Marketing Practices Questions

Question: What are the marketing practices and how do they apply to your organization or an organization that you are familiar with? Answer: 1. What are the marketing practices and how do they apply to your organization or an organization that you are familiar with? There are few things that are considered as the vital and indispensible part of an organization that is the marketing practices. The marketing practices of an organization are important in order to enhance and behold its position in the competitive environment of the industrial domain. The marketing practices of an organization includes the customer relationship management, human resource management, along with managing all other aspect of an organization in order to gain more profit and survive in the competitive environment. The marketing practices of Starbucks coffee can be cited in this regard which is situated in Seattle. The marketing strategies of Starbucks coffee are being exercised by keeping the fact of customer satisfaction as the most primary object of the organization. The mentioned organization adapted an effective strategy in relation to customer relationship management which has placed the organization in the leading position in the US (Dorn et al. 2016). 2. Planning and organizational skills. In this part the marketing skills and the capability to manage an opening day for a new business generated by the blisters hardware store in west Sydney would be discussed. As the manager have a budget of $ 30,000 for the concerned occasion, there has a need for marketing practices to be implemented in order to make the new business prominent in the industrial competitive market. The manager of this particular company could follow the marketing strategies of Starbucks coffee that has opened outnumbered outlets in all corners. The main purpose of the implementation of such strategies is to attract as much as eyes to the activities and existence of such business. There would some sizzlers and other food items in so that it would look like some kind of festival which would be able to attract the attention of people. In this regard the media needs to be involved in order to it could take the form of promotional and publicity activity. The most important principle in marketing strategies is the capability to manage crisis, for instance, if the budget will exceed there should always be a contingency plan that would help the organization to overcome the split second crisis. In this regard the example of TESCO can be cited as the organization has evidently reacted to the risks, competition and complexities related to the marketing strategies. Therefore, the planning and the managing skills regarding the marketing practices of blister hardware stores could be implemented by assessing the strategies of the previous success stories in the industrial region. 3. Methods of reviewing the effectiveness of marketing practices In order to review the effectiveness of the marketing practices it is important to obtain a clear concept about the practices actually means. Practices regarding market strategies can be referred to strategies, methodology, techniques of implementing strategies and tactics or approaches. Hence it is a vital point in this regard to identify the effectiveness of the practices of in order to have an appropriate insight about the success rate of an organization. There are various methods in this regard that can be mentioned like; the assessment of the marketing needs, implementation of more efficient programme design, revisiting the activeness of information systems and most important the market survey. Organizations like Starbucks and TESCO yearly conducts marketing survey in order to gain a proper idea about the effectiveness of their marketing strategies and customer relation strategies and also to improvise them if needed in the succeeding period (Turok and Taylor, 2006). 4. Documentation of the employed processes and activities The implemented marketing strategies and the processes in which, has been exercised in an organizations needs to be recorded for the comprehension about the improvement or the degeneration of the position of such organization in the industrial market. The documentation of such things can be made with the help of the implementation of information technology or software aided technology. The process documentation of organizations like Starbucks and TESCO are implemented in order to acquire and share the planning, project information as they are being developed so that the organization are able to take informed decision and adapt new strategies without revisiting the old information in this regard (Ungan, 2006). 5. Assessing learning skills for implementing appropriate research method It is very important for an organization to obtain a clear concept about the market position and the effectiveness of the marketing strategies in relation to the reaction of the customers and individuals related to the concerned field. In order to generate a proper research method it is very important to have a clear understanding about the learning skills that includes the process of collecting information about the concerned organization and also what other thinks about such marketing practices. In this regard the market survey of the organizations likes TESCO and Starbucks has presented research methods that include the quantitative and qualitative data collection from the market survey along with information related to other marketing practices. In this process the information are being gathered by conducting interviews with customers and employees or individuals acquiring proper comprehension about that particular field (Sindhwani and Ahuja, 2014). 6. Introducing research methods Each and every organization needs to form strategies that address the growth and development of the organization and a targeted group of customers or audience can prove to be the effective tool in this regard. For instance, the leafleting system regarding some information or to introduce some new offers on commodity can attract a particular group of audience. Each and every organization possesses a target group that are prone to any kind of deals and offers and this could draw desired benefit to the company. In this context the example of Starbucks coffee can be given as it has successfully attracted a large amount of customers instead of its high price. The leaflets that explain various deals and upcoming outlets of the coffee shop are able to attract a targeted group of people who does not expressed any previous interest in this regard. Therefore, it can be said that producing leaflets as a part of the marketing practices can be beneficial to an organization (Miocevic and Crnjak-Ka ranovic, 2012). 