Twayne’s Social Movements Essay Example for Free

Twayne’s Social Movements Essay Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It has often been said that the work of all good authors are shaped by the times through which they live, for with personal experience, the author is given the unique ability to temper even research of past events with their own trials and tribulations.   Such is the case when looking at the work of the controversial author Herbert Aptheker, whose unique historical perspective was influenced by his life experiences, political beliefs, and the changing world around him.   In this research, one of Aptheker’s pivotal works, â€Å"Abolitionism: A revolutionary Movement† will be the focus, along with other works of his being considered to add depth to the research, as well as the facts of the life of this controversial author himself. Author’s Thesis   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Overall, Aptheker’s thesis, not only in this work but in many others which he wrote in a very prolific career, is that slave labor is a key element which made it possible for the United States to be able to reach the economic, military, and cultural heights that it did in less than a century from its foundation, and also that slaves made it possible for many people to become wealthy at the expense of people who simply had no say in the matter.   Therefore, Aptheker maintains, there is a level of reparation which the descendants of slaves are entitled to receive.   This thesis, it appears, has a substantial basis in the political beliefs of Herbert Aptheker himself. Further research into Aptheker the individual has indicated that he, by many accounts, was an avowed Marxist and Socialist, and these beliefs tempered his analysis of the practice of slavery, its abolition, and the firm belief that while slaves contributed a great deal to the advancement of American society, those who were slaves of course did not receive their fair share of the fruits of their labors, and that slaves had a great deal more potential to realize than what they did in their slave roles, and of course in many cases fulfilled their greatest potential only after being freed from the bondage of slavery itself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Aptheker’s thesis makes more sense, in fact, when it is compared to the ideas of Marxism, which likewise proclaims that those who are enslaved by the wealthy in society must in fact rise up and claim their own rightful piece of the fruits of labor, lest they be crushed under the feet of those who would use them for their muscle and effort, without providing them with just compensation for the amount of work they have put in to whatever they are doing.            Book Summary   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Abolitionism† is as unique a book as was the author that wrote it.   Overall, what the book succeeds in doing is to overturn all of the conventional myths about the practice of slavery in the early southern United States from several different perspectives.   To begin, Aptheker challenges the myth that all of the people who lived in the southern United States in the years prior to the American Civil War were all strongly in favor of slavery. Rather, Aptheker maintains in the book, those show supported slavery in the south were essentially those who were able to benefit financially from the practice of slavery itself, such as the plantation owners who used huge numbers of slave laborers in order to allow for the harvesting of crops in efficient and inexpensive ways, thereby maximizing profits (Aptheker).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Moving forward in Aptheker’s book, he then challenges the assertion that those who fought for the Confederate States of America during the Civil War were all pro-slavery.   Rather, Aptheker maintains, many of these individuals were either interested in maintaining freedom from what they saw as an increasingly oppressive federal government, or simply to protect their homes and families from the invading armies of the north. Therefore, these were not slavery supporters but were simply doing what most people would do in a similar situation-protect their land and loved ones.   Additionally, the author also makes it clear that freed slaves could, and did, contribute a great deal to the political climate of the United States, and were in fact highly regarded by whites, thereby totally debunking the myth that once a slave, always seen as a slave by others (Aptheker).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ultimately, having defeated many of the myths of American slavery, Aptheker moves forward with his discussion of â€Å"Abolitionism† by discussing how the slave labor of the early United States in fact helped to build up the early United States, and since this progress would not have been possible without slaves, these same slaves, or more correctly the descendants of these slaves, are in fact entitled to financial reparations in a way of compensating them for the hardships inflicted upon them at the hands of slave owners (Aptheker).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Overall, what one sees in reviewing Aptheker’s book is a challenging of the misconceptions about slavery, the fight against slavery, and the aftermath.   As was mentioned in earlier portions of this research, the author’s theories seem to have been shaped as much by his life experience and political leanings as anything. How the Author Wrote the Book   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It was stated earlier in the research that Aptheker seems to have relied heavily on his life experiences and political opinions in the writing of â€Å"Abolitionism†, and this is a more reliable fact when the book is looked at in a much closer manner.   Beyond this, Aptheker also utilized historical material in the form of primary materials to form the foundation of his book.   There is also something much more important that Aptheker used in the writing of this particular book which makes it all the more unique and compelling. This book was written in the final years of Aptheker’s life- a life which led him to study the human condition, write and lecture on it extensively, and fearlessly state his opinions on the topic, many times to his own disadvantage.   What this has done, however, is allowed an insight that very few authors could ever achieve, and this comes through in this, and many other works of Aptheker’s. An Opinion of the Book   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In one humble opinion, based on research, Aptheker’s book is a well researched, eye-opening work, as long as the reader keeps in mind that the author has a very specific political slant in writing it.   However, it must also be noted that the researcher was impressed by the fact that this book was able to challenge myths that are based on only a few opinions, and that Aptheker took the chance of using established research, modern political theory, and logical conclusions to put together not only an historic work of research, but also insightful social commentary. Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In this research, a controversial man and his insightful book about a controversial topic have been discussed and analyzed.   More importantly, however, it seems that in the final analysis, Herbert Aptheker and his vast body of work have forced all of us to take a closer look at ourselves. Putting aside what some would consider to be Aptheker’s questionable political beliefs, what we see when looking at the man and his work with a healthy dose of tolerance and respect for his point of view is a man who understood all too well the depths to which the human mind can plummet in pursuit of its own goals, how innocent people can be hurt in the process, and also how the struggle against the establishment has taken place in the past and must continue in the future.   In conclusion, perhaps this is Aptheker’s most lasting legacy.

Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail Essay Example for Free

Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail Essay Those who fail to plan, plan to fail, or at least plan not to improve, according to the management literature. Look at school improvement, and there’s similar agreement pretty much across the literature that the schools that improve are the ones that plan. They establish a clear educational vision and consequent shared mission; identify goals or objectives that enable them to achieve that mission and thereby realise that vision; audit themselves, thereby identifying areas for improvement; and develop and implement educational programs on the basis of leadership 57 that audit that address areas for improvement n ways that help them achieve the mission. That process, much of the literature suggests, is recursive or cyclical. The key in the school improvement literature seems to be that there’s a first step, identifying your vision and shared mission, that then informs the next step, the planning process of identifying goals or objectives aligned with the vision and mission. Whether you look at the management literature or the school improvement literature, at its simplest, goal setting is a way of asking what do we want, do we have what we need so that we can develop and implement what we plan, do our various goals elate to one another or are any in conflict, and is there anything we’ve overlooked, including internal and external blockers? There, in 200 or so words, you have the whole easy-peasy school improvement planning story, and can stop reading and go and get that coffee right now. Or not. The problem, if you’re still reading, is that planning and goal setting can sometimes lead to fragmented, uncoordinated programs with conflicting objectives that actually work against one another. Yes, setting specific, challenging goals, and developing and implementing educational programs to meet them can drive school mprovement, but as Adam Galinsky, author with Lisa Ordonez, Maurice Schweitzer and Max Bazerman of ‘Goals gone wild,’ in the 58 teacher june/july 2009 Journal of the Academy of Management Perspectives, told the Boston Globe’s Drake Bennett, goal setting ‘can lead to crazy behaviours to get people to achieve them. ’ ‘We contend,’ write Ordonez, Schweitzer, Galinsky and Bazerman in ‘Goals gone wild,’ ‘that goal setting has been over- prescribed. In particular, we argue that goal setting has powerful and predictable side effects. Rather than being offered as an â€Å"over-the-counter† salve for boosting performance, oal setting should be prescribed selectively, presented with a warning label and closely monitored. ’ Tunnel vision To be fair, Ordonez, Schweitzer, Galinsky and Bazerman have their eyes set on performance management, and its tendency to an outcome orientation like a defined sales target, say, or reduced time spent on a process, rather than school improvement, and its tendency to the systemic development and implementation of programs. Nonetheless, people in a school who want to improve it will end up setting, or having set for them, some kind of performanceoriented goal. The message from Ordonez, Schweitzer, Galinsky and Bazerman is that they should pursue that goal with care. Let’s consider why goals, as Ordonez and colleagues put it, go wild. The first reason, they argue, is that a goal might be inappropriate or so specific that in pursuing it, people ignore important elements of their behaviour, and maybe even their attitudes and values, that are not specified by the goal. ‘Suppose that a university department bases tenure decisions primarily on the number of articles that (academics) publish,’ they write. ‘This goal will motivate (the academics) to accomplish the narrow objective of publishing articles. Other important objectives, however, such as research impact, teaching and service, may suffer. ’ Worse, say Ordonez and colleagues, referring to Barry Staw and Richard Boettger’s ‘Task revision: A neglected form of work performance’ in the Academy of Management Journal, goals can give us tunnel vision. In their study on the effects of goals, Staw and Boettger asked students to proofread a paragraph that contained both grammatical and content errors. They found that those asked simply to ‘do your best’ corrected both grammatical and content errors, while those who were asked specifically to correct grammar gnored content, and those who were asked specifically to correct content ignored grammar. The reason? Goals ‘inform the individual about what behaviour is valued and appropriate,’ argue Staw and Boettger. The goal-setting problem, Ordonez and colleagues add, is that when we plan we tend to latch on to specific, measurable standards rather than complex sets of behaviours, and the attitudes and values that underlie them, precisely because specific standards are easy to measure and complex sets of behaviours are not. Command performance The goal-setting problem, essentially, depends n whether a goal is set by command or by consultation, negotiation or – horror – genuine collaboration. Goals set by command are, by definition, set by those with the power, whether you like it or not, to set them. The risk of such goal setting is that, first, it may lead to goals that are inappropriate or overly specific and, second, that leaders and their followers can be prone to what could be called target fixation or what Christopher Kayes, calls ‘destructive goal pursuit’ in Destructive Goal Pursuit: The Mount Everest disaster, to which Ordonez and colleagues also refer. As they note, ‘Kayes identifies warning signs of leaders who have become excessively fixated on goals. These occur in leaders who express narrowly- defined goals, associate goals with destiny, express an idealised future, offer goal-driven justifications, face public expectations and attempt to engage in face-saving behaviour. ’ It’s a useful checklist to use to audit yourself or a leader in your institution, but remember, we tend to latch on to specific measurable things rather than complex sets of behaviours, and the attitudes and values that underlie them, precisely The goal-setting problem s that when we plan we tend to latch on to specific, measurable standards because specific standards are easy to measure. leadership 59 because the specifics are easy to measure and complex sets of behaviours are not. Performance anxiety Of course, one of the main planks of the education policy of this and the previous Commonwealth government is the standards agenda – the benchmarking of student achievement outcomes, which educators and schools then strive to achieve, and which at their worst could end up as ‘league tables. ’ Whether you’re a fan of the standards agenda or not, it’s clearly the mother of all oals in Australian education, and worth considering in terms of goal setting. Ordonez and colleagues have some interesting observations to make, particularly about what they call the serious side-effects of setting challenging or so-called stretch goals. These, they argue, can lead people to choose riskier strategies and to cheat, and can create a culture of competition that erodes cooperation. On ethics, they argue, ‘The interplay between organisational culture and goal setting is particularly important. An ethical organisational culture can rein in the harmful effects of goal setting, but at the same ime, the use of goals can influence organisational culture. Specifically, the use of goal setting, like â€Å"management by objectives,† creates a focus on ends rather than means. Goal setting impedes ethical decision making by making it harder for employees to recognise ethical issues and easier for them to rationalise unethical behaviour. Given that small actions within an organisation can have broad implications for organisational culture, we postulate that aggressive goal setting within an organisation will foster an organisational climate ripe for unethical behaviour. That is, not only does goal setting irectly motivate unethical behaviour, but its introduction may also motivate unethical behaviour indirectly by subtly altering an organisation’s culture. ’ Handle with care If the bad news of the government-mandated standards agenda is that there’s a risk of a form of goal setting that creates a focus on ends rather than means, the good news for schools is that the school-improvement literature puts a premium on one thing that’s evident in the first 200 words of this story: collegiality. With any luck, your school- improvement planning process and the goals that you consequently set are the result of onsultation, negotiation and collaboration, not command and, if they are, chances are yours are learning goals, not performance targets. As Ordonez and colleagues observe, performance goals inhibit learning. ‘When individuals face a complex task, specific, challenging goals may inhibit learning from experience and degrade performance compared to exhortations to â€Å"do your best. † An individual who is narrowly focused on a performance goal will be less likely to try alternative methods that could help her learn how to perform a task. Overall, the narrow focus of specific goals can inspire erformance, but prevent learning. ’ As Edwin Locke and Gary Latham recommend in ‘Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey’ in American Psychologist, we should be setting ‘learning goals’ in complex situations rather than ‘performance goals. ’ The problem, as Ordonez and colleagues note, is that, ‘In practice, however, managers may have trouble determining when a task is complex enough to warrant a learning, rather than a performance, goal. The goal of setting the right goals is itself a challenging affair. ’ Perhaps it’s time for a new axiom: those ho fail to plan carefully, plan at their peril.

Marketing analysis of Taylors Education Group

Marketing analysis of Taylors Education Group Taylors Education Group has been a household name in Malaysia for four decades known for producing all-rounded graduates with on-hand work experience which will enable them to be competitive and assertive in the working environment. Taylors has contributed much to Malaysias economic prosperity seeing as Taylors is expanding not only domestically but also internationally. Taylors started with humble beginnings, with only a small block in Jalan Pantai, Kuala Lumpur offering only one program. Today, Taylors has 5 campuses including the very recently established Taylors Lakeside Campus which offers a multitude of courses which comprises of diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate studies. Apart from that, Taylors 10 year mission is to become a university of 20,000 students renowned for its teaching excellence and the distinctive quality of its graduates. At the rate Taylors is growing, there is no doubt that mission can be accomplished in 5 years let alone 10 years. Taylors effective miss ion statement, Wisdom. Integrity. Excellence is undoubtedly one of the reasons why many students are attracted to this educational institution. Taylors mission statement positions students to think of Taylors as a premium and exclusive educational institution that offers excellent education quality while inculcating discipline at the same time. Taylors core purpose to educate the youth of the world to take their productive places as leaders in the global community also plays an important role in drawing students into the educational institution. In addition to that, Taylors also promises 5 core values in all of their programs. Firstly, Taylors believes in Respecting and caring for each other. Taylors promises to create an environment where everyone is appreciated disregarding personal, cultural, racial or religion differences. Taylors does this by providing a safe place to express your opinions. Besides that, exercising responsibility will also be encouraged. The efforts of individu als and groups will also be recognized and respected. Secondly, Taylors also believes in Being dedicated to a culture of excellence. Taylors will systematically and purposefully do the best they can to achieve their organizational goals. Thus, Taylors will continually look for methods to improve themselves through continual learning and adopting methods which will contribute to Taylors long term objectives and goals. Thirdly, Taylors also believes in Openness in communication. Taylors promotes being honest in daily exchanges, and if this is done in a kind and respectful manner, trust and understanding will be developed. Fourthly, Taylors believes in Acting with integrity. Taylors will obey the codes of conduct and be ethical in their daily processes to build a culture of openness within the organization and society at large. Fifthly, Taylors also believe in Being passionate in what we do. Taylors believes by doing things passionately, it will inspire others to want to do better. Las tly, Taylors believes in Creating enjoyable environments. This assignment is mainly to study the Taylors education group, in terms of how they market their programs and education. The main focus in this assignment is the newly built Taylors Lakeside Campus. From here, well analyze how the Taylors education group has successfully turned this project into a great profit making campus. This assignment will study their marketing strategies by analyzing the companys strengths, weaknesses, opportunities threats (SWOT Analysis), the companys segmentation and positioning strategy and the companys marketing mix. Well also provide recommendations to improve their marketing strategies at the Taylors Lakeside Campus towards the end of this assignment. SWOT Analysis The two types of internal factors that affect the company to reach its objective are strengths and weaknesses. Firstly, the strength of Taylors college is it has a strong background and a history of 42 years. The forty two years of history include proven experience in university level education and training with growing emphasis on research to further enhance the quality of the university. This can be proven by the recognition from Ministry of Higher Education with the prestigious Excellence in Research and Development award 2005/06. Taylors University had developed a strong brand name and causes an increase in market share and brand equity. It has a famous slogan that is Wisdom, Integrity, Excellence. Taylors Universitys drive for wisdom, quest for integrity and thirst for excellence made it become a famous academic institution and is able to deliver a high quality education. Besides that, the strength of Taylors university is it offers a variety of high value and quality national r ecognized programs. The university offers architecture, design, biosciences, business, communication, IT, engineering, hospitality, law and medicine program. The academic activities adapted to the more recent socio-economic trends resulting in the development of a broad range of courses. The variety program that Taylors University provided proven that it is a powerful one stop education organization. The linking arrangement with foreign universities ensures the quality assurance of the courses and examinations. Moreover, the high development in teaching and learning skills are the strength of Taylors university. The establishment of Integrated Teaching and Life-long Learning Center at Taylors (InTeLLeCT) is to ensure the provision of relevant, innovative, and excellent learning experiences at Taylors. It creates learning experience through excellent teaching, outstanding academic student support initiatives, and an innovative and technology-driven learning environment. (Taylors Univ ersity 2011) By investing in InTeLLect, it ensures the continuous improvement of human resources by creating an experienced academic and support staff to educate more quality students. The high quality lecturers can be proved by one of the lecturers from the School of Engineering Dr TVN Padmesh for being awarded with the Young Scientist Paper Award 5th International Conference of Environmental Science and Technology 2010 in Texas, USA from July 12-16. In addition, geographical location and comfortable campus environment also adds to the strength of Taylors University. Taylors University is located at Subang Jaya and there are high amount of population and fast rising