Introduction to Marketing Essay Example for Free

Introduction to Marketing Essay Pestle stands for political, economic, social technological, legal and environmental influences. Businesses use this as part of their marketing plan procedure. Political: what is happening politically with regards to tax policies employment laws, trade restrictions, tariffs Economic: what is happening within the economy i. e. economic growth/ decline, minimum wage, unemployment, credit availability, cost of living, etc. Sociological: what is occurring socially i. e. cultural norms and expectations, health consciousness, population growth rate, career attitudes. Technological: new technologies are continually being developed. There are also changes to barriers to entry in given markets Legal: changes to legislation. This may impact employment, access to materials, resources, imports/ exports, taxation etc. Environmental: what is happening with respect to ecological and environmental aspects. A PESTLE analysis is used in business to assess the industry which an organisation is in. The PESTLE analysis looks specifically at factors which are external to the organisation which will impact on the business. This is with a view to determining the current role and status of the organisation in relation to its competitors and can be used as a marketing tool. See more: how to start an essay SWOT Analysis. A tool that identifies the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a business. SWOT is a straightforward model that assesses what a business can and cannot do as well as its potential opportunities and threats. The method of SWOT analysis is to take the information from an environmental analysis and separate it into internal (strengths and weaknesses) and external issues (opportunities and threats). Once this is completed, SWOT analysis determines what may assist the firm in accomplishing its objectives, and what obstacles must be overcome or minimized to achieve desired results. The strengths and weaknesses are interior when it comes to a business and things that are included that could be a problem are things like buildings, the quality of their workers, the i. t systems etc. The external element focuses on the opportunities and dangers in the business. Research into the organisation is essential and required when carrying out a SWOT analaysis. By matching organisations strengths and weaknesses with the external forces. SWOT analysis brings all the proof from all the different analytical techniques used. This is a way of creating a summary which gives the basis of developing the marketing objectives and strategies or even plans. Strengths: These are the internal features of the business. A highly efficient IT system could be an example. Weaknesses: These are the internal aspects of a business. Which don’t cope well with competition? An example would be staff that are not qualified or trained properly. Opportunities: This focuses on developing the business by focusing on things such as events. An example would be new territories for a particular product or a brand new segment of a market. Threats: These are external to the organisation and its development . Which can affect the business and wreck the businesses’ performance. They can be originated by the governmental policy such as an increase in corporation tax and new law. Smart Objectives All businesses have their own objectives. They can be at different levels depending on how well the business is performance. Specific – When the business sets the objectives, they must be specific so that the workers are able to follow them businesses must ensure that the instructions are clear along the goal set. Measurable – So the businesses knows on how successful they have become and to look at any changes that would affect the profit they must do a comparison of their performance in the previous years Achievable – The business needs to think carefully if they are going to be able to achieve their goals. Realistic – The business can’t set goals unless they are realistic and that they would be able to achieve these objectives. Time – The amount of time it is going to take should be stated then this way everyone has an idea and these can get done soon as.

Paper On Elements Of Satire In Gullivers Travels

Paper On Elements Of Satire In Gullivers Travels Satire can be used in many different forms for writers to express themselves. Satire is used by writers in all types of literature to communicate with their readers. More importantly satire allows writers to send their readers messages in a very indirect way. This means writers can express themselves without being prosecuted. This makes satire an incredibly powerful tool because it allows writers to expose corruption, oppression, and lies that many people end up believing. Gulliver first goes to the island of Lilliput where he is shipwrecked and wakes up tied down to the ground. Hes been tied down by the tiny natives called Lilliputians. The Lilliputians are an extremely petty people which would put people to death for fraud or ingratitude. They are also an extremely corrupt society, for example they use rope dancing as a way to get and hold public office. With Lilliputians, Gulliver has to watch his back and take into consideration that they may be plotting against them. The Lilliputians pettiness can clearly be seen in their argument over the correct end of an egg to break with Big-Endians who actually protest to the death against the emperors order that all shall break the egg at its small end. The Lilliputians are also at war with the Blefuscudians and the emperor tells Gulliver to intervene in order to end the war. He does, but the emperor then tells him to destroy all their ships so that they can enslave the Blefuscudians. Gulliver refuses and hi s luck with the Lilliputians starts taking a turn for the worst. A fire breaks out one night and Gulliver puts it out by peeing on it. This incident combined with rumors that he hit on the emperors wife and that he was a traitor in leagues with the Blefuscudians get the emperor to turn on him. The emperor plans to have Gulliver blinded, however Gulliver finds out and escapes. Eventually Gulliver gets home to have another adventure later on. These little people represent much more than just some imaginary characters created by Swift. They are actually a representation of the bureaucracy and political polices OF Swifts time. Swift is pointing out how petty and corrupt those in power actually are. Swift uses their size as a metaphor to show how small politicians are morally. He is trying to show how pathetic, greedy, and self-centered their deeds are. By showing how they plot behind closed doors in secret hes also criticizing the political system which allows politicians to do that and make pacts that are in their best interest instead of the peoples. In addition, he also exposes the coldness of politics, like the coldness of the proposer in A Modest Proposal. The emperor had no problem killing and enslaving a city of people. Swift is merely showing that is also happens in real life through satire. Next Gulliver travels to Brobdingnag where he finds that giants are the natives of this land. Gulliver is found by a farmer and stays with him until the queen of the country buys Gulliver from him and gives Gulliver to the king as a present. Gulliver spends time with the royal family learning their language and their culture. Gulliver also has several incidents while in this country