Thursday, September 5, 2019

Marketing Mix Of Nestle Organization

Marketing Mix Of Nestle Organization (Armstrong and Kotler, 2001) â€Å"The Marketing mix is a set of controllable, tactical marketing tools that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market†. This is mainly used by organizations to increase the demand of their products in the market by understanding the customer wants (Jobber, 2001). Most of the marketing practitioners regard marketing mix as a tool for transaction marketing and the archetype for operational marketing planning. (Gronroos, 1994:347) Elements of Marketing Mix (Armstrong and Kotler, 2001). MANAGING THE MARKETING MIX Customer Wants Marketing Mix Variables Managing the Marketing Mix (Baker, 1999:302) The above figure describes how a company could by research and successful adaptation can understand and develop products to match the customers requirements. According to Baker (1999: 303), by understanding and matching the needs of the customers efficient management of marketing mix is possible. COMPONENTS OF MARKETING MIX-Impact -Positive and Negative PRODUCT Kotler and Armstrong (2001) define a product as any entity that can be offered to a market by a company for attention, acquisition, consumption or use that might satisfy the needs of their customers. Product Mix Product mix is the total range of products that are manufactured by a company. The major aspects to be considered in product mix are explained below. Variety: Nestle offers a wide product mix that comprises of food, health and nutrition products to meet the customer needs. Nestle offers its products in the following categories: Bottled water, Baby foods, Breakfast cereals, Chocolate and confectionery, Coffee, Dairy products, Drinks, Ice cream, In the Kitchen, Nestle Professional, Nutrition and Health, Pet care. Quality: Nestle is well known for the quality and taste of its products. Nestle Believes that â€Å"Success is built on Quality†. Design: As its variety range, Nestle also has a greater range of design. Nestle make sure all their new products look different and attractive. Features: Nestle have made sure that all their products have special features to make it more attractive to the customers. For example: In case of their ice creams, they have tried to include the special feature that is the low fat and sugar content. Brand name: A strong brand name is important for both the company and the consumers as it adds to the value of the company, differentiates the products from those of its competitors and affects the consumer discernment of the company (Jobber 2007:328). A strong brand name also acts as a source of quality certification and can influence consumer preferences of products. Nestle, through its strong brand name and market presence has captured the heart of the customers worldwide. In the present health- conscious society, Nestle has captivated a loyal customer base through its focus on nutrition and health requirements and consumer preferences at a competitive price and it has enhanced the reputation of the company. â€Å"A Nestle brand name on a product is a promise to the customer that it is safe to consume, that it complies with all regulations and that it meets high standards of quality† Packaging: Packaging involves designing and developing a cover for a product in order to make it attractive to the consumers. Packaging was just a means for protecting the product in the past, but today increase in competition has resulted in the need to differentiate the product from those of its competitors to attract the customers and to describe the features of the product in order to gain consumer recognition. Poor designs can be one of the reasons for reduction in sales of a product due to less customer satisfaction. Nestle uses very attractive packaging as one of their main marketing strategies. For its efforts, Nestle has won several accolades such as the Silver Star and â€Å"Best in category† as â€Å"Best Packaging Innovation leading to a significant reduction in household waste† by the British Institute of Packaging for the Dairy Box biodegradable tray which is manufactured by using renewable resources. PROMOTION Stanton and Futrell (1987:418), describe promotion as an important element of marketing mix which aims in informing and persuading the market about the products and services of the company. According to Baker (1999, 310) the method of communicating the product offer which is made by a company to match the needs of the customers and to persuade them to try the product is Promotion. They feel that the significance of promotion increases when the distance between the producers and customers increase and as the number of customers increase. Promotion activity does not depend on the demand; even if the demand is high promotional activities should go on in order to keep the manufacturers name before the customers. Nestle uses promotion as one of the major source to reach their customers to make them aware of the value of different products introduced in the market. Nestle adopts a promotion mix with a perfect blend of several different promotion tools to promote the value of its product and make the customers aware of their products. Promotion Tools PERSONAL SELLING: According to Stanton and Futrell (1987: 418), personal selling is mainly used when the market is geographically concentrated (Few customers) and when the products are custom made. It is defined as a face to face communication with buyers in the aim of pursuing the customers to purchase by Simon(). Its a one to one marketing. Tele marketing, door drops inserts, Door to door selling are all techniques used in personal selling. Nestle uses personal selling for specialized and sophisticated products. ADVERTISING: Advertising according to Groucutt (2005:215) is to communicate to a specific audience to stimulate action and its success is in the way the right information reaches the right person at the right time. Majaro (1993) says that advertising is any paid form non-personal communication of products, services or ideas through a commercial media. (Stanton and Futrell, 1987) Promotion through advertising is mainly done when the market is geographically dispersed or when the product is standardized. Nestlà ©s advertisements are well known in the market and they have made sure that the advertisements are attractive through all the possible media. Nestle also uses internet to promote their products, where they have different websites hosted for different products. Different strategies for each product like online competitions and distributions. HOW ADVERTISING WORKS Tim Ambler and Demetrios Vakratsas have formulated a framework for studying how advertising works for a company. How Advertising Works (Ambler, Vakratsas 1999:26) They have considered the input to be advertising own and competitive brands. Scheduling the media and message contents are the motivation factors or triggers the consumers response. â€Å"Cognition, the ‘thinking dimension of a persons response, and affect, the ‘feeling dimension, are portrayed as two major intermediate advertising effects† (Ambler, Vakratsas, 1999:26) SALES PROMOTION: Sales promotion represents non- media campaigns such as sampling displays, shows, exhibitions and contests (Majaro, 1993:35). Stanton and Futrell (1987:418) believes that sales promotions one of the fastest growing promotional methods these days. Free samples, Money off coupons, extra value offers buy one get one free, bundling, privilege points are all different methods used in sales promotion. Nestle also uses sales promotion as one of their promotion tools by offering programmes like every day eating coupon codes and discounts and offers for online shopping on nestle products. PUBLICITY: Publicity is a promotional method where the organization is not paying for the communication about its products and is benefiting from it (Stanton and Futrell 1987:419). This occurs either through a non-personal news story appearing in a mass medium or is delivered by a person in an interview or a speech. Publicity is achieved mainly through public relations activities. According to Jobber (2007) sponsorship provides more opportunities for publicity in the media. Nestle is a well known brand in the market and its fame describes its publicity and the further publicity occurs during various interviews of officials of Nestle. Publicity for Nestle also occurs during the launch of every new product and when the annual sale reports are published. This publicity obtained by Nestle is not by paying any of the media. Nestle, public relation activities is evident from how they try to communicate with government organizations as well as the customers about the different issues that they face. Through public relations Nestle try to bring to the attention of all the customers