Chance within the play Romeo and Juliet Essay

George Aberto once said â€Å"above anything else, fate is what brings lovers together.† In Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, fate, chance, and coincidence are all important to the development and eventually the conclusion of this tragedy. Without these three closely related themes the play would not have been able to make it out of the first act. These themes are pivotal to the development of the play and there are many instances where this is very obvious. These themes play a part in the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues, the invitation of Romeo to the ball, and the death of the two lovers, Romeo and Juliet. For as long as the two families, The Capulets and The Montagues, can remember, they have both been at war with each other and held an â€Å"ancient grudge† (Prologue). The purpose and goal of this feud is never revealed thus it must be assumed through the Prologue that their hatred is solely based on tradition from past generations. This feud is visible within the first line of Act 1 Scene 1 where Sampson, a servant of the Capulet family says that he will â€Å"not carry coals† (1.1.1). He says this in talking to another servant, Gregory, about how he will not be humiliated by a Montague servant. This allows the audience to see the importance of the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues. Romeo, a Montague, and Juliet, a Capulet, meet and fall in love at the ball in Act 1 Scene 5. This is visible in Romeos dialogue â€Å"O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! / It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night / Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear.† (1.5.46-48). It is chance that Romeo’s true love happens to be part of the family he was brought up to hate. Romeo is aware that Juliet is a Capulet but Juliet is not aware that Romeo is a Montague and even though the feud between the families is existent, fate takes its course and allows enough time for Juliet to fall in love with Romeo. Therefore, once Juliet learns that Romeo is a Montague, she has already fallen in love with Romeo and she cannot turn back now. This is one of the most important examples of fate in the play because if she had known that Romeo was a Montague she would have never pursued a relationship with him and the rest of the play would have never turned out the way it had. Romeo and Juliet’s relationship begins at the Capulets house during the ball  without Juliet knowing that Romeo is a Montague although the fate involved in getting Romeo to the ball is just as important as Juliet not knowing Romeos last name because if Romeo would not have gone to the ball then he would have never met Juliet and fallen in love with her. It all starts with one of the Capulets servants in the streets of Verona with a list of the different guests which are invited to the ball. This list contains the names Mercutio, Tybalt, and Rosaline among others. The servant which is given the list is not able to read and this is another example of fate because once Benvolio learns that Rosaline is going to be at the ball he decides that him and Romeo will attend. Benvolio wants to â€Å"Compare her face with some that I shall show / And I will make thee think they swan a crow.† Meaning that he will bring Romeo to the ball to show that a comparison of Rosaline with other girls will make a difference and possibly relieve his sadness and love for Rosaline. This is also fate because if Rosaline was not invited, Benvolio didn’t create a plan, and if the servant would have been able to read then Romeo would have never been invited and he would have never met Juliet. The meeting of the two lovers is important although the death of the two lovers is probably one of the most important roles fate plays in the play. The first instance where fate makes its mark leading up to the death of the two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, is when the Prince banishes Romeo from the city of Verona for the death of Tybalt. The Prince reacts to the situation by saying that â€Å"for that offence / Immediately we do exile him hence.† This gets the ball rolling on the events that will lead to the two lovers death. After Romeo flees on the recommendation of Benovlio, Romeo finds himself hiding out in Friar Laurance’s Cell and then in Mantua. The next event which fate is involved in is the idea of Juliet faking her death so that she is not required to marry Paris. Friar Laurence devises a plan which he tells Juliet in Scene 1 of Act 4 as they are both talking in the Friar’s cell. He tells her to: Hold, then; go home, be merry, give consent To marry Paris: Wednesday is to-morrow: To-morrow night look that thou lie alone; Let not thy nurse lie with thee in thy chamber: Take thou this vial, being then in bed, And this distilled liquor drink thou off, (4.1. 91-96) These lines explain everything she must do so that she does not have to marry Paris and can be with Romeo instead, although he has forgotten to tell her one thing. That one thing is that the Friar has not told Juliet to tell Romeo that she is going through with this plan, faking her death. Friar Laurence realizes this and sends Friar John to give Romeo, who is hiding in Mantua, the message of his plan. What happens next is a perfect example of chance and coincidence. Right as Friar John is preparing to deliver the message an outbreak of the Plague occurs in the city of Verona and Friar John â€Å"could not send it,–here it is again,- / Nor get a messenger to bring it thee, / So fearful were they of infection† (5.2.14-16). Therefore this causes Romeo to not receive the message of the Friar’s plan but instead he receives news of Juliet’s death so it then becomes a race to the tomb, in which Juliet was placed, to stop Romeo from seeing Juliet dead. So Friar Laurence â€Å"Now must I to the monument alone; Within three hours will fair Juliet wake†(5.2.25-27) . Fates second last appearance in the play occurs Romeo arrives at the tomb first, before the Friar, and he sees Juliet, his love, â€Å"dead†. If the Friar would have arrived first, Romeo and Juliet would have never killed themselves and they would have been able to live together but that was not the case and it led to the suicide of both lovers. The final appearance of fate occurs after the lovers death and it is the end of the feud between the two families. It was fate for the lovers to die and resolve this feud. Fate, Chance, and Coincidence play an extremely pivotal part of the development of the play as well as the ending and without them the play would have turned out anything like it had and it would have never gotten  out of Act 1. The feud between the Capulets and the Montagues, Romeo’s invitation to the ball, and the death of the two â€Å"star-crossed† lovers which led to the end of the feud between the two families are all examples of how fate was able to sway the development of the story so it would lead to the death of Romeo and Juliet, â€Å"For never was a story of more woe /Than this of Juliet and her Romeo†.

