Proposed Market Entry Strategy Essay

1. Executive Summary The use of air conditioning is widespread since it does not only provide appropriate room temperature for electrical equipments that make internet and telecommunication works but also provide comfortable atmosphere for cooling rooms in a houses, trade centers, office buildings and many others. The situation reveals that air conditioning equipments have vital roles in society. However, the use of air conditioning devices is associated with high costs since they consume large power of electrical current. Under such circumstances, the development of efficient cooling and purifying devices become the next stage in the air cooling and purifying development. One of air purifying and cooling products available in the market is EnerVent ®, which developed by Northridge Enterprise. The company understands that to win customers’ hearts, there are four key features that EnerVent ® should possess; they are true Fresh air delivery, low costs and low heating air conditioning in compact design, high quality of air purifiers that are not merely circulating the same air in a room, and capability to eliminate harmful gases, mold, and germs. Concerning the issue, this paper has elaborated several issues concerning the market entry strategy for EnerVent ® including target markets, market potential, competitive market analysis, marketing objectives, marketing mix strategy (product, place, promotion, and place) 2. Introduction 2.1. Development of Air Conditioning and Purifying Products Nowadays, the discussion over the benefits of the sophisticated information technology including computers and telecommunications on business and communication is an endless topic in seminars or exhibitions. However, in order to work properly, such equipments need low-temperature in order to prevent overheating so that the use of high-power air conditioning is vast in the equipment rooms. In addition to the use of air conditioning devices for cooling rooms, they also provide comfortable atmosphere for cooling rooms in a houses, trade centers, office buildings and many others. The situation reveals that air conditioning equipments have vital roles in society. This makes sense since the use of air conditioning is widespread and easily found in almost every place that provide comfortable atmosphere. According to ARI CoolNet, air conditioning has several functional benefits as following: ï‚ § Providing personal comfort ï‚ § Improving productivity in the workplace where it relates to the comfortable place the air conditioning provides ï‚ § Increasing good medical and health services ï‚ § Helping vendors to preserve fresh and frozen foods like seafood, frozen potatoes, sausage an many others ï‚ § Protecting electrical equipment from excessive heating Since the use of air conditioning, previously called as manufactured air, is vital in day-to-day activities, it becomes a significant invention in human history. However, recent air conditioning or ventilation products do not end in the development of fancy casing or cooler temperature but also in several values added features. For example, the invention of Plasma cluster technology, which is capable of killing 99-percent bacterium and viruses including Aviation flue viruses, becomes the Sharps’ competitive advantage that generate revenue for the Japanese company’s air conditioning and cooling products including refrigerators, chillers, air conditioner, air purifiers, to name a few. However, the use of air conditioning products is associated with high costs since they consume large power of electrical current. Under such circumstances, the development of efficient cooling and purifying devices become the next stage in the air cooling and purifying development. 2.2. EnerVent ® Products EnerVent ® is manufactured to fulfill the need for efficient ventilation system that has several features including compact design (small) and lightweight compared to existing whole house and individual room air conditioning system. The EnerVent ® has favorable tagline that clearly target particular customers as following: There is nothing like fresh air from open windows on a Spring day. Yet high heating and air conditioning costs keep homes sealed tight to save money. Harmful odors, gases, mold, and germs stay in. Even quality air purifiers can only clean and circulate the same air. The EnerVent ® system offers the best of both worlds, bringing in and circulating out up to 12 true air exchanges daily without a significant energy penalty† The EnerVent ® jargon suggests that there are four features that the company concerns when developing EnerVent ®; they are Fresh air delivery, low costs and low heating air conditioning in compact design, high quality of air purifiers that are not merely circulating the same air in a room, and capability to eliminate harmful gases, mold, and germs. Concerning the size, Figure 1 shows example of several air conditioning designs that appear to be ‘usual’, large, and ‘compact’ design. (a) GMG (b) Delonghi Figure 1 Several Design of Existing Air Conditioning System Source: OK CHINA INDUSTRIAL LTD, 2007 In addition to size, competition in air conditioning system evolves into the provision of fresh air that circulate the true fresh air from the outside instead circulating the same air. This feature is significantly important since people have great concerns over the raising pollution because of industrial plants discard smoke, the forest fire, bad air-refreshing systems in a house, etc. Generally, air pollution in the U.S., to be precise, and other industrial countries is because acid rain in both the U.S. and Canada in which the US becomes a country that emits a large amount of carbon dioxide as the result of fossil fuels burning; limited resources of natural fresh water, water pollution due to pesticides and fertilizers (â€Å"Air pollution from other countries drifts into USA†, 2005). Concerning the capability of eliminating odor, EnerVent ® also present attractive features since the product is capable of eliminating harmful odors, gases, mold, and germs. In the market, this feature is best represented by Sharp’s Plasma cluster product as shown in the Figure 2. (a) Sharp FU40SEK (b) Sharp FU-S40TA Figure 2 Sharp Air Purifier with Plasma cluster technology Source: Callde, 2007; Pantipmarket, 2007 3. Target Markets Since EnerVent ® has particular characteristics that present the â€Å"true† fresh air to either â€Å"whole houses† and â€Å"individual room†, therefore, the target market for EnerVent ® is as following: ï‚ § Brand of Products : – True fresh air like one from open windows on a Spring day – Eliminate harmful odors, gases, mold, and germs stay in – Low energy consumption ï‚ § Customers’ Preferences : People who concern about the need for fresh air in a room that has capability to eliminate harmful materials at low operation costs ï‚ § Ages : above 25 (this is the age where people use their rational reasons when buying a product). This is important since home electronic industry are fulfilled with advertising that trick customers ï‚ § Income Levels : above $2,500 per month (considering