The alchemist and the odyssey essays

The alchemist and the odyssey essays In the Odyssey and The Alchemist there are many dangers and challenges that the two heroes must brave. The Odyssey is about a man named Odysseus who fought in the Trojan war for ten years. After the war was over Odysseus years tries to find his way home to Ithaca but it takes him ten years to do so, because the gods dont exactly like him. In the Alchemist there is a young man named Santiago who has a dream about treasure. He eventually pursues his dream and in the end finds out that there really is no treasure. The books are about someone finding their place in the world or finding their way home. A reason is that in both books they are trying to find their way home. Another is that at the end of their journeys they both have someone their waiting for them. Also both the characters in both the stories both have and end destinations. At the end of the Alchemist, Santiago finds out that the treasure was the journey itself. In the Odyssey the whole book is about Odysseus trying to find his way home to his family and to his island. Though there are many obstacles that they both must overcome. One obstacle that Santiago over came was that soon after Santiago landed in Africa he met a thief who stole all his money but Santiago managed to get by, by working for a crystal merchant. Also in the Odyssey Odysseus was faced with many challenges by the gods that in the end he managed to overcome. Once Odysseus was going to sail by the island of the sirens, so he stuffed his soldiers ears with bees wax and had them tie him to a sail on his ship. At the end of both of their journeys there is someone waiting for them. In the Alchemist at the end of Santiagos journey there is a man there who makes him realize that the journey was the treasure. He makes Santiago realize this by telling him that he had a dream about a treasure being buried under a tree in a church where shepherds sleep. In the Odyssey waiting for Odysseus ...

A Study Of Russias Political Ideologies And Vladimir Putins Administration

A Study Of Russia's Political Ideologies And Vladimir Putin's Administration The symbiotic relationship between politics and the economy benefits society as a whole, and this carefully constructed, mutually beneficial connection can easily turn sour should one side negatively impact the other. To further expand upon this claim, it is hardly a revolutionary idea to say that economic theories have changed depending on who has political control, and individual politicians can usurp power depending on the state of the economy. A further fragmented political state evolves when regional government carries most of a national economic burden. This give and take association is exemplified in Russia following Putin’s return to power combined with the Russian financial collapse during the latter portion of 2014. The political ideologies of Russia under Putin aggravated pre-existing financial instabilities within regional economies, and the sharp decline of the price of oil as well as international economic sanctions imposed on Russia that led to the collapse of t he Russian ruble. As the name Vladimir Putin echoes in every corner of the world, the leader of the world’s largest nation is known for being quite a controversial figure. Putin maintains a pseudo democracy that could be labeled as potentially more dangerous than the pure autocracy Russians suffered for decades. Even for centuries, Russia has experienced a tumultuous political climate; specifically, â€Å"Nearly two decades after the fall of communism, Russia is not a democracy. But neither is it an absolute autocracy in the mold of, say, Cuba or North Korea. That is to say, Russia pretends to be democratic† (Shevtsova). Pretending to be democratic, however, comes from years of chaos and uncertainty. With help from Western governments, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, Russia underwent the largest and fastest privatization in history in order to establish a fully nationalized Soviet economy. But, seven years after the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia suffered the 1998 financial crisis, and at the time, it’s regional governments shouldered most of Russia’s economic burden. During the course of those seven years, Russia entered a deep depression, thus the 1998 financial crisis worsened an already dire situation. Boris Yeltsin weathered Russia through their economic troubles to the best of his ability, and the economy only really recovered once demand for oil rose. However, hours before the first day of the year 2000, Yeltsin announced his resignation, leaving the government in the hands of Vladimir Putin, a former KGB official and the head of the FSB. Putin’s action during both his previous and current terms in office reflect the scarily obvious link between the political climate within a country and its economic state. For Putin in his first term, he rebuilt an impoverished Russia with the help of the Russian oligarchs, or the wealthy businessmen who were former Soviet Union officials. Putin’s association with former So viet Union officials came with little to no surprise for anyone when he described the collapse of the Soviet Union as, â€Å" the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the Twentieth Century,† (BBC). His hopeful Soviet Union ideals continue to drive Russia into a divided political state, and further antagonizes existing economic troubles. Given its vast size, Russia reaps an abundant amount of natural resources, which they use for economic purposes. Similar to the 1998 financial crisis, the root of the 2014 economic struggles revolve around oil prices, the principal resource of their economy. Or in other words, â€Å"Russia gets around half of its budget revenue from taxes on oil and natural gas, and as long as the price of oil is plummeting, its economy is likely to continue sinking.† (McLaughlin). The collapse of the ruble in 2014 was not directly linked to just oil though. Russia’s economy was also deeply affected by an unbalanced pension system, inflation, and severe US and European sanctions. Other than oil, the most noteworthy cause for this period of economic instability would be the international sanctions made against Russia during the Ukrainian crisis. Addressing the Crimean crisis and the shortly followed annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, several governments and international org anizations, led by the United States and European Union, imposed sanctions on Russian individuals and businesses. On October 3, 2014, Joe Biden even commented, â€Å"We don’t want Russia to collapse. We want Russia to succeed. But Putin has to make a choice. These asymmetrical advances on another country cannot be tolerated. The international system will collapse if they are.