Business future Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Business future - Assignment Example These sources are highly reliable since they are published by prominent authors and the government of India hence they satisfy international standards of credibility and relevance. This report can serve as a preliminary reading before one embarks on an intensive research into the car manufacturing industry in India. Manufacturing is the labour-intensive and machine-applying process through which raw materials are converted into finished products on a large scale either for use or for sale (Brown, 2001). Manufacturing also entails the formulation of merchandise through the manipulation of chemical and biological processes. The uses of the output of the manufacturing industry are very diverse. For instance, some of the products from the manufacturing industry can be used for other complex manufacturing processes such as aircraft manufacturing, for sale to wholesalers who then sell to retailers, or direct sale to end consumers (Brown, 2001). In free markets, the manufacturing industry focuses on mass production of good for sale to end-consumers at a profit while in collectivist markets, the manufacturing industry is used to supply the government’s planned economy. In mixed markets, manufacturing is conducted under governmental regulation (Raj put, 2008).   Since the manufacturing industry is one of the most potent wealth generating industry, there have been several variations in this industry depending on the products, machinery, technology and objective (Raj put, 2008).   One of the facets of the manufacturing industry is automobile or car manufacturing sector (Peters, 2011). The car manufacturing is a sub-sector of the manufacturing industry, which houses a wide range of companies with their common activity being the designing, manufacturing, advertising and selling of automobiles (Peters, 2011). It excludes the organizations or companies

Editing paper required Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Editing paper required - Essay Example The goal of the class is majorly teaching and developing basic swimming skills, strategies, and sportsmanship in all students. Therefore, the teachers focus on the students’ physical activity and encourage them to interact and cooperate with one another in their individual and group activities. Not every student has in born swimming skills. So the teachers make them perform such activities that inculcate good swimming skills in them. The students are taught how to raise their comfort level in the water, control breath, and how to keep safe in the water. These are all part of the primary skills. The teachers also tell the students how to use things that are the school property in the swimming pool and respect the rights of other students.It is good to know that in a very short period, most of the children have learned how to perform freestyle stroke, kick, and breathe perfectly, although they are too young to learn all that. They are too good at swimming for their age. The teac hers have done a great job. Their approach is rational and is systematically structured to facilitate planning the lessons, conducting them, and evaluating the students’ performance. The instructors customize the course to meet students’ needs, demonstrate the required skills at an acceptable level of performance, and develop a strategy to keep help the class achieve its goals. In order to develop students’ activity, the teachers carefully monitor their practice and provide instant feedback and encouragement. There are a couple of teaching methods that I would like to point out in the class. While the teachers were teaching the students in the swimming pool, I was surprised to see that no one was trying to get into the swimming lane and teach the swimming act correctly. Although it might be hard for the teachers to practically

How Piagets theories support universal preK in the US Essay Example for Free

How Piagets theories support universal preK in the US Essay Jean Piaget is famous for developing one of the most influential theory, the theory of cognitive development. The theory is mainly concerned with the construction and emergence of schemata which comprises the schemes of how a person does perceive the world especially during the developmental stages when the children are gaining new means of mentally expressing information. The theory is considered constructivist in opposition to other theories which could be either nativist or empiricists, (Brainerd, C. 1978). The theory proposes that we do get to construct our cognitive abilities through the self-motivated action in ones world. The nativist theory on the other hand asserts that cognitive development is the unfolding of innate abilities and knowledge while empiricist theories defines cognitive development as a gradual process in which knowledge is acquired through experience, (Brainerd, C.J. Reyna, V.F 2002). For this theory, Piaget won the Erasmus prize. There are four main periods that Piaget used to describe the schemes that children make use of to understand the world, (Gallagher, J.M. Reid, D.K. 1981). Four stages as described by Piaget’s. Sensorimotor period. This occurs at the age of 0 to 2 years, (Piaget, J. 1929). According to Piaget, children are born with a congenital reflexes which permits them to float in the dense world beyond their drive to explore the world around them. The initial schemes that the children have at this stage is all based on the differentiation of their congenital reflexes. Since this is the first of the four stages according to Piaget it marks an important stage in which the child develops spatial abilities to understand the world in six different stages, (Piaget, J. 1929). These stages include; †¢ The reflex scheme stage that takes place from birth to one month. It is primarily associated with the development of reflexes. †¢ Primary circular reaction stage is the second stage that occurs from one month to four month. It is primarily associated with the development of habits. †¢ The secondary circular reactions phase forms the third stage. It occurs from the fourth month to the eighth month and is primarily associated with the development of vision and prehension coordination, (hand-eye coordination). †¢ The fourth sub stage is concerned with the development of the object permanence development. It is generally called the coordination of secondary course round modest circular reactions stage and occurs from the eighth month to the twelfth month. †¢ The tertiary circular reactions phase is what Piaget suggested to the fifth sub stage from twelve to eighteen months. This is the stage that Piaget suggested that the ‘little scientist’ is born through active creativity and experimentation. †¢ The sixth final sub stage here is characterized by the beginning of symbolic representation and it occurs from the eighteen months to twenty four months. At this stage the new found means of considering before taking an action gives the child new ways of eventually achieving a goal without having to go for the trial and error experiment, (Gallagher, J.M. Reid, D.K. 1981). preoperational stage This is the second of four main stages of cognitive development. Piaget demonstrated that a qualitative psychological functioning does occur as the child approaches the end of second