Macbeth Apperance vs Reality Essay Example for Free

Macbeth Apperance vs Reality Essay The world is governed more by appearances than by realities. Throughout society people are judged based on their appearance. This is unfortunate because appearance can be deceiving. In William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth appearances are not what they seem. Some people may change because they think that their true self does not fit in society while others pretend to be something they are not. In the theme of appearance versus reality Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have an image but as the time passes by their true personalities began to show. Macbeth portrays himself differently from his true inner self. He pretends to be a strong and intelligent person but from inside he is weak and indecisive. When Macbeth first confronts the witches’ prophecies he says, â€Å"Come what may, time and the hour runs through the roughest day† (1. 3. 152-153). Macbeth is leaving his future to ‘chance’. He wants to appear noble and strong but in the end he refutes his statement by killing Duncan and Banquo to get to the throne. Also, when Lady Macbeth explains the plan to Macbeth he asks â€Å"If we should fail? † (1. 7. 59). He is still afraid of the consequences of his actions. His actions look pungent but he does not have any reason to kill Duncan. Macbeth has a debate within himself to murder King Duncan or to spare his life. Macbeth hesitation to kill Duncan proves in realty he is a weak man. Lady Macbeth represents herself as a beautiful and powerful woman in society but she is as weak as her husband Macbeth. To convince Macbeth to follow the plan she says â€Å"I have given suck, and know how tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me. I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out, had I so sworn† (1. 7. 54-58). Macbeth asks for her help, but she responds by being harsh to him to keep up her appearances. Even when Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost, instead of helping him, she tells him to go to bed and stop imagining weird things. Lady Macbeth appears heartless toward others. However, one night a gentlewomen and a doctor see her sleep waking and mumbling â€Å"Out, damned spot! Out, I say! (5. 1. 25). She appears to be wide awake but she is unconsciously revealing her true self. Her guilty conscious leads to her downfall through suicide. In this scene her appearance crumbles. She seemed powerful and unsympathetic, but in reality her guilt of Duncan’s murder driver her crazy proving she has become weak. In Macbeth the theme of appearance versus reality is shown through the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. They both revealed a fictitious picture of their personality even though on the inside they are different people. Macbeth’s indecisive personality leads to his destruction. The iron lady, Lady Macbeth appears to be a tough woman, who feels no guilt. But in the ending she shatters to pieces because of her guilt-ridden conscious. No matter what one appears to be reality will defeat appearance. People can put disguise on reality for time being but in the end truth reveals itself.

Hrm is more important in current economic climate business essay

Hrm is more important in current economic climate business essay The main purpose of this essay is to examine how the existing or present economic situation which led to firms trying to beat each other in business has made the role of HRM significant in achieving business success. In evaluating this statement, Armstrong (2003) sees the main role of HRM in this present economic climate as being how to carefully devise a plan of action which will be used to achieve a goal, as well as the logical way through which business organisations can manage their employees through HRM so as to achieve business success. The author of this essay observed that in this current economic climate, countries such as the United States, United Kingdom etc. are recovering from depression and inflation which led to loss of so many jobs, and increased competition in the recruitment process, thereby making it possible for HRM functions to be more important in order to achieve business success (source: Survey of Global HR Challenges, 2005). While Pendleton (2011) argued that in the face of this current economic climate, if HRM functions are not properly implemented people will be losing good jobs with better pay due to downsizing in different organisations and start taking up jobs with lesser pay because economic climate will detect salary/pay to be received by employees. McKenna and Beech (2008) emphasise that these HRM functions include; recruitment which involves the proper advertisement of job so as to attract the proper/right applicants, then comes the selection of the best candidates among all the candidates that applied for the job, and proper training of the employee is said to add value to them and the work they do so as to bring about business organisation success and on the other hand, the employees will be rewarded accordingly for their contribution to the growth of the organisation. Armstrong (2003) further indicated that the main aim of HRM is to gain business success in an organisation through the people employed in that business organisation. Som (2008) implied that HRM functions will ensure that organisations attract, retain, motivate and also develop its human resources in accordance with the organisations demand. Ulrich and Brockbank (2005) argued that HRM plays an important role in seeing that every business organisation achieves success through the proper implementation of its functions, and by applying those functions with the necessary information technology system such as the internet. Wachira (2010) suggested that HR managers ought to apply new technologies that will enable them communicate easily with other managers in the organisation so as to reduce the cost incurred during recruitment and also select the proper candidate for a particular job. Though in some developing countries, organisations may not have the technical capability to handle this t ype of recruitment and selection process and this will negatively affect such organisations (Source: CIPD survey report, 2007). It is being argued that there are challenges encountered by HR managers in the day to day management of human resources in an organisation which may result from political, environmental, economic as well as social effects, and this is said to be because of the high level of responsibility bestowed on the HR manager in this current economic situation (source: Survey of global HR challenges, 2005). Jackson and Schuler (1995) sees these as external environmental pressures which can be positive or negative, such as tax exemptions and conducive business environment used to encourage local businesses and allow them to compete favourably in business with their counterpart from other countries so as to enable them retain their existing manpower/employees through their HRM functions or political instability/uprising which discourage foreign organisations/companies from investing in a country thereby creating unemployment, affecting business success and the countrys economic growth negatively. Brewster et al (2005) also argued that in most developed countries of the world such as United Kingdom, United states etc. HRM functions will definitely be affected by political, legal, and social environmental pressure/factors either positively or negatively. This is said to be due to the fact that every business organisation operates under the framework of the law in the environment where the business is located. For example, in Libya, international companies such as British Petroleum (BP) is being affected by political and social unrest in that country, this has affected the operation of so many other companies in Libya and on the other hand reduced business success and government revenue, while Japanese car manufacturing companies in United Kingdom are all doing well and achieving business success due to the favourable political, social and legal environment they established their organisation (source: BBC news, 22/02/2011). Som (2008) argued that the positive performance of an o rganisation in this current economic situation will depend mostly on HRM functions of staff selection, training/development and incentives/compensation. Beardwell and Holden (2001) observed that before now some changes took place in the economic situation of the United Kingdom (UK) in relation to how people are being employed to work, in compliment to what is obtainable in the United States (US). This is said to be caused by economic pressure existing at that period which resulted from increase in competition, recession, and emergence of new technology, which on the other hand created employment, increased employee training and development so as to enable them master the new technology, which will improve their skill and also enable the organisation achieve business success. Though Kinnie et al (2000) argued that the inability of HR managers to properly train its employees will lead to low productivity and low customer satisfaction which will also affect business success and employee relationship with the organisation negatively. Beardwell and Holden (2001) also emphasise that increased competition tried to change the old method of H R and this made it possible for organisations to develop a new method of employment that will be employer friendly/oriented. This policy helped in directing the method of recruitment and selection so as to employ the right people needed for the organisation to arrive at its business success. Although it is also observed that this method of employment will lead to unemployment because very few people with the required skills will be employed by the organisation. Kulkarni (2008) implied that increased competition and globalisation has made it possible for most organisations to adopt uninterrupted learning and training of its employees through the human resource management department. This is said to enable the organisation to satisfy its employees and customers needs and on the other hand achieve business success. Notwithstanding the continuous learning and training adopted by most organisations, Varma (2008) argued that some organisations now concentrate more on what to gain from an employee without considering how to add value to such employee through training and development. It is then emphasised that an organisations aim should be directed towards employee and customer satisfaction through purposeful HRM strategy implementation which will result to profit maximisation as well as business success for such organisation McKenna and beach (2008) emphasized that at the beginning of the economic recession of the 1980s which changed the role of trade unions resulting to little or no strike action, made it possible for organisations to be able to change their staff with ease. This is not only said to be caused by unemployment and recession but also from the introduction of some new laws that reduced the power of trade unions by controlling strike action, which is said to have affected business success negatively because employees will not be motivated to give their best. It is being argued by Deen and Giri (2008) that employees are the biggest assets of an organisation and should be encouraged and motivated through the organisations HRM activities/functions which can provide emotional support, training and development, financial rewards etc. that will make it possible for the employees to do their work with full commitment. This is argued to result to organisations business success because the employees will feel valued and being cared for, thereby contributing positively to the organisation. McKenna and Beech (2008) also noted that the weakness in the power of trade unions is said to signal the need for less elaborate process in collective bargaining and conflict management, which also resulted in a faster way of negotiating settlement of wages. In addition