Analysis The World Is Flat A Brief History of the Twenty

Analysis The World Is Flat A Brief History of the Twenty Central Theme The central theme in this book as portrayed by Friedman, is how globalization has changed some of the core economic areas. According to Friedman, the world has become flat through various transformations such as technological advancement and enhanced communication (Friedman, 2006).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Analysis: â€Å"The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century† by Thomas Friedman specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In an attempt to explain how the world has become flat, Friedman discusses major steps under which globalization has taken place; in fact he defines these ten steps as ‘world flatteners’ (Friedman, 2006). Friedman argues that around the year 2000, the world entered a new era; this is the era of globalization where accessibility of information has become easier which is what he describes as flattened world where there is equal playing fi eld of economic achievements. It is during this time that people have found new ways through which they can collaborate; these ways are referred in the book as the â€Å"world flatteners† (Friedman, 2006). For instance, the fifth flattener also known as outsourcing Friedman explains that the advancement in technology has enabled companies to delegate jobs in remote countries which reduce costs by way of internet communication. Again due to occurrence of globalization, people are now able to connect and interact much faster through several communication channels more rapidly than before as stipulated in the steroids flattener that involves use of wireless sharing of information such as iPods and other personal devices. Indeed, the world now has equal opportunity for all people and therefore competition in the business sector has just taken a new twist. As such, Friedman compares the modern business trends which he describes to be similar to a river, because of the way they hav e streamlined sale of products (Friedman, 2006). With increased competition comes equal opportunities and equalized income which means that US is now under more pressure to remain competitive in many areas in order to remain relevant as a superpower since they will be facing a lot of challenges from other countries; notably, India and China which are becoming more advanced.Advertising Looking for research paper on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Relevance The concept found in book, World is flat, is a series of transformation described as â€Å"world flatteners† which are said to have occurred in the economic and business sectors which have significantly contributed to equalization of the world in many aspects (Friedman, 2006). In comparison to the book, The American Dream by Jason DeParle, the book questions and investigates how America came to achieve so much dominance and power in the m anagement in the world affairs. In the book, The American dream, US is described to have undergone through a lot of transformation to become the greatest economical and political power in the world today (DeParle, 2005). The book posits that this has not been an easy road to success and argues that there is so much that has contributed to America becoming successful. The solidarity that unites US for instance has contributed to the drive and energy that has facilitated innovations and creativity that has driven competition. According DeParle, all that lies within the American great foundation, is a great culture that has been promoted over years, this has consequently contributed to social mobility and growth (2005). This as compared to the book The World is Flat is seen as being the key concepts of success. Similarly, cultural changes have also occurred in the world just as argued in the book The World is flat. The world has become flat as different cultures including those that we re previously threatened have become integrated. In this book, Friedman describes how the world, just like â€Å"The American dream† has accepted changes and embraced technology (2006). Among the changes that have occurred in both cases includes new advancement in technology use of computers, use of fiber optic and the use of wireless communication such as mobile phones, iPods among others.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Analysis: â€Å"The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century† by Thomas Friedman specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Indeed, the world has flattened due to various innovations as shown in the book which are seen to have been embraced as described in the out-sourcing flattener where Friedman says that technology has allowed Companies to be able to distribute services and also subcontract some activities through technological advancement. The impact of globalizat ion in US There is no doubt that US has benefited more than it has lost through globalization; this is because globalization has both benefits and adverse effects. The major ways that US has benefited through globalization include enjoying better terms of trade, outsourcing of jobs to other countries, less trade barriers, high cultural integration, improved democracy and enhanced communication through social networks (Nickmaceus, 2010). Some specific ways in which this benefit has occurred in US is through technological advances that have enabled outsourcing of jobs in other countries at cheaper rates and in real time to become possible. Globalization has also made US to be one of the most integrated cultural societies in the world (Bhagwati, 2004). This has major benefits such as skilled labor, promotion of tourism and advancement of neo-colonialism (Denhart, 2007). On the other hand, globalization has its adverse effect; in US this adverse effects include loss of job to foreigners , threat of US internal security due to proliferation of foreigners and increased brand competition from other countries when it comes to trade. Public Affairs Relevance The main theme addressed in the book The World is flat, is globalization. Globalization is described as a situation whereby â€Å"regional economies, societies, and cultures have become integrated through a global network of political ideas through communication, transportation, and trade† (Friedman, 2005). This is very similar to what the concept of public affairs entails; public affair is concerned with the relationship between government activities and other elements in the society. Because of globalization countries have been able to interact and do more trade with other countries globally much easier than before facilitated by the current technological advancement that we have.Advertising Looking for research paper on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This means that, factors of globalization are very much reflected in public affairs issues such as economic and social system. Indeed, in today’s world, economic integration has also enhanced cultural integration. In fact, these two issues are the main factors of globalization. Other characteristic of globalization includes increased communication, shared cultures, electronic commerce, improved infrastructure, and democracy (Dunnigan, 2006). These two are found intertwined in various public affairs such as good governance which is democracy, economic growth, increased job opportunities, promotion of international trade, international tourism, social equity and poverty eradication. It is therefore clear that public affairs issues are directly correlated with globalization issues as discussed in the two books. It is by reading them that I have been able to realize this clear link between public affairs issues and globalization and its relevance in governance. References Bhagwat i, A. (2004). In Defense of Globalization. New York: Oxford University Press. Friedman, T (2005). Its a Flat World After All. New York Times Magazine. Web. Denhart, T. (2007). Theories of Public Organization, 5th edition. Stamford, CT: Wadsworth Publishing. DeParle, J. (2005). American Dream. New York: Penguin Group. Dunnigan, J. (2006). The Costs of the War on Terror. Web. Friedman, T. (2006). The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Nickmaceus, K. (2010). Globalization and the United States: Positive and Negative  Impacts on American Domestic Policies. Web.

