Historic Preservation and Environmental Conservation Essay

The preservation of historic sites and other historic artifacts is said to be significant if a society or a community values its heritage that paved the way to how far the society has reached. Historic preservation implies raising the public’s awareness regarding historical objects so as to ensure that these objects will be well taken care of through time. It is not only that these historic objects serve the purpose of reminding the public of their history and from where their society came from long before the present generation existed. It is also that these objects of historical value serve the purpose of providing an insight into the past which could very well contribute to the knowledge of the larger society, teaching lessons and principles from the past that still apply in contemporary times. As Donovan Rypkema explains, historic preservation â€Å"revitalizes and revalues the nearby existing investment of both the public and private sectors (1999, March). † However, there are criticisms against the purposes from which historic preservation is founded. For the most part, preserving large infrastructures that no longer meet the modern architectural standards faces the challenge of justifying the preservation of such historic architectures especially when health hazards to the general public are involved. Another consideration is when historic objects take a huge chunk of finances in maintaining their conditions through decades, if not centuries. While it is certainly convincing to say that the preservation of objects and landmarks that share a sizeable history of a community or a society is important, there remains the challenge of allocating the proper finances and other resources in order to address the task of preserving such objects through time. Moreover, the external conditions which are beyond the control of humanity such as the various forces of weather pose significant threats to the preservation of historical objects which further increase the allocated resources required to fulfill the task of preserving such objects. Nevertheless, the thought that historic preservation might demand for a huge share of resources while risking the health of the public to a certain extent does not necessarily entail that the task of preservation should be abandoned quite easily. Efforts to weigh and mitigate the competing public interests are equally paramount in order to bring about a shared sense for history. That goal can be done in various ways, from legislative efforts in the government to the collaboration of the government sphere with the sphere of private individuals and organizations. Historic preservation can overlap with environmental conservation precisely because these two things are interconnected in some areas. For instance, an effort to hinder the demolition of an ancient landmark to give way for the construction of a modern edifice is connected with the preservation of the natural resources surrounding the landmark. On the other hand, an effort to conserve the remaining flora and fauna in a tropical region can help in securing the area’s present condition which can give way to the preservation of the cultural heritage of the people whose ancestors have lived in the area many years back. In essence, any attempt to preserve history has a corresponding effect on the conservation of what remains of the environment and vice versa. In a more general sense, preserving historic sites and objects creates an impact on the demand of human beings on the resources of the world. That is, as old buildings and other significant landmarks are destroyed and are replaced with new structures, the environment surrounding the area is altered. Especially in cases where the historic landmark that is to be destroyed is situated in an environment teeming with natural resources such as trees and wildlife which local folks depend on for their daily needs to live, destroying the site will also alter the ecological footprint of these people in certain cases. Connecting Historical Preservation and the Environment Conservation The preservation of history and the conservation of the environment come hand in hand in many ways, one of which is the case where the demolition of an existing historic landmark so as to give space for a new building to be constructed requires the alteration of the current geographic and environmental location of the landmark. For example, the historic landmark may be a 19th century railway station which has been used until the beginning of the 21st century in America. The historic value of the railway station may come from the fact that it was the means of long-distance transportation of the people during those times, and that it was the first of its kind in the whole world. It may also come from the fact that the railway station is one which symbolized the beginning of the era of American interstate transportation, and that the landmark was built from the rising demands for an effective and efficient way of providing a cheaper transportation system in America. It may also come from the fact that the landmark has been built by the local people and, thus, the railway station stands as the concrete proof, literally and figuratively, of the common desires of the people and of the unity of the public consciousness during those times. With those things in mind, it can then be said that the railway station’s historic value justifies its preservation. If the landmark is to be destroyed, a portion of American history will vanish with it and that those who labored for its realization after years and years of work will soon just become another page in history books never to be seen firsthand by the generations to come. The part where the environmental conservation aspect comes in is the part where the actual demolition of the landmark transpires. The mere fact that in order to build a new edifice right on the spot where the railway station is built implies that the railway station has to be demolished. Architectural and engineering considerations oftentimes require not only a major altering of the exact location where the landmark is situated but also an altering of the vicinity around the landmark which in this example is the railway station. In the process of demolishing the old structure and building a new one in place of it, trees might be cut down, fertile topsoil might need to be excavated and replaced with cement, and wild animals might be driven away from their habitat just to name a few. Moreover, the debris and other wastes resulting from the demolition of historic infrastructures poses threats to the environment (The Greenest Building). However, if the historic site is retained and the goal of establishing a new edifice in its place is abandoned, there will be no need to cut the trees, to dig the fertile topsoil and to drive away wildlife from their dwelling place. In the end, the status quo of the environment around the old railway station is maintained and, thus, there will be no ecological concerns. Ecological Footprint First used by William Rees and Mathis Wackernagel in the early 1990s, the concept of â€Å"ecological footprint† involves the measurement of the demand of human beings over the ecosystems of the planet. With the planet’s capacity to regenerate its land and water resources, ecological footprint compares the consumption of natural resources with that capacity. Moreover, if all human beings lived a given lifestyle, then it is possible to know exactly how much human demand is being provided for by the planet’s ecosystem through its numerous natural resources in order to support humanity’s existence. Does historic preservation have an effect on one’s ecological footprint? Apparently, there is no easy answer to this question simply because it is not always the case that historic preservation affects one’s ecological footprint. Neither is it always the case that historic preservation does not affect one’s ecological footprint. Simply put, historic preservation may or may not entirely affect one’s ecological footprint depending on the circumstances. The calculation of the ecological footprint for areas with dense population, for instance, is said to lead to the perception that such populations are â€Å"parasitic† because small cities or countries with a huge population have little internal capacity to generate and regenerate its biological resources especially biological resources on the land to provide for its large population. Moreover, the ecological footprint would indicate that these small cities and countries might depend on the hinterlands just to meet the demands for natural resources for its dense population. Since historic preservation basically involves the preservation of historic sites and the objects that may be found in these sites, cities such as the first-class and heavily industrialized ones with historic sites may choose to demolish such sites in order to put commercial infrastructures in its place. And since these cities already depend largely on the hinterlands for its needs of natural resources, there will be a very minimal effect, if not a negligible one, on the ecological footprint of the whole city. There are instances, however, where historic preservation directly affects the ecological footprints of certain groups of people or certain societies. In the case of the people living in the hinterlands and where there are several historical sites which have been left untouched for several years by commercial or business ventures, the obliteration of local historic landmarks such as famous barns and classic farmhouses built in earlier times would alter the current state of the environment. For instance, removing the barns and farmhouses in order to give way to the construction of a new highway affects the production capacity of the locality in making use of the natural resources. Moreover, the construction of a new highway makes the lands in the hinterlands more accessible for capitalist ventures such as the creation of houses and other commercial infrastructures—like wood gathering facilities—in place of the barns and farms. These things would eventually lessen the natural resources available in the land while increasing the size of the population of the locality at the same time. Thus, the failure to preserve historic sites in the hinterlands, for instance, causes the alteration of the consumption rate of the natural resources by the hinterland’s population of both wildlife and the people. This in turn leads to an alteration in the capacity of the ecosystem in the hinterland to generate and regenerate its natural resources since an increase in the demand of resources such as land, water, plants and other animals and a decrease in the locations where the ecosystem can continue to regenerate its resources distorts the balance between the supply and demand for such resources. The hinterlands or the wilderness truly indeed have benefits, specifically from providing critical habitat for endangered animals to maintaining the important biological diversity (Wilderness Society, 2004, p. 1) In essence, the extent of the influence of historic preservation on the ecological footprint of a given population depends on whether or not the population lives in small cities or countries that rely on the resources found outside of their immediate territories to supply their population’s demands. A small city with a dense population that primarily depends on its neighboring hinterlands in meeting its needs for resources may not be directly and largely affected either by the failure or the success of efforts to preserve historic sites situated within its boundaries. On the other hand, a small town with a dense population that largely depends on its internal natural resources and barely depends on the resources coming from other towns will be greatly affected by the demolition of historic landmarks found at its vicinity. The removal of such landmarks for the intent of expanding the commercialization of the town will decrease the natural resources available and, thus, decreasing the resources that would have been regenerated by the town’s ecosystem. Depending on the existing demands, the size of the population and the location of historical sites, historic preservation may nonetheless affect ecological footprints. Demand and supply Conventional wisdom reveals that a high demand for natural resources requires a high supply of those resources as well. The interconnection between historical preservation and environmental conservation is further highlighted with the connection between the demand for resources and nature’s supply of resources. As more heritage sites and cultural landmarks are destroyed in order to give way to the construction of more modern buildings and sites, and while more farmlands are being transformed into residential and commercial areas, the supply of natural resources continue to dwindle. This is because the ecological footprint would reveal how the ecosystem is continuously losing the resources to generate and regenerate, outpaced largely by human consumption. On another note, the demand for knowledge about the heritage and history of peoples and societies is always present whereas the supply of the original sources of such history and heritage is on the decline. For instance, constant looting of ancient tombs in Egypt brings a decline in the artifacts which can be used for further investigative study and research on Egypt’s rich history. As a result, knowledge that could have been eventually derived from such artifacts never gets to reach the awareness of the public. Nevertheless, there are current efforts to preserve what is left of the Egyptian tombs and other important historical sites in Egypt (Aslan, 2007). Historic preservation and environmental conservation are two important factors in the existence of mankind. They not only give the people a sense of history and an attachment to the biosphere—more importantly, both things also give the people a sense of responsibility over the things that provide them sustenance to their physical and mental lives. While the preservation of historical objects and the conservation of the environment are tasks that require concerted efforts and a huge volume of tasks to be completed, the benefits at the end of it all far outweigh the challenges that may stand against the way of humanity. References Aslan, R. (2007). Rescuing Cairo’s Lost Heritage. Islamica Magazine, 15. Rypkema, D. (1999, March). Historic Preservation is Smart Growth. Speech presented at National Audubon Society of New York s Conference on Smart Growth, New York. The Greenest Building (2008). The Greenest Building is the One Already Built. Retrieved July 31, 2008, from < http://www. thegreenestbuilding. org/> Wilderness Society (2004). FACTS: National Wilderness Protection System: 1.