to the foregoing, organisations were better positioned to make changes in work practices which resulted into an increase in productivity as well as a decrease in the number of people employed. Changes in the practice of HR were observed because of the large pool of available labour. A good example is said to be the emphasis being switched from recruitment to selection, which led to the selection of the right people for the job so as to achieve business success which will on the other hand increase unemployment because not every applicant will be selected. It is being argued by McKenna and Beech (2008) that the reduced volume of negotiations which is based on collective bargaining between labour unions and human resource specialists, including the reduction in time committed to recruitment and selection, which helped to provide HRM with the opportunities to manage employee layoff programmes and enter into negotiations so as to bring about low wage settlements, and this is said not to favour employees because of the low wage they will be receiving and it will also discourage them from giving their best to the work they do. Goel (2008) emphasise that in this current economic situation, HRM will require a cybernetic scheme of information management so as to enable an organisation gather, store, examine and disseminate information that concerns the organisations human resource management functions of recruitment and selection so as to help the organisation manage employee redundancy and negotiation programmes. Though, Goel (2008) also argu ed that without a good human resource management information system, an organisation will find it difficult to access information about its employees both old and new, as well as those seeking to work for the organisation. It is then said that an organisation will choose a HRM information system that will satisfy its information management needs if such an organisation wants to achieve business success. Davi (2008) contend that increased competition has made the role of HRM to be faced with challenges of handling management modification, managing organisational culture, dealing with leadership training and growth, measuring the strength of HRM and employee environment, designing employee engagement, dismissal as well as compensation. And to take care of these challenges, Pinnington and Edwards (2000) advised that HR managers should try and discover the main problems, analyse it and provide solutions to it through the use of HRM and performance strategies. McKenna and Beech (2008) argued that in considering organisation of reasonable size, which implies a big organisation, it is possible to find a HRM function just as one would expect to see in a finance or marketing function where specialisation of duties exists and the management team tries as much as possible to achieve organisational goal/objective. While in the smaller organisation, it is said that the level of specialisation may not prevail because the HRM function is being performed by the manager who handles HRM matters. It is observed by the author that the big organisation where specialisation exists will tend to achieve more business success than the small organisation with no specialisation. Though, it is being argued by Bhattacharya (2008) that it will be improper for human resource department of any organisation whether big or small, to assure employees of retaining them in the organisation when such employees are being seen for example by the accounts department as a lia bility. Therefore, Pendleton (2011) emphasise that the HRM department should work hand-in-hand with other departments in the organisation so as to determine employees that can be classified as asset to the organisation and retain those employees because they will help the organisation in achieving business success. According to McKenna and Beech (2008) human resource planning process is concerned with the function of matching organisational demand for quantity and quality of employees with the available supply. This demand is said to be derived from the current and forecast level of company operations, while the supply side is said to consist of human resources that is available both internally and externally. Foot and Hook (2005) observed that an organisation unmistakeably needs to be sure that they have the right staff so as to attain the needed level of competitiveness. These staff are said to be employed by the organisation through their recruitment process by assessing their internal human resource supply. This is said to involve a process through which an organisation takes into account the number of its employees as well as their duties and responsibilities, including their skills so as to enable the organisation compete favourably in order to achieve business success. McKenna and Beech (2008) argued that the internal supply consists of the exiting workforce and its potential to contribute to business success, which has been a target for systematisation in recent years. While the external supply is said to reside in the population outside the organisation and it is influenced by demographic trends, developments in education as well as competitive forces in the labour market, and this is said to be observed within the European Union (EU) where competition is common because every organisation want to achieve business success. McKenna and Beech (2008) emphasise that prior to staff recruitment, job analysis is undertaken, and this is said to involve examining the work to be undertaken by a candidate which results in the preparation of a job description, which produces a specification about the attributes a suitable candidate will need so as to perform the job. McKenna and Beech (2008) also implied that a variety of techniques such as the application form, interviews, tests and assessment centres are all available in selecting the best candidates from a pool of applications. It is mentioned that a shortlist of applicants will be produced as a first step in the selection process which will then lead to training of the applicants, and it is concerned with establishing what type of training is required and to which applicant so as to add value to the candidates and also achieve business success as the candidates work for the organisation. It is further emphasised by Kulkarni (2008) that notwithstanding the bene fits of organisations recruitment, learning and training through HRM, employees are said to be faced with tension of accomplishing business goal/objective in this current economic climate than ever before. Also employees are said to be facing the problem of having to do more work as a result of the training given to them. Although, it is said that some organisations though their HRM can take care of these problems by conducting stress management seminars and training on how to cope with tension at the workplace (Pendleton, 2011). Armstrong (2003) explained that HRM functions will bring about an integrated approach towards the development of human resource strategies or plans which will enable an organisation to achieve its goals thereby leading to success in the organisations business, but when the strategy is not properly implemented the business may collapse. Organisation strategy according to Foot and Hook (2005) are said to function with those plans of action that an organisation makes so as to take care of future occurrences and these plans are targeted at answering the basic economic question of what to do as well as how to do it. Armstrong (2003) on the other hand sees strategic HRM function as an approach used in making decisions on the intentions and plans of the organisation as it concerns the employment relationship as well as the organisations recruitment, training, development, performance management, reward and employee relations strategies, policies and practices, which if not properly implemen ted will result in business failure. According to Nachimuthu (2008) increased competition in the face of the current economic climate has made it possible for organisations that share some business strategy in common to merger together and become one organisation so as to enable them achieve more business success. Nachimuthu (2008) further implied that HR plays a vital role when organisations want to go into merger and acquisition, and the HR function is said to involve retaining some of the existing employees that will be considered as asset to the organisation through the use of HRM strategies to carry out employee assessment that will select and integrate them into the new organisation. Foot and Hook (2005) also emphasise that in order to ensure success in the business of any organisation, HRM strategy must be incorporated in all other departments of an organisation such as finance department, sales department, marketing department etc. and they must work hand-in-hand with the human resource department in the aspect of recruitment, manpower development and training so as to achieve business success. Not only is HR functions beneficial during merger and acquisition, but also it is being argued by Nachimuthu (2008) that when two organisations or more merge together, HRM will be faced with the problem of organisations cultural integration, communication between employees, appraisal and selection of managers/leaders, keeping of valuable employees as well as how to carry out compensation and welfare program in the newly formed organisation. Though, it is emphasised by Pinnington and Edwards (2000) that these problems can be taken care of or solved through a well-planned and implemented HRM strategy which will involve selection of the right employees, performance, appraisal, development and rewards. Hutchinson and Purcell (2003) noted that strategic HRM is functional through focusing on actions that differentiate a business organisation from its competitors. While on the other hand, Armstrong (2003) said that it develops a declaration of purpose which defines the means to achieve ends, and it is concerned with the long term allocation of significant company resources as well as matching those resources and capabilities to the external environment. Strategy is therefore said to serve as a perspective on the way in which critical issues or success factors can be addressed, and this strategic decisions is aimed at making a major and long-term impact on the behaviour and success of the organisation (Armstrong, 2003). According to Armstrong (2003), when considering strategic HRM, it is said to be necessary to address the extent to which human resource strategic measures should take into account the interest of all the stakeholders in an organisation, employees in general, as well as the owners and management. Storeys (2007), argued that soft strategic HRM places more emphasize on how to manage people in terms of ensuring them employment security, training, development and work benefits etc. while Hard Strategic HRM on the other hand will consider the benefit to be derived by investing in human resources in the interest of the business achieving its business success. In this situation, a well-planned soft and hard strategic HRM will guarantee business success in the sense that organisational objectives/directions, its choice of employees and how they are managed will be considered (Legge, 2005). Armstrong (2003) also emphasise that the rationale for strategic HRM is the perceived advantage of having an agreed as well as understood basis for developing approaches to people in the longer term, and this will enable an organisation achieve competitive advantage by allowing such an organisation to utilize its opportunities. On the other hand, Hamel and Prahalad (1998) argued that a firm cannot achieve competitive advantage unless the firm develop its human resource by training them so that they can learn more work techniques which they will use in working for the firm so as to beat their competitors. It is also said that one of the clear benefits that will arise from competitive advantage as a result of effective management of people is that such an advantage is hard to