that the price of air Purifying is above $100, see Figure 3) Figure 3 Air Purifier Source: Bizrate, 2007 4. Market Potential and Sales Forecast The market potential for air purifiers from EnerVent ® is people who concerns about the People who concern about the need for fresh air in a room that has capability to eliminate harmful materials at low operation costs. The description suggests that EnerVent ® target both high-end customers since they are more concern about complete features regardless the price and low-end customers since they concern about low-operational costs despite high ownership costs. For high end customers, they realize that air pollution is more influencing the children than adult. All of U.S. researchers open their study about finding the polluted air impact at the children. It is believed that air pollution make the children lung become smaller. This evidence assures that air pollution own the chronic impact. In addition, this impact will be permanent at all of the children until they become adult (â€Å"Air Pollution Might Affect Lung Development in Children, Study Finds†, 2004). Bad air quality give the negative impact to the environmental quality and the financial loss because of the air pollution is not small. Because financially, air pollution will improve the cost, which must be become the responsibility of society. It can be in the form of medical expense for pain suffered, decreasing of the work productivity as an effect of air pollution, and decreasing of the prosperity life. Due to the fact that air pollution may provide unfavorable condition for an entire family; therefore, Northridge Enterprise has wide market potential to sell EnerVent ®, the true air purifier. To be specific the market potential for EnerVent ® is as following: 4.1. Middle and High Class market, Offices and Buildings There are many considerations in the minds of consumers when they are buying air conditioning product. In most parts of the world, air conditioning is the consumption of middle and high-class families, buildings and offices. For these people, cost is not the prime factor of consideration. It is quality that concerns them the most. In the light of this consideration, the Enervent will only gain small portion of the market in this segment because there are many air conditioning products which have better features and higher capacity to regulate air in larger offices. The Enervent on the other hand, can only regulate air in a limited space because it does not have the capability of producing cool air as a regular air conditioning machine. There are however, mid and high class households and small offices that prefer to use air purifier because they like the natural atmosphere of their houses and offices. These are generally smaller establishments or places which have plenty, but small to medium-sized rooms. This represents an opportunity for Enervent to enter the medium and high class households, buildings and offices. The opportunity however, is very small compare to the entire market of air conditioning equipment in the medium and high class market. 4.2. Medium and Lower Income Families Air conditioning needs are not the sole demands of medium and high-class establishments. In the modern realm where people’s desire for quality has been considerably enhanced, the need for air conditioning spreads to the low income families and offices. This represents a better opportunity for Enervent to gain larger portion of the market. This is true because for low income families and low-budget offices, the cost of having a full fledged air conditioning system can be quite overwhelming. In previous times, they generally switch to air purifier products because they are cheaper and do not consume too much electricity. However, the presence of the Enervent creates new and better alternative. These people could gain better quality than average air purifiers and pay cheaper costs than the average air conditioner products (Ward, 2007). 4.3. The market for Air Regulator Machines The rapid development of economy in various regions of the world generated massive demands for air conditioning products. In some markets, the air conditioning products are displaying a rapid increase, like the Indian market and Saudi Arabian. They are potential markets because of their geographic conditions and their economic development. On the other hand, there are also markets that displayed declining tendencies in the air conditioning market development because of the over-crowded markets, like China. In Europe, United States and most of the Asian countries displayed stable or otherwise mild development in the air conditioning market (Wind of Change, 2006). The product is, on the other hand, a revolutionary product filling a niche between the high cost air conditioning equipment and the simple air purifier machine. In a sense it has similar but different markets than those of the air conditioner products. Because of the revolutionary nature of the industry, and the contributions from low income, middle and high class markets elaborated above, I believe that the product will take over approximately 5-10% of the air conditioning market in the end of the first year. Furthermore, being the sole producer of Enervent, then the sales number of the company will be similar to that percentage. For instance, if the US air conditioning market is worth US$ 1 billion annually, then Enervent will generate a sales number of US$ 50-100 million. 5. Competitive Market Analysis The air conditioning industry is a global industry. Most of the modern countries plus several of the developing countries witnessed rapid growth of their air national air conditioning industry. In Saudi Arabia for example, demands for air conditioners is the highest in the world. Analysts have stated that the Saudi Arabian market has become a unique investment opportunities for foreign investors. Although not exactly alike, similar rate of growth can be witnessed in India and other developing countries (Saudi Aircon, 2007). Despite the rapid growth of the industry, Enervent cannot expect to gain the full benefit of the market development. The direct competitor of Enervent is air conditioning itself. Despite their significantly higher prices, they have larger capacity of regulating temperature and the condition of large rooms. Modern air conditioning is also equipped with various features that do not exist in Enervent, like self cleaning device, etc. Furthermore, air conditioning has a better and more widespread reputation that Enervent, which is a new and unpopular product. The competitive advantages of Enervent against the direct competitor are price and efficiency. The product is considerably cheaper, lighter and more far more electricity efficient than the average air conditioning machine. Indirect competitor of Enervent is the cheaper and simpler air purifier. The low cost and electricity efficient device is also quite popular as alternative of air conditioners. They generate significantly less cost than the average air conditioner, but cannot act as a temperature regulator. Many considered that the air purifier and the air conditioner