IMC Plan Essay

Executive summary The strategy of this IMC plan is to extend Abercrombie & Fitch target audience, young generation, to the senior segment; the reason by doing this strategy is because there are more potential customer that haven’t been discover yet, so if we can reach to those people, the brand can expand its market and gain more profit. Furthermore, the current image that A&F holds in people mind might be a brand that provides casual luxury products or a brand that is only for young people, but if the brand can have the opportunity to upgrade its image to compare with those high-end brands, the brand value will increase dramatically. And so by, we must add the element of maturity into our brand image and appeal senior customer to purchase our product. In order to carry out this strategy, this IMC plan will use different marketing communication tools such as product placement, event marketing, advertising and public relationship to accomplish this goal. Eventually, after execute this new strategy for A&F, more and more senior will consider A&F is a brand not just for teens but also for them. Business situation review * Brand introduction: Abercrombie & Fitch, also known as A&F, is a renowned worldwide fashion brand that provides people the sense of causal luxury; it has a variety of product from the shoes that you wear on foot to the hat wear on the top, even fragrance and those exquisite accessories you can buy one at the store as well. Nowadays, A&F has more than 300 branches within the U.S, and several stores around the world. The reason why A&F is so popular recently is because the style of the product is unique and modern; furthermore, the products also possess high quality as well. Additionally, another reason that A&F has such high popularity is because the affordable price, take the T-shit for instance, the average price is 25 to 30 dollars, if we compare A&F to those famous brand such as Armani, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, we can find out the price that A&F stands is much friendly than the others. * Target market: The main market of A&F is target at those young adults, from the age 18 to 25, different nationalities, color and characteristic, and those people who love fancy stuff but can’t afford extremely expensive brand. One of the things that A&F attract people is the image that displays the personality of vivid, young but a great sense of mature. Many people might consider a brand that is for young population as premature, the massage that, however, convey from A&F is the sense of fashion and the high-class feeling. Furthermore, due to the affordable price, young adult Can have the ability to buy such a brand that provides the sense of fashion and distinguish themselves among others. * Competitive Among the retail-clothing industry, there are various of brand that possess almost the same brand image as A&F, but the reason why A&F still can distinguish from those brand is because the unique brand equity that it stands. Therefore, although there are some attributes that similar with A&F, we still can scrutinize into those nuance and seek out some different between each others, and that’s quite important to execute before doing our own IMC plan. Therefore, those brand listed below are similar with A&F, and all in the same category. 1. H&M H&M (Hennes & Mauritz AB) is an international fashion brand, which comes from Swedish. The target market of H&M is for men, women, teenagers and children, and those people who love fashion products. The feature of this retail-clothing company is to provide fast-produce product that provides consumer the fast pace of trend, it means that the time from the design process to the product been displayed in the store is short. Because of that, consumer can enjoy those fashion products at the very first hand. The company has more than two thousand chain store around the world. Meanwhile, H&M often co-branding with other fashion designer such as MARNI, VERSACEï ¼Å' LANVINï ¼Å'JIMMY CHOOï ¼Å'ROBERTO CAVALLI, etc. This strategy makes the product more valuable than before, and triggers the collecting enthusiasm among those consumers. 2. ZARA ZARA is one of the most famous fast-fashion brands in the world now, it owns by Inditex Group, a giant Spanish closing retail company. The company claims it only takes two week from producing a new product to any chain store. One of the marketing strategies that ZARA possess is that they don’t execute any commercial advertisement, instead of doing that; they transfer the capital to set up another branch. The target audience is those people prefer enjoying fast pace fashion product, and want to be distinguishes from other people. 3. Forever 21 Forever 21 is a fashion brand that from the U.S., and it has many branches in major cities around the world. The brand offers trendy clothing and accessories to those people who love exquisite product, especially the female market. The price position that the brand stands is quite friendly compare with those high-end fashion brands such as Armani, Gucci, LV, etc. 4. GAP GAP is a brand that owned by The Gap, Inc., an American clothing and accessories retailer. The target market that the brand focus at the first place is only on blue jeans and T-shit, but later the brand expands its product category to suit the needs of men, women and children. The personality of GAP is more general than those others brand such as H&F, A&F, Forever 21, and the spectrum of age for using GAP’s product is much broader as well. * SWOT analysis for A&F STRENGTHS: 1. Acceptable price The price strategy is a very essential factor that determines the brand position. One thing that makes A&F so popular is the affordable price; more people can enjoy certain level of luxury or fashion based on a friendly price. Because of the affordable price, fashion is not a privilege hold by those rich people. Take the price of a pair of jeans for instance; compare with a 190 dollars jean that DIESEL sale, the price of the jeans that A&F is only around 70 dollars. Therefore, the friendly price is a factor that can strengthen this brand, and make more people interest in it. 2. Specific market audience Abercrombie & Fitch creates a very specific target segment that helps the brand to focus on certain consume. The target audience consists of various people, but the most important factor is all about the young generation. Meanwhile, due to the specific marketing segment, the brand can come out with more specific strategy that makes them easier to reach through the consumer. 3. Strong distribution strategy There are several ways for A&F to distribute its product; the first one is the brick and mortar store, such as those stores inside Macy’s. Second, the consumer can purchase the product online due to its own online store, allowing those busy people to shop instead going to the store. Meanwhile, some times there are some special promotion only carries out on the online store. 4. Unique atmosphere for shopping in store The atmosphere within the store provides consumer a really pleasant circumstance to shop, moreover, the unique decoration and the aura makes the brand distinguish from the others. 5. Stylish design The image that shows on A&F’s product is simple but stylish. However, maybe there are fewer picture or character on the product, but the design that shows on all product convey a sense of modern and fashion, and that’s the reason so many people get appeal on this amazing brand. WEAKNESS: 1. Few branch chain store in the Asia and Europe market The number of the chain store within Asia and Europe market is way below the number in the U.S. First of all, during the past ten years, the closing market in Asia has growing extremely, and due to A&F is an international fashion brand, the distribution strategy should emphasize on this booming area more in order to generate more profit and enhance the brand awareness and loyalty. Furthermore, when talk to fashion; the first place that pops out in your mind will definitely be Europe, such as London, Milan, Paris, etc. Thus, in order to strengthen A&F fashion image, letting more people aware of this brand is necessary. 2. Provoking image In order to make the advertisement more attractable; A&F usually use the idea of sex to appeal consumer. Lots of advertisement or picture imply some kind of sexual implication that some times makes people feel unpleasant especially those conservative. 3. Untruthful information via on-line advertising When A&F is doing some kind of promotion via the on-line store, some time the information is not clear and not congruent with the information that they promoted in the brick and mortar store. 4. Similar design concept with the competitor Some time is a little bit hard to distinguish A&F’s product from those competitor, not because the design but also the attributes of the brans parity, especially when the target audience is similar with each other THREATS: 1. Losing senior market Because the target market that A&F holds is focus on the young generation, therefore, senior might not consider A&F as the brand when they want to shop for garment. 2. Generate negative brand image The advertisement that A&F usually conduct is by using sexual appeals to attract people, or using macho male or sexy female to enamor consumer. This, however, tactic might creates some negative feeling among the brand, the consumer; especially those parents might deems A&F as a bran which is not ethical. 3. Losing market share due to brand parity There are several brands that possess similar product or design with A&F. Therefore, how to distinguish each other will be the most important things that the brand needs to take into consider. Otherwise, the consumer can’t recognize the difference between A&F and the others. 4. Losing market share due to few chain store oversea There are over 300 stores within the U.S, but just couple branches in the international market. In comparison with A&F, many brand expand their chain store all over the world, letting more people enjoy the pleasure of shopping their products, such as H&M, ZARA, GAP, etc. The sake of setting branches around the world is not just generate company’s revenue but also build up brand awareness in people’s mind, forcing people to familiar with the brand image and strengthen the brand loyalty. OPPORTUNITIES: There are many possible opportunities that A&F can deal with, and each opportunity can set up different positive consequence that will provides somewhat benefit to A&F and give the brand various direction to manage their strategy and fulfill the mission they possess such as adding the â€Å"Green† concept to the product, offer free modification among all pants, enhance the on-line system that gives more access for customer to shop or some special event like Issuing limited products. However, within this IMC plan for Abercrombie & Fitch, the main idea that I want to express the most is the target market exist some certain possibility to generate more profit or brand awareness by playing more attention on those seniors. Based upon this idea, there are several opportunities that we can follow: 1. Make A&F more suitable to senior by redesign the products The reason that redesign the product can appeal more senior customer is due to the style or graphic that display on the product might be deemed premature by those senior. Therefore, if the brand can place more effort on designing the right style senior likes, the brand can expand its target market to a higher level. 2. Change the stereotype that A&F is a brand for young generation In the mind of people who love fashion product, A&F always be considered as a brand for young people, not because the product itself, but also the image that the commercial present to the public. Thus, A&F should dedicate more on the image, the image that convey more maturity. As a result, it will attract more senior customer to purchase A&F’s product. 