Psychology †Reflection on Self Free Essays

Our universe has the general propensity to move from request to clutter. But take a gander at how complex we are. The riddle turns out to be: How does our universe makes unpredictability? David Christian stated, â€Å"The universe can make multifaceted nature however with incredible trouble. We will compose a custom exposition test on Brain science †Reflection on Self or then again any comparative subject just for you Request Now † According to him, we live in the â€Å"goldilocks region† of our universe †not very hot, not excessively cool, however on the money for the formation of unpredictability. At that point, things somewhat increasingly complex began to show up stage by stage. Each stage is otherworldly in light of the fact that it makes something absolutely new showing up practically out of the blue. We have realized that DNA gathers data through arbitrary mistakes some of which coincidentally worked. Be that as it may, DNA really created a quicker method of aggregation data. It created living beings with cerebrum. Also, those living beings can learn and gather data direct. The tragic thing about it is the point at which the living being passes on; the data bites the dust with them. We, people, showed up around 200 thousand years back. What makes people distinctive is our method of correspondence, the human language. An arrangement of correspondence so incredible and exact that we can share our insight and structure an aggregate memory that collects from age to age. The primary motivation behind why as an animal categories people are so inventive and knowledge. Be that as it may, at that point things began to get progressively mind boggling, feelings, instinct and cognizance began to emerge. We turned out to be considerably more delicate and discerning to our condition. We started to consider our various practices. That is when â€Å"the self† rises out of the insignificant reflection upon our conduct and social connection. Our self-idea decides our degree of execution in our regular daily existences. All the progressions we follow up outwardly start in within our self-idea. The manner in which we think, act, connect and everything that occurs in our life is simply the indications of our idea and the manner in which we get it. Our external life is consistently an impression of our internal life. It is critical to know ourselves so as to be extremely away from our qualities, standards, convictions and goals. These components contribute in general on how we carry on and connect with others. Our self-idea impacts our feelings, conduct and even the manner in which others react and interface with us. The issue with that however is the point at which we consider ourselves adversely. Everything begins to be influenced from simply the manner in which we consider ourselves. We begin to get vulnerable and discouraged. â€Å"We are brought into the world with torment. We are brought into the world through difficulties,† Nik Vujicic once said. Nik Vujicic was conceived without appendages. He attempted to suffocate himself when he was 10 years of age since he had a feeling that he was sad and surrendered. He felt like it was just him against the world. However, the one idea that spared him was what will his family feel and endure when he would execute himself saying, â€Å"You know what’s more regrettable about being conceived without appendages? It’s being conceived without appendages who abandons living.† By and by, I don’t know why we are brought into the world along these lines. Be that as it may, we have a decision, either be irate for what we don’t have or be appreciative for what we have. In the event that Nik Vujicic, limbless yet can at present grin regardless of challenges and preliminaries, at that point so can we. At the point when we have a feeling that we don’t have love and expectation, we begin to get vulnerable and lose the solidarity to adore. We begin to uncertainty and question our own one of a kind presence when we lose those characteristics. We as a whole have those individuals who will cut us down regardless of how great our day is, or bring us even lower when we are having a terrible day. Be that as it may, when we think and blame those individuals as the best debilitation of our lives, we’re wrong in light of the fact that they’re not-we are. We have a decision to abandon living or get up. Those things resemble the injuries or scars in a tree covering. Based on how a tree develops, it will never disappear. Be that as it may, we can develop as much as we need and let those sorts of things be a little piece of our lives, or we capitulate to it and bite the dust. We have to advise ourselves that we are significant and uncommon, and our qualities are not controlled by our societal position, foundation and the manner in which we look. During fifth grade, I was mistreated by numerous individuals even my own educator since I was an awful child. There was one time I was blamed for accomplishing something and I attempted to safeguard myself saying that what happened was a mishap, yet it was useless. I could indeed do a limited amount of a lot. Individuals were at that point saying that I was the â€Å"black sheep† of my family and that I was altogether different from my different kin. What happened will perpetually be a scar in my memory however I need to develop. I need to go to bat for myself and proceed on living. Ordinary we settle on decisions, and frequently the basic decisions are the ones that can have the tremendous impact for the remainder of our lives. The world needs love and expectation. Let us start our day by giving only that. We are here which is as it should be. William Barkley stated, â€Å"The most prominent two days in anyone’s life is the day you were conceived and the day you know why. † We will be unable to get a wonder yet we can be a supernatural occurrence for other people. We have to remind others that they are significant. So as to support ourselves, we first need to get magnanimous, not egocentric but rather sociocentric. Much the same as one renowned tune would state, â€Å"Love is something in the event that you part with it. It will return right to you. † When I was a child even as of not long ago, I was consistently curious and inquisitive. I was truly thinking if a hopeful faith in ourselves and self-assurance would truly have any kind of effect. I needed to discover how would you truly get fruitful. Eduardo Briceno asked, â€Å"What do you believe is the way to making objectives and progress? † Most individuals accepted that it’s difficult work, constancy and concentrate yet Briceno indicated that these are on the whole results of something progressively powerful that anybody could create. Josh Waitzkin, a chess worldwide ace and the subject for the film â€Å"The Search for the Next Bobby Fisher,† is a case of an individual who made incredible progress. Nobody won more global rivalries than him. In any case, considerably progressively noteworthy, Waitzkin assumed the test of acing a total new field, hand to hand fighting. It was altogether different from chess. After serious dedication, difficult work and some messed up joints, he turned into an extraordinary military craftsman having won two global rivalries. In all honesty, Waitzkin said that the best thing that at any point transpired was losing his first global chess title. He stayed away from the best mental snare. The key snare Waitzkin dodged was accepting that he was more brilliant than others and that he didn’t need to buckle down. He could’ve thought of himself as a protã ©gã © however he didn’t. He stated, â€Å"The second we accept that achievement is dictated by an imbued degree of capacity, we will fragile even with difficulty. † Stanford University Professor Carol Dweck found that a few people believe that knowledge is fixed while others consider insight to be Waitzkin does as something that we can create and develop. In an examination she did, a few hundred seventh graders were overviewed for which sort of mentality they had and were followed for a long time. Result indicated that understudies with development mentality expanded their exhibition after some time. The main contrast between the two gatherings was an alternate point of view of what insight is. â€Å"The key to progress isn't just exertion, center and persevering however the conviction we can create ourselves and the development mentality that makes them. † If we are to satisfy our possibilities, we need to begin thinking in an unexpected way. Our considerations impact our activities in such a case that we don’t trust it then nobody else will. We need to understand that we are not consistent and bolted to our contemporary capacities. We can change our capacity to think and perform. Since when we lose sight in the conviction that we can accomplish something, we are finished. Truth be told, the vast majority of the best masterminds of our time were once thought of as having no potential and future. Einstein once thought of ending it all lamenting for what reason was he even conceived. Be that as it may, alongside him and other extraordinary achievers from Mozart to Robert Boyle assembled their insight and capacities. â€Å"We are what we more than once do,† Aristotle broadly broadcasted. â€Å"Excellence, at that point, isn't a demonstration, yet a propensity. † Once we begin to put stock in ourselves, that’s when certainty and greatness comes in. Greatness isn't something we are brought into the world with. We need to work our approach to it. We need to make it a propensity. William James once stated, â€Å"Any succession of mental activity which has been as often as possible rehashed will in general propagate itself; with the goal that we wind up naturally provoked to think, feel, or do what we have been before acclimated with think, feel, or do.† Be that as it may, before greatness and achievement, we need to have confidence in ourselves. The genuine method of accomplishing confidence and self-assurance isn't by being brought into the world with it however by working and being sure of it. The key knowledge of the setting is the conviction that we can some way or another do it, being sure about it and that we need to take a stab at something so as to achieve it. We should be sure about what we do on the grounds that we’ve done it a million times. By that, we carry our game to an unheard of level. Einstein labored for a long time in finishing his conditions for the General Theory of Relativity. Behind the getting misfortunes and disappointments are a piece of development. Each time we got debilitated at something we are doing at, we begin to reveal to ourselves that, â€Å"I can’t do it. † When we hear that, let us talkback with attestation, â€Å"I can’t do it bu

