Forecasting at Hard Rock Cafe

For the following case: †¢View the Video Case for Chapter 3 for OMMyLab †¢Bulletize the following (so that the case can be understood fully from your bullets and not have to read the case) †¢Clearly articulate the question(s) you are answering before providing you answer †¢Quantitative Issue The manager is trying to evaluate how a new advertising campaign affects guest counts. Using data for the past 10 months (see the table) develop a least squares regression relationship and then forecast the expected guest count when advertising is $65,000. Provide the answer to your boss and then provide the model as backup) †¢Qualitative Issues 1. Describe three different forecasting applications at Hard Rock. Name three other areas in which you think Hard Rock could use forecasting models. (Justify your choices) 2. What is the role of the POS system in forecasting at Hard Rock? 3. Justify the use of the weighting system used for evaluating man ¬agers for annual bonuse s. 4. Name several variables besides those mentioned in the case that could be used as good predictors of daily sales in each cafe.Provide backup using appropriate technology (Provide the spreadsheets as spreadsheets). Forecasting at Hard Rock Cafe With the growth of Hard Rock Cafe—from one pub in London in 1971 to more than 129 restaurants in more than 40 countries today—came a corporate wide demand for better forecasting. Hard Rock uses long-range forecasting in setting a capacity plan and intermediate-term forecasting for locking in contracts for leather goods (used in jackets) and for such food items as beef, chicken, and pork.Its short-term sales forecasts are conducted each month, by cafe, and then aggregated for a headquarters view. The heart of the sales forecasting system is the point-of-sale sys ¬tem (FOS), which, in effect, captures transaction data on nearly every person who walks through a cafe's door. The sale of each entree repre ¬sents one customer; the entree sales data are transmitted daily to the Orlando corporate headquarters' database. There, the financial team, headed by Todd Lindsey, begins the forecast process.Lindsey fore ¬casts monthly guest counts, retail sales, banquet sales, and concert sales (if applicable) at each cafe. The general managers of individual cafes tap into the same database to prepare a daily forecast for their sites. A cafe manager pulls up prior years' sales for that day, adding information from the local Chamber of Commerce or Tourist Board on upcoming events such as a major convention, sporting event, or con ¬cert in the city where the cafe is located. The daily forecast is further broken into hourly sales, which drives employee scheduling.An hourly forecast of $5,500 in sales translates into 19 workstations, which are further broken down into a specific number of wait staff, hosts, bartenders, and kitchen staff. Computerized scheduling software plugs in people based on their availability. V ariances between forecast and actual sales are then examined to see why errors occurred. Hard Rock doesn't limit its use of forecasting tools to sales. To evaluate managers and set bonuses, a 3-year weighted moving average is applied to cafe sales. If cafe general managers exceed their targets, a bonus is computed.Todd Lindsey, at corporate headquarters, applies weights of 40% to the most recent year's sales, 40% to the year before, and 20% to sales 2 years ago in reaching his moving average. An even more sophisticated application of statistics is found in Hard Rock's menu planning. Using multiple regression, managers can compute the impact on demand of other menu items if the price of one item is changed. For example, if the price of a cheeseburger increases from $7. 99 to $8. 99, Hard Rock can predict the effect this will have on sales of chicken sandwiches, pork sandwiches, and salads.Managers do the same analysis on menu placement, with the center section driving higher sales vo lumes. When an item such as a hamburger is moved off the center to one of the side flaps, the corresponding effect on related items, say french fries, is determined. Hard Rock’s Moscow Cafe Data Month 12345678910 Guest count 21 24 27 32 29 37 43 43 54 66 (in thousands) Advertising 14 17 25 25 35 35 45 50 60 60 (in $ thousand)

Living in a multicultural society takes time Essay

‘Living in a multicultural society takes time.’ To what extend is this illustrated by the challenge of multicultural societies in the UK? (40) A multicultural society is the status of several different ethnic, racial, religious or cultural groups coexisting in harmony in the same society. From the early 19th century people have immigrated to England, developing its diversity. During World War 2 polish and Jewish people immigrated to the UK to escape fascism. Also as the UK is part of the European Union, free and fair movement between the 28 member states means that there are no limits on immigration between these countries. This has seen it compulsory for the UK to adapt and change in order to accommodate for these individuals. For different ethnic minorities to coexist in harmony time is imperative, groups of different people will never coexist harmoniously over night. This is evidenced by holiday and school timetables being altered for ethnic minority groups, opportuni ties for people to learn English for free and websites being available in other languages. The vast majority of immigrants to the UK have settled in the industrial cities and towns as there is a demand for workers. Consequently, councils then have to work to help integrate these ethnic minorities into the communities, limiting tensions that may occur as a result of groups of people lacking understanding of each other. For example, Birmingham city council has created a festival to promote and express culture within Birmingham. Using twitter and other social media they have emphasised ‘your postracial is a myth #itooambirmingham’ this is the idea that no matter what ethnic group you originate from are equal and almost labelling Birmingham as an ethnic group with no specific image. This integrates ethnic minorities in to society and creates a sense of community by almost blurring the lines between people differences. The process of integration takes time, therefore supporting the statement. However, some council’s are better than others at creating a sense of community and educating their population about different cultures; moreover councils are not literally able to force peo ple to be accepting of change. This issue can create racial tensions. In 2005 Riots started in Birmingham initially due to the alleged rape of a Jamaican girl. Violence erupted between gangs of Black and Asians; Isiah Young-Sam was stabbed and later died as a result. Even though Birmingham council have worked to create a sense of community between ethnic minorities, it did not stop gangs fighting for revenge. This  may suggest that council’s efforts are rendered ineffective and ethnic groups in society will never coexist harmoniously, because these groups still see themselves as different and don’t completely understand each other which consequently cause tensions. This racial violence can then cause other ethnic groups to resent the groups that were involved because they are seen as unpleasant trouble makers causing more of a divide. Furthermore, political parties like UKIP and the BNP feed off this negative image created and demonstrate intolerance towards others. In times of crisis people may lo ok to more extreme parties and favour them as they believe government is ineffective. Another issue that the UK faces due to the development of multicultural societies is in education. Holiday patterns, school meals and school timetable may need to be altered for ethnic minorities groups. Religious holidays may demand time off school, the English school holiday is based on the Christian calendar, but people of different religions such as Islam celebrate at different times. For example schools in Tower Hamlet are now allowed two days off to celebrate Eid. School meals have to be altered for Muslims as they can only eat Halah meat and no pork so an alternative needs to be given. Furthermore, prayers occur on Friday afternoons, in Oxford Spire Academy in Oxfordshire pupils are allowed to travel to the mosque on Cowley road during lunch to attend prayers, if they are too young to travel alone there is a prayer room located onsite. The school adapting to changes in requirements shows they are accepting of a multicultural society, it has taken time to cater for these differing ethnic minorities. On the other hand, faith schools have developed in some areas to teach children according to a particular religion. Faith schools make up around a third of the education system. This limits choice for parents who do not want a religious education for their children, or do not share the faith of their local school. For example, in hackney Lubavitch Senior Girls’ School is a strictly orthodox, small secondary school for girls only. Liberal secularists argue that faith schools have no place in a growing diverse population as they promote segregation. Children should be educated around others from all religions and cultures as it is a truer representation of society. Moreover, enclaves of ethnic minorities are likely to locate near a school of their own faith this demotes integration and interaction within the community, resulting in a lack of understanding of others which consequently can cause racial tensions. Conservative people would argue that parents should have the right to bring a child according to religion and they should be able to continue to practise the religion at school. Faith schools demote integration with others who do not share the same beliefs; this is evidence to show that as long as there is faith schools in the UK ethnic minorities will never coexist in harmony. In the 1970’s and 80’s ethnic minorities were subject to racial discrimination in the workplace. Racial discrimination is still present today but it is declining slowly, Of the Civil Service employees in March 2014 who declared their ethnicity, 10.1% were from an ethnic minority, an increase of 0.5 percentage points on March 2013. 7.5% of these people are of senior civil service. This suggests that the UK has changed and become more accepting of other ethnic minorities, giving them access to promotions and roles with more power. Some people would argue work places reflect society and there is still more work to do to protect ethnic minorities’ from discrimination and enable them to progress in their jobs. This slow change in decreasing racial discrimination has taken time and will continue to need help to completely abolish racial discrimination. Although, there are still incidents of worker exploitation and discrimination in the UK. A poultry farmer had to pay over  £5,000 in compensation to a Polish worker who also won a case of racial discrimination. The worker, who had not been paid the same as his British co-workers, was unreasonably criticised over his work and was not allowed to attend English classes. The Polish Embassy stated that number of Polish workers in Britain was between 500,000-600,000. The amount of polish migrants who have settled in the UK increased after Poland joined the European Union, as the minimum wage in Poland is half of the UK meaning workers are prepared to work for less and longer than a native British worker. This is appealing to an employer’s as low skilled jobs become cheap labour as the migrants are prepared to work for less, some companies then take advantage of this and there have been examples were breaks are not given or employees are being paid less than the minimum wage. This suggests that immigrants can be vulnerable and some don’t even realise that how they are being treated is wrong. It could be argued that ethnic groups will never live harmoniously as there will always be a way to exploit immigrants. On the other hand, if all immigrants were educated of their rights it would  make it a lot harder for employer’s to take advantage of them as the person would know right from wrong. Some UK-born people may completely disagree with the statement. This is because some unemployed may feel that the immigrants are ‘taking their jobs’ as they are prepared to work for less than them and an employer favours this and not investing in our country as they may be sending money back to their families. However others may argue that they are just benefit tourists and they have only come to live off the state as the welfare system in their country is not as generous. In times of crisis (housing, economic) anti-immigration parties feed of the negative image painted for immigrants and the people which have these crisis’s hit them the hardest may decide to support them. Parties like UKIP and the English Defence league promote intolerance towards others this can influence people to stop trying to accept other ethnic minorities. In conclusion, I think there are many challenges of multicultural societies in the UK and some are easier to overcome than others. I strongly believe that living in a multicultural society harmoniously does and will still take time. People need time to accept change and some people will never accept it but as time goes on generations are taught to be tolerant of others. Councils holding events to educate everyone about the different religions, cultures and ethnicity can bring a sense of community and help ethnic groups understand each other. However, I feel as if there will always be obstacles such as faith schools and scapegoating different groups of people but it is the attitudes of society towards these obstacles that will allow for everyone to coexist harmoniously.