Oedipus the King: A Theme Analysis

Oedipus the King is one of the group of three plays by Sophocles known as the Theban plays since they all relate to the destinies of the Theban family of the Oedipus and his children.   The other two plays of this group are Antigone and Oedipus at Colonus. Oedipus the King relates the story of Oedipus who reached Thebes, having killed on the way an old man with whom he picked a quarrel. The city of Thebes was then suffering terribly because of the monster, the Sphinx. He solved her riddle and citizens of Thebes offered him the kingdom as city is afflicted with the loss of their king, who had been murdered while on a pilgrimage.So he assumed the power and married the widowed queen. Here the tragedy of Oedipus takes its final course. As city was afflicted with famine, so Delphic oracles were consulted who disclosed that troubles of the city arose from the fact that it is harboring an unclean person, the murderer of late king Laius. Oedipus resolved to get to the bottom of this myster y and punish the wrongdoer. However, he ultimately discovered that the culprit he was seeking was none other than he himself. He blinded himself and went on exile. There are various standpoints for looking at the theme of the play.It may be considered as a play enacting the theme of insecurity and illusoriness of human happiness. Or the theme may be that of the inadequacy of human intelligence in resolving the riddles of destiny. The identification of themes in Oedipus differs from reader to reader and from critic to critic. I think that Sophocles wanted to convey that a man is plunged from prosperity and power to ruin ands ignominy due to his own human failings.   It was something[1] in his character that brought his tragedy. Anything foreign to his own character only augmented the tragic proceedings but it was only his own disposition that made him a prey to disgrace. Dodds is of the view, â€Å"If Oedipus is the innocent victim of a doom which he cannot avoid, does this not re duce him to a mere flaw puppet?† Whereas Knox (1984) is of the view that Oedipus’ tragedy takes place due to tragic flaw[s] and fate as no part to play in Oedious Rex.Distinguished Professor Butcher has identified four possible ranges of human failings in Oedipus. The foremost of these connotations is an error due to unavoidable ignorance of circumstances whereas an error caused by unawareness of conditions that might have been identified and for that reason to some extent morally blameworthy The third range is â€Å"A fault or error where the act is conscious and intentional, but not deliberate. Such acts are committed in anger or passion.† (313) Where as fourth one is â€Å"A fault of character distinct, on the one hand, from an isolated error, and, on the other, from the vice which has its seat in the depraved will†¦a flaw of character that is not tainted with a vicious purpose.† (315)The crucial point is that whether Sophocles wants us to think th at Oedipus has basically unsound character. One way of deciding this question is to examine what other characters in the play say about Oedipus. The only result that we can arrive at in this way is that Sophocles intends us to consider Oedipus an essentially noble person. In the opening scene of the play, the priest of Zeus refers to him as the greatest and noblest of men and the divinely inspired savior who saved Thebes from being destroyed by the Sphinx. The Chorus also considers him to be noble and virtuous. They refuse to believe in Tireseas accusations of him. When catastrophe befalls Oedipus, not a single character in the play justifies it as a doom which has deservedly overtaken Oedipus. (Dodds, p.39) So there were certain other tragic flaws that were acting behind the curtain to bring about Oedipus tragedy. Let us examine those.Oedipus seems to be obsessed with his own intelligence and this leads him to very unfortunate and uncomfortable situations. This human weakness[2] of Oedipus laps over with his pride as he is extremely proud of the fact that he was able to solve the riddle of the Sphinx which had proved too much for any other person. He thinks that Gods has capacitated him with intelligence and wisdom to solve riddle that the Thebes is afflicted with. Oedipus even taunts Tireseas on his inability in solving the Sphinx’s riddle. He says;And where were you, when the Dog-faced Witch was here?Have you any word of deliverance then for our people?There was a riddle too deep for common wits;A seer should have answered it, but answer there came noneFrom you†¦..  Ã‚   (12-16)After calling the soothsayer false prophet, Oedipus boasts of his own skill in having solved the puzzled which proved too much for the blind seer;Until I came—I, ignorant Oedipus, came—And stopped the riddler’s mouth, guessing he truthBy mother-wit, not bird-lore.  Ã‚   (17-19)So he describes Tireseas predictive cautions as the whims of a fanatic and opposes the seer’s prophecy with arguments of his own. Self-confidence and pride in his own wisdom is an outstanding feature of his character that also brings his tragedy. Here Oedipus also fulfills the traits of Aristotelian tragic hero as he possesses a noble tragic flaw. The man who sets out on his new task by sending first for the venerable seer is not lacking in pious reverence; but we also observe that Oedipus manifests unrestrained arrogance in his own intellectual achievement. No seer found the solution, this is Oedipus boast; no bird, no god revealed it to him, he â€Å"the utterly ignorant† had to come on his own and hit the mark by his own wit. This is a justified pride but it amounts too much. This pride and self-confidence induce Oedipus to despise prophecy and feel almost superior to the gods. He tell the people who pray for deliverance from pathos and miseries they are afflicted with if they listen to and follow his advice in order to get a remedy.La stly his unrelenting pursuit of the truth is demonstrated when he believes he is the murderer and that Polybus was not his father, yet he continues with his search with the statement, â€Å"I must pursue this trail to the end,†(p.55).   These characteristics were only fuel to the fire and added to the pride created a blaze that consumed him. Bernard Knox eulogizes Oedipus’ â€Å"dedication to truth, whatever the cost† (p.117)Another characteristics of his character that contributes toward his tragedy is Oedipus’ longing for thoroughness. His inquisitive nature is not content with anything which is either half-hearted or incomplete. Nor can he brook any delay. He damns that the direction of the oracle should be given effect at once. As before, Oedipus speaks on the basis of the workings of his own mental faculties that has been tested time and again and have proved their intelligence.It can be said that the tragedy of Oedipus is the result more of his go od qualities than his bad ones. It is his love for Thebes which makes him send Creon to Delphi to consult the Oracles. It is the same care for his subjects who make him proclaim a ban and a curse on the murderer of Laius. It is his absolute honesty which makes him include even himself within the curse and the punishment. He replies by saying â€Å"Sick as you are, not one is sick as I, each of you suffers in himself†¦but my spirit Groans for the city, for myself, for you†.  (62-62)He is angry with Tireseas because he is unable to tolerate the fact that   although the prophet says that he know who the murderer of Laius is , he refuses top give the information to the king. His rage and rashness is due to the fact that the masses are suffering and Tireseas does not provide the murderer’s name. Oedipus cannot but regard this as a clear manifestation of the seer’s disloyalty to his city.To Oedipus the discovery of truth is more important than his own good an d safety. Even when it seems that the investigation that he is carrying on will not produce any result which will be him, he decides to carry on with it. He is so honest with himself that he inflicts the punishment of self-blinding and banishment from the city of Thebes.So his moral goodness also seems as a human failing that brings his ruin.There is another important human failing that contribute toward his tragedy i.e. his intellectual myopia. He has a limited vision and is unable to assess the situations in a right perspective. Robert L. Kane (1975) puts this preposition in this way; â€Å"He[Oedipus] was the victim of an optical illusion†. (p. 196) The juxtaposition between â€Å"outward magnificence and inward blindness of Oedipus and the outward blindness and inward sight of the prophet† (Kirkwood, p. 130) depicts two types of blindness i.e. physical and intellectual. One is related to physical sight whereas the other, the most pernicious type of blindness, perta ins to insight. Tiresias is physically blind but whereas Oedipus is blind intellectually. This intellectual blindness of Oedipus also contributes greatly to lead him to his tragic destination.Oedipus possesses faultless physical vision throughout play except in the end but he remains blind to the reality regarding himself. At one point in the play, he has the ability to see but he is not willing to do so. He intellectual vision comes with his physical loss of sight but he is unable to cast away the psychological â€Å"slings and arrows† and mental sufferings that intellectual blindness has afflicted on him. So his blindness, both intellectual at the start of the play and physical at the end of the day, is the worst.Blindness interweaves with the main plot from the very start of the play when Oedipus says, â€Å"I would be blind to misery not to pity my people kneeling at my feet. (14)† It manifest that he refers to blindness that if h will not recognize the distress of his people. This shows his physical sight but intellectual blindness as he himself was the cause of those afflictions.   Later he acknowledges that although Tiresias is physically blind but has prophetic power when he says, â€Å"Blind as you are, you can feel all the more what sickness haunts our city. (344)†. Tiresias response refers to the gravity of Oedipus’ inability to see his future. He says, â€Å"How terrible – to see the truth when the truth is only pain to him who sees! (359)†Later on Oedipus denounces his own acknowledgement of Tiresias as a seer and abuses him by saying, â€Å"You've lost your power, stone-blind, stone-deaf – senses, eyes blind as stone!(423)† and â€Å"Blind, lost in the night, endless night that nursed you! You can't hurt me or anyone else who sees the light – you can never touch me. (425)†. It is illustrated that it is Oedipus who is blind intellectually as he is not willing to comprehend the situation and to understand the truth. In retort to his slur, Tiresias refers to worst form of blindness that Oedipus is suffering. He says, â€Å"You with your precious eyes, you're blind to the corruption of your life, to the house you live in, those who live with – who are your parents? (470)† and foretell, â€Å"Blind who now has eyes, beggar who now is rich, he will grope his way toward a foreign soil, a stick tapping before him step by step. (517)†.These supportive texts clearly manifest that Oedipus was afflicted with severe intellectual myopia as he was unable t see the truth that was pervasive all around him. Actually he was unwilling to see truth around him, prior to his physical blindness and afterwards as he blinds himself not to observe the things around him. His is the most insidious form of blindness.Oedipus can be held guilty due to another human flaw—his inability to take appropriate preventive measures. It is said that he fails to take logical steps and precaution s which would have saved him from committing the crimes.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Could not Oedipus†¦have escaped his doom if he had been more careful? Knowing that he was in danger of committing parricide and incest, would not really a prudent man have avoided quarrelling, even in self-defense and also love-relations with women older than himself?†¦ real life I suppose he might. But we not entitled to blame Oedipus either for carelessness failing to compile a hand list or lack of self-control in failing to obey its injunctions.†Ã‚  Ã‚   (Dodds, p.40)Oedipus has necessary human failings of anger and rashness. He rashly jumps into conclusions. Choragos points this out in scene II after a long speech by Creon who tries o remove the ill-fed and hastily formed suspicions of Oedipus about Creon. They say, â€Å"Judgments too quickly formed are dangerous† (II, 101)But Oedipus justifies this, arguing that ruler have to take quick decision. He says later on, â€Å"But is he not quick in his duplicity? / And shall I not be quick to parry him?† (II, 102-103) Later at the conclusion of scene II, Creon indicates the same fault in his character by saying, â€Å"Ugly in yielding, as you were ugly in rage! / Nature like yours chiefly torments themselves.† (II, 151-152) It is this rashness that makes to not merely suspect Creon but accuse him and even declares that he deserves the sentence of death. The rashness can be observed in his treatment of Tireseas. Oedipus does not lack analytical thinking but his rashness does permit him to weigh up the situation rightly and he makes hasty decision. In retrospect we see that rashness of Oedipus has something to do with the murder Laius at the hands of Oedipus. The self-blinding also is an act of rashness although Oedipus tries to give several arguments in favor of it.His bad temperament is demonstrated in the squabble between Teiresias and himself, where Teiresias utter the propheti c truth and Oedipus retorts, â€Å"Do you think you can say such things with impunity?† and afterward attributes him as a â€Å"Shameless and brainless, sightless, senseless sot!†(p.36). His character is further marked with suspicion about Creon to whom he considers as a conspirator. Kirkwood is of the view that â€Å"The Creon he [Oedipus] is battling is a figment of his imagination† (Kirkwood, 1958. p. 132) and nothing else. He says with reference his tà ªte-à  -tà ªte with Tiresaeas, â€Å"Creon! Was this trick his, then, if not yours?† So here his imagination works together with anger and rashness.All the above-mentioned manifestations of tragic flaw, their supported arguments and views of the critics clearly proves the thesis that Oedipus unavoidable ignorance was the major factor of his tragedy because he was unable to locate that the man whom he assaulted on the crossroads to Thebes was his father. Secondly, if he would not have been occupied by his aspirations, he would have possibly explored the horror of his deed and could have avoided the additional tricky situations by not marrying his mother. Thirdly, his â€Å"conscious and intentional† act includes his decision to â€Å"bring what is dark to light† (133).Furthermore, as result to revelation of Tireseas, he charges Creon with conspiracy and murder and denounces Tireases as an accessory. Although these actions were intentional and bring Oedipus to tragic end but have a clear background that illustrate that these actions were not â€Å"deliberate†. Fourthly, all these errors originate from a hasty and obstinate temperament, unjustified anger and excessive pride that compel him to an energized inquisitiveness. With the development of the plot, all these ascriptions of his character jumps back with amplified force on his head that finally culminates at his tragedy. Knox (1957) sums up in this way;â€Å"the actions of Oedipus that produce the catast rophe stem from all sides of his character; no one particular action is more essential than any other; they are all essential and they involve not any one trait of character which might be designated a hamartia but the character of Oedipus as a whole† (31).Here I want to point out that all these human failings were not innate or inborn but he developed these as his habitual formations. It was inculcated in his spirit so that it became a part of his natural disposition. If it were innate then he could not be blamed for his downfall. It was human failings rather than the destiny that brought his tragedy. So Sophocles has successfully put across that a man is plunged from prosperity and power to ruin ands ignominy due to his own human failings.ReferencesBloom, Harold. Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. : New York : Chelsea House Publishers. 1988. Butcher, S.H. Aritotle’s theory of Poetry and Fine Arts. Hell and Wang: New York. 1961.Dodds, E. R. On Misunderstanding the Oedipus. Greece & Rome. Vo. 13. No. 1. (Apr.1966). Pp. 37-49.Cook, Albert Spaulding. Oedipus Rex, a mirror for Greek drama. Prospect Heights, Ill. : Waveland Press.1982. Gould, Thomas. Greek tragedy. Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press. 1977. Gould, Thomas. Oedipus the King: A Translation with Commentary. Englewood Cliffs. 1970. Kane, Robert L. Prophecy and Perception in the Oedipus Rex. Transaction of theAmerican Philological Association. Vol. 105 (1975). pp. 189-208.Kirkwood, G.M. A study of Sophoclean drama. Ithaca, N.Y., Cornell University Press. 1958. Knox, Bernard. Oedipus at Thebes. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957. Knox, Bernard. Introduction to The Three Theban Plays. New York & London: PenguinBooks,1984.O’ Brien, John M. Twentieth century interpretations of Oedipus Rex; a collection of critical essays. Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall. 1968 [1] Moral flaw, habitual formations, behavioral defect etc. [2] in any other context, pride in one’s intelligence cannot not a human weakness but course of the play depicts clearly that in Oedipus the King it was a human weakness.