7. Demonstration of problem solving skills This is an evident fact that with all the positive outcomes of the implementation of effective marketing strategies, there comes some difficulties which could be handled by an efficient practice of problem solving skill. For example, if any issues regarding the ethical practices during the course of market survey of an organization would arouse therefore, it could be solved by convincing the participants or the individuals that no unethical practices regarding this particular activity would be allowed to maintain the comfort level of the participants helping in the survey. In this context example of TESCO can be given that the participants who are participating in the market survey have been assured that the information provided by them will not be disclosed to any third party along with their names and other information. In this regard any form of written assurance can be provided to the participants if needed (Lindon, 2009). 8. Identification of the profile of a relevant marketing segment. In order to provide a place in the market to a product ant organization needs to identify a particular market segment that will more likely to buy the product. The identification of a target group of customers will help in adapting new strategies that would help in gaining more profit in the future to the organization. The marketing strategies of TESCO are represented based on the target group customers who are not well aware of the functions of the retail industry. On the other hand the same thing can be said about the marketing practices of Starbucks coffee that also concentrated on the target group customers. Therefore, it is evident that identifying a particular targeted customer segment would surely help in rebuilding an organizations place in the competitive market (Dibb, 2010). 9. Definition of marketing mix, marketing, targeting and position The definition of the marketing mix can be described in terms of putting the right thing in right place at an appropriate time. The concept of marketing mixed is mainly based on the 4ps namely, price, product, promotion and place and all the four activities are being exercised with the circle of target market. The marketing process consists of three elements segmentation, targeting and positioning. In case of Starbucks and TESCO the market segment is being conducted based on the geographic and demographic aspects along with the economic background? The market segmentation is being employed in order to grab a strong hold in the competitive market. The targeting also can be included in the marketing mix process in which targeting particular segment of the market can encompass all the essential elements of marketing mix and the marketing strategies can be designed in accordance with the marketing mix elements. Finally the positioning can be defined in terms of injecting a particular pro duct within the targeted group of customers with the help of market segmentation and effective implementation of bandwagon theories in this regard (Goi, 2009). 10. Legislation regarding marketing practices In conducting and running a successful business it is important to maintain few rules and regulation within the legal framework for an organization. In this regard it is very important to mention that Starbucks coffee is fully committed to the laws and regulation of the country in which it is operating that has generated few laws regarding the marketing practices within the domain. Starbucks it very much flexible in relation to maintaining laws and regulation accelerated by the government. The legislative aspects in an organization are being employed in order to avoid unethical practices within the organization (Pattersonet al. 2010). 11. Marketing policies The implementation of marketing policies has appeared to be the most vital part to generate effectiveness in the marketing strategies of an organization. In this context the marketing policies of Starbucks can be depicted. The marketing policies includes, Target market The Starbucks outlets in the many corners are being visited by the business minded peoples are the main objective to target such group is generate the desire for Starbucks coffee rather than just to have it. Market trends The company has recognized that contemporary market trends that are able to attract more customers as it has emerged with an customer friendly organization while it is providing music books and Wi-Fi connectivity in all its outlets to the customers. Marketing objectives The main objective of Starbucks coffee is to present the brand globally. Marketing strategies The Starbucks coffee has implemented effective strategies with little more improvement in it. Marketing budget The company has made an investment a large amount of the total budget only in the improvement and adaptation of new marketing policies in recent years. Marketing mix The marketing mix includes the 4ps which are being actively exercised in promoting the brand image. Along with these marketing policies the Starbucks coffee has employed other policies like competitors, strength review, detecting the weaknesses of the marketing strategies and the most importantly the reassessment of the techniques and process on a monthly basis (Haskova, 2015). 12. Product and services The products and services of the Starbucks coffee can be described in this regard. The Starbucks coffee is one of the leading coffee shop outlets in US. It is providing the quality coffee to its customers. The customers are getting attracted more day by day instead of its high price. But the Starbucks is not only providing its customers with coffee but also with such a place where customers are able to enjoy a quality time of their own. It has generated effective marketing strategies with producing customer friendly outlets with quality ambience, music, books and internet connectivity. These marketing strategies have placed the organization on the top of the coffee industry in US (Everything but the coffee: learning about America from Starbucks, 2010). References Dibb, S. (2001). New millennium, new segments: moving towards the segment of one?.Journal of Strategic Marketing, 9(3), pp.193-213. Dorn, M., Messner, C. and Wnke, M. (2016). Partitioning the Choice Task Makes Starbucks Coffee Taste Better.JMB, 1(3-4), pp.363-384. Everything but the coffee: learning about America from Starbucks. (2010).Choice Reviews Online, 47(08), pp.47-4511-47-4511. Goi, C. (2009). A Review of Marketing Mix: 4Ps or More?.IJMS, 1(1). Haskova, K. (2015). Starbucks Marketing Analysis.CRIS - Bulletin of the Centre for Research and Interdisciplinary Study, 2015(1). Haskova, K. (2015). Starbucks Marketing Analysis.CRIS - Bulletin of the Centre for Research and Interdisciplinary Study, 2015(1). Lindon, J. (2009). The skills of problem solving.Child Care, 6(8). Miocevic, D. and Crnjak-Karanovic, B. (2012). The mediating role of key supplier relationship management practices on supply chain orientationThe organizational buying effectiveness link.Industrial Marketing Management, 41(1), pp.115-124. Patterson, P., Scott, J. and Uncles, M. (2010). How the local competition defeated a global brand: The case of Starbucks.Australasian Marketing Journal (AMJ), 18(1), pp.41-47. Sindhwani, P. and Ahuja, V. (2014). A Study of Online Co-Creation Strategies of Starbucks Using Netnography.International Journal of Online Marketing, 4(1), pp.39-51. Turok, I. and Taylor, P. (2006). A skills framework for regeneration and planning.Planning Practice and Research, 21(4), pp.497-509. Ungan, M. (2006). Standardization through process documentation.Business Process Mgmt Journal, 12(2), pp.135-148.