that start giving him a negative attitude of the country. One day Gulliver tells the king about Englands history, however the king is disgusted with Gullivers account of Englands history. According to DeGategno the enlightened King responds to Gullivers description of European hypocrisy, avarice, and hatred, and memorably declares the bulk of your natives, to be the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth (DeGategno). Gulliver doesnt like the kings reaction and starts thinking he might be reacting like that because he is less educated than him. Gulliver tries to repair his image with the king by telling him about gunpowder and how England uses it to solve conflicts and win wars. However, this completely backfires on Gulliver instead of being intrigued the king is disguised with this violence. He says that he is amazed that such an impotent and groveling insect as Gulliver could entertain such inhuman ideas and threatens Gulliver with death if he ever mentions gunpowder again. After this Gulliver doesnt try to change the kings mind about how he feels about England. However, he does start to look down on aspects of the Brobdingnagian society such as their education, laws, books, language, and military. He concludes that their education, law, and society as a whole is inferior to that of England. Eventually Gulliver starts becoming home sick and wishes to be around people that are as smart as he is. Luckily for him one day a bird picks up the box that he is carried in and drops it in the sea. Though Gulliver almost drowns he does manage to escape and is eventually rescued by some sailors. The sailors take him back home. However, Gulliver doesnt stay in England for too long in fact in another couple days Gulliver sets sail again and goes on another adventure. Brobdingnag was the exact opposite of Lilliput. In Lilliput Gulliver is surround by evil, but in Brobdingnag he is evil. This can be seen by the kings reaction tp Gullivers description of European history and how Gullivers feelings change during his stay. Gulliver starts looking down on Brobdingnagians in a way thats almost Lilliputian. It seems that he doesnt like being criticized and adding that he already feels inferior to Brobdingnagians due to their size differences he starts protecting his esteem; so he strikes back like a Lilliputian. This is yet another way Swift is using satire to communicate with the reader. Swift doesnt just use the characters that Gulliver meets, but every tool he has available. I believe DeGategnos word are very relevant to this when he says that Swift seeks nothing less than his readers participation in a thoroughgoing physical, intellectual, political, and moral analysis of mankinds condition (DeGategno). After setting sail, as a surgeon, Gullivers ship is captured by pirates, however they let Gulliver go in a small canoe and eventually he ends up in Laputa, which is actually an island that floats in the sky. Laputa is very different from Brobdingnag and Lilliput in that there are many different types of people. Brobdingnag had giants and Lilliput had tiny people and each had their own lesson, yet Laputa is filled with different types of people and has several different lessons. I cant help but believe that Swift named the first city that Gulliver travels to Laputa as a way to describe the events that were to come. I say this because in Spanish Laputa actually means the bitch. Gulliver sees that the inhabitants of Laputa are a very strange people. Since they are constantly thinking about math and music they actually have servants called Flappers that remind them when to listen and when to talk. They also constantly worry about things like the sun dropping out of the sky. This causes many women in Laputa to commit adultery since most of their husbands are lost in their own thoughts. Gulliver then travels to Lagado where he meets Lord Munodi who acts as a guide for him. Munodi takes Gulliver to go see the Academy of Lagado where he meets a group of professors that are involved with some extremely ridiculous experiments. Gulliver sees that theyre trying to extract sunbeams from cucumbers, turn human excrement back into its original food, transform ice into gunpowder, and build houses from the roof down. Three professors were developing a strategy for improving the language of their country by eliminating all words except nouns or eliminating all words and having people carry around all the objects they need to express themselves. Another professor which is responsible for public affairs tries to cure diseases and corruptions of public officials with the same prescriptions used for curing diseases of the body. The same professor also says that citizens should inflict physical pain upon public officials until what they want is granted or absolutely refused. The professor goes on to say that Senators should vote the exact opposite of their opinion since it would be in the publics best interest. Lastly he says that if political parties cant come to an agreement they should take a hundred leaders of each party, cut their brains in half, and have all the leaders trade one half with one of their opponents. His rationale for this plan is that when the two half-brains are left to debate the matter between themselves in the same head theyll eventually reach an agreement. Gulliver actually has a positive reaction to the professors proposals and seems to think they may be able to actually work. Though, he may just want t o see the politicians killed off. After visiting the academy Gulliver starts wanting get back to England and go back home, so he goes to Maldonada in order to find passage to Luggangg from which he can get to Japan and finally back to England. He discovers that no ships will set sail to Luggangg for a month, so Gulliver decides to visit an island thats close by named Glubbdubdrib. The inhabitants of Glubbdubdrib are sorcerers, and their Governor is capable of calling spirits back from the dead. Once he arrives Gulliver decides to ask the Governor to summon ancients who were most renowned for being intellectuals. He first meets Homer and Aristotle and all of their commentators. He discovers that in the underworld, these modern commentators avoid the ancient philosophers because of the shame they feel at having so grossly misrepresented their work. Gulliver also has Descartes and Gassendi brought back to life to explain their principal theories to Aristotle. However, Aristotle isnt impressed; he dismisses their theories and actually compares them to being like fads in fashion. It seems that as the scholars become more recent the less intellectual they actually are. Gulliver concludes that the world has been misled by histori ans who give qualities such as bravery, virtue, piety, and honor to those who were only cowards and scoundrels. Afterwards, Gulliver returns to Maldonada and leaves to Luggnagg. Once Gulliver arrives at Luggnagg he is detained by a custom-house officer because he is a stranger. Gulliver is then transported to Traldragdubb where he visits the King of Luggnagg. When he arrives in the throne room, he has to crawl on his belly and lick the floor as he goes until he comes within four yards of the throne, then he raises himself up on his knees and bangs his forehead on the ground several times. This is how Luggnaggians approach their king. The king is kind to Gulliver and gives him housing, gold, and a pass to Japan. Before Gulliver leaves he hears about a group of people called