John Locke Paper Essay

Throughout the 17th century, John Locke presented society with his teachings and theories that clarified the order of natural law and fulfilled humanity’s divine purpose for living. It all began in 1647, as a young boy when he attended the prestigious Westminster School in London under the sponsorship of Alexander Popham. During his years at the Westminster School, he found the work of modern philosophers more interesting than the material being taught at the university. Much of Locke’s influence and later work was characterized by opposition to authoritarianism, which focused on both the level of the individual person and on the level of institutions such as government and church. Locke wanted each of us to use reason to search after truth rather than simply accept the opinion of authorities or be subject to superstition. He wanted us to proportion go along with the proposition to the evidence for them. Locke came to the conclusion that there must be a balance and mutual understanding between individuality and social institutions where society will not feel suppressed under man made law and restrictions. John Locke believed that all knowledge comes from experience. Experience is composed of two parts: external and internal. External experiences are ideas of supposed external objects. These objects enter our minds through sensation. Examples of sensations would be hot, cold, red, yellow, hard, soft, sweet and bitter. Internal experiences are reflections that make us understand the operation on the objects of sensation. Examples of reflections are thinking, willing, believing, doubting, affirming, denying, and comparing. Once again Locke goes back to his foundation of principles by reaffirming that in order to achieve success and sensation there must be a working relationship between individual goals and the law of society. Sensation and reflection are called the two fountains of knowledge. All of our ideas we can naturally have or have so already come from these two experiences. Sensible qualities convey into the mind, and they produce most of the perceptions and most of the great sources of ideas we have. Sensation and reflection differ from each other because sensation is what happens outside the body, and reflection has to do what happens inside the body with our mind. Also reflection has to do with the ideas it affords being such only as the mind gets by reflecting on its own operations within itself, the mind takes over its own operations and the manner of them. Besides having sensible qualities one also contains primary and secondary qualities. Locke explains that these qualities are two kinds of properties that an object could have. Primary qualities contain solidity, figure, extension, motion and number. They are properties that are objective and independent on senses. On the other hand, secondary qualities consist of color, smell, taste, sound and touch. They are properties that are subjectively perceived. In Locke’s, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, he states, â€Å"sensible qualities; which, whatever reality we by mistake attribute to them, are in truth nothing in the objects themselves, but powers to produce various sensations in us†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (John Locke, 77). In other words, secondary qualities are dependent on the primary qualities. According to Locke, ideas are anything that is â€Å"the immediate object of perception, thought, or understanding† (William Lawhead, 91). Locke states that sensation and reflection are classified as simple and complex ideas. Simple ideas are red, yellow, hard, soft, etc and for example, you touch an ice cube, your mind is telling you its cold and it’s hard, you learn that from experience. Locke believed that the mind cannot know an inexperienced idea or create a new simple idea. Although the mind cannot create simple ideas, it can process them into complex ideas. Complex ideas are made up of several simple ideas, such as beauty, gratitude, a man, an army, the universe. Complex ideas are also broken down into three parts: ideas of substance which is a constant collection of simple ideas, ideas of mode which is a combination of several ideas, which form a mode, like a triangle, last but not least ideas of relationship, which is a comparison of one idea to another. From experience it goes to sensation and reflection, and those are based on simple ideas and that’s all contained in the passive mind, after simple ideas it goes to complex ideas and that’s located in the active mind. Overall in Locke’s theory he uses epistemological dualism, which is the mind that consists of knowing and its ideas. He also states the object in the external world is known by ideas, and our ideas represent those objects. After researching about Locke’s theory of knowledge I would have to agree with what he has stated. Locke states that you go through an internal and external experience and I feel that today’s youth do go through the motions of the internal and external experiences. As a result the youth are able to gain the knowledge from those experiences by allowing the mind to willingly accept these new ideas. For example, when I was younger I put my hand near a hot stove and from the heat irritating and pressuring my hand my mind told me it was a negative stimuli and it was essential to remove my hand from the stove and to keep that memory as a basic instinct. Society goes through experiences throughout life of internal and external and eventually gains knowledge through these experiences. John Locke also stated that the mind does all the knowing and its ideas are known. I agree with what he is saying because your mind is always working, it’s always active, we receive ideas internally through our mind and we receive ideas from the outside that goes into our mind. The balance is necessary between internal and external factors to keep society and individuals stable and yet progressive to adapt to new changes that rise up.

Application of the Right Motivational Practices at Nordstrom Case Study

Application of the Right Motivational Practices at Nordstrom - Case Study Example To motivate employees to such an extent, Nordstrom’s managers hire the right salespeople; employ various motivational programs and contests, and employees are highly paid compared to other competitors. In spite, Nordstrom did face employee rebels because of workload, leadership and other issues, which affected Nordstrom business to some extent. A few proposals and their implications have been suggested in the present context. Employee motivation has certainly been one of the crucial reasons for the success of most of the contemporary businesses that flourished during the last century (Walker, Churchill & Ford, 1977). However, businesses have trembled because of changing circumstances and increasing competition. A similar issue gripped the upscale business giant, Nordstrom Inc for some time despite its huge success and immense growth beyond one’s imagination. Business at Nordstrom, which was started as a shoe retailer, grew at an unimaginable pace and started making profits and revenues of multiple times. All growth and expansion are attributed to the ‘Nordstrom Way’ that sets apart their unmatchable customer service, productivity, and teamwork, the three performance drivers. Apart from these, Nordstrom boasts of its practices such as thank you cards for its customer's post-sales, employee motivation and customer entertainment programs, sales contests, and other customer-oriented activi ties that contributed towards its growth and sales (Freedman & Vohr, 1996). Overall, top management at Nordstrom set goals and objectives for employee performance and provide resources for employee motivation. Although the company does not follow too many formal policies and procedures, Nordstrom levies complete responsibility of achieving these goals on individual outlets and empowers its store managers to make decisions that can help in achieving their goals. In turn, their frontline employees are empowered to achieve their individual and team goals.

A Visit of Charity Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

A Visit of Charity - Research Paper Example She presents herself as a campfire girl whose main aim of the trip was to earn three points (Welty 216). In her trip, she carries along a potted plant which she takes to the nursing home. During her visit, she was quite surprised by the behavior of the old women that she met. The short visit to the home was quite a challenge to her that she even felt like fleeing from this bizarre location. This was mainly because of the behavior of the two women that she met in the nursing home. In the narrative, the writer, Eudora Welty presents concerns of selfishness and heartlessness among other behaviors in an ironic tone. This paper will discuss the short narrative, A Visit of Charity. This narration is largely centered on Marian; a 14-year old girl, who once visited an elderly nursing home. The setting of the narration is presented as a beaten block, and it revealed the winter sun like a block of ice (Welty 216). It is redecorated by spiky dark hedge plants. These scenarios imply the lack of warmth and affection from a society towards the isolated elderly citizens in the nursing home. Marian is the central character of the story. The aim of her visit was to earn a minimum of three points in her score. After speaking with the nurse at the main desk, she was taken to a room where she met two elderly women. She was shocked by their behaviors. This included the sheep bleating noise that was made often by one of elderly women in that room. These strange happenings scared the girl, almost making her flee the area. She had carried flowers in a pot which the nurse referred to as multiflora cineraria (Welty 216). Soon afterwards, the flowers were taken away from Marian by one of the old women in the room. The two women in the room started pointing out their thoughts about the potted plant after snatching it from Marian. She then sits back and listens to the two old women argue senselessly. One of the women claimed that the flowers belonging to Marian were

Identify and describe a minor character in the novel, The Alchemist Essay

Identify and describe a minor character in the novel, The Alchemist - Essay Example Fatima is an Arab girl who meets with Santiago in an oasis on the way to the pyramids. On the way to Egypt, Santiago takes time to listen to the desert and the main reason is to discover the soul of the world. The Arab girl reaches in the oasis together with other people where Santiago starts a conversation with Fatima, during the entire conversation Santiago falls in love with Fatima and Fatima falls in love with Santiago (Coelho, 1993).  As the caravan starts to go to the alchemist to learn the secret of alchemy who lives in the desert, Fatima as a desert woman is willing to wait for Santiago so that the hidden treasures in Egyptian pyramids can be disclosed and thus fulfill his personal legend. The purpose of Fatima is to encourage Santiago and go to Egypt and thus promised him that if he finds the treasures, they will marry. Additionally Fatima was looking for her man though she had interest in the hidden treasures. The camel driver meets with Santiago on their way to the oasis where their main agenda was to visit the alchemist in the desert. During this time, it is when Santiago is ready to go to Egypt to find the hidden treasures. After loosing everything in the flooding river Nile the camel driver is content with his daily routine of riding the camel. The purpose of the Camel Driver is to update Santiago and make him understand the importance of the present. The Tribal Chieftain is the guard of the oasis since the oasis should not be attacked since it was a violation of rules of the desert. After Santiago shares a vision with the tribal chieftain of two hawks fighting in the sky meant that it was an army entering the oasis to destroy it and attack those who were around. The interpretation of the vision makes the tribal chieftain to arm the men and prepare them well incase if they are attacked by enemies. The purpose of the chieftain is to make sure that in the oasis omens are listened carefully and thus when around one should be aware of desert