imitate by an organisations competitors (Pendleton, 2011). Organisations strategies, policies and practices are said to be a unique blend of processes, procedures, personalities, styles, capabilities and organisational culture, which differentiates what the business organisation supplies to its customers from those supplied by its competitors and it is said to be achieved by having human resource strategies which ensures that the firm has higher quality people than its competitors (Armstrong, 2003). Organisations challenges can be handled by redefining HRM strategies so as to sustain competitive advantage on investment in human resources, by so doing HR managers must have the core competence to deal with changes in economic situations, social effects and technology which affects the organisation by being able to discover important issues affecting the organisation and providing solutions through development and training (Source: Survey of global HR challenges, 2005). It is being emphasised by Armstrong (2003) that the aim of a resource-based approach to HRM is to improve resource capability by achieving fit between resources and opportunities as well as obtaining added value from the effective deployment of resources. Cesyniene (2008) noted that recruitment process will definitely be challenging in some fields where there is existence of dearth skills in the labour market. Armstrong (2003) also observed that in line with the intellectual capital theory used to analyse HRM, the resource-based theory of HRM emphasise that investment in people adds to their value to the firm or organisation. Therefore the author understands that when an organisation invests in its employees by training them for example, they tend to add value to the organisation by working to achieve business success for that particular organisation. More so Boxall (2011) argued that it is by hiring and developing more talented staff and by extending their skills base that an organi sation will achieve success in its business. It has been observed that a resource-based strategy for HRM is therefore concerned with the enhancement of the intellectual capital of the firm/organisation, which implies that seeing a business firm in terms of what it is capable of doing may offer a more durable basis for strategy in HRM than considering the needs which the business seeks to satisfy (Armstrong, 2003). The author of this essay tends to emphasise that a business can achieve success if it has the strategic capabilities/or plans to compete favourably with others in the same line of business not minding the present economic situation. Cesyniene (2008) argued that the deficiency in the number of qualified workers as well as increase competition will make it possible for HR managers to change from Hard to Soft HRM which will put into consideration the needs of employees so as to sustain competitive advantage. While Kamoche (2000) explained that the basis of this resource capability approach to HR strategy will be the reco gnition of the available manpower in the organisation, which is claimed that it will develop and provide a single model for strategic HRM to function better. Although Jackson and Schuler (1995) also argued that in this situation, firms will try to gain competitive advantage by using human resources through development and training in order to add value to their employees so as to match the nature of the organisations relationships with their customers and employees. According to Armstrong (2003) the key feature of strategic HRM function is the concept of fit or integration, which is also known as matching model. Malik (2009) explained that this matching model helps to bring about strategic integration in an organisation, by combining HRM strategic functions and organisations strategy together and channelling them towards the same strategic direction in order to achieve business success when they are being implemented. Legge (2005) argued that organisation strategy and strategic HRM sometimes does not seem to be appropriate to each others context. A good example can be seen in the downsizing exercise undertaken by some organisations during the last economic meltdown or recession which is not in contrast with human resource management strategy and it discouraged employees thereby bringing about poor performance of such an organisation (Pendleton, 2011). Bowen and Ostroff (2004) argued that merely having good HRM policies is unlikely to be sufficient enough to motivate employees and derive organisational performance so as to achieve business success; hence there is the need to go beyond HRM content and consider HRM process. Fey (2000) suggested that organisations ought to concentrate on HRM patterns of employee development and training at all levels of its management and employees. McKenna and Beech (2008) implied that HRM functions must have the purpose of meeting organisational objectives which will lead to enhancing service provision to its customers, quality, profitability or efficiency of its services/goods. Though, Fey (2000) also argued that there is no relationship existing between HRM Practices and organisational performance in relation to employee training and development. Therefore in this current economic climate, Hutchinson and Purcell (2003) observed that increased competition has really made the HRM functions more important to the success of business than ever before. This is said to be because of the fact that HRM now covers the activities of recruitment and employment which calls for the proper selection of those to be employed, manpower planning involving management of the available work force, employee training and management development resulting to coaching, training and guidance which add value to employees so as to support them on taking more responsibilities, organisational planning and development that helps to achieve organisation effectiveness, wage and salary administration through management and monitoring reward in the organisation and also recognising employee contribution, health and safety benefits and services which helps to maintain work-life balance by building a good working relationship between the organisation and the emplo yee, union management relations and personnel research which may result to outsourcing so as to obtain service from an outside supplier either to train its employees or work for the organisation (Hutchinson and Purcell, 2003). By taking closer look at these HRM functions, Pinnington and Edwards (2000) stressed that there has been an increase on the functions given to the HR manager unlike before, and if these functions or responsibilities are well implemented by the HR manager, there will be a tendency in which the success of the business organisation will definitely be arrived at and the business organisation will grow in all ramification. But the author observed that in a situation where these functions are being neglected, business success may not be achieved and the business will suffer.

Computer Technology :: Argumentative Technological Computer papers

Computer Technology I. Introduction Over the past few decades, the advances of computer technology have undoubtedly increased the rate of information exchange. Communication across the globe is now done with ease, convenience, and speed. Accessing online bank accounts, instant messaging, online auctions, and communication via electronic email are just few examples of normal transactions that occur today. Although these advances have provided a tremendous positive impact on our society, it has also caused some controversial ethical issues, namely the privacy of personal information. Computers have been used as a tool to invade personal privacy for various purposes such as direct marketing, the sharing and selling of consumer information, and government surveillances. Furthermore, the advent of the Internet as an infrastructure of connected computers has been used to exchange non-public personal information to unknown parties. As a result, privacy concerns have risen as computer technology rapidly becomes pervasive. Beca use of the depth and many facets of the privacy of personal information, this research paper focuses on the privacy of consumer information. II. Current State on the Usage of Consumer Information Consumer information is used for a wide variety of applications. Typical usage of consumer information today include target selling/marketing, sharing databases, and the credit bureau's use of consumer information to gauge personal credit ratings. Businesses may obtain consumer information from various sources such as customer questionnaires, surveys, commercial transactions, web activity, application forms, and many more. Personal consumer information gathered from these examples are then used by businesses to customize marketing efforts, data mine consumer databases to recognize buying patterns, and evaluate credit risks of applicants. A few examples of the kinds of information collection and usage practices are: An automobile dealership's web site offers help to consumers in rebuilding their credit ratings. To take advantage of this offer, consumers are urged to provide their name, address, social security number, and telephone number through the web site's online information form. Consumer information may then be sold or shared to other automobile dealerships to provide specific, targeted offers for the consumer. A mortgage company operates an online pre-qualification service for home loans. The online application form requires that each potential borrower provide his or her name, social security number, home and business telephone numbers, e-mail address, previous address, type of loan sought, current and former employer's name and address, length of employment, income, sources of funds to be applied toward closing, and approximate total in savings.

the misappropriation of events :: essays research papers

The Misappropriation of the events that took place on December 27, 2001 The following report is based solely on the opinions and the feelings of the author and contains vague and dry statements about the education system, school system, those judging, and the institution that we call learning and how it has been affected by this unfortunate incident. For you the reader, I have broken this document down into six ( 6 ) parts. Education System School System Those Judging Learning The law Conclusion and reference Section 1: Education System My education and my fellow assailants education has proven to be a very productive thing in our careers as students. We are all seniors in highschool and we will all be going off to college next year to pursue our futures and continue to expand our minds with learning. It is said that education is the best tool that a person can have under hisher belt and can be used to build the "houses of life". My house of life was looking rather alright until that December day when the "criminals" were captured. ( I say criminals and I express that with captions because that is how the school is treating us†¦ like cold hard criminals ). My education as well as the other three is looking like it is about to hit the rocks right now. I will explain a little more about how it will hit the rocks when I focus on the School System section. I don’t give our system of education any haste in this day and time because the youth of America are being taught all about the world and learning to cope with other cultures as more and more flow in to our country. But they are also being taught about the terrible things that happen in our society ( i.e. crime ). Crime is where we come in. Just a couple of kids, having some fun, spray painting a stupid school. It is just a rivalry thing and we were caught smack dab right in the middle of it all. I know that this section is supposed to be about the education system that we have but it will also be a brief overview of everything that happened. I really don’t feel like scrolling all the way back up to the top of this page to add another section so you will have to bear with me on this one.