Struldbrugs who are immortal. Clear, Swift is criticizing social codes imposed by royalty. Gulliver then decides to learn more about these people and pay them a visit. Gulliver imagined that the Struldbrugs lived a wonderful life where they never grew old, however he could not have been more wrong. The Struldbrugs actual do age, they just dont die. This turns out to be a nightmare for the Struldbrugs because once they pass the age of eighty they basically live in absolute misery. The Struldbrugs are hated by society and are denied the deaths they so badly want as their bodies and minds continue to age and decay. When Gulliver finally meets some Struldbrugs he is disgusted by them and completely changes his mind about how he felt about immortality. Afterwards, Gulliver returns to Luggnagg and from there goes to Japan. From Japan Gulliver eventually makes his way home to England where he is reunited with his family. The adventure to Laputa, Lagado, Glubbdubdrib, and Luggnagg has a couple different lessons that Swift is telling the reader. The first one in Laputa, he is criticizing people like Pangloss in Candide. In Laputa they rely solely on reasoning to the point that their reasoning is corrupted and has no reason at all. According to Brackett, Swift satirizes the Royal Academy in a depiction of an academy at nearby Lagado where members attempt absurd acts (Brackett). I believe that it is also criticizing peoples reliance on technology. I also think this point may be more relevant today that it was during Swifts time. The sorcerers are used to show how backward humanity is becoming. All of the scholars of the ancient were actual intellectuals, however the most recent ones were simply people who got lucky and become famous in history; they didnt possess any superior intellect. Swift also makes it a point to say that people recorded in recent history many times are not what they seem. Getting re corded in history seems to be more like survival of the fittest than who actually deserves it. Finally, the Struldbrugs are to teach people that immortality is not all that its cracked up to be, eventually everyone would get tired of life and would want to rest in peace. After being home for five months Gulliver embarks on another adventure as a captain of a ship. To no surprise the trip is plagued by tragedies. First his crewmen start dying of distemper and when he hires men to replace them they mutiny against him. The crew then leaves Gulliver on a longboat near a beach. Gulliver lands on the beach and starts exploring the land in hope of finding some people. He finally finds some creatures that he has never seen before. After watching them for a bit Gulliver believes that these are the most disgusting creatures hes ever seen. One of the creatures, which are called Yahoos, approaches Gulliver and he hits it away from him. This causes the Yahoo to yell which attracts more Yahoos. They then attack Gulliver by climbing in trees and defecating on him. Then a horse appears and the Yahoos run away in fear. The horse, which is a Houyhnhnm, looks at Gulliver as if studying him and looks disgusted when Gulliver touches him. The horse takes Gulliver to a large building. Gulliver starts calling the horse he meet the master horse because he seems to have authority over the other horses. They then meet up with another horse and the horses take Gulliver to a courtyard where they bring a Yahoo and have it stand next to Gulliver. Gulliver first realizes that the Yahoos are actually humans and hes completely horrified, then he realizes that the horses are actually comparing him to the Yahoo and is horrified even farther. Gulliver then tries to make a point to distinguish himself from the Yahoos for the Houyhnhnms. The Houyhnhnms teach Gulliver their language and Gulliver starts trying to convince them that hes not a Yahoo. Gulliver tells the master horse the story of how he got to the Houyhnhnms, but the master says his story is the thing which was not. The master is implying that he is lying, but since all Houyhnhnms always speak the truth their language does not have a word for lying. The Houyhnhnm master asks Gulliver more questions about his past. Gulliver tells the master that in his world people are the masters and horses are the beast. The master cant believe what he hears and replies that it isnt possible for a Yahoo to be master over a Houyhnhnm because they are superior both physical and intellectually The master tries to understand humanity more through Gulliver and so they have many conversations. In these many conversations Gulliver goes over topics such as poverty, ambition, crime, envy, oppressions, lust, law and politics. He also informs the master of Englands history and the master says that he has a good idea of what human nature is capable of. At one point the master again points out the physical weakness of Yahoos to Gulliver and Gulliver decides to tell him about gun powder. The master is appalled by what Gulliver tells him and orders Gulliver to be silent. The master then says that Yahoos who pretend to have reason are far more detestable than those who do not because it isnt really reason that they have but something that increases their natural vices. After Gulliver spends three years with the Houyhnhnms he becomes very attached to them. He believes that they are pure and innocent and starts losing his humanity in exchange to be more Houyhnhnm-like. He makes clothing out of Yahoo skin and whenever he starts missing his family or friends he merely thinks of them as Yahoos. Gulliver has found happiness among the Houyhnhnm, however one day his master tells him that he must leave. With the help of the masters servant Gulliver builds a boat and leaves. Gulliver doesnt go straight home because hes actually sick of humanity. He considers all humans Yahoos and wants nothing to do with humanity. Even when he finally gets home his own wife and kids disgust him. The story ends with Gulliver allowing his wife to have dinner with him and him talking about how everyone reminds him of a Yahoo. Swift is showing the two possibilities in human nature in the last portion of Gullivers Travels. One is that humans may choose to embrace their uncivilized animalistic nature, as did the Yahoos, and the other that they might reject all emotion to function only with logic, as did the Houyhnhnms. For example, the Yahoos throw their feces at each other and spend all day on the beach picking up shiny stuff. However, the Houyhnhnms find their behavior disgusting and illogical. The Yahoos throwing feces at each other represents how little respect humans have for each other. Them worshipping shiny stuff represents humanities obsession with objects that arent really as valuable as we make them to be. The Importance of Being Earnest is a very funny play that satirizes social roles and the customs of Oscar Wildes time. The satire is very light hearted because Wilde wrote it for the upper classes he was actually poking fun at. However, when we look at it day we can see how ridiculous many of their customs were and how petty the upper-class could be. The play starts off with a conversation about marriage between Algernon Moncrieff and his servant Lane. It also sets the tone for the play as Algernon concludes that Lanes views seem negligent and that Lanes class seems to have a lack of moral responsibility, here Wilde is using irony because it is in fact Algernons class that lacks moral responsibility. The play becomes satirical very fast