Piaget's Brand and Competitive Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Piaget's Brand and Competitive Analysis - Essay Example However, the brand decided to expand by diversifying into jewelry making. They increased their expertise in gold by acquiring various gold work-shops throughout Geneva. 1990x-Now: During this period Piaget introduced various top-notch watches such as, Tanagra, Miss Protocole and 600P tourbillon caliber watches. During this period it also expanded by opening up production facilities in other cities of Switzerland. It also celebrated its 130th anniversary in the year 2004. In 2008, it was rated as the sixth largest luxury brand. As far as the future plans of the company are concerned, it wants to enrich and further master the art of watch making and jewelry manufacturing. It strengthens its faith in providing high-quality luxury items to its customers by increasing their know-how in watches and jewelry. (The Watch Quote, 2009) As far as the target market of Piaget is concerned, it serves to only a small market. The reason behind serving such a small market is that most of these watches are manually produced and are not produced in bulk so that they do not lose prestige associated with them. As a result, Piaget is content serving a small market, a market which includes rich people and those who can afford the expensive prices that are commanded by Piaget. Looking at the abov Piaget is very much aware of Synergy effect and that's why all the component parts of its watches are produced by the firm itself and Piaget believes in using top-quality material for all its watches. BRANDS CLASSIFICATION GRAPHS: 1) Feminity vs. Masculinity: SPORTS vs. Refinement Tradition Vs. Creativity Watch vs. Jewelry BATTLE OF THE BRANDS (COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS): Looking at the above graphical analysis, one can easily say that the five closest competitors for Piaget are: Cartier, Baume and Mercier, Richard Mille, IWC and Rolex. These firms are providing competition to Piaget by offering the same level of service and producing good which are close to the products that Piaget is producing, Similarly, Piaget is also affected by the pricing and advertising decision of these firms and there is a mutual interdependence between these firms. Starting from the type of market these companies lets compare and contrast these companies from Paiget's strategy. Most of

Marketing Planning for Vodafone Group Plc Case Study

Marketing Planning for Vodafone Group Plc - Case Study Example Vodafone has diversified dynamic state of art customer relationship center. To launch and promote any business activities within a shape of organisation, a marketing plan is needed to integrate with ecommerce. Without marketing plan it is difficult to penetrate in the market. This paper has taken Vodafone as a significant and it needs a detailed marketing plan for the expansion of its business activities. According to Kotler, P, and Armstrong, G. (1999), segmentation is a process of dividing a market into distinct groups of buyers with different needs, characteristics, or behavior who might require separate products or marketing mix and the process of evaluating each marketing segments attractive and selecting one or more segments to enter. Market positioning is the process of formulating competitive positioning for a product and a detailed marketing mix. Marketing mix are product, price, place, promotion. Depending on these elements the entire marketing plan is established. Marketing audit is a study to analysis the external and internal factors. According to Taylor .S (2007) CRM stands for customer relationship management and helps the management and customer service staffs cope with customer concerns and issues. B2B refers to business to business with fully ecommerce supported.2 Part-1: Market Audit Many variables can affect Vodafone's current strategy or future strategy. These have direct and indirect impact. These are: External forces (Organisation has no control over these factors) Internal forces (Organisation has direct control over these factors) PEST analysis is the investigation of the external macro-environment that has an effect on all firms. P.E.S.T. is a contraction stand for the Political, Economic, Social, and Technological factors of that external macro-environment. It is a useful strategic tool to considerate business position, market growth or turn down, potential and course of operations. A lot of macro-environmental factors are area explicit and a PEST analysis may need to be carrying out for all countries of concern. Political: The external factors can be analysed with PEST analysis. PEST means Political, Economical, Social and technological environment. Political factors have a direct impact over the business. 3Any political condition changes the business environment, increase or decreases the risk. Suppose if Government wants to hike up the oil price for political turmoil, it has adverse impact on the business. Recently UK has signed up the in the single European currency. This must have direct impact on

