Mkt100 Textbook – Chapter 1

SECTION ONE Assessing the Marketplace CHAPTER 1 Overview of Marketing CHAPTER 2 Developing a Marketing Plan and Marketing Strategies APPENDIX 2A Writing a Marketing Plan CHAPTER 3 Analyzing the Marketing Environment CHAPTER 1 Learning Objectives After studying this chapter, you should be able to 1. LO1 Define marketing and explain its core concepts 2. LO2 Illustrate how marketers create value for a product or service 3. LO3 Summarize the four orientations of marketing 4. LO4 Identify the role of customer relationship management in creating value 5.LO5 Explain the importance of marketing both within and outside the firm M arketing is essentially about creating value for consumers and the company's shareholders. As you will learn throughout this book, creating value for consumers and the firm requires that marketers develop and nurture long-term, profitable relationships with consumers. This means that marketers must understand consumers' needs and wants and try to satisfy them through the goods and services they offer, the prices they charge, and the way they promote and deliver the goods and services.Let's take a look at how one of Canada's most successful and profitable high-tech companies, Research In Motion (RIM), is creating and delivering value to its consumers and shareholders with its BlackBerry. 1 The BlackBerry is one of Canada's most successful and innovative products. It changed not only the way business executives and professionals communicate, but also the speed and timeliness with which decisions are made. Users around the world attest that the BlackBerry enhances their ability to access key corporate information and connect with co-workers anywhere, anytime.The resulting efficiency means that business deals are made more quickly and key decisions are communicated to stakeholders even when they are on the golf course. The BlackBerry smartphone has become the one device that many business people can't live without. The BlackBerry was designed for w ireless email use. Within a few years of its release, it became the dominant device in the market. Not surprisingly, BlackBerry's market position is consistently challenged by new rivals, such as Apple's iPhone, HTC's Droid Incredible, and Palm's Pre.The iPhone, launched in 2007, created huge buzz and took the smartphone market by storm, gaining more than 25 percent market share in less than three years and becoming the second most popular smartphone. Google's Android, a recently launched operating system (OS) for smartphones, has more than doubled its market share in 2 less than a year. Page 4 To consolidate and grow its market position, RIM successfully entered into the consumer market segment 3 with two hugely popular smartphones, the BlackBerry Curve and the BlackBerry Torch.Consumers quickly adopted both of these smartphones, challenging the market segment where the iPhone is the current favourite. In response, Apple is now trying to gain a foothold in RIM's lucrative business market. The battle between the BlackBerry and the iPhone has many industry analysts pointing to the BlackBerry's weaknesses, such as a lack of applications and a challenging user interface. To silence its critics, RIM released the BlackBerry 6, with a new OS, user interface, and WebKit browser, while also 4 revamping its BlackBerry App World.Although apps and web browsing are all the rage, email access is what drives many voice-only customers to upgrade their plans to include data services, and this area has been the BlackBerry's strength. The BlackBerry also uses wireless networks more efficiently than competing devices, which means that carriers such as Rogers and Bell can offer data services to BlackBerry customers for less money than customers pay to use competing products. In fact, telecom carriers are feeling the squeeze from data 5 hungry smartphones and have responded by introducing usage-based billing for data services.This change could affect consumers' monthly bills, whic h could, in turn, influence their buying decision. RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie has said that carriers are well aware of how profitable the BlackBerry is for their business and how strategically RIM is aligned with them. Clearly, the BlackBerry has some unique advantages over its competitors. Despite fierce competition, RIM's sales grew from US$85 million in 2000 to US$19. 9 billion in 2011. W ithin this same period, the company increased its workforce from about 1000 employees to more than 17 500 employees, of which 3200 are in sales, marketing, and customer support.RIM spent US$1. 9 billion on sales and marketing in fiscal year 2010. Currently, RIM has more than 41 million subscribers globally. In addition to meeting its customer needs with an impressive portfolio of innovati ve products, RIM has made excellent customer service a top priority. It has increased the number of employees providing customer care, improved the number of service contracts to users, and developed training pro grams for corporate customers. This customer focus helps RIM ensure that BlackBerry is â€Å"Always On, Always Connected,† satisfying users who demand information in real time. Page 5What Is Marketing? Unlike other subjects you may have studied, marketing is already very familiar to you. You start your day by agreeing to do the dishes in exchange for a freshly made cup of coffee. Then you fill up your car with gas. You attend a class that you have chosen and paid for. After class, you pick up lunch at the cafeteria, have your hair cut, download a few songs from iTunes, an online music store, and watch a movie. In each case, you have acted as the buyer and made a decision about whether you should part with your time and/or money to receive a particular service or type of merchandise.If , after you return home from the movie, you decide to auction a collectible item on eBay, you have become a seller. In each of these transactions, you were engaged in marketing because you were exchanging something of value that satisfies a need. This chapter will look at the definition of marketing and at how marketing is used to create value in products or in services. We will see how the interrelated marketing mix—or four Ps—create, transact, communicate, and deliver value. As well, we will look at where marketing happens and how it has evolved over the years into today's concept of value-based marketing.Lastly, we will discuss why m arketing is an important function for any successful firm. Refer to the chapter roadmap to guide you through the chapter contents. The Canadian Marketing Association states that â€Å" Marketing is a set of business practices designed to plan for and present an organization's products or services in ways that build effective customer 6 relationships. † What does this definition really mean? Good marketing is not a random activity; it requires thoughtful planning with an emphasis on the ethical implications of any of tho se decisions on consumers and society in general.Firms develop a marketing plan that specifies the marketing activities for a specific period of time. The marketing plan is broken down into various components —how the product or service will be conceived or designed, how much it should cost, where and how it will be promoted, and how it will get to the consumer. In any exchange, the buyer and the seller should be satisfied with the value they obtained from a transaction. In our earlier example, you sh ould be satisfied or even delighted with the song you downloaded, and Apple should be satisfied with the amount of money it received from you.The core aspects of marketing are shown in Exhibit 1. 1. Let's see how they look in practice. CHAPTER ROADMAP EXHIBIT 1. 1 Core Aspects of Marketing Page 6 1. LO1 Marketing Is About Satisfying Customer Needs and Wants Understanding and satisfying consumer needs and wants is fundamental to marketing success. A need is when a person feels de prived of the basic necessities of life, such as food, clothing, shelter, or safety. A want is the particular way in which the person chooses to fulfill his or her need, which is shaped by a person's knowledge, culture, and personality.For example, when we are hungry, we need something to eat. Some people want a submarine sandwich to satisfy that hunger, whereas others want a s alad and some soup instead. The topic of understanding customer needs is described in detail in Chapter 5, whichdeals with consumer behaviour. To understand customer needs and wants, the company must first identify the customers or market for its product or service. Generally, the market for a firm's offerings consists of all consumers who need or want a company's products or services and have the ability and willingness to buy them.Although marketers would prefer to sell their products and services to everyone, it is not practical to do so. Thus, marketers divide the market into subgroups or segments of peop le to whom they are interes ted in marketing their products, services, or ideas. For example, even though the marketplace for toothpaste users may include most of the people in the world, the makers of Crest could divide the market into adolescent, adult, and senior users, or perhaps into wine and coffee drinkers, people with sensitive gums, and denture users.If you manufacture toothpaste that bleaches and removes stains, you want to know for which market segments your product is most relevant and then make sure that you build a mark eting strategy that meets the needs and wants of the target groups or target market. The process of how companies segment the market for their products and services and then choose which segment to target and how best to reach that segment is described in Chapter 7. The process of identifying customer segments the company wants to target with its products and services requires market research.The types of market research that help marketers make good de cisions about various aspects of the marketing mix ar e discussed in Chapter 4. Page 7 Marketing Entails Value Exchange Video: The Bottled Water Industry Marketing is about an exchange—the trade of things of value between the buyer and the seller so that each is better off as a result. As depicted in Exhibit 1. 2, sellers provide goods or services, then communicate and facilitate the delivery of their offering to consumers.Buyers complete the exchange by giving money and information to the seller. Suppose you learn about a new Justin Bieber album when watching MTV, which gave a review of the album and mentioned that it was available online at iTunes. You go online and purchase the album. Along with gathering your necessary billing and shipping information, iTunes creates a record of your purchase: information that may be used in the coming months to inform you of the release of Bieber's next album or of his next concert in your area. Thus, in ddition to making money on this p articular transaction, iTunes can use the information you provided t o facilitate a future exchange and solidify a relationship with you —additional value for both you and iTunes. When you purchase a new Justin Bieber album, you are engaging in a marketing exchange. You get the songs, and the exchange partners get money and information about you. EXHIBIT 1. 2 Exchange: The Underpinning of Seller–Buyer Relationships Page 8 1. LO2 Marketing Requires Product, Price, Place, and Promotion Decisions Marketing traditionally has been divided into a set of four interrelated decisions known as the marketing 7 ix, or four Ps: product, price, place, and promotion, as shown in Exhibit 1. 3. Together, the four Ps comprise the marketing mix, which is the controllable set of activities that the firm uses to respond to the wants of its target markets. But what does each of them mean and how do they work together to create value for consumers? EXHIBIT 1. 3 Marketing Mix Decisions Active Exhibit: Exhibit 1. 3 – Marketing Mix Decisions Product: Creating Value One main purpose of marketing is to create value by developing a variety of offerings, including goods, services, and ideas, to satisfy customer needs.Take, for example, water. Not too long ago, consumers perceived this basic commodity as simply water. It came out of a faucet and was consumed for drinking and washing. But taking a cue from European firms such as Perrier (France) and San Pellegrino (Italy), several Canadian-based firms, such as Clearly Canadian, Canadian Springs, and Montclair, have created a product with benefits that cons umers find valuable. In addition to easy access to water, an essential part of this created value is the product's brand image, which lets users say 8 to the world, â€Å"I'm healthy,† â€Å"I'm smart,† and â€Å"I'm chic. Recently, however, there is growing opposition t o bottled water, which not only makes it seem socially unacceptable, but also has se en some organizations banning the sale of bottled water on their premises. For example, the University of Ottawa has banned the sale of bottled water on campus, declaring itself a bottled water–free zone; it has set aside $75,000 to 9 install new water fountains across the campus. Clearly Canadian has created a product with benefits that consumers find valuable. Many offerings are a combination of goods and services.At a Taylor Swift concert, you can enjoy the concert (a service) and buy her CD (a good). Page 9 Goods are items that you can physically touch. Roots clothing, Molson Canadian beer, Kraft Dinner, and countless other products are examples of goods. Carmen Creek Gourmet Meats, a small Calgary-based company specializing in the marketing and distribution of grade A Canadian bison, demonstrates how a company offers value to customers. It provides exquisite gourmet bison meat that is raised, processed, and delivered using appropriate animal health practices. (SeeEntrepr eneurial Marketing 1. later in this chapter. ) Unlike goods, services are intangible customer benefits that are produced by people or machines and cannot be separated from the producer. Air travel, banking, insurance, beauty treatments, and entertainment all are services. If you attend a hockey or football game, you are consuming a service. Getting money from your bank by using an ATM or teller is another example of using a service. In th is case, cash machines usually add value to your banking experience by being conveniently located, fast, and easy to use. Many offerings represent a combination of goods and services.When you go to Hakim Optical, for example, you can have your eyes examined (service) and purchase new contact lenses (good). If you enjoy Taylor Swift's music, you can attend one of her concerts, which can be provided only at a particular time and place. At the concert, you can purchase one of her CDs —a tangible good that provides you with a combination of a go od and a service. Ideas include thoughts, opinions, philosophies, and intellectual concepts that also can be marketed. Groups promoting bicycle safety go to schools, give talks, and sponsor bike helmet poster contests fo r the members of their primary target market: children.Then their secondary target market segment, parents and siblings, gets involved through their interactions with the young contest participants. The exchange of value occurs when the children listen to the sponsor's presentation and wear their helmets while bicycling, which means they have adopted, or