year. According to Piaget, a preparatory thought is any particular procedure that promotes mental action on objects. The main hallmark in this stage is logically inadequate and sparse mental operations, (Flavell 1963). It is at this stage that the child learns to repress and use objects by words and images, that is symbolic thinking is evident. Since the child still has difficult of adopting other people’s viewpoint, thinking is still egocentric. It as it this stage that the child has the potential to classify similar objects together trough a single feature such as color or shape, (Brainerd, C. 1978). Piaget suggested that this stage which immediately follows Sensorimotor stage occurs between 2-7 years of stage. It at this stage that children develop their language skills and thus they begin expressing things using images and words. Worth noting here is the child relies more on intuition that the logical reasoning at this stage. At the beginning, there are more egocentric since they are not yet aware that other people are not thinking or perceiving things in the same way like they do. It at this time that their imaginative mind is very active and they thus associate emotions to certain inanimate objects, (Piaget, J. 1929). This stage is further broken down into Preconceptual stage and the Intuitive stage. The Preconceptual stage occurs at the stage of 2-4 years and is mainly characterized by egocentric thinking as well as animistic thought. A child with animistic thought is one who has the tendency to assign attributes of living things to inanimate objects such as the perception that a glass does feel pain when it is broken. The intuitive stage that occurs between the forth year to the seventh year is characterized by the potential child who is actively solving problems through the mental process. Though at this stage they do manage to achieve some goals, they are however unaware on how they achieved their conclusion. A simple example is when a child is able to correctly identify the majority from the minority just by the virtual of sight. An example is when a child is presented with seven dogs and maybe 2 cats and he/she is asked if there are more dogs that cats. As expected the child would respond positively but will also commit a logical error if supposedly asked the same question in the same way but differently such as if there are more dogs that animal, (Brainerd, C. 1978). The child will most likely respond by saying yes thus showing the use intuition at this stage. An important observation by Piaget is that children mainly learn through play and imitation through these first two stages, (Gallagher, J.M. Reid, D.K. 1981).. Concrete operational stage This is the third of the four stages in Piaget’s cognitive development theory. It follows preoperational stage and is suggested to occur between the age of 7 to 11 years, (Piaget, J. 1929). It is characterized by the appropriate use of logic and at this stage some of the important processes that have been identified include; †¢ Seriation, which is the ability to sort different objects based on shape, size or other characteristic. A good example is the potential to differentiate color gradient. †¢ Classification-the ability of the child to identify and name sets of objects based on size, appearance as well as other characteristics that may suggest that one object may include another. †¢ Decentering-this is a process where the child is able to take into account multiple aspects of a problem towards solving it. An example is the change in perception where a child will no longer will no longer hold the perception that an exceptionally wide yet short cup will hold less amount that one that is normally tall and wide. †¢ Reversibility-where the young one is able to comprehend that objects and numbers can be altered and eventually returned back their original state. Thus the child will be able to comprehend that since 3+3= 6, then 6-3=3. †¢ Conservation- the ability to understand that length, quantity or number of items is basically mot related to their appearance or arrangement. †¢ Elimination of egocentricim- this is the ability of the child to understand and view things from another perspective even though they may think incorrectly. Formal operational stage This is the fourth and the final stage in cognitive development according to Piaget’ theory. It starts at around 12 years of age soon after the Concrete Operational stage and continues all the way to adulthood, (Ashurst 1985). It is the stage that is characterized with the ability to reason logically, think abstractly, and be able to draw conclusions from the available information. It is at this young adult stage that one is able to understand such aspects as logical proofs, love and values. Some biological factors can be traced during this stage as it occurs during puberty thus marking the entry into adulthood in cognition, physiology, moral judgment (Kohlberg), psychosocial development (Erikson) and psychosexual development (Freud). It is estimated that approximately two-thirds of all the people fail to develop this type of reasoning fully for it to become their normal cognition mode and thus they remain as operational thinkers even as adults, (Flavell 1963). The above four stages have some general observation. One is that though they may vary in time, sequence does not change, (Brainerd, C. 1978). The stages also apply to thought and not to children and they universal thus they cannot be associated with any culture. Shortcoming to Piagetian stage theory. There are several challenges that have been put froth against Piagetian theory some of which even Piaget himself has noted such as the fact that development does not have to progress in such as the smooth manner that his theory has proposed. His theory is a general one since it suggests that cognitive maturation occurs across different aspects of knowledge such as logic, mathematics, language among others, (Gallagher, J.M. Reid, D.K. 1981). Application of Piagetian theory Most of the educators as well as psychologists do manage to receive piagetian theory training during their professional training. A piagetian assessment is more likely to be a familiar concept among the psychologists who work in those districts that carry out alternative assessment of cognitive ability on regular basis. A good example are the psychologists at the Southern California Diagnostic Center who do make use of the Ordinal Scale more in depth during a Piagetian assessment. For most of these psychologists, a Piagetian assessment is like a departure from the standardized intelligence testing. The standardized intelligence tests that are available usually diagnose the student’s academic achievement expectancy and it may usually take considerable amount of time and thus may not be done for more than one year. This thus limits the tests for use during short term interventions such as pre-test or post-test. More to this is that standardized cognitive tests quantify a students power or strength of abilities or processing but unfortunately the quantification does not precisely predict the intervention method that are most likely applicable or useful, (Flavell 1963). A curriculum-based measurement (CBM) can be done several times within a year by the school psychologists as a pretest or post-test on how effective the intervention is. Unfortunately, CBM