developments. It is well connected to the cities of Kuala Lumpur, Shah Alam and the townships of Petaling Jaya therefore it is a good location. Taylors university offers the best campus environment and provide the best facilities among the competitors. The facilities provided are new and comprehensive, an example of fac ilities that is provided is the library, sports and recreation centre, hostel, lecture theatres, student central, sick bay, experiment labs and food court. (Taylors 2011) On the other hand, the weakness of Taylors University is it is charging a higher price than others competitor in the education market. For example, Taylors university is charging double the price of Help University College for the business program. The higher price charge sometimes will affect the consumer decision to choose Taylors university and unsatisfied consumers may end up going to other universities. Taylors university must ensure that the price charged should create superior value and provide value-added services to the consumer. Besides that, the weakness of the university is the choices of twinning program that it offers are limited. For example, Help University College is the biggest competitor at this point because it offers more university choices and has better partner universities. Taylors university should improve the choices for partner universities to gain its market share. The two types of external factors that affect the company to reach its objective are opportunities and threats. The opportunity of Taylors university is there is an increase in the awareness of the importance in attaining tertiary education. Nowadays, most organisations are hiring employees with either a diploma or a bachelors degree. Therefore, this encourages Malaysian parents to finance their childrens education to get at least a Bachelors degree for a better career. Besides that, Malaysia acts as one of the world excellence centre for education had created an opportunities for the university by an increases in international student. It is estimated that there are about 70,000 international students from more than 100 countries currently studying in public and private higher education institutions in Malaysia. (Study in Malaysia Handbook 2011) Malaysia is a diverse country with rapid economic development, stable politic, disaster free and it offers an affordable cost to the intern ational student for higher education opportunities will attract more international student in the future. Taylors university can consider providing more choices for world best partner university to increase its opportunity by increase competitiveness and grow its market share. The threat of Taylors university is it facing the increasing size of its competitor. For example, to cope with the increasing demand for quality education in the region, HELP University College will be opening a new state of the art Green Technology Campus in Subang 2 The campus is 600,000 sq ft and it is strategically located between Kota Damansara, Subang, Sungai Buloh, and Shah Alam. Due to the increase awareness of public to prevent and preserve the environment, HELP University College new campus will attract more attention from the public. By improving the facilities of Help University College in the new campus, providing a better partner university choice and offer a lower prising education, Taylors university will faces a higher competition. (HELP International Corporation 2008) Direct competitors are firms that offer products and services that are functionally the same. The direct competitors of Taylors university are those private university college and college for example HELP University College, INTI University College, Sunway University College, and KDU College. Those University and college offer the similar courses and the differences between them is the brand familiarity and the quality of education provided. Taylors University branding themselves by providing quality education, good campus environment and good facilities have made differences between itself with other brands. The extra value that Taylors provide causes a higher price charge for the program. Taylors university have to ensure that they will deliver what they had promised the consumer to gain market share and create customer satisfaction for building customer relationship. An indirect competitor is the businesses that are offering close substitutes products and services. These competitors are probably targeting the markets with a same or similar value proposition, but delivering a different product. The indirect competitors of Taylors university are the governments higher education institutions such as polytechnics, teacher training colleges, community colleges, Public college and Public universities. Some examples of these institutions are TAR College, University Malaya, and Politeknik Port Dickson(PPD). The public system has become competitor because the number of public universities and community colleges is increasing. The cost of studying in a public university is cheaper because 90% of the public universities funding came from Malaysian Government and the balance 10% is from student fees. (MoHE 2008) Segmentation Positioning Strategy Pie Chart 1.1 The pie chart shows the Malaysian household monthly income distribution. The information is sourced from MP Amirshams reply to Dr Michael J Devarajs question during a parliament assembly in July 2008. Demographic factors are the most popular bases for segmenting customer groups. One reason is that customer usage rates, needs and wants always very closely with demographic variables. Besides, demographic variables are easier to measure than other types of variables. Therefore, demographic segmentation is used in this assignment which divides the market into groups based on income for education in Taylor University Lakeside. The three market segments which relevant are low-income, medium-income and high-income. INCOME SEGMENTATION Low-income segment (households monthly income RM4-5k) Medium-income segment (households monthly income RM5-10k) High-income segment (households monthly income >RM10k) Firstly, low-income segment indicates the households monthly income between RM4000 and RM5000. The people from this segment only able to pursue the education provided by national university or governments subsidy universities. Their families cannot afford the expensive tuition fees because they have to spend the money in their daily expenses. Secondly, medium-income segment indicates households monthly income between RM5000 and RM10000. The people from this segment able to pursue the education provided by private universities in the country such as Taylor University and Sunway University. The standard of living is higher, so they willing to spend more money in education. Thirdly, high-income segment indicates the households monthly income more than RM10000. The people from this segment normally will send their children to foreign country for world-class education in United Kingdom or Australia. They totally have to power to cover the expensive living costs and tuition fees of their c hildren at overseas. Taylors Education Group targets affluence customers which are under medium-income segment with high quality facilities and services. This is because customers from medium-income segment have the right size and growth characteristics. Generally, the customers from this segment plan to study locally. With the approximately RM96000 of households annually income, people will choose to study at private college in the country. Local private colleges and universities find it easy to choose a differentiation and positioning strategy. In several cases, two or more competitors will go after the same position. Therefore, each of them will have to find its ways to set itself apart. For instance, Taylor University, Sunway University and Help University put in a lot of effort to decide on a value proposition. Therefore, Taylors Education Group well known for quality in certain segments differentiates itself by the outstanding image, service and slogan. The slogan had successfully been used to communicate with the consumers by sending the