A comparison of two television adverts Essay Example

A comparison of two television adverts Essay Example A comparison of two television adverts Essay A comparison of two television adverts Essay Television is the most important medium for advertising, and advertising is a vital component of traditional TV business models. It has always been difficult to assess the benefits of TV advertising as advertisers have traditionally had only a vague idea of who may have seen a particular advert and the actual impact on them. However, they can try and target an audience specifically e. g. time, channel of advert, etc. Most channels gain over 50% of their revenue from TV advertising firms. Without TV adverts, we probably wouldnt buy half the products that are on show in shops. TV advertising also generates millions of pounds for TV channels, and this keeps the channel running. In fact, the main source of income is through advertising. Television is also the most reached audience, more than newspapers, the internet, the radio and even magazines. On the other hand, television advertising is the most expensive type of advertising to use. A 30 second clip on a national channel can cost up to i 20,000. I will compare two adverts promoting similar products, and see the differences in advertising methods and measure the successful effects on its target audience. The advert for the Vauxhall Corsa is 40 seconds long, consisting of 26 scenes. The car can be seen many times during this short advert. This instantly attracts the viewers attention. At one point 11 cars can be seen at once. This advert was found on ITV at a prime-time slot where Vauxhall believed it would attract the most number of people. The advert starts off with one vehicle and a voice over say, 1, 2, 3, as the car parks into a car park. This is a close-up shot of the car. The next scene is the original vehicle being surrounded by 10 other cars of the same model. Repetition is a good device to use for adverts as it creates a lasting memory effect in the viewers mind. The vehicles are all of bright colours e. g. red, white and blue. Bright colours are also useful as they can commonly create a positive link with the viewers perception. Once the voice-over has counted to 3, then the other vehicles start to drive off in different directions. As this happens, music is introduced into the advertisement. This is touch sensitivity by the fall. This song is happy and joyful. It has a guitar melody playing alongside with the cars movements. We see the cars doing various manoeuvres and trying to hide as the vehicles are playing hide and seek. This game between the vehicles creates a fast paced advert; another device commonly used by companies which can either create a good or bad effect depending on other various factors such as music, background colour and product. The first impression is effective because it instantly has the attention of the viewer. The catchy music plays a big role, but also with a lot of cars moving around fast and close together it is easy for viewers to remember. The cars are seen hiding in various places such as a lift, a supermarket and a rubbish skip. By using common places of public interest, the viewers can easily identify themselves with the product. The way the vehicles manoeuvre into and hide in such places, show the small size and practicality of the car to its target audience which would probably be people who are looking to buy a small, economical car. During the advert there is a good varied use of close, middle and long-distance shots. The close-ups are mainly when there is only 1 vehicle in sight. Long distance shots are used when there are a multiple number of cars. All the way through the advert there are many sound effects including the original vehicle being driven on gravel. Also, there is a vehicle jumping into a rubbish skip which is full of rubbish, causing a sound. There is also the sound of a bell in a lift when the doors open revealing the car, once again creating familiarity with the audience. This emphasizes the small size of the car to its target audience. As the original car has counted up to 100 in the game and starts to travel to find the others, another car is revealed from just behind a metal sheet off a building site. This leaves a comedic, lasting effect on the audience that helps them remember the advert after its gone. As the advert finishes off with the word Corsa and Vauxhall the logo and website address are also displayed. The advert for the Volvo 850 T-5 is 39 seconds and is very different to the first advert. It uses different devices to promote the product as it has a different target audience and because it is a different vehicle. The advert begins with a very short half second close up of a man, the viewer can instantly tell the fear on his face and in his eyes even in such a short scene. The next scene is a long distance scene of cloud and lightening going to the floor. So we already know that this is a very different advert from the Corsa advert. This has a completely different tone and mood. The viewer already sees that this advert is using a different method to promote its advert and the image created is dissimilar to the first advert. Whereas the first advert is a very happy and joyful advert with music that matches it. On the other hand this is a tense, serious advert. We see the vehicle being driven through the twister pathway and there is a lot of rubbish flying around, this shows the vehicle in an unrealistic environment. A deep south talking American man is used as the voice-over. There is also a camera shot of a woman screaming out loud whilst stuck in the tornado. Most British viewers will not be able to familiarize themselves with this particular advert as there are hardly any tornadoes in the U. K. and we dont talk with an American accent. On the other hand, the Corsa used public places of interest that many people use so it was far more of a friendlier advert in terms of association. We also see large debris such as the oil rig and the house being torn apart from the tornado. The voice-over used in the Corsa advert was only used to count random numbers up to 100; unlike the Volvo advert where the voice-over is used to describe the tornado. He explains where and what a tornado is, whilst the viewer is able to see the Volvo dodging objects around a desert like area. Manoeuvrability is very important, the man says, as the car is frantically moving out of the way of flying debris. Here, the advert is trying to create a link between the tornado and the car, which is emphasizing the cars force. The music in the background is quite sombre but builds up with a crescendo of tension as the advert progresses. Again, this creates high levels of tension which makes the viewer aware of what is going on.

