Brand equity Essay Example for Free

Brand equity Essay How much a product can earn over its identical competitor by virtue of its brand, determines its brand equity. It can be a neat result of many factors like years of experience, proven track record of quality, legacy, emotional bondage and company outlook, where it adds more value to the product and thereby helps the product to score over its identical competitors. Without brand equity a product loses its competitive advantage, and for that matter some companies measure brand equity relying on financial measures of brand performance (Dobney, 2007). Thus Brand India should be able to score over its Asian counterpart. Figure – 3 The brand management chain (Based on Wood, 2000; Kapferer, 2004) Integration of the theoretical constructs brand equity (Aaker, 1996) and brand orientation could be instrumental in the understanding of brand value, where brand equity commands more attention as it aims for generating long-term values for the company by understanding the conceptual basis for the value of brand and its implications (Keller, 1993). Brand loyalty. Brand loyalty refers to the customers consistent preference to buy a selected brand in a particular product category, irrespective of other provocative options presented by the competitor of that brand. This situation occurs after the customers make a trial run of the brand and get convinced about the efficacy of that brand towards fulfilling certain needs of theirs and decide to buy that brand again and again. That practice forms the habit and thus customers continue purchasing the same brand because the product is safe and familiar (Giddens, 2002). This situation speaks of the dual responsibility of branding too, where on one hand it should influence the rationality of its prospective customers, while invoking the emotional response among them on the other. As for example, a particular meal in a restaurant might declare about a possible health benefit with the inclusion of tomato in it by saying, lycopene in tomato lowers the risk of cancer, thereby influencing the rationality of the customers, and at the same time it can evoke the nostalgia in customers by labelling the meal as grandmas special recipe. In this strategy lies the clue of embedding medical/healthcare tourism with general tourism and Incredible India should utilize it. Figure – 4 Brand Awareness: Brand awareness is a gauge of marketing effectiveness measured by the ability of a customer to recognize and/or recall a name, image or other mark associated with a particular brand (Waters, 2008). Though brand awareness cannot measure the customers approach towards the brand, yet it is very helpful in forming a positive attitude among the target audience about the brand. Incredible India Campaign should take care of that. Figure 5 The above diagram shows that recollection or identification ability first created aided awareness in the prospective customers, which might convert into a top-of mind awareness, if the brand convinces customers either with its logistics or direct service. Thus, brand awareness can work on two folds, primarily making its way into the mind of the customer and then working on its way to achieve the recognition, where the brand first generates strategic awareness in customers, where the customers understands the distinctive qualities of the product and associates them with their need. Current campaign strategy of Incredible India lacks that finesse. Brand Value While brand loyalty proves to be a cost-saving yet effective tool to garner higher sales, brand value reflects how a products name, or company name is perceived by the marketplace (Free, 2004), which involves both target audience and the general audience. Brand value can be tangible too, in the event of a brand being sold, where extracting the value of the brand from the value provided by other, tangible, resources becomes possible (Simon, C. J. Sullivan, M. J. , 1993, Conchar, et al, 2005). From this perspective, even the title of the campaign in discussion, Incredible India needs to be reviewed and if needed may be replaced. The name should denote the power and strength of a brand. As for example, if Coca-Colas facilities Atlanta were to burn overnight, the company would still be able to start up the next day due to its brand value (What, 1998). Therefore it is the success story of a company that earns its brand value. However, to gauge the impact of brand value, the company needs to take help of empirical research. The process might then looks like below (Persson): Figure 6 Brand value is the outcome of consistent and successful brand building, where the action of the company would speak louder than words, besides proving its ethical standings in the marketplace. IV. 7. Brand personality Much like a human being, a brand too serves as the ambassador of the company personality, depicting its outlook and aspirations, besides its services and promises. Thus much depends on the carriage of the brand, because it is the coveted message of the company to the outer world about its activities, aims, aspirations and promises – in short, a package of total company outlook. From this angle too, the campaign in discussion needs to be reviewed. Figure 7 A strong brand does more than it meets the eye, however, its activity should be powered towards achieving the targeted benefit out of it. For that matter, the first step towards creating a strong brand is to identify the benefits (Saarte, 2008). Target benefit would surely help to determine the nature of the branding, which would help the company to identify the necessary elements into branding, such as company image, the USP of its product, type of promises, and desired platforms of bonding and more. Incredible India is yet to create a clear USP to position itself. V. Conclusion/Recommendation The detailed discussion and analysis above clearly shows that Incredible India Campaign falls far too short in achieving its desired outcome and thus needs to be thoroughly reviewed and modified to meet the demand of the time and position India as a strong brand in the global tourism market. Thus this study recommends following steps towards achieving the target of building a strong Brand India in the global market: 1. Incredible India needs to review its name, packaging, price and its history and modify it concerning the current demand. 