Virtual era- new features in marketing

Virtual era- new features in marketing Virtual Era- New Features In Marketing Cap Virtual market Forty nine of the Worlds leading food, beverages, and consumer products companies have joined hands to form the largest business to business e-Market place Transora.com. The new company is the first of its kind owned by the consumer products industry. Transora will help consumer products companies across the world to streamline business transactions with their buyers, suppliers and distributors through the internet. Transoras services will span the entire supply chain-from suppliers to manufactures to retailers-and provide procurement, vendor, and product catalogues, online order management, supply chain collaboration, and financial services. The companies have committed nearly us $ 250 million for funding Transora (CBI News Bulletin, July/august 2000) The buzz word viral marketing and coral advertising and virtual marketing refers to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks produce increase in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self replicating viral processes, analogues to the spread of pathological and computer viruses. It can be word of mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the internet. Viral promotions may take the form of video clips, interactive flash games, Adver games, EBooks, brand able software, images, or even text messages. The goal of marketers interested in creating successful viral marketing programs is to identify individuals with high social networking potential and create viral messages that appeal to this segment of the population and have a high probability of being taken by another competitor. The term viral marketing or virtual marketing has been also used pejoratively to refer to stealth marketing campaigns- the unscrupulous use of astroturfing on line combined with under market advertising in shopping centers to create the impression of spontaneous word of mouth enthusiasm. Internet marketing Internet marketing also referred to as marketing, web marketing, online marketing or eMarketing is the marketing of products or services over the internet. The internet has brought media to a global audience. The interactive nature of internet marketing in terms of providing instant response and eliciting responses is a unique quality of the medium. Internet marketing is sometimes considered to have a broader scope because it only refers to the internet, email, and wireless media, but it includes management of digital customer data and electronic Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. Internet marketing ties together creative and technical aspects of the internet, including design, development, advertising, and sales. Internet marketing also refers to the placement of media along with different stages of the Customer Engagement Cycle through search engine Marketing(SEM), Search Engine Optimization(SEO), banner ads on specific websites, email marketing, and web 2.0 strategies. In 2008 the New York Times, working with co score, published an initial estimate to quantify the user data collected by large internet based companies. Counting four types of interactions with company websites in addition to the hits from advertisements served from advertising networks, the authors found the potential for collecting data upward of 2500 times on average per user per month. E-Marketing EMarketing is a subset of e business that utilize electronic medium to perform marketing activities and achieve desired marketing objectives for an organization. Internet marketing, interactive marketing, and mobile marketing for example, are all the form of e marketing. E-Business EBusiness means utilizing electronic medium in everyday business activities. There are several levels of involvement in when it comes to EBusiness. For example where one organization relies completely on e business the second one way chooses a mixed presence and means of doing business. Difference Difference Between E-Business, E-Commerce, And E-Marketing eBusiness is a very broad entity dealing with the entire complex system that comprises a business that uses electronic medium to perform or assist its overall or specialized business activities. eCommerce is best described in a transactional context. So for example an electronic transition of funds, information, or entertainment falls under the category handled by principles of eCommerce. Technically e commerce is a part of e business eMarketing is also a part of e business that involves electronic medium to achieve marketing objectives. E marketing is set on a strategic level in addition to traditional marketing and business strategy. Difference Between E Marketing And Interactive Marketing eMarketing is a broader term that describes any marketing activity performed via electronic medium. Interactive marketing is generally a sub of eMarketing that involves a certain level of interaction. Difference Between E-Markeitng And Internet Or Web Marketing: There is no real difference between eMarketing and internet or web marketing. However, with the arrival of mobile technologies such as PDAs and 3G mobile phones, as well as interactive television, both terms would see eMarketing and internet or web marketing as subtly different, for example chaffy; Internet {or web} marketing is achieving marketing objectives through applying digital technologies. eMarketing is achieving marketing objectives through use of electronic communications technology. Whilst this distinction is wholly acceptable, it is difficult to see where the distinction lies between digital technologies and electronic communications technologies, especially with the convergence of technologies such as mobile devices. Advantages Of E-Marketing Following are some of the advantages of e marketing: Reduction in costs through automation and use of electronic media. Faster response to both marketers and the end user. Increased ability to measure and collect data. Opens the possibility to a market of one through personalization. Increased interactivity. Disadvantages Of E-Marketing Following are some disadvantages of eMarketing: lack of personal approach , Defensibility on technology, Security, privacy issues, Maintenance costs due to a constantly evolving environment, Higher transparency of pricing and increased price promotion, Worldwide competition through globalization. E-Marketing Plan eMarketing plan is a strategic document developed through analysis and research and is aimed at achieving marketing objectives via electronic media. eMarketing plan represents a sub set of organizations overall marketing plans supports the general business strategy. Every good eMarketing plan must be developed in line with the organizations overall marketing plan. In a broad sense e marketers generally