Nestle's Commitment to Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Nestle's Commitment to Africa - Essay Example Nestle has worked hard to overcome the injury caused by its mistakes. Nestle has done certain things to improve its image in Africa. It continues to employ over 10,000 people on the continent, and its partners employ another 50,000. Moreover, Nestle contributes to UN development projects meaning to eliminate poverty and hunger as well as combating disease. No one can turn back the clock, but people can try to make a better tomorrow. 3. Nevertheless, there is always room for improvement. Nestle may be able to improve its commitment in Africa. It could do so by directly addressing the 30 year old errors in had made. If it has not done so already, it would be wise to publicly admit and explain the course of its mistakes. In so doing, Nestle could also set an example to make genuinely self-imposed restitution to the injured parties and communities. Ultimately, it people should take care to do what is right in any

Developing a Business Model Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Developing a Business Model - Essay Example The company should allocate at least 50 percent of future American capacity to small and medium-size cars, so that it can adapt to what is turning out to be a permanent transition to a smaller and more gas-efficient cars. The company should also develop and incorporate flexible body shops in all its American assembly plants to facilitate quick response to evolving consumer needs (Trompenaars and Coebergh, 2014:47). In addition, it should make its entire engine and transmission plants flexible and able to manufacture different combinations of engine and transmission series. Between 2009 and 2011 Ford announced 4 more plant closures as well as its intent to sell or close 4 ACH plants that were remaining. It is imperative for the company to aggressively align its manufacturing capacity to actual demand. Regarding suppliers, the firm should work very hard to boost its US based supply operations, which represent eighty percent of its North American acquisitions. The firm should implement several business practices with its suppliers, aimed at maximising collaboration, supporting data transparency and expanding the capacity of business with desired suppliers, while enhancing its business model to make it m ore sustainable (Schein, 2012:53). The company should also be able to lower the total number of its production suppliers who qualify for significant sourcing, with more reductions to take place in the future. The company should pay special attention to enhancing its women and minority suppliers – which currently represent roughly $4 billion of its yearly $35 billion of acquisitions from American supplier bases. So far, consolidation initiatives have led to, and will lead to, more business for its chief suppliers which will maximise their financial strength. Regarding dealers, Ford currently has too many at its current and forecasted future market share. The

S there a genuine right to have children, and if so how far does it Term Paper

S there a genuine right to have children, and if so how far does it extend Explore either the question of an individual r - Term Paper Example This paper is a critical evaluation of the human’s natural right to have children as a comparative debate on different socio-economic and political scenarios of different countries. Genuineness of Right to Have Children This question is, perhaps, the most personal one for most people. Having a child is the most basic reason behind legitimate relationships between male and female by form of marriage in all the demographic groups. It is a subject under the religious and cultural jurisdiction of the mankind. Many societies, even if it is a part of an overpopulated country, have a greater speculation on the outcome of a marriage and they think it is the most basic success signal of an adult’s life. According to some suggestions, â€Å"associated with the right to marry is the right to have children, if one chooses, without arbitrary governmental interference.† (Keetley &Pettergrew 212). Since the term ‘marriage’ is a closer associate of religious and cul tural fashions of people, the need for respecting the expectations about marriage becomes a responsibility of the couple. In such a scenario, the need for relating this very question to the social and religious norms of civilized communities across the world is of prime importance. An exploration into the argument to support birth control policies and individual rights to decide the number of children should travel through the studies of different countries and cultural groups besides the influence of many ethical and religious factors facing the human life. Moreover, the entire world today is focusing on the reservations on unprepared pregnancies by adopting medical and spiritual measures to curb the problem of unwanted births for the safety of dignity of even the unborn children from being thrown to desperate living conditions owing to the present day social conditions. Social implications of birth rate rise According to Duane, from the political point of view, the standardization of the population of a country by limiting the birth rate is meant for its economic sustainability and the retained capability to provide educational and employment opportunities to its citizens. There are evidences of some developments in the field of classified breeding for a better generation in countries like America. If scientific approach to quality control of human community is an option for some countries, strict regulations on limiting the birth rate is a choice for countries like China, whose single child policy is a strong example of the government’s intervention in the individual choice of having children. However, there are drastic effects on the social balance when certain governments implement such policies. Situations in some countries worsen in the spiritual and social prospects along with the increasingly biased approach of parents towards girl children. Most people prefer a choice of male children for their assumed financial and social security concerns to girls by indirectly causing a dip in the sex ratio. From a humanistic perspective, it is the right endorsed to every individual to have the natural right to reproduce. All the developments in the world today are the result of such passages of generations.