2. Ensuring that it becomes capable of Delivering the message clearly. Â  Confirming the credibility of the company. Connectingthe target prospects emotionally. Motivating the buyers. Â  Concretizing the user loyalty 3. Incredible India has to focus more on emphasizing emotional bond with UK through exploiting the earlier history of close communication. 4. It must study and research other Asian countries pros and cons in this sector to ensure that Brand India should be able to score over them. 5. It should embed medical/healthcare tourism with general tourism to generate brand loyalty. 6. Through constant, consistent, cohesive and cogent campaign, it should create the brand awareness (UK still have a poor awareness, around 30%) 7. Periodic assessment of the campaign is a must to check the brand value. 8. Campaign should get facelift periodically with a central theme of personality. Ends. References Aaker, D. A. (1996) Building Strong Brands. The Free Press, New York. ISBN 0-02- 900151-X Atithi Debo Bhava. (2004) Incredible India [online] available from http://www. incredibleindia. org/newsite/atithidevobhava. htm [accessed 4 September 2008] Bizhelp. (2008) What is Branding? [online] available from http://www. bizhelp24. com/marketing/what-is-branding-. html [accessed 4 September 2008] Brand Definition. (2008) [online] available from http://www. investorwords. com/568/brand. html [accessed 3 September 2008] Brand. (2008) [online] available from http://whatis. techtarget. com/definition/0,,sid9_gci211703,00. html [accessed 4 September 2008] Brandguru Inc. What IS Branding? Viewed 24 March 2008, http://www. brandidentityguru. com/popUps/whatisBranding. html Conchar, M. P. , Crask, M. R. Zinkhan, G. M. (2005) Market Valuation Models of the Effect of Advertising and Promotional Spending: A Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 33, No. 4, 445-460. Dobney. com. (2007) Brand equity and brand value [online] available from http://www. dobney. com/Research/Brand_equity_research. htm [accessed 4 September 2008] Dolak, D. (2001) Building A Strong Brand: Brands and Branding Basics [online] available from http://www. davedolak. com/articles/dolak4. htm [accessed 5 September 2008] Dunn, S. (2008) What is Branding and Why Do You Want It? [online] available form http://www. ecomhelp. com/KB/Branding/kb_what-is-branding. htm [accessed 5 September 2008] Free Definitions: Define Brand. What is Brand? (2004) [online] available from http://www. learnthat. com/define/view. asp? id=279 [accessed 4 September 2008] Giddens, N. (2002) Brand Loyalty [online] available from http://www. extension. iastate. edu/AgDM/wholefarm/html/c5-54. html [accessed 4 September 2008] Incredible India campaign woos more Americans (2008) The Press Trust of India Ltd [online] available from http://www. accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286- 34809894_ITM [accessed on 4 September 2008] Indian Tourism’s ‘Incredible India’ Campaign (2005) Research paper [online] available from http://www. icmrindia. org/casestudies/catalogue/marketing%20communications/C LMC010. htm ] Indias rise in medical tourism (2007) News [online] available from http://www. timesonline. co. uk/tol/travel/destinations/india/article2257994. ece [accessed 4 September 2008] Kapferer. (1994) Strategic brand management: new approaches to creating and evaluating brand equity. Free Press, New York. Keller, K. L. (1993) Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing,Vol. 57, No. 1, pp. 1-23. King, T. E. (2007) Incredible India? Campaign has Incredible Budget [online] available from http://www. travelmole. com/stories/1118243. php [accessed 5 September 2008] Lake, L. (2008) What is Branding and How Important is it to Your Marketing Strategy? [online] available from http://marketing. about. com/cs/brandmktg/a/whatisbranding. htm [accessed 4 September 2008] McCall, K. (2003) Marketing Angel [online] available from http://business. mainetoday.com/smallbusiness/mmm/030601. shtml [accessed 5 September 2008] O M (2003). Incredible India [online] available from http://www. ogilvyindia. com/work/incredibleindia. asp [accessed 5 September 2008] Persson, N. Understanding of the nature and relevance of brand orientation and brand equity in B2B brand management – implications for future research. Ph. D. Thesis [online] available from http://www. nhh. no/Admin/Public/DWSDownload. aspx? File=%2FFiles%2FFiler %2Finstitutter%2Ffor%2Fconferences%2Fnff%2Fpapers%2Fpersson. pdf [accessed 1 September 2008] Saarte, L. A. (2008) Fitting It All Together. EzineArticles. [online] available from http://ezinearticles. com/? BrandingFitting-It-All-Togetherid=1043858 [accessed 1 September 2008] Simon, C. J. Sullivan, M. J. (1993) The Measurement and determinants of Brand Equity: A Financial Approach. Marketing Science, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 28-52. UK Indian doctor sets shop in Goa for medical tourists (2007) News [online] available from http://www. newkerala. com/topstory-fullnews-14322. html [accessed 4 September 2008] Waters, S. (2008) Brand Awareness [online] available from http://retail. about.com/od/glossary/g/brand_awareness. htm [accessed 1 September 2008] What is the Value of a Brand? [online] available from http://www. csom. umn. edu/Assets/3478. pdf [accessed 31 August 2008] Why Brand Loyalty is Important? [online] available from http://www. brandloyalty- int. com/site. asp? pagina=8 [accessed 1 September 2008] Why India? (2007) Government report [online] available from http://www. medical-tourism-india. com/medical_tourism_india. htm [accessed 5 September 2008] Wood, L. (2000) Brand and brand equity: Definition and management. Management Decision, Vol. 38, No. 9, pp. 662-669.