message of value and promises that the university will deliver. The slogan of Taylors university had effectively create differentiation between its competitor and position itself as providing superior customer value and leads to the gain of competitive advantage. Furthermore, Taylor goes for more for more positioning strategy. More for more positioning involves providing the most classy services, products and changing a higher price to balance the higher costs. Taylors Education Group differentiates its offer by invested at least RM450 million to build a unique lakeside campus that appeal to people from the medium-income segment. Taylors study environment and facilities are way better than its competitors. Taylors Lakeside Campus is a state-of-the-art modern tropical university campus, designed to meet the needs of students and in line with the nations goal of becoming a local centre of education excellence. The campus is surrounded by a revived 5.5 acre human-made lake and its landscape made up of trees, groundcovers, flowering shrubs, and water plants, which provide a stimulating and rich natural environment. In contrast, compared to Help University College, who using the same for less positioning strategy just to offer a great deal to everyone. By offering this positioning strategy, customers will tend to join Help University College due to the affordable tuition fee. However, the low-prices brand in an effort to lure customers away from market leader. Because of the low cost operations, the buildings and campuses separated and students have to take the shuttle bus to reach specific building for classes. This action brings a lot of inconvenient to customers and triggers them from joining. Customers from medium-income segment normally will chase for the university that fulfil a minimum requirements such as everything in one campus and safety. Besides, high quality study environment and facilities will also make customers chase for it. By offering high quality education and services, Taylors Education Group hopes for higher sales and stronger position within targeted market segment. The lakeside campus successfully developed a stronger position and creates more total sales than its competitors. Although its overall tuition fee above RM18000 per year, compare to other colleges is much more expensive, but customers are still willing to study in this university. As a result, Taylor Lakeside Campus gets a more stable, much greater market share than other college could. Taylors Education Group planned positions that give their services the greatest advantage in selected target markets, served the preferences and needs of well-defined targets markets and yet succeeds because it just meet the right value proposition. Taylor provided impressive and comfortable 4-storey library, retail Podium, Experimental Theatre, 600-pax Auditorium, 300-pax Lecture Theatre and outdoor Amphitheatre. The 4-storey library is so amazing, packed with different computers, facilities and resources. There are also different types of closed study room and discussion rooms in the library which allows students to have discussions among their friends without interrupting other students in the library. Besides, the Retail Podium is where inter-connecting streets lead to banks, cafes, convenience stores, shops and an array of service amenities. Everything of this made Taylor Lakeside campus so outstanding compared to others. In conclusion, the More for More positioning strategy totally more successful compared to The Same for Less. Marketing Mix (4Ps) Analysis Product The main product that Taylors University offers is in a form of service in which they provide education in return for tuition fees. However, there are also other products that the Taylors education group offers which include accommodation and basic necessities such as food and drinks which is provided by the campuss cafeteria and restaurants around the campus. The product that the Taylors education group provides is one of the reasons to the new Taylors Lakeside campuss success. Firstly, Taylors University has provided potential students with many choices of programs which include a variety of pre-university programs, a range of bachelors degree programs and also a PhD program in business administration. With a mixture of so many different courses, students who are seeking a tertiary education would find Taylors as a potential institution to further their studies. It is also important that we recognize the programs Taylors University offers are programs which are popular among todays students and also in demand among parents. With a combination of providing a wide-range of education programs along with programs which are popular, Taylors have found the perfect product that it can offer to the education market. Another type of product that Taylors University offers is the accommodation and dining service. With the presence of a student hostel located next to its main campus, students who are from overseas or a different state need not worry for a place to stay, or for transportation as the campus is only a walking distance away. Not to forget, the many different restaurants and also the cafeteria that is located right at the student hostel. This is one of the advantages the Taylors Lakeside campus has over its competitors, students who study at Taylors need not go a long distance in order to search for good and quality food. With the convenience that is provided by Taylors University, many students find themselves attracted to its product. The campuss structural design has also gained much attention from both prospective students and also parents. Investments made for its attractive architecture has definitely made an impact on the success of this campus. In a survey our group did, we have found that 50 percent of students were initially attracted to study at this new campus due to its attractive design. Price On average, to complete a bachelors degree at Taylors University could cost up to RM80, 000. This price of course varies depending on the course the student engaged in. Here, we will concentrate on the pricing strategies that Taylors University had used for a bachelor of business degree. At Taylors University, to complete a 3 year bachelor of business program would cost an average of RM80, 000. This fee is arguably rather high for a university in Malaysia. When compared to HELP University College, the price to complete a 3 year bachelor of business program is two times higher of that of HELPs. It only cost up to RM40, 000 in order to obtain a business degree at HELP University College. So why is it that Taylors University is making much higher profits compared to HELP University College? The answer is simple, the target market are of those among the medium income segment. From pie chart 1.1, it can be seen that 20.7 % of Malaysians are either in the medium-income segment or the high- income segment. For parents or guardians earning more than RM5, 000 a month, it would not be much of a problem to afford to send their child to complete their studies at Taylors University, provided that they have proper financial management. However, people may question to why parents send their child to Taylors University when they can save the money and send their child to a different university. The answer again is simple; parents want their best for their children. Most parents who are in between the medium-income segment and the high-income segment would not hesitate to send their child to a more renowned University provided that it has quality education, a superior campus and also a convenient location. Place Taylors main campus is located in a location that is accessible to target market. It is strategically located in the urban areas of Subang Jaya which is well known as a student hub consistent of all types of household such as average and above average income household. It is also well linked with other township such as Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam, and Klang making it a easily accessible educational institution for students to pursue their studies. On the other hand it is located thirty minutes away from Kuala