Thursday, October 31, 2019
Summarizing articles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Summarizing articles - Essay Example He offers that such can be achieved through building relationships and complementing customers in brand marketing. In this article, the author observes that emotions supersede reason and logic whenever customers make a decision on what to buy. He points out that effective management of B2B should be focused on creating a personal relationship with the business. Here, Julie Davis, the author, points that the age of technology has enabled businesses to reach their customers through various online platforms. He advises that both B2B and B2C should listen to customersââ¬â¢ feedback that would enable them improve their customer service. In this article, Larry Myler focuses on B2B strategies for improved sales. Myler offers that focusing on an established goal is the first step. He proceeds to outline that such a goal should address different buyers, establish trust and reduce cost of operation amongst others. Davis argues that in order for a B2B to benefit from online marketing, it has to improve its SEO. He offers that doing so would entail trying to understand customer search habits, investment in a competent IT department and expand its SEO terms to have more traffic. Garvin Finn asserts that many B2B fail to innovate owing to the fear of change of strategy. He offers that many cling to a strategy that is not working owing to a kind of fear he terms cognitive dissonance. He advises that B2B should just explore alternative solutions. In this article, Peter Friedman observes that although millennials are techno-savvy, they should not be entirely left in charge of social media marketing. He advises that millennials would impart a B2B positively by allowing them work under a senior who directs their efforts and skills appropriately. The articles have helped me understand the topics addressed in B2B in the following ways. To begin with, the articles have helped me
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Nu Metal as A Genre in Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words
Nu Metal as A Genre in Music - Essay Example If addiction is to be defined with respect to music then it is love and passion. Music takes many forms. Each genre is unique. Styles, region and origin make them apart but music brings them together. A very special genre of music that embeds power and melody in a magical harmony is Rock Music. Rock music has its origin in the late 1940's in the United States (Christe, Ian 2003).Typically, Rock music is accompanied by Guitar, Bass, Drums and often a Keyboard. Vocals play a prominent role in this form of music. Much attention goes towards the melody in vocals and the Electric guitar dominates the foreground. In the beginning Rock music was primarily popular in United Kingdom and the United States but by 1960's it started to gain world wide popularity. Chuck berry in 1955 invented Rock and Roll (Christe, Ian 2003). It was after him that the British blues had come up with increased speed of their rhythm guitars. Their music had a driving power that no other music on earth had. A few years later Beatles band was formed. This band went on to achieve world wide success. They were the first proponents to bring guitars on to stage. They turned their music into a mass media attraction. Various forms of rock music were derived later and each had its own significance. The evolution of various genres in rock music is mainly associated with time. In 1960's a blend of Rock music with folk and jazz respectively came up and were known as Folk rock and Jazz rock. In 1970's a number of subgenres of rock music came up with the influence of soul and self importance. These include soft rock, progressive rock, art rock, techno rock, synth rock and punk rock. (Christe, Ian 2003) 1980's was the golden era in the history of rock music that saw the birth of hard rock, heavy metal and alternate rock. Thanks to bands like Metallica (Thrash metal), Megadeth (Speed Metal) and Iron Maiden (Hard Rock) that shook the world with almost all of their albums striking gold. They obsessed death, pain, hatred and evils in the society and that reflected in their lyrics as well. This drew the angry young crowd towards Metal Mania that spread like plague across the world in no time. Rock music established itself as a major business at International level. 1990's saw the time for Grunge style rock, Brit pop and Indie Rock. A new musical genre in the mid 90's that has its origin from Alternate metal, Thrash and Hard rock came up as "NU METAL". (Kitts, Jeff and Tolinski, Brad 2002) Apart from these forms many others like punk rock, psychedelic rock, soulful rock; Speed Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, Thrash Metal, Underground, fusion etc have come up with improvements over their ancestral or base forms of Rock music. Each of these forms of Rock music has its own history and origin specifics and bands that are real professionals. Each form has its own pros and difficulty level in composing and performing. Each has its own way of drawing crowds towards it. Creativity in each and every aspect of the basic attributes associated with Rock music is what differentiates these genres of Rock music. Nu Metal: A new Genre A new perception arrived in the minds of the people that style in performance