market is not the same. Nevertheless, they are the same. Air purifier is an indirect competitor of both the air conditioner market and Enervent. Enervent has the advantage of temperature control with similarly low cost and efficient electricity compare to the air purifier. In addition to the analysis above, there are also other factors in the air conditioner industry that generates opportunities for Enervent to grow, they are: †¢ The emerging new styles of offices In the modern world, people are not satisfied having the same offices as other companies. In order to facilitate such a need for creative office design. The trend toward more stylish offices generates more complicated buildings with less ventilation. Pursuing efficiency, more employees are stationed in smaller rooms. These conditions generated the need for larger capacities of air conditioning. This is logical because managers have realized that poor air quality in the workplace could result in lack of productivity and worse, sickness (Cunningham, 1986). The necessity for more air conditioning system generates more demands of air conditioning machines. However, because companies are constantly searching for ways to enhance efficiency, their attention turn toward products which can deliver similar performance in air conditioning with less prices and more electricity efficient performance. This leads to opportunities for the newly designed Enervent, an air conditioning machine which are significantly cheaper and much more electricity efficient (Piercy, 1982). †¢ New Competitors The highly competitive environment is created by various factors. For one, the amount of players within the industry also plays a great role in shaping the competitive atmosphere. In the air conditioning market, Far Eastern manufacturers have improved their manufacturing capabilities by cooperating with Japanese producers. The new entrants are expected to influence the European market aggressively by means of targeting an established distributor. These new entrants have significantly lower price structures, thus allowing them to deliver cheaper prices to consumers. This leads to harder and more competitive atmosphere in the industry of both air conditioning machines and air purifier machines. In a sense, this also influences Enerven as an alternative between the two products. 6. Marketing Objectives The hardest mission of a marketer in getting the product accepted and recognized within the local environment. The Enervent is a new product with revolutionary technology. Its first year in the market should be the year of promotion and market penetration. Therefore the marketing objectives should be: †¢ Establish presence in local environment There are various factors that could influence how a product will result revenues and profits within its market. Each local environment has different preferences of how products should be. It is important for Enervent to win the hearts of local society by collaborating with local culture and traditions. The failure to achieve that will create poor and undeveloped sales performance. Thus, one of the most important and early marketing objective should be how to generate connection with local markets (Korey, 1986). †¢ Discover new channel of distributions and marketing In the first year of marketing, new products should be brought throughout the markets using various channels and means of transportations. Getting to know the local infrastructure and how will it affect the business is very much important. Thus, discovering new channel of promotion and distribution is also an important objective (Koney, 1986) †¢ Create a distinction Establishing presence and discovering new channels are usually not enough to get the product running and generate revenues and profits. The product needs features or appearance that will differentiate it from other products. This activity is called brand designing (Keegan, 1989). 7. Marketing Mix In the following chapter I will use existing information to make an assessment of how Enervent should be sold. This assessment is important because it determines the shape of the business offering toward consumers. Re-designing the business offerings has been the core purpose of performing a marketing mix analysis. In terms of Enervent, the following is suggested: 7.1. Product Positioning Strategy Enervent should be well promoted to reflect capabilities of the new and revolutionary product. As implied in previous chapters, the product should be advertised as a brilliant alternative to air conditioning and air purifier. It is the combination of both worlds which brings the best of them. The product can also be advertised as the new revolution in air conditioning. The advertising campaign would have to generate the image that Enervent is the next generation of low cost, low energy air conditioning (Keegan, 1989). As mentioned in previous chapter, the product has different opportunities in different segments of the market. Therefore, there is a need to perform different emphasize on different segments of the market. In the medium to high-class households, buildings and offices, the company should focus on promoting the product as a smart replacement of the average air conditioning system because of its air temperature management capabilities and its low cost and energy efficient nature. This would attract those customers which prefer to maintain the naturality of their environments as mentioned before. On the other hand, in the low-income households and offices, the product should be promoted as the new generation of air conditioning. The product should be promoted as the new and brilliant evolution toward environmental friendliness and quality preservation. Because the company is forecasted to generate more sales in this segment, this characteristic of product positioning (as a revolutionary new generation of air conditioning) should be the main scenario of marketing. Other processes within the product positioning activities which require attention includes: paying attention to manufacturing specifications, labeling and packaging to represent the target market we are aiming and the position of our product. The product must also be tested first before it enters the market. Analysts also suggested that the product should be matched with its surrounding environment, whether in times of sale or distribution. For instance, products that travel through the road should contain different specifications and equipments to products that travel through air (Keegan, 1989). 