How Media Influences Antisocial Behavior Essay Example for Free

How Media Influences Antisocial Behavior Essay In this new generation research Indicates that many young people today spend a lot of time In front of the TV or on computer games and thus leading to the Implication that media Influences antl-soclal behaviour. Psychologists have researched Into explanations on medias influence on antisocial behaviour, one of these explanations being the social learning theory (SLT). This advocates that we model our behaviour on behaviour that we observe; whether its antisocial or pro-social behaviour. Children can be expected to imitate behaviour illustrated through the media that is successful in gaining the models objectives. Further supporting this explanation, evidence from natural experiments are used as authentication to the link that media Influences not lust antisocial behaviour but violent behaviour as well. One Psychologist, Phillips (1983) reinforced this theory by analysing crime statistics for the 10-day period following the publication of heavyweight boxing contests shown throughout the nation. The research exhibited a significant rise in the number of murders during that said period, thus highlighting how media influences antisocial behaviour. Through further interpretation on the social learning theory this explanation could e questioned, Despite all the psychologists experiments on the theory there Is no real evidence to support it. For instance, in 1993 two boys murdered James Bulger and were said to be inspired by the video Childs Play, however later it was conducted by Cumberbatch (2001) that no known link was ever found. It should also be taken into consideration that if two young influential boys were able to play such a violent and Impressionable game what type of parental figures they had on a dally basis and attachments they had with their primary care giver. It can be advocated hat the children had other outside affects that caused they to commit such a crime and that media was not the only reason and thus concluding that the media isnt the only cause for antisocial behaviour. Furthermore, another explanation for medias influence of antisocial behaviour is Justification. This vindication implies that violent behaviours may provide a Justification for a childs own violent behaviour, or perhaps even go as far as providing moral guidelines regarding what Is acceptable and unacceptable. It Is suggested that children who act more aggressively watch violent elevision programmes In order to relieve their guilt and Justify their own aggression and thus advocating that the media allows them to channel that emotions and making their actions acceptable in their own mind. On further evaluation it should be prominent that programmes have mixed prc-social and antisocial messages. For example, the 198ffs television series The A Team portrayed the typical heroic figures as behaving violently and so signifying that the negative effects of such programmes support the concept of Justification as Illustrated by Liss and Reinhardt (1979). Concluding that the use of aggression by pro-social characters provides an impression of moral justiflcation to their antisocial and violent behaviour, with which children already identify. Moreover, an alternative insinuation of explaining medias influence on antisocial behaviour is Cognitive Priming. This refers to the activation of already existing aggressive thoughts and feelings. It highlights why children observe one variety of aggression on television and commit another type of aggression after. imprinting the shown behaviour and recall the memories in a later stimulation in the resent. The magnitude of cognitive priming was established by Josephson (1987). The psychologist looked into this by using hockey players as participants who were deliberately frustrated and then shown a violent or non-violent film where an actor held a walkie-talkie. This resulted in throughout the hockey game the player who had seen the violent clip behaved more aggressive in comparison to those whom where shown the non-violent clip. Josephson advocated that the walkie-talkie held by the referee acted as a trigger for aggression within the hockey player. And so through his it is demonstrated how media can influence behaviours by acting as a catalyst to existing aggressive thoughts. Additionally, another explanation for medias influence on antisocial behaviour is desensitation. This contention underlines that under normal conditions, anxiety about violence inhibits its use. It suggested how media violence may stimulate aggressive behaviour by desensitising children to the effects of violence. This therefore results in the child being more accepting for aggressive and antisocial behaviours. However this is contradicted by Comberbatch (2001) who rgues that people might get used to screen violence but that this does not necessarily mean a person will also get accustomed to violent or antisocial behaviours in their everyday life in the real world. It is claimed that screen violence is more likely to make children frightened then frightening thus contradicting the indication that the media desensitises the public to violent and antisocial behaviour. Overall, these explanations conduct valid explanations into how media influences antisocial behaviour. We are able to determine that media does in fact affect the way in which a person behaviour but to what extent is questionable.