start by analyzing the current micro- and macro economic situation of the organization. eMarketers must observe both internal and external factors when developing an e marketing plan as trends in both micro environment elements are: pricing, suppliers, customers. Examples or macro environment are: socio economic, political, demographics and legal factors. In order to reduce a viable e marketing solution, e marketers must first understand the current situation of the company and its environment, profile, segment the target market and then strategically position the products as to achieve optimal response with the target market. This is generally achieved through SWOT analysis. By assessing organizations strengths and weaknesses and looking at current opportunities and threats one can devise an e marketing strategy that can improve the organizations bottom line. E-Marketing(In Brief) eMarketing is essentially a part of marketing. But What is the difference between eMarketing and internet or web marketing? What are the eMarketing tools? And how do marketers plan for eMarketing? The American marketing association definition 2004 is as follows: Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders. Therefore e marketing by its very nature is one aspect of an organizational function and a set of process for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders. As such an aspect, eMarketing has its own approaches and tools that contribute to the achievement of marketing goals and objectives. This also helps us to differentiate between eMarkeitng and eCommerce, since eCommerce is simply buying and selling online: What Are The E-Marketing Tools? The internet has a number of tools to offer to the marketer. A company can distribute via the internet e.g. amazon.com, A company can use the internet as a way of building and maintaining a customer relationship e.g. Dell.com, The money collection part of a transaction could be done online e.g. electricity and telephone bills, Leads can be generated by attracting potential customers to sign up for short periods of time, before signing up for the long-term e.g. which.co.uk, The internet could be used for advertising e.g. Google Adwords, Finally, the web can be used as a way of collecting direct responses e.g. as part of a voting system for a game show. How Do Marketers Plan For E-Marketing? There are two ways to looking it; An existing organization may embark upon some eMarkeitng as part of their marketing plan. An organization trades solely on the internet and so their marketing plan focuses purely on eMarketing. The marketing plan in either case is the next step, whether focused upon eMarketing or all, marketing. The next lessons focus upon a tailor-made eMarketing plan which conforms to the Acronym AOSTC {from our generic marketing planning session} Situation Analysis For VIRTUAL Marketing The situation analysis for eMarketing bridges the internal audit and competitor research. It answers the question where are we now in terms of our marketing (internal v/s external perspective)? The analysis literally considers your eMarkeitng situation by considering the fit between internal and external factors. There are similarities with traditional concepts and techniques, but you need to focus upon digital commerce. Here we consider the 5ss of internet marketing, the customer life cycle, and the application of SWOT analysis. The Customer Life Cycle (CLC) The customer life cycle is a tool that creation and delivery of lifetime value to customers i.e. CLC looks at products and services that customers need throughout their lives. It is market oriented rather than product oriented. Key stages of the customer relationship are considered. SWOT Analysis-Ranked And Weighted SWOT analysis is a tool for auditing an organization and its environment. It is the first stage of planning and helps marketers to focus on key issues. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Some of the problems that you may encounter with SWOT are as a result of one of its key benefits i.e. its flexibility. Since SWOT analysis can be used in a variety of scenarios, it has to be flexible. To overcome these issues, one should employ a power SWOT. SWOT Analysis-Power SWOT SWOT analysis is a marketing audit that considers an organizations strengths, weaknesses opportunities and threats. Our introductory lesson gives you the basics of how to compete your SWOT as you begin to learn about marketing tools. As you learn more about SWOT analysis, you will become aware of a number of potential limitations with this popular tool. This lesson aims to help you overcome potential pitfalls. Some of the problems that you may encounter with SWOT are as a result of one of its key benefits i.e. flexibility since SWOT analysis can be used in a variety of scenarios, it has to be flexible. However this can lead to a number of anomalies. Problems with basis SWOT analysis can be addressed using a more critical power SWOT. Power is an acronym for personal experience, order, weighting, emphasizing detail, and rank priorities. This is how it works. How do you the marketing manager fit in relation with the SWOT analysis? You bring your experiences, skills, knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs to the audit. Your perception or simple gut feeling will impact the SWOT. Often marketing managers will in adversely reverse opportunities and strengths, and threats and weaknesses. This is because the line between internal strengths and weaknesses, and external opportunities and threats is sometimes difficult to spot. For example, in relation to global warming and climate change, one could mistake environmentalism as a threat rather than a potential opportunity. Too often elements of a SWOT analysis are not weighted. Naturally some points will be more controversial than others, so weight the factors. One way would be to use percentages e.g. threat a=10%, threat b=70%, and threat =20 %{ they total 100%} Detail, reasoning, and justification are often omitted from the SWOT analysis. Where one tends to find is that the analysis contains lists of single words. For example, under opportunities one might find the term technology. This stage word does not tell a reader very much. What is really meant is: Technology enables marketers to communicate via mobile devices close to the point of purchase. This provides the opportunity of a distinct competitive advantage for our company. This will greatly assist you when deciding upon best to score and weight each element. Once detail has been added, and factors have been revived for weighting, you can then progress to give the SWOT analysis some strategic meaning i.e. you can begin to select those factors that will most greatly influence your marketing strategy albeit a mix of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threatens. Essentially