An Inspector Calls Essay Example for Free (#11)

An Inspector Calls Essay An Inspector Calls is a play that investigates the social injustice of society in England. Its author JB Priestly writes a story based on the society reigned by King Edward. In this historic period the British Empire was at its peak of world colonial power. Edwardian society, as the period was known as, was split into different class groups. You had upper class, middle class and lower class. JB Priestly rights about an Edwardian upper class family, called the Birlings and how their transgressions lead to the suicide of a poor lower class factory worker known as Eva Smith. The story begins in the Birling household where the family are celebrating the engagement of Sheila Birling and Gerald Croft. The celebrations are interrupted as the inspector appears, bringing the news of the suicide of Eva Smith. His inquiries reveal each member of the Birling household involvement in the case and the once respectable Birling family are revealed to be rather pathetic and immoral.  In reference to the essay question I shall now write about one member of the Birling family and how their character changes through out the play. Sheila Birling is the daughter of Author and Sybil Birling. It is at her engagement party with Gerald Croft, where the inspector reveals the family’s involvement in the Eva Smith suicide case. In the story Priestly portrays her as a young beautiful lady with a rather selfish and arrogant nature. Using her compelling personality she is able to obtain anything in which she desires through her father. At the beginning of the inspector’s inquiries she seems  somewhat curious about the reason for the inspector’s interference. Of course at this time she is unaware of her contribution to the incident and sits in the room with a feeling of impartial responsibility to the suicide of Eva Smith. After the inspector explains what’s happened and how Eva Smith dies she shows an empathetic side of her personality, which might have surprised the audience watching the play. She shows her remorse by describing her feelings towards the injustice of the case. The inspector interviews Author Birling first before moving on to Sheila. Author Birling insists for the inspector to leave his daughter out his inquiries, but the inspector points out to Mr Birling that he must speak to everybody in the house. The inspector unveils Sheila’s’ involvement by revealing her as the second link in a long chain of events leading to the death of Eva Smith. Edwardian upper class society was well renowned for their ability to exercise total power and control over lower class persons. Priestly shows a perfect example of this during the inspector’s questioning of Sheila. He reveals that after being sacked from Mr Birlings’ factory, Eva Smith found a knew line of work at a clothes shop where Sheila Birling was considered a valued customer. Eva Smith was soon left unemployed after being sacked again. The reason was for being better looking than Sheila in a dress which had Miss Birling’s best interest at heart. Using her social position she was able to influence the managers at the clothes shop into dismissing Eva Smith. Sheila is devastated after hearing the effect of her selfish act. The inspector shows another side to Sheila Birlings’ character, her gentle side. Perhaps Sheila can be separated from the rest of the family as she is the only one, apart from Eric who is able to accept responsibility for her action, unlike her father who a coward at heart made excuses for his actions.: Through the course of the play Sheila slowly changes from a spoilt little rich snob into a mature young lady. She begins to share the inspectors’ views on Edwardian society and brings about a few of her own views.  The purpose of Priestly writing ‘An Inspector Calls’ was to get his views about Edwardian society across England. Using the inspector he criticizes  The social order of Edwardian society. So any comment made by the inspector is a comment made by JB Priestly.  Conclusion  I have been able to successfully answer the essay question using Sheila Birling as my character to show how members of the Birling family changed. JB Priestly reveals the injustice that occurred in Edwardian society. He shows the audience that the upper class people of Edwardian society were consequently not the respectable upright citizens that their class positions would have implied. An Inspector Calls. (2017, Nov 07).

Advanced Obstetrics for Paramedics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Advanced Obstetrics for Paramedics - Essay Example In certain cases, the signs and symptoms typically occur in 6-8 weeks after the normal menstrual period, but ectopic pregnancy may occur later. In some of the cases, nausea along with breast discomfort, low blood pressure, weakness, dizziness and pale skin can be noticed amid the patient (Stà ¶ppler, 2013). Considering the fact that different sites of possible ectopic pregnancy implantation will influence patients’ presentation, it can be ascertained that the treatment of ectopic pregnancy requires implantation and actual removal of the affected parts of a body. In some of these cases, Fallopian tube requires either pharmacologic or surgical management. Pharmacologic management with the doses of methotrexate is necessary for effective treatment. Sometimes, the linear salpingostomy surgery is performed, if a patient desires to become pregnant in future. It is thus anticipated that proper treatment and effective nursing care will certainly help in providing effective and proper treatment to the patients under the circumstance of ectopic pregnancy (American Society for Reproductive Medicine, 2014). It is worth mentioning that the notion of Perinatal morbidity and mortality includes stillbirth and the death of newborn babies within the first 28 days of the birth. According to the latest report of the Australian Bureau of Statistics published in the year 2012, 2,558 perinatal deaths were reported due to Perinatal morbidity and mortality (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014). Again, these 2,558 deaths constituted around 1,355 males and 1,203 females. It will be vital to mention in this similar concern that one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in varied regions of Australia is the haemorrhage from placenta percreta, which results in causing haemoperitoneum, a sign of perinatal morbidity and mortality (Government of South Australia, 2013). Thromboembolic is a disease, which occurs during

Imagine you are writing a textbook chapter for criminology students, Essay

Imagine you are writing a textbook chapter for criminology students, where you are explaining one specific crime( choose between drink driving, mobile theft or - Essay Example However, as Siegel (2005) argues that there maybe concern regarding potential costs, insularity being one of them. A potential kind of insularity that specialised criminology studies can face is isolation from other areas of study from which it originated. Twenty years ago almost every criminologist had a Ph.D. level education in traditional areas such as sociology, psychology, political science or economics. Current breed of crime experts however, have doctorates in departments that are solely dedicated to crime and justice. Although this provides good grounds for specialised training in criminology yet it may not be a place to learn about anything besides it. In order to avoid this potential isolation, we need to maintain a steady flow of ideas to and from other disciplines. One way of doing that is through involvement of criminologists in those disciplines (Siegel, 2005). In order to understand perspectives of different disciplines, various aspects of criminal theories are evaluated against an example of some prevalent crime. These theories were developed on the basis of human nature consisting of classical and positive school. Moreover, increased maturity in criminology has sprung on sociological theories on formative and social development platforms. Bierne & Messerschmidt (1994) argue that examining a specific crime can help us understand the theories and adapt them in a way to help us recognize the nature of crimes. Hence, we can analyse a common crime of cell phone theft in our society to help us combine these theories. Experts present many causes as reasons for people to show criminal behaviour. Misguided arguments like criminal behaviour is a matter of choices and that people commit crimes because that is what the want to do has serious impact upon crime control measures. Direct intrusion techniques have been the classical approach towards crime control strategies. Since Bierne & Messerschmidt (1994) suggest

Case Comment on agaren v Hans erberg Fransson Assignment

Case Comment on agaren v Hans erberg Fransson - Assignment Example The Aklagaren v Hans Akerberg Fransson case is one of the cases that have been tried in line with the principle and jurisdiction of the ne bis indem Union law. The main principle of ne bis indem that is usually applied in the application of these laws is the preservation of equal rights of the accused as well as to those of the defendant (Pillai 204). The initial step in applying the ne bis indem law is the determination whether the charge before the court had been filed in other cases. Therefore, if it is revealed that is the case, then the case before the court will be violating fundamental rights of the accused as provided for in article (51) of the European Union law. Thus, it in effect, it would mean that the rights of accused under ne bis indem have been infringed thereby jeopardizing the credibility of the case before the court (Thomas 98). ... It is apparent that case never qualified for ne bis indem trail since the same case had been filed earlier; however, according to the judgement statement herein above, the court in Sweden was given the power to decide whether to uphold the right for the cased in the Aklagaren v Hans Akerberg Fransson case to be tried twice (Van Bael & Bellis 102). If this was the case, then the ne bis indem’s credibility could be  questionable, and it  should be considered  bias. The Aklagaren v Hans Akerberg Fransson case was primarily pegged on violation of the tax laws. In most cases, Tax laws and regulations are usually enacted to provide guidelines to governments or institutions towards effective and transparent revenue collection (Sigler 144). Therefore, considering Sweden as an independent institution or state, just like any other state in the European Union, it is expected to have its laws and regulations for taxation. The Swedish taxation laws state that; â€Å"Individuals who are liable to Swedish tax have to pay tax on their income and capital gains.† The taxable income for this state includes all remuneration received from employers, whether in cash or in kind, such as free food, free accommodation, and company cars, among others. Pensions, unemployment benefits are also included in the taxable income. However, it is permissible to deduct certain costs from income; for example, travelling costs between work and home† (TaxRates.cc, Para 5). Apparent Sweden only taxes the Swedish residents and to be considered a resident with the obligation to pay taxes, one must have stayed in Sweden for more than six months. According to  Grant Thornton International Ltd (para 3) asserts, an individual will be considered a Swedish

