Toy World, Inc. Case Analysis Essay Example for Free

Toy World, Inc. Case Analysis Essay Executive Summary Toy World, Inc. is a company that has been manufacturing toys for children since 1973. Since 1976, the company has enjoyed profitable operations. At the end of 1993, revenue and profit came close to $8 million and $270 thousand respectively. With Jack McClintock as president and Dan Hoffman as production manager, the two have tried to find a strategy to adjust operations to the volatility of the toy market. Sales in the toy market are seasonal, reaching peaks in the months of August through December, while remaining relatively flat during the remaining months of the year. This seasonality has affected the company’s production schedule. During the off season, inventory is low, skilled workers are underutilized, and machinery is left idle. When the busy season finally arrives, Toy World is forced to hire more workers, pay additional overtime wages, and operate at full capacity. Dan Hoffman sees inefficiencies in this schedule and proposes a level production plan that would eliminate overtime wages and fully utilize skilled workers. Under his plan, toys would be manufactured evenly every month, allowing inventory levels to build in the months leading up to the holidays. In addition to using cash, the company must also take on additional loans to compensate for the high inventory levels. In an industry that has relatively low capital requirements, Hoffman’s strategy may increase overall profitability, but it jeopardizes the company’s liquidity. 1. What factors could Mr. McClintock consider in deciding whether or not to adopt the level production plan? The main factors Mr. McClintock should consider when deciding whether or not to adopt the level production plan comes down to the trade off between liquidity and profitability. Given the  highly seasonal nature of the industry, producing goods ahead of time has strong risks associated with it. If management’s projections are incorrect, the company could incur significant inventory write-downs or write offs. Additionally, the company will incur extra costs of storing the inventory that will accumulate in the first half of the year. Further, Mr. McClintock should analyze the differences in amount and timing of the company’s external funding needs under the level production plan, and whether or not the financing needs can be met by the current credit line of $2 million. To assess the impact of these factors, we prepared pro forma financial statements under level production. 2. What savings would be involved? The savings involved in leveling production include reductions in overtime premiums as well as a decrease in additional labor costs. Expenses involved in this production overhaul include increased shipping and handling expenses and an increase in interest expenses. Both of these expenses are a result of having increased inventory levels. Total savings less total expenses from the new production strategy results in positive net savings of $148,000. See Exhibit E. 3. Prepare the pro forma financial statements and estimate the external funding needs required. Income Statement In preparing monthly statements under the level production plan, several adjustments were made to management’s original projections (Exhibit A). Given the annual savings in overtime premiums as well as direct labor, cost of goods sold under level production would be reduced from a constant 70 percent of sales to 65.1 percent of sales. However, this is slightly offset by the annual increase in storage and handling costs, which is accounted for in operating expenses. To determine the interest income, we multiplied the average monthly cash balance by the 4 percent annualized return provided by management. Income taxes remained at 34 percent, arriving at a total net income of $661 for 1994. Balance Sheet The most significant adjustments made to the balance sheet were under inventory, accrued taxes, and notes payable. As is depicted in Exhibit B, we prepared schedules for both accrued taxes as well as inventory. Management provided a specific tax payment schedule, which was subtracted from each month’s income taxes to arrive at ending accrued taxes. As for inventory, beginning inventory plus finished goods completed less cost of goods sold determined each month’s ending inventory. Under level production, the finished goods completed should be constant month over month. We determined this number by dividing the annual cost of goods sold by 12. Finally, notes payable was our plug figure. As this line item represents the company’s existing credit line, it can be further analyzed to assess the company’s amount of added funds required and the timing of the needs under level production. External Funding Needs Toy World Inc. will require large external funding in order to support inventory levels leading up to the holiday season. Toy World currently has a $2 million line of credit with the bank. In order to support the level production plan, we estimate that Toy World will need a line of credit of close to $4 million in the month of September. 4. Compare the liabilities patterns feasible under the alternative production plans. What implications do their differences have for the risk assumed by the various parties? Under the alternative production plans, the timing and amount of funding that Toy World will need to keep up with inventory projections significantly differs. For example, in June, due to the lags of the 60-day collection periods, strong funding will be needed to keep up with the level production. If management moves forward with the current seasonal production plan, they would not take on the further liabilities and maintain lower cash balances in the busy months of September to December. The most significant tradeoffs of the two scenarios are between liquidity, profitability and leverage. If the toys ended up not being as popular as they forecasted, then the various parties would take on the risk of the rising inventories. Toy world would  then have to decide whether or not to hang onto the excess inventory in anticipation of increased demand, or rid themselves of inventory to increase working capital. Either way, this risk, if came to fruition, would be a lose-lose situation for if they hold onto it and demand doesn’t bounce back, then they lost some working capital, but if demand does bounce back, and they have gotten rid of the inventory, they will find themselves unable to keep up with demand. Also, the industry has relatively no barriers to entry so taking on more debt in this volatile industry to increase inventories would be risky as products have short lives and a relatively high rate of company failures. Sensitivity Analysis Given the inherent risks associated with producing toys significantly ahead of time, we decided to conduct a sensitivity analysis around this factor (Exhibit D). Specifically, we assessed the impact of writing off 10 percent of the prior month’s inventory balance. This change would be reflected as a direct reduction in inventory, as well as a corresponding increase in cost of goods sold, resulting in a 382 percent decrease in net income from seasonal production. While 10 percent of total inventory write downs is an extreme downside situation, the key take away is the importance of how accurate management’s projections are. In a level production plan, management will have to begin producing for peak sales periods early on in the year, greatly increasing the risk of inaccurate projections. Therefore, one of the most critical considerations in adopting level production is the confidence in management’s ability to accurately forecast industry trends. Conclusion Despite past profitability and success, our analysis shows that Toy World, Inc. could benefit greatly from an operational restructuring. Adjusting their business model to implement a level production plan in 1994 as opposed to past seasonal production will result in a positive impact on the company’s profitability. However, in order to implement these changes, Toy World, Inc. will need an extension on their line of credit. Further, our sensitivity analysis shows the importance of having strong confidence in management’s projection ability. If the company believes that their  projections will be accurate enough to avoid significant inventory write offs, and can obtain approval for an extension in the line of credit, transitioning to a level production plan will greatly improve profitability and operational efficiency.