Twelfth Night Coursework Assignment

5. â€Å"Conceal what I am† Explore the topic of camouflage and double dealing in â€Å"Twelfth Night† William Shakespeare's ‘Twelfth Night' is based around mask as trickiness. In ‘Twelfth Night', mask takes a wide range of shapes from physical to mental camouflage. One of the significant topics of ‘Twelfth Night' is likewise misperception and misdirection. However, incomprehensibly en route there are numerous issues, misleadings and deceptions, giving a remark on human conduct and making parody. In ‘Twelfth Night', Shakespeare investigates and outlines the subject of duplicity and camouflage with exact detail. In ‘Twelfth Night', it is apparent that the change in disposition to the double job and circumstance and tribulations forced upon the character of Viola winds up in a superior comprehension of both genders, and in this manner, permits Viola to have a superior comprehension for Orsino. â€Å"Stand you for some time standoffish. Cesario, Thou know'st no less however all; I have unclasp'd To thee the book even of my mystery soul.† Here it is clear that after almost no time Viola has won the trust of Orsino through her mask and he appears to have concluded that he can uncover more in Viola than in any other person. She chooses to take on this character since she has more freedom in the public eye in her Cesario veil, which is evident when Orsino promptly acknowledges her. Orsino trusts in Cesario the most close sentiments of his ‘secret soul' and becomes used to Cesario rapidly, though, in her female character, plainly she would not appreciate such opportunity. I likewise think this is noteworthy, as Shakespeare is passing on the feeling that since Viola has camouflaged herself as a ‘eunuch' she has more self-sufficiency and less limitations; I believe Shakespeare's basic and understood message is that occasionally it is advantageous for ladies to dress as men to accomplish opportunity; in this way accepting a mask is essential. The subject of trickery is likewise obvious quickly in the play. An as far as anyone knows ‘noble' Duke Orsino is enduring because of his lonely ‘love' for the Lady Olivia. † If music be the food of affection, play on, Give me abundance of it, that, satiating, The craving may sicken, thus die.† There is a dash of illusion and double dealing here about Orsino's pain, as though he unwittingly getting a charge out of the circumstance he is in thus the crowd is left to derive whether Orsino is in self-misleading. Shakespeare implies here that Orsino's adoration for Olivia is a hyperbolic, dynamic love and one of guilty pleasure as it is ‘high-fantastical' thus he urges the crowd to look all the more personally and decipher Orsino's ‘spirit of affection' as one of self-hallucination. Orsino continually emphasizes how tremendous his ‘love' is for Olivia, however it is effortlessly observed as vacant talk. He is charmed by the thought of affection, and himself as the extraordinary, contemporary darling rather like Romeo from Shakespeare's ‘Romeo and Juliet'. Double dealing assumes a job here in light of the fact that it is away from's origination of himself is lost thus he is self-beguiling and furthermore this features his pompous nature. Shakespeare likewise utilizes measured rhyming here and this characterizes Orsino's character in a specific way. Measured rhyming shows control but then the accentuation here is on the precariousness and the force of his affection for Olivia. This persuades he is ‘in love with the thought of being enamored'. This discourse by Orsino additionally reveals to us something about his character and state of mind: he is enamored, yet this doesn't bring him satisfaction, rather a significant despairing. His discourse at that point goes to pictures of illness and passing and it is too much clear here that Orsino is deluding himself. ‘Excess†¦surfeiting†¦sicken†¦die†¦dying' Orsino, here, has performed his energy and love for Olivia so much that he figures he will pass on the off chance that she doesn't cherish him. It is clear he is misdirecting himself and his circumstance can be deciphered as him being engrossed with the impression of affection itself, taking care of his feelings with music and expand beautiful symbolism. Shakespeare passes on Orsino's ‘love-considerations' feelings for Olivia as aloof, self-viewing and melancholic and Orsino as unrepresentative of his authentic emotions. Shakespeare welcomes the crowd to decipher Orsino's ‘love-considerations', which ‘pursue' him as counterfeit ones as a result of the way Orsino is depicted. â€Å"Be not amaz'd; right honorable is his blood. On the off chance that this be along these lines, up 'til now the glass appears to be valid, I will have share in this most glad wreck.† Orsino here exhibits a fast separation from Olivia and rather changes his considerations to Viola. This amazingly fast difference in ‘love' from Olivia to Viola affirms his triviality and self-duplicity. The topic of mask and double dealing is again present in the following scene where Olivia is in enthusiastic grieving for her sibling who ‘shortly kicked the bucket'. Notwithstanding, it is likewise certain that Olivia herself is in self-misleading. Her method of grieving includes her taking cover behind a cloak or camouflaging herself from reality and rejecting male organization which is represented when she says like a ‘cloistress' she will ‘veiled stroll' around with ‘eye-affronting salt water'. The grieving over her sibling's passing is sensational, however she just lives grieving as she feels this would do the demise of her sibling equity. She endeavors to mask this under a shroud, however to no triumph as her authentic character shone through. Olivia as a major aspect of her grieving promised that no man would see her face â€Å"till seven years' heat†. In any case, paying little mind to this, experiences passionate feelings for Cesario which shows that her goals is fleeting and the crowd is left to scrutinize her earnestness. â€Å"Unless, perchance, you come to me once more To reveal to me how he takes it†. Olivia is camouflaging her coquettishness towards Cesario by imagining that she just needs him to return to hold up under updates on Orsino's response to her dismissal. To additionally mask her sentiments, and misdirect Malvolio, she lies to him, imagining Cesario left a ‘ring behind him'. â€Å"She restores this ring to you, sir; you may have spared Me my agonies, to have removed it yourself.† Olivia utilizes misleading to assist her motivation with Cesario and it is made inalienable to him that she has become hopelessly enamored with his outward, masked appearance. Additionally misdirection includes here as, incidentally, Olivia's development is similarly as beguiling as Viola's unimportant nearness. It is obvious to the crowd that Olivia is misleading herself that she will be in profound grieving for her sibling for ‘seven years'. Her first appearance, which closes with her succumbing to the hidden Viola, shows the shallowness of her genuine sentiments of anguish. When Olivia, who is taken in by Cesario's ‘youth's splendors', goes gaga for Cesario she immediately disregards grieving. Olivia's intricate, melancholy stricken signals towards her dead sibling are instances of sensationalized and excessively overstated presentations of feeling. Her sorrow likely could be certifiable yet her excessive promise to grieve him for ‘seven years', sprinkling her chamber with tears and wearing a cover are just vacant motions. After looking into it further one can likewise gather that Olivia is maybe utilizing her siblings passing to disguise her desires for Cesario to stay near her. â€Å"I bade you never talk again of him; Yet, would you attempt another suit, I had preferably hear you over request that Than music from the spheres.† It is made express to Cesario that she needs to be pursued by him, which is hilarious to the crowd as they think about Cesario's disguise, and this is another case of the way Cesario tricks through camouflage. Olivia has recently lost her family, however her showcase of distress is exceptionally showy and self-misleading and is by all accounts brimming with desolate signals which say nothing regarding her actual melancholy except for simply camouflage her actual emotions and serve to self-hoodwink. Another character that is blameworthy of self-double dealing is Olivia's hireling Malvolio. A scene, which sets us up for sensational incongruity, is when Maria composes the letter to Malvolio, under the affectation that it is from Olivia. As the crowd knows about this misdirection it sets up the sensational incongruity, on the grounds that Malvolio himself doesn't know about it when he finds and peruses the letter. Malvolio in his arrogant job presents the conceivable outcomes of a tasteless and basic presence, anyway when tranquilized with the simple prospects of pride, trusting himself better than others, he turns into the most preposterous of the considerable number of characters and he uncovers to us his hidden emotions. â€Å"Go, hang yourselves all! You are inactive shallow things; I am not of your component; you will know more hereafter.† Malvolio has outrageous desire and yearnings to progress in social class by wedding Olivia which the crowd can unmistakably decipher as self-silly. Maria's letter is just ready to persuade him that Olivia adores him since that is the thing that he needs to accept. At the point when the letter advises him to act pleased and haughty, it just gives him authorization to show how he as of now feels, as it bids to his vanity. This stunt would not have worked if the letter had not been veiled as Olivia's, in any case, it is likewise critical to incorporate that Malvolio's hidden sentiments and self-trickiness persuade him regarding its genuineness. It is his ability for self-misleading and it is actually Malvolio's ‘self-love' which makes him simple to deceive. Malvolio is additionally in camouflage in the class framework. He dresses in dark and never giggles. â€Å"My experts, would you say you are distraught? Or on the other hand what right? Have you no mind, habits or honesty,† This nonetheless, is simply a mask that he accept, that permits him to censure others. Under this mask Malvolio is loaded with pomposity he is additionally sel

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The Whigs Lack of Political Success in the Period...

The Whigs Lack of Political Success in the Period 1783-1815 There are a number if contributing factors, both long and short term that led to the downfall of the Whig party in the years 1783-1815. Firstly, the Whig party itself had alienated themselves from the King, George III. Unlike Pitt, whose success derived directly from the Kings favour, the Whigs had continued to express their views against royal patronage. The Whigs believed the power of the monarch should be reduced and made no attempt to hide their ambitions, during the regency crisis, that the King would not recover. The Whigs had hoped with the King replaced by the Prince of Wales they would soon be propelled into office. The†¦show more content†¦Fox failed to handle the Regency Crisis with care and resulted in the Whigs alienation from the King. Fox also could not control internal conflicts which determined him to be a poor leader. These internal arguments occurred mostly between the older, more conservative Whigs and the younger, more radical Whigs. By 1792 major Whig members such as Portland and Burke left the party saying they could no longer accept the Foxite view that the French revolution was th e same as the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688 and its influence would not spread to Britain. With these important members leaving the party, the Whigs lost support and strength which also became a reason as to why the Whigs suffered a lack of political success between the years 1792-1815. The lack of success by the Whig party was also attributed due to the strength of Pitt and his party. As Pitt had proved during his years in office, he was an astute, clever character. He had brought political and economic stability to the country and also resolved the India issue which no other ministry (including the Fox-North) had been able to achieve. After the edict of Fraternty was issued in 1792, Pitt recognised the true threat posed by the French Revolution on Britain and set about with aims to surpress radicalism and maintain peace and order within the country. Members of the propertied elite who had been part of the Whigs realisedShow MoreRelatedRethinking Mercantalism Essay15042 Words   |  61 PagesRethinking Mercantilism: Political Economy, the British Empire, and the Atlantic World in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries Author(s): Steve Pincus Reviewed work(s): Source: The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 69, No. 1 (January 2012), pp. 3-34 Published by: Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5309/willmaryquar.69.1.0003 . Accessed: 06/09/2012 12:18 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms

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Features of Inter-Organizational Network Essay - 4130 Words

FEATURES OF INTER- ORGANIZATIONAL NETWORK Abstract: This paper tries to study the different aspects of Inter-Organizational Network through literature survey method. It concentrates on the core reasons for forming networks from two different perspectives (transactional and sociological). The elements of network formation are identified dividing them into essential and facilitating factors. It discusses effects of inter-organizational network on the industry. The paper also highlights the feature of knowledge transfer in organizations through networks. Lastly, it tries to focus on the possible impacts that the formation of networks can have on Human Resource Management functions of the networked organization. The paper concludes by†¦show more content†¦Because, the contractual and process elements that help in forming networks might vary from industry to industry. 3 5. Process of network formation- Inter – organizational network, as a distinct from personal network of entrepreneurs have been discussed by O’donell (2001). The factors those are responsible for the process of Inter-organizational network have been divided into- Reciprocity, Legitimacy, Stability and Resources, according to Kimberly (2005). i) Among the four factors, Reciprocity is considered as necessary condition. The other three factors are facilitators in the network formation process. The might be present at the time of network formation or they can be developed in the early stages of network formation. The main objective of the Inter-organizational network is the accomplishment of collective goals for the participating organizations. The goals require inputs or contributions from other organizations, as no single organization is capable of achieving the goals on its own. The organizations, connected through network, derive benefits from other organizations’ structures. The benefit derived from joining an organization is must also be greater than the cost involved. Otherwise, a single organization does not derive any incentive from joining inter-organization network, choosing over individual goals and objectives. ii) Legitimacy is the first of the three facilitating factors. It is essential toShow MoreRelatedStrategic Alliances : The Formation Of Alliances1259 Words   |  6 Pagesto develop strategic alliances: optimizing transaction cost, learning new processes and skills (organizational knowledge), and enhancing competitive position or market power. Second, the governance structure of alliances. For Gulati, strategic alliances governance vary in terms of the degree of hierarchical elements they embody and the extent to which they replicate the control and coordination features associated with the organizations that participate in the alliances. 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State government outline free essay sample