7.2. Pricing Strategy In marketing mix, price is considered as one of the factor that contributes to the total value of product offering. Despite the high quality of the product, if the pricing strategy does no reflect value (which means the value gained from the purchase is greater than the value of money sacrificed for the purchase), then customers would not be appealed to the product. Price has been the most important consideration in buying air conditioner machines for years. Because of the highly advanced technology and the power needed to perform the task of regulating air throughout the surrounding environment, the average air conditioners cost quite a fortune. In terms of Enervent, I propose a new set of pricing considerations which emphasis on acknowledgement of the segments in which the product will be marketed. In other words, the pricing strategy should reflect discounts, bonuses, price competitiveness, etc. Nevertheless, managers cannot ignore the importance of having a valuable product. The psycography of customers sometimes generates new understanding over the behavior of consumers. For one, consumer often mistaken quality with price. Often we find that if we charge higher, people would buy the product more. Managers in charge of the pricing strategy must have considerable sensitiveness toward the behavior of his/her customers. 7.3. Distribution strategy Distribution is also a factor in marketing and selling products. Companies must have provided their officers with sufficient funding in order to prevent lack of funding in the delivery process. Often, the assignment on distribution is in line with order processing stages. In a sense, distribution is an inseparable part of order processing and the process is not over until the products are delivered successfully to customers. In terms of exporting the Enervent, managers of the distribution process should prepare all the necessary export preparation and documentation. Often shipments failed because of the lack of diligence in preparing the required documentation (Basche, 1971). Distribution management includes managing the cost of distribution. In we are to export Enervent as a part of our central operations, than it is important for us to assign the distribution cost to the recipient instead of to our own cost structure. Forwarding freight is crucial in distribution management. Managers of distribution process must also pay attention to other supporting issues like insurance and arbitration. The lack consideration of these small factors could generate problems in later days. In distributing the Enervent, we must also consider the fact that inventory support is crucial for distribution process. Inventory management and warehousing strategies must be accounted to the nature of the product to prevent losses or diminished product quality. 7.4. Promotional activities In terms of advertising and promotion, we have discussed the need to represent Enervent in different ways for different market segments. On the other hand, if reality forces us to choose, we must choose to represent the largest demands on the market. In the Enevernet case, this means promoting the product as the new generation of air conditioning. Promotions can be performed through ‘indirect forms’, like literature, direct mail, etc. There are also a more direct form of promotion which includes exhibitions and trade shows. Often, the presence of a good sales force is also influential to promotional activities. In marketing Enervent, managerial abilities to motivate sales forces are important to promotional activities. This is important considering the product is new in the market. Another way of motivating the promotional activities is by using agents. External agents who receive commissions are generally more motivated to do their job because of the compensation strategy. Reference †Air Pollution Might Affect Lung Development in Children, Study Finds.† 2004. Retrieved May 9, 2007 from http://www.californiahealthline.org/index.cfm?Action=dspItem&itemID=105505 ARI CoolNet. â€Å"Air Conditioning: Improving the Way We Live.† Retrieved May 9, 2007 from http://www.ari.org/consumer/history/history-ac.html Basche, J.R. Jr. â€Å"Export Marketing Services and Costs†. 1971. New York: The Conference Board, p4. Cunningham, M.T. â€Å"Strategies for International Industrial Marketing†. 1986. In D.W. Turnbull and J.P. Valla (eds.) Croom Helm p 9. Delonghi.  « Delonghi Portable Air Conditioners – Delonghi Portable Air Conditioning.  » 2007. Retrieved May 7, from http://www.delonghi-portable-air-conditioners.co.uk/images/3176.jpg Korey, G. â€Å"Multilateral Perspectives in International Marketing Dynamics†. 1986. European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 20, No. 7, pp 34-42 Keegan, W.J. â€Å"Global Marketing Management.† 1989. Prentice Hall International Editions. OK CHINA INDUSTRIAL LTD. â€Å"Wholesale Air conditioner.† 2007. Retrieved May 7, 2007 from http://www.sz-wholesale.com/shenzhen_China_products/Air-conditioner_1.htm Piercy, N. â€Å"Company Internationalisation: Active and Reactive Exporting†. 1982. European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 15, No. 3, pp 26-40. Saudi Aircon 2007. 2007. Riyadh Exhibitions. Retrieved May 9, 2007 from http://www.recexpo.com/recweb/show_overview.asp?id=79 â€Å"US Market for Air Conditioning.† Worldwide Market Intelligence. Retrieved May 9, 2007 from www.bsria.co.uk/documents/pdf/misc/17200 leaflet.pdf Ward, Susan. â€Å"How to Find and Master a Niche Market.† 2007. Retrieved May 9, 2007 from http://marketing.about.com/od/careersinmarketing/l/aa060303a.htm â€Å"Wind of change in air-conditioning market.† 2006. China Economic Net. Retrieved May 9, 2007 from http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-04/27/content_437865.htm

Nunavut essays

Nunavut essays In the search for a sense of freedom, Nunavut as well as its people are to face arduous undertakings as well as inspiring triumphs, in its struggle to attain what it has been denied for the last quarter century. In a land from which its destiny is balanced on a delicate scale, determined by its accomplishments and drawbacks, which in turn will lead to the future of this vast and intimidating terrain. In time, this newly founded territory will have its turn to prove itself worthy of becoming the first territory to grow to be a province. It is in that time that the responsibility of the relationship between the Aboriginal peoples of Nunavut and the Government of Canada will finally be sealed in an intertwined fate. With the creation of Nunavut, the face of Canada has undergone an immense change from which Canada has not experienced since the introduction of Newfoundland nearly 50 years ago. In fact, this appears to be the first time since the year 1867, which resulted in a region of Canada to be brought the opportunity to establish its own government, resulting in the establishment of a government managed according to its own needs. In this form of self-government the Inuit people have the beginnings of the fulfillment of a long-held hope of the Eastern and Central Artic Inuit to gain control over their own destiny, which will in turn although the Inuit to mould their own government in a way that befits their own culture. In the midst of the formation of Nunavut, certain practices have been put in service from which are in many ways unique in comparison with the creation of any other territory or province for that matter. Such practices include that of the absence of political parties, as me mbers represent themselves rather than a faction. Together with the fact that 85 percent of the present government will be held by Inuit, although currently the number of active Inuit government members have been reduced to nearly 50 percent. In...