What Is A Total Institution

What Is A Total Institution This paper will argue that the model of the total institution can offer insight into the workings of the Caribbean sugar plantation under slavery. In attempting to make this connection, it is essentially looking at the model in the light of the history of the sugar plantation, as well as looking at the history through the lens of the theory. And so it will argue that the model offers some insight, but that there are clear limits to its applicability. The theory of the total institution is a theory of relationships, not of the institution that contains them. Also the point is not to argue that the plantations were designed as total institutions, but that the total institution model contains widely applicable truths about the nature of human social organisations, and the place that individuals find in them, that explain particular aspects of the plantation. The one great difference between the plantation and the total institutions that inspired the development of the concept is that the purpose of plantations is profit, through the production of a commodity, while this is seldom the case with asylums and prisons; even if they are run for profit, their aim is to achieve control, not to produce anything by means of this control. What is a total institution? Total institution is a concept introduced by the sociologist Erving Goffman in his book Asylums: Essays on the Condition of the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates (1961) to describe an institution that functions by monopolising the reality of those inmates it seeks to control. There are two aspects of the concept that relate to the institution of the sugar plantation. The first concerns the way in which power is exercised to a degree that makes all those involved as inmates and supervisors bound to follow its dictates. The total institution is one which encompasses every aspect of its inmates relationship with the world, and controls them by controlling their understanding and their motivations. The other aspect of the total institution concerns the inmates themselves they internalise the rules and perspectives of the institution, and define themselves by their standards; essentially investing their identity in the role they are taught to play. Goffman argued that this was true of those with authority in the institution, as well as those whose behaviour and consciousness it was designed to shape. Perhaps the most important thing about this model, with respect to the sugar plantations, is that Goffman did not see the total institution as a narrowly defined tool, invented to control inmates, on the lines of Jeremy Benthams Panopticon (Smith, 2008). Rather, it is a natural outcome of the evolution of universal human and social realities within institutions which pursue their ends through a close control over the circumstances and behaviour of their inmates, because this control is effective. The power of the total institution The most powerful argument for the usefulness of the total institution model with respect to the sugar plantation is the way in which the plantation could function with such minimal physical control. Murrell (2000, 14) suggests that religion played a central role in achieving the domination that allowed slavery to persist. The complex and ambiguous role of religion in the culture of the plantation economies cannot be pursued here in any detail, but it seems fair to suggest that religion played the role that the therapeutic and normative discourse of psychology plays in Goffmans account of the asylum. A measure of the power of the slave plantation as a total institution, one which shaped the behaviour and understanding of its inmates, would be the longevity of the social relations it defined between people. The extent that plantation economies, along with the racial domination and colonial power that enabled them, survived after the abolition of slavery suggests the degree to which the social relations and identities defined during slavery had shaped the word-view of former slaves and their descendants. And slavery, in exercising virtually unlimited domination over people seen as naturally subordinate, imposed a model of family structure and gender relations on slaves which served the economic interests of their masters,(Wiltshire-Brodber, 2002) without respect for the innate desire which all people have for the closeness and security of a family. According to the total institution model, this would result in slaves embracing the roles defined for them, and internalising the identities that these roles define. And there is evidence of this effect in the way that gender relations in Caribbean societies, especially among the poorest sectors of society, continue to reflect patterns and identities that have their roots in the logic of the plantation. Matrilocal patterns of family structure and a strong belief in the value of female autonomy are combined with a strong patriarchal ideology (Momsen, 2002). Limits of the total institution model. While the total institution model can explain a great deal about the manner in which plantations functioned under slavery, there are limits to its applicability. These limits fall under two categories, which correspond, in a sense, the perspectives of those controlling, and those controlled by, the institution of the plantation. The first set of limits is illustrated by the many ways in which the total institution was subverted. The pattern of these subversive activities varied from island to island, and probably from plantation to plantation, included the survival of African religions, hidden or evolved into syncretic African-Christian forms such as sateria and used to define an identity distinct from that hypocritically imposed by western religious institutions, the persistence of secret practices, from planning for rebellion to distilling to informal patterns of domination and association, and the recourse to escape, at least on larger islands. Religion is interesting in that it so clearly plays an ambiguous role as an institution in the history of slavery. On the one hand, it contained elements that helped define a collective identity that subverted plantation authority. On the other hand, it was a source of comfort and control that made plantation