Financial Reporting and Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Financial Reporting and Analysis - Essay Example n laid down by the IASB and the FASB together with the intension of providing a sound future for the accounting standards which have moved to becoming more principals based, internally consistent and internationally converged. This paper has also dealt with the pros and cons of this framework and the agreements are based around the ‘international’ conceptual framework. The IASB is a board which aims at developing and helping to improve the general purpose financial statements, to make sure that it meets to the public interest (Mill, et.al., 2003). The IASB is one of the single high qualities, simple to understand and also one of the only global accounting standards which needs complete information of the general purpose financial statements. The International Accounting Standard Board (IASB) has made various proposals to improve the conceptual framework for financial reporting. The International Accounting Standard Board has proposed to improvise the objectives of the General Purpose Financial Reports (Kitabjian, 2008). The International Accounting Standard Board has focused on improving the General Purpose Financial Reports for potential investors and lenders. They suggest that the report aims at these groups of individuals to help them make informed decisions regarding their capital investments (IASB, 2008). The IASB also works in cooperation wi th the national accounting standard setters which provides for a meeting point for all the accounting standards from across the world. The use of fair value as opposed to the historical cost accounting has always been quite a controversial choice. In this case the use of fair value would prove to be more beneficial when compared to the historical cost accounting as this would have reduced the impact of the credit crunch. In the time of a credit problem and a troubled economy, the use of fair value is one which is most beneficial. The use of fair value is beneficial majorly because the use of the fair value provides

Professional Objectives and Interests Personal Statement

Professional Objectives and Interests - Personal Statement Example My secondary interest would be to strengthen my leadership abilities so that I can lead and administer my subordinates. Sharpening of the existing skills is a very important factor and I would like to focus my attention to it. Apart from this I would be more interested in acquiring new skills by attending seminars, certification programs etc and meeting new people who are associated with this profession. Working for a project will prove to be very fruitful in order to enhance my entrepreneur abilities and motivate my dedication. Networking is considered to be a very essential factor. Relationship with the professional contacts is very valuable for the advancement of career and learning new techniques. I would make it a point to attend functions and monthly events so as to be in close contact with the administrative professionals. The interests that need to be developed in order to become a good administrator are to have effective leadership qualities. An impressive personality proves to be very helpful when it comes to lead and administer people. My area of interest would be to work on the enhancement of these two traits.

HR Strategic Plan for the company I work for thhe company Essay

HR Strategic Plan for the company I work for thhe company - Essay Example It also set out new strategic directions and an action plan for implementation. A team headed by the Vice President, Human Resource Management has been inaugurated to monitor the implementation of the plan. The consulting firm is expected to evaluate plan implementation quarterly and present a comprehensive report to the Board of Directors, and also prepare and present an annual report at each AGM. JP Lexington was incorporated in the USA in 1978. It is essentially into manufacturing of electric generating sets and water pumping machines but has ventured into production of electrical and electronic accessories of automobiles. The company has its first and biggest plant at Ann Arbor, Michigan and three other plants in Virginia, Texas and Hawaii. JP Lexington has also successfully opened and operated offshore branches in Malaysia, Singapore and China. Its expansion plan included acquisition and partnership with firms in China and India for new or adaptive trademarks. The company’s headquarters in Ann Arbor and regional marketing offices in Brasilia, Brazil (for South America and the Caribbean), Abuja, Nigeria (for Africa), Dubai, UAE (for Middle East), Shanghai, China (for East and Central Asia), Moscow, Russia (for Russia, Caucasia and East Europe) and Amsterdam, the Netherlands (for West and Central Europe and Scandinavia). The company currently has 12,578 salaried employees and over 5,900 casualized employees. The company and its industry-specific, sector-wide and economic environment was x-rayed to identify the following strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, which this strategic plan is designed to explore and transform. JP Lexington will in the next 10 years advance to the next level in the use of environmentally-friendly technology. It will continue producing sophisticated version of its old products buts will systematically divert is energy, resources and competencies into

Theories of Human Nature Essay Example for Free

Theories of Human Nature Essay In this paper I will contrast the five theories of human nature, and explain why I believe one to be more superior to the other four. To begin, the five theories of human nature are, rationality, divinity, man-machine, existentialism, and cultural. The first of the five theories is rationality, and simply states that one uses knowledge with the process of thought to draw a conclusion. If a dog’s bowl full of food in the morning, but later in the afternoon it has become empty. One could rationally draw the conclusion that the dog could have eaten all the food out of the bowl. The second is the theory of the five is divinity, and states that humans have all the qualities that the god of the Hebrews has. This would mean that all humans are immortal and infinite. Also this means that humans would be all loving, all knowing, and perfect. Man-machine is the third, and states that everything works like a system much like a robot. This means that one is the way he or she is because he was set up that way. This means that the only reason one acts the way he or she does is because that is the way he or she is â€Å"wired†. The fourth, existentialism, which states that one, must find or create his or her existence outside uniformity. One must get away from all the vices, problems, and routines of life, and must find his or her purpose in life. Finally the fifth, which is the cultural theory of human nature, and it states that there is not only one to define human nature. But, rather a mixture of the first four is the correct answer to the theory of human nature. I believe rationality is superior, and the other four fall short, because reason was used to conjure all other theories. Let’s consider a divine human nature. If we all had a divine human nature we would have no need to debate this, because we would be all knowing, and would know what our nature is. Man-machine falls short simply because it states that there is no rationality; however, it was probably thought up by a man who was searching for a reason why people act the way they do. Next, existentialism, where one must get away from everything and find out for him or her self what his or her purpose is. I really don’t mean to make a joke but this seems like Amish rationality. Then we are left with the cultural theory of human nature. This one just seems like someone wanted to end an argument between the other four. Also it just creates a circle, and does not help us determine which theory of human nature is superior; however the final nail in the coffin is the fact that this theory is trying to find a reason why they saw more than one of these in theories in human nature. I believe that rationality and logic are gifts from God, and are given to us to let us know he exists, and to draw us closer to him. For example take painting, how does one know that the painting had a painter? Because, the painting exists you can see, touch, smell, and even taste it even though you can’t see the painter. Likewise one knows a building had builder because it exists. Also, so that we can know that we have sinned against God by breaking His law. One of the Ten Commandments states: â€Å"you shall not bear false witness† or lie. If one were to tell a lie he would be a liar not only in the sight of God but also by the standard of men, and the bible states in revelation twenty-one eight â€Å"†¦every liar will have his place in the lake of fire†. Because, it also states â€Å"the wages of sin is death†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Romans 6:23a), and this means that we have earned hell for what we have done. Now, rationally who wishes to spend eternity in a lake of fire? But, thankfully it didn’t stop there, because after we find out what we’ve earned we read about what we haven’t: â€Å"†¦but, the free gift of God is eternal life†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . This gift was given to us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross for the payment of our sins, and all we must do is put our faith in him, and turn away from our sins in repentance. And, rationally who doesn’t want eternal life.

