Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Change-oriented leadership trans formational and charismatic leaders Coursework - 1

Change-arranged administration trans formational and appealling pioneers slp - Coursework Example As I would see it, this methodology was increasingly administrative in nature, as the chief complied with recently set principles and tried to keep up business as usual. The boss did little to set new headings or build up new objectives, similar to the case for pioneers who are progressively visionary-arranged. The Five Factor Model (FFM) traces five character measurements, which incorporate Neurotism, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Extraversion and Openness (OCEAN). Inside each measurement are essential variables, which portray in detail singular characteristics. Good faith alludes to an individual’s capacity to be trustworthy and included though appropriateness breaks down how much one co-works with others and their degree of sympathy. Then again, extraversion incorporates one’s capacity to collaborate socially with others though neurotism gauges the level of feelings precariousness, for example, an expanded inclination towards negative emptions, for example, outrage or uneasiness. At last, receptiveness to encounter includes an individual’s interest level, love for experience and capacity to acknowledge feel. My boss was low in neurotism, high in extraversion, high in good faith, low in pleasantness, and low in receptiveness to encounter. As the head on the entry level position program, he had built up a high resilience from preparing assistants. His subordinates could rely upon him when confronted with testing issues and he had a decent compatibility with them, as he was a social individual. Be that as it may, from his plain office dã ©cor, obviously he had no energy about style; for instance, craftsmanship. The conduct approach embraced by the manager was task-arranged. The company’s center errand was consumer loyalty, which required representatives to build up a decent compatibility with the customers. All things considered, execution examinations looked to assess an employee’s collaborations with the customers dependent on the client’s input. The preparation workshops sorted out by the

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Family and Tan Ling Wei Free Essays

I am a normal prospective 20 years of age young lady from a conventional family with remarkable dreams. My name is Tan Ling Wei, however since everyone is making some troublesome memories to articulate Chinese names, I would prefer to be called as Zoey. I’m a Malaysian Chinese, and I was conceived in a major city with huge shopping centers †Kuala Lumpur. We will compose a custom article test on Family and Tan Ling Wei or then again any comparable theme just for you Request Now At the point when I was more youthful, I used to remain in Bentong which is my old neighborhood in Pahang with my folks along with my grandparents. Since my folks were caught up with procuring professionally, my grandparents were my gatekeepers. Grandpa was my preferred individual since he was the person who spoiled me the most. He would concede whatever desire I wanted, regardless of whether it was the stars in the sky which takes about over 50,000 years to make the excursion. I recalled there was at one time, my grandpa took me out on a bicycle to get me a school sack. I was so youthful and I didn't have the foggiest idea how to put my legs on the front seat, thus I hurt my foot by getting it caught in the bike wheel. I was crying uproariously in transit home since I couldn’t stand the torment and there was a great deal of blood. Grandpa’s face was full with blame when he saw his cherished grandkid got injured. In the long run, the crying halted after grandpa’s persistent encouraging. The greatest appreciation goes to my mother. She’s a normal fulltime housewife, yet in addition my dad’s low maintenance individual colleague. Then again, she is the person who goes here and there to send me to college and my sibling to class. All things considered, to place it basically, she lacks the capacity to deal with herself by any stretch of the imagination. At the point when I was 2 years of age, I was conceded into the emergency clinic and told that I had bronchitis. She was the person who assumed up the liability to deal with me, remaining in the ward with me in any event, when she was pregnant with my sibling. A mother’s love is in reality instinctual, genuine and perpetually for her youngster. The nearest individual when I was youthful was my father. He was the person who might persistently peruse me sonnets and stories when I was a child. At whatever point he returned from his work, he would cuddle me in his arms and sing me nursery rhymes. In any case, as I age and hit pubescence, our relationship floated separated. I quit having physical contacts with father. Maybe I was bashful since I begun seeing changes among females and guys. Be that as it may, the adoration I had for father has never showed signs of change. Rather than communicating, it lays covered up. Have you ever known about adoration and despise and relationship? Indeed, that’s the relationship I have with my 17 years of age sibling. At the point when we were youthful, we were like a madhouse, battling for toys, for all intents and purposes we battle for everything even until today. All things considered, blood is thicker than water. At whatever point we face any issues throughout everyday life, we would support one another, and obviously be there for one another. My sibling and I make them thing in like manner, that is we love playing PC games. At whatever point there’s leisure time, the two of us would invest energy playing Blackshot together either as colleagues or adversary to kill the time. Which young lady could ever play PC games? That’s the normal inquiry at whatever point I run over to any of my companions. All things considered, that would be me. The motivation behind why am I so innocent is on the grounds that when I was a little child, I blended for the most part with my cousin siblings. At the point when I at long last got into a grade school, my companions were all young men, since they were less sensational. During the break time, the young men would welcome me to the field for football. Additional time, my character passed on hard and subsequently the innocence and awkwardness. I love to peruse since I began my secondary school. As per one of my Indian old buddy, my English was extremely terrible when I was in structure 1. We despite everything snicker about it today at whatever point she recounts to the account of me talking broken English in class. I began blending around with the English taught companions to improve my English. At whatever point I’ve trouble seeing any English jargon, I would contact my companions and request a clarification. Moreover, I began to develop the enthusiasm for perusing. In the year 2008, when I was in my structure 3, Twilight Saga had gotten celebrated as a romance book about vampire romantic tale. From that point forward, I began to have insane dreams of turning into a vampire as I could be an undying and that I could keep my childhood until the end of time. As senseless as I could be, the truth is consistently savage. Nobody can ever live as an undying. Everyone’s life will reach a conclusion in the long run when the opportunity arrives. All things considered, that’s my life account, an extremely basic one obviously, there’s considerably more in life that I couldn’t express in words here in this article. I accept no one is great. Everybody is imperfect do as well, I. Life is much the same as an exciting ride with high points and low points. It just comes down to each person on how they manage it. Last yet not leaset, I might want to end with a most loved statement of mine about existence, â€Å"Life doesn’t necessitate that we be the best, just that we attempt our best. †-H. Jackson Brown, Jr. The most effective method to refer to Family and Tan Ling Wei, Essays

Monday, August 17, 2020

How Do You Mic A Stripper

How Do You Mic A Stripper [by Harrison Bralower 11] I distinctly remember that question when I interviewed to be the Sound Designer for the Musical Theater Guilds (MTG) spring production of The Full Monty. Its a great question when you really think about it-how does one attach a microphone to a stripper without it looking too conspicuous? When youre not wearing anything in front of an audience of 200 they shouldnt be looking at a black box on the small of your back, if you know what I mean. MTG (and MITs other student theater groups) makes questions like these (and the mental images that inevitably follow) possible. Its only one of the many memories I took away from the show, memories that include chatting with the awesome new people I met and overcoming the frustration that comes with learning something new (I had never sound designed on my own before). But the production process isnt as easy as answering a few disarming questions and joking around with the case. It takes more than two months to put a show together around here and the payoff is six days of raw, naked glory (let me assure you that carefully lighted full-frontal nudity is neither commonplace nor a prominent feature of most of the shows done at MIT). Its a long, difficult road-from the first production meeting to the first rehearsal to load-in to the first tech to the last night. Just ask anyone associated with a show here or anywhere-theres always the worry that all the components wont come together (and they usually dont until the night the show opens). But its truly rewarding to start with 120 pieces of paper and infuse them with the unique visions of many individuals-to give life to words on a page. This is my experience from only one show but Ive got countless more that date back to my freshman year of high school. Theater is a wonderful experience in which you meet all kinds of people and experience all kinds of crazy stuff. And by working with the immensely talented and diverse people here at MIT I guarantee a wealth of memorable quotes and events from your days doing theater or any other artistic endeavor here. Have any questions about MIT (artistic or otherwise)? Or do you have an artistic experience youd like to share? Post it in the comments and strike up a discussion! Who knows-maybe youll remember it years from now.