you rank them highest to lowest, and then prioritize those with the highest rank e.g. where opportunity c= 60% opportunity a= 25% and opportunity b = 10% you marketing plan would address opportunity c first, and opportunity b last. It is important to address opportunities primarily since your business should be market oriented. Then match strengths to opportunities and look for a fit. Address any gaps between current strengths and future opportunities. Finally attempt to rephrase threats as opportunities (as with global warming and climate change above), and address weaknesses so that they become strengths, Gap analysis would be bridge the gap between them. Competitor Research For Virtual Marketing (External Perspective) As you plan for eMarketing and during the plans implementation, one needs to play careful attention to the activities of competitors, so competitors research for eMarketing is essential when attempting to answer the question where are we now (external perspective). There are a number of approaches that can be employed, with the emphasis on each approach shifting depending upon the nature of our e business and market. Here are some key tools of competitor research for eMarketing. Use search engines. General topics such as Google, yahoo And msn Type names of competitors Type industry, product or term Search ‘down in to a directory structure e.g. yahoo Search a competitors web site Product information , press released, job opportunities Pricing information Distribution information such as where to buy. Hunt for trade associations Search for personal pages or blogs Different perspective e.g. fans, ex-employees. e.g. www. blogger. com , Â  www. myspace. com, Â  www. youtube. Com. Ask your target market. Send question to named personnel, newsgroups, personal pages, mailing lists. Conduct a survey using. Buy secondary reports e.g. data monitors, mintel. Newsgroups and post queries, newsgroups on bulletin boards or forums Deja. com(Google) Read online financial information research public companies iii.co.uk ample up ft.com up Read online competitive information. e.g. hoovers.com paid for, inus Study demographic reports statistics.gov.uk/ census in up census.gov inus Original source material Business source elite, newspapers, Kellys compass. Monitor special interest material Business source elite, newspaper, Kellys, compass. Monitor special interest material. E.g. marketing week (BSE), campaign (BSE), marketing (BSE). Use a professional researcher EMarketing Mix The eMarketing mix is essentially the same as the marketing mix. it is simply the adaption of price, place product, and promotion to the eMarketing context. Of course one could also include physical evidence, people, and process when marketing planning for an online service. Below are a series of lessons that consider how markets can apply the eMarketing mix to their organizations own product, service, brand, or solution. E marketing Price The eMarketing mix is simply an adaptation of the traditional marketing mix and ‘P for price. However, the internet has influenced how online businesses price in a number of ways. E Marketing Place {Place Tactics As Part Of The E-Marketing Mix.) The e marketing space consists of new internet companies that have emerged as the internet has developed, as well as those pre-existing companies that new employ eMarketing approaches as part of their overall marketing plan. For some companies the internet is an additional channel that enhances or replaces their traditional channel of place. Pre Existing companies that have adopted eMarketing These are traditional companies that trade on the internet, Banking and financial services e.g. HSBC bank. Banks and financial services have benefited tremendously from the popularity of internet usage. There is a mixture of new online banks and traditional banks, both offering online banking services. Essentially banks no longer need to invest in high cost, high street selling unit i.e. old fashioned town-based banks. Labor costs have also been reduced since much of the traditional banking bureaucracy is done using it and the use of overseas call centers has meant that salaries are much lower. Software also means that customers can be retained by using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) eMarketing approaches. E marketing Product Considered product as part of the marketing mix. Two previous tools for product decision-making have been introduced- Product Life Cycle (PLC) and the three levels of a product. Both of these tools and equally applicable to the context of e marketing and can be easily applied to include e marketing and product. For example a product marketed solely online will go through a life cycle in the same unpredictable way as a product marketed through any traditional channel (PLC). Products marketed online will have a core benefit tot eh customer, be an actual tangible product, with augmentation that ads value such as insurance, warranties and so on three levels of a product). Although tools actually specify the term ‘product, they can be easily adapted to include brands. Services or solutions. E marketing product/business matrix (depicted below should be used in conjunction with Product Life Cycle (PLC) and the three levels of a product. It represents additional tools for audit that bridges existing businesses and new online start-us, and existing products and new products. It allows marketers to categories those marketing on the internet as an online extender, an online alternative, an online innovator (existing business), and Oran online innovator (online start-up). Let us look at it in more detail; A- Online Extender An on line extender is an existing business that has a strategy whereby it extends its marketing activities to the internet. It could be any traditional, terrestrial organization that has historically grown through using traditional channels of distribution to get existing products, brands, services, or solutions to market. B- Online Alternatives The online alternative is a new start-up that uses the internet as an original channel of distribution to get products, brands, services or solutions, currently available elsewhere, to, arekt. Some segments may be better targeted with this online alternative for example remote or fragmented markets. C And D- Online Innovators Online innovators come in two forms; C- Online innovators are existing businesses that see a benefit to launching new and innovative products, brands, services or solutions online by leveraging new technology. Existing businesses have a wealth of knowledges and learning that underpin their moves onto the web. Remember, the internet is not a business paradigm shift (at last not yet) and so current business approaches are often adapted for the internet. Existing businesses