Mid-Term Essay Essay

This essay will focus on the influence family background and childhood memories have on writers and the theme of their writings. In both the essays chosen for detailed study here, we see how the authors’ philosophy of life and things that they chose to explore and write about was set way back in their childhood as a result of the traumas they faced. This paper will present an analysis of how the families of Sanders and Maduro shaped the way these authors understand themselves and relate to others. Scott Russell Sanders was the winner of the Mark Twain Award in 2009 and his work A Private History of Awe was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, to a family of cotton farmers, Sanders taught Literature and worked as Professor of English at Indiana University. The main vision behind his writing is the shift in cultures from a consumerist to a care-giving society (Sanders). In his essay, â€Å"Under the Influence: Paying the Price for my Father’s Booze†, Sanders had chronicled the trauma he and his siblings had to endure because of his father’s alcoholism. In this memoir Sander’s recounts the feelings of guilt, shame and helpless that he felt as a child of ten when he saw his father’s unstable and ferocious outbursts after getting drunk. He blamed himself for it and that feeling of guilt hounded him throughout his life. â€Å"I tell myself he drinks to ease [†¦] an ache I must have caused by disappointing him somehow† (Sanders). To atone for his perceived inadequacies as a child Sanders tried to turn to working hard and trying to keep the family together and taking on his father’s responsibilities, â€Å"by vainly seeking to erase through my efforts whatever drove him to drink† (Sanders). Sanders observes that his own children wonder at what drives him to be a â€Å"workaholic† and tries to allay their fears and any sense of guilt or pressure they may feel by being candid about his own feelings of guilt, hurt and shame at his father’s alcoholism. On maturity he realized that he had castigated himself needlessly as a child and that his father’s alcoholism was a disease and he had no reason to feel responsible for it. However, his fear of drinks and bad conduct that he had witnessed as a child had left a deep scar in his soul. He is reticent about going to pubs with his friends and drinking as much as he is afraid of causing hurt or disappointment to anybody. He is constantly watchful of any adverse reactions from people around him and still carries the shame of his father’s â€Å"sins† deep down inside him and shies away from having that facet of his life exposed in public. The name E. S. Maduro is a pseudonym under which the author talks about her feminist beliefs and her convictions on freedom of choice and awareness for women. She records how her own youthful feelings of rebellion against the social norms of marriage and raising children altered upon maturity but how she clung to her belief that women should have the awareness to make decisions for themselves. They should be allowed to choose their career paths according to their wishes and not be forced into stereotypical roles due to societal pressures. In the essay â€Å"Excuse Me While I Explode: My Mother, Myself, My Anger† the writer describes her feelings of anger, guilt and frustrations when she narrates the story of how her mother and women of that generation had to sacrifice their careers and all their life’s desires to accommodate their families and their duties as home makers and mothers. â€Å"Excuse Me While I Explode: My Mother, Myself, My Anger† first appeared in print as an article in a book entitled The Bitch in the House. In this article Maduro has written about her frustration at the inequality women face in society. It primarily deals with her angst at how she being a post-modern woman who was educated and liberated fell back and did the same things that she has found so loathsome in her mother. She had felt defiant at the way her mother and most women had to give-up their own dreams of a good and successful life to slave at household chores and raising children. â€Å"Years ago† a woman did not have a choice to voice her opinions and the role of housekeeper and dutiful mother was thrust upon her without so much as a thought about how she felt about it. Her toil was taken for granted and the spouse did not even think it inappropriate to allow his wife to do all the housework when he could very easily have offered to help. â€Å"I believed myself to be a feminist, and I vowed never to fall into the same trap of domestic boredom and servitude that I saw my mother as being fully entrenched in; never to settle for a life that was, as I saw it, lacking independence, authority, and respect† (Maduro 5). However, as she grew older and had her own experience of loving and living with her partner she was amazed that she followed the same pattern almost unconsciously and managed both house and work despite her partner wanting to help her with the chores. She puzzles over why this is so because she believed herself to be aware of her rights unlike her mother and in full command over her vocation and what she wanted out of life, yet she slaved at household chores: â€Å"I feel an odd mixture of frustration and love. Together we have a wonderful, open, trusting relationship, but