3. Positioning A&F as a brand to senior Abercrombie & Fitch can be the brand that provides not just the casual feeling but also the high level of exquisite perception. Expanding the product category to more mature product might be a way to strengthen the image of maturity. Meanwhile, A&F can make itself be seemed as the level of those high level fashion brand such as Gucci, LV, PRADA, etc. This move will give the massage to the consumer that A&F can also suit the need of their desire for the product that is fashion and also possess the personality of mature. Marketing objective According to the 2010 Form 10-k, Abercrombie & Fitch Co. provided by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the revenue of A&F is $ 3.469 billion, and it’s getting better compare with those previous years. In order to, however, make the company generate more profit and brand loyalty, we must scrutinize into those potential opportunities and carry out the best one, therefore, the marketing objective within this IMC plan is that Abercrombie & Fitch will increase the revenue and develop more potential customer from expand the target market which is from the young generation to those senior consumer, by three years later. As we know, the target customer for A&F is focus on those young generations, especially from the age 18 to 25. Thus, by extending the target audience, A&F can attract more potential customer and gain more profit. 1. Product Within this IMC plan, we are not selling any particular products or item but rather the brand or any products that associated with A&F. The idea of this plan is to expand the age segment in order to attract more senior customer than before. Therefore, how to make the products appealed to those older customers is the concept that me need to take into account, in addition, putting more mature element in the design process will give the final product a sense of maturity and a bit more fashion. Thus, the marketing objective at this part will be adding more mature flavor to the product and strengthen the product image to a high level that indicate the sense of maturity. After the fulfillment of this objective, Abercrombie & Fitch will not just the brand only focus on young people but also justify the reason why the brand suit the senior as well. 2. Price Sometimes the price is the hardest part to decide in the process of setting objectives. Different brand price range from cheap to outrageous high, one of the reason that why A&F is so popular is due to the affordable price, the price that most of the people can afford it. However, affordable price is not equal with the normal quality, adding value to the price, make the price value beyond the price itself. There is several ways to accomplish this concept such as providing a higher quality of customer service in order to enhance the relationship between both sides, or strengthen the brand image by making people believe A&F is a brand that provides high quality merchandise. Eventually, the goal is to convince consumer the value of the price is way beyond the actual one. 3. Place Most of the time when shopping in the store, it’s obviously that the majority of customers are teenager, and one of the reason might be the environment is designed to attract the target market (young people), therefore, all the decoration or the aura inside the store is more like a young generation style, such as the picture on the wall usually are those macho men and sexy female; the perfume inside the store is so strong that you can smell it after you leave the store and the light is a little bit gloomy that some time make people feel dizzy. As a result, all the reason that I mentioned above might be the causes that hesitate senior to shop in the store. Therefore, the marketing object of this part is to create a better and comfortable environment for senior. Meanwhile, it’s important not just to provide a suitable circumstance to shop but also an understandable way to reach through. 4. Promotion One of the problem that we need to solve with the promotion is to break through the generation gap, this gap might seems nothing seemingly, but it sure does matter the way that the promotion take place. The reason that I mention it is because the way senior see through the promotion process is totally different than young people, therefore, the marketing objective is to concentrate on the meaning of the promotion, providing information that will attract senior customer to the store and also form the knowledge that A&F is a brand not just for kids but also for adult. As a result, by using the proper promotion, A&F can attract more people to generate more reputation, and boost the revenue as well. The central strategic idea Among those fashion brands, A&F is the one that focus on the casual luxury segment, many people willing to buy its product due to the quality product and the fashion brand image, because of that, A&F become one of the most popular apparel brand among the world nowadays. However, when talking about the position that A&F stands, most of the people will consider A&F as a brand that only suit for young people, most of the product that display in the store are hoody, T-shirt or jeans, those product usually deem as for children, but that is only the stereotype among all of us, if A&F can attract more people that is older to purchase the product, the image will eventually change, and the brand will be widely consider as a mature brand such as Ralph Lauran, Tommy or Calvin Klein. As far as I’m concerned, the reason why I think expand the target market from young people to senior is a proper strategy for Abercrombie & Fitch is because there still exist a great amount of potential custo mer that can bring a huge profit to A&F; having a bunch of young loyalty customer is not enough, the best way to build up a phenomenal reputation is to provide service to both junior and senior, make the brand broadly acceptable. Furthermore, when talk to those renowned brands such as LV, Gucci, Armani, we won’t consider them as a premature brand or a bran that is only suit for young generation or some certain group but a brand that provides high quality of exquisite product. The purpose of this strategic idea is not putting Abercrombie & Fitch at the same position as those fashion brands that I mentioned above. The reason of this strategy is to elevate the brand to a higher level that provide the mature feeling that can attract senior customer, meanwhile, when more and more senior customer enjoy A&F’s products, the brand image will become more solid and convince people that A&F is a brand that not only suit for teens but also for adults. However, before starting this strategic idea, there are several thing that we need to reconsider, such as the communication situation, how’s the current communication channel looks like? What’s the tactic that Abercrombie & Fitch utilized to reach through customer? Is the current tactic suit for our new customer? Those questions are the one we need to elaborated, and come out with a more specific plan that can appeal more people, especially senior, to purchase our product. Furthermore, we have to redefine our customer, make sure me know the attributes of their shopping behavior or even the style that those senior prefer, this effort will give us the knowledge to know our customer deeper and better. Communication situation analysis According to this strategic plan for Abercrombie &Fitch, the main problem for senior to shop for A&F’s product is the wrong cognition that the brand is only suit for young people, and because of this reason, most of the senior will rather choice other brand that will provides them the sense of maturity and possess the fashion feeling at the same time. Therefore, based on this obstacle, we need to convey the right information to the right person. Thus, the information must be via the right channel and the massage must be tailor to match what seniors needs. Nowadays, most of the information exposed through different media, and it’s easy for people to see. However, there is no such a No.1 option, different media has its own function, it can’t just apply to every one’s need. For A&F, we can grab the message from various ways, such as the commercial lunched on the TV, the picture issued inside the magazines, the image display on the giant billboard, the store that we shop on-line or even the massage within the store. Those channels all can make a very well impression on us; therefore, the detail inside those channels will be the key factor to change people’s attitude. Take the magazine for example, in order to appeal senior customer, the picture inside the magazine can’t just use young people as model, it has to show some grownup that is mature enough to bring out the specific feeling. Target audience analysis When speak to Abercrombie & Fitch, the first image or feeling that pop out consumers’ mind is the perception of vitality and youth, thus, the target audience for A&F is focus on those young generations from the age18 to 25. Meanwhile, except the age, there are several attributes that possessed by those people, such as the tendency of collecting fashion products, or owning the ability to purchase fashion items to make themselves looks better. However, based upon the new marketing strategy, the final goal is to extend the age segment and bring more senior customer to this market, therefore, the new target audience among this marketing plan is the age from 30 to 50 and possess the following characteristics: 1. Self-Independent on the economic status Generally speaking, most of the young customers can’t afford to purchase a great amount of products at the same time because they are not self-independent on the economic status; they still rely on parents’ income to supply their daily cost, and subject to parents’ order. However, if the target audience is focus on those seniors who have a greater power of consumption than those youth, they can purchase more products and make the purchase decision by their own. Moreover, due to this customer characteristic, there will be more consumption either inside the store or the on-line purchase, and the revenue will have a sharp increase as well. 2. Live in the urban area There are several good parts that benefits the customer that live in the urban area, the first one is the people can have more access to purchase A&F’s product. Although the Internet is so popular now, we can even purchase the product at the on-line store just for a click, but we still can’t have the virtual contact with the products. For customers, sometime is better for them to see the product by itself and give the product a try to make sure whether the item fits the person or not. Furthermore, most of the population lives in the urban area, and the majority of A&F’s store locates at the central of the city. Therefore, the people lives in the city can have more opportunity and convenience to reach its products. Second, the latest trend and fashion info often starts from the urban area; the people lives inside the city can gain the first-hand information about the latest fashion trend. 3. Care about personal image No matter male or female, the target audience must have somewhat narcissism in her or his personality. They believe that wearing good-looking cloth and the right brand can creates the sense of confidence, and that’s the reason why they choice A&F to be the brand they want. 4. Interesting in the fashion domain People who love fashion tend to pay more focus on the apparel industry, because there is a strong connection between each other. Every time there is a new product release or a product co-branding with a famous designer, the person will follow the news and try to participate in the event, and there’s a high percentage that the person will purchase the product. Positioning strategy analysis Positioning Statement: Among all the people from age 30 to 50, who love fashion products and enjoy wearing casual luxury apparel (Target audience) Abercrombie & Fitch (Product/Service name) Is one of the most famous causal-luxury apparel brands in the fashion industry (Competitive set) That performs confidence, vitality and uniqueness to customer (Benefits proposition) Because of the high quality product and the stylish design (Product support) 1. Target audience In the positioning statement, the target audience is not just for those young people but also focus more on the senior market. Based on the Strategic idea of this IMC plan, the perfect age group is from 30 to 50, because they possess several preponderance such as having a job and a more stable income than those young people, thus, they have more opportunity to purchase A&F’s products. Moreover, seniors usually have a better taste on closing than juniors, therefore, if A&F can make those seniors become its loyalty customer, it can transfer the image that the brand is not just for young people but also for those mature adults. 2. Product/Service name According to this IMC plan, there are no specific products that the company wants to promote or use as a strategy to boost the sale. Our mission is to promote Abercrombie &Fitch ‘s name and appeal senior customer to use our product. Therefore, the goal of this plan is to redress the image and promote the concept that the bran is more likely for senior. 