Application of Marketing Theories to Practice

Application of Marketing Theories to Practice Introduction This report shows the different field of businesses and the methods that our company was using in SimVenture comparing with theories. Marketing and Sales Our companys main marketing tool was advertising but we were using different like direct marketing, exhibitions and our website. However, digital marketing is limited only to website in the game, although this is getting more popular these days (Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette, 2006). Digital marketing defined by Jobber, 2007: The application of digital technologies that form channels to market (the Internet, mobile communications, interactive television and wireless) to achieve corporate goal through meeting and exceeding customer need better than the competition. Digital marketing is almost completely missing from the game, it is only limited to website. Network theory studies relationships of all sorts, whether between people, animals or things. Social network analysis is an overlapping tool for learning about patterns that develop within social networks and how they influence behaviour. Digital marketing channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Instagram are useful in this reg ard, as they allow marketers to listen to what consumers are saying, and they allow marketers to leverage the power of influential users to spread messages throughout their networks (Harvard Business Review, 2006.). Generational marketing theory holds that consumers born of the same generation defined as a 20-year period have common attitudes and behaviours because of shared experiences that influenced their childhoods and shaped their views of the world. The relevance of generational theory to digital marketing is primarily in the ways in which each generation communicates and the online places where marketers can reach them (Zickuhr, 2010.). The customer research in the game is only limited to where the customers heard about but nothing who they are (age, gender, education, etc.). All in all the game had good opportunities in traditional marketing channels like direct marketing and advertisement but digital marketing part is really limited which makes it less realistic. Operations Efficient operations management is a key element to make a company successful. Without supply network a company cannot exist. A supply network perspective means setting an operation in the context of all the other operations with which it interact some of which are its suppliers and its customers. Materials, parts, other information, ideas and network of customer-supplier relationships formed by all these operations (Slack, Chambers, Johnston, 2004.). The supply network view can also help in decision making about the design. The design activity in operations has one overriding objective: to provide products, services and processes which will satisfy the operations customers. During the game our company used Just in time method for the production because if there was more order then our organisation was able to produce then we contracted some out when it was financially possible. Furthermore, in the meanwhile of last year in the game, all of our production was contracted out because t he four employees werent enough to build the product and to handle other task that were essential to run the company at the same time. High dependency theory is one of the explanation of the Just in Time approach to operations management. With high inventories insulating each stage in the production process, the dependency of the stages on one another was low. Take away the inventory and heir mutual dependency increases. The Just in Time practice of empowering shopfloor staff makes the organisation dependent on their actions (Slack, Chambers, Johnston, 2004.). However, this theory perfectly suits with SimVenture, thus it is realistically show the opportunities and limitations of Just in Time delivery and production because in the first year when financially it was not a possibility to contract out some of the production we bumped into some limitations according to the Just in Time manufacture technique. Finance All investments carry with them some degree of risk. In the financial world, individuals, professional money managers, financial institutions, and many others encounter and must deal with risk. Investors can either accept or try to mitigate the risk in investment decision-making (Baker Filbeck, 2015.). However, the game is limited to only two choice of grants and family and bank loans. Decision parameters are: amount, period, interest rate. The game also offers an opportunity to set bank overdraft which can be really useful especially in the beginning of the game when the company has to buy the products component and has to wait until the clients paying. The payback period can be up to 3 months. According to Deakins and Freel (2009) our companys stage of finance is at young stage, due to we paid back our only  £3000 loan from friends and family, although the company is owed 100% by the founders. Business angels capital, internet crowd funding Michael Jensen and William Meckling, in ‘Theory of the firm: management behavior, agency costs and ownership structure’ (1976), note that ‘agency costs arise in any situation