and organizations concerned about various issues and the current approach they are taking towards these issues. PRICE Price is defined as the value of a product that we get in return for all the effort that was taken for its production and also for marketing of the same product. Price is the revenue earner so it is considered as the odd one in the marketing mix. It is also considered as an important market tool which is visible to both customers and competitors (Baker 1985). The price of a product depends on a number of factors like, changes in technology, effect of suppliers, competitive pressure and the increasing price sensitivity of the customers. Price is also directly dependent on the demand of the product. If the demands increase the price will also increase and vice versa. Consumers generally show a keen interest in tracking the prices of the products which they usually purchase. This enables them to analyze the attractiveness of the product and be vigilant about the changes in price of the product, thus enabling them to compare the prices of the product in various stores (Vanhuele and Dreze 2002:72). Pricing of the Product â€Å"Companies usually do not set a single price, but rather develop a pricing structure that reflects variations in geographical demand and costs, market-segment requirements, purchasing timing, order levels, delivery frequency, guarantees, service contract, and other factors† (Kotler, Keller, Brady, Goodman and Hansen: 2009). According to David Jobber, pricing of a product mainly depends on 3 factors: cost, competitor and the market. COST ORIENTED PRICING The most common method of pricing of a product is cost oriented pricing, in which it is divided into full cost pricing which involves the calculating of cost of all labour and materials and direct cost pricing which involves the calculation of only those costs that are likely to rise as output increases. COMPETITOR ORIENTED PRICING The approach to pricing which only depends on the competitor rather than costs when framing a business is called competitor oriented pricing. Every consumer will judge the price of a product by comparing it with a similar product in the same range which is produced by their competitor (Kotler, Armstrong, Saunders and Wong 2001). MARKET ORIENTED PRICING Market oriented pricing is one of the important area which depends on competiveness of a product in the market. For a new product the positioning strategy controls the pricing and for an existing product price will depend on the strategic objectives. Price-Quality Relationships Price is directly dependent on the quality of the product. As the quality of a product increases the price also goes up. Nestle is a quality focused company and hence to compete with current market it need to carry out the pricing process of the product very carefully. Nestle is a very successful company and all its products are at affordable prices. PRODUCT LINE PRICING Most of the companies usually develop product lines rather than single products. In product line pricing the management must decide on the pricing steps to set between various products in a line (Kotler, Armstrong, Saunders and Wong 2001). In product line pricing, cost difference between the product in the line, evaluation of customers and also the competitors products with small price difference is also taken into account. EXPLICABILITY Explicability is defined as the capability of sales people to explain a high price to customer. In market customer demands the economic justification of product prices. If the sales people fail to give a clear idea of the product development stages, it will reduce the value of product. As Nestle is very innovative it needs a high financial support for its RD and it is not easy to give idea about the product development costs to an ordinary customer. COMPETITION Competition plays an important role in the cost consideration of a product in a business. The main competitors of Nestle are Heinz, Kraft, ConAgra, Mars Incorporated, Hershey, Cadbury, General mills etc. Since all their main competitors are also well branded, they cannot price a product without analyzing the competitors pricing. But the main advantages behind their successful pricing are that they are very superior in its market position. NEGOTIATING MARGINS In certain market customer expects a price reduction in some products. Competitive discounts, fast payment discounts an annual volume bonus and other promotional allowances come under this category. Nestle and its negotiations with its suppliers made them to gain a good reasonable margin in all its goods. EFFECT OF DISTRIBUTORS/RETAILERS Well qualified suppliers and efficient retailers is also a factor which affects the price of a product. If a distributor supplies a product with high price or a retailer sells a product in high margin it will cause the variations in price of the products. Nestle itself agreed that their distributors are well developed and hence the company can control the price of its products. POLITICAL FACTORS Nestle sometimes blames the policies of governments for its poor reflection on the exports. Some of the government policies which results in increase in packaging cost makes the product less competitive in the global exporting market. PLACE Armstrong and Kotler (2001) describes place as the activity of a company to make the products available to the customers. Place Strategies The major factors to be considered while formulating a place strategy are Channels, Coverage, Assortments, Locations, Inventory, Transportation, and Logistics. Channel distribution strategies deal with the decisions on making the products available to the target customers in usable condition. â€Å"A channel of distribution is the combination of institutions through which a seller markets the products to the user or ultimate consumer† (Peter, Donnelly 2004:145). As the time and finances required for setting up a channel of distribution are comparatively high, the place strategies are often critical for the success of a firm. The channels of distribution can be of two different types on the basis of the targeted consumer. It may differ when the end user of the product is a consumer or an organization, the Consumer Marketing Channel and the Business Marketing Channel. Consumer Marketing Channel: Armstrong and Kotler (2001) Nestle adopts the consumer marketing channel where the products from the producer reaches the consumer through the wholesalers or retailers. Nestle has e-marketing for some of its products where the products reach the consumers directly from the producer. Business Marketing Channel (Armstrong and Kotler, 2001) According to Donnelly (2004:150),the channel of distribution strategic decisions are determined on the basis of the following factors: Distribution coverage required Degree of control desired Total distribution cost Channel flexibility Distribution coverage may vary based on the features of the product, the market and the target customers. The company may opt for intensive distribution, selective distribution or exclusive distribution. In the case of intensive distribution, the company tries to sell the product through the maximum number of retailers and wholesalers. In selective distribution, the company may limit the number of wholesalers and retailers which are the best in that market while in the case of exclusive distribution; the manufacturing company may provide exclusive rights for distributing the product to only one or a few distributors. Nestle has adopted intensive distribution strategy in order to make its products available to a large customer base. Nestle products are available through a large number of retail outlets. Besides this, Nestle has also launched an e-shop for promoting its confectionary in Japan which allows the consumers to buy Kit Kat chocolates online. CONCLUSION The coverage of Nestle is world-wide as it has a wide distribution channel and several manufacturing units at different places around the world using marketing mix strategies. â€Å"Marketing logistics involves the planning, implementing and controlling of physical flow of goods, services and related information from points of origin to points of consumption to meet customer requirements at a profit† (Armstrong and Kotler 2001:342). Nestle underwent a complete re-engineering of its supply chain which was aided by Total Logistics which has benefitted both Nestle and its consumers. â€Å"Nestle has been able to operate composite pallet loads for entire UK, combining beverages and confectionery through two vehicle fleets and two distribution hubs† (http://www.total-logistics.eu.com/logistics-clients/logistics-consultants-case-studies/nestle.html). Through this, Nestle has been able to decrease its fleet size and satisfy smaller delivery volumes without any increase in the costs.