Hurrican Katrina

Proposal /Disaster Research Proposal Page 1 * My disaster paper will focus mainly on the direct and indirect effects of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans were made by the community and the state, which also affected New Orleans and surrounding areas. My initial research on this topic of Hurricane Katrina was that, although there was a slew of different aids and reliefs sent to New Orleans and other surrounding areas, there were periods where there wasn’t enough or too much time was taken so that the community and pretty much the federal government could have made a timely contribution. This makes my initial response to Hurricane Katrina and its effect on New Orleans and the things that were done to help them a negative response. This is why I am choosing to write about this touching topic, I want to inform readers and people who may not know some approaches taken (and not taken) to help New Orleans and the surrounding areas that were affected. * The purpose of me writing this a rgument will be to inform readers, of the direct and indirect effect of Hurricane Katrina.The tone will be informative, this strategy will suit me best for this paper because of the type of incident Hurricane Katrina was. Thesis will definitely be in the first paragraph. Most likely in the middle of the opening paragraph. There possibly will be a refutation, although, where I am going to put one at this point has not be determined. * My research question will be: What were the direct and indirect effects of Katrina on New Orleans, and what actions were made by the communities and government to effectively help Hurricane Katrina victims.Proposal /Disaster Research Proposal Page 2 * Books * Scholarly Articles * Library Database Proposal /Disaster Research Proposal Page 3 The intended audience for my informative paper will be teens and young adults, these seem to be the people who were involved and knew the most about Hurricane Katrina and the updates. Plus it is just an easier group o f people to write to. My audience is most likely between the ages of 15-30, because high school students were watching the news and getting updates by school and home, and because 30 year olds are still concerned with news.They most likely are middle class, being that most of the people effected by Hurricane Katrina were middle classed, so naturally other middle class people were tuned in. Gender probably wouldn’t matter, but education might play a big role. Being that people who were not as educated as others may not be so affected or concerned with what was going on in another state, because they themselves were not being affected.The major points that will be addressed in my analysis paper will be the indirect and direct effects of this natural disaster and the relief efforts and other helps that were made to help Katrina Victims. They will most likely find out how much Katrina victims were affected and what happened to them. Although, these will be things they have heard in the news there will also be other facts such as the economic effect this natural disaster had on New Orleans and surrounding areas.Not everything is for news, and although some people were concerned with this catastrophe, most people did not go and do their own research so they have been misinformed or left out of some things that actually did happen during this time. Some general beliefs that may be involved in his mishap, would be that when people need help, for example not being able to help themselves somebody of higher authority such as government should be able to step in and effectively take care of the situation. That is one example of personal beliefs. Proposal /Disaster Research Proposal Page 4 November 25- Type Proposal * November 26-Turn in Proposal, start research on Katrina and its effects * November 27- Research, find a thesis and begin to research on that * November 28- Research, start writing paper at least first 2 pages * November 29-Research, finish paper or co ntinue writing * November 30-Conference and feedback on what has been written so far or finished draft * December 3-peer reviews (on own time) * December 4-edit and review paper, consults notes and feedback from conference and peer reviews * December 5-Turn in paper, final copy

Customer Satisfaction on Marketing Mix of Lux Soap Essay

1. Introduction 1.1 Background of the study The trade atmosphere today is changing more rapidly than ever before. It is characterized by increasing competition from both domestic and foreign companies, a brandish of mergers and acquisitions, and more sophisticated and demanding customers who have great expectations related to their consumption experiences. Since services are intangible, heterogeneous, and inseparable, it is difficult to measure service quality objectively. So the companies have focus to so many different aspects in order to make sure their sales. This report deals with meeting up the new challenges that LUX is facing to manage the selling environment. LUX has stared so many projects to get a better position in the market. The objective of the study is to see customer satisfaction about marketing mix of LUX soap. 1.2 Significance This report is a requirement of the program for MBA program. We have tried our level best to make it as an excellent one. We used all the latest data and information. The report can help as the indicator of the level of satisfaction of the customers of the LUX soap and its marketing mix. It provides the true practice taking place in the marketing industry, which plays an important role for every student to meet the extreme challenges of the job market. It helps us in gathering knowledge on the modern practices of the marketing programs of LUX and its way to serve its customers. Its data comparison is based on the published information and further analysis. 1.3 Scope of the study It illustrates a study on customer satisfaction about the marketing mix of LUX soap. This report will help us to acquire information about the beautification industry of Bangladesh and systematically investigate the satisfaction pattern of the LUX soap users. This information will improve our knowledge, which will positively impact our learning experience. This report provides us the opportunity to exchange ideas with our classmates and faculty and learn about different techniques. It is necessary to stay current with new processes, ideas, and methods. By doing this report we get the opportunity to explore the areas of research and bring the new  information into our report. 1.4 Objective of the study 1.4.1 General Objective: The main objective of this report is to study the customer satisfaction on marketing mix of LUX soap. 1.4.2 Specific Objective: * To study the marketing mix of LUX soap. * To find out the level of customer satisfaction about LUX. * To know about the beautification industry of Bangladesh. * To know about the competitor products of LUX. * To know the impact of those competitor products on the customers of LUX. 1.5 Methodology: 1.5.1 Type of research design: We have applied â€Å"descriptive research† to conduct the report. This includes the method of data collection and the sources of the data or information of the research. 1.5.2 Source of data: 1.5.2.1 Primary data: This type of data collected by doing survey and observes the behavior of the customer. 1.5.2.2 Secondary data: This type of data collected from official web site of LUX, and different articles. 1.5.3 Data collection procedure: We have used data both qualitative and quantitative method .We have collected data for this report in two ways: 1.5.3.1 Primary data: We collected primary data through survey and for doing survey we have prepared a questionnaire on LUX soap. We observe the behavior of customer. 1.5.3.2 Secondary data: In order to collect secondary data we used official website of Unilever Bangladesh, LUX and different articles related with this topic. 1.5.4 Research instruments: 1.5.4.1 Questionnaire: As a tool for collecting primary data a questionnaire was constructed to carry on the sample survey. 1.5.5 Sample plan: 1.5.5.1 Population: The entire customer group of LUX soap. 1.5.5.2 Sample elements: The sample element is the individual customer of LUX soap. 1.5.5.3 Sample frame: No structured sample frame was found. 1.5.5.4 Sample procedure: Non-probability convenience sampling procedure is used in the survey. 1.5.5.5 Sample size: The sample size is 30 customers. 1.6 Limitation: The present study was not out of limitations. Some constraints are given bellow— * The main constraint of the study is inadequate access to information, which has hampered the scope of analysis required for the study. It was unable to provide some formatted documents data for the study. * Due to time limitations, many of the aspects could not be discussed in the present report. * The customers were too busy to provide much time for interview. * The customers couldn’t provide proper information about some aspect due to their lack of knowledge. * Only few areas of Dhaka city have been considered for the study. * Samples were selected conveniently. * The sample size does not represent the total 2. Overview of the Product 3.1 Profile: LUX is a global brand developed by Unilever. The range of products includes beauty soaps, shower gels, bath additives, hair shampoos and conditioners. LUX started as â€Å"Sunlight Flakes† laundry soap in 1899.In 1924, it became the first mass market toilet soap in the world. It is noted as a brand that pioneered female celebrity endorsements. As of 2005, LUX revenue is estimated at â‚ ¬1 billion, with market shares spread out to more than 100 countries across the globe. Today, LUX is the market leader in several countries including Pakistan, Brazil, India, Thailand and South Africa. Developed by Unilever, LUX (soap) is now headquartered in Singapore. LUX launched the world’s first mass market beauty bar, â€Å"made like the costliest French soap†. Since then, LUX has been associated with over 400 of the  world’s most glamorous actresses from Hollywood legends like Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, and Grace Kelly, to Bollywood Royalties such as Aishwarya Rai and Katrina Kaif. Origins and history: The brand was founded by the Lever Brothers (today known as Unilever) in 1899. The name changed from â€Å"Sunlight Flakes† to â€Å"LUX† in 1900, a Latin word for â€Å"light† and suggestive of â€Å"luxury.