Sunday, October 27, 2019
The Feminist Standpoint Theory
The Feminist Standpoint Theory According to Marxist theory, a standpoint cannot be achieved by mere ascribing to a fact like a perspective is, it is an achieved common identity, and it is arrived at through the experience of shared political fight (Ruxton, 2004). Feminist standpoint theory began with Hegels account of dialectic relationship between a slave and a master, and then it was strengthened by Marx and more specifically Lukacs formulation of the concept of the stand point. They argue that a suppressed slave will eventually arise and reach consciousness freedom as an end product of their struggles against the master. Hegels theory gave insight to the fact that oppression and injustices can be best analyzed, and a clear understanding made if it is viewed from the oppressed view point (Hardings, 1991). In a similar view as that of Hegels view of the relationship between a master and his slave, it can be deduced, the themes of the feminist stand point theory. According to feminist standpoint theorists Dorothy Smith and Patricia Hill Collins, the socio-political positions that women have been socialized to occupy can become important areas for information about those who are in many aspects of their social lives disadvantaged as well as those who are privileged to occupy the positions of oppressors (Smith, 2012). Thus, Hardings (1991) concludes that, starting a research on womens life will result in less biased and indistinct accounts for both the men and women the whole social order. It is for this reason that feminist standpoint theorist Dorothy Smith tries to account for the fault line of gender, in that the male counterparts are privileged socially and politically unlike their female counter parts. She further goes on to attribute the failure of men to sense the disjuncture between daily life and what they know of the world to this social location of the two genders. She defends that women by the idea of being disadvantaged in the gender power relation can relate their daily life to what they know of the world. The rational by Dorothy smith and the other feminist standpoint theorist to their assertion of this standpoint include three main principles. First, is the assertion that knowledge is socially situated, secondly, is the assumption that less privileged groups both socially and politically, are socially predisposed in a manner that make it possible for them to ask questions and be aware of things that the socially and politically privileged cannot. Finally, for an informative research, especially that which focuses on power relation, it should be carried out beginning with the lives of those marginalized. It is this three principle assumptions about feminist theories that Smith employs to analyze the reason behind the different viewpoints that men and women have on social and political issues. She puts it that collecting womens experiences, which in most scenarios is cleaning up, after mens mess forms rich site for research, for policy reform and most importantly for social change (Smith, 2005). An example is the house holds chores that women do that no one pays for or offers lifelong pension scheme. The society views such tendencies as normal while most women remain oppressed as housewives. While feminist standpoint theories claim that this status cannot be acquired by mere point of fact, or believing in the struggle, but through being part of the experiences and sharing in the struggle. On the other hand, masculinity is a performed gender identity not a sexual orientation. This is implies that it can be performed by either a male or a female. Hegemonic masculinity could be analogously referred to as an absolute form of masculinity which is virtually unattainable. It is actually the opposite of femininity (Kimmel, 2005). While women find themselves locked in the corners of feminist standpoints and are only relived from this social orders by first attaining a mentally free conscience, masculinity on the other hand, men are socialized to perform it right away from birth. According to a masculinity sociologist Michael Kimmel, masculinity in men is because of certain cultures, one is that men grow with a mentality that they deserve something, and this culture is normally referred to as the culture of entitlement, where they look forward to having children, a generation, power, and/or women. Secondly, is the culture of silence among men, this comes out in cultures where men are not allowed to do certain things such as cry, or admit emotional pain especially to people considered outsiders to the culture of masculinity. Last is the culture of men protection, which can either be portrayed by assuming that the men would not do such an action especially that which is considered illegal, or they brush it aside as being in mens nature to do that, for instance in some cultures especially in sub-Saharan Africa. In their culture, men cheating on their wives may as well be given a blind eye as it is in the mens nature or it is the womens fault that such happened ( Ruxton, 2004). Now from these two perspectives that is; feminist standpoint and masculine sociology, Dorothy Smiths view on textually mediated ruling relations brings out clearly the difference. While from a masculine point of view, there is a fixed set of expectation that any of the two genders trying to demonstrate it are expected to fit into. This includes how the society perceives them or is expected to perceive them even before their arrival (Rubin and Rubin, 2005). For instance, men are expected to dominate over women in some cultures and to protect their wives plus to provide for them. Thus when a boy is born he lives trying to reach this expectations that are set out for him. This is contradictory to the feminist standpoint that works to shake off the pre-existing social order. Feminist standpoint theory, which borrows a lot from Hegels theories, postulates that those in marginalized in social or political power relations, will rise to challenge the social order within which they find thems elves. The theory bases itself on the idea that women are utterly oppressed. While the situation may be real in some societies some women also have their privileges. Why men have to work all day to feed women who believe it should be so while they still fight for equality is still not clear in the theory. It is for this privilege that most women are never willing to confront the oppression. The ones that do are joined by the oppressed while the rest sit and watch. Conclusively, it suffices to conclude that the concept of masculinity sociology conflicts ideologically with the feminist standpoint theory. Smith attempts to explore the disjuncture between men and women in society by using the standpoint theory. Her account further attempts to explain the inevitable fault line between the two genders, which she does perfectly. However, she fails to clearly capture why exactly women have to struggle to be at par with their male counterparts. She fails to answer the oppressed male societies who go through struggle to be named by women equal with their other male strong characters. While men are frowned upon when they portray female characteristics having a list of endless abuses to such men, women who behave like men are adored. Pointing to the problem is not enough, the gap between male and female gender is much perpetuated by perceptions which each of us have to come against.
Friday, October 25, 2019
The Horizons of Theory: Jameson, Marxism, and Poststructuralism Essay
The Horizons of Theory: Jameson, Marxism, and Poststructuralism Fredric Jameson's The Political Unconscious is a work which crosses theories' boundaries, which walks (or polices?) Marxism's border on poststructuralism. It may easily be read as a refutation of poststructuralism, or as an embrace of it; as a flight from Marxism (though under its own banner), or as its theoretical redemption ââ¬â this is not a contradiction (we might read Jameson as replying), but a dialectical, productive exploration of the tension between these philosophies. Indeed, Jameson's exposition of his Marxist hermeneutic may be taken as a reply (from within a discourse he perceives as Marxism) to the poststructuralisms of Jacques Derrida and Gilles Deleuze, and as a conversation with the structural Marxism he calls "Althusserian"; but Jameson attempts to reconcile these views with the Marxist tradition. We may read The Political Unconscious as positing a mode of reading which is acceptable to ââ¬â or which subsumes ââ¬â both a "demystifying" Marxism and the ap oria or irreducible contradiction of deconstruction; but in so doing, as Jameson perhaps realizes, the text is drawn into the clear contradictions between these theories, and only partially resolves (or evades) them. The central thesis of The Political Unconscious is the presence of History as the "untranscendable" or "absolute horizon of all reading and all interpretation" (17). We may immediately note that this "untranscendable presence" apparently contradicts deconstruction's mistrust of all presences within and behind texts, to say nothing of Derrida's derisive references to "transcendence." To look for History in the text, to find the hidden meaning of History through it, would evidently not be a sa... ...rificing the individual text to a broader structural analysis ââ¬â "that a Marxist cultural study can hope to play its part in political praxis, which remains, of course, what Marxism is all about" (299). It is revealing (from a Marxist standpoint) that this final aside marks the only reference to concrete political involvement in the volume; perhaps more tellingly, The Political Unconscious treats this sacrifice of the traditional, individualistic literary text as a price which, however unfortunately, must be paid (in order to satisfy the demands of Marxism). But as a reconciliation of the poststructuralist, anti-transcendent insistence on specificity with some of the theoretical imperatives of Marxist cultural thought, The Political Unconscious remains a breakthrough; and as a proposal of a newly political, poststructuralist historicism, it is undeniably persuasive.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Power Essay