sometimes I wonder if the hostility already in me, and my need to be angry at someone or something, could eventually destroy our bond† (Maduro 12). The article is an introspection of why she chose to do this. She comes up with the hypothesis that women chose to take on domestic responsibilities even if it meant forgoing some of their own desires because it made a woman proud to be an accomplished home maker and mother. She identified this need in a woman to excel in housekeeping as a source of pleasure and fulfillment. She reflects on the dichotomy between love and frustration, career and home, raising children and vocation and finally finds comfort in the fact that unlike her mother she was not forced into servitude. She did what she did because she wanted to do it, she had the option of turning away and that made a big difference. She is able to resolve her conflict and also that of many other women by reiterating that choosing to be a good housekeeper and mother was an option and you could choose to be one even if you felt strongly for the cause of feminism. Works Cited Maduro, E. S. â€Å"Excuse Me While I Explode: My Mother, Myself, My Anger†. The Bitch in the House. Cathy Hanauer. New York: Harper Collins, 2002. Print. Sanders, Russell Scott. â€Å"Under the Influence: Paying the Price for my Father’s Booze† Harpers Magazine Nov 1989: n. pag. Web. 2 Jun 2010.

Song: an Effective Technique and Material in Learning English

Song: An Effective Technique and Material in Learning English English has an important role in many aspects of life. This statement leads us to the reason of why this language should be taught in schools. In Indonesia, English is used as the first foreign language that should be learned by the students even from elementary school until university. In using the language, there are many elements that have to be mastered, covering reading, listening, speaking, and writing. Song refer to a piece of music that have words and can be used in language teaching.It is suggested to include songs in language learning as well. The possibility of using songs in English as a foreign language class has been actively considered for the last two decades. It is considered because songs have many values in language teaching. Orlova (2003), states that it is possible to suggest that among the methodological purposes that songs are used in class, it is possible to rank the following: 1. Practicing the rhy thm, stress and the intonation patterns of the English language. 2. Teaching vocabulary, especially in the vocabulary reinforcement stage 3.Teaching grammar. In this respect songs are especially favored by teachers while investigating the use of the tenses. 4. Teaching speaking. For this purpose, songs and mainly their lyrics are employed as a stimulus for class discussion 5. Teaching listening comprehension 6. Developing writing skills. For this purpose a song can be used in a variety of ways. From the songs, we can learn many things such as vocabulary, grammar, listening, speaking, writing, and of course reading. Benefit of Song Griffe (1992: 4) points out some advantages in using songs and music in the language classroom.There are some categories mentioned by Griffe, namely in classroom atmosphere, cultural input, text and student interest. They are as follows; 1. Songs create enjoyable classroom atmosphere Dealing with classroom atmosphere, songs and music can be used to make st udents relaxed and provide enjoyable classroom conditions. 2. They can introduce the culture of the songs. Either songs or music is reflection of the time and place that produce them. When the teacher brings songs into classroom, he will also bring the culture of the songs in the classroom. 3. Songs can be used as textsSongs also can be used as texts in the same way that a poem, short story or novel provided in the language classroom. From explanation above, songs have many benefits. Some of them are songs can motivate the students and make them more confident in their ability to listen the materials. The Criteria of Song Selection The important thing about choosing a song to do with a class is to make sure that the lyrics are clear. It can be very frustrating for the students not to understand a word. The recording should also be a good one. Lynch (2008), provides three principal song selection criteria, as follows: 1.Use songs that are popular with the students whenever possible. Unfortunately, students frequently select songs for classroom use which are objectionable in some way making the song unusable. 2. Songs must have clear and understandable lyrics. Nothing is worse than a song almost nobody can understand. If you have trouble understanding the lyrics by listening, then another song needs to be selected. 