Chest Pain Clinical Examination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Chest Pain Clinical Examination - Essay Example This can be done mainly through eliciting the history in fair detail. As a nurse practitioner in the community, I will be facing many cases of chest pain. Recently I had to manage such a case and I believe that the experience has equipped me with confidence. I adopted a structured approach to evaluate the case and progress through a mental checklist for eliciting the essential historical details (Reigle, 2005). The collected relevant data helped the decision- making and subsequent management. Case Presentation Respecting the confidentiality and privacy of the patient, I met her in the emergency department where I was working. With her consent, as she was conscious and answering, I elicited the history of the chest pain from Mrs John. Mrs John, 81 years old and weighing 85 kg., had been brought to the Emergency Department by her son. I followed the mnemonic TROCAR for eliciting the history of the presenting complaint of chest pain. She had a sudden but mild chest pain while she was in bed. Time of onset was when she woke up with it at 6a.m. and first dismissed it as indigestion. As it was not giving way after her antacid liquid, she called her son. Also experiencing shortness of breath, the duration of pain had lasted for the past forty minutes. Mrs. John had fatigue since the previous night, something she was not accustomed to. Radiation of the left-sided chest pain was to the back. Onset was sudden. The character of the pain was a dull aching sensation. There was no particular aggravation or relief. The severity remained constant as a dull pain. It was a left sided chest pain. The excessive sweating worsened her fatigue. She was reluctant to go to hospital but her son insisted on it. She had then been brought to my department where I was on duty. Past History revealed that she had been a hypertensive on treatment for the past twenty years. There was a history of irregularity in treatment at times. The mild senile dementia with partial loss of memory that the l ady suffered from was the cause of the irregular treatment. Now her son was in charge of giving her the medicine. She became diabetic fifteen years ago and was on oral anti-diabetics since then. Seven years ago she had a fall injuring her left trochanter which was managed accordingly. She now walks with a limp. There was no history of allergies but she had been taking antacids on and off presumably for acid-peptic disease. Smoking was not her weakness and she had not travelled for a long time. Before retirement she was working as a personal secretary in an industrial concern. Family history revealed that two brothers had died of myocardial infarction but at a later age of around 85 years. Obesity was in the family too. Mrs. John’s mother had diabetes and died of renal failure. Nursing care plan This has been elaborated upon the mnemonic ADPIE (assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation). Assessment On inspection, obviously obese Mrs. John appeared dyspnoei c taking short breaths with the respiratory rate being 28 per minute but regular. Her heart rate was 90 per minute and irregular at times due to ectopic beats. Her supine blood pressure was 200/120mm Hg. Palpation of abdomen did not reveal any abnormalities. Percussion ruled out fluid in the chest or abdomen. Auscultation elicited an irregular heart and tachypnea. During the general physical examination, I enumerated and eliminated non-cardiac causes; her symptom details helped me to distinguish her illness

Civilization Collapse and Environmental History Essay

Civilization Collapse and Environmental History - Essay Example The rebels were suppressed and their leaders executed in 1788. Pierre-Etienne further elaborates that also in the 1780s, in Gansu province, there were two major revolts of the Muslim communities, sparked by adherents of a fundamentalist "new sect" who opposed the local Muslim officials appointed by the Qing. Both Muslim uprisings were suppressed after heavy fighting, as were a series of revolts by Miao tribesmen in southwest China. But the fighting was costly to the Qing, who despite their victories did not eradicate the underlying causes of religious, economic, and ethnic resentments. In 1799, as Qianlong's reign ended, rebels claiming the same White Lotus affiliation that had animated the followers' of Wang Lun were rising up all across central China and were actively fighting Qing troops in many areas of Sichuan, Hubei, Shaanxi, and Henan. Can one link these outbreaks to Specific Manchu policies that alienated the people The evidence is not clear on this, but it is certain that in the late eighteenth century many Qing government institutions began to falter: the emergency granaries were often empty, sections of the Grand Canal silted up, regular banner troops behaved with incompetence or brutality, efforts to stop ecologically dangerous land-reclamation projects were abandoned, the bureaucracy was faction-ridden, and corruption ran deep. It is also possible that Qing reluctance to create new county governments in areas of new settlement or dense population put impossible stresses on officials in the bureaucracy. Moreover, the intense pressure for jobs meant that those who had finally obtained office sought a swift return' for all their waiting and anxiety, pressing local peasants in their jurisdictions for speedy tax payments and for supplementary charges. The White Lotus insurgents of the 1790s, for instance, stated categorically that "the officials have forced the people to rebel." It is also true that in the conduct of the border campaigns, as in the suppression of local rebellions, Qing officials indulged in an unusually high level of graft. This was made possible by collusion between high figures in military and civil government, who often hid the real situation from Emperor Qianlong. And Qianlong, having allowed the secret palace memorial system of his father Yongzheng to become impersonal and routine, now had no reliable, confidential sources from which to learn of his officials' malfeasance. There is no doubt that this pattern of corruption grew worse after 1775, when a young Manchu guards officer named Heshen became entrenched as the elderly emperor's court favorite,although Heshen was not responsible for everything that was going awry. At that time Heshen was twenty-five and the emperor sixty-five, and the following year the favorite received an extraordinary series of promotions: Qian long named Heshen a deputy lieutenant general of the Manchu plain blue banner, a minister of the imperial household, vice-minister of revenue, and a grand councilor. There were no parallels in Qing history for giving so many powerful appointments to a young man, and Qianlong later piled honor on honor. Heshen was made minister of revenue (and, for a time, minister' of civil

Why is promotion decision making so difficult Essay

Why is promotion decision making so difficult - Essay Example Among the most important considerations when deciding who to promote into a position is which candidate possesses the highest level of hard skills to do the job. It usually does not make much sense to promote someone into a finance management position who does not have a background in finance. This is often the first step in identifying qualified candidates, and usually comes as part of the resume review and screening process. The hiring manager must assess the educational and professional experience of the candidates to help determine who would likely be capable of doing the work that would be required. That being said, there are times when all of the other qualities of a prospective candidate are so strong that a decision might be made to promote that person even though he/she lacks the requisite level of hard skills to do the job effectively. However, this will only be the case when a persons ability and willingness to learn the requisite skills is evident. That may mean choosing someone with a background of high educational achievement who displays a propensity to engage in professional development activities. Another important characteristic to consider when deciding whom to promote is leadership ability. ... All of these responsibilities require effective leadership. When assessing a person's leadership potential, a hiring manager should inquire into the candidates' experiences that may have evidenced leadership qualities. Behavioral based interviewing can be an effective tool in this regard. Using this method, the hiring manager will ask the candidates to recall a particular event in their personal or professional experience in which they actually demonstrated the desired characteristic. This requires the interviewee to demonstrate a sharp mind in quickly recalling an appropriate event. It also precludes the candidate from talking hypothetically about what they would do in a given scenario. Rather, they are required to explain what they actually have done in a scenario. The theory is that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. For example, the hiring manager might ask the candidates to recall a time when they had to delegate responsibility in order to achieve an objective. Or she might ask them to recall a time when they had to influence others to behave in a way that helped them to achieve their goals. Either of these questions would elicit valuable information about whether and how the candidates have demonstrated an ability to lead. This information can then be added to the overall formula in determining which candidate has the greatest preponderance of desirable characteristics for the position. Personality Personality fit is a huge consideration for any hiring decision, particularly when deciding whom to promote. This is also arguably one of the most difficult factors to evaluate in prospective candidates. To be sure, people generally act somewhat different in an interview than they would in a

The Medieval World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Medieval World - Essay Example In the first image, the house of the Aristocrats is a well decorated house made of bricks; the house of the Aristocrats looks like a castle. This fact shows that the Aristocrats in the medieval Europe were rich and were able to afford houses made of bricks. This means that the life of the Aristocrats in medieval Europe was a life of comfort because the brick houses were able to protect the medieval Europeans from the adverse cold weather of Europe, especially during the winter. On the contrary, a look at the peasant’s houses in the second image shows simple houses made of timber. In the peasants’ image, the house in which three women are sitting is clearly a simple house made of timber. This fact shows that, unless the aristocrats who were able to afford building expensive brick houses, the peasants were not able to afford such houses. This fact shows that the life of the peasants in medieval Europe was a life of poverty and difficult life. Given the cold weather of Europe, especially, in winter, it must have been very difficult for the peasants to survive in such extremely cold seasons. From the first image, we see that the Aristocrats are elaborately dressed with long flowing clothes. All the Aristocrats also have their heads covered with sumptuous headgears. The headgears were most probably meant to keep off the sun in summer. All the Aristocrats are dressed with long clothes with ornately decorated cloaks; the cloaks seem to be made of either silver or silk because they are shiny. This fact again shows that the Aristocrats in medieval Europe lived a life of affluence. The fact that the Aristocrats were able to afford expensive clothing means that they were stinking rich. This fact, again, means that the Aristocrats in medieval Europe loved fine things in life. An analysis of the clothing of the peasants, on the other, hand shows that the peasants dressed in simple clothes. In the peasants’ image, we find that the women peasants are