3. Competitive set For Abercrombie & Fitch, our competitive set is not just in the apparel business, but also the whole fashion industry. The products for A&F are miscellaneous, so that’s the reason why A&F can compete with different kinds of fashion brands. Furthermore, because the brand has already well known by the public, so they don’t have to put extra effort on creating brand awareness. 4. Benefits proposition The people who wear A&F cloth or use any of its products can feel a sense of fashion and confidence due to its unique position in the market. The feeling that elicit from the product can be somewhat energetic and mature, and that’s the feeling, which appeal to most of the consumer to purchase its product. Meanwhile, based on the new strategy, we want customers to have a different experience than before by means of a much mature image that can persuade senior to get involve in it. 5. Product support The reason why A&F is so popular around the word is because the stylish design and the unique image that convey to the world. Those apparels or products that design by A&F are usually simple but modern; there is no fancy figure or glary color on it. Therefore, the brand is easy to distinguished from the other competitors, and also that’s the reason why I think the strategy to expand the age segment to a higher level is feasible, because usually the more simple trait that the product possess, the more easy for the product to be considered mature, and that’s the thing our new potential customer wants. Communication objectives and strategies Although there are various brands within the fashion industry, different people choice the brand that suit them the most, sometime is based on status, some time is based on personal taste; however, the reason why so many people, especially teenagers, appealed by A&F is owing to its stylish design and vigorous image. However, the problem of this IMC plan is how to get seniors involve in this brand and turn them to up hold A&F’s products. Thus, the communication object is to send the massage to the target audience and boost the revenue by convincing people that the brand is not just for teens but also will be the best choice for seniors to purchase when they need closing. In order to accomplish the communication objective, there are several strategies that listed below: 1. To create a suitable environment for senior to visit A&F stores In order to fulfill this strategy, we must conduct some research to realize what’s the key element that triggers senior to shop and what’s the condition that make them feel comfortable while they doing purchase. The reason for doing this strategy is because the current environment is designed to attract young consumer, therefore, in order to attract senior customer, the company must figure out the best shopping environment to appeal them to come. 2. Promote the idea that Abercrombie & Fitch is a brand for senior Refresh the original image of A&F and put the sense of maturity into the brand whereby senior feels like this special brand is for them. In order to execute this strategy, we must use different marketing tools and various mediums to accomplish this mission. More details will be illustrated in the last part of this IMC plan. 3. Move Abercrombie & Fitch’s image up to those high-end fashion brand such as Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauran. The purpose of this strategy is to let people build the connection for A&F to those high-end brands in order to increase the brand value. By strengthen the brand value, more people, especially senior, will consider A&F as a phenomenal brand to purchase. Program of tactics and executions With regard to this IMC plan, there are various tools to accomplish this mission; different tactic has its own advantage so we need to slice them together then maximize the great amount of benefit from it. There are so many disciplines such as advertising, personal selling, PR, etc. Therefore, sometimes we just can’t use them all; we have to select some of the most effective ways to conduct the strategy that we came out with. And so by, according to this plan, several tactics will be elaborated in the following paragraph: 1. Product placement The reason why this alternative marketing tactic is a great choice for this strategy is because by using this method, not just the product of A &F can expose to the customer but also the image. When the products display inside a movie or commercial, the audience will have a chance to see and have the perception of it. Meanwhile, this tactic has been so popular for quite a long time and most of the company considers this tactic as a great ways to promote their brand or product, so the potential influence on customer is quite huge. Therefore, based on our strategy, we will expose our product or our brand image to the public, but we need to place it in the right place and person. We will execute our plan by putting A&F’s products or logo on senior who take part in the movie or commercial, the reason why we are doing this is because we want the customer who is in front of the TV or computer to deem the brand is looking good on those people. Generally, we seldom saw A & F’s product wearing on senior among any program, so that’s the notion we want to convey to people. Furthermore, in order to illustrate more specifically, we will choice certain people or program to expose our brand image, take the actor for instance, when choosing the people to wear our product, we might consider senior more than young guys, the actor such as Gorge Clooney or Sarah Jessica Parker will be the best candidate for translate the new image of maturity to people. In addition, we must pick the right movie or TV program to place our brand into it, because some time if the movie or program is for teens or children, the purpose of this action will be not successfully accomplished. 2. Advertising There are various ways in advertising, each of one has it own advantage, however, in this case, there will be only few channel that appropriate to accomplish this goal, such as: * Television In nowadays, people can get a slew of information from TV, and it is also the best way to create awareness. According to this channel, the best way to convey the information that the brans is not only suit for young people but also adults as well is to launch a commercial that carry the image of senior wearing A &F product and shows how confidence they can be just because the brand can bring the sense of fashion and maturity. When people, especially seniors, see the commercial frequently, they will gradually change the original brand image in their mind. * Magazine There are tons of different magazine in the field now and it has possess several advantage such as high marketing segment, longer attention to ads, high color quality, etc. We, however, can’t put our advertisement in all of them, we must be specific, choosing the right one that can reach the right person, therefore, according to the strategy, the target magazine will definitely be those fashion one such as Elle, Ebony, Vogue, People and FHM. Furthermore, in order to promote the perception of mature and professional, those famous magazine such as TIME, Economist, ADWEEK will also be taken into consider. Take TIME for example; in order to give the audience an explicit impression, we might consider buying a whole page for our ad, thus, once the reader start to read, the image of our brand will unfold in front of them. * Outdoor The place that can display the ads are not just in the TV or magazine, there are many places we can use in the public area to show our brand image and product advertisement, such as the giant billboard out side, the bus stop next to your house, even on the public transportation can have a space to make advertising. Therefore, we will display our brand image in those places that people gather the most; make sure our exposure can reach people as much as possible. To make this tactic more specific, A &F will runs this method by putting out senior celebrity image such as Gorge Clooney; the image of him will mostly convince people that A&F is a brand that fits on senior and it looks good as well. 3. Public Relations In the tactic of PR, our goal is to build the right image we want, and let people feel positive that this new brand image is positive. Therefore, by using all the tools of PR such as the news release, annual report, news conference etc. we want people to know the brand is extending its image to a higher level, and will provides customer a better feeling that will appeals to those senior customer. To execute this strategy by using PR, we might have to combine different tactic to maximize the outcome. For instance, in order to spread the new image out, we might need to set up some event or co-branding with the others. And so by, we might need to set up a news conference or launch a press release to run our story to the public. In addition, one of the functions of PR is to create positive image and strengthen company’s reputation, so by sponsoring special event such as the Oscar ceremony, LPG golf tour and the Grand slam series; the image of A&F will be seen not just a brand that provides causal luxury apparel, but also a brand that possess high-end perception and the sense of maturity. Furthermore, in order to let people understand the reason why the company comes up with this idea, and to convince senior to use its product; the company can release some article that is relevant to this topic, getting people familiar with the new idea. 4. Celebrity Endorsement By using well-known people to promote its product can make the brand image more clear and gain more attention. In order to make our brand shine and bright among the public, the company is imperative to choose the right person for endorse its product, several condition such as the person need to have a positive image that well accepted by the public, the person’s personality needs to match with the brand or the product; otherwise, people will think the brand has no connection with the person, and that will make the credibility decline. So, in order to fulfill the condition and match the strategy we set up, we will invite celebrity such as Gorge Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Robert Downey Jr. to be our spokesman; and by using their mature charisma, more people will convert their first image of A&F and turn in to the perception as the strategy we wanted. 5. Event marketing In order to promote the strategy and boost the sale, we can create several events to accomplish this goal; more detail will be elaborated in the following paragraph: * The â€Å"A† membership To create loyalty customer and reward them for their purchase, we will conduct a membership program that give them the benefit as a return. The program will run first with applying our membership card and join the A&F club; after applying, every time when they purchase a certain amount of money, they can get some credit, and after collecting enough credit, the person can enjoy a perpetual 30% discount on every purchase afterward. Moreover, the person who gets a perpetual membership can receive a 100 dollars gift card on his or her every birthday. * The â€Å" I want to fly fashion† event In order to strengthen the function of our perpetual membership, we will co-brand with United Airline and American Express; every time when you take a flight with United Airline or purchase product from A&F by using American Express, the person can receive bonus from it, and can use the bonus to purchase flight ticket or products within A &F store. Conclusion Nowadays, Abercrombie & Fitch is one of the most famous fashion brand in the world, the brand has it own unique image and special value, the trend of buying its product is not just happen in the State but also around the world. However, besides the current situation, the company has more opportunity to enhance its brand equity by expanding the customer segment to a higher level. In order to make the brand more accepted by senior, we must create another image that can appeal to them, make them feel the brand is not just for cool teenagers but also for mature adults. Therefore, the strategy of extending target customer to the senior segment can bring more profit to the company and form a new brand image, providing customer another high- end brand to shop and make them feel special.