† LUX toilet soap was launched in the United States in 1925 and in the United Kingdom in 1928. Subsequently, LUX soap has been marketed in several forms, including hand wash, shower gel and cream bath soap. Early beginnings: LUX’s early advertising campaigns aimed to educate users about its credentials as a laundry product and appeared in magazines such as Ladies Home Journal. By the early 1920s, it was a hugely successful brand and in 1924, the Lever Brothers conducted a contest that led them to a very interesting finding: women were using LUX as toilet soap. Building beauty soap credentials: Introduced in the United States in 1924, LUX became the world’s first mass market toilet soap with the tagline â€Å"made as fine as French Soap†. In the first 2 years of launch, LUX concentrated on building its beauty soap credentials. Advertisements offered consumers â€Å"beauty soap made in the French method† at an affordable price, with the promise of smooth skin. Made with fine-texture, rich in fragrance, and manufactured using a method created in France, the first LUX toilet soap was sold for 10 cents apiece. 1928–1940: 9 out of 10 stars: This era saw key launches of LUX in the UK, India, Argentina and Thailand. The brand concentrated on building its association with the increasingly popular movie world, focusing more on movie stars and their roles rather than on the product. In 1929, advertising featured 26 of the biggest female stars of the day, creating a huge impact among the movie-loving target  audience. This was followed by Hollywood Directors talking about the importance of smooth and youthful skin. This pioneered the trend of celebrity product endorsements. The series of print ads had stars talking about preserving youthful skin. LUX also launched campaigns featuring interviews with Stars and Close Ups of Stars, bringing to life the ‘9 out of 10’ idea. 40s & 50s: Romancing the consumer: Using movie star as role models, LUX’s strategy was to build relevance by looking at beauty through the consumer’s eyes. While still retaining the star element, the focus shifted to the consumer and the role of the brand in her life. Advertising commercials showed ordinary looking women with direct references to stars, such as Deanna Durbin. 60s: Romancing the brand: The 60’s saw a shift in advertising to product stories and the romanticizing of brand through its â€Å"sensorial & emotional† dimensions. This was the era of ‘the film star feeling’ and the ‘Golden LUX’, featuring stars such as Sandra Dee, Diana Rigg and Samantha Eggar. The bathing ritual, the ‘fantasy’ element that has been the imagery of LUX was created in this era. The brand also moved forward with launching LUX in the Middle East, entering a more conservative market. 70s: Dimensionalizing beauty: Reflecting the shift in beauty trends in the 70s, the LUX stars stepped down from their pedestals and were portrayed as multi-faceted women with natural, wholesome beauty that the ordinary consumer could relate and aspire to. The executions were more of ‘a day in the life’ of the stars with focus on their ‘natural beauty’. Stars included Brigitte Bardot and Natalie Wood. 80s: Owning the category space: Establishing itself as THE beauty soap for stars and beautiful women, the 80s emphasized the importance of skin care – the first step to beauty. LUX was launched in China at this time. Sophia Loren, Raquel Welch and Cheryl Ladd were some famous celebrities used during this time. In India actresses Hema Malini, Parveen Babi, Madhuri Dixit, endorsed LUX soap. 90s – Early 2000s: Advanced skin benefits: In the 90s, LUX moved from generic beauty benefits to focus on specific benefits and transformation. More emphasis on functionality and variant associations with different skin types as well as mention of ingredients. The communication was far more regional specific and localized, using stars like Malu Mader and Debora Bloch. This period launched product brand extensions Shower Cream and Gels and LUX Super Rich Shampoo in Japan and China. 2000s: Beyond movie stars: In early 2000, the focus shifted from specific skin benefits to a stronger emotional space. The brand provided the link between the aspirational role models and real life with the campaign, ‘LUX’ brings out the star in you’. The benefit was now more than just beauty, it was also about the confidence that comes from beautiful skin. In 2005, LUX encouraged women to celebrate and indulge their femininity with the â€Å"Play with Beauty† philosophy, with stars like Aishwarya Rai. The brand also connected with consumers to take a more ‘active’ stance on beauty. From 2008, building off the brand’s root strengths, focus has shifted to beauty (vs. femininity), appealing to consumers’ fantasies and aspirations. LUX believes that ‘beauty is a female instinct that shouldn’t be denied’ and showcases the pleasure that every woman enjoys from using her beauty, encapsulating that idea in a simple phrase: Declare your beauty. Today, LUX products are manufactured at 71 locations with more than 2000 suppliers and associates providing the raw materials. It has key markets in Pakistan, Brazil, China, Bangladesh and South Africa, and is a market leader in India (for soap bars), Pakistan, Brazil, Saudi Arabia (for soap bars), Bangladesh, Thailand and Vietnam. 3.2 Vision, mission, goals and objectives: LUX began its story in 1924 as the first mass marketed beauty soap. Now sold in over 100 countries, it is the most recognizable soap brand in the world – bringing a combination of fun, pleasure and comforts to women’s beauty routines the world over. Since its start in 1924 as the first mass marketed beauty soap, LUX has made its way to over 100 countries across the globe and  is now the most recognizable soap brand in the world. During this long journey, some of the world’s most talented and beautiful women have become a part of LUX’s history as brand ambassadors. LUX combines exquisite fragrances with the most exotic ingredients to give a truly unique bathing experience. VISION It is the vision of LUX to give women that million dollar feelings every time they use a LUX product, be it one of their fragrant beauty soaps or refreshing body washes. LUX believes beauty doesn’t have to be a chore and brings a combination of fun, pleasure and comfort to women’s beauty routines all over the world. MISSION The mission of LUX is to embrace consumers’ new expectation, to maintain good governance, product quality and long experience of working with communities. Their vitality mission will focus brands on meeting consumer needs arising from the biggest issues around the world today – ageing populations, urbanization, changing diets and lifestyles. They see growing consumer need for: * A healthy lifestyle * More variety, quality, taste and enjoyment * Time, as an increasingly precious commodity * Helping people to feel good, look good and get more out of life will enable us to meet these needs and expand our business. GOALS The goals of LUX are- * To maintain strong science capability. * Ensuring the quality of the raw materials and the ingredients needed to make products. * To manufacture high-standard products. * Promoting products to the highest extent. * Producing large volume to achieve production cost economies. * Enabling quality products to be sold out at obtainable product. * Maintaining healthy relationship with the customers. OBJECTIVES The objectives of LUX are- Always working with integrity: Conducting operations with integrity and with respect for the many people, organizations and environments. Positive impact: LUX aim to make a positive impact in many ways: through the brands, commercial operations and relationships, through voluntary contributions, and through the various other ways in which they engage with society. Continuous commitment: They’re also committed to continuously improving the way they manage the environmental impacts and are working towards the longer-term goal of developing a sustainable business. Setting out our aspirations: Their corporate objective sets out their aspirations in running business. It’s underpinned by the code of Business Principles which describes the operational standards that everyone at Unilever follows, wherever they are in the world. The code also supports their approach to governance and corporate responsibility. Working with others: They want to work with suppliers who have values similar to them and work to the same standards as they do. 3.3 LUX Range: LUX Peach & Cream blends juicy peach and moisturizing cream extracts to give you velvety, soft skin. LUX Fresh Splash is crafted with the icy freshness of cooling mint and the invigorating power of sea minerals to transform your skin from dull to vibrant in an instant. LUX Sandal & Cream uses extracts of alluring sandalwood and a unique consistency of moisturizing cream to give your skin a captivating and mesmerizing glow. LUX Purple Lotus & Cream is infused with fragrant moisturizing and beauty oils, leaving your skin silky smooth. 3.4 SWOT Analysis for LUX: The SWOT analysis for LUX helps identify the internal environment, its strengths and weaknesses as well as the external environment faced by it, and the opportunities and threats that it presents: Strengths: * LUX possesses a very strong network of market research. * LUX has a very wide range of products to offer. * The parent company of LUX has helped in establishing a strong supply and distribution network. Besides, it also has access to the resources of the parent company of Unilever. * LUX possesses a very strong brand image in the market. * The focus of LUX is going strong on beauty segment. * LUX is a dynamic brand and is undergoes changes as per the changes in demand and trend. * The brand has innovative sales promotions tactics that spread across different forms of media – print, electronic and social. * The brand is known to deliver value-for-money in the eyes of the consumers. * It has a broad market presence and mass appeal, being the market leader in so many countries. * As per the BCG matrix, developed by the Boston Consulting Group, LUX can be put into the STAR category for high market growth and high market share. Weaknesses: * LUX lacks a unisex appeal as it has essentially been portrayed as a women’s beauty soap and has a lot of feminine appeal. * The wear rate of the soap is very high. It gets dissolved pretty fast and gets mushy and soggy quickly. * Certain variants of the soap, like the Haute Pink, Sunscreen, etc did not do so well in the market as some of its other variants have. * The stock replenishment in semi-urban areas and rural areas is quite long, despite having such a wide distributor network. This leads to stock out in these areas. * Some of its advertisements have been quite controversial. * It includes too much base which makes the skin dry. Opportunities: * The industry today is growing at a rate of more than 10% per annum. * LUX can yield great benefits by reinforcing itself in the beauty segment. * Promotions strategies like trade fare, price offs, sample distributions, etc are essential with competitors. * The soap is in the maturity stage of its life cycle, so it is essential that a retentive strategy be adopted so that this can be sustained. * Ayurvedic variant of LUX could have a big scope in the market. So far, the only variant of LUX that has somewhat come close to Ayurveda, though not actually is the festive glow variant, which had the goodness of haldi and chandan ubatan. This could cater to a new segment in the market. * LUX Kids Special soap would also help the brand greatly, as this segment has been running dry for quite some time now. In this way, brand loyalty could be caught young. * The brand extension products of LUX – the body washes, with its new range launched recently, is in the growth stage of its life cycle. They can pick up fast pace is positioned and marketed properly. Active marketing of these body washes is going on in the social media. * It can also launch face wash range as it is in great demand to today’s women. Threats: * Number of competitors is rising – ITC, P&G, etc are fast catching up. * High internal competition also exists for the soap like Dove. * LUX seems overly relied on the beauty segment, so in case the consumer trends or preferences change, then LUX stands to be highly vulnerable. * More focus needs to be put on the newer technology. * If constant reinvention is not there, then LUX can slip down from the maturity stage it currently is in and get into a declining phase. 