become â€Å"purchasers,† of the safety idea that the group marketed. In Chapters 8,9, and 10 of this book, you will learn much more about the decisions, theories, applications, and strategies of product and services marketing. Price: Transacting Value Everything has a price, though it doesn't always have to be monetary.Price, therefore, is everything the buyer gives up—money, time, energy—in ex change for the product. Marketers must determine the price of a product carefully on the basis of the potential buyer's belief about its value. For example, Air Canada can take you from Toronto to Vancouver or New York. The price you pay depends on how far in advance you book the ticket, the time of year, whether you want to fly economy or business class, and more recently whether or not you have luggage to check in. Passengers are charged a fee if they have more than one piece of check -in luggage.If you value the convenience of buying your ticket at the last minute for a ski trip between Christmas and New Year's Day and you want to fly business class, you can expect to pay four or five times as much as you would for the cheapest available ticket. That is, you have traded off a lower price for convenience. For marketers, the key to determining prices is figuring out how much customers are willing to pay so that they are satisfied with the purchase and the seller achieves a reasonab le profit. In Chapter 11, you will learn much more about pricing concepts, decisions, and strategies.The Country Grocer was Canada's first independently owned grocery store to sell groceries online. Place: Delivering Value The third P, place, describes all the activities necessary to get the product from the manufacturer or producer to the right customer when that customer wants it. Place decisions are concerned with developing an efficient system for merchandise to be distributed in the right quantities, to the right locations, and at the right time in the most efficient way in order to minimize systemwide costs 10 while satisfying the service levels required by their customers.Many marketing students initially overlook the importance of distribution management because a lot of distributio n activities occur behind the scenes. But without a strong and efficient distribution system, merchandise isn't available when or where customers want it. They are disappointed, and sales and pro fits suffer. Place or distribution activities and decisions are discussed in detail in Chapter 12. To illustrate how distribution delivers value, consider the experience of The Country Grocer, a small Ottawa-based independent grocery store.The Country Grocer was the first independently owned grocery store in Canada to offer online groceries. You might think that because the store is independent, customers would live within a couple of kilometres of it. On the contrary, The Country Grocer (www. thecountrygrocer. com) gets more than 30 percent of its online sales from the eastern Arctic (Iqaluit) and about 5 percent of its business from customers in the United States. Customers place their orders 11 through the website, and The Country Grocer ensures that their purc hases are delivered on time.Promotion: Communicating Value Even the best products and services will go unsold if marketers cannot communicate their value to customers. Countless Internet companies failed in the late 1990s, at least partly because they did not communicate successfully with their customers. Some such firms had great products at very fair prices, but when customers could not find them on the Internet, the companies failed. Promotion is communication by a marketer that informs, persuades, and reminds potential buyers about a product or service to influence their opinions or elicit a response.Promotion generally can enhance a product or service's value, as happened for Parasuco jeans. The company's provocative advertising has helped create an image that says more than â€Å"Use this product and you will look good. † Rather, the promotion sells youth, style, and sex appeal. The four Ps work together. Although marketers deliver value through each of the four Ps individually, they can deliver greater value to consumers by configuring the four Ps as a whole rather than by treating them as separate components.That is, the product or service offered must satisfy the target customers' spe cific needs and wants, be priced appropriately, be available at loc ations where customers want it, and be promoted in a manner and through media that are consistent with the target consumers. For instance, luxury or high-fashion items from retailers such as Coach, Louis Vuitton, and Swarovski are well -made, priced at a premium, available at exclusive locations, and promoted only in certain media where the advertisements emphasize style, fashion, sex appeal, and so on.Parasuco is known for its provocative advertising, which appears on billboards and uses celebrities to market its denim lines. Page 11 Marketing Is Shaped by Forces and Players Within the Firm A company's marketing activities are shaped by factors that are both internal to the firm and external to the firm, as shown in Exhibit 1. 4. The consumer is the centre of all marketing activities, and offering the best value possible will attract customers to products and keep them loyal.For marketers to deliver the best value to their customers, they must leverage the full potential of their internal capabilities; w ork effectively with their partners (i. e. , suppliers, distributors, and other intermediaries, such as financial institutions, advertising agencies, and research firms); and constantly evaluate and respond to the competitive environment. EXHIBIT 1. 4 Understanding the Marketing Environment Page 12 As described in the chapter vignette, RIM's success rests in the unique email capability of the BlackBerry, coupled with excellent customer service.RIM harnesses its internal capabilities by creating a custome rdriven organization, where all internal departments and functions share information and work collaboratively toward a common goal, balance costs with benefits, and build strong relationships with customers. In addition, RIM relies on corporate partners, such as Rogers, TELUS, and Bell, to sell its BlackBerry devices, so it is hardly surprising to hear RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie making the poin t that carriers are aware of how profitable the BlackBerry is for their businesses.RIM's competitors have improved the value they offer to customers; thus, it is imperative for RIM to enhance its value to customers, or else it could be overtaken by the competition. Suppliers or even natural disasters can exert substantial influence on a company's marketing activities, sometimes with devastating consequences. In March 2011, a tsunami and earthquake in Japan destroyed several nuclear reactors, disrupting power and industrial production in Japan. This natural disaster also affected North American companies that relied on Japanese suppliers or inputs.For example, both Honda and Toyota severely cut back on the production of their 2011-model vehicles because of a shortage of electronic components and other parts that were usually imported from Japan. This reduction created a huge shortage of vehicles among Japanese dealerships in Canada and the United States during the spring season, one of the best 12 seasons for new-car sales. Marketing Is Shaped by Forces and Players External to the Firm External forces such as cultural, dem ographic, social, technological, economic, and political and legal changes shape a company's marketing activities, as shown in Exhibit 1. . For instance, two current social trends that are reshaping the marketing activities of most firms are concerns about the environment and obesity. In response to these concerns, marketers are beginning to use more environmentally friendly packaging for their products; some companies are even using alternative materials in the products themselves. In response to the obesity trend, marketers try to distinguish their products by using labels such as non-fat, low-fat, fat-free, sugar-free, and cholesterol-free. Similarly, food retailers are responding to demographic changes in Canada's population composition.Because the prop ortion of Chinese and South Asian people in Canada is on the rise and is forecasted to increase in the next decade, many food retailers have developed products and services that cater specifically to the needs of these groups. Sobeys's FreshCo store format demonstrates a prime example of a retailer trying to reach out and serve these Canadians. The store's layout, merchandise, level of service, and prices cater specifically to the needs of this segment of the Canadian demographic. The influence of all of these forces is discussed in greater detail inChapter 3. Sustainable Marketing 1. shows how marketers are trying to become more socially responsible in their business practices. Marketing Can Be Performed by Both Individuals and Organizations Imagine how complicated the world would be if you had to buy everything you consumed directly from producers or manufacturers. You would have to go from farm to farm buying your food and then from manufacturer to manufacturer to purchase the table, plates, and utensils you need to eat that food. Fortunately, marketing intermedia ries, such as retailers, accumulate merchandise from producers in large amounts and then sell it to you in smaller amounts.The process in which businesses sell to consumers is known as B2C (business-to-consumer) marketing, whereas the process of selling merchandise or services from one business to another is called B2B (business-to-business) marketing. Some companies, such as GE (General Electric), are engaged in both B2B and B2C marke ting at the same time. However, with the advent of various auction sites, such as eBay and Kijiji, and payment sites, such as PayPal, consumers have started marketing their products and services to other consumers, which requires a third category in which consumers sell to other consumers, or C2C (consumer-to-consumer)marketing.These marketing transactions are illustrated in Exhibit 1. 5. Individuals can also undertake activities to market themselves. When you apply for a job, for instance, the research you do about the firm, the resume and cover lett er you submit with your application, and the way you dress for an interview and conduct yourself during it are all forms of marketing activities. Accountants, lawyers, financial planners, physicians, and other professional service providers also market their services. EXHIBIT 1. 5 Marketing Can Be Performed byBoth Individuals and Organizations Page 13 Sustainable Marketing 1. 1 Green Your Marketing Practices The idea of sustainable development, or sustainability, is popular these days among groups representing various segments of society such as the media, environmentalists, nonprofit organizations, politicians, business executives, and even consumers. But what exactly does sustainability mean, how widespread is the adoption of sustainable development practices and policies among businesses, and what are the benefits of sustainability?You might be surprised to learn that sustainability seems to mean different things to different people. Fo r instance, a recent global survey of 1749 business executives by McKinsey & Company reported that 55 percent say that sustainability is about managing environmental issues such as greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency, waste management, green-product development, and water conservation. Further, 48 percent say it is about governance issues such as complying with regulations, maintaining ethical practices, and meeting accepted industry standards, and 41 percent say it includes the 13 anagement of social issues such as working conditions and labour standards. In a nutshell, it seems that organizations that practise sustainability must strive to conduct their business in such a way as to minimize harm to the environment, follow good governance practices, and comply with social standards. Indeed, a truly comprehensive and proactive approach to sustainability requires that businesses develop practices and policies around all three perspectives: environmental, governance, and social.This means that sustainability practices and policies must be embedded in all facets of the organization, from human resource management to manufacturing, marketing, production, planning, investments, and corporate strategy. Also, sustainability must involve all employees, from t he CEO to the employee on the shop floor. Implementing a comprehensive sustainability program is quite expensive and so many businesses tend to do the bare minimum or implement low-cost programs.In fact, according to the McKinsey Global Survey, 36 percent of executives believe that the main benefit of sustainability is that it improves corporate and brand reputation, while less than 20 percent believe that it improves operational efficiency, lowers costs, presents growth opportunities (new markets and products), or strengthens competitive position. Clearly, we are in the early stages in the adoption of sustainability policies and practices, and it is not unusual for there to be experimentation and feelings of euphoria, uncertainty, and confusion.O rganizations and executives tend to get better as their learning improves over time. We expect to see a greater number of organizations being more proactive in implementing sustainability policies and practices. Throughout this book, we will present various examples of sustainable marketing efforts undertaken by Canadian companies. Page 14 Social Media Marketing 1. 1 What Is Social Media? W hen you hear the term social media, chances are you immediately think of Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, Twitter. Initially, many of these sites were viewed as places where people connected just for fun.Things have changed dramatically over the last couple of years. Today, marketers are euphoric about the marketing potential of these sites. Not surprisingly, a major preocc upation of marketers these days concerns developing an integrated social media marketing strategy. So, what exactly is social media? It's not an understatement to say that there are as many definitions of social media as there are flavours at a Baskin-Robbins ice cream store. In fact, a quick Google search revealed more than 25 definitions, an indication of the diversity of these media.Considering the various definitions of and the use of social media leads us to the following simple definition: Social media is the use of Internet tools and software by individuals to easily and quickly create and share content, such as information, knowledge, and insights, with people who have similar interests to foster dialogue, social relationships, and personal identities. Participants act as both publishers and consumers by creating, sharing, or re-mixing content, such as videos, images, and texts.Social media conversations and relationships may move freely between the online and physical context. That is, they may originate online and continue offline, or vice versa. Openness, authenticity, and transparency are key 14 elements of effective social media. Social media is important to marketers for several reasons. First, more than 90 percent of Canadian Internet users are actively engaged with social media, with each visitor interacting with it for an average of 15 6. 