Power Definition Essay Power is a strong word and really very hard to define, it is a very vast term, but I guess thatââ¬â¢s the point of the word isnââ¬â¢t it. Power can be anything from love to death or even electrical power; itââ¬â¢s all about how you view the term on a personal level. Two types of power that are commonly thought about when people are put on the spot and asked the question ââ¬Å"what is Power? â⬠are social/political power and power used in physics.For the obvious reasons that I donââ¬â¢t know too much about physics; this essay will boarder around more of the social and political aspect of power. So the question still stands ââ¬Å"what is power? â⬠On a personal note, to me power is a social/political level in which you can control an influence people. A way I also perceive this same idea of power is that the higher of the level you have the easier it becomes for them to control and influence the public with littler resistance.For example l ook at the president of the United States many people love him and he can almost do anything he wants; though you might say that many people also donââ¬â¢t like him this is because of a comparison, he runs against others for office so there are some contrasting factors. For me I can easily see power in everyday life, although it may not be how I view power when I picture it in my head. A way that I often see on a daily basis is direct control over someone else.Some example of this may include your teacher failing you if you do not do what they ask or a personal and ongoing one for me is my mother threatening to not let me go to see my favorite band in the summer unless I do everything she asks, and believe me the list gets daunting. Often people relate power to symbols, words, phrases or even colours. When I did my power survey some of the answers that I got were lightning bolt, fist, peace sign, and groups of people.The lightning bolt was the most popular ones, I have spoken wit h my classmates and this was a popular one, I think this is a popular choice because it can represent different kinds of power leaving multiple impressions on people. Some political figures can be viewed as very powerful people because they can control mass amounts of people for better or for worse; this includes people like JFK and Hitler. Colour can make a huge impact and difference on people when presenting something this is why on my poster I tried to pay attention of the meaning of the colours while still rying to make it look as good as it does. For myself I view red and black as two very important colours because they both have very strong meanings that have both impacted my life significantly. In conclusion I still believe and proceed to see power as a social and political level that you can use to control or influence people on a positive or negative way. If you are looking to gain more power in your life, or just control and understand what you got going for you I suggest looking into powerful quotes, symbols and colours that can help you find your own impression of power.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Treetop Forest Products Ltd
Marketing: In business, firm marketing generates the revenues that the financial people manage and the production people use in creating goods and services. The challenge that faces marketing is to generate those revenues by satisfying customersââ¬â¢ wants at a profit and in a socially responsible manner. However, marketing is not limited to business organizations.Whenever we try to persuade somebody to do something: donate to RED CROSS, not to litter the highways, save energy, vote for candidate, we are engaging in marketing; thus marketing has a broad societal meaning and it is applicable not only for profit making but also for not profit organizations. Many scholars define marketing as follows: 1. According to American Marketing Association, marketing is defined as the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods and services from producers to consumers or users. . According to William J. Stanton, Marketing is a system of business activities designed to plan , price, promote and distribute want satisfying goods and services to present and potential customers. 3. According to Evans and Berman, Marketing is the anticipation, stimulation, facilitation, regulation and satisfaction of consumer and publicââ¬â¢s demand for products, services, organizations, people, places, and ideas through the exchange process. 4.According to Philip Kotler, Marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others. Generally, the definition of marketing can be grouped in to two: classical (narrow) definition and modern (broad) definition. Classical Definition: In classical terms marketing can be defined as the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods and services from producers to consumers. This definition is too narrow to describe marketing.It emphasizes the distribution aspect of marketing. Modern Definition: In broade r terms marketing is defined as a system of business activities designed to plan, price, distribute and promote want satisfying products (goods and services) to present and potential customers. In marketing, there are combinations of activities, which start before the creation of a product and donââ¬â¢t end