as Jack Worthing admits that Earnest is an alter ego he pretends is his brother that often needs his help in the city and Algernon admits that he also has an alter ego named Bunbury, who often needs his help in the country. Wilde is using this to show how ridiculous their customs were and that for someone to get away somewhere and still be respectable in the eyes of society they had to make up another identity. The first scene also has Jack proposing to Gwendolen which she accepts, but her mom tells her she cant engage herself. Lady Bracknell then asks Jack some personal questions to see if he is suitable for Gwendolen. All seems fine until she realizes that he doesnt have parents, at this she finds him unacceptable and leaves. In this scene Wilde is criticizing the social code as petty and cruel. The irony becomes even more incredible when Algernon goes to Jacks house in the country saying that his name is Earnest and hes Jacks brother. Algernon introduces himself to Cecily, as Earnest, and very quickly the two fall in love. When Jack gets home and discovers that Algernon is posing as his imaginary brother, Earnest, he is furious and tells him to leave. However, Algernon doesnt and in fact he meets up with Cecily and proposes to her. She accepts and tells him that she loves him because his name is Earnest, which is ironic because its the same thing Gwendolen told Jack. Afterwards, Algernon contacts Dr. Chasuble to christen him so that he can change his name to Earnest, the irony here is that Jack has also done this. The story continues when Gwendolen comes to visit Jack, but since he isnt home Cecily meets with her until he comes back. They immediately like each other and agree to call each other by their first names. However, while they converse they learn that they both plan to marry Earnest even though Earnest doesnt really exist and they both plan on marrying two different people. After the girls start believing that they are in love with the same man they turn on each other and start calling each other by their proper titles. In this scene Wilde is exposing how petty the upper class is through Cecily and Gwendolen, at first they call each other by their first names and then revert to proper titles because of their argument. Jack finally comes home and finds the Cecily and Gwendolen having tea. Immediately Gwendolen asks him if hes engaged to Cecily. He denies the claim and Cecily tells Gwendolen that he is actually her guardian Mr. John Worthing. At this Algernon enters and Cecily says that he is the true Earnest. She then asks him if he is engaged to Gwendolen. He denies the claim, but Gwendolen says that his name is actually Algernon Moncrieff. The girls make up and after Jack tells them that there is no Earnest they both leave the house. The satire in this makes the play hilarious and is the reason why Wilde can get away with making fun of the upper class. The third and final act starts with Cecily and Gwendolen asking the Jack and Algernon why they lied. They both respond that is was necessary for them to see each other and Gwendolen and Cecily forgive them. However, Lady Bracknell enters and after seeing Gwendolen with Jack she wants to know whats going on. Gwendolen tells her that shes marrying Jack, but the Lady Bracknell stills refuses to allow it. For a comic effect she also asks Algernon if this is the home of Bunbury and Algernon tells her that Bunbury is dead. He then introduces her to Cecily and tells his aunt that theyre engaged. Lady Bracknell isnt sure she approves until she discovers that Cecily is wealthy. Jack then says that he wont allow Algernon to marry Cecily unless she allows Gwendolen to marry him; still Lady Bracknell refuses to consent. Afterwards Lady Bracknell discovers that Jack is her sisters lost son and that Jack is Algernons older brother. With this knowledge she consents to his marriage with Gwendolen. In this play we see not only the pettiness of upper class people through Lady Bracknell, but also their greed and shallowness through her immediate consent to Algernons marriage once she discovers that Cecily is rich. Wilde also uses marriage to criticize the aristocracy for corrupting a traditionally sacred ceremony into a financial contract that is based on wealth and status. In addition, Wilde is criticizing the leisure life style of the upper class. This entire play has absolutely no action and the drama is completely self created. He shows how far nobles lives are from regular peoples through characters like Lane and Dr. Chasuble, who actually have to work instead of fooling around in social drama. Satire also allows Wilde to criticize the rich and powerful without offending them by making the characters look absurd and unbelievable. As Virginia says the absurdity of the situations is made doubly absurd by the contrasted grace and dignity of everyones utterance (Brackett). The o utcome is a witty comedy that makes fun of the very people watching it! Truly, Wilde is a genius. The Man That Was Used Up starts with an unnamed narrator meeting the famous Brevet Brigadier General John A. B. C. Smith. He instantly falls in love with the Generals physical characteristics. He describes the General as having the head of hair that would have done honor to a Brutus and the handsomest pair of whiskers under the sun. The narrator is not only captured by Smiths physicals, but almost everything about him he says that he never heard a clearer nor a stronger voice and when he spoke to him he said the gallant soldier preferred topics of philosophical interest, meaning hes well educated. The narrator decides that he wants to learn more about the General, but with respect to the tremendous events which occurred during the Bugaboo and Kickapoo campaign, a time of war. The narrator asks around to find out more about the General, but he discovers that the only thing people ever talk about when it comes to the General is his accomplishments. They never seem want to talk about his personal life. They only talk about how great the General is and comment on the wonderfully inventive age. The narrator then starts getting suspicious and starts thinking that there might be something that people are hiding or at least not showing. He decides to visit the Generals home. When he enters he doesnt see anyone home or anything strange. However, he does observe a strange bundle of things on the floor. The narrator kicks the bundle in order to move it and discovers that the bundle can talk. The bundle turns out to be the General and the story begins to unwind. The General calls his servant and has him put him together piece by piece. At this time during the story the reader discovers the real General Smith. He is completely fake all his limbs need to be attached including his legs, arms, shoulders, eyes, teeth, and even his tongue. While the General is being assembled he actually recommends people to the narrator who can provide the best body parts for whatever part is needed. In this scene we not only see that the general is fake on the exterior but also on the inside, before the general was seen as an intellectual elite however while his servant is putting him together he goes now, you nigger, my teeth! this is completely unprecedented behavior from the General and its a glimpse at the real person that he is. The General is actually a lot like the officer in The Nose and Gregor Samsa from The Metamorphosis. He is like the officer from the Nose in that he is a public figure with authority, but