5 hours per month and downloading an average of 120 videos per month.Social media is an excellent way to reach these consumers. Second, consumers are already carrying on conversations about companies, their brands and services; therefore, to be part of the conversation or to initiate conversations, companies must participate in social media. Third, social media enables marketers to accomplish many marketing goals, such as promoting corporate social responsibility, building customer relationships, enhancing customer service, building or defending their brands, engaging customers in research and new product development, and recruiting talent.Although social media is currently very popular among retail businesses and the consumer packaged goods industry, interest from firms of all sizes, all industries, and all types (B2B, B2C, and C2C) a re increasing daily. To illustrate how marketers are embracing this ever -changing world of social media, we have developed Social Media Marketing boxes for each chapter of this book. For a visual look at the impact of social media on the world around us, you may want to view a video called Social Media Revolution, which is available on YouTube. Sources: â€Å"What is Social Media? A not so critical review of concepts and definitions,†http://blog. etaroll. com/2008/11/14/what-is-social-media-a-not-so-critical-review-of-concepts-anddefinitions/(accessed December 2, 2009); Joseph Thornley, â€Å"Social networking isn't just about Facebook,†http://www. itworldcanada. com/blogs/ahead/2009/04/08/social -networking-isnt-just-aboutfacebook/48460/(accessed December 2, 2009); Joseph Thornley, â€Å"What is ‘social media’? † http://propr. ca/2008/what-issocial-media/ (accessed December 2, 2009); ComScore, www. comscore. com, 2009. Regardless of whether organi zations or individuals are engaged in B2B, B2C, or C2C marketing, one thing seems to be clear: social media is quickly ecoming an integral part of their marketing and communications strategies. Social media was widely used in the 2011 federal election in Canada, as politicians tried to win the hearts and minds of Canadians. Even more dramatically, social media played a major role in the crises observed in several Mideast countries. Social media was used to organize protesters and to report news of events in these countries to the res t of the world as they unfolded in real time. Social Media Marketing 1. 1 shows how marketers are using social media to reach out to their customers. Marketing Occurs in Many SettingsMost people think of marketing as a way for firms to make profits, but ma rketing works equally well in the nonprofit sector. Think about what influenced your selection of your college or university, other than family, friends, and convenience. It's likely that your college has a sophisticated marketing program to attract and retain students. Hospitals, theatres, charities, museums, religious institutions, politicians, and even governments rely on marketing to communicate their message to their constituents. A Piece of Africa buys art from African artists and, through its website (www. izinsa. com/apieceofafrica), makes that art available to customers all over the world, thereby creating a market that otherwise would not exist. Page 15 In addition, marketing isn't useful only in countries with well-developed economies. It can also jump-start the economies of less developed countries by actually putting buyers and sellers together to create new markets. A Piece of Africa, for example, buys art from African artis ts and, through its website, makes that art available to customers all over the world, thereby creating a market that otherwise would not exist.Customers become exposed to an array of products from various countries that previously would have b een available only through expensive galleries, and the tribal artists can spend their earnings locally, which stimulates the local economy. Furthermore, A Piece of Africa donates 3 percent of the online sales to goodwill projects in Africa, which solidifies its soci ally responsible appeal. Marketing is often designed to benefit an entire industry, which can help many firms simultaneously. The dairy industry has used a very successful, award-winning campaign with its slogan â€Å"Got Milk? aimed at different target segments. This campaign has not only created high levels of awareness about the 16 benefits of drinking milk, but also increased milk consumption in various target segments, possibly through the use of celebrities such as Hilary Duff and athletes such as soccer s uperstar David Beckham. Overall, this campaign benefits the entire dairy industry, not just one dairy farmer. The dairy industry's â€Å"Got Milk? † ad campaign has created high levels of awareness about the benefits of drinking milk and has increased milk consumption by using celebrities such as David Beckham in its ads.Now that we've examined what marketing is and how it creates value, let's consider how it fits into the world of commerce, as well as into society in general. Page 16 1. LO3 Marketing Helps Create Value Marketing didn't get to its current prominence among individuals, corporations, and society at large overnight. Over the last 100 years, marketing has evolved from an activity designed simply to produce and sell products to an integral business function aimed at creating value for consumers and the company's shareholders.As we have examined marketing practices over the years, we have observed four different marketing orientations or philosophies: product orientation, sales orientation, market orientation, and value-based orientation. Product Orientation Product-oriented companies focus on developing and distributing innovative products with little concern about whet her the products best satisfy customers’ needs. This philosophy is best illustrated by a famous quote made around the turn of the twentieth century by HenryFord, the founder of Ford Motor Company, who remarked, â€Å"Customers can have any colour they want so long as it's black. † Manufacturers believed that a good product would sell itself, and retail stores typically were considered places to hold the merchandise until a consumer wanted it. Companies with a product orientation generally start out by thinking about the product they want to build; they try selling the product after it is developed rather than starting with an understanding of the customers’ needs and then developing a product to satisfy those needs.Sales Orientation Companies that have a sales orientation basically view marketing as a selling function where companies try to sell as many of their products as possible rather than focus on making products consumers really want. These firms typicall y depend on heavy doses of personal selling and advertising to attract new customers. Companies with a selling orientation tend to fo cus on making a sale or on each transaction rather than building long-term customer relationships. They generally believe that if consumers try their products, they will like them.Market Orientation Market-oriented companies start out by focusing on what consumers want and need before they design, make, or attempt to sell their products and services. They believe that customers have choice and make purchase decisions based on several factors, including quality, convenience, and price. Basically, the â€Å"customer is king,† and the market is a buyer's market since consumers wield tremendous power. In this orientation, marketers’ role is to understand and respond to the needs of consumers and to do everything possible to satisfy them.Value-Based Orientation Most successful firms today are market oriented. 17 That means they have gone beyo nd a production or sales orientation and attempt to discover and satisfy their customers’ needs and wants. Better marketing firms recognized that there was more to good marketing than simply discovering and providing what consumers wanted and needed; to compete successfully, they would have to give their customers greater value than their competitors. 18 Value reflects the relationship of benefits to costs, or what you get for what you give.In a marketing context, customers seek a fair return in goods and/or services for their hard -earned money and scarce time. They want products or services that meet their specific needs or wants and that are offered at competitive prices. The challenge for firms is to find out what consumers are looking for and to attempt to provide those goods and services but still make a profit. Every value-based marketing firm must implement its strategy according to what its customers value.Depending on the specific product or service for sale, these valuable benefits could include speed, convenience, size, accuracy, price, cost-savings, or user-friendliness. Sometimes providing greater value means providing a lot of merchandise for relatively little mone y, such as Subway's foot-long subs for $5 or a diamond for 40 percent off the suggested retail price at Costco. But value is in the eye of the beholder and doesn't always come inexpensively. Satisfied Louis Vuitton customers probably believe the Vuitton clothing, bags, or shoes they buy are good value because they have received many benefits for a reasonable price.Similarly, teenagers may be willing to pay a premium for Apple's iPhone because of its extraordinary design and packaging, even though cheaper s ubstitutes are available. This is the power of marketing in general and branding in particular. Value-based marketing is examined in greater detail in the following section; however, the story of Carmen Creek described in Entrepreneurial Marketing 1. 1 illustrates aspects of value beyond monetary cost and price. Page 17 Entrepreneurial Marketing 1. 1 Carmen Creek: Meeting Customer Needs19In 2002, Kelly Long, Pieter Spinder, and Dean Andres joined forces to create Carme n Creek Gourmet Meats. The award-winning, Calgary-based company specializes in the marketing and distribution of grade A Canadian bison, which the Heart and Stroke Foundation's Health Check approves as a healthy substitute for red meat. Carmen Creek saw its revenues increase 15 times during its first year of operation and 18 times during its second year. The company was a finalist for the 2008 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and won the 2008 Calgary Chamber of Commerce RBC Small Business of the Year Award.Carmen Creek attributes its success to its distinctive marketing strategy: it positions itself as a bison-specific producer with a commitment to quality and consistency to reach targeted markets. Carmen Creek brings value to its three target markets, consumers, retailers ( e. g. , Safeway Canada), and foodservice businesses (e. g. , Moxie's Classic Grill restaurant), in a variety of ways. Consumers can choose from an assortment of fresh and frozen bison meat, including bison burgers, bison steak, and prime rib.Retailers are provided with support in the form of recipe cards, a 1-800 help line, shelf danglers, shelf talkers, and in-store sampling booths. Foodservices customers are offered support through menu inserts, table toppers, and server incentives. In addition, Carmen Creek promises all of its customers exquisite gourmet bison meat that is grown, processed, and delivered using appropriate animal health practices, exceptional attention to detail, and superior safety. It provides all of this whi le guaranteeing the best prices that it can offer.Carmen Creek's quality products and competitive pricing is allowing it to successfully satisfy the demands of North American and European customers. Its commitment to building a value chain that embraces pro ducers, processors, and customers is allowing Carmen Creek to break into new markets. On February 27, 2007, Carmen Creek acquired all the shares of Grande Prairie Bison Company, along with its strong European customer base and distribution network. This acquisition opened the door for Carmen Creek to expand its European presence.The company is actively pursuing new European markets in Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands to add to its list of international customers, which currently includes Australia and Germany. Carmen Creek Gourmet Meats brings value to its customers beyond monetary cost and price. Carmen Creek carefully focuses the distribution of its investments in Canada, the United States, and Europe. Couple this with its diversified product offerings under a consistent and supported brand, and you get a recipe for success.The company's approach to market development and its unique strategy has launched Carmen Creek Gourmet Meats to the top of both Profit 50’s list of Canada's emerging growth companies and Profit 100’s list of Canada's fastest growing companies. What Is Value-Based Marketing? Consumers make explicit and/or implicit trade-offs between the perceived benefits of a product or service and their costs. Customers naturally seek options that provide the greatest benefits at the lowest costs. Marketing firms attempt to find the most desirable balance between providing benefits to customers and keeping their costs down, as illustrated in Exhibit 1. . EXHIBIT 1. 6 Value Page 18 To better understand value and to develop a value-based marketing orientation, a business must also understand what customers view as the key benefits of a given product or service and how to improve on them. For example, some benefits of staying at a Four Points by Sheraton hotel might include the high level of service quality provided by the personnel , the convenience of booking the room via Sheraton's website, and the overall quality of the room and me als offered. In broader terms, some critical benefits may be service quality, convenience, and merchandise quality.The other side of the value equation entails the firm's ability to provide either a better product/service mix at the same cost or the same level of quality and convenience for a lower cost. The customer's potential cost elements, in terms of value-based marketing strategies, for the Sheraton hotel in our example would include the price of the room and meals, the time it takes to book a room or check in at the hotel, and the risk of arriving at the hotel and finding it overbooked. How Firms Compete on the Basis of Value W ith such a simple formula, marketers should be able to deliver value consistently, right? Well, not exactly.In today's quickly changing world, consistent ly creating and delivering value is quite difficult. Consumer perceptions change quickly, competitors constantly enter markets, and global pressures continually reshape opportunities. Thus, marketers must keep a vigilant eye on the marketplace so they can adjust their offerings to meet customer needs and keep ahead of their competition. Value-based marketing, however, isn't just about creating strong products and services; it should be at the core of every firm's functions. For example, W almart does not serve those customers who are looking to impress their friends with conspicuous consumption.Rather, this store is for people who want convenient one-stop shopping and low prices—and on those values, it consistently delivers. But good value is not limited to just low prices. Although Walmart carries low-priced pots, pans, and coffee pots, cooking enthusiasts may prefer the product selection, quality, and expert sales assistance at a Paderno outlet. The prices there aren't as low as at Walmart, but Paderno customers believe they are receiving good value when they shop there because of the selection, quality, and service they receive.Even nonprofit organizations need to focu s on creating value to ensure the services they provide to stakeholders are of high quality while also minimizing the total fundraising required. How Firms Become Value-Driven Firms become value-driven by focusing on three activities (see Exhibit 1. 