Sunday, May 24, 2020

Essay on Theoretical Perspectives - 2028 Words

A Comparison of Theoretical Perspectives Heather L. Justice Psychology 104 Lisa Linkin May 6, 2009 A Comparison of Theoretical Perspectives Developmental psychology is the study of human development and the changes that take place from conception on. Through the study of human development, scientists are able to uncover patterns of development in which they make hypothesis and theories from. In their observations, developmental scientists have offered many theories that explain the growth of a child’s body, mind and personality. There are five major psychological theories which are the psychoanalytic, learning, cognitive, contextual and evolutionary / sociobiological perspectives. These perspectives guide scientist down a path†¦show more content†¦When 10 green or white bucks are accumulated the child can cash them in for a prize from the treasure box, however yellow or red bucks are not counted. The use of the bucks is an example of educators using reinforcement and punishment to elicit good behavior. The final concept of the learning theory I’d like to discuss is the Social learning (social cognitive) Theory. Papalia et al. (2008) describes social learning as a process of of reciprocal determinism, which is the bidirectional interaction of the child and its environment. In my experience as a parent this type of learning has been enlightening in that, too often my own behavior is reflected back to me from my children. My son has recently began grumbling when he doesn’t like something, sadly I have recognized this behavior as something he has learned from me and is an example of what social learning theorists call observational learning or modeling. The learning perspective has shown us how children are affected by outside stimulus and are able to use environmental factors to fulfill their individual needs. How children think, is encompassed by a different perspective that I’d like to discuss which the cognitive perspective as it helps us understand how ch ildren process information. What goes through a child’s mind when they seek to fulfill their desires, how do they process new information and is new information used is specific ways to fosterShow MoreRelatedTheoretical Perspectives On The Theoretical Perspective1346 Words   |  6 PagesThe Theoretical Perspective In order to understand the theoretical perspective, which best explains policy formulation by several world leaders we must first take several factors into consideration. Policies are formed in order to improve the country, need, and for several countries greed. Many policies are based on the perceptions of life, liberties, and care to progress as a nation. In an attempt to understand why policies have been made, understanding the person or people who make them makesRead MoreThe Theoretical Perspectives Of Sociology911 Words   |  4 Pages Symbolic interactionism is the first of the three theoretical perspectives in Sociology. This avenue of examining sociological factors looks at more personal interactions than the other two perspectives. Sociologist observe patterns and behaviors of these smaller interactions to define, or redefine, the use and evolution of symbols in society. Some sociologist see this approach as being too focused on one person’s view and take on society rather than trying to understand society as a functioningRead MoreTheoretical Perspectives: Television2751 Words   |  11 Pagesï » ¿Theoretical Perspectives: Television Theoretical Perspectives: Television Introduction When it comes to family and television shows, there are a lot of different theories that could be used in showing the theoretical point of view of the family. A healthy family would need to sustain and create environment which endorses physical and emotional health and psychological happiness for its members. To achieve this purpose, families will need to recognize how to support, nurture, encourage, protectRead MoreTheoretical Perspectives Of Abortion879 Words   |  4 PagesThe Three Theoretical Perspectives on Abortion Abortion has been a highly debated topic for many years. Until 1973, when abortion was legalized in the U.S., women were obtaining very dangerous abortions that often killed them in the process. Although abortion is legal now, members of society still do not agree on whether it is â€Å"right.† There are pros and cons of abortion, which can be examined by the three theoretical perspectives; Structural Functionalism, Conflict Theory, and Postmodern TheoryRead MoreTheoretical Perspectives Curriculum931 Words   |  4 PagesIntroduction Learning theories are used to develop curriculums that explain learning models used in education. These models help simplify education from the earliest stages of childhood through formal education. This paper will explore the learning theories and how they can be applied in developing a curriculum for learning and teaching language. The curriculum will include the epistemology, motivation, and methods of learning Cognitive Jean Piaget and John Dewey helped develop the theory ofRead MoreTheoretical Perspectives and Research1441 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction Modern, post-modern, critical theory and symbolic-interpretive are four different perspectives that provides different ways to analyse and understand organisations, however this essay shall focus on two perspectives, namely the modern and critical theory. These two perspectives have different views on concepts that might appear similar, thus this essay shall examine the different stands they each take. Concepts that can be examined include, power, control and conflict, organisationalRead MoreTheoretical Perspectives and Research1448 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction Modern, post-modern, critical theory and symbolic-interpretive are four different perspectives that provides different ways to analyse and understand organisations, however this essay shall focus on two perspectives, namely the modern and critical theory. These two perspectives have different views on concepts that might appear similar, thus this essay shall examine the different stands they each take. Concepts that can be examined include, power, control and conflict, organisationalRead MoreTheoretical Perspectives On Sociology And Sociological Perspectives1357 Words   |  6 PagesTheoretical Perspectives in Sociology In the world of sociology there are many different ways that humans interact with the world. Although we are all human beings, we do not always see the world the same way that others do. Even though not many are aware of the different ways they can see the world, there are three sociological perspectives. Using structural functionalism, the conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism one will be able to decide which view best represents the way they see thisRead MoreTheoretical Perspectives of Race and Ethnicity757 Words   |  4 PagesTheoretical Perspectives of Race and Ethnicity Rebecca Spain ETH/125 April 4th, 2010 Melissa Terrell The three sociological theoretical perspectives of race and ethnicity are the functionalist, conflict, and labeling perspectives. The functionalist perspective is the perspective that shows how parts of society work in a structured manner to keep the survival of a society. The belief is that if a certain part does not contribute to society’s survival in an effective manner that it willRead MoreTheoretical Perspectives Used By Sociologists925 Words   |  4 PagesThere are five theoretical perspectives used by sociologists in their research: symbolic interaction, rational choice, structural functionalism, social conflict, and feminist. Actions of the family members in Family Dinner Date video can be explained by each of these theories. According to the symbolic interaction theory, people behave and communicate in a particular group in a proper way, the way that is suitable for that group. Moreover, they do not only communicate and act in response to the environment

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Dante s Journey Of Salvation - 1648 Words