Leg 100 (Business Law)

Social Media plays a vital role in all aspects of businesses nowadays. It has helped in turning communications into interactive dialogues among organizations, communities and individuals which has led to a much proper propagation of information. It may include web based or mobile based technologies and the existence in multiple forms has made it all the more tempting and has become a necessity today in the business world.The four characteristics of a legally astute manager, include an acceptance of how important the law is to the success of the organization, a proactive attitude toward legal issues and regulations the ability to use informed judgment when faced with decisions involving legal implications, and having the knowledge of specific laws, regulations, tools and resources. A social media marketing manager must be specific in these qualifications due to the fairly new concept of social media when comparing it to other avenues of marketing like television, print and radio (Fran klin, B. ). Most company’s main goal is to keep its costs low.Companies do so by creating their own logistics and distribution of their products. They have managed to reduce costs by demanding high productivity from their employees, but wages paid do not meet the demand. They have also pushed many of their suppliers to outsource their products so they can produce more at a lower cost. Wal-Mart as an example attempts to conduct business practices by the law, but over the years have been subjected to over 5,000 lawsuits ranging from discrimination to unfair labor practices, which means that members of the corporation may not be following the laws as stated.There are also problems with suburban sprawl and lost jobs from outsourcing. List and analyze methods of alternative dispute resolution and determine which would be most effective in resolving genuine disputes that arise with consumers who may make purchases from businesses that provide links via social media. Resolving a dis pute should always be thought out before any approach is attempted. The effect could sometime be more damaging than the initial problem. One should always consider the â€Å"what ifs† and the â€Å"if this, then what.†I personally have always been the type to give thought before reacting. Always begin to solve a dispute through negotiation. The dispute being between two people in a group, the first step will be: negotiate before the issue has to come up again. If the dispute is still unresolved then we will move to the next step. The second approach will combine negotiation and mediation. Always pick a team leader and rely on the team leader to be the mediator for the dispute between the two team members, so that they can negotiate their dispute.If the team leader is one with the dispute, then we will rely on the next appointed leader to mediate the situation. If there is no progress with the dispute, always follow-up try to resolve it through mediation or arbitration. This step dictates that: The leader of the group will take the dispute to the appropriate leader; there the leader will take the proper course of action needed for this dispute to be resolved. If the dispute is manageable, the leader will be able to mediate and will not need to take forceful action. Mediation is also an informal alternative to litigation.Mediators are individuals trained in negotiations, who bring opposing parties together and attempt to work out a settlement or agreement that both parties accept or reject. Mediation is used for a wide gamut of case-types ranging from juvenile felonies to federal government negotiations with Native American Indian tribes. Mediation has also become a significant method for resolving disputes between investors and their stock brokers. Since consumer transactions on social media can occur across state lines, determine how the federal government can best control these transactions.It has often been seen that social networking sites suc h as Facebook, MMS, Twitter, and etc. become a media in spreading propaganda through video clippings and messages of incidents with communal overtones – instigating hatred among various communities leading to flaring up of the communal situation. In the present legal framework, control of such social networking sites is required to be done by central government. We are extremely lucky to live in a country where we have the freedom of speech.I can't even begin to fathom the  thought of the government being able to control our right of free speech. The government definitely does not have the right to control social media; social media is a way to freely express your thoughts, opinions and ideas. One of the primary issues with how the state seeks to control social media, or technologies overall, is that they are coming at it in the wrong direction. It seems that existing policies are simply being updated to be made to apply to social networking, when in fact what is needed is a complete overhaul of the system when it comes to concepts such as copyright and privacy.The fact is that these concepts will never be the same again. It is almost difficult to imagine that these concepts will exist at all in the future, as social technology has turned everything on its head. We're seeing this come into fruition in the music industry right now, which is in a complete mess because old copyright laws that came into existence in the 1700's are largely still expected to apply today. The issue of government control of data and users' privacy is coming into the fore now because of the increasing amount of data that social networks hold on us.And not only is this growing in volume, but also in type. It is no longer just about browsing history, but social platforms contain varying forms of data that give a complete make-up of our person. While this contributes to things such as targeted demographic advertising, which I am an advocate of overseeing irrelevant banner ads, th e government of course needs to step in here. Social networks, as privately owned companies will naturally be motivated by what gives them the best profit margin. While this may occur alongside a desire to unite people.We can only trust our governments to develop policies which don't have this capitalist desire in mind. Yet what we're seeing are policies that could seriously hinder the growth of the social networking industry (Pearson). Examine the three (3) branches of government and discuss which can effectuate the most significant impact on regulating consumer transactions via social media outlets. Support your decision. Our federal government has three parts. They are the Executive, (President and about 5,000,000 workers) Legislative (Senate and House of Representatives) and Judicial (Supreme Court and lower Courts).The President of the United States administers the Executive Branch of our government. He enforces the laws that the Legislative Branch (Congress) makes. The Legisla tive part of our government is called Congress. Congress makes our laws. The Judicial part of our federal government includes the Supreme Court and 9 Justices. They are special judges who interpret laws according to the Constitution. (Brinkmann, R. , & Garren, S. ) I personally see the judicial court as being the most important and having the biggest impact toward social media.If someone is getting sued by another individual about a post or picture that they may have posted on their personal social media site, the judicial court would oversee the case if the individual puts forth the freedom of speech fight. This being a constitutional right, the other individual would have to prove to the Supreme Court that what was written or posted was in fact un-constitutional and not just freedom of speech. Explain the agency relationship that exists on social media sites between the social media provider and businesses that utilize the site for advertising.Online advertising, uses the Internet to deliver promotional marketing messages to consumers. It includes email marketing, search engine marketing, social media marketing, many types of display advertising (including web banner advertising), and mobile advertising. Like other advertising media, online advertising frequently involves both a publisher, who integrates advertisements into its online content, and an advertiser, who provides the advertisements to be displayed on the publisher's content.Other potential participants include advertising agencies who help generate and place the ad copy, an ad server who technologically delivers the ad and tracks statistics, and advertising affiliates who do independent promotional work for the advertiser. Social Media is a platform that is easily accessible to anyone with internet access. Increased communication for organizations fosters brand awareness and often, improved customer service (Zeff, R. , & Aronson, B. ). Social media marketing programs usually center on efforts to create content that attracts attention and encourages readers to share it with their social networks.A corporate message spreads from user to user and presumably resonates because it appears to come from a trusted, third-party source, as opposed to the brand or company itself. I know the advertising works on social media sites, because I have seen something on the side and visited that particular site and actually purchased an item. I may not have even been thinking about purchasing that item, but after seeing it advertised or either on sale I was persuaded to go to the site and take a look.

Diversity in learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Diversity in learning - Essay Example Bilingualism can be a virtue of growing up while using and learning two languages simultaneously. Argumentatively, human beings can naturally acquire bilingualism. The acquisition of an additional language is sequential bilingualism. Therefore, interpretation of bilingualism is subjective to individual definitions. Bilingualism encompasses a significant amount of contexts and proficiency. In children, bilingualism may restrict the use of the first language for familial and domestic purposes. English language is mostly a second language with the highest preference for communication in official environments and outside home. Sequential bilingual learning is similar to learning of a first language. The newly acquired language must be appropriate and accurate. The language learning processes are similar and have differences too. For instance, bilingual learners approach learning additional language with a background linguistic system, rules and structure. Additionally, the process of learning a second language starts at different ages and not from birth. Therefore, it involves different strategies for acquisition of the same. Linguistic differences and primarily low proficiency in English is a cause of low academic achievement. Argumentatively, the statement is plausible as it implicates English medium for learning by students with limited comprehension of the language. The students with poor mastery of the teaching language have problems with instructions and expression as well. Cultural difference also affects a student’s social life. In a case where the student cannot interact with colleagues, feeling of loneliness ensues. Moreover, solitude forms a fundamental foundation in acquisition of fear and low self-esteem (Meisel, 2013 p. 397). The manifestation of personal feelings is observable in withdrawal from extra-curriculum activities and poor participation in class work. For instance, bilingual students that are composed rarely do not ask questions

Measuring the Effectiveness of the Forum for Youth Investment Program Article

Measuring the Effectiveness of the Forum for Youth Investment Program - Article Example However, the perception of the potential outcome of such initiatives, as well as the prospect of having the projects realize the aforesaid interest needs to be validated. This interest remains best defined via the presentation of a possible avenue upon which the program may be evaluated. A possible path towards the realization of this interest anticipates the consideration of several critical principles. Such statutory guidelines offer an insight into the potential of the program in achieving the considered intent. Programs such as Forum for Youth Investment need to be vetted in order to be allowed to gauge the effectiveness of the initiatives on the ground. They need to express an ultimate potential or capacity of undertaking their principle agenda exponentially. This evaluation seeks to detail on this concern with the hope of presenting a reliable image of the potential of the Forum for Youth Investment. The evaluation hopes to be able to propose methods and measures that may allow for the reflection of the abilities accorded to the program This is deemed to be of essential merit to the initial developers that sought to use the program for the evaluation of their ideas (Yohalem & Wilson-Ahlstrom, 2009, 16). Additionally, the findings will be of benefit to the youths since they will offer useful information on the available vetting programs. Having the Forum for Youth Investment unevaluated allows for the reduction of its potential. The design will nest its focus on the principle structure of the program. This will espouse a top-down approach. The evaluation will consider the output of the program. This will form the base upon which to evaluate the adopted procedure and protocols. The evaluation will simply seek to identify the possibility of achieving the noted result from the adopted items of the check. The program has four levels of outcome.