Life & Wessex King Essay Example for Free

Life Wessex King Essay Life in the past was characterized with lots of battles between rival territories. This resulted to the rise of powerful empires and the measure of power during those days was through the number of wars fought. Warriors of those days were called Vikings. A Viking also denotes a pirate, merchant or explorer. These Norsemen normally used long ships to travel in the sea to all the places of their interest and used the same vessels to fight their enemies. The Vikings are traced to have originated in the early 17th century in the German territory. The initiator of Vikings in the Iceland is Erik the red. He lived all his life ruling his people after which his son picked the mantle from him (Gwyn, J. 2000). SCANDINAVIA The term Scandinavia is both a historical a major geographical part in the world. There exist also a people who are identified as the Scandinavians. According to the geographical setting, Scandinavia is located in the Northern Europe, a place called Scandinavian Peninsula. The kingdoms that existed in the Scandinavian region include: Finland, Norway and partly Denmark. A lot of research done also reveal that Sweden and Iceland also form part of this robust history. All these regions put together are further referred to as Nordic region. The geographical orientation of Scandinavia is rather ambiguous. The region spreads from the Norwegian Fjords all the way to the low areas in Denmark through the Scandinavian Mountains and to the archipelagos of Sweden and Norway. This region has diverse group of people and for this reason, there exist more that one dialect. The languages that were spoken in these regions included Norway, Sweden and Denmark dialects. These people usually understood each other and thus had mutual understanding. DO THE VIKINGS RIGHTFULLY DESERVE THE REPUTATION THAT THEY WERE CRUEL, MURDEROUS BARBARIANS? WHY? WHY NOT? The Vikings performed most of their ventures through wars. It is evident that a normal way of dressing was to be attire that is characteristic of a warrior. The males had war uniforms all the time. From the first time that the Vikings entered a territory, war had to be fought. It is mandatory that people must die in the event of war. The death of people was so common to these northern tribes that any one could talk of them to be cruel and murderous. Other ventures like sea piracy and looting were associated with brutality and blood shed. The victims of such encounters were left counting their losses if they were not dead. Erik who is one of the founders of the Vikings movement was actually observed to murder many people in his native land until he was expelled to go to exile, the result which led to the discovery of Ice land. EXPLAIN THE ROLE OF WESSEX, IN REGARD TO THE VIKINGS IN ENGLAND. The Wessex territory was known for its great power during the year 878. This territory had great potential that any attacker could admire. Te Wessex King of that time planed for a very efficient army that was to fight and defeat the Viking warriors. This king managed to resist the Vikings and with time became pronounced as Alfred the great. His territory was a centre for trade, commerce and administration. The Vikings however invaded this land and took loots from it as usual. The Wessex region acted as a real opposition to the advances of the Vikings. Every one feared the Vikings. The sight of these raiders approaching a region would send cold shivers down the guts of every king. King Alfred however managed to escape them, even though he was later cornered. The Wessex region became a home of habitation to some Vikings although others separated from the settling camp and continued with invasion. Wessex became a point mark towards bringing an end to the Viking advances in war. HOW DID THE VIKINGS CONTRIBUTE TO THE BREAK-UP OF THE CAROLINGIAN EMPIRE? The Vikings were a major threat to the kings during the Viking age. The Vikings attached Carolingian empire in the year 885 and 886 leading to the defeat of their kings. In 845, the Viking warriors sailed to seine in France and attacked it. The end result of this was a defeat to the Carolingian empire and the kings that followed were just puppet rulers who were initiated by the Vikings. This led to the fall of this empire and it took along time to come up again. EXPLAIN THE VARIOUS PHASES INVOLVED IN VIKING RAIDS. Vikings mainly had 3 phases of raids. The very first phase said to have lasted from 790-840. The Vikings used very shallow draught long ships. They always used these ships because they were suitable majorly for surprise attacks in the coastal towns. The size of these vessels was so small so that the Vikings could rush and attack very fast. With this they attacked Frisia and Aquitane. The second level of attacks occurred between 841 and 875 and the number of raids increased. The Vikings attacked by killing or enslaving their victims. With this, the attacks proceeded to the Mediterranean Sea. 876 to 911 saw the introduction of the third phase. With this, the Vikings started to invade frnce and other parts of Europe. They also developed their own fleets that were used to attack distance empires.