3.5 Marketing Mix of LUX: This chapter describes the way Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. use the tactical marketing tools for marketing LUX in Bangladesh. The chapter comprises of four sections. Section 2.5.1 discusses the product attributes of LUX. Section 2.5.2 visualizes the price of LUX according to different size. Section 2.5.3 conceptualizes the distribution channel of Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. This section includes a table that shows the location of the company’s  warehouses all around the country. Finally section 2.5.4 discusses the promotional activities that the company undertakes for LUX. 2.5.1 Product: LUX is an internationally renowned beauty soap brand of Unilever. Though manufactured in Bangladesh for the local market by Unilever Bangladesh Ltd, as an international brand, it maintains an international quality for the product. Formula given by Research and Development departments in foreign countries, LUX is produced in Bangladesh from imported raw materials like sodium soap, glycerol and different extracts according to flavors, coming from Unilever plants situated abroad. LUX is offered in Bangladesh in four different flavors which are: LUX Peach & Cream, LUX Fresh Splash, LUX Sandal and cream and LUX Purple Lotus & Cream. Taking into account the convenience of its customers, the company manufactures all flavors of LUX in three different sizes, 40gm, 80gm and 120gm. 2.5.2 Prize: Though Unilever Bangladesh gives its LUX customers a lot in terms of the product itself, it cannot provide a better pricing. This is due to some constraints in the beauty soap industry. Beauty soap is a product with a vulnerable demand in Bangladesh. A change in price has a high risk of creating price war among the rivals which will eventually cause a loss of profit. Its prices are almost equal to its competitor. Company carries out research on competitors’ price and brand loyalty when it feels extreme necessity of changing price. 2.5.3 Place: Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. has a huge distribution channel for LUX all over the country as its sales reach more than 10 million pieces a year. The company has six huge warehouses, one in each division of Bangladesh, where the product goes after they are manufactured at Kalurghat factory. The company does not use its own fleet of transport for distributing its product. However, it has outsourced its distribution process to various  third party distributors, exclusively dedicated to Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. These distributors then supply the product all over Bangladesh to a huge number of retailers. Even though LUX targets the urban and sub urban middle and upper middle class people they are distributing their products all over Bangladesh because of a recent increase in demand of its product to all segments of the population. 2.5.4 Promotion: Unilever Bangladesh undertakes huge promotional activities to promote LUX which has topped the beauty soap industry of Bangladesh. It spends almost 20% to 25% of its Net Proceeds from Sales (NPC) of LUX for promotional activities for LUX. It’s certain annual promotional campaigns like LUX Channel i Superstar and LUX Channel i Annual Cinema Awards has made the product a part of the glamour world. Since the 1930s, over 400 of the world’s most stunning and sensuous women have been proudly associated with LUX advertisements. They do not only promote LUX in Bangladesh for the beauty conscious females, it also promotes the brand for males and the company proved that, by including world famous male celebrity Shahrukh Khan for their advertising campaign. Unilever Bangladesh Ltd spends a huge amount of money for promoting LUX through TV commercials, newspaper advertisements and billboards. 3. Theoretical Aspect 3.1 Customer satisfaction: Customer satisfaction is a term frequently used in marketing, is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. Customer satisfaction is defined as â€Å"the number of customers or percentage of total customers, whose reported experience with a firm, its products, or its services (ratings) exceeds specified satisfaction goals†. In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, 71 percent responded that they found a customer satisfaction metric very useful in managing and monitoring their businesses. The importance of measuring customer satisfaction is discussed below: * It is seen as a key performance indicator within business and is often part of a Balanced Scorecard. In a competitive marketplace where businesses compete  for customers, customer satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business strategy. * Within organizations, customer satisfaction ratings can have powerful effects. They focus employees on the importance of fulfilling customers’ expectations. Furthermore, when these ratings dip, they warn of problems that can affect sales and profitability. These metrics quantify an important dynamic. When a brand has loyal customers, it gains positive word-of-mouth marketing, which is both free and highly effective. Therefore, it is essential for businesses to effectively manage customer satisfaction. To be able do this, firms need reliable and representative measures of satisfaction. * In researching satisfaction, firms generally ask customers whether their product or service has met or exceeded expectations. Thus, expectations are a key factor behind satisfaction. When customers have high expectations and the reality falls short, they will be disappointed and will likely rate their experience as less than satisfying. For this reason, a luxury resort, for example, might receive a lower satisfaction rating than a budget motel—even though its facilities and service would be deemed superior in ‘absolute’ terms. * Customer satisfaction provides a leading indicator of consumer purchase intentions and loyalty. Customer satisfaction data are among the most frequently collected indicators of market perceptions. * Within organizations, the collection, analysis and dissemination of these data send a message about the importance of tending to customers and ensuring that they have a positive experience with the company’s goods and services. * Although sales or market share can indicate how well a firm is performing currently, satisfaction is perhaps the best indicator of how likely it is that the firm’s customers will make further purchases in the future. Much research has focused on the relationship between customer satisfaction and retention. Different processes to measure Customer satisfaction are given below: 1. Theoretical Ground: In literature antecedents of satisfaction are studied from different aspects. The considerations extend from psychological to physical and from normative to positive aspects. However, in most of the cases the consideration is  focused on two basic constructs as customers’ expectations prior to purchase or use of a product and his relative perception of the performance of that product after using it. Expectations of a customer on a product tell us his anticipated performance for that product. As it is suggested in the literature consumers may have various â€Å"types† of expectations when forming opinions about a product’s anticipated performance. 2. The Disconfirmation Model: The Disconfirmation Model is based on the comparison of customers’ expectations and their perceived performance ratings. Specifically, an individual’s expectations are confirmed when a product performs as expected. It is negatively confirmed when a product performs more poorly than expected. The disconfirmation is positive when a product performs over the expectations. There are four constructs to describe the traditional disconfirmation paradigm mentioned as expectations, performance, disconfirmation and satisfaction. The usual measures of customer satisfaction involve a survey with a set of statements using a Likert Technique or scale. The customer is asked to evaluate each statement and in term of their perception and expectation of performance of the organization being measured. Their satisfaction is generally measured on a five-point scale. Customer satisfaction data can also be collected on a 10-point scale. Regardless of the scale used, the objective is to measure customers’ perceived satisfaction with their experience of a firm’s offerings. Good quality measures need to have high satisfaction loadings, good reliability, and low error variances. 