does not provide details of why the intervention may or may not be successful nor does it serve as a diagnostic tool for the instructional modifications. On the other hand, Piagetian screening can be useful in giving instructional interventions especially incases to do with comprehension or math concepts, (Piaget, J. 1929). Piagetian theory gives the stage wise development of qualitative means of developing thinking from one stage to the next. Through this understanding it is possible to understand more easily why students experience learning difficulties. Thus Piagetian screening does provide an avenue of quickly estimating a student’s cognitive development level, (Ashurst 1985). In a summary thus, one can point to Piagetian tasks as signposts that indicate the level or stage that a child of a particular age is functioning. Thus it is important to understand that teaching   a child certain specific tasks does not in any way change the development stage of the child. Thus these signpost are useful when developing accommodations and modifications that do support a match between a Childs a curriculum with his/her cognitive processing ability. Necessary interventions for a child curriculum especially at the age of 4. Most of the children usually do encounter difficult math problems. Piagetian theory can be used to explain the appropriate interventions that can be adopted and especially at the age of four. For a student to effectively understand the mathematical concepts of simple subtraction and addition, there is need for him/her to acquire the concept of conservation of numbers. A child who is yet to attain conservation of number concept can still be able to perform, state or memorize various procedures such as subtraction or addition but may most likely be confused with the same concepts weeks, days or even hours later. The main reason for this is that information is stored as verbatim representations and the gist representations, (Brainerd, C. 1978). The modern theories of memory suggest that memory is stored as verbatim (exact input), or gist (concepts) and these representations of   memory   are accessed independently. Thus a child who has not yet attained the conservation of number rarely has the conceptual framework that is needed for a one-to-one correspondence since they lack the conceptual framework, (Gallagher, J.M. Reid, D.K. 1981).. At a later time when the child is not able to accurately carry out math operations, an impression of memory deficit may most likely be the first impression. But the main problem maybe that the child has not yet attained the developmental stage that is required to understand the mathematical concepts. It is in such circumstances that the child may only store verbatim memories and fail to do the same for the conceptual knowledge, gist memory. Necessary interventions in this case suggest that one ought to be very sure that the concrete operations level is emerging. If this is not the case, the child may most likely be in the pre-operational thinking stage which is also the intuitive level. The necessary interventions can be aimed at helping the child accelerate moving from intuitive stage towards the concrete stage. A good example is at the age of four, which is generally regarded as the stage of ‘why’ where the course-effect thinking is learnt in details. Worth noting is that some of the primary school-age children whom have not yet attained the level of being intuitive thinkers usually get on to ‘why stage’ one or two years later and may thus have not had the opportunity of having the questioning behavior reinforced, (Flavell 1963). Students are also known to experience problems with comprehension. The frequent complaint are usually at the 4th grade all the way to the eighth grade. The difficult maybe complex but with the application of Piagetian theory it is possible to determine whether the student did manage to attain the necessary developmental stages to be able to comprehend different concepts that do involve   some partially overlapping sets of information. Though the international model age for attaining classification task as age 9, an upward variance is usually observed. Most of the upper elementary science, literary concepts and social sciences involve also mental manipulation. Usually students gain the attention of the school psychologists due t issues that are associated social behavior.

The Concept Of Pricing

The Concept Of Pricing This module introduces the concept of pricing and discusses its importance and significance to organisations. With a view to the relative significance of pricing on organisations profits and sales, appropriate pricing policies needs to be formulated strategically. The various pricing decisions that organisations need to make are price setting, adapting price and managing price change which is dealt in this module. Pricing Strategies Introduction This lesson discusses pricing and its importance to organisations and the various factors to be considered while formulating pricing policies: Define the concept of price Explain the factors influencing pricing decisions. Discuss the process of price setting. Explain how organisations adapt prices. Discuss the price change management policies adopted by organisations. Understanding pricing Price is the amount of money at which a product or service is offered in the market. It is the exchange rate of a product or service in terms of its monetary value. Pricing is an important decision area for an organisation. The pricing and sales volume of the product put together determines the profit for an organisation. The sales volume itself depends on the type of pricing policy adopted by the organisation. Profits too are dependent on the pricing policies. Hence organisations have to formulate pricing policies strategically. Pricing also determines the acceptance of the product in the market, one can say that it determines the products future success in the market. IKEA pricing strategy is to provide quality products at low prices to its customers. Internet advertising through Google ads, Pricing is an important aspect not only for the organization producing the product, but also for the consumers as well as the society. Price represents the value of the market offering to the consumers, it also indicates the quality of the product. Increase in price could be perceived favourably by the consumers by interpreting it as a consequence of improvement of quality. (for reference only) The factors affecting pricing policies of an organisation are: Internal Factors While making pricing policies, marketers need to take into account several factors which are the result of company decisions and actions. To a great extent these factors are controllable and alterable by the company. Internal factors are as follows: Objectives of the organisation Positioning sought by organisation through pricing Nature of product Price elasticity of the product The stage of Product life cycle of the product Usage and repurchase level of the product Cost of production Product distinctiveness and positioning Other ps of the marketing mix and their influence on the pricing Composition of product line of the firm External Factors There are a number of influencing factors which are external to the firm and cannot be controlled by the firm but will impact pricing decisions. External factors