Google Case Study Essay Example for Free

Google Case Study Essay Google was founded in 1999 and has been around in your everyday life ever since. Ranging from search engines to books to email, Google is somehow incorporated in your lives everyday. Originally beginning with their focus on search engines and algorithms, Google has since widened their availability of products. In 1999, when Google first came about, the company’s mission was: Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. 15 years later, this is still the mission of the company. According to the article, it will take upwards of 300 years to obtain and organize all of the world’s information. That being said, it is safe to say Google has a long way to go but are they headed in the right direction? Google, just like any other company has goals and objectives. Some of their goals include: Growth Develop and maintain the â€Å"perfect† search engine Provide innovative products early and often To organize information and make the web faster and better for everyone (These will be discussed in strategies and throughout the case analysis) Strategies Google is no different from Burger King or from LA Fitness. All companies share a same goal, regardless of the industry they are in: market share and growth. Google’s main goal is to continuously grow and dominate the market/industry and be a leader for years to come. Upon entering the market in 1999, Yahoo and AOL were some of leaders in the industry. Google immediately changed that by becoming working at becoming a player in the industry. As of 2009, Google had 65.6% share of all US searches and 90% of all international searches. Meanwhile, the closest rival (yahoo) had only  17.5%. Since the very beginning, Google came about to change search engines everywhere. They wanted to offer a faster search engine that provided more relevant results, incorporating history of search, keyword frequency, and important pages. Thus began the creation of paid listings. At the very beginning, paid listings were advertisements all around the page: top, bottom and in the margins. Additionally, cost per click (CPC) came about as well. Advertisers began to pay for clicked links by consumers to compete for position on search results pages. The higher their link was on the results page, the more likely it would be clicked. Google changed this aspect into a cost per impression, meaning if the ad is viewed and nothing clicked, then the client is still charged a fee. Google also developed a CPC rate based on actual clicks to expected clicks forecasted by Google themselves. In 2003, Google began advertising editorial content along with blogs, something that had not been done by any competitor yet. AOL ended up giving Google the rights to advertise on their website costing Google $1 billion and giving AOL $330 million advertising credit. Over the years Google has encountered many rivals and competitors ranging from Yahoo and Bing to Ebay and Amazon. These rivals came about due to the innovative products created at Google. Google purchased companies such as YouTube, DoubleClick and Channel Intelligence while coming up with products such as cloud applications, Google Docs, Gmail, Google Finance and so much more. Google was leaving their main focus of search engines and dabbled into other categories in the industry. To some, this could be seen as dangerous and deadly to the company itself. Not for Google, anything they touched turned into gold. Google Docs immediately challenged Microsoft Office while Gmail challenged any and all free email websites. Google has also come out with tablets and mobile phones of late, allowing them to compete in yet another industry. Some might ask what is so appealing about all of their products? In my personal experience, I would say the ease of use is what appeals to me. Anytime I have used a product of Google, it is so easy to use and has lots of capabilities. Some might see this ease of use as a competitive advantage. When it all comes down to it, developing the â€Å"perfect† search engine is their main focus. Google has a philosophy that says, â€Å"Do one thing really, really well.† That is why the main focus of the company is developing the perfect search engine and organizing the world’s information.  Through paid as well as free listings, Google has developed a faster and more accurate way to sort search results. This will continue to be their focus in the future and Google hopes to master the art of the search engine. Google Culture and Values During its existence, Google has proven to be loyal to a certain set of values, principles and culture. In my opinion, this can be swayed as part of their business strategy as well. As part of there culture, they make these three things consistently known: 1. â€Å"Don’t be evil† – Do not compromise the integrity of search, effective advertising without being flashy, and do not allow ads on webpages that have no relevance. At Google they have a firm set of beliefs and this is an important one. Google makes sure to do things the right way and follow their moral and ethic code. They do not take advantage of publishers, clients or the customers. Google is here to provide a service as well as products and they do so in an honest way. 2. â€Å"Technology Matters† – Technology rules everything. Developing a faster and more accurate search query could only be done so through new and advancing technology. Google developed custom hardware to decrease costs a nd improve speed. 3. â€Å"We make our own rules† – The founders at Google ran the company in a different and unconventional way. They were very secretive to outsiders, only unveiling things that they were required to and nothing more. This leads into their unconventional governance structure as well. Governance at Google was an interesting situation when it came to the IPO. They decided to offer dual class equity, giving 10 votes per share of Class B and Class A receives 1 vote per share. Assuming that majority of people will sell their shares anyways; that left the CEO Schmidt and the founders, Brin and Page, with 80% control of the vote. This allowed them to control the strategy and direction of the company. They made it very well known the direction the company was headed in and that anyone who invests is not only investing in Google, but the idea and direction that Brin, Page and Schmidt want to go in. 4. â€Å"Do one thing really, really well† – This is basically a quote that Google has and will always live by. When Google first came about, the main focus of the company was providing a better search engine than what already existed. Google created algorithms that allowed for  quicker and more relevant search results. Between these algorithms and the deals Google scored with companies, they quickly jumped into majority market share. To this day, Google still acquires companies and has deals with clients to continuously improve search quality on and day-to-day basis. Do not expect this to ever change. There are other points that Google lives by but these four are the most important and outline their every decision, their every move. Situation Analysis SWOT Strengths 1. Brand Recognition – Everyone knows and has heard of Google. People have begun to use the company’s name as not only a proper noun but also a verb, â€Å"Googled it or Googling it†. To be so popular not just in the form of a search engine, but with all the products offered, that is a huge strength. Reputation is everything. 2. Acquisitions – â€Å"If you can’t beat them, join them†. That is a popular quote heard from time to time. Google has dominated the market since entry in 1999 and lots of companies have fallen to this quote. Google acquires competitors (current and possible future) from time to time, such as YouTube, DoubleClick and Channel Intelligence. This increases their reach towards possible new target markets, increasing revenue and profit. Most importantly, it increases market share. As a company absorbs competition, one would assume their market share becomes absorbed as well. 3. Algorithms – Google created an algorithm to link pages together that deserved attention. This allowed for faster and more relevant search results leading to Google becoming a true threat to competitors. Irrelevant results always swamped and spammed customers. Google found a way to trim this down and it also became a competitive advantage. 4. Free Services – Google offered free software to optimize advertising campaigns. Google Analytics allows companies to focus spending on specific keywords that are more popular so they are more likely to lead to sales. Weaknesses 1. Variety of products – I very well could have considered this one of their strengths as well. I firmly believe when Google came about, their main focus was to improve the quality of the search engine. Since then, Google has developed a wide variety of products ranging from books, email and videos all the way to mobile phones, operating software and Google docs. Offering a myriad of products and services can cause a company to lose their main focus. 2. Legal issues – Google seems to not be bothered by their legal issues. From copyright infringement (books) to searches by trademarks, Google has faced legal issues throughout their existence. There was a class action lawsuit in which Google ended up settling for $45 million with book authors/publishers for copyright infringement. In addition to that, placing competitor ads when a company is searched did not sit well with companies such as Geico or American Airlines. It created customer confusion and led to possible loss in sales for the clients of Google. These suits were also confidentially settled. 3. International Reputation- These legal issues were not solely domestic. Litigation for companies overseas ended in a different result, with the courts siding with multiple trademark holders rather than Google. Book scanning was resolved domestically as well but the results were opposite once again overseas. It seems as though Google has a poor reputation as a result of these legal issues overseas. Opportunities 1. Mobile Devices – Google has created an Android phone that is currently competing with top market mobile devices. They also have come up with Google Glass and tablets. There are more opportunities in this industry and large room for improvement on their existing products. Apple may dominate this part of the industry but it is not farfetched to think a company like Google cannot deplete Apple’s market share. 2. Full Service Portal – Yahoo currently offers a full service portal inclusive of sports, finance, email, calendar, tasks, etc. Google already individually offers some of these products. Maybe getting into the idea of a full service portal could be their next step? 3. Improving existing products – After initial releases of products, Google can weigh the popularity and success of each product. They  will know what is failing, what interests society and what they can/should improve on. Innovation is not only creating new products but also improving existing ones. 4. Advancing Technology – Google has acquired many companies throughout their existence, which allowed them to use new and uncharted technology. There is always new technology and Google is a multibillion-dollar company allowing them the possibility of purchasing if not creating this technology themselves. Adapting to new technology allows Google to gain an advantage over others in the industry Threats 1. Replacement Advertising – Google began advertising on search pages. Since the start of web advertising, we have come a long way. Now there are mobile phone apps that include advertising as well as social media sites. This could begin to threaten the market share and revenue of Google 2. Privacy Laws – As we know, Google is no stranger to legal issues. Privacy has begun to threaten Google in many different forms. One common for was through Gmail. Advertisements were chosen based on what the email said but no one was actually looking; there was simply an algorithm in place to extract that information and process it. The search history can be accessed and people think this invades their privacy as well. Your search history is available for up to 18 months. 