Strategic Management Accounting Essay Example for Free

Strategic Management Accounting Essay This is an individual assignment of 3,000 words (+/-10%), excluding appendices and bibliography. The word count MUST be shown on the front of the assignment. There are TWO questions to be answered in this assignment. Each question carries a maximum mark of 50%. All of the learning outcomes for the module are being assessed in this assignment. The learning outcomes are shown in the section entitled â€Å"Marking Guide†, which is further on in this document. The University’s policy on cheating collusion and plagiarism will be applied to this piece of work. You are required to produce a report which answers the following TWO questions: Question 1 XYZ Limited is a medium sized manufacturing business which makes and sells products to a range of industrial customers who use XYZ’s products in their own products. The working capital of XYZ is typical of a manufacturing organisation in that at any point in time they have cash, trade receivables, inventories of raw materials, work in progress and finished goods and trade payables. The Managing Director of XYZ Limited believes that all parts of the working capital cycle could be improved and has asked you to produce a report which discusses how each part of the working capital cycle could be improved and which critically evaluates the implications of the improvements on XYZ and other connected parties (for example trade receivables and trade payables). Question 2 Many organisations use transfer pricing when transferring products between different divisions of the same organisation. You are required to discuss in detail the advantages and disadvantages of each of the following four methods: 1) Market based transfer prices; 2) Full cost transfer prices; 3) Cost-plus a mark-up transfer prices; and 4) Negotiated transfer prices. Guidance: Students are encouraged to be inquisitive and innovative in their approach as to what should be included in this report. The following may be of some use in providing guidance as to what could possibly be included, although this is in no way meant to be prescriptive. The aim of the assignment is to help you understand how key areas of strategic management accounting are applied in practice. This will include investigating topics from throughout the course linked to the above issues. Some of the principles, concepts and models will be more relevant to your chosen approach than others and so it is likely that different students will formulate different approaches to the problems. This is normal it is not expected that all of the course content will be used in the analysis concentrate on that which you feel is most important. As part of your work you might find it helpful to briefly explore the underlying theory behind the key areas of investigation that you identify before applying them to report. With a total of 3,000 words you do not have a lot of room for long introductions so assume you are writing to a sophisticated audience who has a working knowledge of strategic management accounting and is well versed in business theory. Numerical example for illustrative purposes may be of use  but should not be the main thrust of the work. If used they should be to provide evidence to support your findings from your other analysis of position and policies. If other sources are used remember to reference everything! Please avoid relying too heavily on descriptive sections reproducing information available from course material or the set text. It is your own logical, evaluation of the situation, the interpretation of course material and presentation, with critical analysis, of a coherent strategic plan that will attract high marks. Marking Guide The learning outcomes for this module assessed by this piece of work are Knowledge 1. Critically evaluate a range of key strategic management accounting models and concepts. 2. Critically understand of specific analytical skills in key areas within management accounting at local and international level 3. Critically understand of the role and limitations of management accounting theory. Skills 4. Applied the key management accounting concepts and methodologies in order to contribute to successful decision making in an organisation. In light of this the assessment criteria in the grid below will be used when assessing your work.

How does branding affect consumers purchasing decision?

How does branding affect consumers purchasing decision? Abstract: Consumer behavior is dependent on few factors that need to be considered in any industry. In the garment industry, there are several intertwining factors known that influence consumer behavior. The Internet as one knows well has its importance in nearly every form of trade, but brand recognition is driven by a set of factors that have their own principles. Trade is directly dependent on communication, and these days the Internet it is considered to be one of the most important and reliable means of communications for trade. It is for this reason that brand promotion is significantly related to the use of the Internet. However, it needs to be asserted that the Internet is a tool for promoting a brand as is other means of brand promotion. In view of the Internet being an important medium through which customers may be communicated with, consumer behaviors, and more importantly, consumer-purchase decisions, become an important subject. Observing consumer-purchase decisions in the recent past, it can be asserted that there is immense scope for expanding industries that receive positive responses from consumers. An example of this is observed with some organizations in the garment industry. A company such as Levis is a good example to view the effectiveness of branding on consumer-purchase decisions. In addition purchases made at outlets, online purchases have been significant as purchases of are easily made and are believed to be considerably reliable. This reflects the manner in which consumers rely on brands like Levis. For purchasing garments and placing orders, advertising through the Internet is the first step towards pulling in customers. Indeed, this step is believed to be effective as there are a number of indiv iduals who first see ads online, and then decide to physically check a promotion out. However, this is not the only way that people want to explore promotions of garments or any other industry. Shoppers are keen to check out things for themselves. There are many consumers that also do not rely on the Internet for purchasing what they want. They would rather shop, and there are indeed many consumers who spend several hours per week in shopping centers searching for what they want. Among these shoppers there are different kinds of consumers, and each of these has different characteristics. Some look for stuff that is cheaper and reliable while others want quality. Those who search for quality know what brands they want generally. Deciding what to purchase from a consumers perspective depends on what satisfies him or her. From a manufacturers perspective, it is important to understand what interests a consumer most, and based on these interests, manufacturers work to develop their brands. Manufacturers have to develop a brand identity in order to seek brand loyalty of consumers. Once manufacturers learn how to read their consumers, they can influence their purchasing decisions, and this is precisely aimed at by promoting a brand and working towards its selling power. 