until customers are satisfied. Therefore, product planning, pricing, distribution and promotion are the main activities performed in marketing.Marketing includes anticipating demand, which requires a firm to do customer research on a regular bases so that it develops and introduces products that are desired by consumers, Management of demand which consists of stimulation, facilitation, and regulation of tasks; and satisfaction of demand which involves actual performance, safety, availability of options, after sale service and other factors. From the above discussions, we can conclude the following about marketing: a. Marketing is the business activity concerned with the flow o f goods and services from producers to consumers. . Marketing generates and facilitates exchange c. The concept of marketing lies on needs, wants, and demands of customers. d. Marketing is greater than selling. e. Marketing is an integrated activity. f. Marketing is concerned with customer satisfaction. MARKETING FUNCTIONS The following are the basic marketing functions: 1. Environmental Analysis and Marketing Research: Involves monitoring and adapting to external factors that affect success or failures, such as the economy and competition; and collecting data to resolve specific marketing issues. 2. Consumer Analysis:Involves examining and evaluating customer characteristics, needs, and purchase processes and selecting the group of consumers at which to aim marketing efforts. 3. Product Planning: ( including goods, services and ideas) Involves developing and maintaining products, product assortments, product images, brands, and packaging, and optional features; and deleting falteri ng products. 4. Distribution Planning: Involves establishing relations with distribution-channel intermediaries, physical distribution, inventory management, warehousing, transportation, the allocation of goods and services, wholesaling and retailing 5.Promotion Planning: Involves communicating with customers, the general public and others through some form of advertising, publicity, personal selling, and/or sales promotion. 6. Price Planning: Involves determining price levels and ranges, price techniques, terms of purchase, price adjustments, and the use of price as an active or passive factor. 7. Broadening the organizations' /individuals' scope: Involves deciding on the emphasis to place, as well as the approach to take, on international marketing, service/ -non-profit marketing and societal issues. 8. Marketing Management:Involves planning, implementation, and controlling the marketing program (strategy) and individual marketing functions; and appraising the risks and benefits i n decision making. According to W. J. Stanton and McKarthy, there are eight economic activities in marketing that are broadly classified into three: 1. Exchange: -Buying -Selling 2. Physical Distribution ââ¬â Transportation ââ¬â Storage 3. Facilitating /Auxiliary/ ââ¬â Financing ââ¬â Marketing research and information ââ¬â Risk bearing ââ¬â Product standardization 1) Exchange: It is the process by which parties provide something of value to one another to satisfy the needs of each.The seller provides a needed product Goods Services Seller Buyer Money Credit The buyer offers something in return a) Buying: It is acquisition and procurement of goods for eventual resale or for production of other goods or rendering of services. b) Selling: It is not only just to make sales but also to find buyers, stimulate them, and provide advice and service to buyers. It involves advertisement, personal selling, customer service, publicity, etc. 2) Physical Distribution: Refer s to handling and movement of goods from production area to market center.It consists of a) Storage: It provides proper handling and storage of goods until they are demanded and sold. b) Transportation: It is the shipment and movement of goods from their manufacturing place to the market center /place of sale/. It enables to make goods reachable to the consumers. 3) Facilitating Function /Auxiliary Function: these are functions that facilitate and assist the proper performance of other functions of marketing. It encompasses a) Financing: To carry out business operations smoothly, it requires finance or money. Marketing as a major business activity, leads us to the need for money or finance.Without it, organizations are unable to schedule their operations. The activity of financing involves the proper handling and management of the inflow and outflow of money. Accordingly, finance is defined as the management function, which involves effectively obtaining and using money. Sources of finance include revenue from sale of company products and services, rental of business properties, from sale of stock, or from loan and credit agencies. b) Market Research and information: Managers of businesses do not make decisions on the basis of common sense or intuition. They require information.Therefore, to make marketing decisions and to design effective marketing policies, managers should get information regarding tests, preferences, attitudes and needs of customers; position of competitors, capacity of suppliers and creditors. For the success of business, market research is an important activity that