3. Songs should have an appropriate theme. There’s enough bad news, negativity and violence in the world already. Songs with any type of negative theme should be avoided. There are plenty of positive, upbeat, even humorous songs available.It is realized when teaching the students; we should choose the songs with suitable level of difficulty. The suitability of the song is a particularly important issue. It should be known whether or not the students like the song. The use of Singing Procedure There are various ways of using songs in the classroom. The level of the students, the interests and the age of the learners, the grammar point to be stud ied, and the song itself have determinant roles on the procedure. Apart from them, it mainly depends on the creativity of the teacher. Some examples of these techniques are: 1. Gap fills or close texts . Focus questions 3. True-false statements 4. Put the lines into the correct sequence 5. Dictation 6. Add a final verse 7. Circle the antonyms/synonyms of the given words 8. Discuss Many experienced textbook and methodology manual writers argue that songs have a great educational value. It can’t be denied that children, teenagers, and adults like music. While they are singing it, they are also doing other activities like learning, remembering new vocabulary, studying to pronounce words, etc. So, let’s try to learn English by using song and get the result! BIBLIOGRAPHY: Griffe, Dale T. 1992. Songs in Action.UK: Prentice Hall International Ltd. Lynch, Larry M. (2008). Using Popular Songs to Improve Language Listening Comprehension Skills. http://esl4free. blogspot. com/200 8/02/can-music-improve-your-students. htm†¦. Orlova, Natalia F. (March 2003). Helping Prospective EFL Teachers Learn How to Use Songs in Teaching Conversation Classes. The Internet TESL Journal. http://iteslj. org/Technoques/Orlova-Songs. html Ditulis oleh: Kristin Rahayu, S,Pd Guru Bahasa Inggris di SMK TKM Teknik Purworejo Jalan Ahmad Yani No 8 Purworejo 54111 No HP: 085725038093 email: rahayu. [email  protected] com

Should Huck Finn Be Taught in Schools Essay

There is a great deal of controversy over whether or not The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain should be taught in schools. It has been argued that Mark Twain depicts Jim as Huck’s impotent and submissive sidekick. Another argument made is that Jim isn’t portrayed as much of an actual human being nor is he treated like one throughout the novel. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be taught in schools so that students and teachers are able to think about and discuss their opinions on what Mark Twain’s purpose was in depicting Jim the way he does.Many critics claim that Mark Twain saw Jim as no more than some type of loyal sidekick who was depicted as a simple-minded character who showed few humanistic characteristics throughout the book. This is not the case, Mark Twain had a purpose in creating a character like Jim, to reinforce yet challenge stereotypical racism back in that time period. Mark Twain did in fact make Jim a simple-minded character lacking intellectual abilities but he also humanized Jim by giving him traits like feelings and also by giving him somewhat of a paternal role to Huck. Doan’ know, yit, what he’s a-gywne to do† (85). â€Å"I went in en unkivered him and didn’t let you come in? Well den, you k’n git yo’ money when you wants it; kase dat wuz him† (320). These two quotes from the beginning and end of the novel show that Jim had no real intellectual growth throughout the novel. Mark Twain continues to have Jim speak in poor (poorer than the the other characters) English to reinforce the stereotypical racism of uneducated African Americans in the South.However, Mark Twain also gives Jim somewhat of a paternal role towards Huck which makes Jim out to be more humane. â€Å"Come in Huck, but doan’ look at his face – it’s to gashly. I didn’t look at him at all. Jim throwed some old rags over him†¦ † (50). This passage fro m the book shows the paternal instinct Twain gave to Jim’s character in which he undermines racist stereotypes like Tom Sawyer’s Aunt Sally who claims that black slaves were not people (221). â€Å"My heart wuz mos’ broke bekase you was los’, en I didn’ k’yer no’ mo’ what become er me en de raf’†¦..It was fifteen minutes before I could go and humble myself to a nigger, but I done it, and I warn’t ever sorry for it, neither. I didn’t do him no more mean tricks and I wouldn’t done that one if I’d ‘a’ known it would make him feel that way† (86). In this passage Mark Twain allows Jim to voice his emotions and by doing so Jim is able to not only make Huck listen but think about the way he treated Jim. Mark Twain not only breaks racist stereotypes through Jim in this passage but breaks them through Huck.Huck acknowledges that Jim is capable of having feelings and allows his own mood to be influenced by the fact that he hurt Jim’s feelings by doing so Huck has made himself â€Å"equal† to Jim thus giving another example of humanizing Jim. â€Å"Said the witches bewitched him and put him in a trance, and rode him all over the State, and then set him under the trees again and huge his hat on a limb to show who done it† (6). Jim’s story about the witches shows his childlike, naive way of thinking developed from a life in slavery in which he was sheltered from knowledge.Jim’s lack of gumption allows Twain to fortify the patronizing racist stereotypes that had developed in the South at this time. How Mark Twain depicts Jim in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as well as Twain’s reasoning for doing so is a reason in and of itself why Huck Finn should be taught in schools. Huck Finn is more than just an adventure novel it is a book that encourages and requires students as well as teachers to think about the deeper mea nings, such as Mark Twain’s purpose in creating a character like Jim.

