Issues with Strategic Marketing Management

Issues with Strategic Marketing Management Introduction This course is designed to help you understand and learn advanced principles of marketing and is aimed at marketing managers, or professionals who are working in business or commerce. Who have perhaps a qualification in marketing and several years experience of working in a marketing role, or managers who would like to increase their marketing knowledge. Part of the courses assessment of learning will involve you in undertaking an assignment based on a marketing strategy plan carried out in your own company/organisation. You will be given detailed guidance and advice about this element of assessment later in this workbook. Aims of the unit The aim of the unit is to identify and discuss key issues associated with marketing principles. The course is focused on strategic principles of marketing, which form an essential underpinning to an understanding of strategic marketing in action. The theoretical underpinning will be complemented by a series of short work-based activities. Objectives of the unit To equip you with the knowledge and skills to understand and interpret strategic marketing principles To provide you with practical experience of applying strategic marketing principles and preparing a strategic marketing plan within your own company/organisation. Learning outcomes On successful completion of this Unit you should be able to: Understand the strategic marketing process Recognise the importance of creating strategic advantage Produce a strategic marketing plan in your own company/organisation Understand the importance of developing a specific competitive position Strategic Marketing Management What does this workbook contain? This workbook contains a number of information and learning resources: Background and contextual information about strategic marketing management Key ideas, theories, concepts, structures, processes in relation to strategic marketing ‘Recall and review and ‘Activity points designed to engage you in reflection and action-focused thinking Case examples of strategic marketing in action Assessment You are required to write a 2,500-word assignment as follows: Prepare a strategic marketing plan for your own company/organisation, paying particular attention to creating and sustaining a competitive advantage over rival firms. Strategic Marketing Management How should this workbook be used? This workbook will direct your study throughout the learning experience. There are  six sections, designed to be studied sequentially. However, a good learning technique is to refresh your learning by re-reading, so you are recommend to read back and forth between sections whenever you feel the need. Each section deals with a different topic and, together with any associated activities, practical work or further reading, is designed to require approximately 20 hours of study. The workbook uses an interactive learning approach. This is achieved through the use of self-assessment questions and activities throughout the text. These will enable you to apply the concepts presented in the workbook and explore issues that extend your knowledge and skills. Preparing to use the workbook If you are new to the study of marketing and/or this study method, then we suggest it is worth you spending some time becoming familiar with its contents and approach to learning and development. This will enhance your own understanding of key ideas in strategic marketing management, and your ability to lead and facilitate the learning of others. Strategic Marketing Management Table of contents Title Page Unit 1 The strategic marketing process Objectives 5 Drivers of change 5 Corporate strategy/ Marketing interface 7 Strategic marketing plans 8 Summary 9 Unit 2 Marketing Information Systems Objectives 10 MIS and the use of strategic intelligence 10 Summary 14 Unit 3 Strategic intent Objectives 15 Strategic intent/vision and mission 15 Goals and objectives 17 Stakeholders 18 Summary 19 Unit 4 Creating strategic advantage Objectives 20 Approaches to developing strategic advantage 20 Alliances and networks 22 Declining and hostile markets 24 Strategic wear-out 25 Summary 26 Unit 5 Developing a specific competitive position Objectives 27 Strategic alignment process 27 Innovation and new product development 28 Strategic evaluation 31 Summary 32 Unit 6 Implementation and control Objectives 33 Implementation 33 Control 35 Summary 37 Strategic Marketing Management Unit 1 The core theme of this unit is the importance of market-led strategic change to ensure organisational success. Objectives By the end of this unit you will: Be able to discuss, and give examples of drivers of change Understand the relationship between corporate and marketing strategy Know the process and structure of marketing planning and be able to discuss the differences between strategic and tactical planning Drivers of change Change is inevitable and companies that wish to maintain a market-led approach must take into consideration both cyclical and evolutionary change when developing their marketing strategies. The rate at which the external environment changes varies according to the nature of the business but increasingly all organisations are facing escalating levels of change. Change is inevitable. To survive companies need to adapt and to convert the threats caused by the changing environment into opportunities in order to avoid strategic drift. Marks and Spencer is a prime example of a company that has not adapted to the changing customer demands and as a result has lost many of its loyal customer base. Case history Drivers of change Greenhalgh (2001) identifies the following drivers of change that have created challenges for companies over the last few years: Domestic businesses of any significance have become rare. They are now global, drawing on supply chains that transcend national boundaries and serving customers worldwide Customer expectations of quality have increased and are now applied to all goods and services, rather than just luxury goods Concern for the environment has become a major item on companies agenda. They now have to consider their environmental responsibility as well as their profits. Large institutional investors are exerting their influence on how organisations are managed Start-up companies play an important role in introducing innovative products and new ideas to the marketplace. Young, technologically-competent workers are drawn to these vibrant workplaces, making it harder for other companies to recruit and retain them Strategic Marketing Management Activity 1.1 Consider thedrivers of change outlined above. Identify the impact of these factors on your own company/organisation. What is strategy? The term strategy is probably one of the most used and often misunderstood terms in business. There is no universal definition of strategy and yet it is used extensively. Strategy has the same meaning whether we are discussing corporate, marketing, promotional or even advertising strategy: it is concerned with how we might achieve our objectives. The difference between each type of strategy relates to the level at which the strategy is being developed. Corporate strategy according to Johnson and Scholes (1999), is: â€Å"concerned with what types of business the company as a whole should be in and is therefore concerned with decisions of scope† whereas marketing strategy aims to transform corporate objectives into a competitive market position. The main role of marketing strategy is to differentiate products/services from those of competitors by meeting the needs of customers more effectively. Therefore, according to Drummond and Ensor (2001) marketing strategy can be characterised by: Analysing the business environment and defining customer needs Matching activities to customer needs Implementing programmes to achieve a competitive position relative to competitors Strategic management consists of three elements: Strategic analysis concerned with answering the question where are we now? This involves analysing the external environment, internal resources and capabilities and stakeholder expectations Strategic choice what are the options available and which is the most attractive? Strategic implementation often the most overlooked of strategy. It is concerned with allocating resources and turning the plans into action. This process can be as equally well applied to marketing strategy. Strategic Marketing Management The corporate strategy/marketing interface It is impossible to discuss marketing strategy without first putting it into the context of corporate planning. The relationship between corporate planning and marketing planning can best be explained by figure 1.1 below. It is helpful to think of these decisions sitting in a hierarchy with corporate planning at the top and marketing planning below it. The diagram also illustrates that, alongside marketing planning, plans should be developed for other functional areas of the business such as human resources management (HRM), logistics, and operations. The vision and mission will drive the overall direction of the company and the functional areas of business will all work towards achieving the corporate objectives. The vision and mission will be discussed in Unit 3 Strategic intent. Strategic Marketing Management Marketing strategy is concerned with three elements customers, competitors and internal  corporate issues as illustrated in Figure 1.2. Strategic marketing management has three major  phases: firstly, strategic analysis in order to answer the question where are we now? This will include external analysis of customers, competitors and the macro environment and internal analysis of corporate capabilities; secondly formulation of strategy in terms of creating and evaluating options and thirdly implementation where the strategies are translated into action. The three stages are not mutually exclusive and are not necessarily linear. In fact it is expected that there will be some feedback and amendments as the process progresses. Strategic marketing plans A strategic marketing plan is the means by which the strategy is communicated within the organisation. The structure and content of a strategic marketing plan will vary considerable between organisations. However, normally the following components are included: Current situation external and internal analysis Objective setting Strategy formulation Marketing programmes Implementation issues Control measures Strategic Marketing Management There is no one best format for a strategic marketing plan and organisations will develop their own frameworks that match the needs of their companies. Strategic marketing plans need to generate action and not just be filed away. They should also be sufficiently flexible to take into account the changing environment. Activity 1.2 Read a copy of your own organisations strategic marketing plan. Give your opinion on whether the strategies outlined in it have been actioned. Has the plan shown sufficient flexibility to take into account the changing environment. If the answer to 3. is no, how could the plan have been improved? Summary In this unit we have seen that: Organisations operate in a dynamic environment and therefore they have to take into consideration those external influences that will impact on their business. These influences are often referred to as drivers of change. In market-oriented organisations it is likely that marketing will be the largest contributor to corporate strategy. Corporate strategy is concerned with what types of business the company as a whole should be in, i.e. the scope of the business. Marketing strategy is concerned with transforming corporate objectives into a competitive market position. A strategic marketing plan is the vehicle by which the marketing strategy is communicated within the organisation. The structure and format of a strategic marketing plan will vary considerably between organisations. There is no one best structure. Strategic Marketing Management Unit 2 Marketing Information System (MIS) Introduction The focus of this unit is to understand how the use of marketing intelligence and key marketing information can assist marketing managers to produce an effective marketing information system which will assist marketing decision makers to return higher profits. Objectives Upon successful completion of