† (Biden). Russia continues to push the boundaries of the political spectrum, despite already suffering from issues such as inflation. Inflation has a direct connection to issues such as unemployment, which in turn affects political policies. Russia’s annual inflation for 2014 was 11.4%, the highest level of inflation since 2008, and combining that very high percentage with the falling ruble, consumer prices, especially food, began to skyrocket. The various factors causing economic instabilities beginning in 2014, which can still be seen today, have had definite political effects. In 2012, Putin reclaimed presidential power, but the international community called into question the logistics of his election. Specifically, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe observed blatant fraud, â€Å"including the brazen stuffing of ballot boxes.† (Schwirtz). The legality of this election spurred protests throughout the streets of Russia with people asking for Russia without Putin, but Putin quickly squashed any opposition against him through means of violence, intimidation, and coercion. His reassertion into power laid a shaky political foundation that was aggravated by the collapse of the Russian ruble in 2014. For Russia, their primary political concern in 2014 occurred when Russia seized Crimea, exponentially affecting tensions between the East and the West, and in the latter portion of 2014, the ruble began to devalue. In 2015, Russia launches military support for their ally President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and â€Å"oil and gas accounted for 43 percent of the government’s revenue. The World Bank predicted the poverty [in Russia] rate will reach 14.2 percent in 2016,† (Lee). Now, currently in 2017, the United States has launched an investigation into Russia’s role with the Trump administration. The correlation between the economic state of Russia and political climate within this vast state is that both sides need each other to be successful. However, a declining economic state led to a more tense political atmosphere, because the ruble was suffering due to rising U.S. interest rates as well as economic sanctions. But, the ruble drastically dropped because of a series of controversial political decisions by the Putin and other Russian leaders. Since the national government is slowly unraveling, the regional governments throughout Russia are capitalizing on their lack of assertiveness. With its immense size, the regions of Russia vastly differ. For most people, they do not see that: â€Å"the difference across Russian regions, although they may not be enormous by EU standards, are nonetheless striking: from highly urbanized to predominantly agrarian, from Mediterranean climatic conditions to extremely cold, from rich to natural resources to poor in natural resources, from gateway or commercial hub regions to regions facing high transport costs,† (Dimitros). Under the Russian constitution, the regional and local government received numerous powers such as imposing regional taxes, and they fully exercised their enumerated powers to alleviate their economic burdens. Russia currently has nine established districts which include Central, Far East, Northwest, Siberia, Southern, Urals, Volga, and Northern Caucasus. The ninth district was established in 2014 following Russia’s annexation of Crimea. In comparison to the federal government, these nine districts lack adequate tax revenue to pay their teachers, police officers, or other public officials, and they are overburdened by pensions. Although these regions face similar economic burdens: â€Å"The resource-rich areas, the financial capitals and the maritime regions would benefit from the liberalization of the economy and from free trade. These regions, relying on the export of mineral resources, on geographic location, or on financial capital, are more inclined to back the more liberal foreign trade oriented policy,† (Dimitros). As the resource-rich regions of Russia lean towards more liberal policies, the traditional industrial areas suffer from an inability to make structural adjustments. Whereas, the less industrialized regions are more likely to endorse domestic trade rather than international. The simple difference of regional economies can not be emphasized enough in Russia, because it exposes fragmented political ideologies. During their long term structural economic decline, Moscow has slowly started to crumble and in turn Putin is losing control of his country. In other words, the domestic problems that the Kremlin is facing threatens the centralized authority that Putin has worked so hard to build. Last year, â€Å"even the Russian Ministry of Economic Development admitted that [acceptable] living standards are unlikely until 2035,† (Jarmas). Thus given that the overall conditions of Russia’s federal government are declining rapidly, many regional governments are trying to maintain their minimal portions of the federal budget. The regional economies within Russia are preemptively preparing to ford their people through yet another tragic financial collapse, although they thought they would receive assistance from Putin. In 2012, for this third term Putin ran on the platform that he would increase wages in the public sector, but now in 2017, Putin is yet to make good on his promises. The f ederal budget has provided little funding for regional governments, who ultimately would be responsible for the higher wages. Putin has entrapped regional governments within a vicious cycle, where they are mandated to provide costly welfare programs by the central government which provides little to none federal funding. However, the Kremlin requires that regional governments carry most of their economic burden so they can focus on larger political conflicts. The relationship between politics and the economy highlights the effect of political ideologies on both regional and national economies. Political ideologies can alter depending on the economic state of a country, and that economic state can be drastically affected by a country’s political regime. The ramifications of Russia’s financial collapse that began in 2014 are seen today, and protest over unpaid wages continue to rise across Russia. With the 2018 World Cup around the corner for Russia, protesters have begun to link Kremlin’s megaprojects, such as a new soccer stadium, to worsening economic conditions in various regions throughout Russia. Russia has also been in numerous headlines, for their ties to the Trump administration, and their continual involvement in American politics mounts growing international concerns. Russia’s eagerness to venture into foreign affairs reflects a nation desperate for a new form of economic stability, a concept that may elude them for years to come and will continue to do so until many of the nation’s systemic issues are resolved.