1. Introduction: 1.1 Background In order to sell products, organizations resort to various strategies. Each company has its strategy structured in accordance with market factors as well as product strengths. This may mean that an organization has to consider various angles in order to make sure its products enter a market and sell successfully. In considering several factors that play their parts in the success of a product in the market, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"branding is one major component for organizations to work on. Branding is considered to be a major component in the success of a product in the market because it can control consumer decisions. This of course depends on the reputation of the brand, which refers to how it has appealed to consumers in the past and how it has served them. 1.2 Importance of the Study: Understanding what branding is enables one to understand the way that consumers behave when newer products are introduced. This is interesting to understand because it helps to understand why different company products of the same nature have different responses from consumers. 1.3 Research Question: The main Research Question that will be dealt with in this study is as follows: How does branding affect consumers purchasing decision? Other research questions that will be part of this study include the following: * What is branding? * How is branding used? * How do consumers respond to branding? * Is branding really significant in order to sell products? 1.4 Limitations of study: This study makes use of relevant literature to the research question as well as a survey of 50 participants. Though the literature review encompasses a wide variety of views regarding the research question, the survey only encompasses participants within the researchers physical location. This means that the views from the participants are fewer than what is needed for a comprehensive view of primary data. 1.5 Organisation of study: The basic organization of this study consists of dealing with the main research question mentioned above, for which there will be a literature review. In accordance with a methodology, this literature will be analyzed, and a conclusion will be arrived at. In addition to data analyzed from the literature review, answers from a survey conducted will also be analyzed and paired with the results of the analyzed literature review. 2. Literature Review 2.1. Chapter introduction: This chapter includes the views of other studies and reviews related to the main research question. In this chapter, there will be pertinent data on what branding is, how it impacts consumers, and how consumer-purchasing decisions are impacted through branding. 2.2. Framework for review: In this section, there will be a flow as the review gradually progresses. This means that each relevant portion of the subject will be exposed gradually as the review progresses. However, at various points there will be inclusions of points exposed earlier, where needed. 2.3. A brand allows organizations to differentiate their business from their competitors. But more importantly, brands help to motivate customer loyalty. By having a brand, companies gain manifold levels by creating effective business strategies that help to promote the company. Building a brand is also about creating an identity that differentiates one from the rest this may be in the form of a logo, a name or business model. This is what helps to receive a positive consumer response; consumers look for characteristics in a brand that cater to their needs and wants. If a brand does this with one product, in future, consumers would choose other products wit the same brand. More recently, branding concepts have become more about how people perceive business. For this reason, there has been a lot of attention on how brands can alleviate the position of business, sales and consumer base. The perceived knowledge about the brand comes from three major criteria according to Business Central by Microsoft (2004): These are: 1. Confidence in a business, product or service doing exactly what the customer already believes it will do. For example, a 24-hour convenience store brand can be based on customers confidence that it will be open, whatever the time of day or night. 2. The emotional response of the customer to purchasing a product or service. For example, a clothing retailer can create a brand based around making its customers feel good about what they wear, how they look, how good they feel about buying clothes from that shop and what it says about them to their peers. A brand builds a unique personality for a business, and therefore attracts a defined type of customer. 3. Most importantly, branding is based on consistently rewarding the confidence and delivering the expected emotional response. For example, a domestic cleaning company can build its brand successfully if customers homes are always thoroughly cleaned. The owners believe that they are using the best cleaning company and feel good about returning to their newly cleaned homes. Given the highly developed set criteria, one can understand that brands are not created overnight; in fact brand identity is created by assessing the business, how it operates and the kind of message that the business wants to send out to the customers, and able to deliver the promise to the customer time and again. This kind of assessment has to be realistic and be based on the following key areas: 1. Work out your business, product or services core competencies. These are what you achieve for your customer, not necessarily what you do. For example, a good wine shops core competence is selling wine that its customers enjoy à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" not just selling wine. 2. Assess whom your existing and potential customers are and find out what they like and what they dont. For example, if competitive pricing drives them, there is little point in you presenting yourself as a premium-price supplier of the same products offered by your competitors. 