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

The Truth of Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn :: Adventures Huckleberry Huck Finn Essays

The Truth of Huck Finn Throughout the classic novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain continuously and loosely uses the word "nigger." In the society of the year 2002 that word has become one of the most evil and hated in the English language. It is thought of as so bad that it is rarely even spoken, as people prefer to be politically correct and say "n-word" in it's place. The use of this word has caused the book to be banned and censored by many schools across the country, as people want to shield children from the supposed racism of the novel. It was found to be the fifth most challenged book of the 1990's. This word is definitely terrible and has no place in the current society, but it is important to examine Twain's motive behind the inclusion of this word in the story. The book should not be dismissed as cruel and racist before all of the facts are examined. Before forming a wrong opinion, the evolution of the word and the reasons behind it's use in the novel should be exami ned. After learning all of the facts, the use of the word in the book shouldn't be looked as evil, but as a reminder of how far society has come. This novel was written in a time very different from today. It was first published in 1884 and is set some years before in the early 1800's. At this time slavery was common practice in the southern part of the United States. People grew up believing there was nothing wrong with it. People in this time spoke almost identically to the language presented in the book, including referring to African-Americans as "niggers." Twain explains the dialects he was trying to present before the story even begins. In an explanatory he says he was using "the extremist form of the backwoods Southwestern dialect" and "the ordinary Pike County dialect." Both of these types of speech would have included this word. Twain did not use this word to be derogatory toward black people but for the story to remain authentic. The appearance of the word in this book should be looked at as a reminder of a bad time in history.