3. Substitution- With the variety of products offered, each one has one or more competitors. If legal issues continue to rise or prices become too high, it is possible that customers switch from Google to their competitors. The threat of substitution is high in the sense of products other than search. Some would say they do not see a difference between Yahoo, Google and Bing BUT this is not a threat because as of 2009, Google had 65.6% of all US searches. If there is no difference, then where is the threat of this number to decrease? Why would anyone switch from the current search engine that they use? Competitive Advantage and Resources Resources and competitive advantages seem to go hand in hand here at Google. A key resource is the employees. Google has approximately 48,000 employees; this calls for a wide variety of knowledge and talent. Each employee brings  something different to the table. Google stresses individualism and personal projects. If 48,000 people are striving to improve the company and create new possibilities, that would make employees a phenomenal resource. Another resource is their algorithms. As I have stated throughout this discussion, Google created algorithms to create a faster, more dependable and relevant search engine. Developing these algorithms allowed them to sustain a competitive advantage. In fact, some competitors even wanted to purchase the use of these on their engines (Yahoo and AOL)! Instead, Google went ahead and created a search engine becoming a direct competitor. Another resource, which might actually seem odd, is the founders and CEO of the company. They run Google in an unconventional way but it has really paid off. They developed a set of values and pounded this culture into all heads at Google. Technology is another resource used at Google. Technology in general is always changing and people constantly have to adapt. Google is a driver of technology and constantly brings products to the market. Google uses technology to succeed as well as incur a profit. The above resources can also be considered competitive advantages for Google. The algorithm that was created set Google apart from competitors and allowed them to enter the market. They immediately began obtaining market share and competitors could not compete with that type of search engine. Brand recognition is another competitive advantage. If people were to give me the option to use Bing, Yahoo or Google, I would hands down always use Google. Not that I can tell a difference but simply because I am accustomed to it. It is well known and developed in so many facets of the industry. Another competitive advantage that Google has is its free software. The competitors cannot afford to offer free services to clients, which gives Google a leg up on the competition. It allows Google to tap into new markets, further tap into current markets and please current clients. Data scraping abilities (which I have direct contact with) is another competitive advantage. The data scraping capabilitie s at Google are unbelievable. The resources they have here allow them to analyze every bit of data possible. This leads to better and more accurate services for clients, enhanced keywords, and an enhanced overall experience for clients. Porters 5 Forces Threat of new entrants – Some would consider this high but I think it varies depending on which segment you are discussing. In the search engine segment, I would say the threat is low but when you look at the multitude of products offered elsewhere, there is always a high threat. Costs to enter could be high in some segments while low in others. While profits are attractive and could result in new companies entering the market, Google as a dominant firm can turn these potential threats away. Threat of Substitutes – This has the same basis as threat of new entrants. Depending on the product, the threat could be high or low. Cell phones and tablets have a ton of possible substitutes out there and that can cause customers to switch brands. Varying prices of products or differences in quality can cause a high threat of substitution as well. Rivalry- High. There are rivals in every segment of Google’s business. Search engine has Yahoo as its biggest competitor but not limited to just them. There is also Bing, AOL, and other small competitors. The existence of innovation and new products keeps the rivalry intense amongst competitors in the industry. Similar products and similar goals keep the rivalry constant Bargaining power of suppliers – Low. The main suppliers of Google are engineers. Due to the number of engineers, the supplier has low bargaining power. Google has 48,000 employees and if engineers feel they can do better elsewhere, then Google will find replacements. Being such a large and successful company almost has Google on a pedestal. Who wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to work for them? Bargaining power of consumers – Also varies based on what product is being discussed. When you discuss tangible products such as mobile phones or tablets, power is high. When it comes to search engines, Google Docs, Gmail, etc, power is low. Although there are other substitutes to these items listed above, the interface and software of Google sets it apart from  the rest. The threat of switching is non-existent. Critical Success Factors – these are factors that are necessary for a company to achieve its mission. For Google, the following are CSF: Speed and accuracy- The faster results can be displayed with accuracy then the more likely that people will use Google. This is how Google set themselves apart from the industry. New algorithms allowed for more relevant results at a quicker pace. Quality search results – As I stated above, the algorithm allowed for relevant results. People were being spammed by random links not relevant to what they were looking for. Innovation- Google is constantly bringing products to the market and attracting new target markets. Not only are they bringing new products to light, they are changing and improving existing products Culture – This is a CSF for Google because it sets them apart from competitors. Google stands by their beliefs and their culture 100%. They do not deter from these beliefs regardless of the situation. It allows them to think outside the box and differently than competitors Ease of use – Older generations are not completely acquainted with the use of technology and probably never will be. The ease of use could help close that gap tremendously and allow for Google to tap another market. The multitude of products, software, hardware or tangible products need to be easy to use. Even my generation has trouble with software and hardware, it is like a second language to some! Alternatives and Recommendations A few possible alternatives that Google can do are become a full access portal, increase personal time to 20% (making it a 60-20-20 system) and focus on improving existing products. Becoming a full access portal will allow Google to take some additional market share from Yahoo. Currently Yahoo offers finance, sports, mail, news, etc. all in one place. Google needs to put this into action. The pros of this are that Google already has these things but offers them separately. Google has the Gmail option, finance, news, maps, books and much more. It already has the pieces and just needs to combine them into  one place. This should not be hard with all the talented engineers on staff. Another pro is that the market share is bound to increase. Google already has many loyal customers to different segments of the market. Some might use Yahoo for things not currently offered in the same place. If Google offers sports where it has email and finance (for example), it could take away customers from Yahoo. A con is that this is a big risk. If the interface is not easy to understand or follow, people might abandon these options altogether and go directly to a competitor. Increasing personal time spent on projects to 20%, changing the culture to a 60-20-20. Currently Google encourages personal projects and stresses to work on a 70-20-10 basis. Google says they do not mind spending money now if it can lead to possible wealth over time. For this idea, there are a few cons. Employees could get caught up in their personal ideas and projects leaving the important ones assigned by managers past due. This could also be seen as free time and some might take advantage of it as a break from work in general. Another con is if 48,000 employees are working on their own projects 20% of the time, it might not be time well spent amongst everyone. Even if everyone is working diligently on a project, these projects might not pan out and that is a lot of wasted time. One of the biggest pros is high risk, h igh reward. Google is willing to take a risk after evaluating projects developed by employees. Allowing them to work on personal projects 20% of the time can create more opportunities to â€Å"hit big† for Google. Another pro is the encouragement of creativity. Personal projects call for creativity and this can then transfer over into the 60-20 time spent elsewhere. My last suggestion is to focus on existing products rather than continue to increase the amount of products they have already. Google came about and was focused on search but since then have brought multiple products to the forefront of the market. While they have been mostly successful, existing products can still be tweaked to gain maximum exposure. The main pro of this suggestion is that the kinks and problems existing could be resolved. Google could perfect already popular and existing products with the possibility of taking demand from competitors. Another pro is redirecting their focus back to the original product and the main source of revenue. Search was the first product of Google and even today it makes up the majority of the revenues (including advertising since they are hand in hand). Some cons are that they could be missing out on the next big thing. Putting all focus on existing products might have Google miss out on a hot new product that could really bring a big boom to the company. Another con is there might not be much more additional potential to focusing on existing products. They have acquired companies and competitors throughout their time and this is one way to focus on existing products. Another recommendation is pretty simple and quick to the point. Get rid of products that do not have high value to the company. The scope of the product line is wide and I do not think it is possible that all are value-adding products to Google. While some might be reaching large audiences and bringing high profits to the company, there are always some that are not doing so well. While they still might be making a profit, the workforce could be used elsewhere and that might have a higher value than the non-core product. Resources and time could be used elsewhere to perfect other products or to create new and innovative ones. The con is that while it might not be adding â€Å"value†, the product is still bringing in a profit. Google is very successful and would not have a product existing that currently has costs outweighing benefits. They are too smart for that. Giving up on a product might not be the correct decision just because it is not bringing in expected amounts of money. My recommendation would be to combine the 60-20-20 option with the focus on existing products option. While the 60-20-20 idea can cause a lack of focus, intertwining it with the existing products idea allows that focus to still be there. Employees can incorporate work on existing products in that additional 10% of time as well. Allowing companies to work privately on anything could prove to be a bad idea but pairing it with existing products will benefit the company. Imagine 48,000 employees focusing on existing products. The sky is the limit and Google can really blow competitors out of the water. I decided the full service portal is not a good suggestion. The risk of it not being easy to access and maneuver around does not outweigh the benefits. Customers already use a variety of products regardless if they are all in one location. If putting theses product in one place backfires due to difficulty of use, customers may go to Yahoo and begin using their portal. Google already has a sense of customer loyalty so  why try and change something that is working. Implementation The recommendation at hand here is to increase personal time to 20%, making the culture at Google 60-20-20 while maintaining focus on existing products. To begin this recommendation, Google should select a percentage of employees to test this out. Of 48,000 employees, they cannot have everyone working on personal projects right off the bat. It might lead to laziness and lack of effort across the board. Google should select maybe 5% of the workforce and allow them to allocate additional time towards personal projects. Google can then compare it to prior months focus on core business and see if they still maintained focus. If this was successful, then little by little introduce the workforce to this new concept. Another part of this implementation would be to have different shifts. Everyone cannot work on personal projects at the same time. Setting aside different shifts for the personal time could prove pivotal to the success of this idea. Google likes the idea of these creative concepts and have used them before. Gmail is an example of the â€Å"personal project† and now that has flourished into a leading email in the industry. Google has no problem investing in long shots and extending to 20% would do just that. Another part of the recommendation was to put focus on existing products and tweak or perfect them. To begin implementation, analysts at Google need to perform an industry analysis and provide some data on the competitors that exist with similar products. Google needs to have numbers and data comparisons so that they know how their products are doing in comparison to possible substitutes. After analyzing the industry, Google would send out customer surveys. All customers are in a database and have their emails, addresses, phone numbers, etc. on file. Google will find a way to reach the customer, send them a short survey on what they like, what they don’t like, what needs improvement and other beneficial questions. To figure out what needs improvement, you MUST talk to the users of the product. Upon finding out what is liked, what needs fixing, Google must assign a task force to tackle the job. This can now be intertwined with the 60-20-20 change stated above. While it may be a core business task, the idea of how to fix a problem or tweak a product can  be completed during the 20% personal time. Once the task force has been assigned, the product will be evaluated by everyone on the task force. They will be encouraged to give blunt honest opinions on the product as well. These employees are more knowledgeable than the everyday user so they might have different ideas that could be acknowledged as well. Once the survey period has ended for both customers and employees, brainstorming must begin. Individualism is encouraged but working in teams can help brainstorming run more smoothly. Ideas will be bounced around and once they can settle on what needs to be done, the â€Å"how† part takes place. Strategies on changing, marketing, and promoting the new product need to be derived and approved by managers. Once the strategies are derived, products will begin to go through the makeover process. Throughout this makeover process, Google will begin marketing and promoting the changes that are coming. The public will become aware, arousing curiosity as to what Google did to make this amazing product even better. This will lead to some hype and Google, like usual, will please the customers and the public. Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. They have been doing this since 1999 and have a long way to go. Focusing on existing products by fine-tuning them will help change the world forever. Allowing new and great ideas to develop internally and then possibly taking a risk is what makes Google great. Google is an innovative company, changing many segments of many industries ever since Day 1. Just as the article says, everyone fears Google†¦as they should.