The state government of Georgia is the United States governmental body established by the Georgia State Constitution. Georgia is a republican form of government with three branches legislative, executive and judiciary. The Georgia general assembly is the state legislature of the state of Georgia. We will write a custom essay sample on State government outline or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It is bicameral consisting of the senate and the House of Representatives, The general assembly’s 236 members serve two year terms and are directly elected by constituents of their district. The general state constitution vests all legislative power in the General Assembly. The general assembly meets in the Georgia state capital Atlanta, Georgia In Georgia the executive branch is the largest with 99% of the state’s budget devoted to its activities. In doing so, the governor yields strong wields strong budgetary powers. Georgia has 14 Congressional districts, an increase in one seat following the 2010 United States’ Census. Executive Authority rests with the governor in the state of Georgia. The governor and the lieutenant governor presides over the senate while the House of Representatives selects their own speaker. They are elected on separate ballots to four year terms in office. Georgia recognizes all local units of government as cities so every incorporated town, no matter the size is legally a city. There are more than 25 executive departments in executive branch and hundreds of smaller boards, agencies and commissions. Legislative authority resides in the General Assembly, composed of the Senate and Representatives. The Lieutenant Governor presides over the Senate, while the House of Representatives selects their own Speaker. The Georgia Constitution mandates a maximum of 56 senators, elected from single-member districts, and a minimum of 180 representatives, apportioned among representative districts (which sometimes results in more than one representative per district); there are currently 56 senators and 180 representatives. The term of office for senators and representatives is two years. The laws enacted by the General Assembly are codified in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated. To be elected as governor a person must be at least thirty six years old and must have been a United States citizen for fifteen years and a Georgia resident for six years. Governors serve a four year term of office and may serve no more than two consecutive terms. Georgia’s judicial system consist of ascending levels of courts. The most important trial court in Georgia’s judicial branch is the superior court. The state is divided into circuits with one or more superior-court judges elected in each circuit. Local government is the oldest form of government in Georgia. There are three types of local governments in Georgia counties, cities and special districts. Georgia has four consolidated city-county governments. The House of Representatives consists of 180 members from regions around the state. Each January the House convenes to set an annual operating budget, amend the prior years budget and craft laws to address issues ranging from education reform to transportation investments. Georgia Senate each January, 56 senators meet to set an annual operating budget, amend the current years budget and craft laws that range from promoting business to keeping health care spending in check. The legislature of Georgia is the General Assembly, a bicameral body consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate has 56 members and the House has 180 members. Each member of the legislature represents geographically distinct districts from which each voter may give support to one candidate for each body. For most of its history, the state of Georgia, used an unusual county unit system by which districts were drawn such that each had the same area. However, population growth in cities across the state led to the rural population, which was in relative decline, having disproportionate power in government. Both senators and representatives have terms of two years. There are no limits on the number of terms any person may serve. The highest judiciary power in Georgia is the Supreme Court, which is composed of seven judges. The state also has a Court of Appeals made of 12 judges. Georgia is divided into 49 judicial circuits, each of which has a Superior Court consisting of local citizens numbering between two and 19 members depending on the circuit population. Under the 1983 Constitution, Georgia also has magistrate courts, probate courts, juvenile courts, state courts; the General Assembly may also authorize municipal courts. Other courts, including county recorders courts, civil courts and other agencies in existence on June 30, 1983, may continue with the same jurisdiction until otherwise provided by law. Each county in Georgia has at least one superior court, magistrate court, probate court, and where needed a state court and a juvenile court; in the absence of a state court or a juvenile court, the superior court exercises that jurisdiction.

Ecampus.Com Essays - Marketing, ECampus.com, Textbook, Bookselling

Ecampus.Com Ecampus.com q Product- Ecampus.com is an internet company that offers a wide variety of college supplies and other related items online. However, the primary product that is being marketed is college textbooks and books. In fact Ecampus.com claims to be the largest college bookstore online, and to have all books in print available to customers. q Price- In terms of price, Ecampus.com offers their product at an affordable, discounted price compared to the typical bookstore price. Having books available at an affordable price for college students is one of the company's main concern and is evident in their mission statement, as it claims to provide the easiest, fastest and cheapest way for college and university students to buy textbooks and stuff. On the web site the company also displays the actual price of the book being bought and the price they offer it at, in order let the students be aware of how much they are saving. q Promotion- Ecampus.com have gone through great lengths to promote their company, especially during the summer of 1999, which around the time when they officially launched their company to the public. Their promotion efforts during the period were extremely vital to the company's growth since they had just recently entered the market and also because the school period was soon the start shortly. On July 2, 1999, Ecampus.com officially went live with their web site, during a press conference, which was held in order to introduce their company to the public. Their promotion efforts continued to reach the public through, the internet and mass media. Various commercials for instance, began to surface nationwide, directed primarily for their target market, which were college students. Ecampus.com also chose other channels of promoting their service, which includes flyers on college campuses and magazine ads. q Place- The great thing about Ecampus.com is an internet company and is accessible via the computer, which makes it all the more convenient for the customers to shop. This aspect of the company gives them the advantage over other retail bookstores that are not online and are limited to only a small portion of the market. By making Ecampus.com strictly and internet company, they are able grab a large part of the market share since they are open to the public at a global scale, rather than on a local scale. Target Market-College students q Demographically/Psychographically- Ecampus.com target their market on the demographic basis of sex, age, occupation and income. Ecampus.com chose their target market to be male and female college students who are in the lower brackets of income. On a psychographical basis, the company focuses on college students who are always looking for cheap and affordable college supplies. Trends q The one major trend in retail bookstores is that the many bookstores are expanding their businesses into the internet. Some like Ecampus.com for instance, are entirely setup for the sole purpose to sell their product online. This growing trend have gotten big competitors in the market to enter the eCommerce market, largely due to the advantages in selling books online to customers around the world and not only around their local regions. Another reason the popularity of online bookstores is growing is that companies can cut down on large amounts of expenses that they would have incurred if they had set up physical locations. This cost-effective approach have had businesses rapidly restructuring their marketing strategies. Competition The growing trend of online bookstores have had many new and already existing bookstores to enter into the online market. Right now Ecampus.com is facing many competitors who basically selling the same service and product as Ecampus.com. Some big competitors are, efollet.com, textbooks.com, barnesandnoble.com, bigword.com, and amazon.com. Technology Essays

Soft drink industry Essay Example

Soft drink industry Essay Example Soft drink industry Essay Soft drink industry Essay The stretch of competitive exploits and reactions among companies under the soft drinks industry has shaped the competitive dynamics in the trade in the sense that the competitors in the industry have rivaled one another in terms of the products they offer and the target market. For example, the attempts of Coca-Cola and Pepsi to focus ahead into soft drinks bottling have established the element of ‘capacity’ as a primary aspect in the industry (Fahey). However, the competitive dynamics in the soft drinks industry is also affected by huge alterations in the commercial environment (Fahey).In essence, the competitive dynamics in the soft drinks industry serve as one indicator that the market itself is operating on a standard cycle market. One of the crucial factors that determine the cycle market in this industry is the season or the annual weather cycles as well as the climate in various geographical territories. As these changes determine the supply and consumption level s of the products, these changes also tend to revitalize the product image. The packaging of Coca-Cola, for example, has undergone notable updates throughout its production and distribution although the â€Å"essential product of Coca-Cola remains relatively static (Hunt).† In general, these changes in turn create perceptions from competitors, prompting them to address these changes by creating something of their own.Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Virgin Cola are three of the top soft drinks competitors in the industry which have both their distinct specific product images and their commonalities in terms of overall product packaging and consumers. While Coca-Cola has succeeded in maintaining their ‘ribbon’ logo or icon throughout the years, Pepsi has made attempts at recreating its own logo. Although Virgin Cola has also been able to maintain its distinct logo, it nevertheless has expanded in terms of its name, placing the same ‘Virgin’ labels to the added v arieties to its line of products.Competitive actions, or the important efforts done firms in order to achieve competitive edge in the industry, also share a significant portion in the commercial environment among soft drinks firms.   Three of the major competitive actions that occurred in the industry within the past two years include competitive pricing, stock availability, and promos. For instance, Coca-Cola, being extensively dispersed globally, constantly adopts low-cost operation (Davidson, Keegan and Brill). The same is true for Pepsi and Virgin Cola in terms of adjusting product prices as a tactical action in relation to the rates offered by the competitors. Stock availability and promotional campaigns, with the former being a strategic action and the latter being a tactical one, also share a vital role in the actions taken by these firms in obtaining a higher status above the rest.Looking into the future, the competitive positioning and importance of major industry competi tors will significantly change in the next five years for several reasons. These changes are considerably determined by consumption and supply levels on both the international and local scales. Further, the technological changes that lead to lifestyle changes also contribute to shifts in the strategies and tactics and, hence, in the competition among the firms in the soft drinks industry. With the recent technological advancements in the line of production, these firms will eventually adopt the most viable means of extending and increasing their productivity rates and, consequently, their distribution capabilities.In essence, the next five years will create a series of changes in the whole industry of soft drinks, extending not only within a specific geographical border but also within the expanse of the world, reaching the farthest places and bringing to these spots the changes that these firms constantly adopt in order to survive the competition and, probably, to obtain a comparat ive advantage above the rest.

Inmate Custody and Control in Correctional Facilities Essay

Inmate Custody and Control in Correctional Facilities - Essay Example The inmates and prison staff often confront with many challenges as well as threats to their safety. It is important to consider the essential aspects which can make inmate custody and control more effective. One of the main issues often observed in prisons is the paucity of healthy relationship between inmates and officers. To begin with, effective administrative measures offer better services to inmates and a peaceful ambiance in prison that would enhance the relationship between the inmates and officials to certain extent. Inmates usually belong to different cultural backgrounds with varying criminal intensity. This diversity itself may give rise to further disputes or violence within prison. Violence and indecent behavior within the institution could be reduced by initiating various disciplinary actions under strict supervision of responsible individuals. On the other hand, correctional officers and other concerned officials have to be given proper training to address the unexpected issues effectively through emergent strategies. As Barnhart (2006) reminds, training includes providing information regarding the planned strategies of the organization and various techniques to execute them successfully while maintaining of security and control in the prison. The physical layout of the facilities provided to inmates is an important matter of concern.