As Dante makes his ascent through hell and purgatory, he is guided by two figures. The first is Virgil, who saves him from peril and accompanies him, as a friend, through the layers of both afterlifes. The second is Beatrice, who inspired Dante’s journey of salvation in the first place, and who he longs to be reunited with. Yet although these guides are leading him towards God, Dante mistakes their guiding as the end itself. He makes a God of Beatrice, sees her as the ultimate good towards which one strives, and makes a Jesus of Virgil, the man through whom this ultimate good is reached. In this way, Dante creates his own trinity, much to the detriment of his ascent to the True God. His first mistake, through which the others stem, is equating Beatrice to God. While she was alive, her beautiful eyes and lovely limbs were the only things keeping him on the holy path. This is clear when he confesses â€Å"Things set in front of me, / with their false delights, turned back my steps / the moment that Your countenance was hidden† (Purgatorio.31.34-36). He could have avoided traveling through the afterlifes had he not overvalued her in the first place. In fact, even when he is promised redemption through his journey, it takes Virgil mentioning Beatrice as the end goal of his journey to persuade Dante to begin the undertaking (Inferno.2.57-126). Dante still sees Beatrice, rather than God, as the end towards which he strives. For her sake alone he goes down into the deepest pits ofShow MoreRelatedDante s View On The Existence Of Hell, Purgatory And Paradise1328 Words   |  6 PagesWho is Dante? He was a man that had a desire to find the truths of heaven and ear th even from a very young age; his goal was to understand the three worlds in his mind of hell, purgatory and paradise so that he could find the true everlasting happiness. In Dante’s age there was not really a separation between church and state. â€Å"Dante s philosophical view was also a political view. In Dante s time, there were two major political factions, the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. Originally, the GhibellinesRead MoreDante And The Nature Of Sin967 Words   |  4 Pages Dante and the Nature of Sin Often, we cannot see the good until we have experienced the bad. Dante Alighieri, a poet who makes himself the main character in his Divine Comedy, finds himself lost in a dark wood at the start of The Inferno. Though he sees a safe path out of the wood towards an alluring light, he is forced to take an alternate route through an even darker place. As the ending of the pilgrim Dante’s voyage is bright and hopeful, Alighieri the poet aims to encourage even the most sinfulRead MoreThe Role Of Identity In Dantes Inferno1186 Words   |  5 Pagesnarrative epic poem, The Inferno, by Dante Alighieri takes the reader with Dante on his journey through Hell and rediscovery of his identity. Dante’s journey commenced as a result to him falling into temptations whilst falling away from God. This led him to travel through the Dark Wood of Error which symbolizes the worldliness that occurs when one strays from the True Way, or God’s Way. The spirit of the poet Virgil, symboli zing Human Reason, appears and leads Dante away from the Dark Wood of Error andRead MoreAnalysis Of Dante s Divine Comedy 1362 Words   |  6 Pagesspiritual afterlife poem series. For example, he shows that any journey is full of trial and error, various beliefs, and hidden lessons. The divine comedy consists of three parts; ‘The Inferno’, ‘Purgatorio’, and ‘Paradisio’. The inferno is all different levels of hell and all of the seven deadly sins. Dante meets his guide virgil here who is with him throughout the entire Divine Comedy. Virgil is the one who takes him on the journey through hell. The circles of hell starting with circle one areRead MoreLewis And The Silent Planet1326 Words   |  6 Pagesthe Influence of Dante in Out of the Silent Planet All throughout Lewis novels there is evidence that clearly connects the themes and symbolism from other aspects of traditional Christian literature both during and before he began writing. One of the most distinct examples of this occurring within Lewis’ works is the influence that Dante had on the concepts that he reflects on while conveying thoughts to his readers. This is specifically more notable a connection between Dante and Lewis when youRead MoreThe Power Of Everyman s Journey Through Hell1249 Words   |  5 PagesThe Power of Everyman’s Journey Through Hell In religious contexts, sin is the act of violating God s will. Sin can also be viewed as â€Å"anything that violates the ideal relationship between an individual and God, leading to a period of estrangement between the two†. This is not necessarily a permanent separation, but if one dies without correcting such problem, then the separation does become permanent. In order to atone for one’s transgressions, salvation –deliverance by redemption from the powerRead MoreHow Dante Achieves a Synthesis Between Narrative and Cultural Elements in His Writing1565 Words   |  6 Pageshow if at all Dante achieve a synthesis between narrative and cultural elements derived from paganism and his intentions as a Christian author writing for a Christian audience. Medieval literature in general attempted to do this and Dante was no different with regard to this in his copying of Virgil and the Aeneid in their depictions of hell in pagan mythology. Analysis There are a host of specific examples from pagan mythology in the Inferno. For instance, in Canto 15, we see Dante leaving theRead MoreDantes Inferno.1698 Words   |  7 Pagesin a never-ending wind storm. Welcome to Dante s Inferno, his perspective on the appropriate punishments for those who are destined to hell for all eternity. Dante attempts to make the punishments fit the crimes, but because it is Dante dealing out the tortures and not God, the punishments will never be perfect because by nature, man is an imperfect creature. Only God is capable of being above reproach and of metering out a just punishment. While Dante s treatment towards the tyrants is fittingRead MoreThe Great Divorce and The Divine Comedy3095 Words   |  13 Pagesgames. Yet, one of the most prominent works the Divine Comedy has impacted is C.S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce. Lewis’s book is greatly indebted to Dante’s work, as both try to teach the reader how to achieve salvation. Furthe rmore, Lewis and Dante’s protagonists discover the path to salvation through choices, and learning what causes one’s refusal of God. Both authors explore the path to righteousness and enquire about life’s most difficult questions. Therefore, the dialogue between Dante’s DivineRead MoreVirgil Analysis of Dante Inferno Essay example2202 Words   |  9 Pagespublication to the present day. Virgil- Beatrice sends Virgil to Earth to retrieve Dante and act as his guide through Hell and Purgatory.   Since the poet Virgil lived before Christianity, he dwells in Limbo (Ante-Inferno) with other righteous non-Christians.   As author, Dante chooses the character Virgil to act as his guide because he admired Virgils work above all other poets and because Virgil had written of a similar journey through the underworld.   Thus, Virgils character knows the way through Hell

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Defying Society Expectations Free Essays