Introduction Of Decision Making And Creativity Business Essay

Introduction Of Decision Making And Creativity Business Essay Decisions are the options made from two or more alternatives. McShane and Von Glinow (2010) defined that Decision making is a process of making choices among one or more alternatives with the intention of moving toward some desired state of affairs. Effective decision making involves identifying, selecting and applying the best alternatives. People need to use all available resources to predict the outcome of each option and based on the outcome to choose the best alternatives for the particular situation. In the real world, people usually do not follow the rational model to make decision because there are many undefined problem and ambiguous alternatives. For example, people usually simply find an acceptable solution to solve the problem rather than find the most suitable one. Hence, some decision makers probably make decision based on bounded rationality, emotion and intuition. Framing and heuristics are the judgments shortcuts that people used to simplify the decisions. Anchoring and adjustment, availability and representative are the three types of heuristics. People can make choices more effectively by systematically assessing alternatives. Scenario planning is a method that used to forecast possible future. Scenario planning can helps to make the best future decisions before they occur. Furthermore, people can evaluate decisions in an effective way such as find systematic sources, establish a present level to abandon the project, minimize escalation of commitment and involve several people in the decision evaluation process. In addition, some leaders or company also involve their employees in decision making. Leaders and company have limited ideas or knowledge to make the best decision. Thus, they need to rely on employees to solve the problem in a more effective way as employees may have more innovative and multiple alternatives. Improvements on decision quality, defining problem more quickly, better solutions generated are the benefits of employee involvement. McShane and Von Glinow (2010) defined that Creativity is the development of original ideas that make a socially recognized contribution. Creativity also is the process of creating unique ideas or products that are useful to the organizations. Creativity allows and encourages people to think out of the box, which produce innovative and unique ideas for a particular task. Preparation, incubation, insight and verification are the phases of the creative process. Preparation means studying the information and skills that related to the problem. Incubation assists divergent thinking which means reframing the problem in a distinctive way and creates different approaches to the problem. Insight refers to the ideas in a vague form. The idea is worked into a realistic form in the verification phases. Organizational factors such as freedom, resources, learning orientation, organizational support and more will affect the creativity ideas. It is also means that a comfortable and supportive work environment will helps the employees to improve and produce creative and unique ideas. Besides, redefine problem, associative play and cross pollination are the activities that use to encourage creativity. Lastly, creativity in decision making can be said that looking for the novel and unique ideas which the elements in the ideas are previously unseen. Background of NIKE, Inc. NIKE, Inc. is the world leader in athletic apparel, footwear, equipment and accessories. To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world is the mission of Nike. Converse, Inc., Nike Golf, Hurley International, LLC and Cole Haan are Nikes wholly owned subsidiaries. (NIKE, Inc., 2011) Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight have met each other in 1957. In 1962, both of them have become partner and form Blue Ribbon Sports. They pledged $1000 and place order of 300 pairs of shoes in 1964. The first Blue Ribbon Sports retail store opened in Santa Monica, California in 1966. Bowerman and Knight have design and manufacture their own brands of athletic shoes. In 1972, the new Nike line of footwear was introduced and Field Trials were held in Eugene, Oregon. Blue Ribbon Sports was later changed to NIKE, Inc. in 1978. Nike Air Technology in Tailwind running shoes was born in 1979. In 1980, Nike becomes a publicly traded company. Nike had lost their position as industry leader in the middle of 1980. In 1987, Nike designed to regain the industry leader by using marketing and advertising campaign and differentiate Nike from its competitors. Nike build reputation by create inspiring ads with Just Do It as slogan in 1988. In 1990 to 1999, Nike had signed several individual players and national teams around the world and began to design footwear and apparel for golf and soccer. Now, Nike has continued to expand its business to China and become the official sponsor of the National Football League (NFL). 2.0 Content Decision making is a process of selecting from one or more alternatives with the purpose of moving toward some desired state of affairs. Moreover, decision making is a process that decision maker need to make choice from the available option or alternatives in order to achieve the organization goal or to arrive at a solution for a given problem. Decision plays an important role in the organization. If the decision maker does the wrong decision, it will influence the company productivity and profit. Therefore, the decision maker needs to do the rational choice decision. And decision maker can follow the rational choice decision process and do the right decision. First step is identifying the problem or opportunity. Decision maker needs to identify the problem or opportunity before do any decision. Problem is the gap between what is and what have to be. For example, there is a labor practices problem occurred in Nike as stated in Nike first Corporate Responsibility Report, after Nike identify and evaluate its problem and then they came up with ways to resolve the problem. Nike decided to increase training for both managers and employees in order to improve the productivity, reduce labor turnover and less sick leave. The decision made involved all level of the organization where the top management make the decision and the subo rdinates need to collaborate to achieve the companys goal. However the possible disadvantage of Nike to increase training for their current employees is that it can become very stressful to their employee. When an employee is stressed, their job performance goes down. Over-training in the workplace can be a waste of valuable resources such as training materials, hire or promote individuals to train their employees, and also need to pay for both the trainers and the trainees. During the extensive training sessions, employees may become bored and lose interest in what they are learning. Once an employee loses interest, much of the information being taught will not be retained and this will waste the employee time (Robertson). According to NIKE, Inc. (2011), Poor conceived overtime and sick leave policies can reduce employees work performance. If Nike does not regulate contracted overseas factories with overtime levels that are both required by local labor and health authorities, it can attract complaints from human rights organization as well as causing undue health problems to employees which can affect their work performance (Answers.com, 2012). Sick leave is a form of employment benefit in the form of paid time off for illness. However, Nike intends to increase productivity by initiating an Attendance incentives policy which encourage