7). First, they share information about their customers and competitors across their own organization and with other firms that might be involved in getting the product or service to the marketplace, such as manufacturers and transportation companies.Second, they strive to balance their customers’ benefits and costs. Third, they concentrate on building relationships with customers. EXHIBIT 1. 7 Value-Oriented Firms Page 19 Sharing Information In a value-based, market-oriented firm, marketers share information about customers and competitors that has been collected through customer relationship management, and integrate it across the firm's various departments.The fashion designers for Zara, the Spain -based fashion retailer, for i nstance, collect purchase information and research customer trends to determine what their customers will want to wear in the next few weeks; simultaneously, the logisticians —those persons in charge of getting the merchandise to the stores —use the same purchase history to forecast sales and allocate appropriate merchandise to individual stores. Sharing and coordinating such information represents a critical success factor for any firm.Imagine what might happen if Zara's advertising department were to plan a special promotion but not share its sales projections with those people in charge of creating the merchandise or getting it to stores. Fashion designers for Zara, the Spain-based fashion retailer, collect purchase information and research customer trends to determine what their customers will want to wear in the next few weeks. They share this information with other departments to forecast sales and coordinate deliveries.Balancing Benefits with Costs Value-oriente d marketers constantly measure the benefits that customers perceive against the cost of their offering. In this task, they use a vailable customer data to find opportunities in which they can better satisfy their customers’ needs and in turn develop long -term loyalties. Such a value-based orientation has helped Canadian Tire and Walmart outperform other department stores, and WestJet Airlines and Southwest Airlines outperform mainstream carriers.Also, as noted in the chapter vignette, RIM offers its customers not only the innovative, feature -packed portfolio of BlackBerry products, but also high-quality customer service at a competitive price. By establishing contracts with wireless carriers such as AT&T and BellSouth, it gained a solid footing before competitors such as Nokia entered the market. RIM's marketing savvy in making customer value the centrepiece of its strategy is one of the reasons why it has been able to beat the competition. To provide a great value, U. K. b ased easyJet offers no food service and generally flies to and from out-ofthe-way airports. Until recently, it sometimes cost more to fly within Europe than to fl y from the United States to Europe. 20 But low-frills, low-cost carriers such as Ryanair and easyJet, modelled on Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways, now offer customers what they want: cheap intra -Europe airfares. Like their American counterparts, Ryanair and easyJet offer no food service and generally fly to and from out -of-the-way airports, such as Stansted, which is about 55 kilometres northeast of London.But many customers find value despite such minor inconveniences. Consider, for example, the Lon don to Salzburg, Austria, route for $65 or the London to Sweden flight for $70. Values such as these are also what have given low -cost carriers in the United States approximately 25 percent of the market share. They are so popular that conventional airlines have started their own low-frills/low-cost airlines: Singapo re Airlines provides Tiger Airways and Australia's Qantas offers Jetstar. Page 20 1. LO4Building Relationships with Customers During the past decade or so, marketers have begun to realize that they need to think about their customer orientation in terms of relationships rather than 21 transactions. A transactional orientation regards the buyer–seller relationship as a series of individual transactions, so anything that happened before or after the transaction is of little importance. For example, used-car sales typically are based on a transactional approach; the seller wants to get the highest price for the car, the buyer wants to get he lowest price, and neither expects to do business w ith the other again. A relational orientation, in contrast, is based on the philosophy that buyers and sellers should develop a long-term relationship. According to this idea, the lifetime profitability of the relationship matters, not how much money is made during each transaction. For exam ple, UPS works with its shippers to develop efficient transportation solutions. Over time, UPS becomes part of the fabric of the shippers’ organizations, and their operations become intertwined. In this scenario, UPS an d its shippers have developed a long-term relationship.Firms that practise value-based marketing also use a process known as customer relationship management (CRM), a business philosophy and set of strategies, programs, and systems that focus on 22 identifying and building loyalty among the firm's most valued customers. Firms that employ CRM systematically collect information about their customers’ needs and then use that information to target their best customers with the products, services, and special pr omotions that appear most important to those customers. 1. LO5 Why Is Marketing Important? Marketing was once only an afterthought to production.Early marketing philosophy went something like this: â€Å"We've made it; now how do we get rid of it? à ¢â‚¬  Today, marketing has evolved into a major business function that crosses all areas of a firm or organization, as illustrated in Exhibit 1. 8. Marketing works with other departments, such as research and development (R&D), engineering, and production, to ensure that high-quality, innovative products that meet customers’ needs are available in the right quantity, at the right price, and at the right pla ce, that is, wherever they want to purchase it.It creates mutually valuable relationships between the company and its suppliers, distributors, and other external firms that are involved in the firm's marketing process. It identifies those elements that lo cal customers value and makes it possible for the firm to expand globally. Marketing has had a significant impact on consumers as well. Without marketing, it would be difficult for any of us to learn about new products and services. You may even decide to pursue a career in marketing after you graduate.Even if you pursue a career in another field, marketing knowledge will help you market yourself in ways that could land you your dream job. EXHIBIT 1. 8 Importance of Marketing These brands can be found in many countries. Marketing Expands Firms’ Global Presence A generation ago, Coca-Cola was available in many nations, but Levi's and most other American and Canadian brands were not. But today most jeans, including those by Levi Strauss & Co. a nd Parasuco, are made in places other than Canada and the United States and are available nearly everywhere.Thanks to MTV and other global entertainment venues,cheap foreign travel, and the Internet, you share many of your consumption behaviours with college and university students in countries all over the globe. The best fashions, music, and even food trends disseminate rapidly around the world. Starbucks has adjusted its menu to meet customer wants in the Japanese market more effectively. Page 21 Take a look at your next shopping bag. Whether it cont ains groceries or apparel, you will find goods from many countries: produce from Mexico, jeans from Italy, T -shirts from China.Global manufacturers and retailers continue to make inroads into the Canadian market. Companies such as Honda, Sony, and Heineken sell as well in Canada as they do in their home countries. Sweden's fashion retailer H 23 operates in 38 countries, including Canada. Its upscale competitor Spain's Zara operates in more than 24 80 countries, including Canada. Starbucks even adjusted its menu to meet customer wants in the Japanese market more effectively. How does marketing contribute to a company's successful global expansion? Understanding customers is critical.Without the knowledge that can be gained by analyzing new customers’ needs and wants on a segment-by-segment, region-by-region basis—one of marketing's main tasks—it would be difficult for a firm to expand globally. Power of the Internet 1. 1 shows how the Internet has expanded the r each of marketers and changed marketing practices. Page 22 Marketing Is Pervasive Across the Organization In value-based marketing firms, the marketing department works seamlessly with other functional areas of the company to design, promote, price, and distribute products.Consider the Scion, a car and brand designed by Toyota for the less affluent youth market, which sometimes has been referred to as 26 Generation Y. Scion's marketing department worked closely with engineers to ensure that the new car exceeded customers’ expectations in terms of design but remained affordable. The co mpany also coordinated the product offering with an innovative communications strategy. Because Generation Y is famous for its resistance to conventional advertising, Scion introduced a virtual road race in which participants received mileage points for sending Scion e-cards.The more â€Å"places† they visited, the more mileage points they received. At the end of the competition, each dri ver's points were totalled and compared with other racers’ scores. The driver with the most points won an onboard navigation system worth more than $2000. In addition, when Scion was a new car, the marketing department worked closely with the distribution department to ensure that advertising and promotions reached all distributors’ territories and that distribution existed where those promotions occurred.Thus, marketing was responsible for coordinating all these aspects of supply and demand. Toyota introduced a virtual road race in which participants received mileage points for sending Scion e cards. At the end of the competition, the driver with the most points won an onboard navigation system worth more than $2000. Page 23 Power of the Internet 1. 1 Internet Marketing: Past, Present, and Future25 The Internet was released for commercial use in 1993. Immediately, the media, entrepreneurs, and others began to hype it as the â€Å"new marketing channel† that wou ld revolutionize business practices.For entrepreneurs and investors, it was a time of euphoria, experimentation, and instantaneous wealth; for established companies, it was a time of uncertainty and fear. Many traditional businesses with established brands thought that the Internet was just another fad; while others did not quite understand how to integrate it with their existing businesses. Fear of making mistakes that could harm their brands led many companies to create â€Å"online† businesses that were separate from their core â€Å"bricks -and-mortar† or â€Å"offline† businesses.For instance, Procter & Gamble's online business was called reflect. com and Kmart's company in the United States was called bluelight. com. The apprehension that established marketers had for jumping on the dot-com bandwagon seemed justified when in 2000 the explosive growth of Internet businesses collap sed within a couple of months. The dot-com bust provided established marketer s with breathing room to reflect on how they could incorporate the Internet into their business and marketing strategies.Around 2004, almost a decade later, marketers came to realize that an effective marketing strategy requires an integration of online and offline businesses to provide customers with a seamless â€Å"multi-channel marketing† experience. W hen marketers initially pursued Internet marketing, they were mostly excited abou t designing the best website by using the latest publishing software and technology available. Although most websites were originally text-based, marketers quickly adopted multimedia technologies since their goal was to create an appealing website that would attract visitors and keep them on the site.Little thought was given as to whether or not customers needed or valued these features. The early focus on the technology and the product is reminiscent of the product-oriented market era of early twentieth century. Two decades later, in 2012, we observe that although websites are much more complex technologically, their focus has shifted to the consumer: that is, how marketers can use the technology to identify and fulfill customer needs and deliver the best customer value while generating profits. This focus seems more in line with the value based orientation described in the book.But, how did we get from a technology focus to a value -based focus? What were some of the steps along the way? From Static Websites to Social Media to Mobile Marketing Rewind to 1993 when the commercial Internet came into being; websites were static, text-based sites, which marketers used to â€Å"push† information to customers about their products and companies. Customer s wishing to make a purchase had to call a telephone number listed on the website. Shortly thereafter, email marketing became widespread, and the main focus was on how to create the perfect email and ensure it reached the target customers.Second-generation websites beca me more dynamic and interactive; that is, they provided information to customers’ requests in real time, made greater use of multimedia technology, and offered modest interactivity. The next development was e-commerce capability, that is, the ability to order and pay for goods and services online. This capability laid the foundations for the explosive growth of online marketing since marketers could now reach customers worldwide through their online stores and customers could order products and services anytime, anywhere.The era of instant gratification and ultimate shopping convenience seemed closer than ever. E-commerce transactions grew exponentially year after year, and they continue to grow unabated. B2C, B2B, and C2C via auction sites b ecame possible and grew exponentially. The next phase in the evolution of Internet marketing was personalization and customization, where customers were given the ability to customize the look and feel of a website, and the products show n, to suit their preferences.Today, thanks to social networking sites such as Myspace, YouTube, Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter, and portable devices such as smartphones, social media and mobile marketing is all the rage. What will be next? The Internet is much more sophisticated and complex now than it was in the 1990s. It has changed and will continue to change. No one can predict the transform