Proliferation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Proliferation - Research Paper Example In the year 1993, the inspectors from IAEA were denied access to the North Korean sites. Specifically they were denied access to two sites, (Mozley 101). In the same year North Korea withdrew from NPT and made it harder for the IAEA to conduct its affairs, (Cronin 57). In 1994, the United States of America had bilateral negotiations with North Korea and agreed of a framework. This framework demanded that North Korea freezes its plutonium for ten years. It was also to allow IAEA inspector into its sites, (Smith 20). This was to confirm that it is as willing to freeze the plutonium. It turned out that both countries were never satisfied with the agreed framework, (Khan 133). The agreed framework collapsed later when the president of United States, George Bush, ascended to power in the year 2001. North Korea announced in the year 2009 that it had come up with nuclear weapons. It is estimated that North Korea posses a small cache of elementary and basic nuclear weapons. North Korea has a substantive arsenal of nuclear weapons, (Mozley 101). North korea has been part of NPT up to 2003. North korea withdrew from the treaty after blaming the united states for what it called betrayal, (Cronin 57). The treaty had a major assignment. It was also meant to normalize the relationship between North Korea and other countries. Eventually, this would help North Korea to have got some energy assistance from other countries. In the year 2006, the month of October, the government of North Korea, announced that it had conducted its first nuclear test, (Khan 133). The Japanese seismological authorities together with the United States geological survey confirmed there was an earthquake of a 4.3 magnitude. This tended to be consistent with claims that the nation of North Korea made, (Chinoy 90). In April, the year 2009, there were reports to the effect that North Korea had become a fully fledged nuclear power state, (Mozley 101). This opinion was shared by Mohamed Elbaradei, the gener al director of the IAEA. In the following month of May, 2009, North Korea did conduct another nuclear test, (Khan 133). This time around an earthquake of 4.7 magnitudes was detected. On may 25 2009, a test of nuclear weapon was conducted by North Korea. This time it was a second test. The location of the test was not revealed. This second test involved a nuclear weapon whose magnitude was the same as that of the atomic bombs dropped in Japan during the Second World War. North Korea did not stop at that. It went ahead to test two short-range missiles. This was reported by the South Korean news network, (Chinoy 90). In July 2011, a key person in Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program Abdul Khan, made allegations to the effect that north Korea had fully gained access to the Pakistan’ nuclear technology. This was in the late 1990s. This happened through bribing top Pakistan’s officials. However, the allegations were denied by Pakistan’s authorities, (Smith 20). M r. Khan said that he had assisted in transferring three million US dollars to senior military officers in Pakistan, (Chinoy 90). In the year 2012, a report by the United Nations council showed that between May 2011 and 2012 there was no violations reported with regard to the sanctions imposed to North Korea, (Cronin 57). This concerned with the dual technology involved in making ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons. Sanctions have had some success in stopping North Korea from

Topic on Discrimination - 'Critically analyse pay related gender Essay

Topic on Discrimination - 'Critically analyse pay related gender inequalities between men and women in the workplace under the E - Essay Example Management of gender diversity has a great importance in modern workplaces. Since the Industrial Revolution, women have suffered a lot due to gender bias and have not been able to receive their rightful share. Their suffering has come both in terms of discriminatory behaviour and through unjust pay scales. It was only a matter of time for this issue of inequality to be given attention at higher levels i.e. the Government.1 Forces were set in motion in the early 2000s when pay audits were rendered obligatory for the public sector employers while they remained voluntary for the private sector employers.2 The involvement of public sector has been somewhat fortuitous as there have been many developments in equal pay litigations. The UK Parliament passed a law called Equal Pay Act 1970 according to which men and women were not to be treated in a less favourable manner in terms of pay and work conditions. This Act was merged in the Equality Act 2010. Despite the enactment of a law and othe r obligations, there continue to be some significant gender pay gaps. In 2010, the Office for National Statistics recorded that the difference between the median hourly pay of full-time males and females was 10.2 percent while the gap for all employees was 19.8 per cent. An even wider gap was observed in the private sector where it was 19.8 percent for the median hourly pay of full-time males and females and 27.5 percent for all employees3. It is unfair to hold the employers responsible for this gap entirely. There are also certain other factors that contribute to the generation of this gap. There are particular social structures in which there is an automatic occupational segregation, the work of women is undervalued and the family responsibilities are divided unequally. Yet, these factors are only a partial explanation of this gap. There continues to be a significant amount of discriminatory behaviour by the employers which is why the law is continuing to evolve through case law. While focussing on equal pay, it is to be kept in mind that ‘equal pay’ does not address any grievances that arise among the members of similar sex. It addresses all the terms and conditions of the contract of employment. It is not just that men and women, who hold similar positions in a workplace, must be paid equally; it further delves deeper to ensure that men and women are paid equally for the similar amount of work. Equality Act 2010 was brought in force in 2010 and it replaced Sex Discrimination Act 1975, Race Relations Act 1976, Disability Discrimination Act 1995, Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 and the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 20064. This law has been achieved by following a series of steps. There have been a number of cases of direct discrimination that lead to the formulation of principles regarding discrimination. In order to determine whether a woman’s te rms of employment are not less favourable than a man’s, the courts consider three requirements: i. Like Work This concept has a very wide view. It is defined as ‘work of the same or a broadly similar nature’. This concept is there so that the courts and Employment Tribunals take good care to determine that the work done by men and women has an overall similarity for which they are being paid equally.