employees to attend for work but this may send the wrong message to the employees that attending to work even while they are sick would earn them credits. This can cause an employee to feel pressured to if they want to take sick leave even when they are seriously ill, which could result in significant health damage and increased health care costs for the company (Smith, 2013). Second step is choosing the best decision process. Decision process include programmed and non-programmed. Programmed is a decision that made in routine, repetitive, frequent decision and highly structured environment. In this decision making, they allow to set up a rule, policies and procedure to follow. In this decision making, they can follow standard operating procedures because of the highly structured environment. For example, to improve daily productivity, Nike has implemented lean manufacturing which is the foundation of how Nike enhances sustainable manufacturing. Lean manufacturing is a system and continuous enhancement that target to deliver the highest quality product while reducing waste. Lean manufacturing can empower workers and teams. A significant increase in satisfaction of workers in factories is found after lean manufacturing is implemented. The problem facing by Nike when implemented lean manufacturing is hard to get support from their employees to follow and take orders. This can sometimes be difficult to attain as some employees who is resistive to changes. Lean manufacturing system requires a complete overhaul of manufacturing systems that may cause personality clashes, stress and refusal by employees who prefer old ways of doing things especially the older employees. Thus, it possibly will cause conflict among others in the work group. Lean manufacturing training is a constant ongoing process, and when first starting out it will takes a lot of time and effort on everyones part (Manufacturing Info, 2010). The time investment required to implement lean manufacturing system throughout Nike is one of the drawback. Successful implementation requires the participation and support from employees throughout the company to guarantee that the cells integrate well with one another (Deiterich, 2013). Due to lean manufacturing system are dependent on supplier efficiency, any interruption in the supply chain on production can be a problem that negatively affects customers. Delays in delivery can cause long-lasting marketing problems that hard to overcome and may cause problem of customer dissatisfaction (Wood, 2013). On the other hand, non-programmed decision is unique decision that requires a custom made solution. In this decision making, they mostly deal with unstructured environment and incomplete information. This decision making cannot set up a rule, policies and procedure to follow because this decision making is infrequent decision and unstructured environment. To solve the non-programmed situation, Nike have spent more than 15 years to deal with the contract factories on the issues of worker rights and protections, wages, living conditions for workers and the environmental impacts of manufacturing processes. Nike is setting high expectations for workers, providing training and tools to help factories to meet those expectations and accessing their performance. This approach able to create baseline standards, improved oversight and helped factories to move beyond compliance. In this case, certain issues continue to arise. Issues such as overtime, working hours and associated wages have made up the majority of violations found by audits of apparel, footwear and equipment factories. Nike spends a lot of time and resources to deal with these types of issues in the factories that are poor performing, while having less time to engage with the factories that are high performance. Therefore, Nike have evolved their approach to build relationships with contract factories and developed a new manufacturing vision (NIKE, Inc., 2011). Third step is developed and identify alternatives. After identify the problem or opportunity, they need to do the research. For example, they need to find the solution that can solve the problem they have already identified. After this step, they need to choose the best alternative among one or more alternatives. Next step is implement choice. They can implement the choice in the problem or opportunity. Evaluate choice is the last step, which they need to evaluate the choice or the decision outcomes. For example, whether the gap has narrowed or not or whether the problem have solved or not. Nike is doing well in identifying alternatives. To support the lean manufacturing system, Nike has provided resources to contract factories to support their transition such as training, coaching and technical assistance. This shows that Nike not only depends on the formal procedure like lean manufacturing but also finding other alternatives to improve the productivity. Although the contracted factory (owner and top level management personnel of factory) are being supported by Nike (monetary and other expertise resource), however, operational workers may not receive the fair amount of support from Nike and operational employees are sometimes not recognized as a valuable part of the business value chain. Some workers are unfairly compensated in return for their work and this can lead to a low self-esteem, lack of morale and reduced in productivity (Wilsey Lichtig). Problem identification challenges include perceptual defense, stakeholder framing, decisive leadership, mental models and solution-focused problems. Perceptual defense is ignoring information that threatens their self- concept. Stakeholder framing is stakeholder try to persuade decision maker that interest to problem or opportunity not important. Decisive leadership is decision maker do the decision making without enough analyzing the data. Mental model is an assumption and expectation that prevent people seeing unique problem or opportunity. Solution- focused problem is straight to the solution rather than do the investigation, analysis or identify the problem. Creativity is developing an original idea that makes a socially recognized contribution. Creativity in decision making can help the company solve the problem and get the new and useful alternatives. Creative work environment can motivating the work, encourage experimentation, tolerate mistakes, open communication and sufficient resources. Creative process model include four steps. First is preparation. They need to know the problem and do the preparation such as find the information or do the research or learn some skills that help in creative. Next is incubation. They put the problem aside but mind still working on the background. Third is insight. Suddenly they become aware of unique idea. They see or hear something and cause them suddenly to have a new idea. Last is verification. In this step, they need to evaluate their idea is good or not or benefit or costly for the company. Nike is playing well in creativity either in the shoes design or advertising. The shoes designer need to design the shoes to do three visual dialogues that are attract consumers with iconic design, clean and simple, engage them with craft that is holistic and catch them with the idea. The idea of barefoot shoes that designed by Nike is impressively creative. Nike concerns on the structure of the foot. They did pressure testing on the high-end athletes about what they are doing to make themselves better and also discover that they are usually training barefoot. That is the idea of barefoot shoes came from. Nevertheless, Nike also come out with interesting advertisement and won the Creativity Best 2012 as both the television