Going Digital With Email Marketing Marketing Essay

Going Digital With Email Marketing Marketing Essay Nothing has affected our society over the past two decades more than the continued development of computing technology and the internet. Internet-based tools such as websites, social media, e-commerce, and email touch our everyday lives in some way, both personally and professionally. As a result, the business community has recognized the reach of the internet throughout the world and is aggressively seeking ways to harness the power for greater financial gain more than ever. Despite the rapid enhancements of internet-based business, email remains a consistent element of marketing campaigns and is considered the most mature of the web-based marketing platforms. The possibilities and effectiveness of email are limitless when reviewing these 2009 email statistics posted by Pingdom.com (http://royal.pingdom.com). With over 1.4 billion email users worldwide, firms have the ability to expand and target potential customers globally. The significant factor about this medium is that it continues to grow. Joe Soltis (2007), with Fathom SEO, stated that email has shown a 14.6% growth rate from 2002 to 2007. Pingdom.com (http://royal.pingdom.com) expounds on the growth statistics by saying that the number of email users grew by 100 million from 2008 to 2009. Although email has been around since the earliest days of the internet, it continues to hold value and relevance in the marketplace. The prospect of growth and market reach is only one advantage of an email marketing program. Transitioning your collateral from the traditional printed piece to an electronic format distributed via email can produce cost savings of 50% or more. One of the most important aspects of an email campaign is your ability to measure the deliverability and response of each individual as well as their actions, also known as conversions, within your media. By analyzing your readers actions, you have the ability to refine your email approach and provide your reader with more relevant and diverse forms of content in a fast and timely fashion that print cannot replicate. The ease in which email can engage a readers response only solidifies this creation of a mutually beneficial relationship between the firm and client. What firm would not be thrilled to have a mutually engaging relationship with their client? Providing timely and relevant content to your readership comes with quite a few challenges. Managing a recipient database with accurate information while attempting to expound on the various demographic traits recorded for each recipient requires technical and marketing expertise. Evaluating responsiveness and website traffic is a continuous process that will challenge the discipline of any firm. Creating a mindset of a willingness to change at a moments notice can be difficult and affect the morale of your employees. Developing a content tagging, labeling the content type or subject, storage, and retrieval system is crucial to providing personalized, unique content to a reader. Once entering the digital world, a firm must stay apprised of the latest technology and trends, which change frequently. These changes could negatively affect your marketing campaign if you fail to identify and alter your plan accordingly. Once a decision has been made to implement email marketing into your campaign, the search begins for an Email Service Provider (ESP). A key element in the success of an email marketing campaign is finding an ESP with proper electronic storage file for customer information. A database is used to store customer information ranging from name and address to method of contact preference and special interests. Many ESPs on the market offer similar capabilities. Ranked by Pivotal Velocity as an industry leader in deliverability, iContact offers 250 templates, 500kb image hosting, unlimited email lists, autoresponder and blogging for a minimum $9.95 per month, while Bronto offers 148 templates, 10mb image hosting, limited email lists and responders and blogging for $100.00 per month (http://www.icontact.com). There are also free database management downloads for those that prefer to maintain the database themselves. Databases and servers are nearly synonymous in that you will need to confirm that the database program you have chosen is compatible with your server. While Microsofts SQL Server is the most recognizable, other types of servers such as Oracle, IBM, and Pervasive will perform most of the same functions and to nearly the same capacities (Rzero, 1999-2008). Depending on the type of data you are trying to secure and what operating system you are currently running, you will want to determine which server is the right fit for your business. In addition to a powerful database, you want flexibility of design from your ESP. Depending upon your internal resources, ESPs offer design modules that provide standardized templates for firms with limited creative resources. Companies with design expertise on staff should have the flexibility to customize their design, within the system, to fit their goal of providing unique and dynamic (changing) content. The system should be able to handle all types of media like audio, video, and animation giving the opportunity to offer value beyond a printed piece. Despite limited resources in the beginning, it is advisable to partner with an ESP poised to handle growth as your firm evolves and adds resources to provide one to one marketing. Providing unique and relevant content would not be possible without the proper analytic and metric reporting needed to identify specific demographic content. The process of identifying demographics and providing content relevant to that demographic is called segmentation. This concept is the basis of all internet-based marketing due to the extensive trackability available on all users. The latest mobile devices are centered around this ability to segment an audience and provide specific content relative to each segment. Starting an email campaign begins with acquiring an accurate list of recipients. Most companies already have a database of their current customers, which can serve as a foundation for the event. Understanding that marketing campaigns usually attempt to gain audience share, it is important to add potential subscribers from your prospect lists created from your companies diverse marketing efforts. Begin by verifying the information in your current list is accurate. Companies like Freshaddress will analyze your data and compare it with their and their partners databases to check for raw matches. They obtain secure permission statements from your customers then re-analyze the data and return the list to you with the most current and reliable information available (http://biz.freshaddress.com). Should a customer list or prospect database not exist, the options of purchasing a list from a list management company or building your own are available. When purchasing a list, be sure to read the fine print. Many list providers cross- reference or sell their lists to others. If your business involves sensitive customer information and nondisclosure agreements are in place, you may want to consider compiling your own data. Building your own will require creativity and resourcefulness. One option would be to set up a quality opt in website that will capture data from every customer or potential customer that enters the site, offer possible prizes for referring a friend or host a focus group and capture relevant information from the attendees. Once an accurate database of customers and leads are in place, the segmentation tools provided by the ESP can be utilized. Analyze the demographic information for common denominators leading into a particular category of product or service provided by the firm. Focus your efforts on identifying the groups who would view your content as relevant. This will allow you to build rapport with your customers and prospects, which might inspire them to confirm membership and return to your site. If a customer is a single mother, offer advice, information or coupons that will peak their interest. If the customer is a senior citizen, offer information about retreats, retirement, and vacation homes. Strive to provide information about your business, products, and services that is relevant and interesting to your readership. Your ultimate goal is to engage with your reader in hopes of drawing them back to your site for purchase or use of your service and goods. As you continue to build and grow your database, website maintenance and regular updates are critical. Customers want to be informed and previously read or outdated information will deter them from returning. Keep your customers engaged by items that can only be accessed through your site such as animation, video, web-only reports or articles, and links. Offering access to these value-added elements in exchange for traits or trends provided by the reader is an excellent way to acquire additional information about the reader. With information acquired over time, the degree of segmentation capability grows making your relationship stronger. With 247 billion emails sent in 2009 and 81% of those identified as spam, which is unsolicited email, the design and content of your email is crucial as you want to be identified as a requested, relevant message (Publishers Playbook, 2010). Two specific items that will separate you from the spammers would be to offer a double opt-out option and maintain a proper balance of sending emails and not sending emails. If you overwhelm the recipients with numerous messages, you run risk of being an annoyance and alienating them. The double opt-out option gives the reader the opportunity to acknowledge and confirm their request for your information. This insures that the initial opt-in was intended while also protecting your sender ratings, which trend downward with extensive amounts of opt-outs. In addition, you are legally obligated to offer readers the opportunity to opt-out. If that option is not provided within your email, you could be penalized up to $16,000.00 for non-compliance to the CAN-SPAM Act which regulates commercial email activity in the U.S. Giving two options to unsubscribe protects the firm legally helps insure the efforts are not going to waste (http://www.ftc.gov, 2010). The renderability of emails is a crucial aspect in the design process. With numerous browsers, operating systems, and equipment capabilities, emails produced in HyperText Markup Language, also known as HTML, have the greatest success of being functional across all internet related platforms. HTML also provides extensive flexibility of design by supporting all internet related mediums such as video, animation, or audio. Having the ability to apply HTML code provides you endless opportunities to customize every email effort you produce. Not unlike any other marketing product, the design and content of the email must grab the readers attention and encourage their interaction. Make sure you store the content on your company website and let an alluring email provide the link for the recipient. Once the reader is on your website, they have full access to all of your information, which gives you a better opportunity to spark a continued, interactive relationship. Make sure the email provides links to information that can only be obtained via a link to your website. This is your opportunity to offer content in ways that a magazine, newspaper, and even television cannot offer. There are numerous ways to draw engagement as long as the method offers some form of value to the recipient. However, the value of your email does not have to be centered on the reader relationship. You have the ability to market your communications to others who would benefit from being in touch with the same people. A specific product vendor may be willing to pay you to promote their product video through your email campaign. Maybe that famous industry expert would like to promote their new book by posting a book trailer in your message. Numerous revenue opportunities exist if you review and compare your demographic attributes to your vendor or service providers. Analyzing the results of the email campaign, enhances your ability to add value to your customer relationship as well as provide further revenue gaining opportunities. Business has always been about identifying the needs of the public and offering a product or service to fill that need. Email marketing provides firms with the ability to look deeper into the lives and needs of their clients by monitoring their engagement levels. Through your ESP and web site analytics, you can verify, by recipient, if they opened the email, clicked beyond the email, identify where they clicked, determine the content of where they visited which implies their interest in that topic. For example, if you are an auto parts supplier and you just emailed a newsletter link to Joe Smith. Joe opened the email and clicked through to the newsletter hosted on your company website. You can see that Joe was interested in your newsletter article regarding the restoration 1960s model muscle cars. After reading the new sletter article on your website, Joe searched your parts database for a door handle on a 1967 Chevrolet Camaro. Take this opportunity to provide Joe with information relative to restoring cars and more specifically, restoring late 1960s model Chevrolet Camaros that exists in a special muscle car restoration piece on your website. Now that you have identified with Joe Smith, Joe will be more likely to purchase products from you and support your advertisers by returning to the site giving advertisers greater exposure. Email marketing not only drives revenue through the message itself, but also has the ability to increase traffic on your website. The great thing about email versus a printed product is that emails can prove, statistically, the extent and habits of their readership. Advertisers base their ad dollar spending decisions on where they will receive the most exposure. Knowing that you cannot only identify the quantity of readers, but the habits of those readers as well, your ability to draw in ad revenue is strong. Through the analytic module on your ESP, an advertiser can receive feedback, by campaign, on the response to their advertisement based on open and click through rates to their website link within their ad. The statistical information available because of internet trackability is rapidly changing the advertising price model that has been in place for decades. The days of purchasing ad space in a piece for a predetermined amount of money is losing ground. Using the statistical information, software developers have already formed advertising networks. These networks provide ad placement services throughout various relevant web entities on behalf of the advertisers. Their goal is to advertise with sites that will offer the best opportunity to sell their goods or services. The networks use demographic and traffic information of the websites they use. The benefit to the advertiser is that they pay a fee per unique visitor, which allows them to pay for what serves to benefit their business. The model is comparable to what exists today with other media related sites which are based on a per view, hit, or click basis. This same model is also in the process of being replicated for all forms of c ontent beyond advertising. The internet continues to perpetuate significant change in the business community and our personal lives. Advancements in the mobile service and device arena are just a sign of what to expect in the near future. The combination of technology coupled with the advertising and content networks, our mobile devices are going to become our personal concierge. The pending change in internet-based marketing is going to be the advent of consumer generated marketing. This is where the consumer will have the opportunity to select the things that interest them and have those served directly to them. As tracking and segmentation capabilities expand, this content will become more personalized and unique than ever before. The growth of email use over the past decade indicates that email will remain a powerful means to deliver information. The ease of integration into various systems, networks, and media types helps us realize and understand the sustainability it has shown throughout the last two decades. With the rapid pace of change and advancement technologically, the best way to keep up with the internet world is to come aboard and grow with it. Otherwise, your firm will run the risk of falling far behind with no hope of catching up. The opportunity to market your business to the specific people and businesses in need of your services has never been better and will only improve with time. The advancement of internet trackability is a marketing specialists dream as they can maximize marketing dollars with optimum results. The tools are available, so why not harness the power and embrace going digital!

Womens Marital Rights in Thomas Hardys The Woodlanders :: Hardy Woodlanders Essays

Women's Marital Rights in Thomas Hardy's The Woodlanders Thomas Hardy's novels focus on the difficulties of relationships between men and women, especially married men and women. In his preface to The Woodlanders, Hardy poses the question of "given the man and woman, how to find a basis for their sexual relation" (Hardy 39). With this in mind, the reader meets Grace Melbury, a young woman of marrying age, who is betrothed by circumstances beyond her control, to a man named Giles Winterbourne. When the young and mysterious doctor, Edred Fitzpiers catches Grace's eye, Hardy's question of sexual compatibilities is addressed. Grace and Fitzpiers find themselves mutually attracted to one another, and Giles loses Grace's affection. In time, Grace and Fitzpiers are married. Yet this union is soon challenged by Fitzpiers secret affair with the powerful Felice Charmond. Grace learns of Edred's adultery, and is angered and humiliated. With the prompting of her father, Grace is forced to evaluate her marriage. At this time, they hear about the so-called "new law", which would possibly allow for her to divorce Fitzpiers, and re-engage in her courtship with Winterbourne. This law in question, The Divorce and Matrimonial Causes act of 1857, proves not to be a solution to Grace's dilemma. Prior to the Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857, divorce in England was regulated by the Ecclesiastical Courts. Marriage was a permanent state of being for the most part. The Church granted divorces only with the addition of a private act of Parliament, an extensive and costly procedure; therefore, before 1857, only the very wealthy had access to marital termination. The Act of 1857 created the Probate and Divorce Court in London. The law allowed a man to divorce his wife for adultery, but a woman's request for a divorce would only be granted if her husband practiced cruelty, bigamy, incest, and/or bestiality along with adultery. Women could obtain a separation for desertion of more than two years, as well as adultery or cruelty. A deserted wife could also apply for rights of her own property, something not completely legal until 1870. If a woman could not afford the expenses of a divorce procedure, she could only be granted a separation from her husband. Although a good firs t step, this law still held many limitations for women. The Married Women's Property Acts of 1870 and 1882 favored women's marital rights.