“Good Country people” and “Where are you going, Where have you been?” Essay

There are many similarities between the short stories â€Å"Good Country People† and â€Å"Where are you going, Where have you been?†, most notably their characters. Both stories contain a female protagonist, and a male antagonist, whose confrontations start out relatively normal, and progress to more and more surreal and twisted endings. Their main characters, Hulga and Connie, are shockingly similar, and yet strangely different, one a 15 year old wishing to be older and beautiful, the other a bitter 32 year old, wishing to be younger and ugly. These stories tell the tales of impressionable young women who are tempted by the delights of strange men, only to prove to themselves in the end how naive they really are. In â€Å"Where are you going, Where have you been?†, Connie starts out as most teenage girls seemingly would – she wants to be more daring, to appear older, to experience more of the world. She sneaks away from childish pursuits, to the teenage or adult world, to drink and kiss boys rather than shop for school clothes, to see movies in a steamy car instead of in a theater. She talks of being beautiful as if it were her only good grace – beauty, to her, is the ultimate goal. She wants to be older, and more beautiful, and this is her downfall. Her foolishness, and her naivety is what appeals to Arnold Friend in the first place. Arnold Friend, a stranger, appeals to her early on in the story. He is older, more powerful, and smarter. She is frightened, of course, but intrigued, and it is her yearning for the adult world, and the adult life, that, in the end, causes her downfall. She is suckered in by the convincing conman who uses his words to appeal to her weaknesses. She is tricked into being what Arnold wants her to be by his smooth words and his faà §ade of confidence. She’s toyed with, played for the naà ¯ve fool she is, who is far too young for the world she wants to be a part of. Only at the very end of the story does she begin to realize what she has gotten herself into. She shows her true colors once she is confronted. In â€Å"Good Country People†, Joy is a relatively normal girl with some not-too-normal problems. For one thing, her leg got blown off when she was younger in a bizarre hunting accident. This physical change made her completely self conscious, and essentially ruined her life. She could no  longer be happy being herself, because she sees herself as true ugliness now. Thus, she feels forced to make herself what she thinks she is. She hates beauty now, and changes everything about her to seem ugly. She’s been to college, and yet still acts childish. She’s trying to be young, and ugly. And Manley Pointer notices this quality of her, and takes advantage of her. No matter how ugly she tries to be, he still tries to (or at least pretends to) like her for who she is. Hulga is, regardless of her ugly campaign, extremely flattered, and lets her guard down long enough for Manley to get away with her glasses, her leg, and more importantly, her dignity. She is also played f or a fool based completely on her own insecurities. She too is a victim of a conman who notices that things aren’t always what they seem. Connie and Hulga are very similar, as characters, and yet very different all the same. They both have their insecurities, and they are both easily preyed on by conmen and smooth talkers, but their insecurities are in entirely different realms. They both want what the other has, and due to this, they are constantly trying to be someone else, not themselves, and this is what makes them so easy to attack. They don’t know who they really are, and they think they want to be something else. This naivety is their downfall – they pretend to be something else, join a group they shouldn’t be in, and they are tempted by the men in these groups. But, when the tables turn, and their men aren’t what they appear to be, Connie and Hulga revert completely, from relatively confident phonies to sniveling little girls, helpless and hopeless, in their fake lives. These two women are seemingly innocent, random bystanders picked by older smarter conmen. However, one could easily hold them responsible for their own fates. Not that the victim in a crime is to blame, but, honestly, if you leave your car door open, with the keys inside, and the motor running, while you go inside a store for a few hours, how can you possibly seem shocked when it gets stolen? These two women, whether they believe it or not, are waving hundreds of flags at these conmen – â€Å"Please target me!†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ â€Å"Take my leg!†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ By openly flaunting their insecurities and by allowing themselves to be charmed to the point of trusting the conmen, they are, if not wholly, then at least partially responsible for their own fates. They reached their  own conclusions, and they got what they deserved. Connie and Hulga are the same person, essentially – a woman with different problems wishes to be something that they are not, and wiser and smoother conmen see this, and take advantage of them. In the end, they are proven to be the phonies that they really are, and are left more vulnerable, and more open, than they were before they tried to infiltrate the world in which they didn’t belong. If there were a shared moral to these stories, and there is most definitely not an obvious one, they’d both be somewhere along the lines of â€Å"Be happy with what you have, because you might not belong anywhere else†, and in the cases of Connie and Hulga, this moral fits perfectly. They are the same person with different circumstances, and they are so easily preyed on by the wiser smoother conman. As these stories blatantly state, be happy with what you have. You might not fit anywhere else, and one day, someone might just call you on your bluff, to disastrous conseque nces.