Reflecting Personal Development Study Of Mental Health Nursing Nursing Essay

Reflecting Personal Development Study Of Mental Health Nursing Nursing Essay This essay will illustrate how I developed from being a novice to an expert within my three year study of mental health nursing programme. The chosen topic from my log book to be discussed will be management. Dreyfus and Dreyfus student model (1986) and Benners stages of skill acquisitions (1984) will be used to structure this essay. The stages that students go through in their skills acquisition are novice, advance beginner, competent, proficient and expert (Selinger Crease, 2006).Current evidence based literature such as mentors comments from my ropas including government policies relevant to my practice will be used to explore my strengths, limitations and experiences. Future recommendation for my post graduate as a newly registered nurse will be explored. Names of clients, practice placements and health professionals will remain anonymous to protect and respect confidential in this essay (NMC, 2008). Management is planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling in order to achieve your goals (Clark, 2009).Management also involves making good decisions, communicating effectively, motivating staff and being persuasive and sensitive (Manion, 2005).Due to the health care system changes in modern nursing it is vital for a professional nurse to acquire different skills to manage a shift regardless of your specific role (Yoder-Wise, 2003).I took an interest in presenting management as my topic of this essay mainly for the following reasons. Once am newly qualified I might face a challenge of running a shift and management skills will be essential for the shift to be efficient and effective. Management skills are also essential as they are required to obtain a job as a mental health nurse. Hewison (2004) states management in nursing is essential to delivers high standards of care. The above author further state that delivery and organisation of care has been influenced by manag ement ideas and theory throughout its history. First year of training I completed 4 placements starting with an acute ward and next being a hip replacement ward. From there I went to the community where they specialised in children with learning disabilities. My last placement was a day hospital for old people with dementia and depression; this is where I had the most exposure. In my first placement I could not under see lying problems with the patients, for example when it came to observing moods and effects patients get from taking the medication they are prescribed on. My other problem was communicating using the correct terminology in my notes and handover. Swannell (1986) defines communication as imparting or exchange of information, message, letter, etc; Social dealings (Ingram and Lavery, 2009.p.14). Communication skills are essential in healthcare as they help professionals to maximise their management (Darley, 2002). At that time my communication was poor, therefore my management was lacking as its vital and mostly an essential skill in nursing management (Adair, 2009). When I started my last placement I had done research on communication and the same principles of communication applied on different situation. At this placement I managed to reflect on my experiences as a novice, hence improving my skills (Quirk, 2006). I applied knowledge gained from research but still referred to the literature and communication principles taught in year one. I was able to communicate effectively using the right terminology in my notes, hand over, ward round and appropriately with patients. I was able to identify under lying problems portrayed by the patients and interpret them when communicating with staff. Research and applying it to practice helped my skill improve hence enhanced my management (Pilot Beck, 2004). First year of training I started off as a novice because I had minimal knowledge but could not connect it to practice (Dreyfus and Dreyfus, 1986) .Using the work of Benners (1984) Stuart (2007) describes a novice as a new student entering a clinical area without experience but expected to perform. Stuart (2007) further goes on to say they must be given rules and instructions to guide their performance, they do not see beyond the task and underlying problems with a patient. Considering experience gained in year one I was in the novice trajectory. By the end of the first year I was now fairly experienced and considered myself as an advanced beginner no longer a novice (Dreyfus Dreyfus, 1986). In my second year the first practice placement was at a day hospital for older people suffering from dementia. From there I moved to work with the community mental health team (CMHT) treating patients with different disorders. The second placement is where I gained the optimum exposure as different skills where developed. We dealt with patients discharged from acute ward and have been referred to CMHT for ongoing treatment away from hospital settings offering a wide variety of interventions tailored to their specific needs (D.O.H, 2002). My final placement in second year was elective. This was a day centre for adults 18-65 offering a large range of therapy thats beneficial to their aspects of life (France and Kramer, 2005). According to Swansburg Swansburg (2002) planning involves what to do, how, who is to do it, where its to be done and when in order to achieve goals. My last placement was a day centre for older people suffering from dementia and I developed planning skills. I was shift planning and organized daily activities according to their needs (Schultz and Videbeck, 2009). I was involved in care planning under supervision as I was assigned to a patient suffering from depression. This patient used to play in professional bands and his depression started when he stopped. I planned his recovery by completing tasks like contacting professional recording studios and looking into an option to obtain funding to buy his own equipment. This included booking suitable dates and times he can attend to record. I managed to negotiate with the studio to get 3 free sessions but had to attend only when they was no bookings for business purpose. Both my communication and planning skills where implemented succes sfully and no longer followed the maxims used during the initial stages of learning, as I had acquired my skills (Selinger Crease, 2006). Based on this experience I gained decision making skills to contribute to my management. According to Thompson and Dowding (2002) decision making should be logical, have a rationale and concentrate on how decision will be made in a real world. According to Lloyd et al (2007) decision-making is a process of gathering relevant information and analysed to make a decision. Lloyd et al (2007) further clarifies that in a clinical setting, decision making is a situation in which choice is made from a number of possible alternatives considering the outcome is weighed. I applied these skills as I gathered information like contacts and whom to call, weighing distance and cost of travelling from his home to the studio and also obtaining time of recording referring to his schedule. I also gained another management skill in organisation. According to Kneedler and Dodge (1994) organization involves the arrangement of nursing actions orderly and that actions