Standing In The Light :: essays research papers

1. The theme of this book was in search of ones self. I chose this theme because Catharine was in search of her self throughout the whole story. Her and her brother were taken captive by the Lenape Indian tribe and she had to search to find her self throughout her time in captivity. In the beginning when she was captured, it was awkward and confusing. This was because she was a Quaker and she didn’t know if she was now an Indian or still a Quaker, because the Lenape weren’t going to return her to her family. She had to search her own self, and eventually she became used to the way of Indian life. She never forgot her family, but she had come to love her new family. She had also become accustomed to her new way of life. After about a year of living with the Lenape, white men came and took Catharine and her brother away. This really made her confused because she had just found herself with the Lenape and now she has to find herself with her own family again. She never quite found herself with her people, but she would always know where she truly belonged. 2 The main character of this book was Catharine. She was strong-willed and adjusting. She was strong-willed when she had the strength to adjust to her new ways of life. She was pulled from her old life, to her new life, back to her old life. It was very difficult for her because both the Quakers and the Lenape were two very different cultures. She found herself having mixed feelings and a lot of confusion, but she had the will to deal with it. Catharine was also adjusting. She was adjusting when she had to adjust to life with the Lenape. She had to learn new ways of life; she had to learn how to survive off the land. She also made her own clothes and gathered food. She also had to adjust to new customs. The Lenape religion and the Quaker religion are very distinct from eachother. Catharine adjusted to the Lenape religion very well. 3. The Author wrote this book for a couple of reasons. First, she wrote it for entertainment. A lot of people like to read books about the past. Also, I have never read a book about Indians capturing a girl and her brother.

Rap Vs Poetry Essay example -- essays research papers

"When I first started rapping, me and a couple brothers would all sit around my place freestyling while someone beat boxed. I even used to tell all the girls that I was a poet. They seemed to find it a little more touching than a rapper" (Prince Paul, The Source 16) The lyrics of rappers are very similar to the words of Black poets. It is argued as to wether or not rap is a viable form of poetry. Both discuss similar subjects, write in the same style and use the same type of language in their writings. When looking at a poem or reading rap lyrics, distinguishing between the two can be difficult, if not impossible.Both Black rappers and Black poets write about the same subjects. For example the rap group NWA, and the poet Alice Walker, both cover the topic of being from a minority race. Alice Walker states in one of her poems that "there is no planet stranger than the one im from" (Walker, "Note Passed To Superman" 18-19). What Alice is saying is that the world is strange because people judge others by their skin color. The approach NWA takes is a more presumptuous one. In the song "Fuck Tha Police", NWA says " Young nigga got it bad cuz im brown / And not the other color so police think / They have the authority to kill a minority" (NWA "Fuck Tha Police" 3-5). Another common subect between Black poets and rappers is "ghetto life". Nikki Giovani's poem called "For Saundra" is about how she is going to write a poem about trees and blue skies. Then she realized that she was living in a "concrete jungle". i wanted to write / a poem / that rhymes / but revolution doesnt lend / itself to bebopping / then my neighbor / who thinks i hate / asked -do u ever write / tree poems- i like trees / so i thought / i'll write a beautiful geen tree poem / peeked from my window / to check the image / noticed the school yard was covered / with asphalt / no green - no trees grow / in Manhattan / then, well, i thought the sky / ill do a big blue sky poem / but all the clouds have winged / low since no-Dick was elected / so i thought again / and it occurred to me / maybe i shouldn't write / at all / but clean my gun / and check my kerosene supply (Giovanni "For Saundra")What all this is about is simply the reality of the urban ghettos. Gangstarr als... ...;. To all my brothers in the streets / I know u feel you have to hustle cause your peeps gotta eat / Makin moves right and exact; don't wanna see you layin' flat / Don't wanna see ya catch a bullet black / If we don't build we'll be destroyed / Thats a challenge we face in the race of poor and unemployed (Gangstarr "In Memory Of")This song by Gangstarr is about life on the streets and what one must do to survive on the streets. The messages found in theses rap songs and poems are important messages that must be listened to. They speak about what is happening in society and what we have to do to change it or in some cases stop it. In conclusion, the lyrics of rappers are very comparable to the spoken words of Black poets. There can be comparisons made in the style of writing, the subjects, language and the messages behind the writings. All of these similarities make rap a viable form of poetry that is enjoyed and understood by young people in today's society. Today's teenagers, in many cases, would, not read poetry and comprehend the message, but, they would listen to rap and be able to understand the idea the artist is trying to get across.

Frankenstein Research Paper

Anastasia Shevchenko Professor Patricia Barker English 1302 15 November 2013 Frankenstein In Marry Shelleys Frankenstein, Victor and the monster share similar nature. Throughout the story, Victor Frankenstein and his creation share hatred towards one another. The two characters have the same objective that they are trying to achieve. They each not only value their learning through reading, but appreciate the natural world to help them cope, and have a craving for revenge when they feel it is necessary. While reading the story, the reader can see similarities betweenFrankenstein and the monster's eagerness for knowledge, gratefulness for nature, and devotion for revenge. As a young boy Frankenstein enjoyed learning new things. Victor's determined character was what begins his disintegration. In Victor's younger days, he enjoyed reading the books of Cornelius Agrippa. After reading these books, Victor had a different view of the world. Victor's parents thought that he should attend the University of Ingolstadt to expand his cultural knowledge, although Victor at the time was attending the schools of Geneva. When I had attained the age of seventeen, my arents resolved that I should become a student at the University of Ingolstadt. I had hitherto attended the schools of Geneva; but my father thought it necessary, for the completion of my education, that I should be made acquainted with other customs than those of my native country' (Shelley 25). This inspired the young Victor to attend the University of Ingolstadt to study science. â€Å"His mother's death causes him to delay his departure by many months, but once at the university, Victor spends two years studying chemistry under the direction of M. Waldman and M. Krempe† (Guyer).In addition, the monster himself enjoyed to learn new things. From the very first day of being created, the monster had a desire to understand the way the world worked. Just as Victor had once done, the monster came upon three book s. The Sorrows of Werter, a volume of Plutarch's Lives, and Paradise Lost were the three books that helped the monster open up his mind to the knowledge that these books had to offer him. â€Å"l learned from Werter's imaginations despondency and gloom: but Plutarch taught me high thoughts; he elevated me above the wretched sphere of my own reflections, to admire and love the heroes of past ages†¦But Paradise Lost excited ifferent and far deeper emotions† (89-90). These books shaped how the monster viewed the world around him. The monster did not only learn through reading but from the cottagers as well. â€Å"It impressed me deeply. I learned, from the views of social life which it developed, to admire their virtues, and to deprecate the vices of mankind† (88). Victor and his creation both had the passion for learning; this is what would eventually lead to their destruction. Similar to Victor, the monster appreciated nature.They both enjoyed the views of nature; it had the effect to be able to calm them down in the awful situations. After he murder ot Victor's son, William, Victor still tound peacetulness upon looking at the mountains. â€Å"Dear mountains! My own beautiful lake! how do you welcome your wanderer? Your summits are clear; the sky and lake are blue and placid. Is this to prognosticate peace, or to mock at my unhappiness? † (55). â€Å"The call–a version of the lyric gesture of addressing the earth with the assumption that it can respond– establishes a relation of nativity and origination: Victor is the mountains' as they are his.He identifies the calm landscape as a response, but an enigmatic response that he is unable to interpret† (Guyer). Also, after gazing out the window for hours Victor â€Å"felt the silence, although I was hardly conscious of its extreme profundity' (120). â€Å"The sublime mountainscape gives Victor a feeling of potential freedom and of mastery; however, in order to live t hat freedom he will have to free himself from the dead who haunt him, a freedom that may be possible only in death. Victor calls upon the dead and presents them with an alternative–give me happiness or death† (Guyer).Victor's creation always lived alone, and in that state of loneliness he found comfort in the natural environment he resided in. Soon after the creature was created he had a ifficult time remembering the original era of his being. All of a sudden â€Å"a strange multiplicity of sensations seized me, and I saw, felt, heard, and smelt, at the same time†¦ † (70). At first, the monster was surprised when spring came and he saw nature begin to bloom. His senses heightened and became revived. â€Å"It surprised me, that what before was desert and gloomy should now bloom with the most beautiful flowers and verdure.My senses were gratified and refreshed by a thousand scents of delight, and a thousand sights of beauty' (80). Victor and the creature shar ed a love for nature and the way it could soothe them. While loneliness filled their hearts and souls, Victor and the monster both turned to nature for refuge. As the reader gets deeper in to the story, one begins to notice that both Victor and his creation were filled with a voracious reprisal. After the monster found victor in his room he was filled with anger miou have destroyed the work which you began; what is it that you intend? † (120).In addition, the monster asked â€Å"endured incalculable fatigue, and cold, and hunger; do you dare destroy my hopes? † (120). Subsequent to the monster braking in to Victor's room and escaping in his own boat, Victor was filled with rage. The night passed away, and the sun rose from the ocean; my feelings became calmer, if it may be called calmness, when the violence of rage sinks into the depths of despair† (121). One main event that started the quench for the undying hatred and sorrow was the death of Victor's son, Willia m. The monster decided to give the humans one last chance.When he stumbled upon a child, â€Å"suddenly, as I gazed on him, an idea seized me, that this little creature was unprejudiced, and had lived too short of a time to have imbibed a horror of deformity' (100). Soon after his encounter with the child, the monster realized that the young boy was Just like veryone else he has met. â€Å"Hideous monster! Let me go; my papa is a Syndic-he is M. Frankenstein-he would punish you. You dare not keep me† (100). The creature also learned that the child he gave one last chance to was the son of Victor Frankenstein. â€Å"Frankenstein! ou belong then to my enemy-to him towards whom I have sworn eternal revenge; you shall be my first victim† (100). Soon after the creature strangled the child, he saw something on his chest, it was a picture of a beautiful woman â€Å"For a few moments I gazed with delight on her dark eyes, fringed by deep lashes, and her lovely lips; but pres ently my rage returned:† (100). This is when the monsters downfall began. â€Å"It is thus that, too often in society, those who are best qualified to be its benefactors and its ornaments, are branded by some accident with scorn, and changed, by neglect and solitude of heart, into a scourge and a curse† (Shelley).The creation wanted revenge on Victor because he felt neglected and abandoned. â€Å"Frankenstein's moral failure is his heedless pursuit to know all that he might about life without taking any responsibility for his acts. His â€Å"sin† is not solely in creating the monster, but in abandoning him to orphanhood at his birth† (Griffith). As a result, the ctions of the two characters in the course of the novel become very apparent to the reader that both Victor and his creation live for revenge.After reading the literature the reader can effortlessly identify the similar characteristics between Victor Frankenstein and his creation. They both had the desire to expand their knowledge and learn new things. Each one of them read different books that changed the way they viewed the world. They were each mesmerized by the world's natural beauty and what it could bring them. Victor and his creation both turned to nature that helped them during the most gloomy time. Even though they were able to see the beauty in the world, each one of them had a dark side.Victor abandoned his creation right after he was created. The monster himself later killed a lot of people do to neglect. They both sought revenge. Victor wanted to kill the monster for destroying his family, the monster after being neglected by his creator and all the people he had met, decided he wasn't going to give the human raise another chance after being rejected by the little boy who he thought was unprejudiced. With as many differences that Victor and the monster have, knowledge, nature, and revenge will always be common factors that they hare.

