks to answer what role motivation plays in enhancing performance in organization. This will be possible through analysis of information gathered from students. Hence this thesis is mainly quantitative. * Objectives In trying to find an answer(s) to the research question and on the basis of the above background discussion and research question, the main purposes developed for this thesis is to assess the factors t hat motivate employees to perform best at work. This is done by carrying out a survey in which respondents responding to a survey, ranked the least two most important factor on a list of ten factors, and how these factors influence them. * Limitations and Demarcations The limitation is being considered in relation to the natural explanation to which the researcher has limited the study and the active choices to limit the study area that is financial motivation as a determinant of performance. The study is limited to existing theories and models, and their influence and limitation on performance enhancement. By considering the financial and non-financial aspect of motivation on employees’ performance relating to existing theories and models, I intend to mark a demarcation for the study. Here I have considered limitation in line with the research objective that is the study is limited. I believe that with the changing nature of the work force, recent trends in development, information and technology, the issue of financial motivation becomes consent on one of the most important assets in an organization. A lot has been said on the outside forces of an organization. This research considers the inside forces as a starting point. Ideally, a study of all the explanatory variables will be considered appropriate in order to capture the interactive influences of other variables and thus be able to come up with holistic and generally more acceptable results, of financial motivation and performance. * Definitions Motivation: Motivation by definition refers to what activates, directs human behavior and how this behavior is sustained to achieve a particular goal. Also it can be defined as the set of processes that arouse, direct and maintain human behavior towards attaining some goals. Jones (1955) argues that† Motivation is concerned with how behavior gets started, is energized, is sustained, is directed, and is stopped and what kind of subjective reaction is present in the organization while all this is going on. † Role of financial motivation: The potential role of money is – (1) Conditioned reinforce (2) An incentive which is capable of satisfying needs (3) An anxiety reducer (4) Serves to erase feelings of dissatisfaction Employee satisfaction: This refers to the positive or negative aspects of employee’s altitude towards their jobs or some features of the job. Organizational Goals: A concept, which refers to the focus of attention and decision-making among employees of a sub-unit. Organizing: This involves the complete understanding of the goals of organization, the necessity of proper co-ordination, and the environmental factors that influence the goals and employees within the organization. Employee attitudes: Mental state of readiness for motive arousal.

Addiction Definition Essay

Teens all across the world are facing addiction; they are becoming addicted to drugs and alcohol. It’s happening right under our noses whether they are getting it from their house, grocery stores & pharmacies, even at schools and parties. Teen addiction comes with a lot of consequences anywhere from jail time to even death. It is important to watch for signs such as blood shot eyes, knowing how to prevent it from happening in your teens life, find out all the treatment plans for you teen if it comes down to it. There are a number of resource’s out there to help you with talking to your teen. â€Å"People experiment with drugs for many different reasons. Many first try drugs out of curiosity, to have a good time, because friends are doing it, or in an effort to improve athletic performance or ease another problem, such as stress, anxiety, or depression.† (Robinson, Lawrence, Smith, Melinda, M.A., Saisan, Joanna, M.S.W., 2013, Drug Abuse & Addiction,). Teens start abusing drugs and/or getting addicted to drugs in stressful situations such as moving to a different city or state, changing schools, parents getting divorced, as well as being abused physically, mentally, sexually, emotionally. As well as hanging out with the wrong crowd can make your teen get into addiction with drugs and alcohol. Situations like this can make teens start to experiment with drugs and alcohol. The most common signs of drug addiction in teens is they always have bloodshot eyes, using eye drops to mask what’s really going on with them. One of the biggest signs is probably missing class; grades are starting to go down, & getting into trouble at school. Money and valuables missing from the house; some other signs can be signs of addiction are not acting like themselves or behaving rather weird. Loss of interest in things they once loved such as hobbies, being with friends and families, school. How can you prevent addiction or drug use in a teen? Speaking with your teen about the addiction to drugs and how it can affect them in the future may prolong the use of it. Sometimes that’s not always enough for some teens! â€Å"That’s why delaying the age of first use of alcohol and a drug is a critical goal of prevention. However, other protective factors, especially proactive parenting and strong family bonds, can help delay adolescents’ experimentation with drugs and alcohol and thus help reduce long-term problems.† (Author Unknown, Preventing adolescent substance abuse). Having a strong family bond with your children, always be in their life as much as possible can prevent them from touching that first drink or smoke that first blunt. Preventing teen addiction should be from different sources just not from parents or family, but schools should have something every year that explains the risks and dangers of addictions. My dad started using drugs when he was a teenager got addicted to coke and then he met my mom stopped using for a while. Then all of a sudden he’d take me and my sister to his drug house to get high off of whatever was there that day, I seen how messed up it made my family and how badly it hurt my mom to find out that my sister and I were being exposed to drugs at this drug house. My dad’s addiction tore my family apart because shortly after this my parents got a divorced and then on November 28 1998 he passed away from a brain aneurysm due to the long term drug use. I had to beat the stereotype that since my dad was a drug addict that I would be one too. I stayed focused on graduating on time, spent time with my family and friends that were good for me, as well as be being aware of what my dad went through and how he passed away too early. â€Å"The most important thing that can be done for teenagers who have an addiction problem is to ensure that they are able to get treatment for their problems, and getting the right treatment that will help them overcome their addiction. Although many of the options that are used for treating addiction among adults can be successful in treating teenagers, there are a number of additional things that will be of great help to teenagers trying to overcome their addictions.† (Author Unknown, Treatment options for Teenage Addicts, 2009-2013,) There are so many treatment centers and â€Å"cures† for any kind of addiction, but what one is the right one for you and your family? Is it to put your teen into rehab to get over their addiction or is it to just let them sit in jail and detox from whatever job they are on that’s just if they get caught. Or would you rather find out that your child is dead because of a drug over dose? Drug treatment programs could help for many reasons they provide general therapy, awareness, and education on getting treated for addiction. Counseling sits the addicted person down and makes them realize what they dealing with as far as drugs. There are also many drugs that doctors say â€Å"help with addiction† but I don’t know how true that is for a teenager that’s dealing with addiction. There are so many different types of treatment for addictions those were just to name a few. If your teen is suffering from addiction get them help fast from any of the above treatments. Teens all across the world are dealing with this deadly thing called addiction whether it’s from drugs or alcohol to even social media addiction to sex. There are ways to see if your teen has signs of addiction by their attitude, to their lack of attendance in school, to their bloodshot eyes. There are so many types of preventions for your teen, having a strong family bond, to being active in your teen’s life (even though it can be hard at times when it comes to teens and their parents). If your teen is suffering from addiction and you’d like to get them help there are drug treatment programs, counseling, medications, self-help groups, rehab, and possibly jail time if caught. Teens shouldn’t have to go through this alone. Reference page Preventing Adolescent Substance Abuse (2013) http://www.hazelden.org/web/public/substance_abuse_prevention.page Robinson, Lawrence, Saisan, Joanna, M.S.W., Smith, Melinda, M.A (2013). Drugs Abuse & Addiction, http://www.helpguide.org/mental/drug_substance_abuse_addiction_signs_effects_treatments.htm#top Treatment Options for Teenage Addiction, (2009-2013), http://www.troubledteensparenting.com/treatment-options-for-teenage-addicts.php