Should everyone allow to own gun Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Should everyone allow to own gun - Essay Example The Founders knew that by ensuring the right to own arms, citizens would have the ability to protect themselves from that which might endanger their life, liberty or pursuit of happiness. This could include bodily protection from persons and animals or from an oppressive government that threatened the freedoms outlined in the Constitution. â€Å"The Second Amendment reflects the founders’ belief that an armed citizenry, called the ‘general militia’ was a necessary precaution against tyranny by our own government and its army† (Krouse, 2002). Most American’s agree that the Second Amendment does allow law-abiding citizens to own guns for protection and hunting. Gun ownership ranks high among these political ideologies and to attempt to ban all guns would make these feelings even stronger. To make the case for upholding the widely perceived ‘right’ to bear arms by allowing rifles and shotguns of a certain length while banning handguns seems the sensible solution and a fight that could be won. This tact has proven effective in other countries such as Britain and many other European nations. Those countries that ban handgun use have a much lower homicide rate than does the U.S. (Reynolds, Caruth, 1992) In the year 2002, more than 3000 American children died as a result of guns, mostly handguns. Compare this with Britain where 19 children were killed by guns in 2005 and Japan where none were killed. Both if these countries have enacted strict gun control laws. The children of America are dying every day so that those who insist they have a right to own an arsenal of weapons and misconstrue the Constitution to justify this desire. (â€Å"Statistics† 2005). Gun enthusiasts mimic the concept that more guns will lead to less violence, that if everyone were carrying a gun, criminals would be too scared to commit crimes. The more is less philosophy. This doesn’t square with reasonable logic or the facts.

Title VII in the Workplace Essay Example for Free

Title VII in the Workplace Essay History and evolution. Many employees can face discrimination or sexual harassment claims nowadays. Even in the US Congress, such cases are reported frequently. It is very difficult for the managers of companies to deal with this kind of problems because they can cost large sums of money to the company. For example, TX Bar Journal estimated that the average large corporation pays approximately $6.7 million to investigate, defend, and either settle or pay judgments for sexual harassment claims. Therefore, it has become very important for companies, especially nowadays, to pay lots of attention to legislation regulating discrimination in the workplace. It is much cheaper for the company to make studies of the necessary laws and make sure human resources management always takes into consideration everything marked in those acts than suffer losses from claims. Even though it is impossible to take into consideration every single aspect marked in the legislation, most of them can be followed without any difficulties. All of the people working and living in the United States want to have equal abilities for working and developing their career and building their happy future. If in the beginning of the century discrimination could be not punished, at present people believe in the ideals of democracy and fight for their rights because they want to have a prosperous future. People of different religions and outlooks live and work in the US and it is very important for companies to ensure equal conditions for them in the workplace. Title VII is one of the most important laws regulating the mentioned problems. Title VII coverage. Title VII is one of the most general laws which protects individuals from job discrimination in different fields, while all other laws regulating job discrimination sphere focus on issues which were not completely covered in the Title VII or which need some special description. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act was adopted in 1964 which makes it the oldest law in the list of laws regulating discrimination in the workplace and which therefore means that it is a basic law in the field. Title VII covers all of the private employers, state and local governments, and education institutions that employ 15 or more individuals, private and public employment agencies, labor organizations, and joint labor management committees controlling apprenticeship and training. General characteristics, policies, and impact. According to Title VII, it is considered illegal to discriminate in the following aspects of employment, such as: hiring and firing; compensation, assignment, or classification of employees; transfer, promotion, layoff, or recall; job advertisements; recruitment; testing; use of company facilities; training and apprenticeship programs; fringe benefits; pay, retirement plans, and disability leave; or other terms and conditions of employment. The mentioned aspects are the most important in the field because they cover all the general areas of discrimination where an individual can be denied his rights. There are also some other aspects which Title VII also prohibits, for example harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or age; retaliation against an individual for filing a charge of discrimination, participating in an investigation, or opposing discriminatory practices. The act prohibits employment decisions based on stereotypes or assumptions about the abilities, traits, or performance of individuals of a certain sex, race, age, religion, or ethnic group, or individuals with disabilities; and denying employment opportunities to a person because of marriage to, or association with, an individual of a particular race, religion, national origin, or an individual with a disability. It is considered an unlawful employment practice for an employer to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, or privileges of employment, because of such individuals race, religion, sex, or origin. Title VII also prohibits discrimination because of participation in schools or places of worship associated with a particular racial or religious group. Title VII prohibits not only intentional discrimination, but also practices that have the effect of discriminating against individuals because of their race, color, national origin. For example, at some jobs employers might want to require their employees to conduct their work only in English and therefore they have to speak English fluently, or otherwise they will not be employed. According to Title VII, this is going to be considered discrimination unless the employer can prove that without this knowledge, the employee will be unable to conduct any work in the particular job for which he is applying. Oftentimes people cannot get a particular job not because of their disability to work in this position but because some member of the family is of a certain race which is considered unacceptable by the employer, or because of religion which appears unacceptable to the employer, or because the individual is disabled, or because he does not speak English. Without any legislation prohibiting those practices, employees could never be protected against those practices and would have to suffer from discrimination which becomes very common in such multinational society as American Society. That is why human resources management in the companies should always be knowledgeable in all the aspects which Title VII and all other discrimination prohibiting legislation cover and make sure they avoid all the practices which may discriminate against certain employees or job applicants. Bibliography. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII). Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA). Civil Rights Act of 1991.

Confucius and Confucianism Essay -- Religion

One of the most famous people in ancient China was a wise philosopher named Confucius (circa 551-479 BC). He was a great Chinese philosopher, educator, and political figure. His teachings and proverbs are in the Analects, which is the base of many Chinese theories. He was born in the village of Zou, and the state of Lu. His father died three years after Confucius' birth leaving the family in destitution, but Confucius did have a decent education. He was married at the age of 19 and had one son and two daughters. He worked as a keeper of a market. Then he was a farm worker who took care of parks and farm animals. When he was 20, he worked for the governor of his province. After a while he decided to teach, and he began traveling around and teaching few disciples that gathered around him. He became known as a man of learning and character. He had a great personality which people were attracted to. His respect for typical Chinese customs soon spread through out Lu. Confucius lived in China when it was really unsettled. The rulers were catastrophic, and Confucius thought the only way to keep life in order was for everyone to go back to traditional principles. He wanted China to go back to the quiet days of the "sage Kings". This was a time in Chinese history when Kings ruled organized kingdoms. They were peaceful because everyone knew their place in life and acted accordingly. Confucius taught in his school his beliefs about respecting family and ancestors for many years. His theories and principles were spread throughout China by his disciples, and soon many people learned from his wise sayings. One of his rules said, "Rulers can be great only if t... ...who was a devout follower of Confucious. These nine books were considered all you needed to live a good life. Confucianism started in 136 BC when Wudi?s advisors finally convinced Emperor Wudi that Confucianism was the superior school. Soon, emperor Wudi set up a Confucian academy to train officials. In order to get to the Confucian academy, there were a series of examinations. The examination system spread throughout China and the books previously listed became the basis for these examinations. First there were the preliminary exams. After that, the first level, if you passed your social class would be raised higher. Then the second level,which only one in a hundred passed. Finally the final exam, and the few that passed this exam then had an interview with the emperor who hand picked finalists for the highest government posts.