involving cooperative effort’ and that, as the firm is essentially ‘a nexus for a set of contracting relationships among individuals’, agency problems are endemic to it. Their analysis focuses on how agency problems can help to explain such questions as: The degree to which a firm is financed by debt or equity; Why firms in some industries are usually owner-operated; Why firms would voluntarily supply shareholders and lenders with accounting reports and have them independently audited. The last point is of most interest for our purposes. Essentially, firms will voluntarily provide shareholders and lenders with independently audited accounting reports because this reduces the monitoring costs associated with contractual relationships with these parties. In the game there is opportunity to make the finance reports in house or to ask an agency to do it for extra costs per each months. Setting up the right price for the product is a key element for running a successful company. Our gross profit per unit is 43% of the whole price which is around average in this industry (Stefan, 2015.). Organisation and growth SimVenture is a game which is run on a managerialist philosophy not an enterprising one (Grant, 2015.). Theories of the small business life cycle have been heavily criticised in recent years for being reductionist and ‘speculatively normative’, relying on formalistic, deductive approaches rather than inductive heuristic methods (Gibb and Davies, 1990). In particular, it is the ‘deterministic assumption that all firms grow through a series of predictable series of preordained stages’ (Merz et al, 1994; p49). Small business growth is characterised by a number of predictable, discrete and consistent stages (Churchill and Lewis, 1983; Hanks et al., 1994; Kazanjian, 1988; Steinmetz, 1969). These stages are sequential in nature and occur as a hierarchical progression not easily reversed (Dodge and Robbins, 1992; Quinn and Cameron, 1983). An important aspect of theorising on the organisational life cycle is that many stage models of small business growth can be con ceptualised as ‘metamorphosis’ models (dAmboise and Muldowney, 1988; Kazanjian, 1988), where the fundamental transition from one stage of growth to another requires considerable change. However, in SimVenture when the firm moved to a bigger office and purchased new equipment for the company the efficiency of the company have been developed to a higher level that also meant that the company is growing. The life cycle literature emphasises that such periodic crises have an important role to play in the development of both the organisation and the individual. (Dodge and Robbins, 1992.). Hiring more employees and train them to be professional in different business fields is also a great method to rise the organisation to a higher level. Upon interpretation, it seems that entrepreneurs have to develop new behaviours and learn to think in radically different ways as a result of managing developmental crises (Greiner, 1972). As Greiner (1972) states, ‘these periods of te nsion provide the pressure, ideas, and awareness that afford a platform for change and the introduction of new practices’ . From this viewpoint, a key assumption behind life cycle theorising is that for a small business to grow, the owner-manager must adapt and modify their perceptions and actions as a result of these discontinuous events in order to facilitate organisational growth. For instance, in the game when the company was financially able to advertise not only in printed media but use the more expensive although more efficient TV and Radio as a marketing channel, the number of orders rising exponentially. That caused profit and sales growth which helped to increment the firm to a higher level as it displayed in the Figure 1.1 below. Figure 1.1 Even though such statements indicate a fundamental process of personal learning and development on behalf of the owner-manager, most life cycle theorists do not address this issue in any significant depth. On the other hand, there are opportunities for training and learning for the owner as well, and it is also developing the skills during the game. The important point to draw from this significant recognition is that learning to become an effective small business owner is not always simple, or inevitable for that matter (Burns and Harrison, 1989). Leadership Entrepreneurs and small business owners are very different because entrepreneurship can be distinguished from small business ownership by a venture strategy oriented toward growth and innovation (Grant, 2015.). Using Team Role theory the word ‘shape’ indicates to us ‘shaper’, whilst the word ‘vision’ implies ‘plant’. Looking at leadership using Handy’s definition is interesting for vision is certainly important to leadership, but does it have to be unique to an individual? Where it is unique to an individual with a drive to enact it such as a ‘Shaper’, strong Solo leadership is likely to prevail. Vision alternatively may be ‘borrowed’ by a ‘Shaper’ who treats it as a product of the self and similarly will adopt a Solo leadership style. Many organisations have rewarded Solo leadership behaviour by promoting individuals to management and leadership positions, for such individuals have met past organisational needs (Handy, 1992.).