Lumpur which is the capital city of Malaysia. In addition Subang Jaya is linked by highways for example Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong and Federal Highway allowing students who does not live in Subang Jaya reaching the campus much easier. Promotion Taylors uses several promotion tools to persuasively communicate customer value and build customer relationship. One of the tools is advertising. Taylors does their promotion through major media types such as television, newspaper, direct mail magazines, radio and the internet through websites such as facebook twitter, youtube and their very own Taylors website. Another promotion tool that Taylors uses is sales promotion. Taylors encourages purchases of their product by offering discounts such as early birds discount for consumers who register early or pay their fees early. Another discount is children and siblings discount for those who have other siblings studying in the same institution. Other incentives are scholarship such as top achiever scholarship which is based on SPM results. Another promotion tool used is building good public relations. Taylors sponsors events such as sports competition, charity events to build their image in the public. Other than that Taylors uses other public relation tools such as news and written materials to promote their product, facilities and so on. For example Taylors promote the beauty of their new lakeside campus and the facility it provides in a magazine. The last promotion tool that Taylors use is personal selling. Taylors uses sales person such as consultants and counselors to promote their product and build customer relationship through personal interaction. Taylors present their sales by giving a presentation of the products offered at Taylors in events such as career day and Taylors open day. Another example is Taylors sending some sales people to high schools to promote their product and to build long term customer relationship with students who are soon taking their SPM and to those who havent decided what they want to do after they finish their secondary school education. Recommendations Product One way to improve the product Taylors University provides to students is to provide more parking spaces for students who drive to the campus. Based on our observation and research, we have found that many students are unhappy with the parking system and lack of parking spaces imposed by Taylors University. Some have even threatened to leave if a solution is not found. To avoid a bad reputation and a loss of consumer confidence, it is important that they construct more parking lots or change their parking systems. However, a cheaper and more convenient way for the company is to adjust students timetables in order to make the campus less crowded at certain times. For example, the management at Taylors University can move more morning classes into the afternoon in order to avoid over-packed parking slots during the morning. Price A pricing strategy that we would recommend is to provide more student aid for programs which are less popular among students and parents. The student aid would be for those who are not able to afford the entire tuition fees imposed by Taylors University. This way, the company will also benefit from less popular programs as parents from lower-income segments will also be able to afford to send their children for these less popular programs.. From the way we see it, the Taylors Lakeside campus has been profiting huge amounts of money from student fees due to the crowded campus, therefore, we would not recommend a change in price of student fees in order to avoid a congested campus which may deteriorate its quality. An increase in price of student fees may well cause Taylors University to lose its main target segment which are the medium-income earners as for most of them, the price is just right. It may however not have much effect on the high-income earners as it is still affordable f or most of them. Also, reducing the price by a fair amount may cause more low-income earners to send their children to Taylors University to further their education. This would cause the campus to be overcrowded which may in turn decline the campuss quality. Therefore, the only recommendation we have is for Taylors University to provide more student aid for programs which are less popular among students and parents. However, Taylors Education Group is a private limited company which therefore inhibits us from viewing their financial statements which may prove our judgements wrong. Place In order to improve its placing Taylors would need to built more campuses in much more strategic locations in order to make its product easily accessible. Kota Damansara and Puchong are some of the examples of strategic locations. Other than building more campuses, Taylors can build more campuses that offers tertiary educations. Right now the only place students can undergo their tertiary education is at Taylors main campus. To have more campuses that offers the same tertiary education would improve its placing. Promotion On the other hand, to improve its promotion, Taylors can increase its outside sales force. Taylors can do house to house personal selling by sending sales consultants to houses. Instead of the customers come to Taylors, Taylors can go to their potential customers. This introduces a much more personal interaction between the two or more people. Customers will feel much more relax to express their need since they are in their own house. Consultants will be able to observe and make quick adjustments to solve customer problems. Another advantage of doing this house to house personal selling is it can build a much better customer relationship. Another Taylors can do is to improve its promotion is by providing much stronger incentives by offering promotional tools such as premiums or patronage rewards. For example Taylors offered Ali cash reward for being a loyal consumer by studying in their institution for three years. Conclusion The Taylors Lakeside Campus is currently becoming more and more popular. Due to the rising competition from other educational institutions such as HELP University College and Sunway University College, Taylors Lakeside Campus has to constantly strive to distinguish themselves from other educational institutions. Taylors being a well-known educational institution for over four decades certainly has its advantages. This gives a perception to people that Taylors is a well-established educational institution on the basis of the amount of years it has been running. Thus, Taylors is able to use this opportunity to charge a higher price compared to other local universities. However, Taylors must deliver the peoples moneys worth through academic excellence and by providing a conducive environment. Take for instance Taylors Lakeside Campus. Taylors Lakeside Campus still manages to draw many students despite the expensive cost of education because of its past records of academic excellence and also the very peaceful and relaxing environment at Taylors Lakeside Campus. Taylors Lakeside Campus managed to combine both elements of work and play which is very much commendable. Taylors Lakeside Campus targets the high-income segment. This is very much evident in the cost of education of Taylors which is comparably higher than its competitors. Taylors Lakeside Campus is very appealing as it practices the More for More positioning strategy. This strategy requires Taylors to provide outstanding facilities and environment. In return, Taylors will earn a higher brand positioning in the minds of the people. This will then attract them to enrol in Taylors. Taylors Lakeside Campus is a force to be reckoned with in the education industry. From strategic locations to academic excellence, Taylors Education Group is certainly making a tremendous effort up till now for it to be able to withstand the adversities of time. In short, no educational institution is perfect. However, one can stri ve to deliver the best value it can to satisfy customers. Taylors Lakeside Campus can indeed be classified into that category as the epitome of educational institutions.