Creating_Financing_Marketing A Bussiness Assignment

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Contemporary Theories of Political Economy Essay

Contemporary Theories of Political Economy - Essay Example The Second World War had a great impact on almost all the world economies as it led to greater spending and a need for more and more arms and ammunition. All of this led to the building of more and more industries, which made countries around the world tap and realise their industrial potential. The 1950s and 60s were a time when most economies began to understand the true power that they possessed in terms of both physical as well as mineral resources. This World War was termed as the age of anxiety – when people were running helter-skelter for their lives and wishing for their sons, husbands, and fathers to return from the war scene, as well as families growing and prospering in terms of consumer spending because of the incessant revelation of the need and desire for more and more things. Prior to the war, the country had thus been witnessing a boom in the economic sphere; this was because of the introduction of machines, tools and all kinds of equipments which were helping the primary, secondary as well as the tertiary sector of the economy to grow and develop. A number of changes were being brought into the economy as more and more women began working which helped labour and knowledge go hand in hand and get nurtured. Scientists began finding ways to implement their thoughts in terms of inventions and discoveries and with the help of machines, everything had become possible and people were beginning to realise that it was possible to achieve the American dream by just having access to some purchasing power and being able to spend money. However, it is only natural that every economic demand and supply structure can never remain a constant because the needs and wants of the people or the consumers change with time. Thus, the American economy too, began to witness a decline in the profits around the year 1968. Post the Second World War, profits related to industrialization began to see a close not only in America, but also in various parts of the world , because of the impact that the American economy had had on the various world economies. Various steps were taken in order to help the economy boost and find constancy in its establishment. For example, President Roosevelt’s ‘New Deal’ program helped to establish Keynesian economics within the American economy and stabilise it with respect to understand demand and supply of the consumers. However, since profits from industries and firms kept on decreasing, something had to be done in order to make changes and not let the economy decline to an extent that it would fall into a depression and not be able to recover from the depths of the same. In the year 1972 the then President, Richard Nixon, even took the dramatic step of pulling the American dollar off the Gold Standard; this was considered to be a very pragmatic step taken in order to move towards a fiat currency system which had been started in the 1910s. Back in the year 1933, President Roosev

Business Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business Ethics - Essay Example In this social construct, the idea that a female gains power within the public sphere is a threat to the male gender, thus creating a hesitation that still exists in today’s world. According to Eagley and Carli, the problem of barriers to the top positions in both politics and in corporate environments is evident in the statistics that are available. They reveal that only 6% of the top positions in corporations on the Fortune 500 list belong to women with only 2% holding the position of CEO. Only 15% of the seats on the board of directors of these companies are held by women. The problem does not only exist in the United States, but can be found throughout the world as exampled by the European Union in which only 11% of the top executives and 4% of the CEO’s are women within the top 50 companies. Fortune’s Global 500 has a showing of only 1% of the top positions held by women (105). The problem is glaring obvious through the worldwide statistics, making this not only an American problem, but a global issue. The metaphors that tell the story of the female experience in the work force within the United States suggest the fight that has gone on throughout the generations. The fight begins with the domestic ideologies, the philosophies of the appropriate place for male and female genders within the world.

Green Initiatives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Green Initiatives - Essay Example The company has an organic growth model that has enabled the company to achieve tremendous growth during the last decade. In 1999 the company served less than 5 million passengers. In the 21st century corporate social responsibility has become an important strategic path that companies follow in order to achieve success. Corporate social responsibility can be defined as alignment of a company’s activities with the social, economic, and environmental expectations of its stakeholders (Sourcewatch, 2009). As a low cost airline the company is automatically complying with the economic expectation of its customers. The company is a member of European Low Fares Airline Association. Ryanair has one of the best environmental records in the airline industry. Ryanair selects aircrafts models for its fleet that have the latest and most efficient engine technologies. This green initiative has helped the company reduced carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 45% over the last decade. The firm has further decreased its CO2 emissions during the last 10 years by an additional 10% by optimizing its flight route trajectory. The company does not use flight hopping mechanisms; instead all of its flights are one way destinations directly to the final location. The airline also avoids long taxiing time and holding patterns at primary congested airports (Ryanair, 2009). CO2 emissions are the primary factor that is causing air pollution that leads to the imbalance in the greenhouse effect and global warming. Rising carbon dioxide levels from burning fuel fossils are scientifically linked to sea level changes, snowmelt, disease, heat stress, severe weather, and ocean acidification (Rice, 2008). The company has invested over $17 billion since 1999 in its aircraft replacement program. The aircraft replacement program enabled the company to lower its fuel consumption by 55% between 1998 and 2007

Gender Ad Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Gender Ad Paper - Essay Example The advertisement is for the bra and clearly illustrates a strong gender message of women as somewhat weak and the object of sexual desire. This message was purposefully created by the Wonderbra company, which looks to be a layout for presentation within a magazine. It is brilliantly detailed in solid colors, looking almost like a retro advertisement for a 1950’s woman, however caught in a contemporary scenario in the construction environment. The visual image of the hook catching her professional outfit to expose her underlying bra indicates that the crane operator was likely appealing to his own desires to view the unclothed female body and had deliberately snagged her outfit just to catch a peek. Again, this illustrates that the female consumer can be dominated by men in a very stereotypical role of the passerby being whistled at by lustful and isolated construction workers. The audience for this advertisement, interestingly, is actually for women in an effort to sell more bras to consumers. This would indicate that the company is attempting to create a connection with more subordinate women who might be thrilled by being caught in a similar experience. This would represent marketing which is attempting to relate to women who are business professionals who, in their personal lives, might enjoy a more risquà © social situation such as being the object of sexual desire in a construction environment. The message being sent in this ad clearly identifies women as being sexual and somewhat provocative, which is enhanced by the male worker mesmerized by the woman’s plight. He looks as though he is posed to come to her rescue, which again highlights a gender message being sent which makes women appear to be the less-dominant gender in need of masculine assistance. Clearly, sexuality is on the forefront of this

Severn Suzuki Article Essay Example for Free

Severn Suzuki Article Essay WE are responsible for our Planet Our planet Is getting more and more dirty. The earth Is full of waste and the temperature Is getting higher and higher. Would n It be nice to live on a clean and comfortable planet, where you can feel the nature with all its beatiful sections. Earth Summit, that is the name of a UN conference in 1992 met in Rio de Janeiro to consider the urgent need for development in developing countries. They are planning, not to destroy the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Earth Summit wants all people to fix the lifestyle, maybe only a little bit, and save the orld. A girl named Severn Suzuki paid for the trip to Rio herself and wanted to let people think about our Situation with the earth and talked In a public speech to all people. She wants to change the habits of adults and children. Severn says, that she found fish with cancer. Is this the way we want to eat fish? We really have to think of what we can make better in waste seperation. So if for instance plastic is thrown in the sea, the fish will eat the plastic, and we eat the fish. Horrible! Another problem is the buying of unnecessary things. We buy and throw away. Why don t we think of what we really need? In my oplnlon the arguments from Severn Suzuki are still a big problem nowadays. Actually the problems got worse. If the society does not change their lifestyles, maybe we are all killer. Because we killed our children or grandchildren. Firstly the production of plastic and other nonbiodegradable waste increases. And secondly the waste seperation is not important for the people any more, because they do not realize the danger. To sum up we all have to work and clean our planet, f we want to live on the beatlful earth. We can not only use and use and giving nothing back to regenerate, so It Is on our planet.