Zinc finger proteins Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Zinc finger proteins - Research Paper Example folding characteristics but the most abundant and well studied is the classical â€Å"Cys2–His2† (Laity, Lee, and Wright 39) The nature of ZFP is such that they conveniently act as building blocks for many molecules and often occur in clusters. As such, their molecular nature permits them to be easily shuffled, duplicated or even altered through evolution. In the contemporary biotechnology world, they fit perfectly into re-engineering purposes and technology for numerous binding properties that find important use in research (Chang, Jiao, et al. 1426). ZFP and its high affinity for binding DNA is involved in binding of repressors and transcription activators which are very important in regulating expression of genes in a cell. These ZPF have varied protein folds that dictate DNA binding of specific sequences like the helix-helix-turn which arouses the need to use them in therapy or research. ZFP have structural independence that are conserved and interconnected by linkers (Guo, Gaj and Barbas 96). These linkers are HC and named so because the first and last units are hystidine and cysteine residues. The hallmark radius and pitch of ZFP is gotten from H-C residues perfect interaction leading to right handed helix formation. Zif268 which is a transcript factor contains triple finger domains where the ÃŽ ±-helix interacts with the major groove of DNA (Mandel-Gutfreund, Baron and Margalit 141).Three consecutive DNA bases interact with all the three fingers through hydrogen bonds. Specificity of the interaction is derived from the inte raction of the second positioned amino acid residue on the ÃŽ ±-helix with the triplet of the secondary strand. In the end, the conserved residues undergo tertiary folding while each domain’s specificity is brought by the variable domains (Sumedha, Roy et al. 484). Control and regulation of gene expression has been shown to be an important aspect of ZFP through using specific selected three ZF peptides. This was initially undertaken in

Public Relation Tactics in the Hotel Industry

Public Relation Tactics in the Hotel Industry Introduction The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself. According to an American educator and writer Peter F. Drucker. The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself. According to Al Ries Strategy and timing are Himalayas of marketing. Everything else is Catskills Marketing strategy is a process that can allow an organization to concentrate its limited resources on the greatest opportunities to increase sales and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. A marketing strategy should be centered on the key concept that customer satisfaction is the main goal The tourism consumer is the critical judge of successful marketing and public relations activities. In todays increasingly competitive marketing environment there has been a shift from traditional marketing techniques towards more aggressive and varied approaches to marketing and communication. The change from transactional to relationship management in marketing over the past fifty years has been marked by improvements in consumer satisfaction and client recommendation of repeat purchase of products and services. Brands today are often built with effective PR campaigns and then maintained through a blend of marketing and PR tactics. The impact of the Internet is having profound impact upon PR and Marketing practices enabling PR practitioners to conduct two way communications in order to maintain and enhance customer relationships. MARKETING The Oberoi Group Oberoi Hotels Resorts is famous the world over with providing the right blend of service and luxury. Internationally acclaimed for all-round excellence and unparalleled levels of service, Oberoi hotels and resorts have received innumerable awards and accolades. The Oberoi Vanyavilas, Ranthambore has been ranked the worlds best hotel by Travel and Leisure Readers Poll for 2010, The Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra has been ranked the fifth best in the world, The Oberoi Rajvilas, Jaipur is ranked the thirteenth best and The Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur has been ranked the fifteenth best hotel in the world. . Trident hotels are five-star hotels that have established a reputation for excellence and are acknowledged for offering quality and value. At present there are nine Trident hotels in India. These are located in Mumbai at Bandra Kurla and Nariman Point, Gurgaon (Delhi National Capital Region), Chennai, Bhubaneshwar, Cochin, Agra, Jaipur and Udaipur. The Oberoi Group also operates a Trident hotel in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah. The Groups commitment to excellence, attention to detail and personalized service has ensured a loyal list of guests and accolades in the worldwide hospitality industry. THE OBEROI The Oberoi, Mumbai (Location) Located in the citys prime business and shopping district of Nariman Point, The Oberoi, Mumbai has been completely redesigned to be the ultimate destination for contemporary style and luxury in the city. Overlooking the Arabian Sea, the hotel is full of space and serenity. Luxuriously appointed guestrooms have been meticulously planned with a host of innovative features using the latest technology. The Oberoi, Mumbai is located on Marine Drive, the famed boulevard along the coast in South Mumbai. An hours drive from the airport and only minutes away from the business, financial and entertainment districts, the hotel is also well located to visit the citys tourist attractions. The hotel offers a rich variety of dining experiences ranging from an all day dining restaurant serving global cuisine, to an Italian Restaurant and a signature Indian restaurant under the direction of a Michelin starred chef. An ideal location for business meetings and conferences in Mumbai, venues range from private meeting rooms at the 24-hours Business Centre to the conference rooms on the top floor of the hotel offering sweeping views of the Arabian Sea. The Oberoi, Mumbai is the ideal hotel for discerning business and leisure travelers. Porters fives forces model is an excellent model to use to analyse a particular environment of an industry . So for example . if we were entering the hotel industry, we would use porters model to help us find out about: Marketing Strategy of Oberoi Hotels Marketing strategy is a method of focusing an organizations energies and resources on a course of action which can lead to increased