and print categories is one of the years most innovative advertisers. Employee involvement is the degree to which employee influence how their work is organized and carried out. Different levels have different forms of involvement. In the lowest level, they do not know what problem is about in the company so they do not make the recommendation. In the middle level, they know what problem is happen in the company and they will provide the recommendation to do the decision making. In the highest level, they make the entire decision making process. They need to choose the best alternative among one or more alternatives and implement the choice and evaluate the choice. Higher employee involvement is better when the employees have relevant knowledge beyond leader and can help the leader solve the problem. Most employees would lack commitment if they do not involve. Company need encourage their employee involve in the situation because higher employee involvement means higher commitment of employee. Nike involved all levels of the organization in decision ma king. For instance, top managers determine their organizations goals, what products and services to provide. And middle and lower managers determine the production schedules, select new employees and other routine practices. The disadvantages of moderated employee involvement within an organizations decision making process are too many lines of communication and the potential for inconsistent decision making. When more employees have decision making ability, more communication is needed to make certain that decisions are consistent across the organization. This consistency is significantly important to brand recognition and consistency. Managers may need a long time to monitor decisions and activities with employee involvement to protect against negative consequences and to control the potential for chaos (Kokemuller). 3.0 Recommendation The rational choice paradigm can make several assumptions about the human capacity to process information. One of assumptions which are decision makers can process information about all alternatives and their consequence but normally this is not possible to happen in reality. They only evaluate a few alternatives and some of the main outcomes of those alternatives as well as the Nike. There are some recommendations on how those assumptions that being used by Nike can be applied more effectively in the coming future. Postdecisional justification gives people an excessively optimistic evaluation of their decisions but in reality it will bring the objective feedback to the company. There are four main reasons which are self-justification, prospect theory effect, perceptual blinders and closing costs explained that why people poorly evaluated their decision outcomes. These reasons make escalation of commitment look irrational. The first recommendation for Nike is to minimize postdecisional justification and escalation of commitment. This will ensure that the people who made the original decision and people who later evaluate that decision are different. The self-justification effect can be minimized by this separation of roles due to the person responsible for evaluating the decision is not connected to the original decision. In addition, the Nike can publicly establish a preset level at which the decision is abandoned or reevaluated. It is similar to a stop-loss order in the stock market, whereby the stock is sold if it falls below a certain price. The problem with this solution is that the situations are always so complex. This is because it is very difficult to identify an appropriate point to abandon a project. The next suggestion for Nike is to looking for a source of systematic and clear feedback. For an example, the phenomenally large cost overruns at Scotlands new parliament building might have been smaller if let say the Scottish government had received less ambiguous or less distorted information from civil servants about the true cost of the project during the first few years. The escalation of commitment happened in Scotland because of they do not see the problems soon enough. Lastly, the Nike can try to improve their decision evaluation process by involving of more people in their own evaluation. Besides that, co-workers of Nike can continuously monitor each other and they might notice the problems sooner than someone working alone on the project. Employee involvement offers these and other benefits to the decision making process. So that, Nike can identify their problems, choose the best alternative and implement their decision with the knowledge and multiple perspectives of employees of company. Other than that, we recommend Nike to use Theory Y by Douglas McGregor (1960) to help their employees improve their working performance and distress due to over training. Theory Y emphasize on participative management style. This theory assumes that employees effort in work is as natural as play and work. They are self-motivated, enjoy their work a lot, self-direction and always seek for responsibility. Nike should motivate their potential employees and helps them to develop their skills and capacities. Appraisal method such as provide promotion opportunities to employees with good performance. Motivated employees are more willing to help organizations to achieve goals. According to Comms study (Puvanasvaran, A. P.), there are five best practiced components can be used to solve the problem of lean manufacturing which are environment change, leadership, culture, employee empowerment and communication. Nike should help the older employees to understand how lean manufacturing system work, try to communicate and share clear information with them so that they can understand their company goal. Nike can assign some employees to guide those employees who are not familiar with the process. Moreover, we also recommend Nike applies values drive behavior to motivate and handle the problem of operational workers who did not get their return fairly. The component of justice and fair guidance are needed. Nike managerial leaders should practice ethical behavior by locating organization resources fairly. Resources such as people, capital assets, money should treated and distribute fairly. They treat the workers equally by giving them the amount they deserved to get. Another component is love and kindness. Workers should be treated kindly. When their effort on the job is recognized, they will put more effort and contribute more to the organization. In such way, the operational workers will increase productivity and self-esteem. To solve the problems of inconsistent decision making, Nike should use appropriate team decision making strategy. Normally ideas of high status people or people who should loudest will get attention by other members. Therefore, we recommend Nike to use nominal group technique to solve prioritizing issues such as which resources are the best for company project. It is a technique where all the members brainstorm their ideas without interacting with each other and discuss one by once at the final stage. It is useful in providing effective framework in choosing best option or ranking priorities. 