Harley Davidson Company Essay

Situational analysis Harley Davidson, an international motorcycle company, started out as a small three man operation in 1903, by the Davidson brothers and William Harley manufacturing heavyweight motorcycles. This included financial services for the motorbikes, accessories and branded apparel. It experienced great success during both World Wars, and managed to survive the trying times of the Great Depression. After World War II, Harley Davidson brand begin to build on the image of the V-twin cylinder engine established in the 1920’s by shifting from manufacturing military bikes to recreational ones. During the 1970’s and 1980’s Japanese competition nearly destroyed the company. Competitors introduced technological advanced bikes at a lower cost due to mass production. Technological advances and economics of scale and efficiencies made competitor’s products superior in some instances. Harley responded by a re-evaluating its marketing strategy centered on a lifestyle image. This included a re-organization and brand building program, including the Harley Owners Group (HOG), Harley Davidson was able to re-capture its market share. It established these groups along with better customer service that helped it establish itself as a dominate company in the motorbike industry. It had a differentiated focus and various target markets as the environments changed. It was positioned effectively as a way of life with a sense of freedom as opposed to selling the best motorbikes. The marketing campaigns focused more on the lifestyle associated with the product and worked on its social image. The marketing team used differentiation to create more awareness of the product by reinforcing Harley from a psychological perspective as a symbol of freedom, developing and maintaining relationships. Harley Davidson South Africa was established in 1996 and has prospered due to very high annual growth rates. It succeeded as an emotionally driven brand, one that customers choose for a sense freedom, biker image or as a status symbol. It is this emotive response that Harley Davidson capitalizes on in its marketing strategy and that is re-enforced with the Harley Owners Group magazine, events and the international customer rental service. Despite the company’s success it faces some unique challenges. Currently all merchandise  is imported from the U.S.A., as a result pricing decisions are problematic relative to competitors. Harley continuously evolved its brand but lacked focus on black upcoming consumer (black diamonds) and on women initially. It will need to do some valuable market research and determine the best way forward with very careful implementation of the strategy to best target black diamonds and increase growth in this ‘untapped’, high disposable i ncome market. 1: Product Policy Product Policy is defined as â€Å"A strategic rule or rules covering how a good or service is promoted to potential consumers† (Kotler and Keller, Year!). Harley-Davidson has since grown from one dealership to seven independent dealerships between 1996 and 2007. Harley product policy was to focus more into customers’ needs rather than the company, this is the strategy that was introduced in the early 1980’s and was subsequently implemented in South Africa. These customer-orientated services have differentiated the company from competitors, in the minds of customers in South Africa as it was about image, sense of Freedom and status. This help in dismissing the myth / reputation of its â€Å"bad boy† image. This was seconded by the gender split of 28% female and 72% of male’s riders in South Africa. Harley South Africa set  out to promote Harley’s into females who are independent with high salary income as the new market segment; the strateg y was to treat them as equals and as owners in their own right. Post 2007, the product policy changed to â€Å"Black Diamonds† with an effort to attract and increase the black market into Harley riders. Their marketing strategy was different as it had done very little above the line advertising, dealers were given freedom to determine their own promotional activities modified to their own client’s needs and demands. Classification: Specialty goods – Customers are willing to make an extended search to find Harley and in some cases, might be willing to travel 20 or 30 KM to find the bike. â€Å"Marketing mix† is a general phrase used to describe the different kinds of choices organizations have to make in the process of bringing a product or service to market. The Product which is one of the 4P’s is used in defining the marketing mix and is categorized into 4 pillars namely Product Mix; Product Design; Product Development and Product Life Cycle (Kotler & Keller, 14th Edition) 1. PRODUCT MIX: Product policy lies at the heart of the marketing mix and encompasses all qualitative aspects of the products offered. Product-mix refers to the range of products offered by an institution. Offering products that are valued and demanded by customers is key to the success of Harley in South Africa. 