Society’s expectations often conflict with the views and standpoints of the individuals in these societies. The three novels, Anna Karenina, Catch-22, and The Dark Child illustrate the torture endured by the characters that fight for righteous causes against an enemy of monstrous magnitude – society. The protagonist in each novel helps to present the author’s specific criticisms of society. We will write a custom essay sample on Defying Society Expectations or any similar topic only for you Order Now By depicting and emphasizing the plight of each main character, the authors were able to achieve the effect of demonstrating what they considered to be the shortcomings of society. Through their struggles, the three characters develop an â€Å"inner good† through demonstrating a defining human quality – the ability to stand for one’s beliefs regardless of the obstacles that stand in their way. The double standard that women faced in Russian society is illustrated in the novel Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. Rarely in literature does a female character endure as much misery and pain as Anna Karenina. Anna is a depiction of the modern woman trapped in the unfortunate settings of 19th century Russia. Imprisoned in the traditional roles of women, Anna is prevented from living the life she needs to live and loving the man she desires. She does not love her husband, Alexey Alexandrovich Karenin, but is forced under the pressure of society to appear as though she does. â€Å"The Karenins, husband and wife, continued living in the same house, met every day, but were complete strangers to one another. Aleksey Aleksandrovich made it a rule to see his wife every day†¦ (373) She rejects the conventional expectations of women by committing unfaithful acts against the will of society as represented by her husband and by refusing to have children after she and Vronsky begin living together. By doing so, Anna fails to fulfill the ultimate female duty and in effect breaks the ostentatious cycle of birth, life and death. Her situation is the result of society’s sexist double standard. Tolstoy makes a clear and distinctive illustration of the double standard by comparing Anna’s situation with that of her brother’s, Stiva Oblonsky. Stiva, in the very beginning of the novel is caught having an affair with the French governess. Despite destroying his household, he continues his normal routine without regretting his affair. When Anna’s affair with Vronsky is exposed however, Anna faces a tremendous amount of scrutiny and criticism from the members of Russian high society. â€Å"The highest Petersburg society is essentially one: in it everyone knows everyone else, everyone even visits everyone else. (135) Her situation, unlike that of her brother’s shows the double standard by which the sins committed by men are ignored while women in similar situations are unfairly punished. Anna is victimized by her desire to live a life of free will. She identifies the injustices of her society and therefore chooses to betray the â€Å"proper† role of women. As a result, Anna suffers, brutally defeated by the constrictions imposed by society. Yossarian, the protagonist in the novel Catch-22 written by Joseph Heller, similar to Anna Karenina, also faces a conflict against society’s ridiculous constraints. Like Anna, Yossarian chooses a path of defiance and disobedience against a society that does not recognize the individuality and free will of a human being. In Catch-22, soldiers are treated like puppets in a war with an undefined purpose and meaning. This loss of individuality and appreciation for life is illustrated in several elements of the story. A primary example of this theme of loss is demonstrated in the character of Colonel Cathcart who’s one and only aspiration is to become a general. â€Å"Colonel Cathcart wanted to be a general so desperately he was willing to try anything†¦ e had raised the number of missions to sixty†¦ † (186) His approach in becoming general involves increasing the number of required missions his men are to fly thus making it impossible for his men to fulfill the requirement. Cathcart also volunteers specific men for dangerous missions so as to enhance his squadron’s record which in effect boosts his ranking. Cathcart clearly has no value or appreciation for the lives of his men and is only concerned with his own prestige. This theme of loss appears again in the character of Lieutenant Schiesskopf, Yossarian’s commanding officer in California. Schiesskopf organizes tiresome Sunday parades for the men in his squadron. He becomes obsessively fond of parades to the point where he sees his men more as puppets than as human beings. â€Å"He manipulated boxes of chocolate soldiers until they melted in his hands and then he maneuvered in ranks of twelve a set of plastic cowboys†¦ † (67) He even wants to wire them together so that their movements will be perfectly precise. Yossarian is an individual trapped in a society that has no concern or regard for his life. â€Å"Morale was deteriorating and it was all Yossarian’s fault. The country was in peril; he was jeopardizing his traditional rights of freedom and independence by daring to exercise them. † (415) He identifies these flaws in this system and refuses to accept them. He attempts to escape the war through feigning illness and insanity. His efforts are only partially successful and after each attempt he is eventually forced to return to duty. Finally, Yossarian is offered a deal by Colonel Korn. Korn is willing to send Yossarian home under the condition that he presents a fine account of the war effort to those in the U. S. Yossarian is neither willing to die for the glory of the commanding officers of whom he despises, nor is he willing to falsely support an effort for which he is opposed to. Therefore he escapes to Sweden under the assistance of the chaplain. The Dark Child written by Camara Laye, is an autobiography describing a conflict similar to that of Yossarian’s and Anna’s in which Laye had to struggle against the deep cultural beliefs and sacred traditions of his African village. â€Å"†¦ because in the country everyone knows everyone else-are more strictly regulated. (21) The village that Laye grows up in celebrates many sacred ceremonies that help to demonstrate the powerful cultural values that bind together the members of this community. One of the most fascinating traditions celebrated by the village deals with the symbolic ceremony of circumcision emblematic of the passage into manhood for young men. â€Å"When I had left her I was still a child†¦ Now I was a man! † (131) This festival of circumcision lasts for weeks as the young men prepare for manhood by isolating themselves from their families to eventually rejoice in an e laborate dancing festival. The extravagance of such rituals demonstrates the intensity of the customs that define Laye’s community. This community functions as if all its members are part of an extended family. The people work together in an intricate network which strives toward the common goal of preserving the welfare of the village. This system is so intricately woven that each individual’s actions have a substantial effect on the interests of the village. This is therefore the reason why careful consideration is made for every major decision confronted to the members of the village. When Laye considers studying abroad, he is faced with the tremendous pressure of his family and from the members of his community to stay home. Laye’s mother applies an particularly significant amount of pressure and stress on Laye. This causes Laye to contemplate his decision more thoroughly. â€Å"You’ll stay right here. Your place is here†¦ What are they thinking about at the school? Do they imagine I’m going to live my whole life apart from my son? † she cried. (184) Laye held his mother in a high regard for her unique and mystical character which â€Å"†¦ was due also to the strange powers she possessed. (69) Having a high regard for his mother’s wishes and a respect for the village system put Laye in an extremely conflicting situation as he was trying to make his decision to study abroad. Nonetheless, like Anna and Yossarian, Laye did not let society’s constrictions decide the outcome of his life. He pursued his ambitions despite defying the wishes of his mothers and the traditions and standards of his society. Anna, Yossarian, and Laye have stories that illustrate the unifying theme of â€Å"inner good†. These three characters demonstrate and define this premise through their interactions within the societies that they live in. Their struggles define â€Å"inner good† as the ability to pursue one’s ambitions and aspirations regardless of the obstacles that stand in their way. These characters fought phenomenal battles against resistances of immeasurable proportions – society. In the process of their struggles, they were forced to sacrifice the values of their societies and were forced to rebel against what they were previously made to believe as normal. Though some did not ultimately achieve success, it is their actual efforts that mark their righteousness of their pursuits. How to cite Defying Society Expectations, Papers