Electronic Commerce in Private Purchasing free essay sample

I guess you can say that ecommerce started back in the 70’s with EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer), in the 80’s with EDI (Electronic Data Interchange). The 90’s around 1995 is when the internet move from the federal sector to commercial sector when NSF (National Science Foundation) decommissioned NSFNET and move assets to vBNS (Very-High-Speed Backbone Network Services) which serves as a testing ground for the next generation of internet technologies, which allow ISP (Internet Service Providers) to develop. After the internet was develop we had an explosive growth mostly in â€Å"Dot Coms† ventures many professional left the major firm and job security to join start ups for the promise of millions of dollar. In the mid 2000 when the NASDAQ collapsed in March hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs, stock values plummeted and thousand of company filed bankruptcy, downsized or were taken over by competitors. The subsequent stock market crash caused the loss of $5 trillion in the market value of companies from March 2000 to October 2002. By the early 2003 companies that were well-conceived internet based companies were proving their values, consumers became confidence in buying over the internet and business began to realize the internet can create true operation efficiencies and increase profit. The explosion in the use of the Internet has paved the way for several path-breaking innovations. One of the most interesting and exciting aspects of this evolution is the emergence of electronic business (e-business) as a mainstream and viable alternative to more traditional methods of businesses being conducted today. E-business is defined as the process of using electronic technology to do business. It is the day and age of electronic business. Also the structure of the Web is rapidly evolving from a loose collection of Web sites into organized market places. The phenomena of aggregation, portals, large enterprise sites, and business-to-business applications are resulting in centralized, virtual places, through which millions of visitors pass daily. Ecommerce redefines the very foundations of competitiveness in terms of information content and information delivery mechanisms. Flows of information over international networks have created an electronic market-space of firms that are learning to exploit business opportunities. E-business has become standard operating procedure for the vast majority of companies. Ecommerce is the subset of e-business that focuses specifically on commerce. Commerce is the exchange of goods and services for other goods and services or for cash payment. There are several different types of ecommerce Business-to-Business (B2B), Business-to-Consumer (B2C), Business-to-Government (B2G), Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) and Mobile commerce (m-commerce). A B2B system exchanges server programs and encoded files while communicating with other businesses. There are two types of B2B websites: vertical and horizontal. A vertical B2B ecommerce website is designed to meet the needs of a specific industry, and helps build connections between business communities in order to generate new business. A horizontal ecommerce website can be used by any company that is involved in buying and selling products or services. B2B ecommerce strategy can reduce operational costs, increase sales, and strengthen relationships between trading partners. These websites can help expand your presence in the marketplace and lower your procurement costs while handling an unlimited number of products. While B2B ecommerce reduces human intervention, overhead expenses, and errors, it also increases efficiency and advertising exposure and companys sales team and account managers can concentrate on generating new business. Business to Consumer (B2C) Business to consumer is the second largest and the earliest form of e-commerce. The more common B2C business models are the online retailing companies such as Amazon. com, Barnes and Noble and ToysRus. Other B2C examples involving information goods are E-Trade and Travelocity. The more common applications of this type of e-commerce are in the areas of purchasing products and information, and personal finance management. The market researchers from eMarketers estimate the number of online buyers to be around 900 million worldwide. This brought in the online traders worldwide a turnover of over one billion US$ for the first time. EMarketers estimate the British to be the biggest spenders per head where on average every online buyer spent 3,885 US$ in 2012. US ecommerce and Online Retail sales projected to reach $226 billion, an increase of 12 percent over 2011. 2012: US ecommerce and Online Retail holiday sales reach $33. 8 billion, up 13 percent over 2011. B2C e-commerce reduces transactions costs (particularly search costs) by increasing consumer access to information and allowing consumers to find the most competitive price for a product or service, it also reduces market entry barriers since the cost of putting up and maintaining a Web site is much cheaper than building a structure for a firm. And with information goods, B2C e-commerce is even more attractive because it saves firms from factoring in the additional cost of a physical distribution network and for countries with a growing and robust Internet population, delivering information goods becomes increasingly feasible. Electronic commerce and the Internet are redefining how consumers learn, select, purchase, and use products and services. Hence, B2C or Business-to-consumer retail holds significant business opportunities. A manufacturer with a dedicated ecommerce website can use it to increase margins, monetize existing brand loyalty and leverage competitive advantage. At the same time, he can increase awareness for the brand, provide important product information to customers, and gather valuable customer data to improve business prospects. There are a number of benefits which make owning a B2C ecommerce website inevitable for manufacturers. The ecommerce brings the shopping experience to the consumer’s home. By launching a B2C ecommerce website, the manufacturers’ bring the convenience and comfort of shopping to the consumers thereby increasing their prospective customers. When the manufacturer owns the retailing operations also, it can create brand awareness more prominently. By reaching out to new markets the manufacturers can increase their business’s brand name and about their product line. The e-shopping is accessible from anywhere anytime, thus it proves to be a quick and easy mode of providing information. Manufacturers can provide extensive updated information of their product range through their customized ecommerce website design. Consumer-to-consumer (C2C) Consumer-to-consumer (C2C) is the business of conducting goods and services over the Internet to consumers from consumers. Another way to describe C2C is that it conducts e-commerce with consumers and themselves or to a third-party. Before any consumer-to-consumer business can be formed over the Internet, there needs to established of a space where individuals can come together. These â€Å"gathering spaces† are called online or virtual community in which a collection of people come to one site to communicate, connect, and get to know one another. From there, people can establish a multitude of community themes to bring similar minded people. Some examples of communities: * Communities of interest – people who come together over the Internet to share a common interest like professions, sports, hobbies, philosophy, trading, and others. Communities of relations – people who come together over the Internet to share stories of relations such as friends, families, and/or