Best Buy Marketing Plan

2012 4/26/2012 Marketing Plan The Micro Environment The Company: Best Buy’s mission statement is â€Å"Our formula is simple: we’re a growth company focused on better solving the unmet needs of our customers—and we rely on our employees to solve those puzzles. Thanks for stopping. † Their company perspective is the following â€Å"Our vision is to make life fun and easy. Our business strategy is to bring technology and consumers together in a retail environment that focuses on educating consumers on the features and benefits of technology and entertainment products, while maximizing overall profitability.We believe our stores offer consumers meaningful advantages in store environment, product value, selection and service, all of which advance our objectives of enhancing our business model, gaining market share and improving profitability. † Best Buy strives to continue its growth and innovation in order to come up with new ideas and new ways to intr igue their customers and also new ways for their employees to work as a team and work together.One of their goals is to offer solutions for entertainment and technology that will meet their customers’ needs, â€Å"end-to-end. † Best Buy’s core competencies is simply to make technology and entertainment products affordable and easy to use for their customers. â€Å"We're world-class in store experience, customer orientation, inventory management, executing new store concepts, and rallying our people around common goals, as well as, marketing, merchandising and related disciplines. † Some areas of improvement that Best Buy is currently undergoing are to be greener.In order to do so, they have to add more green vehicles when it comes to transportation and also stocking more green products in their stores so they can educate their customers about the impacts they may have by purchasing green products. Competitive review: Best Buy’s top three main compe titors include Wal-Mart, Target, and RadioShack. Wal-Mart not only engages in the retail sale of electronic goods, but also offers food, health and beauty aids, apparel for women, girls, men, boys, and infants, jewelry, and a wide variety of many other products.Their market cap is $211. 51 B, which as you can see is much larger than Best Buy’s market cap, but the reason is simply because Wal-Mart specializes in selling a wide range of products and not solely electronics. Wall-Mart is the world’s largest retailer and grocery store by sales, which amounts to almost 50% more than its closest competitors combined, such as Target and Sears. One of Wal-Mart's biggest strengths is that many suppliers give in to Wal-Mart’s pressure because they depend heavily on the discount retailer that they offer for a majority of their sales.One of Wal-Mart’s weaknesses has to do with their reliance on Chinese-made imports because the company may become vulnerable to a weaken ing dollar or strengthening of the Yuan. Since Wal-Mart purchases the majority of their products from China every year, if the Yuan dollar strengthens, Wal-Mart will soon have to pay more for their merchandise that comes from China, which will further affect Wal-Mart’s bottom line. Target is very similar to Best Buy and like Wal-Mart they offer far more then just consumer electronics.Most of their stores include clothing, furniture, and a grocery department. In the last year, their stock has hit a 52-week low of $45. 28 and 52-week high of $58. 95, compared to that of Best Buy, which has a low of $19. 79 and a high of $32. 85. The reason the stock for Target is worth more is because they offer a larger variety of products so they have a larger market share then Best Buy. When you compare the quality of electronic products between Best Buy and Target you will see that Best Buy has the advantage.For example with TV’s, Target will offer more of the smaller named more affo rdable televisions. These TV’s can not compare to the quality of the big name products that Best Buy offers, such as Pioneer Elite. The biggest strength that Target has is their wide array of products from many different departments. But they also have a weakness for their customer service. Many times you can go into the store and never be helped by one of the employees. Then when you find one, they are uneducated on many of the products.RadioShack is similar to Best Buy since they both engage in the retail sale of electronic products and services. Some products include home entertainment systems, scanners, GPS products, digital camera, and many others. â€Å"As of March 31, 2011, the company operated 4,467 company-operated retail stores under the RadioShack brand name in the United States; and 1,304 kiosks located in Target and Sam’s Club stores. † Their market cap is a total of 732. 80 M, compared to Best Buy’s market cap of 8. 88 B.RadioShack recently launched a new low price guarantee on mobile phones in order to attract customers and show them that they are offering the best deals. It is also has a Trade and Save program which allows customers to trade in their used mobile phones and other electronic devices for immediate credit toward their next purchase. The company also has a new Mobile Product Support which provides customers with free specialist support to help them resolve any of their mobile phones or other device-related issues at no additional cost.RadioShack is currently undergoing a plunge in their stock price due to the significant growth of the online retail market, such as eBay and Amazon. Corporate partners review and channels: Best Buy is an electronic retail store, according to the Best Buy 2011 fiscal year report, they operate 1,099 US Bes Buy stores, 6 Magnolia Audio Video Stores specializing in high-end electronics, 6 Audio Visions Stores, 117 Best Buy Mobile Stores and 35 Pacific Sales kitchen and bath cent er Stores (in Southern California, Arizona, and Nevada).Best buy also operates on the international market with 71 Best Buy Stores in Canada, 2440 Best Buy’s in Europe – Small Box, 6 Best Buy’s in Europe – Big Box, 166 Five Star Stores, 8 China Best Buy Stores, 10 Best Buy Mobile Canada, 6 Mexico Best Buy Stores, 2 Turkey Best Buy Stores and 146 future shop stores throughout Canada. In the U. S. Best Buy has a 1,200 square foot Best Buy Mobile store as well as a 20,000, 30,000 and 45,000 square foot Best Buy big box store. In Canada, Future Shop stores average 26,000 square feet and Canadian Best Buy stores average 32,000 square feet.In Europe, The Carphone Warehouse and The Phone House stores average 800 square feet. Best Buy also operates online, allowing Customers to purchase product on line at www. bestbuy. com. The main challenge associated to Best Buy distribution is that the company relies on a handful number of vendors for the supply of their prod uct. Best Buy only accounts for 60 percent of the merchandise it purchases, therefore if any supplier is unable to supply or there is disruption and lost from any vendor, the company may not be able to meet the demand of the customers. Product review:Best buy offer product such as electronic, home office product, entertainment software, appliances and related services. Consumer electronic is their largest product category which includes video and audio equipment such as television sets, DVD player, audio system, portable audio player and car stereo. Some of the Home office products are computers, telephone, cellular phone, copier and calculator. Entertainment software offered are CD, DVD, computer software and video games. Best Buy home appliances are dish washer, air conditioners, washing machine, dryers, ranges and refrigerator.Best Buy offers sales on multiple of their items which are computer, tablets, home theater, mobile phones, IPod, cameras, car GPS, appliances, home, finess es, music instrument, video games and movies. However, Best Buy’s most famous sale is on black Friday, they are among â€Å"the top 3 brick and mortar retailers† according to blackFridayads. com. Best buy has a price matching guarantee police they state â€Å"Best Buy will match the price if you find a lower price on an identical available product at a local retail competitor's store, a local Best Buy retail store or BestBuy. com.Simply let us know when you are making your purchase or during the return and exchange period. † Matching prices to competitor such as Amazon and Wal-Mart. The Bureau of Economic Analysis recorded negative growth rate for retail stores during the third and fourth quarters of 2008. Best Buy is the largest U. S consumer electronic retailer by revenue, with $40 billion in net sales in fiscal 2008. Best Buy revenues have increase since 2007 it went from 35. 9 billion in February 2007 to 50. 3 billion in February 2011. The gross profit has a lso considerably increased by 46. 5% since 2008. There is also a considerable increase in their net income, it went from 1. 38 billion to 2. 70 billion in 2011. However, and their operating incomes have also increased, due to an increase of 92. 14% in the depreciation and amortization. In overall their profit has been increasing since 2007. Market/industry description and overview: Over the last few years the consumer electronics retail industry has taken a big hit. One of the big factors for this is the recession; people have less money to spend on material possessions then they used too.The big retail stores such as Best Buy and Target have lost profits due to customers looking to find the best deal possible to save money. Some of Best Buy’s biggest competitors, Amazon for example, have been able to take advantage of this by selling items online at a much lower price. Many times it is a price that Best Buy and many other large retail stores cannot match. An article from htt p://ledfrog. com/blog/2011/04/the-future-of-big-box-retailers/ stated, â€Å"I can go to the store, check out a new camcorder or surround sound system and then decide if it’s something I want.If it is, I’ll ask the manager if they can match Amazon’s deeply discounted price. If he can, I’ll buy it at Best Buy. If not, I’ll go home and order it online. † Because of the online shopping, the market for electronic retailers is shrinking so it will be important to capitalize on the market that is there. The Macro Environment Culture Best Buy wants its main consumers to be in the middle to upper class. It is because of this that they do not specifically target any one gender or race. As long as the consumer has the money to spend Best Buy will want to service them.Those apply to Best Buy as a whole throughout the country; regionally things are a little different. Depending on what region the store is located Best Buy will have to focus on different things. For example in South Los Angeles where the population is predominantly Hispanic and primarily speak Spanish, the employees that are hired there are going to have to know how to speak Spanish, and many of the product signs can have Spanish written on them too. So Best Buy can have the same message throughout the company, but you are going to have to focus more on the little details of where the store is regionally so you do not offend the customers.Demographics: As a company Best Buy has divided its core customers into five different demographic segments, and they call it customer centricity. They have given a name to each one of these segments, Barry, Jill, Buzz, Ray, and Mr. Storefront. Barry is a man in the age range of 24 to 45 who is an affluent tech enthusiast; typically he will be in the higher income bracket and spend more money. Jill is a suburban mom with a targeted age of 24 to 45; she is also in a high income bracket but does not like the whole shopping experienc e for tech products. Buzz is either male or female with a targeted age of 18 to 24.They would be young shoppers into gadgets, video games, and movies, and is in a low income bracket. Ray is a price-conscious family guy between the ages of 24 to 45; he will be looking for the best deals and likes to see advertisements, also he is in a middle income bracket. Mr. Storefront is a small business owner in any age bracket and any income bracket. They have also divided two other segments of customers who are outside of their core targets. The first is named Carrie and she is a young single woman in a low income bracket between the ages of 18 to 30.The second is targeted at empty nesters they are both male and female between the ages of 45 to 55 they are in a middle income bracket and are named Helen and Charlie. The purpose of the customer centricity program is so that a store can meet the needs of its main shoppers. You have to first find out the find out what type of shopper goes to a sto re most and then tailor that store to their desires. For example if you have a store that is tailored to a Barry and Jill that store will have a lot of lighting and fixtures to meet the needs of Barry and personal shopping assistants to help the Jill’s find their products.Best Buy as a whole has decided to focus its demographic segments on people in the income bracket of the upper to middle class. The reason for this is that our core customers are in these income brackets, and knowing this allows the company to build the store to what those classes want. I would not consider dropping any of these customer segments because they cover a vast majority of the shoppers that Best Buy receives. The customer centricity program is what helped keep Best Buy so profitable when companies like Circuit City went out of business. I would however create a new segment named Andy.Andy will be a single man living on his own. This person will be in the mid to high income bracket and be a new tec h and gadget shopper. His main purchases would be in home theater and computer. Social trends: Social trends are one of the biggest driving factors for the income that Best Buy receives. But they also can have a negative impact if we do not address the trends properly. It is very important to keep up with the social trends to help keep our business relevant and in the news for positive reasons. One of the bigger trends right now is marketing through Face book and Twitter; about 41. % of Americans are active users of Face book. That is a lot of people we can market to at a basically free price since Face book and Twitter are free to use. Price sensitivity is also a major concern to deal with. If we only have high end products that are very expensive to buy you are limiting your customer demographic which will in turn lower profits. The best way to deal with this is to carry the high end products but also carry similar products that are at a lower cost. One of the bigger concerns that we have to deal with is energy consumption.The Go Green social trend is a big thing right now and three of our big departments, Home Theater, Appliances, and Computers. These departments not only consume a lot of energy in the store but the products we sell do too. I feel that we can capitalize on this market by purchasing products to sell that are more energy efficient, and advertising these products. This can help drive up our business while also having a greener impact on this earth which looks good for our public relations. Other macro environment factors: Current technological trends have had a negative effect on Best Buys current and potentially future success.One of the main tech trends