3. Find out how your customers and your employees feel about your business. Reliable? Caring? Cheap? Expensive? Luxurious? No-frills? Later in the process, these emotional responses (brand values) will form the basis of your brand message. 4. Define how favorably customers and potential customers view your business à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" this is your perceived quality. Do they trust your business, product or service? Do they know exactly what it does for them? What do they think of when your brand is mentioned to them? Low perceived quality would restrict or damage your business. High-perceived quality gives you a platform to grow. 5. Consider how far you can develop your business with its current customer perception without moving away from your core competencies. The amount you can change your offer is your brand stretch. For example, a shop known for selling fresh sandwiches could also consider selling homemade cakes and biscuits without going outside its core competencies. But selling frozen ready meals too may stretch its brand too far (Microsoft BCentral 2004). So much has the concept of brand identity become a part of the business process that companies are claiming their rights to certain qualities, product category, design, innovations and creations. One of the reasons for this is that companies are realizing amidst a homogenous market, credit cannot be given to any one in particular unless the company excels in certain areas. For example Tesco, Wal-Mart and K-Mart may all provide the same kinds of services and products, but there has to be something that makes the customers experience unique in each of the above cases. Companies are realizing that the quest for uniqueness should be taken a step further by enhancing on certain or particular business area and developing it a step ahead of competitors. It is only through the differentiation technique that they would be able to effectively and successfully compete against rival. For example Wal-Mart may claim to have the cheapest price while Tesco would also do the same for certain products only. To resolve this problem, techniques like the kind of message, bundle services as well as customer satisfaction guarantees are used to attract customers. But how do customers differentiate and recognize one service from the others? For most companies the first step is to identify the potential customer and perceive his/her consumer behaviour. Next is to align brand values that reflect customers needs. From the identity aspect, the company furthers this by redesigning logo, stationary and other visual contact to send out harmonious and unified theme to the consumer. For example, if the brand suggest value added services then all aspects of the business process has to incorporate value added services so that the customers becomes aware of this unique quality of that particular business; advertisements pertaining to the same should be launched and campaigns for external/internal customers to make sure everyone is aligned with the business objectives. In view of this, illustration 1 in the list of figures shows that aside from branding, there are other aspects that a company needs to focus on. Given these aspects of brand and brand identity it can be defined as: A brand, in its broadest sense, is the expression of an organisation or product. A brand is communicated in a number of different ways and not only represents the visual aspects that a customer may come across (logo or imagery), but can also be reflected in the behaviour of people within that organisation, the quality of products that the organisation offers, and the manner in which customers are treated. (Investor in People 2004) Retailers in the UK realized the importance of this concept during the Post World War Era. During the war years the UK chain stores expanded nationally to serve the local consumers with standardized products. The restraint on trade with the US did not allow the local producers to cultivate their services abroad. Similarly, the restraint also applied to US products and retail stores that had not been allowed to operate in the UK as the producers anticipated US influence on local UK consumers. However, as the Wars passed, new chain stores expanded and so did the international chain in Britain. As new factories reflect growth in industries, traditional method of promoting products and goods also changed to cater to the new classification of products. American products were cheaper and easy to access at the convenience stores as compared to British products and chain stores. Further, due to the high unemployment level, resulting in less purchasing power, British stores did not feel motiv ate to expand or succeed. The only measure they were interested in includes the commoditys exchange value and how it serves as the source for covering operating income (Lowe et al 2000). However, with the emergence of US producers and retailers, local stores had cause for concern. Since the departmental stores from the US provide the same commodities and yet provide the aesthetic experience as well, the consumers learned to appreciate the uniqueness of the experience they had with the foreign stores. For this reason, British retail stores under went a wave of change where the stores had to make the decision of effectively competing with their American counterparts. According to Lowe et al (2000) By 1939 in Britain the chain stores had carved out a market alongside, and in competition with, the department and co-operative stores, and were particularly noted for their own-brand goods. Their standardised fascias jostled for prime place in the redeveloped high streets and their mass-marketing strategies increasingly squeezed out the small, but still significant, independent trader. Their particular development was the consequence not only of Britains compact geography an d early industrialisation, but also of the political and cultural support for trade restraints, which were furthered by the retention of family influence in companies and by an ethos of business leadership as public service. The British stores had gained significant development due to two reasons. Firstly the family based society and class dynamics within Britain had supported the centralization and spread of these stores across the country. Secondly, the trade restrained allowed these stores significant time frame for achieving the desired standards and quality for competing