relationships. Some examples of these communities would be like Myspace or Facebook. * Communities of fantasy – people who come together over the Internet to share fantasies over the internet like fantasy football or baseb all. Another example would be a site that allows people to write their own stories of fiction. Another type of online community that establishes a consumer-to-consumer electronic commerce is called an online or electronic auction site. An e-auction is like a regular auction; however,  the  sales of bidding are done online. It is a place where sellers and buyers bid for items listed on the auction sites such as Ebay or Amazon. Two types of auctions that can occur:   * Forward Auction – an auction that sellers use to have buyers bid on their merchandise till the highest bidder wins. * Reverse Auction – like the forward auction, this auction is used by consumers that want to buy goods or services. However, the buyer selects the seller that has the lowest bid. An example of this would be seen in Amazon. com where instead of purchasing a product from them, a person can buy from other sellers. When going into the listing of other vendors, the website usually posts the lowest asking price first. Then, the next lowest price is listed all the way up to the last seller that has the highest price of all the listings. There are many benefits that a consumer-to-consumer e-commerce has. One of the main factors is a reduction in costs. Sellers can post their goods over the internet cheaply compared to the high rent space in a store. The lower expenses lead to smaller, yet profitable customer base. Being in a community of similar interest where buyers and sellers come together leading to more chances of goods and services being sold. Another benefit is that many small businesses can obtain a higher profitability over a C2C compared to a physical store because of the reduction of overhead costs when conducting an e-business. Probably the most positive benefit of the consumer-to-consumer sites is the effectiveness in selling personal items. There are also disadvantages that a C2C e-commerce has. One of the main factors is it is not always the safest and most reliable place to conduct business. Sometimes buyers and sellers are not accommodating to each other when transactional information is needed. In these cases, a proof of purchase can solve liability issues and prevent costly lawsuits for a consumer and small businesses. Another disadvantage is that these types of sites are known for scams, swindles, and people with ill-business intentions. When things go wrong on C2C e-commerce communities, people can easily spread their stories across the internet which effectively is Word-of-Mouth advertising. Consumer-to-consumer marketing is on the rise, and 2013 will be the year when it explodes into the mainstream, becoming a must-have retail marketing tactic rather than just the mark of the out-there-brand-innovator. Communication is no longer about just businesses talking to anyone; it’s about people talking to people. Forget who’s on the end of the conversation. This is about where it all starts. The future of communications is C2C, or consumer2consumer or people2people. Individuals, whether buying for business or for themselves, are talking to and listening to other consumers. They are setting the agenda, leading the conversation, sharing their views, recommending the best products and deciding whether brands are successful or not. No longer are consumers just taking in information corporations and brands are spewing at them. Now they question and make brands earn their loyalty. Because of social media platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, consumers are now quick to ask brands: What can you do for me? So, today challenge is getting people talking about brands in a positive way, not getting brands to talk to people. With so many touch points, brands must move away from the traditional 1960s formula of one-sided information and start having conversations with consumers. Consumers want brands to be authentic and have a real human voice they can speak with when something goes wrong or right. Business-to-Government (B2G) Business-to-government (B2G) is a variation of the term business-to-business the concept that businesses and government agencies can use central Web sites to exchange information and do business with each other more efficiently than they usually can off the Web. A Web site offering B2G services could provide businesses with a single place to locate applications and tax forms for one or more levels of government (city, state or province, country, and so forth); provide the ability to send in filled-out forms and payments; update corporate information; request answers to specific questions. B2G may also include e-procurement services, in which businesses learn about the purchasing needs of agencies and agencies request proposal responses. B2G may also support the idea of a virtual workplace in which a business and an agency could coordinate the work on a contracted project by sharing a common site to coordinate online meetings, review plans, and manage progress. B2G may also include the rental of online applications and databases designed especially for use by government agencies. This kind of e-commerce has two features: first, the public sector assumes a pilot/leading role in establishing e-commerce; and second, it is assumed that the public sector has the greatest need for making its procurement system more effective. Web-based purchasing policies increase the transparency of the procurement process and reduce the risk of irregularities. To date, however, the size of the B2G e-commerce market as a component of total e-commerce is insignificant, as government e-procurement systems remain undeveloped. Mobile commerce (m-commerce) More and more users are buying tablets and using them for e-commerce due to the convenience it provides. The latest report from eMarketer predicts a surge in tablet commerce, turning the m-commerce into a $50 billion industry next year. The overall mobile commerce spending, including both tablets and Smartphone’s, in 2012 was $24. 66 billion, and this figure represented an 81% increase from the 2011 figures. EMarketer also report predicts total ecommerce spending from tablet devices alone to touch $24 billion by the end of 2013 and then almost double itself in a year to reach $50 billion by the end of 2014. The total mobile m-commerce sales would stand at about $39 billion in 2013. In 2013, 15% of all sales is expected to come from mobile devices, with tablets alone accounting for a dominant 9%. By 2016, tablets alone will account for a significant 17% of all sales. A big reason for the surge is the increasing rate of tablet adoption, as more and more people buy this new device. Traditionally, the ratio of new devices has been four Smartphone’s for every tablet. But Christmas Day 2012 sprang another surprise, when 49% of the 17. 4 million new devices activated were actually tablets. As content delivery over wireless devices becomes faster, more secure, and scalable, some believe that m-commerce will surpass wire line e-commerce as the method of choice for digital commerce transactions. This may well be true for the Asia-Pacific where there are more mobile phone users than there are Internet users. Industries affected by m-commerce include: Financial services, including mobile banking, as well as brokerage services; Telecommunications, in which service changes, bill payment and account reviews can all be conducted from the same handheld device; Service/retail, as consumers are given the ability to place and pay for orders on-the-fly; Information services, which include the delivery of entertainment, financial news, sports figures and traffic updates to a single mobile device.