4.0 Conclusion McShane and Von Glinow (2010) defined that Decision making is a process of making choices among one or more alternatives with the intention of moving toward some desired state of affairs. People usually do not follow the rational model to make decision in the real world because there are many undefined problem and ambiguous alternatives. McShane and Von Glinow (2010) defined that Creativity is the development of original ideas that make a socially recognized contribution. Creativity allows and encourages people to think out of the box, which produce innovative and unique ideas for a particular task. NIKE, Inc. is the world leader in athletic apparel, footwear, equipment and accessories. They assist every athlete in developing motivation and creativity throughout the world with using and promoting their products and brand name. Decision making style of the founders of Nike, Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight has reflects the participative method in the company. Nike involved all levels of the organization in decision making. The employees who have relevant knowledge beyond leader and can help the leader solve the problem effectively. Furthermore, Nike is playing an important role in creativity which generates unique ideas or products that are valuable to the organizations. Neither in the product design nor advertising, Nike also has tried their best to exert unlimited creativity on it. The creative products and interesting advertisement that created by Nike has help them to produce sustained superior performance. Last, the integration of Nikes design, customer and marketing creates a strategy, which is effective and difficult for their competitors to imitate. Nike has provides clear objective and an environment, which promotes the development and sharing of innovative ideas throughout the world. (Total written words: 3785)

Gun Control Essay -- Gun Control, 2015

Firearms are dangerous weapons used to intentionally and unintentionally kill people, which lead to one of Americaï ¿ ½s most heated debates: gun control. With increasing crime and violence, many people look to gun control laws as a way to slow these trends down. On the other hand, others believe that owning a gun is a constitutional right that should never be taken away. James Q. Wilsonï ¿ ½s essay ï ¿ ½Just Take Away Their Gunsï ¿ ½ is an attempt to offer a solution to both sides of this argument. He claims that illegal possession of firearms is the problem and that frisking suspicious characters would be a good solution to the debate of gun control. However, random frisking to end illegal gun possession is a violation of privacy and an overbearing task that would be impossible to take on. First of all, Wilson states that ï ¿ ½legal restraints on the lawful purchase of guns will have little effect on the illegal use of gunsï ¿ ½ (106). However, Wilson fails to neglect that lawbreakers have to get their guns from somewhere. Of course some criminals will steal their firearms, but others look to breaking a different law. Buying guns from an unlicensed dealer gives criminals a feeling of safety. The criminal does not have to worry about being caught with breaking and entering and can also feel safe knowing that there is not a file containing records that says he owns a gun. Federal law limits who can purchase a gun on the basis of age, criminal status, and mental health (Zimring 37), but it does not put a limit on the amount of firearms a person can purchase. Enabling people to buy as many guns as they would like supports the black market. Without any restrictions on gun laws a criminal can buy firearms freely from whoever wants to sell one to him. Forgetting these facts weakens Wilsonï ¿ ½s stance that gun control will not be able to help solve the issue of illegal gun possession. A large setback with Wilsonï ¿ ½s plan is the potential for racial profiling. He even recognizes this and says that ï ¿ ½young black and Hispanic men will probably be stopped more often than older white Anlgo males or women of any raceï ¿ ½ (109). Some say that, to cut down on gun violence, it is necessary to target groups, neighborhoods, and races that are more likely to commit these crimes; however it is demeaning and backwards. A good example of how the stop-and-frisk can lead to racial profiling is a case filed... ... but to go about it in the way Wilson suggests will only hurt the nation. Instilling a random frisk would cause more problems than it would solve. First and most important, Americansï ¿ ½ privacy would be at risk. Another point to look at is the large possibility of racial profiling. To come so far in the area of civil rights and adopt Wilsonï ¿ ½s plan would be taking a step backward. Also, it would be a travesty for the police to waste their time frisking possible suspects when there is already so much crime for them to be putting a stop to. Wilson fails to realize the problems his plan will cause America. Forgoing the end of illegal gun possession as Wilson proposes is not worth it when one looks at the harms it will create. Works Cited Boyd, Herb. ï ¿ ½Cops Must Pay.ï ¿ ½ New York New Amsterdam News. 25 September 2003. 1. Wilson, James Q. ï ¿ ½Just Take Away Their Guns.ï ¿ ½ The New York Times Magazine March 24, 1994. Rpt in Current Issues and Enduring Questions 7th ed. Sylvan Barnet and Hugo Bedau. Boston; Bedford/St. Martinï ¿ ½s . 2005. 106-109. Zimring, Franklin E. ï ¿ ½Firearms, Violence, and the Potential Impact of Firearms Control.ï ¿ ½ Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics 32.1(2004): 34-37.

On the Rainy River Essay -- Literary Analysis, OBrien

Life can bring unexpected events that individuals might not be prepared to confront. This was the case of O’Brien in the story, â€Å"On the Rainy River† from the book The Things They Carried. As an author and character O’Brien describes his experiences about the Vietnam War. In the story, he faces the conflict of whether he should or should not go to war after being drafted. He could not imagine how tough fighting must be, without knowing how to fight, and the reason for such a war. In addition, O’Brien is terrified of the idea of leaving his family, friends and everything he loves behind. He decides to run away from his responsibility with the society. However, a feeling of shame and embarrassment makes him go to war. O’Brien considers himself a coward for doing something he does not agree with; on the other hand, thinking about the outcome of his decision makes him a brave man. Therefore, an individual that considers the consequences of his acts is nobler than a war hero. The Vietnam War was a conflict that many people did not comprehend. In fact, the war was atrocious and bloody. According to The Vietnam War: a History in Documents, 58,000 US soldier died and more than 700,000 came back with physical and emotional marks (Young, Fitzgerald & Grunfeld 147). For many Americans this war was meaningless. In the same way, O’Brien admits, â€Å"American war in Vietnam seemed to me wrong; certain blood was being shed for uncertain reason† (40). O’Brien believes the war was not significance. Furthermore, the lack of logic in the matter makes him confused about going to war. That’s why, he does not understand why he was sent to fight a war for which causes and effects were uncertain. The author continues by saying, â€Å"I was too good for... ...hermore, going to war was an act of cowardice. He had to put aside his morals and principles and fight a war he did not believe in. Overall, the author showed us the courageous and coward s acts of O’Brien the character. The fact that he was a coward made him do a heroic act. O’Brien made the valiant decision to go to war. It would have been easier and cowardly to jump and swim away from all his fears. However he decided to turn back, and fight for something he did not believe in. Thinking about the consequences of running away makes him a hero. He went to war not because he wanted to fight for his country, but for his own freedom. Either choice he could have made would take some kind of courage to carry out. Going to war required some sort of fearlessness. In other words, running away from the law would have been brave; but going to war was even tougher.