have experience. D- Online innovators are start-ups that seize the opportunities to launch new and innovative products, brands, services, or solutions online. Deposit not having as much knowledge and learning as some of their competitors, they are flexible and can move much more quickly. Start-ups often experience. We have already considered product as part of the marketing mix. Two previous tools for product decision- making have been introduced product life cycle and the three level of a product. E Marketing Promotion It looks at ways of increasing the popularity of your website by looking at the internal optimization of the website itself. It considers many important ways of building your traffic, including Search Engine Optimization (SEO) approaches. It looks at ways of increasing the popularity of your website by looking at external sources of internet advertising. Lesson internet marketing and promotion: internet advertising. This lesson looks at ways of increasing the popularity of your website by looking at external sources of internet advertising. Pay per click advertising Google ad words. Google ad words are a Cost per Click (CPC) online advertising program. Identically that means that you decide upon key word that relates closely to your product or service. Using Googles tools, you price how much it would cost your per click for your chosen keyword- this could be lucent, $1.50 or more, depending on the popularity of the keyword. So the keyword marketing would be more expensive than the keyword marketing cheese china because of its level of popularity. You then allocate a budget, and pay Google by credit card. You can control the length of your campaign, or end it as soon as the money in PPC management (Pay per Click Management) or recruit a verified Google awards professional. Adverts appear alongside Google search results- so go to Google and search for marketing. The ads appearing alongside the main search results are cps. Ads also appear on selected content websites-such as www.chichesteuk.com-look at the adverts along the top, and down the right hand column- this is where ads based upon the keyword chic ester would appear. You only pay for adverts that get clicked- not for page views- so you pay nothing if your advert is simply viewed. There is also an opportunity for ‘Smart pricing whereby you pay more for the advert if a sale is guaranteed e.g. you have a website based upon fishing- you write a review of a new type of fishing rod, the visitor then sees an ad for the same rod in an ad words text ad running on the same page then clicks on it and buys from the advertiser. Adwords is a very targeted and controllable way of online advertising hence the huge rises in income and profit for Google over recent times. EMarketing Price (Pricing Tactics As Part Of The E-Marketing Mix.) The eMarketing mix is simply an adaption of the traditional marketing mix and ‘P for price. However the internet has influenced how online businesses price in a number of ways. International pricing and competition give consumers access to the lowest price for any generic good. For example, British consumers benefit when buying products from the United States since there is almost two dollar to the pound. Conversely this makes British goods more expensive to the American consumer. So it is cheap to buy spectacles from a us website and then to import them into the UK (even including transport costs and import taxes) Online auctions are a popular and innovative way of pricing, for example ebay. Here you register with the online auction company as a seller and/or a buyer. You can place an item into auction where buyers bid against each other. The highest bidder wins. The auction websites takes a commission. The commission is factored into the price you pay. Greater access to pricing information, more quickly and in a format that makes pricing comparable and transparent. There are a number of sites that will compare and contrast prices for the same or similar goods and services e.g. prices on car insurance. Pricing could also include the cost of an online advertising medium such as Google ad words. Here an online supplier would buy a keyword located in a text or image based advert onto Googles own search engine or onto a website belonging to a Google publisher. For example you search term hair straightness on Google and you are directed to a site about hair dressing. On this site is plenty of information about hair straightening, placed next to some contextual adverts. You click on the advert and you are taken to a site selling hair dressing supplies. You buy the hair straightness and your supplier pay a small ‘Pay-Per-Click fee which is split between Google and their publisher. This is factored into the price you pay. Traditional Pricing Tactics Used In E-Marketing Of course the internet marketers still has a whole selection of the more traditional pricing approaches to choose from that can be adapted to eMarketing scenarios: Premium Pricing E.g. Selling Music Via ITunes. Penetration pricing e.g. giving away free subscription to land grab market share for new start ups such as youtube.com and myspace.com. Economy pricing e.g. selling basic products and services online likes basic design or paperclips. Price skimming e.g. new product launches online such as albums or games. Psychological pricing e.g. products and services sold at 99p or $99.99 (price point perspective). Product line pricing e.g. subscription 1 @ free, subscription 2 @ $10.00(with added value) and subscription 3 @ $49.99 for 10 year. Pricing variations e.g. budget airlines selling tickets online where the first tickets bought are the cheapest, and the last ones bought tend to be more expensive. Optional product pricing e.g. selling a holiday online with travel insurance. Captive product pricing e.g. once you buy virus software from one brand, your updates must also come from them. Product bundle pricing e.g. buying internet access which comes with free online phone calls. Promotional pricing e.g. betting incentives, such as free dollars to gambles online for current customers that gamble on football games to tempt them to play online pocker, or vouchers with codes sent by email as rewards e.g. Amazon.com. Geographical Pricing e.g. Microsoft pricing in different currencies in different international markets. Search Marketing {Overture And Yahoo} Overture is the yahoo equivalent of Googles ad words. Now known as yahoo Search marketing, overture has a series of sub-products that make up its internet marketing program. Here some examples: 1) Sponsored search: Displays your advert at the top of the search engine results. So your potential customers search for a ‘keyword and your advert appears at the top of the results page. Again, as this ad words, the advertisers bid against each other to obtain the position that will generate the most convertible traffic to their site. Popular keywords will cost more-obviously. 