are as follows: Market structure Consumer behavior Bargaining power of consumer groups Bargaining power of major suppliers Competitors policies Government controls/regulations Other legal aspects Social considerations cartels Setting the Price The organisation has to think over several factors while setting its pricing policy. The process of setting the price is as follows: Deciding the pricing objectives: The organisation has to first of all analyse its position of offering in the market. If the organisational objectives are clearly set, setting price becomes easier. The major objectives that organisations look to pursue through pricing policy are sustenance, profit maximization, market share maximization, market skimming and quality leadership. Organisations would adopt sustenance policy, if there is too much competition and changing in trends due to changes in customer taste and preferences. Here the organisation would generally be looking to cover some variable and fixed cost of production and a marginal profit. This kind of policy is useful only in the short run, in the long run firms would have to add value to its offer or face extinction. Setting the pricing policy : (for reference only) In case the organisational objective of the firm is profit maximization, the firm will then choose that price which will give it maximum profits, cash flow or maximum rate of return on investments. For such a strategy the firm has also to take demand situation into consideration. In case where the main objective of the organisation is market share maximisation, they would generally set a low price so that market can be penetrated easily. Low pricing or penetration pricing policy is applicable in the following situations: Consumers are price sensitive There is possibility of market penetration with the help of low prices Production and distribution cost fall with higher production level and experience Competition is discouraged due to the low prices in the market Skimming price is adopted by firms to gain higher profits in the short run and is applicable in the following situations: High demand exists in the market due to product being a pioneer product Not much competition exists in the market Consumer perception is that, high price indicates quality (for reference only) Determining demand: The different prices set by organisations will lead to difference in demand for the product in the market. The demand curve shows the different quantities demanded by customers at varying prices. Universally, as demand and price of the products are inversely related, according to the law of demand at a higher price lesser the quantity demanded and at lower price higher the quantity demanded. Only in exceptional cases it can be seen that with increase in price of product, demand too increased, especially seen in cases of prestige goods such as perfumes, diamonds etc. (Fig 1.1 Demand Curve) (For reference) Figure 1.1, in the first case shows elastic demand and the second case it shows inelastic demand. Price Sensitivity: The demand curve shows the markets sensitivity to the changes in prices of the product. It shows the response of customers to changes in prices. Generally customers are more price sensitive to products that cost much such as speciality goods and those goods which are frequently such as staple goods. They are less price sensitive to goods which are brought infrequently or such products, the cost of which is insignificant to the customer. Products which would have less price sensitivity are: Distinctive products Where there very few substitutes to the products or customers are not aware of substitute products Quality comparison of substitute products are not easy The price of product is insignificant to the consumers income It is a complementary good to an earlier purchase The product is assumed to be of higher quality, prestige. It is not possible to store the product. The advent of internet has led to an increased price sensitivity in the society. Internet has made it possible for people to compare prices instantly and go for the lowest prices available. Firms have to understand the price sensitivity of their target market and accordingly formulate pricing policies. Demand estimation and forecasting is an important function to be carried out by organisations for determining the demand for their products. There are various methods that can be used to arrive at demand estimation and forecast. Where different variables of the price are identified statistical analysis can be undertaken, data for these variables collected and then analysis is done by using various statistical methods to arrive at the demand forecast. Experimentation method is another way in which demand can be estimated at various price levels. Here the prices of the products are charged differently in different markets or in the same market different prices are introduced at different times and then the result is analysed to arrive at the demand. Another method is doing customer surveys and interview to gauge the customers response to varying prices. Price elasticity of demand: Elasticity of demand is to extend the responsiveness of demand to the different prices charged. The marketer needs to have an idea of how responsive the market demands are, to various prices set by the firm. If with the change in price the demand for the product changes substantially then we can say that the demand is elastic to price. If with a change in price there in very less or no change in the demand for the product the demand would be said to be inelastic. Demand would usually be less or inelastic in the following situations: There is no competition or substitute products in the market Habits Necessity goods Where the price of product is small or insignificant to the consumer Price elasticity depends on the degree of change in prices. Elasticity would be less in case of low level price change and would be more if the price change is significant. For example consumer durables like television and washing machines, with a slight increase in their prices the demand for these product would not fall significantly but with a substantial increase in their prices the demand can come down considerably. If price elasticity differs according to the time period under consideration, in the short run the elasticity would be different than in the long run. This happens because in the short run certain determinants remain static which can be varied in the long run. For example Habits of people can be changed in the long run, competitive scenario can change in the long run. Cost estimation: Pricing policies of firms significantly depends on the cost of production and other related costs incurred by the organisation for offering the product in the market. Firms generally would charge a price which covers the production cost as well as a fair profit for the firms effort and risk. There are different types of cost related to production of a product : Fixed cost which are fixed in nature and do not vary with the level of production or sales. For example rent, interest on capital invested etc. Variable cost vary directly with the level of production of the firm. For example wages, power consumption etc. Total cost can be said as the sum total of the fixed and variable costs for the total production level. Average Cost: can be said as the total cost divided