The Youth Today - Are They More Impatient Than a Few Decades Ago Essay Example for Free

The Youth Today Are They More Impatient Than a Few Decades Ago Essay It has been rightly said that we spend the first half of our lives trying to understand the older generation, and the rest half in understanding the younger generation. Every age has its own charm. Youth has always felt somewhat exasperated with age and age has always been suspicious of youth. With their natural ebullience and impatience, a majority of young people are keen to act and learn on their own rather being guided by the experience of elders. The older people being more at home with words rather than action often make noises about the youth being impatient and rude. In every generation, old men are found to shaking their hoary heads and waxing nostalgic about the good old days when youth of their time knew better and showed due reverence to age and tradition. Some of the charges brought against modern youth are that they represent a rudderless generation without any ideals to live by or cause to live for. They are afflicted with compulsive irreverence which manifests itself in increasing defiance of parental authority and revolt against established social norms. On the slightest pretext they take to streets, indulging in violence. They want to attract attention through unconventional behavior. They are becoming a generation of drug addicts and have developed an aversion to honest hard work, ever on the look out to have something for nothing. Its no longer anxious youth going forth, into a hostile world. Now its hostile youth going forth into an anxious world this is not sure what to expect from it. If we come to think about it, it is not only the youth which is restless, human society itself is in a state of flux. Growing affluence in developed societies has generated among the youth there a restlessness which pined for instant rewards. The children get all the money they need from parents and seldom face the need to work for a living. In the under developed countries also, young generation are feeling disgruntled because their visions of a happy future are being obliterated either by internal strife or political opportunism. This provokes the youth to protest against rampant corruption in society and the denial of social justice. In the circumstances, is it to be wondered at if all talk of dedication to ideals, renewed moral vigor and basic virtues leaves the youth cold and unconvinced? They are no longer prepared to blindly accept whatever their elders choose to ram down their throats. They are prone to subject to critical review all the social and political values they are called upon to accept. When they se high sounding principles invariably being ignored for expediency, political leaders deliberately hoodwinking the masses, vested interests being allowed to frustrate the state of every step, corruption common in high places and other gaping differences between promise and performance, they naturally become cynical and clamor for change. Students form a very important group among the youth of all nations. Their biggest and most legitimate grievance is that what they learn after putting so much time, effort and money has very little relevance to the realities of life with which they come face to face after leaving the university. It is but natural that they should want to have a say in determining what should be taught so that it has some relevance to their future. They would no longer tolerate politickers veiled as teachers. They consider themselves quite capable of looking after themselves. If we look at youth today in the light of foregoing, it will be apparent that it’s not the young alone who are to blame for the state of mind in which we find them. They may well be charged with being ignorance of what they want. Theirs is a movement of protest against hypocrisy and lack of integrity in their elders. Evidently, this concern for the future and this anxiety to rescue life from hypocrisy is very laudable indeed. But it cannot be said that the young are all the time guided by such high purpose. Dissent is required in fact obligatory when things go wrong. Violence comes natural to youth. The young, supremely sure that the authority against which they are up in arms is unjust and oppressive and feeling cretin of the correctness of their own stand, react emotionally. The intensity of their feelings is such that it fills them with hatred and they turn to violence. On the whole, the younger generation today is much misunderstood and more maligned than it deserves. The world which it is going to inherit will be immensely more exciting than the world of its predecessors ever was or could be. At the same time, life will present to it a much bigger and far more complex challenge. It would not do to condemn it and find fault with it that is easy enough. What is really important is that it is treated with understanding so that it can develop to faculties to reshape the world it is going to inherit in accordance with its noblest vision.