Germany under Bismarck :: essays research papers

Germany under Bismarck The Historical Debate The view of Bismarck over the years has changed and it is the historical debate surrounding our perception of him and his intentions that often shapes our interpretation of the German unification. No 19th century figure has attracted the attention and controversy that surround the achievement of Otto von Bismarck, with the exception perhaps of Napoleon Bonaparte. The success of Bismarck’s work in unifying Germany has shifted from a determinist to a dialectic approach. Early historiography had portrayed him as a master statesman, leading Germany to her rightful destiny. However, dissent from this thesis was at first from non-German historians who re-interpreted later events to conclude that there were more sinister implications to the work of the ‘Iron Chancellor’, making him a more Machiavellian and immoral politician. Later historians, after the Second World War adopted a teleological interpretation of Bismarck accusing him of leading the way for the disastrous era of Nazism by crippling the development of democratic institutions in Germany, he laid the country open to future dictatorships however, some historians have argued that Bismarck could not be held for all future developments. They cite his semi-feudal brand of conservatism, arguing that along with his religion and his limited Pan-German view, these factors all distanced him greatly from the principles of Nazism. Recent developments have tended to move away from the study of ‘Grand Policy’, to diminish the role played by great men such as Bismarck, but to stress the wider context in which they operated. Themes and Problems of 19th century Europe The collapse of the Napoleonic empire in 1814-15 brought the statesmen of Europe to provide for he political future of France and those territories conquered by France. In addition they had to reestablish the balance of power shattered by the Napoleonic campaigns, and to ensure against any similar disruption. France was forced to accept a restoration of the Bourbon dynasty, and a large war indemnity and an army of occupation was imposed. The justifications were manifold however, few do come to mind. Firstly, the Allies sought to prevent future French expansion by the creation of a cordon of relatively strong states around her borders. To this end, a new United Kingdom of the Netherlands was created, consisting of the old Dutch Republic and the Austrian Netherlands (now Belgium). Secondly, this cordon was backed and supported by a loose confederation of 38 states known as the German confederation which was established to compensate for the collapse of the old Holy Roman Empire which would ensure that a mass of small German states would be less easy prey for a future expansionist power.

Nissan Motor Company Ltd

Nissan motor company is a famous car manufacturing company that is recognized in the manufacture of Nissan type of cares. It is one of the largest car manufacturing companies in the world. Why demand and sales volume for a specific region are important when planning marketing strategies Cost allocation Marketing is a costly affair and as such its planning is quite essential. Some geographical regions demand more of the Nissan Motor cars than others. The essence of marketing is to create awareness of the existence and benefit of any commodity. Demand sales volume is therefore an important phenomenon when marketing as more costs will be allocated to geographical areas with low demand and poor sales volume. For areas when the demand and subsequent sales of the Nissan cars is considerably high, the firm need not pour lot of resources for the purpose of marketing. Demand When an analysis is carried out on demand in terms of classes of customers or age, it will help the organization in knowing the marketing methodologies to apply. If the Nissan cars are mostly used by young people, then marketing will also be done by young people and be carried in a manner to capture the attention of young people. The same applies when it is found out that it is elderly people who demand the cars more oftenly. Then the marketing would have to be strategize in away to accommodate them. Product differentiation Forecasting demand and sales volume provides a useful pattern of purchase by customers. When this is further stratified, it is possible to identify how the sales differed across different products. The same product’s demand might change due to product differentiation. Product packaging will then be strategized in a way to conform with what customers require more. Forecasts on where the industry will go in the future For the past 20 years the sales of Nissan Motor Company have increased by about 20%. This is due to intense auto – advertising campaigns. It is believed that the company will in the near future engulf the entire global market because of the awareness caused through better improved marketing strategies. It has also been forecasted that the industry will in future be the market leaders. Intelligent rationale as to why think this way This is because of extensive and hi – tech marketing. It is also because of the fact that many customers would be reached. Lastly, other companies are likely to be overshadowed by the Nissan Motor Company thus leaving it as almost monopolistic firms. Forecast on how the state of industry will change over the course of the foreseeable future Initially the company advertised its fleet of vehicles through the audio – visual media only i.e. through the radios and television. This was found not to be satisfactory and convincing on the customers. Then came the marketing through the company journals being circulated in offices and other working places for all and sundry to read and understand. The company has also used the web where various websites portray/ give various places of information. It is forecasted that in future the company would embrace â€Å"trade – exhibitions† us its marketing strategy. This involves displaying of their cars openly for the public view. It also allows customers to physically view the vehicles and where marketers more them around the workshops answering their questions in the process. How the changes came about These marketing changes came as a result of a number of factors. These are a)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Stiff Competition There was need to deviate from the usual marketing strategies being practiced by similar firms in the industry to more sophisticated and relevant ones. b)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Globalization / free trade The exhibitions especially in other countries have been facilitated due to globalization and free market. Countries now allow other countries to freely market their products in their own motherland and this has enhanced marketing for the Nissan Motor Company. c)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Need to reach wider market The domestic market is quite insufficient and cannot be therefore relied upon by any organization to improve its sales volume. The need to reach a wider market has therefore led to such an evolution of the marketing industry from just a media exercise to Mega trade exhibitions. d)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Global demand for product Because of their nature, Nissan cars attract a significant demand. They are efficient in fuel consumption and durable. This makes them highly preferably compared to other makes/ types of cares. This high demand calls for extensive and global advertisement and marketing by the Nissan motor company. Impact of the changes on the industry a)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Considerable growth The evolution of the marketing strategies has led to the opening branches and /or selling points for the motor company. b)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   High profitability The new marketing strategies have led to a tremendous improvement of the company’s profits though the advertising costs have also gone upwards. c)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Reduced competition Other similar firms have failed to fairly compete with the motor company due to its unique strategies Impact on buyers The buyers have maintained their loyalty on the Nissan cars due to the trade exhibitions which offer buyers the opportunity to physically see their products and ask questions. And because of their appreciation of their vehicles, average prices at which the buyers are willing to pay for them has also gone upwards.      