with rivals across the Atlantic. The intensity of the competition of stores in the US and UK resulted in inflating dynamic chain store culture and competition. As a result the retailing market changed its form with the support of the manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers in the distribution process. The outcome of this contest between the two nations not only established platforms for large retailers but it also added to their knowledge of the development and progressive tracks that they need to follow in order to effectively compete nationally and internationally. The basis for the fast growing retailing industry was inherent in the working class ability to predict opportunity advantage and capitalize on it. For example in 1848 W.H. Smith gained railway contracts and bookstalls spread across England. Similarly, Thomas Liptons shops in Glasgow in 1872 were built on the back of new steamships importing cheap Empire butter, cheese, ham etc. The common factor prevailing in this spreading trend had been the producers and the owners being able to foresee consumers special needs and satisfying them. Although these were family businesses that later on turned into empires nevertheless the concept of meeting demands as they come by providing customized services had been inherent during the 20th century even (Lowe et al 2000). J.B. Priestly surveyed the English landscape during this era and found that with the emergence of mobility, transportation and mass production, there has also been a mass set of chain cinemas, stores, teashops, etc., which has chan ged the way people eat, drink and entertain during the 1930s. The new infrastructure of migration and investment went hand in hand with the migration of people from the north to the south, from inner city to suburbs and the like etc. For this reason most of the significant development in establishing names of quality products and services emerged during this era (Lowe et al 2000). However, recently the trend has changed. Established names and quality brands have been facing difficulties in competition. As the UK become global in its trade practices, the risks of losing to foreign counterparts for local brands have increased. One example is Marks and Spencer. MS has been an established brand that UK consumers had immense trust in and have been using as a platform for measuring offering value for money quality products. The promotional theme at MS is based on quality but not a cheap product category that suits the average and affluent consumer. However, this strategy is not suitable for the needs of current globalization scenario. With the spread of retail stores and chain around the world such as Wal-Mart and ASDA, MS has gradually lost its position to these competitors. Wal-Mart is in stark contrast of the values established by MS. The Wal-Mart business philosophy is based on low price and cheap products that meets the average to low consumer group. Even more critical in this transition of retail store brands is that people are coming to accept them as alternatives to the established quality stores prevalent in the UK (Lowe et al 2000). The alternatives no doubt easily had taken over the local brand and chain stores but it had not been able to capture the essence of the concept of brand. For the average price conscious consumers have not realized the implication of switching over to a foreign brand. Not only have they been compromising quality for price but they have also greatly contributed to declining the established standards for the industry. Businesses that are known globally for their quality, reputation, product specifications, and standardizations have been replaced by the Americanization of products and services. No gap analysis has been identified for the switch and as a result brands that exist in the UK are innovating and revisiting their standards to win over the customers. The process is tedious but corporations and retailers are realizing the importance of exercising this process. Today when one refer to brands and brand identity, it means the creation of a brand identity system which involve focusing on brand communication, developing needs analysis, contemplating target audience, relegation of market profile and establishing a brand identity with these inputs[1]. Successful brands may shape the business sphere as well as navigate the breadth and depth of the corporate identity. The message, the identity, the visual design language such as symbols, colours, flagship etc. all reflect and remind the consumers who they are; what is the nature of the business; how are they producing; social participation and responsibility; and to communicate with them to be part of the brand identity system. For example in 1994 Coca-Cola business in the UK had been the largest bottlers and providers of cola drinks. However, at the same time other cola companies had come up with the same idea using the same corporate identity and brand message as Coca-Cola. Yet, despite this fact the local colas did not win the consumers due to the fact that consumers, in whose mind Coca-Cola association had already been lodged, mistook the new cola brands for the original one. For this reason the new cola brands lost to Coca-Cola in the competition. From this example and many that followed after, the British producers realized that brand identity is a systematic process that must ensure that the development of the design is protected; ownership or long term partnership of retail channels is essential and ownership of other product advantage cannot be replicated. Apart from those other organizational issues in the process of brand identity system development is that the interface between the strategic dec ision-making on the branding process must discuss how the brands would facilitate the company and how the brands can be linked to the companys goodwill. Thus by tying monetary value to brands, companies have established the value to brand identity and its influence on corporate performance. Once corporations realized the importance of brand identity, the struggle for materializing and capitalizing on brand identity increased. Marketers for one exhaustively increased their efforts to market their brands and logos more than they did the products; they laboured at serving the lifestyles that consumers lead rather than the products they need; and companies also included brand awareness strategies to ensure that the consumers understand the organizational products and services. More formal companies have established procedures for making this system work. Brands identity is now based on: 1. Recall rate at the top of the consumers mind 2. Specific