this unit you will: Understand the strategic use of information Understand how a MIS can assist marketing managers to make key decisions Marketing information is a key requirement for any strategic marketing plan and therefore the development of effective management and marketing information systems is an important task for marketers. Senior marketing managers should not become too heavily involved in the details of the MIS and marketing research but should be concentrating on how to utilize the information in helping to understand the market and develop successful marketing programmes. Definition A Management Information System consists of people, equipment and procedures to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate and distribute timely and accurate information to marketing decision makers. The MIS begins and ends with marketing managers. First, it interacts with them to assess their information needs. Next, it develops the needed information from internal company records, marketing intelligence activities and the marketing research process. Information analysis processes the information to make it more useful. Finally, the MIS distributes information to managers in the right form at the right time to help them in marketing planning, implementation and control. Developing information The information needed by marketing managers comes from internal company records, marketing intelligence and marketing research. The information analysis system then processes this information to make it more useful for managers. Strategic Marketing Management Internal records Most marketing managers use internal records and reports regularly, especially for making day to day planning, implementation and control decisions. Internal records information consists of information gathered from sources within the company to evaluate marketing performance and to detect marketing problems and opportunities. The companys accounting department prepares financial statements and keeps detailed records of sales, orders, costs, and cash flows. The customer service department provides information on customer satisfaction or service problems. Research studies done for one department may provide useful information for several others. Managers can use information gathered from these and other sources within the company to evaluate performance and to detect problems and opportunities. Information from internal records is usually quicker and cheaper to get than information from other sources, but it also presents some problems. Because internal information was collected for other purposes, it may be incomplete or in the wrong form for making marketing decisions. For example, accounting department sales and cost data used for preparing financial statements need adapting for use in evaluating product, sales force, or channel performance. In addition, the many different areas of a large company produce great amounts of information, and keeping track of it all is difficult. The marketing information system must gather, organize, process and index this mass of information so that managers can find it easily and obtain it quickly. Marketing intelligence Marketing intelligenceis everyday information about developments in the marketing environment that helps managers prepare and adjust marketing plans. The marketing intelligence system determines the intelligence needed, collects it by searching the environment and delivers it to marketing managers who need it. Marketing intelligence comes from many sources. Much intelligence is derived from the companys personnel executives, engineers and scientists, purchasing agents and the sales force. However, company people are often busy and fail to pass on key information. It is important to realise that staff are intelligence gatherers, and they need to be trained to spot new developments and urged to report intelligence back to the company. The company must also persuade suppliers, resellers and customers to pass along important intelligence. Some information on competitors comes from what they say about themselves in annual reports, speeches, press releases and advertisements. The company can also learn about competitors from what others say about them in business publications and at trade shows. Or the company can watch what competitors do buying and analyzing competitors products, monitoring their sales and checking for new patents. Strategic Marketing Management Companies also buy intelligence information from outside suppliers. Dun and Bradstreet  is the worlds largest research company with branches in forty countries and a turnover of $1.26bn. Its largest subsidiary is Nielsen who sell details on brand shares, retail prices and percentages of stores stocking different brands. Marketing intelligence can work not only for, but also against a company. Kellogg used to allow the public to tour its plants but recently closed its newly upgraded plant to outsiders to prevent competitors from getting intelligence on its high tech equipment. Some companies set up an office to collect and circulate marketing intelligence. The staff scans relevant publications, summarizes important news and sends news bulletins to marketing managers. It develops a file of intelligence information and helps managers to evaluate new information. These services greatly improve the quality of information available to marketing managers. To summarise it is clear that a MIS has four main components: Internal records there is a wealth of information available within the organisation and it is essential that it is organised in such a way as to facilitate its usage. This may include sales data, customer orders, prices, stock levels, customer complaints, etc. Marketing research this is concerned with the systematic collection of information that is specific to a particular problem. For example, a piece of marketing research may be commissioned to investigate attitudes to a new advertising campaign. Marketing intelligence this may include any information that is collected on an ad hoc basis, such as competitor intelligence gleaned from the press, customer trends, registered patents etc. Marketing decision support systems the processes that convert the data into usable information. For example, statistical tools or modeling techniques. Activity 2.1 Write a short summary detailing how a MIS is used to support management decision making in your own company/organisation. Strategic Marketing Management Intelligence gathering: checking out competitors Competitive intelligence gathering has grown dramatically as more and more companies need to know what their competitors are doing. It is essential that managers are not myopic and spend time amassing information about their major competitors. Techniques that companies use to collect their own marketing intelligence fall into four major groups. Getting information from recruits and competitors employees Companies can obtain intelligence through job interviews or from conversations with competitors employees. According to Fortune magazine: ‘Companies send engineers to conferences and trade shows to question competitors technical people. Often conversations start innocently but engineers and scientists often brag about surmounting technical challenges, in the process divulging sensitive information. Getting information from people who do business with competitors Key customers can keep the company informed about competitors and their products. This information can be vital and can prevent a company from being left behind on product launches or price discounting strategies dreamed up by competing companies. Intelligence can also be gathered by infiltrating customers business operations. Companies can provide their engineers free of charge to customers. The close collaboration the engineers on loan enjoy with the customers design staff often enable them to learn what new products competitors are developing. Getting information from published materials and public documents Keeping track of seemingly meaningless published information can provide competitor intelligence. For example, the types of people sought in job adverts can indicate something about a competitors new strategies and products. Getting information by observing competitors or analyzing physical evidence Competitors can get to know competitors better by buying their products or examining other physical evidence. An increasingly important form of competitive intelligence is benchmarking, taking apart competitors products and imitating or improving on their best features. Companies should take advantage of publicly available information but they should avoid practices that might be considered illegal or unethical. Strategic Marketing Management With all the legitimate intelligence sources now available, a company does not have to break the law or accepted codes of ethics to get good intelligence. Activity 2.2 Write a short synopsis of how your own company/ organisation gathers intelligence on its competitors. Summary This unit has demonstrated that: Marketing intelligence is an essential component of an effective MIS Internal records are a vital source of information for marketing managers Senior marketing managers should be concerned with how to use the information generated from the MIS rather than with the details of the system Intelligence gathering can be carried out in various ways but it is important not to break the law or accepted codes of ethics Strategic Marketing Management Unit 3 Strategic intent Introduction The focus of this unit is to consider the aspirations and future plans of an organisation, and the components of a suitable mission statement and development of appropriate objectives. Objectives Upon successful completion of this unit you will: Be able to define the terms strategic intent / vision and mission statement Know the components of good mission statements Be able to discuss the development of appropriate objectives Strategic intent/vision and mission Strategic intent refers to the aspirations of an organisation rather than just its current activity. According to Aaker, strategic intent provides: â€Å"A long-term drive for advantage that can be essential to success. It provides a model that helps break the mould, moving a firm away from simply doing the same things a bit better and working a bit harder than the year before. It has the capability to elevate and extend an organisation, helping it reach levels it would not otherwise attain.† It is apparent that many organisations that have an appropriate and well-constructed vision are focused on the future and ways of continually attaining sustainable competitive advantage. A vision can help guide strategy, identify and maintain core competencies and provide inspiration and motivation to its managers and its employees by providing them with a sense of purpose. Hamel and Pralahad (1989) suggested that strategic intent combines: A dream that energizes the company (i.e. acts as a motivator) Implied stretch, (looks for new opportunities rather than relying on existing businesses) A sense of direction A sense of discovery Coherence to plans Definition Strategic intent/vision: The desired future state or aspiration of the organization. (Johnson and Scholes, 1999, p.243) Strategic Marketing Management Mission statements A mission statement is concerned with providing daily guidance rather than a vision of the future. According to Piercy (2000), in order for mission statements to contribute anything they must: Reflect an organisations core competencies and how it intends to apply and sustain them Be closely tied to the critical success factors in the marketplace Tell employees, managers, suppliers and partners what contribution is required from them to deliver the promise of value to the customer Definition Mission statement: A generalised statement of the overriding purpose of the organisation. (Johnson and Scholes, 1999,p241) Mission statements are influenced by a number of factors, such as the resource availability, the external environment, the core competencies of the organisation and the current preferences of its current chief executive and senior management. The extent to which the mission statement serves its purpose is influenced not only by the quality and relevance of the mission but also by how it is communicated to staff and other stakeholders. A successful mission statement is one that is wholly