Satisfying Needs And Wants Of Customers At Profit Marketing Essay

Satisfying Needs And Wants Of Customers At Profit Marketing Essay INTRODUCTION Marketing is to establish, maintain and enhance relationship with customers and other partners, at a profit, so that the objectives of the parties involved are met. This is achieved by mutual exchange and fulfilment of promises. Brassington F and Pettitt S( FT Prentice hall,2006) Developing a marketing strategy is a very fragile process and all organizations make extra effort for it to gain customers. Customers knowledge is very essential to gain them. Marketing strategy has a vital role to play in an organization. Customer relationship is very important for a business. Customer needs should adhere to organisational objectives and this is important. In a nutshell we are statisfying needs of customers with profit. According to the Chartered Institute of Marketing, they offer recognised qualifications and trainings and also provide advice on marketing, their base line is : SATISFYING NEEDS AND WANTS OF CUSTOMERS AT PROFIT Marketing strategy should be adhered to customer needs and wants. Customer is an essential factor of an organisation, his likes and dislikes, thoughts and wants change with time. Its very natural, that human beings change their attitude, desires after a certain time period. The strategy should respond to those changes effectively. To capture market, companies should adopt affective techniques. Customer should know what we are doing. Monitoring and control after strategy implementation is very important. COMPANY PROFILE OF TESCO Tesco PLC holds the leading position among food retailers in Great Britain, with a market share that exceeds 15 percent. In England, Scotland, and Wales, the company runs 588 supermarkets, 257 of which are superstoresstores that sell food items in addition to a variety of other products, including gasoline, clothing, housewares, and alcoholic beverages. Tesco also operates 32 stores in Northern Ireland and 77 in the Republic of Ireland under various brands, 43 in Hungary under the Global and Tesco names, 31 in Poland under the Savia name, and 13 in the Czech Republic and Slovakia under the Tesco brand. In Northern Ireland, the company also runs 52 Wine Barrel off-license outlets. Tesco is the largest independent gasoline retailer in Britain; its 288 gas stations sell 12.5 percent of the gasoline sold in the United Kingdom. Recent company innovations include the Clubcard loyalty card as well as offerings from Tesco Personal Finance, which include a grocery budgeting account called Clu bcard Plus, a Tesco Visa Card, and a Tesco savings account. BASIC PLANNING RULES FOR A STRATEGY VISION AND MISSION All companies have their vision and mission statements which describe the organization.Some organizations have two statements. Reputed companies have one vision statement. It is a small description of an organizations future. What is the business? Customers? How value of customer can be increased? Tesco Vision is EVERY LITTLE HELPS A LOT Concept A strategy should be customer oriented, customer knowledge is essential. To know your customer, customer diversification in categories is important. They can be divided into segments according to their liking and disliking trends. A market research can be conducted to know the trends. After trend analysis, competitive advantage can be attained. According to the Chartered Institute of Marketing Marketing is the management process that identifies, anticipates and satisfies customer requirements profitably. For quality oriented customers we should make a strategy that draws their attention to our quality products and prices. Strategy should match our strengths. After strategy formulation, customer awareness is important. We need to develop channels to makle the customers aware of our offers. Systematic Approach To develop a systematic approach is hard and fragile task then all the other marketing tasks. Its id nutshell which includes all the companies objectives and plans.(Malcolm Macdonald,2008) Sequencing and scheduling of Activities Organisational managers are responsible for executing all the marketing activities and scheduling them. The main steps to make the execution on time are: 1 Identify activities to be performed 2 Determine the time required for activity completion 3 Determine the activity sequence. 4 Timing of all activities. 5 Assign responsibility(O.C Ferrel,Michael D,2007) Integration of activities Integration are of two types Simple Complex In simple, organizations subcontract the easy activities to other countries and keep complicated duties to themselves. Small companies support this strategy. In complex, the companies make decisions at the headquarters.(Bradley F,2005) Resource requirements Companies go with diversification if they have strong assets. Such Organizations introduce themselves in markets where the resources are according to their abilities. They have more opportunities if the resources are general. (Bradley F,2005) Time Scaling Time scaling is of two types 1 Production time scale 2`Commercial time Scale Both of them have different requirements according to the production and Marketing departments of the organization.(Suerie C,2005) Implementation and control:- A plan is nothing unless it degenerates into work.(peter drucker) Control is the way that we catch faults in strategy. Types of control:- Annual plan control Profitability control Efficiency control Strategy control STRATEGIC MARKETING PLANNING PROCESS This Process consists of a pattern of sensible steps that are taken to arrive at a Marketing plan. The next step would be to analyze the Market. Inorder to analyze the market there are some dimensions which need to be covered. Growing submarkets Size of Markets Market growth Profitability of Market Structure of Cost Distribution system Development and Trends Success indicators (Mcloughlin D, A.Aker D, 2010) SETTING MARKETING OBJECTIVES There are two factors Customer oriented objectives Market oriented objectives Both objectives should be designed to earn profit and gain customer. Goal setting should keep the organizations internal and external environments in centre. Only then a realistic business strategy can be developed. The goals should be smart, measurable, realistic, achievable, specific and time bound. (McCorkell G,1997) http://www.businesslink.gov.uk STRATEGIC MARKETING A strategy is a plan that integrates an organizations major goals,`policies,decisions and sequences of action into cohesive whole.(Proctor T,2000) MARKETING STRATEGY A marketing strategy should be coherent to the marketing plan. It should always be the same practically. SEGMENTATION In order to put in place a marketing strategy, the first step is to understand the market. Divide the market in to different categories. E.g. the business sector is huge market. This market can be categorized business nature. Banking industry is separate market. Steel industry is a separate market and similarly Textile is a separate market. The next step is to analyse, number of businesses working in each sector. Size of each business, their level of working. After doing this analysis, customer trends need to be analyzed , what do they want. Then after analysing we should be understand where we have the competitive advantage. And how can we bring it to use. POSITIONING Positioning means to make an image in the mind of the customer. His perception about us. What he thinks about us. What do we want him to think. How can we do that is part of the marketing strategy. Some businesses want to offer quality and some offer cheaper rates. This is where we want the customer class comes in. Does he fall in the higher class, middle class or lower class. MARKETING MIX Afetr segmentation, market selection and positioning the product, the next step is to make a marketing mix. Business should then evaluate its different marketing mix strategies which include the 4 ps. According to Adcock et al The right product, in the right place, at the right time, and at the right price PRODUCT Organizations should work on the product. How the customer values the product. It also depends a little on the company where it wants to draw attention. Existing products should have a different line of action on how the product should be modified. PRICE The price aspect is critical. If customers want quality at any price. Then in the above P(Product), the company might focus on quality. If the price set is low then the customer might see it as low quality, others might favour it to meet the finances. PLACE Accessibility is the answer to gain customers. Products available to customer in his local area, then this is an advantage. Because if products are of basic or daily needs, customers have many options and will prefer the nearest one. Internet shopping is another plus point. PROMOTION Customer awareness to product is also important. Either through internet, media or print media. Until and unless the customer does not have the knowledge, we wont make any sales. Tesco Tesco,s way promotion are advertising, public relations, direct mail, sales promotion and personal selling http://www.universitydissertations.com/Marketing/Tesco-Marketing-Strategy.php These were the 4ps. For more detailed and comprehensive study, 3 more ps were included: PEOPLE An organisation needs to make sure that its resources such as the employees are fully trained. They should have enough product knowledge to satisfy customers. PROCESSES The processes of the company should be efficient enough to handle customers and satisfy them according to their needs. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE This factor refers to the companys appearance. How the employees look, the premises. These elements put an immense impression about the business in their mind. http://www.businesslink.gov.uk DISADVANTAGES These tools are just like the ingredients of a strategic marketing plan. If any one of it is not focused and given a detailed consideration then chances are of failure. TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES SWOT ANALYSIS If an organisation works honestly with it self, this will lead to success. A business should look in its internal and external environments. For every business it is important that it analyses its strengths, weaknesses, opportunity and threats (SWOT analysis). Then it realises where it stands. After it knows what its actual picture is, then accordingly strategies should take shape. A companys strength could be Good customer service Good offers, packages Excellent knowledge According to a report some of Tesco,s strengths are Diverse ranges of products à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Open 24 hours service à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Strong flow of cash à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Increasing turnover and profits à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Strong Balance Sheet à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Growing Supermarket Chain à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Brand Awareness à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Online Shopping http://www.universitydissertations.com/Marketing/Tesco-Marketing-Strategy.php Weaknesses Weaknesses could be like Lack of resources Average reputation Accounting system is not good Tesco,s weaknesses There is a mind positioning of low quality -(Tesco value brands) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lack of local knowledge of customers and culture THREATS à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Competition which is strong à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Unpredictability in Price of raw materials à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Recession à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Shift of market to globalisation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Takeover bids http://www.universitydissertations.com/Marketing/Tesco-Marketing-Strategy.php Opportunities Internet as a source of new markets New technologies can help product improvement. Threats New competitor in market http://www.businesslink.gov.uk In order to identify the Macrofactors, we use Step: stands for Social, Technological, Economic, Political factors Steeple: Social, Technological, Economic, Ecological, Political factors, Legal and Ethical Fators. Pestle: Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Ecological factors. Now these three tools vary from organization to organization.(Blythe J, 2006) PESTLE External environment includes the forces outside the organisation. Its called the PEST analysis. PEST are the factors that make the business wade in the external environment. But businesses have to survive. POLITICAL Political changes also affect the business. If a new regulation is imposed like taxes, this could effect the companies cost. TESCO After the European Integration and agreement of free trade, the market has opened up for British Companies to invest in Eastern Europe. Tesco already has 60 Hypermarket store in Hungary.  Ã‚   ECONOMIC Economic factors like change interest rates, exchange rates also affect the business. SOCIAL Social factors include change of lifestyle, fashion, attitudes of people which change demand for certain product. Tesco Changes in consumer demands, trends and lifestyle show both opportunities and threats for the company. Opportunities in terms of new market and consumers, however, there are added threats of developed Swedish retailers. http://www.universitydissertations.com/Marketing/Tesco-Marketing-Strategy.php TECHNONLOGICAL Technology has immensely changed the way businesses work now. Tesco Changes in retailing sales through the Internet is now very common. Paperless operation, access through secure servers; provide flexibility in the business running. Sweden is going through technological development with companies like Ericsson, Tesco would enjoy the logistic and distribution channels already in place http://www.universitydissertations.com/Marketing/Tesco-Marketing-Strategy.php LEGAL Tesco National legislation for health and safety both in terms of consumer rights and also in terms of production of own natural renewable resources for making clothes ENVIRONMENTAL Businesses do not have control over these factors what they can do is react to these changes by accordingly adjusting the SWOT environment. http://www.businesslink.gov.uk BCG MATRIX Stars ? Cash cows Dogs This tool is used by businesses to evaluate their different business units (SBU).It was developed by the Boston Consulting group. It places the different SBUs of the business in each quadrant according to their market share and reputation STARS These products are market leaders have good market share and growth CASH COWS These products have high market share in low growth markets. QUESTION MARK These have low market share in high growth markets. These products need considerable thought if they should be supported or not. They are not generating much income. DOGS These products have low share in low growth markets. Very poor performance and should be withdrawn.(L. Kurtz D,2008) PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE It is a model which represents the life of a product. It has four basic stages INTRODUCTION The product is developed and introduced in the market. GROWTH This phase of the cycle is where the product gains market share and generates income. MATURITY In this stage the product has achieved the maximum share and is at its maturity point. DECLINE After achieving the maximum share the product undergoes a decline phase where it has no more demand for it self.(Saaksvuori A,Immonen A,2008) Product Life Cycle Model PORTERS FIVE FORCES MODEL Threat of new Entrants Industry competitors Bargaining power of Supplier Bargaining power of Buyer Substitute Threat Porter argued the strategy is not just as series of models at the corporate level of strategy. He noted that strategy includes analyzing potential entrants, suppliers,buyers,substitutes, and competitors. BARGAINING POWER OF BUYER It is the ability of the buyer to bargain. This power increases as the buyer has more options to buy from. NEW ENTRANTS These are the new companies entering into the industry and are a threat to the existing ones. BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIER It is the ability of the suppliers to decide the price for their product and the terms. SUBSTITUTE THREAT Alternate products offered by companies for a particular product are also threat to existing entities.(Michael J. Stahl, DavidW. Grigsby,1997) MARKETING STRATEGY OPTIONS According to Michael Porter, orgaizations can continue with three strategies, 1 Differentiation Strategy 2 Cost Leadership 3 Focus Strategy DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY This strategy is used by an organization to make itself different from other businesses. This strategy helps the organization to charge more from customers as compared to competitors. One thing is for sure that if customers get extra value they can pay more. Rolex watches charge more for there product. They earn their reputation by the quality of metal, stainless steel. They undergo special test for quality assurance. COST LEADERSHIP This strategy is used by companies to boost sales. They reduce their cost slightly below the cost of rivals and sell the products more. Timex has been a cost market leader for long. They make simple watches at low price for mass market. FOCUS STRATEGY Organizations using this strategy focus at particular market or group of buyers. Organizations might make thier focus using differentiation or cost leadership strategy in that specific market.(Ricky W. G,2007) CORE COMPETENCES These are skills used by organizations to provide customers with extra benefits. Competences could be Speed Consistency Acuity Agility Innovativeness (Hamel.G, Prahalad CK,1996) RISING EXPECTATIONS Customer expectation has increased due to companies continuing improvement towards their product to satisfy them. Since every company competing with Tesco is giving almost comparable products so the only way to get an edge is to give something extra to surprise them. Employee training is also very important to cope with customer expectation like giving a free delivery at home. TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE Technology is changing at a very fast rate so companies need to be good supporters or followers. Tesco can and is improving towards reducing the ques inside the stores by improving the websites so grocery orders can be taken online. COMPETITION Competition has increased tremendously in many industries and so many companies who were weak have fallen out, due to added factor weak economic conditions. Tesco club card scheme has really helped it to get through the economic condition. GLOBALISATION In this era every business considers and makes decisions according to the international market. Now the world has developed it self to be a global village. Spread of information, media, internet many different of doing business online has raised the competition even more. (Doyle.P, Stern. P, 2006) Tesco is becoming a growing chain and is one. This chain has helped it to secure strong profits.It has and should continue to operate in other countries to gain customer bank and explore new markets. IMPLEMENTATION. Tescos functional areas are Administration The administration department should keep the internal operations maintained. Finance Finance department should take care of cash flows and also take measures to control cost with out effecting profit. Marketing Marketing department should focus on sales increase and product training for employees. Research and development Research and development should maintain the standards of product quality. Information Technology Tesco has introduced self checkout machines through which people can pay themselves instead of waiting in ques. If the objective is to increase sales. To increase the sale, Tesco should work on its sales and marketing Department. Employee training is important. Product knowledge for employees so that customer satisfaction is guaranteed. It will help the human resource to market the product and give the customer what they need. As a result, we will experience an increase in sales. Customer awareness is very essential. E-marketing is also an important tool in this era to make it easy for people to buy products online. It is more easy for people to do transactions online and get delivery on time. CONCLUSION In a nutshel, i would say that marketing should have proper department in every business and it should work on an genuine plan. The rules and principles of marketing should be adhered to make the marketing plan successful. A company should also keep up with its functional areas so that the plan work smoothly.