a comparrison of a childrens b essays

a comparrison of a childrens b essays I give this book a six out of ten because even though it leaves important parts of what happened out. It tells enough information for children to get the general idea of what happened with Columbus and his trip to what he thought to be India. The book generally starts out telling his life story. It tells when and where he was born and how when he was little he dreamed of becoming a sailor. And on to his first trip as a captain of his own ship. In the book Christopher Columbus it says Christopher Columbus and his men rowed ashore. He planted his flag in the sand and claimed the island for Spain. He named the island San Salvador. Christopher Columbus gave the natives of the island red capes and glass bead necklaces. (David A. Alder. 8) which I found not to be true because in a letter to lord Rachael Sanchez the treasurer of spains king and queen he states. Seeing, however, no town or populous places on the sea coast but only a few detached houses and cottages, with which its inhabitants I was not able to communicate because they fled as soon as they saw us. (R.H. Major, select letters of Christopher Columbus) The Christopher Columbus book does not tell much about the taino Indians or about making them pay a hut tax of gold to the Spanish all it say about that is he left some sailors in the new world to search for gold. (David A. Adler, 22) then the next time the Columbus book mentions gold is when it talks about his last two trips to the new world. But all it says about that is Columbus sailed to America again in 1498 and 1502. The men who traveled with him had great hopes for gold and other riches. But they found very little gold, and Columbus was no longer a hero. (David A. Adler. 26) In one of Columbuss letters gold is mentioned several times in one of his letters to the king and queen of Spain he tells them that for the better and more speedy colonization of the island no one shall collect gold in it except those who have...

Scorpionflies and Hangingflies, Order Mecoptera

Scorpionflies and Hangingflies, Order Mecoptera The order Mecoptera is a truly ancient group of insects, with a fossil record dating back to the early Permian period. The name Mecoptera derives from the Greek mecos, meaning long, and pteron, meaning wing. Scorpionflies and hangingflies are uncommon, though you can find them if you know where and when to look. Description: The scorpionflies and hangingflies range from small to medium in size (species vary from 3-30mm long). The scorpionfly body is usually slender and cylindrical in shape, with a head that extends into a pronounced beak (or rostrum). Scorpionflies have prominent, round eyes, filiform antennae, and chewing mouthparts. Their legs are long and thin. As you probably guessed from the etymology of the word Mecoptera, scorpionflies do indeed have long wings, relative to their bodies. In this order, the front and hind wings are roughly equal in size, shape, and venation, and all are membranous. Despite their common name, scorpionflies are entirely harmless. The nickname refers to the odd shape of the male genitalia in some species. Their genital segments, located at the end of the abdomen, curve upward like the sting of a scorpion does. Scorpionflies cannot sting, nor are they venomous. Scorpionflies and hangingflies undergo complete metamorphosis, and are some of the most ancient insects known to do so. Scorpionfly eggs actually expand as the embryo develops, which is quite an unusual trait in an egg of any organism. The larvae are most often thought to be saprophagous, though some may be herbivorous. Scorpionfly larvae develop quickly, but have an extended prepupal stage of one month to several months long. They pupate in the soil. Habitat and Distribution: Scorpionflies and hangingflies generally prefer moist, wooded habitats, most often in temperate or subtropical climates. Adult scorpionflies are omnivorous, feeding both on decaying vegetation and dead or dying insects. Worldwide, the order Mecoptera numbers about 600 species, divided among 9 families. Just 85 species inhabit North America. Families in the Order: Note: Only the first five families in the list below are represented by extant North American species. The remaining four families are not found in North America. Panorpidae – common scorpionfliesBittacidae - hangingfliesPanorpodidae – short-faced scorpionfliesMeropeidae - earwigfliesBoreidae – snow scorpionfliesApteropanorpidaeChoristidaeEomeropidaeNannochoristidae Families and Genera of Interest: Just a single species is known from the family Apteropanorpidae. Apteropanorpa tasmanica inhabits mosses in Tasmania, an island state off the mainland of Australia.Hangingflies (family Bittacidae) resemble crane flies, but they are unable to stand upright on surfaces as crane flies can. Instead, the predaceous adults hang from stems or leaves by their front legs, and grab insect prey with their raptorial hind legs.Use a Malaise trap to catch specimens of Merope tuber, the only North American species of earwigfly.Dont handle snow scorpionflies (family Boreidae)! Theyre so well adapted to cold climates, the warmth of your hand can kill them. Sources: Borror and DeLongs Introduction to the Study of Insects, 7th edition, by Norman F. Johnson and Charles A. Triplehorn.Mecoptera, by Dr. John Meyer, North Carolina State University. Accessed December 26, 2012.Family Dinopanorpidae, Bugguide.net. Accessed December 26, 2012.Gordons Mecoptera Page, Gordon Ramel. Accessed December 26, 2012.World Checklist of Extant Mecoptera Species, California Academy of Sciences. Accessed December 26, 2012.