Biography of Zelda Fitzgerald, Jazz Age Icon and Author

Biography of Zelda Fitzgerald, Jazz Age Icon and Author Born Zelda Sayre, Zelda Fitzgerald (July 24, 1900  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ March 10, 1948) was an American writer and artist of the Jazz Age. Although she produced writing and art on her own, Zelda is best known in history and in popular culture for her marriage to F. Scott Fitzgerald and her tumultuous battle with mental illness. Fast Facts: Zelda Fitzgerald Known For:  Artist, author of Save Me The Waltz, and wife of author F. Scott FitzgeraldBorn:  July 24, 1900  in Montgomery, AlabamaDied:  March 10, 1948 in Asheville, North CarolinaSpouse:  F. Scott Fitzgerald (m. 1920-1940)Children:  Frances Scottie Fitzgerald Early Life The youngest of six children, Zelda was born to a prominent Southern family in Montgomery, Alabama. Her father, Anthony Sayre, was a powerful justice on the Alabama Supreme Court, but she was the darling of her mother, Minerva, who spoiled young Zelda. She was an athletic, artistic child, equally interested in her ballet lessons and in spending time outdoors. Although she was a clever student, Zelda was mostly uninterested in her studies by the time she reached high school. Beautiful, spirited, and rebellious, Zelda became the center of her young social circle. As a teenager, she already drank and smoked, and enjoyed causing minor scandals by doing things like dancing â€Å"flapper† style or swimming in a tight, flesh-toned bathing suit. Her brash, daring nature was even more shocking because women of her social status were expected to be genteel and quiet. Zelda and her friend, future Hollywood actress Tallulah Bankhead, were frequently the topic of gossip. As a girl or a teenager, Zelda began to keep diaries. These journals would later prove to be the earliest signs of her creative mind, containing much more than a rote record of her social activities. In fact, excerpts from her early journals would eventually appear in iconic works of American literature, thanks to her relationship with a soon-to-be legendary novelist: F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Fitzgeralds In the summer of 1918, Zelda first met the 22-year-old Scott when he was stationed on an Army base just outside of Montgomery. Their first meeting, at a country club dance, would later be the basis for the first meeting between Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. Although she had several suitors at the time, Zelda quickly came to favor Scott, and they grew close over a shared worldview and their similarly creative personalities. Scott had big plans, and he shared them with Zelda, who became equal parts muse and kindred spirit. She inspired the character of Rosalind in This Side of Paradise, and the novel’s closing monologue is taken directly from her journals. Their romance was interrupted in October 1918, when he was reassigned to a base in Long Island, but the war soon ended and he returned to Alabama within a month. Scott and Zelda became deeply involved, and wrote to each other constantly after he moved to New York City in early 1919. They married in 1920, despite some objections from Zelda’s family and friends over his drink and his Episcopalian faith. That same year, This Side of Paradise was published, and the Fitzgeralds became notorious on the New York social scene, embodying the excesses and brilliance of the Jazz Age. In 1921, just before Scott’s second novel was finished, Zelda became pregnant. She gave birth to their daughter, Frances â€Å"Scottie† Fitzgerald in October 1921, but motherhood did not â€Å"tame† Zelda into a quiet domestic life. In 1922, she was pregnant again, but the pregnancy did not make it to term. Over the next couple of years, Zelda’s writing began to appear as well, mostly sharply-written short stories and magazine articles. Although she joked about her writing being â€Å"borrowed† for Scott’s novels, she did resent it too. After their co-written play The Vegetable flopped, the Fitzgeralds moved to Paris in 1924. Together in Paris The Fitzgeralds’ relationship was in a complicated state by the time they reached France. Scott was absorbed with his next novel, The Great Gatsby, and Zelda fell for a dashing young French pilot and demanded a divorce. Zelda’s demands were met with dismissal from Scott, who locked her in their house until the drama passed. In the months following, they returned mostly to normal, but in September, Zelda survived an overdose of sleeping pills; whether the overdose was intentional or not, the couple never said. Zelda was often ill around this time, and in late 1924, Zelda was unable to continue her traveling lifestyle and instead began painting. When she and Scott returned to Paris in the spring of 1925, they met Ernest Hemingway, who would become Scott’s great friend and rival. Although Zelda and Hemingway loathed each other from the start, Hemingway did introduce the couple to the rest of the Lost Generation expat community, such as Gertrude Stein. Increasing Instability Years passed, and Zelda’s instability grew – along with Scott’s. Their relationship turned volatile and more dramatic than ever, and both accused the other of affairs. Desperate for success of her own, Zelda took up the reins of her ballet studies again. She practiced intensely, sometimes for up to eight hours a day, and while she did have some talent, the physical demands (and the lack of support from Scott) proved too much for her. Even when she was offered a spot with an opera ballet company in Italy, she had to decline. Zelda was admitted to a French sanatorium in 1930 and bounced between clinics for physical and psychological treatments for around a year. When her father was dying in September 1931, the Fitzgeralds returned to Alabama; after his death, Zelda went to a hospital in Baltimore and Scott went to Hollywood. While in the hospital, however, Zelda wrote a whole novel, Save Me The Waltz. The semi-autobiographical novel was her biggest work to date, but it infuriated Scott, who had planned to use some of the same material in his work. After Scott’s forced rewrites, the novel was published, but it was a commercial and critical failure; Scott also derided it. Zelda didn’t write another novel. Decline and Death By the 1930s, Zelda was spending most of her time in and out of mental institutions. She continued to produce paintings, which were tepidly received. In 1936, when Zelda seemingly disconnected from reality, Scott sent her to another hospital, this one in North Carolina. He then proceeded to have an affair in Hollywood with columnist Sheilah Graham, bitter about how his marriage to Zelda had turned out. By 1940, though, Zelda had made enough progress to be released. She and Scott never saw each other again, but they corresponded until his sudden death in December 1940. After his death, it was Zelda who became an advocate for Scott’s unfinished novel The Last Tycoon. She was inspired and began working on another novel, but her mental health declined again and she returned to the North Carolina hospital. In 1948, a fire broke out at the hospital, and Zelda, in a locked room awaiting an electroshock therapy session, did not escape. She died at the age of 47 and was buried alongside Scott. Posthumous Discovery The Fitzgeralds had been on the decline when they died, but interest quickly revived, and they became immortalized as the icons of the Jazz Age. In 1970, historian Nancy Milford wrote a biography of Zelda that suggested she had been every bit as talented as Scott, but had been held back by him. The book became a bestseller and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and it heavily influenced future perceptions of Zelda. Save Me The Waltz subsequently saw a revival as well, with scholars analyzing it on the same level as Scott’s novels. Zelda’s collected writings, including the novel, were compiled and published in 1991, and even her paintings have been re-appraised in the modern era. Several fictional works have depicted her life, including several books and a TV series, Z: The Beginning of Everything. Although perceptions continue to evolve, the Fitzgerald legacy – of which Zelda is most definitely a huge part – has become deeply engrained in American popular culture.   Sources: Cline, Sally.  Zelda Fitzgerald: Her Voice in Paradise. Arcade Publishing, New York, 2003.Milford, Nancy. Zelda: A Biography. Harper Row, 1970.Zelazko, Alicja. Zelda Fitzgerald: American Writer and Artist. Encyclopaedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Zelda-Fitzgerald.