by the total number of units produced. The firm would want to charge at least a price which would cover the total production cost. To develop adequate pricing policies the management needs to know how cost varies with different levels of production. Cost of production would also change according to its production scale and experience. Over the period of time, the experience gained by organisation leads in making more effective and production scheduling policies leading to lower costs. As well as with the expansion of plant and machinery, i.e large scale production helps organisations to lessen the cost of production considerably. Organisations now a days try to adapt their offering as per the requirements of different buyers. A manufacturer may set different terms and prices for different retail chains according to their requirements. Certain retailer may not want to stock too much inventory of a particular product, in that case the delivery that has to be made to this retailer would be much frequent. On the other hand a retailer who has the stocking facility may want deliveries less frequently, accordingly the pricing and profit levels of the manufacturer would differ too. Some companies adopt target pricing, here first of all through market survey the firm arrives at the product features and design. The next step would be to determine at what price the product will be sold. On the basis of the price, a percentage is deducted as profits and the rest would be the cost of production. Hence the organisation has arrived at the cost at which production should happen and that is the target cost at which production should happen. Competitors pricing policies analysis : Competitors policies have significant effect on the firms own policies and strategies. The firm has to have a good knowledge of the competitors policies and their possible response to the firms pricing policies. In case the firm is offering product features which are exclusive and not provided by its competitors then their price should be set accordingly. If competitor provides additional features then their worth to the customers should be evaluated and subtracted from firms price. Selecting a pricing method : The various pricing methods that organisations can use as follows : Mark up Pricing : The most widely used pricing technique is to add a standard mark up to the products cost. Mark up is expressed in terms of percentage. Here, either the cost price or the sale price is taken as the base for determination of the mark up. Eg. Cost price of travel bag Rupees 2000 Mark up Rupees 400 Therefore selling price Rupees 2400 Mark up based on cost price = 500/2000 = 25% Mark up based on Selling price = 500/2400= 20.8% Mark up pricing: Example : Shopkeeper buys goods for Rupees 300/- at a wholesale rate. His cost based mark-up is 25%. Hence sale mark-up price = 100-30 = 75% or 0.75%. Therefore sales price = 300/ 0.75 = 400 While determining any pricing policy current demand, value of product perceived by customers, competition existing in the market has to be considered. Mark up price would only be useful if it brings in expected sales. Mark up price is quite is popular due to the following reasons : Determining cost is quite easy than estimating demand It is a much simpler way of pricing If all firms in industry use this pricing policy then price would be similar, leading to less intense price competition. It is believed that cost pricing is fair for both customers and producers, where customers are not exploited and producers get a fair enough return. Rate on return pricing The price is determined on the basis of a planned rate of return on investment made by the organisation. The total cost of one financial years standard production is estimated and taken as the standard cost. The mark up percentage of profit is obtained by multiplying capital turnover by estimated rate of return. Perceived value pricing : Here the valuation of the product is done on the basis of how much the customers are willing to pay, instead of considering the production and related costs. (for reference) Value pricing : Here the firm charges a fairly lower price for high quality products thereby winning loyal customer. Tesco, UK is one of the largest retailers in UK. Tescos key competence is its pricing policy. It keep its product prices low so that sales can be maximised. Lot many customers were attracted to its products due to its value added low priced products. Tesco launched the unbeatable value campaign in the 1996, it made massive reductions in its prices during this campaign. Tesco adopted a low daily low price strategy alongside its promotional programs. This stragegy stressed on regularising low prices for its customers on a regular and daily basis. Going rate Prices : Going rate pricing emphasises on market conditions. The firm adjusts its own pricing policy to the price structure existing at the industry level. This kind of pricing is usually seen in oligopolistic market structure, where the prices are mutually decided by the firms. Also in cases where costs are difficult to be determined, firms tend to follow the going rate price because it reflects the entire industries price rate. Examples would be petroleum and oil. Auction pricing or price bidding: This type of pricing methods has emerged in the recent years especially due to the growth of Internet. These kind of pricing strategy is mostly seen in electronic goods market, selling a diverse range of products and services by auctioning them through the bidding process. The important function of auction is to dispose of excess products existing with the firm. There are three major auction type pricing. These types are: Ascending bids, (English auctions) : One seller and many buyers. The seller puts up the product or auction and the buyers bid prices, the highest price is accepted. Descending bids (Dutch auctions) : One seller and many buyers or one buyer and many sellers. In this kind of auction the buyer quotes a higher price and then decreases it gradually till a bidder accepts the price. In the other case the buyers lets know his intention to buy a particular product and then the sellers bids the prices by offering lower prices. Sealed bid auctions: Here the suppliers can submit only one bid and do not know about other bids. From the submitted bids the most feasible bid is selected (for reference only) While selecting the final price, additional factors has to be considered by the firm such as : Psychological pricing : Psychological pricing a marketing practice which is based on the theory that certain kind of prices have psychological influence on customers minds. The prices are expressed as odd prices: e.g. Rs. 299.00 or Rs. 499.00. Gain and Risk sharing pricing : This type of pricing is used for pricing complex, high valued products or services. Many times buyers refrain from accepting sellers proposal due to the high risk if the promised value is not delivered. In order to provide some form of risk sharing or price protection as new drugs are adopted into formularies biopharma companies and payers are entering into agreements. Onyx/Bayers Nexavar (sorafenib) and Pfizers Sutent (sunitinib malate) both anti-cancer drugs; Novartis Aclasta (zoledronic acid), and Sanofi-Aventis/Procter Gambles Actonel (risedronate sodium), both osteoporosis drugs are some of the best known