Religion and Theology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Religion and Theology - Research Paper Example Therefore, this essay has the intention of discussing the existing beliefs of Christianity and those of Buddhism and they differ. Additionally, the paper will attempt to determine the inherent factors that influence afterlife in both religions such as soul is to Christianity and the mind to Buddhism. Alternatively, it is essential to note that while Christians believe in the existence of one God who defines matters of afterlife; Buddhists do not harbor such beliefs. However, the same Buddhist believes that the power of humanity lies in the purity of their minds whereby enlightenment is attained. There are various differences between Christianity and Buddhism on the context of their beliefs in the soul and afterlife. However, it is imperative to discuss the individual beliefs of Christianity and Buddhism in respect to how the soul relates with the existence of a person after he/she is dead. The basic Christian beliefs entail the belief that only one God exists (Bloom, 2012). This is b acked by the writings of the bible from the books of John, Corinthians, and Galatians among others. Similarly, most Christians believe God is in form on a Trinity. In other words, there is God the Father, the Son and God the Holy Spirit or Holy Grail. On the same note, a deep belief in Christianity maintains that God has the omnipotent power or is extremely powerful and hence is control of the entire universe. This is supported by the verse in the book of Psalm 115:3 among other biblical books. For the record, Christianity makes the allusion their God is the all powerful God. Furthermore, God is present everywhere or has omnipresence autonomy according basic Christian beliefs. There is also the element of sovereignty in the belief of Christians suggesting an element of a Supreme Being who is in control (Masih, 2000). Apart from the aforementioned elements of God, Christians also have an inherent belief in the existence of an afterlife. In the same aspect, Christians have a deep beli ef that a place called exists where sinners who have not repented are banished. Other basic beliefs of Christianity believe that God is true, God is love and God is the overall creator of all that lives among others. On the other hand, there are also basic Buddhism beliefs. For example, Buddhism follows the path of other beliefs in the context that it has its divisions. This suggests that it also shares the conventional set of the significant beliefs. On that aspect, one of the fundamental beliefs inherent with Buddhism is called reincarnation (Moreman, 2010). This entails the concept that there is rebirth of people after their death. In other words, the religion maintains that people go through phases of birth, living and rebirth. On that note, there are religious differences between the concepts of reincarnation and rebirth on the context of Buddhism. For example, in reincarnation, a person may appear many times in different forms after death while in rebirth, an individual does n ot have to return to the earth. In other words, the entity of the person does not return to the earth again. This comparison is usually done to a leaf growing on tree. There is always an eventual replacement of a withered leaf that has fallen off. Alternatively, there is a similarity to an old leaf but not the same as the original leaf. It is after many phases whereby an individual exudes the attachment of self and desire and the stage of Nirvana is reached (Steinfels, 2009). It is also a state of freedom from suffering and liberation. In that prospect, there are three practices or trainings of Buddhism. They include Sila that mean morality, good conduct or

MANAGING PEOPLE AND PERFORMANCE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

MANAGING PEOPLE AND PERFORMANCE - Essay Example 59). This, therefore, means that 70% of the BPR initiatives do not see the light after the fifth year of implementation. Several scholars have defined this strategy as a model of radical redesign of business processes sand organisational change that is primarily based on recognising and discarding current business operations and starting afresh again (Hammer, & Champy, 2009, p. 36). Business process reengineering is an important aspect especially in the ever-changing business environment. It helps an organisation to keep track of changes in its environment of operation (Hammer, & Champy, 2009, p. 33). Most organisations that have pursued this course are considered innovative since BPR efforts are geared towards change. This strategy has led to the emergence of Business Process Management model that has changed the way organisations are managed (DeToro, and McCabe 1997, p. 56). BPR is a good strategy for organizations that evaluates their productivity by closely looking at the business processes and thinking about the best way to streamline them for the better performance. This strategy consists of many drivers that are utilised during implementation. According to Zairi (1997, p. 76) the drivers include globalisation, advancing technology, stakeholders’ actions, organisational boundary erosion, and regulation. Some scholars who have provided useful insights into this strategy have argued that BPR lacks the relevant coherent theoretical framework that provides more insight on implementation. Today global competition brought change in the management styles of many organisations. It is one of the tools used in competition in the business environment. BPR creates one important advantage i.e. improving the measures of performance such as costs, service, customer satisfaction, speed, and productivity (Zairi, 1997, p. 78). This brings a major change internally and

Leadership programs in First National Bank

Leadership programs in First National Bank The researcher intends to present the case of Leadership programs in First National Bank in a South African context. The leadership of First National Bank is Inspirational like many other South African organizations however the attempt of transformation has made the interesting in the view of researcher. Researcher has also prompted a unique style of research method that can best describe the case with maximum practical knowledge and implementations comparisons of various leadership aspects. A methodological design is formed by the researcher basing on the issues like data sources and methods of data generation that are potentially available, and the Ontology of the methods that the researcher had prepared a design with. The idea of the researcher in using the team Ontology is to get the nature of reality and human behavior, however lack of positivism still exists in Ontology. Multiple scientific methods and techniques are taken into consideration by the researcher to better present the case problems. According to the researchers methodological design the paradigm, methodology, methods and findings is found both qualitative and quantitative. Combining methods by mixing qualitative and quantitative methods is becoming increasingly popular in leadership research as well as in other disciplines (Klenke, 2008). There are theories drawn by various authors basing on the purposes, sources and analyses. Kezar (2002) proposes Positionality theory to explore how gender, race/ethnicity, level of administrator, and the role of a leader within the organization affect the way the leader constructs images of leadership. Positionality theory Author Purpose Data sources Analysis Kezar (2002) To examine how positionality (e.g. race, gender, etc) relate to the construction of leadership Interviews, document analysis, reports, observations, analysis of physical environment Interpretive Basing on the positionality theory, it is understood that the researcher have followed the structure of the