sales and dominance of a targeted market niche. A marketing strategy combines product development, promotion, distribution, pricing, relationship management and other elements; identifies the firms marketing goals, and explains how they will be achieved, ideally within a stated timeframe. Marketing strategy determines the choice of target market segments, positioning, marketing mix, and allocation of resources. It is most effective when it is an integral component of overall firm strategy, defining how the organization will successfully engage customers, prospects, and competitors in the market arena, corporate strategies, corporate missions, and corporate goals. As the customer constitutes the source of a companys revenue, marketing strategy is closely linked with sales. A key component of marketing strategy is often to keep marketing in line with a co mpanys overarching mission statement. The Oberoi Group, founded in 1934, operates 28 hotels and three cruisers in five countries under the luxury Oberoi and five-star Trident brands. The Group is also engaged in flight catering, airport restaurants, travel and tour services, car rentals, project management and corporate air charters. Oberoi Hotels Resorts is synonymous the world over with providing the right blend of service, luxury and quiet efficiency. Internationally acclaimed for all-round excellence and unparalleled levels of service, Oberoi hotels and resorts have received innumerable awards and accolades. The Oberoi group has tradition of pioneering in the hospitality industry, striving for unsurpassed excellence in high-potential locations all the way from the Middle East to Asia-Pacific. The basic strategies of the Oberoi hotels are: They provide reservation facilities through toll free numbers and online registrations Oberoi hotels and Resorts has partnered with Indias certified airlines to make consumers satisfied. They promote their service through mileage point which provides customers and travelers some offers depending on their points. Providing special offers such as Himalayan Adventure, exotic honeymoon, exotic vacations, Business travel plus etc. Creating and developing customer loyalty Customer service is important for small businesses of any industry, and developing customer loyalty can increase overall engagement and satisfaction with a company. The concept of Marketing emerged in the mid 1950s when the scope shifted from a make-and-sell-attitude to a more customer focused sense-and-respond attitude. In other words the businesses started to find products for their customers rather than finding customers for their products2. Direct marketing, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and other relationship marketing concepts have been a topic of discussion for practitioners and academics for the later part of the 20th century and is widely claimed to be the future of marketing. Some academics have stated that the concept of relationship marketing is the biggest change in 50 years of marketing and is bringing marketing back to the preindustrial era when the producers and consumers dealt directly with each other3. Relationship marketing is an umbrella term with many subfields and is in general more connected with high-level strategic thinking. CRM has in contrast a stronger connection to marketing strategies over the customer lifetime and understanding the customers needs, attitudes, life stage, profitability and lifetime value. Oberoi Hotels and Resorts, Virgin Atlantic, and Enterprise Rent-A-Car ranked number one in hotel, airline, and rental car industry customer satisfaction, respectively in 2009. In 2009 Oberoi Hotels and Resorts, an Indian brand associated with ultra luxury hotels, earned the highest customer satisfaction score among all hotels (93.7). Midscale without food and beverage (+0.5 to 84.0) improved more than any other segment in 2009. The customer wants value for money and is generally getting discerning. Modern day research being conducted reveals that customer loyalty is taking a back seat. It is now about being innovative, and it is about fulfilling a need not saying, Youre my customer for the last 20 years, and therefore you should be my customer over the next 20. The Oberoi is an organisation that is training oriented, and which has built its brand over the last 30 years. The Oberoi has also exported its brand to some extent internationally. 2Kotler et al., 2009 3Sheth Parvatiyar, 2000 The system therefore that is being put into place is Learn, Perform, Deliver, Reward. A lot of structures are being put into place which are transparent and they created an entire communication drive in order to let people understand how these transparent structures would help them on an ongoing basis. Their vision is to develop their company to achieve world-class standards consistently. The company strategy is based on five important criteria. Job functions have been made more meaningful with new designations and responsibility levels. Rewards will no longer be based on a ten-year system but on performance. With increased responsibility will come greater authority. For greater efforts and increased productivity our people will be rewarded, and Finally, their people shall have more career opportunities in our rapidly growing organisation. They do both internal external customer surveys. When these come in, they have small teams that work towards improvement. Their focus is on Strong People, Product and Processes. Communication has played a tremendous role in getting people to believe them. Oberoi Hotel is synonymous the world over for providing the right blend of service, luxury and quiet efficiency. Internationally recognized for all-round excellence and unparalleled levels of service, Oberoi Hotel has received innumerable awards and accolades. A distinctive feature of The Groups hotel is their highly motivated and well trained staff that provides the kind of attentive, personalized and warm service that is rare today. The hotel provides best facilities like: Combining the finest of all that is contemporary and the best in latest technology with the timeless traditions of Oberoi Hotels Resorts, The Oberoi, Mumbai is the leading choice of business and leisure travelers. The meetings and conference facilities at The Oberoi, Mumbai are designed to accommodate exclusive and intimate business meetings and social gatherings. The well appointed Business Centre features nine meeting rooms that accommodate up to 20 guests. Network and relationship marketing Relationship Marketing was first defined as a form of marketing developed from