drugs. In Germany,Italy and the US, manufacturers have agreed to provide drugs free of charge if no progress is seen after the first treatment, or to recompense health plans, say for instance if bone fractures occur despite the osteoporosis therapy. While setting the final price, firm has also to consider the brand quality, advertising, company pricing policies. Firms also need to consider the distributors and agents, sales persons, competitors, suppliers response to the prices of the product. Finally, firms also need to consider the legal implications while setting their prices. Adapting the price : Organisations generally set different prices according to variations in geographical demand and costs, market segment requirements, purchase time period, order levels, frequency of delivery, guarantees and various other factors. Various price adaptation strategies are as follows: Geographical pricing: It involves the pricing of products to different customers in different locations and countries. Taking into consideration the transportation costs example shipping / cargo costs for distant customers. Also the firm needs to lower the prices of its product/s from sales promotion point of view to retain or expand its business. Considering the export of products to countries abroad where the payment from buyer becomes crucial, should he lack payment he may offer other items. This practice also recognised as countertrade. Countertrade accounts approximately up to 25 percent of current world trade. Usually this trading is done as Buyback agreements, Barter, offset and Compensation deals. Countertrade deals may become complex for example an A company in Europe sells 50 yachts to Turkey and accepts in exchange 150 Turkish made cars, which it sold to Pakistan for Rice, which in turn sold to America and achieved payment in dollars . Such deals are carried by a separate department within the organisation. Other companies may depend on barter houses or countertrade specialists. Most companies give discounts and allowances in order to receive early payments on volume purchases and off-season buying. This may lead to decreased profits, hence an assumptive price of the products needs to be worked out with planning. Marketing researchers have found that up to 35 percent of buyers in most categories are price sensitive. Higher income people are more interested in buying products with added features, customer service, quality and brand. Hence its essential for a strong brand not to get into price discounting in order to react to low price attacks. A company can gain some concessions, if a customer agrees to sign a contract for a bulk years example 3-5 years or if an order is placed in a larger quantity or if an order is placed online thus saving the company money. It is necessary to maintain and monitor all records regarding discounts such as the quantity of customers receiving discount and average discount, etc. It is essential for higher levels of management to conduct a net price analysis in order to get the real price offered. However the realised price is affected not only by discounts, also but by firms average promotional spendings, advertising spendings to retailers to back the product, thus the listed price of the product and so for the net price of the product are two ends of the same thread with couple of other expenses in between. However companies in an overcapacity tend to offer their branded products at a deep discounted rate. Firms should avoid offering discounts to retailers in the long term which in turn would decrease theirs profits in an effort to meet short term volume goals. In order to stimulate early purchase of a product firms can use several pricing techniques. Examples could be found where branded products are offered at a discounted price in order to stimulate extra purchases of other store products. This pays only if the revenue is generated by selling other products in proportion to the lower margins on the loss -leader product. In certain seasons and occasions of festive periods example every June there are back -to-back school sales and during Diwali, Christmas and New Year special prices will be established on products. In order to clear inventories without affecting the listed price, auto companies and other consumer goods companies offer cash rebates to help purchase of products during a certain period. Some auto companies offer the product with an attractive finance scheme such as zero interest rate or in case of consumer durable goods buy now and start paying after six or nine months instead of cutting its price. Equated monthly instalments may be stretched over a longer period in order to lower them, here the consumer focus is on affording to pay back in instalments rather the rate of interest. This can be in cases of auto companies and consumer durable goods etc. Often auto companies offer an attractive warranty and servicing contract in order to promote their sales. Many a times products price is listed at an artificially high price and then offered with a discount .This creates a psychological discounting in minds of consumers that they have purchased the product at a considerably lower price and have gained but in fact havent. Often in order to accommodate differences in customers, products, locations, etc firms adjust their basic price. Thus price differentiation arises where a product is sold at two or more prices without any proportional difference in costs. Customers are charged depending on their intensity of demand. Buyers would be charged at a lower rate depending on the volume of buying. In case of Museums or places of historic importance there is lower admission fee to children, foreigners, etc. A firm charges 30 Rs for adding 150 gms sugar in a Rasgulla tin pack sweet, however it charges 35 Rs for adding the same quantity of sugar for a Kala Jamun pack sweet. A firm can price the same product at two different levels based on image differences. A detergent manufacturer can put detergent in one packet, name it with an image, and price it at 50 Rs. It can put the same detergent in another packet with a different name and image and price it at 75 Rs. Soft drinks prices often differ in an A grade restaurant, vending machines or when sold in canteens or general stores. Same product is priced differently at different locations even though the cost of offering at each location is the same. A concert audience is charged variably for seating as per their preferences for different locations. Prices differ by season, day or hour etc. Electricity as an important public utility source is charged differently by time of day in United Kingdom. Restaurants and Clubs in United Kingdom charge less during happy hours. Airlines have different fares on same flight for same class for instance its economy class, which also is known as Yield Management / Revenue Management system. They have child fares, adult fares, seasonal fares etc. Extra luggage price by an airline for a single kilo differs from Dubai to London as opposed to travelling the other way back from London to Dubai. Websites have coupled up different sellers product together such as Car Insurance, Consumer durable goods, home insurance, medical insurance etc, which allows buyers to discriminate between sellers by comparing their prices. Responding to price changes : Many time organisations have to go for