methodological design with an interrelation of qualitative and quantitative research. There are 5 main steps followed by the researcher in the research process: Defining research questions and research methodology Research methods basing on the case selection Design research tools Collecting and coding primary data Analyzing primary and secondary data and interpret findings The literature review of the researcher has all major fact findings about the research topic and established strong background knowledge about different theoretical concepts. The researcher was successful in achieving triangulation of research methods by using all major data collection methods like observation, interviews, document analysis. It is ensure by the researcher that the triangulation of data sources was followed in all three different steps: Management issues, looking FNB in a bigger context FNBs internal issues. An overview of Leadership in Organizations South African Leadership and its Styles: Leadership is widely discussed and studied but continues to remain an elusive and hazy topic. Knowing leadership is always when it is experienced (Rosenbach, 2006). Bratton defines leadership as influencing, motivating and enabling others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members (Bratton, 2007). The importance of concept of leadership has started increasing it value in modern times in organizations especially when the organizations are concerned in developing strong work culture, and building high performance sustainable work practices. There have been many arguments about the interrelationship between management and leadership functions; management is associated with words like planning, organizing, coordinating implementing where as leadership revolve around vision, charisma, change agent and motivation. Traditionally there are 2 types of leaderships; Transactional Leadership and Transformational Leadership. (Taylor, 2006) Transactional Leadership: It is the equitable transaction or exchange between leader and followers where by the leader influences the followers by focusing on the self interests of both. Transactional leadership is considered as good managerial leadership skill that is used basing on the situations that can result in good performance. Transformational Leadership: The transformational leader motivates followers to perform beyond expectations by creating awareness about the importance of vision and mission. Transformational leaders enable followers to transform purpose into action. Individual organizations prefer to choose they style of leadership basing on the organizations culture and environment. According to Matthew Valle; WLQ Report [Accessed on 12th December 2010] Leadership process in stable environment: Leadership Processes Train workers to anticipate problems Outcomes Performance Satisfaction Absenteeism Turnover Anticipatory culture Work Processes Anticipatory culture Routine Problems Stable environment Leadership process in turbulent environment Leadership Processes Train workers to adapt to problems Routine Problems (crisis) turbulent environment Outcomes Performance Satisfaction less Absenteeism fewer turnovers Anticipatory culture Work Processes Adaptive culture (Mathew Valle, 2002) Therefore of the public organizations are operating in turbulent environments, the need of study in a stabilizing environment demands leadership processes to hold the control accordingly. Since 1994 South Africa has experienced dramatic changes both on a political as well as economic front, brought about by globalisation as well as a new political dispensation in SA. Discrimination during the apartheid era excluded Africans, Asians and Coloureds from the economy, resulting in little organisational leadership skills development amongst excluded races. After Democracy in 1994, labour legislation was implemented to redress the inequalities in society; these measures include, amongst others, Affirmative Action. Further complicating the current organisational environment is: South Africa is a blend of the 1st and 3rd world economy. The shortage of skilled African workers/managers, with lucrative offerings especially African males, lead to job-hopping. Corruption, nepotism and culturalism. (To appoint from own culture, chief of a tribe inherited by birth not based on leadership skills), political appointments, perceptions and stereotyping along racial and gender lines have high impact on the organizational leadership attitude.. All these factors influence the type of leadership that is appointed and how diversity is managed in the modern South African organisations. Other social issues such as changes in education, health systems, HIV/AIDS, housing, poverty, increased crime rate and many others, affecting the organization and employee that function within this social framework. According to Tinus Burgers, (Burgers, 2003) South Africa is just beginning to wake up from the post 1994 euphoria where whites were desperately trying to expand their blackness through toyi-toying and singing Shosoloza while black people erroneously believed that white stuff will simply disappear. There are still very deep felt differences and distrust between races making leadership in diverse organisations very challenging. After democratic elections in 1994 sanctions against South Africa were lifted. South Africa emerged as a global player that has to adapt to global trends in order to be competitive. The accelerated rate of technological development necessitates quick adjustment and the need to move away from traditional management practices. The effect of technology (electronic networks, cellular telephones, etc.), transcends national, geographical, time and organisational boundaries, increase in availability of information, influences employees and organisational behaviour as employees have to face massive and accelerated changes (Weeks, 2003). These rapid changes in the global environment and the South African situation challenged the recreation of society at all levels. According to Nkomo this recreation ranges from individuals changing identities and roles to the transformation of major social institutions and financial institutions. In sum, the leadership challenge for South African organisations is: Retiring old thinking systems in parallel with creating new ones against the reality of high speed globalization and informationalism (Nkomo, 2004). The African model of leadership differs from that of the West. Self-reliance and self-interest are subservient to ethnicity and group loyalty. Interpersonal relations are placed above individual achievements. Wealth is first of all extended family wealth and then ethnic or tribal wealth, often to the expense of the organisation (Blunt, 1996). Ethnic cleavages can affect the performance of the organisation. Leadership is paternalistic of nature. Leaders bestow favours and expect and receive obedience and deference, with consensus playing a major role in decision-making resulting in decision making within levels to be taking a long time. There is also a great capacity for tolerance and forgiveness (Blunt, 1996). It was found that the leadership style in Africa is authoritarian, personalised, politicised and a high power distance, with power concentrated at the top. In this context, the leaders job becomes one of operationalising directions received from above, making them clear to subo rdinates and providing advice and support. African leaders are therefore overwhelmingly concerned about the quality of hierarchical relationship with their superiors, rather than with individual or organisational effectiveness. This degree of dependence on seniors by the more junior individuals is seen as normal (Blunt, 1996). There is a masculine dominance across all ethnic groups. Managerial ideologies tend to reflect unitarist ideas seeing the organisation