3.2 Marketing mix: The marketing mix is a business tool used in marketing and by marketing professionals. The marketing mix is often crucial when determining a product or brand’s offering, and is often synonymous with the four Ps: price, product, promotion, and place; in service marketing, however, the four Ps have been expanded to the Seven Ps or eight Ps to address the  different nature of services. In recent times, the concept of four Cs has been introduced as a more customer-driven replacement of four Ps. And there are two four Cs theories today. One is Lauterborn’s four Cs (consumer, cost, communication, convenience), another is Shimizu’s four Cs (commodity, cost, communication, channel). ————————————————- 3.2.1 Producer-oriented model The marketer E. Jerome McCarthy proposed a four Ps classification in 1960, which has since been used by marketers throughout the world. Classification| Category| Definition| Product| A product is seen as an item that satisfies what a consumer demand. It is a tangible good or an intangible service. For example good will for intangible. Tangible products are those that have an independent physical existence. Typical examples of mass-produced, tangible objects are the motor car and the disposable razor. A less obvious but ubiquitous mass-produced service is a computer operating system. Every product is subject to a life-cycle including a growth phase followed by a maturity phase and finally an eventual period of decline as sales falls. Marketers must do careful research on how long the life cycle of the product they are marketing is likely to be and focus their attention on different challenges that arise as the product move.The marketer must also consider the product mix. Marketers can expand the current product mix by increasing a certain product line’s depth or by increasing the number of product lines. Marketers should consider how to position the product, how to exploit the brand, how to exploit the company’s resources and how to configure the product mix so that each product complements the other. The marketer must also consider product development strategies. | Price| The amount a customer pays for the product. The price is very important as it determines the company’s profit and hence, survival. Adjusting the price has a profound impact on the marketing strategy, and depending on the price elasticity of the product, often it will affect the demand and sales as well. The marketer should set a price that complements the other elements of the marketing mix. When setting a price, the marketer must be aware of the customer perceived value for the  product. Three basic pricing strategies are: market skimming pricing, market penetration pricing and neutral pricing. The ‘reference value’ (where the consumer refers to the prices of competing products) and the ‘differential value’ (the consumer’s view of this product’s attributes versus the attributes of other products) must be taken into account. | Promotion| All of the methods of communication that a marketer may use to provide information to different parties about the product. Promotion comprises elements such as: advertising, public relations, personal selling and sales promotion. Advertising covers any communication that is paid for, from cinema commercials, radio and Internet advertisements through print media and billboards. Public relations is where the communication is not directly paid for and includes press releases, sponsorship deals, exhibitions, conferences, seminars or trade fairs and events. Word-of-mouth is any apparently informal communication about the product by ordinary individuals, satisfied customers or people specifically engaged to create word of mouth momentum. Sales staff often plays an important role in word of mouth and public relations (see ‘product’ above). | Place| Refers to providing the product at a place which is convenient for consumers to access. Various strategies such as intensive distribution, selective distribution, exclusive distribution and franchising can be used by the marketer to complement the other aspects of the marketing mix. | ————————————————- ————————————————- 3.2.2 Consumer-oriented model Robert F. Lauterborn proposed a four Cs classification in 1993 which is a more consumer-oriented version of the four Ps that attempts to better fit the movement from mass marketing to niche marketing: â€Å"P† category| â€Å"C† category| â€Å"C† definition| Product| Consumer solution| Represents the actual product which meets up the consumer needs and wants.| Price| Cost| Reflecting the total cost of ownership. Many factors affect Cost, including but not limited to the customer’s cost to change or implement the new product or service and the customer’s cost for not selecting a competitor’s product or service.| Promotion| Communication| Represents a broader focus. Communications can include advertising, public relations, personal selling, viral advertising, and any form of communication between the organization and the consumer.| Distribution(Place)| Convenience| With the rise of Internet and hybrid models of purchasing, Place is becoming less relevant. Convenience takes into account the ease of buying the product, finding the product, finding information about the product, and several other factors.| 4. Analysis & Findings We have conducted our survey on â€Å"Customer Satisfaction about the Marketing mix of LUX soap†. We have design our sample with 30 respondents. Respondent Sample: Among 30 people, 25 were female and 5 people were male. Among 25 Female most respondents were students of Masters, Bachelors and colleges, some respondents were housewives (4 people). In case of Male respondents all were the students. Total Respondents| 30| Female Respondents| 25| Male Respondents| 5| Figure 1: Types of respondents Age of Respondents: We divided respondent’s age into four categories. The categories are 15-20 years, 21-30 years, 31-40 years and 41-50 years. Among 30 respondents 3 respondent’s age were in between of 15 to 20 years, one respondent was from the age category 41-50 years, 3 respondents were from 31-40 years and the others (23 respondents) were in between of 21 to 30 years. Age| No of Participants| Between 15 to 20| 3| Between 21 to 30| 23| Between 31 to 40| 3| Between 41 to 50| 1| Figure 2: Age of respondents 1. Are you Happy with this Brand? Options| No of Respondents| Yes| 29| No| 1| Figure 3: Level of satisfaction of respondents with the brand When we asked about this question, 29 people agree that they are happy with this Brand LUX. Only one person seems to be unhappy. Her only reason for disappointment was, in her opinion this soap should contain extra moisture. From the above graph it is seen that 97% people are happy with this brand and 3% is unhappy. 2. Which features do you like most? Options| No. Of respondents| Color| 5| Shape| 2| Price| 0| Fragrance| 23| Others| 0| Figure 4: Level of preferred feature of the soap by the respondents We have observed that 17% of people like the different color of LUX soap.7% people like the shape of LUX and among 30 people 23 people or 76% agree that among all the features, the fragrance of LUX soap is the best feature of LUX. 3. Do you like to add any other aroma? Options| No of Respondents| Neem| 7| Lemon| 3| Orange| 4| Strawberry| 6| Rose| 10| others| 0| Figure 5: Level of suggested new aroma to the soap by the respondents When we are conducting the survey, we observed that every people want to add other aromas like Rose, Neem, Strawberry, orange in LUX soap. It is seen that 34% people want the aroma of Rose, 23% like to add Neem, 20% want the fragrance of Strawberry, 13% orange and 10% want Lemon aroma in LUX soap. 4. According to quality, which brand is the strong Competitor of LUX? Options| No of Respondents| Dove| 20| Sandalina| 8| Tibet| 0| Meril| 0| Dettol| 2| Others| 0| Figure 6: Level of competitors of LUX According to quality, 67% respondents think that â€Å"Dove† is the strong competitor of LUX. Other 27% person thinks â€Å"Sandalina† as the strong competitor. Rest 6% feels â€Å"Dettol† is strong competitor of LUX. We have put Tibet and Meril as other options but no one thinks these are the strong competitor of LUX brand. Respondents also mentioned that â€Å"Dove† is very much expensive but in terms of quality this soap is excellent. On other hand the quality of â€Å"Sandalina† is good enough and less expensive. On other hand, â€Å"Dettol† is specially known as the bar soap which fights against the wide range of germs. 5. Are you satisfied with the quality of this soap? Options| No of respondents| Yes| 18| No| 12| Figure 7: Level of satisfaction with the quality of the soap by the respondents From the survey we get that, 60% of the respondents are satisfied with the quality of LUX soap. Remaining 40% are not satisfied. When we asked about the dissatisfaction of the participants, they show the cause of higher amount of alkali in the soap which makes the skin rough enough. 6. For how long you have been using LUX? Options| No of Respondents| Below 2 Years| 5| Between 5 to 10 years| 25| Over 10 years| 0| Figure 8: Level of time period of using LUX by the respondents During the time of survey we noticed that 83% of the people are using LUX for more than 5 to 10 years, rest amount of participants which means 17% are using LUX below than 2 years. 7. Which type of fragrance you have used in LUX? Options| No of respondents| Peach and cream| 3| Fresh splash| 7| Sandal and Cream| 12| Purple Lotus and cream| 8| Figure 9: Level of used fragrance of the soap by the respondents When we are conducting our survey, we find that 10 % people use peach and cream, 23% people use fresh splash, 40% use sandal and cream and 27% use purple lotus and cream. During the time to discussion with participants we noticed that people have used almost every fragrances of LUX time to time, finally they chose their favorite one and most of the people like sandal and cream because they feel that this fragrance may keep their skin more natural and healthy. 8. Which size of LUX soap you use? Options| No of respondents| Small| 0| Medium| 25| Large| 5| Figure 10: Level of size of the soap used by the respondents From the survey we found that 17% of the respondents use large size of the soap whether 83% of the respondents use medium size of the soap. When discussing the size of LUX being used by the people, many respondents told that not for regular use but during journey they use small size of LUX because it is easy to carry. 9. In your opinion which type of skin care you get from this soap? Options| No of respondents| Clean| 1| Glow| 0| Soft| 0| Perfumed| 29| All| 0| Figure 11: Level of skin care derived from LUX by the respondents 3% respondents said that in their opinion LUX soap keeps their skin clean and according to 97% people, LUX keeps the skin perfumed. Here we can see most of the people think that the perfume of LUX is the most popular skin care they have got from the soap. 10. Do you think LUX should introduce more products? Options| No of Respondents| Yes| 8| No| 22| Figure 12: Level of need for introducing new products of LUX of the respondents Here 27% people thinks that LUX should introduce more products like LUX face wash, LUX body powder because of its unique fragrance and rest of the people, 73% thinks that there is no need to introduce more products of LUX. 11. From which source you have got information about LUX soap? Options| No of respondents| TV advertisement| 14| Newspaper| 4| Promotional Events| 2| Bill board| 10| Friends and relatives| 0| Figure 13: Level of sources of information about LUX 47% people have got information about LUX soap via TV advertisement, 13% people got information by Newspaper, 7% people know about LUX from promotional events and remaining 33% got information by the huge billboards of LUX advertisement. 12. What do you think about the promotional activities of LUX? Options| No of respondents| Perfect| 8| Sufficient| 22| Not enough| 0| Figure 14: Level of opinions about promotional activities of LUX From the survey we found that 73% agree that the promotional activity of LUX is sufficient, they think LUX don’t need to give extra focus on their promotion activities and 27 % people voted that the promotional activity of LUX is perfect. 