need to be evaluated, ranked and carried out according to the nurse capabilities. I believe I evaluated and ranked my actions as I considered the patients safety, choosing a suitable recording time for both my patient and the studio by making sure its very close, accessible and its during the day. When I finished year 2 I had gained new skills and my communication skills from year one had paid off as the new skills required good communication skills. (Please see appendix 1 and 2). According to Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1986) model of skill acquisition, an advance beginner has the knowledge of key working aspects in practice. I noticed this as I applied knowledge into practice, therefore found it easy applying rules in real a situation. Tsui (2003) states that advanced beginners begin to recognize situational elements, I recognized these elements easily as I had the experience as a novice according to Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1986). According to Benners (1984) I managed to complete tasks using my own judgement which was acceptable to a limited extent. I started of my third year very keen to professionally modify my management skills and taking into account my skills need to adhere with the nursing and midwifery council (NMC, 2008). The first placment was in a mother and baby unit offering therapy which meet individuals physical, psychological, emotional and social needs based on evidence (DH, 2007). The next and final placement of the programme is where I had the optimum exposure in my management skills. This was an acute ward for old people suffering from organic mental health disorders. I applied all management skills acquired in year 1 and 2. At this stage I was practicing as a competent nurse according to Benners (1984). I was initiating and completing tasks without being asked or being monitored but under supervision from my mentor. Management was not only about completing the shift planner. I was now looking at the safety of the ward, reviewing general, constant and special observations, during handover, ward round and CPA. My decision making skills where implemented using assessment tools and the help of staff as we allocated appropriate levels of observations for the patients (The Scottish Government, 2002). I was planning and organizing tasks to tackle on duty and transport for transfers or appointments. I was using the diary for communication and checking tasks to be completed. I also collected and prepared information to be communicated in ward rounds, handovers and CPAs. I was organizing daily activities and decisions being made according to their needs. (Please see appendix 3). According to Cherry and Jacob (2005) stage three of Benners (1984) skills of acquisition state that competent nurses foresee long range goals and master their skills at this stage. Competent nurses are to cope with complex situations by analysing and planning (Dreyfus and Dreyfus, 1986).Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1986) go on to say they have the background knowledge of area practice and ability to use their own judgement to achieve tasks. According to Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1986) a proficient nurse approaches situations as a whole rather than in small portions and tackles situation according to priority. Benners (1984) further states that as they view situations as a whole their decision making is more improved and they also use maxims as guides. Tomey and Alligood (2006) state that level four of the acquisition skill, nurses stand outside the situation and at the same time be part of the situation, fully engaging in the situation. I believe in my practice I had started portraying some abilities of a proficient nurse, integrating my knowledge and experience into a whole (Jasper, 2006). I was running shifts, planning and assigned tasks, incorporating management skills learned in year one, two and three to a level of proficiency by managing ones self, ones practice and that of others. (NMC, 2004). The last part of the stage is the expert level and using Benners model (1984), Sitzman and Eichelberger (2010) state that they no longer, rely on rules, guidelines or maxims to make appropriate decisions for a situation. I believe I did not reach to the stage to fulfil the expert level but have the ability to succeed to expert level after graduating. According to Daly, Speedy and Jackson (2010) reflection is a process of monitoring practice to enable you to improve it. They go on and further state that the following are essential when reflecting, self-appraisal, research for practice, everyday reviewing of practice, feelings and belief, and the consequences. This is the part where I reflect my practice in order to enhance and maintain my practice within competent to expert level for my future practice as a registered nurse. Focused will be my managerial skills to reach expert level. As a newly qualified I will make use of clinical supervision as an opportunity to improve and continue professional development (Royal College of Nursing, 2003).I will engage myself into lifelong learning that will be of benefit to the service users and my profession. This will extend my skills hence making it easier to manage when in critical situations (D.H, 1999). This will also enable me to maintain high standard of care, therefore enhancing manag ement skills (D.H, 2006).I will continue using evidence based practice to offer best possible care and practice(D.H, 2006). I will also avoid favouritism and discrimination amongst staff as they are good management skills (Marriner-Tomey, 2004).This is further supported by Woods (2005) who encourages democratic management as it encourages those you delegate to, to be part of the team and feel valued. I will be aware of the policies and procedures as its essential to understand your work role and responsibilities in the work place hence helps in managing and guide day to day operations (Fradd, 2004).Above all I will undergo a period of preceptorship as a newly qualified, therefore this will provide a structured, supportive bridge during my transition from a student to a practitioner in my managerial skills and other skills (Illingworth and Singleto, 2010). To conclude, after going through both five stages of Dreyfus and Deryfus (1984) and Benners (1984) I also got the opportunity to reflect my three year practice as a whole, therefore this enabled me to see areas I will need to improve in management. I will work towards being an expert as I progress into my profession . Contexts of Nursing   By John Daly, Sandra Speedy, Debra Jackson/2010/Elsevier/ -Perioperative patient care: the nursing perspective   By Julia A. Kneedler, Gwen H. Dodge,1994

Definition of Marketing and Marketing Mix