involves gathering, analyzing, and interpretation of data collected regarding the needs of consumers. c) Risk Bearing: Business organizations when they are established, it is with the objective of getting profit, expansion, growth, etc. Nevertheless, they fail to achieve their objectives because of uncertainty of the future.Hence, the chance or the possibility of loss that bus iness face is known as RISK. d) Product standardization and Grading: These are facilitating functions that are used to identify the quantity and quality of production. When goods are standardized and graded neither the buyer nor the seller is required to check each and every part of the product. It saves the time of both buyers & sellers. Standardization enables customers to know that there is always definite or standard quality in a particular package; and grading indicates that a package labeled with grades A, B, or C are always uniform and the same everywhere and ever time.The field of marketing is a crucial one for several reasons: it stimulates demand; a large number of people are employed on marketing positions; it supports entire industries such as advertising and marketing research; all people are consumers in some situations; it is necessary to use scarce resources efficiently; it impacts on people's beliefs and life styles; and it influences the quality of our lives. The s cope of marketing is quite broad and diversified. To perform the marketing functions, marketing Performers are required and they are organizations or individuals that undertake one or more marketing functions.They include manufacturers, service providers, wholesalers, retailers, marketing specialists, and organizational and final consumers. Each performer has a different role. One party usually does not perform all the functions. This is due to costs, assortment requirements, specialized abilities, company size, established methods of distribution, and consumer interests. TASKS OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT Marketing managers in different organizations might face any of the following states of demand. The marketing task is to manage demand effectively. The various states of demand and the corresponding marketing management task according to P.Kotler are the following: 1. Negative demand: This is a state in which all or the major parts of the society, dislikes the product and may even pay a price to avoid it. Examples are vaccination, alcoholic employees, dental work, and seat belts. The corresponding marketing task is to analyze why the market dislikes the product and whether product redesign, lower price, or more positive promotion can change the consumer attitudes. This marketing task or activity is known as CONVERSIONAL marketing which tries to change peopleââ¬â¢s want rather than serve their wants. . No demand: This is a case where target customers may be uninterested in or indifferent to a particular product. For example, farmers may not know about a new farming method; college students may not be interested in taking foreign language courses. Marketing managers are concerned with finding ways to connect the productââ¬â¢s benefits with the userââ¬â¢s needs and interests. This marketing task is known as STIMULATIONAL marketing; it tries to stimulate a want for an object in people who initially have no knowledge or interest in the product 3.Latent demand : Consumers have a want that is not satisfied by any existing product or service. This state of demand where many customers share a strong need for something that does not exist in the form of actual product is called LATENT demand. Examples include the need for harmless cigarettes, more fuel-efficient cars, etc. In this case, marketing managers respond by trying and developing effective goods and services that will satisfy the demand through analysis and measurement of the potential market.The marketing task is called DEVELOPMENTAL marketing and its task is to measure the size of the potential market and trying to develop a new product or service that would satisfy the demand. 4. Falling demand: Sooner or later, every organization faces falling demand for one or more of its products. For example, churches have seen their membership decline, and private colleges have seen fewer applications. The marketer must find the causes of market decline and re-stimulate demand by finding new m arkets, changing product features, or creating more effective communication and the marketing task is REMARKETING. . Irregular demand: It is a state in which the timing pattern of demand is marked by seasonal and volatile fluctuations causing problems of idle capacity and overworked. For example museums are under-visited during weekdays and overworked during weekends. The corresponding marketing task is SYNCHROMARKETING, i. e. , to find ways to alter the time pattern of demand through flexible pricing, promotion and other incentives so that it will better match the time pattern of supply. 