recall for occasions, events or holidays 3. Visualization of the brand identity 4. Personalization of the brand to an image 5. Brand extension 6. Not becoming stereotype for cosmopolitan appeal 7. Think global, buy local concept 8. Linking brands to sub-brands 9. Symbolic ownership of brand essence 10. Souvenir brand essence 11. Connecting the values of flagship brands to other brands 12. Word of mouth 13. Brand transition through the identity system 14. Express the corporate tone of voice and cultural style These identifiers help companies to establish the concept of product design and its positioning in line with brand identity. In essence the whole exercise is to identify and take advantage of new and global practices and alleviate existing products and services without having to compromise old values and phenomena. With the amount of focus on brand, brand identity and brand loyalty, it can be observed that these are immense tools for influencing consumer purchase decisions (Knowledge Board 2004). 2.4. Key findings from literature review According to the above reviewed literature that encompasses key points on what a brand is and how it can impact consumer-purchase decisions, it can be asserted that branding is an important tool for a company to survive in any industry. It is through a brand identity that consumers recognize a particular companys products and services within a large industry. If a company associates standard and acceptable services and products that are according to a consumers expectations, the brand will be remembered and receive responses each time it advertises newer products and services. 3. Research Methodology: 3.1. Chapter introduction: This section includes the method of handling the data and arriving at a conclusion. Given that there are two types of data being used for this study, it is important to draw up how exactly the researcher will go about it. In order to conduct a study and answer the above research questions on how branding affect consumers purchasing decision, there is need to review relevant literature. The literature reviewed will be authentic and relevant to the research questions. This study will be both, qualitative and quantitative. A qualitative and quantitative study is necessary to answer the above research questions because both, facts and figures are an important part of the research area. There are also managerial aspects that need to be considered. These managerial aspects are represented in the form of facts and figures. Also, there will be statistical and numerical presentations considered that are necessary for answering the research questions. Aside from the study being a quantitative and qualitative, it will adopt a random approach. This refers to considering a wide variety of sources. However, the study will be limited to particular areas from where the researcher can obtain relevant data for this study. Sources for the literature review are ones that are authentic and relevant to the area being researched. The sources are from books and journals, as well as official websites, newspapers and magazines. In addition to the use of the sources mentioned above, important factors belonging to the field being studied here are obtained from other studies and presentations. Opinions and facts from presentations are considered to help in answering the research questions. Facts and figures about McDonalds and KFC brands from different points of view will be considered. The manner in which the brands have operated globally and the focus they have had in various places will also be considered for a greater understanding of their bran d communication with their consumers. This will help to bring together a wider range of opinions and facts to be analyzed. The literature review will be analyzed thoroughly so as to expose the answers to the research questions. Secondary data analysis is the process of re-evaluating collected researched data. The data can be collected from previously researched publications including official researched documents. Data collection usually involves research material that is relevant to the research problem issue but does not necessarily answer the research objectives or questions. For this research, the purpose of having secondary data analysis is to aid the researcher in collecting the data required to delineate the research objectives and provide a basis for analyzing primary data. Based on the conclusions of the secondary data analysis, the researcher will analyze and validate primary data collected through a survey questionnaire (Hair, Bush and Ortinau 2000). The questions in the questionnaire are mostly close ended. These close-ended questions will help to will to reduce result errors and biasness, as well as simplify accumulation of answers. 3.2. Research approach The rationale behind the literature has been to investigate the impact of branding on the consumers purchase decision. In terms of how what evaluate attributes influence their purchase decision. The underlying discussion has tried to come to an understanding of the consumers perception and attitudes towards how their actual purchase choices or decisions are generated, keeping in mind the brand name associations that influence the consumer, leading to his consistent behavior and loyalty. There are two main issues within the study: whether there is a difference in the effect that branding has on the different categories of consumer buying behavior groups, and the relationship between branding variables and consumer buying behavior. Branding is about certain consumers, not all consumers as they have different attitudes and behaviors toward brands. Further, Crimp and Wright (1995) define consumer attitudes as a composite of a consumers beliefs about, feelings for, and behavioral intentions towards some object-within the context of brand. In the research, the independent variable is the consumer buying behavior that is primary interest for marketer. The main objective of the research is to understand and describe the purchasing behavior in terms of brand and to explain its variability within the purchasing process and attempt to predict it. The dependent variable is the branding element that is considered by the consumer. Different consumers may hold different attitudes for these branding elements, or in other words, these branding components are viewed together since they are highly interdependent and together represent forces that influence how the consumer react to the object. 