embraced and believed by staff. Just having a mission statement is insufficient, the staff must also buy into the idea. Drummond and Ensor (2001) suggest that successful mission statements should demonstrate the following characteristics: Credibility it must be realistic and believable Uniqueness not bland and generic Specific capabilities embrace core capabilities Aspirational needs to motivate individuals Activity 3.1 Write a brief critique of your own companys mission statement in the light of the above characteristics Strategic Marketing Management Goals and objectives The vision and mission provide guidance on the overall direction of an organisation. Objectives, whether corporate or marketing, are the expected outcomes of the strategy. Goals are often regarded as less specific than objectives and more difficult to measure. However, it is normally accepted that objectives should be SMART: Specific Measurable- expressed in quantifiable terms Acceptable to stakeholders Realistic- attainable Time bound- achievable within a certain time frame Definition Goals and objectives Goal general statement of aim or purpose Objective Quantification (if possible) or more precise statement of the goal (Johnson and Scholes, 1999,p14)) Activity 3.2 Critically review your companys key objectives using the SMART method There are many different types of objectives with which an organisation should be concerned. Drucker (1954) identified the following: Market standing e.g. market share objectives Innovation e.g. number of new products launched Productivity e.g. inputs compared with outputs such as increased sales whilst maintaining the same number of sales staff Physical and financial resources relating to the use of resources Profitability e.g. return on investment Manager performance and development performance criteria Employee performance and attitude loyalty Public responsibility e.g. reduce dependency on fossil fuels It is likely that many organisations will place greater weighting on some areas than others. For example, the Co-operative bank places great emphasis on their responsibility to the public in the form of their ethical banking policy. There may be a danger that some companies are preoccupied with productivity objectives and trying to improve the efficiency of existing activities without actually questioning whether they are doing the right things. Stakeholders A key consideration when developing strategic direction relates to an organisations various stakeholder groups. Stakeholders refer to all the different groups of individuals that are influenced and/or have influence on the activities of an organisation. Stakeholders have different expectations and can exert varying levels of influence over the organisation. It is important that organisations have a good understanding of the varying needs of their various stakeholder groups. There are three main groups of stakeholders: Internal stakeholders (employees, management) Connected stakeholders (suppliers, distributors, shareholders, customers) External stakeholders (community, government, pressure groups) Definition Stakeholders: Those individuals or groups who depend on the organisation to fulfil their own goals and on whom, in turn the organisation depends. (Johnson and Scholes, 1999, p213). The following figure illustrates an outline stakeholder map. Customers Banks/sources of finance Suppliers The local community Distributors Society at large Managers Employees Activity 3.3 Stakeholder map Draw a stakeholder map for your own organisation and consider the varying needs of each group and the implications on the organisations strategic direction. How does your organisation manage the differing expectations of each group? Strategic Marketing Management Summary This unit has shown that: Strategic intent relates to the aspirations of an organisation and is sometimes referred to as the organisations vision. An appropriate and well constructed vision can help guide strategy, identify and maintain core competencies and can act as a motivator for staff by providing them with a sense of purpose. Mission statements are more concerned with providing daily guidance rather than a vision of the future. They should reflect an organisations core competencies, relate to the critical success factors in the market and also inform employees and other stakeholders what contribution is required from them to deliver value to the customer. Issues with Strategic Marketing Management Issues with Strategic Marketing Management Introduction This course is designed to help you understand and learn advanced principles of marketing and is aimed at marketing managers, or professionals who are working in business or commerce. Who have perhaps a qualification in marketing and several years experience of working in a marketing role, or managers who would like to increase their marketing knowledge. Part of the courses assessment of learning will involve you in undertaking an assignment based on a marketing strategy plan carried out in your own company/organisation. You will be given detailed guidance and advice about this element of assessment later in this workbook. Aims of the unit The aim of the unit is to identify and discuss key issues associated with marketing principles. The course is focused on strategic principles of marketing, which form an essential underpinning to an understanding of strategic marketing in action. The theoretical underpinning will be complemented by a series of short work-based activities. Objectives of the unit To equip you with the knowledge and skills to understand and interpret strategic marketing principles To provide you with practical experience of applying strategic marketing principles and preparing a strategic marketing plan within your own company/organisation. Learning outcomes On successful completion of this Unit you should be able to: Understand the strategic marketing process Recognise the importance of creating strategic advantage Produce a strategic marketing plan in your own company/organisation Understand the importance of developing a specific competitive position Strategic Marketing Management What does this workbook contain? This workbook contains a number of information and learning resources: Background and contextual information about strategic marketing management Key ideas, theories, concepts, structures, processes in relation to strategic marketing ‘Recall and review and ‘Activity points designed to engage you in reflection and action-focused thinking Case examples of strategic marketing in action Assessment You are required to write a 2,500-word assignment as follows: Prepare a strategic marketing plan for your own company/organisation, paying particular attention to creating and sustaining a competitive advantage over rival firms. Strategic Marketing Management How should this workbook be used? This workbook will direct your study throughout the learning experience. There are  six sections, designed to be studied sequentially. However, a good learning technique is to refresh your learning by re-reading, so you are recommend to read back and forth between sections whenever you feel the need. Each section deals with a different topic and, together with any associated activities, practical work or further reading, is designed to require approximately 20 hours of study. The workbook uses an interactive learning approach. This is achieved through the use of self-assessment questions and activities throughout the text. These will enable you to apply the concepts presented in the workbook and explore issues that extend your knowledge and skills. Preparing to use the workbook If you are new to the study of marketing and/or this study method, then we suggest it is worth you spending some time becoming familiar with its contents and approach to learning and development. This will enhance your own understanding of key ideas in strategic marketing management, and your ability to lead and facilitate the learning of others. Strategic Marketing Management Table of contents Title Page Unit 1 The strategic marketing process Objectives 5 Drivers of change 5 Corporate strategy/ Marketing interface 7 Strategic marketing plans 8 Summary 9 Unit 2 Marketing Information Systems Objectives 10 MIS and the use of strategic intelligence 10 Summary 14 Unit 3 Strategic intent Objectives 15 Strategic intent/vision and mission 15 Goals and objectives 17 Stakeholders 18 Summary 19 Unit 4 Creating strategic advantage Objectives 20 Approaches to developing strategic advantage 20 Alliances and networks 22 Declining and hostile markets 24 Strategic wear-out 25 Summary 26 Unit 5 Developing a specific competitive position Objectives 27 Strategic alignment process 27 Innovation and new product development 28 Strategic evaluation 31 Summary 32 Unit 6 Implementation and control Objectives 33 Implementation 33 Control 35 Summary 37 Strategic Marketing Management Unit 1 The core theme of this unit is the importance of market-led strategic change to ensure organisational success. Objectives By the end of this unit you will: Be able to discuss, and give examples of drivers of change Understand the relationship between corporate and marketing strategy Know the process and structure of marketing planning and be able to discuss the differences between strategic and tactical planning Drivers of change Change is inevitable and companies that wish to maintain a market-led approach must take into consideration both cyclical and evolutionary change when developing their marketing strategies. The rate at which the external environment changes varies according to the nature of the business but increasingly all organisations are facing escalating levels of change. Change is inevitable. To survive companies need to adapt and to convert the threats caused by the changing environment into opportunities in order to avoid strategic drift. Marks and Spencer is a prime example of a company that has not adapted to the changing customer demands and as a result has lost many of its loyal customer base. Case history Drivers of change Greenhalgh (2001) identifies the following drivers of change that have created challenges for companies over the last few years: Domestic businesses of any significance have become rare. They are now global, drawing on supply chains that transcend national boundaries and serving customers worldwide Customer expectations of quality have increased and are now applied to all goods and services, rather than just luxury goods Concern for the environment has become a major item on companies agenda. They now have to consider their environmental responsibility as well as their profits. Large institutional investors are exerting their influence on how organisations are managed Start-up companies play an important role in introducing innovative products and new ideas to the marketplace. Young, technologically-competent workers are drawn to these vibrant workplaces, making it harder for other companies to recruit and retain them Strategic Marketing Management Activity 1.1 Consider thedrivers of change outlined above. Identify the impact of these factors on your own company/organisation. What is strategy? The term strategy is probably one of the most used and often misunderstood terms in business. There is no universal definition of strategy and yet it is used extensively. Strategy has the same meaning whether we are discussing corporate, marketing, promotional or even advertising strategy: it is concerned with how we might achieve our objectives. The difference between each type of strategy relates to the level at which the strategy is being developed. Corporate strategy according to Johnson and Scholes (1999), is: â€Å"concerned with what types of business the company as a whole should be in and is therefore concerned with decisions of scope† whereas marketing strategy aims to transform corporate objectives into a competitive market position. The main role of marketing strategy is to differentiate products/services from those of competitors by meeting the needs of customers more effectively. Therefore, according to Drummond and Ensor (2001) marketing strategy can be characterised by: Analysing the business environment and defining customer needs Matching activities to customer needs Implementing programmes to achieve a competitive position relative to competitors Strategic management consists of three elements: Strategic