2. PRODUCT DESIGN The goal of product design is not to create a different product to satisfy every possible client need. Harley should design products that respond to several different needs with only a few variables. Product design variables must be appropriate for the markets that the Harley has decided to target. 3. PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT Product development is the process of continually refining client-oriented products. It includes several phases, such as exploring customer needs, screening ideas, evaluating products through pilot testing, revising product  design based on the results and finally, launching the products. All of these phases are intertwined. 4. PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE Below is the summary of the four phases of the Harley product life cycle which include introduction, growth, maturity and decline. Core Benefits of owning a Harley: * Harley members have an enduring relationship built on trust and dependability supported by good service and meaningful advice as most of the riders especially females had no technical capabilities of some of the riders. * Become part of the Harley family which include meeting with business associates, share a cup of coffee with new riders and also talk to a friend. This has made most riders to have a â€Å"sense of belonging†. * Harley offer in-house finance and insurance program for riders / customers. * A full one-year membership in the Harley Owners Group (H.O.G) comes with every purchase of a new, unregistered Harley motorcycle. * Associate  memberships for H.O.G family members and passengers also benefit and become part of the Harley family membership. * Owner’s memberships are renewable at a discount and they can also become a member for life. * Full access to the company’s website, magazines each year, and a subscription to the special member publication, toll-free customer service and even a touring handbook for trip planning. * Harley also organizes and sponsor special events for H.O.G members including bike parades. * Analysing the Brand equity of Harley Davidson: When purchasing a Harley, the customer is endowed with an added value of a sensation of freedom offered by the product, the sense of belonging and a sense of exhibitionism offered by a Harley. Harley Davidson does not market the functional purpose of the bike but rather the emotional and psychological attributes of freedom and belonging. The success of the marketing approach and achievement of brand promise of such psychological attributes are well evidenced by the successful financial performance of Harley Davidson. The following case facts indicate that Harley commands higher prices, market share and profitability: * Steady share of half the USA heavyweight motorcycle market in 2006; * Annual growth in unit sales in South Africa had averaged 46% over the past few years. * Harley still held the majority share in SA market, an estimated 67%. The above indicates that Harley Davidson has strong brand equity credentials. We can further analyse the brand equity of Harley Davidson by applying one of the Brand Equity Models, ‘The Brand Resonance Model’ (Kotler and Keller YEAR) and applying the 6 fundamental building blocks of the resonance model to Harley Davidson: Building brand Equity The right brand knowledge structures targeted at the right consumer can build substantial brand equity (Kotler and Keller YEAR). An analysis of how Harley uses the 3 brand equity drivers (Kotler 2014) to build brand equity: 1. Brand elements – Harleys brand benefits are less concrete (freedom, sense of belonging etc) and thus it ensures that its brand elements focus on emotional and psychological attributes. E.g. slogans such as â€Å"The fun is not in the destination, the fun is in the journey†. In addition company marketing themes never emphasize on the bikes mechanical specifications but rather the associated lifestyle for owning a Harley. 2. Marketing activities – product/service – Lifestyle – How do customers make contact with the Harley brand: * Internal Branding – Harley’s primary focuses is on internal branding Harley makes extensive use of marketing through its brand community, the H.O.G. H.O.G members have a consciousness of kind† or sense of felt connection to Harley. i. H.O.G. as a channel for internal marketing has proved to be more effective than Harley’s external  marketing campaigns. ii. HOG is not organic but company-sponsored and facilitated because it’s one of the main and primary marketing activities. iii. H.O.G is a business strategy. The entire business model supports the H.O.G. iv. Harley’s cultivation and engineering of the H.O.G plays a significant role in growing and strengthening the brand * Individual Customer marketing v. Harley places a lot of marketing attention and focus on the individual customer. Significant investment is made towards dealerships being well equipped to cater for H.O.G meetings, vi. High individual customer focus pays off in terms of, significant sales arising from repeat customers, accessories, customisations of initial purchase, trading upwards after initial purchase etc. vii. Individual marketing to women on a personal basis as they walked into the store with their husbands or partner’s. This was successful in building brand equity amongst female customers. * External Branding is minimal. Harley does not do much mainstream advertising. This has a benefit of cost saving from not having to rely heavily on mainstream high cost advertising channels. Harley prefers to grow through existing dealerships. For example, Dealerships are equipped with coffee areas where staff can connect with customers that walk into the stores. 