Film Critique The Queen Essay Example for Free

Film Critique The Queen Essay Movie roles performed by high caliber actors and actresses of living icons are always the hardest to portray. Helen Mirren’s portrayal of HRH Queen Elizabeth II, has given us an amazing resemblance (although without as much effects and make-up the resemblance ended) and an in-depth visual and emotional recognition of the British royal who was considered to be so distant and ethereal. I am more than glad that the Reston Multiplex Movie Theatre was comparably filled with older adults than the usual teenage movie goers so I was afforded the chance to concentrate on the film. Generally, the film may not appeal to the younger audience for its lack of pound for pound action and intrigue. However it does gives us an idea of how the British monarchy behaves, as the apex of the British class system. We seldom see portrayals that are free from bias especially when the subjects are as famous and influential as the Queen and her family. But the events that catapulted them into the public eye may have relieved them of their tight bond to maintain their feelings to themselves. Diana’s death has given us glimpses into their private lives which the Queen vehemently tried to seclude her family from the curious and even blatant questions of the public and the press. We see how the Queen reacted and tried in earnest to maintain her stance and tradition to shy away from the camera and the public even as the image-conscious PM Tony Blair continued to cajole the Queen and her family out of their shells. It has also given us an insight to the life the British Royal couple has led all these years which shows support for each other and a husband who is willing to stay behind the shadow of his wife and yet live admirably together in harmony. The family’s traditional and puritan values saw the British monarch trying to distance herself away from the prying eye of the media upon news of Diana’s death. The queen’s immediate concerns were for the â€Å"boys† alone after learning of the tradgedy while vacationing at Balmoral Castle, Scotland. Apparently Diana had fallen off from the royal family to warrant the kind of behavior and almost distant hatred even after learning the news of her accidental death. Public sentiment against the monarchy grew as the Queen and family continued to be absent from the public eye even as Britain grieved for the death of their princess. Seemingly, Diana had been closer to the Britons because she showed what it was like to live a fairy tale life in the beginning and showed to the world that the monarchy was not as invincible as it seems. Profoundly Diana has created a breathing, real life princess capable of feelings thereby creating a certain link of reality to the masses and thereby showing that the monarchy was no different from anyone. Eventually as grief poured, sentiments against the monarchy grew, which PM Tony Blair handled superbly thereby surging his popularity in tune with the national mood. He became closer to the British public and the world. His continued calls for the queen and the family to at least make statements were left ignored at first with Lord Mountbatten (James Cromwell) seemingly disgruntled over PM Blair’s (Michael Sheen) insistence. The Queen explained her position to Blair that Diana lost her relation to the royal family when she divorced her son, the Prince of Wales and insisted that mourning should be a private matter handled by her own family and not by the British Crown. Later on, the Queen who was known to stick to her principle gave in after mistakenly assuming that the public sentiment will slowly ebb over time. After so much criticism from the British tabloids for failing to offer any sign of condolence, and advice from Blair on how the royals should conduct out of public respect, the Queen finally gave in despite disagreement from her mother and gave a speech praising Diana’s life and work. The British flag was also allowed to fly at half mast and a public funeral was hosted in memory of Diana. The queen was then pushed into public view as Mirren’s brilliant performance showed her exact reaction while coming out to look at the flowers in front of the curious British public who was equally assailed with mixed emotions. It was a moment that I held my breath because I had seen the actual a dozen times on television and hardly noticed any difference. The scene showed Elizabeth’s graceful human side and strength both at the same time. Her candid response to the flowers given to her showed her awe that revealed her human nature that no amount of pretense a queen could mask. In effect, the movie was critical of the monarchy but candid and transparent in its portrayal that was sometimes funny and empathic. It evoked the true nature of the royal family’s behavior and sometimes leaves us questions of their simplicity or sarcasm in public statements. Martin Sheen’s portrayal of a young and enthusiastic Tony Blair also showed a generous amount of political set-up reminiscent of the time when PM Blair suddenly gained massive popularity following Diana’s death. His behavior was indeed fitted with the contemporary mixture of grief that called for human decency and respect during Diana’s death which the royal family had mixed initial feelings of. In summary, the movie showed to the world the importance of adapting to change as opposed to the views of rigid tradition which could have led to stagnation. It also showed us that family traditions and values are being questioned in the face of common contemporary behavior and modes. Public figures are always subjected to observation and ridicule because the public always love to know how public icons behave in the face of adversities and criticize any actions for consumption. The Queen (2006) Movie. Starring Helen Mirren as the Queen Elizabeth II; James Cromwell as Lord Mountbatten and Martin Sheen as PM Tony Blair.