Definition of Marketing and Marketing Mix Application of the marketing mix is no longer relevant for contemporary approaches to marketing. Marketing mix, as a part of marketing strategy, may affect the performance of one company. However, as to whether it still plays an important role in the contemporary marketing, many scholars and academics have various views, and some of them regard it as controversial, see Grà ¶nroos 1994, McCarthy 1960, Kent 1986 for more detail. Based on the previous analysis, this essay mainly discusses the relevance of the marketing mix used in two certain contemporary approaches- customers marketing, and relationship marketing as the limitation study of this essay. The Definition of Marketing and Marketing Mix In order to have a clear idea on marketing mix, first of all, the concept of marketing should be discussed. As reported by Keith Blois (2000, p.517), the American Marketing Association (1985) makes a conclusion of defining marketing as the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing , promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create and satisfy individual and organizational objectives and UKs Chartered Institute of Marketing(1996) defines the marketing as the management process of planning, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably. In general, these two definitions focus on the transaction approach in marketing rather than relationship marketing, which the latter one plays a more important role in nowadays marketing approach. As supported by Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrongs (2007, p.5), marketing definition is the process of creating value for customers and build strong customer relationships in order to capture value from customers in return. This is also the reason of choosing customers marketing and relationship marketing as the main contemporary approach to discuss in latter parts of this article. After the figure out the definition of marketing, then it seems necessary to draw a clear picture of what marketing mix refers to, for the reason that many scholars and academic now have different views whether it should be change into 4C, or 4R, or add more Ps. Neil Borden (1975) who may first create the term marketing mix, and made a list of 12 subdivisions as the components within marketing mix, which can be divided into 4 categories, namely, consumer attitudes and habits, trade attitudes and methods competition and government control. as explicated by Baker (2007, p.328). He also discusses many types of classifying the elements of marketing mix, for examples the Albert Freys two dimensions (1961), threefold classification of Lazer and Kelley (1975) and Lazer et al (1973) and a four-way classification of Lipson and Darling (1971), but he prefers the idea of 4Ps-product, price, place and promotion as refer to marketing mix, which firstly proposed by McCarthy (1978). As Baker (2007) points out the 4Ps model simplifies the way to make a clear structure as a whole for marketing managers and guide them to achieve a certain task. Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong (2007) define the marketing mix as the set of controllable, tactical marketing tool s (p.50), in order to get the feedback of the certain markets, and regard the 4Ps as marketing mix. Moreover, according to David Jobber (2001), The strength of the 4Ps approach is that it represents a memorable and practical framework for marketing decision-making and has proved useful for case study analysis in business schools for many years. Therefore, as 4Ps-product, price, place and promotion, are still widely recognized by worldwide scholars as marketing mix, this article will use 4Ps to discuss its relevance of contemporary marketing approach. The Relevance to Customers Marketing The development of the marketing approach and modern technology facilitate the customers to get more chances to be evolved in commercial activities, business communications and collecting data from the internet. Thus, the customer becomes more sophisticated to serve, as E. Constantinides (2006, p.413) illustrates that many researchers agree that modern consumer is demanding, individualistic, involved, independent, better informed and more critical (Capon and Hulbert 2000; Lewis and Bridger 2000). In this case, the marketers need to focus on the individual needs and wants and make the service personalized rather than carrying out the traditional marketing approach as mass marketing. For example, a famous cosmetic band Biotherm makes its products different according to the local markets. A product called corrective make-up base which have four different colors and SPF25 can only be sold in a China. Although it is more related to global marketing, but to some extent, the product is sold based on the local customers need-the skin of Chinese is more sensitive than European country. Another example is Dell Computer Company, which is more concentrate on customizing their products. The company tries very hard to collect as many choices as possible for every single consumer, in order to meet their personalized needs. However, when look into the marketing techniques used by both companies, they all emphasize on customer or consumers needs as the first principles, and it is obvious that marketing mix-product, price, place and promotion, do not contain the element of customer. And according to E. Constantinides (2006), Robins (1991) pointed that 4Ps model of marketing mix concerns the internal elements too much, instead, the external elements such as Customers, Competitors, Capabilities, Company should be also taken into consideration. And Kotler (1984) advocated that as part of marketing strategy, some external and uncontrollable environmental factors are needed to includ e in the marketing mix, namely, Customers Environmental variables Competitive variables. As discussed above, it indicates that, in customers marketing, the markers should think more about how to satisfy their customers, rather than just focus on the product itself. In other words, markers should do something for the customer instead of to them and be more customer-oriented. Today, consumer is no long the one who just buy the mass products, but the one who personalize the products by themselves and even push forward the one companys creativity. Besides, customers marketing requires more consumer interactivity. As argued by Doyle (1994), and Yudelson (1999) in E. Constantinides (2006), that to get higher value is not as the only purpose to consumer, but they also want to affect on the process of communicating. In this case, the 4Ps marketing mix seems not as relevant to the customers marketing as to other marketing, like transactional marketing. The Relevance to Relationship Marketing Evert Gummesson (2008) defines relationship marketing as an approach to develop long-term loyal customers and thus increasing profitability. And he even develops 30R (relationship) to elaborate the core concept-relationship, network and interaction. Gronroos (1994) argues that the 4Ps model marketing mix is much more clinical approach, restrictive and obsolete, which also makes the buyer a passive part rather then an active part as it should be. Patterson andWard (2000) in E. Constantinides (2006, p.417) illustrate that 4Ps Marketing Mix has a clearly offensive character because the strategies associated to the 4Ps tend to be function-oriented and output oriented. In order to solve the problem caused by 4Ps, he advocates the emphasis should be in managing valued customer relationships, and proposes new Cs, namely, Communication Customization Collaboration and Clairvoyance. From the above statement, it is clearly that the limitation of 4Ps marketing mix in relationship marketing. The 4Ps marketing mix is lack of customer orientation, either in interactive communication or in satisfying the consumers needs. Gronroos (1994) even pointed out that the marketing paradigm will eventually shift to relationship marketing rather than marketing mix