Jersey Shore Analysis

Jersey Shore’s Unrealistic â€Å"Reality† Jersey Shore, on MTV, is a wonderful model of reality television gone wrong. It is definitely one of the worst shows on TV, but has become one of the most popular. The cast of Jersey Shore reinforces negative stereotypes of Italian-Americans, and shows relationships and sex in an extremely negative light. Racial slurs are a part of everyday vocabulary, relationships are all about fighting and infidelity, and sexual activity is no big deal. The cast’s interactions with others show men and women negatively also. These images can have a negative effect on many of the shows young viewers. Although many people recognize the show’s lack of substance, they can’t seem to stop watching it, which only gives the impression that all of these things are acceptable. This show is definitely more than just a bad show, it negatively portrays groups of people, and downplays important issues. The plot of Jersey Shore involves cast members we’re led to believe are all Italian-American, living together in a house. The cast members take pride in their Italian heritage, and boast about it often. They talk about their roots, while using a racial slur when referring to Italians. They use it the same way many African-Americans use the â€Å"N† word. The Italian-American community was very offended by their nonchalant attitude towards the slur. The cast members show Italians in a negative and biased way. The lifestyles portrayed on Jersey Shore shine an extremely negative light on relationships and sexual activity. Relationships are avoided like a plague, and sex and making out are treated as if they’re no big deal. When the cast goes out drinking and partying, their drunkenness almost always gives way to promiscuity. They make out with strangers in bars, and bring random people home constantly. This gives a negative image to young people about sex. Only a few people on the show didn’t avoid serious relationships. Their relationships do not show relationships in a positive light either. There is constant arguing and infidelity. Some of the people in the relationships allow themselves to be mistreated all the time, which gives a negative example to younger people. If your only examples of sexual activity and relationships came from images like this, you could develop an extremely unhealthy lifestyle. The cast of Jersey Shore also sheds a negative light on all people. The show constantly shows people fighting, arguing, â€Å"hooking up†, and men disrespecting women. Whenever the group of people goes out, there’s almost always a fight. They drink, and they fight with other belligerent people. They, especially the guys, are constantly hooking up with strangers in bars. When they aren’t hooking up with a woman, it’s probably because they’re calling her disrespectful names, and making fun of her appearance. Everyone curses all the time, and the guys use homophobic slurs. Their personalities only represent the negativity we try avoid. Jersey Shore is a â€Å"Reality Show† that does not accurately depict real life. The real people have been turned into characters that reinforce negative stereotypes of Italians, and â€Å"good-looking† people, by acting out, using racial slurs, and disrespecting people they feel are below them (physically). They’re behavior also shows relationships and sexual activity in a negative light. Relationships are either non-existent, or unhealthy. Hooking up and having sex with strangers is an everyday occurrence. Jersey Shore is considered terrible TV by many of its viewers, but they can’t seem to stop watching it. All the fights, hookups, and break ups keep everyone coming back for more. Jersey Shore Analysis Jersey Shore’s Unrealistic â€Å"Reality† Jersey Shore, on MTV, is a wonderful model of reality television gone wrong. It is definitely one of the worst shows on TV, but has become one of the most popular. The cast of Jersey Shore reinforces negative stereotypes of Italian-Americans, and shows relationships and sex in an extremely negative light. Racial slurs are a part of everyday vocabulary, relationships are all about fighting and infidelity, and sexual activity is no big deal. The cast’s interactions with others show men and women negatively also. These images can have a negative effect on many of the shows young viewers. Although many people recognize the show’s lack of substance, they can’t seem to stop watching it, which only gives the impression that all of these things are acceptable. This show is definitely more than just a bad show, it negatively portrays groups of people, and downplays important issues. The plot of Jersey Shore involves cast members we’re led to believe are all Italian-American, living together in a house. The cast members take pride in their Italian heritage, and boast about it often. They talk about their roots, while using a racial slur when referring to Italians. They use it the same way many African-Americans use the â€Å"N† word. The Italian-American community was very offended by their nonchalant attitude towards the slur. The cast members show Italians in a negative and biased way. The lifestyles portrayed on Jersey Shore shine an extremely negative light on relationships and sexual activity. Relationships are avoided like a plague, and sex and making out are treated as if they’re no big deal. When the cast goes out drinking and partying, their drunkenness almost always gives way to promiscuity. They make out with strangers in bars, and bring random people home constantly. This gives a negative image to young people about sex. Only a few people on the show didn’t avoid serious relationships. Their relationships do not show relationships in a positive light either. There is constant arguing and infidelity. Some of the people in the relationships allow themselves to be mistreated all the time, which gives a negative example to younger people. If your only examples of sexual activity and relationships came from images like this, you could develop an extremely unhealthy lifestyle. The cast of Jersey Shore also sheds a negative light on all people. The show constantly shows people fighting, arguing, â€Å"hooking up†, and men disrespecting women. Whenever the group of people goes out, there’s almost always a fight. They drink, and they fight with other belligerent people. They, especially the guys, are constantly hooking up with strangers in bars. When they aren’t hooking up with a woman, it’s probably because they’re calling her disrespectful names, and making fun of her appearance. Everyone curses all the time, and the guys use homophobic slurs. Their personalities only represent the negativity we try avoid. Jersey Shore is a â€Å"Reality Show† that does not accurately depict real life. The real people have been turned into characters that reinforce negative stereotypes of Italians, and â€Å"good-looking† people, by acting out, using racial slurs, and disrespecting people they feel are below them (physically). They’re behavior also shows relationships and sexual activity in a negative light. Relationships are either non-existent, or unhealthy. Hooking up and having sex with strangers is an everyday occurrence. Jersey Shore is considered terrible TV by many of its viewers, but they can’t seem to stop watching it. All the fights, hookups, and break ups keep everyone coming back for more.