is completely fake. His authority is derived completely from what people see him as. If he tried to hold a public position as a bundle of human skin he would be shunned. Peeples confirms this in hes writing when he says Smiths prosthetic body parts can be read as emblematic of the cultural icons exalted reputations: the story advances the notion that public figures are largely artificial creations (Peeples 25). The General is also like Gregor Samsa, in the way that if Gregor would have never had his metamorphosis he would have eventually ended up like the General. The General did not have a transformation so he stayed in the machine and was completely absorbed by it until he started becoming one. The worst part is that since there was no intervention for the general, like Gregors, he never saw how much damage he was actually doing to himself. In fact, he embraced it, according to Peeples, the man that was used up expresses no regrets at having being dismantled by savages, for his new parts seem to work better than those of mere mortals (Peeples, 25). This made the General become the man that was used up. This story may use many devices of absurd, but it makes its shocking points thanks to satire. The story builds up the image of the General through satire. The reader is able to see how highly regarded people like the General are in real life. The absurd is used to rip down the beautiful picture of the General as was previously painted, still this is a form of irony to show people that what they may worship may actually be much less than we they believe it to be. In conclusion satire can be used in many different forms for writers to express themselves. Because satire allows writers to send their readers messages in a very indirect ways, writers can express themselves without being prosecuted. As has been in Gullivers Travels, The Importance of Being Earnest, and The Man That Was Used Up satire is an incredibly powerful tool because it allows writers to expose corruption, oppression, and lies that many people end up believing.

History About Ebay In Japan Marketing Essay

History About Ebay In Japan Marketing Essay eBay is an online auction service that has gained much publicity since their inauguration in the September of 1995 by a 28 year old software developer, Pierre Omidyar of Apple Incorporated. A pet project he initially called AuctionWeb, he posted up a faulty laser pointer to test his algorithm in the web application he created, someone actually offered him $14.83 for the faulty laser pointer stating that he collects such items. That incident started Pierre thinking and eBay was formed. Since then, eBay has been expanding their business worldwide. One of the countries which eBay has failed badly was Japan. They had a joint venture with NEC Corporation to form eBay Japan but the final results after 3 long years of fight that has been proven as futile attempts to make a foot hold in Japan, eBay Japan had no other choice but to withdraw because they lost out for not being there earlier, not enjoying a first mover advantage, the rise of the Rakuten Auctions as contender against Yahoo! Japan Auctions further dug eBay deeper into the oblivion against ever seeing themselves as a leader in Japan. Hiring the right country manager makes all the difference, eBay did not ensure the credentials and expertise of their country manager appointed for the task. Apart from that, the typical American style of Announcing their grand arrival even before they could sniff the air in Japan, gave competitors a chance to prepare themselves against anyone trying to steal their piece of the pie in Japan. Introduction of eBay When we hear of the word, Auction we often think of the famous Christie Auction house in England, located at King Street in St. James. The function of an auction house is to showcase rare or prized items that could fetch the highest price through an elaborate process that allows individuals with deep pockets to out-bid one another to purchase these items. Thanks to modern technology, these auctions are being brought on-line via the use of the Internet. Users can buy or sell items online through the same elaborate process, but at the comfort of their room, in front of their computers without the need to physically be at the location. eBay is one such on-line auction service that has gained much publicity since their inauguration in the September of 1995 by a 28 year old software developer, Pierre Omidyar of Apple Incorporated. A pet project he initially called AuctionWeb, he posted up a faulty laser pointer to test his algorithm in the web application he created, someone actually offered him $14.83 for the faulty laser pointer stating that he collects such items. That incident started Pierre thinking and eBay was formed. AuctionWeb became a new focus for Pierre. It occupied his entire domain, www.ebay.com, acronym for Echo Bay (the name of his consulting firm). By 1996, the company was large enough to require professional help to make the concept, even more profitable. Jeffrey Skoll, Stanford MBA graduate, went onboard the profit spinning ship. Meg Whitman, a Harvard graduate soon joined the `crew and together with a formidable business team, created the modern day eBay that we know today. By 1998, the pioneers of the company were billionaires. Entry Strategies Entry Strategy 1 eBay Join Hands with NEC Corporation to enter Japan Market The joint venture with NEC Corporation to form eBay Japan seemed like a great idea. Infact, it is a great idea. Having a localized corporation to enter the Japanese market builds the credibility any foreign company will need. Having a myriad of possibilities from because they could trade with anything. eBay gained exposure through NECs contact with Biglobe, an Internet Service Provider. Much hype was anticipated as the CEO for eBay, Mr. Okawara, looked forward to bringing online auctioning to the Japanese people. However, the Japanese culture amongst the younger generation is to meet at malls, to try out new introductions into the Japanese market. Touch and Feel is what they prefer. Also, its a social norm in Japan that people meet at malls to socialize or just to look at people. What eBay tried to do, was to introduce another cultures norm into Japan. Though a workable and definitely profitable business model in the states and probably even in the western world, they failed to garner enough market sampling to warrant an entry into the Japanese market. Thats just part of the challenge they face. The other factor that had brought forth the early retreat from Japan is the presence of Yahoo Auctions in Japan. Yahoo entered the market in 1996, together with Softbank. The collaboration between Yahoo and Softbank was at the right time where the fad of the internet is still hot. They built the largest portal in Japan which in turn means their presence already had a huge market share from consumers and sellers alike who has loyalty to the company. Japanese people have high level of loyalty to product brandings and service providers. Another thing eBay Japan did not forsee is that, Japanese people, do not appreciate hand-me-downs, second hand goods. Entry Strategy 2 eBay Joins Hands with Yahoo! in Japan eBay has about 83 million users and Yahoo Japan has about 6.6 million registered users. eBay and Yahoo agreed to link their auction sites to facilitate cross-border trading and invigorate the online auction market. This would enable users of Yahoo Auctions Japan to bid