management. It seems that the function of 4Ps marketing mix in dealing with customers marketing and relationship marketing is limited. It may due to the following reasons: Firstly, marketing mix is mainly coping with transaction marketing, which is product-oriented, as it is focus on mass markets. As Gronroos (1994) demonstrates that 4Ps model was indeed originally developed for consumer packaged goods marketing where transaction marketing is most appropriate. Secondly, marketing mix is as the dominating marketing function in transaction marketing, but just plays a supportive role in customers marketing and relationship marketing. Finally, compare with customers marketing and relationship marketing, in transaction marketing, customers are more sensitive to the price, as the former one may add additional value to the product, to some extent can fulfill other needs of consumers. So does 4Ps marketing mix really irrelevant to contemporary approach to marketing? Not exactly. As the article just picks up two main marketing methods to discuss, so the conclusion is too earlier to draw. However, when Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong (2007) mentioned about the marketing mix, they indicated that it is better to consider the buyers or consumers view, so they advocate 4C-customer solution, customer cost, convenience and communication, should be thought firstly, then build 4Ps on the basis of 4C, in that case, it will be more successful. Besides this, as discussed above that the marketing mix also supports the interactive marketing as in customers marketing and relationship marketing, so in conclusion, 4Ps is still relevant to the contemporary marketing, but at the same time, we should give priority to the customers wants and the peoples needs. Bibliography: 1. AMA Board Approves New Marketing Definition, Marketing News, 1 March 1985. 2. Christian Grà ¶nroos. (1994) From Marketing Mix to Relationship Marketing: Towards a Paradigm Shift in Marketing, Management Decision, Vol.32, No.2, pp.4-20. 3. David Jobber. (2007) Principles and Practice of Marketing, 5th edition. Maidenhead, Berkshire, UK: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. 4. E. Constantinides. (2006) The Marketing Mix Revisited: Towards the 21st Century Marketing, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 22, Issue 3/4, pp.407-438. 5. Evert Gummesson. (2008) Total Relationship Marketing, 3rd edition. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. 6. Keith Blois. (2000) The Oxford Textbook of Marketing, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 7. McCarthy, E.J. (1960) Basic Marketing, Irwin, Homewood, IL. 8. Michael J. Baker. (2007) Marketing Strategy and Management, 4th edition. Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. 9. Nicole E. Coviello, Roderick J. Brodie and Hugh J. Munro. (1997) Understanding Contemporary Marketing: Development of a Classification Scheme, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 13, Issue 6, pp.501-522. 10. N.H. Borden. (1964) The concept of the Marketing Mix, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol.4, June, pp.2-7. 11. Philip Kotler. (1984) Marketing Management: Analysis, planning and Control, 5th edition, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. 12.Philip Kotler, and Gary Armstrong. (2008) Principles of marketing, 12th edition. Upper Saddle River, N.J. Pearson Prentice Hall. 13. Rick Wise and Niren Sirohi. (2005) Finding the best marketing mix, Journal of Business Strategy, Vol. 26, No.6, pp. 10-11. 14. Robins, F. (1991) Four Ps or Four Cs or Four Ps and Four Cs, MEG Conference. 15. Walte van Waterschoot and Christophe Van den Bulte. (1992) The 4P Classification of the Marketing Mix Revisited, Journal of Marketing Vol. 56, No.4, pp.83-93.

Wall Street Essay -- essays research papers

In 1938, and in the teeth of the longest and fiercest depression that the United States had ever known, capital spending hit an all time high. That’s right! In 1938 the men who owned America began to pour millions of Dollars into new plant and equipment as if there was no tomorrow. We don’t think much about it today, because it has been a long time since the United States has experienced a real bone jolting economic slowdown. The fact is, however, that the very best time for the industrialist to invest in new technologies is in the middle of a depression. This is because it is at such times that labor, raw materials, and new equipment can be purchased at rock bottom prices. Henry Ford may have jumped the gun a bit. He shut down his River Rouge plant for two years starting in 1932 so that it could be completely rebuilt. Being a bit of a genius, Ford used his time and money to redesign the plant to create one of the most powerful little engines ever built: the Ford V8. Th is engine was so good that it was modified only slightly to equip certain aircraft for use in World War II. It also powered a series of red hot Ford cars all the way through the 1950s. At the same time that Ford was rebuilding his River Rouge plant, Joseph Alois Schumpeter, an Austrian economist who had migrated to Harvard University, was hard at work on a book that would explain the paradox suggested above, namely the timing of business cycles and technological change. In this all but forgotten work one of our most famous economists spelled out the secrets of the business cycle, that is the same old pattern of boom and bust that may be coming back to haunt us now. Many, if not most, American college students know Schumpeter's name because of his work in defense of free enterprise called Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. This was not, however, the book that Schumpeter was working on as America slogged through the mean and hungry 1930s. The book published by Schumpeter in 1939 is called " Business Cycles: A Theoretical, Historical, and Statistical Analysis of the Capitalist Process. " Not only is Schumpeter's definitive two volume study of the business cycle not on college reading lists today, but, indeed, it continues to languish in its first edition. The embarrassing truth is that Schumpeter's real masterpiece remains almost unread. The present writer checked out this forgo... ...sions , as Schumpeter explains in Business Cycles, is the long term movement of prices generated by long waves of technological change. What goes up has to come back down. There are those who believe that Greenspan would bring down this bull market gently if he could. Certainly he has tried. It is unlikely that Greenspan’s gentle jawboning will do this, however, since, as Kindleberger points out, when investors are going hog wild in an inflationary stock market they are simply not willing to listen to reason from the lips of central bankers and their like. From Schumpeter's point of view, the underlying cause of the next market crash, would simply be that the long wave of prosperity that began in 1938 is now over. According to Kindleberger's careful history mentioned above the speculative bubble in many past economic crises has often burst as the result of some purely exogenous event. If an army somewhere loses a battle, for example, markets crash as investors run for the exits. The IBD closes its' provocative article mentioned above by suggesting that the infamous Y2K bug might just play the role of the required exogenous force here. Letâ€℠¢s hope that they are wrong for once!