Collective Programming Of The Mind Cultural Studies Essay

Collective Programming Of The Mind Cultural Studies Essay Many researchers have provided different frameworks to describe the elements of culture that relate to business patterns around the world. But here we would discuss how these frameworks apply over CHINA and AFRICA, which has so many cultures and religions within it. Dutch expert, Geert Hofstede has provided his research framework from the results of his extensive study of national cultures. He did this study on IBM employees in 40 different countries and gave four dimensions of culture (Hofstede, 1983). But later a fifth dimension Long-term orientation was added to his framework which he developed with colleague Michael Bond. The below paragraphs will discuss briefly on the Hofstede and Trompenaars find out the cultural fit between China and Africa Power distance is the extent to which less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. Of note is Chinas significantly higher Power Distance ranking of 80 compared to the Africa which averages about 49, and the world average of 55. The above result indicates that there is a high level of inequality in terms of authority and wealth in a social set up. The situation is created but the cultural heritage and was not forced upon. (Hofstede, 1984). As said by Hofstede, power distance between management and employees is very high. The seniority concept is been implied in all the company structures both in private and public sectors. The age factor also plays a vital role and giving respect to elderly person is a must in both the culture. Individualism pertains to societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after himself or herself and his or her immediate family. Collec tivism as its opposite pertains to societies in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups, which throughout peoples lifetime continue to protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty(Hofstede, 1984). A culture is determined as individualistic or collectivistic by the means of three main factors. They are complexity of the society, affluence of the society, heterogeneity (Triandis 1994). China is a typical collectivist society where harmony is valued very high. Harmony can be found in many ways in case of the Chinese. Dignity, self-respect, and prestige are some of the attributes which they would call it as Saving ones face. Therefore, social relationships including senior- junior relationship in business organisation in China are maintained with harmony. Chinese managers involve lot of sentiments in their decision making rather than using rational powers in leadership performance. Adele says that most of the African countries are low on IDV but in contract South Africa alone has a high IDV of 65 because of the European influence in the country. This high score of IDV is indicative of different cultures existing in South Africa and how much they prefer to use their reasonable powers in terms of mangers and their leadership. Chinese masculinity index in Hofstede Dimension is at 66, and the world average also stands at 50 (See appendix). The difference in the values of men and women infers from the higher rank of the country in this dimension. On comparing the world average Masculinity and uncertainty avoidance are relatively higher. A glance on the appendix, very few listed countries have such high masculinity index. In China, masculinity is higher than the figure actually shows as males are valued more than females, and the masculinity of China (66) is quite close to that of South Africas masculinity index which is 63. Chinese lowest ranking dimension is Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) at 40 and South Africa at 49, when compared to the world average of 65. Openness towards unstructured ideas and situations can be found while going down the ranking (Hofstede, Website). The population may have fewer rules and regulations with which to attempt control of every unknown and unexpected event or situation, as is the case in high Uncertainty Avoidance countries. Future is unpredictable in both the countries; People are more concerned in saving money for the future generations because of the highly unsecured feeling which is entirely diversified from the developed country were people tend to spend money. The families in China and Africa are closely bounded in terms of financial needs and wants. Hence Hofstedes view on this index is a real fact. A Chinese value survey was created by Hofstede and bond, (1988) and was surveyed across 23 countries. The results of which combined with an understanding of the influence of the teaching of Confucius on the East, long term vs. short term orientation became the fifth cultural dimension. China leads this dimension with 118 while Africa has no long term orientation in Hofstedes index. Fons Trompenaars and Hampten Turnerss Cultural Dimensions. To find various ideas on the national culture, Fons Trompenaars a Dutch culturist who is a researcher on international culture and Charles Hampden-Turner (a dilemma enthusiast) combined together to find national culture. The finding of broad general rules is called as Universalism; it helps in finding the best rule when there arent any rules that fit in. Particularism on the other hand is about finding exceptions. When no rules fit, it judges the case on its own merits, rather than trying to force-fit an existing rule. China and Africa are mixture of the both. Each culture differs from the way it carries out various operations than the other. Chinese and Africans have a much particularized culture about their family and friends. Rules and regulations are common for all the people whereas the government scheme preference differs for each and every class and state of people. Integrating brings things together to build the big picture. It assumes that if you have your head in the weeds you will miss the true understanding (Richard, 2002). (Turner and Trompenaars,1997) says Individualism is about the rights of the individual. It seeks to let each person grow or fail on their own, and sees group-focus as denuding the individual of their inalienable rights. Communitarian is about the rights of the group or society. It seeks to put the family, group, company and country before the individual. It sees individualism as selfish and short-sighted. In his views Individualism means people who consider only themselves first than others and communitarian mean a person who considers themselves to be a part of a group or a community or people sharing same beliefs and views. China and Africa both has a communitarian culture and people wanted their family friends to be around them during their good and bad situations. People always wanted to work as a group initially but now a day due to huge influences of western culture the trend has started to move more towards individualism. South Africa where there is a heavy influence of the F rench are tend to be more Individualistic than the other parts of Africa. Whereas, people from interior part of Africa are still communistic and tend to depend on family, friends, and the close circle relation. Achieved status means getting to the desired status by means of hard work and performance. In South Africa, status is achieved by means of performance and dedication towards work. It assumes that the individuals or organisations earn and lose their status every day, and that other means of achieving status are recipes for failure. Ascribed status means to gain status either by heritage or by seniority without taking into account of the performance based considerations. It is believed that status is acquired by right rather than daily performance, which may be as much luck as judgement. It finds order and security in knowing where status is and stays, (Turner and Trompenaars, 1997). (Trompenaars,1993) says that people from emotional cultures like china and most of Africa does business in an unbiased culture, where it is important to do the paper work and to bind them legally. People from emotional culture should understand that lack of emotion does not necessarily mean that people from unbiased cultures do not have emotion or sentiments rather it means that people from such culture usually do not express their emotions to others. But when it comes to work culture, they do not give any room for emotions and sentiments. Chinese people usually are open to share common private issues to others but only to a certain extent. They are very much hesitant to share deep and personal issues to common people other than their family and close friends. This type of culture is also known as specific culture. On the other hand, a culture where public and private spaces are similar in size is a diffuse culture. According to (Turner and Trompenaars, 1997) individuals guard their public space because entry into public space allows them into their private space. South Africans usually follow this type of culture. Equality refers to people having equal status, equal rights irrespective of their birth, caste or creed. Hierarchy refers to the individuals who are superior to others in terms of the power or authority they possess. In China the hierarchy nature is followed in many private and all the public sectors. People in higher positions take decisions and others will have to take it. In most of the private sectors the owner of the company takes the decision which directly implies on the employees which may be both positive and negative in nature. In China the hierarchy nature is followed in many private and all the public sectors. People in higher positions take decisions and others will have to take it. In most of the private sectors the owner of the company takes the decision which directly implies on the employees which may be both positive and negative in nature. After examining the work of Hofstede and Trompenaars dimensions on China and Africa, we can say that there are various differences in both the culture. Both, language and traditional culture differs from one another and there are key cultural problems when considering a merger between the two cultures and companies. Below listed are the some of the problems identified as cultural barriers. One of the commonly noted barriers is communication and language stands as a primary problem when considering a organisational merger between China and Africa. The various languages such as French, English, and Portuguese in different regions are spoken in Africa. On the other hand Chinese speak only Phyia language and is still the lone user of the language in the world. The method of expressions and the way of communicating things are very different between the two countries. Chinese language and expressions are defined and ambiguous, were according to (Chang, 1999). (Ma, 1996 and Toomey, 1988) investigated characteristics of Chinese style of communication giving much importance to saving of face, promoting indirect communication, practicing deference, avoiding confrontation and placing a greater burden on receivers to interpret messages. According to another author McCrea (2004), in his research sample it is proved that Chinese are more assertive people than that of Africans. It is also said that to learn the languages and the methods used by the Africans will cost more for the Chinese organisations than other western countries. Thus leads a bigger worry for setting a work pattern together. The second most problem is the difference in the work pattern. The Chinese companies have opened the trade globally only a little more than ten years and also known for being one of the most productive people in the world because they work in most difficult and critical situations across the globe. While, most of the Africans had been used as slaves for many centuries ago and by the influence of that Africans usually do not work as much as the other people do. People who lived in rural areas had a very strong ability for the survival from a critical surroundings and their attitude towards work is taken very light and most of them have dont care attitude towards work and salaries (Jian, 2003). It will be important for a manager to mould these indifferences and enhance the maximum out of the employees who do not have similar work pattern other. One of the challenges for the organisation will be to offset the differences in the religion from employees from both the countries. In China, there are a large number of people, who are atheist, who do not believe in any deities. They are the highest in the world with 91% in terms of non believers. They have Christians, Muslims, and Buddhist in very less numbers and they all account for only 4 to 6 % in total (Central Agency of the USA, 2008), While religion in Africa is versatile, and most of the m follow either Christianity or Islam. After religion, the bigger challenge will be to bring these two different cultures to group as one and extract work out of them. According to (Vacas et al., 2003), the coexistence of overseas investing companies and the local communities is a famous research project in itself. Many companies from the west have existed in Africa for a very long time than the Chinese but still there is lots of conundrum for them to take it forward. It is very difficult to coexist as a one team with the native and foreign people to live harmoniously is a crucial hitch for all the MNCs. Harmony with the local environment will enhance a much better environmental setup for both the Chinese and Africans and will lead to achieving better management goals. As there are not many mergers between the Chinese and the Africans it will be even more difficult task to bind them together as a one unit. Recommendations for the African and Chinese Managers: After many arguments put forward, this shows that there are various differences in cultural aspects between china and Africa. Though there is continuity in the business transactions between the two countries, there is a significant use of absolute power by both the Chinese and African managers. Hence managers from both the countries who will lead a team in a cross-cultural context are suggested as below: The first and foremost aspect in culture is to respect other cultures and to have tolerance level for different religion and cultures. According to (Hofstede,1994) the cultural differences will not change for at least next ten decades. The existence of the cultural differences creates cultural clashes everywhere in the society. Similarly even in organisation these days with more development and advancement of globalisation concept is taking a heavy toll on cultural diversity and with that manager from different cultures get involved in such clashes directly or indirectly. It is very important for the manager to understand and solve the cultural issues, play a vital role in assessing the effectiveness of a manager and as well as the organisation as a whole. Thus it is important for the organisation to maintain tolerance of all cultures and traditions also it is the responsibility of the manager to ensure that the Chinese and Africans work along with each other to keep the relationship harmonious with their fellow mates.Secondly the organisations should take active part to educate the employees on various cultures and involve them in cross-cultural activities. The cross-cultural activities will make the employees to appreciate different cultural values and in turn will change the ignorance towards a particular culture or religion. (Samovar Porter, 1991) identified these values at three different perspectives and they are superficial culture traits, awareness of significant and subtle cultural traits that contrast markedly with anothers, and awareness of how another culture feels from the insiders perspective. In the first place managers from both the cultures should know the resemblance and variations between the Chinese and African cultures. The managers from both the countries should use their own judgement while using their authority considering their own experience from respective cultures. This is done so as to facilitate a clear understanding of using ones own authority and putting themselves in each others position before extending their use of authority on others. In the second place, only rigorous cross-cultural communication can eradicate any misunderstanding between the Chinese and African managers. These cross-cultural training also helps managers to change their behaviour and leadership pattern towards different cultures. Many MNCs give significant importance to cross-cultural communications and is considered a key factor in evaluating managers leadership skills. African and Chinese managers need to measure their own and other parties use of power. After analysing this at the third level, they will also have to examine their control over the power source from each others perspective respectively. After examination, the manager should move forward from being keen observers of the targeted culture to be an effective impact on that culture. Only after this can managers understand his/her foreign counterparts and subordinates to a n extent, perceiving his/her use of power sources. In addition, a manager also needs to show his subordinates that how much a manager can utilise the power source and to what extent he/she can use it effectively. It is very important for the managers to reveal their powers so that it can be used effectively and while acting to be an insider of another culture may spread information quickly than other means. And thirdly and the most important is to improve use of power sources according to culture. There have been various studies which have been undergone to research the relationship that exists between the managers primary power sources and the subordinates performances. The outcome of these studies shows that there is a major impact on the appropriate power sources by the situational variables. This specific outcome has made the author to point out culture as being one of those variables. In cross-cultural leadership, the use of power sources to the specific cultural environment where the manager works should be very carefully imposed. In our case with African and Chinese managers, African managers are far more used to legitimate power whereas the Chinese culture emphasizes on human emotions because they believe that everything should be done fair. Therefore the African managers should consider the factor of human emotions while improving their use of power sources, where as The Chines e managers pay respect to all the institutional rules while imposing their use of power sources, because they value harmony in the company. Thus, proper exercise of powers can mould the two different cultures to work together to achieve the organisational goals and responsibilities. These are the some of the discussions and solutions put forward for a merger between Africa and China. This paper brings more insight on integration between two of the most ancient cultures in the world today. References: Central Intelligence Agency of USA, 2008. The World Factbook, Washington. Charles Hampden-Turner and Fons Trompenaars, Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in Global Business, McGraw-Hill,   1997 Chang. H.C.,1999. The well-defined is ambiguous- sindeterminacy in Chienece conversation. Journal of pragmatics 31, 535-556. Hampden-Turner, C. Trompenaars, F. (1997) Response to Geert Hofstede. International Journal of Intercultural Relations 21, 1, 149-159. Hofstede, Geert, and Michael Harris Bond (1988), The Confucius Connection: From Cultural Roots to Economic Growth, Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 16, No. 4, 4-21. Hofstede, G.H. (1980), Culture Consequences: International Differences in Work-related Values, Sage Publications, London. Hofstede, G.H. (1983), The cultural relativity of organizational practices and theories, Journal of International Business Studies, Fall, pp. 76-88. Hofstede, G.H. (1984), Cultural dimensions in management and planning, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 81-99. Hofstede, G. (1994). Cultures and Organizations, Software of the Mind: Intercultural Cooperation and its Importance for Survival, McGraw-Hill, London, 1994. Jian, H,. 2003. Chienese Business Men in Africa: Business, Culture and the People. Economy press pf china, Beijing. Kroeber, A.L., Kluckhohn, C. (1952). Culture: A critical review of concepts and definitions. New York- Random House. Ma, R., 1996. Saying yes for no and no for yes; a Chinese rule. Journal of pragmatics 25, 257-266. McCrae, R.R,. 2004 Human nature and culture: a trait perspective, Journal of research in personality 38, 3-14. Samovar Porter. (1991). Communication between Cultures. California: Wadsworth Publishing Company. Shweder, Richard A., Martha Minow, and Hazel Markus, editors. (2002) Engaging Cultural Differences: The Multicultural Challenge in Liberal Democracies. New York: Russell Sage Foundation Press Thomas, Adele. The Management Implications of Ethnicity in South Africa. Journal of International Business Studies Volume Number 31. Third Quarter 2000: 507-519. UCF Library, Orlando, FL. Accessed Oct 29, 2008. Ting-Toomey, S. (Ed), 1988 Intercultural Styles: A Face-Negotiation Theory- Sage, Newbury Park, CA. Triandis, H. C. (1994). Culture and social behavior. McGraw-Hill, Inc. Trompenaars, F. (1993) Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business (First Edition) London: Nicholas Brealey. Vacas, F., Gonzalez, M., Sanabria, V., Madera, A., 2003. Management of environmental, Social, and health issues involving indigenous communities at the villano project in the Ecuadorian Amazon Region. Van Maanen, J. and E. H. Schein (1979). Toward of Theory of Organizational Socialization. Research in Organizational Behavior, 1: 209-264. http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_south_africa.shtml (All the diagrams and explanations given in the appendix is taken from Hofstedes website.)