13. Do you think the price of LUX is affordable? Options| No of Respondents| Yes| 20| No| 10| Figure 15: Level of satisfaction about the price of LUX by the respondents 67% respondents think that the price of LUX is affordable and remaining 33% think that the price of LUX should be reduced. 14. Are you satisfied with the availability of this soap? Options| No of Respondents| Yes| 29| No| 1| Figure 16: Level of satisfaction about the availability of LUX by the respondents Almost all the respondents agree that the availability of LUX is up to the satisfaction level and only one respondent disagree with the availability of LUX. 15. Your overall satisfaction about using LUX†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Options| No of respondents| Strongly satisfied| 2| Satisfied| 26| Less Satisfied| 2| Not Satisfied| 0| Figure 17: Level of overall satisfaction about the performance of LUX by the respondents The customer is asked to evaluate each statement and in term of their perception and expectation of performance of LUX. 87% people are satisfied with the overall performance of LUX, 7% people are strongly satisfied with this brand and 6% agree that they are less satisfied with the performance of this soap. The less satisfied respondents give cause about their less satisfaction is the proportion of Alkali in the soap makes skin rough and LUX should reduce their price as it is used by every level of classes. 5. Major Findings 1. They are more focused about their Promotional activities. 2. The proportion of Alkali is too much high and makes skin rough. 3. They are not so focused about the quality improvement. 4. Most of the people uses LUX because of its unique fragrance no one uses LUX for skin care. 5. Dove is the strongest internal competitor of LUX and Sandelina is the external strongest competitor in Bangladesh. 6. Some people expect that LUX will introduce more products of LUX like Face wash and body powder. 7. As every class of people use LUX, respondents think that the price of LUX should be reduced. 8. Sandal and Cream is the most used fragrance of LUX in Bangladesh. 9. Most people get information about LUX from TV advertisement. 10. People are satisfied with size of LUX Soap. 6. Conclusion LUX has been operates its business for many years in Bangladesh where each and every person knows brand quality and different product of it and consumers are also aware about the different strategies which are used to  attract more consumers to buy the product but still it has lacking to survive in the market. From the above analysis it’s been conclude that Bangladesh Unilever Limited facing competition from the other companies. Thus to keep its market share for the growth in their business it should focus on quality management and improvement to achieve its objective. However LUX soap should penetrate the market in order to survive in this competitive world and also introduce some new product with the reasonable range in order to increase its sale and which will have greater impact on their sale. However marketing activity should also be consider throughout which will result in gaining competitive advantage from its competitors. 7. Recommendation * Most of the respondents suggested that they would like to see more Fragrance of LUX Soap. * In order to increase more sales LUX should concentrate on appropriate reduction of cost which will directly lead to gain leadership in price. * By hiring famous stars LUX is investing huge amount to promote their products. Our suggestion will be now LUX should discontinue spending huge amount in promotional activities. * LUX Will also have to do product development for the product line extension. * As this soap makes skin rough enough; we think LUX should invest more to improve the quality of LUX soap rather than promotional activities. Or else it can lose its market at any time because there are many strong competitors in soap market. * LUX can introduce more products like- Face Wash; Body Powder etc as this product cover a huge and different market segment. 8. Bibliography www.google.com.bd www.unilever.com.bd www.unilever.com/brands-in-action www.lux.com www.hul.co.in www.luxnaturals.com en.wikipedia.org 9. Appendix Questionnaire A study on â€Å"Customer satisfaction about marketing mix of LUX Soap† Respondent Name: Age: Occupation Work Place: Income: around †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 1. Are you happy with this Brand? a) Yes b) No If No please specify †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 2. Which features do you like most? a) Color b) Shape c) Price d) Fragrance e) Others (please Specify) 3. Do you like to add any other aroma? a) Neem b) Lemon c) Orange d) Strawberry e) Rose f) Others (please Specify) 4. Which brand is the strong competitor of LUX (In your opinion)? a) Dove b) Sandelina c) Meril d) Tibet e) Dettol f) Others (please Specify) 5. Are you satisfied with the quality of this Soap? a) Yes b) No (explain†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.) 6. For how long you have been using LUX? a. Below 2 year b. Between 5 to 10 year c. Over 10 year 7. Which type of fragrance you have used in LUX? a. Peach and Cream b. Fresh Splash c. Sandal & Cream d. Purple Lotus & Cream 8. Which size of LUX soap you use? a) Large b) Medium c) Small 9. In your opinion which type of skin care you get from this soap? a) Clean b) Glow c) Soft d) Perfumed e) All 10. Do you think LUX should introduce more products? a) Yes (please specify†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..) b) No 11. From which source you have got information about LUX soap? a) TV advertisement b) Newspaper c) Promotional events d) Billboards e) Friends and relatives 12. What do you think these promotional activities of LUX? a) Perfect b) Sufficient c) Not enough 13. Do you think the price of LUX is affordable? a) Yes b) No 14. Are you satisfied with the availability of this soap? a) Yes b) No 15. Your overall satisfaction about using LUX †¦. a) Strongly satisfied b) Satisfied c) Less satisfied d) Not satisfied

The Industrial Revolution Essay - 2378 Words

The Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution may be defined as the application of power-driven machinery to manufacturing. It had its beginning in remote times, and is still continuing in some places. In the eighteenth century all of western Europe began to industrialize rapidly, but in England the process was most highly accelerated. Englands head start may be attributed to the emergence of a number of simultaneous factors. Britain had burned up her magnificent oak forests in its†¦show more content†¦Another feature of the new farming was the cultivation of turnips and potatoes. Jethro Tull (1674-1741) and Lord Townshend popularized the importance of root crops. Tulls most original contributions were the seed drill and horse hoe. The seed drill allowed a much greater proportion of the seed to germinate by planting it below the surface of the ground out of reach of the birds and wind. Turnip Townshend was famous for his cultivation of turnips and clover on his estate of Raynham in Norfolk. He introduced the four-course rotation of crops: wheat, turnips, oats or barley, clover Robert Bakewell (1725-1795) pioneered in the field of systematic stock breeding. Prior to this, sheep had been valued for wool and cattle for strength; Bakewell showed how to breed for food quality. Bakewell selected his animals, inbred them, kept elaborate genealogical records, and maintained his stock carefully. He was especially successful with sheep, and before the centurys end his principle of inbreeding was well established. Under Bakewells influence, Coke of Holkham in Norfolk not only improved his own farms, but every year held sheep shearings to which farmers from all over Europe came for instruction and the exchange of knowledge. Propaganda for the new agriculture was largely the work of Arthur Young. 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Ginsbergs Variation on Haiku American Sentences

Allen Ginsberg  was born in 1926 in Newark, New Jersey, and went to Columbia University in New York in the 1940s. There he met and became friends with Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady, and William S. Burroughs; all four would become deeply identified with the Beat movement, and all would become legends. Ginsberg  published many volumes of poetry and won the National Book Award for The Fall of America: Poems of These States (1973). Ginsberg moved to San Francisco in 1954 and by the 1960s was into gurus, Zen and political activism and protests against the Vietnam War. His book Howl and Other Poems (1956) was banned for a time on obscenity issues but eventually was reinstated, and the poem of the title ultimately was translated into 22 languages. Ginsberg died in 1997 in New York City. Ginsbergs Dictum He was a full believer in condense, condense, condense—which is an Ezra Pound dictum, although he could have gotten the message across better by saying simply â€Å"Condense!† Check Ginsbergs poetry for articles (a, an and the) and you’ll see where he starts cutting—these tiny words all but disappear in his work. Along with achieving the condensation he wanted, this technique also gives a rushing immediacy to his work.   Still, Ginsberg never went for  haiku. He spoke of how the 17 characters of this Japanese form just don’t cut it as 17 syllables of English, and that divvying them up in five-seven-five syllable lines makes the whole thing an exercise in counting, not feeling, and too arbitrary to be poetry. Ginsberg’s solutions, which first appear in his book Cosmopolitan Greetings (1994), are his American Sentences: One sentence, 17 syllables, end of story. Minimum words for maximum effect. It makes for a rush of a poem, and if youre trying your own hand at these and decide to include the season and an aha! moment as Japanese haiku do—a divided poem with a hinge or pause separating the originator from the kapow!—well, more power to you. Ginsbergs Iconic Sentences The website the Allen Ginsberg Project  has volumes of material about Ginsberg, including examples of American Sentences. Here are a few of the best: Taxi ghosts at dusk pass Monoprix in Paris 20 years ago.Put on my tie in a taxi, short of breath, rushing to meditate.Tompkins Square Lower East Side N.Y.Four skinheads stand in the streetlight rain chatting under an umbrella.Rainy night on Union Square, full moon. Want more poems? Wait till I’m dead.That grey-haired man in business suit and black turtleneck thinks hes still young.Bearded robots drink from Uranium coffee cups on Saturns ring.Crescent moon, girls chatter at twilight on the bus ride to Ankara.