Taxation System in the New York Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Taxation System in the New York - Assignment Example Since his daughter furnished the apartment using his property, he would have to pay all the property taxes for the furniture. In 2009, the taxpayer also visited his regular doctor and traveled by taxi to and from JFK airport. The hotel expenses would also add to the amount of money he would have had to pay as taxation. In 2010, the taxpayer was in New York for an additional 47 days but returned home in September that year. For the time up to September, his salary would be subject to taxation in New York as a person working abroad. When he came back home, he would go back to being taxed as a local resident since he was no longer working abroad. He would also continue being on his daughter’s apartment lease as the guarantor and therefore pay all the subsequent taxes related to the lease. The taxpayer’s taxable income would be $150,000 from the sale of stock of a California corporation which only held New York real property + $4,000 in NY State lottery winnings + $50,000 distribution from his pension plan + $1000 interest income from his savings account from ING + $100,000 in gains from the sale of a painting located in Connecticut but sold while temporarily at a museum located in New York. The cost of the painting was $20,000. To make a total of $305,000 The amount of the taxpayer’s income that would be subject to New York taxation would be around 100/365 x 100,000. The time he spent working in the company’s out-of-state field offices would not be liable to taxation in New York. The allocation formula would be simply dividing the number of days spent in New York with a total number of days in a year and multiply with his total wages from the company for a year. There are around 155 days that the taxpayer cannot account for in terms of where he was working. Since there is no way of determining this, there would be no taxes calculated for these days.  

Competitive Intelligence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Competitive Intelligence - Essay Example The evolutions of new challenges like technological advancements and out sourcing have posed new challenges for the business operations. Understanding these challenges and acting according to the implications required an acute sense of understanding the situations and the analyzing to the best. The competitor analysis has diversified into more specific issues of planning, collection of more influential data, analysis and communication, which were undeniable influencers of success. The research is conducted by taking individual tasks and integrating it to the organizational concerns making the analysis more robust and to derive more refined facts. The country analysis gives a broad idea about the investment atmosphere prevailing in the country under consideration. The current position of the industrial sector under consideration, the amount of market capitalization existing in the country for the sector, the number of existing players competing and their presence in the market., the government approach for the development of the sector, the entry norms for the investors, the resources availability, the supportive industry presence for companies like the smaller parts manufacturers for automobile industries etc, The volume of the business to be explored, the number of years for turnaround to gain the considerable market reach, and the socio-economic factors of the country that may influence the business potential. The above factors may differ from one country to the other. For example a Canadian company is planning to enter new market in Ontario. The company has to know the feasibility of the business in the Ontario. The compa ny has taken help of a consulting company to know the market environment in the region. The consulting company has given details of components related to the competitors, recent trends fallowed by the competitors, the financial status. Comparison between New Zealand & Canada: New Zealand, competitor intelligence is a pioneering issue under consideration that has been given preference only after 90's (Craig S. Fleisher, 2004). The business elite group is not known of using the competitor intelligence tools as much. The study perceived by Procter revealed some interesting facts that the business environment was more inclined towards domestic markets rather than concentrating on the growing need to globalize (Craig S. Fleisher, 2004, P 43). The New Zealand business sectors are optimistic that competitor intelligence has more important role to play in the due of time. The New Zealand business sectors sensed the constraints they need to overcome to sustain in their respective business but they are yet to open to the implementation of competitor intelligence strategies to raise their business levels to globally acceptable level. The business sectors are not ready to face the realities like the constraints they need to know about their external environment they are into. To address these new business requirements the business entities need more resources like internet, product patent information etc (Patents and competitive intelligence). The modes of business education were only

Management of Human Resources Class Discussion wk2 Assignment

Management of Human Resources Class Discussion wk2 - Assignment Example The engaging of the Human Resource to the external environment is more challenging as they have to cover more area than the usual internal environment capacity that they are familiar with. Meeting external responsibilities means more time, more resources, and more responsibilities as it is an expansive area that requires more attention to be able to handle the environment more efficiently. These will ensure a smooth transition and cooperation in making the relevant adjustment to the organizational structure response to external issues (Mabey, 2012).Taking the first step to deal with the issues is better than waiting the problem to catch up with the organization. Engaging in the external issues gives an insight and understanding of the environment the organization is existing in and how to prepare for the impacts that will cause either positive or negative. The economic globalization and political landscape has completely transformed the shape of the current Human Resource management. The competition is high, and one wrong move can destroy the whole organization (Noe, 2006). The Human Resource has to be keen on political matters because they are very sensitive and might affect the entire organization either negatively or positively The Human Resource has to engage a Rights Dispute for employees who are hired in unfair labor conditions.The Human Resource has to file a complaint with the relevant authority that will protect him from whistleblowers.The Human Resource has to exercise their legal rights as an employee by contacting OSHA immediately because the complaint must be filed within the legal time limits.These are to ensure that the company follows the stipulated laws that are laid down for favorable conditions of the workers (Gilbert,