Revenue Assessment Essay

Thank you for the opportunity to assess your sales data in order to provide recommendations for increasing your sales. The analysis and recommendations below are based on the data you provided, which covers a period from May 2004 through June 2006. The analysis below is based on this data alone. Therefore, our recommendations should be tempered by your knowledge of business realities and your market. Please let us know if we can answer any questions concerning the analysis or the recommendations provided. ANALYSIS 1: Total Sales by Country Analysis As an American based country one expects the highest income to be within a company’s home country. Well, in the case of Northwind Traders, that is the case. The USA has the highest gross net sales, to be followed closely by Germany and then Austria and Brazil. Sales are above 100,000 over the past two years. If you notice, all of the top selling companies are offered a discount whereas the lower selling countries are offered now discount at all. Graphic Recommendation Based on my analysis I think it would be wise to entice lower income countries to buy more products by offering a discount if they reach a certain amount of product ordered. I also recommend sending surveys to the largest purchasing companies to see what products they would like to see discounts offered on if larger volumes are purchased. Also taking special care to cater to the products higher volume countries are requiring. ANALYSIS 2 : Net Income by Sales Rep Analysis I was given two full years of sales data, and took a look at the net revenue of each of your sales representatives. At first glance it looks like 2005 might have been a more profitable year, but bear in mind that 2005 is the only year we all four quarters accounted for. Keeping that information in mind, it looks like 2006 is getting off to an amazing start, as several of your sales reps have already passed their totals from 2005 in the first quarters. Also take careful attention to notice the difference in the two quarters from 2004 and 2006. It looks like a majority of your sales representatives are making solid revenue for the company. Graphic Recommendation My recommendation would be for starters, enroll every sales rep in a sales training class. Upon completion of I would set a goal that each sales rep must contribute at least 10% of the net income for the company. Since there are 9 sales reps this leaves some room for extra. This will not only force the sales reps to work together, and encourage friendly competition. I also recommend you elect a sales representative team leader (for example Miss Peacock who is consistently your top sales person) and empower her to encourage, coach and teacher the other sales reps in her methods and tricks. ANALYSIS 3: Total Revenues by Month in 2005 Analysis After careful consideration, I decided to look at the yearly trend of just 2005 since we have all the data from that year. If you will notice, October is by far the biggest selling month, whereas July is the lowest, but mostly the trend is pretty consistent across the year. Graphic Recommendation I recommend that we find out what about October spikes sales, and try to apply it to the rest of the year. Also, I’d consider adding special sales and discounts in March and April, the lowest sales months of the year, that should help perk up sales in the slower months. SELF ASSESSMENT From completing the Excel project, I learned so much about excel. At the beginning of this class I was very confident and nearly cocky about my knowledge in excel, but boy oh boy have I learned a LOT of neat new tools to add to my bag of tricks. I learned specifically about pivot tables which are beyond helpful for organizing data in a more readable way, and see the things that you want to see. I also learned a lot of new ways to sort and organize information in clean and easily read ways. This was a tough project to tackle at first, but I feel a lot better about the things I have learned in excel since finishing it.

Migration and Integration: African Americans and Mexican Americans in the U.S. Essay

A number of African Americans and Mexican Americans gradually migrated into the United States with the development of agriculture in the country. Although the reasons for their migration were different, the African Americans and Mexican Americans share similar situations as they tried to integrate into American society. The choice to migrate into the US was mainly attributed to their need to look for better opportunities, new lives, admiration and obstacles. Migration has a different meaning among African Americans, who had to go through a lot of suffering when they came into the country. They initially migrated into the United States as slaves and made to work in plantation and homes in the new world. They were also considered as commodities to be traded in the market. The working conditions of African Americans on the plantations were horrible even though they formed the foundation of the entire cotton industry. The conditions that African Americans had to go through when they migrated into the United States were detailed and explained in the book â€Å"In Motion: The African American Migration Experience. † The book gives a list of the first African Americans who arrived into the United States during the 1500s through the Caribbean and Mexico. This account is different from common knowledge, which indicates that they arrived through Jamestown in 1619. They settled in a number of southern states such as South Carolina, Florida, and Texas. A good number of slaves found safe haven from their owners in the marshlands and the Bahamas. Some of them even started to live with Native Americans. They started to adjust and embrace the culture of the place where they established themselves. They learned the local languages and other dialects. The twentieth century saw a good number of African Americans increase their influence in history. They played a significant role the development of industrial areas, even as racism continued to remind African Americans of their suffering in the past. A movement was started that saw a number of laws being altered to integrate equality in society. The government was compelled to include African Americans due to the legal system that they were able to establish. The views and contributions of African Americans were included in the formation of cultural and