analysis concerned with answering the question where are we now? This involves analysing the external environment, internal resources and capabilities and stakeholder expectations Strategic choice what are the options available and which is the most attractive? Strategic implementation often the most overlooked of strategy. It is concerned with allocating resources and turning the plans into action. This process can be as equally well applied to marketing strategy. Strategic Marketing Management The corporate strategy/marketing interface It is impossible to discuss marketing strategy without first putting it into the context of corporate planning. The relationship between corporate planning and marketing planning can best be explained by figure 1.1 below. It is helpful to think of these decisions sitting in a hierarchy with corporate planning at the top and marketing planning below it. The diagram also illustrates that, alongside marketing planning, plans should be developed for other functional areas of the business such as human resources management (HRM), logistics, and operations. The vision and mission will drive the overall direction of the company and the functional areas of business will all work towards achieving the corporate objectives. The vision and mission will be discussed in Unit 3 Strategic intent. Strategic Marketing Management Marketing strategy is concerned with three elements customers, competitors and internal  corporate issues as illustrated in Figure 1.2. Strategic marketing management has three major  phases: firstly, strategic analysis in order to answer the question where are we now? This will include external analysis of customers, competitors and the macro environment and internal analysis of corporate capabilities; secondly formulation of strategy in terms of creating and evaluating options and thirdly implementation where the strategies are translated into action. The three stages are not mutually exclusive and are not necessarily linear. In fact it is expected that there will be some feedback and amendments as the process progresses. Strategic marketing plans A strategic marketing plan is the means by which the strategy is communicated within the organisation. The structure and content of a strategic marketing plan will vary considerable between organisations. However, normally the following components are included: Current situation external and internal analysis Objective setting Strategy formulation Marketing programmes Implementation issues Control measures Strategic Marketing Management There is no one best format for a strategic marketing plan and organisations will develop their own frameworks that match the needs of their companies. Strategic marketing plans need to generate action and not just be filed away. They should also be sufficiently flexible to take into account the changing environment. Activity 1.2 Read a copy of your own organisations strategic marketing plan. Give your opinion on whether the strategies outlined in it have been actioned. Has the plan shown sufficient flexibility to take into account the changing environment. If the answer to 3. is no, how could the plan have been improved? Summary In this unit we have seen that: Organisations operate in a dynamic environment and therefore they have to take into consideration those external influences that will impact on their business. These influences are often referred to as drivers of change. In market-oriented organisations it is likely that marketing will be the largest contributor to corporate strategy. Corporate strategy is concerned with what types of business the company as a whole should be in, i.e. the scope of the business. Marketing strategy is concerned with transforming corporate objectives into a competitive market position. A strategic marketing plan is the vehicle by which the marketing strategy is communicated within the organisation. The structure and format of a strategic marketing plan will vary considerably between organisations. There is no one best structure. Strategic Marketing Management Unit 2 Marketing Information System (MIS) Introduction The focus of this unit is to understand how the use of marketing intelligence and key marketing information can assist marketing managers to produce an effective marketing information system which will assist marketing decision makers to return higher profits. Objectives Upon successful completion of this unit you will: Understand the strategic use of information Understand how a MIS can assist marketing managers to make key decisions Marketing information is a key requirement for any strategic marketing plan and therefore the development of effective management and marketing information systems is an important task for marketers. Senior marketing managers should not become too heavily involved in the details of the MIS and marketing research but should be concentrating on how to utilize the information in helping to understand the market and develop successful marketing programmes. Definition A Management Information System consists of people, equipment and procedures to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate and distribute timely and accurate information to marketing decision makers. The MIS begins and ends with marketing managers. First, it interacts with them to assess their information needs. Next, it develops the needed information from internal company records, marketing intelligence activities and the marketing research process. Information analysis processes the information to make it more useful. Finally, the MIS distributes information to managers in the right form at the right time to help them in marketing planning, implementation and control. Developing information The information needed by marketing managers comes from internal company records, marketing intelligence and marketing research. The information analysis system then processes this information to make it more useful for managers. Strategic Marketing Management Internal records Most marketing managers use internal records and reports regularly, especially for making day to day planning, implementation and control decisions. Internal records information consists of information gathered from sources within the company to evaluate marketing performance and to detect marketing problems and opportunities. The companys accounting department prepares financial statements and keeps detailed records of sales, orders, costs, and cash flows. The customer service department provides information on customer satisfaction or service problems. Research studies done for one department may provide useful information for several others. Managers can use information gathered from these and other sources within the company to evaluate performance and to detect problems and opportunities. Information from internal records is usually quicker and cheaper to get than information from other sources, but it also presents some problems. Because internal information was collected for other purposes, it may be incomplete or in the wrong form for making marketing decisions. For example, accounting department sales and cost data used for preparing financial statements need adapting for use in evaluating product, sales force, or channel performance. In addition, the many different areas of a large company produce great amounts of information, and keeping track of it all is difficult. The marketing information system must gather, organize, process and index this mass of information so that managers can find it easily and obtain it quickly. Marketing intelligence Marketing intelligenceis everyday information about developments in the marketing environment that helps managers prepare and adjust marketing plans. The marketing intelligence system determines the intelligence needed, collects it by searching the environment and delivers it to marketing managers who need it. Marketing intelligence comes from many sources. Much intelligence is derived from the companys personnel executives, engineers and scientists, purchasing agents and the sales force. However, company people are often busy and fail to pass on key information. It is important to realise that staff are intelligence gatherers, and they need to be trained to spot new developments and urged to report intelligence back to the company. The company must also persuade suppliers, resellers and customers to pass along important intelligence. Some information on competitors comes from what they say about themselves in annual reports, speeches, press releases and advertisements. The company can also learn about competitors from what others say about them in business publications and at trade shows. Or the company can watch what competitors do buying and analyzing competitors products, monitoring their sales and checking for new patents. Strategic Marketing Management Companies also buy intelligence information from outside suppliers. Dun and Bradstreet  is the worlds largest research company with branches in forty countries and a turnover of $1.26bn. Its largest subsidiary is Nielsen who sell details on brand shares, retail prices and percentages of stores stocking different brands. Marketing intelligence can work not only for, but also against a company. Kellogg used to allow the public to tour its plants but recently closed its newly upgraded plant to outsiders to prevent competitors from getting intelligence on its high tech equipment. Some companies set up an office to collect and circulate marketing intelligence. The staff scans relevant publications, summarizes important news and sends news bulletins to marketing managers. It develops a file of intelligence information and helps managers to evaluate new information. These services greatly improve the quality of information available to marketing managers. To summarise it is clear that a MIS has four main components: Internal records there is a wealth of information available within the organisation and it is essential that it is organised in such a way as to facilitate its usage. This may include sales data, customer orders, prices, stock levels, customer complaints, etc. Marketing research this is concerned with the systematic collection of information that is specific to a particular problem. For example, a piece of marketing research may be commissioned to investigate attitudes to a new advertising campaign. Marketing intelligence this may include any information that is collected on an ad hoc basis, such as competitor intelligence gleaned from the press, customer trends, registered patents etc. Marketing decision support systems the processes that convert the data into usable information. For example, statistical tools or modeling techniques. Activity 2.1 Write a short summary detailing how a MIS is used to support management decision making in your own company/organisation. Strategic Marketing Management Intelligence gathering: checking out competitors Competitive intelligence gathering has grown dramatically as more and more companies need to know what their competitors are doing. It is essential that managers are not myopic and spend time amassing information about their major competitors. Techniques that companies use to collect their own marketing intelligence fall into four major groups. Getting information from recruits and competitors employees Companies can obtain intelligence through job interviews or from conversations with competitors employees. According to Fortune magazine: ‘Companies send engineers to conferences and trade shows to question competitors technical people. Often conversations start innocently but engineers and scientists often brag about surmounting technical challenges, in the process divulging sensitive information. Getting information from people who do business with competitors Key customers can keep the company informed about competitors and their products. This information can be vital and can prevent a company from being left behind on product launches or price discounting strategies dreamed up by competing companies. Intelligence can also be gathered by infiltrating customers business operations. Companies can provide their engineers free of charge to customers. The close collaboration the engineers on loan enjoy with the customers design staff often enable them to learn what new products competitors are developing. Getting information from published materials and public documents