Brand Improvement Recommendations for Toyota

Brand Improvement Recommendations for Toyota Introduction The modern age of business can be defined as age of competition. The competition within an industry is gradually increasing with the expansion of business as many new players are entering into the market. There are several reasons behind this intensifying competition. Firstly, globalisation is one of the primary reasons for expansion of trade and business that lead to increase competition. Many business organisations have found greater opportunities in overseas market, and free trade policies and agreements between multiple countries facilitated their market expansion programs. The domestic markets have turned into global markets that heightened competition rivalry among existing domestic and new multinational enterprises. Since last two decades, the society has been experiencing a rapid technological improvement. The technological advancements have led to change the structure entire trade and business. The management tasks and operational process are now backed with technology like e-commerce and e-business. A better grip of technological advancement helps a business organisation to gain an upper hand position. Finally, enhancing economic condition of consumers and increasing their disposable income have strengthened their purchasing power. This has also changed their consumer buying behaviours and they have developed their specific brand preferences (Vashisht, 2005, p.68). In the modern and competitive business world, business organisations always try to position itself in market for avoiding unnecessary competitions. In this process they aim to achieve strong competitive advantages and core competencies that enable them to gain upper hand position in the market. There are multiple ways to achieve competitive advantages; however, brand development is the most preferred way for creating high business value. The increasing demands of brand development is due to two primary factors i.e. urge for acquiring higher market share and increasing concern towards consumer value. The modern management style and thought process of decision makers have transformed. The modern management concept more focuses on long term benefits by creative a sustainable businesses environment where stakeholders wealth and value creation is the first priority. When a company is able to meet these responsibilities towards stakeholders, society, community and environment, it is able t o create a high brand image in the market. Managements in modern organisation culture follow management theories and models which are very effective in achieving common organisational goal. In this respect, they concentrate on two-way communicational system within cross-functional teams and with its consumers. For example, the existing management system deliberately tries to implement integrated marketing communication that focuses on better marketing strategy for enhancing consumer values. These efforts made by the modern managements are very helpful in brand development and hence, they try to draft specific plans for branding strategies. This paper will attempt to deal with brand improvement strategies for Toyota Motor Corporation and primary aim of this paper is to offer a plausible set of recommendations based on findings of primary research and secondary research data analysis. At first, a brief description of Toyota Corporation will be offered to understand fundamentals of it. The second section will explain the research question and objective based on which the entire research methodology will be constructed to obtain viable and valid results. The third section will present theoretical background and models relating to marketing and branding. Marketing and branding are interrelated with each other and the later is an integral part of marketing. Multiple marketing theories and models are very helpful for brand development. Moreover, many scholars have developed brand specific theories and models which facilitate brand management tasks. The fourth section will include the research methodology, and research framewo rk will be framed as per the requirements of this research paper. Finally, based on data analyses and its findings, the entire project will be summarized and a set of credible recommendation will be developed. Chapter 1 A Company Overview: Toyota Motor Corporation Toyota Motor Corporation is a multinational automobile company and it is famous as Toyota in global market. The company is a Japan-based company and it is present in the most of the international markets. Sakichi Toyoda laid the foundations of automobile company and latter, in 1933, his son Kiichiro Toyoda opened an automobile department after conducting an extensive research on engines powered by gasoline. Automobile department was known as Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, Ltd. One of the sister company of Toyota, called Hinode Motors (now known as Aichi Toyota) introduced its first A1 prototype cars and G1 truck during 1935. In 1937, Kiichiro Toyoda established Toyota Motor Company Ltd. and in 1938 he started producing SB trucks in its Honsha plant in 1938 (Toyota-a, 2011). Toyota brought a revolution in automobile industry of Japan during 1930s to 1950s by incorporating innovation and growth oriented business model. At present, Toyota is one of the leading and the largest automobile manufacturing in the world. It is also one of the pioneers in automobile innovation which is the companys core value. The technological expertise is prime competitive advantage that has helped the company to cater the global automobile market. Since the inception of Toyota, the company is committed to produce reliable and value added vehicles, Innovation is the major tool for the company and it also uses its technological expertise in meeting social and environmental responsibilities. In order to operate in the global market, the company has formed its seven specific guidelines and principles. These principles mainly include with business ethics, respects and honour for every country and its culture, and develop a growth oriented organisation with the business partners etc (Toyota-b, 2011). Presently, Toyotas global headquarter is at Toyota City, Aichi of Japan and its president and representative director is Akio Toyoda. As of March 31, 2010, the company owned nearly 397.05 billion yen of capital. It has a number of subsidiaries and affiliated companies over the world and currently, it has nearly 320,590 employees in its international business (Toyota-f, 2011). Currently, Toyota is trying to use its innovation for bringing development in the society and environment. The company has realized increasing negative impacts of industrialization and carbon emission from increasing number of vehicle. Therefore, the company is now focusing on eco-friendly cars like hybrid and electronic cars. Toyota has identified three major environmental issues relating to its vehicle manufacturing and hence, it has developed and incorporated necessary steps for making the things better for