life bearable and persuaded slaves not to rebel. It was partly an affirmation of African identity, partly a European lesson in being content with ones place. In the famous words of Karl Marx, religion was at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress.the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. (Marx, 1843/2002) Economics and the limits of the total institution The total institution is not generally an economic unit as well. It tends to exist as in the case of asylums, prisons, concentration camps in order to control the behaviour of those who are institutionalised. If it has an economy, in the narrow sense, it is an economy of efficient control, or exists to occupy people, like political prisoners; in a way that pays for the costs of the institution that imprisons them. The sugar plantation was an immensely profitable economic institution, however, and the economic models that evolved to produce sugar, the justifications for slavery and murderous racial oppression these entailed, and the social structures that emerged to make this violent form of slavery work, should all be seen in the light of the economic motivations they elected. It is tempting to imagine that slave societies did not obey a strict economic logic, in the same sense that capitalist societies do. Some historians (e.g. Genovese, 1989) have tried to make this point in order to define capitalisms distinctly rationalising, dehumanising and commodifying logic. But it seems clear that plantations were subject to economic logic. The difference in plantation models between those colonies most reliant on a steady arrival of new slaves, such as Haiti and those less so, illustrates that the economic exigencies defined by a particular form of productive activity are real and complex. The intensity of the exploitation that characterised Haiti is well established (Bellegarde-Smith, 1990). The economic limitations on the function of the plantation as a total institution are also, in a sense, the limits that the total institution model defines for the economic activities involved. Plantation economies were dedicated to making money, and they made a great deal of it for their plantation owners and their colonial rulers. They were for the most part seen as primitive and unpleasant places by those who made their immense fortunes there rather than societies with any redeeming, justifying values or institutions. An individual or institution dedicated to making money does not exercise more physical control than is necessary. Physical control is expensive, in the number of overseers it requires and in the limits it imposes on the activities of working people. And in the case of an economic unit like a slave plantation, with its vastly-outnumbered overseers, too much control might cause as much unrest as it prevents. It makes better economic sense to find the balance between too much control and too little, and to live with the limits (rebellion, subversive religious and magical practices, escape, clandestine romance and petty economic activities) that this permits. T he most extreme form of resistance is rebellion itself, and there were many rebellions, large and small, among the slaves of the Caribbean. Perhaps one measure of the degree to which economic calculation dominated the logic of plantation slavery is that the possibility of rebellion persisted perhaps it made more economic sense to risk the occasional bloodbath than to exercise the degree of rigorous control that would reduce the risk. Conclusion: The total institution model applies to institutions that function by means of control over the perceptions and sentiments of their inmates, rather than by means of physical force. This paper has argued that the model offers insights into the way in which slave plantation societies functioned, and were able to exercise such cruel authority with recourse to so little active control. The plantation is in fact a good test and confirmation of the model. The power that plantation owners and the government forces that supported them exercised was absolute, but it was not exercised in the form of absolute physical control. This paper has also argued that there are limits to the applicability of the model which reflect the economic motives driving the institution of the plantation. The strength and persistence of the cultural legacy of slavery in syncretic religions, in family structures and of a social order that allowed plantation agriculture to continue after the end of slavery all paint a picture of a complex reality in which the control of the total institution extended no further than was necessary to ensure a profitable sugar industry. The point is that the model of the total institution illuminates general truths about the nature of authority that help explain how and why, once the decision was made to develop Caribbean economies on the basis of slavery was, why the institution of slavery developed developed there as it did, why it persevered, and why in the case of Haiti it was overcome. References Cited Bellegarde-Smith, P. (1990) Haiti: The Breached Citadel. Westview Press. Genovese, Eugene D. (1989) The Political Economy of Slavery: Studies in the Economy and Society of the Slave South. Middletown,CT: Wesleyan University Press. Goffman, Erving. (1961) Asylums: Essays on the Condition of the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates Marx, Karl John C. Raines (2002) Marx on Religion Editor John C. Raines Philadlphia: Temple University Press, 2002 Momsen, Janet. The Double Paradox, in Gendered Realities: Essays in Caribbean Feminist Thought Editor Patricia Mohammed Kingston: University of the West Indies Press, 2002 Murrell, Nathaniel Samuel (2000) Dangerous Memories, Underdevelopment, and the Bible in Colonial Caribbean Experience in Religion, culture, and tradition in the Caribbean Authors Editors Hemchand Gossai, Nathaniel Samuel Murrell London: Palgrave Macmillan. Smith, Philip (2008) Punishment and culture Chicago:University of Chicago Press. Wiltshire-Brodber, Rosina (2002) Gender, Race and Class in the Caribbean in Gender in Caribbean Development: Papers presented at the Inaugural Seminar of the University of the West Indies Women and Development Studies Project Edited by Patricia Mohammed and Catherine Shepherd Kingston:Canoe Press UWI