Analytical Essay: Riddle Of Inequality :: essays research papers

Analytical Essay: "The Riddle of Inequality" The riddle of inequality, as Tillich explains, "...Cannot be solved." This inequality is the divider of people, of the have's and have-nots. It seems that this riddle has confused people since the beginning of time and was even discussed in the bible. People always wonder why some have more than others do; they wonder why this happens and how it can change. I believe that this riddle is natural and cannot be changed despite he best efforts of people. Tillich attributes this mystery of have's and have-nots to many factors. First is that if you were granted with inherited talents then you should use them in life to the best of your ability. But if you let them go to waste, then these talents will ultimately be taken away. It is unfair when things are taken away that we might have taken for granted due to lack of attention, such as, "...[the] intense joy and the presence of the mystery of life through the freshness of the young day or the glory of the dying day..." These things are only taken away because we do not pay enough attention to the simple beauty in life and in nature. Although all of these are examples of inequality, I do not agree with Tillich when he claims that this is due to the presence of the divine, by the choice of God. I believe inequality comes from ourselves. We may embrace, or else let it slip away. It is through our lack of conscientiousness that life becomes unequal. I attribute the basic inequalities in nature as an effect of true nature, almost as far as survival of the fittest. Inequality is unfair but it is an aspect of life that people must deal with without an answer, without justification. When looking to God or any religious aspect for an answer you can only possibly answer the question yourself. When you pray or ask God a question you propose this question clearly to yourself. When you finally find an answer or solution it is not through the light of God, but through yourself and through your own learning and understanding of the world. Analytical Essay: Riddle Of Inequality :: essays research papers Analytical Essay: "The Riddle of Inequality" The riddle of inequality, as Tillich explains, "...Cannot be solved." This inequality is the divider of people, of the have's and have-nots. It seems that this riddle has confused people since the beginning of time and was even discussed in the bible. People always wonder why some have more than others do; they wonder why this happens and how it can change. I believe that this riddle is natural and cannot be changed despite he best efforts of people. Tillich attributes this mystery of have's and have-nots to many factors. First is that if you were granted with inherited talents then you should use them in life to the best of your ability. But if you let them go to waste, then these talents will ultimately be taken away. It is unfair when things are taken away that we might have taken for granted due to lack of attention, such as, "...[the] intense joy and the presence of the mystery of life through the freshness of the young day or the glory of the dying day..." These things are only taken away because we do not pay enough attention to the simple beauty in life and in nature. Although all of these are examples of inequality, I do not agree with Tillich when he claims that this is due to the presence of the divine, by the choice of God. I believe inequality comes from ourselves. We may embrace, or else let it slip away. It is through our lack of conscientiousness that life becomes unequal. I attribute the basic inequalities in nature as an effect of true nature, almost as far as survival of the fittest. Inequality is unfair but it is an aspect of life that people must deal with without an answer, without justification. When looking to God or any religious aspect for an answer you can only possibly answer the question yourself. When you pray or ask God a question you propose this question clearly to yourself. When you finally find an answer or solution it is not through the light of God, but through yourself and through your own learning and understanding of the world.

Classroom Field Study Report Essay

General Description Disston Elementary School, located at Knorr and Cottage Streets, in the Tacony/Wissinoming neighborhood of Philadelphia, is a four-story brick building. The school, K through 8, has a gym, auditorium, and library. There is also a computer lab, consumer education classroom, and a music room. The floors are organized by grade levels, starting with the lower grades on the first floor and working their way up the building. The ground floor, or basement, is reserved for specialty classes, such as music, etc. The school, built in the early 1900’s, has very few modern improvements, mainly because it is a historical landmark. There are no elevators or ramps making it inaccessible to those with walking disabilities or are wheelchair bound. The school, which has approximately 800 students and 40 teachers on staff, is maintained well and kept clean. The staff members I encountered at the school were well informed and professional. The neighborhood is predominately middle class, but does include some low-income families. In addition, about 15% of the students are bussed to Disston from neighborhoods that are at or below the poverty level. The cooperating teacher, Ms. Bledy, was happy to share her classroom as well as her experiences. She provided a pleasant atmosphere and gave me the opportunity to observe her seventh grade science, mathematics, and social studies classes, and fifth grade reading and English classes, which she also instructed. Her seventh grade classes consist of 29 students and her fifth grade RELA (Reading/Language Arts) class consists of 25 students. Learner Differences In the 7th grade class, there are 26 students with average or near-average ability and three students who have been identified with reading and math disabilities. These 3 students attend special classes for those subjects and return to Ms. Bledy for science and social studies. Ms. Bledy adapts the content in science and social studies according to each of the special education students’ I. E. P. (Individual Education Plan). Since all three students are at, or below a second grade reading level, Ms. Bledy uses the school library to find appropriate stories, books, or articles at each students grade level. She looks for material that is parallel, or as close as possible, to the content that is being covered in science and social studies. While lower grade level books have less detail, the teacher tries to provide the special education children with some reading material on the same or a related topic. For example, in a science class on metamorphosis, Ms. Bledy found a story called â€Å"The Very Hungry Caterpillar† by Eric Carle. This grade 1 story, through pictures and words, shows the four life stages from an egg to a butterfly (Surprisingly, the students of average ability also enjoyed this 1st grade book). Ms. Bledy also provides daily hands-on and visual learning experiences for all her students; therefore she finds it