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

The Atomic Bomb :: essays research papers

The Atomic Bomb The year was 1945. The war in the Pacific had reached it's climax with the attack on Pearl Harbor, or so the world thought! In 1943 a new era was just being discovered when Albert Einstein had uncovered a new way of destroying things. One so powerful it could wipe out entire cities in seconds. When Albert told the president of the U.S.A. he had no idea of what the army was going to do with that knowlege, the knowlege of Atomic Theory! When the president of the United States of America heard of this new theory he decided to embark on a project that would change mankind forever. He decided to name this project the Manhatten Project. This project was headed by six of the worlds best scientists: Neils Bohr, Joseph Carter, Enrico Fermi, Richard Feyman, and Robert Oppenheimer, each with their own ideas of what it would take to construct such a weapon. From left to right: Neils Borh, Robert Oppenheimer, Richard Feyman, Enrico Fermi The object of the project was to produce a practical military weapon in the form of a bomb in which the energy would be released by a fast neutron chain reaction in one or more of the materials known to show nuclear fission. That goal was to be completed in 1945 after the U.S.A. spent over 6.7 Billion Dollars on the test bomb named the "Trinity". I t was dropped on Alagormado in Texas on July 16th 1945. When Albert Einstein heard about the "Trinity" he called the president directly and asked for a halt on all atomic bomb projects for he did not want to hurt anyone with his discovery. But when spies reported the Germans working on such a project the Manhatten project was continued. The long nights there after were hell for the president while deciding to launch the soon to be completed "Little Boy" bomb. Finally, the american troops were told to load "Little Boy" in the specifically designed plane Enola Gay. With Paul Tibbets and his crew of 12 strapped in the plane named after Paul's mother, the American president gave the order to fly to Hiroshima. They chose Hiroshima baecause it was a major industrial Japanese port which held many Japanese seacraft. It was July 16 1945 at about 8:14 when Paul Tibbets got the order to open the hatch and arm the bomb. After released it took a little less than 1 minute for it to detonate. Over 40,000 innocent lives were taken with the blast and over 100,000 were taken in the next ten years from exposure to extreme radiation.