3. Leveraging secondary associations * Harley frequently associates itself with charity rides and motorcycle events. This allows it an opportunity to build on its brand promise of exhibitionism and belonging While applying the logic of the brand value chain (Kotler 2014) backwards, high profitability & market share arise from strong customer awareness and customer associations, which in turn arise from successful marketing programme investment. It could be inferred that Harley has generated valuable return from its marketing approach consistently over a period, indicating successful brand equity building over the years. Target Market: Harley Davidson’s new target market is the, ‘Black Diamond’. This has been their focus as they believe this market has potential. In 2007 the market totalled 2.6 million, while they managed to make sales totalling 709. This meant they had 27% of their target market. This was a drop when compared to the previous year. Post 1994 this target market has had opportunities that did not exist before. We also saw the emergence of BEE, which continues to make Black people more financially stable. This therefore makes this market an ideal market to focus on. Market profile: As much as the female rider target market is growing (28% by 2007) and has potential Harley needs to understand that there are still cultural issues that this market has to deal with. Such issues include that fact that for the black community for a woman to drive a motorcycle it might be not acceptable. Therefore, this would need Harley to come up with strategies to deal with this cultural perception in order for them to benefit from this market. Future product policy: Product Portfolio: Harley Davidson has managed to introduce accessories which are priced differently. This works as those that cannot afford to buy the motorcycles can still settle for other biker accessories thus improving margins. Harley needs to continue to widen its product mix. Usually a biker will buy one bike unless they can afford to buy more, therefore for Harley to continue gaining from this consumer they need to also focus more on their accessories which not only bikers like but also non bikers and family members. It was mentioned that 70% of the purchasers were non bikers. Harley however needs to be careful that its product system does not disadvantage its brand. This is seen as an exclusive brand and one needs to be careful that a product diversification does not bring down the value of the brand and result in consumers perceiving it as cheap. It is therefore important that we keep the current product portfolio as exclusive as possible to protect the brand. With the increase in fuel prices, Harley might need to consider a two-way stretch where they might need to produce cheaper motorcycles which are more  fuel efficient to encourage people who might not want to consider investing in a Harley due to costs. Strategies for growth: Driving in a Harley club is a spectacular moment, whether or not the bike itself was bought for show. Cruisers are differentiated products and Harley is the leader in that market but that is a double edge sword as its guaranteed popularity and high expectations as a result. They are effectively selling a lifestyle and for more people to buy into it and to keep those on board they need to focus on strengthening the product differentiation, design, brand and service differentiation. Bikes as an extension of personality and customers will associate with a product that delivers on the highest promise. The design of the bikes and features that are most useful and necessary to the rider are important, the customisation has resulted in unique end products for each customer, the quality in terms of performance and conformance need to me maintained at a level above the competition. Because customer needs and tastes vary, the service levels required to keep customers happy also varies, the service dimension of the business is therefore important in creating a strategy. By creating awareness about the product and pricing mix and different after sales service options available to the customer (delivery, training, consultation, HOG, maintenance and repair options), Harley Davidson SA can bridge the information gap and appeal to a larger market. Targeting the Black diamond: This is one of the fastest growing segments in the South African economic context, the majority being young and qualified and