Keeping track of seemingly meaningless published information can provide competitor intelligence. For example, the types of people sought in job adverts can indicate something about a competitors new strategies and products. Getting information by observing competitors or analyzing physical evidence Competitors can get to know competitors better by buying their products or examining other physical evidence. An increasingly important form of competitive intelligence is benchmarking, taking apart competitors products and imitating or improving on their best features. Companies should take advantage of publicly available information but they should avoid practices that might be considered illegal or unethical. Strategic Marketing Management With all the legitimate intelligence sources now available, a company does not have to break the law or accepted codes of ethics to get good intelligence. Activity 2.2 Write a short synopsis of how your own company/ organisation gathers intelligence on its competitors. Summary This unit has demonstrated that: Marketing intelligence is an essential component of an effective MIS Internal records are a vital source of information for marketing managers Senior marketing managers should be concerned with how to use the information generated from the MIS rather than with the details of the system Intelligence gathering can be carried out in various ways but it is important not to break the law or accepted codes of ethics Strategic Marketing Management Unit 3 Strategic intent Introduction The focus of this unit is to consider the aspirations and future plans of an organisation, and the components of a suitable mission statement and development of appropriate objectives. Objectives Upon successful completion of this unit you will: Be able to define the terms strategic intent / vision and mission statement Know the components of good mission statements Be able to discuss the development of appropriate objectives Strategic intent/vision and mission Strategic intent refers to the aspirations of an organisation rather than just its current activity. According to Aaker, strategic intent provides: â€Å"A long-term drive for advantage that can be essential to success. It provides a model that helps break the mould, moving a firm away from simply doing the same things a bit better and working a bit harder than the year before. It has the capability to elevate and extend an organisation, helping it reach levels it would not otherwise attain.† It is apparent that many organisations that have an appropriate and well-constructed vision are focused on the future and ways of continually attaining sustainable competitive advantage. A vision can help guide strategy, identify and maintain core competencies and provide inspiration and motivation to its managers and its employees by providing them with a sense of purpose. Hamel and Pralahad (1989) suggested that strategic intent combines: A dream that energizes the company (i.e. acts as a motivator) Implied stretch, (looks for new opportunities rather than relying on existing businesses) A sense of direction A sense of discovery Coherence to plans Definition Strategic intent/vision: The desired future state or aspiration of the organization. (Johnson and Scholes, 1999, p.243) Strategic Marketing Management Mission statements A mission statement is concerned with providing daily guidance rather than a vision of the future. According to Piercy (2000), in order for mission statements to contribute anything they must: Reflect an organisations core competencies and how it intends to apply and sustain them Be closely tied to the critical success factors in the marketplace Tell employees, managers, suppliers and partners what contribution is required from them to deliver the promise of value to the customer Definition Mission statement: A generalised statement of the overriding purpose of the organisation. (Johnson and Scholes, 1999,p241) Mission statements are influenced by a number of factors, such as the resource availability, the external environment, the core competencies of the organisation and the current preferences of its current chief executive and senior management. The extent to which the mission statement serves its purpose is influenced not only by the quality and relevance of the mission but also by how it is communicated to staff and other stakeholders. A successful mission statement is one that is wholly embraced and believed by staff. Just having a mission statement is insufficient, the staff must also buy into the idea. Drummond and Ensor (2001) suggest that successful mission statements should demonstrate the following characteristics: Credibility it must be realistic and believable Uniqueness not bland and generic Specific capabilities embrace core capabilities Aspirational needs to motivate individuals Activity 3.1 Write a brief critique of your own companys mission statement in the light of the above characteristics Strategic Marketing Management Goals and objectives The vision and mission provide guidance on the overall direction of an organisation. Objectives, whether corporate or marketing, are the expected outcomes of the strategy. Goals are often regarded as less specific than objectives and more difficult to measure. However, it is normally accepted that objectives should be SMART: Specific Measurable- expressed in quantifiable terms Acceptable to stakeholders Realistic- attainable Time bound- achievable within a certain time frame Definition Goals and objectives Goal general statement of aim or purpose Objective Quantification (if possible) or more precise statement of the goal (Johnson and Scholes, 1999,p14)) Activity 3.2 Critically review your companys key objectives using the SMART method There are many different types of objectives with which an organisation should be concerned. Drucker (1954) identified the following: Market standing e.g. market share objectives Innovation e.g. number of new products launched Productivity e.g. inputs compared with outputs such as increased sales whilst maintaining the same number of sales staff Physical and financial resources relating to the use of resources Profitability e.g. return on investment Manager performance and development performance criteria Employee performance and attitude loyalty Public responsibility e.g. reduce dependency on fossil fuels It is likely that many organisations will place greater weighting on some areas than others. For example, the Co-operative bank places great emphasis on their responsibility to the public in the form of their ethical banking policy. There may be a danger that some companies are preoccupied with productivity objectives and trying to improve the efficiency of existing activities without actually questioning whether they are doing the right things. Stakeholders A key consideration when developing strategic direction relates to an organisations various stakeholder groups. Stakeholders refer to all the different groups of individuals that are influenced and/or have influence on the activities of an organisation. Stakeholders have different expectations and can exert varying levels of influence over the organisation. It is important that organisations have a good understanding of the varying needs of their various stakeholder groups. There are three main groups of stakeholders: Internal stakeholders (employees, management) Connected stakeholders (suppliers, distributors, shareholders, customers) External stakeholders (community, government, pressure groups) Definition Stakeholders: Those individuals or groups who depend on the organisation to fulfil their own goals and on whom, in turn the organisation depends. (Johnson and Scholes, 1999, p213). The following figure illustrates an outline stakeholder map. Customers Banks/sources of finance Suppliers The local community Distributors Society at large Managers Employees Activity 3.3 Stakeholder map Draw a stakeholder map for your own organisation and consider the varying needs of each group and the implications on the organisations strategic direction. How does your organisation manage the differing expectations of each group? Strategic Marketing Management Summary This unit has shown that: Strategic intent relates to the aspirations of an organisation and is sometimes referred to as the organisations vision. An appropriate and well constructed vision can help guide strategy, identify and maintain core competencies and can act as a motivator for staff by providing them with a sense of purpose. Mission statements are more concerned with providing daily guidance rather than a vision of the future. They should reflect an organisations core competencies, relate to the critical success factors in the market and also inform employees and other stakeholders what contribution is required from them to deliver value to the customer.

War :: essays research papers fc

Recent photographs of Iraqi Prisoners Of War (POWs) being humiliated and abused by United States armed forces have caused uproar and disgust throughout the world. The sole purpose of any war is to win; either through destroying the enemy, or the achieving a specific goal. Why then should coalition forces be held to a higher standard in regard to treatment of POWs than the rest of the world? To fully explore this question we must understand the history of POWs, and the role that the United States plays in world affairs. During the 1991 Gulf War, pictures of American pilots beaten and bleeding were shown to the world. Civilized nations were outraged. As Major Rhonda Cornum told of being molested, Colonel Jeff Tice told of being electrocuted, and other American and British pilots read scripted statements on television (PBS), civilized nations were appalled. Throughout the years, prisoners have been interrogated and mistreated by their captors. Vietnamese soldiers housed prisoners in substandard shelter or even pits throughout their country. The most famous POW camp was known as the â€Å"Hanoi Hilton†. Here, POWs where beaten, tortured and humiliated for years. Brainwashing techniques were perfected by North Korea during The Korean Conflict. World War I POWs were forced into labor camps or systematically murdered through â€Å"death marches† where guards would force prisoners to march until they died from exhaustion in an effort to reduce the number of prisoners in the camps. World War I I POWs were killed, or used for medical experiments. The United Sates Department of Defense recognizes table below outlines the prominent type of torture administered during each of the official US Wars (DoD, 47). After the wars ended, and it was discovered just how badly the POWs were treated, civilized nations convinced themselves that torture and abuse were the acts of uncivilized nations ruled by madmen. Principal Wars in which the US Participated Official War  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Torture technique Revolutionary War  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Murder, destruction of property War of 1812  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rape, theft, Arson Indian Wars  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Scalping, murder, rape Mexican War  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Murder Civil War  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hanging, destruction of property Spanish-American War  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  providing only saltwater to drink-causing dehydration and hallucinations World War I  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sleep deprivation, murder World War II  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (sexual) enslavement, medical experiments, death marches Korean War  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  re-education, Bataan Death March, physical torture Vietnam War  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  cutting off various body parts to get other prisoners to talk, Sleep deprivation, bamboo under fingernails Gulf War-1991  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Electrocution, humiliation, beatings, Sleep deprivation Gulf War-2003  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Religious and sexual abuse, humiliation, beatings, sleep deprivation The United States has, from the onset of the Civil war, led the moral and ethical charge for proper care and treatment of prisoners of War.