Analysis of Toyota’s Marketing Strategy Essay

Surendra Bhandari1 [available at: http://papers. ssrn. com/sol3/papers. cfm? abstract_id=1624068 ] Abstract Toyota was established in 1937 in Japan. First time it introduced its product Corona in the US in 1965. By the 70’s, Toyota was the best-selling import brand in the US. During the 80’s, it started manufacturing vehicles in the US. In 2006, it had globally become the second largest car seller and third largest car sellers in the US having more than fifteen percent market share. It is estimated that by 2008 it is going to be the number one car producer and seller both in the US and across the world. This profound success of Toyota is associated with its most proficient market strategy. The case of Toyota notably proves that how important is market strategy in the life of a company to be a market leader. 1. Mission Toyota’s mission statement is as follows: â€Å"To sustain sustainable growth by providing the best customer experience and dealer support. † (Toyota, 2007) Customer satisfaction is the driving force for Toyota, which inspires it to provide the highest quality products and services. â€Å"Kaizen† is a word that Toyota upholds, which means â€Å"continuous improvement† of its technology, products, and services. In short, Kaizen for customer satisfaction is Toyota’s mission. Toyota further explains its mission as follows: 1 Dr. Bhandari can be contacted at: bhandarisurendra@gmail. com â€Å"Around here our values are just like yours. We are hard working. We are active in community. We are creating jobs. We celebrate our diversity. We are building cleaner greener cars. And this is just the beginning. † (Toyota, 2007) 2. Distinctive Competencies Among others, three distinctive competencies of Toyota are remarkable. These distinctive competencies appeal the consumers, build trust with them, and make them satisfied. These competencies are as follows: i. Popular Economy Car: Toyota is best known for ‘popular economy car’. It has successfully branded the concept of ‘popular economy car’, by producing cars matching to the concept. It has garnered its success by selling the concept to the consumer. It has also become profoundly successful in segmenting, targeting, and positioning. As a result, based on the pricing reports generated by over ten million visitors, out of top ten cars, three are Toyotas – Toyota Camry (No. 2), Toyota Corolla (No. 4), and Toyota Avalon (No. 8). (Kelly Blue Book, 2007) It produces eight varieties of cars. Among them, the prices for the four varieties cars range 10,000. 00 US $, three varieties range 15,000. 00 US $, and one variety ranges slightly over 20,000. 00 US $. ii. Cutting-edge Technology: Toyota simply did not stop to the concept of ‘popular economy car’. This concept could have easily turned into product maturity and decline. But Toyota continuously engaged in improving technology – design, looks, comfort, fuel efficiency, environmental friendliness, and other technical improvements. For example, Toyota Corolla was first introduced in Japan in 1966 and in the US in 1968 as a first generation Toyota Corolla. Since then roughly in every three years it is being developed and marketed in a new model. By 2006, tenth generation of Toyota Corolla was already launched with significant technological improvements. Toyota’s hybrid cars can be taken as another example. It started producing hybrid cars in 1995 however till 1999 Japan was 1 the only market for its hybrid cars. Coming to 2005, it became successful to capture a large chunk of US market. Today, it is selling almost seventy five percent of its hybrid cars alone in the US market. iii. Low Operating Cost: Why consumers purchase Toyota? The simple answer is that Toyota’s cars are distinctive with the properties of low operating cost. For example, a survey carried out by Toplin Strategy Group in 2007 has revealed that 73% of Prius owners had bought Toyota Prius because of financial incentive to purchase the vehicle such as lower sticker price or lower operating cost than other choices. (Marketing Green, 2007) Similarly, based on 45% highway driving and 55% city driving with annual 15,000 miles Toyota Prius has been proved to be the most fuel efficient car than any of its competitors such as Honda Civic Hybrid, Ford Escape Hybrid, and Lexus GS 450. (Fuel Economy, 2008). 3. Trends / Conditions Among many other factors, demand for energy efficient and greener cars, demand for low operating cost, and demand for high level of safety and comfort are the most significant factors that are influencing the trends and conditions of automobile marketplace. Today’s automobile sector can be best described as one of the sectors that are trying utmost to respond these important marketplace demands. Based on these demands, there is both good and bad news for the auto industry, including for Toyota. Good news is that there is surprisingly robust vehicle sale in the market. The bad news is that some of the leading automakers are shedding thousands more jobs. Some of the automakers are also projecting downward market trends. These trends are important because, automobiles are responsible for 13. 3 million US jobs, and US $ 675 billion revenue in the US economy. 2 On a year-on-year basis, Toyota sales has surged 10. 5%, General Motors Corp. has showed a year-on-year improvement posting 12. 1% sales gain, and Chrysler has taken a 15% year-on-year sales dive, whereas Ford Motor Co. has stayed mostly flat, down 0. 5%. In terms of global sales, Toyota is in second position following GM. In terms of sales in the US market, Toyota is in third position having 14. 9% of market shares in 2006. Union of concerned scientists in their 2007 report state that Toyota has regained second place overall in the environmental rankings as well and is the only automaker to make consistent improvements on its global warming score since 2001. Toyota has the best global warming performance in six out of ten classes and better than average performance in the rest. If past trends continue, Toyota may overtake Honda’s global warming score within two years. Doing so will require continued investment in hybrids. Globally, 53 millions new cars are sold in 2007. Out of them, 15. 9 millions are sold alone in the US. In 2007, around the world, it is estimated that there will be 806 million cars and light trucks on the road, out of them 244 million will be in operation in the US alone. Currently, these vehicles burn nearly 260 billion gallons of fuel yearly and by 2020, the number of cars and light trucks is estimated to reach above 1 billion. The years of 2004 through 2007 will long be remembered as a pivotal period in the automobile industry as during this period gasoline prices started a sea change among US consumers that is finally creating a significant demand for fuel efficient vehicles. As a result, this has lead to the phenomenal demand for Toyota’s Prius hybrid car. Responding to the demands of consumers Toyota has expanded its investments in Georgetown, Kentucky plant to enable to manufacture 48,000 hybrid cars yearly. Ford launched its first hybrids, and other carmakers, including GM, were greatly encouraged in their own efforts to bring more hybrids to the market. However, response to hybrids from U. S. makers has been lukewarm at best. Consumers 3 generally aren’t as impressed with U. S. hybrid technology as they are with that of Toyota models. In short, while the US based Big Three struggle, Toyota is being more strategic. It has increased its capacity to manufacture over 1. 5 million vehicles yearly in North America. On a global scale, the company plans to sell 10. 4 million vehicles by 2009, up from 8. 8 million in 2006. The big news is that Toyota is most likely surpassing GM in global sales by 2008, making Toyota the world’s largest carmaker. 4. Organizational Objectives Toyota has set seven fundamental objectives. Among them, to dedicate in providing clean and safe products and enhance the quality of life everywhere through better production and services is the main objective of Toyota. Similarly, its other objectives are: to honor the law, language and culture of every nation with fair corporate activities; contribute to economic and social development of communities around the world through corporate activities; create and develop advanced technologies and provide outstanding products and services to customers; foster individual’s creativity and teamwork value; pursue growth through innovative management; and work with business partners for mutual benefits. To achieve these objectives and their effective implementation, it has clearly set fourteen principles that are widely considered as Toyota’s Ways. Based on these principles, Toyota takes management decisions on a long-term philosophy, even at the expenses of a short-term financial goal. It believes in a continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface, uses visual control so that no problems are hidden, uses pull system to avoid overproduction, and works like tortoise and not the hare. It standardizes the tasks and processes as the foundation for continuous improvement and empowers employees by which it further enhances its ability to use only reliable and thoroughly tested technology that serves the customers. 4. Similarly, its organizational objectives are further substantiated by its idea of developing exceptional people and teams who follow the philosophy of Toyota, respect the network of partners and suppliers, and learn from the practices. It believes in making decisions slowly by consensus thoroughly considering all options and once the decisions are taken, it implements the decisions rapidly. On top of that, by becoming a learning organization through relentless reflection and continuous improvement of its products and services, Toyota can be exemplified as a case that has achieved its organizational objectives successfully. 5. Strategic Business Unit Toyota offers energy efficient, green, and popular economy cars, SUVs/Vans, hybrids, and light trucks with safety and comfort measures in place. It produces more than two dozen varieties of products. All of its products are globally very popular. Its products are sold in over 200 countries across the globe. On top of that, the US is the biggest market for Toyota. For example, till 2006 it had sold more than 7 million Toyota Corollas alone in the US. In the financial year 2006-07, in consolidated terms, it sold its products of 226. 06 billion US $ (23,948. 00 billion yen) and earned net income of 15. 17 billion US $ (1,644. 0 billion yen). (Toyota, 2006) In 2006, Toyota was engaged in a variety of projects designed to solidify its foundations while continuing to grow. On the product front besides its two dozen already launched products, Lexus has launched its new flagship model, the LS, and the new global Camry went on sale. In manufacturing, several new projects were started around the world. In May 2006, manufacturing of the Camry began in Guangzhou, China, while in the United States, the Kentucky plant, which in October 2006 celebrated 20 years of production, has started manufacturing the first Toyota hybrid vehicle to be made in North America, the Camry Hybrid. In November 2006, the Texas plant began producing the new Tundra truck, a key vehicle in Toyota’s North American lineup. 5 In Japan, Toyota Motor Kyushu, Inc. has begun full-scale operations at its engine factory, and Toyota Motor Tohoku Co. , Ltd. has increased its manufacturing capacity. In human resources development sector, following the establishment of the Asia Pacific Global Production Center in Thailand in August 2005, Toyota has established the North American Production Center in the U. S. in February 2006, and the European Global Production Center in the United Kingdom in March 2006. Established as branches of the Global Production Center in Japan, these were created to spread Toyota’s manufacturing knowledge and skills throughout the world in pace with the rapid growth of Toyota’s overseas manufacturing. In R&D side, Toyota has focused its efforts on three key areas: environment, safety, and energy. It has made a special effort in the area of the environment by expanding its lineup of hybrid vehicles, and has worked on R&D relating to plug-in hybrid. In addition, as part of Toyota’s efforts to respond to the diversification of energy, in 2007 Toyota has introduced a flex fuel vehicle in the Brazilian market that will run on 100% bio-ethanol fuel. From this point on, based on the philosophy of providing â€Å"the right car, in the right place, at the right time,† and in accordance with the infrastructure and customer needs of each region, Toyota is striving for promoting efforts to develop environmentally friendly technology and vehicles. 