The UAW and It's Effects on the City of Detroit Term Paper

The UAW and It's Effects on the City of Detroit - Term Paper Example A popular third party representation for almost any labor or industry type is referred to as the labor unions. These unions are comprised of workers from within the company and industry; their collective function is to bridge the gap between the employees and employer through communication and serve as an organized voice for all employees. A labor union’s main objective varies and depends on the employees’ needs or grievances. However, majority of these objectives are geared towards the well-being of employees -- health care benefits, good or improved working conditions, increased salary to accommodate rising costs of living, skills enhancement, contract longevity, and so on. Employers, on the other hand, establish the relationship with labor unions through certain access to facts (e.g., profit, loss, operation costs, labor costs, et cetera) to which negotiation and a coordinated decision-making is firmly grounded. This access and hearing out of employer’s side e nables the labor union to observe impartiality. On a labor union’s perspective, this may also permit them to come up with demands that are realistically feasible for employers to meet. However, this does not work all the time. There are times when labor unions inadvertently choke up the business and industry with their demands. This challenge calls for a more diverse and flexible approach from labor unions. One such labor union, alleged of choking up the auto-making industry in Detroit, Michigan, is the United Auto Workers Union or UAW. This paper attempts to explore the effects of this labor union to the core industry of Detroit City. The UAW Founded in 1935 and is considered to be â€Å"one of the largest in North America,† the United Auto Workers Union (UAW) accomplished its pioneering work of â€Å"expanding the nation’s labor movement† as well as establishing the standards of labor conditions through â€Å"generous pension, health care, and job secu rity provisions† (â€Å"United Automobile Workers,† 2011, para. 1). Evidently, the UAW was successful in bringing about improvement in the working conditions of auto-laborers in vast coverage and was expected to continue growing and carrying out its mission. However, the year 1970 had marked the start of UAW’s turbulent years ahead; the â€Å"shrinking of the North American auto industry† and â€Å"the crisis that engulfed† Detroit’s Big Three (i.e., General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler) had set the â€Å"downward path† for the labor union (â€Å"United Automobile Workers,† 2011, para. 2). This series of crises had not just hurt the industry but also hurts the employees, as well. Inevitably, industries have to lower overall costs and the pressure of lowering these costs weigh down on the laborers’ wage and benefits. Consequently, companies cannot afford anymore the costs of benefits demanded by laborers and the UAW. Compani es and employees are torn between retrenchment and retaining but in the expense of lower wages and/or lesser benefits. Most laborers chose the latter and around December 2008, UAW membership among the Big Three’s, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler, declined -- from 305, 000 to 139, 000 workers (â€Å"United Automobile Workers,† 2011). The Automakers’ fall Looking close, particular advancements in the auto industry had paved the way for Detroit’s demise. Price (2000) collectively called these advancements the â€Å"

W8 Disc Knowledge Management System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

W8 Disc Knowledge Management System - Essay Example Likewise, aside from the internal resources, the manager should also assess the external factors which could influence and affect the organization’s performance: customers, competitors, environmental, and other politico-social factors. The benefits of developing an effective KM system include â€Å"facilitating decision-making, building learning environments by making learning routine, and stimulating cultural change and innovation† (Quast, 2012). A learned, the key ingredients of a KM system could be any of the following: people, processes, and technology; or culture, structure, and technology (What Is Knowledge Management?, n.d.). The approach that should be used depends on the resources and competencies of the organization, especially the people who would use the information in the performance of their roles and responsibilities. As emphasized, â€Å"the idea of a KM system is to enable employees to have ready access to the organizations documented base of facts, sources of information, and solutions† (Knowledge management system, n.d., p. 1). Therefore, it is important to assess the skills and competencies of the organization’s human resources, as well as Quast, L. (2012, August 20). Why Knowledge Management Is Important To The Success Of Your Company. Retrieved from Forbes:

Eminent Domain Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 30

Eminent Domain - Case Study Example The city plan did not violate the constitutional taking clause. The takings clause protects the private property from conversion by the state for public use without just compensation. The plan was engineered to boost the low economy by providing jobs to the unemployed and increase the tax receipts that would eventually see the city's economy stabilize. This step is beneficial to the public both directly and indirectly and a legitimate public use of the justly acquired land. The economic benefits, on the other hand, appear to be secondary and incidental as brought forth by the dissenting judge. The developers seem to be the primary beneficiary of the acquisition and there is no surety that unemployment will be curbed and hence have the public benefit. All in all, the entire takings clause is objected towards just compensation of the private landowners where the government acquires such land for public use. From the foregoing, the land was put into public use that is faced as economic development having compensated the owners justly. It thus follows that the takings clause was not violated.