The Psychological Effect of Excessive Online Gaming in Teens and Children

7 March 2012 Real Virtual Reality: The Psychological Effect of Excessive Online Gaming in Teens and Children Droning away on the computer next to me, my friend is able to completely zone out his surroundings; with each click of the mouse, he is exclusively in the virtual world he creates. His constant need to disappear from society and to construct his own, compels me to question the reason of why he’s doing what exactly he is doing. I do not have an answer why he does what he does but at least he’s doing something that he can be good at.However the reasons could be from a feeling of detachment from society or running away from a deeper problem that is put deep inside oneself and not directly confronted. Gaming is not the problem. It is merely something that is used to console and comfort. The excessive use of it, however, is what can hold harmful effects to normal behavior and social attitudes. It could turn into developing real psychological problems like social awkwa rdness , depression, difficulty in a job enviroment and relationships, being disconnected from reality and in some cases can develop into antisocial disorders. Meek 2) With the number of gamers and games increasing each year, (Sinclair) changes need to be done for our future generations to be more engaged and more responsive with society. Beginning with parenting in such way that sets a good example of what it means to be a responsible and productive citizen, such as active parenting and atively pursuing a better responive citizen. Raising children is indeed extremely difficult, time consuming, emotionally and physically exhausting, and is something to not to be considered lightly before having a child or children.To raise a child, is not only providing for their needs and showing affection, but also shaping the next generation of our society and what we as humans leave behind. An example is a very powerful and useful tool that we possess. A young child is very apt to learn and reac t to each and everything a parent does or does not do. From learning from subtle signals or gestures, to the life lessons and values that they will carry on with them to adulthood. Good parenting and good teaching does not simply mean turning kids loose.Good parents and good teachers need to do become more educated about what children and adolescents struggle with to become the best parent they can be. Although gaming might not always be the first choice as parents, parents spend a lot of time at soccer games and violin recitals and other things that is done not because they like them necessarily but because they matter to their kids. (Zur (a) 53) Many children find a sense of power and excitement in games. There is certainly nothing wrong with wanting power. However, the child may also be avoiding something undesirable in offline life, and dive into games to flee the real world.They can get caught up in this fantasy world that keeps them out of real life responsibilities and become addicted to the online world. An addiction the same as caffeine and nicotine. This may be affecting the child's psychological and physical well-being. Growing children and teens need face-to-face interaction to develop healthly emotional, spiritual, social and sexually and too much time at the computer and not enough sunshine, exercise, physical contact, and face-to-face interaction can leave children and teens lacking in social skills and other development.Which can cause an over dependence on technology. The inability to relate or communicate effectively face-to-face alienates and isolates them from society. (Zur (c) 6) As video games become more realistic, their place in society becomes more apparent and at a level that is bigger than ever before imagined. We've all seen or heard stories about certain people that commit terrible acts allegedly under the influence of video games. It is easy to assume that fantasy gaming is â€Å"bad† or â€Å"harmful.    Indeed, it's hu man nature to demonize what we don't understand and fing a place for it that is away from sight and away from being affected by it. It seems to many that even â€Å"healthy† fantasy like reading Harry Potter books  or sketching dungeons with pencils has to be better than  fantasy like World of Warcraft, which numbs minds, sucks the imagination, and has no  redeeming value. Whether it be, parenting in a way that promotes more social activity, self realization of how the excess of gaming can effect oneself, or the herapeutic procedures that can help alleviate from the trap of becoming addicted to the virtual world. Gilsdof said it best when we said, â€Å"Online gaming is not the problem, it is how people use it. Addiction is never in the object, the addiction is in the relationship one has with the object. Change begins in the person not the object†. (Gilsdof) Works Cited page Gamespot. Brendan Sinclair. 2008. Gamespot Inc. 3 March 2012. < http://www. gamespot. co m/news/npd-72-percent-of-us-are-gamers-6188668>Psych Central, Online Gaming Addicition. Will Meek, Ph. D. Psych Central. 3 March 2012 Psychology Today,. Ethan Gilsdof. Psychology Today. 3 March 2012. Richard Allan Bartle. Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spade: Players Who Suit MUDs. Essex, UK: Muse Ltd. 1999 Zur Institute on the Internet. (a) Ofer Zur, Ph. D. 2011. Zur Institute LLC. 3 March 2012. Zur, Ofer, Ph. D. (b) The Adventure of Online Gaming. New York: Random House, 2003 Zur, Ofer, Ph. D. (c) Handling Internet Addiction Dissorder, (IAD) Chicago: University of Chicago Publishing, 2001