2) Local advertising: Gets your business listed in yahoos business directory. So if you wish to promote products in specific regions next to specific search keywords, this is a much targeted geographical services. Overture has many other similar services such as search submit, product submit, travel submit and director submit that could be considered. Affiliate Marketing Affiliate Marketing is where an organization offers and incentive to other web based organizations to market the products or services that it offers. So a company selling surfboards could have affiliate destinations. The affiliate program is supplied by one organization whereas the affiliate is the website that promotes on behalf of the supplying organization. Put simply affiliate marketing is a basic agency arrangement. There is rarely and pay per click cash, but affiliates tend to take a commission on any goods sold as a result of the click. What does it look like? Affiliate marketing sees a banners advert or a text advert placed upon an affiliates website. When the advert attracts a click, the visitor is taken through to the site that originated the affiliated program. No cash changes hands until there is a sale, but affiliate rewards tend to be higher than regular pay per click. Commission Junction (CJ) is a well known example of an affiliate marketing company. CJ acts as an intermediary between affiliate programs. Suppliers of all types and sizes. So if you have a successful website, that does well in the search engines and is popular with visitors, you such old register with CJ and place affiliate add on to your site. Offline promotions strategies. Of course to promote website you should also consider offline promotion strategies such as those used by non internet businesses. Our lesson store contains lessons on promotion (as part of the marketing mix) and also marketing communication (and its own mix) here selection of other suitable approaches to offline promotion: Create a media release or announce a media conference regarding yo

International dairy queens decision Essay

International dairy queen is a successful company that owns licenses and services to dairy queen restaurants, orange Julius stores and karmelkom shoppes. Currently, international dairy queen operates over 6000 chains globally and the number is yet to increase as international dairy queen seeks to venture more into the Middle East market. Environments International Dairy Queen Stores’ decision to open a subsidiary in Bahrain presents challenges and opportunities to the company. Before developing any strategy plans International Dairy Queen should perform a SLEPT analysis which is a critical look into social, legal, economic, political and technological influences. This is because it will not operate in a vacuum and these environments indirectly affect business activities. In addition these business environments are constantly in a changing state and companies need to be aware of these changes. This enables the company to stay ahead of these changes and act in a proactive way rather than reacting hurriedly to adapt to the changes. In the Middle East, Bahrain particularly stands out as the ideal location because it has numerous opportunities. Bahrain is a vibrant country with a multicultural population owing to the numerous tourists that visit. Many people refer to it as the ‘Middle East lite’ due to its substantial resource endowment, vibrant market economy and state of the art infrastructure, stable political system and high investment rating. International dairy queen would do well having business in Bahrain. The population is large and diverse plus the hot climate and tourist attractions attract restaurants business. The description above of Bahrain demonstrates that, indeed there are untapped opportunities for international dairy queen. The general pointers to a mature economy that include a ready market for goods and services, a friendly legal environment as well as a stable political system are evident in the case of Bahrain. There is need though to avoid over glorifying the country by giving a brief of some of the potential challenges that international dairy queen will have to contend with if entry into Bahrain market will prove to be a success. The political system comprises of all processes, structures and activities that prevail in a country. On the other hand, the legal system comprises of the laws and regulations enforced in a country. (Lucas, 2000) In international business, there are global legal issues that prevail beyond country’s boundaries such as intellectual property, product safety and liability and anti-corruption regulations. The political/ legal framework in Bahrain lays out the regulations and laws governing trade. Particularly, there are rules governing registration of companies import tariffs, ownership, trade registrations, customs payment and so on. International Dairy Queen Stores will have to comply with these laws and regulations if it is to trade in Bahrain. In addition, there are laws that stipulate environment regulations. This regulation prohibits creation of pollution, or any culture that contravenes moral standards. International Dairy Queen is a well established company whose activities are eco friendly. Laws regarding registration of foreign companies are stiff but not impossible. The government permits wholly owned foreign companies. However, restrictions on the importing products from parent company are imposed. Laws regarding employment stipulate the number of employees who must be sponsored from the local community. Licensing is easy as the government stretches good will to foreign investors. International Dairy Queen has to critically look into these laws and rules and their impact to its operation before proceeding any further. Lastly, health and safety laws are enforced to protect the customers from substandard goods that may cause harm to consumers. International dairy queen should pay attention to the rules that directly affect its operations. Social factors and cultural factors are equally important. These factors encompass the tastes, preferences, lifestyles, fashion, demographic factors and patterns of behavior. (Lucas, 2000) it is important to note that the tastes and preferences of people are very dynamic. The attitudes of people also change. The vast population largely comprises of young and aged fun loving people. The numbers of foreigners, who visit the country, make the setting ideal for International Dairy Queens products. Citizens of Bahrain love the good things in life. They have an expensive taste and International Dairy Queen Stores’ products match this standard. The current trend towards eating healthy diets and sugar