6. Full demand: The organization has just the amount of demand it wants and can handle.It is a state where the current level and timing of demand is equal to the desired level and timing of demand. The marketing task is MAINTENANCE marketing and is designed to maintain the current level of demand against changing consumer preferences. The organization maintains quality, and continually measures sat isfaction to make sure it is doing a good job. 7. Overfull demand: It is a state in which demand is higher than the company can or wants to handle. The marketing task is called DEMARKETING and its task is finding ways to reduce the demand temporarily, or permanently.De-marketing involves such actions as raising prices and reducing promotion and service. It does not aim to destroy demand, but only to reduce it. It calls for using normal marketing tools in reverse. 8. Unwhole-Some demand: Unwholesome products such as cigarettes, alcohol, and hard drugs will attract organized effort to destroy the demand or interest in particular product or service. The corresponding marketing task is known as COUNTERMARKETING it is a difficult task in that the aim is to get people who like something to give it up. Marketing manager cope with these tasks by arrying out marketing research, planning, implementation and control. The demand levels and corresponding marketing tasks are summarized as follows : State of demand| Marketing task| Formal Name| 1. | Negative demand| Disabuse demand| Conversional marketing| 2. | No demand| Create demand| Stimulation Marketing| 3. | Latent demand| Develop demand| Developmental marketing| 4. | Falling demand| Revitalized demand| Remarketing marketing| 5. | Irregular demand| Synchronize demand| Synchro-marketing| 6. | Full demand| Maintain| Maintenance marketing| 7. Overfull demand| Reduce demand| Demarketing marketing| 8. | Unwholesome demand| Destroy demand| Counter marketing| 2. 3. MARKETING MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS We have described marketing management, as the conscious effort to achieve desired exchange outcomes with target markets. Now we ask what philosophy should guide these marketing efforts? What weights should be given to the interests of the organization, the customers and society? Very often these interests conflict. Clearly, marketing activities should be carried out under a clear philosophy of efficient, effective, and responsible mark eting.There are five competing concepts under which organizations conduct their marketing activity. 1. The production concept: This concept holds that consumers will favor those products that are widely available and low in cost. Management of production oriented organization concentrates on achieving high production efficiently and wide distribution coverage. Organizations that appreciate this concept assume that consumers like products that are widely available and accessible at low cost. The production concept is one of the oldest concepts guiding sellers.The assumption that consumers are primarily interested in product availability and low price holds in at least two types of situations. The first is where the demand for a product exceeds supply as in many Third World countries. Here consumers are more interested in obtaining the product than in its fine points. The suppliers will concentrate on finding ways to increase production. The second situation is where the productââ¬â ¢s cost is high and has to be brought down through increased productivity to expand the market.Texas instruments provides a contemporary example of the production concept: Texas Instruments is the leading American exponent of the ââ¬Å"get-out production, cut the priceâ⬠philosophy. Ford put all of his talent into perfecting the mass production of automobile to be down their instruments all of its efforts in building production volume and improving technology in order to bring down costs. It uses its lower costs to cut process and expand the market size. It strives to achieve the dominant position in its markets.To Texas Instruments, marketing primarily means one thing bringing down the price to buyers; this orientation has also been a key strategy of many Japanese companies. 2. The product concept: Under this concept, marketing managers assume that consumers will prefer those products that offer (provide) the most quality, performance, with good features. Managers in this pr oduct-oriented organizations focus their energy on making quality products and improving them over time. These managers assume that buyers admire well-made products and can select, purchase and appreciate product quality.Products oriented companies often design their product with little or no customer input. These managers are caught up in a love affair with their product and fail to appreciate that the market may be less ââ¬Å"turned on. â⬠They trust that their engineers will know how to design or improve the product. Too often they will not even examine competitors products because ââ¬Å"they were not invented here. â⬠A General Motors executive said years agoâ⬠ââ¬Å"How can the public know what kind of car they want until they see what is available? â⬠GMââ¬â¢s designers would develop plant for a new car. Then manufacturing would make it.Then the finance department would price it. Finally, marketing and sales would try to sell it. GM failed to ask cust omers what they wanted and never brought in the marketing people at the beginning to help figure out what kind of car would sell. The product concept leads to ââ¬Å"marketing myopiaâ⬠a focus on the product greater than on the customerââ¬â¢s need. Railroad management thought that users wanted trains rather than transportation and overlooked the growing challenge of the airlines, buses, trucks, and automobiles. Churches and the post office all assume that they are offering the public the right product and wonder why their sales falter.These organizations too often are looking into a mirror when they should be looking out the window. 