Problems in School Essay

Education is the most important factor for the development of human civilization. It is one of the ways that can help us to achieve our goals in the future. However, there have been many problems raised throughout the year in regarding to what our school system should be practicing to improve education. These problems consists of self-discipline, longstanding bullying and the case about school uniforms should be lessen in order to have a positive dispositions on education. Discipline and balancing is important in a student’s life. Sometimes, the person who has the freedom to do anything she wants will have the tendency to lose self-discipline and balance between extracurricular activities and academics. There was a time in my life when I thought I would not be able to finish high school because I got distracted by the social life around me. We could only be young once, as the clichà © goes. Indeed, I truly lived my teenage life to the fullest, to the point of over-living it. In fact, I was still in my early teens when I started going steady with my social life than school. My mother had a hard time straightening my head. However, the consequences of my actions had sadly taught me a lesson. I failed some of my classes when I was in freshman. Also, I joined volleyball and cheerleading in my junior year which completely gave me a hard time catching up with our lessons. I was forced to attend the after-school tutoring. Stumbling upon of having no discipline and balance between school, sports and social life are regrettably sad. Yes, I have a lot of learning, and acknowledge that school must be prioritized. Second, bullying has a real negative effect on the victim’s life. Those who are constantly bullied can be pushed to the breaking point, where they could end up hurting themselves or others. I have a school mate back when I was senior, and he had trouble coping with things since his parents got divorced. Over the last few months, he has neglected his school works, and gotten a few face piercing that were prohibited in our school. A few of his classmates have become hostile towards him because of the sudden physical changes, and his lack of social etiquette. The controversy have suddenly escalated as they have pushed him onto the ground, kicked him in the stomach, and locked him in the bathroom. Also, a few of the school jocks were standing in the hallway joking around when they spot their smaller classmate struggling to carry his school books. One of the jocks sticks his foot out and deliberately tripped the boy. They all laughed and called the boy names such as, â€Å"clumsy† and â€Å"dork†. Bullies pick on students who they think are physically weak, and unpopular with their peers. So, whether bullying comes in many different forms: both from cyber bullying to physical bullying, it is consider wrong and it has to stop. Lastly, clothing has become a way of self-expression on how a person dresses, and it usually reflects on their personality. The most common issue is some students being harassed by other students for the way they dress, and how they appear. When I was sophomore, gang violence has become a big concern throughout my high school. Gangs choose colors to wear which lets people know to which gang they belong to. Students, who do not know of this issue, wear that certain color during dress down day, and some of them got hurt because they were not aware of the specific gang colors. Then, I noticed all students nowadays must go out and have the new fashion trends, and style. However, not all parents are able to go out of their way to buy their children clothes. So, uniforms save not only the students for getting harass base on what they wear, but also for the parents who are already busy working to give and support our necessities. Uniforms cause children to be more civilized and mature in what they are doing. It is great for schools to implement a policy on school uniforms because it provides more focus to learning, reduces peer pressure, and increases school pride. Attitude can alter every aspect of a person’s life, including his or her education. Student’s attitudes on learning determine their ability and willingness to learn. Furthermore, it is never too late to improve our educational system. Every school should be more advance and provide a good learning environment first because a highly effective school profoundly enhances student’s prosperity.

Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge - Essay Example Tall towers, long and thick cables, and the largest underwater foundation piers ever to be built were all part of the construction requirements for the bridge. There were many who considered this task impossible in the violent open seawater conditions in which the construction was to take place (Hemenway, 2009). In those days the fatality average in such constructions was one fatality for every million dollars spent and $35 million was spent on the construction, meaning that in these conditions the fatalities should have been more than 35 constructions workers. Yet, the bridge opened on time, with a much lower fatality rate (Hemenway, 2009). This was the result of safety precautions taken in the form of strict rules preventing dangerous behavior at the construction site and the use of protective head gear. However the stand out precautionary measure was the use of a safety net that was strung out underneath the bridge floor from one end of the bridge to the other, and was the safety lesson learnt from the construction of the bridge. In the first three years of the construction only one fatality occurred, and more importantly the utility of the safety net was demonstrated, when nineteen men accidentally fell during construction onto the safety net and survived the normally fatal fall. These men later came to be known as the Halfway to Hell Club.

Case study analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Case study analysis - Essay Example In this case, it is counter-productive for a company to internationalise a product without fundamentally seeking to acquire a large market segment of the local market. Despite these factors, a strategic analysis is crucial in the process of internationalising a product. To internationalise a product, an effective strategic analysis will involve the identification of the strengths that make the product a good option for new markets. Such strengths include the competitive advantage of the product over its competitors. Consequently, the competitive advantage determines whether the company will modify its product in order to be accepted in the new markets. In addition, the company may decide to introduce a new product for the new market or the company may decide to venture into the new international markets with the same product (Czinkota and Ronkainen 2007). In line with this, it is essential to point out that a good product does not require modification in order for the company to intr oduce it to new markets. As an alternative internationalisation of a good product should involve its introduction into the new market in its original form since it has the competitive advantages related to superior quality and a powerful brand name. The specific capability of a firm to produce a quality product is crucial in determining the internationalisation of a product. In this regard, efficiency in production and distribution systems determines whether the product will be offered to the customer when required (Lessard 2003). Case in point, investing in innovative technology was a crucial factor that helped Auer meet its customers’ demands since the company was able to offer its customers products when required due to continuous production. However, it is evident that the company failed to meet the demands of its customers once the distribution channels were affected. In this regard, the investing in effective distribution channels and innovative technology ensure that t he company will be able to meet the demand of its customers by offering the products on time. A good product for internationalisation should be a differentiated product. By differentiation, a company should offer new customers a product that is unique in order for the customer to easily adopt the new product in place of the one that they were consuming. In this regard, it is challenging for a customer to adopt a new product without experiencing uniqueness of the product. In line with this, a company that internationalises a product should ensure that the product is distinct from its competitors since an inferior product cannot replace a superior product in an international market. Lessard (2003) identifies these factors as responsiveness to the demands of the local customers by ensuring that the product was in line with the tastes and preferences of the customer. Without responding to the tastes and preferences of the local customer, it is challenging to internationalise a product t o new markets. A good product provides avenues for strategic partnership between various companies engaged in the international mar

Darden Restaurants Company Deversity, Recruitment, Benefits Coursework

Darden Restaurants Company Deversity, Recruitment, Benefits - Coursework Example It also supports the diversity organizations in the community that includes African-American, Asians, Hispanics, Women, and the GLBT community (Darden Concepts, Inc. 1). Darden promotes the diversity of its workforce and suppliers by implementing various programs that include workforce diversity, supplier diversity, and diversity outreach (Darden Concepts, Inc. 1). The diversity in the company enables employees to maximize their full capacity. Profiles in Diversity Journal wrote the article, â€Å"Darden Restaurants–News Brief (Jan/Feb 2014)† in 2014. The article states that Darden Restaurants scored 100 % on the Human Rights Campaign 2014 Corporate Equality Index subject to its business practices and policies toward its LGBT employees (Profiles in Diversity Journal 1). The article quotes Darden’s senior vice president of culture who asserts that diversity and inclusion form the company’s success and future growth basis. The senior vice president of culture notes that Darden Restaurants embraces diversity to enrich the company’s corporate culture and enhance its performance. The article traces the company’s history of diversity policies to the acts of its founder. Indeed, in welcoming people in his first restaurant, during the time of racial segregation and discrimination, Bill Darden sent invites to diverse people (Profiles in Diversity Journal 1). Ultimately, the article states that Darden promotes the diversity of its workforce, suppliers and local communities by adopting diversity at the core of its culture (Profiles in Diversity Journal 1). Darden Restaurants employs more than 180,000 people in various restaurants (Darden Concepts, Inc. 1). Most employees working at Darden Restaurants have a passion for culinary excellence and loves hospitality (Great Rated 1). In hiring its employees, the company adores diversity by considering race,

Movie of choice - Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas) 2005 Essay

Movie of choice - Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas) 2005 - Essay Example But here there is one opposite situation and that is the fraternity and brotherhood which was established before the war for some time. The series is totally vise versa i.e. from war to fraternity and again from fraternity to war. The soldiers from two opposite troops have already prepared for the war, yet celebrating the Christmas with the genuine feelings of fraternity. It seems to be weird and unbelievable yet it had happened during the First World War. This amazing true story was pictured by Christian Carion in his film â€Å"Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas)† One very beautiful line quoted by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, â€Å"If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each mans life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.† Hostility is there among the countries, among the leaders but what about the common soldiers? As a part of the duties they might be fighting with each other but their fight is not at all due to their personal abhorrence. These soldiers are also the human beings and they have their family, friends. War is for the politics and not for human beings. Apart from being and enemy of each other the soldiers have created some emotional tie ups with the soldiers from their enemy country. In war stories we can see many incredible things. Here also we can see the love and hatred dwell under one single roof. This movie explains about the ceasefire took place in the regiments of three major countries on the Christmas Eve of 1914 during the First World War near Prussian occupied France. At that time the soldiers urging for peaceful family life put down their ammunitions and began to establish fraternity among each other. Though this film is a war film, the approach is individual and sentimental. It gives prominence to the emotions of the individual rather than the war and the political scenario. Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas) is an amazing and a very touching