eroding Best Buys business model is the increased utility and web capabilities of smart phones. With the increased web capabilities of phones a new type of shopper has emerged known as the â€Å"mobile price matchers† (Smith). According to a recent survey conducted by the Pew Internet project â€Å"More than half of adult cell phone owners used their cell phones while they were in a store during the 2011 holiday season† (Smith). These customers routinely use their phones while in retail locations to price match, find product reviews, and/or ask friends for advice.This trend has been especially damaging to Best Buy who is a chief victim of this new style of shopping. It is not uncommon for customers to walk into a local Best Buy view a product and immediately search for reviews or better prices on their smart phones. It is possibly to use this technology to our advantage. One way is to develop a smart phone app for Best Buy that is fun, interactive, and informative. This will allow the customer to use the app to find if the product he wants is in the store, and compare it to other major retailer’s prices for the same product.The economic situation is quite possibly the most damaging thing for Best Buy. When the country, let alone most of the world, i s in a recession it affects the number of customers that come into the store and the amount that they are willing to spend. In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s America was at its highest. People had more money then ever and they were looking to spend it. Then when the big recession hit in 2008 customers still were looking to purchase products but their style of purchasing changed. For a while there, a lot of customers did not care what they spent for their item, they just wanted it.Now they are looking for the best deals out there, it does not matter how they get their product as long as they get the best deal for it. This is where it has hurt Best Buy the most because they can not compete with most online store prices, and still be able to make a profit. The key for future success for Best Buy may be to offer more variety of products at a lower cost. This can help them drive more consumers to the store and make purchases. Marketing Strategy Sustainable competitive adv antage: Best Buy enjoys a sustainable competitive advantage because to this date, they are the biggest U.S specialty electronics retailer. Although they are currently experiencing financial problems due to the recession a few years back, Best Buy still seems to have many loyal customers that continue to keep shopping at their stores. The reason why Best Buy contains such a sustainable competitive advantage amongst their competitors, such as Walmart or Amazon, is because it relates not only to product excellence, but customer and locational excellence as well. Best Buy has achieved product excellence through offering the top of the line products in consumer electronics.This is why Best Buy has a lot of loyal customers; they provide products with great quality and high perceived value. They know that if they buy a product from Best Buy that this product will last them a long time, especially if they buy the warranty for it. Another reason why Best Buy enjoys a sustainable competitive advantage is because they also have customer excellence. Best Buy contains a service, known as the Geek Squad, which is a group of employees that help customers with problems they may be having with their electronics. Also, customers are able to rely on the well rained employees when they have a question regarding certain products. Best Buy also has locational excellence since they have over a thousand stores both domestically and internationally. Many say â€Å"The three most important things in retailing are location, location, location. † With this many stores Best Buy is going to be an appealing choice to those other than loyal customers, because it’ll become more convenient to go to a Best Buy that is less than 20 minutes away from your house. There are plans to open up at least 100 stores by 2013 http://www. innovationexcellence. com .This will not only help with their sales, but it will also allow for more customers to become loyal to Best Buy because it’ ll be convenient for them to go to their local Best Buy. Growth strategies Best Buy pursues a marketing penetration strategy. The company employs existing marketing mix and focuses the firm’s efforts on existing customers. Best Buy attempts to increase market share by using existing products and services. The company wants to attract new customers to the current target market and encourage current customers to patronize the firm more often, or buy more merchandise on each visit.In order to accomplish its goals Best Buy has to develop great marketing effort, they have to increase advertisement, sales, and promotions. For instance, Best Buy will broadcast ads on TV every time they want to advertise a new product in the store, such as the latest IPhone. The company wants their current costumers to be aware that the store is carrying new products and new costumers to know what kind of products they sell. During holidays and events such as black Friday, the company advertises thei r deals, so their current costumers buy more merchandise on each visit. SWOT STRENGTHS: Large amount of retail outlets in prime locations * 1,099 US best buy stores, * 6 Magnolia Audio Video Stores * 6 Audio Visions Stores, * 117 Best Buy Mobile Stores * 35 Pacific Sales kitchen and bath center Stores * Brand Loyalty * Very strong brand name * Stores are large * Flexibility exists to add new product lines due to ample space * Value adding customer service * Excellent customer service and technological know how * Geek Squad WEAKNESSES: * Best Buy relies on vendors to supply a large percentage of products which can potentially lead to supply disruption. Example: If Sony and Apple decide to no longer supply Best Buy it would be devastating. * Weak online presence * Late start in e-commerce * E-Bay and Amazon far better online Limited product selection in OPPORTUNITY: * Capture emerging â€Å"mobile price matchers† market * Use social media to reach out to this market * Capitaliz e on iPhone ; Smart Phone market * Pursue the business of young bachelors more aggressively * Undervalued customers with high interest in technology * Social Media * Utilize Face book and Twitter more effectively build relationships * Going green Can lead to potential overhead savings and good public relations THREATS: * Retail discounters such as Wal-Mart and Target * Discounters are stealing electronics market share due to higher foot traffic fueled in large part to product mix * Consumers spend more time at discounters locations because they can buy food, clothing, and entertainment under one roof * Rising trend of â€Å"mobile price matchers† * Consumer deciding to buy elsewhere while in Best Buy can prove to be fatal because it negates all other core competenciesObjectives/Goals and Problem to be Addressed Based on the results of your SWOT analysis, clearly state the Problem that you are planning to address (once you have described the current situation of the company, y ou should be able to articulate the specific problem you want to address and the goals of your marketing plan. ) Please make sure to clearly identify your specific Objectives/Goals. Segmentation (See Chart in Index) When making the market segmentation we decided to separate it into three different segments, gender, age, and income.We chose these segments because they provide the bulk of our customers that shop at a store. Gender was first because that is the most identifiable one. It is easy to separate and calculate who is coming to the store based on their gender. Age is a big factor because we can determine the type of customers that are coming into the stores, a young person will see things much differently then an older person and they both will be looking to buy different things. Finally we picked income because it will tell us how much money people have and are willing to spend at our stores.If we have a store that is getting a lot of low income people going into it, we can n ot have it stocked full of products that they can not afford. Using this we were able to create a customer segment chart. (See Customer Segment chart in the Index) After making the Customer Segment chart we found that we had 18 different segments to work with. Each segment is a little different, but as a whole they make up most of the customers that shop at our stores. When looking at the chart you can see that each segment has something different. The chart covers male and females from different ages to different income levels.You can see that in segment 1 you have males who are under 17 and are in the low income, which is different then segment 4 who are the same but middle income and segment 7 who are in the high income. The information provided by the chart will be very useful in determining which segments to target, and which segments will be unprofitable so we can eliminate them. Targeting Market segments 1. Gender: Male and Female 2. Age: teenager 17 and under, young adult 18 -29 and adult 30-59 3. Income: middle class and upper class Segment attractivenessIt is essential for Best Buy to evaluate segment attractiveness for each of these segments. They first must determine if the segments are worth pursuing, using specific criteria: is the segment identifiable, substantial, reachable, responsive, and profitable. Identifiable: * Teenagers 17 and under have high interest for video games and cell phones. They are aware of the new technology innovation but don’t really use complex ones which might be to high-tech for them, therefore Best Buy will have to take in consideration that they might not be able to know how to use a MacBook Pro as a young adult would. Young adults 18 to 29, such as college students, are more open to try new technology which would later build up in lifelong brand-loyal customers. As a result Best Buy always tries to keep up with the latest technology, offering the newest version of Mac laptop or the last android. * Older adults age 30 to 59 tends to stay with products they are accustomed to. They have difficulties getting used to new technology or do not have the actually time to keep up. Older adults have long working hours or have children to take care of; they do not really have time to used new technology.Most even have to rely on their children in order to know how some electronics around the household work. Best Buy should also consider the differences in incomes among the classes. They should divide customers by their incomes in order to provide services and products that are affordable to all. We consider middle and to upper classes since they are the ones who can purchase higher priced electronics. The middle class which is price sensitive makes between 30,000 to 50,000 dollars a year. They have the ability to purchase electronics such as computers, cell phones or TVs but only at affordable prices.In the upper class, customers are ready to pay high prices for high end goods. However we wouldn†™t target gender because it just represents one segment. Best Buy doesn’t sell one type of product that attract men and another that attract women; they do not focus on gender differentiation. For instance they are no special gadgets or section for women in the store. Substantial: This criterion consists on measuring the target markets. If a market is too small it is insignificant and it will not generate sufficient profit.If it’s too big it might need a bigger store. In this case we should consider the segment of Loyalty; loyal consumers are lifelong customers which make them a substantial segment. Most loyal consumers are those living near the location. For instance it would make more sense for a customer to go grocery shopping at a Vons store that’s 2 miles away and become a regular customer, than drive 20 miles to an Albertson store. Database such as census. gov can be really useful to determine how many people live in the area or how long they have been l iving in that area.For instance 1,068,344 people in Los Angeles have been living in the same house since 2005, which is 33. 2% of the population in Los Angeles. So this means that some of the 33. 2% might be loyal customers to their local store. We wouldn’t consider occasion consumer because they don’t represent a large enough market segment. Since they are not a usual customer it is hard to consider them as a significant segment. Video game companies always promote a new game, and teenagers like to be up to date and purchase the latest one, which is profitable on the long run.Young adults also represent lifelong consumers, since they are interested in technology innovation. For instance college students like to purchase new gadgets to work on their school work or just to stay in touch with their friends, classmates or family members. It would be a good idea for Best Buy to use census data to allocate to younger consumers. Reachable: It means that the consumers know th e product exists, understand what it can do for him or her and recognize how to buy it. It is essential for Best Buy to care different types of technologies at different prices.Their product must attract all ages and be affordable for all Incomes. Different items are offered at different prices, which means everybody can afforded regardless of their incomes. * Middle classes are price sensible, they want to own technology but at affordable prices. It is easier for a company to reach them during sales and holidays, where they purchase items in large county, buying for family member, friends or just for the good deals. * Upper classes are easily reachable; they want to get high end products and are ready to pay the price.They usually want to purchase the latest high-tech product, new IPhone or biggest 3D TV. They are mainly up to date and are aware of new innovation through the different media outlets. Both young and old generations should be aware that Best Buy caries different types of technologies. For instance phone with lots of different applications and new innovations. Such as the iPhone, it attracts younger crowds, whereas less complex gadgets mainly attract an older crowd. * Teenagers and young adults are usually aware of the latest technology and where to purchase them.They have easy access to media; they follow TV and internet ads. Moreover, young generations share information among each other talking about the latest Apple computer or Android. * Older adults found out about new technology or where to purchase them from their children, friends or coworkers. They are also easily reachable; they have access to internet, TV or older media such as newspapers. Loyal consumers are the most accessible; stores mainly collect their information; email addresses or phone number.It makes it easy for the store to send them ads about new products or inform them about a sale on existing products. Loyal consumers also frequently come in the store to check on new prod uct or get information about items they want to purchase. Responsiveness: The customers in the segment must react similarly and positively to the firm’s offering, move toward firm’s product and services and accept the firm’s value proposition. It is easy for a company to measure the responsiveness of loyal consumer, since loyal consumers are highly responsive to a company’s product.They have learned to appreciate what the firm has to offer and accept their value, which lead them to become usual. Companies have to make sure they can properly respond to their consumer needs and wants, if they can’t provide them with the product they want, they shouldn’t target them. For instance, Best Buy would probably fail if they decide to sell bridal gal to attract more female customers. Best Buy is known to offer technological products and their consumers come in the store looking for electronics. They would be confused to see an electronic store selling bridle gal.Teenagers are highly responsive to new technology, they always want to upgrade to newest and fastest gadgets. For example if new video games come out, teenagers are the first to line up at the store and purchase it at any price. Young adults are open to trying new technology, therefore it would be easier to get them positively respond to new innovations. They are the early adopter of new media and technology. The middle class are price sensitive; however they are open to spend money when the deal is right. They are more responsive during sales period, such as black Friday and holidays, such as Christmas.They are big spenders compared to the upper class; which according to the book â€Å"The millionaire next door† put 20 percent of their money into investments and savings accounts. During sales and holidays the middle class purchase in large quantities, as they find the best deals to buy for family and friends. Nevertheless the upper class is still responsive to new innovation; they want to possess the latest technology no matter the price. They like to purchase luxury electronics that provide the experience and the comfort that high-tech has to offer. Profitability: Market segments that generate profitTeenager: According to the U. S census Bureau, there are 247,215 out of 3,772,486 people in Los Angeles who range from 10 to 14 years old, which is 6. 