price cuts and increase as per the situation. Price Cuts : It is a possibility that organisation may go for price cuts due to existence of price cuts, also where even with added effort the sales have not increased or due to declining market share. Price cuts can lead to price wars in the market. Lower price can be used by firms so as to dominate market. Organisations may also have to cut down the prices in case of recession. Price Increase : Price increases are undertaken by organisations when there is cost inflation. With rise in cost of production the organisations profits lessens, hence they need to go for price increase to earn normal profits. Many times organisations increase their prices more than the increase in cost due to anticipation of further cost increase. Price increase can also happen when there is too much demand for the product and the supply is less. Price increase can be done in the following ways : Final price is not set, until the product is delivered to the customer. Generally seen in construction and heavy equipment industries. Here firm wants customers to pay current price and all or part of any cost inflation that can happen before the delivery of the product. Here the price is kept same but some elements are separated from the product and priced individually. Example in case of automobiles, accessories, other additional features come with extra cost. Discount if any, could be reduced to maintain profits. Organisation also can tackle high cost and over demand without raising prices as follows : Reducing the amount offered without increasing the prices By substituting raw materials with less expensive materials wherever possible Lessening the product features to lessen its cost Lessening product services Usage of less cost packaging Creating economy brands Reacting to changes in prices : Price changes can have a reaction from customers, competitors, distributors, suppliers and governments. Customers may perceive and respond to price cuts in different ways. Price cuts may be interpreted as lower quality product or faulty products. Price rise would generally carry some positive indications to customers. The product is considered to be of high quality and having added value when prices increased. Competitors may also respond in various ways to price changes. To contemplate competitors reaction organisations have to access their financial situation, sales scenario, market share and their objectives. In case the competitors objective is to increase market share then they will change their price in response of firms price changes. If its objective is profit motivation then it will increase its promotional activities to maintain its sales. Responding to competitors price changes : It is an important decision on how firm should react to price changes by competitors, the products could go for product augmentation having homogenous characteristics. If product augmentation is not possible then they would have to go for price cuts to counter the competitors price cuts. If price is increased by the competitor in the homogenous market, then other firms may not increase their prices until it is unavoidable. If price change happens in a heterogeneous market then the various aspects needs to be considered before responding to the price change : What is the reason for competitors price cuts is it due to over capacity of production, rise in costs of production or the intention is to increase market share. Is the price change temporary or permanent What will be the scenario if the firm does not respond to competitors price change Are other competitors going to respond to the price change and if yes how? Market leaders many a times have to face price changes from new entrants in the market or smaller competitors. There are many ways in which a market leader can respond to competitors price changes: Maintain price Market leader my decide to maintain its current price and profit due to the belief that : Too much profits will be lost if prices are decreased It would not lose too much market share It is possible to regain market share when required Maintain price and add value to its offering The product could be augmented, its services and communication improved. Reduce price : Leader may go for price cuts to match the competitors price cuts due to following reasons : As the market is price sensitive it would lose market share It would be difficult to build market share once lost Its costs reduces with higher volume in production Increase price and increase quality: The leader may decide to initiate price increase and also increase quality of product and also introduce new brands or innovative products. Introduce low priced product line : It could contemplate adding a low priced product line to

The Detective Story Genre: Arthur Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes Storie

The Detective Story Genre: Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes Stories One of the most popular literary forms is the detective genre. The most remarkable detective author of all time is the late nineteenth century writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. His most prominent works are the famous Sherlock Holmes stories. These novels and short stories set the standard for the genre. Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories can be considered a model for detective fiction because each is centered on a mystery, Sherlock is a brilliant detective, and clues are a prerequisite for success. The very essence of any detective story is the mystery. Unlike murder mysteries, which have a lot in common with detective stories, Holmes's problems are not invariably as severe as homicide. These mysteries are not usually insignificant though, and "Often they have to do with theft or murder" (Adventures). The first mystery may be an important and confusing conundrum, but there is often a more worthy case that presents itself after the first has commenced. This adds a level of intrigue to the tale because "The first story leads towards dissolution, the second towards restoring order" (Horsley). In each adventure, someone has been or is in danger of being wronged by another person, and comes to Sherlock for help. This creates "A clear and unambiguous triangle of characters - the investigator, the victim, and the transgressor" (Horsley). All of this is incorporated into the author's puzzle. Something important and immoral is done in every detective story. Whether the detective is clearing a client of blame or prosecuting someone, he is always on the right side, and working against the wrong. The detective may not always complete his j... ...1 Feb. 2003. http://web12.epnet.com/ Horsley, Lee "Sherlock Holmes - Modernist Thought, Modernist _____Cities, and the Solving Intellect." 31 Mar. 03 _____http://www.crimeculture.com/359/Holmes.htm "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." Magill on Literature. EBSCO _____Publishing. 21 Feb. 2003. http://web12.epnet.com/ "Arthur Conan Doyle." Magill on Literature. EBSCO Publishing. 21 _____Feb. 2003. http://web12.epnet.com/ Jenson, Jens Byskov "The Man Sherlock Holmes." 23 Feb. 2003. _____http://sherlock-holmes.hypermart.net/sherlock.html Leadbetter, Claire "Why Were Sherlock Holmes Stories So Popular?" 31 _____Mar. 03 _____http://www.geocities.com/athens/acropolis/8950/holmes/shpaper.htm "The Greek Interpreter." Magill on Literature. EBSCO Publishing. 21 _____Feb. 2003. http://web12.epnet.com/