Medieval European Sports

Sports in the Middle Ages The sports of medieval Europe were less-well-organized than those of classical antiquity. Fairs and seasonal festivals were occasions for men to lift stones or sacks of grain and for women to run smock races (for a smock, not in one). The favourite sport of the peasantry was folk football, a wild no-holds-barred unbounded game that pitted married men against bachelors or one village against another.The violence of the game, which survived in Britain and in France until the late 19th century, prompted Renaissance humanists, such as Sir Thomas Elyot, to condemn it as more likely to maim than to benefit the participants. The nascent bourgeoisie of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance amused itself with archery matches, some of which were arranged months in advance and staged with considerable fanfare. When town met town in a challenge of skill, the companies of crossbowmen and longbowmen marched behind the symbols of St.George, St. Sebastian, and other patrons o f the sport. It was not unusual for contests in running, jumping, cudgeling, and wrestling to be offered for the lower classes who attended the match as spectators. Grand feasts were part of the program, and drunkenness commonly added to the revelry. In Germanic areas a Pritschenkoenig was supposed to simultaneously keep order and entertain the crowd with clever verses. The burghers of medieval towns were welcome to watch the aristocracy at play, but they were not allowed to participate in tournaments or even, in most parts of Europe, to compete in imitative tournaments of their own. Tournaments were the jealously guarded prerogative of the medieval knight and were, along with hunting and hawking, his favourite pastime. At the tilt, in which mounted knights with lances tried to unhorse one another, the knight was practicing the art of war, his raison d’etre.He displayed his prowess before lords, ladies, and commoners and profited not only from valuable prizes but also from ra nsoms exacted from the losers. Between the 12th and the 16th century, the dangerously wild free-for-all of the early tournament evolved into dramatic presentations of courtly life in which elaborate pageantry and allegorical display quite overshadowed the frequently inept jousting. Some danger remained even amid the display. At one of the last great tournaments, in 1559, Henry II of France was mortally wounded by a splintered lance.Peasant women participated freely in the ball games and footraces of medieval times, and aristocratic ladies hunted and kept falcons, but middle-class women contented themselves with spectatorship. Even so, they were more active than their contemporaries in Heian Japan during the 8th to 12th centuries. Encumbered by many-layered robes and sequestered in their homes, the Japanese ladies were unable to do more than peep from behind their screens at the courtiers’ mounted archery contests

Good Marriage Essay

Jim went down to the kitchen where the smell of good food beckons him. He smiled to himself, pleased to note that his wife is cooking his favorite food. They’ve been together for twenty-five years, their kids are all grown up. Yet Ana hasn’t forgotten that he likes Thai cooking, slightly spicy and rich with seasoning. He saw his wife adding cut green pepper on the diced meat that is frying on the stove. Ana turned around and saw him standing in the doorway. She bade him sit down while she finishes her cooking. Instead of sitting down, Jim went to the cupboard to get plates and utensils for their meal. The couple has always find ways to please and help each other, a practice they have kept over the years. 2. A good marriage is characterized by husband and wife’s delight in a give and take relationship. There is mutual respect for each other. Husband and wife helps each other in decision-makings, the raising of children, and doing tasks. They both take care of each other and notes what are the likes and dislikes of each party. In a good marriage, the man and wife are both happy in their decision to be with each other for the rest of their lives. That commitment is reaffirmed time and again despite difficulties and trials. In a good marriage, there is laughter and conversation. Both husband and wife will always find things to talk about, and have the time to listen to each other. 3. Looking at Jim and Ana’s lives, their twenty-five years of marriage has not always been a bed of roses. Ana is scrupulously neat, while Jim is a little scatter-brained. Ana keeps a list of things that needs to be done and does them in an organized and timely manner. She likes getting an early start, eating breakfast and finishing work ahead of time. Jim has a tendency to oversleep in the morning, getting up really late on weekends, and spending half of the day sleeping during 2 vacations. He hates putting anything on his stomach before eleven in the morning and likes to work late at night. Ana would sometimes find Jim deeply asleep after she had her bath and breakfast on a day when they’re supposed to go to the dentist. At a time when Ana likes to get an early start, while Jim wasn’t complying, she’d often get bad-tempered and a little quarrel would ensue. These little quarrels didn’t get out of hand because both of them are capable of stepping back and releasing anger. More importantly, Jim and Ana avoid bringing up past issues during arguments. They stick to what’s at hand and settle them without resorting to foul language and by properly expressing their sentiments and criticisms in a constructive manner. 4. A good marriage is not just about seeing the good side of a person. It’s about knowing his or her little habits that may or may not turn out to be annoying. Each party has to accept the totality of the other person and learn to adjust and adapt. In a good marriage, the couple must not try to change each other. Instead, they must try to meet in the middle and compromise. In a good marriage, the couple don’t start running away when things become a little complicated and difficult. 5. A good marriage, simply defined, is comprised of the good and bad things. There are times to laugh, to talk, to argue, and to make up. It is characterized by a lasting friendship where trust and responsibility go hand and hand. Meeting halfway and speaking up are necessary elements to make the relationship endure. Both parties must work hard and stick it out with one another through thick and thin. Husband and wife must selflessly think of each other’s welfare particularly when there are major issues to face and settle. It’s very important to do things together and to go away on vacations to recapture the moments when you both fall in love with each other.

Theoretical Position

Theoretical Position Learning Team B PSY/310 Sharon Cohen February 18, 2013 To learn more about the field of psychology it is first important for us to know more about psychology’s past, the psychologist who advanced this field of study and the theories that we are still building on or learning from to this day. Four men who made a great impact on the field of psychology, who may have worked together, and who may have even had drastically different theoretical positions are Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, and William James. In the following paper we will discuss these men and their passions as well as their differences.Psychoanalysis was the theoretical position that Sigmund Freud built and spent most of his life adding to. Psychoanalysis is a way to investigate the mind, especially of the unconscious mind; a therapy of neurosis inspired from the above method; a new stand-alone discipline who is based on the knowledge acquired from applying the investigation method and clinical experiences (freudfile, 2002-2013). Freud is the psychologist who we have to thank for most people believing therapy involves laying on a couch because during free association that is what Freud asked his patients to do, relax, and start talking (Goodwin, 2008).Freud was not the first to speak of the unconscious mind, but he is believed to be the one who made it famous. Freud, who is known for dream analysis and metapsychology, is also responsible for the ego, the id, and the superego. The ego, Freud believed, was conscious and unconscious lying in the center of our personality trying to maintain balance between the id and the superego (Goodwin, 2008). The id is our basic instincts, sex and aggression, whereas the superego would be considered our moral compass, both fight for what they need and contend with reality (Goodwin, 2008).The id is made up of sex and aggression because these two instincts do make up much of our lives and Freud devoted most of his life to exploring this. Sigmund Freud’s perspective concerning the causes and nature of human psychological functioning can be summed up in those two words: sex and aggression. Though most of Freud’s work has been disproven or scarred by the Freudian myths that surround him and his work, it is hard to not admire the advancements that have been made because of him.Even when his work was proven false, it meant that psychologists were examining his theories and possibly forming new theories of their own that will advance us even further into the future of psychology. Freud's years of work put a new way of thinking into the head of society, and challenged the assumptions and suppositions of a changing world (Stevenson, 1998). Carl Gustav Jung made major contributions toward psychoanalysis, but it was not until after he abandoned Freud and psychosexuality that Jung would do his most revolutionary, controversial, and extraordinary work (www. nfoplease. com ). Jung was a creator of modern psy chology, which explains how the human mind facilitates conversations between unconscious types of energies that move within the inside of all of us. The Jungian theory is based on two separate dimensions of human unconsciousness with just one persona, and one archetype of collective human unconsciousness (www. cgjungpage. org, 02/16/13). Personal unconsciousness is any forgotten or repressed type of content that has actually been in a person’s material or mental life.Archetypes of material in the unconsciousness humans have are described as being patterns, symbols, and specific images in which a person can see in their fantasies and dreams that also can appear to them as a theme of a certain religion or mythology in our unconscious (www. psychological-musings. blogspot. com, 02/28/11). The archetypes of images in the unconscious, Jung theorized, mold the human unconscious personality, and this bond together with certain instincts to drive the human psyche.Jung described the h uman consciousness molds the ego according to Jung, the ego was developed in a person because of certain human responses to their environment but also because of a need to adapt to all demands that are formed in the world that surrounds them (www. cgjungpage. org , 02/16/13). Jung described archetypal images as being the transcendent, and described this as being the transcendent function, but he also viewed one’s own wholeness of their self as a type of union together with all immanent plus transcendent types of objects (www. infoplease. com).Jung also included that there is a need for humans to have internal feelings of harmony or a need to adapt internally by homeostasis within the human consciousness and unconsciousness. The unconscious human mind is what contains the specific materials which are needed or are necessary but could prerequisite the persons psychological health, and the conscious human mind will be what assesses both a primitive/spiritual but also a demonic/d ivine type of nature. There are tensions