easy to adapt lessons for the special education students mainstreamed into her classroom. With the exception of the 3 special educations students, the remaining 26 students in Ms. Bledy’s math class are instructed on a 7th grade level. The teacher uses various visual, auditory, and hands-on learning techniques to adjust to each students learning style. Disston School provides a â€Å"reading cycle† for 90 minutes each day from 10:15 to 11:45 a. m. During this time, students throughout the school change classes to attend reading and language arts at their ability levels. Ms. Bledy teaches level 5 reading, writing, and English. In this class, there is a mixture of 28 students from grades four through eight. Within the groups of students I observed, there were no students with physical handicaps, nor did I observe anyone with severe emotional behavior differences. Ms. Bledy did inform me that 2 students receive the prescription drug Ritalin daily, administered either by the school nurse or a parent. There were very few behavior difficulties in Ms. Bledy’s classroom. She has created a structured, firm and fair atmosphere that the students find comfortable. Motivation Techniques Ms. Bledy facilitates safety, belonging, and positive self-worth to each of her students on a daily basis. The atmosphere in the class is one of calm, encouragement, respect, and unity. During the entire time I attended her classes, I saw students actively engaged in learning, any disruptions were addressed quickly, quietly and effectively. The children seemed to have little difficulty in dividing work in cooperative learning groups and they readily helped each other during class activities. I observed Ms. Bledy’s classes in the last few weeks of school, but it was apparent that the students had become accustomed to routines and had a sense of trust among them. The special education students mainstreamed into the regular education classes were not afraid or embarrassed to show their group members any lower level materials they were using. Although the students were grouped heterogeneously, Ms. Bledy is careful to place the special education students in groups with students that are more patient and have a kinder disposition. These easy-going students are more compassionate toward a special education group member who might take longer to complete an assignment. Some examples of motivation techniques I observed are: Safety: While Ms. Bledy was giving directions for a map activity in social studies class, one of her students, Brandon, rolled up a few small pieces of paper and was proceeding to put them into an empty pen tube. Just as he was about to put the pen to his lips, Ms. Bledy made eye contact with him as she continued giving directions for the activity. She walked over to Brandon and put out her hand so that he could hand over the â€Å"spitball† tube. She never stopped giving directions, but did stop this young man from throwing spitballs around the class causing a disruption. She then pointed to the behavior book and motioned for Brandon to sign it. He shrugged, but quietly walked over, found the page in the book with his name on it and wrote the date and what he did. Brandon wrote, â€Å"trying to make spit ball tube, but Ms. Bledy took it from me. This is a warning, if I do something disruptive again today I will receive a penalty. † At the beginning of the school year Ms. Bledy taught and practiced with her students the class rules and what was expected of them. She feels that if the students write down what they did and make some notation of either a consequence or some other thing that helps them improve their behavior, that there are fewer disruptions in class. Effort and Improvement: Eric is having difficulty creating a circle graph from information on a complicated bar graph. Ms. Bledy gives Eric some individual attention. She goes over to his desk and helps him create some simple circle graphs from simple bar graphs. She then has him practice a few more circle/bar graphs escalating the difficulty each time. She gives encouragement and approval when he is correct and guidance as needed. In a short time, Eric is on his own, confident that he can probably handle the more difficult work. Ms. Bledy moves on, but keeps a watchful eye out for Eric. By the end of class, Eric is successful in completing his graphs. Rewards: Ms. Bledy makes positive comments to her students regularly. She also gives students simple, but effective, rewards. One student, Melissa, not only was helpful to the teacher, but she went out of her way to help Antoine (a special education student) locate the Allied countries of WWI on a map. At the end of class, Ms. Bledy used her cell phone to call Melissa’s mother and told her what a wonderful person Melissa is. Multiple Intelligence: Like most classrooms Ms. Bledy’s class has a variety of intelligences. One of the techniques she uses to address this is by having students divide up work in cooperative learning groups according to their interests. In science class where the students were working on a project on acid rain, the students in each co-op group were required to provide research, complete an experiment, keep a daily journal of results and conclusions, make drawings and graphs of the results, and complete a cover page. Each group is permitted to divide the work according to their talents, although all group members must share in the experiment. Behavioral Learning Principles Ms. Bledy’s classroom atmosphere stresses learning, from the various information provided on classroom bulletin boards, posters, and at workstations to the organization and structure of daily activities she creates for her students. Here are some examples I observed: Fact Learning: Ms. Bledy begins each math class with a math warm-up. The students complete a few simple questions (no more than 5) in two or three minutes. These warm-ups are designed to practice various skills. Students practice basic multiplication, addition, subtraction, and division skills by playing the math game â€Å"24†. Students prepare study cards, usually for homework. They are similar to a flash card, where they put a definition on one side and the term on the other side. This is done on 3Ãâ€"5 index cards. In class, the students play a memory game either in pairs or small groups, using these cards. Reinforcement: Ms. Bledy uses positive reinforcement in her classroom. When she praises a student she uses concrete words that describe the achievement made. One student, Regina, who struggles with math but excels in social studies, was trying to figure out the average winter temperature in Celsius in the country of Germany. She knew the temperature in Fahrenheit. Regina recalled that during a math and science class, Ms. Bledy had shown them how to convert Fahrenheit into Celsius. During this social studies class, Regina applied those skills and was successful in finding the answer. When she told Ms. Bledy the answer, the teacher complimented her on her math skills. Regina beamed the rest of the afternoon and took pride in showing her classmates how to convert the temperatures. Punishment: I observed Ms. Bledy use both presentation and removal punishment