for items listed on eBays US site using their Yahoo Japan ID, and eBay users in the US to buy items auctioned on Yahoo Japan using their eBay ID. The plan, which will enable registered users from Japan and North America to participate in a single marketplace. Japanese-language Website sekaimon.com, unveiled by the companies will enable Yahoo Japan users to take part in eBay auctions and is part of a strategy to implement the integration. A reverse setup, enabling North American users to shop for items from Japan under an English-language bidding system. The eBay portal will initially feature Japanese licensed-character goods, comic books, and other collectibles listed on the Yahoo Japan auction site. The integrated marketplace will also offer services to streamline payment, shipping and customs clearance. International users were able to use the US based web site consumers craved trading in local currencies and the ease that domestic transactions presented. Disadvantages of Non-first movers for Auction Disadvantage 1 Unable to garner the interested customers The first disadvantage of not being the first mover to launch the online auction services has caused eBay Japan to lose the opportunity to garner the interested customer base who are first timers that really wanted to attempt the Online Auction services. Being the first mover would have allowed the first timer customers whom are interested to sign up and attempt this online auction services that has never been provided in Japan as many analyst believes that the launch would not have been successful due to the image consciousness character of the Japanese. Therefore, being only the second launching provided, eBay Japan has lost the genuine interested first timer customers as they have already signed up for the online auction services provided by Yahoo! Japan Auction when they launched the service in September 1999, which was five months before eBay Japan. Disadvantage 2 Unable to attract over Yahoo! Japan Auction loyal customer base The second disadvantage is eBay Japan is unable to attract over the loyal customer base garnered by Yahoo! Japan Auction five months before their launch. All the loyal customer base has already been used to the services provided by Yahoo! Japan Auction has got no intention to move over to eBay Japan. In addition, Yahoo! has been an established and best known brand in Japan for other services such as Yahoo! Email, search, etc however, in contrary, eBay has only been known for online auction services and limited to overseas which is outside Japan. Therefore, Japanese, who generally only trust reputable, well-known and established brands, are more comfortable using Yahoo! instead of eBay. Disadvantage 3 Comparison of first and second online auction service launcher The third disadvantage of not being the first mover is being compared to the first launcher. The customers has done a comparison between Yahoo! Japan Action and eBay Japan on the difference in the different areas such as charging listing fees, final value fees, branding strength. Yahoo! Japan Auction has launched the online auction services before eBay Japan with all services free and no any transaction charges at all. Therefore, in comparison, Japanese who are not willing to pay for the service are not willing to sign up for services for eBay Japan. Also, it has also proven that when eBay Japan has stopped the charging the fees as per the usual practice, the customer base and the number of listings has increased. Cultural Misunderstandings Cross cultural understanding simply refers to the basic ability of people within business to recognize, interpret and correctly react to people, incidences or situations that are open to misunderstanding due to cultural differences. If no cultural awareness, cultural sensitive was established before launching into a different culture, itll cause cultural misunderstanding, in long term, resulting in business failure. Misunderstanding 1 Not fully understanding the mindset of a different culture For eBay Japan, during the initial launch into Japan, they had not understood in depth the business dealing ways of Japanese. eBay instead of modifying the American-centric service model to fit the Japanese market needs, they chose to force the Japanese consumers to fit into the current American-centric company service model. eBay charged commissions of up to 5% and required acutely risk-averse Japanese users to submit credit card information on signup. This service model did not go well with the Japanese. Most of the internet savvy people come from the young Japanese who did not own any credit card. Even so, Japan was a largely cash-based society, they preferred to pay for purchases with cash or through banks transfers instead of online credit card payments. This has therefore resulted in the poor sign-up figures after the launch of eBay Japan. Misunderstanding 2 Failing to hire the right person eBay Japan also erred in selecting for country head. In the selection of country manager, the issue of language is overplayed. They can actually hire a bilingual executive assistant, translator, or interpreter for a fraction of what it costs to hire a country manager. Making language skills a key recruiting criterion severely reduces the pool of potential candidates. Rather than focus on language skills, eBay Japan has failed to care about the truly important things, like a country managers strategic thinking ability, his track record managing comparable businesses, industry knowledge, and, ultimately, whether or not he can successfully build and motivate a local team, introduce new products, and gain market share in a highly competitive market. In Japan organization structure, the HR organization in a leading Japanese company is at the top of the hierarchy. In the US, its at the bottom. It has to be empowered, it must have very top people, it must engage with peopleits not about recruiting-eBay Japan had failed to utilize the talents of Japan based foreigners who had many years of valuable experience managing in Japan, as well as relevant industry knowledge and connections, who can help successfully navigate Japan market entry, smoothen interactions between head office and Japan-based operations. Misunderstanding 3 Unprepared for new Culture eBay Japan did something that American companies are notorious for, something that had cost them dearlynamely, they made grandiose announcements about their entry into the Japanese market, well before they had a localized product ready to launch in Japan. While missing the first mover advantage was perhaps eBays Japan single biggest blunder, the lack of traction in Japan for eBay products had too caused the failure of entry. Therefore, with the culture shock, eBay has failed to penetrate the Japan market as eBay Japan was not accepted widely by the Japanese in terms of their entry to Japan and their working style when operating the online auction services. The Current Status of eBay To recap, eBay Inc. tried to open its popular auction service under its subsidiary eBay Japan established in 1999, withdraw in March 2002 after failing to capture significant market share against Yahoo! Auction. Ebay partnered Yahoo! Japan, the Japan biggest portal offering online auction services. Together both companies designed a separate stand alone site, Sekaimon. English meaning for the Japanese term Global Shopping. Sekaimon site is able to translate items listed on eBay into Japanese, help with payments, shipping