towards a person’s needs to obtain fulfillment but also the need to have social types of conformity plus cultural types of realities (www. gjungpage. org, 02/16/13). In this theory Jung acknowledged that one must, or has to adapt to their own persona so that they can be able to relate to others socially, but he wrote that there is a danger in which a person could become too identified with their own persona but not with their own individual self. Only a complete individual can truly find the meaning in their life, since consciousness will lead to the dissociation from human unconsciousness and this will absorb into the human mass mind (www. psychological-musings. blogspot. com 2011/02).To actually achieve the individuation type processes it will require the use of certain symbols as the vehicle in which there is an irrational type of union between opposite regions of human’s consciousness and unconsciousness (www. infoplease. co m). In analytical psychology, Jung attempted to combine parts of modern psychology with ancient types of religious imagery by using a symbolic form of reinterpreting the Christian but also other types of religious traditions people may have. This eliminates the dogma but maintains archetypal formed materials that are derived from the human collective unconsciousness.These specific symbols of transcendence are what will facilitate the individuals synthesis of human consciousness and unconsciousness but will also provide a base for the persons’ spiritual meaning to life (www. psychological-musings. blogspot. com, 02/28/11). Alfred Adler examined personality around the same time as Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud. Adler had many different theories of the personality but what he truly stuck with was that a single drive or motivating force behind our behavior, claiming that the desire we have to fulfill our potentials becomes closer and closer to our ideals.Adler called this theory th e Individual Psychology because he thought that each person was unique and that no one person were the same in that sense. Adler’s theory included these four aspects: the development of personality, striving towards superiority, psychological health, and the unity of personality. While Alfred was studying personality he came up with the term inferiority complex, this is described as feelings of lack of worth. Alfred wrote, â€Å"We all wish to overcome difficulties. We all strive to reach a goal by the attainment of which we shall feel strong, superior, and complete† (www. ndb. com). Along with inferiority complex, there was also the superiority complex where a person tried to conquer their inferiority complex by suppressing their existing feelings. Alfred believed that each person was trying to get over their feelings of inferiority in order to obtain the superiority. Alfred also came up with that each person claimed that they had an idea of what their perfect self wo uld be like. He names this image the fictional finalism. Fictional finalism applies clearer direction to decisions that are to be made concerning oneself.Adler also believed that the unconscious and conscious worked in union with on another towards fictional finalism (www. muskingum. edu). Adler who was not very big in grouping people into categories came up with four main types of people; three out of four are negative. There is the ruling type, who likes to control people, the getting type who is passive and goes along with everyone else’s’ ideas, and not very inventive for themselves, the avoiding type who will isolate themselves in order to avoid defeat, and last but not least, the socially useful type, values having control over their lives and strive to go things for the sake of society.From reading those four types I have a pretty good guess that the first three were negative, and the last one was a positive type. William James is known as the founder of America n Psychology, but if you ever brought this up to him he would pass on it and say that Dewey was the actual founder of American Psychology. None the less he was one of the most prominent American Psychologist in American history. He was a functionalist. His technique was to ask the very important question of â€Å"why† things are the way they are. His course of study was also to find out why a person was the way they were based on their environment.James (reprint edition 1950) stated â€Å"The phenomena are such things as we call Feelings, desire, cognitions, reasoning, decisions, and the like; and, such superficially considered, their variety and complexity is such as to leave a chaotic impression on the observer† (p 2). These are the very words from William James book The Principals of Psychology. Today’s psychologists would probably not refer to these emotions as a phenomenon. Nor would today’s psychologists refer to one’s feelings as superficial . William James is described as what is known as a functionalist. Functionalists want to know â€Å"Why† why people are the way they are.While most psychologists were interested in what was going on inside a person’s mind, Mr. James was looking outside a person’s mind, taking a look at a person’s environment. This was a unique strategy for its time. What I found interesting, while reading his studies, was that he referred to our memories as being â€Å"god given† for a psychologist to think in these terms there had to be a sort of open mindedness. At the same time though, there seemed to be a sense of individualism. He was the only one thinking this way. This, to me, was actually common within all psychologists.It seems that they all thought they were the only ones thinking in these terms at that time. Mr. James also believes that just because we are aware of a situation, doesn’t necessarily mean we will remember everything that is tied to i t. He believes that we must live through and actually witness or take part in an event to actually have a memory of it. Once again, this goes back to one’s environment. What is the person surrounded by. References: (2002-2013) http://www. freudfile. org/psychoanalysis/definition. html Goodwin, C. J. (2008). A History of Modern Psychology (3rd ed. ). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. (David B. Stevenson, 1998) http://www. ictorianweb. org/science/freud/biography. html http://www. infoplease. com/encyclopedia/people/jung-carl-gustav. html (02/16/13),http://www. cgjungpage. org/index. php? option=com_content;task=view;id=743;Itemid=54 (02/28/11), http://psychological-musings. blogspot. com/2011/02/theoretical-positions-of-freud-jung. html Fisher, M. (2011, May). Alfred Adler. Retrieved from: www. muskingum. edu Alfred Adler. (2012). retrieved from: www. nndb. com Who Was Alfred Adler? (2008). retrieved from: www. alfredadler. org James, William Principles of Psychology The scope of psychology Reprint Edition (June 1st, 1950) Dover Publications Theoretical Position Theoretical Position Learning Team B PSY/310 Sharon Cohen February 18, 2013 To learn more about the field of psychology it is first important for us to know more about psychology’s past, the psychologist who advanced this field of study and the theories that we are still building on or learning from to this day. Four men who made a great impact on the field of psychology, who may have worked together, and who may have even had drastically different theoretical positions are Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, and William James. In the following paper we will discuss these men and their passions as well as their differences.Psychoanalysis was the theoretical position that Sigmund Freud built and spent most of his life adding to. Psychoanalysis is a way to investigate the mind, especially of the unconscious mind; a therapy of neurosis inspired from the above method; a new stand-alone discipline who is based on the knowledge acquired from applying the investigation method and clinical experiences (freudfile, 2002-2013). Freud is the psychologist who we have to thank for most people believing therapy involves laying on a couch because during free association that is what Freud asked his patients to do, relax, and start talking (Goodwin, 2008).Freud was not the first to speak of the unconscious mind, but he is believed to be the one who made it famous. Freud, who is known for dream analysis and metapsychology, is also responsible for the ego, the id, and the superego. The ego, Freud believed, was conscious and unconscious lying in the center of our personality trying to maintain balance between the id and the superego (Goodwin, 2008). The id is our basic instincts, sex and aggression, whereas the superego would be considered our moral compass, both fight for what they need and contend with reality (Goodwin, 2008).The id is made up of sex and aggression because these two instincts do make up much of our lives and Freud devoted most of his life to exploring this. Sigmund Freud’s perspective concerning the causes and nature of human psychological functioning can be summed up in those two words: sex and aggression. Though most of Freud’s work has been disproven or scarred by the Freudian myths that surround him and his work, it is hard to not admire the advancements that have been made because of him.Even when his work was proven false, it meant that psychologists were examining his theories and possibly forming new theories of their own that will advance us even further into the future of psychology. Freud's years of work put a new way of thinking into the head of society, and challenged the assumptions and suppositions of a changing world (Stevenson, 1998). Carl Gustav Jung made major contributions toward psychoanalysis, but it was not until after he abandoned Freud and psychosexuality that Jung would do his most revolutionary, controversial, and extraordinary work (www. nfoplease. com ). Jung was a creator of modern psy chology, which explains how the human mind facilitates conversations between unconscious types of energies that move within the inside of all of us. The Jungian theory is based on two separate dimensions of human unconsciousness with just one persona, and one archetype of collective human unconsciousness (www. cgjungpage. org, 02/16/13). Personal unconsciousness is any forgotten or repressed type of content that has actually been in a person’s material or mental life.Archetypes of material in the unconsciousness humans have are described as being patterns, symbols, and specific images in which a person can see in their fantasies and dreams that also can appear to them as a theme of a certain religion or mythology in our unconscious (www. psychological-musings. blogspot. com, 02/28/11). The archetypes of images in the unconscious, Jung theorized, mold the human unconscious personality, and this bond together with certain instincts to drive the human psyche.Jung described the h uman consciousness molds the ego according to Jung, the ego was developed in a person because of certain human responses to their environment but also because of a need to adapt to all demands that are formed in the world that surrounds them (www. cgjungpage. org , 02/16/13). Jung described archetypal images as being the transcendent, and described this as being the transcendent function, but he also viewed one’s own wholeness of their self as a type of union together with all immanent plus transcendent types of objects (www. infoplease. com).Jung also included that there is a need for humans to have internal feelings of harmony or a need to adapt internally by homeostasis within the human consciousness and unconsciousness. The unconscious human mind is what contains the specific materials which are needed or are necessary but could prerequisite the persons psychological