free products may have an impact on international dairy queen. Cases of obesity in children and the negative effects of high sugar consumption raise concern among consumers. This will mean that international dairy queen invests in promoting it desserts and probably develop tasty and high quality sugar free desserts to cater for the sensitive consumers. Although the change in customers’ tastes and preferences differ across different age groups, International Dairy Queen Range of products caters for all. When evaluating the economic factors in the external environment, the key areas that one needs to look at is the interest rates, wage rates, general level of prices i.e. inflation rate and the customer’s purchasing power. (Lucas, 2000). The economy of any country tends to fluctuate from time to time. This characterized by periods of booms and repressions. The direct impact of these changes is price increase. Currently Bahrain’s economic condition is stable. Interest rates are low and demand high. People disposable income are high and they are willing to spend more on luxuries as dining out and International Dairy Queen comes in. by locating its stores at strategic locations where impulse buying is constant for 8instance the shopping malls, beaches and gas stations. International Dairy Queen can take advantage of this situation to expand in the Middle East in this case Bahrain. Technological factors are vital and need to be considered. This is because technology gives organizations a competitive advantage and facilitates globalization. Whenever one assesses the technological factors of any place the following questions come to mind. Does the technology enable production of high quality goods and at a cheaper cost? Does the technology offer innovative products that allow better ways of operating? Most importantly, does the technology provide better or new ways of communicating with customers? These questions play a guiding role in deciding what technology to utilize in order to gain a competitive edge. Technology in Bahrain can be described simply as state of the Art. Their transportation and communication system is highly advanced and the people are highly skilled. Given that international dairy queen is a dedicated company to quality it has to ensure that the franchisee are highly educated and its employees do not compromise on quality service delivery. Hence the highly skilled population in Bahrain should come in handy when a franchise opens. International Dairy Queen being a company involved in mass production is particularly keen on acquiring fast and efficient technologies. Total quality management is also of great importance to International Dairy Queen Inc. This is because its dairy products are very sensitive to quality. International Dairy Queen Inc is dedicated to satisfying customers’ expectations and the technological advances in Bahrain facilitate this. Bahrain has all the facilities the company needs thus setting a part Bahrain as the country of choice in the Middle East. The advanced communication system in Bahrain will facilitate easy communication with customer if international dairy queen decides to use customer relationship management to market its products. Markets The characteristics of the market place are vital in international dairy queen’s decision on pricing. There are various types of markets and they include commodity markets, controlled and uncontrolled markets, vertical high and vertical low markets. In the case of international dairy queen, it operates in a commodity market. This is because it has many buyers and competitors and at the same time non unique products. Thus, they enjoy minimal price flexibility. (Sunjen, 2000) The pricing of International Dairy Queens products will greatly depend on the presence of competition, economic conditions, cost of production and laws regulating prices in the new market (Bahrain). In addition, factors such as product awareness, prospects perceptions, ability to pay, products life cycle, elasticity and cost of channels of distribution will similarly affect pricing of international dairy queen products. (Sunjen, 2000) Most countries impose laws which regulate prices of goods such that prices don’t fall below a predetermined level. This is meant to prevent dumping. In this case International Dairy Queen is not affected; however, the economic conditions will influence pricing of International Dairy Queen Products. How so? Inflation causes increase in prices of virtually everything; raw materials, wages, interest rates hike. The cost of production reflects on final cost of a product. If the technology used to produce a product is costly then final cost of a product is also high. International Dairy Queen has invested greatly in modern facilities and state of the art technology. Most of the processes are automated. This will play a significant role in minimizing cost of production. In addition, costs of acquiring raw materials increases during inflation which eventually translates to high price of goods. Pricing of a product is influenced by the force of demand and supply. This is because if demand for a product increases prices of the product will also increase. This is the theory. However, this is not always the case. In the presence of competitors firms react by reducing their prices so as to retain customers to competitors. International Dairy Queen being a new company in Bahrain should consider to competitors and its comparative advantage. International dairy queen is a new company in Bahrain. This being the case its existence is unknown to people in Bahrain. The goal of International Dairy Queen should therefore be creating awareness and penetrating the market in Bahrain. This in itself will influence pricing. for example, using a promotional strategy. This is whereby it lowers prices of its products as a way of promotion. The effect is that customers get attracted to sample the range of products and make repeat purchases. A customer’s perceptions about a company’s product greatly influence pricing. How so? Positive perceptions regarding quality and superiority enable a company to price its products highly. Alternatively, the intention or desire to appeal and identify its product with the high class group should influence pricing. This is called premium pricing and a company using this strategy will price its products expensively as an indicator of quality. The availability, quality and cost of distributive channels influence pricing in that the eventual cost is transferred to the consumer. International dairy queen uses franchises to market its products thus eliminating the risk of long distribution channel and ensuring quality service to its customers. (Idq website) products usually undergo life cycles and each stage in a products life cycle dictates its price differently. Products