environment. Firstly, it attempts to enhance its transmission and engine efficiency by downsizing measures. Secondly, energy management is another major task for Toyota in this respect. Finally, for reducing overall vehicle load, it tries to lessen rolling resistance, air drag and vehicle mass (Toyota-c, 2011). Quality and safety are two major parameters for Toyota and hence, the company strive to bring constant development in its operational and management process. Toyotas production system â€Å"is steeped in the philosophy of the complete elimination of all waste imbuing all aspects of production in pursuit of the most efficient methods† (Toyota-d, 2011). The global operation of Toyota is primarily based on two concepts of modern management. â€Å"The first is called jidoka (which can be loosely translated as automation with a human touch) which means that when a problem occurs; the equipment stops immediately, preventing defective products from being produced† (Toyota-d, 2011). The second concept is the just-in-time process that helps it to maintain a smooth process of operation without maintaining high inventory. Table 1: Consolidated Vehicle production As Toyota has been able to capture significant share of market in these regions, its financial position has been quite strong. The following table and graph present key financial performance indicator and sales revenue by region. Table 2: Consolidated Performance As per the above figure and table, during 2009, Toyota faced loss due to the effect of global economic crisis. However, with the recovering economy, the company has been able to regain high profitability. From Japan and North American market, Toyota earns the highest revenue. Besides, from other markets like Europe and Asia, the company generates high revenue. Toyota was in the face of a grim crisis when one of its leading models of the Lexus and Prius brand was badly hit by a series of manufacturing defects in the US which led to loss of innocent lives. The company had to pay a major price for this defect as its public relations strategy was widely criticised. In addition to this the company had to face major lawsuits which led to payment of hefty fines by the company and large scale product recall that had a wide impact on the brand image of the organization. The discussions have pointed out the fundamental features and condition of Toyota that make it a successful company in the global automobile market. The efficient operations with technological expertise are the primary base of the company. In each market, it has developed trust and confidence among the target consumer group and hence, it has been able to capture higher market share. Research Question The research paper will be looking at the branding strategies which Toyota may adopt to augment its tarnished brand image. The discussion will be carried out with an analysis of earlier branding strategies of Toyota. Adding to it, some relevant branding strategies of other leading organisations will also be taken into account; so that, an appropriate branding framework can be developed for the company taking references from the company as well as its competitors. Chapter 2 Literature Review Branding â€Å"[Branding is] a 15-second elevator pitch that every employee in the organization can not only get and articulate, but can talk about their role in bringing that to life† -Davis, M. S. (Wiley, 2003, p.1). In todays competitive world of business, marketing and advertising have significant contribution to create ‘branding of any product or service or may be of a whole organisation. The significant portion of branding has experienced a dramatic shift in the last few decades. Both the traditional branding and the role of brands were subject to continual review and redefinition. According to Kotler, a brand can be defined as â€Å"the name associated with one or more items in the product line that is used to identify the source of character of the item† (Guzman, n.d., p.1). The American Marketing Association (AMA) has defined a brand as a name, sign, term, design symbol, design or a combination of them which are intended to categorize the products and services offered by one seller or group of sellers. The brands are also used to differentiate them from those of their competitors. Keller has expressed a different view. According to him, whenever an organisation introduces a new name, symbol or logo for a new product, he or she has created a brand. However, today those brands mean much more than that. According to these definitions, in simple term it would not be wrong to say that the brands act as identifiers. Earlier, brands and brand building processes would be thought as just another step towards the marketing or selling off products. Since a long time, brands were treated as a secondary step of the marketing process. According to Kotler, branding has become a significant issue in the product strategy. The brand communication strategy has its focus towards representation of the brand and the creation of the brand image. In the year 2000, Aaker and Joachimsthaler mentioned that as per the traditional branding model, the objective is to develop the brand image (Ali, 2007). The brand image is a strategy element driving the short term results of the product as well as the organisation. In the year 1997, Kapferer mentioned that the brand is an external sign whose responsibility is to disclose the hidden qualities of the product or service (Nijte, 2005, p.20). In todays competitive business environment, the challenge is to develop a string and distinctive image. The brand is expected to serve as the identifier of a product by displaying the distinguishing elements from the competition. Powerful brands develop meaningful metaphors in the consumers minds. The meaningful images are created through development of brand image and enhancement of reputation by differentiating and potentially having an affirmative influence on the consumers buying behaviour. The Keller Model has a considerable contribution in the branding theory. The model has identified the concept of customer based brand equity and the brand hierarchy. According to Keller, brand equity is the effect that the brand knowledge would have on the consumer response to the brand marketing, which would have the effect happening when the brand is known and the customers would possess favourable, strong and unique brand associations. This customer-based Brand Equity (CBBE) model has identified about four steps, representing the questions asked by the customers and displaying a branding ladder. In this model, each of the steps is dependent on the achievement of the earlier one. All these steps consist of six brand building blocks which would have a number of sub-dimensions. While building a strong brand, the objective is to reach at the apex of the pyramid where there would exist a harmonious relationship with the customers. At the very first stage, this model should represent a correct brand identity by answering the customers question ‘Who are you?. The aim is to develop an identification of the respective brand and display an association