social policies. The Harlem renaissance during the 1920s and the 1930s was the most significant input that resulted to the acknowledgement of African American NEW IN AMERICA PAPER 3 culture and connected their culture with other cultures. The talents of African Americans in art, music, and literature started to emerge during the period. A number of authors were able to demonstrate their talents, which describe the experience of African Americans. It also resulted to the establishment of a number of African American political interest groups. These authors include Neela Larson, Zora Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston. Three of these political groups that emerged include the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Nation of Islam, and the Negro Improvement Association. The African American culture also started to spread from the south. The culture and arts of American society were influenced by African, Haitian, and Caribbean cultures. The situation further enriched the culture of the African American population despite the adversity they faced along the way. This demonstrated the experience of African Americans when they migrated into the United States. At the start of the twentieth century, Mexican Americans were able to easily enter into the United States. An emergency quota act that was ratified by the United States allowed Mexican Americans to travel freely into the US. This act also limited the migration of citizens coming from countries in the Eastern hemisphere. Special allowances were even given to Mexicans by the US government due to the immigration law enacted by the US. The implementation of the immigration law gave credence to the significance of the labor provided by Mexicans, which enhanced the US economy. The act invalidated the literacy test that was enforced on Mexicans by farmers. However, this special allowance was cancelled following the economic crisis that affected the United States in 1929. Americans found it difficult to be employed due to the Great Depression, which resulted to an anti-immigration sentiment and compelled many Mexicans to go back home. Barricades were also set up between Mexico and the United States. However, the Second World War resulted to a labor shortage, which resulted to the creation of a bracer program that allowed Mexicans to work in the agricultural industry in the United States. A good number of Mexicans were able to receive allowances along with minimum wages. The situation was temporary and was only implemented while many American men were out in the battlefield. The United States did not allow the families of the braceros to join them to guarantee that they would return to their homeland. However, many Mexicans were NEW IN AMERICA PAPER 4 compelled to become illegal immigrants since they did not want to go back to Mexico. These illegal immigrants were able to stay employed and eventually made enough money due to the bracer program. By 1954, the United States was compelled to handle the increasing number of illegal immigrants. Operation Wetback was started together with a naturalization service and border patrols that immediately deported illegal immigrants. However, the operation was stopped due to a number of issues that included maltreatment of Mexicans and violence. The children of the illegal immigrants that were born in the US were also deported together with their parents. The labor shortage that was still prevalent among companies resulted to the establishment of factories in Mexico. The factories were called maquillas or maguiladoras, which was beneficial for both the United States and Mexico. Among the benefits that Mexico received were the sending of equipment for the factories. The value of equipment was untaxed. The equipment was also sent as a whole instead of being transported one component at a time. The border between Mexico and the United States was the first barrier that illegal Mexicans had to deal with if they want to go into the US. The border extends from Tijuana, Baja California and Imperial Beach California along the western side until Brownsville, Matamoras and Tamaulipas, Texas along the eastern side. It goes through different terrains that included major urban areas and harsh deserts. Most of the Mexicans who were able to cross the border settled in the states of Texas, New Mexico, California, Arizona, and Colorado. Mexican Americans played a role in the development of cities along the southwest, including Tucson, San Antonio, Albuquerque, Dallas, and Los Angeles. Although a good number of Mexican Americans were not able to go through formal education, they were able to contribute to the development of the Midwest, from Michigan all the way to Kansas. They provided labor for the steel factories and railroad system. Since the Mexicans were willing to provide labor in the valley in the southwestern states, their culture had a significant influence in these areas. Their contribution allowed the valley to become one of the richest valleys in the world. Mexicans also made some significant contributions in sports, language, demographics, fine arts, and politics. REFERENCES WWW. GWU. EDU GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY BY A ETZIONI – 2000 – Coverage: 1964-2008 (Vols. 51-95) Links to External Content: 2009-2012 (Vol. 95, No. 4 – Vol. 99, No. 1) Published by: Organization of American Historians NEW IN AMERICA PAPER 5.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger - 1104 Words