earning a more than descent constant salary. Mostly growing up post apartheid, this group is less stereotypical and more adventurous and likely to try new things than was previously not associated with the age segment. This is the new financial muscle of the South African economy and Harley Davidson should explore it purely as a potential market for its affluence and exploratory capacity if not for its perceived desire for opulence and status. As a product that provides pleasure, fun and value, there is no reason not to tap into this virgin market that hasn’t yet grasped its stance or identity  relative to the previous politically influenced generation. Harley-Davidson Services According to Kotler and Keller, †The customer will judge the offering by three basic elements: product features & quality, services mix and quality, and price† (Refer to Fig 12.1). In our technologically age it is now easier for any company products to be replicated and even produced much cheaper too. This makes the element of â€Å"service quality and mix† very important to marketers. The service quality and mix Harley-Davidson offers to its customers will be a source of competitive advantage. The customer value hierarchy diagram places an ‘augmented product’ at a very high level (Fig 12.2). Customers will value an augmented product because of its additional features and services that come with it. Harley-Davidson should aim for service differentiation at all stages of the buying process and after purchase: (Ordering Ease, Delivery, Bike-riding training, customer consulting, maintenance and repair). The customer service personnel employed by Harley-Davidson will affect the quality of service. The company would need to ensure that they hire and train the right people for the jobs. Employee satisfaction would be critical to making sure the employees have a positive attitude as they work with customers. The marketing department at Harley-Davidson has to understand the needs and wants of their customers in order to satisfy them. Customers are concerned with reliability, service dependability and maintenance costs of the motorbike. A service-quality management system would also need to be set up plus monitoring systems to ensure that all customer complaints are handled properly.

Thesis Proposal Social Media Marketing Plan for Loop

Social Media Marketing Plan for Loop - Thesis Proposal Example thesis proposal for e-marketing plan about Loop, World’s first mobile wallet that links cards, and provides competitive analysis and feasibility study about its e-marketing targets. Situation analysis is one of the most essential components of en e-marketing plan. It provides a comprehensive overview of a company’s current situation related to marketing activities and it can help the firm identify and focus on the key variables in terms of revenues, profitability, competition and performance (Smith and Taylor, 2004). Internal and external environmental analysis with help of tools such as SWOT will be used for conducting environmental scanning of Loop’s e-marketing activities. Loop, a recent project developed by Will Graylin and George Wallner, will be an amazing experience for all customers worldwide as they can store and organize all their cards on their Smartphone to be used in retail and other major outlets. Loop is going to pioneer linking of cards to Smartphone for customers’ shopping purposes. Using e-marketing strategies for promoting it worldwide will certainly open greater opportunities of wider marketing. The SWOT and environmental analysis of Loop will focus strengths and opportunities including focus on value creation, customer relationship, wider opportunity of global market, innovation and R&D advantages, growing trends of using cards in stores and people’s perception about safety and security of cards etc. The analysis will also focus on weaknesses and threats such as shopper’s acceptance of linking with Loop, storage and transmission capacities in Smartphone, alliance with mobile Smartphone companies, hacking and spy-ware etc. The main reason why e-marketing continues to create newer opportunities for marketing success is because it transforms marketing strategies to create more customer value through effective segmentation, targeting and positioning and creates exchanges that satisfy consumers’ requirements (Gay, Charlesworth and

Smoking cigarettes and the strenghts and weakness of the theory of Essay