with the respective product class or the specific requirements. The initial stage involves of the brand building block ‘salience. The next step considers the question ‘What are you?. The question is answered through the establishment of brand meaning in their minds and associating the brand with certain properties. In this step, there are two brand building blocks: performance and imagery. The following step is ‘brand response, whereas the appropriate customer responses to the brand identification and meaning are brought out. This step is also achieved with two building blocks judgement and feelings and answers the question- What about you? The final step in the model is ‘brand relationships where the brand response is transformed to a passionate, active loyalty relationship between the customers and the brand. This stage addresses the customer question -What about you and me? The final brand building block is ‘resonance which is at the apex of the pyramid. â€Å"Kellers conceptual framework provides guidance in building, measuring and managing brand equity. While Keller claims that the model can be applied in a B2B context and a consumer environment, it does not appear to have been tested for industrial brands. The similarities and differences between business and consumer markets have long been debated with organisational buyers found to differ in many ways, suggesting that the application of such a model in a B2B setting will pose challenges† (Kuhn Alpert, n.d., p.3). Today, there has been a considerable shift in the brand management processes. Concerning with the brand management process, Aaker and Joachmisthaler have discussed the traditional branding model where the brand management team would be responsible for creating and coordinating with the brands management programs (Guzman, n.d.). In such a case, the brand manager was not at the top of the management hierarchy and his focus used to be the short term financial results of both the brands and products in the respective markets. The basic objective has been the coordination with the manufacturing and sales departments. The coordination is necessary in order to solve any problem associated with sales and market share. According to this strategy, the responsibility of the brand has solely been the concern of the marketing department. In general, majority of the companies thought that focusing on the latest advertising campaign would mean concentrating on the brand itself. The model is strateg ically significant and reactive rather than being creative and visionary. The brand has always been referred to as more like a series of tactics and never like any strategy. In 1997, Kapferer has mentioned that before the 1980s, a different approach was there towards the brands (Kapferer, 1997, p.23). Earlier, the organizations wished to purchase a producer of pasta and chocolate. After 1980, the consumers are looking for Buitoni and KitKat. Such an instance displays the fact that earlier, the consumers were not bothered about the brands; rather they were more focused on the required product. However, after 1980, the consumers are aware of the product names. Buitoni has established the brand name in pasta and KitKat has marked its position in the world of chocolate. This distinction is quite significant. In the first case, the organizations wish to purchase the production capacity and in the later years, they want to create a place in the consumers minds. In other words, the shift in the focus towards the brand would start as it was understood that the brands are more than plain identifiers. According to Kapferer, a brand serves eight functions: Identifi cation, Practicality, Guarantee, Optimization, Characterization, Continuity, Hedonistic and Ethical. Identification of the brand would enable the consumer to clearly see, make sense of the offer and to quickly identify the required after products (Kapferer, 1997, p.29). Practicality would enable the consumers to save on time and energy through identical purchasing and loyalty. Among the other function, optimization is significant one to make the customers sure of finding the same quality indifferent to the time and place of the product or service. The characterization in brand management reflects the confirmation of the product or service image, presented to others. There must be continuity in the brand which is supposed to bring in satisfaction through familiarity and intimacy with the brands, which were used or consumed by the customers since a long period. The brand is supposed to bring in satisfaction linked to the brand attractiveness; the brand is required to be hedonistic. Th e brand is also required to be ethical as satisfaction of the consumers must come through reasonable behavior of the products and those must be reflected in its relationship towards the society. Among these eight functions, the first two are quite mechanical and are concerned with the essence of the respective brands. The brands are expected â€Å"to function as recognized symbol to facilitate choice and to gain time† (Guzman, n.d., p.2). The next steps are meant for reducing the apparent risk and the final three steps are related with the pleasure side of any brand. The brand value emerges from its ability to attain an exclusive, positive and significant mark in the minds of a large customer base. As a consequence, the organizations must carry out branding and brand building to develop the brand value. He has perceived the brand value to be in monetary terms and accounted the same in the intangible assets. However, according to Doyle, brands fail to explore the value creatin g opportunities if the managers pursue strategies, not oriented to maximize the shareholders value (Guzman, n.d.). There are four factors which could be there in the consumers minds and which could be combined to establish the perceived value of any product or service brand. This would also determine the â€Å"brand awareness; the level of perceived quality compared to competitors; the level of confidence, of significance, of empathy, of liking; and the richness and attractiveness of the images conjured up by the brand† (Guzman, n.d.). According to the theory by Kapferer, adding brand image, perceived quality, evocations, familiarity to the brand awareness would create the brand assets which can also be thought as the brand added value perceived by the customers (Kapferer, 1997, p.123). Deducting both cost of branding and cost of invested capital from the same would be equal to the finance value of the brand or brand equity value. Brand Identity ‘Identity is very significant for any individual or for any entity to make others feel its presence. In case of marketing, it is very necessary to remain in the mind of target consumers and in the market. It is very important for any business organisation to create a unique identity in market and this identity is very crucial for generating sales revenue. The business organisations or companies can develop identity as per its corporate name, product or services. There are some examples of such identity. Xerox Corporation is a world renowned company