as a cohesive team (happy family) with the emphasis on loyalty and conflict avoidance, emphasizing UBUNTU (humaneness), group decision making and interdependence. Managerial styles reflect both Western values based on individualism and meritocracy and an authoritarian legacy of apartheid and colonialism. From a followers perspective Africans prefer a leader that is kind, considerate and understanding to one who is too dynamic, productive and demanding. Leaders are seen to possess genuine authority but are expected by their subordinates to use it sparingly and in a humane and considerate way (Blunt, 1996). From the above views it is understood that, to build a new South Africa, African concepts had to be reviewed that get to an end to apartheid. The case First National Bank. [Accessed 12th December 2010] The idea of the researcher in choosing a Financial Services Industry in South Africa like FNB is definitely a unique challenge. Firstrand is the 2nd largest banking institution that is born from the merger of Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), Momentum, First National Bank (FNB) and southern life in 1998. Firstrand is divided into 3 main business areas: banking (First National Bank and Rand Merchant Bak), insurance (Momentum), and health. According to exhibit 1 produces in the case Firstrand additionally divides its earnings into four clusters: Retail, corporate, wealth and health. South Africa has its unique challenges in terms of handling leadership in an African way. The leadership style in South Africa is inspirational and the relation between both the leadership have may common elements. African leadership is focused more on community, where as in inspirational leadership the focus is on individuals. Relationship Diagram Inspiration African Spirit Spirit Interconnectedness Described by African principles like Spirituality UBUNTU INDABA ISITHUNZI INSPIRATIONAL LEADERSHIP AFRICAN LEADERSHIP First National bank: Inspirational Leadership in South African context [case handout] Inspirational Leadership: Spirit and Spirituality were referred as the important aspects of inspirational leadership by the researcher basing on the South African context. High performance and innovative organizations require Inspirational leadership, stronger management skills, a highly-trained and motivated workforce, a flexible labor market that promotes diversity and fair treatment, and workplaces that recognize environmental issues and the need for greater resource productivity. Inspirational Leadership in South Africa involves the terms spirit and spirituality in handling leaderships in organizations. The leaders often tend to inspire their followers basing on the cultural values that are strongly routed in South Africa. This is one of the problems of First National Bank. FNB being into global operations, there will be many employees that will be not based from the South African culture and survival and acceptance of the work environment and implementing leadership in those prospective will become extre mely difficult. Ad defined earlier Transforming the leadership style become important, although the relationship between Inspirational and African spirit is closely associated. Anderson (1999) illustrates a graphical representation that best describes the leadership relationship: Effective learning organizations Build healthy communities High-performance teams build Successful learning organizations Effective team leaders build High performance teams Personal and interpersonal development Builds effective team members and leaders Self leadership leads to Individual and team success (Anderson, 1999) African Spirit: There are certain deep routed principles of leadership indulged in to African spirit like; UBUNTU, INDABA, VUKA. UBUNTU is the people based leadership style. This is the traditional social African philosophy of humanism which says caring for the people fist. INDABA-openness and inter-ethnic harmony in stating individual opinions is referred as INDABA. VUKA-A wake up and free yourself concept. The relationship between Inspirational Leadership and African spirit lies in African Renaissance: humanism that is referred as a system of thought that regards humans of being capable of using their intelligence to live their lives rather than relying on religious beliefs and collectivism is the ownership of land, business or industry by the people or state. A balance between individualism and collectivism has developed an integrated approach to leadership Issue: Due to cultural differences internally and externally within the organization, First National bank have decided to address these things immediately, which could be a cause of losing business in the near future. As soon as the decision is made, First Rand appointed two new leaders in FNB to address the cultural and leadership issues in the changing environment. A complex restructuring process was bought into shape that focuses mainly on the revenue growth with less cost. The result of the process is expected to be the improvement in customer service through transforming their leadership styles with in employees. The VUKA Program (Wake up): The idea of the program is to transform the company from an isolation mode of to common vision and mission within the organization. Transformational process in a company is about taking a company from an old state of being to new state of being. The senior management of the company has decided to involve them as the first step to make a difference to the program; the idea is to get every single staff member directly involved into the program as the main principle. The goal of the program is to create a work place community of new South Africans from different backgrounds. The first session of VUKA program were designed for 2 days involving topics like Barrier breaking, emptying, visioning, re-visioning, leadership and accountability and understanding the change. Merits on the program: Limitations on the program: The focus on the first days workshop session is on topics like Barrier breaking, emptying, visioning, re-visioning, leadership and accountability and understanding the change. The result of the goal of the program d Klenke, K. (2008) Mixed methods in leadership research, Qualitative research in the study of leadership. Emerald Group Publication Ltd. Bingley. pp 155-157. Kezar (2002) cited in Klenke, K. (2008) Mixed methods in leadership research, Qualitative research in the study of leadership. Emerald Group Publication Ltd. Bingley. p 163. Rosenbach, E. (2006) The heart of Leadership. Contemporary issues in leadership. 6th ed. Westview press. Cambridge, P. 1. Bratton, J (2007) Leadership, Work and Organizational behavior. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. p 131. Valle, M (2002) Cited in Rosenbach, E. (2006) Leadership and culture in public organizations. Contemporary issues in leadership. 6th ed. Westview press. Cambridge, P. 66-67. Burger, T. (2003). South Africa: musing of an ordinary citizen Part II. Management Today, June 2003. P. 16 Weeks, R. (2003). ICT and business strategy: two sides of the same coin. Management Today, June 2003. Nkomo, S. M. (2004). Leadership Dynamics. Strategic management and organizational dynamics: the challenge of complexity, 4th ed. Pp226-228. Blunt, P Merrick, L.J. (1998). Cited in ed. by Lennart, W. Jerker, C. Henock, K. Institution building and leadership in Africa, p. 186. First National Bank [online image]. Available from: https://www.fnb.co.za/about-fnb/about-us/about-us-overview.html [Accesses 12th December 2010]. MLQ Report [online image]. Available from http://www.tlcc.biz/transformational_leadership_assessment.htm [Accessed 12th December 2010]. Anderson, T (1999) Transforming Leadership and the promise of Leadership organization, Transforming Leadership. Blackwell publishing, British Library. P. 11