Monday, September 2, 2019

Birth Order and Happiness Study Essay

In this study, a stratified and random sample of 88 subjects, from three different sections of Provo and Orem, Utah, were given surveys. The selected family income was below the median for family income in one section selected. In the second selection, family income was at the states median and for the third selection family income was above the median. Within each of these sections, families were selected at random and contacted by telephone. Those who decided to participate were invited to the Financial Counseling Clinic at Bringham young and then asked to complete the assessment instruments. Only those subjects who came from families with four or more children were included in the study in order to provide for an analysis of the birth order variables. The subjects in the study consisted of 4 first born males and 8 first born females, 11 second-born males and 8 second born females, 24 middle born males and 20 middle born females, and 5 last born males and 8 last born females. The majority of these subjects were between 25 and 45 years of age. As stated before, each subject was administered the assessment instruments t Brigham Young University. One of the questions on the assessment, which was seen as the focus of the report, asked the subjects to compare themselves to the perceived happiness levels of their fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters on the items of health, current marriage, current family, extended family, in-laws, friends, religion, financial security, and life in general. For these questions a seven point scale was used with one being the low score, seven the high, and the midpoint of four indicating that their perceived happiness was the same. Since there was no other literature that compared one’s happiness with the perceived happiness of one’s family members this study added a great deal to the non-existent body of knowledge. The results of the study showed that last born males scored consistently lower than all other male birth order, except for the â€Å"in-laws† area. Last borns scored lowest and separated themselves out the most from the other male birth orders in areas of â€Å"financial security,† â€Å"employment,† and â€Å"life in general. † Results showed that first born males scored higher than all other male birth orders on five of the items. As for the women, last borns scored lower on every subject except for one. In addition to this, very different from men, first born females scored consistently lower than both second born and middle born females. One of the most important things taken from this study is the similar pattern of both male and female last borns. Both scored lower than any of the other same-sex birth orders on the almost all of the happiness scales. This finding shows that last born male and females are typically unhappier than their firstborn, second born, or middle born siblings. The group contributed these findings to clinical observations done that stated last borns tend to be pampered and spoiled. They have been conditioned to people protecting, dominating, and giving them goods and services that require little effort on the part of the last born. This in turn makes it easy for last borns to grow up as adults who think people will continue to do this for them future. When the eventually become adults, they eventually face the reality that most other people will not pamper and they then experience cognitive dissonance, causing them to be last happy than their sibling. In addition to this, the pampering could potentially have detracted from their ability and learn to deal with problems of life and this could contribute to their relative unhappiness. A second study dealing with birth order and personality can also be used to predict the possible outcomes as well. Empirical Studies Indicating Significant Birth-Order-Related Personality Differences provided a summary of empirical support relating birth order to personality characteristics. This study focused on indentifying other studies that contained statistically significant results between personality differences and birth-order typologies and reported descriptive data in terms of variables that differ according to birth order. This research done by Eckstein focused primarily on articles dating from 1960 to 1999. All of the articles reported statistically significant levels at or beyond the . 05 level. Consistent with other studies that were based on Adlerian theory, empirical birth-order was grouped into the following four major categories: oldest, middle, youngest, and single. Eckstein then goes on to present a table showing the common characteristics identified for each of the four types and identifying articles that indicated each characteristic. For the oldest child, or first borns, according to Eckstein’s findings, at least two researchers attributed each of 26 different characteristics to these individuals. The six most frequently appearing attributes were highest achieving, highest IQ, greatest academic success, highest motivation and need for achievement, overrepresented among learned groups, and most affiliative under stress. All of these personality attributes can be used to relate to the findings from the first study, Birth Order and Happiness: A Preliminary Study by G. Hugh Allred & Bernard E. Poduska. The first borns of each family likely have higher levels of satisfaction due to these similar personality attributes. The majority of those individuals who are highest achieving usually are those who are most satisfied with their lives. This could be one of the reasons that the first borns scored the highest on the majority of question in the study conducted by Allred and Poduska. At least two researchers attributed each of 6 different characteristics to the middle child. The three attributed that appeared most frequently were fewest problems acting out, sociable, and greatest feeling of not belonging. For the youngest at least two researchers attributed each of 14 different characteristics to those who were the youngest child. The four most frequently appearing attributes for the youngest child or last born were; greatest overrepresentation of psychiatric disorders if from a small family, empathetic, helplessness and tendency toward alcoholism. The fact that both helplessness and a tendency toward alcoholism are two of the four most frequently appearing attributes helps relate to the first study on birth order and happiness conducted by Allred and Poduska. The fact that those born last are seen as helpless could be a direct effect of the fact that they were pampered and overprotected for the majority of their lives. This would then cause them to feel helpless in their later years when they are on their own in life without their family to pamper and always protect them. This feeling could then be used when explaining why those individuals who were last borns scored lowest on the majority of the questions asked in the study dealing with birth order and happiness by Allred and Poduska. Using the knowledge learned from these two research studies there will be two hypotheses used when conducting the study on the relationship between birth order and life satisfaction. The first hypothesis states that last born individuals will have the lowest levels of happiness on average. The second hypothesis states that those individuals who are not last borns will have higher levels of happiness on average. Proving whether or not these hypotheses are true will tell us a great deal about the relationship between birth order and life satisfaction and will help settle the argument on whether or not birth order has an effect on one’s life. III. Method: A random, convenience sample of 30 subjects was used during this study. Subjects were from various states on the East Coast and came from all different backgrounds. The subject’s ages ranged from 17-50 years of age and the majority of them were college students living on campus at Bryant University. Only those individuals with siblings were sampled and those without siblings did not receive the assessment. The rights of each subjected were protected. Prior to their participation in the assessment each subject was informed about the purpose of the study. These subjects were then told that in addition to their rights being protected, the privacy and confidentiality of the assessment will be strictly maintained at all times. The results of each assessment were shown to no one during the study besides those conducting the research and will not be used by any other researchers in the future. Throughout the entire study all ethical guidelines were followed. The results of each assessment were not tampered with or used against the respondent. All assessments were completed in the Bryant University library, but before being allowed to complete the assessment, each randomly picked subject was asked by the research whether or not they had siblings. Subjects who answered â€Å"no† were not given the assessment and able to go on their way. Subjects who answered â€Å"yes† to this question were then asked if they would like to participate in a research study on the relationship between birth order and happiness. A statement on privacy rights was then read to each subject by the researcher to make sure they knew that results of their assessment would be confidential. Once this was understood, the subjects were given the assessment. The subjects were free to complete the survey on their own and had as much time as needed to fill out the assessment. Once finished their assessments, each subject handed their survey to the researcher and was thanked for their participation in the study. Once 30 assessments were collected the scores of each assessment was tallied up and the results were recorded. The survey used was Life Satisfaction Index A survey from Measures of Personality and Social Psychological Attitudes. This index consisted of 20 agree or disagree items that correlated highly with life satisfaction/happiness. Each response received zero or one points depending upon whether or not the response matched the response marked in parenthesis given by the book. For example: One question asked â€Å"As I grow older, things seem better than I thought they would be†. For this question the response marked in parentheses was â€Å"Agree† and those who responded â€Å"Agree† received one point and those who responded â€Å"Disagree† received none. Scores on this assessment could vary from 0 (lowest faction) to 20 (highest satisfaction) and helped show the life satisfaction of each respondent. In addition to the 20 agree or disagree questions, there was one multiple choice questioned used at the end of the survey. This question asked the respondent whether or not they were the: first born, second born, second born (last born), third born (middle), third born last, or fourth born (last) in their family. This question helped categorize the results of each respondent. The study has two independent variables and one dependent variable. The independent variables are gender and both order. The dependent variable is levels of happiness. The design of this study was a correlation design and there was no manipulation of either independent variable throughout the duration of the study. IV. Results: Figure 1: As shown in figure 1, first born males had the highest average life satisfaction score at 14. 89. This was more than one full point higher than the 13. 75 scored by those individuals who were third born middle children. Second born middle children scored a 13. 7 on average which was extremely close to those third born middle children. Figure 1, also shows that the bottom three lowest scores all belong to those who were last in their family’s birth order. Second born last borns scored a 12. 25 on average, fourth born last borns an 11. 67, and second born last borns had the lowest average life satisfaction index scores at 11. 50. All together, last borns received a mean score of 11. 83 on the life satisfaction i ndex which is almost two points lower than those who were middle borns and a full 3 points lower than those who were first borns. Breaking down the results for women we once again see that first borns had the highest average score on the life satisfaction index. Second born middle were one point behind at 14, and right behind them was third born middle at 13. 5. The average score of middle born children was 13. 8. Once again, the lowest average scores belonged to those who were last borns. Those individuals who were the third born last borns had the lowest score of 11. 5, followed by fourth born last at 12, and second born last at 12. 5. All together, the last borns scored a 12 on average when taking the life satisfaction index.