direct response marketing campaigns which emphasizes customer retention and satisfaction, rather than a dominant focus on sales transactions. As a practice, Relationship Marketing differs from other forms of marketing in that it recognizes the long term value of customer relationships and extends communication beyond intrusive advertising and sales promotional messages. With the growth of the internet and mobile platforms, Relationship Marketing has continued to evolve and move forward as technology opens more collaborative and social communication channels. This includes tools for managing relationships with a customer that goes beyond simple demographic and customer service data. Relationship Marketing extends to include Inbound Marketing efforts, PR, Social Media and Application Development. Just like customer relationship management, (CRM), Relationship Marketing is a broadly recognized, widely-implemented strategy for managing and nurturing a companys interactions with clients and sales prospects. It also involves using technology to organize, synchronize business processes, (principally sales and marketing activities), and most importantly, automate those marketing and communication activities on concrete marketing sequences that could run in autopilot, (also known as marketing sequences). The overall goals are to find, attract and win new clients, nurture and retain those the company already has, entice former clients back into the fold, and reduce the costs of marketing and client service. Once simply a label for a category of software tools, today, it generally denotes a company-wide business strategy embracing all client-facing departments and even beyond. When an implementation is effective, people, processes, and technology work in synergy to increase profitabil ity, and reduce operational costs. Relationship marketing also stresses what it calls internal marketing. This refers to using a marketing orientation within the organization itself. It is claimed that many of the relationship marketing attributes like collaboration, loyalty and trust determine what internal customers say and do. According to this theory, every employee, team, or department in the company is simultaneously a supplier and a customer of services and products. Brand identity and strategy Developing a brand strategy can be one of the most difficult steps in the marketing plan process. Its often the element that causes most businesses the biggest challenge, but its a vital step in creating the company identity. A strong brand is invaluable as the battle for customers intensifies day by day. Its important to spend time investing in researching, defining, and building your brand. A brand is the source of a promise to the consumers. Its a foundational piece in the marketing communication. Defining a Brand This is the first step in the process of developing brand strategy. By defining what the brand is one can create the foundation for all other components to build on. The brand definition will serve as measuring stick in evaluating any and all marketing materials and strategies. Determining The Brands Objectives Critical to effective brand management is the clear definition of the brands audience and the objectives that the brand needs to achieve. The objectives have to be defined and a plan has to be put into place that would help to succeed in meeting them. Focusing on Target Audience The power of brand relies on the ability to focus. That is why defining target market will help to strengthen the brands effectiveness. Discovering and Crushing Brand Barriers When creating the brand strategy for a product or service it is important to perform a careful analysis to determine principal barriers. These barriers are also known as market conditions that can keep the product or service from achieving success. Brand Packaging and Identity Branding is someones identity in the marketplace and the Oberoi brand says what it should. The company image is all about the appearance of the packaging. Successfully out-branding ones competitors is a continuous battle for the hearts and minds of the customers. The proposition the brand strategy makes must be very compelling, attractive and unique among competitive offerings. The proposition must also be consistently reinforced throughout all phases of an organization, from senior executives to customer service, research and development, business development and even any business partners. The brand statement, often called the brand promise or proposition, is a derivative of branding research. It states the benefit of buying and using the companys products or services. For Oberoi industry the brand statement is Our commitment is that every guest leaves satisfied. Oberoi Hotels which is an Indian brand associated with ultra luxury hotels. Founded in 1934, Oberoi manages 30 hotels and 5 luxury cruises under the Oberoi and Trident brands. All the hotels owned by the company across the many segments in India operate under the Oberoi brand name. The usual trend in the international hospitality industry is to have distinct brands for each segment that a hotel group operates in. This strategy ensures that the brand equity is not diluted when the brand enters the business segment or economy hotels segment. But the Oberoi brand has not treaded this path till now. The Oberoi Group has removed the Oberoi brand names from six of its hotels which are not luxury hotels. Simultaneously, it has brought all the luxury palace-hotels previously called villas under the Oberoi brand to convey the brand spirit and strengthen the brand equity. This strategy ensures that Oberoi preserve their brand equity and also facilitates the expansion to other segments by endorsing the sub-brands with their parent brand names. With the Indian travel and tourism industry expected to grow at an annual rate of 8.8% to US$90.4 billion in 2015, these brand maneuvers become very important to ensure the famous Indian hospitality brands are up to the global challenges. Viral and guerilla marketing Guerilla Marketing: Unconventional marketing intended to get maximum results from minimal resources. Viral marketing: Marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message. The concept of guerrilla marketing was invented as an unconventional system of promotions that relies on time, energy and imagination rather than a big marketing budget. Typically, guerrilla marketing campaigns are unexpected and unconventional, potentially interactive, and consumers are targeted in unexpected places. The objective of guerrilla marketing is to create a