Monday, May 4, 2020

Marketing Planning at Just Us! Cafes free essay sample

Being an entirely fair trade company means Just Us pays its suppliers from so-called â€Å"third world† countries a fair price, including a premium for social welfare, gets into long-term contracts (equal or more then a harvest cycle) with them skipping middlemen who often absorb most of the margin and offers them additional benefits e. g. pre-payment and loans. â€Å"The fair trade movement brings together committed parties to create the â€Å"value† of social change, social development, fairness and equity through consumption by shortening commodity circuits between producers, retailers and consumers† (Low and Davenport, 2005). Fair trade concept provides a successful rapidly growing niche for such companies as Just Us, because â€Å"ethical† products, such as fair-trade and organic, are products of high involvement and imply great levels of customer engagement at the decision-making stage of buying (Alexander and Nicholls, 2006, p. 1237). The market segment of fair trade coffee is rapidly growing, but Just Us faces high competition from various types of coffee producing and selling companies as well as from cafes. Local activists consolidate their recent efforts to promote organic products and ethical consumption in their countries (Fridell, 2007, p. 237). More and more customers want to know the origin of the products they buy and prefer environmentally responsible companies. According to the ongoing changes on the market, the environmental scanning at Just Us is arguably worth any efforts spent. It may be the basic methodology for gathering and organizing marketing climate data for the new head of marketing department, as the position requires good knowledge of the situation before taking any action. That’s why it’s so important to carry out the proper situational analysis, outline the main challenges facing Just Us and analyze it’s current marketing strategy before planning the available strategic options and suggesting the course of future actions in this report written by an external marketing consultant. 2. Situational Analysis To stay tuned to the recent situation in order not to miss perspective opportunities, an organization should go on with continuous scanning of its environment. According to Jobber, environmental scanning is â€Å"the process of monitoring and analyzing the marketing environment of a company† (Jobber, 2010, p. 3). Aguilar states (Aguilar, 1967, cited in Costa, 1995, pp. 4-5) that environmental scanning serves the purpose of gathering information about the facts and events happening around the company in order to let the management lead the organization in the right direction. Most of the authors agree on the same main functio n of environmental scanning. However, there is a slightly different view on that presented by Boone and Kurtz (2011, p. 61). They argue that the main purpose of environmental scanning is to identify the present trends and the extent to which they affect the company. If any trend provides an opportunity or poses a real threat to the business, appropriate action should follow. The companies that successfully implement scanning are more likely not to miss essential information and thus to act effectively as they know â€Å"what is going on† (Slaughter, 1999, p. 442). A positive correlation was found between frequency of scans and organization’s performance, supporting the idea of conducting scanning on a compulsory basis (Heavey et al. , 2009, p. 68). That is why a significant part of actual report will be dedicated to situational analysis, which will form the basis for successful environmental scanning. . 1 Macro Environment Many authors identify four types of forces determining the macro environment in which a business operates: political/legal, economic, social/cultural and technologic. The framework that examines the listed forces towards an individual business is widely known as PEST analysis (Costa, 1995, pp. 5-6). However, rece nt evidence suggests that ecological/physical environmental forces are to be taken into account as a part of the system too, so the acronym expands to PEEST (Jobber, 2010, p. 73; Kotler et al. , 2009, p. 154). The concept is illustrated in Figure 1. Figure 1. PEEST Analysis. Source: Own development based on Jobber (2010, p. 73). 2. 1. 1 PEEST Analysis See Appendix 1. 2. 2 Microenvironment The majority of academic sources agree that microenvironment includes company’s consumers, competitors, suppliers and distributors (Kotler and Armstrong, 2011, p. 67; Jobber, 2010, pp. 91-93). Arguably, market itself should be considered as a part of the model in line with the elements presented above. The microenvironment scheme is shown in Figure 2. Figure 2. Microenvironment. Source: Based on Kotler and Armstrong (2011, p. 67, fig. 3. 1). 2. 2. 1 Market Just Us operates on numerous markets, dealing with such products as coffee, tea, sugar and cocoa, and the main target market is fair trade coffee, that accounts for 0,25% of total global coffee production only, but for 60% of all the fair trade goods consumed (Jobber, 2010, p. 214). According to Exhibit 1 of the case study, it is a very fast growing market segment in Canada, which resulted into the increase of number of companies entering fair trade every year. The main trend of the market segment is that fair trade becomes trendy itself. All the facts suggest that it is in growth lifecycle stage. One of the market analysis tools that illustrates the scheme of organization’s market environment is market mapping (McDonald, 2002, p. 114). The market mapping for Just Us’ industry is provided in Figure 3. Figure 3. Market Mapping. Source: Based on McDonald (2002, p. 115, fig. 4. 5). 2. 2. 2 Suppliers According to the map, the value chain starts with suppliers. Just Us’ suppliers are fair trade co-operatives from many countries including Mexico, Peru, Guatemala, Bolivia, Indonesia and Colombia. Co-operatives are paid fairly for the raw materials they provide, about 2 times higher then the average coffee market price. Not only because of that, but also because of tight long-term relations between Just Us and its suppliers, they are a very reliable element of the chain. 2. 2. 3 Competitors The next stage of the distribution process is Just Us together with its competitors. Competitors can be identified within the framework developed by Peteraf and Bergen (2003, p. 1034). Different blend of market similarity and company’s capabilities allows splitting Just Us’ competitors into four groups shown graphically in Figure 4. Figure 4. Mapping Competitors. Source: Own development based on Peteraf and Bergen (2003, p. 1034). For competitor analysis see Appendix 2. 2. 2. 4 Distributors Just Us distributes products through its own coffee houses, student canteens, coffee shops and restaurants across Canada as well as through grocery stores including Ten Thousand Villages, Sobeys and Loblaws supermarkets. The last channel carries high risk because, despite being a great Just Us’ customer, Loblaws has its private fair trade coffee label so future interaction between the companies may be affected. 2. 2. 5 Customers According to Pareto’s 80/20 rule, about 20% of customers consume about 80% of a company’s product (McDonald, 2002, p. 12). The main target groups of Just Us’ end customers include fair trade activists, environmental friendly individuals and high quality coffee lovers, who can account for most of company’s sales. Other groups are students of the educational institutions that sell fair trade coffee in their canteens as well as upper-middle and high-income class indiv iduals, members of socio-economic groups A, B and C1, who are not price sensitive and ready to pay premium for higher quality. As it has been outlined before, the demographic characteristics of a target customer are young age and higher education. Geographically target customers are highly concentrated in Nova Scotia as Just Us brand is highly renowned there and the loyalty to the brand is high. 2. 2. 6 Porter’s Five Forces Analysis To measure the overall attractiveness of an industry, Porter’s five forces framework can be used. It suggests that the average profitability of involved companies depends on five factors: bargaining power of suppliers and buyers, threat of substitutes and new entrants and degree of rivalry among present market players (Brassington and Pettitt, 2007, p. 432). The scheme of the concept is illustrated in Figure 5. Figure 5. Porter’s Five Forces. Source: Based on Boone and Kurtz (2011, p. 44, fig. 2. 2). For Porter’s five forces analysis see Appendix 3. 2. 3 Internal Analysis This stage of environmental analysis audits company’s structure, capabilities, internal activities and performance in order to outline its strengths and weaknesses (Lancaster, 2001, pp. 371-372). It must be outlined first, that Just Us is one of the major players on the fair trade coffee market in Nova Scotia with four cafes, an own roastery, bakery, small chocolate factory and a fair trade museum. The revenues in 2008 amounted to $6,536,875, including $2,303,956 on behalf of cafes. 0% of the overall sales took place via food outlets and 30% via coffee shops. The average annual revenue growth is about 25% as shown in Exhibit 3 of the case study, 2008 to 2007 growth was 17,8%. Detailed cafes revenues by product, location and period can be found in Exhibit 6. The figures support the point that Just Us is a fast growing company. 2. 3. 1 Compa ny Resources One of the main goals of internal audit is to examine company’s resources and find out if they are sufficient for sustainable performance. Wood (2007, p. 28) identifies four groups: human, informational, financial and supply resources. For their analysis see Appendix 4. 2. 3. 2 Product The product range offered by Just Us is rather wide; all products are officially certified as fair trade and/or organic. The main product is fair trade coffee ranging from light to dark roast, with a decaf and a green beans line. The quality of coffee is ensured as Just Us controls all the stages of its manufacturing. Other core products include different premium quality tea lines from Sri Lanka, India and Ecuador, a range of own-produced chocolate types, such as creamy milk, dark, white, hot and handcrafted chocolate and sugar. Most of the core products are available for wholesale. Just Us cafes also offer own-made supplementary products such as bakery, sandwiches and soup. Such activities as live music, book readings and gala-nights together with high standard service augment the cafes products and create additional value for customers. A special analysis of product portfolio will be carried out in the 3rd section of this report. The products sold through retail channels and in cafes carry Just Us brand name, which is consonant with â€Å"justice† and is associated with social and environmental responsibility. The brand is widely known in Maritime Provinces of Canada, especially in Nova Scotia, where it has great recognition and loyalty. 