Sunday, September 1, 2019

Human Resource and Organizational Success Essay

A Human resource department is an organizational entity which is primarily formed to report organizational relationships, organize people and function in a manner that best supports organizational goals accomplishment. The key behind any Human resource department is the organizational devotion towards availing of efficient procedures, policies and people-friendly guidelines that will give support to the company (Cole, 2002). The department equally ensures the corporation vision, mission, values, company metrics together with other factors that keep the company on visionary focused are optimized. With this consideration, the focus of this paper will be on the benefits of having a Human resource department, the negative impact of not having a the department, the possible benefits or negative side effects a Human resource department on employees and the various types of Human resource departments. In tackling the issues that revolve around Human resource, the research done entailed past information concerning this sector in any organization. According to Cole (2002) the Human resource department in any organization its cornerstone in the sense that it gives the guideline that keeps the organization functional. In the course of this study, the benefits of having a Human resource department was attained in from both primary and secondary sources but the core information was obtained from secondary sources mainly text books. The negative impact of not having this department is a matter that has only been handled from one perspective by most of the authors in the sense that they mainly focus on the importance and advantages of having a Human resource unit in the organization. The danger or risk in evading this organizational unit has seldom been addressed and just a few writers among them McConnell (2001), Lewin, Mitchell, Sherer (2002) & Cole, all of whom have been engaged in writing about the same in their Human resource texts. The possible benefit of a Human resource sector on employees is equally an important focal point that had a lot of content as far as the sources used to carry out the research are concern. As observed the positive impact of the Human resource subdivision in the organization has a huge contribution to the employees’ welfare and output. According to some literary critics it was found that negative side effects of the Human Resource department on employees are equally present and form a major area of concern for most of the modern organizations. As a result of the numerous benefits that are associated with the various Human resource departments, they have been forced to have several sub units in order to carry out all their functionalities to total satisfaction. Benefits of having a Human Resource Department There are several benefits of the Human resource department to an organization such as employee recruitment and training. This department develops a systematic plan that is used when hiring the staff and aiding the building of professional work teams. The strategies that this department puts in place in implementing employment appointments are several. These include creation of internship opportunities, developing of test plans for the employees to be hired, allocating training sessions for the recruited employees and keenly analyzing any interviews. Building public relations is another vital role played by the Human resource section in an organization. An organization is aided by the Human resource to build proper referral systems and have proper public relations standards. It is very essential that a company develops excellent associations with other enterprises in the market so that it propels its earning by way of cooperation with other commercial sectors. The Human resource department is responsible for arranging business meetings, seminars and official business gatherings for an organization in order for the company to get acquainted with other businesses and the market at large. The same department is responsible for ensuring that the firm’s pay scale meets the terms of the changing laws and regulations. This in effect aids the firm in attaining and retaining competitive staff. The compensation managers determine commission rates and administer executive compensation programs for corporate staff that may be involved in issues such as sales on commission basis (Mathis & Jackson, 2007). When it comes to the developing of an organizational business plan, this department is an active participant. The plans in question involve both marketing and business decisions. The Human resource units’ dedicated professionals have the ability to implement marketing strategies and provide new plans that bring more capital and business to the organization. The end result increases the overall firm’s profitability. On the same note, expert consultants in the mediation and configuration of various opinions in the development of the business plan are situated in this very department. Consultancy provision is another gain that comes along with having a Human resource department. In an organization, the work-team or individual members of staff usually face numerous issues in the course of carrying out their duties (Lewin, Mitchell, Sherer, & Industrial Relations Research Association, 2002). The Human resource acts as a medium for all the advice employees seek and avail answers to general queries. Any managerial disputes are effectively handled by the Human resource department and employee problems are settled down proficiently and professionally. The Human resource branch acts as a business’ forethought by the fact that it deals with long-term business management. This department goes ahead to evaluate the business’ future scope and formulates approaches that seem most profitable to the organization in the long run and as such lead to business stability by establishing a firm medium for the corporation to stand on in future (Mathis & Jackson, 2007). In case of any potential business valuations by any other department in the firm, the Human resource unit works alongside the department in question to weigh the viability of its valuations. Due to the several benefits of having a Human resource division in the organization there are serious consequences of failing to incorporate this vital section into any corporation. A firm that either does not have a proper Human resource team in place or doesn’t have any has a lot of difficulty when it comes to having proper public relations. The reason is that, it’s a sub-section of the Human resource department which has the duty of ensuring the business maintains good public relations (Cole, 2002). The organizational referral systems would be in jeopardy due to inadequate public relations standards. This inadequacy in public relations eventually causes the business to relate poorly with other firms in the same industry and as such profitability gradually declines. A further cause for the profitability to decline would be as a result of in-capacitance of the organization to schedule business meetings, seminars and official business gatherings for acquaintance with other businesses. The firm’s ability to keep on monitoring the pay scale in relation to any changing laws and regulations would be a great challenge without the hand of the Human resource department. This in effect results in the firm failure to hire competent staff and retaining the same because qualified people in most cases are usually aware of the market wages of their profession. Adequate