The Benefits of Globalization Essay -- Outsourcing, Offshoring, Free T

Frequently, people are unclear of exactly what Globalization means. Globalization is the tendency of the world's economies to act as a single interdependent economy. It can be described as the increased movement of people, knowledge, ideas, goods and money across national borders to make the world more unified in a sense. Globalization is often thought of in economic terms but as we know there are other components with this idea like, economics, and cultures. There is a huge debate of whether or not globalization is positive or negative. Some view globalization as being inevitable and key to our economic future. It has the potential of making societies richer through trade, and creates knowledge and understanding to people around the world. On the other side, people believe it increases inequality within and between nations. I believe that globalization will only advance our world and make us more unified. The world's economic system is just one factor in globalization. Over the past two centuries, economic activity has become more global and international trade has becom...

J.R.R. Tolkiens Lord of the Rings Essay -- Tolkien Lord Rings Essays

J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings "Three Rings for the Eleven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his Dark throne, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to rule them all, One ring to find them, One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie(Tolkien)." Master of storytelling J.R.R. Tolkien continues the lives of the fictitious creatures that he introduced in The Hobbit, in his modern classic The Fellowship of the Ring. He artfully illustrates the truths of the evil that plague the hearts of man. He tells a story of greed, destruction and how mortal men are enslaved by their delusions of grander and how they feast upon the misery of others to elevate their own pitiful egos, that prove to be their worst vices.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is a struggle of good and evil that begins with a cursed gift of a powerful ring, the One Ring, that leads one wise hobbit on the most important journey of his life-time thus far, for he isn't only fighting for his own soul that is threatened to be claimed by the very ring he is given, but those of all of his people. The ring is sought after by its very creator Sauron the all powerful sorcerer, and Dark Lord of the middle-earth to aid in his evil deeds.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In his sin blackened hands the ring has the power to rob the creatures of middle-earth of their one fundamental right endowed by God himself; their precious freedom. The story follows Frodo on his journey to the Crack of Doom a fiery mountain in the layer of Mordor where the Dark Lord himself reigns with a swift hand. There and only there may he not only destroy the symbolic ring but put to rest the very demons that drove at his soul and threatened to over power him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  J.R.R. Tolkien was Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, South Africa on January 2, 1892 and died on September 3, 1973. (St. James 558) He delighted and titillated readers of all ages by first introducing them to the middle-earth in The Hobbit, a story of Frodo's cousin Bilbo. The story detailed his mythical journey in which he was accompanied by wizards and elves in search of rumored treasures. The One Ring that plays a major role in The Fellowship of the Ring was the fruit of Bilbo's struggles in The Hobbit. Although The Hobbit was a large success... ...e the evil of so many?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I believe that Tolkien is a supreme storyteller. The very idea of creating a mythical land of middle-earth to allow so much versatility is ingenious alone. The characters are so real they seem to leap from the pages. They are the result of great thought. They have their own very developed vocabularies, eccentrics, and weaknesses yet each character draws an impeccable strength from one another. I believe that this work is a classic because of the very developed plot, characters, and its openness to each individuals interpretation. Whether the reader believes it is implying religious values, social values or telling a unique story unlike any others it is a must read for anyone who enjoys great literature. Works Cited Grotta~Kurska, Daniel. J.R.R. Tolkien Architect of Middle Earth. Philadelphia: Running PRess, 1976. Miller, David M. â€Å"Narrative Pattern in The Fellowship of the Ring.†A Tolkien Compass. Ed. Jared Lobdell. La Salle Il.:The Open Court Publishing Company,  1975. Pringle, David. Ed. St. James Guide to Fantasy Writers. New York: St. James Press, 1996. Tolkien, J.R.R. The Fellowship of the Ring. New York: Ballantine books, 1955

Nummi

As we compare to Japanese and American culture we can more or less comment on why GM was having difficulties while learning from the ANNUM experience. The GM plant in Fremont, California was opened in 1963 and closed down in 1982 due to bottom ranked in productivity among GM plants and the reputation of the worst quality cars in the entire GM system. The major problem was heavily relying on mistrust and fairness between management and union.Whereas Toyota at Annum showed the importance of using all means available to establish a climate of fairness such as flat organization, fewer levels of management, no exclusive bonuses and no distinctions between managers and team members such as using the same cafeteria for lunch or no dress differences. The core values were customer satisfaction by means of high quality and low cost, dignity, trust, teamwork, consistency, continual improvement. This sort of approaches was quite different from happily American manufacturing culture as well as it s culture itself.Japanese already discovered that in order to maintain waste free and high quality production they have to work well with people work on the line and provide them to the same privilege as white collar employees. Employees In most Japanese companies stay In the companies from low position to higher position and they generally work In the companies for their whole career. In the U. S. Companies often go through massive reorganization, therefore employees will be promoted or laid off.