European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)-Italy Term Paper

European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)-Italy - Term Paper Example The German dominance in the European Union may have caused a lot of trouble in the policy implementation for economic terms. More than this, the recent recession is believed to have an impact on the economies of the world. This paper wishes to depict the mission and structure of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in creating a direct connection towards the detrimental effects the cluster has made to Italy. Moreover, the economic state of Italy will then be described based on the output of fiscal and monetary policies of the country and aligned with the trade and foreign investment scheme. The European Sovereign Debt Crisis will then be discussed focusing on Italy’s experience during the crisis, and the causes of the crisis will also be explicated. Finally, a conclusive remark, which states the general perspective of the researcher, will be sighted in the conclusion. 2.0 Mission and Structure of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) The greatest problem that was faced by the European nations centered on how to build a sole market for capital, goods, and services and entities amid Member States that have interrelated economies, aligned with manifold currencies, and inconstant, weak forex rates. The construction of the EMU was an optimum alternative in curing such detrimental European problem (Liebscher). The errands of the EMU are in delved into three significant activities: to implement an efficient monetary policy aligned with price stability; to harmonize the economic policies in the Member States and; (3) to ensure the fluent operation of the sole market . The monetary policy’s focal objective is price stability. If a nation wants to achieve a free-market economy, price stability should be its priority. The Eurosystem’s prior goal is to sustain price stability because the latter reflects a pre-state of a maintainable economic progress and proliferating employment rate (Liebscher 378). The EMU would assist its Member States about public finances, which are aligned with the meeting of fiscal debt and deficit requirement (379). Lastly, institutional stability is also the target of the EMU wherein Member States are required to undergo institutional reforms (382). 3.0 Economic State of Italy 3.1 Fiscal and Monetary Policies Fiscal policy is the alterations in federal taxes and government expenditure in order to attain macroeconomic goals. Monetary policy, on the other hand, is the action executed by the European Central Bank and the national bank to manage the accessibility of cash and interest rates in achieving goals. Fiscal policy is essential to restrain the prejudice done by the state in terms of deficiency. This policy serves as a barrier for the government overspending, deficiency issues, and restrictions in implementing discretionary rules. When intense pressure attacks the economy, wherein monetary policy’s efficiency dissolves, fiscal policy can be a remedy to resolve the pecuniary issues (Liebscher 3 79). In terms of fiscal policies, there has to be 0.5 percent of yearly development of the gross domestic product of the country as stipulated by the reformed Pact (Marino, Momigliano, and Rizza 445). In 1997, Italy had accumulated a 1.4 percent of GDP, which was the end of the consolidation proceedings of the 1990s. When Italy was reformed, especially on the accounts of stability and economic growth, the grounds for the formulation of the policies were stipulated from the event. In fact, the Bank of Italy

Mitosis and Meiosis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Mitosis and Meiosis - Assignment Example There are 3 aspects that are critical for the survival of all organisms and they are growth, repair and reproduction. Division of cells is very important for these events. Division of cells happens through 2 different types of processes, the mitosis and meiosis which constitute different phases of cell cycle (Sadava, 2013). As and when needed, different hormones in the body of the organism send signals to the cells for preparation for division. There are mainly 2 parts in the process of division. The first phase is the interphase during which there is growth and preparation. This is followed by cell division which includes cytokinesis and mitosis. Interphase constitutes 90 percent of the cell cycle. During mitosis, the nucleus of the cell is replicated and divided into 2 nuclei that are similar and have identical genetic material. This type of cell division is mainly for growth of cells, repair and asexual reproduction. The end result of mitosis is somatic cells, each of which will have diploid number of chromosomes (Sadava, 2013). There are basically four stages in mitosis. The first stage is known as prophase. Sister chromatids in the cell condense and become visible. The envelope of the nucleus breaks to expose the chromosomes. Formation of spindle fibers begins extending from the centrioles. The spindle fibers are made up of microtubules and they are attached to the centromere of sister chromatids. The centrioles migrate to opposite sides of the cells slowly. The next phase is the metaphase. There chromosomes form a line along the equatorial plate which is in the center of the cell. From here, the chromosomes are moved with the help of centrioles and spindle fibers. The third phase is the anaphase. The centromeres are pulled apart and the sister chromatids separate. This is done by spindle fibers. The daughter chromosomes are also pulled to opposite poles. Thus each daughter cell will have identical set of chromosomes similar to the parent cell. In the telophase, new nuclei begin to form in each cell aroun d chromosomes. The chromosomes also unravel into their loose form and spindle fibers disassemble. Cytokinesis starts and new cells are towed (Sadava, 2013). In cytokinesis, the cytoplasm of the cell divides into two parts, each one having a new nucleus. Thus, the daughter cells are genetically identical to the parent cell. Meiosis is another type of cell division which occurs in reproductive cells or germ cells only. It involves two fissions of the nucleus and gives rise to four sex cells or gametes (Sadava, 2013). Each of the cells has half the number of chromosomes of the parent cell. Meiosis occurs in 2 stages, meiosis -1 and meiosis-2. In meiosis-1, the pairs separate and in meiosis-2 sister chromatids separate as in mitosis. There are four steps in meiosis-1. The interphase is similar to mitosis during which the DNA replicates and forms sister chromatids connected at the centromere. However, homologous pairs of chromosomes pair up. In prophase-1, the chromosomes thicken and the homologous pairs of chromosomes tangle together and move towards the equatorial plate. Thus, 4 sister chromatids move together and this is known as tetrad. Nuclear envelop disappears and spinal fibers start forming. Crossing-over also occurs in this phase. Swapping of parts of chromosomes also occurs due to tangling. This leads to genetic variation between individuals. In metaphase-1, homologous pair line up along the equatorial plate. In anaphase-1, separation of homologous pairs occurs due to pulling of spindle fibers from the centromere. Now, each chromosome has 2 sister chromatids. In telophase-1, cytokinesis occurs with or without formation of nuclear membrane and this leads to new cells with haploid set of chromosomes in each and resembles sister chromatids (Sadava, 2013). In meiosis-2 that occurs after cytokinesis and telophase-1, division of cells occurs, but

Edward Tufte Graphics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Edward Tufte Graphics - Essay Example In addition he insists that an excellent graphic should be one that is multivariate. Eventually, he insists that an excellent graphic should speak nothing but the truth (Tufte’s principles 2009). Hence, any good graphic should exhibit these. In relation to principles of graphical integrity, Tufte insists that it has to be detailed and clear. He advises that the graphic has to be thoroughly labeled and should be able to show data variation. He adds that the graphic should not quote any data out of the context. Furthermore, the principle warns of exceeding the dimensions of data depicted by the graphic (Darzynkiewicz, Robinson & Roederer 2009, p. 45). Hence, graphic integrity is a very useful tool graphic representation. Concerning the principles of data graphics, Tufte insists that any graphic information should above all things show the data. He insists that the data-ink ratio should be maximized in the graphic (Darzynkiewicz, Robinson & Roederer 2009, p. 45). Data-ink ratio i s simply the core of a graphic that cannot be erased. It could also imply data ink divided by the total ink that was used to print the graphic. It is basically the arrangement of non-redundant ink in relation to variation in the presented numbers (Darzynkiewicz, Robinson & Roederer 2009, p. 45). ... Tufte insisted that people should forgo chartjunk, including the grid, the duck and moire vibration (Liere, Adriaansen & Elena 2009, p. 6). For any good graphic, details of no importance should not be included. Tufte also came up with the principle of erasing and data-ink maximization so as to be applied in some graphical designs (Liere, Adriaansen & Elena 2009, p. 6). He insisted that if these principles were applied on the scatter plot and the box plot among others, new designs would be created. He insisted that for the scatter plot, one could edit the frame lines in order to display the minimum, maximum, median and the two quartiles for both variables (Liere, Adriaansen & Elena 2009, p. 6). In relation to the principle of multi-functioning graphical elements, Tufte insists that any graphical element is one that carries data information plus performs design functions left to non data ink. In following this principle, one is able to display several pieces of data at the same time in one graphic (Mizuno & Sheldon 2012). The principle basically mobilizes every graphical element sometimes several times in order to depict or show data. The graphical element that plots or locates or plots data is referred to as the data measure (Mizuno & Sheldon 2012). One can build data measures from data though it will increase the dimensionality of the graphic plus the quantitative details. He adds that varying shades of grey depict varying quantities in a better way than color, since they possess a natural visual hierarchy. In addition, graphical information can be organized for different aspects of data at different visual angles. Also, Tufte insists that for the

Love Essay Example for Free

Love Essay When I think about the concept of love, my thoughts are uncertain. When I think about the word love, the four letters arranged in a random pattern, nothing is simpler. Clearly, a distinct difference lies between a word and what it represents. The importance of the word love lies in the power it has over people. When asking someone what love means, not one person has a solid answer to the question. The word love is so abstract, as to which why I adore the word â€Å"Love. † While growing older, we have used the word love in many contexts. The word love can be referred to as a variety of different feelings and attitudes, ranging from just common pleasure I loved that meal to an intense interpersonal attraction I love my boyfriend. The word love can be used in numerous ways and with endless feeling. In certain situations, the word love is such an expression that sometimes ones relationship might even depend on it. For example, If for a long time someone has not said â€Å"I love you† to a loved one, they might think something is wrong. The word â€Å"love† is a word that makes one wonder how much power one word could have. Love does not have just one meaning, but rather many different definitions. It is a word used in many different contexts, with many different levels of feelings that are unexplainable. Love is a word that is universal in every language of the world. Everyone knows of it or has used the word. Although we know of it, no person has an actual definition of it. The uncertainty of this word makes me realize how powerful the word is, even though we still seem to know what someone is trying to say. Everyone uses the word love, but never took a minute to think about its meaning. I adore this word and will always think about as the future generations use the word love in ambiguity.