Do You Agree With Albert? :: Science Religion Religious Essays

Do You Agree With Albert? INTRODUCTION I can’t seem to find the right words to begin a new chapter in my life. This is not only a research paper for a class in school any more. It symbolizes the beginning of what I have longed to do since I arrived at Santa Clara a few years back. I have had a yearning for a philosophy that makes sense to me personally; one that does not have to conform to anything I have studied so far. This is my chance. Although the format I have chosen is not the most elegant, it does organize my thoughts in the clearest way. My thoughts are summarized like a diary starting with my initial impressions and quickly jumping from idea to idea in an effort to understand Fritjof Capra’s The Tao of Physics. DAY 1—PRELUDE TO LITERATURE Growing up as a young boy in Mallorca, Spain, I attended Sunday Mass with my mother and brother every week, never really giving it another thought—it was just something we did out of habit. I was content being a Roman Catholic for as long as I can remember until one very important episode in the fall of 1996. I was registering for my new high school (a Catholic one for the first time) when I noticed there was a special discount for practicing Catholics. Of course, to prove your religious affiliation, a letter from your Church’s pastor had to be submitted. This is when my faith in institutionalized religion took a major fall. For my family to be recognized as practicing at our church, a minimum sum of $250 a year had to be donated. Typically, my mother dropped in a few dollars when the collection basket was passed, but the parish had no way of determining how much had actually been donated. If there was no record of family contributions, the letter could not be w ritten. To clarify this discrepancy, they offered a personalized envelope to drop into the collection basket to regulate how much money we actually donated. In one fell swoop, a $250 check was donated and a letter of recommendation yielding a $1000 waiver sent out. Beginning that day, I could no longer face the institutionalized Church and since then have looked for other sources of inspiration in different religions—particularly Eastern Philosophy.

Rebellion in Two Kinds by Amy Tan Essay -- Two Kinds Essays

Two Kinds In this story â€Å"Two kinds† by Amy Tan it shows the great expectations of a mother, who wishes for her child to be famous and a genius. The mother coming from a society that is very hard working and obedient trying to instill the upbringing she had I her life. The child Jing-mei is a typical example of a child rebelling against their mothers wishes no matter how hard the parental figure tries, the child wishes to perform things in their own way and use their own freewill and to do things in there own timely fashion. The mother moves to America after much heartache in China. She has lost everything as quoted â€Å"she had come here in 1949 after losing everything in China: her mother and father, her family home, her first husband, and two daughters, twin baby girls.† (pg 1218). She begins a new life in America raising Jing-mei how every parent raises their own child to become the best they can. She believes that moving to America that anything can be accomplished and uses Jing-mei to live that life through by making her watch certain television show. Shows that portray how famous people act and to see how child prodigies perform in front of audiences. Always testing her child with quizzes that became very hard as quoted â€Å" The tests got harder-multiplying numbers in my head, finding the queen of hearts in a deck of cards, trying to stand on my head without using my hands, predicting the daily Temperatures in Los Angelas, New York, and London.† (pg 1219). Afterwards the mother trades maid services for piano lessons and puts more pressure on Jing-mei to be this great child prodigy that will be very famous. Like any parent they have high expectations of their child or children to live a great life that is equally t... ...uld. They have been the one to comfort us when the world seemed to turn evil. They have been the one to love us when we needed it the most, by the end of the story the outlook on the pressures take a different turn. Jing-mei has matured from a girl into a woman and as a peace of offering, her mother offers to give her the piano the main object of adversity between the two of them. This offers her the realization that she has become herself on her own terms, even with all of this hardship. She also learns that with everything her mother pushed on her or made her do it was out of love to make Jing-mei have a better and more satisfying life than the one her mother had to go through. Works Cited Tan, Amy â€Å"Two Kinds† In The Harbrace Anthology of Literature. Fourth Edition. Edited by Jon C. Stott et al. Canada: Thomson Nelson, 2006 pg 1015-22

Preface :: Economics

Preface Since the early customs union, the European Union has been keen to create a single market for its member states. In this assignment, I am going to discuss to what extent the European Union has created a single integrated economy for its member states. 2. Introduction From the early Customs Union to the Single European Market to the recent Single European Currency—the Euro, the European Union achieved a lot of successes in the process of creating a single integrated economy for its member states in the last fifty years. Nonetheless, with so many successes, the European Union still have a long way to go to create a true single economy for its member states. For example, there are still significant differences of corporate governance regimes and social/labour models between member states. And the enlargement towards Central and Eastern Europe is another incomplete big task for the European Union. In the following, I am going to discuss, with more details, to what extent the European Union has created a single integrated economy for its member states. 