Performance measurement

Performance measurement Introduction: This report is about operations Management in general and performance measurement in specific, which is broadly a study of an organization’s performance. LYCATEL has been chosen as Model Company in order to measure its performance. This report will focus on studying the different areas of their operations. This repot will also look at the positive or negative impacts of operational decisions taken by the company. This report will positively contribute to highlight some issues which may lead company towards betterment or vice versa. Finally the conclusion will proceed to some recommendations based on our analysis.This report will begin with brief explanation of performance measurement and its related concepts. The next section will introduce the Model Company and description of the problem. Finally the company will be analyzed on the basis of performance measure tools and recommendations will be made. Performance Measurement: Performance measurement can be defined as: a process in which we check or evaluate the company from different angels that how they are performing in their field. If we explore history, organisations have always measured performance in some way through the financial performance that they are making profit or not. However, traditional performance measured, based on cost accounting information; provide little to support companies on their quality journey. They never check the performance of an organisation seen by their customers that how they think about organisation’s performance. According to an article published in PMA Newsletter: â€Å"Evaluating performance is important, but we can not limit the performance measurement to this purpose. If we want to manage for results and manage through measures we should consider the performance measurement not just as a rear-view mirror to evaluate our past performance but as a tool to support decision making process in the organisation day by day.† Now a days in a successful total quality organisation, performance measures by the improvements seen by the customer as well as by the results delivered to other stakeholders, such as the shareholders. In the issue of Perspectives on Performance, Max Moullin recommended his personal definition of performance measurement and explained the aims of it. We would like to contribute to the discussion what he asserted. Here is how Moullin defined performance measurement: â€Å"Performance measurement is evaluating how well organisations are managed and the value they deliver for customers and other stakeholders† â€Å"We are not totally agreed with this definition because the word he used ‘how well’ should be decided after the measurement, we can’t say that the organisation is doing well or not before the measurement.† But as far other concerns it covers the both sides that the performance measurement tells the customer satisfaction and the stakeholders. Obviously if the customers are happy with the products or organisation they will stick with them and organisation will make profit, it’s just the different angle to see the things. Tools for Performance Measurement: When we talk about measuring something the first concept in the mind comes that measurable things should be tangible. So question arises here how we can measure intangible things? Then there should be some tools to measure the performance like if we want to measure the speed we measure in km/hr or if there is some liquid then we measure in litre and length in meters but for organisations we check that how good is their performance. It is really easy to say that in some organisation, some operation is not doing well or its performance is not very good but how we can say that what exactly we mean by these words â€Å"Well† or â€Å"Good†. To justify this we need something to measure the performance of operations in an organisation, some tool to do that. For this we will use Slack’s theory as a tool and measure the performance. His theory is also a best match with our case. In his theory he is using Quality, Speed, Dependability, Flexibility and Cost as tools to measure the performance. And these tools can be used to measure that the organisation is: Gives Doing things Right a Quality advantage Gives Doing things Fast a Speed advantage Gives Doing things On-Time a Dependability advantage Gives Changing what you do a Flexibility advantage Gives Doing things cheaply a Cost advantage The LYCATEL Group In this section a brief introduction is given about LYCATEL which is a dynamic, fast growing alternative provider of telecommunications services for consumers and businesses throughout the world. We will asses their performance in the UK market that how they perform in the market from customer’s point of view. LYCATEL Group covers several countries all over the world but we will check its performance specifically in the UK. The LYCATEL Group offers a broad product portfolio comprising of prepaid telephony solutions including: Carrier to carrier wholesale services Calling cards Residential Indirect Access Services (1xxxx) Mobile services (MVNO) Through a relentless focus on providing high voice quality by partnering with over 70 global telecommunications carriers, the LYCATEL brand serves its growing base of over 2 million customers who want to make low cost international calls. LYCATEL Group’s FUTURE The LYCATEL Group is committed to being the first choice telecommunications provider focused on serving global niche segments that have a need to call internationally whilst managing their monthly budgets through prepaid solutions. Vision To create a world-class telecommunications organisation where their talented people team up with their business partners to continually drive down costs and deliver superior value propositions to their customers. Mission To be the global market leader in the prepaid international calling card business by 2008. To diversify their revenue mix by developing prepaid carrier to carrier wholesale, prepaid residential and prepaid international mobile businesses, accounting for 40% of revenue streams by 2008. To delight their customers by providing low cost, high quality telecommunications services. Performance Key Facts Generates over 700 million minutes of voice calls every month – handling over 1.2 million completed calls daily. Operates a state-of-the-art global network comprising over 2,500 E1s – combining modern VOIP and traditional TDM technology. Employs over 150 talented professionals in the UK, Ireland, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, France, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Austria, Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium and Portugal. Interconnects with over 70 blue chip telecommunications carriers. Operates though a broad European distribution network of wholesalers providing access to over 300,000 outlets, including own controlled outlets in key locations. Provides customer services through a 24-hour multi-lingual call centre. Brand is recognised and used by over 2 million pan-European consumers. Is the European prepaid calling card market leader with an estimated market share of 25% in the UK, 20% in Holland, 20% in France and growing rapidly in Scandinavia, Italy, Germany, Spain, Austria and Switzerland? Has annualised global revenues in excess of $300 million and on target to achieve global revenues of $500 million in 2006. Calling Cards LYCATEL calling cards enable their customers to make international calls easily and cost effectively. Providing over 100 calling card product brands to the market place including Uni Asia, Uni Tel, Lyca India, Latino Tel, Euro Tel, Africa Tel, They originate over 350 million minutes per month, of which we terminate over 60 million minutes to the Asian Sub-Continent, 70 million minutes to Africa, 20 million minutes to the US, 35 million minutes to Europe and 20 million minutes to the UK per month. The LYCATEL Group produces and distributes 6 million calling cards a month making us one of the biggest European operators in this sector. They achieve this through an extensive network of wholesalers ensuring that their customers can easily purchase cards at over 300,000 retailers across Europe including own controlled outlets in key strategic locations or online through their e-shop at www.LYCATEL.com. (3) Measuring the Performance of LYCATEL: As we all know that there is a big competition in telecommunication companies now a day in the UK and all over the world. Everyone is trying to give the best to their customers in this competitive market and want to bind the customers with them forever because they know the values have been changed. Now the customer’s satisfaction is a very big issue for the companies in the UK and all over the world. In telecommunication companies if someone needs to contact any one in the company, need any information, or they have any complaints or any sort of matter they have, they go through customer services. So it means customer services play a vital role in these companies and leave a deep impact on the customers