3.3. Data Collection Method As Ghauri and Gronhaug (2002) suggest the research design is the overall plan for relating the conceptual research problem to relevant empirical research. In the same regards, Kress (1988) indicated that designing a research method calls for decisions on data sources, research approaches, research instruments and sampling plans. Firstly, the study will attempt to discuss various sources of data and the ways in which data has been gathered for the purpose of analysis, testing hypothesis, and answering the research questions. Data can be obtained from primary and secondary sourses. However, in some cases the research would be restrained due to some information not being publicly available. Of the several techniques used for data collection a survey was deployed, as the most appropriate technique to gather data. The survey enabled a large amount of data to be collected from a sizeable population in a quick and economic way. A questionnaire can be described as the technique whereby each person is asked to respond to the same set of questions that are in a predetermined order (Webb, 1999). Miller (1991) also supports this idea, claiming that closed-ended questionnaire is an easy was to interpret answers where the respondent is asked to select answers from a brief list. This facilitates the standardization and easy comparison of data. It must be noted that both, data in the literature review as well as data obtained from the survey questionnaire will be analysed to arrive at a conclusion that satisfies the research questions. The sequence of questions in the questionnaire should be such that the respondent is led from questions of a general nature to those that are more specific, and form questions that are relatively easy to answer to those that are progressively more difficult (Malhotra, 1996). The studys survey has aimed to incorporate the following features to meet the specific requirements of the projects: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Specific objectives, these may be in terms of points that the survey should achieve and should be kept relatively simple; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Questionnaire that entails straightforward questions that extract consistency and accurate information; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ A research design that includes survey sampling, sampling methods, sample size and the sound choice of population and sample meaning a relatively large unbiased group; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The appropriate quantitative as well as qualitative analysis and reporting of survey results. 3.4 Validity: Answers achieved in this study are considered to be valid as they are achieved through previously accepted data relevant to this field. In addition to this, the answers from the participants in the survey questionnaire are original and represent the opinions on the subject that stand at the moment. Content validity ensures that the measure includes an adequate and representative set of items to tap the concept. The more the scale items represent the domain or universe of the concept being measured, the greater content validity. To put it diff

Changes in Art History with Emphasis on the Mid-Twentieth Century Essay

Changes in Art History with Emphasis on the Mid-Twentieth Century Art during the mid-twentieth century contained some of the most important changes art history. These explosive times were counter-balanced with explosive popular culture. More historical events, abrupt changes, and turbulence occurred from the end of World War II until the height of the Vietnam War than in any time period. Before this time, styles of art had lasted generations. In the 1960’s numerous important art movements were happening at the same time. There were variations on variations, movements inside of other movements. Therefore, because of the amount of independent and integrated pieces of movements and styles, a lot can be missed in a short paper. The amount that happened in these twenty-five years is enough to fill volumes, and so, this is just a brief scraping off the top of what during these times—the most tumultuous times in American History. INTRODUCTION: The 1940’s through the 1960’s were not only some of the most socially and politically volatile times in American History, but were the catalyst for the numerous changes in which occurred in American Popular culture during these and following years. Instead of experiencing the trauma which resulted after World War I’s end, post-World War II United States returned fairly easily back to everyday life. Although there were some problems converting from a wartime to a peacetime economy in the late 1940’s, Americans took on the task and entered the 1950’s on a very auspicious high note. During the time period after World War II, the United States experienced many changes. Technology was abundant and the rate at which new inventions, industries and technologies came about was at a rate never seen before. From a television in every home to the first computers and ultimately space flight, these two decades after World War II were crowded with advancements. S ome of the most dramatic changes came in the field of art. What was once a single, slow road of popular culture advancement branched off into thousands of smaller, faster changing roads. Some of these â€Å"roads†, which can be seen as changing styles, or movements, in art, whipped Americans through a roller coaster of change in what they saw around them. The End of World War II: The major art movement taking place in the United States directly after World War II was... ...ther in their concept. So as we start in a new millenium, we have to ask ourselves what will be the next great movement in art? Could there be anything again as influential as the times that existed here? Only time will tell. Bibliography: Cagle, Van M., Reconstructing Pop/Subculture: Art Rock and Andy Warhol, New York: Sage Publications, 1995 Yapp, Nick, Ed. The 1950s, Chicago: Konemann, 1998 Yapp, Nick, Ed. The 1960s, Chicago: Konemann, 1998 Reed, T.V., American Popular Culture. (online) Available: http://www.wsu.edu/~amerstu/pop/tvrguide.html, February 17, 2000 Seitz, William C., Art in the Age of Aquarius, 1955-1970, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992 Alloway, Lawrence. American Pop Art, New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1974 Dynamic Movements. (online) Available: Http://library.thinkquest.org/17142/dynamic-movements/ Jansen, H.W., The History of Art, New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc., 1997, p. 914-915 Warhol’s Reflection of the Social Times. (online) Available: Http://vc.lemoyne.edu/ant305/students/7_abarnett/page3.htm Marcel Duchamp. (online) Available: http://www.peak.org/~dadaist/English/Graphics/duchamp.html