in n early life cycle attract higher prices. International dairy queen being new to Bahrain enjoys this advantage as its products are still new to the market. D1 D2 This graph shows the effects of S changes in production (supply) and P1 purchasing power (demand) and P2 how these changes offset the equilibrium. Q1 Q2 Source: Self Organization Organizational structures vary across organizations depending on the objectives of a firm and its culture. This structure is important because it gives a frame work of allocating functions and processes to different departments in the organization. In order for a company to be successful in its operations it needs a good structure. A good structure is one that is efficient and flexible yet facilitates smooth communication and relationship among different sections in the organization (salaman, 2001) there are different types of organizational structures. They include; centralized and decentralized structure, hierarchical structure, tall structure, matrix structure and flat structure. It seems to me that international dairy queen uses the hierarchical structure. This is because each level is one above the other and each manager has a given number of staff directly under his span of control. The organizational structure International Dairy Queen Inc has both formal and informal structure. The formal structure shows the flow of hierarchy from the top level management to the lowest level. An organizational chart has been used to show the level of hierarchy in International Dairy Queen. International Dairy Queen has a centralized system and all the subsidiaries follow the same centralized system. That is all the department report to the director and all the employees report to their respective managers in the various departments. The informal structures within the company although not written on paper has strong presence within this company. Staff groupings are productive because they improve level of motivation and sharing of information. The company encourages productive groupings. The concept behind International Dairy Queen having this organization structure is to clearly show the relationship among the people in the organization. It also gives little of different position. The departments also have their own department organization structures. The purpose behind having this organizational structure is that flow of information is enhanced. This is especially so true for a big company such as International Dairy Queen. Absence of such a structure would cause distortion of information, and inefficiency. The structure shows a diagrammatic illustration of how departments should relate and the hierarchy of authority. The organizational structure allows free flow of information which enables the company to coordinate its various activities. This in turn increases the efficiency of services. Corporate Chart Source: Self Process Understanding the business process assists in gauging the success of a company in terms of higher profit gains, physical expansion, better quality products, increased market share and accumulation of assets. According to Davenport (1993) he defines a (business) process as â€Å"a structured, measured set of activities designed to produce a specific output for a particular customer or market. It implies a strong emphasis on how work is done within an organization, in contrast to a product focus’s emphasis on what. A process is thus a specific ordering of work activities across time and space, with a beginning and an end, and clearly defined inputs and outputs: a structure for action. Taking a process approach implies adopting the customer’s point of view. Processes are the structure by which an organization does what is necessary to produce value for its customers. † The business process allows an organization to measure how well the business is doing and measure whether the products and services meet customers’ needs and requirements. (Barnes, 2001). The success of International Dairy Queen Store’s investment depends a lot on how much its consumers get value for their money. Consumers of the company’s dairy products should perceive that they get the best their money can buy. Therefore, value adding should start right from the suppliers, production and packaging to distribution and selling process. At each stage, the product should be improved without adversely hiking price of the final product. Consumers should get best quality at minimal cost. Customer process analysis focuses mainly on acquiring and retaining customers as well as satisfying their needs. Adding value to customers requires in depth study into impacts of pricing, timely distribution, variety and so on. Time and cost is essential and should be analyzed so that it is cost effective. In the case of International dairy Queen Stores, its success in Bahrain depends greatly on the strategy the company will employ in attaining its goals. The marketing program should anticipate customers’ needs and cater to them. A modernized system of informing customers and getting feedback is essential. Relationship marketing, where customers’ queries and suggestions are personally addressed needs to be analyzed. Furthermore, the efficiency of implementing market programs and the dedication of employees to quality service delivery needs to be analyzed. The production process can be enhanced through the use of modern technology so that the time needed to produce a product is reduced. Conclusion In summary the decision to venture in the Middle East is timely. As seen the business environment tremendously affects the business. They can either affect your business negatively or positively. Therefore, it is advice able for international dairy queen to manipulate their effects to work out for its benefit. Markets are dynamic and there influences on pricing of products are significant. International dairy queen has a variety of options in determining its prices depending on its goals. A clear understanding, consideration and implementation of the issues discussed plus international dairy queen’s vast experience trading in foreign countries will come in handy in building a successful subsidiary in Bahrain. Bibliography Barnes, W. ed. (2001) Understanding Business: Process. London: Routledge. Davenport, T (1993) Process innovation: Reengineering work through information Technology. Boston. Harvard business school press. Lucas, M. ed. (2000) Understanding Business: Environments. London: Routledge. International dairy queen: The Middle East. Retrieved from http://www. dairyqueen. com/en-Intl/DQ+Around+the+World/Middle+East/default. htm accessed on August, 29, 2007 Salaman, G. ed. (2001) Understanding Business: Organizations. London: Routledge. Suneja, V. ed. (2000) Understanding Business: A Multidimensional Approach to the Market Economy. London: Routledge.