and customs clearance for Japanese shoppers. The alliance benefits users of both sites. Sellers will be able to reach out to a wider audience for their goods, meanwhile buyers will able to choose from a richer selection of products that are on offer. The impact of the deal will mean more in certain areas. For example, U.S. music fans will be able to easily purchase many of the limited edition CDs that Western artists release in Japan, while Japanese movie enthusiasts will be able to find a wider array of DVDs that are not available locally. Ebay users to have an easier time buying Japanese goods that are popular abroad, such as popular manga comics books, CDs and merchandise that feature Japanese animation characters and mascots. Yahoo! Japan users can login using their Yahoo! Japan ID and purchase translated eBay items with customize Japanese menu and online agent support. Hence, in order to achieve their vision, eBay must overcome various issues such as language barriers, government regulations, internet access and cultural differences. Ebay attempt to deal with the challenge of conducting transactions in multiple languages, where the sellers interact in one language and potential buyers in another.   Sellers using eBays Japanese site, Sekaimon, who want to offer their items on any English language eBay sites will be able to enter descriptions of up to 200 Japanese characters and get them translated within a day for about $12.34. By enabling this translation service, it helps to boost and introduce more Japanese products into eBay sites. Thus, eBay has successfully turned a challenge to its global growth into a new revenue stream while increasing its value proposition. eBay has a significant challenge in dealing with cultural differences, such as high uncertainty avoidance culture in Japan. eBay is dealing with this by structuring strategic partnerships with reliable entity when it struck a deal with Yahoo! Japan, after numerous attempts yet failing to penetrate the market independently.  eBay adopts localization strategy, where it replicates smaller and culturally sensitive portions of its content in specific markets such as Japan and China. By doing so, it value adds towards ensuring easy usage and adaptability in new or low tech markets.   Conclusion eBay made all the wrong moves in their attempt to extend their services to Japan. Not hiring the right people who can competently study the market in Japan to know if it is a viable business preposition to even attempt the creation of eBay Japan. eBay did not understand the culture in Japan. Basic business ventures to a foreign country requires everyone to understand and work with the cultural styles. eBay tried to force their American centric service model upon the Japanese people, it will never work unless they were the first to setup the service in the country where people may just think that, thats the way eBay did not pay attention to the presence of Yahoo! Japan Auctions and went in blind. To make matters worst, they announced their plans and created quite a fanfare to path their way into Japan way before they could even set foot in the country. Its like telling the enemies at war, Were coming from the south island at dawn. Recommended alternatives Conducting a business in any country requires business planners to conduct extensive market research, sampling the market sentiments for products or services that are to be introduced into the country. The people after all, are the sources of income. How can a company sell a product or service to people of a different lifestyle, who have different needs and perception of how they want to be sold a service or product? After identifying what the people want, the company should look into competitors and their position in the market as well. Gauge their own size and see if they are able to go up against on a head-on battle or to find a niche market to carve out a position for themselves and slowly expand from there. Recommendation The most important point among the alternatives that is recommended to eBay during the new set-up is to identify what their target audience wants.It is imperative that the barrier for entries be understood prior embarking on any non-localized businesses. It is very important to understand the culture of the target audience, understand the needs and the wants of the target audience before entering into a brand new market that the organization has never had their presence before. It very important to understand the direction of the target audience before entrance, in which, refers to the current competitors in the market. The current market share of the competitors, the number of competitors in the market and how does the target audience view this competitor. Need be, make a joint venture with existing service provider that has already penetrated into the market in order to leverage on their expertise and also the expertise of local talents and foreign talents living in the country.

Death Penalty - Justified Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Papers

Death Penalty - Justified There are many problems facing our criminal justice system today. Some of the more important ones are overcrowded jails, the increasing murder rate, and keeping tax payers content. In light of these problems, I think the death penalty is our best and most reasonable solution because it is a highly effective deterrent to murder. And, tax payers would be pleased to know that their hard-earned tax dollars are not being wasted on supporting incorrigible criminals who are menaces to society. In addition, they would not be forced to fund the development of new penitentiaries in order to make room for the growing number of inmates in our already overcrowded jails. Moreover, the death penalty would serve to curb the growth of future crimes and consequently the number of inmates would also be reduced. Thus, overcrowding in federal and state penitentiaries would be eliminated. In this essay, I will discuss these ideas and prove why capital punishment is the best viable solutio n to the problems plaguing our criminal justice system. Capital punishment could solve our problem with the increasing murder rate because it serves a highly effective deterrent. â€Å"The death penalty deters murder by putting the fear of death into would be killers. A person is less likely to do something, if he or she thinks that harm will come to him† (Studyworld 1). This fear of death is the key to reducing the murder rate. Frank G. Carrington informs us that Louis Joseph Turck..., an ex-convict with a felony record dating from 1941, was arrested May 20, 1961 for robbery. He had used guns in prior robberies in other states but only pretended to be carrying a gun in the robbery here [Cal... ...ng tax payers, and the other problems facing out criminal justice system. As we have seen, it can serve as a deterrent and reduce the murder rate. In addition, the death penalty would fee up space in overcrowded state and federal prisons. Moreover, it satisfies tax payers because it requires less tax money and can eliminate the need for additional prisons. Hence, capital punishment should be instituted everywhere. Works Consulted â€Å"Benefits of Capital Punishment.† Studyworld. 20 Nov. 2002 . Carrington, Frank G. Neither Cruel nor Unusual. New York: Arlington House Publishers, 1978. Jacobs, Nancy R, Alison Landers, and Mark A. Siegel, eds. Capital Punishment - Cruel and Unusual?. 1979-1996. 7th ed. Texas: Information Plus, 1996.