J.D. Salinger has written multiple novels, but his most famous is The Catcher in the Rye. Not only is this novel famous for its literary merit, it is also known as his most banned novel in certain schools. Even though this novel has been banned, J.D. Salinger’s themes and moralistic purposes serve literary worth. In The Catcher in the Rye, the reader is first introduced to Holden Caulfield, as first person narrator. He is a radically independent adolescent who tosses off judgments at ease unselfconsciously. The introduction scene is set where he is, voluntarily isolated from the rest, looking down upon a hill during a Pencey Prep football game. He then goes into introducing primary characters that impacted his life, such as, Mr. Spencer, Ackley and Stradlater. Later on that night, Holden leaves campus enraged with anger and hatred towards everyone and sets on an adventure to find himself in the city of New York. Throughout the novel, Holden goes on a pursuit in search of maturity, intimate love, moral innocence, and acceptance despite his hatred for phoniness. The Catcher in the Rye was banned and discriminated for multiple reasons, but the prime reason was the containment of â€Å"excessive use of amateur swearing and coarse language† and â€Å"overt sexuality† (â€Å"And Holden† Online; Kerr 49). Critics found the novel to be â€Å"wholly repellent in its mingled vulgarity, naà ¯vetà ©, and sly perversion† (â€Å"And Holden† Online). Despite the negative criticism, J.D. Salinger alsoShow MoreRelatedThe Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger637 Words   |  3 PagesThe Catcher in the Rye, by J.D Salinger, consists of many minor characters. There are more than about sixty characters in the novel in which only three of them are major characters (Holden, Allie, and Phoebe) and the rest minor. Many of these characters are just mentioned with no lasting impact on either the novel itself or Holden. Salinger uses minor characters in the Catcher in the Rye to tell the readers about Holden and his views about the world. The first minor character seen in the CatcherRead MoreThe Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger654 Words   |  3 Pagesfirst questions that came to my mind when I received the first assignment notice that we would be reading The Catcher in the Rye for English class. The title is most likely the single most important word choice that the author must make. J.D. Salinger uses the title in the book to allude to more than just when Holden sees the young child singing. J.D. Salingers title, The Catcher in the Rye, alludes to the conflict Holden faces of sexuality when growing up. The first reference made to the titleRead MoreThe Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger944 Words   |  4 PagesMany people have different aspects and impressions on a teenager’s life. Some say society is the problem for their misbehaviours while others say it is the child who is responsible. Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger tells a story of a teenage boy named Holden Caulfield who gets kicked out from school to school. He never pushed himself in academics or anything and ended up failing, at most, everything. He re-tells what happened to him in New York after he got kicked out of Pencey Prep and secretlyRead MoreThe Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger1005 Words   |  5 PagesHolden Caulfield, the protagonist of J.D. Salinger’s classic coming of age tale The Catcher in the Rye, entices readers through his hyper-critical scrutinization of the post-war consumer world. The novel itself is acclaimed to be quite autobiographical; the similarities between Salinger and H olden are numerous. Holden is an avid critic of materialistic American ideals, and he aims to preserve innocence in others, and to save himself from falling into the land of adulthood. After failing out ofRead MoreThe Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger862 Words   |  3 PagesThe Catcher in the Rye a novel written by J.D. Salinger, the book starts off with Holden Caulfield, main protagonist, talks about his experience alone the weekend before he went home after getting kicked out of Pencey Prep.Holden seems to be embracing the growing up mentality yet he is frighten of adulthood he is trying to keep his innocence. Holden’s attitude toward life in general is perplexed. He pretends to be an adult by drinking heavily, yet he complains like a child. Holdens thoughts arentRead MoreThe Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger1515 Words   |  7 PagesIn the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is a very complex and interesting person to take into consideration and psychoanalyze. His various traits make him a different person from the rest of the phonies in the world. Holden says, â€Å"All you do is make a lot of dough and play golf and play bridge and buy cars and drink Martinis and look like a hot-shot. How would you know you werent being a phony? The trouble is, you wouldnt.† What Holden doesn’t realizeRead MoreThe Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger798 Words   |  3 PagesCatcher in the Rye Essay Anyone who has lost a beloved relative to cancer or other illnesses can understand how difficult it is to return to a normal living routine and move on with their lives without the relative. In J.D. Salinger’s novel, Holden Caulfield has to deal with the loss of his younger brother to leukemia. A few years after his younger brother, Allie, passed away, Holden finds himself being kicked out of yet another boarding school, this one being Pencey Prep in Pennsylvania. HoldenRead MoreThe Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger983 Words   |  4 PagesCatcher in the Rye Essay Throughout Catcher in the Rye there are a lot of small parts of the story where it would be linked to the book and to the text all together. J.D. Salinger created a lot of important passages that would be associated with what type of message that he was trying to convey to the audience. Salinger would develop certain characters like Phoebe through her description and actions to have a influence on Holden, thus causing him to change as a character and reveal sides of himRead MoreThe Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger507 Words   |  2 PagesJ.D Salinger is a very known american writer whose literature became very popular. His books revolved around many ideas such as his view on children. Children in many of his books have an innocence that Salinger grasps onto and makes adults corrupt. Also, he shows how children are teachers to adults but can still be foolish. Purity in children are expressed throughout many stories by Salinger. In Catcher In the Rye, Holden repeatedly expressed â€Å"Did you ask her if she still keeps all her kings inRead MoreThe Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger667 Words   |  3 PagesIn a J.D Salinger novel, The Catcher in the rye interprets the adolescent world full of patience and misery. Holden Caulfield, hardly being the complete opposite of a typical protagonist. Instead, being the archetype of an anti-hero facing adolescent over anxiety. He is a teenager forced to grow up in a time of turmoil with severe emotional handicaps placed upon him by family, friends and life in general. Caulfield sets himself on such a journey and is portrayed as an individual on a quest for validation