determination of commission rates for sales agents and administration of executive compensation programs for corporate staff would be a stumbling block for the organization in terms of employee motivation (Lewin, Mitchell, Sherer, & Industrial Relations Research Association, 2002). In developing organizational business plans, if present, the Human resource department is an active participant in the articulation. Due to the expertise involved in coming up with marketing and business decisions, it’s a great challenge for an organization without this department to have dedicated professionals to implement marketing strategies and work out new plans that bring more capital and business to the organization. The end impact is that the overall firm’s profitability would not rely on the business future plans as expected. When hiring staff, it’s very difficult for a company to come up with a proper procedure of the recruitment process and so they may end up hiring unqualified staff or worse still, turn away persons that are well suited for a given post. The main cause of this would be insufficiency in development of test plans for the employees to be hired, allocating training sessions for the recruited employees and poor analysis of interviews. Building of professional work teams is not possible when qualified persons from the Human resource department are not in the picture because the strategies that the professionals in such a department put in place can not be substituted by anyone who is not qualified to deal with Human resource related tasks professionally (McConnell, 2001). The creation of opportunities within the organization that would allow for internship opportunities may be overlooked. Unless the importance of allowing for internships is properly understood and its overall impact to the organization, only qualified employees may be considered in joining the organization. In any organization, the work-team or individual members of staff are bound to face numerous issues in the course of carrying out their duties. Without the Human resource incidences of strikes, go-slows, increased complaints and general worker dissatisfaction would be on the increase. This in effect lowers output and general company’s profitability declines (Lewin, Mitchell, Sherer, & Industrial Relations Research Association, 2002). Managerial disputes will equally result in resignations that effect loss of competent staff or frequency in engaging the organization in labor related cases in the courts. Business’ foresight especially in long-term business management is hampered if a company has no proper Human resource in place. The main reason for this occurrence is in the fact that evaluation of business future scope and formulation of profitable approaches to the organization in the long run is highly dependent on a competent Human resource team. A further cause would be alluded to the fact that, it’s only the Human resource department expertise employees that can work alongside other department in the firm if a thought emanates and they would see its fulfillment. Benefits of the Human Resource Department on employees Establishment and maintenance of a firm’s pay structure is done by the compensation managers within the Human resource sector. With the aid of compensation analysts, compensation managers formulate ways of ensuring that the pay rates are fair and equitable. They take a further step by participating in salary surveys to find out if the firm’s pay matches up to others in the same industry. Additionally, the department oversees the company’s performance management system compensation side. In effect, this ensures that they design a reward system for pay-for-performance plans that includes the setting of merit pay guidelines and incentive or bonus pay criteria. The major beneficiary in this instance is the employee so that underpayment is avoided. The employee assistance plan managers in the Human resource segment are responsible for programs that enhance employee wellness and safety which improves their work-life balance. These may comprise of occupational health and safety standards and practices, physical fitness and health promotion, minor health treatment and medical examinations, transportation programs and carpooling, employee suggestion systems, elder and child care plus counseling services. The counseling aids employees deal with alcoholism, emotional disorders, consumer, marital, legal, family and financial problems (McConnell, 2001). They do this by maintaining the application forms for the workers that are beneficiaries, claim forms and benefit booklets so as to give out to the relevant employees. Moreover, this department handles the distribution identification cards that insurance firms provide for the employees. Besides, the Human resource section helps employees by ensuring that they receive pay rises and promotions and the end result is motivation, enhanced morale and productivity. Labor relations managers within the Human resource department implement industrial labor relations programs that benefit all the employees. Information for management use during collective bargaining agreement consultations is prepared. The labor relations staffs then administer the contract after interpreting it in relation to salaries and wages, grievances, employee welfare, healthcare, pensions, union and management practices together with other contractual stipulations. Educating of organizational employees on the laws that protect their rights and development of their skills via availing courses and classes that teach them new skills and upgrade their prior education is another importance of the Human resource department. With better skills the staff is in a better position to benefit the company more, furthermore the employees are well prepared for jobs that require greater skill (McConnell, 2001). Training of workers to a level that their output meets the required standards is necessary if the organizational goals are to be met. In addition, the Human resource department trains employees on safety measures at work and on how they should look out for each other including the new employees. The workers are educated on skills that improve their interpersonal relations both in and out of the organization (Grundy & Brown, 2003). The Human resource department has training specialists that set up executive or leadership development programs for employees that aspire to move up in the organizational rank. Other training programs assist employees on job transitions due to consolidations or mergers and retraining programs as result of technological changes. Negative effects of the Human Resource Department on employees The establishment of Human resource departments has some negative impact to the employees. For instance when it comes to wages and maintenance of a firm’s pay structure revision, issues to do with inflation and the value of a country’s currency are at times not put into consideration. This occurs in such a way that, as much as the pay is increased it fails to add value due to the cost of living. The salary surveys taken are at times done on a random basis and not fully competent in the industry but their overall result has to be incorporated in the firm. During implementation of programs that enhance employee wellness and safety, the criterion of merit keeps on shifting from time to time and as such some employees are forced to seek their own medical attention and insurance cover especially when it is decided that such benefits will not be given to all the employees (Guerin & DelPo, 2009).