techniques. She regularly removes items from the students that can cause them to be disruptive, such as when she removed Brandon’s spitball tube. But, I only saw her need to remove one student to a time-out area. Patrick refused to cooperate with his group and Ms. Bledy had him complete a writing activity (presentation punishment) on cooperation in a time-out area (removal punishment). When he completed this activity he was eager to get back to his group. Ms. Bledy allowed him to rejoin the group where he participated mannerly. Schedules of Reinforcement: Ms. Bledy uses a variable ratio as the schedule of reinforcement in her classroom. She calls on students randomly who offer answers. Although Ms. Bledy schedules particular educational trips with specific dates, she randomly assigns points that students need to earn toward that trip. At the beginning of an activity on statistics in math class, Ms. Bledy told the class that each student could earn 10 points toward Spirit Day, by completing the activity in a timely and thorough manner. One of the requirements she listed was that each group member helps each other complete the assignment. Behavior Modification: Ms. Bledy uses a daily report for students to help them improve behavior. On this report the students identify the behavior they are trying to improve, whether it is disciplinary or academic. The student presents the daily report to all teachers throughout the day. Each teacher writes whether or not the child improved that targeted behavior for that class and lists any suggestions the student can follow for further improvement. At the end of the day, the child takes the daily report home for a parental signature (This is not always a requirement. It is done on a case-by-case situation). Ms. Bledy and the student review the daily report each morning and discuss other ways the child can help him/herself. Modeling: Ms. Bledy uses modeling as part of her direct instruction at the beginning of most classes. In one instance, the students were to create a time line of their future. Ms. Bledy created a time line for herself and shared it with the class. She showed them how she started out by making a list of 10 goals for herself on paper. Then she explained how long she thought (realistically) it would take her to achieve each goal. Finally, she picked 2001 as a starting point and systematically set up her time line. The students grasped the idea and went quickly to work. Cognitive Learning Principles Ms. Bledy increases her students learning by using a number of cognitive learning principles. Concepts are learned through practice and examples, information is processed by using chunking, categorizing, etc. and her students regularly participate in meaningful activities linking new information to existing knowledge. Concept Learning: Ms. Bledy writes a list (or row) of terms that are related and adds one that is unrelated. In a science lesson on solutions she listed the terms â€Å"dissolving, hard water, soft water, bacteria, solute, solvent. † The students identified the term â€Å"bacteria† as the one that did not fit into this list. She continued by listing 3 or more groups. Information Processing: Ms. Bledy makes constant use of charts and graphs. The students created bar graphs for a math class I observed based on statistical information they collected. Students surveyed Ms. Bledy’s class as well as seven other classrooms on how they would like, or wish, to spend their summer vacations. They combined their information and converted it into percentages. Then they created bar graphs and later in the week made circle graphs. Constructivism: Ms. Bledy’s students went on to accumulate information on how they actually spent their summer vacations (meaningful activity) and created graphs using this information. As a conclusion to this assignment, Ms. Bledy had the students compare the way they actually spend vacation to how they wish their vacations would be like. Classroom Management Ms. Bledy’s classroom is well organized and well managed. She has three osters above the side blackboard that lists rules, penalties, and rewards (see attached copy of Ms. Bledy’s Discipline Plan).

Demand and Supply Curves

We have a certain commodity, `pure Malaysia Laptop’, whose market we are going to analyze. Assume that exogenous (external) forces are equal in magnitude, while supply–demand curves are unitary elastic. Given a certain event/scenario, (a) analyze the curve/s affected, shifts or movements and the direction, and (b) effect to equilibrium price (P*) and equilibrium quantity (Q*) Scenario 1 a. Prices of optical drives suddenly increase The production cost has increased so the supply decreases and eventually the price go up.The supply curve shifts to the left. b. A new market-standard operating system is released to the market but costs at least 50% higher than the previous edition This issue is considered another production cost so the supply curve shifts to the left. The supply decreases and price goes up. c. News spread that local laptops were contaminated with melamine Demand decreases because people buy less due to the news so the demand curve shifts to the left and the Q and P both decrease. d.Video chatting and internet-on-the-go become fad New technology makes people buy more of the product so demand increases and as a consequence the demand curve shifts to the right and price and quantity both increases. Scenario 2 a. China laptop manufacturers were permitted to enter the Malaysian market Cheaper products attract consumers, so the demand for our product decreases. The shift in the demand curve goes to left and the P and Q both decreases. b. Average desktop computer prices have plunged to all-time lowsIf desktop computers become cheaper the demand for laptops decreases so the demand curve shifts to left and eventually the P and Q decrease. c. New taxes were imposed to laptops sales (per unit tax) Imposing new taxes to laptops is additional cost for the production. so it affects the supply and the supply curve shifts to left. so the P increases and Q decreases. d. A recession/economic downturn cause the income of consumers to decline and cause t he prices of laptop parts to increaseWhen consumer’s income decreases, the demand goes down and the demand curve shifts to the left. On the other hand the prices of laptop parts increases and that makes the production costs to increase so the supply decrease and the supply curve shifts to left. So the quantity decreases while we have an ambiguous equilibrium price. Scenario 3 a. Biggest local laptop manufacturer suddenly become bankrupt and the government gives subsidy to consumers to purchase `educational and computer-literacy’ related goodsBy the biggest local laptop manufacturer going bankrupt, our company’s supply goes up and eventually the price goes up. The demand curve shifts to the left. So the Q decreases. b. New production techniques were adopted by local laptop manufacturer and prices of inputs in the production of desktop computer decline significantly When the prices for laptops decease the demand goes up and as a consequence the demand curve shifts to the right so the price and quantity increase.