6. Boston Consulting Group Matrix Based on the Boston Matrix, the market situation of Toyota is Healthy. To support this statement, three products are chosen here – Camry, Prius, & Corolla. These all fall into the category of Star as they are holding high market share and high market growth. All these three products are well established and the growth is exciting. These are creating fantastic opportunities. The only challenge is Toyota needs to maintain its Stars. And, it seems that for at least a couple of years Toyota will maintain its Stars. 6 Toyota Corolla: It is a compact car, very popular throughout the world since it was first introduced in 1966. In 1997 it became the bestselling car in the world; in 2004 it was the number one selling car in the US in its segment with over 30 million sold as of 2007. In the US alone, more than 7 million Toyota Corolla cars have been sold. Over the past 40 years, one Toyota Corolla car has been sold on average every 40 seconds. Today, it is manufactured in 16 countries in the world. It has been almost steadfast in face-lifting each generation after two years, and replacing it with an all-new model every four year. As a result, it has brought in market its 10th generation model in 2006 in Japan and has been introduced to the US market since October 2007. This product strategy of Toyota Corolla has helped it to be continuously in the Star quadruple. Toyota Camry: It is a mid-size car manufactured in the US, Australia, China, and Japan. In some markets, the top range Camry models are seen as executive cars. The Camry has been the bestselling car in the US, its largest consumer market, for nine of the last ten years starting in 1997, with the only exception in 2001. The first generation Camry was introduced in 1983 and in 2007 the sixth generation Camry has been introduced. The sixth-generation Toyota Camry is the first generation in which it has been available as a gasoline/electric hybrid. EPA fuel economy estimates for the 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid 38 MPG in city and 40 MPG on highway. Toyota Prius: It is a hybrid electric vehicle and one of the first such vehicles to be massproduced and marketed. The Prius first went on sale in Japan in 1997, and worldwide in 2001. By the end of 2003, nearly 160,000 units had been produced for sale in Japan, Europe, and North America. The Prius has won several awards, including the Car of the Year Japan in 1997/98, the North American Car of the Year 2004, and the European Car of the Year 2005. EPA has recently revised environmental standards and the Prius 2007 has been acknowledged as the most fuel efficient car sold in the US. Its market share in the US is growing each year. In 7 2000, Prius market share in the US was very negligible but by 2005 out of its total sale the US alone had consumed about seventy percent. 7. Organizational Strategy for Growth Toyota has already got market over 200 countries across the globe. Only in 2006, it sold 8. 52 million of its products and has planned to be a number one car producing and selling company by 2008. This ambitious strategy of market penetration is associated with its proficient demographic and psychographic segmentation and targeting. It has successfully got high level of positioning in the mind of the consumers with its brand and distinctive competencies as discussed above disseminating through integrated market communication (IMC) techniques. Toyota has diversified its product with a brand of right car in the right place. For example, it has introduced a flex fuel vehicle in the Brazilian market that will run on 100% bio-ethanol fuel. It has introduced hybrid electric car (Prius) mostly for the market in the US, Japan, and EU. On top of that in each two year it improves looking of its product and in each four year transforms model into new one. By upholding this strategy of product development, Toyota has become successful in managing product life cycle, more specifically it introduces product and keeps the product growing without letting them to be matured and decline. Its exceptional organizational strategy for growth is importantly nurtured by its strategy working with around 522 subsidiaries around the world and successfully creating a wider market chain around the globe. Another way of Toyota’s organizational strategy for growth is that it reads the public mind through its research department that monitors the industry and keeps tabs on demographic and economic developments. Its mission: to predict consumer trends and create a lineup of cars and trucks to capitalize on them. Each professional is expected to spend time out in the field talking 8 to car buyers. The Japanese have a name for it: genchi genbutsu – go to the scene and confirm the actual happenings. 8. Market Share While looking at the market share of Toyota in the US market since 1980 to 2006, it is realized that its market share is continuously growing. For example, in the 80s Toyota’s market share in the US was about 5% and that has risen to above 15% by 2006. So in a twenty-five years time Toyota has outstandingly tripled its market share in the US. On the other hand, market share of its three major competitors GM, Ford, and Chrysler is gradually declining. In the 80s GM’s market share in the US was above forty-five percent. But by 2006 GM’s market share has shrunk to 24%. Similarly, in the 80s Ford had more than twenty-three percent market share but by 2006 its market share has come down to sixteen percent. By being successful in increasing market share, Toyota has become the world’s most profitable automaker. In 2006, it sold 2. 5 million cars and trucks in the US market alone. Because, Toyota is already bigger than Chrysler in the US and is about to pass Ford by 2008, Toyota’s presence in the US is now so prominent that the 3,322 business leaders surveyed by Fortune have named Toyota as one of America’s most admired companies. On the financial side, Toyota’s net revenue for the fiscal year 2007 is 23. 94 trillion yen, which is an increase of 13. 8 percent compared to the fiscal year of 2006. In 2007, its operating income has increased by 19. 2 percent to 2. 23 trillion yen. Its net income has increased by 19. 8 percent to 1. 64 trillion yen. All of these figures marked record high. It is estimated that the consolidated vehicle sales for the fiscal year 2008 will be 8. 89 million units. The revenue for the fiscal year 2008 is estimated to be 25. 00 trillion yen. While we compare its net income from 2004 to 2006, it is clearly shown that its net income is increasing each year. For example its net 9 income for the year 2004 was 1,162,998 million yen that increased to 1,171,260 million yen in 2005, and in 2006 that further increased to 1,372,180 million yen. 9. Elements of Marketing Strategy Toyota’s segmentation and target market is guided by its philosophy of ‘right car in the right place’. Toyota has employed both demographic and psychographic form of multiple segmentations and targeted its market on that basis. For example, it has segmented all the countries across the globe as its market. But has also identified its focused market such as the US, Canada, EU, Australia, China, India, and Indonesia. On top of that US is its first priority being the biggest market. It is because, US consumes almost 30% of its products. Its products range with different prices from US $ 10,000. 00 to 30,000. 00 plus. The economy class cars are targeted to lower and middle level income people and the luxury cars are targeted to higher middle and higher income group people. With a variety of product attributes it targets different age group and professional groups of people. For example, for sport people it has sport cars. For environmentally sensitive people it has Prius – environmentally green car. Likewise, it has offered 100% bio-ethanol fuel car in Brazil, where is bio-ethanol potential. Likewise, those who are truck lovers or professional who need trucks, it offers them different variety of trucks. In fact, its marketing strategy – segmentation, targeting, and positioning is nurtured by its variety of offers and product attributes. Further, it has designed its market strategy at different levels – global level, regional level, and national level based on the assessment of customer needs and choices. Toyota focuses its products in market with comfort, kindness, and excitement. Toyota claims that its products harmonize ecology and emotions. One of the key factors for designing segmentation and targeting, Toyota’s analysis is always based on the condition of market, economy, purchasing 10 capacity, and consumers’ choices. Based on these factors Toyota is launching its global motorization strategy with leading-edge technology. Likewise, Toyota has upheld a very strong promotional strategy using integrated market communication (IMC) tool. On top of that, Toyota blog (http://blog. toyota. com) is another very successful mechanism of advertising and promotion. On its blog, Toyota closely pays attention to the voices of its customers and provides responses to a large amount of inquiry. 10. Elements of Market Planning Toyota has adopted three important elements in its market planning – green, safety, and low operating cost. Being based on these three important factors, Toyota has become successful to garner the market opportunity. On the whole, there seem more opportunities for Toyota than threats. However, there are some threats that cannot be denied. Opportunities: Toyota’s market share is growing each year. From about 5 percent market share in 1986, it has acquired more than 15 percent market share in the US in 2006. Its competitors’ market share is declining each year, which is the biggest opportunity for Toyota. Toyota and its competitors have similar segmentation and targeting but in creating positioning Toyota has come off much ahead than its competitors because of its products’ attributes. Further, it is also ahead of its competitors in technology front. For example, it is the first automobile producer that introduced hybrid in the market. Today, the market share for its hybrid is growing exponentially. At the same time, hybrid products of its competitors are not successful. Threats: Besides opportunities in the marketplace, Toyota’s most illustrated product – Prius has not got much success in Europe and its market share is declining in Japan itself. Further, its competitors – GM, Ford, and Chrysler have become more strategic and are being focused on 11 from cutting-edge technology to leading-edge technology. Toyota is growing with ambition to pass the GM but still GM is the number one automobile in the US and the globe. 11. Conclusion From the perspective of marketing strategy, Toyota can be taken as a company that has successfully achieved its mission statement, successfully branded its distinctive competencies, and profoundly achieved its organizational objectives. This success is based on its successful market strategy. This is corroborated by the fact that all of its products studied in this paper (Toyota Corolla, Camry, and Prius) do fall into Star quadruple under the Boston Matrix. In quintessence, it can be said that Toyota is an outstanding case for learning how to build and implement market strategy, get penetration in the market, manage product life cycle, uphold market positioning, best use of integrated market communication (IMC), and branding its product in the mindset of the customer. In short, Toyota is a notable example that proves how important is marketing strategy in the life of a company and managers. References CNNMoney, (2007), America’s Best Car Companies, Mrach 7, 2007 available on http://money. cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/03/19/8402324/index. htm visited on Nov. 20, 2007. Fuel Economy, (2008), 2008 Hybrid Vehicles, available on , http://www. fueleconomy. gov/feg/hybrid_sbs. shtml , visited on Nov. 22, 2007. Kelly Blue Book, (2007), The Most Researched Sedans, available on http://www. kbb. com/kbb/ReviewsAndRatings/default. aspx? trid=3&gclid=CKrS8rHMgI8CFTa oGgodgyqT2w#ManufacturerId=49&ModelId=286 visited on Nov. 27, 2007. Kotler, Phlipe & Keller,Kevin Lane (2006), Marketing Management, Prentice Hall, 12th ed. 12 Marketing Green, (2007), Hybrids Shift into the Mass Market, available on http://marketinggreen. wordpress. com/2007/04/29/hybrids-shift-into-the-mass-market/ visited on Nov. 20, 2007. Plunket Research, (2007), Automotive Industry Overview, available on http://www. plunkettresearch. com/Industries/AutomobilesTrucks/AutomobilesandTrucksStatis tics/tabid/90/Default. aspx , visited on Nov. 19, 2007. Spirou, Patricia (2007), Three Step Process in Determining the Market/Position Initiatives in Strategic Planning, available on BB.