3. The Selling concept: Under this philosophy/concept/, marketing managers assume that consumers purchase products if the organization undertakes an aggressive selling and promotion effort. Therefore, firms emphasize and direct their effort on promotion and selling of their products. Most firms practice the selling concept when they introduce new products and when they have over capacity. The selling concept holds that consumers, if left alone, will ordinarily not buy enough of the organizationââ¬â¢s products.The organization must therefore undertake an aggressive selling effort. The concept assumes that consumers typically show buying inertia or resistance and have to be coaxed into buying, and that the company has available a whole battery of effective selling and promotion tools to stimulate more buying. The selling concept is practiced most aggressively with ââ¬Å"unsought goods,â⬠those goods that buyers normally do not think of buying such as insurance, encyclopedias, and funeral plots. These industries have perfected various sales techniques to locate prospects and hard sell them on product benefits.Most firms practice the selling concept when they have over capacity. Their aim is to sell what they make rather than make what the market wants. In modern industrial economies, productive capacity has been built up to a point where most markets are buyer markets (i. e. , the buyers are dominant), and sellers have to scramble hard for customers. Prospects are bombarded with television commercials, newspaper ads, direct mail, and sales calls. At every turn, someone is trying to sell something. As a result, the public identifies marketing with hard selling and advertising. 4.The Marketing Concept: The marketing concept is different from the above three concepts. Managers under this concept assumes that the key to achieving organizational goals is based on the determination of the needs and wants of consumers and delivering or providing the desired satisfaction more efficiently, and effectively, than competitors. When we compare the marketing concept with the selling concept, the selling concept focuses on the needs of the seller; the marketing concept focuses on the needs of the buyer. Selling concept focuses on the needs of the seller; marketing on the needs of the buyer.Selling is preoccupi ed with the sellerââ¬â¢s need to convert his product into cash. Marketing is preoccupied with the idea of satisfying the customersââ¬â¢ needs of the product and the whole cluster of things associated by creating and delivering the product. The marketing concept rests on four main pillars, namely target market, customer needs, coordinated marketing, and profitability. These are shown in figure below ââ¬â The selling concept Starting pointFocusMeans Ends FactoryProductsSelling ; Profits throughpromotion sales volume The marketing concept Starting point focus meansEndsTarget market Customer CoordinatedProfits through Needs marketingCustomer Satisfaction Here we examine how each pillar of the marketing concept contributes to more marketing that is effective. i. TARGET MARKET: No company can operate in every market and satisfy every need. Nor can it even do a good job within one broad market. Companies do best when define their target market (s) carefully and prepare a tailored marketing program. An auto manufacture can think of designing passenger cars, station wagons, sports carts, and luxury. But this thinking is less precise than defining a customer target group.One Japanese carmaker is designing a car for the career woman, and it will have many features that male-dominated cars donââ¬â¢t have. Another Japanese carmaker is designing a car for the ââ¬Å" town man,â⬠the young person who needs to get about town and park easily. In each, the company has clarified a target market, and this will greatly influence the car design. Societal Marketing Concept: It holds that the organization should determine the needs, wants, and interests of the target markets and deliver the desired satisfaction more effectively and efficiently than competitors in a way that maintains or improves the customerââ¬â¢s and the ocietyââ¬â¢s well-being. The societal marketing concept calls upon marketers to balance three considerations in setting their marketing poli cies. Originally, companies based their marketing decisions largely on short-run company profit. Overtime, companies began to recognize the long-run importance of satisfying consumer wants, and introduced the marketing concept. Now they are beginning to think of societyââ¬â¢s interests when making decisions. The societal marketing concept calls for balancing all three considerations-company profits, consumer wants, and societyââ¬â¢s interests.
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