health, and the conscious human mind will be what assesses both a primitive/spiritual but also a demonic/d ivine type of nature. There are tensions towards a person’s needs to obtain fulfillment but also the need to have social types of conformity plus cultural types of realities (www. gjungpage. org, 02/16/13). In this theory Jung acknowledged that one must, or has to adapt to their own persona so that they can be able to relate to others socially, but he wrote that there is a danger in which a person could become too identified with their own persona but not with their own individual self. Only a complete individual can truly find the meaning in their life, since consciousness will lead to the dissociation from human unconsciousness and this will absorb into the human mass mind (www. psychological-musings. blogspot. com 2011/02).To actually achieve the individuation type processes it will require the use of certain symbols as the vehicle in which there is an irrational type of union between opposite regions of human’s consciousness and unconsciousness (www. infoplease. co m). In analytical psychology, Jung attempted to combine parts of modern psychology with ancient types of religious imagery by using a symbolic form of reinterpreting the Christian but also other types of religious traditions people may have. This eliminates the dogma but maintains archetypal formed materials that are derived from the human collective unconsciousness.These specific symbols of transcendence are what will facilitate the individuals synthesis of human consciousness and unconsciousness but will also provide a base for the persons’ spiritual meaning to life (www. psychological-musings. blogspot. com, 02/28/11). Alfred Adler examined personality around the same time as Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud. Adler had many different theories of the personality but what he truly stuck with was that a single drive or motivating force behind our behavior, claiming that the desire we have to fulfill our potentials becomes closer and closer to our ideals.Adler called this theory th e Individual Psychology because he thought that each person was unique and that no one person were the same in that sense. Adler’s theory included these four aspects: the development of personality, striving towards superiority, psychological health, and the unity of personality. While Alfred was studying personality he came up with the term inferiority complex, this is described as feelings of lack of worth. Alfred wrote, â€Å"We all wish to overcome difficulties. We all strive to reach a goal by the attainment of which we shall feel strong, superior, and complete† (www. ndb. com). Along with inferiority complex, there was also the superiority complex where a person tried to conquer their inferiority complex by suppressing their existing feelings. Alfred believed that each person was trying to get over their feelings of inferiority in order to obtain the superiority. Alfred also came up with that each person claimed that they had an idea of what their perfect self wo uld be like. He names this image the fictional finalism. Fictional finalism applies clearer direction to decisions that are to be made concerning oneself.Adler also believed that the unconscious and conscious worked in union with on another towards fictional finalism (www. muskingum. edu). Adler who was not very big in grouping people into categories came up with four main types of people; three out of four are negative. There is the ruling type, who likes to control people, the getting type who is passive and goes along with everyone else’s’ ideas, and not very inventive for themselves, the avoiding type who will isolate themselves in order to avoid defeat, and last but not least, the socially useful type, values having control over their lives and strive to go things for the sake of society.From reading those four types I have a pretty good guess that the first three were negative, and the last one was a positive type. William James is known as the founder of America n Psychology, but if you ever brought this up to him he would pass on it and say that Dewey was the actual founder of American Psychology. None the less he was one of the most prominent American Psychologist in American history. He was a functionalist. His technique was to ask the very important question of â€Å"why† things are the way they are. His course of study was also to find out why a person was the way they were based on their environment.James (reprint edition 1950) stated â€Å"The phenomena are such things as we call Feelings, desire, cognitions, reasoning, decisions, and the like; and, such superficially considered, their variety and complexity is such as to leave a chaotic impression on the observer† (p 2). These are the very words from William James book The Principals of Psychology. Today’s psychologists would probably not refer to these emotions as a phenomenon. Nor would today’s psychologists refer to one’s feelings as superficial . William James is described as what is known as a functionalist. Functionalists want to know â€Å"Why† why people are the way they are.While most psychologists were interested in what was going on inside a person’s mind, Mr. James was looking outside a person’s mind, taking a look at a person’s environment. This was a unique strategy for its time. What I found interesting, while reading his studies, was that he referred to our memories as being â€Å"god given† for a psychologist to think in these terms there had to be a sort of open mindedness. At the same time though, there seemed to be a sense of individualism. He was the only one thinking this way. This, to me, was actually common within all psychologists.It seems that they all thought they were the only ones thinking in these terms at that time. Mr. James also believes that just because we are aware of a situation, doesn’t necessarily mean we will remember everything that is tied to i t. He believes that we must live through and actually witness or take part in an event to actually have a memory of it. Once again, this goes back to one’s environment. What is the person surrounded by. References: (2002-2013) http://www. freudfile. org/psychoanalysis/definition. html Goodwin, C. J. (2008). A History of Modern Psychology (3rd ed. ). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. (David B. Stevenson, 1998) http://www. ictorianweb. org/science/freud/biography. html http://www. infoplease. com/encyclopedia/people/jung-carl-gustav. html (02/16/13),http://www. cgjungpage. org/index. php? option=com_content;task=view;id=743;Itemid=54 (02/28/11), http://psychological-musings. blogspot. com/2011/02/theoretical-positions-of-freud-jung. html Fisher, M. (2011, May). Alfred Adler. Retrieved from: www. muskingum. edu Alfred Adler. (2012). retrieved from: www. nndb. com Who Was Alfred Adler? (2008). retrieved from: www. alfredadler. org James, William Principles of Psychology The scope of psychology Reprint Edition (June 1st, 1950) Dover Publications

Race discrimination Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Race discrimination - Research Paper Example It becomes evident that while the oppressor enjoys considerable social, psychological, economic, and political advantages through discrimination, the victims pay a huge physical and psychological fee. In the modern world where geographical boundaries are disappearing every moment, the issue gains more public attention because it is not possible for cultures to remain totally isolated. Workplaces of present day are multicultural as organizations move out of their home counties. That means communication and cooperation of people from various places and cultures. Thus, the element of racial discrimination gains the attention of scholars. Defining racial discrimination Article 1 of The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) defines racial discrimination as â€Å"any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life† (ICERD, 1966, Article 1). ... Direct racial discrimination One can say there is direct racial discrimination when one is able to show that one receives less favorable treatment than others based on racial identity. An example of such direct discrimination is visible in BBC v. Souster (2001) IRLR 150. Mr. Souster was a Rugby Special presenter of BBC Scotland. He raised the allegation that the company fired him because he was not Scottish. However, the response of BBC was that the issue of racial discrimination would not arise as both English and Scottish people possess British passport. In the dispute, the decision of the Scottish Court of Session was that just a common passport would not mean lack of racial discrimination. The court opined that there was separate national origin and hence there was a case of racial discrimination prima facie. Thus, one gains the broad understanding that discrimination is not always based on reality; but based on the perception of the discriminator. Indirect racial discrimination A look into the explanation given by Equality and Human Rights Commission proves that there are two categories of indirect racial discrimination. The first category is based on color or nationality, and the second is based on race, ethnic or national origin. Indirect racial discrimination often appears in apparently non-discriminatory requirements and conditions. To illustrate, a company may put forward such a condition for employment or promotion which only a particular racial group meets or which evidently denies chances for a particular racial group. A perfect example of this kind of discrimination is seen in Aina v. Employment Service (2002) DCLD 103D. In this case,

Medivac Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Medivac - Essay Example the law is still a question legally battle as consideration is given to the investors who may want to have such information in order to help make informed decision regarding the investment. In this regard, the courts will find it an offence to have crossed the materiality threshold if the information was given to an investor who did not seek such information but based on making a fortune. The law prohibits such moves that are only aimed at making individuals to invest based on envisaged fortune. The case of piper v. Chis-Craft Industries, Inc. comes in handy in the understanding how the article is enforceable in law (Hazen, 2003). The supreme court in there ruling determined that there should be no private remedy in the case of competing tender offeror. The court declined to do direct compensation of any private remedy, and instead highlighted that the opinion was in pursuit of section 14 (e) - Private right of action in the hands of the target company or its shareholders (Hazen, 2003). The Court in arguing the case of piper indicated that the motive of Williams act was to ensure further protection by furnishing the shareholder of the target information so that they could make informed choices and not that of competing tender offerors, which were considered collateral benefits to the tender offer provisions (Hazen, 2003). This shows how the article consideration for enforcement is determined. The underlying factor in this case is the intention of giving the insider information t the prospective shareholders. If the intention is the response to inquiry, then one may be considered not culpable for any violation of the statute, but if it is proved to be for the conspiracy to make a fortune for oneself then it is a violation of the act. The federal security act was enacted following the stock market crash of 1929, which ensued the great depression in the American economy. The period lasted of about a decade and resulted into negative impact on the industrialized