Comparison between sudden fiction story The Country Where Nobody Ever Grew Old and Died by William Maxwell and the Garden of Eden from the Bible Free Essay Example, 1250 words

For example David Carr argues that â€Å"the ‘wise’ snake turns out to be more right than God: right about the humans not dying if they disobeyed and right about the knowledge that would come with eating the fruit† (590). John C. Collins, in Genesis 1-4: A Lingustic, Literary, and Theological Commentary wants to avoid the conclusion that serpent was right and explores the semantic range of the Hebrew word for death in order to prove that what God meant was a â€Å"spiritual death†, not a physical one. He argued that â€Å"the semantic range of ‘death’ that is present here is spiritual death, estrangement from God† (175). Nevertheless, although he provides sufficient linguistic evidence for such interpretation and the word death could also mean spiritual death; he fails to bring the necessary â€Å"literary† evidence from the narrative to prove his point. In other words, the narrative itself does not have literary cues to support this interpretation nor to invalidate it. It also does not make sense to assume that Adam and Eve died spiritually after they ate the fruit and they became soulless creatures like zombies. We will write a custom essay sample on Comparison bet ween sudden fiction story The Country Where Nobody Ever Grew Old and Died by William Maxwell and the Garden of Eden from the Bible or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now In fact, it is not necessary to avoid the claim which implied that the serpent was right, and make superfluous interpretations in order to prove that God was right. If we take the dimension of temporality into the consideration, both the snake and God can be right; which is the very trick of the story and also the serpent. As a matter of fact, it is possible to assume that the serpent makes a trick and omits the word â€Å"immediately† when it speaks with Eve. Of course, Adam and Eve did not die â€Å"immediately†, but they are sentenced to â€Å"mortality†; which meant that they will â€Å"eventually† die, since their access to the tree of life has been cut. This also explains why God placed the cherubim and a flaming sword to the east of garden to guard the tree of life. Thus, it is possible to deduce from the narrative that tree of life was the true source Adam and Eve’s â€Å"not dying physically† and by cutting their access God ensured that they will physically die â€Å"eventually†. It is difficult to make an assertion on whether Adam and Eve were made mortal or immortal at the beginning, however as explained above the tree of life can be interpreted as the source of Adam and Eve’s â€Å"not dying†. The only thing for sure that can be deduced from the text is that they ceased to be â€Å"not dying† after they ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge. I say â€Å"not dying† instead of immortality, because not dying does not automatically mean that they are immortal and actually they are â€Å"dieable† without an access to the tree of life.

How to Stop Overthinking Analysis Paralysis

Are you guilty of dwelling on a problem much longer than you should? Many people get caught up in overthinking problems from time to time, but some people make a habit of it. This habit can affect grades and academic performance  because students get so caught up in thinking mode that they never get to a  good solution. Some people who overthink tend to get stuck in analysis mode by over-analyzing every nook and cranny of a situation repeatedly, and in a circular pattern (around and back again). That situation—the state when a thinker is â€Å"stuck† in ​analysis—is sometimes called ​analysis paralysis. Its also one form of procrastination. Analysis Paralysis It’s not difficult to imagine why this could be unhelpful or even harmful for academic work. Students who encounter certain kinds of test questions are in danger of analysis paralysis: Complex essay questions can cause you to get stuck thinking about a  single aspect of the question and ignore others.You will be at a loss when trying to decide how to start writing an answer to essay questions because there are so many options. This can be a time waster.Long multiple choice questions can also cause analysis paralysis. You may try to read too much into the question and spin yourself into total confusion.You can also overthink their choices in a multiple choice situation and read more into each choice than you should. If the situations above sound familiar, you are like many other students. You are also wise to recognize that this is a potential problem for you. If you know it, then you can address it! Stop Overthinking Overthinking during a test can really hurt! The big risk you face is failing to complete the test because you think too much and can’t make a decision. Go into the test with a time management plan. As soon as you get the test, do a quick assessment to determine how much time you should spend on each section. The open-ended essay answers are the most time-consuming. If you tend to be an overthinker, you will have to manage your urge to dwell on the many possibilities when trying to answer an open-ended test question. To do this, you must give yourself time to brainstorm—but also give yourself a time limit. Once you reach the predetermined time limit, you must stop thinking and go into action. If you’re facing a multiple choice, resist the tendency to read too much into the questions and answers. Read the question once, then (without looking at your options) think of a good answer. Then see if this matches one that’s listed. If it does, select it and move on! Thinking Too Much About Assignments Creative students can also think too much when it comes to getting started on a research paper or big project because there are so many possibilities. A creative mind loves to explore possibilities. Although it probably goes against your nature, you will have to force yourself to be methodical when selecting a topic. You can be creative and imaginative for the first day or two to come up with a list of possible topics—then stop. Pick one and go with it. Creative projects like fiction writing and art projects can be downright paralyzing as well. There are so many directions you could go! How can you possibly start? What if you make the wrong choice? The truth is that you will continue to create as you go. The final creative project rarely ends up exactly as you intended at first. Just relax, get started, and create as you go. It’s ok! Students can also fall into analysis paralysis when starting to write a school report. The best way to conquer this type of roadblock is to start writing in the middle—don’t try to start at the beginning. You can go back and write the introduction and rearrange your paragraphs as you edit.