3. Major Achievements 3.1 Customs Union and The Early Enlargement In 1948, the Benelux--a customs union in industrial goods was formed by the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. After the Treaty of Paris and the Treaty of Rome were signed, the customs union comprised Benelux, France, Germany and Italy and was extended to all industrial goods (not just for coal and steel). In 1969, the customs union completed the elimination of customs duties and quantitative restrictions on the import and export goods between the original six. (McDonald D, 1999) This was the most basic economic arrangement of the EU. Between the elimination of tariffs and quotas and the agreement of establishing the Single European Market, there was very little progress towards the single market. (McDonald D, 1999) But enlargements were very successful with member states growing from 6 to 15 which included Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom joined in 1973, Greece in 1981, Spain and Portugal in 1986 and Austria, Finland and Sweden in 1995. (Europa, 2003a) 3.2 The Single European Market In 1985, the European Commission chaired by Jacques Delors published a White Paper proposing the member states for completing the internal market. This white paper made it clear that there were three types of barriers (physical, technical and fiscal) standing in the way of the completion of the internal market. (Mercado S. et al, 2001) In the next year, 12 member states signed the Single European Act which contained a blueprint and a timetable for adopting over 270 liberalising measures which would be necessary for the creation of a single market. (Europa, 2003a) Between the passing of the Single European Act and the deadline of 31st

BlackBerry Company Essay

1. – ABOUT THE COMPANY BlackBerry is a line of Smartphones developed by the Canadian company called â€Å"Research In Motion† (RIM). They integrate mobile email service and typical applications like: address book, calendar, task list, memo pad etc., as well as telephone capabilities on newer models. It is primarily known for its QWERTY keyboard, and for its ability to send and receive e-mails from the same network, making it easier for businesses to communicate constantly with not restraints. The first BlackBerry was released in 1995 in Canada. The best known BlackBerry was released in 2002, which supported push e-mail, mobile telephone, text messaging, Internet faxing, web browsing, and other wireless information services. Currently, the most widely sold is the Blackberry Bold 9700. BlackBerry devices are currently very popular in the commercial market in Latin America. The strategy that Blackberry used was to incorporate to their phones a BlackBerry Messenger that is an instant messaging applicati on exclusively for them. The BBM allows users to chat with their Blackberry contacts and also can create groups among family,  friends, or colleagues to share files, photos, music, messages. Thanks to the connected applications, BBM users can share everything you have on your Smartphone. The BBM provides an opportunity to communicate instantly and can see clearly that the recipient of your message was received, read, and when they are answering. It works via a PIN code and can be customized with a profile picture, add a sentence, or even show the users music. 2 – REASONS WHY BLACKBERRY WAS SUCCESSFUL The success of BlackBerry was for the following reasons: An innovative product with an accessible price Partnerships with brands (BBVA, DIRECTV) Ethical business 2.1. AN INNOVATIVE PRODUCT WITH AN ACCESSIBLE PRICE Blackberry was successful by being an innovative product for many applications that integrates the cell phone. Because of these unusual features, consumers had the opportunity to buy the product with many payment options. 2.2. PARTNERSHIPS WITH BRANDS (BBVA, DIRECTV) BBVA BBVA say: â€Å"Security is a must. We are a bank and the BlackBerry solution is very safe.† Benefits The BlackBerry ® solution has integrated BBVA’s workflows and processes resulting in a 25% reduction in time taken to complete these activities The high level of security has enabled BBVA to justify the mobilization of its processes BlackBerry ® smartphones have been integrated into every aspect of BBVA’s employees working lives, helping them to manage tasks and duties while working remotely DIRECTV â€Å"With the DIRECTV Mà ³vil application, we have more ways for our customers to communicate with us, which means happier customers and it gives us the opportunity to drive our sales.† Benefits: DIRECTV created a custom application called DIRECTVâ„ ¢ Mà ³vil, designed to offer subscribers in Argentina access to DIRECTV services from their smartphones and tablets, including BlackBerry smartphones – with operating system 5.0  and above – and BlackBerry PlayBook tablets. The latest release of DIRECTV Mà ³vil also runs on BlackBerry PlayBook tablets, allowing users to record their favorite TV shows even when away from home, browse through movies and view trailers. 2.3. ETHICAL BUSINESS BlackBerry has programs which present several opportunities to support communities through fundraising drives and volunteering. BlackBerry donated to 294 organizations around the world. 3. REASONS WHY BLACKBERRY DECLINED IN THE MARKET Laying Off employees due to financial problems of the company New Competition Bad Application of marketing 3.1 – EMPLOYEES The Canadian company â€Å"Research In Motion† (RIM), will eliminate 2,000 employees worldwide, which is more than 10% of total workers, to cut costs. RIM has suffered a loss in the market due to competition from Apple and Google’s Android system. Between February and May this year, the BlackBerry market share fell by 24.7% as opposed to Android and iPhone which grew by 5% and 27%. 3.2. COMPETITION: The primary competitors of the BlackBerry are the Android and the Apple iPhone. For a number of years, the BlackBerry was the leading Smartphone in many markets, particularly the United States. The arrival of the Apple iPhone and the Google’s Android platform, caused a slowdown in BlackBerry growth and a decline in sales in some markets, most notably the United States. This has led to negative media and analyst sentiment over the company’s ability to continue as an independent company. BlackBerry has managed to maintain significant positions in many markets, strengthened by a large user base, cost effective phones and plans, and a growing smartphone market globally. 4. SOLUTIONS 4.1 – BLACKBERRY SOLUTION Blackberry 10 is the solution to RIM’s declining market share, turning the company around to once again become a player of significance in the smartphone market. The main characteristics of the BlackBerry 10: You can access everything by means of a swipe. It enables the smooth transitioning between apps, without having to leave an app entirely. BlackBerry Hub displays all of your communication (mails, messages, tweets, linked-in updates, and so on). When you’re in an app, you can access all of the options of that app by moving your hand top to bottom, again starting outside of the screen. 4.2. POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS: They should also consider partnering with other companies Make a better marketing of the new products Motivate employees to internal customer loyalty Enter to the market with a new name and with a better product