that offers printers, copiers, scanners, projectors etc. The company was very successful for its photocopier machines. It used it corporate brand name for marketing the photocopier machines and now, the photocopier machines are now famous as ‘Xerox Machines. Another famous example of developing identity using product name is ‘Marlboro Cigarette. It is the worlds largest selling cigarette brand manufactured by Altria Group Philip Morris International. The companys corporate identity is not so popular but it is popular for its product identity i.e. Marlboro. However, the above examples have been explained to make understand the importance of identity for being successful in market and for being famous among the target consumers groups. Therefore, every company must try to build its unique identity though its corporate name, product or services. Each product or services and each company have its own unique identity and consumers perceptions for each identity are different from other competing product. For example, consumers perceive Mercedes as premium brand as it offers its premium cars to very niche market. On the other hand, Wal-Mart is perceived as low-cost brand as it offers ‘every day low price to its consumers (Talley, 2011). Both the companies (Mercedes and Wal-Mart) have developed their own typical identity as per their core marketing approaches. The above discussion has focused on importance and some example of identity. In marketing this identity is known as ‘brand identity. Different scholars and critics have presented their views regarding brand identity and how it is important for companies for their sustainability in a market. In this respect, Jean-Noà «l Kapferer has related the brand identity with globalisation. He has offered the definition of brand identity from the globalization perspectives. He believes that brand identity must help a company in globalising of its brand image. He has explained that â€Å"the brand must have as identity that will serve as medium for its globalisation, in both tangible and intangible terms† (Kapferer, 2008, p.488). Sometimes, brand identity and brand image is considered to be similar or identical but these two terms are very different from others. The brand image of company or of a product can be defined through the others perception i.e. consumers view; whereas, brand identity is a companys attempt to project itself before its target consumers (Wilson and Blumenthal, 2008, p.58). Therefore, it can be defined that brand image is an outcome of an attempt to develop brand identity among the consumers groups. Hence, building brand identity is very crucial step for buildings brand image. In the process of framing brand strategy, establishment of brand identity is the foremost task for a company as it offers a company purpose, aim, direction and proper significance to a brand. In order to explain a brand identity, Aaker has identified three prime components in a brand identity. The following diagram shows these three components. As per the above figure, three essentials of brand identity are core identity, brand essence and extended identity. The core identity refers to the â€Å"timeless center of the brand† that must consist of basic features of a company like its values, ethics, belief etc (Salver, 2009, p.41). Brand essence can be defined as soul of a companys brand that makes the core brand more comprehensible, accessible and valuable. The extended brand helps to add more value to the core brands identity. These three components are not basic integral part of a brand strategy but understanding of brand identity helps brand managers in recognising the prevailing brand position (Salver, 2009, p.41). Toyota has attempted to develop its brand identity for each of its brand product like Lexus, Prius, Innova, Corolla etc. The brand identity is basically determined by specific features of the product. For example, Toyota Prius has been able to develop its brand identity among the tech-savvy and environmentally conscious people and Lexus had gained its specific brand identity among the luxury car market. Lexus has been a premium brand for its target consumers as they perceive Lexus as high quality and value added vehicle. Toyota has successfully understood the core brand identifies and brand essence, and it has promoted its distinct brand products in accordance to target market (Toyota-h, 2011). Brand Building To establish the strong brands in a cheaper, better and faster way, the organisations require pursuing a different, effective and efficient approach altogether to the brand building. The cornerstone of the brand building is the fusion of future economics, organisational capabilities and customer insights. Brand building demands the organisations to focus more on the segments which would drive the organisation develop organisation propositions and deliver products according to the customers preferences (McKinsey Company, n.d., p.12). Brand Awareness In the above sections of literature review, the importance and explanation of brand image have been discussed. However, without proper understandings of brand identity and brand awareness, the brand image cannot be formed for target market. A company can build a higher brand image in the mind of consumers when it is able to successfully create its pre-determined brand identity through brand awareness programs. Therefore, the importance and understanding of brand awareness is significant in brand image building process. For building a strong brand, it is necessary to incorporate brand identity and brand awareness. The following model shows the importance and correlation between brand identity, brand awareness and brand image. The above model shows that in the process of brand building, brand identity and brand awareness are the two primary areas followed by brand image association, brand quality, brand loyalty and brand broadening. As per the above figure, brand loyalty is an outcome of brand image that is an effect of successful creation of brand identity and brand awareness. Brand loyalty provides a company a competitive advantage over its key competitors that helps it to counter and avoid unnecessary competition. Brand loyalty can be defined from the availability of brand loyal consumers. However, Knox and Walker has identified that there is significant difference between brand loyalty and repetitive purchasing (Ranchhod and Marandi, 2007, p.80). They explained that â€Å"this lack of clarity has led to a great deal of difficulty in interpreting many of the brand loyalty studies† (Ranchhod and Marandi, 2007, p.80). However, they also admitted that brand loyalty also includes the repetitive purchasing and word-of-mouth marketing from consumers end. Therefore in order to develop significant amount consumers, plausible brand awareness programs are inevitable for a company. Brand awareness defines the strength of a brand in a consumers mind, and a strong effect of brand awareness determines the longevity of brands image in target consumers mind. According to Keller, brand awareness includes performance of brand recall and brand recognition. Bran