Aspects & Impacts of Porous Pavements Essay -- Pavement Driving Surfac

Short Memo: Aspects & Impacts of Porous Pavements The purpose of this short memo is to discuss aspects of use, applicability, and environmental impacts of porous pavements as gleaned from practical findings and pertinent examples. A porous pavement is one with high enough porosity and permeability to allow rain and snowmelt to pass through it, thereby reducing the runoff from a site and surrounding areas. In intensely built up areas, pavements account for more than half of all the land, and for about two-thirds of total built cover (Ferguson, 2005, 2-3). Parking lots, in particular, account for the majority of paved areas. Pervious paving materials have the capability of providing a dual purpose in parking and other areas with low to moderate traffic; they serve both as a parking/traffic area and to manage stormwater. Components & Function There are several types of porous pavements, namely porous asphalt, porous concrete, and numerous modular paver systems. Both a construction material and a design technique, systems may be used individually or enhanced through a combination of types. Porous asphalt consists of an open-graded coarse aggregate bonded together by asphalt cement. The mixture contains fewer fines than traditional asphalt and sufficient void space between aggregate particles allows water to drain through quickly. Porous concrete also consists of an open-graded coarse aggregate, formulated with Portland cement and water. Modular porous pavers are structural units, such as concrete blocks or reinforced plastic mats, with void areas that are filled with pervious materials, to achieve a load-bearing permeable surface. The pervious fill materials include sand, grass turf, and gravel. Each of these surfaces is typical... ...rent purposes. Residential streets and interstate shoulders have been constructed of porous systems, and more extensive weight-bearing roads are functioning in Europe. More research and site study of porous paving techniques and specifications are needed to continue to increase knowledge and implementation of these systems, and to further their capacity for use. Works Cited Adams, Michele (May/June 2003). â€Å"Porous Asphalt Pavement With Recharge Beds,† Stormwater Magazine. www.forester.net/sw_0305_porous.html Ferguson, Bruce (2005). Porous Pavements. FL: CRC Press. Georgia Stormwater Management Manual (2001). â€Å"Porous Concrete.† Vol. 2, 3.3-33 - 3.3-40. Georgia Stormwater Management Manual (2001). â€Å"Modular Porous Paver Systems.† Vol. 2, 3.3-41 – 3.3-46. U.S. EPA (September 1999). Stormwater Technology Factsheet: Porous Pavement. Washington, DC: EPA 832-F-99-023.

Biking can improve your life Essay -- essays research papers

Biking Can Improve Your Life Exercise is the most important part of a happy life. Americans are some of the fattest people in the world. We are also overly dependant on prescription drugs. These factors stretch from the very young to the elderly. Biking is a great way to introduce activity into sedentary lifestyles. With proper knowledge they will see that biking improves their life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Over the last decade children, in the United States have been gaining weight. Obesity is rapidly becoming an epidemic in our youngster’s lives.†(Spataro, 1999) With the added weight comes greater risk of diabetes, heart diseases and many other ailments. Our children must be taught how proper exercise can give them a better future. Biking is a great way to start the learning process, to introduce an active lifestyle to our children. One way to start the introduction is in the early years. They can gain a love for the sport starting very young. Parents can install child seats or pull a trailer to include them in daily workout routines. When children learn to ride a bike themselves they can accompany parents on shorter rides. Riding to a local park is wonderful motivation for a child to go a few extra miles. It is a great way for parents and children to spend quality time together. As children mature into young adults biking becomes a form of free dom and independence.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Obesity of course is not just a problem for today’s youth. Obesity is...

The Namesake Clash of Culture

The thing about The Namesake is not that it is a great movie (although most avid movie-goers will be satisfied), but that it treats universal themes with such clarity that anyone who has been through the experience of leaving one’s land should be able to relate, even if not from India. Directed by Mira Nair and with Kal Penn leading a great cast, the movie follows the lives of an Indian couple coming to New York in the 70s and raising children in this context.I have a number of friends that are second generation to Indian immigrants for which reason I believe my understanding of their culture is above average, but even if that was not the case I’m sure these themes would not be lost on me: Abandoning the comfort of family life in the quest for better opportunities Struggling to make a living without help, in a culture where all values are different All the sacrifices that parents make for the sake of their children.I’ve always said that migration is cruel to our ancestors but selfless to our children. The agony of loosing loved ones being far away and the constant fight with the irrational thought that it could be avoided. The temptation of multiracial relationships The intimacy of the father/son dialog when the entire future of their lineage depends on them The cultural pride that one feels even after leaving the country behind, assuming all great achievements from our people as our own.In many ocassions this only happens once we leave our countries. The quiet professional triumph that occurs almost in the background to all the other events in our lives. The crude attempt to follow tradition even if this means to butcher them once in a while The cultural mix that is driven by well adapted â€Å"second generation† kids and their loose interpretation of their heritage in the context of their daily lives. Go see it or continue reading the chatter at one of the Indian blogs I follow.