unique, engaging and thought-provoking concept to generate buzz, and consequently turn viral. The term was coined and defined by Jay Conrad Levinson in his book Guerrilla Marketing. Guerrilla marketing involves unusual approaches such as intercept encounters in public places, street giveaways of products, PR stunts, or any unconventional marketing intended to get maximum results from minimal resources. More innovative approaches to Guerrilla marketing now utilize cutting edge mobile digital technologies to engage the consumer and create a memorable brand experience Guerrilla marketers use all of their contacts, both professional and personal, and examine their company and its products, looking for sources of publicity. Many forms of publicity can be very inexpensive, or even free. Levinson says that when implementing guerrilla marketing tactics, small size is actually an advantage. In The Guerrilla Marketing Handbook, he states: In order to sell a product or a service, a company must establish a relationship with the customer. It must build trust and support. It must understand the customers needs, and it must provide a product that delivers the promised benefits. The Oberoi group has actually implemented this strategy in providing their services and maintaining good relationship with their customers. Strategic Customer Relations For larger-scale enterprises like The Oberoi group, a complete and detailed plan is required to obtain the funding, resources, and company-wide support that can make the initiative of choosing and implementing a system successfully. Benefits must be defined, risks assessed, and cost quantified in three general areas: Processes: Though these systems have many technological components, business processes lie at its core. It can be seen as a more client-centric way of doing business, enabled by technology that consolidates and intelligently distributes pertinent information about clients, sales, marketing effectiveness, responsiveness, and market trends. Therefore, a company must analyze its business workflows and processes before choosing a technology platform; some will likely need re-engineering to better serve the overall goal of winning and satisfying clients. Moreover, planners need to determine the types of client information that are most relevant, and how best to employ them.4 People: For an initiative to be effective, an organization must convince its staff that the new technology and workflows will benefit employees as well as clients. Senior executives need to be strong and visible advocates who can clearly state and support the case for change. Collaboration, teamwork, and two-way communication should be encouraged across hierarchical boundaries, especially with respect to process improvement.5 Technology: In evaluating technology, key factors include alignment with the companys business process strategy and goals, including the ability to deliver the right data to the right employees and sufficient ease of adoption and use. Platform selection is best undertaken by a carefully chosen group of executives who understand the business processes to be automated as well as the software issues. Depending upon the size of the company and the breadth of data, choosing an application can take anywhere from a few weeks to a year or more. 4DestinationCRM.com (2002) 5TechTarget (2009) Strategy Checklist: Planning for CRM and Customer Service Success The three phases in which strategic consumer relations support the relationship between a business and its customers are to: Acquire: Strategic consumer relations can help a business acquire new customers through contact management, selling, and fulfillment.6 Enhance: web-enabled CRM combined with customer service tools offers customers service from a team of sales and service specialists, which offers customers the convenience of one-stop shopping.6 Retain: CRM software and databases enable a business to identify and reward its loyal customers and further develop its targeted marketing and relationship marketing initiatives. Over the last decade, too many organizations have assumed that their products or services were so superior that customers would automatically keep coming back for more. But in order to compete effectively in todays marketplace, organizations must change their strategy to become more customer focused, not product focused. Strategic consumer relation is the best way to integrate this customer-facing approach throughout an organization. 6 James A. OBrien George M. Marakas (2009). Enterprise Business Systems. Management Information Systems. McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Effectiveness of e-marketing An e-marketing strategy is needed to provide consistent direction for an organizations e-marketing activities that integrates with its other marketing activities and supports the overall objectives of the business. For many companies, the first forays into e-marketing or Internet marketing are not the result of a well-defined, integrated Internet strategy; rather, they are a response to competitors activities or customers demand. There is no evidence to suggest that the approach to developing and implementing a strategy should be significantly different for e-marketing. Established frameworks for corporate strategy development or strategic marketing planning should still be followed. These frameworks provided a logical sequence to follow which ensures inclusion of all key activities of strategy development. However, with e-marketing there is an even greater need for a highly responsive strategy process model where rapid reaction can occur to events in the marketplace. The use of Soviet-style 5 year planning does not seem appropriate; a preferable approach is an emergent e-marketing strategy process that is part of a continuous improvement. E-business or e-marketing strategy process models tend to share the following characteristics: Continuous internal and external environment scanning or analysis are required. Clear statement of vision and objectives is required. Strategy development can be broken down into formulation and selection. After strategy development, enactment of the strategy occurs as strategy implementation. Control is required to detect problems and adjust the strategy accordingly. They must be responsive to changes in the marketplace. There is four stage models for e-marketing strategy development: 1. Strategic analysis. Continuous scanning of the micro and macro-environment of an organization are required with particular emphasis on the changing needs of customers, actions and business models of competitor and opportunities afforded by new technologies. Techniques include resource analysis, demand analysis and competitor analysis, applications portfolio analysis, SWOT analysis and competitive environment analysis. 