2. 3. 3 Price The main pricing objective of Just Us is to maintain the lowest prices possible provided they cover all the expenses and profits essential to continue business. Thus the pricing of Just Us is mainly cost-orientated. Company’s products are price elastic, but target customers are ready to pay premium price due to high quality and ethical background (Jobber, 2010, pp. 422-423). From the point of pricing strategy, Just Us uses so-called â€Å"penetration† policy in order to develop long-term relations with its customers (McDonald, 2002, p. 394). 2. 3. 4 Place Company’s presence is concentrated in Maritime Provinces, especially Nova Scotia. Various distribution channels outlined earlier in the microenvironment analysis provide the opportunity to reach customers throughout Canada and also in the USA. Good knowledge of retail distribution channel as well as tight relations with suppliers and their wide diversification can be arguably considered the core competencies of the company (Ljungquist, 2007, p. 95). Strategic business units, Just Us cafes, are situated in Halifax (two outlets), Wolfville and Grand Pre. As it can be seen in the Figure 6 the concentration of the coffee houses is high and they don’t cover most of the potential territory. Another place of sales is the company’s web site where customers can place their orders onli ne. Figure 6. Just Us Cafes Locations. Source: Google (2012). 2. 3. 5 Promotion The main promotional goal of Just Us is to increase customer awareness of fair trade benefits and of their brand that presents the concept in its best. In order to reach target customers, Just Us is positioning itself as an organization that puts environmental and human wellness before profits. Main emphasis is made on products being 100% fair trade and organic. Previous advertising at Just Us was not intense. Promotional mix included print media, cafes themselves and publicity such as interviews on the radio, television and in the newspapers. Some examples of advertisements used by Just Us are shown in Exhibit 7 of the case study. An emphasis was also put on various public activities e. g. speaking events, live music nights and exhibitions in the cafes. As it can be seen from the 2008 media plan in Exhibit 8, advertising reach was not wide, covered just local audience and the main accent was made on helping farmers from third-world countries, rather then on high quality of the organic products. Such significant and appropriate for low-cost advertising medium as Internet was not utilized to an adequate extent and was limited to the maintenance of the company’s own website only. Many authors also consider people, process and physical evidence to be the elements of marketing mix, but in this report they were addressed inside the ‘product’ element (Jobber, 2010, p. 23). . 4 SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis allows firms to develop a strategy, which is grounded on the successful balance between organization’s recourses and exterior potential with respect to macro level factors. Such strategy is capable of improving performance of businesses to a considerable extent (Agarwal et al. , 2012, p. 12). However, there are m any critical points of view on SWOT, stating that even if SWOT raises some proper issues, it gives little or no useful recommendations to managers and also tends to omit the degree of importance of some issues that can be crucial for the company’s performance (Novicevic et al. 2004, p. 86, Kotler et al. , 2009, p. 106). Piercy and Giles (1989, p. 6) also suggest SWOT should be customer orientated, because only those strengths and weaknesses that can be noticed by customers are therefore valued by them. That’s why in this report a slightly modified SWOT analysis will be used, augmenting the initial concept with the degree of importance for every SWOT feature and taking the significance of customer orientation into account. Appropriate recommendations will be also provided in the end of the report. The SWOT analysis of Just Us, displayed in Appendix 5, shows that together with the less threatening issues, challenges facing the company to the highest extent are shortage of promotional activities and financial resources and expansion of the biggest players of the coffee industry into the fair trade segment. 3. Marketing Strategy Analysis In this section the competitive marketing strategy of Just Us will be analyzed using such frameworks as the Ansoff matrix, BCG growth share matrix, McKinsey / general electric’s multifactor portfolio matrix and some other concepts. First it is important to outline that Just Us is a coffee market nicher operating in a narrow segment and striving to its dominance through successful balance between resources, strengths of the company and consumer needs. Its strategy is rather more aggressive then defensive, because attack is the most appropriate form of defense while the market grows so rapidly and new competitors join the game (Brassington and Pettitt, 2007, p. 443-445). The following analyses will identify the most suitable strategies for Just Us and let compare them with the current one. . 1 Ansoff Matrix Ansoff matrix, or product/market expansion grid, is a tool that helps identify the appropriate growth strategy for a firm using two dimensions: products (existing/new) and markets (existing/new) (Kotler and Armstrong, 2011, p. 44). An image of Ansoff matrix can be seen in Figure 7. Figure 7. Ansoff Matrix. Source: Based on Kotler and Armstrong (2011, p. 44, fig. 2. 3). The first strategy, market penetration, i s suitable in case of total market growth, when expansion is achieved through the existing market share. Another way is to improve performance on account of developing current offerings in order to beat the competition (Lancaster, 2001, p. 381). Just Us uses such strategy in relation to its existing market in Nova Scotia and prosper because of the fair trade segment enlargement. Market development is a strategy of conquering new markets with available products. Just Us uses it expanding its distribution network using the same core products to other parts of Canada and to the USA. Product development strategy appears in introducing various types of chocolate and bakery to existing customers. Another demonstration of it is the differentiation of augmented product among cafes because of various interior and atmosphere. The last type of strategy is diversification and Just Us does not currently use it. 3. 2 BCG Growth Share Matrix The BCG matrix is a commonly used device for analyzing organization’s products and business units. It helps companies understand the best way to allocate resources and develop the appropriate successful strategy (Boone and Kurtz, 2011, pp. 53-54). See Figure 8 for BCG matrix image. Just Us as an overall business can be classified somewhere on the way from a question mark to a star, because the market is growing fast and the company’s market share is gradually increasing. Figure 8. BCG Matrix. Source: Based on Kotler and Armstrong (2011, p. 43, fig. 2. 2). Each coffee house can be classified within the above model as a separate business unit. The analysis shown in Appendix 6 showed the following results: Grand Pre coffee house is a star, Wolfville cafe – between a cash cow and a dog, Barrington is a dog and Spring Garden is between a question mark and a star. Based on the information presented in Exhibit 1, the core products of Just Us can be classified within the BCG matrix framework as well. According to their relative market share and market growth, coffee is a cash cow, cocoa is a star, sugar is a question mark and tea is a dog. From the practical point of view question marks need a wise development strategy to become stars and managers of Just Us should prepare to invest in stars in order to maintain their high growth. They should also get rid of dogs if they are not self-sufficient and try to keep cash cows in the same position (Boone and Kurtz, 2011, p. 54). 3. McKinsey/General Electric’s Multifactor Portfolio Matrix Another tool for competitive marketing strategy analysis is G. E. multifactor portfolio matrix. It has two dimensions: market attractiveness and competitive position, each measured taking multiple factors into account (Lancaster, 2001, p. 385). The appropriate analysis of Just Us as a business unit is provided i n Appendix 7 and results can be viewed in Figure 9. According to the results, the broad strategic guideline for Just Us is â€Å"Selectivity/earnings† that means the company should invest selectively into its activities to support and zoom the revenues. It is recommended by Day (1986) to continue the implementation of the current program and concentrate efforts on segments where the ratio between risk and revenues is in favor of the latter (Day, 1986, cited in Lancaster, 2001, p. 388). Figure 9. Just Us G. E. Matrix. Source: Based on Lancaster (2001, p. 387, fig. 12. 8). 3. 4 Other Frameworks Strategic position and action evaluation model (SPACE), designed by Rowe, evaluates financial strength and competitive advantage of companies as well as environmental volatility and industry attractiveness to determine the best suitable strategic thrust in a particular situation. The most suitable thrust for Just Us is â€Å"competitive†. It suits companies operating in unstable environment with scarce financial resources, but having strong competitive advantages on an attractive market (see Figure 10). Strategic steps suggested include cost cutting, productivity increasing and integration with companies possessing greater financial resources (Lancaster, 2001, p. 532). Current competitive strategy of Just Us misses the measures listed, thus the top management should take them into account. Figure 10. Just Us SPACE model. Source: Based on Lancaster (2001, p. 532, fig. A1. 6). In terms of Porter’s generic strategies, namely: overall cost leadership, differentiation and focus, Just Us has adopted so-called focus strategy. The company focuses on the fair trade coffee market, a specialized coffee market segment, achieves close connection with it and its superior understanding. Then within the segment it applies a differentiation strategy, such as quality leadership, in order to deal with competition (Kotler et al. 2009, pp. 105-106). It lets Just Us successfully serve the local target segment and remain competitive even with higher prices. 