as well. That’s why we decided to measure the performance of their (LYCATEL Group) customer services. We gathered views of people about LYCATEL’s customer services and measure them using our tools to get their performance. Now we will try to measure their performance using different tools. No doubt that the facts figures they are showing in their charts are very good and the company is progressing but it is not enough if we compare with their competitors especially in the UK. We will asses their performance using some tools like Quality, Speed, Dependability, Flexibility and Cost. We took review of the people about their customer services in which we will check these certain areas: Quality: One of the main factors in quality measurement is to evaluate the level of complaints. There are many sources to check the customer’s complaints. Different businesses use different strategies in order to get feed back. There have been many companies and websites formed in order to collect the positive negative reviews of the company. We have measured company’s customer services on the basis of customers complaints registered on one of the authentic web source, which is famous to collect customers views. There have been many complaints registered regarding their poor customer services depicted in one of the customer’s view as: View: â€Å"Bought Africa tel lycatel phone card and it gave me 5 minutes to talk yet claiming I had more minutes. I guess they disappeared in the thin air. I then proceeded to call customer service, who do not seem to know what they are talking about, did not answer or help me in any way shape or form, they just wanted me to get off the phone by giving me false information.†(4) In our research we found that customers were not much dissatisfied with the products of the company but with the customer services. A number of complaints were found regarding language barriers especially accent related issues. The customer services don’t seem to be well trained. They have not been equipped with proper information as reflected in the view which clearly shows the communication gap between management and staff. We also found many complaints regarding warrant claims and mean time between failures when measured the performance of customer services. Another person’s view as follows: â€Å" Very bad. Customer service too bad. I have online account with lycatel and I paid through credit card and they took the money and did not credit my account. Trying to contact them but call center could not help me on this. Very bad service.† Speed: Communication is known as a backbone in the field of customer services. LYCATEL’s customer services lacking in the field of communication due to their pronunciation problem as their most of the staff is non English. The consequences of this factor is influencing very negatively on their customer query time. The bad communication leads to misunderstanding, repetition and finally frustration. This does not only results in delaying customer query but also increases the order lead time. View: â€Å"Bought Africa Tel Lycatel phone card and it gave me 5 minutes to talk yet claiming I had more minutes. I guess they disappeared in the thin air. I then proceeded to call customer service, who do not seem to know what they are talking about, did not answer or help me in any way shape or form, they just wanted me to get of the phone by giving me false information.† Dependability: In this regard we would like to share personal experience of one of our colleague’s, who was dealt with many of the customer assistants including their supervisors. He experienced that every person he spoke to was not dependable at all. Every assistant provided different information on a same query but no one could solve it. Finally it was found that information provided by each of the members of the staff did not exist in the policies of the company. The same issue was also reflected in many other views. View: â€Å"Its so annoying when the card tells you have 195 minutes for the call. You make a call for one hour. A couple of hours later you go back and the card tell you have no funds. What happened to the other 2 hours? You call the customer service team (at YOUR expense), am left holding for over 15 minutes only to be told that the computer does not update for 6 hours. You call back again in the morning over 9 hours later only to be told the same thing.† Flexibility: Our research found that LYCATEL is not flexible enough to provide solution for diversity of queries. Very minor issues are discussed with supervisors or transferred to others. This causes dissatisfaction and finally shows inflexibility. The customer assistants are not equipped with the variety of information that’s why they depend on their seniors. View: â€Å"I bought a  £5 card, used it once for about 20mins, (out of an apparent 1000+). And then, despite it still having credit, I could never call a single other number on it again. Needless to say their customer services are the very kind you fear coming across, i.e.: a million miles away, deaf to your concerns and completely unable to do anything to rectify your loss of time, money and whist.† Cost: Minimizing the cost is one of the main objectives of any organization. When companies try to minimize their costs they must consider many factors in order to make decisions. Lyca tell seems to increase cost due to the delay of handling costs. These problems eventually result in dissatisfaction and obviously if one customer is dissatisfied hundred of other are affected due to the word of mouth. Hence labour productivity effects directly on the increasing costs and puts bad impacts on efficiency. View â€Å"I am so frustrated with my attempts and loss of time that I will not buy this card again and will relay my experience to my friends too.† â€Å"There was nothing good in my experience about Lycatel and their calling cards. Open a card without using it, and you will be surprise Lycatels computers will use the card for you. I thought I would have received loads of minutes on the cards but Lycatel.com never fulfilled this for me. I therefore do not recommend Lycatel.com.† Problem Description: Analysis has pointed out a problem in their customer services. Being business doctors it is diagnosed that actually the problem doesn’t exist directly in the customer services but in their operations. The statement we arrived at as diagnosed above is based on our detailed analysis by utilising the performance tool in the early section. Our research has found that the root cause of the problem exists in operations management because that the call centres of LYCATEL’s are based in India which is purely an operations based decision as the service layout is wrongly designed. Due to the cheap labour most of the customer services staff is hired from the mentioned country. LYCATEL deals with millions of customers in the UK market every day. Further more it is found that many other problems link to this decision. Solution/Recommendation: It is recommended that LYCATEL should realize the customers concern and they should change their layout of call centres from India to UK. Our conclusion is based on our detailed analysis where all factors are analysed and we find that in order to improve quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and reduce cost the service layout must be redesigned and call centres should be based in the UK. And British people should be hired. This will not only reduce the customer’s complaints regarding language barriers but also improve quality satisfaction. Properly trained employees with better communication will increase the speed of handling calls which will eventually reduce the cost and also reduce the waiting calls time. LYCATEL’s call centres are basically structured in India due to the cost effectiveness. They have surely seen one side of the picture but have totally ignored the other side. Our calculations show that if one person is dissatisfied it can distract 100s of customers. If LYCATEL satisfies one customer it means he is saving hundreds of customers which is actually cost effectiveness. Another angel of cost reduction can be considered by employing well trained staff who can satisfy three times more customers as compare to less trained staff. As LYCATEL is operating in different parts of the world, We recommend that small scaled call centres should be established for only UK based customers which another way of considering cost effectiveness. Our research has also found that people living in India are not much familiar with the cultural values of the UK, this is also one of the reasons which results communication gaps when dealing with totally different cultural background customers. References: (http://www.balancedscorecardreview.it/c2005/Definition-of-Performance-Measurement.pdf) 12/03/09 @ 20:30 Max Moullin – Defining performance measurement in Perspectives on Performance Volume 2 (Issue 2 March 2003) (http://www.lycatel.com/LycaTelHome.aspx) Date: 14/03/09 @ 14:00 (http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews93358.html) 16/03/09 @ 19:45