How To Write A Research Paper Essay Example for Free

How To Write A Research Paper Essay This guide covers research papers, and provides advice on forming a title for your research paper, how to plan your paper before you start, and filtering material for your research paper. What is a research paper? The terms research paper and term paper are frequently used interchangeably. However, the terms do not mean the same thing. Term paper was used in the past exclusively to refer to the project (indeed research based) that was due at the end of a term, semester or quarter whereas research paper had a more specific meaning, i. e. a paper written as a summary of research. Hence research papers may be written at any level (before, during and after attending university), they may be published works in a professional journal and they may represent the results of practical research, which would not ordinarily be conducted for a term paper. This is the context in which we will discuss the term research paper herein. A research paper is an academic written assignment that is the product of a research project. This may span days, months, weeks or even years. Typically, research papers will involve the examination of a particular issue, and discuss: * The background or history of that issue * Any outstanding questions relating to the issue (the research paper will commonly focus on one particular question and seek to establish evidence to answer this) * The current data and statistics relating to the issue * The problems relating to the issue as revealed by the data * The problems relating to the issue as revealed by practical primary research (i.e. carrying out interviews, tests etc) or secondary research (i.e. looking at other peoples research) * Proposed solutions to the problems, and the strengths and weaknesses of these * Conclusions drawn from the data, research and evidence, as examined * Recommendations in relation to these conclusions. We will look at each of these elements in turn, in order to understand how a student or professional can write a good research paper. Forming a title for your research paper Unlike most types of assignment, the research paper title is usually decided upon AFTER you have completed the paper. This is so that the title accurately reflects the contents of the paper. However, your research paper will need a working title. This helps you to focus and helps others to understand what you are doing for example, your lecturer/instructor or, if working at a higher level, those funding your project. You should therefore return to this section when you have completed your paper. You then need to pick a concise, accurate title for your research paper that will make readers want to look at your content, help others find your paper in databases, and explain exactly what is covered by the paper with a high degree of accuracy. A research paper will commonly have a title of 15-20 words in length. Every word must be necessary for the title and so for example, Project on Paper on Research on should be removed as these types of phrases are not necessary. Example concise research paper titles: * Unemployment by Constituency * Transport in New York Research Paper Subtitle Unlike a research paper or essay, it is very common to give your research paper a subtitle. This explains your title more fully, puts it in context and qualifies the extent, or scope, of the research. Example subtitles (relating to the above example titles): * 2007-2008 trends using constituency maps * Transport governance and provision since X was elected in 1999 Researching/gathering information for your research paper As your research paper needs to show a good depth of reading, good research skills are paramount! But before you start, a key thing to bear in mind is that you MUST reference all material that you use in your paper. So the first thing to do is find out what referencing style is required (either by your university or, if you are writing a research paper for a journal, by that journal) and start to record the location of your sources using that referencing style. If you do this as you perform the research, youll save yourself hours of time later on. Here are some research tips to get you started: RESEARCH STEP 1 * Form a list of keywords from your research papers working title * Use a thesaurus to find words that mean the same thing as your list of keywords RESEARCH STEP 2 Most students will begin researching using the Internet and indeed, this is a great way to get ideas for your research paper. So start with Google, type in your keywords and bookmark the most relevant information sites that appear in relation to the issue. Then identify all current matters that relate to your issue from those sites. Note: Internet websites provide a fast source of up-to-date information but unfortunately they are not a reliable source. Use a search of the web as a starting point but unless the website is hosted and edited by a reliable organization (such as the Government), dont rely on its contents as a source for your research paper. Find another means of verifying the information. RESEARCH STEP 3 Now youve identified a list of issues and current debates for your research paper, you need to find some quality source material. The first stage is to find the most recent books written about the issue youre researching. Whilst books are not as up-to-date as journals and articles, they will contain valid points-of-view that need to be considered. So where do you find books for your research paper? * Google Books this is a good place to start as it has several thousand books that have been scanned in, together with details and snippet views of those which havent been scanned in. * Amazon.com Amazon is a good source because you can see which books are being released, and their release date, as well as using search inside to look through the contents of many books (this latter service only works if you have placed an order before) * Questia Questia has thousands of books scanned in although you have to pay a small subscription fee. Your university may also provide you with access to a library and you can then search through their databases to find the most relevant and recent books for your research paper. The best way to scan whether a book is relevant to what youre writing about is to look through the index. Youll quickly see if theres anything useful in the book for your research paper. RESEARCH STEP 4 Now you have the latest books for your research paper, you need to start looking for journals. These really should be your main type of source material. Open University Web Resources is an excellent list of such journal databases, although youll need an ATHENS password to use some of them. Our favorite journal databases for consistently excellent and up-to-date content are: * ScienceDirect 2,000 peer-reviewed journals, books, handbooks etc * EBSCO- thousands of journals, millions of articles * Emerald- thousands of journals in management and library and information services, engineering, applied science and technology * Ingenta 4,500+ journals in all fields and a further 20,000 abstracts The latter source, Ingenta, gives you FREE access to the bibliography which is useful for your research paper even if you dont have an athens login. Locate articles relating to your subject and check out the bibliography for further reading which you might be able to locate online without passwords. You can sometimes obtain a free trial of these databases giving you temporary access. Also, the four websites also have a good number of journals that you do not need a subscription to view. These are often indicated by a special icon. For example (from Ingenta): RESEARCH STEP 5 There is one final type of source material you need to consider, and that is the news. If youre lucky enough to have an athens password, your first stop will be Lexis Professional (formerly known as LexisNexis Executive) which contains the full text of newspapers and other news sources worldwide; as well as company data, annual reports and business directory information from Disclosure, Extel, ICC, and Worldscope. If you dont have an athens password, any good news site will suffice US News, CNN etc. Of course, if you are researching an issue which affects another country, you should be looking at that countrys main news website. What you are looking for is any current developments that may affect the research for your paper. This may be statistics released by the Government, consultation papers, proposed changes in legislation, current developments or debates etc. Dont forget, newspapers are NOT a reliable source of information. You are using them to find information for your research paper but you should substantiate this information once you have found it. If it is reported that the Government has released some statistics, go and find those on the Government website. If a consultation paper has been released, go and find the paper and read it. Filtering the material for your research paper The five step research process reveals a lot of information for your research paper and youll need to filter it down, or youll have too much to analyses. This does, however, beg the question how many sources should you use? The answer to this depends on the level of your research paper. If it is an assignment for your degree, you should look at using roughly 9 quality sources per 2,500 words. If it is for some post-graduate course, you can easily double that. A professional research paper (for publication) might use 30-40 sources per 2,500 words. The emphasis in all cases, however, should be on quality and not on quantity. A good selection of research material from a variety of quality sources (i.e. not just books, not just journals, not just the internet and not just the news) is far better than a huge selection of research material from poor quality, unreliable sources of a similar type. To help filter the information you have found for your research paper, you are going to need to evaluate its quality. This involves a consideration of whether: * The source is a quality source -its reliable, dependable and highly likely to be accurate. * The source is unbiased watch newspapers which may have political views. Ask yourself if the writer has presented a balance argument, or has deliberately played down one side of the argument to prove his own personal views. * The source is relevant to your research does it specifically tie in with your working title? * You havent already got enough material to prove what this source proves if you aim to back up each of your arguments in your research paper with 2-3 pieces of evidence (for a very high quality paper) or at least 2 for a student paper, then you can filter out any material that is excessive of this. Creating an outline for your research paper A basic outline will look something like this: * Working title (as discussed previously) * Purpose this is a short statement to say what the paper is for. It helps people who are looking for research papers themselves to assess the relevancy of your research paper to their studies. Example purpose statement: This paper shows the number of people claiming benefits recorded as resident in each constituency in the United States in July 2008, together with comparisons with the levels in July 2007 and July 1997. This paper also presents residence-based unemployment rates for all constituencies in the United States. * Methodology this is a statement of how you will carry out your research. You have already done some secondary research but you may also wish to carry out primary research for your paper. Primary research (sometimes called empirical research) is research you carry out yourself and data that is produced as a result of this, which has never been published before. Primary research may be carried out through face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews, postal surveys, website surveys or focus/discussion groups. Be careful before carrying out research over the phone or through the post though some states allow people to restrict how they are contacted. Secondary research is the study of data that exists already such as books, journals, statistics, other research papers, websites, news reports, magazine articles etc. You have already carried out secondary research through the five step research process. So which research method is best for your research paper? Instinctively you may think that the primary data will provide the most interesting results. However, if your time and budget are both limited, do not be tempted to embark on a study. You will do far better analyzing existing studies than producing a low-quality study that is limited in its value due to the amount of time and finance you can devote to it. * Scope of research all research is going to be limited to certain factors. A paper on crime cannot investigate all types of crime, committed by all sexes, all ages, globally. So how are you going to limit your paper? What areas of the issue will you look at and which will you discard? Your statement of scope will be about 150-300 words long and explain exactly what you are going to cover in your research, and what you are going to leave out (usually with brief reasons). If you are carrying out primary research, you may want to set out the limitations of this here too. * Introduction this is where you set the scene for your reader. You explain what you are researching and why. You identify the issues you will be looking into and you say what you are going to prove. It is therefore a good idea to write this last, along with your final title! * Background/history this section of your research paper isnt essential but might be appropriate. You might want to explain the development of the issue and how particular matters have arisen. Dont bother unless it is necessary, to put the matter in context. * Body this section of your research paper will be broken up into sub-sections, each dealing with a particular sub-matter. Aim to present balanced evidence in each section on the points you wish to raise, and try not to reach any conclusions at this stage. The body is the body of your research, not the analysis. * Findings/Discussion heres where you analyze the research you have conducted and say how your findings are relevant to the issue. Its a very important section, without which you will have merely stated other peoples findings and opinions without contributing anything yourself. * Conclusion this section of your research paper returns to the introduction and stated aims, and spells out very clearly how you achieved them, referring to the points you have proved and the evidence you have used to prove it. It should not be repetitive but instead, it should summarize the results of your research. You should also ensure no new material is introduced at this stage if you have new material for your research paper, put it in the body and findings sections. * Recommendations this section of your research paper is very much optional and will depend on whether such a section would be appropriate for the subject you are studying. Law research papers almost always will include recommendations. What sort of recommendations should you make? These might include: * How policies/the law/practice should be changed, based on your findings * What further research must be carried out before making any sensible recommendations. Your recommendations must actually relate to what you have established in your research paper. You cannot randomly introduce things at this stage that you think might be useful. They must be logical recommendations, based on your research and analysis, and they should follow on from the conclusion. Now you have written out an outline for your research paper, you will literally be able to fill in the blanks and your paper should evolve and progress naturally, following the headings you have chosen. Keep referring back to your working title as you write, as well as to your methodology and scope. This should limit you to material that is most relevant and ensure you dont include excessive, unnecessary points. Finishing your research paper Now youve written up your research paper, youll need to do a little editing and proofreading to ensure the finished product achieves the grade youre looking for. This includes: * Weeding out any unnecessary material. Evaluate what you have written and whether it is needed, keeping the methodology, scope and working title in mind * Proofreading your research paper. Read it out loud, have someone else read it for you, run a spell check, run a grammar check go over the paper several times and make sure you havent made any errors. There are often extra marks for students in respect of presentation. * Checking your referencing. Every source should be properly referenced. Quotations should be in quotation marks. Your work should contain a full list of references and a bibliography. References are sources you actually cite in your work whereas the bibliography includes sources which you may have read, and may have influenced your writing, but you havent specifically cited.