Saturday, August 31, 2019

Emotionalism

Aesthetics – Emotionalism ART – 170-N Indiana Wesleyan University April 13, 2013 Abstract I have read and understand the plagiarism policy as outlined in the syllabus and the sections in the Student Bulletin relating to the IWU Honesty/Cheating Policy. By affixing this statement to the title page of my paper, I certify that I have not cheated or plagiarized in the process of completing this assignment. If it is found that cheating and/or plagiarism did take place in the writing of this paper, I understand the possible consequences of the act/s, which could include expulsion from Indiana Wesleyan University.Aesthetics – Emotionalism When it comes to art work there are several different theories of understanding and interpreting art work. The best way this author understands art work and appreciates art work is through emotionalism. The theory of emotionalism is defined as, â€Å"the most important element about a work of art is its vivid communication of moods, f eelings, and ideas† (Indiana Wesleyan University Syllabus, 2013). For art work to speak to this author there must be vivid feelings, an obvious mood displayed, or an idea of understanding.While there are several pieces of art throughout the textbook, Gardner’s Art through the Ages, there are three that really show why this author appreciates art work with emotionalism shown. These three pieces of art will show why emotionalism is something to be appreciated in art work. The first piece of art that depicts emotionalism is, the portrait of Caracalla, ca 211-217 CE, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, p. 114 (Kleiner, 2010, p. 114). To this author the portrait depicts emotion or feelings. If one was to look at this piece one might think that this person was angered or in fear of someone or something.A piece of art that makes one think, what is going on or what is on this person’s mind, is a piece of art that this author really appreciates. Emotionalism art work is art work that makes the viewer look for feelings in which this piece does. This author believes that the portrait of Caracalla is a great example of the theory of emotionalism, and could easily be described as to why. The next example of emotionalism found in the text book is, A Harvest of Death, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, New York Public Library, New York, p. 360 (Kleiner, 2010, p. 360).The art work is a picture of a field with dead soldiers lying all over. This art work depicts all of the vivid communication found in emotionalism. With moods, in this art work, one might feel sad or happy (depending on what side you are on). With feelings one could feel anger or sadness from the loss. Or one could feel overwhelmed and not sure what to do. The emotion of feeling is endless in this piece as it would depend on what side one is looking at this piece. The final emotion is ideas. With ideas in this piece, one might think that this side lost or could draw quick conclusions by the death to tal.This piece of art prompts a lot of ideas that could quickly draw one to the piece. The title alone would lead one to draw ideas on what has happened. This author feels that this piece of art work is another great piece that show emotionalism. The final piece of art that this author feels that best shows emotionalism is, Max Beckmann, Night, 1918-1919 Kunstsammlung Noedrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf, p. 400 (Kleiner, 2010, p. 400). This piece of art displays the feelings of the artist as to portray what he believed was the brutality of the 20th century. The art work shows disfigured people being pulled, stretched, and twisted.This art work gives the idea that society is harsh and people are being torn apart trying to survive. Again, this is another great example of emotionalism, because the people in the art work show feeling and moods. This art work could easily be described as a display of emotion. This could also be described as art work to show the hectic change of event brought on by the new society’s expectations. This work by Max Beckmann is a great piece to explain emotionalism at the theory behind it. As one can see there are several ways to emphasize emotionalism.These three pieces of art work that this author has chosen, will show you the ideas behind the theory and how to depict each idea. There are many ways to see and understand emotionalism in art work. These three examples are just a few that will help one better understand what emotionalism is and how to find it in art. This author hopes that his examples were found to be helpful in gaining a better understanding behind his chosen theory and would encourage one to explore emotionalism in art. References Kleiner, F. S. (2010). Gardner’s Art through the Ages (2nd ed. ). Boston, MA: Wadsworth.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Wizard of Oz

Wizard of Oz Interpretation The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a story about a girl named Dorothy who experiences a cyclone that takes her to a magical land of good and bad. When she is in this land she encounters a Scarecrow, Tin Man, and a Lion. These 3 characters are with her throughout the story and they go through different tough situations together. In the end they make their way to the Oz who grants their wishes and Dorothy goes back home. People say that this story is based off of populism, money reforms, and a political movement led by William Jennings Bryan.The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is not intentionally written to be linked to the way the economy was because it is a children’s book, it is a made up story, and Baum, the author of the book, never stated that it was. In the article â€Å"The Story Behind The Wonderful Wizard of Oz† it explains how L. Frank Baum and William Jennings Bryan’s concern was the nature of the money supply then prevalent in the United States, and in the Mid-Western States in particular. Baum was featured in a movie called The Dreamer of Oz that showed how each character was thought of and how he had put the story together.For example, Dorothy was the name of a sweet little niece that he had which is how Dorothy from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz came about. Each character from the book was represented as someone that he had come across in his life at some point in time. In The Dreamer of Oz it shows how Baum enjoyed telling stories to his children and to the other kids that could come along. His wife would always bring it up to him that he needs to put it into the form of a book. Baum being the stubborn guy he was never really considered it.Sooner or later he finally realized that it all made sense and it all pieced together to become a story with no title. Baum sat down with his wife and mother in law and asked them for their opinion on what he should name the story. This is how the title of The Wonderful Wizard o f Oz came about. Therefore Baum had written the book from experiences and people from his past not because of the way the economy was ran in the 1900s. Last but not least Baum never stated that his story was written to represent populism.In the article â€Å"The Story Behind The Wonderful Wizard of Oz† it explains how each character in the children’s book is represented by a problem that was occurring. For example, the Scarecrow is represented as the farmers and the Tin Man is represented as industrial workers. In the article it states that â€Å"Baum and Bryan wanted money to be based on silver, not gold, as silver was readily available in the Mid-West, where it was mined. Such a money supply could not be manipulated by the banks. Then from there it goes into explaining each part of the story and they link together. Just because Baum and Bryan had these views on the economy does not necessarily mean that he wrote this story secretly about it. In conclusion, The Wonde rful Wizard of Oz is not intentionally written to be linked to the way the economy was because it was written as a children’s book, it is a generally made up story that Baum had based off of his lifestyle, and he never stated that it was intentionally written about the ways of being in the 1900s.