6%. 273,419 out of the same number are between the age of 15 and 19, it represent 7. 2%. let say out of the 520,634 teenagers 10,000 (2%) play and purchase video games on regular bases . The average video game at Best Buy cost 19. 99$. Video games are realize every 5 to 6 days, which mean there is a realize every week. We will consider they purchase the video game every 2 month when they receive pocket money.Variable cost would represent 1/3 of the price sold 6. 66$. Best Buy spend 10,325,000 on fixed cost a month and they have 1099 stores which means each store spends 9,394. 90$. It is 112,738. 8 0 a year Segment size 520,634 X Segment adaptation percentage 2 %X Purchase behavior (19. 99*6) X Profit margin percent (19. 99-6. 66)/19. 99 -Fixed cost 112,738. 80 = 724,022. 08 Best Buy would make a profit of 724,022. 08 a year by selling video games to teenagers. Middle class: 176,674 out of 1,314,198 household in Los Angles make between 35,000 to $49,999 which is considered as middle class income.Most of these household spend a large quantity of money during holiday. Especially during Christmas on gift items, which mean they would purchase them 2 a year IPad is really famous not only among children but also adults. It is a great birthday or Christmas gift. Let say 500 of this household purchase iPads, at least two iPad per household either own by two children or one child one adult or two adults. 100 iPads. One iPads cost 499. 99$. The variable price is 259. 60$. Segment size 176,674 X Segment adaptation percentage 0. 3 %X Purchase behavior (499. 9*2) X Profit margin percent (4 99. 99-259. 60)/499. 99 -Fixed cost 112,738. 80 = 141, 66571 Upper class: 62,319 out of 1,314,198 household make between $150,000 to $199,999, they are the Upper-class. They like to purchase brand new electronics as gift or because it is the brand new model. We will consider 3 purchases a year; birthday gift, holiday gift and the realize day for the brand new model. 5000 of the 62,319 household purchase iPads the same year. Upper class family usually do not have a lot of children, high income just represent 5. % of the working class with families. They buy 5 of them a year, 2 birthday gifts for children and wife/husband, for they realize of the new model and Christmas gift for friends and family 2. Segment size 62,319 X Segment adaptation percentage 8 %X Purchase behavior (499. 99*2) X Profit margin percent (499. 99-259. 60)/499. 99 -Fixed cost 112,738. 80 = 2,280,262. 94 Best buy would definitely make a higher profit if they target the upper class for the sale of IPad. Market targe ting strategy We will use the Differentiated (segmented) marketing as our market targeting strategy.Differentiated marketing strategy is a market-coverage strategy in which a firm decides to target several market segments and designs separate offers for each segment. This strategy is the most appropriated for Best Buy since its goal is to target specific market segment. It wouldn’t make sense for them to practice an undifferentiated marketing strategy, which involve ignoring the different segments and going after the whole market. Moreover, Best Buy is a retailer of consumer electronics, which means they sell all types of electronics coming from different brands, they are already able to provide the consumer with a wild varieties of brands.By using the differentiated marketing strategy they can assist all of their consumers regardless of their preference, income or age. They would provide them with the exact product they want. This strategy is also profitable in the long run, helping build up lifelong consumer. The consumer is able to get the product that he wants and also has varieties of other options, which gives you an advantage over your competitors. The practice of concentrated marketing strategy will not allow Best Buy to have the flexibility to offer different electronics, this strategy only concentrate on a single target market.Micromarketing strategy wouldn’t apply to Best Buy because it only focuses on satisfying the need and want of a single consumer, whereas Best Buy groups his Customers within segments. Perceptual Positioning Map (See Index at the end) Positioning: One of the reasons Best Buy has been so successful over the years is because of its brand loyalty. We believe that this was created from the good customer service that we provide and the relatively low prices we maintain, as you can see from the chart. Some of our competitors have lower prices than us but the ones that do tend to have poor customer service.One of the bigg est concerns that we as a company have to worry about is the low prices that Wal-Mart offers. As the economy continues to be in a recession people are looking for the best price possible as they have to be thriftier with their money. Wal-Mart has dominated the low price position for years and it will be very hard to compete with the prices that they offer. One of the ways to compete with them is our price match guarantee, that way if they have the exact same product at a lower price we can keep our customer by matching the price. Another concern that we may have is with Apple.They have built one of the strongest customer loyalty companies in the world. People are willing to spend more money on Apple products and services just because of the strong brand name that Apple is. Even now that Best Buy is offering Apple products in our stores people will still choose an Apple store over ours. We believe that that main reason for this is the customer service that Apple has provided over the years. They are known for having some of the most advanced technology in their market. For us to gain the loyalty that Apple has we will have to focus on meeting all of our customers’ needs.Most notably the place on the map we would like to be is at the lower right side at low price and high customer service. This is a position that is not covered on a map that there will be a wide open market for. Target, Wal-Mart and online stores such as EBay are able to offer lower price on many of the products that we sell, but they do not provide the quality of service that we do. If Best Buy can keep or even improve its customer service while at the same time lowering many of our prices, we can open the doors to a much larger market.The best position to be taken by Best buy would be one of cheaper prices and better customer service. Now it is true that Best Buy has fairly cheap prices already and with Geek Squad they have fairly good customer service but my belief is they need go furt her with what they have already accomplished. Given the facts and findings there is an entire untapped market of lower priced products and great customer service that would be incredibly lucrative. Now the obvious reasoning behind why there is an untapped market in this area is the financial problems.There isn’t an easy way to have cheap products and great customer service because of the fact that customer service is expensive. However there is one way to successfully do it. As stated earlier they need to target their ideal markets better and literally know when a customer walks in where he or she would be best suited to go and make that area the most appealing. Maybe give the areas themes that would attract the ideal market. The next thing that they would have to do is steal customers away from places like Wal-Mart and Apple because it is the fact that they are loyal to those companies that is the most damaging to Best Buy.Now granted this would not be the easiest thing to d o. They would have to consistently promote cheaper products and better customer service. After they have done that however, the number of customers that they have would make up for the cheaper prices, the increased customer service, and the advertising (in theory). And if this is successful they would have gained access to an un-tapped market where they literally could not be touched, because no one could compete with them. The way the company is currently focused is on targeting wealthier customers.Our store associates are trained to spot customer demographics in the middle to upper class and push our products to them. In many cases this can cause them to focus too much on a one demographic and leave out great customer service to other social classes. If we change our position and start offering similar products at a lower price than our high end products, we will attract the thrifty spenders to Best Buy. So by offering these products at lower prices but still providing top notch c ustomer service we can see a large growth in customer loyalty.The most important thing to this is to treat the lower income families just as well as we would treat the higher income families. This is where places like Wal-Mart and Target fail, they offer the better bargains but it is hard to find good help from an employee when you go into the store. Marketing Mix Products and Services Best Buy is currently one of the last major consumer electronics retailers out there because they provide a wide variety of products that customers can choose from.Since Best Buy sells everything from televisions to refrigerators, which are two completely different appliances, what more can Best Buy offer? Instead of introducing new products, Best Buy should consider offering cheaper prices for their current products in order to attract a different group of customers. Currently, Best Buy is more focused with attracting the wealthy consumers by providing them with products such as the iPad and Blu-ray televisions to keep those customers interested and loyal to their company.By offering cheaper prices, this could allow the middle-/lower-class to be able to attain great quality products with affordable prices. Since our marketing positioning is to target those customers with lower incomes, what better way to do so than lowering their prices on certain products to show that Best Buy products are great and affordable for everyone? As far as their products are concerned, the main modifications they need to make to existing products is providing a wider range of video games and gaming systems.Since the younger generation is becoming more accustomed to using electronics at such a young age, it might be an advantage for Best Buy to sell more video games, which will in turn attract the younger audience to convince their parents to bring them to the store. The company will not only benefit in bringing in the younger crowd, but will also bring in their parents, who will more than likely bec ome attracted to the big screen televisions and wide range of laptops that Best Buy has to offer. Also, Best Buy should consider hiring qualified employees for the Geek Squad in order to minimize customer complaints.Since this service provides customers with assistance for their broken electronics, some one who has background knowledge and has had experience fixing broken laptops, cameras, etc.. should be the one assisting them with their problems. The Geek Squad is known for hiring employees who have not had past experience with fixing broken electronics. Although the Geek Squad does a good job, customers will be more comfortable knowing that the â€Å"geek† helping them with their broken electronics is someone who knows what they are dealing with.Best Buy provides many products for their customers, some that even some people wouldn't expect for their store to provide. For instance, the company should consider dropping the home appliances section because since Best Buy is kn own more as an electronics store, kitchen accessories such as refrigerators and microwaves seem to be products the company is selling just to make extra profit. From past experiences of visiting the store, the home appliances section is always either empty or with very few people taking a look at their washers and dryers.Most of Best Buy's customers are concerned with the laptops and televisions, and to sell kitchen appliances doesn't go along with the â€Å"entertainment† feel that Best Buy provides. Also, now that technology is improving and more people are switching to buy Blu-Ray televisions, Best Buy should consider dropping the VHS section. Since people are learning to adapt to the new technology, more customers are interested in buying Blu-ray DVD's since they provide better quality than VHS. Pricing In the consumer electronics retail business having competitive pricing is of the utmost importance.This is due in large part to the ultra-competitive nature of the electro nics business. Consumer electronics such as new TVs and the latest computers/tablets are highly desired by the masses. However, these items tend to be highly elastic in there demand, making pricing a key component in attracting customers. Furthermore, in today’s consumer electronics market many major retailers regardless of specialty carry consumer electronics, making it possible to purchase socks and a computer all under one roof.Moreover the emergence of e-commerce has made it easier than ever to perform real time price comparisons. The growing practice of online price comparisons has given online retailers who benefit from lower overhead costs an advantage, because they possess the ability to offer low prices along with a massive selection. Taking the preceding factors into consideration it is clear that the importance of being price competitive