“Citizens of a kind” :: Essays Papers

â€Å"Citizens of a kind† The following clippings from regional Irish newspapers begin in 1923, soon after the founding of the state, and continue to the present day in chronological order. The premise informing the selection is that Travellers are caught in a dynamic of colonialism – misunderstood by the majority they live amongst, and disadvantaged by their difference. Their situation is comparable, in many instances, to that of gypsies throughout Europe and the indigenous minorities of many ex-colonies. It is no coincidence that attitudes toward Travellers, as evidenced by some of the following clippings, hardened in the decades following the founding of the Irish State in the 1920s. The early years of the republic were difficult economically, and a nationalist ideology of a homogenous, mono-cultural, unquestioningly Catholic united state was perpetuated as a consolation for the loss of privileges enjoyed as part of the Empire. The transfer from colonial to post-colonial status problematised the pla ce of this minority population, and internal tensions surfaced in the absence of a colonial presence to demonise. I have concentrated on papers covering the general West of Ireland / Connacht area (Galway, Mayo and Roscommon), and in particular, articles dealing with Galway, since this is my hometown, and a traditional Traveller stronghold. Most clippings are from the longstanding Connacht Tribune. In a report on a Galway Urban Council meeting entitled â€Å"Nomads in Galway: Citizens fear an epidemic† (Connacht Tribiune 10 Mar. 1923: 5), the old colonial fear of being contaminated by the Other (in fact, a fear of secretly being or becoming the Other) is detectable: Mr J.P. O’Brien wrote on behalf of a number of citizens stating that unless the council took steps to have the gypsies who are camping†¦removed, there was a danger of epidemic breaking out. He pointed out that it was illegal for these people to camp within the urban area. They could camp a quarter of a mile outside the urban area, and then only for a couple of days. The strategy of distancing is implicit in the use of the words ‘gypsy’ and ‘nomad’, which connote that these people are somehow foreign, and most explosively, in the use of ‘gypsy’, that they are actually British. (Within the British Isles, gypsies are from Wales and England only.) The word gypsy is a dispossessing of their Irishness, and it is easier to be cruel to what is constructed as being outside the self in a new state where the ideology of nationalism is uppermost.

Sample Final Project Chapter 1

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. The Background of Selecting The Title In business world, to achieve a goal it is really need to have a good relationship between the superiors and the employees. It is because employees are one of the important elements in the company which can affect the company’s income and status. Facing directly the business condition now a day, the competitions are getting harder. Companies competed by rely on many sides which one of them is their employees. So, from here the company has to do a plan to defense the position in the market among the competitors to gain more profit. The profit comes from the consumer. Employees are the part in the company that understand and know what the consumer expected from the service or product. So, employee should can predict what product or service which can give the customers satisfaction. Conducting the training program is one of the opportunities that the company takes. Training program is one of the best choices to improve the employees’ job performance and increase incomes. Training process is not easy. There must be some steps to do for reaching the goal. Every forward looking company realized that introduced training program to old and new employee is needed. Giving the training to the employee is the company responsible. The superior in the company sure have to involve in the training process to lead the employees. It is why, the writer interest to make research what program that must and need to be conduct by the company to increase the employees’ job performance by choosing the title â€Å"THE EFFECTIVE TRAINING METHOD TO IMPROVE THE EMPLOYEES’ WORK PERFORMANCE AT PT. CALISPO MULTI UTAMA. B. Problem Identification Training process is no easy to be conduct. It needs a lot of preparation to determine which training programs have to be prepared and it is a problem that the company has to face. PT. CALISPO MULTI UTAMA face a problem which is they face obstacles in increasing the employees work performance. The poor of training program is very affecting the employees’ job performance. From the problem above, the writer would like to formulate her analysis of PT. CALISPO MULTI UTAMA throughout her studies with topic â€Å"the effective training method to improve the employees’ work performance â€Å". C. Hypothesis Hypothesis is the principle in the solving the problem based on the research which has not yet proved to be correct. Based on the research that I have done at PT. CALISPO MULTI UTAMA, which is â€Å"the more the company conducting the training, the more employees’ job performance will increase†. So, by conducting the training, it will show the changes in the result of employee job performance. D. The Method of Research Here I gather the information by using three method of research. First, the information from electronic media that is by internet research. Browsing the internet can give a lot of important information. From the internet, there are also a lot of sample of companies’ problems and the solutions. So from here, we can gain more information to completing this thesis. Second, the information from non-electronic media that is books from library and bookstores. There are a lot of book of management and other article or magazine which can tell more about the topic of this thesis. Third, is by field research. In this method, it is needed to do interview, giving questioners and gather primary data from the company. The objective of this research is to know haw far is the training program has been conducted in the company, how the employees’ performance been done. Field research is the most importance because we directly face the people and directly get the information. E. The Overview of Contents Chapter I:Introduction This chapter consists of the background of selecting the title, problem identification, hypothesis, the method of research, and the overview of contents. Chapter II:Theoretical Review This chapter consists of human resources management, motivation, job evaluation, transfer and training and development. Chapter III:The Company Profile This chapter consist a brief history of the company, the organization structure of the company, job description and implementing training system. Chapter IV:Analysis and Evaluation This chapter consists of the method of training in improving the employees’ job performance, the purpose of training, training design and measure of success by the writer about PT. CALISPO MULTI UTAMA. Chapter V:Conclusion and Suggestion This chapter consists of the conclusion and suggestion that make by the writer about PT. CALISPO MULTI UTAMA to help the company to solve the problem to reach the company goal.