4. Recommendations As it was indicated in the previous analyses, Just Us has different ways available to improve its competitive marketing strategy. In this part of the actual report some strategic options for the cafe division will be summarized and a course of following actions will be recommended to the management team of Just Us. According to the Ansoff matrix there are four possible strategic directions: market penetration, product development, market development and diversification. It can be argued that the growth models based on product development and diversification strategies are not matching the business reality of Just Us company, because its strong value system doesnt let introduce new types of products that are not fairly traded and, at the same time, the management team doesnt have enough experience to deal with other fair trade products, such as cotton, fruit, rice and flowers. Taking into consideration the changes that have taken place in the market structure since 2009 and the fact that the world financial crisis is now over, the earlier suitable strategy of market penetration has arguably reached its limits. Today the company needs to expand its customer base, find ways to new markets and gain marketing activity to support growth. The core aim of market development strategy for Just Us is to expand the cafe chain to Nova Scotia and Ontario. To achieve the goal first Just Us needs to raise appropriate financial resources. There are three ways for it: franchising, merger with a cash rich company and bank loan. Franchising is a perspective way from the financial side, as Just Us has limited funds and it would solve the problem, but from the other side lack of understanding between Just Us and a franchisee may lead to the same fail outcome as happened during the Toronto expansion. To avoid that, the management of Just Us needs to clearly outline the franchising framework and embed a detailed description of regulations and responsibilities with respect to corporate values into the franchise contract. The other two ways are much riskier, imply some loss of control over organization’s activities and therefore are unacceptable for Just Us. If the first stage of market expansion through franchisee coffee houses is successful, Just Us should consolidate its resources and start opening own outlets in new territory. Besides from the â€Å"Place† part of the marketing mix there are big opportunities in improving the â€Å"Promotion† part. As there was a wide gap in advertising course before the formation of marketing and sales department, now Just Us needs to boost promotional activities and strongly improve their quality. The company should build an integrated marketing communication system that will not only communicate its message to the customers, but also receive feedback from them, that is very important for identifying and satisfying consumer needs in the best way possible (Boone and Kurtz, 2011, p. 489-490). In this connection the following actions can be recommended to the top management of Just Us: * Improve organization Delineate the responsibilities for each member of marketing and sales department. Leverage skills of the team members through corporate trainings and coaching, especially for Sarah, who is responsible for advertising and promotion. Any print and electronic advertising materials should be produced in cooperation with skilled professional designers and copywriters. * Carry out repositioning Coffee produced by Just Us is of a very good quality and totally acceptable in terms of consumer needs satisfaction, but it lacks the necessary image, so it is necessary to execute image repositioning. Just Us can use the example of Cafedirect, a fair trade coffee company that managed to become the sixth largest coffee brand in the UK by concentrating on the premium quality of its coffee more then on fair trade background (Jobber, 2010, pp. 15, 289). * Dramatically improve on-line presence Arguably, it can be highly recommended to Just Us to use the Internet for advertising as in comparison with traditional advertising it is much more targeted and has relatively low costs. Research has shown that more then 80% of Canadians aged 16 to 44 use the Internet at least once a day (Statistics Canada, 2012c). The possible tools to catc h their attention are context ads, web banners and streaming video commercials (Miletsky, 2009, p. 368-369). Context ads programs, such as Google AdWords, use the words entered by a user of a web search engine to determine the ads to show to them. Companies fix the list of search words and phrases that are relevant to their ads and the price limit they want to pay to the advertiser for a click on them. A suitable strategy for Just Us would be to choose more specialized and particular search phrases to link their ads to, because then the chance their ads will be displayed is higher with a lower cost per click. Furthermore, that will allow targeting potential customers more precisely and increasing advertising return on investments. For instance, instead of a popular key phrase â€Å"buy coffee†, a more specific phrase â€Å"buy high quality organic coffee† can be used. The essence of banners and commercials on the Internet is similar to traditional billboard banners and TV commercials, but on the Internet being placed next to the content that is interesting and popular with the target audience helps reach them better. For example, it is efficient for Just Us to show ads to people who are reading an article on ethical consumption or watching a video about third world countries on YouTube. Nowadays one of the best places not only for locating ads, but also for the whole spectrum of marketing activities is a social networking website, as it provides the required data and opportunities to reach target consumers accurately. According to statistics, 91% of Canadians aged from 16 to 24 and 70% of aged 25 to 44 are regularly using social media (Statistics Canada, 2012d). Many of them don’t have time to visit numerous resources and want all the information in one place, that’s why it is a perfect opportunity for a company’s message to be heard. Direct dialogue between a company and its customers as well as solving customer service issues online leads to brand loyalty amplifying and enhances positive word-of-mouth marketing (Dietrich and Livingston, 2012, p. 86). As it was previously stated, another important aspect is to gather the information from customers and especially their feedback on organization’s performance. According to Macy and Thompson, â€Å"social marketing and social web platforms enable dialogue among consumers, peers, and brands on a global scale†. Facebook group and Twitter account can help Just Us gather information about consumers and potential brand ambassadors as well as carry out promotional campaigns, conduct on-line surveys, gain new customers and communicate the benefits of fair trade to a great number of people (Macy and Thompson, 2011, p. 57-58). References 1. Agarwal, R. , Grassl, W. and Pahl, J. (2012) Meta-SWOT: Introducing a New Strategic Planning Tool, Journal of Business Strategy, 33 (2), pp. 12-21. 2. Alexander, A. , Nicholls, A. (2006) Rediscovering Consumer Producer Involvement: A Network Perspective on Fair Trade Marketing, European Journal of Marketing, 40 (11), pp. 1236-1253. 3. Boone, L. E. and Kurtz, D. L. (2011) Contemporary Marketing, 15th edition. Mason: South-Western, Cengage Learning. 4. Brassington, F. , Pettitt, S. (2007) Essentials of Marketing, 2nd edition. London: Prentice Hall. 5. CBC (2012) Unemployment Statistics [Online]. Available at: http://www. cbc. ca/news/interactives/unemployment-stats/ (Accessed: 13 November 2012). 6. Costa, J. (1995) An Empirically-Based Review of the Concept of Environmental Scanning, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 7 (7), pp. 4-9. 7. Dietrich, G. and Livingston, G. (2012) Marketing in the Round: How to Develop and Integrated Marketing Campaign in the Digital Era. Indianapolis: Que Publishing. 8. Fridell, G. (2007) Fair Trade Coffee: The Prospects and Pitfalls of Market-Driven Social Justice. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 9. Google (2012) Nova Scotia – Google Maps [Online]. Available at: https://maps. google. co. uk/ (Accessed: 17 November 2012). 10. Heavey, C. , Mowday, R. T. , Kelly, A. and Roche, F. (2009) Reconceptualizing Executive Environmental Scanning and Search: Implications for International Leadership Research and Practice, Advances in Global Leadership, 5, pp. 65-92. 11. Jobber, D. (2010) Principles and Practice of Marketing, 6th edition. London: McGraw-Hill. 12. Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G. (2011) Principles of Marketing, 14th edition. London: Prentice Hall. 13. Kotler, P. , Keller, K. L. , Brady, M. , Goodman, M. and Hansen, T. (2009) Marketing Management, 1st edition. London: Prentice Hall. 14. Lancaster, G. , Massingham, L. and Ashford, R. (2001) Essentials of Marketing, 4th edition. London: McGraw-Hill. 15. Lilien, G. L. and Little, J. D. C. (1979) The ADVISOR Project: A Study of Industrial Marketing Budgets, Engineering Management Review, 7 (2), pp. 17-31. 16. Ljungquist, U. (2007) Core Competency Beyond Identification: Presentation of a Model, Management Decision, 45 (3), pp. 93-402. 17. Low, W. , Davenport, E. (2005) Has the Medium (Roast) Become the Message? : The Ethics of Marketing Fair Trade in The Mainstream, International Marketing Review, 22 (5), pp. 494-511. 18. Macy, B. and Thompson, T. (2011) The Power of Real-Time Social Media Marketing: How to Attract and Retain Customers and Grow the Bottom Line in the Globally Connected World. London: McGraw-Hill. 19. McDonald, M. (2002) Marketing Plans: How to Prepare Them, How to Use Them, 5th edition. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. 20. Miletsky, J. I. (2009) Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers. Boston: Course Technology, Cengage Learning 21. Novicevic, M. M. , Harvey, M. , Autry, C. W. and Bond III, E. U. (2004) Dual-Perspective SWOT: A Synthesis of Marketing Intelligence and Planning, Marketing Intelligence amp; Planning, 22 (1), pp. 84-94. 22. OANDA Corporation (2012) Historical Exchange Rates [Online]. Available at: http://www. oanda. com/currency/historical-rates/ (Accessed: 13 November 2012). 23. Peteraf, M. A. and Bergen, M. E. (2003) Scanning Dynamic Competitive Landscapes: A Market-Based and Resource-Based Framework, Strategic Management Journal, 24, pp. 1027-1041. 24. Piercy, N. nd Giles, W. (1989) Making SWOT Analysis Work, Marketing Intelligence amp; Planning, 7 (5), pp. 5-7. 25. Slaughter, R. A. (1999) A New Framework for Environmental Scanning, Foresight, 1 (5), pp. 441-451. 26. Statistics Canada (2009) Population 15 Years and Over by Highest Certificate, Diploma or Degree, by Age Groups [Online]. Available at: http://www. statcan. gc. ca/tables-tableaux/sum-so m/l01/cst01/educ43a-eng. htm (Accessed: 13 November 2012). 27. Statistics Canada (2012a) Average Hourly Wages of Employees by Selected Characteristics and Profession (Canada) [Online]. Available at: http://www. tatcan. gc. ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/labr69a-eng. htm (Accessed: 13 November 2012). 28. Statistics Canada (2012b) Average Hourly Wages of Employees by Selected Characteristics and Profession (Nova Scotia) [Online]. Available at: http://www. statcan. gc. ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/labr69d-eng. htm (Accessed: 13 November 2012). 29. Statistics Canada (2012c) Canadian Internet Use Survey, Internet Use, by Age Group and Frequency of Use [Online]. Available at: http://www5. statcan. gc. ca/cansim/pick-choisir? lang=engamp;p2=33amp;id=3580155 (Accessed: 24 November 2012). 30. Statistics Canada (2012d) Canadian Internet Use Survey, Internet Use, by Age Group and Internet Activity [Online]. Available at: http://www5. statcan. gc. ca/cansim/pick-choisir? lang=engamp;p2=33amp;id=3580153 (Accessed: 24 November 2012). 31. Statistics Canada (2012e) Population by Sex and Age Group [Online]. Available at: http://www. statcan. gc. ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/demo10a-eng. htm (Accessed: 13 November 2012). 32. Statistics Canada (2012f) Population by Year, by Province and Territory [Online]. Available at: http://www. statcan. gc. ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/demo02a-eng. htm (Accessed: 13 November 2012). 3. Wood, M. B. (2007) Essential Guide to Marketing Planning. London: Prentice Hall. Appendix 1. PEEST Analysis The main political factor for Just Us is the required recognition and certification of the term â€Å"Fair trade† by the government to defend the whole fair trade concept and its ambassadors. Also, the legal anti-dumping and anti-monop oly policy influences the protection of local businesses against international expansion to a very high extent. In the economic field the 2009 â€Å"credit crunch† and then recovery leads to new opportunities and market growth as the unemployment decreases and thus consumer purchasing power goes up (CBC, 2012). The economic situation is gradually improving and this leads to higher wages generally in Canada and Nova Scotia in particular (Statistics Canada, 2012a; 2012b). Another positive economic factor is the growth of exchange rate of Canadian dollar in relation not only to the main world currencies, but also to some of the currencies of Just Us suppliers, such as Mexico, Guatemala and Indonesia (OANDA Corporation, 2012). Being environmental friendly, Just Us business can only benefit from the increasing awareness in the Canadian society concerning the problems of pollution, CO2 emissions and global warming. These problems can cause, in their turn, some changes in political environment, e. g. new ecological laws that can adversely affect some of the mainstream competitors or substitute producers. As for the social factors in Canada, such facts as population growth (Statistics Canada, 2012f), prevalence of higher education (Statistics Canada, 2009) and the amount of people who are under 30, about 36% (Statistics Canada, 2012e), must be outlined. It can be argued, that better educated people will prefer high quality coffee due to higher ethical and taste standards and higher income. Young people are more likely to buy fair trade products as many of them are flexible in their habits and maintain an environmental friendly lifestyle. And population growth precedes the growth of the market in general. Contemporary technologic environment brings new opportunities to Just Us in communicating the value to its potential customers through Internet by means of blogs, search engines and of course social media, especially social networks. Appendix 2. Competitor Analysis 1. Direct competitors are Kicking Horse, Trident Bookseller amp; Cafe and Java Factory. These companies operate on the same market segment and aim at the same target consumers thus posing the most real threat. 2. Potential competitors are Starbucks, Tim Hortons and Second Cup. They are incomparable to Just Us in terms of scale, but are able to satisfy the same customer need. Their main strengths are high brand recognition and rich financial resources. The main weaknesses are lower product quality, standardization of their outlets and being 99% out of the fair trade concept. 3. Weak competitors are independent coffee houses e. g. Coburg Coffee, that are not able to compete for a substantial part of Just Us target market. . Indirect competitors (substitutes) are Kraft Foods, Procter and Gamble’s Millstone, Nestle and Loblaws private label. The main weakness of this category is being mostly out of the fair trade concept, sometimes even opposite to it, e. g. Nestle, named the world’s â€Å"least responsible company† (Jobber, 2010, p. 214). Appendix 3. P orter’s Five Forces Analysis As for the fair trade coffee market, the bargaining power of suppliers is very low, as they are only price takers, even though the point of fair trade requires fixing the raw material price at a particular level. On the opposite, the bargaining power of buyers is very high, as they are to cover a part of the higher fair trade price for the raw materials embedded in the premium price of the products. There are many substitutes to fair trade coffee from non-fair trade coffee to all manner of drinks. Taking into account the huge non-fair trade coffee market and abundance of its participants, the threat of new entrants to fair trade market seems to be very high. The absence of governmental certification of fair trade products in Canada means every company can claim to sell fair trade products. Finally, the competition in the industry is high as we can see from the previous competitors analysis. To sum it all up, the market of fair trade coffee can not be named attractive in terms of the above analysis, that means the participants have other reasons to remain on the market, rather then just high margins, e. g. remaining dedicated to the ethical mission, raising total profits due to overall market growth, increasing associated market share or improving company image. Appendix 4. Company Resources Analysis Just Us has 69 employees, 7 top managers and 5 managers in marketing and sales department. The marketing organization of the company is functional, as shown on the organization structure scheme in Exhibit 2 of the case study. The specialization of the roles linked to this structure requires managers to develop further skills in narrow areas. (Brassington and Pettitt, 2007, p. 449) As this is a worker owned company, every employee is highly committed to the success of the business. Besides, coffee houses staff is highly trained and experienced in what they do. It can be argued, that having 5 marketing and sales managers on the strength is enough to maintain marketing activities on a very high level. As for the informational resources, the company has all the required business data in form of quarter and annual reports. Other sources of information include distributors’ sales reports and cash reports of the cafes. There is a certain lack of funding for marketing activities at Just Us. Lilien and Little consider 6,9% of sales as â€Å"not a bad start†, because it is an average figure for marketing-to-sales ratio according to their study, but they also suggest taking a row of factors into account while applying this figure to a company’s budgets (Lilien and Little, 1979, p. 22). So it can be argued that being a part of low margin fair trade market, Just Us should link its marketing budget to the amount of profit. The ratio may vary depending on the selected strategy with the median of approximately 20%. As it was previously stated, Just Us has diversified supply channels and strong long-term partnership with its suppliers. That is why the situation with supply resources can be named one of the company’s strengths. Appendix 5. SWOT Analysis + Strengths:| Level| – Weaknesses:| Level| 1. Strong brand loyalty and recognition in Nova Scotia| High| 1. Lack of promotional activities| High| 2. Products of high quality| High| 2. Small financial resources| High| 3. Fair trade and organic certification of the products | Mid| 3. Higher price in comparison with non-fair trade competitors| Mid| 4. Experienced cafe personnel| Mid| 4. High concentration of the cafes| Low| 5. Stable long-term relations with suppliers| Low| 5. Insufficient territory coverage| Low| Table 1. Source: Own development. + Opportunities:| Level| – Threats:| Level| 1. General growth of the fair trade market in Canada| High| 1. Expansion of the coffee industry â€Å"sharks† to the market| High| 2. Creation of a governmental fair trade certification system| High| 2. Replacement with supermarket chains’ own fair trade brands| Mid| 4. Rise of awareness of the fair trade concept among potential customers| Mid| 3. Customer inability to distinguish true fair trade products| Mid| 3. Increase in the number of universities supporting fair trade| Low| 4. Competition of small privately owned cafes| Mid| 5. Creation of an on-line customer community| Low| 5. Macroeconomic problems that will enhance customer price sensitivity 4. Increasing competition from small privately owned cafes| Low| Table 2. Source: Own development. Appendix 6. BCG Matrix Analysis Sales| Grand Pre| Wolfville| Barrington| Spring Garden| Total| Jan. | 42342| 39907| 31831| 40849| 154929| Feb. | 47541| 41493| 30182| 41064| 160280| Mar. | 44742| 42512| 28549| 41796| 157599| Apr. | 51744| 47461| 32537| 49115| 180857| May| 61623| 46301| 36503| 50382| 194809| June| 61850| 45136| 35837| 48859| 191682| July| 67890| 45132| 36737| 46677| 196436| Aug. | 79159| 47902| 36015| 46679| 209755| Sept. | 68860| 49950| 39752| 59402| 217964| Oct. | 75790| 44780| 40229| 61334| 222133| Nov. | 57545| 43571| 34476| 56973| 192565| Dec. | 80338| 45854| 36437| 62318| 224947| Total| 739424| 539999| 419085| 605448| 2303956| Share| 32%| 23%| 18%| 26%| | Table 3. Source: Own development based on Exhibit 6 of the case study. Growth| Grand Pre| Wolfville| Barrington| Spring Garden| Feb. | 12%| 4%| -5%| 1%| Mar. | -6%| 2%| -5%| 2%| Apr. | 16%| 12%| 14%| 18%| May| 19%| -2%| 12%| 3%| June| 0%| -3%| -2%| -3%| July| 10%| 0%| 3%| -4%| Aug. | 17%| 6%| -2%| 0%| Sept. | -13%| 4%| 10%| 27%| Oct. | 10%| -10%| 1%| 3%| Nov. | -24%| -3%| -14%| -7%| Dec. | 40%| 5%| 6%| 9%| Average| 7%| 1%| 2%| 4%| Table 4. Source: Own development based on Table 3. | Grand Pre| Wolfville| Barrington| Spring Garden| Sales Share| 32%| 23%| 18%| 26%| Level| High| Mid| Low| Mid| Average Growth| 7%| 1%| 2%| 4%| Level| High| Low| Low| High| Category| Star| Cash cow / dog| Dog| Question mark / star| Table 5. Source: Own development based on Table 3 and Table 4. Appendix 7. G. E. Matrix Analysis Market attractiveness factors| Rate * (0 to 3)| | Competitive position factors| Rate ** (0 to 3)| Size| 1| | Share| 1| Growth rates| 3| | Share growth rate| 2| Competitive rivalry| 0| | Product quality| 3| Profit margin amount| 1| | Brand loyalty| 3| Technological needs| 2| | Distribution channels| 3|