recall refers to consumers ability to regain a brand from their past experiences while making any buying decision. Brand recognition is consumers knowledge regarding a specific brand. The consumer should be able to recognise their brand when they are given wide ranges of choices. McLoughlin and Aaker have been able to understand major draw backs in implementing brand awareness programs for a company. They believe that, most of the companies consider brand awareness as a promotional mix and hence, they more focuses on promoting a product rather than brand development or brand awareness. Brand awareness is also very necessary for creating brand equity. McLoughlin and Aaker have designed a model showing brand aware ness and its important outcomes. As per the above figure, brand awareness is directly related to brand equity which includes brand related assets and liabilities. Successful implementation of brand awareness and better brand equity lead to develop higher brand loyalty and brand association of consumers. While discussing about the brand awareness, it is necessary to deal with the consumers buying behaviours. Brand awareness deals with consumers perception for an offered brand that helps them in recalling the past experiences while buying. The influences of brand awareness are very substantial in the process of making a buying decision. Gustafson and Chabot have provided five major steps for planning and implementing brand awareness. These five major steps are given below. Cleary identify and understand potential target consumers and market Develop a unique name, slogan, and logo for a company or for offer product brand Offer value added features and services along with offered branded product or services Effective promotional mix and advertising focusing on brand creation Develop proper public relation with consumers by following-up the post-sales period (Gustafson and Chabot, 2007) The above steps are very helpful in establishing a strong brand awareness programs to build brand image in the mind of target consumers. Recently, Toyota has faced a drastic brand crisis in its Swedish market due to quality issues. It caused to develop a negative brand image in the mind of target consumers. Moreover, in American market, the company faced a crisis, and mass media played very active role in spreading the ‘Toyota crisis news. However, due to previous effective brand awareness programs, certain group of loyal consumers were not influenced by that crisis news. This case provides an evidence for the importance of brand awareness creation in the mind of the target consumers. On the other hand, the prevailing management of Toyota was not able to cope up with that crisis situation. In such situation, management could have restructured its entire brand awareness program to maintain its corporate image (Feng, 2010). Brand Positioning Brand Positioning can best be described as the process of identifying the niche of the market for a certain brand. This can be assumed as one of the oldest marketing tricks as it was found as early as in 1969. During the start of marketing policies the organizations focused only on the benefits which took them away from competition in the market which may also form differentiation. When we talk about the term ‘positioning we need to realize what it actually means. It can be defined as making a place in the customers memory, providing them with reasons or characteristics of brands that would make them choose their brands instead of same brands in the industry from different

Linux Versus Windows NT Essay -- essays research papers

Comparing any network operating system is really like comparing an apple to an orange. To judge between the underlying functionality of each operating system geared towards different networking environments is too broad of a subject to come to a reasonable conclusion. However, one could argue about the advantages and disadvantages pertaining to the Unix based Linux operating system and the infamous Windows NT operating system. I can compare and contrast these two operating systems, but I can’t take a strong stand because it all depends on a number of situations including the different networking environments, the applications that are readily available, and most important what the user wants. The goal is to find out which of these two operating systems is the lesser of two evils by examining their features. I have decided not to discuss cost because it goes without saying: Linux wins the price to performance ratio. What is more important to discuss is the initial hardware and software fees, and maintenance and reliability which often go hand in hand. According to Sunworld, the estimated minimal required hardware costs that would go with a Linux machine is $200. In an NT machine, the minimal hardware cost rose up to $1300. This is because NT requires at least a 486 Pentium with 16MB of RAM. Linux can run fine on a 386 computer with only 8MB of RAM. What do the majority of users need a computer for? Mainly word processing and the use of a database program. An NT user doesn’t have to go with Microsoft Office, but a lot of people do, costing a couple hundred dollars. Linux can run an Office Suite program that is very similar to Office for at least half the cost. Even a free version of WordPerfect 8 is available for Linux. A Linux system comes with a range of development tools (C/C++ Compiler, Perl, Tcl/Tk, Python, CORBA, Ada, Pascal, Lisp, REXX, Java, etc., as well as many text editors and integrated development environments), all of which are free. In order to create software under Linux, there is no expensive package to buy. Many NT users complain about system crashes or the dreaded “blue screen of death.'; NT systems face a lot of down times, which creates a problem for mission critical situations. It is very frustrating to be working on something for a couple of hours and see it vanish or crash. Unix based systems have experie... ...n that path. NT, however, does not provide the source code; therefore, limiting the user to only Microsoft’s networking and programming solutions. The creator of Linux, Linus Torvalds, developed this operating system using past versions of Unix strengths, and avoiding the weaknesses and flaws that have been created for more than 30 years. Linus also got help from would be programmers from all over, many being hackers, to create this sophisticated operating system. Having a wide variety of help and feedback supports the integration of a system that can satisfy most users. NT, on the other hand, is developed by their own team, not taking much consideration to what consumers really want to see. Although this report isn’t very cohesive to intervene between each subject, I think it provides grounds to see clearly how well Linux presents itself over NT. Although Linux is still in its primitive stages, the mark it has put in this world is quite remarkable. These early version of Linux provides a stepping stone for later versions to come, and possibly dominate the market when executives and upper level managers alike come to see that Linux is a great industry solution.