is greater than ever. As a result we have conducted a price analysis of Best Buys top selling product lines. The retailers compar ed to Best Buy in this nalysis are Amazon, Wal-Mart, and Target. The products to be compared consist of top selling T. V. ’s, Tablets, Laptops, and Mp3 players. T. V. Price comparison: Televisions have been of Best-Buys top selling product lines for years and a vital component of any future success. It is important that Best-Buy continue to dominate television sales if we hope to remain atop the consumer electronics retail mountain. Continued dominance in television sales will be a problem. Due to increased competition from retailers who now offer a host of televisions for sale, Best-Buy is losing market share.Because consumers are more likely to frequent Wal-Mart and Target for every day purchases such as soap, it is important to convey value through pricing when customers enter our doors. Our price survey shows that Best-Buy continues to be highly competitive on television prices. For example, a Samsung 51† (PN51D450) television can be found at Amazon for $697, but Be st-Buy and Target are not far behind at $699 and Wal-Mart is priced highest at $799. Amazon beats Best-Buy by 2 dollars but the added convenience of in-store pickup outweighs the slight price difference.Generally Best-Buy is the lowest price if not it is very close to its competitors. The television price strategy is spot on. However, offering a one-time sale of loss leader 32† could go a long way in establishing Best-Buy as the go to retailer for television purchases. Tablet price comparison: Tablets are the hottest devices in the electronics market today. Tablets continue to rise in popularity and it is likely that they will eventually replace laptops as the device of choice for mobile computing. Because of tablets rising popularity it’s important for Best-Buy to capture market share in this product line.The best-selling tablet and industry leader is Apples ipad3 this product is currently offered by all of Best-Buys competitors at the same price across the board. It i s unlikely that any retailer will ever have a price advantage on Apple products. Next in line behind the iPad is the asus eepad, this tablet has the potential to one day compete with the iPad. Best-Buy offers the eepad at the lowest cost on the market at $349; Target can match this price but struggle to keep stock levels up. Amazon and Wal-Mart offer the eepad at $359 and $379 respectively.Offering the next best option to the iPad at the lowest cost puts Best-Buy in an excellent position to capture market share. Laptop price comparison: Although tablets continue to increase in popularity the staple of mobile computing continues to be the Laptop. The versatility and portability of Laptops have kept it in high demand. It is likely that tablets will not possess the computing power to replace laptops anytime soon because of this Best-Buy must remain a major player in this market. A price comparison of laptops shows that this is an area Best-Buy can improve in.For example, HP 17† d v7-6c90us laptop is priced $1029 at Best-buy, but is $959 at Amazon. The price difference is between Best-Buy and Amazon is $70 in favor of Amazon. A savvy consumer armed with a smartphone can quickly discover this, and it is highly likely that Best-Buy would lose this sale. Large price discrepancies such as this one hurt Best-Buys reputation in the long run. Consumers are quick to share the news of their cost savings with friends and family which will in turn make them less inclined to look towards Best-buy for electronics.The loss is two -fold, because not only did Best-Buy lose the sale but it also lost the opportunity to capture the most powerful form of advertising; word-of-mouth. Best-Buy must drop its prices on laptops to the point where they can beat Amazon who consistently sell laptops at a lower cost than Best-Buy. (See Price Chart in the Index) Place Best Buy has a few of different forms of distribution. The first is in-store shoppers who physically come in the store and purchase the products. Our stores need to make sure that we have a full inventory for the product that our customers are looking for.To do this we have to have a good computer program that keeps track of our inventory, as well as near by stores inventories, and the distribution centers inventory. With this information we can tell customers about another store that may have their product. Or we can specially order it from the distribution center and give them an accurate time of when it will be delivered to our store for them. The second distribution strategy and the most important one for our companies growth is our online store. Distribution for www. BestBuy. com needs o be fast, efficient, and available for our customers to make their purchase. Online shopping will allow customers to purchase the products without ever having to step foot on  a sales floor. With the purchases made online they can have the products shipped to their homes, or they can choose in-store pickup (which is free) where they have the option to possibly get the product that day if it is available. The third distribution strategy is the Best Buy vending machines found at Airports and major hotel chains. These vending machines will hold small electronics for customers to purchase.They can hold many things such as gift cards, pre paid cell phones, ear phones, mp3 players, and even movies. What is important about these is it will provide a strong advertisement for the Best Buy brand for new customers traveling the world, who might not know what Best Buy is or experienced one yet. The biggest change that needs to be made with the Best Buy distribution strategy is how many physical stores there are in America. Back in 2006 Best Buy was on top of the world when it came to consumer electronics and we over expanded in America.As the recession hit like everyone else profits began to drop. By having too many stores costs were now a lot higher and revenue was a lot lower. So in America we should actually be closing down stores that do not have enough of a demographic to keep them running and profitable. But the international expansion should continue as a slow and steady process. This way we can find out where our company works and where it doesn’t. The biggest area of need in our supply chain is how fast we can get products to our store that are shown online, but are not physically in the store.There are many customers who see a product on the website but do not purchase it there because they want to actually see the product before the purchase is made. It is important to be able to get that product to the store as soon as possible to help the customer make their purchase. To do this we have to have a distribution center that can process our request that minute so we can get the product to the store within the next day. The best way of doing this is running a real time processing program that is connected to all the distribution centers.When the order is placed the program will find the product and the fastest way it can be shipped to the store. Advertising and Promotion Our Best Buy advertising message is â€Å"Help you get more from your technology†. This message best conveys the image of our company. Best Buy focuses on providing the best customer service possible, through training. Our employees acquire a vast knowledge of the different technology in the store, so they can better assist customers and help them get more from their technology. We also assist our customers through our technology and repair department, Geek Squad.Geek Squad offer services such as TV and computer home setup. The goal of our company is to help customers choose the right technology based on what they are looking for. For example there are a large number of customers coming in our store looking to purchase a computer but they do not know exactly which one to get. Our employees help them identify the right brand and model, based on their interest and taste. The advertising Medias that we have chosen are Television, Newspaper, Internet and direct Mail. Each of these mediums have specific characteristics that make it suitable for meeting specific objective. 1.Television offers a mix of visual and auditory techniques and it provides a wide reach. Television advertisement allows us to both show our products and verbally talk about it. Best Buy has a wide reach; they can reach usual customers as well as potential customers. TV helps us catch the attention of the audience and then reinforce their retention rates by repeating the message. TV has a mass appeal, individuals watch television for different reason: to watch a movie, the news or any other sports. People from different segments watch TV, which helps you reach a large variety of individual with different background.Moreover, well done TV ads are appealing to the audience. For instance, every super bowl viewers not only looking forward to watch the games, but also the commercials. The y want to witness the latest creative Super Bowl commercial, it can help build up a loyal customer base. 2. Newspapers offer flexibility, they are timely and help you localize a precise segment. Newspaper Ads can easily be modified to adapt to changes. They are also timely which means they are more affordable deals than TV Ads, since they are usually advertised once in a while.Newspaper Ads allows you to target a certain segment of customers. There is a certain demographic that reads the Newspaper such as older adult or intellectuals. Moreover, most people expect advertising in the newspaper, some even purchase it for the advertisement and the deals they offer. Newspapers allow you to communicate certain extra information such as a telephone numbers or price. It also helps you offer deals such as coupon which couldn’t have been possible on TV. 3. Internet can be linked to detail content.An internet Ad on any webpage will link the customer to the website of the company if he c licks on the Ad. It allows the company to provide more information about the product to the potential customers and promote other products or just the company itself. Internet offers a vast reach; it allows a company to promote their product on a wider market. A good medium would be social network website, such as Facebook or twitter. These social networks provide the ability to reach an international market. Moreover, social networks allow a company to interact with their customers.They can post feedback on the company Facebook wall or suggest ideas on their twitter page. Internet also offer flexibility, you can change an Ads any time or add extra information. Internet advertising offer targeting method that allows you to reach a specific segment, those who see your ads are the ones most likely to buy. 4. Direct mail is highly targeted, it focuses on a specific segment, mainly the consumers who purposively signed up for them or are frequent costumers. It is a useful medium to send sale advertisements to customers and promote new products as well.The company has a direct control over who they are targeting and which product they are offering. A letter can be personalized via mail-merging techniques and you can also use a more informal language in writing your Ad. The company can develop graphics and design the way they want, they don’t have to go through newspaper regulations. Best Buy chooses to focus more on reach. Reach allows a company to build product awareness. Since Best Buy is a retailer of consumer electronics, we get different electronics coming from different companies on a regular base.These different items include new models of the previous technology. We need to inform costumers of the new product entering the market. Most of the companies that come up with a new product, do not want to spend a lot of money on advertising the product on the different advertising Medias, therefore Best Buy is the one who was to promote the new product. The goal of our company is to reach a broad audience; as a result we promote our new product during major sporting events and holidays. During a major sport event, such as the super bowl, there are a large number f people who turn in to watch the game. And as we said earlier some are as eager to watch the commercials. Holidays are also a perfect time to promote a new product because people are looking for presents to give to their loved ones. Consumers are looking for inspiration everywhere, mainly through TV Ads, magazines, or newspapers. Companies want to persuade the costumer that their latest Smartphone is the best Christmas gift for their teenager, or that the brand new MacBook pro is the exact gift their husband was dreaming of.Costumers are more likely to trust a holiday Ad than any other, they don’t have the time to think of an original gift and they mostly believe the Ads stating that â€Å"this is the hottest items of the holiday, a must have! † Reach is also use ful for a product with long purchase cycle. Since Best Buy sells electronics, all the Items have a long purchase cycle. People buy phones, laptop, TV, video game once in a while. They usually purchase new ones after a year or so. Our main advertising objective is to remind.Reminder advertising is a communication used to remind or prompt repurchases, especially for products that have gained market acceptance and are in the maturity stage of their life cycle. According to www. twice. com Best Buy is the No. 1 retailer on this combined list of consumer electronics and major appliance retailers in the United States. Our company has gained a market acceptance coming before stores such as Wal-Mart and Sear’s that are usually known for their low cost. Best Buy’s goal is not to promote lower cost but quality which is promoted through our customer service.Best Buy believes that customer service is the key to provide a quality service and build up customer loyalty. Therefore our company provides training to all of our employees working on the floor, we teach them how to interact with a customer, and we provide them with the sufficient knowledge about the different gadgets in the store so they can give better advice to the costumer. Our advertisement mainly focuses on the quality customer service that we offer. We want to remind the costumer, why they always chooses us first in retail electronics.Best Buy has established an image of professionalism, knowledge and assistance through its customer service. We want the consumer to know that he is in good hands every time he comes to one of our store. Best buy uses information appeal to portray its products and persuade consumers to purchase them. Our company uses factual information and strong arguments to attract consumers. We want our costumer to evaluate our products on the basis of the key benefits they provide. Best Buy offers different high tech products that are sometime really complex, so it is in our b est interest to inform our customers on how to use those products.For example, Apple iPhones offer and develop new features that might be too confusing for our regular costumer, so Best Buy develops Ads that explain to costumers how to use them. Our goal is to improve our customer knowledge; therefore they can enjoy the entire attributes their new gadget has to offer. Consumers are more willing to buy a product that they understan