2. Strategic objectives. Organizations must have a clear vision on whether digital media will complement or replace other media and their capacity for change. Clear objectives must be defined and in particular goals for the online revenue contribution should be set. 3. Strategy definition. Strategy definition may be denoted by eight factors: Target market strategies. Positioning and differentiation strategies. Resourcing Internet marketing priorities significance to organization. CRM focus and financial control Market and product development strategies. Business and revenue models including product development and pricing strategies. Organizational restructuring required. Channel structure modifications. 4. Strategy implementation It includes devising and executing the tactics needed to achieve strategic objectives. This includes relaunching a web site, campaigns associated with promoting the site and monitoring the effectiveness of the site. The travel industry survives as one of the better performing sectors in e-commerce. With no fulfillment and no need for online payments, the hotel industry is well positioned to capture the full potential of ecommerce while avoiding many of its risks. Despite the burst of the Internet bubble, the promise of the Internet for hoteliers is still real: Online distribution can reduce costs, attract affluent customers and lessen dependency on more traditional and expensive distribution channels. The Oberoi group is providing effective e-marketing services to their customers. Conclusion: Through this assignment I have found that the main purpose of hospitality and tourism industry is to entertain a guest with goodwill. Oberoi hotel is using all the marketing strategies and has developed good customer relationships, which is the reason for their increasing and worldwide growth. Oberoi hotel is always offering a range of facilities and business services like as internet, fax machine. I have found that Oberoi Hotels Resorts are synonymous the world over for providing the right blend of service, luxury and quiet efficiency. Internationally recognized for all-round excellence and unparalleled levels of service, Oberoi Hotels Resorts have received innumerable awards and accolades. A distinctive feature of The Groups hotels is their highly motivated and well trained staff that provides the kind of attentive, personalized and warm service that is rare today. The Groups new luxury hotels have established a reputation for redefining the paradigm of luxury and excellence in s ervice amongst leisure hotels around the world. Recommendation: With the completion of this assignment I know much about how to run a business smoothly and what is required to become a good and successful business man and get good profit. One should be very much clear about what the needs of the customers are and how to satisfy them. Every businessman should give focus on the customer needs because this is first and foremost thing in business. If we make strategies before starting any business then we wont have to face many problems. Organizations should be arranging and delegating work for accomplishment of their goals. Relationship Marketing refers to a long-term and mutually beneficial arrangement where both the buyer and seller have an interest in providing a more satisfying exchange and is essential for any industry to reach high status. A key principle of relationship marketing is the retention of customers through varying means and practices to ensure repeated trade from preexisting customers by satisfying requirements above those of compe ting companies through a mutually beneficial relationship.

T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land †Can We Learn From the Past ? Essay examp

T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land – Can We Learn From the Past ? And he is not likely to know what is To be done unless he lives in what is not merely the present, but the present moment of the past, unless he is conscious, not of what is dead, but what is already living. --T.S. Eliot, "Tradition and the Individual Talent" When read for the first time, The Waste Land appears to be a concoction of sorts, a disjointed poem. Lines are written in different languages, narrators change, and the scenes seem disconnected, except for the repeated references to the desert and death. When read over again, however, the pieces become coherent. The Waste Land is categorized as a poem, but exhibited visually, it appears to be a literary collage. And when standing back and viewing the collage from afar, a common theme soon emerges. Eliot collects aspects from different cultures or what he calls cultural memories. These assembled memories depict a lifeless world, in which the barrenness of these scenes speak of a wasted condition. He concentrates on women, including examples of violence committed against them and the women's subsequent lack of response to this violence, to show how apathetic the world is. But The Waste Land is not a social commentary on the plight of women. Rather, the women's non-reaction to the viole nce against them becomes a metaphor for the impotence of the human race to respond to pain. Violence recurs throughout time, and as Eliot points to in his essay "Tradition and Individual Talent" in the epigraph, we can break this cycle of violence and move ahead only by learning from the past and applying this knowledge to the present. Form often follows function in poetry, and in this case, Eliot uses this notion whe... ...ing these fragments, he saw how asleep he used to be: I have heard the key Turn in the door once and turn once only We think of the key, each in his prison, Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison (412-415) These memories become his "key" to awken the rest of us who are still pretending. The reader is left with two choices at the end of the poem. S/he can either forget about the poem, and go back to living in a waste land, or s/he can stop repressing pain and feeling and leave the waste land. Eliot ends the poem with a man (maybe himself?) sitting on a shore, "[f]ishing, with the arid plain behind me" and asking, "Shall I at least set my lands in order?" (425-36) The man here, by facing his pain, has left the waste land, and is able to move ahead. Work Cited [1] Plato, Republic, in Great Diaologues of Plato (Mentor: New York, 1984), 313.