Smoking cigarettes and the strenghts and weakness of the theory of planned behaviour in explaining this behaviour - Essay Example This is a habit and people become addicted to these kind of things very quickly. Among the addiction of things the addiction of cigarette smoking is very common and popular. A approximate number of adults smoking in United States is about 44.5 million. 23% of the high school students are current smokers. The rate of persons who start smoking is more in students than in adults. This is the major point of concern for the health organization to reduce this rate. Some people smoke to make their image glamorous and effective. The person falling in these categories are most from the reel life persons or star personalities. Military also advertises smoking as glamorous part of life and society. This is a kind of irrational behavior of man that forces him to get addicted to such things in life that are harmful to him. He knows that these are harmful but enjoys the addiction. The irrational behavior is the abnormal behavior of person that is related to his addictions. They do not know how to act at some instance. When they are addicted to something they get unconscious in the absence of it. Who is responsible for this kind of action or behavior the person or the environment around him. About the first cigarette every person thinks that he will not be addicted of it but soon when he is used to the smoking environment he starts it slowly and occasionally. The first cigarette offered to him is just the initialization of his irrational behavior. Smoking for the first time is due to the curiosity of the feeling that something is missing in life and that must be filled by smoking. Smoking is also done to equalize his standard with others of his age. They think that smoking creates a glamorous and mature image. Even in the early stage of smoking majority hates the taste of cigarette but due to the irrational behavior of smoking it makes them feel satisfied of smoking. With first few cigarettes one thinks he would not get addicted to smoking since he is smoking only one or two in couple of days but then sitting in the environment it gets doubled and the person becomes addicted to it very soon. Even then he tries to quit smoking that becomes difficult for him. Then if someone offers you a cigarette you cannot stop yourself from smoking. This forces a person for irrational behavior of smoking and makes him addicted to the heinous act of smoki ng. Smokers have a basic habit of smoking at certain interval or at certain time like in the morning of after having dinner or such time. This makes him slave of cigarette and cannot quit at these times. In early stage of smoking person smokes in group but then individually needs cigarette at certain interval. He becomes dependent on smoking or cigarette. At

PRESSURE SORE MANAGEMENT IN ADULT PATIENTS Essay

PRESSURE SORE MANAGEMENT IN ADULT PATIENTS - Essay Example Furthermore, just as there are different terms for the same health care challenge there are a wide range of interventions that have been used over a long period of time in the management of pressure sore, with some even extending into the exotic in the form of magic potions, as the search for the right intervention in the management of pressure sores carries on (Ayello et al, 2008). The body of knowledge on pressure sores currently has expanded into a large volume of literature that is used as evidence in developing intervention strategies for pressure sores. Yet, quite often the value of the evidence received from research on pressure sores is quite often undermined by the poor research design, with particular emphasis on methodically sound empirical investigations and randomized controlled studies. This has hampered the expanding of the right understanding of pressure sores and the taking of correct informed decisions in the management of pressure sores (Ponto, 2005). The true inci dence and prevalence of pressure sores also remains a puzzle. ... These risk factors are classified under different heads consisting of medical diagnoses, co-morbidities and earlier medical episodes, patient demographics that include advanced age, anthropometric status, physiological status, nutritional status, functional status, psychological status, social behaviour and quality of nursing care. From the perspective of the importance of pressure sores to adult nursing two key aspects stand out in the risk factors associated with pressure sores. The first aspect is that many of the risk factors associated with the development of pressure sores can be found in a large proportion of the adult population in society, with particular emphasis on the elderly segment. The second is the inclusion of the quality of nursing care in the risk factors for the development of pressure sores, with the obvious implication that when nursing care is deficient or lacks the proper care elements, there are enhanced chances in the pressure sores overwhelming the nursing care provided to increase the negative outcomes for the patients (Bergstrom, 2005). In the upkeep of the health of society there is the need for greater emphasis in adult nursing, which stems from the rising trends in the elderly segment of population. Developments in the field of medical science have resulted in increased longevity of life, which is an important factor in the elderly population segment becoming the fastest growing segment of population. In 1980 the United Nations (UN) had forecasted that the number of elderly individuals above the age of 65 around the world would rise to 760 million in 2025. By 1999 the UN was forced to change the estimates of the elderly population above the age